Dear congregation, all our lives we have much to learn. Boys and girls in school, you have to learn every day. Maybe last week you were glad when you had a day or two off of school. This week you go back again. There are more tests to take, more to learn. But every one of us, even if we're a little child or we're very old, we need to be enrolled in the school of the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit will teach us all our life long through the Bible and through God's providence. That means, boys and girls, the things that God sends in our lives. The storms. as well as the times of calm and joy. Now, we've been looking for a few weeks at God's faithful promises. Last week, we saw those promises carried out in the midst of a storm. But there's yet another storm. You see, God doesn't only send one storm, but many storms in the lives of His people. One storm often follows another because there are yet more lessons to learn. So tonight I want to close this little mini-series of sermons we've been considering by looking at this second storm and considering new and fresh lessons from this storm as well. My text this evening is Matthew 14, 22-33, this portion read to you, and I'll read again only verse 27. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I. Be not afraid. With God's help, our theme this evening will be how Jesus instructs us in the second storm on the Sea of Galilee. We want to look at four thoughts. First, in the trial of Christ sent through the storm. In the trial of Christ sent through the storm. Second, in the approach of Christ walking on the waves. Third, in the reassurance of Christ spoken to the heart. And finally, in the invitation of Christ to come to Him. Jesus instructs us in a second storm on the Sea of Galilee. First, in the trial. The trial of Christ sent through the storm. Second, in the approach of Christ walking on the waves. Third, in the reassurance of Christ spoken to the heart. And fourth, in the invitation of Christ to come to Him. Our text brings us back this evening again to the Sea of Galilee, known in Scripture as the Sea of Kinneret, Lake Gennesaret, and the Sea of Tiberias. It had several names. Today, it is called Yam Kinneret. Thirteen miles long, six miles wide, shaped like a harp, abounding in fish still today. The Sea of Galilee was the most important body of water in the Near East as far as Jesus' ministry and the four Gospels are concerned. Most of Christ's ministry was in that area of Galilee that surrounded this lake. This lake was really the center of the domain of Jesus, the bulk of Jesus' ministry. So sometimes the Gospel simply referred to this as the sea. It was the only really large inland body of water near where Jesus ministered. And as we saw last week, in this narrow sea, it was quite possible for the wind to whip up very quickly. Some years ago when we had the privilege of being in Israel, our guide took us out on a boat on the Sea of Galilee. It was very calm that day. He said, unusually calm. And so he said, it's so calm in fact, he said, we'll stop the boat here in the middle of the lake. And he read to us this portion, he picked out this portion in Matthew 14. And he explained it to us while we were sitting there. How that the wind and the waves could so quickly come in this sea, in a moment, a storm could sweep in and replace the calm. Well, that's what happened here, again, a second time. And again, this is symbolic, isn't it, of how God can bring in His providence very quick and sudden and challenging storms in our lives. upsetting us, overturning all our hopes and expectations, bringing us into great peril and distress. But this time, there's something worse about this storm. Jesus is not on board. He's not down there sleeping. He's absent. And you see, that's the first lesson we have to learn from this story. There are certain storms that come in our lives where we can't find Jesus. It seems like he's missing, where we don't understand who he really is and what he is doing whatsoever. You see, the problem here is that the disciples and the multitude were just moved by the miraculous feeling of the five thousand. And many were asking, who is this man who can feed us from next to nothing? They followed Him for bread, not the disciples of course, but the multitudes. And so Jesus moves away from that scene. He tells His disciples to go into a boat, and Jesus goes to prayer. The multitudes wanted Him to be king. They wanted deliverance from the Roman yoke. But Jesus walked away from that situation. He didn't come to be an external deliverer. He came to deliver from sin. He came to save sinners and to Himself by His own blood. He came not to free us from the bond of the Romans, but from the bond of Satan and sin and hell and death. So when Jesus saw the enthusiasm of the people, straightway, the Bible says, He constrained His disciples to get into a ship. He made them leave at once. He made them leave. Just like last week. They weren't in the ship again. Out of the way. They weren't following their own will. But Jesus wanted them away