Naismith, James A: Conference-1988-05 ~ Lord's Life Around Sea Of Galilee

Clock here says five to two. Does that mean I have to speak till four o'clock? Some of you know that I was born of missionary parents, and, uh, I was one of a, a family of five boys. Uh, all of us thought our youngest brother was a bit of a rascal, and he proved to be that in the course of time and occasions, as, uh, many youngest in the families do. On one occasion, my parents had come home from Furlough, and this youngest brother had just heard my father for the first time. I think he was probably a teenager at the time, I'm not quite sure. But at the end of the message that night, he spoke to my father, and he said, you know, Dad, that was a very stirring and soothing and satisfying message. And, uh, my father was sort of picking out his chest saying, that's wonderful. How do you make that out? He said, well, did you notice that half the audience, um, left, rose and left while you were speaking? It was so stirring. And did you notice that the other half of the audience fell asleep while you were speaking? It was so soothing. And you'll never be asked back again. It was really satisfying. Well, already more than half of the audience has left, so it's, uh... And every preacher knows that a Sunday afternoon, especially after such a good meal as we've had today, is the time for a soothing sermon. And I trust everyone will be satisfied this afternoon, either with a sermon or w- or with your sleep. We're going to have our sixth and second last visit to the Sea of Galilee. We began our visits with a cruise on the Lake of Galilee, and we're going to have another cruise today. We could read from either Matthew or Mark or John. I'd like you to turn with me to Matthew's gospel and chapter fourteen, and the passage we're going to read is just immediately following the one we read the other night when the Lord said the multitude with the five loaves and the two small fishes. Matthew chapter fourteen. We're going to read from verse uh twenty two. 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 waves, for the wind was contrary. And on the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirit, and they cried out for fear. 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 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, and they that were in the ship came and worshiped him, saying, of a truth thou art the Son of God. The Lord will bless to us, I'm sure, these verses from his holy word. Let's bow again in a moment of prayer. O God our Father, we thank thee for the many lessons that we can learn from a story like this, and we pray that by thy spirit we may be guided so that we may not only learn with our heads, but apply with our lives the lessons that thou wouldst teach us today. Grant us thy blessing as we are together, and above all, we pray that thou wilt exalt before us the person of thy beloved Son, our Savior. For we ask in his holy name. Amen. One of the common medical problems that a doctor has to treat in these days in which we live, at least in North America, is the problem of depression. It's been reckoned that this is America's number one emotional disorder, and that there are probably eight million people in North America who suffer from depression. It's a condition that affects all ages. It's a condition that affects all type, all strata of society and people in all types of occupation. It's a condition that most of us experience from time to time. Most authorities feel that there is more suffering from depression than from any other condition that people are, are subject to in our day. And one of the very commonest types of medical drugs that are administered by doctors today are antidepressants, those to deal with depression. Depression has affected people of all classes through the centuries. It's affected great men, like Winston Churchill, for instance. He had bouts of depression. It's said that the famous paint- painter Van Gogh cut off his ear in a bout of depression. And it even has affected Christian people like Luther and Spurgeon and Calvin. Uh, they are supposed to have been afflicted with depression. One of the hymn writers whose hymns we sing from time to time was a man called William. He wrote such hymns as God Moves in a Mysterious Way, and such hymns as, uh, Oh, for a Closer Walk with God. One day, one evening, Cooper, who was living in London at the time, was in a very severe state of depression. He was so depressed that he called for a horse-drawn carriage with a, a driver to take him to London Bridge. Guess what he was going to do there? Yes, he was going to throw himself into the Thames. It was a foggy evening, however, and the driver of the carriage lost his way. He was going round and round in circles. He didn't know where he was, and after a long time, he, uh, said to, uh, he said to Cooper and Ross, well, said Cooper, I want to get off immediately. He was a little bit annoyed with the, with the driver, and he got off. He discovered that within a block or two, he was back at his home. He had gone round in circles till he came home. He discovered that it was God's restraining hand, and he lifted his heart in gratitude to the Lord for preserving him for what he was going to do for himself. And he sat down and he wrote a beautiful hymn. It's the hymn we sang the other night. God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm, deep in unfathomable mines of never failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs and works his sovereign will. