I've had something on my heart. I was planning on, if he'd give me an opportunity to preach, he didn't tell me that, and I didn't ask him that until we got here, and I said, if you're planning on it, I just want to know, amen, if you want me to. And I had planned on preaching a message that I have about that inn there, you know, wow, Jesus, there was no room in the inn. I would love to bring that to you tonight, but the Lord's not going to allow me to do that. We're going a different way. And I'm gonna try to be obedient to him. And there's a reason for that. I mean, if I just obey it to him, he'll do his work. And if you'll just listen attentively, I'm gonna preach something that may, when you first listen to it, I'll be honest with you, the first time I preached this, I preached it in a big camp meeting. And it went from amen to you could have took a pen and thumped it across the floor. And honestly, I believe you could have heard it. My wife told me when I first announced what I was gonna preach on, she said, boy, you better be able to prove that. Even she got kind of nervous about it. But the Lord's really given me something I believe on this and I want to bring it to you tonight. If you have your Bibles, Matthew chapter number 14 will go in the book of Mark and also the book of John, just comparative passages. I do believe in the gospels, the synoptic gospels, that God allows each gospel to be written. They are written to specific people. The Matthews is written to the Jew in it specifically, although as a gospel to all of us, there are certain things in the book of Matthew that will apply to the Jew that maybe wouldn't apply as much to us. There's some things in that that will be more understandable to the Jew than it would be us. And so it's just more information to the ones that need to have the information. And I thank God for that. Matthew chapter number 14. I'm going to ask you to do something. I don't know if you do it here, but we do it some at home. And I'm going to ask you, if you would, to stand for the reverence of the Word of God. Isn't it good to have the Word of God in your hand? Amen. And I just thank God that God let me have the preserved Word of God and hold it in my hand. Amen. If I couldn't read it, I'd just hold it, knowing it has the Word of God. We have some people in our church can't read, but they can't read, but they'll just bring the Bible with them or have it with them or they'll listen. They're just thankful to have the Word of God in their hand. Amen. Matthew chapter number 14, verse number 22. The Bible says in a straight way Jesus constrains his disciples to get in a ship and go before him and to the other side while he sent the multitude away. And when he had sent the multitudes away he went up into a mountain apart to pray and when the evening 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. And they cried out for fear. Straightway, Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. Peter answered him and 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? Verse 32, And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then they were in the ship, came, and worshiped him, saying of a truth, Thou art the Son of God. Now if you have your Bible still with you, I hope you do. Mark chapter number six. Mark chapter number six. And we'll look at a very similar passage written there in the book of Mark. Mark chapter number six and verse number 48. Verse number, and verse number 48. Verse 48 says, and he saw them toying and rowing, for the wind was contrarian to them. And about the fourth watch of the night, he came 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 said unto them, Be in good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. And he went up under them into the ship and the wind ceased, and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure and wondered. Then one more passage. John, thank you for your patience. John chapter number six, verse number 16. John chapter number six and verse number 16. I love the Bible, amen? And there's one thing I wanna do tonight. I wanna bring Bible to you, not opinions, but Bible, amen? Now look with me in chapter number six and verse number 16. And when the evening was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea, and entered into a ship, and went over unto the sea of Capernaum, and it was 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, or 20, or 30 furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship, and they were afraid. But he said 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." Now it's amazing in each one of these passages there is much given in each one. There's some things that are not told as much about in one passage, but other parts are given even more in the passage. That's what's wonderful about the Gospels. Putting together we get a whole picture of what's going on. I wanna preach this thought tonight on stay in the ship. Stay in the ship. And I'll bring something to you tonight, maybe you never thought before. I was studying one time, and I had one of them aha moments. And my brother, who's smarter than I am, he has so many degrees, he's like a thermostat, amen. And I called him up, and I said, I think I found something. And I began to tell him, and he said, you know what, I never saw it there. And we began to share it with other preachers, and we went across different ones. I found out a preacher had preached this some 30 or 40 years ago, had preached the same. Brother Stennett Ballou, who he knows very well, had preached this message years on. Brother Ballou's gone on to glory now. So you know, there's nothing new under the sun, but it can be fresh, amen? And so tonight, I hope I can give it to you. Fresh, amen. So the first time maybe you can get this out. Don't preach tonight, don't stay in the ship. I want to say tonight very clearly, I am not a scholar of the Bible and neither are any of you. There's no such thing as Bible scholars. We're Bible students, amen. And we'll be a Bible student until we get home to glory, amen. And we'll never understand it all