Amen. Thank you, men. Well, what a joy it's been to be together for these hours here at the two minute warning conference. Thank you, Brother Schmidt and Megan, for all their work. I know that much goes into a meeting like this that we don't see. And I know that you're grateful. I hope you'll express that gratitude to the Schmidts and to Pastor Rogers and anybody else you see around here that looks normal. Looks like they belong here. I just thank them for the opportunity we've had to abuse and use their buildings for this conference. And thank you for coming. And I hope that you'll go home that man to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Take your Bible. Let's go to Matthew chapter number 14. Matthew chapter 14. The Bible is a book of stories, is it not? And much is taught through the stories of the Bible that are recorded. Paul said, Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. And while the stories are fast-moving and entertaining to some degree, there's wonderful truth in the stories that are recorded. in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and others throughout scripture. Here we have such a story, Matthew chapter 14, let's read starting in verse 22. And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him unto the other side while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray When the even was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirit. They cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. And Peter answering him said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were coming to the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth, thou art the Son of God. And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, leaving footprints on water. would seem humanly impossible. Scripture gives us back-to-back miracles here in Matthew chapter 14. If you gaze your eyes back a few verses, you notice one of the most popular miracles that Jesus ever performed is recorded here in Matthew 14. It's a miracle recorded in all four of the Gospels, the only such miracle. the feeding of the 5,000. No doubt, really, the feeding of the 25,000, for there were 5,000 men plus the women and the children. An amazing miracle recorded in Matthew 14, and right on the heels of this miracle comes another, Jesus walking on water and enabling one of his disciples, a man by the name of Peter, to do the same. True miracles only take place in the presence of God. When God's in the picture, miracles become commonplace. Without God, there is no miracle. With God, miracles are common. Abraham was 99 years old. Sarah was 90. And God said, you're going to have a son. And they laughed. They said, God. We know you promised us a son, but it's a little late. We're past the age of bearing children. I'm 99. Sarah, she's a good woman, but she's 90. God, it's too late. But in Genesis 18 and verse 14, God looked at Abraham and he said, is anything too hard for the Lord? And I love Genesis 21 and verse one, the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken, and Sarah conceived and bare Abraham a son at the set time of which God had spoken to him. Nothing is impossible with God. With men, things are impossible, but not with God. With God, all things are possible. Ah, Lord God, thou hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power and by thy stretched out arm, and there's nothing too hard for thee. In fact, Abraham and Sarah didn't have a son. His name was Isaac. Sarah's 90 years old when Isaac is born. She lives another 40 years and she dies at the age of 130. That would mean that Abraham at that time was 139. And if you keep reading, Abraham gets remarried. Genesis 25. Keturah. And has six more kids. I mean, you talk about a miracle. At 99, he said, God, it's too late. I can't have a son. Biologically, it's impossible. But God said, no, watch this. Many people throughout the history of time have left footprints on the sand. But isn't it time that we as God's people get in the presence of God and leave some footprints on water? I want you to notice three chapters in this miraculous story of a man who left footprints on water. The first chapter is about the storm on the water. Now the miracle of a calm sea cannot take place without a contentious storm. Protection from a fire doesn't happen until there's a furnace. The miracle of healing cannot take place until someone gets sick. The raising of Lazarus could not take place until he died. And we see here in this chapter, as it opens in our story, a command. In verse 22, he straightway, Jesus did, constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him unto the other side while he sent the multitudes away. There is no opportunity for a miracle without obedience to the master. Now, obedience is not always something that makes sense to us. This would not have made sense to the disciples. If you read the entire chapter, Jesus has fed these 5,000 men plus the women and the children. They have barely gathered up the fragments of the 12 baskets. And Jesus, with this crowd still in front of him, says to his disciples, go down and get in that ship and go over to the other side. Now, the disciples would have thought, well, Lord, what about the crowd? Don't we need to shake hands at the door? Don't we need to make sure that everybody gets a ride home? Don't we need to maybe clean up some of the mess from the fish and the loaves? You see, it wouldn't have made sense to them to leave this crowd of people with Jesus, Jesus left to send them away himself. It would have made sense for them to stay. and to help him. But Jesus charges them. He gives them a command to get into the ship and go to the other side. And they were obedient. Are we obedient to God? What has God shown us even in these last few hours that we are still struggling with to obey? If he be willing and obedient, he shall eat the good of the land. Are you obedient? I have said many times over these years, we could see revival in America today if Christians would make one decision. And we would never have to make another decision. If we would make just one decision, we could see revival. You know what that decision would be? to keep all the decisions we've already made. Enough decisions have been made in this room