[0:00] Matthew chapter 14 and we can pick up the reading there at verse 28 following on from where we stopped last time.
[0:13] Matthew 14 and at verse 28. After Jesus had come across the sea and calmed their hearts saying in verse 27, It is I, take heart, do not be afraid.
[0:28] Peter answered him, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water, he said, Come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me.
[0:43] Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, Truly you are the Son of God.
[0:59] The Lord was undoubtedly with us last Sabbath evening. Not only did he make his presence known here to us in the course of our service, but in the mystery of his providence, we could not have foreseen how appropriate this passage would be for our circumstances through the week and this evening.
[1:29] In the Lord's wisdom, he guides us beyond what we ourselves expect. And as we saw last time, Jesus came to his disciples in their anxiety and distress within this little boat, beaten back by the wind as they were trying to make their way as best they could to the other side, and making little progress.
[1:51] And you recall that we saw the four things from the first part of the passage from 22 to 27. Jesus sent them into this situation.
[2:02] He arranged it. And secondly, Jesus saw them struggling. Thirdly, Jesus came to them. And fourthly, Jesus assured them, having stated to them, it is I.
[2:17] And somebody mentioned to me this morning, I don't remember saying it, but apparently in the course of that part of the sermon, I said that Jesus was saying, it's myself.
[2:28] And isn't that really it? It is himself. It's not anybody less than that. It is himself. And so we come now to the second part of this passage, where we're looking at Jesus, and especially at Peter now, learning to trust Jesus.
[2:50] The focus is on Peter now, having had the focus on all the disciples as they were in the boat. Now Matthew focuses on Jesus, and Jesus' dealings with him in this particular episode, which we have confined to this Gospel of Matthew.
[3:05] Because that itself is such an important and precious point to bear in mind before we go further in our study this evening. The first part deals with the disciples in the boat.
[3:17] They're all together. And Jesus comes to them all together. And Jesus has a concern for his church in whatever predicament his church has found. And when his church is disillusioned, and when his church is struggling, then Jesus has a regard for all who are in that boat of his church, if you might illustrate it that way.
[3:36] But then Jesus also has a regard for us individually. We matter to him individually. We are important to him individually.
[3:48] You know, sometimes we say that we are, as we are ourselves, really insignificant as far as God is concerned. Well, that is not really true. If we were insignificant in the absolute sense, yes, we're small and we're tiny and we're sinful and we're all of that.
[4:03] But if we were insignificant, would his son have died for us? Would he have sent such a person as his own son to die on the cross? Of course not. It's because as individuals we're significant that God has provided salvation for us so richly.
[4:21] And three things we want to look at from the passage this evening. First of all, Peter's request and Christ's reply in verses 28 and 29.
[4:32] Secondly, Peter's cry and Christ's response, verses 30 and 31. And then we'll find thirdly, verses 32 and 33.
[4:44] Worship and confession within the gathered disciples again. Peter's request and Christ's reply. Peter answered him, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.
[5:01] And Jesus said, come. So Peter got out of the boat. Now it's interesting that Peter says here, Lord, if it is you. And there are ways of translating that other than the way you have it here.
[5:12] This word in Greek, this tiny little word, if, has a variety of meanings depending on the context. And very often you'll find it such as in the Lord's own temptation by the devil.
[5:25] If you are the son of God, command these stones to be made bread. And in that case, it has the sense of, since it is the case that you are the son of God. Since you are indeed the son of God.
[5:37] And we can take that meaning. And I think it fits very well with the passage. Because Peter is not still doubting whether or not this is the Lord. The Lord has made it clear in the previous verse.
[5:48] You find immediately Jesus spoke to them saying, Take heart. It is I. It is I myself. Don't be afraid. And that's what really registered with Peter. And what you find Peter doing now is not trying to get more evidence as to whether or not this is Jesus.
[6:02] But having the evidence he has. And having the conviction that this is in fact Jesus. Though standing still outside on the waves. On the top of the water. Peter wants to get to him.
[6:15] Peter wants to be there beside where his Lord is. Since it is you Lord. Command me. Bid me to come to you on the water. This is so typical of Peter.
[6:32] We sometimes perhaps think that he's just too rash. That he's just acting so often without really thinking things through. And he does. It's certainly the case. And the scripture doesn't hide that from us.
