turn if you will back to John's
Gospel chapter 6. Our text, the passage that we'll
endeavor to preach from, from these verses rather, will be
from verses 15 to 21 primarily. But first, I'd like to point
out some very important lessons in this chapter. I declare many,
many messages could be preached from these 71 verses. And every
subject, every subject, be of vital importance. That's a word
that's kind of tossed around loosely, but not so here. Vital, meaning we can't do without
some teachings here that are absolutely essential. One day
last week, I don't know whether it's Monday, Tuesday, But Wayne
was at the parsonage working on hooking up that fireplace.
He crawled under the house. I stuck my head through the little
door that he went through, Louie, but I didn't follow him in. He
disappeared. I told him, I'll stay out here.
If something happens, I'll call 911. He was way back under there. Anyway, when he came out and
he got the line up into the house, to the gas line, to the fireplace,
he was there a while. And went to light it, and I thought,
oh boy, fire. And it wouldn't light. And Mitzi,
then he read the directions, instructions. But he was there
several hours. He mentioned having to be in
Atlanta, and I said, Wayne, go, go. I said, this can wait. This
is not the only source of heat. I said, this can wait. If you
need to leave, you're going to leave. Come back when you can.
This is not the only way I have to warm myself when I need to. And here concerning these things
we're going to briefly mention in this chapter. It is the only
source. It is the only way. Therefore,
it's vital. There's no other source for a
sinner to approach God as Christ taught these so-called disciples
other than through Him. All that the Father giveth me,
He said, shall come to me. That's vital, isn't it? Oh, we
often hear it said, the more things change, the more they
stay the same. And my soul, how things have
changed. Lord, I visited with Bess Lonnie
Thursday evening, had some good My first experience, and I liked
them. I'll eat them again. I asked
Bess to call me when she has them again. I enjoyed them. But
we talked about how things had changed. Changed there where
she lived, just the area here and so forth. But you know, I'm
at the age now I've seen changes. I don't have to listen like I
would when I was younger about fellas talk about how things
used to be. And I thought, I look at it like
they're from another planet. Lord, I'm 60 years old. I've
seen a lot of changes myself. Oh, but some things never change. Some things never change. Do you know what those things
are? Exactly, exactly. Issues that
don't concern a few brief years, but issues that deal with eternity,
forever. Job said to his so-called comforters
in his tribulation, He said, when a few years are come, just
a few years, when a few years are come, then shall I go the
way from whence I shall not return. What Job said concerning himself
is true of me, and it's true of you. When a few years are
come, we'll all be gone. Just a few brief years, our existence
on this planet will come to an end. Oh, yesterday I was here
at the church as the terriot, when he told me they were going
to be putting up these units, I said, well, give me a call.
I'd like to come down and supervise. No, no. But to see. Well, he
called me a little earlier than I thought he would, but I came
along a little after that and watched him, got on the roof
and so forth, and these new heating units are really paying off.
But he had some pictures that that Pat had had that I'd brought
from Kentucky when I moved of my children. And he had them
in the back of his truck, and so I said, I'll put them in my
car, take them to the parsonage. And I looked down at those pictures,
they were when my children were just young, young. They're school
pictures, grade school pictures and high school pictures. And
I looked down at that box and saw some of them, and I told
Terry, I said, you know what, Terry? It just seems like yesterday. Lonnie, it just seems like yesterday
that they were that young. And now my daughter's got three
teenagers of her own. My, how time flies! Is it any wonder that the psalmist
said, Lord, teach us, teach me to number my days, that I may
know how frail I am, that I may apply my heart to wisdom. Or here you have another example
of the gospel. In John chapter 6, we read some
of it. The gospel and those who preach
as being, as Paul said, a saver of life unto life, or death unto
death, he said in 2 Corinthians 2. He said we are unto God a
sweet saver, unto them who are saved by our preaching, and to
those who are lost. To the one we're a saver of life,
and to the other a saver of death. And he said, who is sufficient? For these things, you don't remain neutral under
the preaching of the gospel. It doesn't happen. These men
didn't, did they? These religious folks that followed
Christ, that called themselves disciples, but were only in word,
not in heart? When our Lord told them the truth,
they turned, as we read earlier, and followed no more with Him. You don't remain neutral under
the preaching of the Word. You may think you do and may
try to do it, but you don't. It's either a savior of life
or a savior of death. You're either softened by it
or you're hardened by it. You don't remain neutral. What
happened here in John 6? will happen here, will happen
this morning. I don't have any doubt about
it. Any doubt about it. Some, this precious word will
be a savior of life and they'll leave rejoicing in it. To others,
it'll be a savior of death. They'll turn a deaf ear, they'll
try to shut it off, and their hearts will become not neutral,
but hardened. No wonder Paul said, who is sufficient
for these things? Our Lord taught in Luke 12 to
those who trusted in riches. He said, there was a certain
man who had so much, you know the parable, that he said to
himself, I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to tear down
my barnswall, because I've got so much stuff, they're not big
enough to hold it anymore. And I'll build me greater barns.
