Address—J. Brereton
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General Meetings, Montreal, October 1975 Addressed by John Brearton.
To have it before me this afternoon.
To look at the episodes and the lives of two men.
In some ways, what befell them was very similar.
And in other ways, it was very different.
I'd like you to turn with me forth to the first man to the book of Jonah.
Jonah Chapter one.
And we'll begin reading with verse one.
Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah.
The son of Amitai saying.
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness is come up before me.
But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa. And he found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty Tempest in the sea, so that the ship was light to be broken.
Then the Mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his God, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship, and he lay and was fast asleep.
So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper, arise, call upon thy God? If so be that God will think upon us that we perish not.
And they said everyone to his fellow come and let us cast lots that we may know for whose 'cause this evil is upon us.
So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.
Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee for whose 'cause this evil is upon us?
What is thine occupation? And whence comest thou? What is thy country, And of what people art thou? And he said unto them, I am of Hebrew, and I fear the Lord the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid? And said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled.
From the presence of the Lord because he had told them.
Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee?
That the sea may be calm unto us, or the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.
And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea. So shall the sea be calm unto you, for I know that for my sake this great Tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men rode hard to bring it to the land, but they could not, for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.
Wherefore they cried unto the Lord and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life.
And lay not upon us innocent blood, for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.
So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea, And the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the great of the fish, 3 days and three nights.
Notice the end of the ninth verse. Salvation is of the Lord.
And the Lord spake unto the fish, and had vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
So Jonah arose and went on to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord.
Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days journey and Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey and he cried and said.
Yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown, so the people of Nineveh Begie God.
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And proclaim the fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them, even to the least of them.
The 10th verse. And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. And God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them, and he did it not, but it displeased Joan exceedingly. And he was very angry. And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray the O Lord, was not this my saying when I was yet in my country?
Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish, For I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness and repentance thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take I beseech thee, my life from me, For it is better for me to die than to live.
Now if you would just keep that place for a moment and turn back to second kings.
Chapter 14.
Second Kings, Chapter 14.
And verse.
23.
In the 15th year of Amaziah, the son of Joash, king of Judah.
Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned 40 and one years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. He departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amitai the prophet, which was of Gath hepther.
For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter. For there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel. And the Lord said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Joash. Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he wore, and how he recovered Damascus and Hemeth, which belonged to Judah for Israel.
Are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
And then I'd like to turn again. I'd like you to keep the place in Jonah, but turn over to Matthew's Gospel, chapter 12.
Matthew's Gospel, chapter 12 and verse 39.
Or we should read verse 38. Then certain of the scribes of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the Prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was 3 days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be 3 days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation.
And shall condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonas, and behold, a greater than Jonas.
Is here.
We find dear young people.
A very sad lesson in the life of Jonah.
We find that Jonah.
Father's name was Amitai which means truth.
And Jonah's name?
Means a dove, I suppose. I believe God is bringing before us here. Perhaps a little picture for your soul and mind of one who know the truth.
And one who was the Lord's he was characterized by that being a clean animal, clean bird.
But Jonah decided.
That he had had enough.
Of the presence of the Lord. Isn't that sad?
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Jonah decided.
That when the message came to him to be a prophet.
To go to Nineveh and to proclaim against that great city.
That God's judgment was going to fall upon it.
Jonah decided.
That he would rather go to Tarshish.
Now if you go back to the 10th chapter of Genesis.
You find there that Nineveh was a city that seems to have.
Sprung out of Babylon.
It finds its origins in Babel, a place of confusion and all dear young people, that's just what this world is.
Man has made a whole city.
But it's all founded on a false base, all founded on that which has nothing real about it at all.
It's all confusion.
We find.
That Jonah decided that he would rather go to Tarshish.
But you know, Tarshish is one of the places, and there are numbers of them in the Bible. But Tarshish is one of the places that cannot be identified. Today. We don't know where it was.
It was probably somewhere South and West of Israel.
Jonah lived in Galilee, in Gath, Hector.
And Nineveh.
Was to the northeast, perhaps 5 or 600 miles northeast of where Jonah lived. And so Jonah decided to go in the opposite direction.
And it tells us in our chapter that Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord and went down to Joppa. I wonder why dear young people, he told why he chose Tarshish.
