and if they do not see deliverance coming in that way, they leap to the conclusion that there is no escape at all. These poor disciples thought there was but one way of escape from the storm, and that was to reach the other side of the sea; but when Christ came to deliver them by a new and unexpected way, they misapprehended Him. "Jesus went unto them walking on the water." If this act stood alone, it might affright us. We must read every miracle as part of some great wonder; then it will come to us not with violent and mighty shock; but it will fall into the rhythmic march of life that could never be measured by human calculation. Yet all past miracles are lost upon us. We must have a present miracle. The disciples therefore could not live upon the miracles of yesterday, they must have the miracle of that particular hour. So must it be with ourselves—we cannot live upon historical wonders, we can only be nourished by daily revelations of divine power and continual manifestations of divine care and love. Life is a continual miracle. The bread we eat is always broken by divine hands. If we consider the bread that is in our hands, its history and origin, we shall find that it was broken by divine, all-blessing hands, and is itself a miracle. The disciples said: "It is a spirit." But how beautifully does our Lord reply to them, "It is I, be not afraid." That voice which sounded so musically upon the streets of Jerusalem, which had spoken such words of power, that voice rose, and rang out its own peculiar melody amid the roar of the winds and the noise of the sea-waves, and carried consolation to their drooping hearts. "It is I, be not afraid." Their sorrow was instantly turned into joy, their faith into absolute assurance, and they were perfectly comforted. There was something beautiful and very delightful in this as a lesson for Christ's followers in all ages. Why does not God show Himself? God is a Spirit. It is not enough to see the figure; the sight is often misleading; so the ear must be charmed, the voice can do what the eye fails to accomplish. So Jesus said, "Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid." You cannot read the sermon, you must hear it. Some of us cannot read the Bible, we must hear it read by a sympathetic voice, every tone of which is a subtle suggestion or a profound exposition. The ministry of the human voice is of God's appointment. It charms itself into ineffable concording, apocalyptic variety and suggestion; it booms, it whispers, it commands, it soothes, it thunders with strength, it prays with piteousness of sympathy. The Gospel, therefore, is given in charge of the human voice. Preach the Gospel, it can never be read, but in a secondary and introductory sense it must be heard. The voice of Jesus was recognized when His figure was indistinguishable. In the sick chamber it is pleasant to hear the voice saying: "It is I, be not afraid." When depositing the dust of our friends in the grave, it is comforting to hear the words, "It is I, be not afraid"; and to read upon the tombstone, in the coming fore-light of the resurrection morning, "Be not afraid, I am the Resurrection and the Life." At the great last day, it is recorded, "that all that are in their graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth." We read that "When Jesus was received into the ship the wind ceased and there was a great calm." What practical lesson do we learn from this? It is that when Christ is in the heart it is life. Christ in the conscience, it is legislation. Christ in the understanding, it is light; that harmony takes the place of discord, sunshine that of cloud, and happiness in place of misery. Christ in the heart will give peace; Christ in the home will light it up with new radiance; Christ in a nation will give it stability; and Christ in the world will purify it. The result of this miracle was that the disciples worshiped the Saviour. To sum up, we may classify the miracles as follows: First, "Miracles of Love," such as the "Raising of the dead," "Curing of diseases, and healing the sick "; second, "Miracles of Power," such as Creating bread to feed the hungry multitude," "Destroying the fig-tree," "Walking on the sea, stilling the tempest, changing water into wine, multiplying the fishes, and in passing through the angry crowd." 66 Here, then, we have healed suffering, healed heart-ache, healed sin, and the healed sin is the greatest miracle of all. Thus all the miracles of Christ fall into |