Faith Hand in Hand With Fear

Faith Hand in Hand With Fear

(No. 3253)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1911.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"What time I am afraid, I will trust in You." Psalm 56:3.

IT must be a very difficult thing to be the first traveler through as
unknown country, but it is a much more simple matter to travel where
others have preceded us. However difficult may be the road, we discover
our path by certain marks which they have left for us, and as we turn
to the record of their journey, we say, "Yes, they said that here they
came to a forest, and here is the forest. Here they spoke of a broad
river and here they forded it. Here is exactly the spot which is
marked–we are on the right road, for we are following in the tracks of
those who have gone before." Now God in His Providence has placed us in
"the ends of the world" as to time–a long caravan of pilgrims has
preceded us, and they have left us marks on the way and records of
their journey.

A notable one among the pilgrims to the skies was David, for his
pilgrimage was so singularly varied. Some travel to Heaven amid
sunshine almost all the way there. And some, on the other hand, seem to
have storms from beginning to end. But David's case differed from
these, for he had both the storms and the sunshine! No man had fairer
weather than the King of Jerusalem, yet no man ever plowed his way
through soil that was more deep with mire, nor through an atmosphere
more loaded with tempest than did this man of many tribulations! He has
been a kind of pioneer for us. I remember seeing, some years ago, the
French army going through Paris and noticing some of the big, tall
fellows–old men who had been in the wars of the first Napoleon. These
went in front and they seemed to be worth all the rest that were
behind. They were the pioneers that cleared the way for the others. Now
David, and such as he, of whom we read in the Scriptures, are the grand
old soldiers that bear the standard and lead the way–and we are the
raw recruits that follow on behind them! Let us be thankful that we
have some veterans to lead the vanguard!

Our text is rather an extraordinary one, yet it represents the
experience of many of us, and we are comforted by the thought that our
feelings and David's have very much agreed–"What time I am afraid, I
will trust in You."

You notice in the text, first, a complex condition–here is a man
afraid and yet he is trusting. Then we will look at the natural side of
this condition–"I am afraid." And then we will look at the gracious
side–"I will trust in You."

I. Notice, first, then, that here is David in A COMPLEX CONDITION. He
says, "I am afraid," yet with the same breath he says, "I will trust in
You." Is not this a contradiction? It looks like a paradox. Paradox it
may be, but contradiction it is not! What strange creatures we are! I
suppose every man is a trinity, certainly every Christian is–spirit,
soul and body–and we may be in three states at once. And we may not
know which of the three is our real state! The whole three may be so
mixed up that we become a puzzle to ourselves. Though certain mental
philosophers would say that I flagrantly err in asserting that such a
thing can be, yet nevertheless I am quite certain that it is a very
common experience of the child of God!

It is even quite possible for us to find two minds and two wills–two
sets of facilities within ourselves clashing and jarring and warring
and contending with one another. In a record of some very notable
experiences of doctors who attend upon the insane, there is a very
singular case described of a man who was always sane regularly one day,
as clear in the intellect and intelligent in judgment as any man–but
the next day he was always insane. On the day on which he was sane, he
used to talk about how the doctor ought to treat him on the morrow, and
to express his surprise that he entered into such a state, reasoning in
the most practical manner. He seemed to be two men! There is a record
of another case, even more remarkable, of a man who would act and speak
and think as an intelligent full-grown person, but after sleeping two
or three days he would wake up a child, to learn like a child, to walk
like a child, to speak like a child, and to all

intents and purposes, to lead the life of a child. Then he would fall
asleep, again, and wake up as an adult person. To us it seems a most
marvelous thing that this should happen–but perhaps it is even more
marvelous to find ourselves perfectly sane, with no mental malady upon
us, and yet at the same moment the subject of two opposite sets of
feelings–afraid, and yet trusting!

