Matthew 14: 22 - 33 // Have Faith

I'm reading today from Matthew 14, verses 22 to 33. Immediately, he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.

And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. But the boat, by this time, was a long way away from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.

And in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, It is a ghost! And they cried out in fear.

But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid. And Peter answered him, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.

He said, Come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid.

And beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me! Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?

And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, Truly, you are the Son of God.

Thank you, Trent, for being convenient, too. You know, there's a sincerity that you do that with, that assures me and comforts me that you do this yourself, this self-examination.

We're going to be in Matthew chapter 14, verses 22 to 33 this morning, as we had read for us already. So we will open your Bibles or chat and swipe your way there, however you get there.

Now, I know this might be a shock, but there are tough times in life, right? We have storms that come upon us, and there are different kinds of storms.

There are storms of perfection. There are storms of hardship. There are storms of obedience. We're going to go through a few of those this morning. But one of the things that we have to always keep in hyper-focus on is that Jesus is with us.

He will never forsake us. And, you know, in the discipleship class, before everything got started here, I asked the question of, where was the faith challenged first?

And, of course, you know, we were looking at, well, when Peter gets out of the boat, and that's a perfectly great answer. But I actually think it happens before then. But Jesus said, get in the boat, and we're going to go to the other side.

Because at that point, based on everything the disciples had experienced, we just come hot off of feeding of the 5,000. Miraculous things. This was not too many chapters away from when he calmed the wind and the waves already.

Miraculous that the disciples saw this. So you would think that when Jesus said, get in the boat, I'll meet you on the other side, that they wouldn't have any worries whatsoever.

And I want to make that a little more personal. You'd think at some point, with all the stories that we have in this room, of God's goodness, of his graciousness, and his mercy, answering prayers, that if he told us to get out of the boat, whatever that may be, that we'd say, okay.

And yet, sometimes we cling to the side of that boat so dearly. And that may be a foreign concept, you know, from a fishing culture, okay, but think of it this way. The boat can be financial security.

The boat can be something within us. It could be our career. It could be whatever we want to place there. And Lord, just not comfortable getting out of that boat. But when your king bids you to come, you go.

So let's look at this. Because one of the things that we can look at is, he brought us here. He's praying for us. He will come for us. And he will see us to the other side.

Those are promises that we're going to find embedded in this passage here. Whatever storm you face, whatever place you're in right now, wherever the wind and the waves seem to be just a distraction for you, the Lord is with you.

He will keep you. He will see you to the other side. And he's praying for you right now. That should give us comfort and courage. Because the storm came because the disciples were in the will of God, not out of the will of God.

Jesus said, get into the boat, go to the other side. They're following the will of God by being in that boat in the first place. Yet sometimes we can get stuck in that place thinking, well, sometimes we've got storms in life.

They might be doing something wrong. It's possible that they're doing everything right. And this storm is a storm of obedience to help them grow in the Lord. How much will you rely on me?

How much will you follow me? How far will you go? Will it be with all of your heart? Only part. You know, there's a preacher that gave a sermon a long time ago, which made me laugh then, and it does still now.

Do you know that that song is like, I surrender all, I surrender all, all to Jesus, my blessed Savior, I surrender all. He sang that again. I surrender 10%.

I surrender 10%. 10% to Jesus, my blessed Savior. Do you see that? Getting out of the boat means taking a step out of comfort, of their security.

Peter being a fisherman, this would have been his livelihood. This boat, stepping out of there would have meant so much more to him than maybe some of the other guys. Or maybe they all did different with the fishermen.

But, there's storms of correction when God disciplines us, and Jonah was in that storm. If you're not familiar with the story of Jonah, let's say it real quick.

Jonah was told to go and teach the Ninevites about the Lord and have them turn from their ways. Now, most of us would think, great, a mission from God.

I would love to do this. Thank you, Lord, for helping me with your will in my life. Jonah did not so much, though, because he didn't like the Ninevites. To his people, they were terrible people.

And so he fought to the Ninevites. He got on a boat, and he was ultimately willing to be thrown off the side because the wind and the wave picked up. The storm was so violent, so brutal, that everybody was wondering, what has caused this?

And Jonah's like, I have a problem here, guys. All right? Now, I wish they had hesitated a little more before they threw him over, but the hesitation was just small. They ended up throwing him over the boat.

Jonah was willing to go to death to avoid the will of God in his life. And I don't know about you, but I know people like that. I myself ran long and hard from what the Lord had me to do.

It took me a long time to get to a place of submission. For Jonah, he was willing to go to a place of death to avoid the will of God in his life. That storm was a storm of correction.

