We return once again to Mark's gospel chapter six. If you will take your Bibles and turn there, we are going to be examining verses 45 through 56 as we continue to make our way through this inspired portion of Scripture. And I've entitled my discourse to you this morning, “Jesus Walking Upon the Sanctifying Storm.” And what we are going to see is that Jesus often uses trials to reveal his true character, to reveal his true nature, to reveal His purposes, so that we can understand more of who he is and how we should respond to him. And so we have a wonderful opportunity to once again immerse ourselves in the Word of God this morning. Let me read the text to you Mark six beginning with verse 45. "Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida while he himself was sending the crowd away. After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray. When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them walking on the sea; and he intended to pass by them. But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, 'Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.' Then He got into the boat with them and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened. When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. When they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, and ran about that whole country and began to carry here in their on their pallets those who were sick, to the place they heard He was. Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the marketplaces, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it, were being cured."

Our passage this morning is filled with captivating history, practical insights, but most importantly, it provides for us an accurate portrait of the infinite perfections of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's so important that we as believers understand who he truly is, because there are so many distortions out there. Today, we're going to examine this passage under three categories, we're going to see first of all, a supplication of divine surrender. Secondly, a manifestation of divine glory. And then finally, a demonstration of divine compassion. And I trust that your hearts are tender to these truths and your mind is accessible to the spirit's eliminating grace this morning.

Now, let me remind you of the context. Jesus has just multiplied five loaves and two fishes to feed approximately 20,000 people. And of course, this was an astonishing display of his creative power, and undeniable proof of his deity that he is indeed the Son of God, the Messiah, deserving of worship. But you must understand that most of the people did not fully grasp this, at least savingly so. Even Jesus', His own disciples, had a deficient grasp of His deity. That's why, later on verse 52, again immediately after this miraculous feeding, we read that the disciples had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves but their heart was heartened. You see what was going on for them, as well as the crowd, was just an overwhelming sense of political fervor, false preconceptions, pride, magical thinking, unrestrained emotionalism, like we see today, in many parts of the world, including our own country. Religious giddiness and frivolity, groupthink all of these things are symptoms of a hard heart that does not fully grasp the reality of who Jesus is, and what he's trying to accomplish in redemption. Reality is so utterly astounding that it should drive us all to a place of absolute speechless adoration, ceaseless praise, and joyful submission to His Word and His will. But again, a few people, even today, even in many churches, grasp the true identity and redemptive purposes of Christ.

Now, notice the text, Mark six, beginning in verse four and 45. We read "Immediately Jesus made His disciples, get into the boat and go ahead of him." It's interesting, the verb "made" in the original language is a very forceful verb, it means to "compel by force." It suggests the disciples were averse to leaving. It's like what are you doing now? I want you I want you in the boat, come on, in the boat. That's the idea there. So there's an obvious sense of urgency in Jesus' actions, "I want you to leave at once, get in the boat." See, Jesus was up to something very important here. He was separating the disciples from the crowd and even from himself. Now the question is why? Well, the answer is to avoid losing control of the crowd that wanted to crown him king and start an insurrection. That was his concern. And sadly, the disciples were also caught up. And the political fervor, the euphoria, the excitement, that here he is, the King is here, the kingdom is here. How exciting. Let's crown him king, now get rid of Herod, get rid of Rome. And all of a sudden, all of the people could get swept up into a mob rule. John helps us understand this in John six beginning of verse 14. "Therefore, when the people saw the sign which he had performed," in other words, the feeding, "they said, 'This is truly the Prophet who has come into the world.' So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone." So like the fickle, self centered crowd, the disciples were exuberant because of what Jesus can do, rather than being filled with reverential awe because of who Jesus is. And there's a big difference. The former produces unrestrained emotion. The latter produces sincere worship. The former stimulates superficial euphoria. The ladder animates fear and trembling. Mindless emotionalism is always at the root of counterfeit religion. We see something similar with the make believers in counterfeit Christianity, where often emotive music is used to whip people up into an alternate state of consciousness. And you get people doing all of these things and then you know how it goes. You've seen it before. Maybe you've experienced it.

