All right. Good evening. Take your Bibles, Matthew chapter number 14. Matthew chapter 14. I'd like to echo what Brother Daniel's announced concerning pastor's birthday. Again, this year is a little bit different. We usually try to give money towards one large gift. And this year it's a card shower. You should have received a letter that's got a list of places you could get gift cards to, or you're obviously welcome to put cash in a card, but it kind of opens an opportunity for you to be able to write your own birthday wishes in your own card. I hope you'll take part in that. and do that. If you'd like to give anonymously, you can give to one of the deacons or put it in a offering envelope and Churchill will make sure he gets it. But again, take part in that as you can. That'll be next Wednesday evening, as Brother Daniels had mentioned. You know, so Pastor, last Wednesday night, went over how to make a happy husband. Of course, he's talked about that almost every service since then. Then he was supposed to go over how to make a happy wife. Of course, he asked me to preach tonight, so I thought I should help him out and I should go over these things. Then the more I got to thinking about how to make a happy wife, that's impossible. And so about time when you have that, you think you've got that figured out, they change their mind. And so I'm going to forego and just pass on over that. And you can fill in the blanks on your own sheet of paper for that tonight. So anyhow, I'm looking forward to going to Africa. I've never been there. I've got two brothers there, of course. And it's Lord willing, if I pass my COVID test, right? Ashley and I are supposed to go, and so I'm looking forward to that. But Joy's making all the arrangements for the trip, and one of our flights is in Africa from one place to the next, from where David is to where Ben is, and it's a charter flight. And so they're asking for everybody's weight so they know how much fuel to put in the airplane. So I told them I weigh 1,000 pounds because I don't want to run out of fuel. But maybe it's not too far off from that, huh? But anyhow, but now I'm looking forward to it and looking forward to the trip. And hopefully I'll survive with less air conditioning than I'm used to in the United States, right? So anyhow, looking forward to being over there. Matthew chapter number 14, the thought tonight I think will be a help and it will be a help to you, Lord. The Lord has this for us tonight, but a simple thought. And I know I say that, I think I say that every time I preach, but the word of God is full of just simple thoughts. And I do believe it'll be a help to you. Matthew chapter number 14. By way of introduction, before we even jump into this tonight, I want you to think with me just for a little bit tonight about the effect on your life of knowing Christ. Now let me explain that a little further. I wanna think about your own life, not just the fact that someday, because you know Christ, that you'll be able to be in heaven forever and your eternity is forever, but in this life, while you're here on earth. I want you to think about how knowing Christ has affected your life, because it should affect us. It should affect our decisions. It should affect our words. It should affect how we raise our family. It should affect how we interact with the lost. And I think sometimes we forget, think about this, we forget how, I'm gonna use the word blessed, we are, that we know Christ. No, I was doing just a little bit and there's, I know statistics are just statistics and they're not hard fact numbers necessarily, but I was just doing a little bit of research. There's approximately somewhere around eight billion people in the world. I can't, my mind doesn't even wrap around the number eight billion. I can't imagine that. There's nothing that I know of that I can relate, but that's how many people, or at least approximate number of people they say are on the globe. out of eight, over eight billion people, around eight billion people, over three billion people they say are unreached people, meaning they don't know at all about Jesus Christ. Meaning, when they say unreached, it's not only do they not know about Christ, but in human thinking or terms, they almost don't have any way to know about Christ. In other words, they don't have a Bible, they don't have churches or people in their area or their language to give the gospel to them. Now church, when you think about eight billion people on our globe, and over three billion don't know Christ. Don't know anything. I realize God gives the knowledge of God or the knowledge that God even expresses through creation to mankind about himself. I understand they have that. But the gospel like you and I know it, how that Jesus came to earth, died on a cross to pay for my sins, over three billion people never heard that. And then I think, that God allowed me to be one of the people to hear the gospel. I'm blessed. And church family, sometimes we in our life forget that, and our life does not reflect somebody that knows who Christ is. Sometimes our life is so focused on the here and now, the short little bit of time that we have on this earth, that we forget I am blessed beyond what I could describe just because I know the creator. I know Jesus. I know the story of the gospel God allowed me to be born in a home where I had parents who knew the gospel and Gave the gospel to me and each one of our stories are different but for each one of you you could go back no doubt to some human instrument that God used that either gave you a gospel tract or Witness to you at your door or invited you to church or maybe it was in like it in my case where a parent or that gave you the gospel or