Well, I'm not going to say definitely, but I would like you to turn with me for a suggestion to the 10th chapter of First Kings for a moment. We'll be coming right back to this chapter again.
First Kings, Chapter 10.
And verse 22.
For the King, that is King Solomon.
Had at sea a Navy of parsha or tarshish the same place.
With the Navy of Hiram once in three years came the Navy of parishes, bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes and Peacocks.
Now we'll notice there was another reason as to why Jonah fled away.
But I'd like to talk to you for just a moment about this place called Tarshish.
We find that things that characterize Tarshish.
Or gold and silver.
That which perhaps speaks to your heart and mind of the material things of this world.
The next thing we notice is that there was ivory there.
Now if you look at the.
18th verse of First Kings, chapter 10. It says moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with the best of gold. The throne had six steps and the top of the throne was round behind.
Solomon, the one who reached the pinnacle of human glory.
Had a throne made out of ivory, all covered with gold.
Do you think, dear young people, that the Lord may be suggesting to us here?
But Tarsus not only suggests that which was attractive for its material benefits, but also it had that which spoke of human glory, attainment, that which would speak of a goal, that which young people and those who are not so young can set their hearts upon something that they would like to achieve.
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Solomon got his throne of Ireland.
We find the other thing and I don't want my imagination to run away with me.
But they're young people. It says there were apes there. Why does it say that? What is so particularly important about apes?
Well, what it suggests to my own heart.
Dear young people, is that characteristic that is so common to the human heart of wanting to be like each other.
We even use the term they ate one another, they copy one another. You go into a zoo and you see a lot of monkeys and they're all doing the same thing. And you know, dear young people, that's one of the characteristics of this world. Nobody wants to, as it were, be different. They want to fit in.
They want to fit in. They want to be part of the crowd.
And then lastly.
It says there were Peacocks.
I don't suppose it takes much imagination or much thinking to see what this picture to us in Peacocks.
You go to a zoo and you see Peacocks and you see that great big display.
Of feathers, of all colors and designs so attractive to the human eye, what we might call human vanity.
Well, this was what it was, a Tarshish, and Jonah decided that that's where he wanted to go, but to get there.
He had to leave.
As far as he was concerned, the presence of the Lord. You notice the language here in Jonah chapter one.
It says he rose to flee unto Tarshish.
From the presence of the Lord. Now what does that mean for you and me?
Well, dear young people, I suggest to you and to my own heart that if these things that we see at Tarshish are important to us.
We are not going to enjoy.
A sense in our souls of the Lords Company with us it cannot be.
If my heart is set on human glory, if it is set upon vanity and vain things, if my determination is to fit in with the crowd, If I'm going to make material possessions, the important thing in my life.
Then recognize the fact that the Lord is going to have to be left out.
They won't go together.
It was Tarshish, or the presence of the Lord.
But not both.
We find it says in the third verse.
He went down to Joppa.
And he found a ship going to Tarshish. Or wasn't that wonderful? How convenient that was. There was a ship going in the very direction that he wanted to go in.
How many?
A dear child of God has fallen into this very snare.
That is, he starts out. I speak to my own heart. Dear young people bear it in mind. He starts out on a course of his own choosing.
And then?
Attributes to the Lord.
The fact that the way seems to be opened up.
Here was a ship, and it seemed to be going just where Jonah wanted to go.
Could he not very well have said?
The way seems to be opening up for me to go to Tarsus.
But it was a course of self will.
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He was going in a way of his own choosing.
The next thing we notice is it says that.
He paid the fare thereof and went down into it. Now, dear young people market Jonas course was a downward course.
But it says that he paid the fare.
And beloved young people, I say to your heart and to mine.
If our hearts are set on Tarshish and all that it signifies.
Then it's going to cost you something.
You're going to pay the fare. How many? A dear child of God has set his heart on things here?
Only to find that it wasn't worth the cost. The cost was too much.
He lost in his soul.
He lost in his enjoyment of Christ. He lost in the sense of the Lord's presence with him. He lost in fruitfulness to God.
He lost. He paid the fare. And beloved young people, if you and I choose.
The path of self will.
We cannot help but pay the fare.
The next thing you'll notice is.
The fourth verse, the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty Tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
Then the Mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his God.
And cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it of them.
But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship, and he lay and was fast asleep.
It didn't seem to bother Jonah Tall, did it?
Here was a storm. The Lord had sent the wind. The Lord had sent the wind.