until we get there. But I do believe we can learn. Amen? I want to learn from year to year, day to day, always learning something from the Word of God. So let's try to do that tonight. Now we find here in Matthew chapter 14, very familiar scripture about the ship, about the storm, and of course we are given here about Peter. Let's look at a couple of things. Number one, the will to be in the ship. The Bible says in verse number 22 of Matthew, we'll stay mostly in Matthew tonight, Matthew chapter number 14, in verse number 22, the Bible says, In verse 22 it says, and straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get in the ship. Now there's two things about that constraint. Number one, it was straightway. It was a timing issue. He didn't say when you get to feeling like it. When you get emotional about it, when you get excited about it, it says he straightway compelled them to get in the ship, amen? So there is a timing issue on getting in the ship, would you agree? It's not just when you feel like it, but when he tells you to get in. And then number two, it is a total constraint. Notice what it says. And straightway, Jesus constrained five of his disciples to get in the ship. Is that what your Bible says? If it does, you need to throw your Bible away. That's not what it says. It says he constrained the disciples, and that meant all the disciples, not some, not who felt like it that day, not who were excited about that day, not the ones that were getting along that day, but in fact, every disciple, every follower was supposed to get in the ship. Can we agree there? Amen. So they're constrained. This was not a suggestion, but an absolute constraint, commandment, if you will, for everyone there. Amen? Now, number two, there's a cause in this constraint. He says, and go before him unto the other side while he sent the multitudes away. Verse 23 says, and when he had sent the multitudes away. And so there's a cause. He's going to do the sending away. He has to handle that the way he wants to handle it. It wasn't up to the disciples. They might have said, get on out of here. Many times they tried to get them away anyway. It's amazing how many times they tried to run the multitudes away. I mean, Jesus is trying to get them to come to him. They're trying to get him to go away, amen. And so he handled it right way, and he got him to go away, and when he had sent the multitudes away, now, why are they constrained? Well, verse 34 through verse 36 talks about they're gonna go over to the other side of Genesaret, and Genesaret is waiting on Jesus to come, and what miracles he's gonna perform there, and he wants the disciples to get to that place where he is going to be next to do those great miracles, amen? There is a cause of the constraint, amen? And by the way, he didn't let them know that cause. He didn't tell them what he was gonna do over there. He said, just get in the ship and go the other side. Can we get agreement on there? Amen. I'm gonna ask all night long, you might as well get your amen corner going right here. I'm gonna tell you, we're gonna have to come to agreement with the word of God. The word of God said, get in the ship, what God said, and go to the other side. The Bible says, he went up into the mountain apart to pray, and when the evening come, he was there alone. And so he was having communion with God the Father there on the mountain. I don't doubt God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit was all meeting together, amen. Of course they did. And it was somewhere that was very special, there was a very special communion between God the Father and God the Son. But that was not for the others at that time. It just wasn't. It was something different than anybody else could experience. Amen? Can we agree with that? The rest were not invited. Amen, not a single disciple was invited to be on that mountaintop. They were to be down the sea, they're to be in the ship, and they're supposed to be going to the other side, amen. Now, so the will was to be in the ship, and his disciples were in the ship. All three Gospels that we read tonight, they were in the ship. Now, notice what it says in verse 24. Keep your Bibles open. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. Now, we find out that the will of God was for them to be in the ship. Now we find that there's waves and storms on that ship. Amen. Now there's a difference in the contrast. The Bible says, but the ship was now. Now he was up on the mountaintop and they were down at sea level. Different contrast completely. He's up on the mountaintop, he's having a mountaintop experience, he's in communion with the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, all of them are up there, they're praying, but they're down the ship and they're having a contrast, there's a difference in what they were going through and what he was going through. You agree? Amen. Number two, the Bible says, but in the ship was now in the midst of sea. Look at the distance of the coastline. They were just not a little shallow water. Amen. They weren't just, oh, it's a little storm. We'll just row, row, row right over. Oh, we'll just get out of the boat and walk to the shore. Everything's fine. No, they were in the midst of the sea. They were in deep water. They were over their heads in water. Would you agree? in the midst of the sea, and so there's distance from the coastline. But no one, no one ever accomplishes anything when you just hang around the shoreline. Immediately I think about what he said, launch out into the deep, let down your nets, amen? You don't accomplish anything for God splashing around in shallow water. You and I need to learn to trust God, and I don't say trusting God many times means getting things that are up over our heads, things that we're not comfortable with, things that may be deeper than you and I are ready to handle, amen? Would you agree? Amen. Everything that ever been big in my life has been when it's bigger than me, amen? And everything God has ever done good in my life, it's been when it's been out of my control absolutely 100%, amen? Now, number three, there's an indifference in the conditions. There's an indifference, notice what it says again. