to our late beloved administrator Robert Willie for taking in the sunrise service two years ago he engaged me to come for this particular week and he said we'd like you to take in the Lord's Day Easter Sunday and also the sunrise service we had been reminiscing that day about a sunrise service around the garden tomb when Brother Robert Willie gave the message that day that was a way back in nineteen forty two I was talking to Colonel Dobby about that particular happy occasion just last summer, the son of General Dobby. So it's a wonderful thing to have the memory of a sunrise service and also to recall the one who rose from the dead. So I owe that plus to our beloved brother. Now shall we turn again to the Gospel by John? The sixth chapter of John's Gospel. And verse one. After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias, and the great multitude followed him because they saw his miracles, which he did, on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was not. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw a great company come unto him, he said unto Philip, When shall we buy bread that these may eat? And this he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon, Peter's brother, said unto him, There is a lad here, which had five barley loaves and two small fishes. But what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Then there was much grass in the flesh. So the men sat down and numbered about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves. And when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples and the disciples to them that was set down. And likewise of the fishes as much as they would. 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 a fragment of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then these men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth, that prophet that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. And when even was now come, his disciples went down into the sea and entered into a ship and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark. And Jesus was not come to them. And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. And when they had grown about five and twenty or thirty for longs, they see Jesus walking on the sea and drawing now into the ship and they were afraid but he said unto them it is I be not afraid then they willingly received him into the ship and immediately the ship was at the land where they went again the Lord will bless to us this lovely reading from his holy word we have been using our basic scripture in Acts chapter two verse twenty two regarding the discussion of the signs in John's Gospel. Peter said to him that day, ye men of Israel, hear these words, that Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God by miracles, wonders, and signs which God has done by him in the presence of you all. We saw that the miracle was the supernatural power of Christ in display. that the wonder was the superlative awe, the effect that the miracle had on those that saw the miracle. But the sign is the spiritual significance. And very rightly so, the Older wise version changes the word miracle in John's Gospel to the word sign. Because John, as we have been discussing, has selected eight specific signs in the Gospel by John. Now we looked at the first sign, which was at Caner of Galilee. and we drew alongside that sign the Lord's compound title, Jehovah Shama, the Lord is there. And then we saw the second miracle also took place at Cana of Galilee, when the men from Capernaum appealed to the Lord to heal his son who was sick. And there we drew that title, Jehovah Raphael, the Lord, the God that heals. Then last night we went over to chapter five of John's Gospel and there we saw the third sign. It's transferred now from Galilee and the Lord, you remember, healed the men by the pool of Bethesda at the sheep gate in the city of Jerusalem. And there we saw the Lord's title, at least I drew alongside that sign, the Lord's title, Jehovah said, Can you? Because the Lord said to him, Go and sin no more. Jehovah said, Can you, the Lord our righteousness. Now, time is running out this week and there are eight signs. So tonight I want to draw together two signs, and they are recorded here in chapter six. Against the fourth sign, the feeding of the five thousand men, there were five thousand men, and of course there would be women and children there, but it's referred to as the feeding of the five thousand. Alongside that sign, we must bring the Lord's title, Jehovah's Jireh, the Lord will provide. And also we see here the fifth sign and the Lord is walking on the water. That was a miracle and that was a sign. And he says, being not afraid, it is I. And we employ the Lord's compound title here, Jehovah Shalom, the Lord sent peace. Now this fourth sign is very, very lovely and it pictures the vast world of sinners. who are unsheltered and they are unsatisfied and they are in desperate need. And the Lord Jesus Christ saw this when he saw them as sheep without a shepherd and it was very evident that they were hungry. It was drawing toward the evening and they needed shelter and they needed sustenance and they found that in Christ. There's a beautiful verse in the book of Isaiah chapter thirty-two, verse two says, A man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, a cover from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. And so in this lovely section, first of all we see the heavenly heart of the Lord Jesus. And then a few things about the help was crowned. And then we see the helpful Christ, and then fourthly we have the happy ending. The heavenly heart of the Lord Jesus. He knew