The Lord comes into our lives.
Sometimes it's a win.
Sometimes what comes into our lives, as we'll notice in the next case, is what the Word of God speaks of as a contrary win.
But here was a wind sent from the Lord. The Lord was seeking to speak to Jonah.
But Jonah was fast asleep. Jonah was fast asleep.
And dear young people, you and I too can get so far away.
May it be a voice to your soul and mind so far away that when the Lord seeks to speak to us, when He seeks to come in to your life and mind to speak to us of that course that we're on.
There seems to be no response.
I sometimes have heard young people. I may very well have said it myself.
When one sought to speak to them of a course that they were gone.
The answer was I have no conscience about it.
I've even heard it say it shouldn't bother you because it doesn't bother me.
Well, it didn't seem to bother Jonah either.
But it should have. It should have. And the time came when Jonah was so far away.
That it was the unbelieving Mariners in the ship.
That told Jonah.
That he was wrong.
That rebuked him for what he was doing.
You know what? This seems to me one of the saddest things in this account given of Jonah is what we have in the end of the tenth verse.
Says for the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told them.
Jonah was so far away from the Lord in his soul.
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That he could.
Of his path of self will.
With unbelievers.
Dear young people, remember Jonah was a child of God.
But he wanted.
To get away.
From the pathway that the Lord had marked out for him to walk in.
We find that in the history of Jonah, we're going to have to Passover this rather quickly now.
But you'll find that there were really four events that took place here in this first chapter in connection with Jonah after he had entered the ship.
You find in the fifth verse.
Says the Mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his God, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them the first step.
The seventh verse, they sent everyone to his fellow come and let us cast lots that we may know for whose caused this evil is upon us. So they cast lots in the lot fell upon Jonah.
The second step they take up with Jonah. They find out that it's Jonah.
And they take up the matter with Jonah.
And they asked Jonah in the eighth verse, Tell us, we pray thee for whose 'cause this evil is upon us?
What is thine occupation?
Oh dear young people, what is thine occupation?
At the unbelievers in this world, come to you and say what is thine occupation?
What answer do you give?
You notice, he goes on to say, whence comest thou? What is thy country, and of what people art thou?
And Jonah's answer is I am a Hebrew.
You know, that's very close to the equivalent of someone saying to me, what is your occupation? What country do you belong to? Where have you come from? So what people you do, you belong. And my answer being I'm a Canadian.
Dear young people, I'm far, far more than a Canadian. You and I belong to Christ. What is your occupation? Well, if you remember the 12Th chapter of Matthew, the Lord Jesus tells us what Jonah's occupation was. He was a prophet.
Joanna the Prophet. That was his occupation.
What country did he belong to? Why he belonged to Israel? He was one of the people of God, one of the people of God.
Beloved young people to you and I and joy in our souls, what we really are, We belong to Christ. Heaven is our home, and we're on our way there. Where we come from, why we've been come from this present evil world. We've been delivered from it.
We don't belong to the world at all. That's where we came from.
We once were part of Tarshish and all that it meant, but we've been delivered from that.
What is thy country and of what people are thou?
Well, you know, Jonah.
Seems to have been.
The type of profit that was quite happy.
To prophecy. Good news.
In second Kings chapter 14, where we read this afternoon.
We find there that Jonah prophesied.
That the King of Israel would be successful in recovering part of the Land of Israel.
From Judah, and it was So what he prophesied came true.
And there is no indication that Jonah was hesitant about delivering that prophecy.
But when the prophecy was, Nineveh is under judgment.
Nineveh will be overthrown.
That's when he decided he wanted to go to Tarshish.
Dear young people.
I mentioned that there was a second reason, another reason, a reason given to us in the scriptures as to why Jonah ran away.
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You turn over to the 4th chapter for a moment.
Of Jonah. But it pleased Jonah, displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray the old Lord, was not this my saying? When I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled out before unto Tarshish, For I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentency of the evil.
Jonah had run away. This doesn't tell us why he chose Tarshish, but he had run away from the presence of the Lord because he was afraid that God was going to be gracious to Nineveh, that his reputation as a prophet was going to suffer when he prophesied that in 40 days Nineveh would be overthrown. And then.
Because the people might repent and God was gracious.
His prophecy wouldn't come true.
Dear young people, you and I are called upon to be prophets.
