to see the desire for the word and so many out. We appreciate our friends from Atlantic as well to be with us tonight and trust the Lord may have something for us. We believe he will. Let us turn please to Matthew's Gospel in chapter fourteen. Matthew's Gospel chapter fourteen. And we might read from verse twelve. and his disciples came and took up the body and buried it and went and told Jesus. When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart, and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. And Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. And when it was evening, His disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past. Send the multitude away that they may go into the villages and buy themselves vittles. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart. Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass and took the five loaves and the two fishes. And looking up to heaven, he blessed and break and gave the loaves to his disciples and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat and were filled. And they took up the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men beside women and children. And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and go before him out to the other side, while he sent the multitude away. And when he had sent the multitude away, he went up onto a mountain apart to pray. And when 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 out of them walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking in the sea, they were troubled, saying it is a spirit. And they cried out for fear, but straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto 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. But when he saw the wind voiceless, he was afraid, and beginning to think, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and fit unto him, O thou blest in faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased, and they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying of a truth, thou art the Son of God. Now, for the Lord bless his word. Last night, from the Old Testament, in the book of Numbers chapter twenty-one, we followed the children of Israel on the journey, the journey to the land of God had promised them, and We notice that journey began with the uplifted serpent, the picture of Christ, and how our journey to heaven begins at the cross. Not that the baptism tank, though that follows, not by taking the sacraments, not by turning over a new leaf, but our journey to heaven begins at the cross. And we sing at the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away. Every person that's going to be in heaven will have had this experience. They will have been in their soul's experience to Calvary, to the cross where Jesus died, and they'll be able to sing in reality the way of the cross be told. If you profess to be going to heaven tonight, I wonder that you have your beginning there. That's where it begins at the cross. We do not get there geographically, but in our soul's experience, we're brought by the Spirit of God to the cross to look upon Christ. to see them as our Savior, meeting our need. And we look and we trust them as our very own. And then we found them along the journey through the wilderness and the valleys, but God provided a well. Christ our constant source of satisfaction for the one that saves us satisfies. And then we noticed another very important symbol, the rising of the sun. They pitch their tent toward the sunrise, the break of day, and that's the coming of the Lord. When He comes, first of all, as the bright and morning star, And then there's the break of day. So we have the journey, if you will, of God's people portrayed from the cross to the glory. And thank God our journey that began at Calvary is going to end in the glory when we see our Savior face to face. Now tonight we have the pathway of the child of God to heaven pictured as through the sea. Number twenty-one who is in the land, now it is through the sea. And here we have one of those lovely experiences that portrays the child of God, the path of faith and fellowship, and the sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ to meet our need all the journey through. Now we have the Lord Jesus Christ in various capacities here and in various activities and in various lovely portraits. We have, first of all, as the sympathizer displaying his divine pity. We find here that the disciples were in sorrow. They had lost their beloved John and they went and told Jesus, and the Lord Jesus undoubtedly sympathized with them. And in verse fourteen, he saw the multitude and he was moved with compassion. Here we have the compassionate Christ, the compassionate Christ, the sympathizing Christ, the Christ of divine pity. Then next of all, we have the shepherd. First of all, the sympathizer and then the shepherd, and he's feeding the multitude. And here we see his divine provision. First of all, the sympathetic Christ displaying his divine pity, and now the shepherd displaying his divine provision. And finally, we see the sovereign, if you will. The Lord Jesus is revealed as the sovereign of the sea, and he makes known as divine preservation, but only in watching over the disciples at large for particularly