John chapter 6, and let's read
verses 16 through 21. And when even was now come, his
disciples went down unto the sea, and entered into a ship,
and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark,
and Jesus was not come to them. And the sea arose by reason of
a great wind that blew. So when they had rowed about
five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they saw Jesus walking on the
sea and drawing nigh unto the ship, and they were afraid. But he saith unto them, It is
I, be not afraid. Then they willingly received
him into the ship, and immediately the ship was at the land whether
they went. Now, there are three accounts
of this night on the troubled sea where the Lord came to His
disciples, walking on the waters in the midst of a great storm. You can find the account in Matthew
chapter 14, verses 24 through 33, and Mark chapter 6, verses
45 through 52. But our text here this morning
is in John chapter 6, and I recommend that you read all three of these
accounts this afternoon. If you do that, if you go home
and look over these things, and I recommend that you do that,
I recommend that you read all three of these accounts and get
as clear a picture of this miracle of Christ as you can. The miracles
of Christ were given to accomplish three things. He didn't just
do this to wow the crowd. He could have done anything.
He was God come into the flesh. He could have done anything.
But he did these things, I think, for three basic reasons. And
the first of those reasons is to minister to men who were in
trouble over their heads. I think we fail a lot of times
to give God the credit when a sick man is given health. When somebody's
down, something happens, and God protects them, we fail to
give Him the glory. He does these things. He does
them for a sovereign purpose. And He does them to accomplish
a certain end, but He does do them. His reign falls on the
just and the unjust. And so do these things that He
does. He's benevolent. He's good. He's
the Lord. And when it speaks, one of the
descriptions it gives in the Scripture of our Lord Jesus Christ
is that He went about doing good. And so this is the first reason
I see in these miracles. The second reason is this. These
miracles declared who He was. The Apostle Peter in his opening
address at Pentecost, he told those Jews, he said, Jesus of
Nazareth a man approved of God among you with miracles and wonders
and signs which God did by him in your midst, as you yourselves
also know." This man was approved of God by these miracles and
wonders and signs. And then in Hebrews chapter 2,
you can find that same declaration concerning his apostles and his
prophets. And then thirdly, these miracles
were performed to teach us the way of salvation. In the miracle
itself, in the need itself, all things are demonstrated concerning
the sinner and how God comes to the sinner and how He brings
His grace to it. And that's what I want to do
this morning with this miracle of Christ walking on the water.
Now the story begins with His disciples alone on a great sea. Now they're out there not because
this is where they wanted to be. They're out there because
this is where the Lord told them to go. And He tells us, I want
you to try to imagine this sea as the providence of God. All
men are in their vessel cast upon the providence of God. They
are afloat. if you will, on a sea of God's
providence, all men. They're there because that's
where God put them. They're there because that's
where they were put of God. It's like a great sea and man
in his little vessel is afloat on it and he's subject to all
that it brings, wars and tyrants and potentates and principalities,
disasters and disease, famines and pestilence, death and destruction. Our Lord said it, or Peter said
it, I'm sorry, Paul said this in Acts 17. He talks about there
was a day in which God will judge all men. And this day is appointed. All of their times. He made of
one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face
of the earth and hath determined the times before appointed and
the bounds of their habitation. All these things have a purpose
and have a reason. All men. All men. Providence doesn't just affect
believers, it affects all men. You go over there into the books
of Peter and begin to read about those who challenged the gospel
and those who were enemies of the gospel. Those who had not
tasted that the Lord was gracious. And the Lord said, to which they
were also appointed. So this providence takes in more
than just believers, but it takes in unbelievers. It takes in all
men. It's appointed unto men once
to die, and after this the judgment. And nothing should strike fear
into the hearts of unbelieving sinners more than this. When
that man discovers that he is not the one who determines his
own destiny, but that he's in the hands of a sovereign Lord
who has the authority to do with him what he will. And brother,
if that don't strike fear in your heart, you're beyond. You're
just beyond. The hymn writer cried, Jesus,
Savior, pilot me over life's tempestuous sea. Unknown waves
before me roll, hiding rocks and treacherous shore. Chart
and compass come from thee, Jesus, Savior, pilot me. That's the life we live. These
things have been said. I don't know what tomorrow holds,
do you? I don't know what the rest of today holds. We're just
one breath away from eternity. These apostles, they were out
on this sea. Now, this is the story to me
of man played out as it was declared of God in the beginning. And
then secondly, this is the story of every last sinner who has
ever come to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ. He finds himself
in a storm. I don't know what it takes to
bring about that storm. I don't know. It was different
for the leper than it was for the demon-possessed man. It was different from the demon-possessed
man to the woman at the well. It differs, but God causes a
storm to interrupt on that sea. Man is carefree and happy in
his little boat out on the sea. He thought to be friendly and
fun. These men, it occurred to me last night that these men
in that, now it says a ship. They weren't in this great big
sailboat. They were in a fishing vessel
that they rowed. They had oars and rowed. It talks
about them rowing. You don't row a sailboat. It's
too big. This thing was not a huge ship.