And you know what he did? He ended up telling the Ninevites, they all turned to the Lord and he went and pouted under a tree because he didn't want that to happen. Well, if I tell them, you're going to forgive them, right?

The bitterness, amen, that's for another day. That was a storm of correction. The storm that the disciples are in now in this passage is a storm of perfection. It's coming a little closer to Christ day by day.

And when storms hit our lives, when things like that happen, when the boat starts rocking, the waves get big, and the wind starts rolling around your headlight. You see tornadoes in the distance, okay? It's those moments where we can cling to Jesus and trust that he said, I'm going to take you to the other side.

See, the Lord has also told us, I will never leave you or forsake you. I will never leave you or forsake you. That's not, I will sometimes leave you and I might just hang out to dry.

Not even close. I will never leave you or forsake you. Whatever storm we have that we're going through right now, the Lord will see us through the other side. And he's praying for us here and now.

Some people mistake the obedience to God as smooth sailing. Thinking, well, you know, if I just come to church, if I just do the right thing, if I just act the right way, I'm going to get health, wealth, and prosperity and all this kind of stuff.

It just doesn't work like that. Because sometimes the storms that come into our life are to have us cling to him. There's times where I've felt that there is a difference between him being silent and my believing he's absent.

God is never absent. Sometimes his silence was just like, son, I need you to be disciplined in your life. I need you to read the word that I have given you. I need you to let that embed in the soil of your heart.

Just like we talked last week. I need your heart to be softened towards me. And I'm not going anywhere so I'll wait for you. That's sometimes the messages he's given to me.

Does that resonate with you at all? Where there's been a time where it's like, Lord, why are you absent? And really he's just silent because he's waiting for us. That buddy of mine told me a long time ago when I was complaining to him, it's like, I just, I don't know what's going on.

I pray and I pray and I pray and I feel like it's bouncing off the ceiling. And he said, okay, he says, when was the last time you read the word? When was the last time you got the Bible? And I said, well, the last time I taught, which at that point had been some months.

And he said, well, dude, he said, if you're not listening to what God has already said to you in his Bible, why is he going to tell you anything new? Get back in the Bible, get back in the habit.

And that started a long chain of daily Bible reading for me. And it's challenging. I will say that, but you know what? We can all do it. So some storms are there for perfection.

And just because you have one, that doesn't always mean you're doing something wrong. John 16, verse 33, I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble but take heart.

I've overcome the world. Remember, if we've obeyed the Lord and we're in a storm, he brought us there. He told us to get into that boat and he'll see us through it.

That's a promise. And he's also praying for us. And I think this is such an interesting picture of God's relationship with his church here and now today.

We're on the scene. We're in the middle of a storm. Things are getting hot out there. I'm not just talking about our sky. I'm talking about the political heat. Things are turning up around the world.

You can't miss it that there's just something that feels off. The deception just no longer gets checked. Things happen and we just simply let it roll out without question.

We might be seeing history close sooner than we think. And it might be our children's children's children's children that see it go through close. But you can't help but look around and think something's different than when I grew up.

Things have changed and they're still changing. We're on the scene. We're in the middle of the storm. Romans 8.34. Who then is the one who condemns?

No one. Christ Jesus who died more than that who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. And if you're unfamiliar with the word interceding it's just a pleading or a praying on the behalf of someone else.

Now can you picture that Jesus is doing that for you right now in your life through your storm? He's pleading and praying for you on your behalf.

That's how much God loves us. Of course he's looking after our church but you as an individual the Lord himself is praying for. Those private battles you have the private storms that we don't tell anybody about Jesus is praying for you that should give us great courage because he knows the world we live in and he knows our needs and he knows our struggles and he prays for you and he loves you.

Third, he will come to us when we're in the middle of something and we need you to start feeling like Jesus deserted where are you Lord?

When there's that time where it feels more like absence than silence where are you Lord? Where have you been? I don't understand. I'm going through this I'm praying and yet I'm struggling with knowing what you want to do with this time.

Why is this so hard? If you ask yourself any of those questions you're in good company because even Paul got into this situation. There's a little line in here that we pass over a little too easily.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 8 we do not want you to be uninformed brothers and sisters about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure far beyond our ability to endure so that we despaired of life itself.

