This evening, please open your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 14 and verse 22. In a way, this will be another sequel series. From the first text we just read from John, this would be the sequel that follows that text. John, Matthew chapter 14 and verse 22. And immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds. And after he dismissed the crowds, he went up to the mountains by himself to pray. And when evening came, he was there alone. But the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, it is a ghost. And they cried out in fear. And immediately Jesus spoke to them saying, take heart. It is I. Do not be afraid. And Peter answered him, Lord, If it is you, command me to come to you on the water. And he said, come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. And when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they were gotten to the boat, the wind ceased, and those in the boat worshipped him, saying, Truly, you are the Son of God. Let's pray. Father, thank you for these moments this evening. We can come to worship you and to know you. We pray that you would make this passage open and real for us this evening. So guide us into your truth and help us to have lives of change for your glory. And we'll thank you in Jesus' name, amen. In October of 1929, the stock markets collapsed and thus triggered the Great Depression in the United States and also throughout the world. In October of 1987, the stocks plunged again, not as badly, and it took about two years for the stocks to recover. Then, today, the experts define a market correction, not when the markets collapse or when they plunge, but when, I think the word they use is retreat. or pull back, or slide. And they slide around 10% to 20%. Not a collapse, not a plunge, but just a moving back, a market correction. In John chapter six, we read of certain circumstances that the Lord had shown the apostles this particular day. One, the apostles heard great preaching. Very great preaching for that afternoon, for that day. And probably the stock market in the apostles' heart rose because they heard this. Second, they see this miracle that the Lord performs. He feeds 5,000 men, plus the women and children. The stocks in the apostles' life probably climbs again. But then third, the apostles who had been passive in some of these miracles, most miracles, they were bystanders, they watched. This time, they participate. And the Lord breaks the bread and gives the fish, and as they are participating, they are co-workers in this. Meaning that what? They are visible. They are going amongst the crowd. They're going amongst 10,000 people, and people are watching them also. They're in the limelight. What happened at the end of Gospel of John, Chapter 6? What did the people say? Come and let us take him. We're going to make Jesus king. Do you think their stocks rose again for the Apostles? You know, this is a ground swelling. This is a movement. This is Jesus will be king, and Who will be the dukes and the earls in this kingdom? What's going to be us? And so there comes a time when, having seen all of this, there might be a time for a market correction right here, and to bring the stocks back down a little bit. Not to plunge, not to collapse, not to make them fall completely, but let's go back to a little bit of reality. A little bit of reality, a little bit of, they need to go into a storm to make the market correct a little bit here. Nothing like terror. to change a person's attitude, to take that smile off your face. I remember some years ago when we were working in Italy, this was a Friday morning, I remember it because I was in Bastia Umbria, and it was market day there, and I always went there on Friday mornings. because they had their market, and there were lots of people, many people out. And I was walking down the streets, going through the markets, and as my typical habit, I stopped for a coffee, for an espresso with milk, which is called a cafe macchiato, and you people really would love it. I stopped at this place and had my coffee. And I picked up the paper that Cordillera did at Umbria, always good for a laugh. And I was watching the people walk by. And everybody was smiling. It was a beautiful early fall morning, beautiful morning. And everybody was smiling. They had their groceries. They had their shopping. Everybody was walking by. And I watched all the people in the shop. I was sitting outside. And all of a sudden, I looked at my coffee, and it was shaking. And then I looked at my table, and it was shaking. And I looked up, and I saw the sign overhead. And it was moving back and forth, fluttering back and forth. And I saw the ground shaking. I said, oh, this is an earthquake. All of a sudden, those happy faces were no longer happy. Those smiles were gone. And there was a look of panic everywhere. So this storm kind of brought people back to reality. Nothing like fear to do that. Notice the first point we want to see this evening The Lord sends his disciples into the storm. Now prior to this moment, it was a beautiful, probably a beautiful spring day. The climactic meteorological conditions were optimum, very good. They just fed 5,000 people, plus another 5,000, maybe a 10,000, 12,000 in number. Had this good day. Didn't rain on their picnic. Very good. They had ample time to gather the leftovers, and everything looked pretty favorable up to that moment. And then the disciples find themselves in an unexpected storm. They go out, and now all this good weather's behind them, all this happy moment, all behind them, and now they find themselves in a storm. And I remember March 20, 1981 is chiseled into my memory. We were, Sherry and I, we were just on deputation. And we just had a meeting in Elizabeth, PA, and the following Sunday we would have a meeting in Indiana, PA. And we just finished that meeting at