I would think one of the most
well-known events that took place when our Lord walked upon this
earth is that of Him walking on the water. I doubt that many
people have thought much about the implications of it, but most
people have heard of the Lord walking on the water. I remember
a group called the Charlie Daniels Band. And they had a song where
he said, Jesus walked on the water and I do believe it's true.
And I guess he thought that made him a Christian. Walking on the water. The laws of physics are the laws
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He created those laws. And he can suspend those laws
anytime he's pleased. And he suspended the law of gravity. He suspended the law of density
when he walked upon the water. I think of him putting his feet
on the water and it was firm. And he walked. And he did so
during a raging storm. Now in our text, verse 14, this is their response to the
miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. Then those men, when they
had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, this is of the truth.
That prophet that should come into the world When Jesus therefore
perceived that they would come and take him by force to make
him a king, he departed. He left that. And he went to a mountain alone. Now I imagine the disciples at
this time were probably pretty excited over the fact that he
fed 5,000 people and he's probably going to have a hearing now.
He's probably going to have a following. They were excited. We're finally
going to get somewhere. We're finally getting some influence. Some people are listening. Look
what they've just experienced. And you know what the Lord did? We know from the other accounts
that he sent them away and he went up by himself into
a mountain alone and we know from the other accounts that
he did so to pray now I'm sure the disciples were bewildered
by this they thought here's our opportunity to get somewhere
and he's blowing it and he's just turning these people away
and he's just going off by himself And I love to think of the Lord
praying to his father. There's something touching about
that. There's something powerful about
that. There's something special about that, him communing with
his father in prayer. Lord, teach us to pray. I want to be taught by the Lord
to pray. I think it's interesting that
the disciples never said, teach us to preach. They did say, teach us to pray. Would you turn to Mark's account
of this same event in Mark chapter six? We're going to look at all
three. Verse 45. Well, let's look at
verse 44. And they did eat of the loaves.
They that did eat of the loaves were about 5,000 men. And straightway, he constrained
his disciples. Immediately upon this, he constrained
his disciples to get into the ship. and go to the other side
into Bethsaida while he sent away the people. Now you can
be sure they're thinking, why this? I mean, here we're having
this hearing and he's sending everybody away. He's sending
us away. He's going off by himself alone. Why is he doing this? I can imagine the things that
must have been going through their mind. Verse 46, and when
he'd sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. The Lord spent a lot of time
in prayer. Nights, full nights, without
sleeping, in prayer. And when evening was come, verse
47, The ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the
land. And he saw them, when he was
up on that mountain, he saw them toiling in rowing, for the wind
was contrary unto them. Now picture this in your mind,
they're rowing. on this sea, the waves, the wind
in their face, the rain beating in their face, and the wind is
contrary to them, and they're trying to make progress, and
they're stalled. They're rowing. They didn't go,
this was the fourth watch of the night, anywhere between three
o'clock and six o'clock in the morning. They'd been on the water
a long time, making very little progress, tired. And the Lord
is on the mountain by himself, and he sees them. Thou, Lord, seest me. That's what Hagar said. Thou, Lord, seest me. The Lord sees them, toiling,
in rowing, Now he put them in the boat, he sent the storm,
and he saw them in the dark. I think this could very well
picture the church here on earth. And he came walking. Verse 48, he saw them toiling
and rowing, For the wind was contrary unto them. And about
the fourth watch of the night, somewhere between three and six
a.m., they had been rowing for hours, making little progress. He cometh unto them, walking
upon the sea. and would have passed them by.
Don't miss that. He would have passed them by. They see him
walking on the sea and it doesn't appear that he's coming to the
boat. He was gonna walk right past them. That lets us know
how little progress they were making. He was walking, he was
walking past them. But why this detail? The Lord is going to have us
Say, Lord, don't pass me by. Pass me not, O tender Savior. Hear my humble cry while on others
thou art calling. Do not pass me by. And you can be sure that's exactly
what they thought as they see the Lord walking by them. The Lord does that for a purpose.
He's going to have us call on His name. You and I will not
be saved apart from calling upon His name. Lord, save me. Do not pass me by. If you pass
me by, there's no hope for me. Lord, save me. Do you know that prayer has never
gone unanswered one time? Everyone who has ever prayed
this prayer, Lord, save me. The Lord saved him. Now, if somebody's
thinking, I prayed that prayer and the Lord didn't save me,
you didn't pray that prayer. You said, Lord, if you do this,
I'll do that. That's not praying, Lord, save
me. You might have even used those
words, but that's not what you meant. Because if you meant it,
he'd save you. Lord, you know who he is, save
me. Do not pass me by. Verse 49. that when they saw him walking
upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit and cried out. Now, evidently, they didn't totally
recognize who he was. They thought, well, he couldn't
walk on the water. It must be a spirit. It must be a phantom. He must
be a ghost of him or something. Remember this, everything we
suppose is wrong. Do you believe that? Our suppositions,
they're wrong. Their supposition at this time,
it was wrong. Whatever I suppose, I can just
write this down, it was a wrong supposition. They made a wrong
supposition at this time. They supposed it had been a spirit
and they cried out for fear. For they all saw him and were
troubled. Picture the scene in your mind.
