Toronto Conference: 1969, Christ's Provision and Care for Us (8:19)
Address—G.H. Hayhoe
General Meetings, Toronto, April 1969. Addressed by Gordon Hayhoe. I'd like you to turn with me to the 8th chapter of the Gospel of Luke. Luke's Gospel, Chapter 8. And verse 19 then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press. And it was told him by certain, which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without desiring to see thee. And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it. Now it came to pass on a certain day that he went into a ship with his disciples, And he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth, and as they sailed he fell asleep. And there came down a storm of wind on the lake, and they were filled with jeopardy, with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to him and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water, and they ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid, wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this? For he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey Him. And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. And when He went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and wear no clothes, neither abode in any house. But in the tombs. Now if you turn over also to Hebrews chapter 1, Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 10. And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest, and they all shall wax old as doth A garment as a vesture shalt thou fold him up, and they shall be changed that thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. And one more passage in Psalm 142. Psalm 142. And the third verse. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me? I looked on my right hand and beheld, and there was no man that would know me. Refuge failed me. No man cared for my soul. I cried unto thee, O Lord, I said, thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. Well, they're young people. In reading these portions today, I was just thinking of the thought of change. In the meeting this morning, we were talking about that blessed one, the Lord Jesus, the eternal Word, the one who changes not. But in the little story that we have brought before us in Luke 8, we have a change, not a change in the Lord, but a change in the circumstances in which His people found themselves. And I believe that we're living in such a time as this. We're living in a time when there are many changes on every hand. There is a change in connection with the life in the city. There is a change in the home. There's a change in education, There's. Change everywhere and this is the challenge that is confronting each one of the young people today, that you must face this change and sometimes it almost seems baffling, it seems overwhelming because we have to go through this period of rapid change as we approach the end when the Lord Jesus is about to come. God has foretold us of this change. He has told us of what is going to take place in the. Last days. And if we are acquainted with His Word, we know that the things that we see in connection with home life, in connection with what we see in business and in men's outlook, men's moral standards, all these things have been foretold in the Word of God. But the important thing for us is how to meet these changes, how to be able at such a time as this to meet them in the wisdom and fear of God. And I thought that this little portion that we had here in the 8th chapter of Luke is a beautiful picture to us that might help us in this very connection.
Here we find the blessed Lord Jesus in his pathway. Here he was serving his Father. He was going about doing good. And we find here that his mother and his brethren come without desiring to see him. This brings before us the claims of nature. Those whom we love. And you know, those whom we love cannot always help us in the difficulties that we must face. We need to have the Lord. We need to have Him. It's nice when they can help us, but they may not always be able to. And this is specially emphasized in the case of the Lord Jesus himself. Because we know that when he was 12 years of age, he came up to the feast at Jerusalem and his mother and his brethren, and they went on and even forgot about him and started on a journey home without him. But all the Lord Jesus could say, wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? And dear young people, this is so important for you. You are facing situations at school, at your parents. Don't understand, they can't enter into because those of us who are older and I speak of myself, we haven't faced these similar situations. Things were different. We're living in a time of change. But again, I say the Lord is sufficient. He is able for these very days in which we live. He is the one who has the answer because He's always ahead of things, not behind them. Man is always behind. He is forever, as it were, trying to catch up. But not so with God. He's always ahead. He's always ahead of everything that's happening. And that's where prophecy comes in. He can tell us about events before they take place. He tells us in His word. I know the thoughts that come into your mind, every one of them. And so there isn't a man upon the face of the earth that has ever thought anything that God didn't know it beforehand. It says such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain to it, but. That is the one whom we know, the one we read about this morning. His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. What a counselor to have not one who's behind the times, but one who's ahead of the times. One who knows just what you're facing in the office, where you work, in the school, where you are in your home life, in your life with the other young people. He enters into what fully and knows. And He is the one who wants to be the guide of your life, as it tells us in Jeremiah. Wilt thou not at this time say, my Father, Thou art the guide of my youth, and He can guide you, because He knows well the Lord Jesus in answer, when they told him that his mother and brethren stood without, how lovely his answer. My mother and my brethren are those that hear the word of God and do it. All, I can't over emphasize the importance of the word of God. Advice is a wonderful thing. The Bible tells us we are foolish if we refuse to listen to counsel and advice. But the most important thing of all is the word of God. Do you hear the word of God? Do you do it? As you read the word of God, do you seek to act in obedience to it? Is that the guide that you take for your pathway? Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Have you made the precious word of God the guide for your pathway? Well, you can't have anything better. You have something that lives and abides forever. The Lord Jesus said heaven and earth shall pass away. But my word shall not pass away. And now we come to this very lovely little story in the 22nd verse. Now it came to pass on a certain day that He went into a ship with His disciples. I expect this was on the Sea of Galilee. They were on one side of the lake, and they were about to cross over to the other side of the lake. That's what made me think of the thought of change. They were in a certain position. There had been a certain work. On one side of the lake. But now the time came that the Lord said a certain day, and He went into the ship with His disciples. All young people. Is the Lord in the ship with you? First of all, I want to ask you, do you really know Him as your Savior? Have you really and truly accepted Him? Can you say from your heart, I belong to Him? He's my own personal Savior.