night with a missionary conference, last day of winter, and a few little flakes came down. And the pastor said, do you folks want to spend the night? And I stupidly said, no, my parents live a half hour down the road, and they're expecting us. We'll be there in about a half hour. That half hour became about three and a half hours. And I remember that so well, and I'll never forget that day. And it was an unexpected storm. The Lord is sovereign over all of this. The word of God tells us, Proverbs 16.9, man plans his way, the Lord directs his steps. Proverbs 16.33, every decision is from the Lord. Proverbs 23 and 24, a man steps from the Lord. How can a man even understand his own way? And so let's be clear about this. The Lord sends them into this storm deliberately. This is premeditated. This is on purpose. This is not by chance, not by accident, not by coincidence that they find themselves in the storm. This is really the Lord's desire. He wants them in that storm for His reasons. And notice also, their text says, immediately He sends them into that. He said, men, get into the boat and shove off. Get going now, because He wanted to dismiss the crowd, and then He wanted to pray. And the storms, Tempest buffeted our lives. Job chapter 5 and verse 7 tells us man is born to troubles as the sparks fly upward. Folks, that's a general principle for all humanity. That is true. But John chapter 16 and verse 33, the Lord tells his apostles, in the world you, you who? You apostles, you my believers, you will have tribulation. That's not just for humanity, that's specifically for believers. In Acts chapter 14 and verse 22, the Lord, excuse me, Paul, when he's leaving Antioch in those regions, he tells those believers, through many tribulations you will enter the kingdom of God. So that is designed. We know that's gonna happen. However, at the same time, while those are general principles, there are certain, let's say, storms that are custom made, that are tailor made. We just had our kitchen redone. We just had our kitchen renewed, renewed, whatever you wanna call it. And Sherry, she planned out that kitchen how she wanted it. I had nothing to do with it. And so she wanted it a certain way. So in effect, that kitchen is only good in that house. Because that furniture, whatever we have, it's all cut to measure. It's on us. That is just for our place. And sometimes storms come like that. Sometimes the storms, the Lord will send us into a storm, and it's not just for anybody, everybody else, it's just for you. Abraham came to the land. He comes to the land, and what does he find? He's there, he builds his altar, he worships the Lord, and bam, a famine hits. The Israelites, 400 years in Egypt. 400 years. The Lord tells them they go through the plagues, Next morning, time to move out, time to move on. And what do they run into? A trap. They're trapped between here's the Red Sea, here's the Egyptian army behind them. Folks, one would think after 400 years of being in servitude, maybe they deserved a little bit better treatment. But God says, no, you need this experience really to know who I am. And so we find that God sends us in the storms. And folks, God will send us into our tailor-made, into our individualized, into our personalized storms. Folks, we will run into hurricanes of illnesses. We will run into typhoons of hurts, betrayals, and misunderstandings. We will run into powerful gales of disillusionment and disappointment. We will run into blizzards of financial loss. We will run into maelstroms and vortexes of fear and of uncertainty. And these are going to be personal. There's not going to be anybody else. It's just going to be you and maybe your spouse or your children. And you will go into these. And you know what's interesting in this whole matter? The Lord did it on purpose. He sent them there on purpose. The second point we see in this passage The Lord prays for his disciples in the storm. He sent them there, Mark 6 and verse 46. He'd taken leave of them and went up to the mountain to pray. Matthew 14, 23, what does it tell us? He let them go. He went up by himself to pray. The Lord knew where the apostles were. They had just spent a day together. They had just been together. He deliberately sends them out into the sea knowing there's going to be a storm there. What do we think he's praying about? He's praying, really, for them. And the prayer is, in this matter, he understands He sends them up, but he understands our infirmities. He understands our weaknesses. He understands our limitations. One of my favorite verses in the scriptures is Psalm 103, verse 14. He knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. I'm delighted to know that God, my God, my Father, knows my limitations. I'm delighted to know that He understands who I am, my thoughts, the thoughts that nobody else knows except He and I know them. He knows my weaknesses, every point. He knows my DNA because He created it. He knows my frame. And the Father, as the Lord is praying, the Father will listen to the Son. This is great to know that it's just not anybody praying. It's going to be the Lord praying for them. In John 11, verse 41, he's standing in front of the tomb of Lazarus, a man dead for four days. He's about to raise him from the dead. And he says this, Father, I thank you that you heard me. And then in the next verse, I know that you always hear me. And so when the Lord is praying for him, I know the Lord is praying for me, I know this, that my Lord is, he's being heard, and the Father is looking at me as I go through that storm that he deliberately set up for me. That he's not going to leave me there. He knows our need. He knows our need before we even know it. He knew they were gonna need help before he even sent them out there. Now Isaiah 65 and verse 24, it shall come to pass before they call, I will answer. And