Brother Milby, if you have your Bibles and want to turn with us tonight as we read from the Gospel of John chapter 6. The Gospel of John chapter 6. I want to read there tonight. And I'll begin reading with verse 16 tonight. The Gospel of John chapter 6. We'll look at verse number 16. While you're turning, I'm grateful to be here. Thankful for the privilege to be here. Thank the Lord for family mercy and grace and allowing us to be here and appreciate what our ears heard this morning and the good preaching of the Word of God. I appreciate the fellowship and the time together at this time. And good to see many of you we haven't seen in a while. What a blessing it is to be in service with you. And I trust you will pray for us tonight. I need the Lord's help. I cannot do anything without Him. So I'd ask you humbly and sincerely to pray for us that the Lord might touch us tonight. Look with us now at verse 16 of John chapter 6. The Bible reads like this, And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea, and entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea. and drawing nigh unto the ship, and they were afraid. But he saith unto them, It is I, be not afraid. Then they willingly received him into the ship, and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went. The day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save that one where into his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone. Albeit there came other boats from Tiberias, nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks. When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping and came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus. And when they had found Him on the other side of the sea, they said unto Him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither?" Father, I thank You tonight for the privilege to pray. I thank You for the good day that You've given us. I thank You for the blessings of life. I thank You, Lord, for all the temple blessings that You've bestowed upon us. I want to thank you for the spiritual blessings you've given us tonight. I appreciate, Lord, the opportunity to stand in this place and try to preach tonight. I thank you for the day you saved me and, Lord, the day you called me and put me, Lord, in this way. And I appreciate this open door. I appreciate the Word of God you've blessed me to read from and the portion you've directed my heart to and the thoughts that you've given us and the meditations that, Lord, you've blessed us with. Now have mercy on me and help me as I endeavor to preach to this people. And have mercy upon this people tonight. And Lord, would You touch me afresh and anew? Would You enable me to preach? Would You empower me to preach? Would You permit me to preach, Lord? Would You preach through me tonight the message that You want proclaimed in this place? And may the Word of God go forth from my lips in the power and demonstration of the Spirit of God. And Lord, may that Word of God find lodging in the hearts and lives of the men, women, boys and girls that are under the sound of my voice. Lord, would You have mercy tonight on all of us? And would You reveal Yourself to every individual that's come through those doors tonight? And would You reveal to each one of us our need of You? Would You connect sinners and woe and wrong to you tonight? Would You stir the saints? Oh God, help us. I pray You'd speak to us now, and may we be obedient to what You say to us tonight. May we respond to You, Lord, Father, in submission tonight. Have Your way among us now. Above everything that's done, get glory and honor unto Your high and Your holy name tonight. And what You're pleased to do in and through and for us, we'll be careful about with the head. I praise You for it, and thank You for it, for I ask what I ask, In Jesus' name, Amen and Amen. Thank you for standing tonight. I want to preach from this passage tonight, if the Lord will help me, on treasures from the storm. Treasures from the storm. Now we know that the disciples got in a great storm as they were endeavoring to sail to Capernaum. The other Gospels, Matthew and Mark, John does not record it, but the other Gospels tell us that Jesus literally constrained His disciples to go to the other side while He sent the multitudes away. And in that night, as they had left that evening and headed to Capernaum, they encountered a great storm. So great that it looked like they were going to go under. And, of course, we know by reading this text and the others tonight where the gospel is recorded that Jesus comes walking on the water and that they get safely to the other side. We notice in reading that the day following, or the next day, the Bible tells us that there are some that are on this side, we might call it, of that Sea of Galilee that take note that Jesus is not there, nor His disciples. And so they get in a boat and they sail to the other side of the lake or the sea, my friend, and they begin to talk to Jesus and, of course, ask Him, when did He come hither? Now, the thing I want to point out tonight or make mention of tonight is the fact that these