Thank you very much, Stevie, and it's a joy to be with you again this morning, beloved, in Shiloh Hall. And you'll have to excuse my voice, it's a little bit hoarse. We were attending an open-air outreach at that abomination in Belfast yesterday. and I had the opportunity to preach in the open air four times. On one occasion it was arranged, on the other three occasions it was just spontaneous and another brother urged me to go forward and preach the word while the parade was going past. And so we had a great opportunity and a lot of people stopped to listen to the gospel as it was preached and we do pray for the Lord's blessing upon his word as it went forth. So, but thank you again for your prayers for my wife and her mother and sister and thank you dearly for reading that card out. It was a great blessing and I was touched as my wife wrote those words this morning and asked me to check it over. And I looked at it and I said, my wife has the gift of humility when it comes to expressing herself in words. I don't mean to embarrass her this morning, but I praise the Lord for her and for both my wife's family and my own family also. I trust that the Lord will bless His word to our hearts this morning. Now we're turning to Matthew's Gospel, chapter 14, please. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 14. Could I just make a few introductory remarks, as it were, before we commence? ministry of the word. I have been exercised recently in the ministry of God's word to rely less upon written sermon notes, which I have been depending upon very much for the years that I've been preaching now. And a number of brethren said to me, you know, you look down at your notes a lot. And one of those faithful brethren is known to you all here in this assembly. His name is Ken Brown. And he invited me to his home recently before he moved into residential care and we had a great time of fellowship together over a cup of tea and a few biscuits. And he said, now I want to help you. And he sold me some of his books at a very good price, I must say. And he said, I want to help you. And so he sold me a number of good sound pre-millennial dispensational commentaries and books and so on. But he said, you put a lot into your sermons. He said, but you read your sermons a lot. And he says, what you need to do is, and he showed me an example of a message he had preached. Now he wasn't saying to me, I want you to preach the way I preach. But what he was saying was, you just, you want to try and get it into your head and let the Holy Spirit do the work and let the Lord take over. And so I took that as a reproof from the Lord and really a challenge to rely less upon notes. And quite often when I'm preaching in the open air in the Gospel, because we go into Belfast quite regularly, as often as we get an opportunity and I preach the Gospel in the open air at Cornmarket in Belfast and I never have any notes. I just have a simple outline in my mind and I just rely upon the Lord. And I was exercised by the Lord to spend the same amount of time and study and preparation for these messages, but when it comes to the point of actually preaching them and delivering them, to rely upon the leading of the Spirit. And so I still have notes here this morning, but they're not word-for-word written sermon notes as I normally have. and as I've been accustomed to for the past number of years. And really it comes down to this. The text above us says we preach Christ crucified. And you know the challenge came to my heart recently. The true biblical preaching is not to be a polished performance. True biblical preaching is the proclamation of a person, and that person is Christ. And that's really what true biblical preaching ought to be. And so we trust that the Lord will enable us this morning as we examine this very familiar portion of scripture in Matthew's gospel, chapter 14, and we're commencing to read at verse 22, please. Matthew 14, verse 22. And straightway, Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him onto 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. And when the evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with the waves, for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went on to 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. But straightway, Jesus speak on to them, saying, be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thine, 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 come into 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. Amen, and may the Lord bless the reading of his precious and fallible truth to our hearts this morning for his name's sake. I wish to minister simply this morning on the subject of the presence of the Lord, the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know really there's no more comforting words than those three simple words, it is I. It is I, be of good cheer, be not afraid. Those are wonderful, comforting words. And you know, this is not the first time that this event is recorded for us in scripture. There was a similar occurrence earlier on in chapter six, if my memory serves me right. Chapter six. Rather, chapter eight. I beg your pardon, chapter eight and verse 23. And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves. But he, our Lord Jesus Christ, was asleep. And his disciples came to him and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us, we perish. And he said unto him, why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea. And there was a great calm, but the men marveled, saying, what manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him? And you know, it seems to me as though the Lord was