while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The Lord knew what the answer was going to be before he even began to pray. He knew how this was going to end up. In all of this, we take heart knowing that the Lord desires our best. When I preach at the detentions and when I preach there, I often want to emphasize that God Almighty desires your best more than you desire it. Whatever you want for your life, the Lord, He triples it and quadruples it. His desire for you is beyond what your expectation, what you even can begin to imagine. He knows it. He desires our best. Folks, that boat cannot sink. That boat cannot capsize. It cannot spring a lake. It cannot spring a fatal lake. And no one's going to drown. Not that night. No one's going to drown that night. And later on, the Lord's going to pray for him. Peter will go through another storm. This was a physical storm. This was a physical storm. We go through our moral storms also. We go through our spiritual storms often. And the Lord says, Peter, you're going to go through another storm. The night before the Lord was to be betrayed, that night he was to be betrayed, the Lord tells Peter, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat. Folks, now look at that. See the word you there? That's plural. That is not you singular. That is you apostles plural. Next verse, but I have prayed for, and get this, this is you singular. And the I is emphatic. I prayed for you, Peter, that your faith may not fail. Did it look like his faith failed that night? Yeah. Did it look like he stumbled? Did it look like he collapsed? Sure does. But what does he say, though? And when you have turned again, strengthen your brother, your brothers. Strengthen them. Folks, sometimes there are worse storms than just physical storms. Sometimes there are worse storms than just financial storms. And sometimes there are worse storms than illness storms. Folks, there are spiritual storms that we enter when we are tempted and when Satan desires to sift us and puts us in the crosshairs. He said, I'm coming after that person. Look for that in spiritual victory. Look for that in triumph, when we have the tendency to be bloated up and maybe to be full of ourselves. And the Lord says, I'm going to pray for you, Peter. And yet he was restored. Satan, even that time, during those days, could not sing Peter. Not this time, not again, because why? Because Jesus was praying for him and interceding for him. And folks, the Lord prays for you. the night that same night the Lord died in John chapter 17. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. Why are we saved? If we are saved tonight, we are saved because of the word of God that these folks wrote down for us. I believe the Lord was praying for us and for you personally, individually, that when we go through the storm. Romans 8.34 tells us, he intercedes for us. And Romans 8 31, if he is for us, who can be against us? And so we know this, that our Lord does, he sends us into the storms and he's gonna pray for us when we go into the storms. Which brings us to another thought. We should follow the Lord's example. We should follow the Lord's example and pray for people because we're all going through storms. You are all going through, we are going through storms. Ephesians 1, 16, Paul is writing to these believers and he says this, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. It was a tough life for those folks. He knew they were going through their battles also. They were going through their difficulties. They were going through their hurts and their sorrows. And Paul was praying for them. In Philippians, One, three, and four, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, for all of you making my prayer with joy, to knowing people. I think this morning this pastor was speaking about praying for people and praying, yeah. Because you know what? We're all going through that. Colossians 1, 9, we have not ceased to pray for the Colossians. He never even met these people. They'd never seen him in the face. They'd never had contact. And Paul can say, when I heard about you, I started to pray for you. The folks you're sitting next, the folks all around you, are going through tough times, are going through struggles, and going through burdens. And if Jesus knew that those were going through tough times, he would pray for them. Meaning this evening, as we go through tough times, you can pray for someone else. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 25, Paul begs, asks the Thessalonians, he said, pray for me. These were people that he led to Christ. This was a church that he started. This is a church that he established, founded, grounded. These people have been saved just for a brief time. And he's saying, I want you new converts to pray for me, your spiritual father, so to speak. Pray for me. The second time around in chapter one, 2 Thessalonians 1, he mentioned the fact that they were being persecuted. They were being hammered. They were being put down. And then he goes on to say, I am praying for you. We're in our boats. And we're going through storms. We're going over the shoals of life. And the rocks can be jaggy. I think that's a Pittsburgh word. And we can be very difficult. But you know what that means? The guy next to you, the lady next to you, the folks next to you, pray for that person. Let me put this plug in. Pray for your missionaries. Pray for your missionaries. We don't know what they are going through. We have no idea. Let me tell you, when we lived overseas, there's always that you're by yourself, and I would drive to pick up someone, and I understood. I'm alone in this, except the Lord's with me. It can be scary, even driving a car, because there is no one there except you. You go out, whatever you do, pretty much you're on your own physically. Pray for your missionaries. They need your prayer support. They really do. Third, not only does he pray for them, notice the Lord sees his disciples in the storm. Now, let's get some details here. Mark chapter six and verse 48 says, he saw they were making way painfully. You don't have to bother, that's where it goes on. They were making their way, he saw that. Now what's a little bit more details? Chapter 14 of Matthew and verse 25, And the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea. The fourth watch of the night. So we're talking about 3 a.m. to 6 a.m., all right? 