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with the waves, for the wind was contrary. Tossed with the waves, for the wind was contrary. But wait a minute, who told them to get on the ship? Jesus did. It was Jesus' perfect will for them to get on that ship. And it seems as though there's an indifference in him to the conditions they're in. He wasn't worried evidently. Well I'll say this, did he know there was gonna be a storm? Come on folks, did he know there was gonna be a storm? He's either God or not. He knew everything, didn't he? Hey, the Bible says he, read your Bible, the Bible says he knew their thoughts many times. So you know he knew a storm was coming. Sure he did, but he was indifferent to the storm. The storm didn't bother him, it bothered them. It bothers us, it bothers me. I'm telling you right now, we got in that little plane over there the other day and they had to get the stewardess to come out and hold the door open while the pilot got in because the door was trying to shut. I was getting a little concerned, amen. Maybe some of y'all are super spiritual and y'all wear your crown cockeyed, but I'm gonna tell you right now, I was like, boy, I hope this goes well, amen. I hope this goes well, amen. I will say there's some storms that although I may not like them, they may be very concerning to me, he is very indifferent to the storm. It didn't bother him to tell them to get on the ship even knowing that they were gonna go through a storm. He knew it when he put them in the ship. He's either a sovereign God or not, amen? He either knows all or knows nothing. Amen. So he knew it. So the waves, we see the waves while in the ship. Now, Buddhist disciples, where they are, they're in the ship. Now, notice what it says in verse 25. And in the fourth watch of the night, The fourth watch in the night is the watch right before daybreak. But, most people say, well, darkest time of night is at midnight, but that's not true. The darkest time of the night is right before daybreak. Right before daybreak, they're in the darkest season. And he is not with them, he's been up on the mountain fervent in prayer because that had to be completed. and they're down in there and they are fervent at work because the ship they are on is not a sailing ship. It's a rowing ship. I want you to understand that because the Bible tells us they were rowing, rowing, rowing. Doesn't it tell that in Mark and doesn't it tell us that in John? Rowing. This is not a sailing ship. I want to tell you something, folks. When you got born again and put in the house of God, when you got on the board of the ship, it's not a cruise. Oh no, it's not a cruise. God told us to go from point A to point B and he's given us many commandments. And there's a lot of people come to church and they don't have cruise control. I mean, you'd think they're gonna sit back and say, well, y'all bring me a Coke. That's not how it is in the church. There's a point A to point B that he has told us all the way through the scriptures. There are things that we're supposed to be doing and we're supposed to be rowing. Why do I know that? Because the Bible said he constrained them to get in another, look at the Bible, look it with me. Look what it says in verse 22. And straightway, Jesus constrains his disciples to get into a ship and to, help me, two letter word, go. And to go, not to glide, Not to sail, not to cruise, go. And the only way that ship was gonna go from that side to that side is to start rowing. Because it's a rowing ship. That's what you do in a rowing ship. Y'all help me a little bit, all right? That true? That's what you do. You row in a rowing ship. Boy, that was a profound statement there. I mean, all y'all fishermen like, well, duh, you know? But you'd be surprised how many people get into church and thinks it's a cruise ship. Amen. But they're in the ship. It's the darkest hour. They're fervent at work. He's fervent in prayer. Then it says in verse 25, and in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. Now, in the other passage, the Bible says that he would pass them by, but the reason he didn't pass them by was because they cried out. He was going to go to the other side. And by the way, he was never concerned about them making it. They were. We are many times. We say, oh, I don't know. You think we're going to make it? I don't know. I don't know. You think, oh, I don't know. But he's not concerned with it. He knows you're going to make it. How does he know you're going to make it? He's the one that started this thing. Amen? Now notice what I said. Jesus went and walked with them on the water. Now the word unto has the meaning of beside, but it also has the meaning of a destination. And I believe with all my heart that I believe they were the destination of Jesus. He was just not passing by. He was passing by them. You understand? He was walking towards them on the sea. And the Bible says, where two or three are gathered together in his name, there he is in the midst. Amen? So I believe those disciples were like, listen, he knew where he was going, and he knew where they were going, and they were his destination. Now look at verse 26, and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirit, and they cried out for fear. Now their discernment is hindered, just like ours is a lot of times. There's a lot of folks can't see things because of the storm. Number one, there's wind and rain, and we're human. And the wind and rain gets and bothers our discernment. Amen? Can't see good. And also the strength. What they've been doing, they've been row, row, rowing the boat. In fact, they've been rowing the boat against the contrary sea. That's hard, folks. Folks, that's hard work. I mean, it's hard to row a boat in good weather. but in bad weather, more so, amen? And then also the sickness, no doubt, had sent in by the tossing of the waves up and down and back and forth and contrariness of it all the time. And