I ask you to open your Bibles
back to the book of Matthew. Matthew chapter 14. Lord willing, this will serve
as our text this morning. Title of the message is, It is
I, Be not afraid. It is I. Be not afraid. Now there is much written in
God's word about the Apostle Peter. Peter was one of the first disciples
called by our Lord. And Peter was One of those men,
when those folks came to take our Lord in the garden, Peter
pulled out that sword and cut that fella's ear off. And it's
kind of believed he wasn't really aiming for his ear. But he was willing to defend
our Lord in that moment to the death. In Matthew 16, if you'll just
turn over a couple pages, Matthew 16. Look at verse 13 of Matthew 16.
It says, when Jesus came to the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he
asked his disciples, saying, whom do men say that I, the son
of man, am? And they said, some say you're
John the Baptist, some Elias, others Jeremiah, one of the prophets. And he said unto them, but whom
say ye that I am? Not interested in what men say,
whom do you say that I am? And it was Peter that spoke for
the group there and he said, thou art the Christ. the son
of the living God. And the Lord answered him, he
answered Peter, and he said unto him, blessed art thou Simon Barjona,
for flesh and blood hath not revealed this to thee, but my
Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee, thou art
Peter, and upon this rock, upon this confession, I'll build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Don't you know Peter walked away
from that, I mean, I would think feeling pretty good, right? I mean, if we're just completely
honest, as vain as we are, he had to just, had to be standing
up a little bit on his tiptoes walking away from that. It was
Peter who said this, he said, though I should die with thee, I'll not deny thee. And yet, this same Peter, in
just a short amount of time, would deny the Lord not just
once, but three times. Remember, there was a maid that
beheld him as he sat by the fire and earnestly looked on him and
said, this man, pointing at Peter, this man was also with him. And what did Peter do? He denied
her, saying, woman, I know him not. A little while later, another
saw him and said, thou art also of them, Peter. Peter said, man,
I'm not. And then that third time, he confidently affirmed saying
of a truth, this fella, somebody said that, I know you were with
him. And Peter said, man, I don't
know what you're saying. And immediately while he spake,
that cock, that rooster crowed. It was Peter who told the Lord, you'll never, remember the Lord
was gonna wash their feet and Peter said, you'll never wash
my feet. Peter who, along with the other
disciples, rebuked those folks that were bringing their children
to the Lord. Peter, whom when the Lord told
him, he said, I've got to go to Jerusalem. I'm going to suffer
many things from the elders and the chief priests and the scribes,
and I'm going to be killed. And I'm going to be risen again
the third day. And Peter took the Lord and he
rebuked him. He rebuked And he said, Be it
far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee. And the Lord turned and said
to Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan. Thou art an offense to
me, for thou savorest not the things of God, but the things
that be of men. And then it was Peter, after
our Lord was crucified, that returned to his nets. He went back to his boat to fish. Me and Jason were talking about
this before the service. I'm so thankful I am so thankful
for Peter. I'm so thankful that these words
are recorded about him because they describe me. They describe each and every
one of us. How is that? How is it that a
man could be prepared to defend the Lord to his death, but yet
when that time came, deny him. We know, don't we? Because that's
who and what we are. Peter was a sinner. Peter was
a sinner. Turn to Luke. Hold your place
there. Turn to Luke. I promise we'll
get to Matthew 14. Turn to Luke chapter five. Luke five. Peter was a sinner and Peter
knew he was a sinner. Look at Luke chapter 5 verse
8. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell
down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful
man, O Lord. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. Obviously, we can relate to him.