from this negative influence, you see. They're not allowed to adopt the false ideas of the people about who Jesus is. And Jesus wants to teach them more spiritual lessons. About his spiritual kingdom. and to reject all earthly kingdoms. And one of the first lessons Jesus wants to teach them is the great value of prayer. Jesus is just a hero. He feeds all these thousands of people. And what does He do? He goes off to pray. He's by Himself. He's setting an example for His disciples, but He Himself must pray. Now think about that, friends. When we are in trials, often what do we do? We try to solve them ourselves rather than go first in prayer. But Jesus sets an example here for us. Prayer is even critical to Jesus who knew no sin. How much more critical must it now be to us who have sin mixed in with all that we do? Jesus prays. He prays the whole night, actually, till the fourth watch. That's till six o'clock in the morning. He's by himself. You see, He doesn't have one single sin to confess before His Father. But Jesus wants to be alone. He doesn't want all the attention of being the hero. He's the Savior of sinners. But while he's praying, the disciples are struggling. They're in the midst of the sea, struggling. Struggling in a way of obedience, just like they were last time. And yet again, God brings them into trouble in the way of obedience. Now that's not usually the way. Usually they come in trouble in disobedience. We ourselves are usually standing in our own way. But not always, you see. Sometimes the reason, the cause for our troubles lie in God's intention to teach us great lessons. And that's the case here again. Adverse circumstances, heavy trials, difficult problems, great weight, God uses. and often places upon his people when they are not walking contrary to the Lord. And what a blessing it is then, when we learn to flee to God without one murmur, when we learn to experience blessedness, a man that walketh in the way of the Lord and surrendereth all things to God. You see, true blessedness. brings together two things. The holy, obedient, submissive fear of God, and holy struggle in the ways of God. God never promises people an easy life. He promised them a blessed life. And you see, blessing knows tempestuous ways. and inward exercises. And through these ways, we learn to experience, as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. God has promised all his children they shall find peace. All his children shall reach heaven, but they shall not reach it on a sea of glass. Jesus says in the world you will have tribulation. You will have strife. You will have disappointment. And you see, we never understand all the reasons why God meets out to us various disappointments, severe disappointments in this life. Trials that tear our hearts apart. But we do believe that the Lord uses the heaviest trials to teach us the most and to strengthen our faith the most profoundly. He teaches His redeeming love through the tempestuous sea. So what do we learn here? We learn once more that God wants to strengthen faith, the faith of His own disciples. And they have to learn that even when He is not in the boat, even when He is not in their purview, they must trust Him. You see, Jesus teaches them that He is strong and He is tender, even when He is out of sight. And He must teach them this, because later they would be sent out to preach the gospel among wolves. who would seek to tear them asunder. And then they must learn to live by faith. So this is already his school, his elementary school, as it were, teaching them to live by faith. And you don't learn that in prosperity, you see. You learn that in times of storm and tribulation. And so Jesus is out of the boat purposely, but they are not out of his eye. Jesus saw them toil, unknown to them. He's standing on the shore, as it were. His eyes pierced through the darkness. Those eyes never lose sight of one of His lambs. The Lord never loses sight of a soul that seeketh Him. He sees every affliction, every wrestling, every trial. In His eyes there is love. There is faithfulness. You see, the disciples are looking at the wind. They're looking at the waves. They're looking at the circumstances. Jesus is not looking at the wind. He's not looking at the waves. He's looking at His disciples. And what an encouragement that is to you, dear child of God, you who trust Him. and yet bemoan how little you trust Him. His eye is on you. Your eye may stray to the wind and the waves, but His eye, thanks be to God, does not stray. And He knows exactly when to come to you, exactly when to relieve you, exactly when it is enough. The fourth watch of the night, 3 a.m., to 6 a.m. I said before 6 a.m. I should have said 3 a.m. 