Open your Bibles with me to Matthew
chapter 14. Matthew chapter 14. While you're turning there, let
me tell you again, we appreciate the opportunity to be with you
this morning. So thankful. It's so good to
hear that Brother Tom and Bridget are able to get away for a little
spell and not be for a doctor's appointment. So thankful that
he's feeling good enough to get away for a little bit. I know
he means a lot to this congregation, and he certainly means a lot
to us as well. Tom's always been faithful to
preach the gospel, boldly preach the gospel, and I just count
him as a dear friend and brother. Matthew 14. Look at verse, beginning with
verse 22. Here we read, and straightway,
Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go
before him and to the other side while he sent the multitudes
away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into
the mountain to pray. And when the evening was come,
he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst
of the sea. Toss was waves, for the wind
was contrary. 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 is a spirit. And they cried out for fear.
But straightway, Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good
cheer. Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. And Peter answered
him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on
the water. And 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. And immediately Jesus stretched
forth his hand and caught him and said unto him, O thou of
little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were
come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in
the ship came and worshiped him, saying of a truth, thou art the
son of God. And when I began looking at this
passage of scripture, one thing that immediately, immediately
stood out to me was God's sovereignty. God's sovereignty, His sovereignty
in Providence. You know, back there in the Old
Testament, Nebuchadnezzar, you remember old Nebuchadnezzar,
the scriptures declared that at the end of days, Nebuchadnezzar,
he lifted up his eyes unto heaven and he said, my understanding
returned unto me and I blessed the Most High. I praised and
honored him that liveth forever and ever, whose dominion is an
everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing. And he, he, not me, he doeth
according to his will in the army of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand. or saying
to him, what doest thou? You know Daniel, later on Daniel
told Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, he said, he's the God
in whom your breath is. We just took that in, right?
We'll let it out and we'll take in another breath by God's grace. It's in his hand. Your very breath,
the very next breath you take is in His hand. And our God orders
and directs all things according to the counsel of His own will. Look at verse 22 of our text
here. It says, Jesus constrained His
disciples to get into the ship. Everything in providence is constrained
by Him. It's ordered by Him. We know
this, we know that all things, we know all things work together
for good. Almighty God is sovereign in
all that He does, and He's sovereign in providence. He's sovereign
in creation. We read in verse 26, the disciples
saw Him walking on the sea. How's that possible? How's that
possible? And men have tried to study that
and try to figure out how's that possible? I'll tell you how it's
possible. It's His creation and He can
do with it. Whatever he wishes, right? It's his sea. Why couldn't he
walk on it? They saw him walking on the sea. He's sovereign in and over his
creation. He created the earth and the
heavens. He created the sun, the moon,
the stars. He created man in his own image.
And here in our text, we see him walking. walking on that
which he created. And the old writers say that
this, the distance, it wasn't like he was just there on the
seashore. This wasn't some kind of a trick.
He was, they say, five to seven miles away from the shoreline,
walking, walking on the sea. The third God is sovereign in
salvation. He's absolutely sovereign in
salvation. He chose to save some, but not
all. He constrained his disciples.
Did you see that? He constrained his disciples
to get into that ship. But what did he do with the multitude?
He sent them away. He sent him away. He constrained
his disciples to get into the ship. Almighty God gave Christ
to die for some, but not all. He sends his gospel to some,
but not all. Driving down here, I can't tell
you how many buildings we passed. Abbey and I were in a place down
around Lexington a month or so ago, and there were so many people
in that building that we drove by. They had hired the sheriff
deputies to direct traffic, and it just breaks your heart. He sends his gospel to some,
but you know, if we're true about it, why would he send it Why
would he send it to any? Oh, thank God that he would be
merciful to some, to some. He causes some to hear his voice,
but not all, not all. We have friends, we have family
that don't hear it, that don't hear his gospel, and it breaks
our heart, it breaks our heart. We read here in our text that
Jesus spake unto them. He spoke unto His disciples,
all whom He chose, all whom He redeemed by the blood of His
Son, all whom He justifies by His grace. All of them shall
be kept and delivered by the power of God, by the power of
His grace. Well, verse 22, Christ constrained
his disciples to get into the ship and to go to the other side. And if you look at verse 34,
skip ahead there, you'll see that when the disciples were
gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. Despite the
wind, Despite the waves, despite their doubts and their fears,
what he said he would do, he did, didn't he? He delivered
and he put them in the ship to go to the other side and they
went. And they were delivered there,
they were delivered there safely. God's sovereignty. God is absolutely
sovereign in providence, in creation, and in salvation. And with this
in mind, with this in mind, let's look at this passage of Scripture
this morning. Just these few verses here, let's
go verse by verse. Verse 22, again, straightway, straightway Jesus constrained
his disciples to get into the ship, and to go before him unto
the other side while he sent the multitudes away. He constrained
his disciples. You know, if we have to be constrained
to do something, we're being made to do something we don't
necessarily want to do, right? He constrained them. This should
be a pretty clear picture of our sinful nature. How often are we constrained? Are we constrained? Turn to Romans
chapter seven. Romans chapter seven. Look beginning with verse 14. Here we read in Romans 7 verse
14, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I, I'm carnal,
I'm sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow
not. For what I would, that do I not,
and what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then, it is no
more I that do it, but it's sin that dwelleth in me." Thank God. Thank God. His people shall be made willing
in the day of His power. Turn back to our text here. He constrained His disciples.