They're in a storm, rowing with the wind contrary, the rain beating
them in the face. All of a sudden they see the
Lord in the flesh walking on the water. They were troubled. They did not know how to take
this. And I love his answer. And immediately
he talked with them and saith unto them, be of good cheer. It's I. Be not afraid. Be of good cheer. Now, they were in some pretty
rough circumstances, weren't they? I would have been afraid
too, not knowing what was going to happen to me. He says, be
of good cheer. It's I, be not afraid. Now, let's remember who put them
in the boat? He did. Who sent the storm? He did. Who saw them when they
did not see him? He did. Turn back a few pages to Mark
chapter 4. They had had some experience with the Lord in a
boat. Verse 36. And when they had sent
away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship,
and there were also with him other little ships. And there
arose a great storm of wind and the waves beat into the ship
so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part
of the ship asleep. I love to think of this. Everybody
else was scared to death, worried. What's going to happen to us?
The ship being tossed on the waves. And he was asleep. He wasn't worried. He had complete
faith in his heavenly father. The Lord never worried. Don't you love to picture that?
Asleep. While all this was going on,
he's asleep. And they awake him and say unto
him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose
and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there
was a great Calm. I'm sure the waters were completely
placid at this time, like glass. And he said unto them, why are
you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?
And they feared exceedingly and said one to another, what manner
of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? What manner of man? is this,
this one who's walking on the water and says to them in their
fear, be of good cheer. It's I, be not afraid. You know, I think of when those
four men brought that paralytic You can read about it in Mark
chapter two, Matthew chapter nine, where they broke up the
ceiling because the crowd was so great and they broke up the
ceiling and they let the man down into that crowded house. And the Lord looked at that man
and he said, son, be of good cheer. Thy sins be Now understand this about the
forgiveness of sins. This is not something the Lord
offers you. You want to have your sins forgiven? It's up to
you. No. Thy sins be forgiven thee. Did you know that salvation begins
with the complete, full, absolute forgiveness of all your sins. That's not something God offers.
It's not something Christ offers. It's something He declares to
be because of what He has done. You see, my sins are not forgiven
because I did anything. My sins are forgiven because
Jesus Christ bore them and put them away and made them not to
be. Now, let me say, I always need
to say this when I talk about the forgiveness of sins. When
Jesus Christ died, he wasn't dying to make forgiveness possible.
He wasn't dying to make salvation available to all men if they
just do their part. That's not the gospel, that's
works. He died for the elect and he put away their sin. And he says to every one of his
people, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. Oh, that takes the tension out
of my body. Be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. They didn't recognize him at
first and then he comes with this statement, be of good cheer. And I can say
that with regard to every event, every circumstance, no matter
what it is, to every believer, be of good cheer. Be of good
cheer. You have reason to be of good
cheer. Number one, because your sins
are forgiven you. I think of that woman who came
in the press. She had a blood disease, a menstrual
disease for 12 years. She'd gone to many physicians.
And rather than getting better, she became worse. She spent every
dime that she had. She was left with nothing but
this. If I can just touch the hem of his garment, I'll be whole. And that's what this woman believed.
If I can somehow be in contact with him, if something can cause
me to be in contact with him, I'll be whole. And I can see
her crawling on her knees. She was weak through the press,
and she touched the hem of his garment, and she felt in herself
that she was whole of the plague. And the Lord said, who touched
me? You see, he perceived, he knew who touched him. And the
disciple said, everybody in this crowd's thronging you, and you
say, who touched me? Well, he knew who touched him.
You see, he caused her to touch him in the first place. He drew
her in to do this. And he said, daughter, be of
good cheer. Thy faith hath made thee whole. You're whole. Listen to me, child of God. I
can't say this to an unbeliever. I hope that you will be a believer
if you're an unbeliever, and I want to persuade you to be.
But if you're a believer, you're whole. You're complete. You lack
nothing right now in Christ. Complete in Him. Be of good cheer.
I think of what the Lord said to His disciples when He said,
in the world, You're gonna have tribulation, but be of good cheer.
I have overcome the world. We can be of good cheer because
Christ overcame the world, and we're complete and accepted in
Him. Paul in prison. I think Paul
was probably depressed at this time. Here he is in jail, and
he's had everybody hatin' him, trying to pull him apart. And
the Lord appeared to him and said, be of good cheer, Paul.