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. He comes to His disciples. They had rode against the storm for the better part of the night. But now He comes. He comes. To teach them what? Well, more lessons. Why does He wait so long? We don't know all His reasons, of course. But we know from our own experience, and we believe that's biblical, that God often waits long enough until we can't help ourselves or help one another. So that He gets all the glory. Like the situation we heard about recently of Lazarus dying rather than just being sick, you see. Until God cuts everything off. And then He gets the glory. So Jesus comes in the last watch of the night after it is hopeless for His disciples. Isn't that true spiritually too? When the worst is reached, the better often begins. He comes. He comes walking on the sea. What a beautiful picture. How happy don't you think the disciples must be to see Him coming, walking on the sea? They had been in the storm before. Surely they would recognize Him right away. And they'll say, it's got to be Jesus. He just fed the 5,000. That wasn't long ago when He delivered us from another storm. But no, they're troubled. They're troubled. They think it's the Spirit. They still don't recognize Him. You see, the difficulties of the roaring waves and the wind are so tumultuous that even when Jesus comes, they can't recognize Him without the aid of His Spirit. But the beautiful thing is, Jesus knows exactly what He's doing. Just like we heard this morning. He's in total control. He comes calmly. He comes majestically across the waves. Can't you see Him coming? Not before the waves. Not behind the waves. On the waves, He comes. He uses tribulations as a way to visit His own. To deal with His own. Still today. God deals with us more in our distresses than in times of calm. Psalm 37 says, commit thy way unto the Lord. no matter how severe, no matter how impossible, no matter how full of tribulation, commit thy way unto the Lord. And it is, friends, when we are in the greatest afflictions, and God shows us the greatness of His strength and the comfort of His presence, that we experience this in the deepest way. Stormy waters are often His means to come close. And then He shows us, you see, as He showed the disciples, that He's been close all the while. We thought He was far away, but He was close all the while. He doesn't forget His people in the storms. You see, Jesus may be very near to you, and you not know it. Jacob said, surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. Mary Magdalene said to the gardener, Sir, tell me where you have laid him. And it was him. The men on the way to Emmaus didn't even know him until he broke bread before their eyes. You see, God, that's what we learn from this. God reveals Himself. And without that, we are blinded. They thought it was the Spirit. You see, we need the Lord to shed light upon His own ways and His own lessons and His own truth. But also, we need the Lord to shed abroad His mercy upon us. That's what's so beautiful here. They thought it was a spirit. And they cry out for fear. And straightway, do you notice that? Straightway, Jesus answers them. He speaks to them. Verse 27, Be of good cheer, it is I. Be not afraid. Straightway means immediately, without a moment's hesitation. They cry in fear. He says, it is I. Be not afraid. Friends, the comfort in that declaration is unspeakable. That one word, I, It is I. Be not afraid. Jesus comforts them by just telling them that He Himself is present. And if He Himself is present, that's all we need. Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. He doesn't even say His name, does He? Well, at first sight it doesn't appear to be. He only says, it is I. It is I. I who am goodness and mercy and grace. I who am perfect humanity and infinite Godhead as we've been hearing from the Lord's days. I who have all the sovereign rights and powers of the Most High as the King of Kings. I have come to you. Really, this word I contains All His names. All His names. It's His person. It's His identity. He's the Almighty. In the original Greek, it is, be not afraid, because it is the I Am. I Am the I Am. That's my special covenant keeping name. My Yahweh name. My Jehovah name. It is I Am who is with you. Emmanuel. God with us, the firm rock, the unchangeable Jehovah covenant-keeping God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The I Am is with you. So don't be afraid. Every Sabbath, God proclaims unto His people, I Am the Lord thy God. He doesn't say first you have to do this or you have to do that. Then later on, if you do your best, maybe I will be your God. No. He says, I am thy God. Five times in the law. Did you hear that? Do you ever hear it? Five times in the law, He says, the Lord thy God. That's our hope when we hear the law. Thy God in Jesus Christ who fulfills the law and out of whom we may run in the way of God's commandments. But that's also our hope here in the storms, in the trials of life, you see. that the I Am comes to us. And just knowing that He is present is enough for a child of God who has come to know Him as the great unchangeable God. Though the mountains roar and the seas be troubled, though all my life capsizes, if the I Am is with me, there is calm in the midst of the storm. And you see the beautiful thing in the midst of that storm is that Jesus didn't say, well, don't be afraid. If Peter, you meet the condition of walking all