teaching his disciples a very important lesson on overcoming fear. I have to confess, if there's a besetting sin or a besetting weakness that affects me, it's the weakness of fear. Perhaps fear of the unknown. But dearly beloved, the only fear that the scriptures exhort us to have is the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. My mind is cast back to Job chapter one. And we read there that Job was a man that feareth God and that sheweth evil. He was perfect and upright in all his way. He feareth God and that sheweth or shunned evil. And that tells me something. It tells me that Job feared the Lord rather than evil. He shunned evil, but he wasn't afraid of evil. He feared the Lord, there's a difference. And very often, dear friends, the fear of evil can overcome us rather than the fear of the Lord. And I believe it is important to make that distinction this morning because there's a very important lesson here that our Lord was teaching his disciples concerning the fear of evil. And really I believe it comes down to this. It comes down to putting into practice a very important and simple lesson recorded for us in the very last verse of Romans. Romans chapter 12 and verse 21. Romans chapter 12 and verse 21. We read there a lovely verse. It's one of my favorite verses of scripture and it has been a great source of comfort to me personally. Be not overcome of evil. but overcome evil with good. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. And really I believe the Lord was teaching his disciples here a lesson on overcoming evil with good. Just to put this in context here in Matthew chapter 14, from verses one to 11, we have the account of the murder of a good man, John the Baptist, a murder. But then in chapter 13, we have a brief glimpse of something else. We have a glimpse of mourning. Mourning. The Savior departed in verse 13. Departed by ship into a desert place apart to be alone. And it's remarkable to note that that occurred just after the murder of John the Baptist. And what an evil occurrence that was. You remember the circumstances very well, and at the beginning of chapter 14, Herod's birthday was kept. And the daughter of Herodias danced in a very wicked and provocative fashion, insomuch that Herod promised to give her whatsoever she would ask. And Herodias had conspired with her daughter beforehand for him to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter, in a charger, in verse eight. And what a wicked and sorry and sordid account this is. And here we see the hand of the devil at work because, you know, John the Baptist had preached the truth to Herod. He had told Herod that he could not take his brother's wife, his brother Philip's wife, Herodias, to be his own wife. Herodias instigated this murder. And so we see this at the hand of Satan at work here and all through scripture we can see the hallmarks of Satan at work against the work of the Lord. Evil working against good and this is very much taking place here in chapter 14 from verses 1 to 12, verses 1 to 11. And so we have the account of the murder, first of all, of John. And then we have the account of our Savior departing into a desert place by himself. No doubt to mourn the parting of that beloved disciple, that beloved and good man, John the Baptist. And so we have the murder followed by the mourning. But then in verse 14, we see the Savior moved with compassion upon the multitude. When he looked out upon the multitudes, he saw that great multitude in verse 14, and he was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. And so we see a pattern beginning to emerge here. After the hand of Satan is at work, the power of the Lord is manifest. We can see good triumphing over evil, as it were. We can see evil being overcome by good. And whenever there's blessing, there will always be satanic opposition against the work of the Lord. And so we see the murder, first of all. Then we see the mourning. We see our Savior moved with compassion upon the multitudes. And then in verse 15, from verse 15 to 21, we have that wonderful account of the miracle. The miracle of the feeding of those 5,000 people, those 5,000 men besides women and children, and what a wonderful account that was. And again, our Lord was teaching his disciples a lesson in faith there. He was putting it to them in verse 16, give ye them to eat, he said. Challenging them to take the initiative to exercise faith. And we know what took place there and how the five loaves and the two fishes were brought to the Savior in verse 18 when he said, bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass and so on. And then that miraculous feeding took place. And so, at first we could be very critical of the disciples. We could ask the question, why is it that they have not learned the lesson of faith by now? But you know I must put myself in those circumstances and ask myself the question, would I have exercised the same faith? You see we see something, we see a repetition as it were this morning. Our brother Bert was mentioning repetition and the importance of it in the scriptures. And what we see over and over again as we read through the gospel accounts is that the disciples needed to be continually trained and taught by the Savior. They needed to be taught to exercise faith, and how we need to be taught as well. Very often after an exercise of faith, as in the case of the feeding of the 5,000 here, there's an attack of Satan again. Now Satan is not mentioned here in chapter 14, but I believe the hallmarks of satanic opposition can be clearly seen here. Because following this account of faith, From chapter, from verse 15 to 21, that wonderful miraculous