I'm telling you, I don't care how good you are, how, you say, well, I got my feet. Sooner or later, you're gonna get seasick on the sea, amen? Sometimes you're gonna get tired of the battle. And then number five, they were superstitious. Notice what they said. They're saying it is a spirit. They didn't say it is the spirit. And they had a little background superstition in themselves. And that superstition, they seen Jesus, oh it's a spirit. It is a spirit. But they weren't talking about the Holy Spirit. They thought the ghost had come upon them. Now look at verse number 27. But straightway, now y'all keep your Bibles open, here's a very important verse. But straightway, by the way, it's straightway they put him on the ship. He put them on the ship. Here we are again, straightway again. But straightway, Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer, in his eye, be not afraid. Does that say that in your Bible? If it don't say that, you can throw your Bible away, you ain't got the right Bible. Because it's very important what I just said there. Very important what I just said there. Be of good cheer, in his eye, be not afraid. That pretty plain? Three plain things. Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. Pretty plain, right? Now, here's the thing about it. There's other times Jesus talked about being of good cheer. He talked about it in Matthew chapter nine. He says, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven. John chapter 16, verse 33, be of good cheer, you've overcome. Acts chapter 23, verse 11, be of good cheer, because you've been preserved. Acts chapter 27, he talks about the survival of the souls on the board and to be of good cheer because they survived. Where were they when they heard that? I'll ask you this, when the disciples heard, be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid, where were they? In the ship. And they would have not heard that anywhere else if they'd have stayed on land. So I ain't gonna go out there. It looks kind of dark out there. I'm not gonna go out there. It's the dark. I'm not gonna go out there. It's cloudy, it's stormy. It don't look good right out there. They'd have never heard Jesus say what he said had they not been where they were supposed to be when it was time. Now notice this, folks. There's a difference, now some of you, I'm gonna probably curl some of y'all's ears right here. There's a difference between allowance of God and the authority of God. What I mean is there's a difference in the perfect will of God, and somebody won't like this word, a lot of people don't like this word, and the permissible will of God. And you say, well why don't people like that? Well, they think permissible will of God is God saying it's okay to go out and sin. No, that's not what God's saying. The perfect will of God says, do this. The permissible will of God is He lets you go and do wrong when you shouldn't go wrong. You say, no, God wouldn't do that. Well, what about Abraham and Hagar? Was that the perfect will of God? No. Did God permit it? Come on, folks. Did God permit it? Yes, He did. All the way through the Bible, all the way through the Bible, we find out there are times where God permitted people to do the wrong thing. Is that right? I will show you here tonight that Peter got into the permissible will of God and not the perfect will. Now look at it with me. The Bible says, and Peter answered him, verse 28, got your Bible? And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, be me coming to thee on the water. And he said, come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked in the water to go to Jesus. Now, I've heard many messages of years and it's a really good application. And the application is you can step out on faith and walk with God on the water. How many have heard messages like that? Sure, we all have, amen? I've preached them before. And they're great applications, but they are not the right interpretation. Because the right interpretation is Jesus told them to get in the ship and go to the other side. That right? Was that the perfect will of God? The perfect will of God was to get in the ship and go on to the other side. Now Peter asked a question. Notice the question they asked him. He said, Lord, and Peter did this a lot. You remember the time Peter rebuked the Lord for, he said he was gonna be crucified? And Peter rebuked the Lord, Lord, it shall not be so. That's an oxymoronic statement. You can't call him Lord and tell him what to do at the same time. Y'all get that? You can't tell the Lord what to do. A lot of people say, I can tell God what to do. No, you can't. You can't tell God what to do. He's God. You are not in the authority to tell God what to do. You can ask God. You can pray to God. You can ask God to give you some instruction. You can ask God to give you some understanding, but you can't tell God what to do. And Peter Sear does something, he does a terrible thing, because Jesus had just said, and y'all all smiled and said amen with me, y'all like that verse, verse 27, be of good cheer. Can y'all understand that? It is I, who? It is I, who? I be not afraid. And then Peter asked the question, Lord, if it be thou. Well, we know it is him, why? Because he just said so. We know it's him. He just told him the fact, we know it so much that he told him, be of good cheer, don't be afraid, I'm with you. Now Peter says, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come to the water. And he said, come, not because it was the perfect will, but because Peter decided he based his ability to come to him on the question. He said, Lord, if it be thou, he's already told him it's him, come. Now Peter's now getting out of the ship, and Peter's gonna walk on the water. But he's not going to do it in the perfect will of God, he's going to do it in the permissible will of God. Now stay with me, I'll show you why I mean that. Notice what happens. Peter answered him, Lord be thou, letting me and thee come into the water. Verse 29, and he said, coming when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water