The apostle Paul got to a place of despairing of life itself. Oh it's so hard so difficult we want to think that Paul is this superhero okay and don't get me wrong Paul was someone we would all want to learn from I would never want to argue with the guy okay like it just that stresses me not thinking about it because he's just so well-learned so eloquent so able to converse in a way that is convincing he's amazing that way when we read of him I can't help but think I'd love to learn from him sitting somewhere and yet this same man despaired of life itself so if you've been to that place you're not alone and Jesus knows that story you're going through and he's going to see you through it just as he did with the disciples Jesus comes to us in the storms of life as he came to the disciples out of the storm on that particular evening

Isaiah 43 verse 2 when you pass through the waters I will be with you and when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you when you walk through the fire you will not be burned the flames will not set you ablaze I'm going to read that again when you pass through the waters I will be with you and when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you and when you walk through the fire you will not be burned the flames will not set you ablaze the wind can be loud the waves can rock the boat but you're going to get to the other side just remember who you have your eyes fixed on is it the winds and the waves or is it Jesus verses 22 to 24 immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side and while he dismissed the crowd after he dismissed them he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray and later that night he was there alone and the boat was already a considerable distance from land buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it

Jesus walked on water to show them there's nothing to fear nothing to fear back in the day there was an incredible respect of the sea of the water in general Israel actually didn't have a navy they had people they hired but they themselves didn't have a navy they had a respect of the sea they believed it was to be respected and sure as death itself which is why I say Jonah was willing to go to death to avoid the will of God he was willing to be thrown into the sea be consumed by death to avoid the will of God that is how they respected the sea it was a huge thing so being tossed about by waves and the wind this was a big deal for them and Jesus walked on water to show them you have nothing to fear for I am with you to the very end of the age I said to go to the other side we are going to the other side that at times we fear difficult situations and circumstances that are out of our control but it's in those moments that the Lord wants to draw us near to draw us closer to him to remind us that we are not alone that we don't have to fight that battle we just sang that song

Lion and Judah I love that song and one of the reasons being he is fighting our battles it's his battle get behind him follow him keep your eyes fixed on him you do not have to weather the storm by yourself because fear and faith cannot live in the same heart we've heard that a million times from a million preachers I'm sure but I'll tell you right now it's still hard to settle in isn't it we can hear things like that and think yeah I agree with that let it settle into your heart so it becomes a conviction that's tough fear and faith cannot live in the same heart at the same time you can't have faith and be fearful and if you're fearful you're having little faith okay verses 28 to 31 Lord if it's you Peter replied tell me to come to you on the water come he said I'm going to stop right there for a moment a little interesting tidbit if you look in the original language that bidding come is exactly the tone and the address a king would say to a servant this is showing the kingship

Peter is acknowledging Jesus as king based on all of his experiences who he knows Jesus to be if it's you tell me to come and as a king Jesus is looking at Peter and saying it's me come on okay this is the kingship of Jesus over all things then Peter got out of the boat walked on the water and came toward Jesus but when he saw the wind he was afraid and beginning to sink cried out Lord save me immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him you little faith he said why did you doubt now I asked this question earlier in the morning too and don't raise your hands are you or do you know of anybody the kind of person when things go just a little bit wrong you start freaking out like your hair's on fire right you notice how it didn't say Peter started to drown okay he started to sink a little and he started freaking out so that's something to keep in our minds there are moments when we're walking through and the storm hits us we're immediately like hair's on fire it brings everybody down with us it's in those moments as well as the moments where you're neck deep that we should trust in the Lord trust in the Lord as he said he was going to go to the other side he was acknowledging his kingship he stepped out of the boat which for a fisherman he knew exactly what he was doing that was a step of courageous faith don't get me wrong but the moment he started sinking down he started losing so maybe we can be different the word doubt here when translated it carries the meaning of standing uncertainly in front of two ways so imagine you're at a crossroads and instead of picking one you're just standing there now anxiety is different anxiety in the original language is like being pulled apart in two different directions if you're having anxiety it's like being ripped apart in two okay doubt is uncertainly standing at the foot of two ways you can go left you can go right but you choose to do nothing because you're doubting and sometimes you just gotta get out of the boat change you feel like a four letter nasty word sometimes okay but there are times where you have to step out of the boat trust that Jesus has got and he's gonna take you to that other side and that can be a scary thing and yet it's what we're called to do he started out

Peter started out with great faith but ended up with little faith because he saw two ways instead of one I'm gonna follow Jesus I'm gonna walk towards him or I'm gonna sink he started to see this there's gonna be ruin or there's gonna be praise things are gonna go really well or they're gonna go really terrible and you're stuck in that moment in between and I'm sure where you go you're stuck in between fear and faith as Peter was but the storms of life are not easy they are necessary they try us they help us get closer to the Lord now you know it says to be thankful in all things it doesn't necessarily mean to be thankful for all things so I'm not gonna say Lord thank you that tornado ripped through and just took my roof out of my house I'm really grateful for that thank you no but Lord why are you teaching me through this right maybe I need to lean on my neighbors a little bit more to get to know them to trust them maybe I need to be able to receive help instead of saying I'm good there's something in the storm that we learn from there always is we just have to be able to settle ourselves trust in the Lord and keep our eyes fixed on him because he will see us through

Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith if he asks us to come to him if he says let's get in the boat if he says we're going to go to the other side let me stretch it a little further if he says I will never leave you nor forsake you that's a yes and amen promise whatever he starts he completes notice here we'll miss it if we're not careful two people stood on the water and two people got in the boat we're really obsessed over what happened in between but look how Jesus delivered this Jesus was on the water Peter to come out and follow and Peter did and Peter didn't drown two people got back in the boat and you know what they went to the other side I'll talk about them next week that's an exciting story but here two people got out two people got him

Jesus promises the Lord's promises our father in heaven his promises are yes and amen so he will see us through the storms verses 32 and 33 and I'll close shortly after that and then we climbed into the boat the wind died down and then those who were in the boat worshipped him saying truly you are the son of God now in Matthew 8 that's the story where we originally saw the storm that was happening and Jesus was asleep in the boat if you remember that and when he calmed the sea and the wind you know what they said what matter of man is this in other words who is this guy what matter of man is this that he controls all of this look at their reaction now so a little bit further down the line with Jesus seeing some miraculous things happen seeing answered prayers seeing deliverance seeing the 5,000 fit imagine that in your mind for a moment and they say truly you are the son of

God what a shift in the heart that has happened for the disciples already what a shift in the heart that can happen for us if we look back at the wonderful things the way the Lord has taken care of us provided for us shielded us led us through other storms whatever we're going through now we can look at him and say surely you are the son of God and I'll say it again as I did last week Revelation 1 says there is a throne in heaven and it is occupied that means something our king is alive the same king that bid Peter come out to me on the water is sitting on the throne now the same king is praying for you and me right now pleading praying interceding for us for whatever storms in life we have at the moment the ship landed close to Capernaum and there Jesus healed many people and those people were not likely aware of what Jesus and the disciples had just gone through and yet they're still working they're still moving forward

Jesus endured the storm of judgment on the cross to save our souls he endured that storm for you and me and he is praying for us I hope that gives us a pause of humility just to remember just what he's done for us in that way Psalm 42 verse 7 deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls all your waves and breakers have swept over me Jesus is king let us bow at his feet let us recognize that surely you are a son of God as we close in worship today let that be on our heart I pray that the Lord will bring to mind the time that he has answered your prayers put money in the bank account he didn't even know would be there or could be there and yet he provided for you anyway that we would look at all those times where he's forgiven us and restored and redeemed our lives whether it's with family whether it's with friends the answered prayers that he's brought to us

I pray that that will bring us to a place who would look at him and say surely you are the son of God that will worship him he brought us here he brought us to this place he brought us to the storm that we're going through right now if you're going through he's praying for us he will come to us he will help you go through it and he will deliver you to the other side let's pray I have me father I am grateful for the storms and I'm only grateful for the storms because I know that you are you are and you are Lord over all and I know whatever storm we are going through as individuals as a community as a church as a country I know father that there's something that we can learn from so father show us how we can get closer to you through this walk I ask that you'll help us to not look at the wind and the waves but if you are bidding us to step out of the boat if we are to get out of our comfort zone in some way father that you would help us to step out and keep our eyes fixed on you and live a life of faith and not fear in Jesus name

Amen thanks to invite everybody to stand as we close in worship today Lord I come I confess bowing in I find I rest without you I fall apart you're the one that guides my heart Lord I need you Lord I need you every hour

I need you my one defense my righteousness oh God help I need you!

I need to do I need your grace more where grace is found is where you are where you are Lord I am free holiness is Christ in me where you are Lord I am free holiness is Christ in me Lord I you oh I need you every hour I need my one defense my righteousness

O God am need you so teach my song rise you when temptation comes my way when I stand up alone you Jesus you are hope and stay when cannot stand up alone you Jesus you are my hope and you Lord need you oh I need you every hour I need you

I want defense I am righteous oh God how I need you you Lord need you oh I need you every hour I need you my one defense my righteousness oh God how I need you help need you you you my defense my God help need you God I!

praise from whom all blessings flow praise Him all creatures here in love praise Him above the heavenly host praise Father Son and Holy Ghost the Amen Be blessed as you go into your week