occurrence of the feeding of the 5,000 men besides women and children, there's an attack of fear. And so we see one thing working against another here. We see the exercise of faith followed by an attack of fear in the portion that we read this morning. And so at the beginning of the chapter again, we have the murder. Then in verse 13 we have the mourning. And then in verse 14 we have our Savior and we see him moved with compassion upon the multitudes. And then from verse 15 to 21 we see the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. But finally this morning, and this is the passage we want to examine in closer detail as the Lord would lead. From verses 22 to 33 we see the Master at work. The Master at work here, and what a wonderful insight into the very power of God this is. You see, if the miracle from verses 15 to 21 spoke of provision, then this occurrence from verse 22 to 23 speaks of protection. It speaks of the Lord's protection over his own, over his disciples. And we were meditating upon that this morning around the Lord's table. How we know that we are washed in the precious blood of Christ. And how we are kept by his power. And we cannot be separated from his love. And our brother D.D. read from John 14 this morning those verses that we know and love so well. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. Now if there's a place prepared for heaven, in heaven for us, that tells me that I am eternally protected through faith in the finished work and in the precious blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And how wonderful it is to see the Master at work here, over the storm and over the waves. And as we look at this chapter, at this particular portion in closer detail, I trust that by God's grace we'll see the Master at work. You see, not only do we see provision and protection here, but sadly also we see satanic opposition, as we've mentioned already. The opposition of Satan against the good work of the Lord. You see, a storm was brewing here. the storm was followed by fear. Just as our Lord was led by the Spirit in chapter 4 of Matthew in verse 1 into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, I see a similar pattern here. I see that our Lord is leading his disciples into a storm. Our Lord commanded them to depart onto the other side. Our Lord would have known He surely would have known that this storm was going to arise. Our Lord knows all things. He knew that his disciples were entering into a storm. They did not know, but he knew. And I believe he was leading them into the storm to be tested. We see here in verse 23 that our Lord was alone. He was there alone at the end of verse 23. By the time the evening was come and he was he was up on the mountain on his own to pray And he was there alone Now our subject this morning is the presence of the Lord and here we see him alone in a mountain But really he was only alone for a brief season just for a brief season while the storm was raging. And the lesson here this morning, I believe, is simply this. First of all, our Lord Jesus Christ is present to give direction. He's present to give direction, and we see this in verse 22. And straightway, Jesus constrained his disciples to get into his ship. Now could I just mention, first of all, that that word straightway is so vitally important. It shows us that our Lord wasted no time. He wasted no time. Straightway, and we find that word again at the beginning of verse 27, but straightway Jesus spoke unto them. And then later on, when he pulled Peter out of the water, and immediately, verse 31, Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him. Straightway, straightway, immediately. Our Lord acted instantaneously, and He acted at just exactly the right moment in time. He never delayed. Here we see Him departed for a season, but He knew all things, and He knew exactly what He was doing. And He is present here, first of all, to give direction, because straightway, verse 22, Jesus constrained His disciples to get into His ship. This was a direct command, straightway. He didn't waste any time. And notice he did not tell his disciples beforehand that they were about to enter into the storm. He didn't say to his disciples, now, I want you to depart onto the other side. I'm speaking reverently this morning. I want you to depart in this ship to the other side of the lake, but you know there's going to be a storm arising. No, he didn't tell them anything. Straightway, and very often, beloved, Our Lord will permit us to enter into trials and circumstances of life straightway. Straightway. But he does it for our own spiritual good, to test us. Our brother Bert spoke of our faith growing. The more we hear the word of the Lord, the more we hear those blessed truths repeated over and over again. And our brother mentioned how wonderful it is to hear the gospel preached faithfully week by week. We never grew tired of it. We never grew bored of it. It increases our faith. And here, this is what the Lord is doing. He's increasing the disciples' faith. Now, they may not have understood it at the time, but think of it. This was just after the miraculous feeding of the five thousand. And after blessing, Our Lord knew that they would encounter opposition, but he allowed, he permitted, no, no, no, more than that, he commanded them to depart onto the other side. He was leading them into the storm for a purpose. And beloved, it may seem hard to accept, but there are times in our life's experience as Christian believers when our Lord will lead us purposely into the storms of life to test us, to test our faith, to increase our faith, straightway, straightway, no time wasted. And that reminds me of another important lesson, that we must redeem the time because the days are evil. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. And then we see something else in verse 22. Jesus constrained his disciples. He constrained them. Now that tells me something, that he needed to constrain them. It tells me that constraint was necessary to compel them to obey. I'm not being hard on the disciples this morning, but it suggests to me that there may have been some reluctance on their part to get into the ship and to go to the other side, but he constrained them. And I think of how often in my own life the Lord has had to constrain me to obey him. When constraint has been needed to compel me to obey his word. And I think with shame over my past years of service to the Lord how often I have not walked in accordance with his word and how patient he has been. and how he needs to constrain us to obey his word at times, even in simple things. And I believe that is the experience of every believer, every child of God. As the years progress, as the years go on in our service and our walk with the Lord, he lovingly and graciously compels us, constrains us to obey his word and to do exactly what he tells us to do. And he did it while he sent the multitudes away, verse 22. You see, this experience, this lesson was for the disciples alone. It wasn't for anyone else. It wasn't for the multitude. You see, that miraculous feeding of the 5,000, that multitude, demonstrated to them that our Lord was the Son of God. demonstrated his power and his Godhead, his deity to them. It was proof to them, it was demonstration to them. And yet we know from John's gospel that he came on to his own. John chapter one, he came on to his own and they received him not. But this particular lesson, this particular experience that he purposely sent the disciples into was for them alone. And then we come into verse 23, and we read there, and when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray. Here we see our Savior drawing aside again, as he did earlier following the death of John. And what an important reminder that is to us of the need to draw aside to pray, to seek the Lord's face individually, alone in prayer. And even us as married men need to do that sometimes. Yes, we need to have those times of prayer daily with our wives. And those times, those precious times of reading the scriptures and studying the word of God together. But we all still need to draw aside alone to pray and to seek God's face. And that reminds us of intercession. You see, while the disciples followed his command and direction, he was there alone, verse 23. It tells me that our Lord knew, while he was praying, what his disciples were about to enter into. And again, that speaks to me of intercession. What a wonderful joy it is to know, dearly beloved, that as we enter into the storms of life, that we will encounter in our service to the Lord and in our walk with the Lord, that we have not an high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but who was in all points tempted as we were, as we are, yet without sin, and he ever liveth to make intercession for us. Now the disciples knew that Jesus was not with them, but I wonder did they know that he was in the mountain praying alone? They were about to enter the storm alone, but he was alone, praying in the mountain. He was apart from them, and here he let them face the storm alone, but only temporarily, only for a brief season. And then in verse 24, we see that the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now the wind was doing two things here. First of all, It was causing the ship to be tossed with the waves. The wind was affecting the sea in so much that the ship was swaying from side to side and to and fro, and it was tossed about, lacking direction in the midst of the sea. But then secondly, the wind was doing something else. It was contrary to them. It was contrary. The wind was working against the very direction that our Lord had commanded the disciples to go in the ship. You see, the Lord had directed them into the storm. They didn't know that he had directed them into the storm. They knew that he had commanded them to depart to the other side in the ship. And here the wind was working against them. Now that reminds me, of how the devil, our adversary, as a roaring lamb walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. And beloved, when we seek to walk in the ways of the Lord, and in obedience to his word, the devil will be against us. He will be working contrary to us. The wind, what does that remind me of? It reminds me of the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. The God of this world, who hath blinded the minds of them that believe not. working against the disciples, hindering their progress. How the devil wants to hinder our progress as believers. How he wants to prevent us from growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And how he opposes us when we seek to obey God. It was contrary to them. Here we see the forces of darkness, the forces of evil, under the domain of Satan, working against the good work of the Lord, the work of Christ. Christ had commanded them to do something. And here we see something working contrary to them, verse 24. And so they were tossed with the waves, and the wind was contrary to them. They were being battered and buffeted. It reminds me also of how Paul, in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, was given a thorn in the flesh. A messenger from Satan sent to buffet him, lest he should be exalted above measure because of the abundance of the revelations that was given unto him. We could think of how privileged the disciples were. How privileged they were to be walking with the Savior day by day and to be taught from him directly. To be discipled by the Master who could be no greater privilege. No wonder Peter said, to whom shall he turn? Thy alone has the words of eternal life. And later we'll see that Peter stepped out of the boat because he wanted to be where the Savior was. And we'll come to that in a short while as the Lord leads. And so our Lord is present to give direction, first of all. He's present to give direction. He's present to give commands. But secondly, something else, we see something furthermore here. We see that our Lord is present in distress. He's present in distress. Notice verse 25. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went on to them, walking on the sea. The fourth watch of the night. Now I understand from commentaries, and I believe most of the sound fundamental scholars are agreed, that the fourth watch of the night is between three o'clock and six o'clock in the morning. Three to six a.m. That's how long the disciples had to wait before the Savior met them. And here he is walking on the sea. What a wonderful sight that must have been. But yet, The devil's not far away, you know. Because in verse 24, we see that the wind is, we've seen it already, the wind was contrary to them, working against the direction of the Savior to them to depart to the other side. And this is illustrative of something else. It speaks of separation. The disciples were commanded to depart onto the other side. for a reason, for a purpose. The Lord had a purpose in this. But it's illustrative to me of the principle of separation from the world. Our Lord was directing his disciples into the storm, but ultimately to go to the other side. Separation from the world, and yet the devil is opposed to this. The devil would desire believers to live as close to the world as it is possible to be. And here we see the driving force against the disciples. But our Lord was walking on the sea. What a wonderful sight that must have been. And the wind was contrary again, preventing forward motion. But praise God, our Lord was not absent now. Yes, he was alone prior to this in the mountain. He was there alone, but now he's present with them. And it demonstrates his power. It should have been no surprise to the disciples. This was another miraculous occurrence as with the feeding of the 5,000. But the disciples were troubled when they saw him, verse 26. They were troubled. You would have expected them to be overjoyed, but no, they were troubled in verse 26. When the disciples saw him, verse 26, walking on the sea, they were troubled. And notice what they said, they said, it is a spirit, a spirit. And they cried out for fear, now notice. They mistook our Lord for a spirit. Now what does that speak of? It speaks again of satanic opposition taking advantage of their fear. What did Satan do here? He put a blasphemous notion in their minds that the very presence of the Lord was actually the presence of an evil spirit, a demon. What wickedness. Dear friends, we can see the hand of Satan at work here. And it shows us what he is capable of through weakness and fear. But it demonstrated something else. Demonstrated another important principle. And that is the disciples had an awareness of an evil spiritual realm that was in existence. The disciples of our Lord did not deny the presence of unclean spirits and evil spirits. How often do we read through the Gospels and see our Lord casting out demons and evil spirits and unclean spirits? and going about doing good, healing all those who were sick and oppressed of the devil. And so the disciples knew that there was an evil spiritual realm in existence, but they did not realize that it was the Lord. And what does this speak of? It speaks of the fear of the unknown. The fear of the unknown is an expression that's common to man. As far as I'm aware, it's not found in scripture. But really I just use it by way of illustration this morning. The fear of the unknown is something that is common to men and women. And it reminds us of a principle that we find in 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 11. Lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices. Now we know in the context of 2nd Corinthians chapter 2, the context was the restoration of the brother who had committed fornication in 1st Corinthians chapter 5. And we find him restored in 2nd, or we find rather the command of Paul to the church to receive him back again in love, lest such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. But that reminds me this morning that it's possible for a believer to be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow and fear. And beloved, that's not the will of the Lord. And so here we see the disciples succumbing to a fear that was not of the Lord. A fear of the unknown. Really it was a satanic fear that they were succumbing to. And it's a lesson this morning that fear and faith cannot coexist. and hence the reason for our Lord's gracious and loving rebuke, which we'll see later on shortly. Notice verse 27 here, but straightway, straightway. You see, the very moment they cried out for fear, straightway Jesus spake unto them, immediately. The relief and the comfort came instantaneously. And that reminds us, dearly beloved, that our Lord is always present to deliver us at precisely the right moment in time. Never a moment before and never a moment after. He'll deliver us from evil at exactly the time that he purposes to do and not a moment before and not a moment later. Verse 27 here speaks of three things. First