Oh has this. Event taken place that you really can say that Christ is your savior. If not, what a terrible thing to try and find your way through life without Him. What an awful end. Even if you are wise and shrewd. Even if you are clever and can make good decisions, What a terrible thing at the end of life to find out that you neglected the most important of all decisions and that is to receive Christ. Has your own personal savior. But then there is the thought, too, of taking the Lord into every situation, every move that we make. And if you're going to the other side of the lake, that is in this time of change, I ask you again, is the Lord in the boat with you? There may have been other little ships going across the lake at this time, Perhaps many of them. Perhaps many of them were good Mariners. Had often sailed that lake and felt they understood all about the difficulties. Of crossing that lake. Hello. I expect that this time it was quite smooth. But there was 1 little ship that had the Lord in it. And I ask you again, are you in his company? Oh, if you're trying to go along without the conscious enjoyment of his company, what a loss. Oh, you say I know him as my Savior? Yes. If you do know him as your savior, are you seeking his company? Are you seeking to walk hand in hand with Him through life, knowing that he loves you and He cares for you? Are you making Him the. Who is your constant companion and all the decisions? And as you face these changes in life which must surely come when you come to 12, when you come to 15, when you come to 18 and you pass on, have you decided that you want to have the Lord Jesus in company with you in every move that you make? How nice to find. That this move to the other side of the lake didn't actually begin with a. Thought of the disciples. It was the Lord Himself. He went into a ship with his disciples. It was His move, it was His plan, and it was his ordering. And he said unto them, Let us go unto the other side of the lake. He was the one that directed this course. A little song that we sing sometimes. Why those fears? Behold, his Jesus holds the hand and guides the ship. Spread the sails and catch the breezes sent to walked us through the deep. And so the Lord was the one who had suggested this. The Lord was the one who gave them direction for this and this great time, this terrible storm that they were going to meet those new problems on the other side of the lake. The Lord was the one who said, let's go over. He knew what was ahead and he was wisdom. As it might seem most strange to us, it says here, well, first of all, it says and they launched forth. They, they obeyed his command when he said, let us go over, He didn't say you go over, but let us go over. Then it says they launched forth. There was no mistake that they were following in the path that he had planned, in the path of his direction, not their own. And then it says, And as they sailed, he fell asleep. Perhaps this sounds very strange to you. If the Lord was the one who was directing, why does it tell us that he fell asleep? Well, you know, I believe the Lord puts us to a test. We can never take one step alone. And even when we are conscious that what we are seeking to do is to follow His direction, there are times of testing that even come in this path. Because Paul had decided that he wanted to follow the Lord and live for him. Did that mean there were no storms? Did that mean there were no shipwrecks? Did that mean there were no testings? Oh, I believe. Perhaps He had more and if you have made-up your mind that you want to follow the Lord, there are going to be some storms and there are going to be sometimes that it seems to you the Lord has fallen asleep, that he is not paying any attention to the problems and the difficulties that you're having to face. Just as we know that when. In the city of Shushan Long Gold, it tells us that the whole city was asleep, and it seemed that Mordecai was going to be hanged in the gallows. But the Lord was not asleep. And although the Lord Jesus here fell asleep, he was still the Master of the universe. And that Blessed One, as we had this morning, was perfect man, and He was also perfect God. And at the time when you think.