of Jesus. Now Peter was not searching for the perfect will of God. You know what he's doing? He's searching for it to be enamored with a peculiar walk. And there's a lot of people today the same way. They want to be peculiar. You say, well, the Bible says to be peculiar people. Not in this kind of way. There's a lot of folks that want to be higher than everybody else. They want to be more spiritual than everybody else, and they want to show off a little bit, don't they? Come on, folks, you know all, you know all. There might be some here, I don't know. I understand that, you know, there could be, I don't know. But there's some folks who want to be, oh, let me put out my peacock feathers. Let me show everybody how spiritual I am. Okay, now watch. So he says, and Peter came down out of the ship and he walked on the water. Peter was not searching for the perfect will of God. Many Christians today, listen, are over the ship. They get bored with the trip. They get the droop lip. They get problems. And they're just trying to be in the ship. I'm tired of rowing. I'm tired of rowing. I'm tired of hanging out here. I'm tired of being here. Aren't you glad Noah didn't get like that? Aren't you glad that Noah stayed in the ship the whole time? I mean, it was kind of important, wasn't it? Wasn't it kind of important for Noah to stay in the ship the whole time? Amen. Wasn't it kind of important for him to wait till the Lord said, open the door? Kind of important, amen. And you know, I thought about this. I am so thankful for those who swab the deck, those that fix the food, those that paddle, those that stay with the ship. Elijah, brother Elijah, I'm gonna use you. You're the pastor here, so I'm gonna use you. And he don't know where I'm going, so he's as shocked as any of y'all are. So many, maybe some people on the ship, maybe some people on the ship, I mean, they've been on the ship for a while, they're about to have a mutiny. Amen. I mean, they've been rolling that ship, it's going in a storm and things ain't going right. I mean, things are getting scary. Why are we on this ship? They're about to have a mutiny. Well, to have a mutiny, you gotta have a mutiny against somebody, right? But here's the problem. With a paddle on the boat, what do you have to have in the water besides a paddle? A rudder. You gotta have a rudder. Now, how many, now, we all get on a ship and we say, oh, we have a rudder. Well, that means, you know, everybody can grab the rudder and get somewhere, right? No, everybody can't grab the rudder at one time. I mean, come on, me and brother Elijah, come on down here. Come on now, you sit down right there. You're guiding the rudder. You say, oh no, Jesus got the rudder. No, Jesus walk on the water. Right? He's told somebody, somebody, I don't gotta get on the ship, but one of them has to guide the rudder. How many gotta guide the rudder? One. Because if he's got, you gotta hold that rudder. No, I want to guide the rudder. I want to guide the rudder. Come on, come on, come on. Come here. Come on. I want to guide the rudder. I want to fight. I want to go the way we're supposed to go. Come on. You're tired of pedaling. Paddling? Come here and grab the rudder or something. Take it away from him. You know what I'm talking about, don't you? You know what the problem with that is? When everybody is trying to be the ship's rudder, holder, guider, the ship don't go nowhere, folks. God has one rudder holder in the church. Now, he can't preach on this, because he's the pastor. And if he preached on that, everybody would say, oh, he's just trying to be boss. But I'm not the pastor here. I've been in this thing 25 years, and I'm going to tell you right now, there can't be one rudder holder in the church, and it has to be the pastor. and somebody has to row and somebody has to rudder. And if you're gonna get anywhere, you better let him be the rudder. You say, I don't like how he's ruddering. Don't worry about that. If you believe in a sovereign God, the sovereign God can take care of him. And you don't have to worry about it. You understand? In fact, if you do worry about it, I'm putting my finger on you. If you do worry about it and you do bother him, you're gonna ruin what God's trying to do in this ship. You understand? You're gonna destroy the work of God in this ship and slow this ship from getting from point A to point B like it's supposed to be. It can't be but one rudder, a guider. That's all there can be. So can you have a sit down? Can you just row? You can do that. Can I borrow you? Come on up here. Who's guiding the rudder? Pastor is. Do you need to do that? No, what do you need to do? Row. You need some rollers! And you need one rudder holder. And he's him. You got it? But John, you with me? Y'all understand? One rudder holder. If you don't have more than that, mess the whole ship up. I've seen it, I've lived it, and I know what I'm talking about, folks. I didn't jump on this wagon last week. You understand? Now, I'm going to tell you right now, if I told him I was going to preach on that night, he'd say, no, don't preach on that. Because rudder holders don't like a lot of glory, and they don't like a lot of tension, but the ship will go nowhere without the rudder holder. You say, oh, we're doing pretty good. Really? How long have you been in the sea? How long you been paddling circles without a rudder holder? You had a rudder holder here before, didn't you? Then he passed away. You've been waiting for another rudder holder, haven't you? He's trying to take you somewhere. Tired of going in circles. Ready to go on to the next stage. You understand? What's your job? What's your job? What's your job? Do what God told you to do. If you don't lead it right, this ship's not going to get to the other side. You keep her stern. Now watch this. Watch this. Somebody say, well, I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what, I don't like that. I think we need to take a vote on it. Well, you know what the problem with that is? That's the layout of sin in church age. The very last church age says this, says, I