3 a.m. to 6 a.m., he saw them. John chapter six and verse 17, the parallel passage of this says, it was dark. John chapter six and verse 19 says, they were about three to four miles away. Matthew chapter 14 and verse 24 says, they were a long way off. I think three to four miles, long way off. Yeah, we got that. Plus, it's a storm. He saw them. This is not an aircraft carrier out on the lake. It's not even a cruise ship. It's not even a big yacht. This is a fishing boat, okay? I don't know, 3 a.m., 4 a.m., what's it look like outside? Dark, yeah, dark, long way off. We couldn't do that. But the Lord saw them. In spite of the dark, in spite of the distance, in spite of the storm, he saw them. I believe probably he also felt them. He could hear their groans, he could feel their backs breaking, he could feel their arms pulsing back and forth, he could feel their calluses on their fingers, and he saw all of that. He knew they were cold, they were drenched, they were terrified. He saw them. Isaiah chapter 63 in verse 9, in all their afflictions, he was afflicted. I don't think the Lord looked at them and smiled. I don't think he looked at them and said, oh, they're in for a tough time now. He was afflicted with them. Lamentation 333, of all places, he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men. That word willingly afflict, literally means he does not grieve, he does not afflict from the heart, meaning his heart's not in it. He does not take delight in this. Even the Bible even tells us the Lord has no joy, no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He has no pleasure in seeing us hurt. He's afflicted with us, though. At times, we go through these storms and we may entertain negative, unwholesome, unscriptural thoughts. We may think that God doesn't know me. God's forgotten me. Job did. When his friends were trying to tell him, you know, look for the Lord, he said, look for him. Talk to him. I can't find him. Where is he? We can entertain thoughts like that. Isaiah 40 and verse 27, Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel? My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God. He's not saying there God doesn't see them. The purpose of that verse is saying God doesn't care. I speak with people in that center often, and their question, their lament is never, I don't believe in God. Their lament is, God doesn't care about me. I am forgotten by everybody. I'm forgotten by the world. I suppose if we're going through a storm, we can say, hey, yeah, God has forgotten me. It's not the fact that we go into atheism. We go into a practical atheism to say, I believe in God, but I just don't think he cares about me today. And I don't think he cares about me this week or in this trouble, and he's just abandoned me. And the thoughts come. And our father, we summon up hope and just say, hey, He does see. Hagar discovered this a couple of times. In Genesis chapter 16 and verse 13, she calls the Lord, the God, the seeing one, the one who sees me. Yet in her troubles, later on, when she's cast out, she knew that God saw her again. He does take that. Psalm 33 and verse 18, behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him and whose hope is in his steadfast love. The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. Yeah, Peter likes this verse. He quotes it in 1 Peter 3. Let me ask you, a mom at a crowded grocery store, a mom at a playground, at a park, wherever, a bunch of kids are out there playing. Does the mom hear the cry of her child and know where that child is? Count on it. Above all the others, the mom, the ear of that radar is there and can hone in on that. And God knows where we are too. Not only does he send them in the storm, he prays for them in the storm, he sees them in the storm, the Lord comes to them in the storm also. Isaiah 43 in verse 2, when you pass through the waters, they were doing that, I will be with you. and through the rivers they shall not overwhelm you. And when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you." He comes to them. He comes at his own pace. He comes at his own moment. He's never late. He's always on time. For sure, they were drenched. They were soaked to the bone. But he came to them, and he finds them. He finds them, this dot, this little dot in the middle of that lake. He comes right to them. That's wonderful. He can find us on this earth, and his timing is exquisite. He shall not give a temptation that we cannot bear, but with that temptation will come the way to bear and the way to escape. The Lord comes. When Jesus rose from the dead, the Peter that denied him, he sought him out and found him to restore him. They were in trouble, he came. The men on the road to Emmaus, they were discussing, what happened? What took place? What was going on? The Lord found them also and came to them. In John chapter 21, when the apostles swam in the sea, again, the Sea of Galilee, a much better day, they said, we're going to go fishing. And the Lord came to them again that morning. That morning, he had breakfast with them. He comes, and he's always on time. When Paul was at Corinth, preaching the Word of God, it looked like a tough situation. And the Lord came to him in a vision in Acts 18 and verse 9, the Lord came to Paul in a vision and said, don't be afraid for I am with you. How can we fear really when