disciples got on the other side and they had to go through the storm. This other crowd that followed, they also got on the other side. They also were in their boat. They crossed the sea. They were in their ships. But they got to the other side without having to encounter the storm. And if so, the disciples could have possibly looked at the Lord and said, Lord, we don't understand. We came under your direction across the sea, and we came to the other side, and we had to encounter a storm and face the darkness that we faced. And here's this crowd that sailed in the sunshine, that sailed in the calm waters, and they arrived on the other side just like we did. Lord, something doesn't seem fair here. Something doesn't seem even here. Something just doesn't seem right here. Hell, they could get to this side just like we did, yet they didn't have to face the storm, and we did. Amen? Oftentimes in this living for the Lord, sometimes we question Sometimes we wonder why it is that we have to go through storms while others sail in the sunshine. Sometimes we question why we have to suffer. Others seem to have just a life of ease. And all we're doing is just trying to obey the command of the Lord, to sail in the ship on the sea like He wants us to. Amen? But can I say, the Lord no doubt could have said to those disciples, That day He said there are things that you've got from the storm, that that cloud, we'll never know. There are some treasures that you've gathered from that storm, that the sunshine cloud, we'll never know anything about. Now, normally when you think of storms, you think of destruction and devastation. Hey, but can I say sometimes there are treasures that come up from the storm. Amen? That last bath, a great storm that hit the United States, And I went up in the northeast corner. I read where there were old ships that were uncovered, that they did not even know they were there. After that storm, I blew through. And can I say tonight, there are some treasures that you can get from the storm. Hang on, it'll take the storm to uncover some things or to bring some things out of your eyes. I quit looking just at the darkness. I quit looking at just the devastation. I quit looking at just the destruction. I quit looking at the trials and the tragedies and realized there's some treasures that come from the storm. There are some experiences. There might be some blessings for some little kids that only come with sailing through the storm, experiencing great difficulty, and while the other crowd may sail smoothly, And yet to where we're wanting to get, they'll never hold those treasures in their hand and in their life. And they'll never know what goes through that sail through the storm with the Lord. Amen? Can I say, first of all, tonight, One measure of the storm was concerning the disciples of themselves. Then I say, first of all, the storm brought them to the end of themselves. Amen. Hallelujah. It's not easy to get there, and usually it takes a storm to get you and I out of that place. But it's a blessed day in our life when we get to the end of ourselves. Hallelujah. When we exhaust our strength, when we expend all of our energy, when we realize it's more than our toiling and looming, and it's getting us to the other side. It's more than just our faithfulness, and it's getting us to the other side, and that there is a divine help, and that there is a divine call to help, and that there is a divine power that gives us safety. I tell the other side, I say if you're starting out, I told the other side tonight that if you encounter the storm, stay alone tonight. If you've worn yourself out and gone, if you're tired of rowing, when it seems like you can't put your hand to the oars anymore and sail anymore, look up for the Lord who's about to come to where you at. Hey, when you get to the end of yourself, And God will come to your rescue. Amen. Bless his name tonight. Well, an apostle Paul said, I will therefore most glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Or he said, when I am weak, then I am strong. Hallelujah. And history is made perfect in my weakness. Hallelujah. It's a treasure when you get to the end of yourself, when the storm exhausts. Thank God your sufficiency, your self-realize. But it's no longer useful, and you have to look up and try and trust the God of heaven. That's the treasure of it. You just sail in the sunshine. You'll never know. Amen? Bless you, sir. Oh, bless the Lord. Oh, my. May I mention tonight some things about the Lord? Amen? And can I say everything else I've got to preach tonight is about Him and the storm? And He's the treasure of the storm. Paul said that I might know Him, but how you gonna know Him, Paul? I don't. It's the fellowship of His suffering. It's being made conformable unto His death. Only way you can know Him is when you get rid of you. I don't. He walks on the water. He comes to where we're at. He revealed Himself. Thank God for the Lord. He's the treasure in the storm. Amen? Bless His name tonight. Hallelujah. Oh, can I say one treasure? They uncovered one treasure they learned from the storm was that the