To prophecy? To speak for God. Yes, dear young people, you're called upon by God's grace. And what a privilege to speak for God in a world that is built on confusion.
And to say that this world is under judgment, It's about to pass away. But all beloved young people, if our hearts are set on Tarshish, we are not going to be prophets.
Our hearts are silent, Tarshish. We're not going to be prophets and.
If our hearts.
Are discouraged because of the long delay.
Because of God's long-suffering grace.
If our hearts get discouraged because of that long delay, nearly 2000 years now.
We're not going to be prophets. We're not going to speak for God.
In Nineveh.
Well, we find, as I mentioned, 4 episodes in connection with Jonah. We've noticed.
Two first one when they cast the wares into the sea, the second one when they consulted with Jonah, the third one when they tried again in the 13th verse.
Nevertheless, the man rode hard to bring it to land.
Jonah had said.
That the answer was to throw him overboard.
Jonah now knew.
This storm was because of him.
The.
Sometimes, dear young people, the Lord speaks to your heart and mind and circumstances.
Perhaps he sees our hearts getting away.
And he comes in with a great win, with a tempestuous sea.
But if we're not careful.
We can end up in the language of Scripture, despising the chasing of the Lord.
Perhaps one of my children.
Gets very sick.
And I can end up saying well.
It's the kind of thing that happens to everybody sooner or later. It's the kind of thing that's just one of those things that can happen.
That's despising the chastening of the Lord.
Refusing to see, dear young people that the Lord is speaking to my heart, speaking to me.
Jonah now came to see and told the man that it was for him, even though all these others were involved. The other men were in the ship too, but it was for him.
That that storm had come the third step they try to roll.
And the 4th step they throw Jonah into the sea.
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They cast him into the sea, and dear Jonah.
This one who had sought to get away from the presence of the Lord.
This one, dear young people.
Who had had enough?
Of the pathway of the Lord's choosing for him.
Didn't like that path.
Chose his own.
Found.
That the Lord was not ready to let him go.
Not ready to let him go.
They're waiting, was the great fish.
What the Lord had provided to swallow up Jonah.
The time came when Jonah went under the waters of that great sea. Yes, he did. Dear young people. Jonah had a lesson and all how the Lord sought in his wondrous love and grace to this dear prophet of his to teach this lesson to him.
To seek to get away.
To choose our own course.
Can only lead dear young people to us finding out that the fair that has to be paid is too high.
And that it leads. It leads.
To ending up underneath the waters.
Jonah was there all. The Lord brought him through. Make no mistake about that. Jonah was a true child of God. The Lord brought him through.
But he was under those waters for three days and three nights.
When the great fish delivers Jonah up onto dry land again, you'll notice this, I trust as we go on to the next portion now. But Jonah, there seemingly is all alone. No testimony. He's delivered in his grace, but no testimony, no fruit.
Now he's restored, at least in measure in his soul, and he goes to deliver the message to minimum makes that long journey 5-6 hundred miles, whatever. It was up to Nineveh to deliver the message. And just as he feared, God was gracious and forgave them, and the judgment didn't fall at that time.
All beloved young people. What a sad course for Joel. What a sad course.
Started out with him getting.
Away from the presence of the Lord to go to Tarshish with all its attractions.
Now would you turn over with me to the 14th chapter of Matthew?
Matthew Chapter 14.
And verse 22.
And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto 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 in the 4th 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 did thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying of a truth, Thou art the Son of God.
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All beloved young people. What a contrast.
Here we find those, including Peter, who were acting under the direct instruction of the Lord Jesus. He constrained them to get into the ship.
In Second Corinthians chapter 5, it says the love of Christ constraineth us and they dear disciples and Peter included, acting in obedience to their blessed Lord.
Get into the ship to go to the other side. No mention of them paying the fare.
No, dear young people, Jesus paid the fare. If I could use that term, they went across that ship.
As directed by the Lord Jesus.
But there was a contrary win.
In all that speaks in.
Ephesians chapter 2, I believe it is. It says that Satan is the Prince of the power of the air, and I believe that's what we have pictured to us here in this contrary wind, this wind that sought to hinder their passage.
Across the sea.
Well, the wind was contrary, but there was one up on the mountain. Dear young people.
One up apart alone and he was praying. And all beloved young people, I say to your heart and mind. The Lord Jesus has given us in His precious word the direction that we need for our journey across this sea in which we live the sea of life. But there is a contrary wind. All there are forces, powerful forces, arrayed against us.