a Sunday school teacher, an instrument, a person that God used to ultimately give you what we have in this book, which is simply that Jesus Christ died for your sin and that you can know Him. sometimes we forget how blessed we are. Now I want you to think about this story tonight, because the story is very, very familiar. We would say this is the story of how, you might say that the story of Peter walking on the water, or Jesus walking on the water, they both did in this story here. That's not the part of the story that I want to focus on, although we'll read that here tonight. But I want you to think about your life, and particularly if you want to put down a title, because you know Christ. And I want to look at this together. Let's go ahead and pray, and then we'll read these verses here this evening. Ask God to speak to you as I pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we are, Lord, once again, grateful to be here. Lord, grateful to have your word. And Lord, as we've already discussed tonight, Lord, we're grateful that we were able to get the gospel. and Lord, that we're able to know you. Not only just to have a home in heaven, but Lord, to be able to have a relationship with you, to be able to have a book that we hold in our hand called the Bible, and Lord, to be able to, Lord, know who you are and know that you died for our sin. Lord, thank you so much. Forgive us where we take it for granted. Lord, tonight, as we look at this passage, Lord, help us to be able to take the truths here tonight and apply them to our lives, and Lord, help us to live lives that are pleasing to you, lives that reflect Someone who knows the master Lord help us tonight in this message in Jesus name man Matthew chapter 14 The early part of the chapter or I should I say the middle of the chapter there verses 15 through 21 Very familiar passage there also where Jesus feeds the 5,000 when that's finished we pick up in verse number 22 This is our text for tonight Bible says this and straightway so as soon as the the 5,000 were fed and they'd eaten and Straightway in verse 22, Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and go before him unto the other side while he sent the multitudes away. Now, church family, as I say almost every time I preach from the story, put yourself in the story tonight and let's walk through it because it's gonna help you see the truth that we have tonight. So Jesus immediately, as soon as the 5,000 are fed, he puts his disciples, he's constrained, he says, hey, listen, get in the ship, Go before me to the other side. I think it's every indication that he's gonna meet them over there I want you to get a head start I'm gonna send the multitudes away pick up the next verse the Bible says this 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 now think church family about the timeline of what's happening and The 5,000 were just fed, he put the disciples on a ship, sends them to the other side, he goes up into a mountain, and the Bible says it's evening time, he's there alone, he's praying. Pick up the next verse, the Bible says this, verse 24, but the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with the waves for the wind Contrary the Bible doesn't describe it as necessarily a thunderstorm of lightning But it describes it as being very windy The waves are high and it describes it as the boat being tossed back and forth So imagine you're one of the disciples you're in this boat. You've been sent ahead Jesus is not with you and you're I don't know how to describe it and just I'm not trying to add to the scripture, but you're hanging on for dear life you're trying to get to the other side and Your boat's being tossed around look in the next verse the Bible says in verse 25 and in the fourth watch of the night Now again in thinking about the timeline in the evening is when Jesus sends him out Jesus is in the mountain alone praying in the fourth watch of the night would be between 3 and 6 in the morning It's dark They've been out here all night long They are no doubt wore out. They're tired. They're probably fearful because of the windstorm or whatever you would say. They're in this ship. It's in the wee-wee hours of the morning. And look at what happens. The Bible says this, and in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking on the sea. So church family, imagine tonight, you're one of the disciples. You're in the ship. It's 3, 4 o'clock in the morning. You've been out here all night. The ship is being tossed back and forth. It's dark. You don't have electricity and all the nice things on a ship that you would have today. And you look out, and somebody is walking across the water. Now, I don't know about you, but I think my reaction would probably be the same as their reaction was. They looked out, and look what the Bible says in this verse here. And it says, verse 26, and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirit. And they cried out for fear. Now, I don't know from this passage, at this point in time, it would indicate that, I don't know, because of the darkness or the distance or just because of the fact that it's a form of a person walking on the water, it would indicate that they couldn't tell that it was Jesus. It's just somebody walking on the water. It's dark. There's big waves. I can't imagine what would have gone through their mind, but I would imagine them being fearful. I don't know about you, but you probably can think back to a time, maybe in your childhood, where something just scared you. This is where the disciples were. I remember as a kid, my bedroom was upstairs. The next boy younger than me is my brother Ben. He's six years younger than me. So my early childhood days, I had my own bedroom