The Lord Jesus said, “If any man thirst, let him come ….” This is an all-inclusive invitation to the human family. None are excluded, except those who exclude themselves. The one condition is the Lord Jesus said, “If any man thirsts.” You say, “I don’t thirst.” Well then, maybe it wasn’t for you. But if you thirst, He says come to Him. He can satisfy you. Isaiah included this in his invitation when he said, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come.” And anyone can come to Christ who chooses to come. You have a need and a desire? Come.

“Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.” Now you see, we have Mark giving us more or less an order of the events after the resurrection. “He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature.” This has been a gospel of action. Now He’s telling them to get into action. They are to go. And by the way, He is saying to us today that we should be men and women of action for God. What are we doing today to get the Word of God out? That’s our business, friends. You ought to have some part in getting the Word of God out.

The bodily resurrection of Jesus is one of the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith. It’s the very heart to the primitive gospel. Every sermon preached in the book of Acts is a message on the Resurrection. Every speaker got to this subject, and the early church dwelt upon it constantly. He is risen. That’s the thrilling message which electrified a lethargic and sinful generation in the Roman Empire, turned them upside down, wrong side out, and right side up, and they went out to tell the world about it. There’d be hope today if the church would preach this truth with much assurance, let me tell you.

“And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.” I believe that this was the confession of faith of the centurion. He acknowledged that Jesus was God’s Son. He acknowledged who He was and certainly what He was doing. I do not believe that this man had all the details of theology. But this man knew enough to take his place beneath the cross of Christ, and you know that’s all God’s asked any sinner to do—to come in faith to Him.

Now the gospel is translated into action. Paul could say later on, “I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received; how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. And that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” You see, the gospel is what He did; it’s not what God’s asking you to do. It’s His action, not your action or mine today. Because you and I are in no position to do anything that would be acceptable to God. Your righteousness and my righteousness is not acceptable for salvation. God provides that righteousness in Christ.

“For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” Now this is a verse that’s been so misunderstood today. You find that the Christian doesn’t need to throw mountains around literally, but he needs power today for living and meeting the daily mountains of cares and problems. But I want to tell you very candidly, I would like to be strengthened with might by the Holy Spirit in the inner man. And that, my friend, would be greater than moving a mountain. That’s the thing that’s important. That is, have faith in God.

“Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.” I think probably we ought to pause there just a moment to make this comment. Today, we’re always trying to get children to become adults. Our Lord says, “I wish some of the adults would become little children.” We hear so much today about going on and growing and developing, and actually that’s great after you become a child of God. But actually most of us are going the wrong way. We need to leave our cleverness and our sophistication and our great knowledge that we boast of today and return to the simplicity of childhood, and just with simple faith trust Christ.

Now, let’s look at that for just a moment, because this is quite interesting, I think, here that a crisis is arising about the person of Christ or the person of Jesus. They were two groups, coming together around Him. The first group was made of His friends, His followers, and those who loved Him. And the second group comprised His enemies who sought to destroy Him. It has ever been this way. There are two groups: Those who trust Him and those who reject Him. And that’s true today. And, very personally, what group are you in? It makes all the difference in the world. It’s not whether you’re a member of a church or been through a ceremony. What’s your relationship to Jesus Christ? That’s the thing that’s all important.

Those men were down there that night, mingling their sweat with the waves, the salty waves that were breaking over that little boat as they were straining at the oars, and they actually thought they were going down. But it says, “He saw them toiling in rowing.” And I love that. I don’t know where you are today, and I do not know what position you’re in. You may be in a hard spot right now. You may be facing temptation and problems that are too great to bear. I have some news for you, Christian friend. He sees you. He knows your problem. Oh, today, that you might commit your way to Him in a very definite way.

“They feared exceedingly and said one to another, ‘What manner of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?’” It was not so much the fact He quieted the storm, but the way that He did it. It had just leveled out. There was a sudden calm. And this miracle was so great that it made these men afraid. What a wonderful thing it is. He puts us in the storms of life in order that we might come closer to Him and that we might know Him better. “Jesus, Savior, pilot me o’er life’s tempestuous sea. Unknown waves before me roll, hiding rocks and treacherous shoal. Chart and compass come from Thee—Jesus, Savior, pilot me.”