want the rights of the people. Well, if you have the rights of the people and everybody's voting on it, well, one vote says, I wanna go right and I wanna go left. And we're trying to figure out majority rule. What we're gonna do, why don't you just let the rudder holder be the rudder holder and everybody else keep rolling? Let a sovereign God take care of the rudder holder and everybody else just keep rolling. Amen. Now, somebody might say, I wrote this down. I never wrote this down before, but Lord woke me up about four o'clock this morning and said, write this down. Somebody might say, well, I'm gonna leave the ship and build my own ship. Well, let me tell you that, here's the problem with that. Number one, you gotta get out of the ship to do that, and you're not in a good place to get out of the ship, because you're in the middle of the ocean. And number two, it's real hard to build a ship in the middle of the ocean without any foundation. You might build a building, but it don't mean you'll build a ship. Thirdly, This recording of Peter walking on water is only recorded in one gospel, in the book of Matthew. In the book of Mark, the passage of the disciples rowing, getting the ship, rowing, Jesus walking in the water, all that's recorded. But Mark says, hmm, I don't think I'm supposed to write down about Peter. And that's a pretty profound thing, Peter walking on water, don't you agree? Yet Mark is told, don't write this down. You turn over to the book of John, and John writes it down about them paddling all the time, how far they had paddled, everything. Jesus walking on the water, and guess what is left out of the book of John? Peter walking on the water. Luke don't even write anything about it. Could it be that Peter walking in the water is really not what the message is about? Could it be that the most important thing is Jesus walking on the water and the disciples going from point A to point B in the perfect will of God? Could it be that God is not really interested in Peter walking on the water, nor does it impress the brethren that much? Amen, amen. Verse 30, I'll move on. So Peter gets to walk on water. Bids me come. He says, come. What happens? But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid and began to say, he cried, Lord, save me. Now he is where he wanted to be, or at least where he thought he wanted to be. Amen? But he doesn't know how to walk on water. Why? Because here's the problem. It's when we step away from the assembly and lose our humility, That's when we begin to get into trouble. Why do we get in trouble there? Because we begin to walk where we are not supposed to walk. When Peter stepped out of that ship, he stepped into no man land. And when I mean no man land, I mean no man land. It was God's land. It's where God can walk. I'll prove that to you. Can I help you tonight? I'm gonna prove this to you tonight. Some of y'all go, no, no, no, preacher. No, it's the perfect will of God. No, it wasn't the perfect will of God. I'll prove it to you. When the children of Israel got down to the Red Sea, y'all know that story, don't you? You've been kind of teaching them that, kind of in there, amen. They got down to the Red Sea, the Bible says Moses lifted up his hand and God exhaled the breath of God. And that sea opened up and they walked across on what? Dry land. Now I'll ask you this, was the miracle in them walking or the parting? Parting, they were just walking, right? So why didn't they walk, if it's such, if it's the will of God for men to walk on water, why didn't they just walk across the Red Sea? You know why? Because that way everybody would go, wow, look at them. But when the wall parted and they just walked across on dry land, they said, wow, look at God. When he got to the Jordan River and those freeze stepped into the brinks of that water and that water stood up there and went up on a wall on this side and they walked across that dry ground there. They didn't walk across the water, they walked across dry ground. Was the miracle in the dividing of the water or the walking? dividing the water. Why? Because God would get the glory. Elijah comes to the Jordan River, right? Takes off his mantle, smotes the water, and what did the water do? It separated. And where did they walk across? Dry ground. Why didn't Elijah, one of the most powerful men of God, why didn't he walk on water? Because it's not God's will for men to walk on water. What about Elisha, when he got the anointing of God, took the mantle of Elijah, went back down the Jordan River. I mean, by the way, he's the one to ask for a double portion. If anybody should have walked on water, it should have been Elisha, would y'all agree? And what did he do? He gets down to the water, brings the water, takes that mantle, and says, where is the Lord God of Elijah? Smites the water, the water divides out, and he walks across on what? Dry ground. But why didn't he walk on water? Because it's not God's will for men to be like God. It's not for us to get his glory. It was amazing when Jesus was walking on the water, but it was a show when Peter tried to do it. Y'all ready? Y'all still paddling? You still holding in? It's what you're supposed to be doing. It's what you're supposed to be doing. It's what you're supposed to be doing. If you ain't doing your part, this makes it hard on everybody else. Y'all still with me? There's a miracle, not in the walking, but in the separating. So where's the question? Look at verse 31. Y'all still got your, I'm trying to hurry y'all. Look at verse number 31. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and called him and said unto him, now we always like to say, oh, look at the walk of Peter, what faith he had. Well, that's not what Jesus said. Jesus said, O thou of little faith. And I love the word. Do you think anything that God records in his word is recorded wrong? I don't think so. He didn't say what for. He says, wherefore didst thou doubt? Wherefore? Well, it's just like saying this, Romeo, Romeo, oh, wherefore art thou Romeo? You know where he's asking that question? He's asking that question while Peter was outside the ship. And he asked Peter, he said, you know, Peter, you know why you're doubting? It's where you are. It's where you are. You're not in the ship where you're supposed to be. Wherefore didst thou doubt? He's just simply asking, You know where you're standing? You know what you're doing? Do you know what you believe, Peter? Peter's doubt was based upon his ability, and his ability failed him. Peter thought, boy, I'm going to walk on water. Look what I'm doing. When he looked around, he realized he's standing in places he had no business standing. And he began to sink. Adam and Eve stepped out of the will of God, and they sunk. Jephthah made that vow. He sunk. He sunk. David stepped out of the will of God with Bathsheba, and he sunk. Why is it that folks just can't do what God said? You know why? Because the serpent said it right when he said it to Eve. He said, if you'll do this, if you'll take that fruit and you'll eat it, he said, you'll be as gods. And why people get out of the ship and do things, they want to be as gods. They want people to go, wow, wow, look at preacher Terry. And God says, I am not going to share my glory with you. You're supposed to be in the ship. You say, I don't know about that. I can almost hear the whispering. I don't know about that. There's gonna be some deep discussion about this. Well, let me show you, let me prove it to you. If Peter is in the perfect will of God, if he's doing everything right, why is verse 32 put in there? And when they, who's they? Jesus and Peter. and when they were coming to the ship. Now, I want to ask you this. If Peter, I'm just going to use you for Peter. So Peter's walking out here, you start to sink, go down, go down, whoop, Jesus picks him up. Now we know in other scriptures the Bible said just a little bit further they were on shore. So why didn't Jesus just hold his hand and walk him on the shore? Wouldn't that have been great? I mean, what a great walk that would have been. Wow, Peter got to walk on water with Jesus right on the shore. But you know what he doesn't do? He doesn't take Peter to the shore. To get Peter back in the perfect will of God, he takes him back to the ship. Why? Because that's where he told him to go. Because Peter, in order to be where you're supposed to be, God himself will do whatever he has to do to get you back where you're supposed to be. I've seen people get back in the ship. I've seen them come back crying. I've seen them come back broken. I've buried them. I said I've buried them. Don't tell me it's okay to get out of the ship. There's a cost for getting out of the ship. If out of the ship is okay, why did Jesus himself bring Peter back? Because that's where he's supposed to be. Oh, and by the way, notice what it says in verse 32. And when they were coming to the ship, the wind ceased. Now, wind didn't cease while Peter's out. Peter's out walking on, seeing it boisterous, doing all that. Peter's walking on the water. What are the other guys doing? What are you supposed to be doing? Rowing. You know what they were still doing while Peter's walking on the water? Rowing. But now they're rowing with one less person in the ship. See, it hurts when you leave. You just make somebody else have to pick up, do your job, teach your Sunday school class. Make up the gap, stand in the hole. And they were still in the storm until Peter, with Jesus, got back in the ship. And then the wind ceased. And then they were in the ship, came and worshipped him. There's rejoicing. But where's the rejoicing at? Come on, folks. We've been preaching all night. Where's the rejoicing at? In the ship, in the boat, in the ship, in the boat, in the ship. Peter's not out there going, whoo, praise God, look like God. No, he's not doing that out there, but you know where he is doing it? When he got back in the ship. New Age movement says that we have all this potential in us and Jesus is the way shower. No, he is not the way shower. He is the way, the truth and life. No man comes to the Father but by him. There's too much pressure today to be entertaining in our church. What have you got for us in the church? An oar? Who's leading? The under shepherd. By whose command? God's. Who's in control of this thing? The sovereign God. Who's give us to do what? Row, row, Row your boat, and you hold the oar tight. Somebody's gotta do it, because if they don't, we're just gonna go around in circles in the storm. Too many I know have sunk. God hasn't called you to walk on water, and so what am I supposed to do? Do the last thing he told you to do, till you feel the ship bump shore. You know, we are headed to a shore. There's a home over yonder, amen? If you're born again, saved, we're heading over yonder. What am I supposed to do? Tonight, I'm here. I'll be honest with you, I'm not pastor of church, so what's my job to do tonight? When I'm pastor of church, when I get home, maybe go to Baptist Church, I'll switch for a minute. When I get home there, I gotta hold her tight. I gotta hold her tight. You got to roll. He's got to roll. Brother Bill back home's got to roll. Brother David back home's got to roll. Amen. Brother Charles back home's got to roll. Amen. You know who I'm talking about. All these fellas and their families, they got to roll. And I got to hold the oar and make it home safe. Jesus is going to walk by us and see how we're rolling. That's what he said he was doing. The Bible says he would have walked by him. I literally mean, I believe he was walking along. He saw him doing it. As long as they would have kept rowing and going right hand to God, I believe he just walked on at the same pace with them the whole time. Wouldn't that have been amazing to be rowing and Jesus walking right beside you? That would have been amazing, wouldn't it? Instead of let's stop rowing for a minute or let's row and let Peter out and all that stuff. How many believe that Peter was in the will of God when he stepped out of the ship? You know he wasn't. You know he wasn't. I'll tell you one thing, what we need more in the church