himself what he would do, but he sought to test the disciples relative to his deity. And Mark chapter six tells us that the Lord was filled with compassion, and the true Greek rendering means that he was deeply disturbed. when he saw that vast multitude and it was very evident that they were in great need. Thank God for the heavenly heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember throughout the scripture we see the softness of the heart of the Lord Jesus. The bride in the song of Solomon as she draws the portrait of Christ she says as inward is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. Thank God for the softness of the heart of the Saviour. And that softness of the heart of Christ has been made known to us. We sometimes think he saw us ruined in the fall, yet loved us, notwithstanding all. He saved us from our loss this day. His loving kindness, oh how great. And we could spend the rest of the night talking about the heavenly heart, the soft heart of the Lord Jesus. See him, friends, as he stood on the Mount of Orleans. Looking over that captious and critical city of Jerusalem, tears coursing down his lovely cheeks. He wept. His heart was soft. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would he have gathered thee, as a hen does gather her brood under her wing, and he would not. See the soft heart of Christ when Peter denied him. the Lord just looked at Peter and there's no doubt that the face which is the index of the mind and the heart revealed to Peter that the Lord was sympathetic toward his servant and that was the first step towards the recovery of dear Peter see him upon the cross when he saw that hungry bloodthirsty element calling for his destruction thank God for his heavenly heart the saw of heart he said father forgive them for they know not what they do. And standing by the cross was a marriage. And one of them was the vehicle that brought him into the world, his own mother. And turning to John the beloved disciple, he said, Son, behold thy mother, the soft heart of the Lord Jesus. And today that heart is still in evidence. He willeth not the death of any, but that all should come to God and live. and receive everlasting life. The heavenly heart of the men of Calvary. And then there's a few things we might learn concerning the helpless crown. It was very evident that they were unprepared. They were out on the mountainside. And they were unsheltered. And they certainly lacked everything. And the Lord Jesus was moved because of the helplessness of that crown. Again we see the heavenly motivation in the Lord Jesus. He saw that you and I were unprepared for eternity. He saw that we were unsheltered, that the wrath of God is about to explode on this ungodly world. And the Lord looked upon us in all our names and he saw us that we were absolutely helpless. Paul said to the Ephesians, ye were without God and without Christ and without hope in this world. Our position was helpless and hopeless. But he moved in the timely Lord Jesus and he became our King's man redeemer. And the King's man redeemer must have free qualifications. He must be a blood relation. He must be an avenger and he must be a restorer of that which was lost. And so our Lord was the helpful one and he moved in to help us the helpless one. And so the writer to the Hebrew said, For as much as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him, who the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage. So there was this helpless crowd. And the disciples then... They do much to help these helpless people because Mark in his gospel tells us that the disciples were most ungracious and they certainly were very unthinking. They said to the Lord, Jesus, send them away. They forgot the heavenly heart and the Lord could not send them away hungry. And so he supplies and he sustains. And so in the next few verses we have the healthful Christ. He was very observant. And we see that he was orderly. And we see the evidence of his omnipotence. He lifted up his eyes and he saw this people in all their knees. Our Lord is always observant. You remember the man in chapter nine of John's Gospel. We like to see this tomorrow evening in the Lord's will. The Lord knew that the man was blind, and as he's passing by, the visit's wrong. He observed the man that was blind from his birth. This is the evidence, is it not, that the Lord Jesus is always observant. In John chapter four, we read he must need to pass through Samaria, because he knew there was one that would come to psychers well that was in great need. and she was longing for something or someone to fill the void in her heart. The Lord is always observant and he always moves in on time and he can fill the void in any heart. We were having meetings in St. Catherine's, Ontario in Scotland a few years ago. A lad who came by invitation a student at Brock University, French Canadian, nineteen years of age, his name was Ken Dussep. And he sat in the front row. And he sat there absolutely spellbound the first time he'd ever been exposed to the gospel. And before my colleague Boyd and I had left the podium, that lad was up behind us. He said, I never knew until tonight that I was a guilty, hell-deserving sinner. I go to my church every Sunday morning at six in the morning. I never knew until tonight that I was a guilty sinner. hell-deserving sinner. And I am not leaving this building until I get right with God. He prayed that night. I will never forget his prayer. We always ask those who seek God's salvation to pray out. And we can enter in intelligently to what they are saying. And Ken prayed that night. He says, Lord, please come into my heart and fill the void. Well, the