[6:44] But tonight don't you wish that you had his beating heart to get to where Jesus is. Even in the midst of these circumstances.
[6:55] The burden of his heart is. There's my Lord. And I want to be where my Lord is. And I want to be beside him. Even though he's in the sea. And on the sea in this situation.
[7:07] Remember in John chapter 21. When after Jesus had risen from the dead. And he appeared on the shore. And the disciples were again out fishing. The disciple whom Jesus loved.
[7:18] Saw this figure on the shore. And he said. It is the Lord. And what did Peter do? He threw himself into the sea. He threw himself into the sea. The moment he heard. It is the Lord.
[7:29] He wanted to be where that Lord was. He wanted to get to him. Wanted to be beside him. Friends tonight. It's so easy for us. Just to concentrate so much on our pain.
[7:43] On the testing providence that God has sent us. That we don't realize that here in fact. Is a way by which we come to Jesus himself.
[8:01] Whatever the testing is. And here they are being tested. In this situation that arose. That arose when this wind and this stormy sea sprang up against them.
[8:12] And yet Peter's burden is to get to where Jesus is. Affliction is never easy. And it's always easy.
[8:24] To speak from outside it. It's all too easy to speak. From pulpits even. About affliction. And personal distress and trauma.
[8:36] And yet not really realize how different it can be from inside. The experience itself. But tonight we have the assurance of God's own word.
[8:48] That affliction. Trial. Challenge. Difficulty. Is a place for us to find Christ in. It's a place for us to go out to him.
[8:59] And to seek him. And to be beside him. And to find our place beside him. Because the further away we get from him. The more. Our lives really lose.
[9:10] On so much. Is that how you see the difficulties of life yourself. Tonight. Is it something. That you and I can use.
[9:21] To say to Jesus Lord. Since this is you. Since this is your arrangement. And since this is really you now. That I see behind all of these things. And since I see you.
[9:32] With your mastery over this situation. With your control of the situation. Command me to come to you. Don't let me keep a distance from you. Let me be beside you.
[9:45] Let me be right next to you. And then you find. Christ's response. He said come. Just that one word. But it's a command.
[9:56] Peter said command. Bid me to come to you. And Peter said. And Jesus said come. But it is important for us. We notice. That that word is there. Because. While we admire.
[10:07] And look with amazement. At the next thing you find. Peter stepping out of the boat. And into. Onto the sea. And making his way toward Jesus. Don't forget. That he acted. On the basis of Christ's own word.
[10:21] Peter didn't just say. Well this seems a good idea to me. So I think it'll be good. For me to do it. That's not what he's doing. That's not what we ourselves. Are about in the Christian life. And discipleship.
[10:31] We live by the word of Christ. We go by the word of Christ. We don't take it upon ourselves. To decide what is. And isn't a good idea. Or a good action. You'll find some people in the world.
[10:42] Who'll say to you. Well it's not just the word of scripture. That you depend upon. God speaks to me. God gives me. Further revelations. God gives us these. Things that we. Add to scripture. That we can put alongside of scripture.
[10:54] No he doesn't. If God speaks to us. He speaks to us. From the scripture. And through the scripture. Because this is the completed. Written word of God. And as we find it.
[11:05] We're thankful tonight. That we can. As we recognize. The nature of scripture. As we recognize. The sufficiency of scripture. Of all scripture.
[11:16] Of all aspects of scripture. That before we. Take it on ourselves. To decide what is. And isn't acceptable. We check it out.
[11:27] With the word of Christ. Christ said come. And then Peter came. It wasn't that Peter said. Lord I'm coming. Please assure me.
[11:38] That you're happy with us. We depend upon. The word of God. And. As Christ said. Come to him. Well that tells us.
[11:49] Something else. Doesn't it? That. Very often. In our experience. As Christians. As people in this world. The call of Christ. Requires. Some testing steps.
[12:02] For us. In order to comply. With it. You will never become. A follower of Christ. Unless there are steps. That he commands you to take. That you actually take. For him.
[12:12] And in response. To that command. There will always be. Some tests. Or other. That will be required. Of you to. Meet up with. To overcome. In faith.