Again, He constrained His disciples to get into the ship. Not everyone,
but His disciples, His sheep. Just as He did Noah and his family. Remember that? The Lord said
unto Noah, He said, Come thou and all thy house into the ark,
for thee for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation."
And not only did he put him in there, we read that he shut him. He shut him in the ark. He said,
get in the ship, and God closed the door. Over in Acts 27, remember
Paul's on that perilous voyage, him and those prisoners, and God sent that angel and he said,
he said, I've given, you're going to be delivered. You and everybody
sailing, everybody's sailing with you. And Paul said, he said,
I believe God. I believe God. It'll be just
as he told me it was. And there were those, somewhere
during that voyage, the guards, they were going to let down a
few people out of the boat, I guess a little life raft or something.
And Paul stopped them. Remember that? And he said, except
you abide in the ship, you cannot be saved. Throughout the scriptures,
one place, one place of safety. That's in Christ, in Christ alone. Get in the ship, get in the ark,
abide in the ship, rest in Christ, in Christ alone. Now look at
verse 23 back here in our text. And when he had sent the multitudes
away, he went up into the mountain to pray, And when the evening
was come, he was there alone, but the ship was now in the midst
of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary." I
believe we see here a description of often the believer's life. You know, it's one of trouble
and tribulation. Tossed. Tossed with the waves. Tossed with the waves for the
wind was contrary. You know, we've had, me and Abby
and the boys, we've had opportunity to go to the beach a few times
over the years. And you know, sometimes you go
there and the ocean is surprisingly calm. You know, there's just
a small wave just kind of trickling in. And then there's other times
you go and boy, those big waves just come and just crash, crash
on you. And you can't even hardly, you
can't even hardly walk out into the water. And it's just, it's
just continual, continual. And trouble, tribulation, and it
just comes and it comes and it comes. And in this world, we're told
that, aren't we? In this world, you'll have tribulation. We're gonna have trouble, times
of trouble. And read on, look at verse 25.
In the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking
on the sea. Now here they are out there in
the seas, the seas troubled, they're troubled. And the Lord
Jesus Christ comes to him in the fourth watch of the night.
I read that that's about 3 a.m., about 3 a.m. in the morning.
And the Lord Jesus Christ comes to his people. You ever been
up late at night, just troubled, just troubled? He knows our trouble. He sends those. He sends those
for us. In the Lord Jesus Christ, he
comes to his people. He comes to his disciples out
there in the water. David wrote in the Psalms, Behold,
he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. He's with his people, whether
we realize it or not, he's always with us. How often? How often do we need to be reminded
that He'll never leave us? He'll never leave us, nor forsake
us. We're like the, we read about
the children of Israel. Remember, the children of Israel,
how often, how often did the Lord deliver them? How many times
did He provide for their needs over and over again? You know,
He provided that manna, and He gave them water, and He gave
them meat to eat, and He put them in houses they didn't build,
and gave them, you know, fruit from a garden that they didn't
plant. and the least bit of trouble, the least bit of trouble come
up, and they were just like, why'd you bring us out here in
the desert, to kill us? Isn't that how we often respond
to trouble and trial? But He's ever with us. Verse 26, and when the disciples
saw Him walking on the sea, They were troubled and they said it's
a spirit and they cried out for fear. Just a few things to consider
here and I'll say this encouraged me because in spite of God's
mercy, in spite of His blessing, in spite of His grace, how often
Again, am I troubled? How often do I doubt? How often
do I have fears? Turn back a few pages here. Look at Matthew 14 and verse
15. Matthew 14, verse 15. When it
was evening, his disciples came to him saying, this is a desert
place. The time is now past. Send the multitude away that
we may go into the village and buy themselves victuals." But
Jesus said unto them, they need not depart. Give ye them to eat. And they said unto him, we have
here but five loaves and two fishes. And he said, bring them
hither to me. And he commanded the multitude
to sit down on the grass and he took the five loaves and the
two fishes and looking up to heaven, he blessed and break
and gave loaves to his disciples and disciples to the multitude
and they did all eat and they were filled. This wasn't one
of those occasions like, sometimes we have company over and Abby
will make a big mess of something to eat and we'll tell the boys,
go easy, because there may not be enough for everybody, right?