our Lord is there? Something may not say, he may not feel like it, but he is watching, he's praying, he knows exactly what he's doing. Isaiah 26 and 3 and 4, you keep him in perfect peace, whose mind has stayed on you because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. When he comes, yeah, it's going to be sweet. He's going to be precious. He's going to be grace. And he's really going to show us so much of who he is. It's wonderful if we could just have more time to look at this, take a brief interlude, and look at Peter in this whole passage also. The Lord comes and Peter says, hey, can I try this? Can I try this? And the Lord gives him permission. And two people walk on water in the history of mankind. One is the Lord, and the second one is Peter. You know, I give him credit. Yeah, a little faith, but he did give it a shot. And for nothing else, I'm going to admire him for that. A couple of pictures we ought to look at, but, well, time's not going to permit it. We want to see also in this passage that the disciples worship him after the storm. They come and they worship him after the storm. We see that at the end. I think they thanked him. I admire them for that. How many times does the Lord bless that we make so many requests and we forget to say, thank you. Thank you for what you did for me. They thank him in this. They praise him for it. They give him glory. They bow down. They bow down to him as we go on. In John chapter 9, verse 38, the man that was born blind, he goes through the debate, through the controversy with the leaders. And the Lord comes to him at the end and says, do you believe in the Son of Man? And he said, well, who is he? And he said, I am. And by word of God says, he said, Lord, I believe, and he worshipped him. When we come to know Christ, our first instinct, their first impulse, their first spiritual impulse is to worship him. When the Lord rose from the dead, the ladies came, and they grabbed his feet, and they saw he was risen, and the word of God says, and they worshipped him. We see again in Luke chapter 24, The Lord goes back to heaven. They're talking with him. The Lord ascends. And the scriptures say, they bowed and they worshiped him as he left. We see this progress at every moment. There's always this growth. There's always this understanding more about Christ. It doesn't come in one second. In the Narnia series, there was the book called Prince Caspian. And the four children protagonists are transported back to the world of Narnia. And they have their adventures. They have their adventures. They're trying to go back and help Prince Caspian. And at one point, Lucy, one night, discovers there is Aslan with them. And she goes out, she meets Aslan, who is obviously a symbol, a type of Christ, the Lord. And so she's having this little dialogue with Aslan. This is one of my favorite of all those books, one of my favorite little back and forth, just a few words. And Lucy says to Aslan, Aslan, you are bigger. And he responds, that is because you are older. And she responds, not because you are bigger. No, I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger. And I think that's the Christian life right there. When we grow, we find our Lord bigger. He doesn't change. Our perspective of him changes. That's why they say, what they say? Truly, you are the son of God. They come to a new realization. He's always been that. Now they discover it. They find out a little bit more about him. Folks, this experience on the lake was nasty. but necessary because they had to go through a market correction right there. Wonderful to know for whom the Lord loves, he corrects. And when they come through the storm, we learn this, we relearn continuously over and over again, he must increase and I must decrease. This is not a lesson we learn in a day, it's a lesson we learn in our whole Christian experience. The Apostle Paul in the book of Philippians speaks in this fashion, that I might know him and to have the power of his resurrection, and to have fellowship with his sufferings. The power of the resurrection sounds real good. That fellowship with his sufferings, that's kind of a tough one. But this is how we know him, though, when God sends us through the storms, and he corrects us, then the Lord takes on, oh, so this is really who you are. We discover him just a little bit more at each step of the way When they go across the lake, the storm is over. The storm is over. There they are. You know what they find out? There's still another day ahead of them, another day to minister, another day to serve. We go through the storms. We're better prepared for the next storm. Then also, we go through the storm, we can tell people there is a Savior, there is a Jesus Christ, who A, can walk on water, he can walk over death, and he can bring you to eternal life. And we can just announce him with a full assurance that we know this is true. This is the Savior that we want to announce. If we're going through a correction this evening, maybe we're going through a tough time, we're going through a storm, we keep in mind A, The Lord is praying for us. He has his heart fixed on us. He sees us, and he's going to bring us through the storm. He will definitely do that for us. And then that way there, he is even bigger and better than we ever could possibly have imagined. Let's pray. Father, thank you for these moments in your word this evening. Thank you for your patience and your kindness towards us. Thank you that you come always in the storms. You're never delayed. No storm can stop you. and no circumstance of this life can hinder you. And this evening, we all have our hurts and sorrows and pains. We pray that you would bless and help us, Lord, as we look to you. Help us to keep others, our brothers and sisters in Christ in mind also, because they're also going through tough times. Help us to be