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, by trust, but trust him for his grace. Behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face. These words were spoken after that experience that William Cooper had. Now, depression is not something that we should blame or judge people for or criticize them for, for we know that depression has many causes. It can be caused by physical factors. Serious illnesses can cause depression. It can be caused by biochemical factors. Changes in the biochemistry of the brain can lead to depression. It can be caused by mental illness, and there are a great many factors that lead to depression. But in all cases, and in some cases, spiritual factors are the main factors that cause depression. And in all cases, the Lord Jesus is able to help those who have depression. If someone of your friends has depression, then they should see a doctor to find out what the basic cause is. But you can be a help, uh, by bringing the words of the Lord Jesus to their attention. Now, in the course of his earthly sojourn and after he left earth to heaven, the Lord Jesus gave words of encouragement to people who were d- o- who were exposed to severe problems that could lead to depression. These words are sometimes translated as we read together this afternoon, be of good cheer. On one occasion, at least, they are tra- translated, be of good comfort. But it's the same word that's translated, be of good cheer and be of good comfort. And we discover that five times over, four times in the Gospels, and once in the Acts of the Apostles, the Lord used this message of encouragement to people who were exposed to circumstances of depression. Uh, there were actually seven times that it's recorded in the Gospels, uh, but two of the times are repetition of the same story. So on five occasions, the Lord gave this message of encouragement. Actually, when he spoke the words as it's recorded in the Gospels and in the Acts to the Apostle Paul, he spoke one word in the Greek, and the basis of that word is the word courage. Courage. So we could translate this, be of good courage, or be encouraged, or take courage. It's translated here, be of good chief. And as we look at these instances, and I'm not going to go over them all this afternoon, we can discover different circumstances that can lead to discouragement among God's people. The one that we're going to think of is the circumstance of opposition, because we are told in this circumstance the disciples were faced with a wind that was opposing them. The wind was contrary, and we are told in one gospel that it was a great wind. In circumstances of opposition, when like Jacob, we sometimes say, all these things are against me. When, uh, other people seem to be against us. When things seem to break down. When Satan seems to be opposed to us. When even friends are against us. We can listen to the words of the Lord Jesus, be of good cheer. And so we're going to look at this story from the Gospels, the story of this event that took place on the Sea of Galilee, to find some encouragement in our times of opposition and distress and difficulty from the actions and the words of the Lord himself. But before we go into the story, let's think of the background and the context and the circumstances. The disciples had just witnessed the mighty miracle of the feeding of the tithe, and then the Lord Jesus told them to get into a ship and go to the other side. It was by his constraint that they went across to the other side while he went up into the mountain, and there he was praying. And in a little while, the disciples, we don't know when it happened, but we do know that that evening, that night, they met a great wind that was opposed to them, and the boat was tossed around in the sea, and they were exposed to this difficulty. And they might have asked, well, I wonder why he did it. Why did he send us into this storm? He's gone away up into the mountain or somewhere, I don't know whether they knew where he had gone. But why did the Lord send us into this storm? I wonder why he did. Well, we saw some of these reasons when he was in the storm himself with the disciples. I believe he sent them into the storm so that they could learn the lessons that he had to teach them from the storm, that they would learn that he was interested in them, that he was watching over them, and that even in the problems of life, they had one who could solve the problem. If we didn't have any problem, as I mentioned before, we wouldn't know he could solve them. And the Lord permitted them to go right out into the storm that day. In fact, he sent them into that, uh, that lake that night, knowing full well that before they got to land, there would be a strong wind, and they would be faced with a tossing vessel. And that's why he allows the storms in our life, so that we can learn to trust in him, so that we can learn that he is not the cause of the problem, but the solution to the problem. Now, they had already been in a storm on the lake, the one we thought of the other day, a week ago. Uh, the Lord, that had already taken place. There were differences, however, between that one and this one. You see, in that one, the disciples were with the Lord, or we should say the Lord was with the disciples. He was in the boat with them. But in this one, he was high in the mountaintop. He was far away, and the disciples were alone. They were alone on the sea, and the Lord was alone on the mountain. And isn't that the situation that we have today? We are here on the sea of this world, on life's pitiless sea, and the Lord is there up on the mountain, at the right hand of God. But what was he doing on the mountain? Why, he was praying. He was