to have revival in your church tomorrow. If we would just obey what we know. If we would just keep the vow we've already made. Obedience. Is there anything undone in your life? Is there anything that God has shown you that you are still not willing to do? Listen, we come to church, we wanna hear something new. God isn't gonna show you something new till you obey the old. Had a man came up to me one time in a meeting, he said, Brother Getsch, when this meeting's over, I'm leaving this church. I said, why is that? He said, well, the pastor's shallow. He doesn't teach any of the deep things of the Bible, and I wanna learn the deep things. I said, sir, are you saved? Of course I'm saved, he said. I said, well, have you been baptized since you've been saved? I knew he hadn't. He said, no, I don't believe in that. I said, sir, you go find the church with the finest Bible teacher you know of, and you go join that church, and I'll tell you something, you're not gonna learn one blessed thing until you get baptized. God's not gonna show you something new if you're not obeying the old. And so we see here a command and it's followed up by a crisis as in we come to verse 24, the ship that they get into now is in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves for the wind was contrary. You're never gonna know the strength of your anchor until you get into a storm of adversity. Shipra and Pua were ordinary unknown Hebrew midwives until there was a command to kill all the male babies. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were unknown commoners until there was a burning fiery furnace. This little boy in this chapter earlier is just a small child in a crowd full of people until somebody was hungry. Peter never walks on the sea without some waves on the sea. In Isaiah 48 and verse 10, God says, Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver. I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. We look at our affliction, we look at our storms, we look at the things that come into our life as obstacles and we get discouraged and we want to quit because it just seems so hard. I think of the Apostle Paul, who the Bible says was given a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan. We don't know exactly what that thorn in the flesh was. It was apparently some kind of a physical situation. as it was something that had to do with his flesh or his physical nature. Some believe it had to do with his eyes, but we don't know exactly what that infirmity was. But Paul was convinced that he could do much more for God without it. He believed that it was a hindrance, that it was something that if it was removed, he could better serve the Lord. And so he besought the Lord three times that it would depart from him. And I don't think he besought the Lord at breakfast, lunch, and dinner before he ate. I think there were three seasons in his life of prayer and perhaps even fasting that God would remove this infirmity of his flesh. He said, God, take this out, get rid of this, heal me, or whatever the situation was, he was crying out to God saying, Lord, I don't need this storm, I don't need this adversity, I don't need this opposition, please, Lord, remove this from me. And God said, I can do that. Is that what you want, Paul? You want good health? I can give you good health. You want to be comfortable? Paul, I can handle that. You want strength? You want physical stamina? You want no stress in your life? Paul, if that's what you want, I can do that. Or, Paul, do you want my grace? Do you want my strength that's made perfect in weakness? Do you want my power? He said, my grace is sufficient for thee. For my strength is made perfect in weakness. And once Paul understood this concept that God, yes, God can remove the storms from our life. God can take away the opposition. God can make a smooth path for us. He can even out our road to where it's not uphill. He can take away the headwind. God can do all of that. But once Paul realized that it was those very storms that were producing in Paul what God wanted. He said, most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in reproaches, in necessities, in infirmities for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong. Paul said, bring on another one. Give me another trial. Give me another affliction. Lord, if these are the things, if this is the furnace that's gonna make me more usable, if this is the storm that's gonna make me more productive for you, then Lord, bring it on. Here was a command, here was a crisis, but notice, here was a companion. In verse 25, the Bible says, in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. Aren't you glad you're never anywhere that God isn't? Fear not, I'm with thee. Be not dismayed, I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, I will help thee, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Thou keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon thee, because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever, for the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. When thou passest through the waters, I'll be with thee. And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. The psalmist was so confident in the presence of God, he said, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil, for thou art with me. I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. If we're gonna leave some footprints on the water, we've got to be willing to go through the storm on the water. So chapter one, the storm on the water, but notice chapter two of the story, the steps on the water. Now in verse 26, when the disciples saw him, Jesus, walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirit. And they cried out for fear. Storms are a natural habitat for fear. When storms come into our life, our first reaction is fear. When we learn of cancer, when we learn of financial problems, when we learn of a relational problem, our first response is oftentimes that of fear, and Satan loves to intimidate us with fear. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. The devil is not a roaring lion. He acts as a roaring lion. Now, I don't know everything there is to know about lions, but I know this, when they're hungry, they don't roar. When they're hungry and ready to pounce on a prey, they're very quiet. They hope to sneak up on that prey without even being noticed. A lion roars to intimidate, and the devil loves to roar his fears into our life. The lion hath roared, Amos said, who can but fear? And so here was a fear, and notice coupled with it was a fascination. In verse 27, but straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me that I come unto thee on the water. There was a fascination here, Jesus is walking on the water. And we have to remember that this water was not calm. There's a storm going on here. These waves are crashing over the side of the boat, the wind is howling, the rain is beating upon them, and Jesus is walking on the water. The first time I heard this story was when I was a little kid in Sunday school. And the teacher taught the story with a flannel graph. That was prehistoric PowerPoint. For those of you that are younger, a flannel graph board was this board, literal board, on a easel. You don't know what that is either. And on this board, on this easel, was some flannel material. And then the teacher had taken these little cutouts of people, and the ship, and the water, and all these things, and they were cut out of flannel. And so when she would tell the story, she would stick them up on the flannel board, and they would stick to the flannel. And so she'd put the ship up there, and then she'd put Jesus up there walking on the water, and the disciples in the boat. Man, it was captivating. We're watching all this. And I remember hearing this story and the flannel graph, it showed the water was calm. But then I read the Bible. The water was not calm. And Jesus is walking on this water. Isn't it amazing what God can do? Isn't it amazing what God is capable of doing? God has spoken once, he twice, have I heard this, that power belongeth unto God. Our God is in heaven, and we upon earth, all power is given unto him in heaven and in earth. We see the power of God here and these disciples were fascinated by the fact that Jesus is walking on the water. And then with this fear and this fascination comes a faith. In verse 29, Peter says, bid me that I come into the water. Verse 28, and he said, come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water. Peter, in the midst of this storm, water's crashing over the side of the boat, the wind is howling, the rain is beating his face, and Peter steps out of the boat and walks on water. Wow. In the middle of a storm, you have a choice to either stay in the ship or step on the sea. Fear will keep you in the boat. Doubt will keep you in the boat. Comfort will keep you in the boat. Security will keep you in the boat. The crowd says, stay in the boat. The critic says, stay in the boat. The complainer says, stay in the boat. But faith says, step out of the boat. Why? Because without faith, it's impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. We may not understand the faith that we are acting upon, but faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So we see the storm on the water in chapter one of the book. We see the steps on the water, chapter two, but then we come to chapter three in the story, the session on the water. The most valuable classes are taught in the most violent crisis. Now, God operates his classrooms different than man. I teach some classes at the college. And I don't know that I've ever given a test on the first day. In fact, I don't give tests the second day or even the third day. I usually wait a couple of weeks. I try to teach something before I give a test on it. I think I would get some complaints if I gave a test before I taught the material. But Jesus doesn't operate his classroom that way. God often gives the lecture after the test. And notice here a distraction in verse 30. When he saw, Peter, when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. He's distracted. When he saw, Satan's number one goal is to get us to look somewhere other than Jesus. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food. When Lot lifted up his eyes and saw the well-watered plains of Jordan. When Achan saw the blabalonish garment and the wedge of gold and the shekels of silver. When Samson saw the woman of Timnath, get her for me. When David saw the woman washing. All the devil tries to do is to get us to look away from where we ought to be looking. And Jesus said, no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. He doesn't say, no man having put his hand to the plow and going back. Remember Lot's wife. You can memorize that one on the way home. That's the whole verse. Remember Lot's wife. What's there to remember about Lot's wife? She looked back. She looked back. And all the devil wants you to do when you leave this conference is to look someplace other than where God has set your eyes these last 24 hours. Set your affection on things above, not on the things of the earth. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. The reason some of us are sinking is because our eyes are in the wrong place. Our eye affects our heart. There was a distraction. But notice in this lesson, this session on the water, Jesus points out not only a distraction, he points out a defect. In verse 31, immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and said, O thou of little faith. What? What? Lord, I didn't hear that. What did you say? Hold thou little faith. Lord, I mean, come on, Lord. Give Peter a break. Nobody's ever walked on water before. What are you talking about? Peter just exercised great faith. It'd take a lot of faith to step out of a boat onto water. Have you ever tried it? As far as I know, Peter's the only one who's even tried. And yet Jesus says, O thou of little faith. What's he talking about? There are several times in the New Testament where Jesus makes that statement. O ye of little faith. O thou of little faith. And if you study those passages, I don't believe Jesus is ever talking about the amount of faith. He's talking about the duration of faith. In Luke 22, Jesus said to Peter, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat. But I've prayed for you that your faith fail not. Peter had faith. By the way, if you're saved, you have faith. And it took a lot of faith for you to