Lord is not coming to your rescue. He's not helping you. He's not holding back the elements that seem to be lashing at you. He is still wide awake to all that's going on. Hello. To our seeming understanding, he may be asleep. And so it tells us. And there came down a storm of wind on the lake, a terrible storm of wind came down. And it tells us in the book of the Psalms, the stormy wind fulfills His will. This wasn't any chance that this storm came down. As the storm broken in your life. Does the storm seem to just descend upon you? And you said, well, I thought that the Lord had directed me. I had looked to him. I had sought his guidance. Why does this storm come down? I thought I had him in the ship with me. The disciples could look back and they could say, well, this wasn't ours. Wasn't it the Lord that went into the ship with us? Wasn't it the Lord that said, let us go to the other side? Wasn't it all according to what he wanted us to do? Why it ended this storm come down. Ah, the Lord would test their faith. He would test them as to whether they had confidence in him in these difficult situations that they were about to face. And so even though we are seeking to please him, he is going to allow these tests the path of. Faith is not an easy one. It was not for the Lord Jesus, who was there that ever so perfectly did His Father's will as the Lord Jesus Himself, and yet who had so much trouble, who had so much difficulty and rejection. But there was one thing that He always had the consciousness of his Father's presence. He could look up to his Father and say, I know that thou hearest me always. Ah, he was ever conscious. From the fact that he was in communion with his Father even in the storms that he faced in his blessed and perfect pathway. And it says, and they were filled with water. That is, God allowed this storm to, so to speak, go to its full fury until it just seemed as if the boat was going to sink. He didn't just let the storm come down and give them the pleasure of feeling that they were tossing on top of the water. Not one drop went into the boat. You know, we like to feel that when a storm comes that not one drop gets into the boat, that God is just so much on our side that nothing can ever happen to us, no trouble can ever touch us. But here, not only does a storm come down, but the water came into the boat. And it says it came into such an extent that they were filled with jeopardy. They were filled with fear as they realized. How? The absolute helplessness of their own position. What could they do? It tells us here. And they came to him. And awoke him, saying, Master, Master, we perish. Oh yes, they came to him. Oh, that's what he wanted them to do. And the Lord brings us to our own extremity. Yes, that's the place. That's what he does with the Sinner. He brings the Sinner right to the very end of himself, to the point where he feels that there's absolutely nothing he can do. The very place where God desires him to be, where he has to cry out that he is lost to ruin, helpless and undone. And that is the point of blessing. The man who pled his own self righteousness was not saved, but the man who said God be merciful to me, a Sinner, he was the one who got the blessing. And the Lord deals in this way with us as believers. He allows the fury of the storm to be felt. He allows all our resources to come. To an end, if someone has put it like this, when we get into a difficulty, we start to think, and if we can think of one single way out of that difficulty, then we cry to the Lord very earnestly that He would get us out by that one particular way that we can see. And we see that one way. And we get into some other situation and we think, well, now the Lord could cause that person to do so and so. And so we have particularly in mind that this is the thing that we want the Lord to do. But the Lord brings us to the point where we can't see what anybody would do. We can't see anything that could happen but harm. We come completely to the end of all our resources and all our ideas and everything, and then we have to, as it were, awake the Lord and say, Master, we perish, Master we perish.