I am sure that every Christian here will follow me while, for a moment,
I speak upon this singular duplex condition of Christian experience.
You remember how the women returned from the sepulcher. They had seen a
vision of angels– they had also seen the Lord–and it is said they
departed quickly "with fear and great joy"–very fearful, trembling at
what they had seen, but very joyful–never so fearful and yet never so
joyful before! And you remember that the disciples, when the Lord Jesus
stood in their midst, "believed not for joy." Extraordinary thing! They
did believe, or they could not have had the joy! And yet the joy
seemed, when it grew out of the belief, to cut away its own roots and
"they believed not for joy"–strange, marvelous state of mind, yet
common to the Christian!

The same thing is true as to our attitude to sin. Have you not found
yourself, Beloved Believer in Jesus Christ, drawn towards an evil thing
for a moment, fascinated by it, finding a tendency in the carnal
corruption of your nature to go after evil and yet, at the very same
time, you hated yourself that you should give way even for a moment to
a thoughtso vile? You have felt the desire to go after sin, but yet
another self, as it were, struggled with greater force not to go after
it. One faculty seems to say, "How sweet that sin would be," yet you
have said, "It is gall and bitterness itself." The flesh has loved it,
but the spirit has said, "I abominate it, I loathe it," and has cried
out to God to prevent the possibility of our being allowed to indulge
ourselves in it! Thus warring and contending with us, the Prince of the
power of the air, uniting with our own evil nature, has endeavored to
drag us down, while the Holy Spirit, co-working with the incorruptible
Seed which He has imparted in us, has sought to draw us upwards towards
holiness, purity and perfection! It is a wondrous warfare which only
the elect of God can understand.

So, too, you have been the subject of another phase of the same
phenomenon in reference to faith. You have seen a precious promise or a
glorious Doctrine and you have believed it because you have found it in
God's Word. You have believed it so as to grasp it and feel it to be
your own, yet, perhaps, almost at the same time certain rationalistic
thoughts have come into your mind and you have been vexed with doubts
as to whether the promise is true. You remember, perhaps, the
insinuations of others, or something rises up out of your own carnal
reason that renders it difficult for you to believe, while at the same
time you are believing! You battle with yourself–one self seems to
say, "Is it so?" and yet your inner self seems to say, "I could die for
it, I know it is so!" You are tormented because you cannot answer
arguments against it, but yet at the same time you feel that you have
answered them, and that they are no arguments at all! Your heart repels
all attacks upon the Truth of God, and yet, somehow or other, for a
while, you are staggered by the assault which Satan has made upon you!

I might go on to mention many other ways in which these two states of
mind will come. I have found it frequently so in prayer when I have
sought to draw near to God. An idle worldly spirit will bring ten
thousand distracting thoughts to bear upon the soul and the heart will
seem to say, "I cannot pray just now, I have other things to do. I must
think of them." What is worse, the mind will persist in thinking of
these things and they will come crowding in–some work that you have to
do, perhaps some friend that you have to call upon, something you have
forgotten–those things will come pouring in upon you as if in your own
heart you said, "I do not want to pray." Yet at that very same time you
have felt a holy craving, an insatiable longing to draw near to God in
prayer and you have said, "I must pray, I cannot live without it. I
must now have a period of fellowship with God, cost me what it may."
These two things will be here–the praying and the not praying, the
faithless and the believing struggling, one with another, and your poor
spirit will be like ground that is trampled upon by two armies that are
fiercely contending as to which shall get the mastery! You see that in
David's case, when in the text he says, "I am afraid," yet adds, "I
will trust in You."

II. Now, secondly, let us look at THE NATURAL SIDE OF THIS CONDITION.

David says, "I am afraid." Admire his honesty in making this
confession. Some men would never have admitted that they were afraid.
They would have blustered and said they cared for nothing! Generally
there is no greater coward in this world than the man who never will
acknowledge that he is afraid. But this hero of a thousand conflicts,
this brave scion of the sons of men, honestly says, "I am afraid." Why
was he afraid?