Let everybody else. That's not what happened here.
All these people ate and they were filled. And they took up
the fragments that remained, 12 baskets full, and when they
had eaten, there were about 5,000 men beside the women and the
children. Earlier that evening, okay, here
they are out on the sea and the waves hit and they're troubled,
okay? Earlier in that day, earlier
in that day, the Lord had taken five loaves and two fishes and
he'd fed 5,000 men and that didn't count the women and the children
that were there. And on top of that, there were
12 baskets of leftovers. They had seen that. They had
seen that with their very eyes. They had just seen this miracle.
And yet now we read that when this storm came, they were troubled. That encourages me. That encourages
me because I think of what the Lord's been pleased to let us
see, yet we steal. How quickly, when trouble comes,
it just knocks us to our feet, doesn't it? Knocks us off our
feet. Well, turn to Matthew 8. Turn to Matthew chapter 8. This wasn't the first time they'd
been out on the sea either, was it? These were fishermen. Look at verse 23 of Matthew 8. It says, when he was entered
into the ship, his disciples followed him, verse 23, and behold,
there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship
was covered with waves. But he, the Lord Jesus Christ,
was asleep. And his disciples came to him,
and they woke him and said, Lord, save us. or we perish. And he said unto them, why are
you so fearful? Why are you so fearful? O ye
of little faith. And he arose, and he rebuked
the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. But the men
marveled, saying, what manner of man is this, that even the
winds and the sea obey him? The disciples had followed the
Lord into a ship, that great storm arose, and they went and
they woke our Lord up, and they said, save us, save us or we
will perish. In Mark's account, we read they
said this, carest thou not, carest thou not that we perish? Lord,
don't you, don't you care, don't you care? And these are just a couple things,
a couple things that they had saw. He had fed those 5,000.
He had calmed the sea. And now, again, they're afraid. They're afraid. Can we relate
to his disciples? You know, whether or not we would
stand out publicly and say, Lord, don't you care? How many times
has that thought entered into our hearts when trouble comes? And listen, think about this. Who put them in that ship to
begin with? Huh? The Lord constrained them.
He said, get in the ship, get in the ship. And back in verse
22, we read that. Jesus constrained his disciples
to get in the ship and go before him to the other side. What he
promised to do, his promises, you know, we make a promise and
say I'm going to do this or that and boy, it falls through, doesn't
it? But when the Lord makes a promise,
it's as good, it is done, right? It's complete. Well, but in spite
of their fears, in spite of their doubts, look at verse Verse 27,
back in our text, Matthew 14, verse 27. He says three things here, listen. He spake unto them, and I believe
He spoke these things in love. I believe He spoke them in pity. I believe He spoke them in grace
and gentleness. And He says this, He said, Be
of good cheer. Be of good cheer. How can I be
of good cheer? Lord, this storm's approaching.
Be of good cheer. It is I. It is I. Be not afraid. Be not afraid. You know, no doubt,
they had heard him, right? Up to this point, we read, they
were troubled. They were troubled, and they
cried out for fear. Are you troubled? Am I troubled? Do I have fears? Do I have doubts?