Lord sure filled the void in his heart. Because he and his wife tonight our missionaries in Quebec. He is the one that can fill the void and is the one that's always observant to the immediate need of the sinner. And then we see that he is always orderly. He made him sit down in companies of fifty and hundreds. The Lord is always a God of order. He's not marked by confusion and so we try to emulate him, do we not, in our assembly activities. He is always very orderly. And when he rose from the dead, the evidence was right there in the garden tomb when the disciples looked in and saw how orderly was his exit. I was preaching on that subject some time ago, and the lady said, I'm thankful that you touch on that subject because my husband needs that kind of a message. He's not very orderly. Well, I guess we all need that kind of a message. And the Lord, of course, we see his omnipotence. Two hundred penny worth of bread said the mathematician is not enough that they might get a little. But the law doesn't deal in small things. The law was talking about being filled. And so the mathematician was talking in terms of two hundred penny worth of bread. So we have his heavenly heart and the helpless crowd and thank God for the helpful Christ. Then there's a happy ending to the signs. As they sat down, the Lord multiplied the loaves and the fishes, and we find that everyone was fully satisfied. It was a very simple portion. The Lord is always providing. He's the Jehovah Jireh he's always providing. You remember Israel in the wilderness? The Lord gave them manna in the morning and quails in the evening. When they entered into the land, he's the great provider. and there he fed them with the old corn of the land. Elijah is downcast, and the observant God saw him in that despondent condition, and the Lord sent in the ravens, contrary to nature, and there they supplied the need of Elijah. And you remember the Lord sent an angel from heaven with a special cape. I don't know what kind of a mixture that would be, ladies, but it sure was a special cape. Because Elijah went in the strength of that meal for forty days. So the Lord is always providing Jehovah Jireh and the portion was a simple portion. It was bread and fish. But it was a sure portion. The fact that the Lord was able to multiply those things, it was absolutely sure. We thank God that his salvation is absolutely sure. He is the one that provides and it is also a suitable portion. It was something that suited the palate of a newborn babe. When the Lord gave manna from heaven, it was small, round, white, as coriander seed and as wafers made with honey. A newborn babe could have assimilated the manna. So it was good for a child and it was good for the warrior and for the Levi. And likewise, as the Lord multiplied the bread and the fishes, in the multiplication of it, the miracle, the sign, it certainly was a suitable portion to meet the need of all, while the men is stressed, surely, that women and the children would be present. And it was a sufficient portion that were all filled and satisfied. Jehovah's Jireh, the Lord will provide. But let me like this with the greatest probation of all. You remember Abraham said to his son Isaac, who said, Father, here is the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for the burnt offering? God will provide himself a lamb. That was Jehovah Jireh, and surely that was the greatest provision of all. And we're thankful tonight that we read of some rather hymns relative to the crossword of the Lord Jesus. There we see him transfixed upon a cross. in the throes of his agony. Tonight he is triumphant in the throne of God. And one day soon he shall be transcendent in the city, that holy city, amongst the throng of his beloved people. Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. And so we can sing, I try the broken sister and Lord, and thou the waters failed. even as I stoop to drink they fled and mock me as I well. Now none but Christ can satisfy. None other name for me was love and life and lasting joy, Lord Jesus found in me. Jehovah Jireh is the fourth sign. But then, as I mentioned, in the interest of the days at our disposal, I want to say a few things about this other sign, the fifth sign. And here again was a remarkable miracle. The Lord Jesus was walking on the water from verse thirteen, rather fifteen down to verse twenty-one. I would like just to subdivide this little section into three headings. First of all, we have the great supplicator. Then secondly, we have the great storm. And finally we have the great Saviour. The great supplicator. We find that while they were rowing, the Lord was praying. And we are rowing tonight in a stormy world. And thank God there's one praying. One who ever liveth to make intercession for us. Twenty-four hours a day our beloved Saviour is working. when they're asleep down under in Australia, and we are active here, and vice versa, there is one representing us in the presence of the Lord. That great, that merciful, the faithful, the sympathetic, the perfectly unseen, and the unchangeable prince. Up in New Jersey, there was a gentleman who came from Europe, and his English was not too accurate. And one intellectual said to him one day, He says, I think you ought to sit in your seat and let the others who know the language participate. What he thought for a moment, well, he says, friend, it might be upside down when it leaves here. But he said, it's right side up when it reaches there. To all our prayers and praises, Christ adds his sweet perfume and love the sense of raises those orders to consume. So when the disciples were rowing, our Saviour was praying. He was on the mountainside. And