"Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hand, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing." The day will dawn and the daystar will arise in your heart the moment that you can respond with Thomas, "My Lord and my God."

SERMON VII.

PETER ON THE WAVES.

MATTHEW XIV. 28-31.

BUT

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. 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 DIDST THOU DOUBT?

CHRIST had gone up into a mountain to spend the night in prayer. The disciples whom he had sent before him to the other side of the lake were yet in the ship, and in the midst of a storm. Had he been there, they would have relied upon him to rebuke the winds and the sea; but their faith in him was not yet such that they could avail themselves of the power of his name to cast out a devil nor to still a tempest. These disciples had just witnessed the miracle of feeding five thousand with five loaves and two fishes. Jesus had remained behind to send the multitude away. They knew it; and the remembrance

of that day's miracle, if mixed with faith in the power of Christ, would have made them feel safe in the perils of the sea. They had not yet learned the omnipresence of Christ as they afterward felt and preached it. But perhaps it was the case with them as it is with us that the appearance of danger overcame the recollection of past deliverances; and it is with us frequently as it was with them, that our great Intercessor is praying for us at times when we think that all is lost, as his midnight prayers in that mountain were obtaining safety for his disciples in the storm.

In the fourth watch of the night, or between the hours of three and six, Jesus came to them walking on the sea. The vision was indeed terrific. A human form standing erect upon the sea, and approaching a ship, is enough to make those in it suppose, as the disciples did, that it is a spirit, and to cry out for fear. Mercy and deliverance often come to us in ways which excite our fears; we do not see that God is approaching us for any purpose but that of wrath in his dark dispensations. But in mercy as often as in wrath, “his way is in the sea, his path is in the great waters, and his footsteps are not known."

While the hearts of these men were yet agitated by the vision, the voice of Christ not having fully calmed their fear, and before time enough had elapsed to receive him into the ship, one of their number appealed to him for encouragement to meet him on

the water. The ardent and frequently inconsiderate, but most affectionate and zealous, Peter, bending over the vessel, strained his sight to penetrate the yet remaining darkness, and in the intervals of the dashing spray and waves to get further proof that it was Jesus; but the storm and the darkness prevented him from having the evidence of sight.

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Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water." What could his motives and feelings be in this proposal? It is not likely that there was much, if any, deliberation preceding the request; but from a sudden, ardent impulse, reckless of danger, and full of love to Christ, with a seaman's hardihood, he wished to stand at his Master's side. He was willing to risk his life, and to make the unnatural experiment of walking on the water. He alone which spreadeth out the heavens, and maketh Arcturus, Orion, and the chambers of the south, treadeth on the waves of the sea. But perhaps he did not act presumptuously; for he first sought permission to come to Christ upon the water. The act of the Saviour in walking upon the waves struck that passion in Peter's mind for daring deeds which was ever showing itself in his life. It was he who would make tabernacles, and dwell on the mount of transfiguration; it was he who would follow Christ, though all should forsake him; who drew his sword in a crowd to cut off the ear of the high priest's servant; and

who, though outrun on his way to the sepulchre by another disciple, alone had courage to go in. Christ seems always to have thought much respecting Peter. Though John leaned on his bosom as the beloved disciple, Peter occupied a large place in his thoughts. He prayed for him in particular, knowing his constitutional tendency and the temptations which would assail him; he reproved him faithfully with the wounds of a friend; he took him to see his transfiguration, and to watch with him in Gethsemane; he looked at him when the cock crew, and brought him, with a look, to contrition; he challenged his love to him after he had risen, and bade him feed his lambs and his sheep; he foretold by what manner of death he should glorify God; he made him the chief apostle to Israel, to preach repentance to them and the remission of sins. Christ knew and loved his bold, affectionate heart; and, indeed, who can fail to love him in the exhibition which we have before us of his ready and loving spirit?

We may easily enter into the feelings of the disciples as they heard their brother calling to Christ with such a request. Why risk his life among the waves? Christ will come into the ship. Why in such needless, reckless haste to reach him?

These cautious and proper

feelings had no effect on Peter. Enterprise and danger were his element; but chiefly his feelings toward Christ excited a desire to be with him before he