[12:24] In trust. In the Lord. And here is Christ's word. To Peter. Still in the boat. Deciding to go out to him. Checking it out. With Jesus first. And here.
[12:34] As he hears the word. Of Jesus. Come then. So Peter. So Peter comes. To step out of the boat. Onto the water. There is this request. There is Christ's reply.
[12:48] There is much else. We could say. We want to move on. To complete this passage. This evening. Peter's cry. And Christ's response. As we will see that next. In verses 30.
[12:58] And 31. Now here is the amazing thing. Jesus. Having called him. To come. So Peter. Got out of the boat. And walked on the water. And came to Jesus. And that is not a fable.
[13:10] That is not something. The church invented. Just to make Jesus look good. You know. When you come across. Miracles like this. In the Bible. And people will say to you. Well that is just how.
[13:20] Things were written down. So that people would be impressed. By Jesus. But it did not really happen. That way. Remember that the writers of scripture.
[13:31] Were good men. Reliable. Godly men. Matthew. Mark. Luke. John. Paul. Peter.
[13:42] Himself. And as somebody once put it. When you are looking at the miracles. Things that to us are remarkable. And they are remarkable. What you have to bear in mind is this. Bad men would not have written that.
[13:55] And good men. Could not but other have. Could not but have written. As it really happened. Bad men would not have written that.
[14:07] About Jesus. Because that would bring. Praise and honor and glory to him. And good men would not have written. Something that wasn't true. Because they would know that that was wrong.
[14:20] So bad men. Could not. And good men. Would not. Have written anything that was true.
[14:31] It's a miracle. It's by the power of Jesus. That it took place. But it really took place. He stepped out. Onto the water.
[14:42] And walked towards Jesus. Now that says to us tonight. Something also very important. It's this. Sometimes you have to leave. The comfort of where you are. The surroundings that you're used to.
[14:52] And familiar with. That give you a sense of security. When Jesus is calling you to come to him. You've got to step out of the boat. You've got to step out of the boat. Onto the water.
[15:03] As it were. You've got to step out. And take that step. Maybe into unfamiliar territory. And if you're here tonight. And you're not a Christian. And you haven't yet begun to follow the Lord. And your interest is in the Lord.
[15:14] Otherwise you wouldn't be here. And while the Lord is saying to you. Come to me. Come to me. And put your trust in me. You may say to yourself. That's a big thing to ask.
[15:25] It is a big thing to ask. You may be tonight saying. I'd really love to do that. But I'm scared. I'm scared of the implications. I'm scared of the consequences. I just don't know that territory.
[15:36] It's unfamiliar. And you may be saying. I see some Christians. And they're not consistent. And they don't live as Christians should. And maybe you are seeing all of that. But your business is between you and the Lord.
[15:51] And if you go to John's Gospel again. The same Peter at one time. In the very end of John's Gospel. Having had that experience of being interviewed by Jesus three times.
[16:03] As to his love for him. He turned around and he saw the disciple that Jesus loved. Whom Jesus loved following as well. And Peter said to him. What shall be the case with this one?
[16:14] Peter had been told what would happen at the end of his life. That he would be taken by others. And be under their control. And that this was to be the kind of death that he would die. And so Peter said.
[16:25] Well what about this one? What about John? What about this beloved disciple? What will the end of his life be? And what did Jesus say to him? If I will that he remain until I come back.
[16:36] What is that to you? You follow me. It's not what you see in other people. That determines how your relationship to Jesus should be.
[16:47] It's what you find in Jesus himself. And tonight as Jesus says come. That come is to every single soul in this building tonight. Myself included.
[16:58] Is to all you Christians in all your circumstances. And mine. In our difficulties. In our trials. And our temptations. Jesus is still saying. Yes you're in the midst of the waves. Yes it's difficult.
[17:09] Yes you look around you. And you see all of these things. But you come to me. And come to where I am. Step out of the boat. As he does to those who are not yet saved.
[17:21] Who want to be saved. Who want to be Christians. Who want to be the Lord's people. Whose desire it is to be found with the Lord's people. Have you left the boat yet?
[17:31] Step out of the boat. Take the word of Christ at face value. Come to him. Give yourself to him. Trust in him.