connection with Peter, he preserved him from falling. So we have the sympathizing Christ, displaying his divine pity, the shepherd displaying manifesting his divine provision, and the sovereign manifesting his divine preservation. It would seem to me that the intonance and the material here in chapter fourteen is summed up by a threefold presentation of Christ, and I want to point that out tonight at the opening of our message. Notice verse fourteen. And Jesus went forth. Come down to verse twenty-three. And when he had set them under the way, he went up. Verse twenty-five, in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them. Now I want to link these three expressions together. He went forth, he went up, and he went unto. Now as we think of the fact that Jesus went forth, we think of his incarnation. He came forth from the very bosom of the Father, the bosom of eternity, and he went forth to serve and to suffer. He that goeth forth, and weak with, bearing precious seeds, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bearing his sheath with him. And the Lord Jesus, as the sower, he went forth to sow. He went forth to serve, he went forth to suffer, and that pathway led him to the cross. And so there we see the blessed, devoted, unstanding service of the Lord Jesus, he went forth. And that pathway ended at the place called Calvary, for he died to redeem us and make us his own. But then having gone forth and gone to the cross, and we read, then came Jesus forth, we're in the crown of thorns. Secondly, he went up. and he went up into a mountain to pray, and that's where the Lord Jesus is tonight. He's the intercessor, and he's on the mountaintop. He's in the glory at God's right hand, and is interceding for his own. And that covers the present dispensation. He went forth. That's the Christ of incarnation in his service unto death. He went up. That's the Christ in glorification, in his service of supplication for his own. But finally, in the fourth watch of the night, he went on to. And that's Christ returning for his own. And we sang last night, midst the darkness, storm and sorrow, one bright beam I see. Well, I know the Blessed Mother of Christ will come for me. Now in the night here, there was the four watches relative to their day and their night. There was the evening watch and the midnight watch, and there was the cot-throwing, and then there was the fourth watch. There was the four watches. And the fourth watch was the last, and it was just before the dawn of day. And that's just where we are dispensationally. We're in the fourth watch of the night. We're just before the morning. And we've seen darkest night will always come before the morning. When I was up in Northern Scotland a few years ago and spent so many happy weeks with the fishermen up there in the northeast coast, I asked them, now is it true that just before the dawn is the darkest hour of the night and the coldest hour of the night? And they said, yes. That's the hardest time to stay awake just before the dawn of day. The fourth watch. You know, we read, Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. Because iniquity shall abound, that's the darkness. The love of many shall wax cold, that's the coldness. And the two are prevalent today. We're in the fourth watch. There's no fifth watch. This is the last watch. And this is just where we are dispensationally. There's nothing to follow. And we're just before the dawn of day. But in the fourth watch, in their struggling in the sea, encountering the tempestuous waves and the mighty billows, Jesus came unto them, and he took them out of it, and we read in John immediately they were at the land. And so the Lord Jesus is coming for us. Now don't you see the picture here? He went forth. That's Christ coming into the world, going forth to serve. He went up. That's His service for us now throughout this entire dispensation our day. And then He went on to, He's coming back for us. And He's going to take us out of the storm and out of the sorrow and out of the sea of light. And we'll know the last wave and the last billow and the last fear and we'll be at home. And so I see portrayed here the lovely ministry of the Lord Jesus. There are three times in Peter's experience when he was called upon to leave a boat or a ship. First of all, when the Lord called him to service, he was fishing and the Lord said, Follow me, and he went forth to follow Christ. And then on this occasion, the Lord called Peter to lead the boat. And I believe in all my heart that Peter was in the mind of the Lord when he left that boat, for the Lord said, Come. Peter said, If it be thou, bid me come unto thee in the water. And the Lord said, Come, and he obeyed the word of the Lord. His walk was prompted by the word. He didn't take one step till he got the word. And our walk should always be governed by the word and by the will of Christ. If it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he left the ship. And then in John twenty-one he left his ship. Now to begin with, when he left his ship he entered into another ship, into discipleship. Here he entered into fellowship and in John twenty-one he entered into stewardship. He left one ship for another ship. That's the first, fellowship and