the way to me here on the water, then I will be with you. There's something for you to do, disciples. No, no, no, no. He says, be not afraid. I am. It is I. I'm here. It's unconditional love. I will take care of you. Be not afraid. You see, the ground for my love lies in my name, in my person. I am Yahweh. I am that I am. That's your strength. That's your peace. That's your comfort. Be of good cheer because I am. Call upon Me in the day of trouble. I will deliver thee. Why? Because I am what I am. And thou shalt Glorify Me. Well, that's our comfort. That's our strength. You see, when the Lord is with us, our despair vanishes and there's peace. Faith fixed on Jesus gives peace. And then we learn to say, Whom have I? While the storm is still raging, Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee." That's peace that passes all understanding. Instructions through the trial of Christ sent through the storm, in the approach of Christ walking in the waves, in the reassurance of Christ spoken to the heart, but also in the invitation of Christ to come. Lord, cries out Peter, if thou be the Christ, if it be thou, bid me come to thee on the water. Actually, Peter said something even more positive. The if is really the word sense. Sense it be thou. If it be thou. Sense it is thou, you see. Bid me come to thee on the water. Peter's in doubting that it's Jesus. He heard His voice. But he wants to be where Christ is. He can't even wait until Christ gets to the boat, as it were. He must be with Him. He loves Him. He knows what the psalmist sang. To live apart from God is death. It is good His face to seek. My refuge is the living God. His praise I long to speak. And yet Peter doesn't want to go in these unusual circumstances without Jesus' permission, without Jesus' invitation. It's as if he says, Lord, speak but a word and I'll come. Just bid me. Command me. And I'll come. But Peter, be realistic. There's water between you and Christ. Well, that could all be, but you see, if Christ speaks, and if Christ is present, Peter must be with him. Lord, bid me come. Even if it involves risk, I will trust thee. Just say the word, Lord. And he said, come. He said, come. Oh, that must have been like music in Peter's ears, don't you think? Come, come to me, Peter. And immediately Peter climbs out of the ship. He sends to the water. And boys and girls, walks on the water to go to Jesus. He goes overboard at Jesus' word, trusting Jesus. He had learned that lesson before. You remember, on this very same sea. They had fished all night and caught nothing. And what did Jesus say to them in the morning? They remember children. Cast your net on the other side, and you shall find. They cast their net on the other side, and they got a whole net full of fish. So Peter knows that nothing is impossible with Jesus. So he leans upon that Word again, the Word of Christ, the person of Christ. He leaves the ship. He leaves his friends by faith. He steps overboard. He leaves everything in his Master's hand. There's no rope around his waist to tie him to the ship. Just in case. No, the invitation is enough. And dear friends, as poor sinners, the invitation of Christ ought to be enough for us to come just as we are. Poor, needy, broken by the drawing power of the Holy Spirit. Oh, he says to sinners, to every sinner, come just as you are with all your sin. Come unto me, the King of kings. It's an unconditional invitation. He doesn't say come in a little while or come for a little while or come as soon as the waves are quiet or come when your heart is better. Come now, Peter. Come when the waves are boisterous. When all is impossible. It's a simple command. Simple invitation. It's a powerful invitation. Just one word. Come. Come. You shall not perish. Him who cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out. How is that possible? How is it possible not to perish when I deserve to perish? How is it possible to have such an unconditional command, such an unconditional invitation? Why would we not perish? Going over the waves to Jesus. Well, two reasons. The first reason is, Christ had to suffer and die to carry sinners over waves and storms of this life. And to do that, He went down into the waves Himself. Psalm 42, verse 7 says, Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts. All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. And that's a Messianic prediction. The next seven weeks, God willing, we hope to consider the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ in passion season. These waves and these billows going over Christ. But the reason you see that the waves and the billows will not swallow up His people is because they swallowed up Christ unto death and He didn't stay in the grave, but He rose again. And through His resurrection, He is now that ascended Lord who is coming again and to whom all power is given in His hands, as we heard this morning. And through that power of the King of Kings, not one of His little ones shall perish. None shall drown, not even those who fear themselves sinking. And the second reason, we shall