First, because he was but a man, and we men cannot rule the elements,
we cannot overcome those who are mightier than ourselves. "They are
many that fight against me, O Most High," he cries! And then he adds,
"I am afraid." We cannot expect, therefore, that we should be free of
fear when powers greater than our own are set in array against us. We
are afraid because at the very best, we are but weak and feeble men!

He was afraid, again, because he was a sinful man. It is thisthat makes
cowards of us more than anything else. We know that we deserve the rod
of our Father and though, by faith, we feel assured that He will never
use the sword of Justice against us, yet we are often afraid that the
correcting rod will be brought out and that we shall be sorely
chastened. Well, then, while we are men, and sinful men, it is no
wonder that we should be afraid!

Besides, David was something more than that–he was afraid because he
was an intelligent man. He knew his position and could rightly estimate
its risks. Now, with some persons, bravery arises from utter ignorance.
They do not know the danger to which they are exposed and, therefore,
do not fear it. The unsaved sinner, if he did but know in what peril he
is, would not be as quiet as he is. Unconverted men and women, if they
did but know who and what and where they are–if they did but remember
that "God is angry with the wicked every day"–would be very ill at
ease! They would be full of alarm and terror. But the Christian knows
his position. He is not blind, his eyes have been opened, he has been
brought to the Light of God, he does not shut his eyes to the strength
of his spiritual adversaries, nor to his own internal weakness, nor to
the awful guilt of sin. He sees all these and, therefore, it is not to
be wondered at, that with so much intelligence, a Christian should have
some misgivings. "I am afraid," says he.

And then he is afraid, again, because he is no stoic. The heathen tried
as far as they could to turn their flesh into iron and harden their
hearts into steel, but such is never the process through which the
Christian passes. The Christian, when his sinews are most braced and he
is most heroic for his Master, is still as tender and as sensitive as a
little child. The Grace of God does not take away from us feminine
tenderness, though it gives to us masculine courage. In fact, it blends
the two in a perfect man, putting strength and sympathy together, and
making us like Christ who, with all the force of the majesty of holy
determination and courage, had all the tenderness and gentleness that
the fondest love could bring. Therefore we are afraid because we do not
boast of insensibility, but we still strive to be gentle and
tender-hearted–the Grace of God keeps us so.

But when is it that the saint should expect to be most afraid? Is it
not when enemies around him are many? The Psalmist, therefore, is
afraid because he is compassed by foes. The Christian does not like
having enemies. If he could help it, he would not have a single one. He
never willingly makes an enemy and if he could destroy his enemies by
turning them into friends, he would be delighted to achieve so great a
victory. When, therefore, he sees that he has many enemies and they are
very cruel and very determined–the is afraid.

We are afraid, sometimes, when we think of the old enemy, our spiritual
enemy, for we know his cunning. He has been so long tempting the saints
that he knows his business well. We know what poor, foolish birds we
are when he is the fowler–how soon we are taken in his net and,
therefore, at the prospect of being tempted again by him, we bow our
knee to our great Father and we cry–"Lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from the Evil One." We are afraid at the thought of having
to fight Satan! Who has read John Bunyan's description of Christian
fighting Apollyon in the Valley of Humiliation but will not be fearful
at the prospect of such a fight as that?

The man of God may be afraid, too, because he sees need surrounding
him. The Christian must eat and drink, and though he is not to make
this the great question of his life, yet he cannot look upon his little
ones and think that he will not have sufficient bread to fill their
mouths without being somewhat afraid. The natural side of the question
must come up. He is not so hardened that he does not feel it–and when
he sees need staring him in the face, for his own sake and for the sake
of those about him, he is afraid.