is anything else today. I'm gonna tell you this, New Hope Baptist Church, just like there's Maple Grove Baptist Church in North Carolina and all over. The one thing, the hardest thing we get to do is people just stay in the ship and row. I mean, you got them coming in and they'll tell me this, and I have this all the time, you're the best preacher, oh, you're the best preacher I've ever seen. I know when they tell me that, I say, you're lying. Because I've heard some pretty good preachers, and I was like, no, they're not the best preachers I've ever seen. We just love you, and about six weeks or six months, and you're gone. You know why? Because they find out the ship is not a cruise ship. There's work to be done. There's faithfulness to be. There's submission to be given. Everybody wants a pastor until he starts pastoring. And all of a sudden, oh, I ain't what I wanted. I thought I could just pay my way to heaven. You got born into the family of God, but you ain't born to get cruise control. This ain't no sailboat. There's work to be done. If you're not at work, you need to get at work in this church. I can say that now. There's things that it's so hard for a pastor to say what I'm saying now. And he'll want to kill me. I'm telling you right now, he wants to whoop me so bad he can't stand it. But I'm telling you right now, what I'm saying is true. I've been in this thing long enough, I know what I'm talking about. I didn't jump on this wagon last week. I've been on both sides of it. I've been on it when the pastor done everything. I mean, he has to turn the lights on, he has to turn the lights off, he has to turn the sound system on, he has to turn the sound system off, he has to sweep, he has to mop, he has to vacuum. And I'll tell you this, he'll do every bit of it because he knows he needs to get the shit from one side to the other. He'll do it all, but he shouldn't. Your pastor will be a lot better pastor if you'll help him. And let him do what, it's hard, it's hard holding it straight. Because everybody ain't gonna agree with it. Everybody ain't gonna like him. I promise you right now, everybody ain't gonna like you. I found out, I thought, man, I got saved, started pastor, I thought, wow, everybody gonna love me. I found out everybody don't love me. That's all right, everybody didn't love Jesus either. And if they didn't love Jesus, surely they don't all gonna love me, because he is perfect, and I'm not. You say, well, what if our pastor makes a mistake? Well, when's the last time you made a mistake? When's the last time you got frustrated? When's the last time you made a knee-jerk decision? Oh, no, I don't ever do that. Really? You say, I don't think I'll be like that. Well, I'll give you another. I'm trying my best to let go. I can't let go, but I'm trying my best. I can prove to you that you don't have that attitude. You remember David? Y'all heard of David in the Bible, right? Y'all remember that there was a, prophet, priest to come to him and rebuke him for Bathsheba and what he done. Y'all remember that? Anybody know what his name is? Nathan. Powerful, wasn't he? What Nathan said? Pointed an old bony finger at him and said, Thou art the man. Amen. Isn't that right? Pointed out at him. Thou art the man. David's king. Open his head if he wanted to. David has Solomon, but he also has another son. Anybody wanna guess what his name is? His name is Nathan. He named him after the one that had rebuked him. Oh, and let me just give you a little bit more. The lineage of Christ does not come through Solomon. Guess which lineage it comes out of David through? Nathan. It's a good thing that David didn't get bitter, ain't it? Ain't it a good thing David didn't get bitter? You know what he said? He said, Nathan is out for my benefit. I didn't like it when he pointed his finger at me, but he's trying to hold the rudder straight. I love him for it. Man, I've had pastors plow my garden, step on my toes, and I feel like they're gonna kick my teeth out. I feel like they'd come in my bedroom at night and checking things out, what I was doing in the house. I mean, they're just saying, how much am I praying? I mean, just lay on my guard. Just be mean to me. I felt like they was being mean to me. But you know what I found out they were? God put them in my life to keep the ship straight. What's my advice to you tonight? Stay with the ship. It's the last thing he ever told you to do. And keep rowing. and keep rolling. And every now and then, look around at the rudder holder behind you and tell him, say, I love you, preacher. You're doing good sometimes. I tell you what, you're doing good sometimes when the preacher said, amen, and y'all close the service, don't do it for me, I'm not your pastor. When the preacher knifes up in this pulpit and he says, amen, and he finishes like that, it'd be good if some of y'all had learned how to walk up and say, preacher, I sure appreciate the message. I did it to my pastor. Every message, I'd walk up to him, and I'd tell him sometimes, sometimes he was, boy, he'd come out a little bit joyful. And I'd tell him sometimes he's a burden. And I'd walk up to my pastor and I'd put my arms around him and say, I love you, preacher. Thank you for preaching. Thank you for preaching. I'd hug his neck and have a sweat run down my brow, around my face. He'd say, oh, that's nice. Mm, holy sweat, boy. I mean, yeah, he'd, and hug his neck and feel the sweat running down my brow, sign my face and I tell him, preacher, I love you. Thank you for caring about me. Thank you for caring about my family. Thank you for praying for me when nobody else would pray for me. Thank you for coming to my house when nobody else would come. Thank you for loving me and thank you for telling me the truth when I don't want to hear it. So if I were you tonight, I'm not. I'd just keep rolling. Every now and then I look back at my one that's holding the stern, and I just tell him, I just want to tell you I love you. Thank you for keeping it straight. Pastor, it's yours. Y'all do what you want to do, but I tell my pastor I love you.