So like the unbridled emotionalism that dominates many pseudo Christian movements today, these people were filled with emotion. But they were not understanding truly who Jesus was and did not have an informed mind, their mind was responding to the rule of their emotions rather than the other way around. So they did not submit to the authority of His Word. Dear friends it's one thing to have the mind of man, it's another thing to have the mind of Christ.

So in our text here, in Mark 6, Jesus knew what was going on in the crowd, he knew that they were getting into an out of control, emotional frenzy. Again, as John says, "They were intending to come and take him by force to make Him king." And sadly, he also knew that the disciples were loving it. They're probably thinking, "Oh, I hope I get to sit in his right hand, or at least his left. Oh, how exciting. Look what's going on here. It's beginning." It's now kind of like the political theater that you see in election cycles. This is why Mark would later on say in verse 52 that "they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened." Beloved, I might put it this way here in is the difference between man centered worship and God centered worship. Man centered worship is all about manipulating God to satisfy your felt needs. God centered worship is all about submitting to God and living for His glory. The former is counterfeit, the latter is authentic. So again, verse 45, "Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He himself was sending the crowd away." Then we read, "After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray."

And this brings us to the first category of our little outline. Here we see a supplication of divine surrender. Here's why would say that. No doubt the Messianic contagion of the crowd was also an unwanted temptation to Jesus, and the groundswell of support for him to overthrow Rome and get rid of Herod and established his earthly kingdom was really reminiscent of Satan's temptation of Jesus, you will recall in the wilderness. Remember when he offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world as if they were his to give, "Only if you will worship me." And certainly to yield to that temptation would allow Jesus to avoid the horrors of the cross. But that was not the will of his Father. I find it interesting that Mark records Jesus praying on three occasions during His earthly ministry, each prayer was done at night in a secluded place, each on an occasion where he was removed from his disciples. Because they misunderstood his mission, they misunderstood all that he was up to on Earth and who He really was. And on each occasion, Jesus was in a crisis that required a very, very important decision. The first occasion we read about in Mark 1, you remember the crowds were gathering, from everywhere to be healed and to witnesses miraculous powers. And in verse 35, we read, "In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there." And you will recall the narrative, the disciples are looking all over for him when, when the sunrise came, you know, where everyone's looking for you. They said to Him, they finally found him, and he said to them, in verse 38, "Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for." As we read in Luke 19;10, Jesus said, "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." He did not come to attract the crowds work them up into an emotional frenzy and get them to wow over him.

The second occasion is in Mark 6, that we're at here this morning. And the third and final occasion is in Mark 14 verses 35 through 39. And there you will recall, he prayed alone in the Garden of Gethsemane as he faced the horrors of the cross. Verse 36 of Mark 14, "He was saying Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what you will." So considering all of this, I believe that it is safe to assume that on the heels of the crowd preparing to forcibly make him king, the content of his prayer would be one of divine surrender. Father, the temptation is great to not go to the cross to establish the kingdom now, but not my will, but Thine be done. And no doubt he also prayed for the hearts of the the disciples that they might be softened, they might embrace Him fully, as the Son of God. The one that came to seek and to save and not embrace him merely as some miracle worker that is going to satisfy the desires of their hearts. So Jesus sends them away, disperses the crowd, and retreats them to a secluded mountain to pray. And I think my what a beautiful picture of our Savior's love, right? What a beautiful picture and an example of obedience to the will of the Father. Which by the way, is always the mark of genuine saving faith. You say you're a Christian, okay, great, do you will obey the will of the Father as it is revealed in his word? Matthew 7, verse 21, Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven." But, now catch this, "he who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven, will enter." And that will of the Father is that you confess Jesus as Lord and obey His Word and His will as revealed in Scripture.