But there is one upon high that's interceding for us, praying for us.
One who appears in the presence of God for us, our great High Priest, and there the Lord Jesus, seeing all the power.
I raid against us, intercede for us. He prays for us.
But then it says he came. The ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was conquering. And in the 4th watch, Oh, I was struck. I don't want to go too far with these persons, but I was struck with the fact that there were those four steps, it seems, in Jonah. And now we find it's the fourth watch, this last step. Dear young people, we're in the 4th watch now.
The Lord Jesus is about to come about to take us to glory, about to appear for us. There is no doubt a prophetic character to what we have here before us in connection with Israel in the ship and Peter who steps out to go to Jesus. But I believe, dear young people, there is a great moral lesson for us here. We find that it was in the fourth one that Jesus came.
Jesus went unto them.
Walking on the sea, you know, in the case of Jonah and all, to me it's just so precious. In the case of Jonah, Jonah was seeking to get away.
And the Lord had to use a great fish.
But in the case of his own, here he didn't send the great fish. He came himself, He came himself, Jesus went unto them. And it wasn't something that went down under the waters. It was something that walked on the water, someone who walked on the water and came.
Above all that stormy way, here was one who could walk on the waves and come to them.
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. You know, dear young people. I have thought about Jonah again in this connection.
When Jonah found that ship going to Tarshish, everything seemed to be smooth sailing. But it wasn't the mind of God for him to go. And here for these disciples, everything seemed to be against them, The storm, the waves. And they could be in that ship and look at the storm and the troubles and the difficulties, and they could say, the Lord put us here, the Lord told us to come. The Lord told us to get into this ship. The Lord sent us across this sea. And here's the storm.
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But Oh dear young people, what a lesson they learned in the storm that day, that Jesus was above the storm, that Jesus could walk on the waves. And they learned another lesson, and that was that they could walk on the waves with him, Walk on the waves with Jesus. So it says, he said be of good cheer. It is I. It is I.
Who was this one? It is I. Oh dear young people, may the Lord give you an eye to see that in the circumstances that the Lord allows in your life and mind, it's the Lords way, as it were saying to your heart and mind, it is I.
In his eye and his eye. Be not afraid. I was in some time ago, long way away from here, to see a young lady who at that time was very ill. She's gone home to be with the Lord now.
And we read this portion together. So very ill she had just learned that day when I went in to see her.
She had just learned that day that she would not recover.
And we enjoyed together, the Lord Jesus sang in his eye. Be not afraid. It is I, Oh dear young people, to welcome the Lord's presence, to be so thankful that the Lord Jesus is the one who not only controls every circumstance of your life and mind, but gives us to know and enjoy His company.
Along the way, oh how precious it is, I be not afraid.
Would you welcome him? Do you welcome him? You know, we heard that expression this morning. We can have as much of Christ as we want, and our lives show how much we want. Well, we find here one who, when he found out that this was Jesus, this was Jesus walking on the water. Why, if I can say it reverently, the beloved Apostle Peter said I want more, I want more.
And so he says.
And Peter answered and said, Lord, if it be, thou bid me come unto thee on the water. Lord, I don't want to be here in the ship. I want to be out there with you all beloved young people. Dear Peter, dear Peter, what a difference. Jonah trying to get away from the presence of the Lord. Jonah ending up going under the waters in that great fish, still through the Lord's goodness, God's preserving care.
But what about Peter?
All Peter walked out to Jesus, not away from him.
He seeks more of his company, not less, and he ends up walking on the water, not underneath it.
So he steps out on the water. Why? How could he dare do such a thing?
One word, all beloved people, dear young people, one word come, come. The Lord Jesus wanted his company. He had it on the authority of the Lord Jesus himself. He was welcome come, And so Peter, it says. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water.
To go to Jesus, to go to this one.
That he knew and that he loved.
Well, it says about Peter and when he saw.
The wind Boisterous. Now there are young people. I'd like to draw your attention specifically to that.
We sometimes hear it said, and I'm sure I've said it often myself.
That when Peter saw the waves. But that isn't what the word of God says. It says when he saw the wind, when he saw the wind, that contrary wind, when he saw the force that was arrayed against him as he walked on. The water wasn't the waves, it was the wind. When he saw that contrary wind, he began to sink and he cried, Lord save me, Lord, save me, dear young people. Where had Peter's step of faith taken him?