He even said his name. I wanna hear him say, be of good
cheer, Todd. Now I know I can't hear it audibly, I realize that,
but I want him to speak to me, don't you? Be of good cheer.
As thou hast testified of me at Jerusalem, thou shalt testify
of me at Rome also. Be of good cheer. This is the
Lord's word to every one of his people. Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. Now, sometimes God's people are
in a storm, in the dark, with a contrary wind, and they can't
clearly recognize Christ. What does He say? It's I. Be of good cheer. Be not afraid. Now, let's go on reading in Mark
chapter 6. Verse 51, And he went unto them into the
ship, and the wind ceased. And they were sore amazed in
themselves beyond measure, and wandered far. They considered
not the miracle of the loaves. Now, if he can create food, bring
matter into existence that was not there before, he can control
the weather. But they didn't consider that. Their hearts had hardened. Now I think it's interesting
that all three of the different accounts give a different account
as to the conclusion of this. Here, Mark gives a kind of a
negative statement about the disciples. He says, they were
sore amazed in themselves beyond measure and wondered that this
is incredulous. This is unbelief. For they considered
not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hard. Lord, give me a soft heart, a
receptive heart, because I know my heart will harden. I know
it. The only thing that's going to
happen for your heart to be hardened and my heart to be hardened is
the Lord to do nothing. Just leave us alone. Their heart
hardened. Now turn back to John chapter
six. Verse 16, And when even was now come, his
disciples went down into the sea, and entered into a ship,
and went over the sea toward Capernaum. That's what we were
reading about in Mark chapter 6. They were going toward Capernaum,
and this is the precursor to that great sermon preached in
Capernaum in the rest of John chapter 6. A very important sermon,
but he had them going toward Capernaum. It was now dark and
Jesus was not come to them. And there arose and the sea arose
by reason of a great wind that blew so that they rode about
five and twenty or thirty furlongs. They see Jesus walking on the
sea and drawing nigh into the ship. And they were afraid. Did
they have a reason to be afraid? No. This is the Lord. Were they afraid? Yes. This is
them. But he saith unto them, It is
I, be not afraid. Then, this is a little bit different
account than what was spoken in Mark chapter six. And it is not contrary, both
are true. both are true. Then they willingly
received him into the ship. And immediately Now, I don't
know if this is a miracle, I don't know if this is just speech,
or just all of a sudden they were transported to the land. But
it says, immediately the ship was at the land where they went.
All of a sudden, when they received him into the ship, all of a sudden
the ship was there. If you're in Christ, my dear
friend, you're there. You're already in heaven, in Christ,
that immediately they received him into the ship. But I love
the way it says they willingly received him into the ship. If I'm not saved right now, if
you're not saved right now, you are not willing to come to Jesus
Christ for salvation. You believe that? You will not come to me, but
you might have life. This is the depravity of the
natural man. He's not willing to come to Christ,
not willing to receive Christ, not willing to be saved by His
grace. Now, the biggest lie that's ever
been told is that man has a free will. Biggest lie? Man doesn't have a free will.
Man's will is controlled by an evil nature. That's why we're
so bad. Not willing? You will not come
to me. The scripture says it's not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. 99% of the religion of this country,
of this world, says man's got a free will, it's up to him as
to whether or not he'll be saved. If he decides to let God save
him, God'll save him. Not. Now, anybody that comes
will be saved. Don't anybody think from hearing
this, well, I want to be saved, but God won't save me. No, if
you want to be saved, he'll save you. But he made you willing
like he did these people. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. They willingly, joyfully, gladly
received him into the ship. When we receive him, we receive
all that he is and all the benefits associated with that. You see, he who has Christ has
all. He who receives Christ receives
all. And the reason we receive him
is because he gave him to us. And that's why we received him.
And if you never received him, he was never given to you. Oh,
they willingly received him into the ship. Now let's go to Matthew's
account because Matthew gives us a detail that neither John
nor Mark give us. Matthew chapter 14, verse 23. And when he had sent the multitudes
away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray. And when the evening
was come, he was there alone. But the ship, verse 24, but the
ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves for
the wind was contrary. You ever been there? And in the fourth watch of the
night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him
walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It's a spirit. And they cried out for fear.
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer.