for quite a while. I remember one Christmas, I don't know who it was, somebody gave one of us kids a little fake bear rug. Okay, so it's a little silhouette of a bear skin and it had a little bear head attached to it, like you would see a bear hide on a wall with the bear's head attached to it and the bear hide, okay, this thing was only about this long, it was all fake, but it had a teddy bear head that went in, it had the silhouette of a bear hide, it was like a little mat, little rug, little whatever. In my bedroom across the room there was a little desk, a little school desk, like you would have in the school over here where it's the desk and the chair is all one together. Somebody, maybe it was me, I have no idea, took that bear skin with a little head on it and laid it on top of that desk and it was sitting there on the desk facing to where my bed was. Now I was probably, I don't know, six, seven years old, I don't know how old I was. I went to bed that night, lights are off, bedroom doors cracked open just a little bit, there's a light in the hallway shining in, and I'm laying there in bed and I look over. And I can see what looks like somebody sitting at this desk in my bedroom like this. Their beady little eyes looking at me. And I don't know if you've ever remembered a time as a kid or something like that. All of you have a story that's similar to what I'm telling you, OK? I don't know if you remember it. I was so scared I didn't want to move because I was afraid he would see me. I didn't want to, you know, I wanted to call out, mom, dad, but I didn't want him to hear me. So I'm laying there, I'm just laying there just stiff. What am I going to do? What am I going to do? And I remember I finally got up enough nerve, and I'm like, I'm getting out of here. Threw the blankets off, ran for the door. Now, common sense would say, turn the light on and see what's in here. No. Out the door, down the hallway, downstairs, mom and dad, somebody's in my bedroom. Of course, they're, OK. Nobody's in your bedroom. No, they're sitting at my desk. No, nobody's in your bedroom. I'm like, I'm not going back up there. Now, I don't know. Mom, do you remember the story, Mom? Mom does not remember this, all right? I'm scared to death. I don't remember if it was Mom or Dad finally said, all right, we'll go back up there with you. So we go back up, and I'm with them. I think it was Dad, but I don't remember who it was. And they reached in the bedroom door and turned the light on. And there it was, our little bearskin rug. And I felt like about that big. OK, there's nobody in our room. But I was scared. I could see the silhouette, but I couldn't see what it was. Now, some of you, that happens in adult life for you, OK? Your spouse has to come turn the light on and say, there's no monsters in the room. But for me, that was when I was six and seven years old, all right? So I can imagine for the disciples, these are grown men adults. You're in the middle of the sea, and somebody is walking out there. And you think, this is crazy. Nobody walks on water. And you cry out. It's a spirit. Who's going to come and save you? I mean, you're in the middle of nowhere. This thing is coming at you. It's interesting, as soon as that happens, the very next verse says this, but straightway, Jesus spake unto them, saying, look what he says, be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. Now, I imagine in my mind that all of a sudden, the wheels in their mind are turning. First, they're scared to death of this whatever it is walking across the sea to them. Now it speaks to them and I'm no doubt that they recognize the voice This is Jesus And look what look what happens next first number 28. The Bible says this and Peter answered him and said Read read these next five words with me Lord if it be thou Jesus says hey guys be a good cheer. It's I don't be afraid and They're crying out, they think it's a spirit. And Peter says this, he says, Lord, if it be thou, you could imagine, it's like he's throwing out his fleece. Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And Jesus answers back with one word. Jesus says this, the next verse, and he said what? Come. Church family, Peter wasn't asking that. just to identify if this was Christ. Because if that was the case, he wouldn't have got out of the boat. Peter was saying, Jesus, if this is you, all you gotta do is say the word, I'll do whatever you need me to do. All you gotta do is say, come, and I'll get out of this boat in these waves and in this wind, and I'll come to you. Church, I want you to think about the thought tonight. It's gonna be very, very, very quick tonight. I want you to think about this. Because you know Christ, we're gonna look at three things in this passage, and this is the first of the three. Because you know Christ, what ought to be evident in your life and my life as a Christian? It ought to be surrender and obedience. Here's Peter, the wind's blowing, it's dark, they're scared, they're on a boat, this form is walking towards them, they're crying out thinking it's a spirit, then they hear Christ say, hey, don't be afraid, it's me. Peter says, hey, Jesus, if this is you, you just give the word, I'll come. Can I ask you in your life, Because you know Christ, are you surrendered? Are you willing to obey? Are you willing to say, Christ, whatever you want from my life, because I know you, because you're God, because I'm, if you want to say privileged enough to have been given the gospel, blessed by God, because I know you. You just give the word, I'll do whatever. How come is it in our life, here are these disciples, they're out in the middle of the dark. They're in a storm. And Peter's willing to say, as long as