We can relate to Peter. Well, Peter rebuked the Lord. Peter
doubted the Lord. He fell asleep there in the garden
while the Lord was praying. I think about that. How often
do we sit during a message, and I'm not just talking about at
home, you know, in the living room listening to maybe a message
on sermon audio. I'm talking about in here right
now. How often do we struggle to get through 30 or 40 minutes
of a message? Peter fell asleep while the Lord
was praying. The Lord said, Peter, could you
not watch with me for just one hour? John Newton wrote Amazing Grace. That's right, Mike. John Newton
wrote that, didn't he? Listen to these words. Amazing
grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost. Now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see. In that last word, he said, when
we've been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we've
no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun. John Newton also wrote these
words, "'Tis a point I long to know. Oft it gives me anxious
thought. Do I love the Lord or no? Am I His or am I not? Times of what we consider great
faith and yet times of just so little faith. Well, turn with
me again back to Matthew 14. I want us to look at this passage
together. Verse 25 of Matthew 14. In the fourth watch of the night,
Jesus went unto them walking on the sea. And when his disciples saw him,
they saw him walking on the sea. They were troubled and they said,
is it a spirit? And they cried out for fear. How many times had the disciples
seen the Lord? Time and time again. How many
miracles did they see him perform? How often had he done them good? And not much time had passed
since they were on that small boat. Remember that when the
Tempest was rocking that boat back and forth over there in
Mark 4? I won't have you turn there,
but in Mark 4, there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves
beat on the ship, and it was full. The boat was filling up
with water. And he, the Lord Jesus Christ was in the back
of the ship asleep on a pillow and his disciples, they went
and they woke him up and they said unto him, master, carest thou not that
we perish? How could we ever ask our Lord
that question? But we do though, don't we? Carest
thou not that we perish? And he arose and he rebuked the
wind and said to the sea, peace be still. And the wind ceased
and there was a great calm. And here in Matthew, they saw
him again. and they're troubled. They're
troubled and they cried out for fear. Verse 27, but straightway
Jesus spake unto them saying, be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. Words of comfort. Be of good
cheer. That can also mean be confident. You know, he told that man sick
of the palsy the same thing. He said, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. In another passage, he said this,
be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. The Apostle Paul, he was on that
ship in those great waves. It was a terrible storm. All
fear that they would be saved was taken away and Paul spoke
to them and he said this same thing. He said, be of good cheer. I believe God. It's gonna be
just exactly as he told me. Be of good cheer. Another word
of comfort. Listen. It is I. This is the Lord speaking. Be
not afraid. That's what he told the children
of Israel there at the Red Sea. Be ye not stand still. Be not
afraid. Fear not. He spoke to Abraham
saying, fear not, I am with thee. In the book of Genesis, he told
Isaac the same thing. He said, fear not, I am with
thee. In Luke 12, there was a number
of people gathered together around our Lord, along with his disciples. And he spoke to them and he said
this, fear not, little flock. If we're his, we have no reason. We have no reason to fear. Fear
not, little flock. It's your father's good pleasure
to give you his kingdom. Well, back to our text. Here
in Matthew, look at verse 28. Peter answered him. He answered
the Lord and he said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto
thee on the water. Is there any doubt in our minds
that Peter was a believer? That Peter knew the Lord? Any
doubt that Peter was known of the Lord? Peter was one of God's
sheep, one of his sheep. And he addresses his master devoutly
here in this text. See that? He said, Lord. That's a name of reverence, isn't
it? Something had been done to Peter,
right? I mean, something had been wrought in his heart. A
change in character. He'd been given an obedient spirit.
He loved the Lord. But yet he still doubted. In
that one sentence, if, he said, Lord, and then he said, if it
be thou, if it be thou. Belief and unbelief right there
in the same phrase. Verse 29, and he said, the Lord
said, come. Come. That's a command. That's not
an invitation. That's a command. Consider who's speaking. That's
the Lord speaking. He said, come. Imagine when almighty
God created the heavens and the earth. He spoke it into creation. And here he says, God in human
flesh says to Peter, come. We read this, come unto me, all
ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Come to him. Come to the Lord
Jesus Christ. In another passage, we read this,
all that the Father hath given me shall what? Come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. You ever approach someone and
fear how they might respond to you? The Lord says, come unto me.