You remember the parable? But God, our Lord said, but God,
but God spoke to him that night and said, thou fool, tonight
thy soul will be required of thee. I have power to take your
life just as I gave it, and tonight I'm going to take it. Now whose
were all those things then? And he said, so is every one
that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. That rich man lifted up his eyes
in hell. What do you think mattered to
him then? What was more important to him
then? People said, I wonder what he
left behind. He left it all behind, Kenneth. What was important to him then?
It wasn't in life, oh, but it was in death. What mattered most,
brothers and sisters, in light of that, what should I preach
when I stand here to you who don't know the Savior? And to
you that do, my fellow pilgrims and strangers in this world,
what should I preach to you? What do you need to hear? Not what you want to hear. Our
Lord told these men what they needed to hear. That's why they
turned around and walked no more with Him. He was faithful to
their souls. Friday, I found the place in
Sylacauga that would clean my car, and oh, it needed cleaned.
And it wasn't a bad price. So I had to go down there Friday
morning, and the man, I think it was called Scrubby Doobies
or something like that. That's not right. Anyway, yeah,
I believe so. But anyway, he brought me back
to the parsonage, because he said, it'll take several hours.
And I said, I understand. Well, when it was finally done,
He comes back to the parsonage and I'm driving him. Well, he's still driving, but
back down to the place to drop him off, his place of business.
And you know what he said? He said, so you're a preacher.
I mentioned that, that this was the parsonage that I was new
in town and that I was the pastor of Fairmont Grace Church. And
he said, you know what you need to preach? I said, yes, I do.
He said, from Revelation. You need to preach from Revelation.
Do you preach much from Revelation? And I was going to try to tell
him, but he didn't want to hear it. He said, we're living in the
last days, the mark of the beast. And he went to Babylon, and I
thought, what's he talking about? He said, you know, even right
now when babies are born, they're implanting a chip in there so
they won't be able to buy or sell. I guess they'll be like
a barcode. They'll scan them to see if they've got that chip.
I said, well, I've heard of putting that in dogs and cats in case
they get lost, but didn't know they was doing it to babies.
He said, you might have it in you. Don't even know it. And
I said, Tony. Verse 1 of chapter 1 in Revelation
says, this is the revelation of Jesus Christ. Not about tips. Not about mystery. It's the revelation
of Jesus Christ. That book is about all the other
books. It's like all the other books.
All of them. They're all about Him. just right
over his head. He wanted to talk about this
nonsense. Nonsense. Oh, no. All that matters, all that matters,
do I know That's all that matters. Or can I say with Peter, in response
to the Lord's question, do you want to go with the crowd? Do
you want to follow the religious majority? Peter said, no, I can't. I can't. You've done something
for me and in me that won't allow me to go away. I don't have anywhere
else to go. You're my Lord. You're my Messiah. Oh, thank God. Thank God for
that sort of grace. Lord, to whom shall we go? And notice in the verses that
we read, we're not reading them again, but for the sake of time. But our Lord didn't lie to these
people, did He? They were offended at what He
said. and murmured and griped about it, and he turned right
around, Lord, and taught the same thing again." Now imagine
that. Imagine that. Why didn't he change
his technique? Why didn't he change his approach?