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When he stepped out of the ship in faith, a heart longing to be closer to Jesus as he stepped out in faith, where had taken them? Why had it taken him closer to Jesus? It had taken him a step closer. He knew more of the Lords company.
And he knew more of the Lord's preserving care than of those who remained in the ship.
He went to Jesus.
All we often speak about poor Peter.
Well, dear young people, it wasn't poor Peter here. Sure, Peter failed. Here he saw those boisterous waves. And you and I may indeed look at the powers that are arrayed against us in this world and what our hearts might indeed sink. Unless we realize there's one standing by. There's one standing by Who walks on the waves. There's one standing by. Whose hand is there to lift us up. There's one standing by who's praying for us every hour of every day.
There's one standing by, ready to hold out a hand. And dear Peter, dear beloved Peter.
A heart attracted to Christ stepped out and was so close.
That the Lord could reach out his hand and pick him up All how one covets dear young people, one covets to know more of the company of Jesus.
The company of Jesus.
Here we find that dear Peter. He's lifted up.
And it says, and to me it's so precious.
It says. And when they were come into the ship. Oh, can you picture that?
Peter and the Lord Jesus walking on that sea back to the ship, the two of them together, when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Now notice that too. If you read the account given to us in the 4th chapter of Mark, I think it is of when the Lord Jesus was in the ship asleep on the pillow.
It tells us there that he arose and rebuked the wind and it said there was a great calm, but it doesn't say anything about her being a great calm here. All it says is the wind ceased. Why is that?
Well, dear young people, I suggest to you and to my own soul that the Lord Jesus is showing us here.
That as far as the power of Satan is concerned, the contrary wind that's arrayed against us, that which Peter saw and caused them to begin to sink. The Lord Jesus has that in control. That is in control. He is in control of all that Satan can do in your life or mine. Let's remember that greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
But there's no indication that the waves decease.
Why is that, dear young people, the Lord Jesus hasn't promised, hasn't promised to take all the waves out of your life and mine?
But what he offers us is the privilege of walking on the wings.
With him, with him walking on the waves, that says in the end of Habakkuk, I believe it is he giveth us Hinds feet, that is that which goes over the difficulties walk on the waves with the Lord of glory. Oh dear young people.
Away from the presence of the Lord, you pay your own fare. You lose in your own soul the sense of the Lord's company. All the Lords, still in his wondrous grace, may overrule in his preserving care, but there's a loss of fruitfulness, there is a loss of testimony, there is a loss of power, there is a fair to be paid, and the end result is little or no understanding.
Of the heart of God, but dear Peter, their beloved Peter.
What of him? When he saw it with Jesus, he wanted to be closer. When he stepped out in faith that brought it from to him he had the joy of walking on the water with Jesus back into the ship. And one of the testimony why it says that those who were in the ship.
Says they came and worshipped, saying thou art the Son of God. Now again, if you compare the account given in the 4th chapter of Mark to me it's very striking because in the 4th chapter of Mark, when the Lord Jesus was in the ship.
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In the ship with the Disciples.
He calmed the wind and the sea.
What they said was, what manner of man is this, that the wind and the waves obey him, the wind and the sea obey him?
But when they saw.
One of their own.
Walking on the water with Jesus.
When they saw the power of this one to lift up Peter.
And give him to walk on the water with him back to the ship. Then it was that they said he's the Son of God. All beloved young people. What a testimony to all those in the ship. How it drew their hearts out to Christ too. And if you and I give him the 1St place, it cannot happen, Cannot help but attract to Christ. I would just say without turning to it that Peter.
Who walked on the water with Jesus?
Who long for more of this company?
Peter entered into the heart of God, and in two Peter Chapter 3 you'll find that Peter talks about God's long-suffering not as something to be rejected or displeased about as Jonah did, but he says account the long-suffering of God as salvation. Oh what a joy it was to Peter to see, even though he knew that the world was under judgment.
He marveled and rejoiced in God's grace.
And could speak there of a day being with the Lord as 1000 years and 1000 years is 1 day. And he says there that what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness?
May our hearts, dear young people, long to know more of the company of Jesus.
Are walking ways more consistent with His company and our heart, entering with the heart of God into his long-suffering, patience, and grace.