So what we first see here is a supplication of divine surrender. But secondly, we're going to see a manifestation of divine glory. Notice what happened with the disciples after Jesus sent them away, verse 47, "When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land." And then it says, "Seeing them straining at the oars." Now let's stop here for a moment. We know from the narrative that Jesus is up on one of the mountains. And if you go there, you will see that there's mountains that jumped up from the shoreline all around. And I guess it might be possible that he could see the boat out in the middle of there, it might be possible, but it's, he knew precisely what they were doing. He knew exactly what they were thinking and what they were feeling. And by the way, that should be comforting to all of us. It should also be frightening to all of us. But isn't it great that He knows our thoughts from afar. You know, He not only sees all things, but beloved, he inhabits us, absolutely incomprehensible. What a magnificent mystery. In fact, Paul spoke of this in Colossians 1, verse 26and following, "the mystery, which has been hidden from the past ages, and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles," Here it is, "which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me." And regarding His omniscience, oh my, this should cause us all to rejoice. Psalm 33, beginning of verse 13, "The Lord looks from heaven, he sees all the sons of men; from His dwelling place, he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works." Don't think for a second you can hide from God. His knowledge is infinitely perfect, and requires no further information. There is never a time nor has there ever been a time when he lacked information. Romans 11 beginning of verse 34, "For who has known the mind of the Lord or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to him that it might be paid back to him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever, amen." Beloved, you must understand that his knowledge precedes all things outside of himself and its never obtained from anything that exists outside of himself. I know that's kind of a heavy statement.

Let me put this in a way that maybe would be relevant and more practical in your thinking. There was never a time, if you think about salvation and the doctrine of election, for example, there has never been a time when he lacked knowledge, when he was without knowledge and therefore had to look down the tunnel of time to see who would and who would not believe, and on that basis, decide who we was going to elect. Beloved, that is not only exegetically indefensible, that is something that impugns the character of God. Because it says that there was a time when he lacked knowledge, and he had to somehow gain knowledge. Let me ask you, is there anything right now that God does not know? Now, let me ask you another question Is God immutable? Meaning he never changes. Beloved, if there is nothing in the universe that he does not know right now, there has never been a time in the universe when he did not know all things. There has never been a time when he needed to gain knowledge outside of himself. Psalm 139, beginning of verse one, David described how God knows even the most minut details of his life, "Oh, Lord," He says," You have searched me and known me. You know, when I sit down and when I rise up, you understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there's a word of my tongue, behold, oh, Lord, you know it all. You've enclosed me behind and before and laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is too high, I cannot attain it." Psalm 147. The Lord is praised as the one who heals the brokenhearted. And in verse four, we read that He is the one who "counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. Great is the Lord and abundant in strength." And catch this, his understanding is infinite. Beloved, this is the great doctrine of divine omniscience. And it was in his omniscience that he could see not only what those disciples were doing, but he could see what they were thinking. He understood the hardness of their heart, and their distorted understanding of who he is. Beloved, there is nothing man can do or think that escapes his notice, including the tragedies and the atrocities that come into our life. You realize that? Job 31, verse four. He asked the question, "Does He," referring to the Lord, "not see my ways and number all my steps?" It's a rhetorical question, yes he does. Proverbs 5:21, "For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He watches all his paths." Proverbs 15, verse three,"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good." Isaiah 40, verse 28, "His understanding is inscrutable." Hebrews four, verse 13, "there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." 1 John 3:19,"he knows everything." So verse 48, "Seeing them straining at the oars," even when he's on the mountain, "for the wind was against him that about the fourth watch of the night, He came to them walking on the sea; and He intended to pass them by." Now, this was the fourth watch of the night, this would would have been between three and six o'clock in the morning. So in other words, they had been rowing now for about nine hours. Think of that, if you've ever been out in open water with a hard headwind, especially when you're trying to row, that's what was going on. Remember, John six tells us beginning of verse 16, "Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea. All right, and it says, "and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark and Jesus had not yet come to them." So that's when they got in the boat. And he goes on to say, "The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. Then when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat." Matthew records in Matthew 14:24. "The boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves for the wind was contrary." I want you to notice something else that's fascinating in this text. In verse 48, Mark says at about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them. That means there was an instant transport. It's not like he had to take time and make his way down the mountain and finally get out there several miles walking across the sea. No, it was...Beloved, this is the Jesus I worship and love. And then it says, "walking on the sea, He intended to pass by them." Another possible translation, "he intended to come alongside them." That may be accurate. And I'm not going to start a new denomination about what I'm about to say, Okay, I'm not going to press it too hard. But I think there may be more going on here. Given the symbolism that is often used in Mark's gospel, this phrase, "passed by", is really reminiscent of God's gracious and compassionate self disclosure. On Mount Sinai recorded in Exodus 33:18, following when the Lord, quote, "passed by Moses", let me read that passage. "Moses says, 'I pray You, show me Your glory!' And He said, 'I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.' But He said, 'You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!' And the Lord said, 'Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock. And it will come about while My glory is passing by that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand, until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away, and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen." We know that God did the same thing, in terms of revealing his presence to Elijah, at Mount Horeb, 1 Kings 19:11, "So God said, 'Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.'" And then we read, "And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces, the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire." And then we read, "And after the fire, a sound of gentle blowing." And then you will recall the story the Lord spoke to Elijah from whispering voice, the symbolizing how God was always at work even in Israel, though his ways might be imperceptible.

