9

9

the disciples are in the middle of the sea in distress—Mark

speaks of their labouring in rowing—Jesus goes off to them—

this is a beautiful touch—‘in the fourth watch of the night’, just

before the morning; and I think we need to see in

the various ways in which the Lord intervenes in trials that

there is always a distinct presentation of Himself. What we

need to get in any intervention is the way the Lord appears in

it. And those who discern the Lord in the intervention prove the

blessedness of the recovery that takes place and the

consequent deliverance.

This is an extraordinary happening. The Lord appears in this

way to them, walking on the water in the fourth watch of the

night. I think it has rightly been applied to the remarkable

intervention some 150 years ago, and the distinct way in which

the Lord presented Himself at that time. Those who discerned

the Lord in that movement were those who became delivered

from their links with the public ecclesiastical position in

Christendom. We have had, we might say, an intervention

much more recently than that, and again I think those who

discerned the Lord in it got the benefit of being delivered and

restored. The disciples did not discern Him at first. How

touching it is that the Lord said, “Take courage; it is I”. He

never changes. Peter moved at once—I want to refer to Peter,

for a moment. He said, “Lord, if it be thou, command me to

come to thee upon the waters”. This distinct presentation of

Christ reached Peter’s soul, and he was prepared to leave the

boat and go out on the water to meet Jesus. Jesus had come

into the situation. For a short time everything was all right;

Peter walked on the water. But then he took his eyes off

Jesus—and so did we, dear brethren, and we have needed to

have our vision redirected back to Jesus. When Peter took his

eyes off the Lord he began to sink. What did he do? He cried

out, “Lord, save me”. And that is what we need to do in an

experience like that. And if we fail to discern the Lord in His

movements there is nothing surer than that we shall find

ourselves sinking, unequal to the situation.