stewardship. Now, I would say that the key word in relation to Peter's experience here, and I want to dwell on that particularly, is found in verse twenty-eight, and Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee, and that's the key expression in Matthew's gospel, unto him or unto thee. In chapter five we read, his disciples came unto him, and that is for teaching. In chapter ten they were called unto him for their commission. In chapter thirteen we read that great multitudes were gathered unto him. In chapter eighteen were two or three are gathered unto my name, or in my name or unto my name, better am I in the midst. And here we find it. did me come unto thee and in Matthew eleven come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you a rest and that little word unto is very emphatic in Matthew's gospel Christ is the object Christ is the gathering center whether it's for a teaching instruction salvation or for the object connection with our walk unto me unto thee The Lord says, come on to me, all you that labor, and our heavy laden and I will give you rest. He's the object for our salvation. Mind you're here tonight and you're not saying the Lord Jesus calls you unto himself. Not unto the preacher, not unto the church, but unto himself. He said long ago, I brought you unto myself. The Lord wants to bring us unto himself in salvation, in consecration, in submission, for teaching. and as our gathering center, Christ is the center, Christ is the object, and that's the theme in Matthew's Gospel. Unto me, unto him. Says Peter, bid me come unto thee. We'll note that later. Now what I would like to do first of all tonight, there's quite a bit on my mind in this chapter, I want to look at some of the portraits in Matthew And just recently in my study, I rather enjoyed the thought, I was rather thrilled with the thought that the portraits of the Lord Jesus in Matthew fourteen fit in exactly with the presentation of Christ in the Hebrew epistle. And I'll just link a few of those together to begin with tonight. Now first of all, I see here the peerless person. He is Jesus, but he is the Son. Notice. Verse twenty-two, it says, Jesus constrained his disciples. Verse twenty-five, Jesus went unto them. Verse twenty-seven, Jesus spake unto them. Verse twenty-nine, Peter went to go to Jesus, and verse thirty-one, Jesus stretched forth his hand. But when you come to verse thirty-three, they worshiped and said of a truth, Thou art the Son of God. Who is this fearless person here? He is Jesus the Son. Now that takes us back first of all to the prophecy of Isaiah chapter nine. Under us a child is born, he's Jesus and under us the Son is given. He is Jesus the Son. The message to Mary was, thou shalt bring forth a son that's a small s and call his name Jesus. He shall be called capital S the Son of the Highest. In incarnation Jesus son of Mary but Jesus son of God. Now here you see he is Jesus. He's a real man. He walked in them as a real man. But when they beheld him and they saw his omnipotence and he displayed his mighty power, they said, of the truth, thou art the Son of God. Jesus the Son in his ministry, in his life, in his watch. Let us turn our eyes to the cross. And I want to think particularly of Mark's account. When the centurion gazed upon that man on the middle cross, he said, Truly, this man was the Son of God. This man, Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus, the Son. In resurrection, according to Romans one, he is Jesus. He is the seed of David, but he's declared to be the Son of God with power. And then when we come to Hebrews chapter four, the one in the glory who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmity, the sympathetic high priest is who? The writer of the Hebrew epistle, in Hebrews chapter four, he is Jesus the Son. And he's going to be that forever. He's going to be Jesus and he's going to be Son. And I would suggest this fact that the only revelation we'll have of God, even in a coming eternity, is in the face of Jesus Christ. He will always be Jesus the Son, perfect man and perfect God. And that's his capacity tonight in the glory. And because he is Jesus, he understands our need, and because he is the Son, he can meet our need. Because he is Jesus, he can sympathize, and because he is the Son, he can succour. Jesus, the Son. Now that brings you to Hebrews one and two. We're not going into it in detail. In Hebrews two he's the perfect man. He behooves him in all things to be made like unto his brethren. That's Jesus. That's the man. That he might be a faithful and merciful high priest. For in that he himself has suffered being tempted. He is able also the son of them that are tempted. Because he was Jesus here below, now in the glory as Jesus, he's still the perfect man in the glory. He's able to look down upon us and he knows our need and he can meet our need. He's Jesus the Son. I have two books in my library that I love very much, and I'm glad they're in print again. They're by Mr. Bellad. One is called the moral glory of the Lord Jesus, and one is called the Son of God, and they're lovely books to have in your library. And I love one of the statements of Mr. Bellad in his book, The Son of God. And he puts it this way, and I think it's very good concerning