It was rather small to be out on that lake. But these men were
fishermen. That lake had never posed a danger
to them. Our Lord said, you look at the
clouds, you know how to read the seasons. They were experienced
fishermen. And they went out on that lake,
and that's where the Lord always finds His people. They're out
on this sea in a boat, and they know this sea to be friendly
and fun. That's what they know. Life's
just all downhill. Young person, he leaves his daddy's
house and he goes out into the world and he's six foot tall
and bulletproof. Nothing. He fears nothing. He
doesn't fear the future. He's not smart enough. He's too
eager. He don't know the pitfalls. He
don't know the holes. And if you handed him a map,
he'd wrinkle it up and wouldn't follow it. I do it every Sunday. I stand up here every Tuesday
night, and I tell you, and I tell you, and I tell you, and the
young colts just go on in the hole anyway. I can tell you where
the holes are, but by nature you won't avoid them. You'll
just fall in them. You'll just fall in them. God has to do the
work in your heart. And that's what's happening out
on this sea. They think this sea is just a
It's just going to be a piece of cake. They're going to get
in this little boat and row over, and they're going to get on the
other side, and the Lord is going to meet up with them when He gets ready,
and that's going to be the end of it. They didn't fear the sea
because they didn't recognize it. If you read the text carefully,
read all three of them, you'll find out in there where they
did not perceive who He was even at the miracle of the loaves
and fishes. They yet did not fear Him to
be who He was. They saw this no different than
something Elijah did or something. They gave him credit for that,
that he was a spiritual man, a man sent from God, but yet
just a man, just a man. And they got out on the sea.
And then man discovers himself to be in trouble. The wind begins
to blow and the waves of the sea begin to toss him around
despite all of his efforts. And the trouble gets worse. He
grabs those oars and he gets in that ship and he begins to
throw his back into it. Now he's serious. See, the young
man, he just floats through life until a catastrophe, until God
sends a storm into his life. When He sends that storm into
his life, then he begins to panic. He begins to get serious with
what he's doing and the storm gets worse. and begins to get
out of his control. And he grabs those oars and he
throws his back into it. And he gets everybody else in
the ship involved in it. Everybody he can gets involved
in it. And they're all pulling for him. They're all trying to
help him. They're all trying to take care of whatever this
storm has brought into his life. But see him as the wind blows,
begins to twist and turn, throw his vessel in every direction.
And now, now he's fighting for his life. Now all of a sudden,
All of a sudden, for the first time in his life, fear, fear
comes into his heart. He begins to realize that he's
just a breath away from eternity. He begins to realize that he's
not a sovereign, that there is one sovereign and he ain't it.