But perhaps the most important parallel to the Lord passing by his helpless and undiscerning disciples, by walking on the water, can be seen in Job nine, beginning in verse eight. There we read, "Who alone stretches out the heavens and tramples down the waves of the sea." And then verses 10 and 11, "Who does great things, unfathomable and wondrous works without number. Were he to pass by me, I would not see Him; were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him." Now, it's interesting in the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew scripture, in the Old Testament, Job's inspired phrase, "tramples down the waves of the sea," has undeniable linguistic, as well as thematic similarities with Mark's phrase in chapter six, verse 48, "walking on the sea". If you look at the original language, you'll see that it's used in both places, the same similarities exist with Job's use of the phrase "passed by" in chapter nine in verse 10. And we see the same thing in Moses usage and Exodus 33:19 that I just read, and an Exodus 34:6, "then the Lord passed by in front of him". Furthermore, I want you to notice how Jesus responded to the terrified disciples in verse 50. He said, "Take courage, it is I do not be afraid."

"It is I" can be translated "ego emi". In Greek, this is "I am." In other words, he uses his covenant name, the covenant name of God, the identical name of self disclosure he gave to Moses. In Exodus three and verse 14, God said to Moses," I am who I am." And he said "Thus, you shall say to the sons of Israel, I am has sent me to you". And you will recall in John eight in verse 58, Jesus declared to the hostile Jews, "Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." He referred to himself in the present continuous tense. Technically, that means that there is a stated action that remains in continuous progress. Why would he do that? It seems odd, because he wants to communicate that he has always and will always exist, he is indicating his self- existence, that there has never been a time where he did not exist. Beloved, He is indicating that he is the pre- existent, self-existent, uncreated Creator, sustainer, Redeemer and consummate author of all that he has created. That's who Jesus really is. To be sure, this is precisely what Jesus is trying to get the disciples and all of us to understand. I am the self-existent Eternal One, who always is and will be, worship Me, obey me. Jesus repeatedly used this title of himself in John's gospel, he says, "I am the bread of life", "I am the light of the world," "I am the door of the sheep," "I am the good shepherd," "I am the resurrection and the life," "I am the true and living way", "I am the true vine." The point, beloved, is simply this. In His infinite grace and compassion, the great I AM, chose to reveal His glory to His helpless and his hard hearted disciples, by coming to them in the storm. Why? So they could see and embrace his deity, and thereby strengthen their faith.