not perish if we by grace may come to the Lord Jesus Christ, because his word shall never fail. His word was come. His Word is, those that come to Me, I will no wise cast out. His Word cannot fail. Look unto Me, O ye ends of the earth, and you shall be saved. His Word cannot fail. And you see, when the Spirit works faith in our hearts, in Jesus and in His Word, then faith cannot stay away from Him. Faith unites with Christ. Faith makes us partakers of Christ. Faith moves the sinner to Christ, lifts the sinner up to Christ. The conquering King appropriates Him. It embraces Him as a fruit of His own gift of faith to us. We cannot but appropriate Him when the Spirit gives us the faith to do so. And then, even though the waves are tempestuous and the sea boisterous, we may say in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. You see, faith passes with Christ through the judgment of the cross when it empties me of my own righteousness. But it also resurrects with Christ, ascends with Him, and sits with Him through foretaste of glory in heavenly places. and anticipates the day when it shall be with Him forever. So faith cannot do and it cannot live without the Son of God. Paul said in Ephesians 2, even when we were dead in sins, He hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace, ye are saved, and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Jesus Christ. And so Peter walks on the water to Jesus, clinging to Him by faith, identifying himself with his Master. You know, when Paul uses all these together phrases, quicken us together with Christ, raise us up together, make us sit together, he uses those phrases several times. And you know, every time he does that, in Greek they're one word, and they're words that Paul made up in the Greek vocabulary. By applying a suffix or a prefix for the word together, he broke the boundaries of Greek grammar to picture for us the intimate unity between Christ and the believer through faith. And you see, it's that intimacy, it's that tie of faith to Jesus that enables Peter to walk on that water by the strength of the Holy Spirit. He comes despite all the claims of science that would forbid him coming and say he could not come. He comes. He does the impossible. He takes the risk of faith. And he walks on the sea to Jesus. The Puritan Joseph Hall says about this, Peter walks on the wave, two hands uphold him, the hand of Christ's power and the hand of faith. The hand of Christ's power laid hold on him. The hand of faith laid hold on the power of Christ commanding him. If he let go his hold of us, we drown. If we let go our hold of him, we sink. And that's what Peter did here. He's walking. He's doing well. He's looking to Jesus. And then what happens? He looks away from Jesus. And what happens as soon as he looks away from Jesus? He begins to sink, doesn't he? Of course he does. As soon as faith looks away from Jesus, we begin to perish. We begin to sink. He begins to sink and he cries out, Lord, save me. Oh, what a lesson this is. That's a lifelong lesson. We never learn enough of it, child of God. But this is the grand lesson of walking by faith. We learn that as long as we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, as long as we live in His conscious presence in Coram Deo, in the face of God, all shall be well. But as soon as we forsake Him, we sink. We go our own way. We think our own thoughts. A ship filling up with water. Unbelief seeps into us everywhere as soon as we turn our eyes from Jesus. It began to sink. Why does God do all this? To teach us to walk by faith. To teach us to trust Him in difficulties. to teach us that faith transcends reason. Faith is not unreasonable, but it is above reason. Sometimes it is contrary to human reason. It's never contrary to divine reasoning. But divine reasoning always reasons out of Christ. It finds all its reasons in looking to Christ. You see, what is more unreasonable according to human reasoning than to say that a sinner's sins shall be forgiven by a holy God, a black sinner forgiven by a spotless God. That's unreasonable to human reasoning. But God says in His divine reasoning, the divine reasoning of faith, come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Another lesson we have to learn here is not only the lesson of walking by faith and not by sight, and the lesson of keeping our eyes on Jesus, and we will perish as soon as we don't, but also it is one thing to respond initially to the commanding love of Jesus, and quite another to persevere in His love, in all the ups and downs of daily life. One thing to begin something. Another thing to persevere with it. One thing to begin the Christian race. It's another thing to run the race. We need the same faith to run it as we needed to begin it. And we need the same Christ to uphold us when we met the first time. But you see, when you've begun the race, there's always the danger, just like in a marriage. You were so excited when you got married. It's such a wonderful thing. You finally were able to marry your spouse. But how many people don't often