There's one who controls destiny and he ain't it. There's one
that sends storms and withholds storms and he ain't it. And that
trouble begins to grip him and he begins to fight for his life
and he begins to scramble and get serious and pour his whole
heart into it. And yet, he can't save that vessel. He can't save that vessel. He
rolls and he rolls and he rolls until he cannot pull the oar
another time. Yet the wind continues to blow
and the rain stings his faith and the chill of the night and
the damp air begin to penetrate deep within. Now, I'll tell you
what I'm describing to you this morning. I'm describing to you
the experience of every true believer. I can identify this
like it was written of me. The danger has been there all
along. They didn't realize it. They
didn't realize it until the wind blew. I thought about that as
I prepared this message about what God said back in eternity,
darkness was upon the face of the deep and the Spirit of God
moved on the face of the waters. Now that's what it takes. That's
what it takes. It takes the Spirit of God to
come and teach and convict and convince the sinner. The sinner is saved by grace.
He can tell you the story of the sea because that's where
Christ always finds His disciples. And it's an awful and an awesome
experience to find yourself alone in the darkness, lost, without
understanding, without ability. All of your efforts poured into
it can't gain you an inch. You just row and row and row
and row and row, yet do not have the favor of God. And all of
a sudden, God closes you in and begins to expose them inabilities
and sins, begins to expose His wrath and reveal a little bit
of His holiness and justice and righteousness and severity. And
all of a sudden, you begin to experience how little you are
in that big sea and how big He is and how powerful He is before
whom you stand. And just in a short period of
time, When you've exhausted all your efforts, that terror begins
to fill your mind and heart, and you find yourself completely
in the hands of the Sovereign of the Sea. Now that's what's
taking place here on this Sea of Galilee. You haven't been
lost. You're never going to be saved
until you're lost. I can preach to people who are
confident and who have assurance in their beliefs and have assurance
in their traditional understandings and things and I can preach and
I can quote the whole Bible to you and it won't move you a half
an inch until you get lost. Until you get lost. Until God
sends that storm. And this is the same storm, the
same experience of every true believer. I'm going to prove
that to you over here in Psalm 107. Turn with me over there. Psalm 107. David was a man of
whom you should have no doubt that the Lord saved." God himself
calls David a man after his own heart. God spoke through this man and
penned Scripture, infallible Scripture. That's what we're
reading from here this morning in Psalm 107. He was a man after
God's own heart, but he had that heart put in him. He wasn't born
with it. If you read through the Psalms,
you'll find David's confession that he was born in iniquity.
He said, I came forth from the womb speaking lies. He didn't
have this heart in him at birth. God gave him this heart, gave
him this new heart, called him, anointed him, blessed him beyond
measure. And here's his story, Psalm 107,
verse 23. David said, They that go down
to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters. These see the works of the Lord
and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth and raiseth
the stormy wind which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount
up to heaven. They go down again to the depths.
Their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and
fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wit's end.
Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth
them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so
that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad, because they
are quiet, and so he bringeth them to their desired haven."
Now, is that not exactly what I just read to you about his
exact word for word? Isn't that amazing? I'm telling
you, these miracles set forth the experience of every true
believer and tell the story of redemption. You go back in the
Word of God, you'll find it repeated over and over and over again. This is the story of the ever-saved
sinner. And here's the reason why the
terror is so great. They didn't have the presence
of God in the ship. Christ wasn't with them. Christ
wasn't with them. They did not have His presence
on the ship. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
2. Everybody in here, I don't think
we have one true view in the crowd. And I don't mean that
in a spiritual sense, I mean that in a natural sense. I don't
believe anybody in here is an Israelite by birth, a son of
Abraham, a natural son of Abraham. We're all Gentiles. And Ephesians
chapter 2, deals with Gentiles. And Paul tells us Gentiles to
remember where God found us. He said in verse 12 that at that
time you were without Christ. Without Christ. You see, natural
men in our generation don't believe that. You won't convince one
of them. that he's alone without the presence of Christ. He carries
Christ in his pocket like a rabbit's foot. And when he needs the comfort,
when he needs the assurance, when he needs help, he'll rub
on that foot. He don't believe himself to be
without Christ. Paul said at that time, before
your conversion, you were without Christ. Without Christ. And then he gives five things
that define what he's talking about. At that time you were
without Christ. Aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel. Did you know that every promise
of God in the Scriptures in the Old Testament was given to Israel?
Over and over and over. You don't find him talking to
the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Jebusites
and all the otherites. He doesn't say anything to them.