One scholar that I read by the name of James Edward says this, "The glory of the transcendent God, who reveals Himself in Jesus literally, quote, passed by the overconfident rationalistic theologians of a former generation, and those of our day who follow their lead, God, quote, performs wonders that cannot be found miracles that cannot be numbered in quote, job nine, verse 10. But when Jesus passes by the disciples on the lake, he does something differently from the revelation of God in the Old Testament. He intends to make the mysterious and enigmatic god of Job visible and palpable, as it had not been and could not have been to former generations." He goes on to say, "The God of Israel, majestic and awesome, but unknowable face to face, is now passing by believers in Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus walking on the water to His disciples, is a revelation of the glory that he shares with the Father and the compassion that he extends to his followers. It is a divine epiphany in answer to their earlier bafflement, when he calmed the storm. And they said, Who is this? Mark 4:41. In this respect," Edwards goes on to say, "Mark's Christology is no less sublime than is John's, although John has Jesus declaring that he is the Son of God, like John 10:36. Mark has him showing that he is the Son of God. In Mark, one must, like the disciples, be in the boat with Jesus and enter into the drama in order to behold who Jesus is. The one who calmed the storm is the one who now appears in the storm. The 'I Am' of God." Beloved, to have a distorted understanding of Jesus is both deadly and damning. He is not just some personal miracle worker, as the crowd and the disciples got caught up in. He is not some social justice warrior trying to bring about some egalitarian utopia. And he is not as this new, "he gets us" movement would portray him. He is not some gay affirming, trans affirming, abortion affirming woke Jesus of the "he gets us" movement. So many people today see him like that. Some pusillanimous, effeminate, Jesus, that winks at sin. If you look at that he gets us movement, you will see the tag that we need to be like Jesus who is quote, "radical, in his forgiveness, compassion and love." And you know, that's true. He was radical in his compassion, and his forgiveness and His love. But that will only be extended to those who repent of their sins and trust in Him as their only hope of salvation.You're not going to see that in this movement. He's not just somebody that loves everybody so much that they have no need to enter in to, and through, the narrow gate of genuine repentance. No, no, this is a broad gate Jesus. For so many people, this is the Jesus that just kind of somebody that you can buddy up to. You don't have to change anything, no need to place your faith in Him alone. Don't see him as the only one who can justify the wicked, and deliver them from the just wrath of God. They don't see him as their only hope of salvation, they don't see that they have offended a holy God and they cannot be reconciled to him apart from saving faith in Jesus. Beloved, what Jesus wants them to understand is that he is indeed the infinitely holy, second member of the Triune Godhead. He is the one that is also promised to judge all those who do not believe in Him. He is the one who will cast them into an eternal hell. Scriptures tell us that He is the judge of the living and the dead. You're not going to see this in some of these movements today. People don't want to hear that. But indeed, he is the Son of God that bore in his body, the sins of all who would believe upon him. He is the One True God that the world has hated and will continue to hate. And to somehow come along and portray him as a Jesus that everybody can enjoy, a Jesus that will wink at their sin. That is a blasphemous thing. Jesus said, ""Do not think that I came into the world to bring peace on the earth, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. I believe Matthew 10 Verse 34. And Jesus said this, in John 3:36, "He who believes in the Son has eternal life. But he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

So indeed, he is the pre-existent, I am. The self existent I am. The uncreated Creator, sustainer Redeemer, and consummator of his universe. And he is the one that has accomplished the redemption for all who will place their faith in Him by shedding His blood on a cross. A sacrificial death, that was voluntary, that was vicarious, that was substitutionary, that was propitiatory and was redemptive. And the efficacy of his death for the believing sinner is that he is the only one that can deliver us from the penalty and the power and one day, the very presence of sin. This is the Jesus that will one day return and snatch his church away. This is the Jesus who will then return with his church, the Jesus that will judge the nations. The Jesus that will establish his millennial kingdom, the Jesus that will judge unbelievers and cast them into an eternal hell and the Jesus that will reign as King of kings. Beloved, that is the true Jesus. And as such, he is to be worshipped and obeyed. He is not to be manipulated or ignored. He is to be trusted and glorified, in all that we do, you must understand that we exist for him. He does not exist for us. By the way, do you embrace these truths wholeheartedly? I hope you do. Because if you don't, you will perish in your sins. If not, you're living in rebellion to God. And how sad to see so many professing Christians get sucked up into all of this nonsense. They're absolutely indifferent to God's purposes in redemption through Christ. They're apathetic about his rule and their life, and they are consumed with just living for themselves, not for His glory. I hope you see that today.