Lord saw them in the storm. John doesn't say it. John doesn't record it. But in Mark 6 and verse number 48, he records it. Amen. Hallelujah. And he says he saw them falling and rolling. Hallelujah. Somebody said, I can't see Him. Oh, it's too dark of a night, of a storm. Hang on, it's too black, and the waves are too rough. I thought the wind's too contrary. Somebody said I can't see Him. Oh, it's not important you see Him, but He's never got His eye on you. Hallelujah! And you can't go down, and the ship won't go under, and the boat won't sink. Thank God, because He's got His eye. He sees you tonight in all of your struggles, in all of your suffering, in all of your heartache. He sees you tonight. Hallelujah. He knows all about it tonight, fellas. Hallelujah. You mean down on the sea? My God, wherever you're at. For 2 Chronicles 16 and 9 said the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth. Amen. Hallelujah. He's never a valley too deep. He's never a storm too bad. Look at what He does not see. Amen. I knew a group of men that ran upon a man in a different country, another country ran upon a man, a flock of sheep, several flock of sheep. And the guy that was with them said, we still keep sheep in our country the old time way. And they said, well, we noticed, one of them said, I noticed these flocks of sheep that were the shepherds. Amen. And he said, wow, the flocks down here in the valley are the shepherds up on the mountain back in the edge of the woods. And the sheep never see the shepherd, but the shepherd always sees the sheep. Hallelujah. Hey, it's not important that you see Him tonight, but you can rest in this treasure, regardless of how rough your storm is, regardless of how rough the waves may be dashing against your ship. Hey, God, He sees you. His eyes on you. Hallelujah! Thank God! You can't get out of His sight tonight! And the Lord sees you tonight! He sees you in the storm! Amen. Bless His name. Hallelujah. Amen. Somebody said He might see me, but does He see what's going on with me? Well, sure He does. Jeremiah 32 and verse 19 said, The eyes, thine eyes, speaking of the Lord, are open upon all the ways of the sons of men. He don't just see you. He sees the ways. Thank God. I like what he said. His eyes are open. Now, you and I both feel like sometimes God's got His eyes closed. We feel like the prophets of old. When they say, Lord, how long will thou sleep? Well, He will keep up His role and never slumber, nor never sleep tonight. And He's got His eyes closed. Ain't God at home here tonight? Are they running to and fro across the whole earth? But it's not just a scan of what's going on. Ain't God? He's pitched out every individual. Hallelujah. Are y'all listening to me tonight? Have He teased the waves? His eyes are open on your ways tonight. Hallelujah! Thank the Lord! Did He not say the very hairs of your head are numbered? Did He not say a sparrow cannot fall without his watchful eye? Hey, are y'all hearing me? And is he not cold? And not the grass? And the lily of the field? And are you not much more glad to pay? And then the sparrow? And the lily? He feeds you tonight. It's a treasure. I don't know. He's watching. Hallelujah. Amen. Bless his name. Hallelujah. That's what he said to Moses. In Exodus chapter 3, the man, he said to Moses at the burning bush, the Lord talking to Moses, he said, Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is coming to me. I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppressed them. God has not become blinded to your storm tonight. God has not become blinded to your calling and rowing. You take this treasure from the storm tonight. He sees you, and He sees the waves. I thought you were taken tonight, and He sees all the struggles that you have. Amen. Oh, not only does He see it, but in Exodus 2, verse 25, the Bible said, And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect. unto them. Amen? That meant he felt what they felt. That meant he identified with me. Hallelujah. Do you realize tonight you have a high priest? And that it's touched with the feeling of your impermanence tonight? Hallelujah! God help us. There's not one of us that times in our life feel like nobody cares, nobody understands. Hallelujah! I've got some times in my life that I've got to discourage. I wouldn't say nothing to nobody, cause I felt like I didn't care, no to hell. They didn't give a flip or a rip, or any hell. I didn't make any difference, and you can explain it to them. And they looked at her with a blank stare on their face. But I'm glad there's one that sees us tonight. And not only sees us, but he has respect unto us. He identifies us. He knows our struggle. He was at all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, He's able by the structure of Him that our tempted. It's a treasure in the stone. Amen? Not only did the Lord see them, that's a treasure, but the Lord made supplication for them. Amen? Hallelujah. Bless His name. Thank the Lord. Mark 6, 46, Matthew 14, 23, says He went to the mountain to pray. Amen? Hallelujah. Oh, my. And while those disciples were on that ship alone and