Ah, dear young people, how could you perish that the Lord in. In the vault, How could you? Our times are in thy hand, Father. We wish them there. Our life, our soul, our all. We leave entirely to Thy care. And I believe that it's going through such experiences as this that teach us that we have to count upon a God who is able to do more than we can ask or think. A God who hangs the earth not on something, but on nothing. A God who is able. In the spite of the fact that there is no way out, that we can see no human resource possible, He is able. And then when he does come in, how wonderful. You remember the prayer meeting they were having for Peter, and it says prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for Peter. And yet when Peter came and stood before the gate, they didn't believe it. And I wouldn't even believe Rhoda when she came and said that Peter was there. Now I believe that those disciples that were praying actually thought the Lord would come in. But I suppose they had some idea of Him coming in in a different way from what they expected. But He came in in His own way. He came in in a miraculous way. He showed that He was above all the powers of darkness. That were arranged against Peter and just as he allowed James. To be put to death, he could just as easily open the prison door and release Peter. Yes, dear friends, we trust in the living God who is the Savior of all men, especially of those that believe. And so it tells us. Here they awoke him and said, Master we perish, Master, we perish. And here, then here, alls. He asked. They had pulled and tested and Oh dear young people, I I want to see you learn this lovely lesson while you're young. If you have to wait until later on in life, if you have to wait until you're older, perhaps you'll learn it. When you get quite a long way through life, but you'll have many sorrows behind and you wish that you had learned it younger. You'll wish that you had learned that the Lord was able for every situation when you were 12 years old, when you were 15, when you were 18, and in all these big decisions that come and we have to face in life. Now in this changing age, they were going to the other side of the lake and we're going through. In His present day, in the year 1969, we're going through a period of change. Everything's changing and it just seems that it's too much for us sometimes, but it's not too much for the Lord. He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. And now isn't this nice? He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. Why does it tell us growth here, the wind and the raging of the water? Well, the wind would be like the cause and the raging of the water. The effect. You know, sometimes the result can be corrected. You can get into a difficult situation and you can get out of a difficult situation. But the cause of it hasn't been corrected. But isn't it nice that when the Lord acts that He not only corrects the result, but He corrected the cause, the wind and the raging of the water? If you had just stopped the raging of the water and why they couldn't have been assured that they would get safely over the rest of the lake. But the Lord is in control not only of the effect, but also of the cause. And he knows the cause of everything that comes in your life and mind, as it tells us in Peter's epistle. If need be, he are in having us through manifold temptation. There is a cause in everything that comes, and each one of our lives is different. Your life is different from mine. My life is different from yours. We have been brought up in different environments, but the Lord knows all about this. He knows what it's like to live in the city where you live, in the meeting, where you live among the young people that you mix with. He knows all about that and he is able for the situations that you are facing. And he was not only able to stop the raging of the water, but he was also able, it tells us, to stop the winds. Oh, how wonderful this was. And what a wonderful.
Savior we have, and it tells us here, Amanda. A calm, yes. What peace it is when we see that he's under, he's in control of everything, that he is able for the situation. And he said unto them, Where is your faith? I want you to notice here that they were afraid twice. They were afraid when the boat was tossed about and was filled with water. And they were afraid when the Lord put his finger on their trouble. He said, where is your faith? Where is your faith? And we're often afraid when our little ship gets passed about. We're often afraid when we see overwhelming difficulties come upon us and we feel quite unable for. I'm sure every one of us has had this, and we've been so relieved when the Lord came in and took care of the situation. And the Lord could have stopped right there. But then it would never have been a blessing for the future. It never would have helped them for the storms that they had to face, for the man that was going to meet them on the other side of the lake, if he hadn't also put his own finger on the basic trouble of this whole situation. He said. Where is your faith? Where is your site? We're living in days of reason. We're living in days when people like to figure everything out. And this is coming in even in spiritual things that want to figure everything out, want to reason it right through. Oh how blessed it is to accept the word of God in simple faith. There may be many, many things that we don't fully understand, but we could always confidently believe what God says. I quote the verse again. We trust in the living God. We trust in one who has power. Men think that God has to act according to the laws of nature. Well, sometimes He does, but He doesn't need to be bound by them. He's able to act on His own. He is able to come in. He formed the laws of nature and He can come in and act quite contrary to them. He can work out the plan in your life the way you'd like it to be worked out. Work it out the very opposite to the way you think it should be. He's in control and so he said. Where is your faith? And can we each ask our hearts? Are we trusting Him for our daily lives? All I say in my own heart how often I fail in this. The Lord has seen me through some storms and difficulties, but I still feel that the power of that rebuke. Where is your faith? Where is your faith? Isn't it strange? Dear young people, the Lord takes us out of 1 difficulty and when another comes, it seems that our faith fails again. That He has to say, where is your faith? Well, you say I haven't got very much faith. How can my faith be increased? Well, faith is increased by learning in the difficulties to trust the Lord. It tells us of the Thessalonians, your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of everyone of you toward another abundant. I'll tell you why I believe the Thessalonian faith was growing. They were going through a period of persecution. They were being, they were suffering for Christ's sake. And as they did, they learned to trust the Lord more and more, and they found that He was worthy of their trust. How in your faith in a fellow man increase? Perhaps you meet me for the first time. You don't know anything about me, you say. Well, I don't know whether I could trust him or not. But supposingly, we'll say you knew me for 10 years and I never disappointed you. Wouldn't that cause your faith to increase? Well, I might disappoint you. I'm sorry to say I would disappoint you, but the Lord Jesus never, would never, never. And if you want your faith to grow? Start trusting him today. Trust him about the little. Things trust him when the storm comes down, trust him when he seems to be asleep. Trust him when you don't know any way out and when you turn to your to those who are older and ask them and they can't seem to give you an answer. The Lord wants to show you that he is sufficient, that he knows everything, that he is able. He is your counselor, He is your guide. He knows.