as he was praying, we have the great storm that developed. The scripture says here that the sea arose by reason of a great wind. We know, friend, that we are passing through stormy day. Satan has stirred up a storm that has reached Gaelphos in our day. He is the prince of the power of the year. He is making his presence known and the storm is raging. And we see that it was dark. So these disciples had difficulty and there was darkness and there was distance. The Lord was not with them. He was in the mountains. and they were certainly distressed. This is certainly a picture of conditions in the world today. You see, a sign is a spiritual significance and this undoubtedly has a reference to the days in which we live. The Lord Jesus Christ was absent and the storm was raging. General Booth said that the dangers of the twentieth century would be a Christianity without Christ, religion without the Spirit, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God and heaven without hell. Now these were words spoken by General Booth many, many years ago. But surely these are the days in which we are living. And the storm is raging. What do we see tonight? We see political chaos, industrial upheaval, racial tension, international entry, hostages, pagan, here and there and everywhere. We certainly are living in dark days. And these were distressing days for the disciples. and these certainly are dark and distressing and difficult days for many of God's beloved people behind the bamboo and the iron curtain. Difficult days. But the Lord is always observant to conditions and he saw the distress of the disciples. And so we read in the other Gospels, Matthew forty, Mark six, that the Lord Jesus Christ He came walking up on the water in the fourth watch of the night. That, friend, is the darkest watch of the night. We are passing through the darkest hour in the church's history. The end is near for this poor old world. The winds are contrary and the storm is raging. We can anticipate any moment the relief of our Lord Jesus Christ. the fourth watch of the night. The Christian church period can be divided into four watches. You remember that the first watch was the apostolic days. When the disciples went out preaching the gospel, Thomas went to India, and the disciples went in and out of Europe, down into Africa, and the gospel went out. That was the apostolic days, the first watch. The second watch was the Dark Ages. when paganism took over, infiltrating the ranks of Christianity, and brought everyone into awful bondage. But thank God for the third watch of the night, which was a cock-crowing. We go down to the islands of the Bahamas occasionally, and I get somewhat annoyed at these cocks as they begin to crow around two and three o'clock in the morning. And they seem to have like a telephone conversation. One calls from one end of the island, and his friend answers, at the other end of the island. The corp growing. But the Reformation was a corp growing. And so God raised up certain men who brought back to the real Church of God the basic things and principles of Scripture. Martin Luther in Germany, Calvin in France, and Knox in Scotland were great reformers. In fact, Whitecliffe was called the morning star of the Reformation. And it was the fourth watch of the night that the Lord Jesus Christ came to alleviate the disciples of their fear as they went through the great storm. The fourth watch of the night. In nineteen forty-three I was traveling between Bombay in India of the Persian Gulf to Abadan and Khoram Shah. We were going between these areas and down into Colombo and Ceylon. Now, I didn't see the Ayatollah Homini. I don't know what he was doing in those days. He might have been a camel driver or something, but we didn't know anything about the Ayatollah in those days. But coming up the Persian Gulf, we passed through one of the darkest nights I could ever remember at sea. And I was on a bridge with the captain. On the lookout up the crow's nest, he signaled the bridge. He said, Sir, there's a light ahead. Well, it was during the days of the blackout, and that was very unusual. And then the captain smiled. He says, Dougal, he said, it's not a ship. It's the morning star. Hundreds of people were killed by a tidal wave in Karachi that night. And it was the darkness of the night that seemed to produce the effulgence in the rising of the morning star. Mr. Wilson in his book, Angola Beloved, refers to it as the jumper. and it seems to appear in the horizon and then it seems to jump. And so then he told me a few degrees separate the rising of the sun after the coming of the morning star. He had a very ready ear for the gospel and I was able to tell him very happily that the Lord is coming as the bright and the morning star and then as the son of righteousness with healing in his wings for Israel. Yes, we wait to see the morning star appear in glory bright. This blessed hope, he looms with beamsmost cheering, the hours of night. So there was the recognition of the great Saviour as he walked upon the waters. We have seen that he was the one who came with a purpose of relieving the pressure on that little bend in the ship. Very soon, friends, we can expect him to appear and relieve the pressure that is upon the church of God today. Recognition, it is I being our friend. And when he comes, then it will be a wonderful thing for us to recognize the man that loved us and gave himself for us. One thing for sure, we won't require any introduction to the Lord when he joins this little boat and takes the church home. I shall know him. I shall know him by the print of the nails in his hands. We will recognize our beloved Lord in outer