[17:43] That's what the passage is about. Learning to trust in Jesus. You know sometimes. As we say we feel very comfortable where we are. What we've been used to.
[17:54] And we need to step out of that. And it's true even if God is calling us to specific work. It sometimes fills us with fear and trepidation. And one of the ways you can illustrate that is.
[18:07] The car I have now is. A car that has got something called adaptive cruise control. Some puzzled faces. And I was puzzled too when I first came across it.
[18:18] But adaptive cruise control is something where you set. Especially if you're on the mainland. And you can set the speed that you want to go at. Which shouldn't be above the speed limit. Let's say 60 miles an hour down the A9.
[18:31] And there's a whole host of cars. A string of cars ahead of you. You set your maximum. And you set it on the cruise control. And what happens? The car keeps you at a certain distance from the car in front. A certain safe distance.
[18:42] And if that car in front becomes slower than. If it bunches up. And the car in front becomes slower. Goes slower than 60. Then your car. This car. With the adaptive cruise control.
[18:53] Without you inputting anything at all. It'll automatically break. It'll slow down. It'll keep that distance. And if the car ahead of you slams on the brakes. And suddenly stops. It'll stop. It'll do that for you.
[19:03] And it's a remarkable piece of technology. But you know what's difficult? It's difficult for me not to touch the brake.
[19:17] When the car in front slows down. The moment you touch the brake. The adaptive cruise control cuts out. You're then on to manual. You're controlling the brake yourself.
[19:28] You have to brake. You have to do all that. You have to watch the car in front. And the difficult thing. Until you get used to it. Is to give over the driving. Apart from the steering.
[19:39] And a few other things. To this adaptive cruise control. To actually be doing. What it should be doing. What it promises to do. And you might say. I wouldn't feel safe with that.
[19:51] Well yes it's technology. And sometimes technology fails. But you know. That adaptive cruise control. Because there's a sensor on the very front of the car. And that sensor.
[20:03] Is working far more efficiently. Than my attentiveness is. Because sometimes. Even driving on the busiest roads. You get tired in your mind. You have lapsus in your concentration.
[20:15] The adaptive cruise control. Never does that. You can give yourself to it. It will actually be. It's possible to go from. Right from Inverness. Through to Livingston. Edinburgh. Wherever.
[20:25] Without ever touching the brake. It will do it all for you. It's amazing technology. But. It's nothing compared to this. Because to give yourself.
[20:37] Into the hands of Jesus. Is really to give the control. Of your life to him. It's difficult. Isn't it at first. To get used to that idea. Now. But what's better.
[20:49] Being left in charge. Of your own life. Or stepping out of the boat. And putting your hands. And your life. In the hands of Jesus. Because he's always watchful.
[21:04] He always knows. What's going on. He's always there. To look after you. When you yourself. Lose your concentration. Peter stepped out of the boat.
[21:19] And came to Jesus. But then something else happened. When he saw. The wind. He was afraid.
[21:30] And beginning to sink. He cried out. Now. Why does it say. He saw the wind. Because nobody sees the wind.
[21:42] You can hear the wind. You can see the effects. Of the wind. But you can't actually see. The wind itself. Strictly speaking. So why is it saying. When Peter saw the wind.
[21:54] He was afraid. And began to sink. I think it's saying. This to us. Because. What this really means. Is that Jesus. Is that Peter. As Jesus was there with him.
[22:05] He had reached Jesus. He had made his way out. To Jesus. But then. His attention shifted. From Jesus. To his surroundings. His attention shifted.
[22:16] From focusing on Christ himself. To what he was surrounded by. There on the surface of the sea. He saw that. If you like. Instead of continuing.
[22:27] To see Jesus. And to have his trust. Entirely fixed upon. This Jesus. That he was now beside. And so he began to be afraid.
[22:38] And as he began to be afraid. So he began to sink. Just because he was afraid. And just because.
[22:52] Christians are afraid. At times. It doesn't mean. They're no longer Christians. It doesn't mean. Their faith was not. Actually genuine.
[23:02] There are things in this world. That will make us afraid. There are experiences in this life.
[23:12] That terrify us. That fill us with dread. That we can hardly cope with. Unless we look to Jesus.