Has a plan for your life and if you have him in the ship. With you and to leave all in his hands, He'll bring you through in the way that he sees best. And it says, And they being afraid, wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this? What manner of man is this? Who was it? Well, it was the Lord, for He commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey Him. The cause and the effect, all is in His hand, and He said, and they obey Him. Well, as I said, was this the end of the problems? Just because they got across the lake, just because they found their grounding on the other side of the lake and were safely landed, was that the end? Oh, no, no sooner had they. Landed and here they meet this terrible sight, this man under the power of Satan. And so I can't tell you that when the Lord sees you through 1 difficulty that it's going to be all over. I must have to tell you the truth. We must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God. We must face more and more difficulties than I am persuaded that if the Lord leaves us here very much longer. That when we, as it were, get across. The lake, we're only going to find that new difficulties are going to arise. But was the Lord able for this man that had the legion of devils? The storm in the lake was bad, but to me, a man with a legion of devils possessed with this legion of devils, what a what a terrible situation Was the Lord sufficient for this? Yes, he was able to cast out the whole legion of devils and the man sat at. The feet of Jesus clothed and in his right mind, yes, he was able for this situation too. And so it tells us that this vast universe in Hebrews where we looked, it says. They shall be changed. We look upon this earth and people talk about the constant laws of nature. We look upon things as being fairly stable. Well, everything here is going to be broken up. This very world in which we live is going to pass away. But thou art the same. Thou art the same. We can expect to see more changes. We can expect to see things that we thought were stable go to pieces. But all we have the Lord, we can safely trust in Him. And so I just like to turn again to the 142nd Psalm where we read Psalm 142. The third verse, when my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. And there are times when our spirit is overwhelmed, when things seem so great, so difficult, so trying, that we don't know just what we should do. Isn't it nice to be able to look up and say, then thou knewest my path? Then thou knewest my path, and so it tells us here in the fourth verse. And I looked on my right hand and beheld, but there was no man that would know me. Refuge failed me. No man cared for my soul. It seemed as if no one was interested. No one cared, but he learned to turn to the Lord. And so this fifth verse I cried unto thee, O Lord, I said, thou art my refuge and my. And in the land of the living, yes, He is your refuge, He is your portion. And so I want to say, and to each dear young person here, be sure that in this time of change, in this time when everything seems to be. Broken up when all that we once considered stable is beginning to break down, you still have the Lord turn to him, make him the. Guide of your youth, and even when others don't seem to be able to give you the advice that you need, turn to the Lord. Do His word, read it, walk in obedience to it and He will bless you and look up and say Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. Could you have anything better than this? He is sufficient. He is able count upon Him and He'll never fail you. He'll bless you and all at the end of the journey when you look back. How you'll thank Him for every step of the pathway, I'm sure.
Each one of us as we look back and see the way he led us, we'll say it was the right way. But young people, I have you especially upon my heart. I see what is taking place in this very day in which we live and I long that the Lord Jesus should be everything to you and that you would turn to him in all the circumstances of your life, in all the decisions of your life and don't listen to what is being said that. Christianity is behind the times. The Bible is outdated. It's ahead of the times. God is sufficient. His Word is sufficient. And if you read it carefully and prayerfully and turn to the Lord, you will find that He does have an answer and He does have the help that you need for every single situation in the land of the living. Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.