Why didn't he change his message? I'll tell you why, and you know
why. Because he was more concerned for God's glory and their immortal
souls than to tell them a lie. That's exactly right. It's not
compassionate and it's not loving to pretend someone's saved when
they're not. Oh no. And our Lord let them
walk away. They walked away still claiming
to be his disciples. but not following the master.
How absurd. Reminds me what we hear today.
These folks who claim Jesus as their savior, but never bow to
his lordship. They're carnal Christians. There's
no such critter. No such critter. They went back
to their religion, back to their works, back to their self-righteousness,
but no more with him. That's so sad, isn't it? That's
heartbreaking, isn't it? Oh, thank God again if we can
say, not me, I got nowhere to go. Be thou my vision, oh Lord
of my heart. Look if you will at verse 20
of John 6. The title of my message is, we
don't need to be afraid. I didn't say we're not afraid
much of the time, but we don't need to be afraid. Remember when
you were a child and you would be fearful of something, you
look back on it now, it was kind of silly, but at the time it
was real to you. And your parents would take you, your mom or your
dad, my mother, would take me up in her arms and say, you don't
need to be afraid. I'm here. I did it to my children. Now I've done it to my grandchildren.
You don't need to be afraid. I'm here. And this is what our
Master said that night on that stormy sea when He come walking
to His disciples. You don't need to be afraid.
I'm here. I'd like to look at these verses,
and first of all, verse 20, and then we'll come on down to the
passage to consider. But verse, rather verse 6, I'm
sorry. Let this serve as the first reason
why we need not be afraid. This is the foundation, as it
were. This He said to prove Him, for
Jesus knew what He would do. He always does, doesn't He? That's comforting. If the disciples
had remembered that, they may not have been so fearful. He
knew everything that was to happen ever to each and every one of
them and each and every one of us. God helped us to remember
this. He knows what He's doing. Jesus knew what He would do. Philip didn't know it. That's
why he was counting pennies. Andrew didn't know it. Oh, but
the comfort lies in this, Lord. I don't need to know everything,
the how and the what and the wherefore. My comfort lies here. He knows what he's doing. As
long as he knows what he's doing, I don't have to worry about it.
We see those signs on cars, God is my co-pilot. Well, then who's
driving? God is my, oh, God's my co-pilot. No, no, no. Thank God He's the
captain. He's the captain. And He knows
what He's doing all of the time. Jesus knew what He would do. That's our comfort, isn't it?
That's the foundation. I was at Bobby and Lester's house
the other evening after I left Bess's. I went in. And Lester was at his command
center. I mean, he looked like something
out of a movie to me. But they had a problem, and it
was necessary to take power down to quite a few houses, I don't
remember. But Lester was in contact with
the men. He got them out there. People
were calling, I don't have power. Lights were flashing. And he,
you know, when he would have time, he'd look over at me and
say, Larry, here's the problem. And this, and I'm on top of it
in 30 minutes. We'll have this thing taken care
of. And they did. And I'm sitting there trying
to look like I understand what he's talking about. But I did. But it didn't matter. It didn't
matter whether I understood it or not. Lester did. He was on
top of it. And brothers and sisters in Christ,
Jesus knows what He will do in your present circumstance, in
your heartache, in your distress, whatever's causing it, whatever
the reason might be, Jesus knows exactly what He's going to do
to take care of it. You don't need to know all about
it. He knows. Thank God. Isn't that comforting?
Oh, I remember, let me just give this note. And by the way, I
mean, there's no way that young man, when he left home that morning,
with his fishes and loaves, his mother packed him, because he
must have been a growing boy, she packed him a lunch. He had
no clue. that those few fishings and loaves
in the hands of the master was gonna feed a multitude and then
he might pack home twelve baskets full afterwards. He didn't know
nothing. But Jesus knew what he would
do. He laid it on the heart of that
mother that morning before that young man headed out. What to
pack? How much? Where to come with
it? He knew what he would do. And fellow pilgrims, He still
does. I remember 20 years ago, having
a little more than that now, having to leave West Virginia
because the place I worked for was laying me off more than it
was working me. And I was about to lose my home
and everything. I thought, well, I've got to
go. Got to go. Mr. Fortner invited
me down to Danville. And I came down looking for work
and staying with him, and I kept spreading out and spreading out.