If, in addition to all this, there comes upon him the remembrance of
past sin, and with especial vividness some transgression into which he
has lately fallen, he is afraid because of the memory of the past.
Though he may look to Jesus– and he will do so. Though he may see his
sin laid on Christ, yet, even while he is looking, he will often be
amazed with a sore amazement and an agony of soul will come over
him–not so much the fear of being finally cast away if, indeed, he is
a child of God, but a fear lest, after all, he should turn out not to
be what he hoped he was! If you are never afraid about the condition of
your soul, I am afraid for you! If you never had a fear about your
state, I think I may remind you of Cowper's lines–

"He has no hope who never had a fear

And he that never doubted of his state,

He may perhaps–perhaps he may–too late."

Under a sense of sin, it is but natural, no, I will add, it is but
right that a trembling should come over the soul and that we should
fall down in the Presence of God humbled before Him!

The same is the case, too, with the man who is afraid because of the
thought of approaching death. We have seen some, when they have
actually come to die, rejoicing with unspeakable joy and it has
strengthened our faith when we have heard their bold declarations as
they have felt the Master's Presence in their final hour. But if, as a
rule, you and I can think of death without any kind of fear, if no
tremor ever crosses our minds, well then, we must have marvelously
strong faith, and I can only pray we may be retained in that strength
of faith! For the most part there is such a thing as terror in prospect
of death–the fear is often greater in prospect than in reality! In
fact, it is always so in the case of the Christian. But yet, when we
give ourselves up to fear for a time, we are grievously afraid.

This, then, is the natural side of the question. A man may be a true
Believer, he may be a very David–and yet be afraid.

III. Now take THE GRACIOUS SIDE OF IT–"What time I am afraid, I will
trust in You."

"I will trust in You." How glorious is this confession of faith! It is
not the expression of nature–it is a sign of Divine Grace. No man
trusts in God unless there has first been a Divine work upon his soul!
At least no man who is afraid can trust in God unless the Lord has
taught his timorous spirit to fly like a dove to the sure dovecot cleft
by Divine Grace in the Rock of Ages. Happy soul that has been taught
the sacred art and mystery of believing in Jesus! It is the highest and
noblest of all the practical sciences! God grant us Grace, what time we
are afraid, to exercise ourselves in it!

It is a sure sign of Grace when a man can trust in his God, for the
natural man, when afraid, falls back on some human trust, or he thinks
that he will be able to laugh at the occasion of fear. He gives himself
up to jollity and forgetful-ness, or perhaps he braces himself up with
a natural resolution–

"To take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them."

He goes anywhere but to his God. Only the gracious spirit–only the
soul renewed by the Holy Spirit, will saw, "'What time I am afraid,' my
one and only resort shall be this, 'I will trust in You.'" The
thoughtless, as I have said, try to laugh off their fear. The naturally
thoughtful try to invent some scheme by which they may pass through the
difficulty, but he who is truly believing leaves schemes and
frivolities, and applies to his God with the burden of his care–and
finds from Him an instantaneous and effectual relief!

And, after all, is it not the most reasonable thing in the world that a
soul that is afraid should trust in God? Where can there be a firmer
ground of reliance than in Him whose power never can be defeated, whose
wisdom is never at a nonplus? If I have God's promise that He will help
me, to whom or where should I go, but unto the God who has so promised?
If, in addition, He has given me His oath, "that by two immutable
things, in which it is impossible for God to lie," I might have strong
consolation, where shall my timid spirit go but to the shadow of the
wings of the God of the Covenant who, by promise and by oath, has
guaranteed my safety? What are my circumstances? Has He not given me a
promise suitable to them, a special promise for each special time? So I
need never be afraid because of my circumstances. Has He not, indeed,
given me one text which covers them all with its broad expanse? "We
know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to His purpose." With a God who is
almighty and eternally faithful. With a God who promises and seals the
promise with His oath–that He will help me when I call upon Him–what
can be more reasonable than that when I am afraid, I should come and
put my trust in Him?