What did they do? They cried unto the Lord. They cried unto Him. Isaiah 59,
just listen. Behold, the Lord's hand is not
shortened that it cannot save. Neither is His ear heavy that
it cannot hear. Think about that. He hears the
cry of his people, and he spake unto them. He spake unto them. When they saw him, they cried
out with fear, but straightway he spoke unto him. You know,
I don't know who wrote this, but faith doesn't come by seeing,
does it? When they saw him, they cried
out with fear. Faith comes by hearing. and hearing by the word
of God. Christ spake unto them. John 10, 27, we read this, my
sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me
and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My father which gave them me
is greater than and no man is able to pluck them out of my
father's hand. He spake unto them." And listen, he speaks
peace. He says, be of good cheer. Be
of good cheer. Three other times, our Lord uses
this phrase, be of good cheer. Turn with me to a few of them
here. Turn to Matthew chapter nine. Just back a few pages,
Matthew chapter nine. Look at verse one and two. He entered into a ship and passed
over, came into his own city, and behold, they brought him
a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed, and Jesus, seeing their
faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer. How can I be of good cheer? Thy
sins be forgiven thee. Be of good cheer. Be of good
cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee, that you may know that the Son
of Man has power over sin. Turn to Matthew 9, verse 20. Matthew 9, this next page of
verse 20, Verse 20, Behold, a woman which
was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind
him, touched the hem of his garment. For she said within herself,
If I may touch his garment, I shall be whole. Jesus turned about,
and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort,
be of good cheer. For thy faith hath made thee
whole. And the woman was made whole
that very hour. Then again, look at John chapter
16. I'll just read it to you. John
16 verse 33. These things have I spoken unto
you that in me you might have peace. In the world, in this
world, you're going to have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I, who the Lord Jesus Christ,
I have overcome the world. Be of good cheer. Be of good
cheer. And then he says this, he says,
it is I. It is I. He reveals himself to
them. He makes himself known unto them. Just like Joseph revealed, remember
Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. He said, you did all
this for evil. God meant it for good. He revealed. Imagine the fear that fell in
their hearts when they figured out this is the man that we did
all these things to. It is I. It is I. Your Master. It's I. Your Master. Your Savior. Your Redeemer. the one who is able to save and
the one who came for that very purpose. And some translate this
it is I to I am, I am, which speaks of our Lord's eternal
existence. Christ is the everlasting I am,
the eternal God, which is, which was, and is to come. Be of good
cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. In Isaiah 43, we read this. We read, thus saith the Lord
God that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not, fear not, be not afraid, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name.
Thou art mine. and when thou passest through
the waters, I'll be with thee, and the rivers, they shall not
overflow thee. And when you walk through the
fire, when you walk through the fire, I couldn't help but think
of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. There they were in that fiery
furnace, and they saw a fourth one in there, didn't they? Like
into the, like all the way back there in the Old Testament. Like
as into the Son of Man. And what we read about them,
when they brought them out of there, The smell of smoke wasn't
even on him. Y'all been around a brush fire
or a bonfire. You can't go around fire without
getting that smell of smoke on you. Huh? It's taken away. Just like our sin. Taken away. How is it that sin
can't be found on his people? Huh? He's taken it away. He suffered
and died in the place of his people. When you walk through
the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel. I'm thy Savior, he said. Jesus spake unto them, be of
good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. Let's read on in our text. Look
at verse 28. Matthew 14, and Peter answered him and said,
Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he
said, come. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke unto
Peter and he said, come. Now, I don't know how folks,
they mistake the Lord's call as an invitation. We know how
they do, right? Because then it puts it in the
hands of man, huh? What did he say? He said, come,
come. No man can come unto me except
the Father which hath sent me draw him. No man can come unto
me except it were given to him my Father. And it's a command
that must be, must be obeyed. All that the Father giveth me
shall what? Shall come to me. I won't cast
out one of them. I will in no wise cast them out. Look at verse, you're close there,
Matthew 15, verse 20, 21. Jesus went and departed into
the coast of Tyre and Sidon, and behold, a woman of Cain came
out to him, the same coast, and cried unto him and said, Lord,
have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David. My daughter is
grievously vexed with the devil, but he answered her not a word.
And his disciples came and said, Send her away, send her away. For she crieth after us. But
he answered and said, I'm not sent but to the lost sheep of
Israel. And she came, and she worshipped him, saying, Lord,
help me. But he answered and said, it's
not meat for me to take the children's bread and cast it to the dog.
You're a dog. You're a dog. How did she reply to that? Huh? Truth. Truth. truth. Yet the dogs, they eat
the crumbs that fall from the master's table. And Jesus answered
and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee,
even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
that very hour." Huh? Come. Keep coming. Keep coming. Come to Him. Come to Christ.