get saved. Have you ever seen God? No. But you put your faith in Him. You've never seen Jesus Christ, but you've put your faith in Him. That takes a lot of faith. I mean, just try to look at that from an unsafe person's view for a minute. You worship what? You worship who? Have you ever seen Him? Have you ever talked to Him? Has He ever come to your church? It takes a lot of faith to believe what God has said and to trust Christ as your Savior. So you have faith, a lot of faith. Peter had exhibited a lot of faith to leave those nets, to leave that boat, to leave his business, to leave his wife, and to follow Jesus Christ for that earthly ministry. It would have taken a lot of faith for Peter to step out and become a disciple, a follower of Jesus Christ. Peter has exhibited faith over and over and over again. What is the point of Jesus' statement, O thou of little faith? Because when Peter got distracted, when Peter saw the waves, when Peter saw the wind, he took his eyes off of Jesus. His faith did not endure. When I went to the land of Israel, we had a guide named Elijah, not the one in the Bible. But his name was Elijah, he was an Arab man, and he loved the Holy Land. He loved to show you the Holy Land. And he was a man that literally, when he got off the bus, he would run to the places we were gonna see. And if you didn't keep up with him, he called you a goat. Not like the greatest of all time. A goat. He said, there are sheep and there are goats. If you keep up with me, you're a sheep. If you don't keep up with me, you're a goat. And he would hammer us every day, keep up, keep up. And he would run to show us these places. We got off the bus one particular place, and he said, we're going to go to two places now, keep up. And he started running to the first place. And my wife and I, we were younger then, and we were able to keep up with him. We got to the first site there, and he showed it to us and explained it. He said, all right, we got 200 yards. We got to run over here. And so he starts running, starts jogging. And we kept up with him. Everybody else kind of lagging behind. We got to this place we were going to see, and he was a little frustrated that not everybody was there. And so he's just kind of standing. And he walked over to a bush. This bush was about three feet high and about as round as it was high. It's a very thick, short bush. And he grabbed one of the branches and he shook it over his open hand. And he held out that hand toward me and he said, John, do you know what this is? Now his hand was covered with a lime green film. I mean, it was like taking powder and just kind of splashing it on your hand. You couldn't decipher one piece of it from another. It was kind of an ugly lima green color. And I looked at it and I said, no, sir, I have no idea. He said, John, this is the mustard tree. This is the mustard seed. And then he looked over his shoulder at a mountain. And he looked back, meaning he winked. If you have faith as the grain of a mustard seed, you couldn't tell one seed from another. If you have faith as the grain of a mustard seed, ye shall say to that mountain, be thou removed, and it shall remove. See, it doesn't take a lot of faith to even move a mountain. But where will your faith be when you get home? Where will your faith be a week from now, a month from now, by the time you come back next year at this time? Will your faith endure? looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Notice how Paul put this all together at the end of his life. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. An enduring faith. When the disciples prayed, Lord, increase our faith, I don't think they were asking for more. They had amazing faith. They were willing to be martyred for their faith. But they prayed, God, help me to be faithful all the way to the end. Then we see a destination. I love this. Verse number 32. And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. And they that were in the ship came and worshiped him, saying, of a truth, thou art the Son of God. And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. They came to the place that God had told them to go. Before they could embark on future ministry, they had to have a session about enduring faith on the water. You see, the storms are not designed to sink you. They are designed to school you to greater service. I know the thoughts that I think toward you, God says, thoughts of peace and not evil, to bring you to an expected end. I'm trying to get you to Gennesaret. I'm trying to get you to another place of service. And to get there, you've had to go through a storm and you've had to learn how to walk on water. And now that you've learned, now you're ready to serve me in a greater way. Listen, what are you going through today? It may seem overwhelming. It may seem like, I don't think I can go another step. Listen, God has you in that storm to show you his power, to show you his strength, to help you to become all that God wants you to be. Fannie Crosby, the great hymn writer, was not born blind. She became blind as a very small girl, just a few years old. as a mistake was made by her nurse who washed her eyes with a substance that caused her to go blind. And over her years of life, she lived in darkness. And someone asked her toward the end of her life, she had written all of these great hymns that we sing and had been faithful to God all of those years. They asked her, Fanny, do you wish that you had never been blind Her response was immediate. She said, oh no, no. She said, if I had not suffered blindness, I would never have seen all the blessings of God in my life. What an odd statement. If I had not been blind, I would never have seen. God can remove the storm if that's what you want. He can give you a clear path across the lake if that's what you want. But God has some things designed on the lake to make you a vessel he can use. So in the midst of that storm, don't quit. Don't give up. You've gotten to the two minute warning. You've got the ball. There's still time on the clock. Don't quit now. You took a timeout. You came to the sideline. You took a few hours. You pulled aside. You huddled. You got some information from some coaches. Now go back out there. And when they