" And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even-the winds and the sea obey him! "-Matt. 8:23-2723And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. 24And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. 25And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. 26And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. 27But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! (Matthew 8:23‑27).
It is evident that our Lord can never at any time or in any way fail in His dealings towards us. He can never for a moment forget, nor can He fail in power. It is impossible that there can be any failure in His ways or dealings towards us. Hence the smallest degree of fear or distrust is always sin-is always unbelief. Yet we must all be conscious that it does often arise in our hearts. There may indeed be various shades of it; there may be anxiety about ourselves, about our families, about our circumstances; still, we never can be in a position in which this distrust can be allowed. Sorrow may be very right and very wholesome to our souls-we may be cast down-but the Lord always remains the same. It is well to be cast down sometimes, and to have to say as in the Psalm, " My soul is cast down within me;" but we ought never to be cast down without proving the effect of it to be to cast us upon God for help.
But faith has to be exercised in respect to the character of God's dealings with us in the path in which He is leading us. I could not, for example, now expect like the Jews, that God would be with me to give me the victory in some violent conflict with a foe, because it is our privilege to suffer quietly. Still I shall learn, that in whatever way I count upon God, He is faithful. People have sometimes quoted the 91St Psalm as a proof we are not to die of pestilence, but this is a mistake. It does not apply to our case-though God may preserve his people amidst every calamity-and we ought to be intelligently walking in His ways. In the path of obedience, in doing the will of the Lord, we may count indeed upon the fulfillment of His promise, " He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." But we must not forget how Satan quoted this promise. He wanted the Lord to do something which God had not bidden Him to do, and used this promise as his warrant to expect the exercise of divine power. But we are only to look for the exercise of God's power, when we are simply in our proper path as Christians.
When the Lord told His disciples to take nothing for their journey-no purse, nor scrip, nor two coats-it was because He Himself was there, as Emmanuel, in the midst of His people. But when He asked them afterward, "lacked ye anything," and they replied, "nothing," He added, "But now he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip; and he that hath no sword let him sell his garment and buy one." When rejected by Israel's unbelief, He was no longer acting as Emmanuel upon earth, and consequently the position of His disciples was entirely changed, they must now take what they may meet with. For what He was showing in His miracles and acts was, that Emmanuel had come in amongst His people, and that all Satan's power and all man's misery would disappear at once, if man were morally capable of receiving Him in this character. Hence the lepers were cleansed, the hungry were fed, and all that were diseased came to Him and were cured. If they had had faith, the LORD was there on earth; there to bind the strong man, to remove all evil, and to make man happy on earth; but man had not the capacity to receive Him in that character in which He came. The disciples ought plainly to have counted on this power. They ought to have healed the sick and raised the dead and cast out devils. It was when they were proved incapable of using this power, and were complained of for not exercising it by the father of him who had the dumb spirit, and who brought him to Jesus, that He answered, " O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?" They afterward came to Him apart and asked, " Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, because of your unbelief" They had not faith to use the power. So again, when the multitude were an hungered, and the disciples asked Him, " shall we go and buy bread for them?" and He answered, "give ye them to eat."
They were expected to use the power, and they ought to have used it according to the revelation God had made of Himself. And here is where our faith is to be exercised in walking in subjection to God's word, and to what His word points out, and in this path, counting on the power of Him to sustain us who has set us in it. It is there, most surely, we shall be put to the test. If Israel is to go through the wilderness, they will need faith.
And if Israel is to fight in Canaan, they will need faith. And if Israel has not faith for the wilderness, Israel will fail in Canaan. So here, the disciples ought to have counted on Emmanuel's power. If He is in the boat with them, they are not going to perish in the storm. But their unbelief is shown in their distrust. They awoke Jesus, and said, " Lord, save us, we perish." And if this showed their earnestness, it showed too their unbelief-and is too accurate a picture of ourselves.
We are in the same boat with Jesus, and in whatever shape the trouble comes, we are called to have faith in Him. The trial of our faith comes in the path we are in, and not in some other. Christ has perfect love to the Church,—He loves it and cherishes it -and we are to count on Him for a constant supply of grace to our souls, that we may overcome every trial. He calls us to live as saints on the earth, to walk as He walked, and to continue to the end; and, just as the disciples in the boat, we ought to count on His power and help to overcome every evil, let what storm there may arise.
I have said that the Lord is not exercising His power in the way of temporal deliverances now-that is not what characterizes the present exercise of His power. If therefore I am looking for temporal deliverance, I may be looking for that which He never meant to give. The Church is to be in a state of weakness in the eyes of the world, and to be sustained in that weakness by an unseen power. " Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness." (Col. 1:22To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Colossians 1:2).) The more we get to be companions with Jesus, the more will He defend us against everything evil, and keep our souls in a quiet, lowly, and humble place. Let us be once in that place of quiet and obedient service, and then we may always reckon on the Lord for help. There is a ground in the relationship in which we are set to God, which secures to us all that His almighty presence can give. " Come out from among them, and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father to you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." I have been struck with the embodiment of the Old Testament Scriptures in the New, with regard to the way in which God manifested Himself in former dispensations; as the Almighty to Abraham, as Jehovah to Israel, and the like, and the way in which it is all brought to bear on us in the endearing name of " Father." Now in this relationship of " Father," you may count on all things-not indeed simply as " the Almighty" and "Jehovah"-but that as " Father" He will use all His power as Almighty, and Jehovah too, in your behalf. I, who was the Almighty, and am Almighty, am your Father. Therefore it is not our place to come to Him with fear, but to count, as walking with Him, as a Father, on all that He is. " Holy Father," said the Lord Jesus, "keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me." We are " holy brethren," as having a holy Father. " And if ye call on the Father, who, without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear." May we desire to be in the place where God has set us, and being once there, to count on all the tender grace and love we want in the way, and to reckon on His faithful goodness.