I worked hard to find a job. I mean, I put in long hours beating
the pavement looking for a job. And I remember picking up an
application at UK, University of Kentucky, and I just put it
in my briefcase and took it with me. I had a stock of them. And
one day, somebody gave me a lead about a place in Lexington, and
I was up there looking for that place, and I got lost. I got
lost. And I looked over, and there
was that place where I picked up that application for UK. And
I filled it out, had been carrying it for a couple of weeks, and
I thought, well, I might as well turn it in, and I turned it in.
And then I go back to West Virginia because they said, we got a little
bit of work for you, maybe a day or two. So I get in my car and
go back. Don calls me at work. He says,
Larry, they're trying to get a hold of you. The next day after
I turned in that application, they hired me on the phone, over
the phone rather, because there was a hiring freeze about to
take effect. That's right. First time in UK's
history they had a hiring freeze. And if they didn't get somebody
in there that day, they wouldn't be able to. The fellow that done
their welding for 30 years was getting ready to retire. So they
were desperate to get somebody. Jesus knows what He will do.
So I left West Virginia, came down to work, and was blessed
to sit under a pastor, a faithful man of God, one of God's choicest
servants, for 20 years to prepare me to come here. Jesus knows
what He will do, doesn't He? Doesn't He? He does everything
well. Thank God. Now the second reason,
oh, our time goes by. There's another reason here,
there's many, but we'll just highlight one or two. Another
reason why we don't need to be afraid is the passage there beginning
at verse 15. All we learn from that, our Lord
coming to His disciples on the sea, that our extremity, as it's
been said, is His opportunity. He promised, He promised, listen. And I'm sure I speak it for every
believer. I'm confident of it. You can
bear witness with what I'm about to say. When our Lord promised,
I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you. How many times when
you have felt forsaken, Left alone, broken hearted, with not
anybody to talk to, anybody to identify with what you're going
through. How many times has He come to
you and whispered, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake
you. And just reaffirmed what you
knew. But oh, with such sorrow or whatever
going through, we may tend to forget. And he comes with that
sweet word, I'll never leave. I'll never leave. I don't care
what happens, I'll never let you go. I will never ever leave
you or ever let you quite leave me. The writer of the Hebrew
epistle said, be content with such things as you have. Why? Because He hath said, I'll never
leave you, nor forsake you. We mentioned in the reading again,
in Matthew 14 we're told that our Lord constrained His disciples
to get into that ship. Here we're told, when the evening
was now come, his disciples went down into the sea, verse 16.
But Matthew says he told them to, he constrained them to, go,
go, while he sent away the multitude and went into a mountain to pray.
Oh, and then the storm arose, verse 18, and the sea arose by
reason of a great wind that blew. And so it often happens, doesn't
it? Doesn't it? It so often happens,
we're selling a loan, everything's fine, and then it seems out of
the blue, BAM! Where'd that come from? I wasn't
expecting that, BAM! Oh, lightning and waves and storms
and our little vessel that seemed to be sailing so smoothly on
calm seas is now tossed to and fro. Storms of life are raging
and we're afraid. We're afraid. How can I bear
this? How can I overcome this? How
can I get through this? And remember, our Lord sent them
into this storm. Jesus knows what He will do. It's not like last Sunday's message.
It was the bride's fault that she lost the manifest presence
of her dear bridegroom because of her neglect and ingratitude.
Not the case here. They were doing exactly what
He told them to do. And a great storm arose. And it's dark. So dark. Oh, without He who is the light
of the world and the light of my heart, it's just dark. It's just dark. Have you been
there? I know you have. Oh, but look,
look here, the latter part of verse 17, and it was now dark.
That's bad enough, but look, and Jesus was not come to them. Jesus was not come to them. He
said, get in the ship and go. They obeyed Him, and this storm
arises, and He's nowhere to be seen, and it grows darker and
darker, and they grow fainter and fainter, and Jesus has not
come to them. We're alone. We cry, where are
you? Where are you? The first time a storm arose
on the sea, our Lord was in the ship with He was asleep, but
he was with them. They had his presence there.