He commanded. He said, come unto me. Come unto
me." Well, verse 29, 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 to look to anything or
anyone apart from Christ. We should be overcome with fear,
shouldn't we? To look at anyone. or anything apart from the Lord
Jesus Christ. There's no hope. There's no hope
in any other. He began to sink and he cried.
And listen to this. Listen to his cry. You know,
I flip through the radio when I'm traveling sometimes and I'll
hear this sinner's prayer. I believe if there was ever such
thing as a sinner's prayer, here it is right here, I'm not bringing anything to
the, I'm sinking, right? Lord, save me. Here I'm wallowing in my sin,
and if I'm left to it, I'll die. Lord, save me. Otherwise, otherwise,
I'll perish. I have no hope. I have no hope
but you. Huh? There's no other name given
among men whereby we must be saved. Lord, save me. Save me. I ask you these questions
this morning. Am I a sinner? Huh? Am I a sinner? Did Christ, did Christ, He's
my Savior. Did He die for me? Is He my only
hope? I have no righteousness. I have
no sin offering of my own. He is my only, only hope." Peter
cried out. I think that was a cry of desperation. Wouldn't you think so? Out there
in the water, it's dark, it's raining, the storm, huh? You know, he didn't think about
this. I was thinking, he didn't cry
to the other disciples. One of you fellas help me out
here." He didn't make that cry to himself. He didn't say, you
know what, if I can get this wet robe off, maybe I can start
swimming to the boat. The disciples didn't holler at
him and say, Peter, roll up your sleeves and do this, huh? You take the first couple strokes
and we'll get you in the boat. Throw me a life preserver. Foolishness,
right? He said, Lord, save me. Save me. Without you, without
him, I'll perish. I am sure to perish. And look at verse 31. Oh, I love
this. Verse 31. Immediately. You see that? Immediately. I remember Henry
saying one time, they didn't put him on probation. Immediately. Immediately. Huh? What did the
old songwriter say? He said, the vilest offender
who truly believes, that moment, that very moment of pardon. from
Jesus received. And Jesus stretched forth His
hand. Stretched forth His hand. Remember
what Abigail told David? She said, you're bound up. Bound
up in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God. Reached out,
caught Him. Stretched forth His hand. He
laid hold. He laid hold of him, didn't he?
Christ laid hold of him. Stretched forth his hand and
he caught him. Pulled him out of the deep miry
clay. He plucked him like that firebrand
out of the fire. Pulled him out. Pulled him out.
John 10, 27, my sheep, my sheep hear my voice, I know them, they
follow me, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Even Peter, even Peter. Now,
just what little we know about Peter. What are some things we
know about Peter? Peter is later going to deny the Lord three
times, right? Peter's going to, when the Lord's
crucified, what did Peter do? He went back to his old job.
He was going to go back to his old way of life, go back to fishing. And what'd the Lord do for him?
Hmm? Reached out. Brought him to himself. Saved him. Saved him. Imagine. Imagine what could be
said about any of us. Huh? And yet the Lord is pleased
to save his people. O thou of little faith, wherefore
didst thou doubt? Lord, I believe. Help thou mine
unbelief. And when they came into the ship,
look at verse 32 there. When they came into the ship,
then they that were in the ship came and worshiped him. The wind, that wind ceased, And
they came and worshipped Him, saying of a truth, Thou art the
Son of God. They worshipped Him. They worshipped
Him as the Son of God. And look back at verse 27. We'll
close with this. Be of good cheer. It is I. It is I. Think about this. It
is I. that put you in the ship, huh? He put him in the ship, didn't
he? He constrained him to get in the ship. It is I that am
with you, huh? He'll never leave nor forsake
his people. It is I that, Peter, it's I that
saved you, huh? By his death, burial, and resurrection. It's I that keep you, continually
keep you, seated at the right hand of God. It is I that you
worship. They worshipped Him, didn't they?
Huh? They worshipped Him as the Son of God. And you notice He
didn't correct them for that, did He? Huh? Because He is the
Son of God. He's God in human flesh. It is
I that will deliver you. Huh? He delivered everlast one
of them, didn't He? Huh? Now unto Him. Unto Him that
is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless,
faultless, not in front of your grandparents, faultless in the
presence of God, with exceeding joy, exceeding
joy. Be of good cheer. Be of good
cheer. It is I. So be not, be not afraid. Don't you know, for a brief moment,
for a brief moment when they got off that ship, but we've
got to continually be comforted, don't we? We've got to continually
come and hear and be reminded of these things. Be of good cheer. It is I. So be not afraid. All right.