praying. And I can be sure, and you can be sure, that included among his prayers were these disciples on the water. What's he doing in the mountain today? Why, he's praying. We've been thinking this week about our great high preacher. What's he doing on the mountain at God's right hand? He's interceding for us. And it's encouraging for us to know that he is there, that he's interceding on our behalf. And even through the most difficult storm and the most tempestuous circumstances, our Lord Jesus knows and is praying for us. In BC forty seven, Caesar had a successful campaign in what we call Turkey today, in Asia Minor, and he sent a very brief laconic dispatch to the Roman Senate. It was in three words, and it has come down today, and it's a very famous, uh, dispatch. There were three Latin words of four letters each. This was the message he sent from the successful, triumphant battlefield. He sent this message, Veni vidi vici. That simply means I came, I saw, I conquered, and it summed up the whole of that battle. He came, he saw, he conquered. No doubt when he got back to Rome, he would tell them the details, but that was the brief message that he had sent. As we look at this story, we can de- we can divide it into three sections, three words about the Lord Jesus, very similar in some ways to that message. First of all, we can say he saw. Secondly, he came. And thirdly, he spoke. And these are the three points I want to leave with you this afternoon. First, he saw. He saw. We read that actually in one of the gospels. In order to get all the, these messages, we have to read the record of each of the gospels. He saw. We're told in Mark six and verse forty eight, he saw them toiling and rowing. Now I want you to picture the circumstances. The Lord was away in the mountain, probably a mile or two away from the, the lake. The disciples were away in the middle of the lake. John tells us, I, I believe, that it was twenty five to thirty furlongs, somewhere near two and a half to three miles on the lake. And yet the Lord on the mountain at the distance saw the disciples away out on the lake. He saw them. But it was more than distance. There was darkness. One of the writers tells us that it was dark. And of course, by the time the Lord came, it was the fourth watch of the night. Uh, that was between three and six. and we are told, uh, those of us who get up early know that, that the darkest hours precede the dawn. It was dark, and yet the Lord saw them. In spite of the distance, in spite of the darkness, the Lord saw them. And suddenly we are told that he saw them toiling and rowing, and there were difficulties, but the Lord saw them. And I'm going to suggest to you that the same Lord sees us in all our circumstances. Oh, you may think in these times of trial that he's far away, and he doesn't know anything about our trials. What can he think about in heaven? Is he concerned with what happens on earth? Does he know anything about these problems? After all, he's away there. Now, the Apostle Paul said in Athens, God is not far from every one of us, and the Lord in heaven is not far from any one of us. He knows all about the circumstances. Distance makes no difficulty with him. The psalmist in Psalm one hundred and thirty nine, the second stanza, the second six verses of that psalm, having told already about the omniscience of God, speaks about the omnipresence of God. And he tells us one of the evidences of his omnipresence is this: if I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me. In other words, if I take the speed of light and cross the ocean to the uttermost parts of the sea, God's there. He knows all about our circumstances. Distance means nothing to him. He knows your problem, even although he's far away, or seems far away. He's really close by your side. And sometimes the night is dark, and the circumstances are dark, and the situation is dark. There seems to be no sun shining. The clouds are heavy, and everything is black. It's the blackness of night. Does he see in the darkness? Of course he does. He sees in the very darkest night, and he knows your circumstances, however dark or black they may be, just as he knew the circumstances of these disciples. And what about the difficulties? Does he realize the difficulties? He saw the disciples toiling in Rome, and you can be sure that the same Lord knows the problems that you confront as you face the opposition of Satan and all the means he uses to attack you. He knows the difficulties. More than that, he understands, and he feels them, because he's been here too. He had already experienced the storm when he was up on the mountain, and we can be say today he's already experienced the storm on our seas, although he's up on the mountain today at the right hand of the majesty and heaven, he understands and knows. First of all, then, he saw. The second message we learn from this story is he came. Mark six and verse forty eight says, about the fourth watch of the night, he cometh unto them. He came. I'm reminded of the story in the Old Testament of the children of Israel in the land of Egypt. And this was the message God gave to his servants and through him, Moses, to his people. He said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people, and I have heard their cry, for I know their sorrows. I've seen, I've heard, I know. And then he says, I am come down to deliver them. And that's the same with our Lord. That was the same in this case with his disciples on that scene. He came down to deliver them. Now, a number of questions that we can ask. We can ask the question, when and where and how. Let's ask these