All they had to do was say, Lord, wake up, wake up. Cares thou
not that we perish? And you know how he stood and
rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm. But
now he's not even on board. He's nowhere around. How can
he help us now, they thought. There's no visible way. There's
no way He can get to us. It's dark, and Jesus was not
yet come. Oh, but bless God, He came anyway. Oh, they thought, there's no
way He can get to us, but He got to them. He can come. Oh, but bless God, He did come,
didn't He? Verse 19, when they had rowed
about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking
on the sea and drawing out into the ship, and they were afraid. Oh, Nahum says, Our Lord has
his way in the whirlwind, and the clouds are but the dust of
his feet. That name, Nahum, means comfort. or consolation. Look, if you
will, at verse 24. When the people therefore saw,
that is, the multitude that had been fed and wanted to be fed
again, when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there,
neither his disciples, they also took shipping and came to Capernaum
seeking for Jesus. And when they had found him on
the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest
thou hither? How did you get over here? We
saw the disciples, but how did you get over here? He could have
said, I walked the cross. I walked the cross. Oh, but they
wouldn't have believed him. Oh, but he did, didn't he? This had never been seen before. It had never been done before. It had never even been thought
of before. A man stepping out and walking
just like I am on water? Here He comes walking on water
amidst the waves and the lightning and the storm. My soul! We can somewhat sympathize with
the disciples when they saw Him and at first thought, it's got
to be a ghost. It's the Spirit. Oh, but He came
to them, didn't He? He'll turn this world upside
down if need be to save and keep His people. He'll do whatever's
necessary to save His elect. Bless God, He always has and
He always will. Jesus says, I've given kingdoms
for you. I've ransomed you. You're mine. Why do you fear a man? Isaiah,
you can read, we won't turn there, but so many places in Isaiah. Why do you fear a man and have
forgotten that I'm the Lord your God? I am God and there is none
else. Why fear a man whose breath is
in his nostrils, who is nothing but dust, and forget the Lord
your Maker? Oh, it is I. Be not afraid. We've got to close. Look again,
if you will, at verse 20 and 21. But he saith unto them, It is
I, it is I, I am, the great I am. Again, comparing Matthew and
Mark, it reads, Be of good cheer, I am. Be not afraid, I am. the mighty God, the everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. I am. It is I. Oh, in view of that, it's no
wonder that the psalmist said, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. David, are you
sure about that? Nobody will be with you, David.
When you go walking into that valley and through it, you're
going to be alone. You say you won't be fearful,
you'll fear no evil. Your wives can't go with you.
Your many sons can't go with you. When you go the way of all
the earth, you'll be alone. What do you mean you'll fear
no evil? Because he added this, thou art
with me. Thou art with me. Thank God! Thou art with me,
therefore I will fear no evil." You followed your pastor, that
faithful man, as far as you could follow him, didn't you? But there was one, there was
one, who was there to take His hand
and to fly with Him to glory, to paradise, where there is no
more pain, no more sorrow, no more sickness, oh, but eternal
glory. Look at verse 21, Then they willingly
received Him into the ship, and immediately, immediately, They
were at the land whither they went, immediately. Brothers and
sisters, as we said at the beginning, we'll be in heaven sooner than
we think. Vaudeville, vaudeville. Best, we're going to be there
sooner than we think. Oh, you have some premonition
there? No, no. My life's brief. When a few years,
days are come, Lord, I'm gone. I'm gone. And bless God when
I go, He'll meet me at the river. Oh, and bear me safely over. During our conference, and most
of you were there, David Coleman and Ruth Wall,
which they seldom do, united to sing a hymn. Oh, I just jotted down what I
could remember of it. And I thought as I was writing
this down, I wish I could sing it like they sang it. Oh, it
was a blessing to my heart. It says, he'll hold to my hand
as over this river I go. And safe I will be in beautiful
heaven I know." And Ruth said, oh yeah. He'll hold to my hand
as over this river I go. And safe I will be in beautiful
heaven I know. Because Jesus knows what He will
do. God bless you. Thank you for
your attention. We're going to sing as a closing hymn the one
on page 295. Page 295, He Leadeth Me.