[23:25] He began to be afraid. It was no evidence. Of his ceasing to be a believer. And that's surely comforting. For us tonight. Now that's really where.
[23:40] Our focus needs to be. Upon Jesus himself. And then he cried out to the Lord. Lord save me. Jesus immediately reached out his hand.
[23:54] And took hold of him. Lord save me. Now the beginnings of our recovery. Whatever circumstances we're in. Whether we are unsaved. Or whether we are believers.
[24:05] But in a circumstance. That we need to. Really look to Jesus in. Our recovery. Is always by looking to Jesus. And crying out to him. You don't actually deal with.
[24:16] The problem of sin. That's come between yourself and God. By simply saying. Well it'll go away. It'll sort itself out. You need to cry to Jesus. You need to cry of repentance. The cry of sorrow.
[24:27] The cry that says to the Lord. Forgive me. Please. Lord. Accept me. And it's the same tonight. If you're backslidden. If you're not what you should be. As a Christian. If you're not what you used to be.
[24:38] As a Christian. And we all backslide to some extent. Throughout the course of our lives. We all have things. Under which we sink.
[24:49] And sometimes it goes on for a long time. But the recovery begins when you cry to Jesus. When you come with sincere.
[25:01] Heartfelt repentance. When you seek him again. When again you want to go to be beside him. And for him to meaningfully. Have a relation with you again.
[25:14] That's come to be spoiled. By your own actions. Or mine. We're all prone. To lapses. To backslidings.
[25:25] To fears. In relation to our circumstances. But God has given us the answer. In the person of Jesus himself.
[25:35] Lord. Save me. Lord. Save me. We all need that cry. Not just once in our lives.
[25:47] When we come. First of all to Jesus. There'll be times. Throughout the course of our Christian life. When we need to appeal to him. Out of our circumstances.
[25:59] Out of our circumstances. That make us afraid. Lord. Save me. And then you notice Jesus. Reached out.
[26:11] Jesus reached out. Immediately. And took hold of Peter. Saying. Oh you of little faith. Why did you doubt? That's his response instantly. To the cry of Peter.
[26:22] Lord save me. You notice that word immediately. It's repeated. After being used in verse. Verse 22. Immediately. He made the disciples. Get into the boat. And here you find. After Peter cried to him.
[26:33] Immediately. Jesus reached out his hand. And took hold of him. And that tells you tonight. That. When the Lord. Lord takes action. It's always decisive action. It's not action of the kind.
[26:46] That. It's just partial. It's not Jesus actually coming to a situation. Where he has to ask himself. Now what do I do here? Or who do I go to for advice? His actions.
[26:59] Always decisive. When you cry out. Lord save me. You're crying to a Lord. Who has it in his own power. In his own hands. In his own capacity. To immediately take hold of your life.
[27:10] And decisively do what you ask him. And even more. Now yes. Sometimes. It may take a while before you think he's answered.
[27:20] It's not always the case. That our cry to Jesus. Meets with an immediate answer. Sometimes he makes us wait.
[27:30] And that too. Is full of his purpose. But every time he acts. He acts decisively. Authoritatively. And it doesn't matter who it is.
[27:43] He's speaking to or dealing with. That decisiveness tonight. Is crucial to my soul. And to your soul. That's the kind of savior we need. That's the kind of savior we have. The kind of savior.
[27:54] Who can even come. To even the likes of the devil. As he was tempting him in the wilderness. And this Jesus is able to say to him decisively.
[28:06] Get out of here. Satan. Get behind me. Satan. As he said to Peter. Somewhere else. Christ acts decisively.
[28:17] Immediately. Immediately. He took hold of him. And that too is important. That so many important points come together here. We don't have time to expand on them.
[28:28] But let's just look at them all together. And come towards the end of our study. But he took hold of him. And it reminds us too. That it's not Peter's cry that saved him. It's not our prayer that saves us.
[28:41] It's not our faith that saves us. It's not our repentance that saves us. As important and crucial though they are. It's Christ's hold that saves us. It's Christ's hold that keeps us safe.
[28:53] Yes we need to go on praying. And there are no. There are few things more vital. If any than prayer. On our part. And prayer. At such critical times as these. Is absolutely vital of course as well.