So back to our text here, we see a manifestation of His glory. Verse 49, I put myself in their place here, I'm exhausted, I'm rowing, I'm confused, I'm out of gas. You know that feeling? You're just completely done. Then it says, "But when they saw him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost." "Fantasma" in the original language. We get our word phantom from that. I guess that's what I would think to, "and cried out." Like my Cowboys would say, "cried out like a second grade girl." And I'm sure that's exactly what they did. By the way, in the original language, it means to "shriek in horror." It would have been absolutely terrifying. It says verse 50, "They all saw Him and were terrified." And certainly physical and spiritual fatigue combined, will always produce irrational fears. But to see a man walking on the water, would startle even the most intrepid sailor, right? Verse 50, the end, "But immediately He spoke to them and said to them, 'Take courage; it is I.'" There's the ""I Am,' "do not be afraid." My how often does he communicate to us in the same way, right? When we're spent, when we're exhausted, when we're out of resources, when we're confused. Imagine the comfort that this would have brought to the disciples. And if that wasn't enough to hear His voice, notice first 51, Then He got into the boat with them and the wind stopped. And they were utterly astonished." Well, that's an understatement. Can you imagine that? In verse 52, "they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened". But you see now, talk about a manifestation of divine glory. That's what we have here. And whenever we see Jesus for who he really is, our sins are exposed, right? As we read earlier in Isaiah six. And then our fears melt away and joy floods our soul. Now, Mark does not include the account of Peter walking on the water at this point. And this omission may be attributed to the fact that that Mark was a close companion of the apostle Peter and Peter greatly influenced his writing of this gospel. Perhaps Peter didn't want the spotlight to be on himself, but to keep focused on Christ. We don't know. We don't know why it's omitted. But Matthew did record what happened. Let me read that to you. Matthew 14, verse 28. "Peter said to Him, 'Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.'" I'm not sure that's what I would have said, but that's what Peter said. Jesus said, "Come! And Peter got out of the boat walked on the water and came towards Jesus. But seeing the wind He became frightened and began to sink. He cried out, 'Lord, save me!' Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand took a hold of him and said to him, 'You of little faith, why did you doubt?'" By the way, that would have been a rebuke that was extended to all of the disciples, not just Peter. Then, "When they got into the boat, the wind stopped." Matthew says, "And those who were in the boat worshipped Him saying, 'You are certainly God's Son!'" That was the point of the sanctifying storm, right? We must understand, beloved, that ignorance of Christ will lead to doubt. Doubt is the great enemy of faith. Doubt assaults faith, especially when we focus on our problems, rather than the God who ordained them. It's so easy to do that. Too often we try to use God to solve our problems rather than using our problems, to glorify Him. And the disciples were learning this the hard way. I mean, the proper response would have been, Oh, dear God indeed, I pray that you will deliver us from the storm, but more importantly, importantly, I pray that you will give us faith to persevere in it, and to enjoy your presence in it, and to fulfill your purposes in it. Knowing that one day you will bring us to glory. Every time Jesus stretched out his hand and took hold of him, I can see myself when I take my eyes off of Christ. You can too and then what do we do? We cry out like Peter did "Lord save me!" Spurgeon said this, "Peter was soon made to doubt. But with what ease did he begin to pray. I like to think of the spontaneous character of Peters prayer, he begins to sink and he prays in a minute, he no sooner finds himself going down. Then he says, Lord save me. That shows what a living thing his faith was. It might not walk the water always, but it could always pray. And that is, the better thing of the two. Your faith may not always make you rejoice. But if your faith can always make you trust, the Precious Blood, that is all you need." Spurgeon went on to say, "Your faith may not always take you to the top of the mountain and bathe your forehead in the sunlight of God's countenance. But if your faith enables you to keep in the straight road that leads to eternal life, you may bless God for that. To walk the water is not an essential characteristic of faith, but to pray when you begin to sink is."