Come unto me, him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast
out. Back in Genesis 7, 1, the Lord
said to Noah, he said, come thou and all thy house into the ark,
for thee I have seen righteous. Now there's only one way Noah
could be seen righteous, and that's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We read that early on. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. What was his command to Noah?
Come. A place of rest, a place of safety,
a place of deliverance. Hebrews 7.25, wherefore he is
able to save them to the uttermost, that what? Come. That come unto God by him. Only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, do you still have Matthew
14? Look at verse, let's read on here. When Peter was come
down out of the ship, Again, the command, come. What did Peter
do? He came, didn't he? When he was come down out of
the ship, he came to Christ. Do you still have verse 29? And
he walked on the water to go to Jesus. For a brief moment,
Peter did something that no man could do. He walked on water. Is that possible? Is it possible
for a man to walk on water? I can remember as a kid, we'd
go to a lake somewhere along the river and me and my cousin,
we'd try that. We'd take off on the sand and
run as hard as we could and see what we could do when our feet
hit the water. You know what happened every time? They sank, right? Is it possible for a man to walk
on water? Let me ask you this, is it possible
for a lame man to stretch forth his hand? Can a blind man receive his sight? Can a leper, is that possible? Can a leper be healed? Let me ask you a tougher question.
Can a dead man live? A dead man lying in the grave,
can he live? You know all these are examples
of people in need, aren't they? Every last one of them. A blind
man needs his sight. A deaf man needs to be able to
hear. A dead man needs to be given life. Are you in need? Are you in need? Luke chapter 9. Turn to Luke 9. Look at verse 10, beginning with
verse 10 of Luke 9. And the apostles, when they were
returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them and
he went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the
city called Bethsaida. And the people, when they knew
it, they followed him. And he received them, they followed
him, he received them, and he spake unto them of the kingdom
of God, and he healed them that had need. He healed them that
had need of healing. Can a sinner, can a dead sinner
be given life? With the command. With the command
comes the power. With man, not one of these things
is possible. But with God, that's what scripture
declares. With God, all things, all things
are possible. Well, let's read on here, still
in Matthew 14. Verse 30, but when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid. And he began to
sink, and he cried, saying, Lord, save me. Peter looked away. Peter took
his eyes off Christ. Peter got taken up with everything
that was going on around him, and he was afraid. And he began
to sink. And he cried. And listen to these
three words. Lord, save me. Let me just quickly. I want to
give you just six brief points about this statement. And then
I'll sit down. Lord, save me. It was a brief prayer. What? Huh? Three words. Lord, save
me. I think sometimes we feel an
obligation when we go to our Lord in prayer to say a long
prayer. I was looking, in the scripture,
I read of the scribes and Pharisees who were known for their long
prayers. In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah
9, I won't have you turn there, but I believe it's one of the
longest recorded prayers in the Bible. Takes about five minutes. That's the longest one, about
five minutes to read that prayer. What about the publican's prayer?
How long did that take? God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Short, short. In James 5, we
read this, that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous
man availeth much. That's a prayer that is put up
with power, with life, a prayer from the heart put forth in love
and in opportunity. I'm in need. from a man whose faith is justified
and clothed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
how a man's righteous, that's how a woman's righteous, clothed
in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That prayer, God's
word says, avails much. It was a brief prayer, Lord,
save me. Second, it was direct and to
the point. Sometimes we ask for things and
we circle around several times before we just come out and ask
what we're asking for, don't we? I remember as a kid doing
that, like you want something, you're not really sure how to
ask for it, so you just talk and talk and talk and then you
finally just say, this is what I want. David said this when he sinned
with Bathsheba. He said, against thee and thee
only have I sinned and done this wickedness in your sight. Lord, save me. Third, just a few words, but there's
sound doctrine here. Peter's not talking about saving
himself, is he? No. Peter doesn't say, help me
save myself. He doesn't say, show me how to
save myself. He doesn't say, give me the strength
to save myself. He doesn't fall in the water
and start dog paddling as long as he could. What'd he do? No,
I have no confidence in myself. I have no hope in myself. Lord,
save me. Salvation from beginning to end
is all of him. Fourth, it's personal. Is it personal? What's he say
here? Lord, save who? Save me. Save me. Now, I would encourage
everyone in here, I hope you pray for me. I hope you pray
for one another, for your children, for our congregation, for our
community. But don't lose sight of this
request, Lord save me. Remember the thief on the cross?