Ah, my Brothers and Sisters, and as it is reasonable, it certainly
proves itself to be most effectual, for he who trembles from head to
foot does but begin to trust in God and, behold, he grows calm at once!
Have we not seen minds so distracted as to be almost bereft of reason
grow quiet and peaceful when they have learned to do the work they
could do and then left the rest to God? Oh, it is sweet waiting at the
posts of Jehovah's door! It is well to tarry till His promise becomes
ripe and then in all its sweetness drops into our hands. "I will never
leave you, nor forsake you," so has He declared. My Soul, lay hold upon
that, and the next time you are afraid, seek a safe shelter beneath
that promise! "No good thing will He withhold from them that walk
uprightly." When I am afraid lest I should be in need, I will come and
go beneath that promise. If it is a good thing, God has bound Himself
by His Word to give it to me. "Fear you not, for I am with you; be

not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you; yes, I will
help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of My
righteousness." My God, when at another time I am full of alarm and
dismay, I will come to You, for You are bound to strengthen and help
and uphold Your servants who place their confidence in You!

Dear Brothers and Sisters, let me exhort you–and may God's Holy Spirit
back up the exhortation–to the exercise of a holy trust in God, not
only when you are happy but when you are afraid! Faith in God is a
seasonable thing as well as a reasonable thing. Fruit is always best in
its season, and the time for faith is the time of trial. Faith is never
so full-flavored as when it is produced beneath cloudy skies. Other
fruits need the sun to ripen them, but this is one of the precious
fruits put forth by the moon. You shall, when your experience is most
trying, honor God the most if you can then trust Him! Surely it needs
little faith to believe in Providence when the purse is full. What sort
of faith is it that believes in the merits of the precious blood of
Jesus when it feels its own sanctification to be complete, if such can
ever be the case? What kind of faith is that which leans on the Beloved
when it can stand alone? But that is true faith which, when it cannot
stand by itself, which sees death written upon all its own power, which
sees almost all its hopes withered and blasted with the East wind, yet
cries, "My God, it is enough! My soul waits only upon You. My
expectation is from You." This is, indeed, the way to honor God!

Observe the graduation there often is in Christian experience. You will
sometimes find Believers in so low a state that their heart is full of
fear. By-and-by they are enabled to exercise the faith that God has
given them, but it is mingled fear and trust. But they do not stop
there, they get a little further–as David did in this Psalm, as you
can see if you will read a word or two further on–there it gets to be
trust and no fear. "In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid
what man can do unto me." May you climb the steps of that gracious
ladder! May you, if you have fear, also have faith with your fear, and
then afterwards have your faith without any fear! When faith gets
strong enough, fears are expelled!

Let me, however, return to my point that when you are afraid, then is
the time to trust the Lord. When you are very poor, then is the time to
believe the Doctrine of Divine Providence. When you feel the guilt of
your sins, then is the time to lay hold on Jesus Christ and to wash in
the fountain filled with His blood. Who cares to wash when he is clean?
The time to wash is when the filth is felt! Then fly to the
all-cleansing blood. You say, "I feel so dead and cold, I have not the
spiritual vivacity and warmth and life that I used to possess. I used
to come up to the Tabernacle and feel such joy and rejoicing in
worshipping on God's Holy Day, but now I feel flat and dull." Oh, but
do not be tempted to get away from Christ because of this! Who runs
away from the fire because he is cold? Who, in summer, runs away from
the cooling brook because he is hot? Should not my deadness be the
reason why I should cometo Jesus Christ? Now is the time for Him to
show His power! Now my Master, if indeed You are a Friend that sticks
closer than a brother and, blessed be Your name, You are such a Friend,
behold, here is one of Your friends! Prove that You can forgive and
still stick to him–cause him to trust in You and let him find You
better than all his fears!

I have done when I have made an application of my text to those of you
who have not believed in Jesus and yet desire to do so. I know your
fears, your doubts, your trembling. Let me whisper in your ear this
word–"Now that you are afraid, put your trust in Jesus. Christ came to
save sinners such as you are with all your fear. Now, while your fears
toss you to and fro, go to Jesus–

"While the raging billows roll, While the tempest still is high."