So the Lord revealed himself in these astonishing events, transports himself to the water, he walks on the water, he helps Peter do the same. He calms the sea when he enters the boat. But one more thing, John six tells us, verse 21, "So they were willing to receive Him into the boat," and catch this now, "immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going." As I read earlier, Matthew 14:33, as well, and those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, "You are certainly God's Son." They're seeing all of these things, and they're overwhelmed. And that was his purpose, to overwhelm them with the reality of His deity so that they might worship Him and trust Him come what may. Again, because of verse 52, "they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves". They saw all of that. And rather than worshiping and serving Christ and being overwhelmed with his deity, they're all excited about the goodies he's gonna bring into their life. I mean, it's kind of like, the Democrats arrived, right? We're gonna bring you all of this free stuff. No longer were they merely fascinated with Jesus as a miracle worker that could satisfy their needs. And now they were consumed with the reality that he was indeed, the Messiah, the Son of God. We've seen a supplication of divine surrender, a manifestation of divine glory, and then I want to close with a demonstration of divine compassion. That's what we see next. Verse 53, "When they had crossed over, they came to a land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore." You see the storm had blown them off course a bit from Capernaum where they originally wanted to go to this plain, it's a plain there of Gennesaret. It's just southwest of Capernaum. Just a short distance away. Verse 54, "When they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized him." So what are the people going to do? They're going to spread the news. I mean, it's all over Facebook, first century version. They go tell everybody. Of course, Jesus and the disciples then would walk just a short ways to Capernaum. And I might add, it would be in the synagogue at Capernaum, where Jesus would preach a sermon on the bread of life, and John six that would offend everybody. Verse 55 "and ran about the whole country," that people recognize him and "ran about that whole country began to carry here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to the place they heard he was. Wherever he entered villages or cities or countryside, they were laying the sick in the marketplaces and imploring Him, that He might just touch the friends that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak. And as many as touched it were cured."

Why would he do that dear friends? To prove his deity, that they might hear his gospel message and be saved. He did these things to validate the message of repentance and faith in Him alone. May I ask you this morning, dear friends? Is this the Jesus that you believe? I hope it is. This is the true Jesus. Or do you believe some distortion of what you've heard this day. Because if you do that is a God of your own making, that cannot save. That is an idol. If you believe something different than what you've heard today, I would plead with you as a minister of the gospel that you repent, and believe in the true Jesus of the Bible. And rejoice in whatever sanctifying storm that he brings into your life because very often, it's in the midst of those storms, that He reveals Himself in ways that you have never seen before. And for those of us who know and love Christ, my, let's worship Him, let's obey him. What he wants us to do is to go into all the world. He wants us to preach the gospel. He wants us to make disciples. He wants us to teach them to observe all that He has commanded. I hope that is the priority of your life, that you live a gospel centered life. And as you do, he will be glorified and you will be blessed. What a joy it will be to see more people like us, debtors of His grace, come to faith in the living Christ. Let's pray together. Father, we're so thankful for the clarity of your word and how it speaks to the very core of our being. And if there be one within the sound of my voice that knows nothing of the true Jesus, I pray that you will break their heart this day that they will run to the foot of the cross and cry out for the mercy and the grace and the forgiveness. That can be there's so rich and so free. And for those of us who know and love you, Lord, use us mightily for the sake of the kingdom. Bless us, encourage us strengthen us and we will be careful to give you the praise. In Jesus name. Amen.