He on the mountain, amen? Oh, bless His name. He saw them, and He was also making supplication or praying for them. Amen? Bless His name. Does it mean anything to have Him to pray? Hallelujah. Bless His name. It does. Hallelujah. John 11, verse 41. Jesus at the tomb of Lancaster, thank God, lifted His eyes and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me. Verse 42, He said, And I know that Thou dearest me always. But because of the people who stand by, I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent me. I want to tell you when He prays, thank God it's as good as done. Amen. Oh, there's one at the right hand of the Father tonight. Make an intercession for us, our heavenly advocates. Hey, thank God. Our great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, he prays in our behalf. And you can mark her down in the storm. He's praying for you. Hallelujah. I know we don't understand when the darkness envelops us. And the Bible said they was in, and the darkness had come, and Jesus had not come unto them. And we don't understand when darkness envelops, when the storm arises, where Jesus is. But you can thank God rest assured that He's seeing ye, that He's watching ye, and that He's praying for ye, making supplication in your behalf. Amen? Bless his name. Oh, hallelujah. Bless his name. Well, I don't know what all praying he did up there, but I know he prayed for the disciples. I do know this, that just before he went that mountain to pray, they wanted to take him and make him a king. Hallelujah. And he got away from the crowd that wanted to make him a king and got along so he could pray. Amen? Are you all hearing me tonight? That's a pretty good example for me and you. Amen? When the world wants to exalt us, it's a good time to slip out from among the world and get along and do some praying. He prayed because he thought he was tempted to be their king. Amen? He was born king and died king. But they wanted to make him a king. And not after the fleshly order. And he knew that is not what he'd come for. There was no redemption nor salvation in being a king. He was king, born king, died king. He was that great prophet. But he said, I've got another job. I've got to take all the high priests' garments, shed my blood, take it back to glory. Amen. And he said, I'll not wear the crown, thank God, that they want to put on me until I wear a crown of thorns. Hallelujah. I'll not be king until I suffer. Amen. I can't reign and enter into my glory until I die a coward. and take a sinner's place. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And he prayed because they wanted to make him king. He prayed because he was fixing to walk on water. Amen. Do you get to pray so you can walk on the water? Amen. Bless His name. But no doubt He's praying for these disciples in the midst of this storm. Hallelujah. Amen. Thirdly, a treasure in the storm was the fact that in that storm He spake to them. Amen. Matthew 14, 27 said He spake to them. Mark 6, 50 said He talked with them. Hallelujah. John, verse 20, said, He saith unto them. Hallelujah. However you want to put it tonight, amen. Spake, said, or talked. Amen. Oh, yeah. Spake seems to be more formal to me. Talked means, thank God, more informal to me. Amen. Hallelujah. and said, seemed to be instruction to me for His disciples. And what did He say? What was the treasure in the storm? Be of good cheer. It is I, the God of praise. Every preacher here has preached it and probably every teacher has taught it. Ain't God, what He is saying, what? Ain't God, I am the eye of the storm. They are the storm, is that place in the middle of a storm, where there is peace, where there But in that eye there is calm and there is peace. And they found out in the start that He is the eye of the storm. Be of good cheer in His eye. Be not afraid. And may I say this tonight? He spoke or talked or said to the disciples these words. But He never spoke to the storm. He spoke to the disciples, but He never spoke to the storm. Hallelujah. Oh, my. And that's a treasure. Oh, bless this man. Hallelujah. Oh, Lord, help us tonight. Amen. That's a treasure when He speaks to us tonight. Oh, bless His name. Hallelujah. Bless His name. I remember Him speaking of some storms in my life. He didn't say anything to the storm, but He said something to me. Hallelujah. He talked with me. He spoke with me. And if you can just hear His voice in the storm, it don't matter about the storm. You don't have to tell the wind to cease. He don't have to tell the waves to lay down and lick His feet. If He can just speak to your heart and to your mind and to your spirit, that's enough. Hallelujah. Oh, bless His sweet name. The Lord spake to them. That's a treasure. Then lastly, I want to say, treasure in the storm was the Lord who was in the ship with them in the storm. Now, not till way over in the fourth watch or the last watch of the night. Not way over until the morning, but, thank God, when they got to the end of themselves, He walked off of that mountain, walked across that sand, got upon those waves and walked to where those disciples were. Amen? And He got