Jesus the Son. He says, God has been here, man is up there. You see, when the Lord Jesus Christ went back into the glory, he took with him all the fullness and perfection of manhood. He's a real man in the glory. He's Jesus. He knows all about our sorrow and our struggles against sin, though he himself was apart from sin, and he knows every heartache he does indeed. And as Jesus, I say, he sympathizes. He's the perfect man, but he's God, and he can succor. and he can deliver Jesus the Son and so in Hebrews two he's Jesus and in Hebrews one he's the Son God has spoken in sonship in the Son now again we notice here he went up to a mountain to pray and this brings us of course to Hebrews chapter seven he ever lived to make intercession for us there they were down in the in the water down the lake and they were struggling and rowing and If we compare the accounts of the different Gospels, there are three words used. They were tossed and they were toiling. Yes, they were toiling and there was a tempest. And that's where the Lord Jesus met them in the midst of their tossing. And they're toiling. Oh, it says, yes, they were troubled. That's the third word. They were tossed. They were toiling. They were troubled. Those are the three words used. But the Lord Jesus was in the mountain top, and he was praying for them. And beloved child of God, the Lord Jesus ever liveth to make intercession for us. And he's praying for us. He's praying for you. And he's praying for me. And as he said to Peter, I have prayed for thee. And so we see him as the great intercessor is the high priest. Now again in Hebrews chapter seven we see his preserving power because he is ever liveth to make intercession for us. He is able to save to the other most. His mighty power, able to save. Power is associated with priesthood. Oh, I know pity is, but power is in Hebrews seven. The two are linked together. His intercession and his power. And here we see the both. He's interceding. But when he came down and Peter began to sink, he put out his arm and he put his arm around Peter and he upheld him. He's able to save to the uttermost, to the uttermost. That's a very interesting word in the Bible. I must pass this on to you. I got it out of Mr. Wigram's concordance. That word uttermost that's used in Hebrews chapter seven is only used twice in the New Testament. Now, in the English it's used several times, but only twice in its original Greek word. And it's the word Pantelis, P-A-N-T-E-L-L-E-S. And it's most interesting. And it's used in Luke chapters at eleven or thirteen, where the Lord Jesus met a woman who could in no wise lift up herself. She was bent over. And the Lord made her straight. And the words in no wise are a translation from that one Greek word Pantellis. And when I saw that in the concordance, I thought, well, what is the lesson? I can't just get the connection between the two. And then it suddenly came to me this way. There was a woman who was absolutely helpless. And because of the uttermost of our helplessness in no wise, we have the uttermost of his power. Hebrews seven. And those are the two words, the two places in the New Testament where that word is used. On our part, utmost helplessness. She could in no eyes. On his part, utmost power. He is able to save to the uttermost. And so we see his preserving power. Now, furthermore, in Hebrews chapter twelve, we have Christ as our pattern, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Not our salvation of faith, but the pathway of faith. Now, When Peter stepped out of the water to walk to Jesus at the call of Christ, it could be that the other disciples might have remonstrated with him. Now, look, Peter, what do you think you're doing? You have no precedent for that. You've never seen anybody do that before. I'll say, Peter, wait a minute, you're wrong. I saw the Lord Jesus walk in the water. You see, when the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the disciples of Peter, it says he came unto them and he was walking on the sea and not suggestive. That isn't just casual. The Lord Jesus Christ could have just appeared through the air, if you will, and been right there. But he came to them walking. We'll talk about that in a moment. Peter said, wait a minute, you've forgotten. Didn't you see the Lord walking on the sea? Well, I am following in his footsteps. And we tread the path of the master's tread. He had the example. He had the pattern. And that's Hebrews chapter twelve. Looking on to Jesus, the author and finisher of the pathway of faith. path of faith. The Lord Jesus trod. That's the pathway we trod. We walk by faith. And then again, maybe I'll point out one more and then pass on. In Hebrews chapter thirteen, we read, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. And here we have the divine presence. He appeared when they needed the most. And he said, it is I being out of faith. And so these lovely portraits in Matthew fourteen fit in so well with the presentation of Christ in the Hebrew letter. Yes, he is the Peerless person, Jesus the Son, Hebrews one and two. He is the priest in intercession and the preserver in Hebrews seven. He is the pattern in Hebrews twelve. We are assured of his presence in Hebrews thirteen, and here he says, It is I, the peaceful, sustaining presence of the Lord Jesus. What a wonderful Savior we have. Now, we find here in verse twenty-two the constraining Christ. Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and go before them onto the other side. And when those disciples get into that ship and started off on the other side, let us all keep this in mind. They were in the positive place of obedience. They were in the center of God's will. But it was right in the center of God's will where the storm came. The storm overcooked them just where Jesus put them. And that is often the case in your life and mind, dear Christian. You know, God called Abraham to take a pathway of obedience, and Abraham went forth and God sent a famine. The path of faith will always be tested. I suppose that, again, maybe some of those disciples in an unbelief would have said, well, we shouldn't have taken this voyage. Well, they should have. The Lord constrained them. They were in the place of obedience. and in the place of his will, in the place of obedience, the testing storm came. Dear child of God, if you take a path, you feel the being, the path the Lord has led you on. And the storm comes or the famine comes. Don't let the devil tell you you're out of the mind of God and never tell another Christian that. Why, they shouldn't have done that. They shouldn't have gone there. Look what's happened. Look at the sorrow and the trouble that's come into their life since they took that vow. That Just what happened here? The storm came in the center of God's will. And just because I'm in the center of God's will is no assurance that I will not receive the storm in the tempest and the testing. We're living in a rather strange day. It almost seems today that some are advocating, my, if you're in God's will, you'll be the most prosperous businessman, and you'll be a millionaire, and you'll be this, and you'll be that, and you'll be popular, and you'll succeed in everything if you're in the center of God's will. God never promises that. Very often those who are in the center of God's will are in the center of the tempest and the storm. But as long as Jesus is there, it's all right. So we see the constraint in Christ. And then we see the Christ who is concerned for his own wills. Pass that over now. He went up to a mountain to pray. And while they were struggling down below, he was up there praying for them. And thank God in the midst of the tempest, in the midst of the dark experiences, in the midst of the dangers, while they were in a dangerous place, one in the glory who's praying for us and we will prevail at last and we shall be kept because he ever liveth to make intercession kept by the power of God but now we see here the ship was in the midst of the sea and it was tossed with waves and the wind was contrary and believe me there are many there are many waves and winds today there's the waves of national distress in the waves of shall I say, church disturbance in the waves of family difficulties and the waves of personal discouragement. There's the waves today. But we find here that the Lord Jesus in the fourth watch of the night went unto them and he was walking on the sea. Now that's interesting to me. You see, it was the sea that was bringing such great distress and fear to the hearts of these men. But the very thing that brought that distress and that fear and that dismay brought Jesus to them. He used the waves to get to them. Beloved Christian, isn't it so often the waves in our life that the Lord Jesus used as stepping stones to reach us? Some years ago, Robert Crawford and I were having meetings in Ohio and Amongst the number who were saved, there was a young man and a young lady who, in a few years, became husband and wife, and God gave them a nice little home and a little family. But one day, what we might term as a tragedy struck, their fourth child, little baby, was on the floor playing, and somehow, rather, the baby must have got a hold of the light wire, the lamp wire, and got the wire in her teeth. And the little baby was instantly electrocuted. picked up their baby dead. I heard about it and I got in my car to go out the sea down on his wife where we loved them in the Lord and I thought all the way out, you know, now what am I going to say? And sometimes believe me, when you go to visit people, it's hard to know what to say. And you know, I sometimes feel when you don't know what to say, you're better just to be quiet and shake your hand and let a tear fall. But what will I tell this young couple? I've never experienced anything like this. Well, I'm very thankful they began to talk. But they said, you know, Gordon, when this first happened, it seemed that we lost our faith and we became bitter and we cried out, why did God allow this? And in our darkest prayer, they said, it seemed as though just as real as it was with you today, the Lord Jesus, just walked right to us and put his arm around us. And he spoke as though it were an audible voice. It wasn't, of course. What I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. You see what I mean? The wave of sorrow that came to them brought Christ to them. The very experience brought Christ to them. The Lord Jesus Christ came walking on the sea. He came on the waves. And