questions. First of all, let's ask the question, when did he come? And we're told it was the fourth watch, somewhere in the very early morning while it was still dark, between three and six a.m. That's when he came. And that poses another question. You see, they had been on the lake since the evening of the night before, and the Lord had left them on the lake all night. We don't know when the wind arose, and the question arises as we think of the when, why? Why did he leave them so long? Why didn't he come down at the beginning of the night? Why didn't he come down at midnight? Why didn't he come down at an earlier time? Why did he leave them so long? I believe the answer there is contained in his all-wise purpose. He was wise, and he's too wise to make a mistake, too wise to err, and he's too kind to give us a needless tear or a moment of trial that's not necessary. He is wise. You remember the story of Lazarus's death? You remember that Lazarus was sick, and that message came to the Lord. If you had been Mary and Martha, what would you have expected? If you had been the disciples and heard the message, what would you have expected him to do? Well, I certainly would have expected that immediately the Lord would have gone to Bethany to recover Lazarus from his illness. And yet we are told that the Lord waited there for two days. What would you think of that? If you had been Mary and Martha waiting for him, what would you have thought? Two days. And in the interval, Lazarus died. Why did he wait two days? He waited two days because he was all wise, and he waited two days for the glory of God to be revealed. For you see, his glory and God's glory was made more manifest by what happened after that two days than it would have been if the Lord had come before that time. And I'm sure if you'd spoken to Mary and Martha a day after, or a week after, or a month after, or a year after, or towards the end of their lives, and said, what did you think of that? They would have said, I'm so glad he delayed, because something infinitely more wonderful happened because he delayed than would have happened if he had come. You see, his delays are as purposeful as the times when he comes in Egypt, and we can know that he never makes a mistake. Where? Now, secondly, let's ask the question, where? Where did he come? Well, he'd been in the mountaintop. The mountain was obviously on the edge of the lake. Did he come to the edge of the lake? Well, he may have passed the edge of the lake in a way, but he didn't arrive at the edge of the lake. That wasn't his destination. Where did he come? We are told that he came unto them. Verse twenty five, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. He didn't stand at the edge of the lake and say, hey boys, I'm here, it's all right. He didn't do that. He came down from the mountain and he came unto them, right to where he was. Of course, that's what he did when he came to rescue us from our sins and bring us salvation. Like the Good Samaritan, he came right to where we were. He crossed the street right to where we were and met us in our need. And that's exactly where he comes. When we're in a problem and in a difficulty, the Lord of glory is willing to come right to where we are, and we can feel his presence near in our deepest problem and in our most difficult trial. He came right to where they were. Isn't that a beautiful lesson? But there's something else. And the last question is how? When, where, and how? How did he get there? Well, I don't know. I don't know how he got down the mountain so fast. I know that he came walking on the sea, but how did he do that? Uh, there was no boat, motorboat, speedboat with ropes attached, pulling them on that sea. We know that today people can go on the sea, they can almost walk on the sea when they're dragged by a, a fast moving boat. The Lord had nothing like that. How did he do it? I don't know. I don't know the mechanics of it, but I know that he did it because he's the Lord of the ocean. He's the Lord of the wind. He's the sovereign of the way. He's the God of all things, and he can do the impossible. Got any rivers you think are uncrossable? Got any mountains you can't tunnel through? He specializes in things that are impossible. He can do just what no other can do. And the Lord Jesus is able to do the same for you and me today. He can take away the mountains that are difficult. He can cross the lake that seems in uncrossable, and he can come right down to us, although we may think it's impossible for him to do it in all our circumstances. He saw, he came, and the last thing about this story is he spoke. He spoke. You see, when he did come, they didn't recognize him. They thought he's a spirit. Well, I can understand why they didn't recognize him. It was dark, and they didn't know what this apparition in the dark was. They didn't recognize him. You know, when the Lord sometimes comes to us, we don't recognize him. He comes in forms that we don't understand, we don't appreciate, but we discover afterwards it is the Lord, and we recognize that what we thought was some problem, some apparition, some ghost was the Lord himself, and we didn't know it. But soon the Lord himself spoke, and by his words of comfort, he brought a message to these disciples that they could understand. What did he say? Well, this is what he said, be a good cheer. We read that in verse twenty seven. Jesus spoke unto them saying, be a good cheer. And that's a word that has its basis courage. We could translate it, be encouraged or take courage, be of good courage. That's the Lord's word. You know, it's easy to say that. But