take their marriage partners for granted after 5, 10, 20 years? So it's one thing. To know the joy of a marriage begun. It's another thing to grow in love as time progresses. And to grow in appreciation rather than depreciation for one another. And so it is with the Lord, you see. It's a great grace to grow in love for the Lord Jesus Christ. And what God does, you see, is through these trials in ways that we cannot fully explain. He teaches us to grow and to persevere in his grace. You see, Peter's sinking is all his own fault. If Jesus had started to sink or if Jesus had withdrawn his invitation, then Peter would have had reason to fear. But Jesus was still on the waves and the invitation was still ringing in his ears, but he wasn't trusting. It was his fault. And he was humiliated, wasn't he, before his fellow disciples. You see, Peter had yet another lesson to learn. Peter often stood too tall in his own eyes. And Jesus knew how to humble him again and again. And by Peter's walking to Jesus, was there perhaps a hidden message to the other disciples that his faith somehow was a notch better than theirs? When it comes to the test, he's the only one that dares to walk on the water. And now he sinks, you see. He knew how to swim. We know that. But at that moment, the waves are too high. At that moment, he's looking too far away from Jesus. At that moment, he's unable to do anything. He says, Lord! He could only cry out, Save me! Save me. What's the lesson here? The lesson is in the first place that we have to learn that with all our own efforts, we can only sink if we turn away from Jesus. If we lose the grip on the command and the promises of God in Jesus Christ, we will only sink. But we also learn here the beauty even of a backsliding child of God who begins to turn away from Jesus. The beginnings of backsliding. That's what turning away from Jesus is. The beginnings of backsliding. Even in that child of God, there is something that there is not in the unbeliever. Deep down inside, a turning to Christ. Lord, save me. Judas Iscariot didn't turn to Christ when he came into the waves, did he? He turned to himself and he perished. But Peter turns to Christ. He says, Lord, save me. It's a brief prayer. It's a comprehensive prayer. Save me. It's like a three golden link prayer. Three links in a necklace. Boys and girls, you know how that one link hooks into another link. Well, Lord reaches up, as it were, to the heavens. Me reaches down into the waves of Peter's own corruption. And save is that mediation word that links Lord and me through the mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, save me. Golden links. directly to Christ, he prays, not to man. It's a personal prayer, an urgent prayer, a prayer of immediate need. What do you do when you begin to sink? Do you cry out to God? Do you know this cry? Lord, save me. To whom do you appeal? God brings you into the waters that overflow you when all appears to be cut off. You see, the main question tonight is not, is your faith great? The main question tonight is, is it real? Is it true? Even the smallest faith joins a sinner to Christ. There's an unbreakable bond. Weak faith is your true faith. In weak faith, there is still an unbreakable bond, so that when the soul is sinking, it appeals to God, Lord, save me. Well, happily, Peter has to do with one who cannot allow one of his children to perish. Christ's very presence is the pledge that Peter will not be swallowed up. No matter how low he sinks, Christ is still in control. You see, Peter thinks as he's sinking that he's losing his own case. He's perishing himself. And he is perishing himself. And yet he's not perishing. Because, you see, for Peter, Christ's case is involved. He cannot let one of his own perish. Peter is more Christ's case than Peter is Peter's own case. I hope you understand that. He belongs to Christ. Christ cannot let him go. Immediately. Straightway. When he saw the wind boisterous, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately, there's that word again. Immediately, Jesus stretched forth His hand and caught him. And said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" You see, immediately, Jesus mixes His gracious act with a tender rebuke, just like last week. Why did you doubt? Why did you doubt me? Even as he plucks him from the water, he tenderly rebukes him. He puts his finger in the sore place in Peter's life, and the sore place is his unbelief. Wherefore didst thou doubt? Why did you doubt, Peter? You see, Christ makes it very personal, doesn't He? You know what we try to do with our unbelief? We try to depersonalize it. And the way we do that is we say something like this, well, faith is of God and unbelief is of His people. We put it in the third person. Almost as if, well, that's what His people do. They fall into unbelief all the time, so I've got an excuse to fall into unbelief. No, says Christ. Your unbelief, Peter. Why did you not believe in me? You see, that's your main problem, Peter. I'm saving you. I'm being merciful to you. Oh, you of little faith. But why? Tell