It's I. Be not afraid. And Peter, I love this. And Peter answered him and said,
Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. Now, insofar as our experience
goes, salvation is coming to the person of Christ. If it be thou, bid me, command
me, cause me to come to thee on the water." Now, for man to
come to Christ is no less a miracle than it was for Peter to walk
on the water. You see this thing of coming
to Christ. Oh, may the Lord enable me to say this as it ought to
be said. May the Lord give you the ears to hear that you ought
to have. Coming to Christ, insofar as
our experience goes, is salvation. And the only way a man will come
to Christ is if he's one of God's elect. In this same chapter,
now listen carefully, in this same chapter, Chapter six, verse
37, the Lord said, this is the Lord speaking, he said, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. Now how many different
ways are there to take that? The only way you'll come to Christ
is if you were given to him before the foundation of the world as
one of his elect. That's just the truth. And not only is the only way
somebody will come to Christ because they're one of the elect,
the Lord says that all that the father giveth me shall come to
me. He also said in that same message
in verse 44, no man can come to me except the father, which
has sent me. draw him. You cannot come to
Christ, now listen, you cannot come to Christ except God draws
you. So what does Peter say? bid me command me that's the
word it doesn't mean invite command me to come to thee on the water
that is the prayer of every believer oh lord command me to come to
thee Now, if you hear this and say, well, this is fatalistic.
What's the point in trying to do anything if only the elect
will come and can't come unless I'm drawn? What's the point?
You can make all those objections if you want, and you'll go to
hell making them. Command me. Cause me with invincible,
irresistible grace. Cause me to come to thee on the
water. You know what the Lord said?
Come. Come. Let not conscience make
you linger, nor fitness fondly dream. The only fitness he requires
is to have a need of him. Listen, the message of the gospel
is come. Not go and do. Not make yourself
worthy. Not learn more. Not understand
more. Not become better. No. Come right now as you are. Maybe I need to be older. Maybe
I need to understand more. Maybe I need to have more victory
over sin. Maybe I need this. Come right now as you are to
the Lord Jesus Christ just as I am without one plea. but the shed blood of Calvary
in that thou bidst me come to thee. O Lamb of God, I come. The Spirit and the Bride say,
come. Somebody says, what if I'm not
one of the elect? What if you are? What if you
are? As far as that goes, you don't
need to worry about that. You're called upon to come to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Come! What did Peter do? I can picture this in my mind. He took his leg, went down into
the water. You see, you're going to have
to go down to come to Christ. It's down. And he stood firmly on
the water, walking toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I don't
know what all was going on in his mind at that time, but I
think at first, all he was doing was looking to Christ. Nothing
else. Simply looking. Headed toward
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I know what I would have
been doing if I would have been Peter. I would have been thinking,
none of the other guys did this. I must be a man of great faith. Old John over there in the boat,
he doesn't have any faith. That's what I would have been
thinking. You do. And then there's always a but. There's always a but. Look what verse 29, he said, come. And when Peter was come down
out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But
when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid and beginning to
sink. He cried saying, Lord, save me.
All he he took his eyes off Christ. That's the only explanation for
that. He was looking at the wind boisterous. You see, the only
place to look is Christ only. Any other look is a bad look,
is a wrong look. But he took his eyes off Christ,
looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.
He took his eyes off Christ, he saw the wind boisterous, and
he began to sink. Now, how do you begin to sink?
I mean, when you sink, it's plunk, you're under. It's not slow motion, boom. But
somehow he began to sink, the scripture says. I don't know
how all that works, but during the time of his sinking, He prayed
this prayer, Lord, save me. Lord. He knew who he was. And this is the key. He knew
who he was, he's the Lord. That means his will is the will
that's always done. He's the Lord. He's the Lord
of creation. He willed the creation into existence. He's the Lord of providence.
Everything that happens is His will being done. He's the Lord
of salvation. That means He can will your salvation.
Remember that leper? Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. Lord, save me. Now, this Prayer was doctrinally
sound. Is that important? You better
believe it's important. If it's not doctrinally sound,
it's not true. Lord, save me. That's a doctrinally sound prayer. Lord, save me. If you don't save
me, I won't be saved. Lord, save me. It was personal. Lord, save me. It was earnest. I'm going down. And if you don't
save me, I won't be saved. And it was effectual. And immediately, verse 31, Jesus
stretched forth his hand and caught him and said unto him,
O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? You see, The reason the Lord always hears
that prayer is everybody that prays that prayer is someone
he saved. That's the prayer of salvation.
And there's never been anybody to pray, Lord, save me, that
he said no to. You pray that prayer. I pray
that prayer. He saves. You see, Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners. That was his purpose in coming.
And that's what he did. Lord saved me immediately. He took him, pulled him in. And I love the way John tells
us right then, The ship was on the land. I don't know how that
all happened, but I don't know how he walked on the water either.
I don't know how he was raised from the dead either, as far
as the process of it, but it all happened. And the Lord said
to Peter, this remarkable man, O thou of little faith. I would
have called that great faith, but the Lord says, O thou of
little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? There's never a reason
to doubt. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for him
who walked on the water. How we thank you for him that
reached Peter's hand As he cried, Lord, save me. And you saved
him. And Lord, I ask in Christ's name.
That the prayer of each one of us. Might be Lord save. Me. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.