Hang all your weight upon the Lover of Souls now! Do not wait till you
get rid of your fears and then go to Him–go now!

A lady was once walking in a field and a bird flew right into her
bosom. She wondered why the little lark came nestling there, but
looking up, she saw a hawk in the air. It had pursued the little bird,
which, though it would have been quite afraid at any other time to find
a shelter where it did find it, had by the greater fear of its enemy
been driven out of the lesser fear. She to whom it fled for refuge
cared for it, cherished it and set it free. So be it with you. Let your
great fears of Hell overcome that fear that you have sometimes had that
perhaps Jesus may reject you. Fly into His bosom. "Oh, but I fear that
He will reject me." Well, then, I trust that your other fears will get
so great as to overcome this fear. John Bunyan says that his fear of
Hell at last became so terrible that if Jesus Christ had stood with a
naked sword in His hand, or if He had held a pike to him, he would have
run on the point of the pike and would always rather go to an angry
Christ then be cast into Hell! But, believe me, Christ is not angry. He
holds no pike and no sword in His hand. This is His

word of promise, "Him that comes to Me, I will in no wise cast
out."Aged Sinner, you who have been a great transgressor, whoever you
may be, if you come and simply cast yourself upon the blessed Savior
who on the Cross offered up Himself for human guilt, you shall be
saved!

"What time I am afraid, I will trust in You." I dare to say these
ancient words tonight from the depths of my soul! I am afraid of my
sins! I am afraid of my unworthiness! I never live a day but what I see
reason to be afraid! If I had to stand all by myself, I would be afraid
to stand before God! If I had never done anything in my life but preach
this one sermon, there have been so many imperfections and faults in it
that I am afraid to place any reliance upon it! But my Lord Jesus, You
are my soul's only hope. I trust entirely in You!

Beloved, have this same faith. May God work it in you and then your
fear shall only drive you closer to your Lord! And so the fear and the
faith shall go on hand in hand together for a while, till at last
perfect love shall come in and take the place of fear–and then faith
and love shall go hand in hand to Heaven!

May the Lord bless every one of you, for Jesus' sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JOHN6:1-21.

Verses 1, 2. After these things Jesus went over the Sea ofGalilee,
which is the Sea ofTiberias. Anda great multitude followed Him, because
they saw His miracles which He did on them that were diseased. Many of
them curiosity-mongers wanting to see more wonders worked. Others of
them sick, themselves, and anxious to be healed. Wherever Jesus went, a
throng went with Him.

3. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there He sat with His
disciples. That was His frequent posture when His disciples were
gathered around Him. He sat at His ease and talked to His hearers. He
was not very demonstrative in His oratory, but spoke calmly and
quietly, and left the Truths of God to find its own way into the minds
and hearts of men.

4, 5. And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near When Jesus then
lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company come unto Him, He said unto
Philip, Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?They were in a
lonely place out in the wilderness where the people had no means of
obtaining food. And Jesus knew that they would soon be faint with
hunger, so He consulted with Philip as to what was to be done. It is
great kindness and condescension on our Lord's part to consult with His
followers. He often did it, not that He needed their advice or help,
but because they needed to be taught how to think and how to act for
the good of others.

6. And this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
Observe the complex Character of Christ– as Man, He consulted with
Philip–as God, He knew beforehand what He would do.

7. Philip answered Him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not
sufficient for them, that every one of them, may take a little.Two
hundred pennyworth must have seemed an enormous amount to poor Philip,
for all Christ's disciples had made themselves poor by following Him.
The bag that Judas carried probably scarcely ever had as much as that
in it. If it were all spent, it would not go far towards feeding five
thousand men, beside the women and children!