in their ship. Amen? The Bible tells us that when He got in this ship, thank God, the wind ceased. Amen. There was a great calm. Oh, my. He didn't speak to the wind, but there was still a calm when he got in the ship. The Bible tells us, according to Mark's Gospel, that in this ship and in this storm, the disciples worshipped him and said of a truth, they are the Son of God. Hallelujah. Amen. Oh, there is some worshiping, there is some realities, there is some realization. I know there is some first-hand knowledge. I know that only you'll find about Him when you're in the store. Amen. Hallelujah. And you can worship in a way that you never have worshiped before. Hallelujah. I don't think worship is real worship. What we call worship is not worship until it's the worst day of our lives. Worship is not on the best day of our lives, nor in the sunshine. Worship is on the worst day of our lives. The worst day of Abraham's life. and laying on the altar. But he looked at him to service and said, Job, stay here. I am the Lamb. I'm going to go under and worship. Job got the news that he'd lost everything that he had, that he'd burned himself and set off and set out and worshiped. You ain't worshipped till you're worshipped in the storm. You ain't worshipped till he's not in the ship and the ship's in the storm. But what a time of worship when you realize thou art the Son of God and in spite of what's going on around me, in spite of the circumstances, you're still God, you're still in control. You can worship Him. Amen? Bless His name. Notice our text said not only did they worship Him, but in verse 21 of John's Gospel that we read, they willingly received Him in the ship. Amen. Their hearts had been hardened over the miracle of the fishes and loaves. They hadn't received Him as they should over that miracle. But now when He came to them in the storm, they willingly received Him. Hallelujah. Mark said in his Gospel, Mark chapter 6, that He didn't just worship. John said He just didn't willingly receive Him, but said they wandered and were amazed at what He had done. Amen? That's some treasures that will come out of a storm. Now, the last part of the verse, 25, when this sunshine crowd got there that didn't face the storm, They looked at Jesus and said, When camest thou hither? We know the disciples started out in the boat without you. We know they sailed across this ocean as they left the sea on the other side by themselves. Amen? But we notice they're over here and you're over here, so when did you come over here? When did you come? When camest thou hither? Amen? And them disciples could have spoke up and said, in the fourth watch of the night. He came walking on the water, and He rode the ship the rest of the way in, and He came with us. And we worshipped Him in the ship. Amen. And we wandered at Him in the ship. Amen. And we were amazed at Him, and we willingly received Him. Are you glad of it tonight? Hallelujah. Amen. Now, can I say this tonight? And when you face the storm and you hear Him speak to you in the storm, then the saves He has after the storm won't make you want to leave. This crowd sailed in the sunshine, came the next day, had not went through the storm, did not hear Him say, Be of good charity as I, be not afraid. And when He began to say some things that were hard saves, they said, We can't take this. We can't have this. We're not going to receive this. Who can? And they turned around and walked away. and followed Him no more. But that crowd that had been to the store, and heard Him speak in the store, and He talked to them in the store, they could take Him hard saying. And He said, Will you also go away? Peter said, To whom shall we go? Thou hast the Word of eternal life, and we believe and are sure Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. That is a treasure you can take from the stone. is that His sayings won't be too hard on the other side of the storm if you hear His sayings or His speech or His talk in the storm. Amen. Then the Bible said in verse 21, when they received Him in the ship, immediately the ship was at the land whither they went. Hallelujah. It seemed like they weren't too far from the shore. Amen. When he got in the ship, without saying a word, the wind ceased. Amen. The waves became calm. It was all over with. And then there's that. Hallelujah. Oh, bless His name tonight. I want to say hallelujah. It ain't as far to the other side as we think it is. I'll tell you, all he's got to do is speak and step on board, and we're there. All he's got to do is shout. All he's got to do is say, rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. Hey, God, and we're there. And the storm may be rough tonight, and the winds may be tough, and waves may be tossing our ship. And God would remember. He may speak tonight. He may call us tonight. And we'll be safe on the other side. We're near the shore. We're almost to that harbor. We're almost to the sunny bank of sweet Deliverance. I can see the lights of hope. We're almost there. And God, trust Him and take these treasures from the storm. I don't know, man. Thanks for the work, man.