I say the element that was bringing such fear and dismay to their hearts brought Jesus to them. And I speak from a different experience. The sorrows that we do not like and do not want and that we shun are the very waves that bring Christ to us. And then there's the second little lesson here I have enjoyed. The waves were under divine control. They were under his feet. Isn't that nice? He was the master of the sea. And I'd love to think, dear Christian, that all of the circumstances in my life were under divine control. Now, I don't always act that way, but I'd like to believe it. I'd like to take it in that the waves and the circumstances are under divine control. Christ, in other words, is greater than our circumstances and greater than our difficulties. We learn the greatness of Christ here. And all of these experiences, these ways, these billows, these tempests, that cause such fear and dread, that under divine control he is still the master of the seed. He's in control. He's in control. And so we see the constraining Christ. The Christ who is concerned about us in his ministry of prayer. We see the controlling Christ, the way for under his feet. under divine control and I think that's good now I want to refer for the remaining time the time is going so quickly and I surely will let you out on time to Peter here now Peter was in the boat with his disciples I think brother Van Ron referred to this the conference now Peter was exactly in the right place wasn't it there wasn't a better place to be and he was in the correct position he was surely in a correct position in a boat That's the only correct position in the middle of a sea, isn't it? But you see, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared, and Peter looked to Christ, and he said, if it be thou, everything depended on the identity of the person. And what did he say? He says, bid me walk in the water. He didn't say that at all. Let's read it correctly. He says, bid me come unto thee, secondary on the water. That was second. Unto thee was first. That's Hebrews. Let us go forth unto him without the camp. Not without the camp unto him, but unto him without the camp. Unto thee on the water. His object was Christ. It wasn't the thrill of walking in the water. You see, Peter wanted to get to Christ. Christ was near, but Peter wanted to get nearer, and nothing was satisfied Peter, but a heart-to-heart fellowship. Now, you know, if we're not the Christians, we can be in the right position. If we're saved, we are in the right position. We're in Christ. positionally were in the church and elected. Most of us are in the local assembly and that's a good place to be. With those who gather simply unto the Lord and around this person at the Lord's table and I love that place. I've been there for over forty-five years and I'll tell you I, by the grace of God, no credit to myself, I've never been tempted to leave. It's a lovely place with all our faults and failures. There's nothing like it and I don't like to hear anyone speak disparagement of God's assembly. Of course there are faults and failures. Everywhere there are faults and failures, but we have a perfect gathering center. We have nothing to boast of, but we have so much to be thankful for. But you see, now, to get to the other side of the picture, I could be even in that position in the assembly, gather to the Lord's name and not enjoying personal communion with the Lord, and that wouldn't do. One of the preachers over in Ireland asked a young man once if he was saved, He didn't realize how it sounded. He said, save, he said. Why, he said, I'm in the meeting giving out hymns. Well, thank God he was there and able to give out of him. Well, you see, it's good to be there. Peter was in the right position, but he wanted to get to Christ. It would profit me very little to be even in the assembly if I'm not enjoying fellowship with Christ in the assembly and enjoying a personal communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. So Christ is greater than our position and Christ is greater than our support. Peter had good support in that book. But you see, he left it all. Furthermore, we learned that Christ is greater than our society. I wonder if one of those disciples might have said when Peter began to leave the boat, and that was the sacrifice for Peter to get out of that boat. Believe me, it was. What's the matter with you, Peter? You're not satisfied with our company? Well, yes, sure. But there's something better. Oh, it's nice to enjoy fellowship one with another, and I wouldn't put a moment even hinted the thought of leaving the people of Glog, but... I could enjoy fellowship with my brethren and sisters and not enjoy fellowship, intimate fellowship with the Lord. So Christ is greater than our circumstances. Christ is greater than our difficulties. Christ is greater than the storms. Christ is greater than our position. And Christ is even greater than the society of God's people. There was nothing we'd do for Peter but to get into the very bosom of the Lord Jesus. Oh, there's nothing. There's nothing to compare with an intimate heart to heart. hand and hand fellowship with the Lord Jesus. But Peter dare not leave that boat until he got a word from Christ and had his eye on