8. 9. One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said unto
Him, There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small
fishes: but what are they among so many?These small fishes were
commonly cured and dried by that lake–little fish very much resembling
sardines or anchovies–and they were eaten dry as a relish with bread.
This lad had five barley cakes and a couple of these little fish, that
was all.

10. And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in
the place. So the men sat down–Jesus would have everything done
decently and in order. The people obeyed Christ's command and sat down.
We are told by Mark, "in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties." "There was
much grass in the place." Our Lord has a carpet in His banqueting hall,
such a carpet as Solomon in all his glory could not have made! "There
was much grass in the place. So the men sat down"–

10, 11. In number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and
when He had given thanks–[See Sermon #2216,

Volume 37–THE LAD'S LOAVES IN THE LORD'S HANDS.] Among the Jews, it

is always the master of the house who gives thanks. They do not call
upon a child to say Grace, but the father of the family, like a priest
in his own house, stands up and pronounces a blessing upon the food. It
is a beautiful thought that Christ

thus made Himself, as it were, the Father of that large family, the
Head and Provider for those many thousands of people!

11. He distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that
were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. "As
much as they would." That is Christ's measure for those who gather at
His table–it is only your own will that limits the amount of Divine
Grace that you may have.

12, 13. When they were filled, He said unto His disciples, Gather up
the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost Therefore they gathered
them together and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five
barley loaves which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.I
am sorry to say that it is a mark of very poor people that they are
often very wasteful people. These beggars who had come only to be fed,
were not satisfied to eat till they were satisfied, but they threw down
pieces of bread just as I frequently see, in the streets of London,
great pieces of bread thrown away. It should not be so, for bread is
the staff of life. Among the Egyptians, they are always peculiarly
careful that never a portion of bread should be wasted, nor should it
ever be as in a city like this where there are so many persons who are
starving for lack of bread. But while I see the carelessness and
wastefulness of the crowd, I also notice the carefulness and economy of
Christ. He who could make food enough to feed the thousands at His
will, yet would not waste a crust! I think a large-hearted liberality
should always be consistent with a strict economy. I have heard of one
who called at a rich man's door to ask for a subscription and he heard
him scolding the servant for wasting a match. "Ah," He thought, "I
shall get nothing out of him!" Yet he received from that very man a
larger subscription than from anybody else upon whom he called during
that day! Christ would give anything but He wasted nothing–let us
imitate His example!

14. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did,
said, This is of a truth that Prophet that should come into the
world.But the faith that comes by the way of the stomach is not worth
much. If people are converted by loaves and fishes, bigger loaves and
bigger fishes will make them go the other way–converts made thus are
of small worth!

15-17. When Jesus, therefore perceived that they would come and take
Him by force, to make Him a king, He de-partedagain into a mountain
alone. And when evening was now come, His disciples went down to the
sea, and entereda boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it
was now dark, and Jesus had not come to them. [See Sermon #2945,

Volume 51 –NIGHT–AND JESUS NOT THERE.] Then it was very dark. Ah,

my dear Friends, perhaps you know what it is to be in trouble and to
mourn an absent Lord! This is a direful description of an especially
dark night for the disciples–"It was now dark, and Jesus had not come
to them."

18, 19. And the sea arose byreason ofagreat wind that blew. So when
they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty furlongs, they saw Jesus
walking on the sea, and drawing near unto the ship: and they were
afraid. Do you wonder that they were filled with fear? It seemed so
strange a sight–a man walking on the waves of the sea!

20. But He said unto them, It is I; be not afraid.Then they must have
felt at ease at once as soon as they knew that it was Jesus who was
walking towards them upon the water. Lord, if it is You, fear would be
foolish on our part! We are only too glad to have Your company.

21. Then they willingly received Him into the ship: and immediately the
ship was at the land where they were going. No sooner was Jesus with
them than they were where they wanted to be! The Presence of Christ
works wonders for us. We are soon at our haven when the Lord of Heaven
comes to us!