From Valley Money in Conteantrum we present Let the Bible Speak. It's good to have you with us today as we spend fifteen minutes around the Word of God, preaching Christ in all His fullness. Leslie Curran here saying hello once again and welcome to the program In the Saviour's Name. I'm glad that you're joining with us and I trust that you'll stay tuned for the next 15 minutes. It's my privilege and pleasure to be behind the microphone for yet another time. May I say to our listeners that if you would like some gospel literature, then do write to us. It's free of charge, and it's entirely without obligation, and we'd be delighted to send it to you. There'll not be any follow-up mail that will be coming, so you needn't be afraid to write for the free gospel literature that's on offer. The one aim that we have in this broadcast is to preach Christ and Him crucified, to tell men and women of their need of salvation, their need to be born again, to experience the second birth, that birth which is from above, by the Spirit of God, so that they would be able to say that they're saved and saved by the grace of God. It was the great preacher C. H. Spurgeon who once said, the highest sin and the deepest despair together cannot battle the power of Jesus Christ the Lord Jesus Christ has power to save you and yes he's willing to save you and it's our prayer that you will look on to him that you will come to him and trust in him believe on his name and know the salvation of God found only in the Lord Jesus Christ our preacher today is the Reverend Ivan Foster and he's coming to let the Bible speak hello and welcome to our program Thank you for joining with us today around the Word of God. In a moment we will read from Mark chapter 6, so do have your Bible close to hand, and then we will play a good old gospel record. The SMS male singers from South Carolina, the USA, will sing for us that day at Calvary. Let's turn to the Word of God, the chapter 6 of Mark's gospel, And we're going to read from the verse 45. Mark chapter 6, the verse 45. And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people. And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he was alone on the land. And he saw them toiling in rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them. And about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out. For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them. and saith unto them, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. And he went up unto them into the ship, and the wind ceased, and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered, for they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened. God will bless this reading from His precious Let's listen to the SMS singers now, bringing us that old hymn, That Day at Calvary. At Calvary, where Jesus bled and died. I never knew He loved me so, For me He was crucified. And as I stood there lost in sin, His love reached down to me. And oh, the shame that filled my soul that day at Calvary. I knelt one day at Calvary My eyes were filled with tears To think such love I had refused Through all these wasted years And as I knelt, I heard Him say, I did it all for Thee And all the love that filled my soul That day at Calvary I pray one day at Calvary I'm thine forevermore Forgive me, Lord, for all my sin, my lost estate restore. And as I pray to Thee each salvation full and free, and all the peace that fills my soul, Turn now, please, to the portion of Scripture we read just a few minutes ago, Mark chapter 6 and the verse 45. At the beginning of that portion, we have our old friend, the word straightway. If you were with us when we first began our study of the Gospel of Mark, we mentioned how that you will discover words like straightway or immediately occurring very often because the gospel of Mark is a gospel that portrays Christ as the servant and he is ever hastening about his father's business and so we have it here again and straightway he constrained his disciples there was haste here Now, it's interesting to notice why the Savior, on this particular occasion, was in a hurry. And you have to turn to a parallel account of what is happening in order to understand why it was that the Savior was in a hurry. John's Gospel, chapter 6, and the verse 14, tells us that after the feeding of the 5,000, Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is that prophet that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. The people were anxious as a result of the demonstration of the power of Christ to make him king. It only goes to show you how the mind of man runs very much along the lines of earthly glory and earthly power and earthly honor. But this was not the mind of Christ. Could we just think for a moment of how different are our Savior's ways from ours? Would we not welcome such honor as that which the 5,000 men were anxious to place upon the Saviour. Would we not welcome a crowd of adoring people, pressing forward and declaring that they would like to make us their king? But the Saviour does not welcome such honour, nor does He welcome such adulation. His desire was to please His Father, and it was not His Father's will that He come to sit upon an earthly throne at this time. His Father's will was that He come and die for His people upon the cross. And so the Lord Jesus was not going to be distracted or turned aside by what were indeed the foolish ideas of men, though I'm sure they were well-intentioned. But it would not be for the first time that men with their good intentions hindered the work of God. Instead of men's praise, we find the Savior going alone to seek His Father's face in prayer. Turning back again to Mark chapter 6 verse 45, and straightway He constrained His disciples to get into the ship and go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while He sent the people away. And when He had sent them away, He departed into a mountain to pray. The Lord Jesus was a man of prayer. He was a man of prayer. And how important he thus demonstrates prayer is to the Christian. How important it is for us to go aside and seek the Lord. I wonder, dear Christian, do we give the time and the effort to this holy pursuit that we ought to? I wonder, do we truly pursue the face of our Father in prayer? What time do you give to it? How fervently do you pray? We read in Colossians 4, verse 12, of one Epaphras, who was a companion of the Apostle Paul, and he was a servant of Christ. And we read in the verse 12 of Colossians 4 that he always was laboring fervently in prayer for the people at Colossae. Oh that God would give us the grace to spend time in prayer before his face and thus follow the example of our Savior. The passage of Scripture before us recording the difficult journey across the lake by the disciples illustrates very, very wonderfully the position and the circumstances of the Church of Jesus Christ in these days. You have, as it were, a picture of the Church of Christ in the midst of its difficulties following the first advent of Christ and as they wait the return of Christ. Now my time is gone, but perhaps you'll join with me next week as we return to this passage and look at this particular subject of how this portion illustrates the position of true believers in these days. God bless you. We count it a privilege to bring the gospel of Christ to you in all its biblical fullness, and I trust that you've enjoyed today's program. If you've been challenged, encouraged, or helped in any way, we'd like to hear from you. Our mailing address is Let the Bible Speak, Ballymoney, County Antrim, BT 53 6PE. Let the Bible Speak, Ballymoney, County Antrim, BT 53 6pe. Thank you for listening today. We're on the air here on Gospel AM each morning, Monday to Friday at 9.30. So do remember to join us at this time as we let the Bible speak.