[29:05] And may I say again in passing. That it's one of the. Things I've been most aware of. Over these past days. Is your prayers. People praying. For us as ministers.
[29:16] People praying for one another. People praying for those who are bereaved. But especially those who are caught up. With these issues. And need to actually. Show some kind of leadership. We hope.
[29:27] In the days ahead. We could not do it without your prayers. As Peter said to the. As Paul said to the Philippians. From prison saying.
[29:37] I know that. Through your prayers. These things will be accomplished. That he was looking for. He took hold of Peter.
[29:51] Rescued him. Took him back up. Above the waves. When Jesus is in control of your life.
[30:01] That's how it is. We can't control the waves of providence ourselves. We can't master them. We can't direct them the way we want.
[30:12] We can't make the things of life. Or of death. Of bereavement. Of sorrow. We can't make them work. In the way that perhaps. We would want them to. We don't have to.
[30:24] They're in the hand of Jesus. He takes hold of us. And once he takes hold of us. It's that hold. That we must have our hope in. It's not our hold of him.
[30:37] It's not how much we understand. Of this hold. It's the way that he has taken hold of our life. And we need to keep our eye.
[30:49] Upon his grasp. Because that's where our security is. And then he questioned him. Oh you of little faith.
[30:59] Why did you doubt? Well Jesus did rebuke him. This is a rebuke. And we mustn't gloss over. Or some people try and gloss it over. And say oh well you know Jesus didn't really rebuke Peter.
[31:10] He understood his weakness. And he was coming to him now. And dealing with him. Having reached out. And taken him back above the water. This was a rebuke. In its own place.
[31:22] In its own degree. But please notice this. He saved him first. And then he rebuked him. He didn't come to Jesus.
[31:34] He didn't come to Peter. And see him sinking beneath the waves. And start to lecture him there and then. And ask him where his faith was. He reached out and took hold of him.
[31:45] And then he rebuked him. And the order is important. The priority is in his salvation. Not in his questioning. And it always is with Christ.
[31:56] Sometimes his questions are hard. We need to analyze. Where we go wrong. But. Having said all that.
[32:09] The love of Christ. The concern of Christ. To rescue him. Comes before. The rebuke. Oh you of little faith. Why did you doubt?
[32:21] Well he does focus on faith. And on doubt. And perhaps it will help us. You know sometimes we've just got a. A problem putting these two things together. How you can have doubts. In somebody like Peter.
[32:33] And how does doubt fit in with faith. And with somebody being a believer anyway. Should a believer not be somebody who has no doubts. Well maybe ideally so.
[32:44] But you're not going to have that. For a whole span of life in this world. Robbie Duncan put it like this. There are no doubts in faith itself.
[32:58] But there may be many doubts. Surrounding faith in the believer. Let me say that again. There are no doubts in faith itself.
[33:09] It strictly speaking. Does not have doubt in it. If it's faith. Otherwise it wouldn't be faith. Trust. Trust. But there may be many doubts. In the believer.
[33:22] And the more doubts come in through. Things like what Peter had here. The more that will obscure the faith. Or begin to. Overwhelm the faith.
[33:33] If you like. Or it begins to take over from the faith. And that's when we begin to think. In any case.
[33:44] Our doubts as well as our believing. Have to be in the hands of Christ. We bring them to him. We tell him about them.
[33:57] We wait for his answer. We look to his strength. We want his help. Even when we've come back out. And been rescued by him.
[34:09] It's a daily business. Looking to the Lord for help. And bringing our doubts to him. And as we examine our feelings. So we come to more understanding.
[34:23] Of our need to depend upon him. In every circumstance. So there we have Peter's request. And his Christ reply. Peter's cry. And Christ's response. And the different points.
[34:35] We've mentioned there. And finally. Worship and confession. When they got into the boat. Now that's Jesus and Peter. The wind ceased. And those in the boat. Worshipped him. Saying truly.
[34:45] You are the son of God. Very briefly. Just a couple of points. They got into the boat. Peter and Jesus together. They got into this boat. There's a lesson in that itself. There is Peter.
[34:56] And his Lord united. And they get back into this boat. With the disciples. Together. They're joined together. And the wind ceased. And if you go to John's gospel.