He just talks to Israel. He went down into Egypt. There
wasn't an Egyptian that came out with the company, just the
children of Israel. He went into Canaan which was
full of Gentiles and slayed them all and gave their land to Israel. And all through the Old Testament
you'll find all these promises of God given to Israel. The Gentiles
had no promise. We have no promise until we find
ourselves a Jew. And in the New Testament we're
told what a true Jew is. He's a believer. He's one that
repents and believes. He's one called of God. He's
one elected of God. He's one justified by Christ.
He's a true Jew. Circumcised in the heart, not
in the flesh. And then secondly, he said, we're
strangers to the covenants. We have no understanding. The
natural man has no understanding about a covenant of works wherein
he fell in his father Adam. He didn't realize that his standing
depended on a man way back yonder in the garden. You mean this
whole race was condemned because of what Adam did? That's exactly
what I mean. In Romans 5, verse 12, it says,
"...by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
and so death passed upon all men." The evidence? All have sinned. All have sinned. Strangers. They are strangers
to those covenants of promise. No understanding of the covenant
of the law which demanded continual spiritual perfection of obedience
in motive, thought, and deed. Paul said he was blameless as
touching the law at one time, and then he said when the law
came, sin was revived and I died. But until that, he was ignorant
of it, wasn't he? He's ignorant. We don't understand
these covenants. And we're ignorant most of all
of the everlasting covenant of grace of which Christ is the
surety and testator. You'll find all through the book
of Hebrews, he just keeps talking about covenants and testaments
all through there. What's he talking about? Well,
he tells you when he gets over toward the end of the book. He
tells you that the blood of the everlasting covenant, talking
about Christ. That's what he's talking about.
And then thirdly, he says, this being without Christ leaves us
with no hope. We have no hope. We have no foundation
of hope. It's just, you know, you plan
a picnic tomorrow and somebody says, boy, I hope it don't rain.
That's all the hope the natural man has. He doesn't know what's
out there before him even though he's warned. He doesn't think
so much about what goes out before him. It's the unknown to him.
He's not going to worry about it. He's going to suppress it.
He's got no foundation for hope against it. No foundation. Nothing given to us of God to
rest in and hope for. It's just, I hope, I hope, I
hope. That's all it is. And then fourthly, he said, we're
without God. Well, I find some folks argue
with me on that. But there it is. Without God. Paul said, when he found you,
you were without God. What's he talking about? Without
a true understanding of the character of God. He didn't have a clue.
The God of glory meant no more to you than that little Buddha
statue in the natural sense. You were just as wrong in your
conception of God as that statue is wrong of their conception
of God. You were without God. And I'm
telling you this morning, you've got some hope in some conception
of who God is, and it's not in harmony with the Scripture. You're
without God. Without God. We've got ideas
about God. We've got our traditional concepts
and geographical superstitions. The world is full of speculations,
theories, and conjecture, but where is the living God in all
that religion? Where is He at? And then fifthly, it says, in
the world. What is the world but the congregation
of the devil? Now, I want you to think about
that statement. What is this world except the Congress? Satan
is called the God of this world. And I don't have enough paper
to give you all the references to what this world is, but let
me just quote you a few scriptures. He said, if any man loved the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. He said, ye are not of the world. If you were of the world, the
world would love his own. But you are no longer of the
world, but you're of the Father. Paul said, Demas hath forsaken
me, having loved this present world. The friendship of the
world is enmity with God. Had you rather be friends with
the world or believers in Christ? Now, man likes to relish in decisions. There is your decision right
there. Are you going to fall down and say, ìLet every man
be a liar and God be true,î or are you going to cater to this
world? The friendship of this world
is enmity with God. John said, ìWe are of God, and
the whole world lieth in wickedness.î ìThe whole world wondered,î it
says in Revelation, ìwondered after the beast.î after the beast. Redemption, my friend, is from
this present evil world. That's what the Scripture says.