Christ. What do you think would have happened to Peter now if he'd begun to walk in the water and turned around to his disciples? Mind what I'm doing. I'm very much ahead of you men. I'm walking in the water. Why is the thrill? He'd have gone right down. And remember this. I like to think of this. When Peter got out of that boat to go to Christ, though he left his disciples, he didn't turn around and hit them over the head with the oars. Now, he didn't do that. He still loved them. It wasn't the thrill of walking in the water activity. What did we learn here? But we spoke out at the conference, Christ is greater than our service. It wasn't the walking in the water that occupied Peter's heart. It wasn't the thrill of walking in the water that pleased him. It was the idea of getting to Christ. Oh, as we serve the Lord Jesus, as Christ, our object. You know, I'm afraid there can be a lot of activity without Christ as the object. And I'm afraid a lot today that's called the Lord's work is just religious adventure. They've never got the word from God. I'll tell you, perhaps I shouldn't be careful, but we're living in the day. If we're not careful, we'll organize God out of business. Activity is a good thing. Service is good. But it must be directed by Christ. If it be thou, bid me come unto thee. Christ was the object. It wasn't the thrill of walking in the water. It isn't serving just to do something. I know we should all be doing something, but sometimes there's so much activity and there's no association with Christ. If Peter was occupied with the thrill of walking in the water, he would have gone right down. It was Christ. Did he come unto thee on the water? And the Lord said, come. And it says he walked on the water, but it was to go to Jesus. service was secondary. Christ was the object. Christ is greater than our service. But finally, Peter got his eye off the Lord, as we do sometimes. As long as Peter's eye was in the Lord, the water under his feet was as solid as a slab of marble. But he got his eye off the Lord, and it says, he saw the wind, he was afraid, and he beginning to sink, and he cried, Lord, save me. Now we learn here that Christ is greater than our failure. greater than our faith. You know, some time ago I had a rather, I wouldn't say a strange question, but a hard question asked me. A young fellow came to me and said, Mr. Rieger, if Peter, well, as an experienced fisherman, he could swim, couldn't he? I said, likely. He says, why didn't you swim? I said, I'll give you the answer tomorrow. Unfortunately, I had a book at home and I looked up Mr. Bengal's commentary And it was very precious to me. I'm glad the young fellow asked that question. Here's what he said. He who has begun the life of faith is less able to employ nature. I'm quoting. He who has begun the life of faith is less able to employ nature. Now, isn't that correct? I'll tell you, when we have begun the life of faith and walked the life of faith for a few years, we're not tempted to employ natural means, are we? I fear this in our service today. Let's not be employing natural means. Let us continue to trust God. Yes, I think he could have done some swimming, but he'd begun the pathway of faith and he wanted to finish, and he knew the Lord who had called him would preserve him. And I'll tell you, the Lord who has called us to do his will in his service, whether at home or in a more public way, he'll see us through. He'll never let us down. We might let one another down, perhaps not intentionally, but the Lord will not let us down. Now, what did the Lord do here? You say he rebuked him. Wait a minute, we're putting the cart before the horse. He did something before he rebuked him. It says here in my Bible, immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and he caught him. He put his arm around him. You know, my dear brother, there may come a time when you'll find it necessary to give me a rebuke, but I'll tell you this. If you put your arm around me first, I'll take it. He put his arm around him. My, I was glad that him was given out tonight. I felt the Lord's guidance. I must have the Savior with me and his arm around me thrown. He put his arm around him and then he gave him a gentle rebuke. That's the way to rebuke a brother or a sister. Put your arm around him. Extend your love to them and then they'll take it. He put his arm out and he caught him. And then the rebuke, O thou little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? when they were coming to the ship the wind ceased and Peter had the opportunity of walking hand in hand with the Lord Jesus arm in arm bosom to bosom they went back to the boat so Christ is greater than the storm greater than the difficulties greater than our circumstances greater than our position greater than our support greater than our society greater than our activity of walking in the water And thank God he's greater than all our faith and greater than all our failure. And he sustained him and he fastened to his conclusion. And Peter was rewarded. And the pathway of faith is always rewarded. May be tested. But we see the reward of faith. One of all wrote like this. He bids us come. His voice we know. And boldly on the waters go. To him our Lord and God. We walk on life's tempestuous