The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1903-08-07
The Sinking Sinner and
the Saving Lord
Sermon by the Highway and Byway'' Preacher
Copyright, 1908, by ]. NJ. Edson.l

were come into the ship, the wind
ceased" With Jesus in the boat they
were safe. What a picture this is for
needy, sinsick souls to look upon.
THERE are striking lessons here for
L both the unsaved sinner and the
believing disciple. Primarily this in
cident concerns the latter. The dis
cipIes have been associated with their
Lord in the blessed work of feeding
that great multitude of people The
i've loaves and two fishes under the
miraculous touch of Christ have
proved adequate for the needs of the
five thousand men. besides women and
children, and twelve baskets of frag-
ments have been gathered after all
have eaten to the full. AS the evening
draws on Jesus urges His disciples to
leave Him while He dismisses the
multitude and goes up into the noun
tain to pray. Not long after the boat
OF the disciples has pushed out into
the lake and been lost to view from
the shore, the tempestuous wind
swOops down upon them and they with
great difficulty keep the prov of their
little craft pointed into the teeth of
the storm. This trying and perilous
experience following so closely upon
the glorious victories and service of
the previous afternoon is illustrative
Of the way the Lord nearly always
deals with His disciples. Fresh test
ing follows victory and success. Lest
the disciple rest in the glory and sat-
isfactiOn of the work accomplished in
stead of in the Lord who has wrought
the work; lest he magnify his part in
the work, instead of giving God all the
glory and rejoicing in His power, the
Lord wisely sends the disciple out
upon the sea of difficulty, where he
may discover his utter weakness. his
dire peril, his absolute dependence
upon the Lord to save and help, and
then comes a new revelation of the
blessed Lord. In the moment of
greatest darkness and doubt and peril,
He comes walking above the trial
which has engulfed the struggling
soul. He comes with His "be of good
cheer; it is 1; be not afraid!'
A ND what infinite comfort there is
~ in the picture which Scripture
gives us of the praying Lord on the
mountain top, faithfully and tenderly
watching the disciples struggling
amidst the raging winds and waves
He Who could still the tempest with
a spoken world Why did He not bid
the rushing wind to cease and the toss
ing waves to subside into a placid sea Z?
Why did He send them out into such
a storm? All, how often the Christian
asks these questions! All, how he
frets under the discipline of his Lord!
Do I hear those disciples talking
among themselves and charging their
Lord with having deserted them? Do
1 hear them contrasting the glory of
service of the previous afternoon with
their present trying condition, and be-
ginning to doubt and question the
reality of the former, and to lose faith
and hope in the present time of dark
ness and peril? If they did they were
no different from many Christians to-
day. We are to-day up on the noun
tain side in exalted and glorious serv-
ice with our Lord, and tomorrow
brings its storm and difficulty, when
the Lord seems far away, and we lose
faith and hope. Why has the Lord
sent us away into such stress of trou-
BILE? Surely He has forgotten u.s.
Surely He is Indifferent to our condi-
tionI And all the time the Lord is
watching us from afar and waiting
lovingly and longingly until we are in a
condition where He may come to us
riding above the crest of the wave and
bringing us cheering message and
safety at His side. And then we think
we will never doubt or be discouraged
again; but, oh! we learn so slowly!
Our hearts are so hard they take but
slowly the imprint of the Divine disci-
pline. They are not plastic in His
hands, there is not that patient wait
ing and abiding faith which keeps the
life stayed upon the Christ, though the
storm does blow and the Lord seems
far away. He is watching! He will
come! He is preparing you for fur
Their and better service The next
morning the disciples landed with
Jesus in the land of Gennesaret, where
the man possessed with the legion of
devils had on a previous occasion
been healed and the inhabitants had
driven Christ away. But now in the
providence of God the way has been
prepared for this visit of Christ and
His disciples, and they do a blessed
work there of healing and saving.
And this lake experience of the dis
ciples is but preparation for that serv-
ice.
Al ND Peter! How much quick, i'm
n pulsive, failing Peter can teach us!
Of all the disciples in the boat, heis the
first to recognize his Lord and to greet
Him. His faith with a bound carries
him to bold entreaty. Lord. l believe
it is Thou! BID me come to Thee"
Faith can carry the disciple to Jesus
even when He is treading the uncer-
tain waters. No limits to faith, How
bold seems the request of Peter How
rash seems his quick response And
yet what a revelation of the power of
faith and Gods recognition of that
faith as Peters feet rest on the rolling
waves and he draws near to his Lord.
Here we have the sublime heights to
which human faith may risei But
how soon the feith-inspired Peter,
walking on the water to meet his Lord,
is changed to the sinking Peter, who,
seeing the boisterous wind and the