[35:07] The way we read. You'll have noticed. That John actually says. The boat was immediately. At the other side. Where they were going to. And some people say. Well that was another miracle. That Jesus brought the boat.
[35:18] So quickly to the other side. But others will say. That's not the case. It does surely say to us. That from the moment. Jesus was back in the boat.
[35:29] This Jesus. This Jesus. This Jesus who stood on the water. This Jesus who came across the water. To the people. This Jesus who sent them into the situation. This Jesus who saw them in it. This Jesus who came to them.
[35:40] This Jesus who reassured them. This Jesus who rescued Peter. This Jesus who's strength. Took Peter back. From his dilemma. From his sinking. Once he was back in the boat with them.
[35:53] They were immediately at the other side. In other words. John is saying. It really made all the difference. Because the wind then ceased. Not before then. But then. And they were at the other side.
[36:10] Christ's presence. Christ's presence. Is what a beleaguered church. Or a beleaguered soul. Needs above all else. Christ's presence.
[36:24] Christ's presence. Christ in the boat with us. Christ beside us. Christ's power guiding us.
[36:38] Upholding us. Taking us safely on. The sea in the Bible. Very often represented. Enmity or opposition to God.
[36:52] Such as you find in the prophets. Or even the incident of the Red Sea itself. Where the people crossed over safely. As on dry land. There is what represented.
[37:04] Opposition to God. And opposition to his people. In the Red Sea. But then. Power of God intervened. And the sea parted. And his people passed over. The presence.
[37:16] Of Jesus. Is what brings hope. To a beleaguered church. To a demoralized people. To a disconsolate soul.
[37:27] And that's why they then said. Truly. You are the Son of God. And by that they meant.
[37:38] You are indeed the Messiah. You are indeed the Savior. The promised one. Our Redeemer. And this is what we should pray for.
[37:54] What we would ourselves wish to experience. Through such troubled times. That Jesus would come. Across the water to us.
[38:06] That Jesus would. That it is he. That it is himself. That we are safe with him. That Jesus would respond to our cry.
[38:20] Lord help us. Lord save us. That he would show us power. That he would rebuke us for our doubts. That he would renew our souls.
[38:30] And that we would then come to say. Truly. After all that Lord. You are.
[38:41] The Son of God. May he bless his word to us. Let's pray. Eternal God.
[38:52] We give thanks. For your eternity. We give thanks for the way in which you deal with your people. Even though at times we know not. How things will work through.
[39:05] We know the end that you have for your people. That it is that you will share with them. And they with you. In an eternity of glory and bliss. And peace.
[39:17] We thank you tonight for the prospect of that. In a world that is so full of turmoil. We pray tonight Lord. That you would calm our souls too. To. Oh Lord speak into.
[39:30] Our pain and our sorrow. Our bewilderment. Our questionings. Speak to us to say that. It is yourself. That we need not be afraid.
[39:43] Lay your hand upon us to take hold of us. And Lord help us. As we have already. Known the grasp of your hand. Reassure us that you are still holding us.
[39:55] That you will never let us go. And help us Lord to come. To that conviction and confession. Even through these troubles. Again this evening.
[40:06] Truly you are. The son of God. Hear us we pray. For your glory's sake. Amen. Amen. Now we are going to conclude our service this evening.
[40:21] In Psalm 34. Psalm number 34. That is in the Scottish Psalter. Version page 248. And singing to the tune Evan.
[40:34] From verse 18 through to verse 22. That is on page 248. The Lord is ever nigh to them. That be of broken spirit. To them his safety doth afford.
[40:44] That are in heart contrite. These verses of Psalm 34. Verses 18 to 22. To tune Evan. The Lord is ever nigh to them.
[41:05] That be of broken spirit. To them his safety doth afford.
[41:20] That thou in heart contrite. The troubles that thou make the just.
[41:37] In number may he be. And yet thou may. And yet thou may.
[41:48] And thou may. The Lord God set him free.
[42:00] And not so much.
[42:22] How much has one of them Can broken be at all?
[42:36] Ill shall awaken Swayed, which shall be you Make a just The Lord redeemed This servant's soul And perish that in trust I'll go to the main door again this evening, if you allow me.
[43:17] Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, The love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you now and evermore. Amen. Amen.