I know it's you, I'll do whatever you say. And yet us as Christians, who know who Jesus is, who've experienced a relationship with Christ, who have a book, full of His will for our life, we want to look at life sometimes and say, well, I don't want to do that part. And God, I'll give you this part of my life, and I'll do whatever you say as long as it meets my expectations. But we won't simply say, my life is yours. Now, church family, I realize the idea of surrendering to God is not really a one-time thing. If you were to ask me, I could go back to when I was 15 years old. I remember the very service, a Sunday night, for whatever reason, that night, our family was sitting on the back row. There was a missionary speaking, and God dealt with me, and that was the night that I said, God, you can have whatever you want of my life. I'll do whatever you want me to do. Whatever I have is yours. But I understand, at 37 years old, that there's been many more times in my life when I had to do that. Surrender is not a one time I do this and then I'm good for the rest. There is continually in my life that I have to stop and say, Lord, I'm sorry. I'm willing to do whatever you tell me the way. Can I ask you, church family, since you know Christ, do you obey? Are you surrendered? Is there a part of your life that says, Jesus, I'll do whatever you want me to do except get out of this boat, because getting out of this boat is going to put me in danger of dying. Jesus, I'll do whatever you want me to do so long as you get close enough where I can see and I can make sure that this is you. That's not what Peter said. Peter said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me to come. I'm willing to do whatever. Church family, can I ask you tonight, because you know Christ, are you willing to be obedient? There are so many Bible stories of people who came to Christ or came to the knowledge of God and realized in the Old Testament, realized who the God of Israel was. I think about, I think about Naaman. And you think about how when he came to be healed of leprosy and how he goes away in a rage and he's mad and his servants, they convince him to go ahead and dip in the Jordan River seven times. And he's still not a believer, but he said, okay, I'll do it. If this is what it takes, I'll do it. And you remember when he was healed of leprosy. He came up out of there, and you remember what he said? He said, hey, now I know. What? That there is no other God other than in Israel. He became a believer. And you remember one of the next things that he says is, hey, the Lord pardon me when I'm in the house of Rimon with my master, when I take him in there as a servant, that I know that the house of Rimon, the false god, I know that that's not right. but I'm only worshiping you and I only believe in you. Do you remember how concerned his mind was that he was being obedient to the true God? And how many times do we go through life, we know who Jesus is, we know who God is, we have his book, we know it's the perfect infallible word of God, and yet we go through life and we wanna pick and choose when we wanna be surrendered or when we wanna obey. I want you to look at the second thing in this passage, just quickly, a quick thought here tonight. I want you to see this. The Bible says this, that Peter, verse number 29, that Jesus says, come, and Peter come down out of the ship and walked on the water to go to Jesus. Verse number 30, and when he saw the wind boisterous, The Bible says 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? Now, I realize that some people would want to throw stones at Peter because Peter doubted and he began to sink and he cried to cry out to the Lord. But church family, he's the only one that got out of the boat. And you think about the fact Jesus looked at Peter, and yes, Jesus said, O thou of little faith. But in perspective, what's that say about the faith of the rest of the people in the boat? And if Peter's faith, church, let me just think with you. If Peter's faith to get out of a boat and walk to Jesus, even though he faltered, and Jesus says that was little, what does that say about our faith? in God. I really think that Peter is an example to us in this passage, but verse number 32 the Bible says, The wind ceased. Now, church family, go back to the story in your mind and imagine being one of the other disciples in the ship. Imagine being out there when it's dark. Imagine seeing this form coming towards you and being afraid and then hearing Jesus speak and say, you know, be of good cheer, it's I, be not afraid. And imagine one of your own, Peter, that says, hey, if it be thou bid me to come on the water. And you're watching this take place and you're seeing Peter gets out and you see him walk on the water. And then you see Peter and Jesus come to the boat and get in the boat. And then after being out there all night in the wind and the waves, all of a sudden it's calm. Look what they said. The Bible says this in the next verse, it says this, then verse 33, then they that were in the ship came, look what it says, and worshiped him saying, look at this, what they said, of a truth. Thou art the Son of God. They said, Jesus, you're not only the one that multiplied the bread and the fishes a while ago, you're not only the one that heals people, you're the Son of God. And because you're the Son of God, and because we understand and know and believe, we're gonna worship you. Church family, is it hard for you to worship God? Do you feel like that you have to drum something up spiritually inside to worship God? Now I realize when we talk about, I don't really have to explain the word worship. I think you understand that the definition, description is like a