me, Peter. Why did you doubt? I was right here, Peter. The invitation was still true. My presence is still true. Why are you doubting, Peter? You see, unbelief is so monstrous. It's so deceiving because it blames the wind and the circumstances and the world and even our own flesh. Fleshliness, as if it were somebody apart from us. even God, anyone but me. But here Christ is the counselor, even as He plucks Peter from the waves. He says, why do you doubt? He makes him face his own problem. He makes him face the truth. You see, and we have to learn painfully in our walk, in our spiritual pilgrimage, that we are not what we ought to be, not because God has held something back in His election, Not because God is holding something back in His sanctification, but because of our miserable, rotten, ungodly unbelief. Not just in the beginning of the way, but all our lifetime. Unbelief becomes that captain man-soul that we desire to see trodden down in the gates of our soul. Do you know that struggle? Self-condemning because of your unbelief. And yet, notice the mercy of Christ. He didn't say, Peter, you have no faith. He said, O thou of little faith, why did you doubt? And in that very experience, in that very rebuke, Christ will strengthen Peter's faith. That's the beauty. He uses even his rebukes to draw us closer to him. He saves initially by faith, He saves continually by faith, and He saves permanently by faith. And so He takes up Peter, and He brings him into the ship. And when they were coming to the ship, the wind ceased, Artaxias. The wind ceased. And then, everyone that is in the ship worships Him. Now Jesus is in His element. He had to leave the 5,000 because they weren't worshiping Him. They were worshiping the bread, the wonders. But now these disciples worship Him. And with this, the Lord is well pleased when we worship Him. When our affections and our will and all that we are go out to Him. When we give Him the glory due His name, we worship Him and we glorify Him as He plucks us out of the waves. Congregation, this portion has many lessons. Let me close with just listing a few of them as applications. Trouble is going to happen in our lives, whether we're saved or whether we're unsaved. We don't get through life because of our sin without trouble. But when trouble comes, we must call to God. And we must fly to Christ immediately. God hears us when we call. He saves us when death draws nigh. And so the Bible calls us to rejoice with praise in the midst of trouble. 1 Peter 4.13 It calls us to arise when we stumble. 2 Corinthians 4. It calls us to realize that every trouble and every tempestuous sea that enters our lives, God is using in His divine design to bring us to glory. And all our troubles are not worthy to be compared to the glory to come. Romans 8. And through all these things, we have fellowship with Christ in His sufferings. Though we go through our sufferings sinfully, He still enables us, Paul says, Philippians 3.10, to have fellowship with Him in sharing His sufferings. Not meritoriously, but gratuitously. It helps us relate to Christ. When we are persecuted, when we are in trouble, And when He takes us out of trouble, we learn to identify with His passion. And we learn to find strength in His atoning sufferings. So what does God do? He turns our waves into His ways. He turns our turbulence into His teaching. He turns the clouds and the wind into classrooms. Peter was in the storm, but out of the water. Christ plucked him out. Christ does that a thousand times in our lives, dear child of God. What a wonder. He sends us into the storm. He then walks Himself into the storm with us. He calls us to Himself. As we come, we take our eyes off of Him and we begin to sink. He plucks us. And He saves us. And He brings us safe to shore. He does everything. So when you're in despair and in confusion, look for God's conclusion. Look for the other side of the sea. Our text goes on to say, and when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. a land known for its beauty, a land often compared as a type of heaven, Gennesaret, full of flowers and beauty and peace. Every true believer will come through every storm and will land on the shores of celestial bliss. In that heavenly Gennesaret, known for its beauty, its richness of scenery, and the glory of being with Emmanuel forever. Friends, this Savior still says, Come, sinner, with all your sin, with all your need. It is I. Be not afraid. Who walks the waves in wondrous guise by nature's laws unstayed, "'Tis I," a well-known voice replies, "'Tis I, be not afraid." Thus, when the storm of life is high, come, Savior, to my aid. Come when no other help is nigh, and say, be not afraid. Speak, and my griefs no more are heard. Speak, and my fears are laid. Speak, and my soul shall bless the Word. "'Tis I, be not afraid." And when on the bed of death I lie and stretch my hands for aid, stand thou before my closing eye and say, Be not afraid. Before thy judgment seat above, when nature sinks dismayed, O cheer me with thy word of love, tis I. Be not afraid. Amen.