sea. For he who died to set us free has called us with his word. Secure and boisterous waves. We tread. There are all the billows round us tread, while on the Lord we look. The tempter drives his vortex round. We pass as on solid ground the wave is firm as rock. But if from him we turn the eye, we see the raging floods run high. Our hearts are full of fear. Our foes so strong, our flesh so frail, reason and unbelief prevail, forgetting he is near. Lord, we are unbelief, confess. Do thou our little faith increase, that we may fall or fail no more, but fix on thee a steady eye? And on that outstretched arm we lie, till all the storm is over. Soon the storms of life will be over, will be whole. He's going to take us to land. But in the meantime, he is a sufficient Christ. He's in the glory of praying for us, but he's with us. And he can sustain us. Let us ever make Christ our object. Why, once again, before we close, if you're not saved, Make Christ your object tonight. Turn to Christ tonight. The Lord said, Come, and he came, and he obeyed the word of the Lord. He found himself in the arms of Christ. Maybe the Lord is saying, Come to some of you tonight who are not saying, Come on to me, and I will give you rest. You're going to sink beneath the waves of God's judgment if you don't come. The Lord wants you to himself as he wanted Peter. There's a lovely gospel picture here. If you come, he will receive you. He will put his arm around you. He will protect you. He will preserve you. He will keep you to the end. He wants you in his very arms tonight if you're not saved. Why not take that step? Maybe you're afraid to leave that little boat, if you will. Something you're depending on. Peter was depending on the boat. Leave it. Christ will save you and Christ will keep you to the end. If you trust him as your Savior. The Lord bless this little picture of night to our hearts. May we... Realize increasingly the sufficiency of Christ, oh beloved brethren and sisters, as we get a little older, doesn't seem more and more that Christ is all in all. Yes, we love our service. As we told you the other day, we've been privileged to serve the Lord, particularly in the gospel, now for just past forty years. We're thankful for these years. He's been so faithful. I'm thankful to say, humbly, we haven't had to resort to fleshly means to serve Him. He's met our need for all these years. We've never had to tell another soul our need. I say that sincerely before God. I don't like this thing today of hinting at making our needs known publicly. The Lord can meet our need. He can. He's a great God. Service is good. We've enjoyed it. And you've enjoyed your little service with the Lord here in Iowa. Though it seems to me that the most important thing is just that intimate communion with the Lord Jesus. We can be serving. We can be in the proper place. We can be in the assembly. And thank God we're there. And if you're there, stay there. And all the rest. We can be obedient in many things. But oh, if we miss this one thing. Our eye on Christ. Christ our object. Christ our center. Christ our companion. This is it. And it's illustrated here. And soon I say the last wave will beat and the last tempest will blow and be at hold and the fair shore of heaven. And we'll be with Christ and we'll know how his love went before us each day. I wonder that ever our hearts went astray. The Lord bless his word. We've covered quite a bit in this chapter rather hurriedly. The Lord blessed to us for his name's sake. Shall we pray? Our Father, we thank you for the Lord Jesus who invites us to come. We thank you when first we heard that word as sinners, come unto me. And we came to Jesus in all our need and danger. We left everything to come to him. And we thank you. We found a haven of rest in his loving arms and upon his loving heart. And he received us. And we thank that he has sustained us since. And he's held us up. And he's kept us from falling. We bless thee for him. for the assurance of his presence we thank thee tonight that he is in control of the waves and he controls every sea in our life if there's any without him tonight put in their sins may they leave everything whatever they're depending on whatever boat they're depending on for support may they leave it find their way to christ and then for us thy people help us not to be satisfied with anything our god less than personal intimate heart to heart fellowship with our lord We thank thee even when we fail, he does not fail. His arm is around this throne, and he sustains us along the sea of life, and soon we'll be home. The last wave shall beat and will be in that fair haven of eternal rest, that land of peace and eternal tranquility. Then we thank thee our eyes and our gaze shall be on Christ forever. Blessed thy word to us. Be with us again tomorrow night. Blessed thy dear people. Remember these dear young Christians again. We thank thee for them. O may they make Christ their object, and seek to seek to it that their lives are guided by the commands of Christ. We ask these things, and we give thee thanks for thy Son. Pray thy blessing and care if we part in that in his worthy and precious name. Amen. Now, we've left you out again in time tonight, so perhaps you'll come back tomorrow.