space. It is I. Be not afraid. He didn't send Gabriel his minister of internal affairs. He didn't send Michael his minister of external affairs. His militant, his warring minister. He came himself to the waters. It is I. And thank God he is the one that will come to the air. He won't delegate the responsibility to any of his great servants. He's coming to conduct us personally through the domain of the prince of the power of the air. He knows that he is the great conqueror and he will guide us into that satellite city. It is I. Be not afraid. And so the disciples, when they recognize that it was him, verse twenty-one says, Then they willingly received him into the ship. You can almost see the disciple rowing against those mountainous waves. And suddenly the Lord appears, and with a great sigh of relief, as he entered the boat, as much as he will thank God, the great deliverer, is here. Everything is going to be all right now. And so there was a great repose. As the Lord Jesus Christ entered into that boat, they received him willingly. They knew the power that was invested in the Lord. They knew that he was the one who lays the beams of his chambers in the mighty oceans. And they realized that he was the one and the only one who could steal the stock. Great relief. I read in the magazine some time ago about a little boy. It was somewhat amusing, but it really touched me. This little lad was praying one evening, and he was praying for the dog and for the cat and for the neighbor's children next door, and he went round and on and on. Then he stopped. His mother was about to leave, and then he started up again. And he says, Dear God, please look after yourself. because if anything happens to you we are sunk and I'm sure that was the feeling of the disciples that little ship would have sunk but as the Lord came and he was received into the ship there was a repose and there was a peace pervading their heart and notice it says and immediately the moment he joined the ship and immediately The ship was at the land where they went. This was a tremendous miracle indeed. And this is just exactly the picture of the relief of the church. The moment the Lord says, rise, come away. Immediately we'll be on the other side. And the Lord Jesus Christ has promised this. And as David Livingston was asked, upon what are you resting for eternity? He said, I rest upon the words of that honorable gentleman who said, If I go, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. And immediately we shall be with the Lord. If we won't acquire any space suits or guided missiles or what else, we'll be able to go right into the Lord's presence, just like him possessing a body that knows no limitations. And we shall be forever with the Lord immediately on the other side. And I somewhat think that John, as he wrote the Revelation, when he says, And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. And then he says, And there shall be no more sea. I think John would breathe a sigh of relief. As he recalled this experience on the sea of Galilee. And the Revelation says, And there shall be No more see. But immediately they were on the land. And that speaks to us, friend, of resurrection. You remember Jonah as he was traveling along in the God-constructed submarine. There was really two miracles that day. That old quail must have been the first modernist. Because the moment Jonah said, salvation is of the Lord. that all whale had an intestinal disorder and out went Jonah. For I'm thankful he wasn't facing seaworth. But Jonah was the first guided missile. And Jonah went from the sea to the land. And he landed on dry land. That speaks of resurrection. That speaks of redemption ground. And thank God. Because our Savior went down into the abyss. He sunk in deep mire where there was no standing. And because he died, that we might live, we stand tonight on redemption ground. We stand on solid ground. And thank God, beloved saints, very soon the Lord is going to see rise and will be on the other side on that heavenly land. The poet says, there is a land where shadows never deepened. where sunset glories fade not into night. For stumbling hearts can win the boon of endless blessing and faith is lost in sight. A land where sad farewells are never spoken. For every loss of life is riches gained. For stumbling feet that wrath can find a haven and where hearts have no more pain. A land where those who sigh for long lost faith is. the loved of life whose going brought us pain. So find them safe in the presence of the Father's glory, where we shall meet again. On that bright strand, the blood-bought ones of Jesus are safe. No more the wandering feet to Rome shall find at last all that the heart had longed for within God's house at home. We're going home to that heavenly land. Heaven is our Father land. Heaven is our home, shall we pray. Father, we thank thee for Jehovah Jireh, the great God of provision. And we thank thee for Jehovah Shalom. We thank thee for the peace that the Lord imparted to his distress and disturbed disciples on the Sea of Canaanite. We thank thee, O Father, thou hast been that to us and our Lord Jesus, as thou hast indeed brought peace to our heart. We thank thee that the peace of God that passes all understanding will garrison our hearts and our minds. And tonight we possess a peace which passes all understanding. Lord, do take care of thy word. Do encourage thy dear children here at Passer the Palms and again help those who are responsible for the administration that everything will be done with a single eye to thy glory and in thy fear. We give thee thanks again for all thy kindness in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.