when we say it to other people, we should have some reason to back up what we say. Some people say to others, oh, cheer up, it's not as bad as you think. They don't know, they don't know how bad it is. It's hard to cheer up because things are far worse than they think it is. And so, sometimes when people say that, we really have to turn our backs away from them. They really don't know anything about it. But supposing you go into the doctor's office and you've had a lump or a pain or something that you've been very, very concerned about, and the doctor examines you, and the doctor does his tests, and then at the end of his examination and his tests, he says, cheer up, everything's all right, there's no major problem. We'll be able to solve it. That sets the thing at rest. You see, it's not because the doctor says cheer up, but because it's something else that the doctor says, uh, that gives you that encouragement. The Lord said, be of good cheer. But notice what else he said. He said, it is I. It is I. That's the basis of the encouragement. And in the times of stress and trial, we hear from his lips, be of good cheer. But he adds, it is I. And what a word that is. It's one of several great expressions that the Lord gave utterance to during his earthly sojourn. Think of what he said in a wilderness once. In a wilderness. He was tempted by Satan. Do you remember what he said to Satan? It is. It is written. Spoken in the wilderness. You remember what he said on a cross when he died and suffered for us? Almost the last words that he spoke, the words he spoke before he dismissed his spirit. He said, it is finished. And here on a lake, in the store, he said, it is I, it is I. It is written, that is his word. It is finished, that is his work. It is I, that is his person and his purpose. Thank God for his word. It's absolutely reliable and valid for every circumstance of life, and we can use it as he used it to face the opposer, the devil himself. Thank God for his work. It's completed. We can't add anything to it. He has finished it to God's glory and satisfaction and for our eternal good. And thank God for his presence. He's with us in every time of trial and difficulty. In every circumstance of life, the Lord is with us, and he says, be not a be be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. And as soon as he came on board the ship, the storm ceased, the wind subsided. That's what happened. Matthew adds another little story to his story. It's not contained in the Gospel of Mark, and it's not recorded by the Gospel of John. It's the story of a man called Peter. Now, Peter's often criticized and condemned for, uh, what he did in this story. I commend Peter. I don't think I would have done what Peter did. And Peter was only one of the disciples that did do what he did. He was the only one that really walked in the water that day to the Lord, and yet people come along and condemn him and criticize him. What happened to Peter? Well, Peter said, Lord, if it's thou, bid me to come in the water with thee. And Peter did. He was looking to the Lord, and there he was walking in the water. Old Peter. And then suddenly he began to sink. Why did he begin to sink? Well, we're told why he began to sink. Let's look at the verse that tells us about his beginning to sink, verse thirty. It says he was afraid and beginning to think, but I missed the part of the verse that tells us why. We're told that when he saw the wind, voices, he began to think. What had happened? Well, Peter got his eyes off the Lord, and he began to look at the wind and its ebb. That's why he began to think. Do you criticize Peter? You know, I often do what Peter does, what Peter did. So often in my life, I get my eyes on the circumstances and the problems and the difficulties, and I get my eyes off the Lord. That's when we begin to think. But thank God the Lord didn't consign Peter to the, to the sea that day. He put forth his hand immediately and caught him. He said, oh, thou of little faith. But Peter was only one of the disciples that had little faith. He told of the disciples having little faith on other occasions, and we are among those who are of little faith. And the Lord was gracious and merciful to the one of little faith. How does the story end? Well, the story ends in verse thirty three. it says, then they that were in the ship came and worshiped him, saying of a truth, thou art the Son of God. I trust that's how our story will end today, that as we have thought of the Lord Jesus and what he was able to do then, and what he's able to do for us in our tempestuous seas and in our difficult storm, we will bow down before him and worship him. And we'll say, thou art the Son of God. May the Lord help us to worship him in spirit and in truth. Let us pray. O God our Father, we thank thee for this lovely record from thy holy book, and for the lessons that we have learned by thy spirit from it, help us not to learn them simply with our minds. Help us to learn them and apply them in our lives. And when we are faced with the storms of difficulty, trial, help us, we pray thee, to remember that the Lord Jesus is the Lord of the storm, and that he is able to meet us in our deepest needs, that he sees us, and that he comes to us, and that he speaks his word of encouragement. Grant us thy blessing as we move from this place. We pray thy blessing upon the one or ones who are being baptized and those who are participating in this service, and grant, O God, that this may be a real testimony to thy saving grace. We commend us to thee and pray thy blessing in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.