Remember that one thief on the cross and all those around were
persecuting our Lord. They were mocking our Lord. They
were questioning who he was. They were blaspheming his name. What was that thief's cry? Remember
me. Remember me. I'm the sinner. He's the Savior. Save me. Fifth, it was an urgent
prayer. Pretty urgent prayer, wasn't
it? He began to sink. He's gonna
perish. Consider your condition. And I say that, I consider my
condition, right? Consider our need. We're without
Christ. Where were we found? Without
Christ. Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. Strangers from the
covenant of promise. Having no hope and without God
in this world. I ask you, would you perish in
your sin? Would you be like Felix of old? Is this urgent? What'd Felix say? In Acts 24. Turn there with me, Acts 24.
Acts 24 verse 24. And after certain days, when
Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for
Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he
reasoned of righteousness, temperance, judgment to come, Felix trembled. This shook him a little bit,
but look here, and he answered. Go thy way for this time. When
I have a convenient season, I'll call for thee. A convenient season. No sense
of urgency there for Felix, was there? Paul writing to the Corinthians,
he said this, I've heard thee in accepted time. In the day
of salvation have I succored thee. Behold, now, now is the
accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Oh, it was an urgent prayer,
wasn't it? Lord, save me. Sixth, it was a prayer to the
only one who could save him. Lord, Master, save me. You know, I just thinking, Peter was a, he was a seasoned
fisherman, right? I mean, these men were on that
ship, several of them, like, I mean, this wasn't their first
time out on the sea. Probably wasn't the first time
he'd fallen in the water. But on this occasion, there was only
one. There was only one to save him. You know, we began this message
reading some of Peter's misgivings and his imperfections. Those
are all just polite ways to say his sin, right? His doubts and fears, we read
about those, but you know those did not prevent him from crying
to the Lord. Lord, save me. Again, he didn't
cry out to the other disciples. He didn't cry out to anyone else.
He said, Lord, save me. In Isaiah 63, One, we read this. Who is he that
cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Basra, this that is glorious
in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength,
I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. The Lord is mighty to save. And then last, it was an effectual cry, wasn't it? Look at verse
31. What happened when Peter cried? Immediately. Immediately, Jesus
stretched forth his hand, and he caught him, and he said unto
him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" Can you imagine the relief that
Phil, he cried, and the Lord heard him, and he reached out,
and he took him by the hand, and he just pulled him up out
of the water. In verse 32, when they were coming
to the ship, the wind ceased. And they that were in the ship
came and worshiped him, saying, of a truth, thou art the Son
of God. You know, I had a dear friend
tell me this years ago. I'll say this and I'll close. He said, I believe this thing
of salvation comes down to about three things, about three things. Am I a sinner? Am I? Am I a sinner? Am I truly in
need? Was Peter in need? Peter's about
to drown, wasn't he? Peter was about to sink to the
depths of the ocean. Was he in need? Yes. Second,
did Christ come to save me? Did he? His word says this, he
came to save sinners. And I can take my place right
there. I'm a sinner. And then third,
is he my only hope? Is he my righteousness, huh? Peter didn't cry out to anyone
else, did he? Is there anyone else for us to
cry out to? I guess we could cry to anybody, but there's only
one we can cry to that can save. Lord, save me. If he's my hope, if he's all
my salvation, then I have no reason to fear. Lord, save me. All right, let's have a close.