dog coming and licking his master's hand. Do you sometimes in your mind feel like that you have to have a feeling to worship? Church family, is it not because we forget who we're worshiping and we forget what He's already done for us? Boy, you think about who Jesus is, and you think about the fact that He saved your soul, and you think about the fact that all the things that He does for you every day, is it not easy for us to worship Him, to humble myself and to exalt Him and to lift Him up. And I understand the Bible talks about worshiping God in spirit and truth, being the Word of God and in prayer. Is it not easy for us as Christians to do that when we consider who He is? Can you ask you tonight, as a Christian, because you know God, because you know Christ, is it easy for you to worship? Is it easy for you just to say, hey, listen, Christ, you're above everything and everyone, and I want you to know that, and I wanna worship you. One last thing in this passage tonight I wanna point out. The ship, the wind ceases, verse number 34, the Bible says, and when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. Verse 35 says, and when the men of that place, and we're not talking about the men in the ship, we're talking about the men of this place called Gennesaret, says when they had knowledge of him, look what the Bible says they did, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased, and besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment, and as many as touched were made perfectly whole." Now, church family, put yourself in the story again. You're in the ship. You get to this place called Gennesaret. The sea is calm. You get out of the ship. And people in this place begin to find out that it's Jesus that's here, the one who heals people, the one who does miracles. And the men of that place said, hey, Because we know Jesus is here, because we know who he is, we're gonna go get everyone that's sick and everyone that has a physical infirmity and we're gonna bring them. And then they brought them there and besought Christ if they could only just touch the hem of his garment. And church family, as many people as touched Christ's garment, the Bible said were made completely whole. I can't imagine what it must have been for lame people who made their way through the crowd and maybe somebody helped them. The men of that place, maybe they were helping people get to Jesus. And as soon as they could touch his garment, all of a sudden they could walk. And the blind person that couldn't see, as soon as they could get to Christ, they were healed. Do you know what the knowledge that Jesus was there and who he was did for those men of that place? It caused them to go tell somebody else. Well, church family, it's not hard to make the application for us. You and I know who Christ is. You and I have met Christ. You and I could go back to a time, a date, and a place when you made Christ your own. And yet many times we go through this life, and even though we know the one that could fix every problem that this lost world has, we don't tell them, we don't bring them to church, we don't witness, we don't do our part in just simply spreading the Word. Can I ask you tonight, because you know Christ, do you tell anybody else? Church family, I don't I think I would speak for every other person that ever preaches in this pulpit. Sometimes when I get up here and preach, I feel like I'm preaching more to myself than anyone. I'm not the example of a soul winner that I should be. I realize we all struggle with that. But you know why sometimes we struggle with that? We struggle with that because we forget who we know. It's that simple thought of realizing that out of eight billion people in this world, God allowed me to hear the gospel. What a small thing it is for me to be able to give out a gospel track, to be able to invite someone to church, to be able to just simply say, I know someone that can help you. His name is Jesus. Church family, I am not the best example of a soul winner, but I wanna tell you one thing that I've learned. I've learned if I don't make it a point in my life, many times I won't do it at all. Church family, it doesn't have to be Thursday night, it doesn't have to be Saturday. For me, typically, it is Thursday night. Sometimes I get to go on the Saturdays as well. But choose a time because that's what you're here for. You're here as a Christian to be able to spread the good news of the gospel. Find a time that you can go. Maybe it's another time in the week and you get together with somebody, but be the witness that you ought to be. Maybe it's on your own with the people that God puts in your life. Be that one that says, hey, Jesus is here, I'm gonna go get as many people as I can, and I'm gonna bring them here because I know he can heal them. Church fam, I think the thought tonight from this passage is probably not typically what you would pull from this story But you can't look at this passage and not see how that knowing Christ Caused these people to do these things It caused them to go out and tell people about Christ. It caused them to worship It caused them to surrender and obey can ask you in your life tonight Have you forgotten? Have we forgotten how blessed we are that we know Christ? Are we slow to obey? Are we slow to worship? Are we slow to bring others to Him? Tonight, maybe ask God to forgive you for taking for granted the fact that you're saved. Ask God to help you as a Christian to remember on a daily basis that you have the wonderful privilege to know the Savior, because there are thousands and millions and billions of people in this world, as we sat here tonight, who don't know Him. Church family, don't forget that we're blessed.