And that's where God finds the sinner, along in a vessel at
the mercy of providence and the omnipotent God. And that's what
generates the terror. Only one thing these disciples
feared worse than this storm. When they looked out, in the
midst of the storm and saw a man calmly walking on the waters
in the midst of the storm. They feared that worse than they
feared the storm. Now, it's obvious that they feared.
They rode all night. That vessel was tossed back and
forth. It says that they feared. But
when they saw him, it says again, and they were afraid. They were
sure enough afraid. Here they were in a vessel, terrified,
white in the face, muscles drawn up, done all they could do, couldn't
do anything about this storm. In their minds, they were resolved
that apart from a miracle of God, they were going down in
the depths. And yet, here come a man who
wasn't even upset. He wasn't running. He wasn't
jostling. He was walking in the midst of
that storm, on that water. And it said they were afraid.
They weren't afraid when he took the little lunch sack and fed
the 5,000. Read through the accounts. They
didn't fear him for that. They didn't understand who he
was. They didn't realize his divinity in that. But when they
saw him walking on the water, this was God come into the flesh. This was God. This wasn't just
a man. In Colossians 1.17 it says, ìHe
is before all things, and by Him all things consist. In His
hands all things continually, eternally work together for your
good in His glory, if youíre His.î And he will not be taken
by force and made a king over some carnal feudal kingdom, but
he'll manifest his own sovereign reign and establish the kingdom
of God in his time by his will. And this is exactly what was
taking place on that lake. He said, you want to take me
and make me a king? Let me show you what a king can
do. And he walked in the midst of
that stone. walked on that water, commanded
those waves to be still. And I believe this is the right
end to this story of grace. They saw Him in His humanity
and divinity at the same time walking on the water in the storm
and the darkness, and they cried out in fear. And the Lord, seeing
them in their fear, said to them, and this is what He always says
to those, that He brings down that He brings them down and
He allows that terror. He allows them to see who they
are and who He is and who His Father is and to see the power
and majesty and glory of His name. And they cry out in fear. And all who cry out hear the
same thing, fear not. I don't mean much unless you're
on the sea, in the storm, surrounded by the darkness. without the
presence of Christ. And to see Him in His divinity,
to see Him in His majesty and glory, that's the only way you
can see Christ. Poor little Jesus, boy, ain't
going to do nothing for you. You're going to have to see Him
in His majesty and in His exaltation and in His deity. And when you
do, you're going to cry out. And when you cry out, He's going
to speak to you and He's going to say, fear not. Fear not. Peter, he was in that ship. He
was in that ship. John was in that ship. Oh, what a blessed, blessed experience
it is to the sinner in his trouble to hear the voice of the Lord.
He said, my sheep hear my voice. Those Jews, they got upset. They
got angry. And they said, we've had enough
games. If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly. He said, I told you. I told you. But you don't hear it because
you're not my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. They hear my voice. It says, then they willingly
received him into the ship, and immediately the ship was at the
land where they went. In Mark 6.51 it says, When he
went up unto them into the ship, the wind ceased. The storm was
stilled, and they were immediately where they desired to be. And
that's exactly what I read to you out of Psalm 107. They were
at their desired destiny. I'm telling you, the storm raises
up, and we're terrified, and all these things take place in
your life, and the control is taken out of your hands, and
you're forced by sovereign love to commit all things into His
hands. And when you do, just like that,
the storm's over. There's a calm that comes into
your heart. Judgment satisfied. Justice. Satisfied. A condom. He ruleth all things. He's in
the whirlwind. He's in the whirlwind. It's not
all up to me. It was all up to Him. There was a songwriter who lived
years ago. His name was William Cowper. I read this and I quit.
He said, God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform. He
plants His footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. Deep
in unfathomable minds of never-ending skill, He treasures up His bright
designs and works His sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh
courage take. The clouds ye so much dread are
filled with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head. Judge
not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace.
Behind a frowning providence he hides his smiling face. His
purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour. The bud may have
a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief
is sure to err. And scan his heart in vain. God
is his own interpreter. And He will make it plain. When
the time comes, He'll open that heart and mind, and you'll see
that as clearly as the psalmist did when he penned the psalm.
God help us to see these things.