of all we see the word of comfort. Be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. Now what a reproof that was. And what a deliverance that was from fear. They cried out for fear, but he said, be of good cheer. And so it is the will of the Lord that the very opposite of fear should be ruling in our hearts, the joy of the Lord, the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, which shall keep your hearts and minds through faith, through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Be of good cheer. speaks of the joy of the Lord, it speaks of the comfort. Her brother Sam mentioned the comfort of the Holy Spirit this morning in his prayer. He is the comforter. And here we see the Spirit of the Lord at work here. Be of good cheer, the word of comfort. But then secondly we see the word of consolation. Be of good cheer, it is I, it is I. And what a wonderful, Assurance that was of the presence of the Lord. The reassurance, the assurance of his presence with them in the moment of time. It is I. The word of consolation. But then thirdly we see something else. Here we see the word of command. Be not afraid. Be not afraid. Be not afraid. I believe this is perhaps the most important lesson in this chapter. To be not afraid. It's the clear command to the disciple, the servant of Christ, not to be afraid. To fear no evil, as the psalmist said in Psalm 23. I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. It's a lesson in overcoming evil with good. Proverbs 1 verse 33 tells us, who so hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely and shall be quiet from fear of evil. Beloved, we see this lesson all the way through scripture, that we are not to fear evil, but rather fear the Lord. Moving on to verses 28 and 29 here. And we know this so well, Verse 28, and Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thine, bid me come unto thee on the water. Now let me say something this morning. There's a very well-known expression, and I'm sure most of us have heard it, and it has been repeated often in evangelical circles, and it's simply this, if you want to walk on water, you've got to get out of the boat. Now whilst I understand What they mean by that when they say that, really it ignores a fundamental truth. Yes, if we want to walk on water and walk by faith, yes, we must get out of the boat, that's true. However, there's another fundamental truth which I believe that expression ignores. What was it Peter said to our Lord in verse 28? Lord, if it be thy, bid me come unto thee on the water. Bid me come unto thee on the water. You see, the principle here is this. Peter desired to be where Christ was. He didn't just want to walk on the water merely for the purpose of walking, for the experience of walking on water alone. No, he wanted to be where our Lord was. And it reminds me of the beloved disciple John, leaning on the breast of the Lord at supper, John 13 in verse 23. And what does it speak of? It speaks of closeness. It speaks of communion. It speaks of friendship and it speaks of fellowship. And it reminds us also of the communion that a saint has with the Lord in prayer. James 5 and verse 16. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Peter just wanted to be where the Lord was. He wanted to be as close to the Lord as it was possible to be. in the midst of the raging storm. And dearly beloved, in the midst of the raging storms of life, surely that is where we want to be. Yes, it's wonderful to have fellowship one with another, but far greater still it is to have that close fellowship and communion with the Lord in prayer. And so our Lord here is present to give direction, he's present in distress, but thirdly this morning, he's present to deliver. He's present to deliver. Verse 29, and the Lord said, come, come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. Now, he started well. He started well. And I heard a brother mention one morning in St. Faith Baptist, he was a visiting speaker, and he was preaching on this very same passage, and he made He made the following remark. He said that we need to commend Peter for getting out of the boat. Yes, he began to sink, but let's commend him for getting out of the boat. And I believe there's an important principle there. He took the initiative. He took the step of faith. He got down out of the ship. I couldn't do that if I was in that circumstance. If I was out, I'd get seasick if I'm out on a boat. I could barely even look over the side of a ship, never mind step out of it. But here Peter got out of the ship and he walked on the water to go to Jesus. Now there's the principle. To go to Jesus. He had the purpose and the direction in his mind. He wanted to go to where the Lord Jesus was. He kept the Lord in sight. He wasn't looking down at the water, he was looking straight at the Lord. Verse 30. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid. You see, when he got down out of the ship to go to Jesus, verse 29, that tells me again that he had the Lord Jesus in his sight. But verse 30 tells us, when he saw the wind boisterous, there must have been a point when momentarily he took his eyes off the Lord and he saw the wind boisterous. Now wind can't be seen. But the effect of it can be. And he saw the boisterousness of the wind and what it was doing to the ship and the waves and so on, and he was afraid. Now just a few verses previously, our Lord had said, be not afraid. Be of good cheer, it is I. Be not afraid. But now Peter's afraid again. And that tells us how easily fear can overcome us following a time of blessing. You see, what comfort and reassurance it must have brought to the disciples the very moment the Lord Jesus identified himself and made them aware of his presence when he said that his eye be not afraid. But here we see Peter being overcome by fear again. Fear's a very potent and powerful thing, and the devil will take advantage of it. And so he saw the wind boisterous here, And within a short space of time, fear had assailed him again. And that tells us something, beloved, this morning. When we overcome fear by faith in the Lord and in his word, it'll come back to retaliate again. When there's a victory over the enemy on the battlefield, and Ephesians chapter six tells us that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. And how prior to that we're instructed to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might and to put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. As it has often been said, we're not on a playground, we're in a battleground. But when there's a victory on the battlefield of Christ, you can be sure there'll be a retaliation from the devil again. You see, Peter began to sink. Verse 30, beginning to sink. He began, praise God, he only began to sink. He didn't sink completely. Just began to sink. Beginning to sink. He began to sink the moment he took his eyes off the Lord and looked at the storm. Fear took hold of him. And when fear took hold of him, faith departed for a season, only briefly. And that tells us something this morning. And this is a lesson I've learned personally over the years. Fear and faith cannot co-abide. They cannot co-exist. They are diametrically opposed one to the other. They are sworn enemies. And it reminds us this morning of how our faith is not to be in self, but in Christ. I wonder perhaps was Peter beginning to rely upon his own strength to walk on the water and not upon the Lord. But the principle is this, again, he took his eyes off the Lord and had his eyes upon the circumstances. And circumstances in life can be fearful. I've experienced, I'm sure everyone here this morning has, the fears and the storms and the trials of life. The loss of a loved one. sickness, disease, oppression of the devil. We needn't go any further this morning. Our Lord knows what we have need of even before we ask. But Peter's fear here caused him to falter and to fail, and I would too. And brethren and sisters, the moment we take our eyes off the Lord, And the moment we begin to look at the circumstances and how fearful they are, then that's the point when faith begins to falter. And if I was in that situation, I would do exactly the same. But notice this word in verse 31, the beginning of it. And I love this word. And immediately, immediately, Without a moment wasted, not a moment too late, not a split second too late, Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him, caught him instantaneously. The deliverance was immediate, it was immediate. Peter only began to sink, the very moment Peter began to sink, immediately, the Lord Jesus stretched forth his hand to save him, to deliver him. Verse 30 again, we see that Peter's cry, Lord save me. Lord save me. And that reminds us, and we can make the application this morning of the simple call for salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And praise God that salvation from sin and from death and from hell comes in a moment of time, the moment a sinner by faith turns to Christ and trusts Him for salvation. And if you're listening to this message this morning and you're not saved, just take God at His word. Romans 10 and verse 13, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's a guarantee and it's a promise. And this is what Peter cried. It wasn't a cry for eternal salvation. It was a cry for deliverance from the evil of the circumstances. But it shows that the Lord is faithful to his word. Lord save me. And he was saved in a moment of time. Immediately. And it tells us that our Lord did not permit him to suffer any further. He did not permit Peter to suffer a moment longer. than it was his will to permit him to do so. And dearly beloved, this morning, when we fall into the trials and distresses of life, our Lord will permit us to suffer thus far and no further, just as he did with Job. And mind you, Job's distresses were sore. Think of what Job suffered, and yet the Lord permitted him to be tempted by the devil so far and no further. And then we see something further here in verse 32. And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. The wind ceased. Now notice the wind did not cease until they came into the ship. And so while Peter and the Lord together returned to the ship, the storm was still raging. And that tells me that the Savior caused the storm to cease at precisely the right moment. Not a moment too soon. You see, if the Lord had caused the wind to cease at the moment he stretched forth his hand and delivered Peter out of the water, I believe simply this, the Lord was testing Peter's faith just a little further. Because Peter had to return to the ship with the Lord. while the storm was still raging. And so they both, I don't know how far they were from the ship before they went back into it again. Perhaps they were very close, I don't know. But I know this, Peter still had to depend upon the presence of the Lord with him to get back into the ship again. And then just going back to verse 31. Immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? I love that word wherefore. Why did you doubt me? Why did you doubt? It tells us this morning that there's no reason to doubt the Lord. It tells us this morning that there's no rational reason for fear. Irrational fear is something that people talk about very often. There's no reason for it when we look at the truth of the Scriptures. Wherefore didst thou doubt? There's no reason to doubt. And we can trust and absolutely depend upon the truth of the Word of God. And so following this reproof, our Lord accompanies Peter back into the ship, and it tells us that his presence never fails nor falters. And again, the Savior could have ceased the wind while he was still on the water, but he postponed it. He postponed it to demonstrate his presence to Peter. And so our Lord is present in distress. He's present to deliver But finally this morning, he's present in deity. He's present in deity. Verse 33. Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, of a truth, thou art the Son of God. Now that tells me that the disciples were watching these events as they unfolded. They saw them all unfolding before their very eyes. And they saw the very power of the fullness of the Godhead bodily in the person of the blessed Savior. And it's no small wonder that they worshiped. And here the lesson is learned. The woman whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily was present with them. And so he is with us. And that's the promise we take from Matthew 18 in verse 20. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst. And how wonderful it is for us as a company, a small company of saved sinners, redeemed saints, to gather and remember the Lord in his own appointed way and claim that promise that he is with us in the midst. And then Hebrews 13 and verse five, the last part of it. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. What a wonderful promise that is. Mind you, this is not a license to live as we please. Rather, the presence of the Lord and the promise that he will never leave us nor forsake us is a license to obedience. We have liberty to obey the commands of the Savior and trust completely in his infallible word. And we can trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. How obedient are we? Can I ask anyone listening to this message this morning, how obedient are you to the Word of God? We often talk about the presence of the Lord and I've heard dearly beloved believers talking about the Lord being with them and the Lord's presence never failing them. But yet there must be obedience to His commands. There must be obedience. You see, His direction and His presence here we see Go hand in hand. There must be obedience to his word if there's going to be direction and presence. You see, the believer cannot expect the joy of his presence if he's not following his direction. Now, I'm not preaching saved and lost here this morning. We don't believe in that, not for one minute. We cannot be separated from the love of God. Romans chapter eight, the last two verses, tell us that very clearly. but we can be separated from the joy of his presence for a season. It's possible for a believer to grieve the Spirit of God. And that's why we're exhorted to grieve not the Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Obedience to the Lord rather is a wonderful privilege. What greater privilege it is, what could there be, than walking in obedience to the very commands of the Savior? And they're not grievous, they're not burdensome. Think of the two ordinances, for example, that our Lord has left us. The Lord's Supper, baptism for believers. These are not burdensome commands. And the other commands in Scripture, to live a life that is holy and pleasing to him. These are not, they're for our own spiritual good. That we might grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As our brother Bert reminded us this morning that our faith might increase and that we might abound in all fruitfulness and so on as believers. Beloved, to obey is better than sacrifice. The simple life of obedience, the simple life of a walk of faith and not fear. And may the Lord enable us to do it by his grace this morning. May he bless his word. to our hearts. A word of prayer and our meeting is closed. Father in heaven, we thank thee for that promise of scripture. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. We thank thee, our Father, that we cannot be separated from the love of God. For I am persuaded, Paul said, with absolute confidence and assurance in his heart, for I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. We pray, our Father, that we might learn, that we might learn the lessons that need to be learned from the scriptures that we have read and studied this morning. We pray, our Father, that we might learn from the example of the disciples, but more importantly, And far greater than that, we pray that we might learn from the example of the Savior, that we might walk even as He walked. The one who is holy, harmless, undefined, separate from sinners, and praise God made higher than the heavens. We ask, Father, that you would continue with us throughout the remainder of this day. We pray for those who are facing the trials and circumstances, difficulties and distresses of life at the present time. We pray, Father, that thou wouldst draw graciously near, that they might have that assurance in their hearts of the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ with them, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. We pray tonight, Father, as we return for the gospel hour, grant that help that is needed, bein' as the help of man, We pray, Father, that man might not try to do the work of the Spirit. We pray, Father, that nothing of the preacher would be seen, nothing of the flesh would be seen, but only the blessed person of our Lord Jesus Christ. For we preach him and him crucified. We ask these things, giving thee our thanks in his precious and peerless name. Amen. Amen.