11 6 Walking on the Water
6 Walking on the Water
6. Walking on the Water
Let us first get a picture well fixed on our hearts by reading Matthew 14:22-32 : "And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 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. But 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? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased." With a prayer on our hearts, let us now see what there is in this thought-provoking story.
WE ARE SENT ON A MISSION
Just as certainly as our Lord sent his disciples across the sea to the other side, just that certain has he done some sending, so far as we are concerned. He has left in the lap of the church the responsibility of letting every creature on earth hear the gospel of Christ, God’s power to save the soul, in our own day and generation. The apostles, whom Jesus sent into the world, under the Great Commission, as we often speak of it (see Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-16;Luke 24:44-53), accomplished the purpose for which they were sent out in about thirty-one years. For they received the commission in A. D. 33, but in A. D. 64 Paul could declare the gospel had been preached to every creature which was under heaven (see Colossians 1:22-23). And just so should we endeavor to carry the gospel to every accountable being living in our day. Don’t say it cannot be done, for it was done by the early disciples. Besides this, we know there are religious cults existing today that have sent their peculiar doctrines to the four winds of the earth. If a religious sect can send error to all the world in one generation, why cannot God’s people send the truth in one generation? Yes, we are sent on a mission, and we can accomplish it if we will. Let us not forget: OUR LORD IS PRAYING For just as certain as he was in the mountain yonder praying while his disciples were endeavoring to carry out orders to cross to the other side, just that certain is he in heaven now praying for us as we sail on life’s stormy sea. flow I love to read it and meditate upon it! Listen to Paul in Hebrews 7:25 : "Wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Do you, by faith, see him yonder in heaven, every moment of the day, in our behalf? If he has any other business in heaven I do not know what it is. Listen to Hebrews 9:24 : "For Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, like in pattern to the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us." Yes, he is now at God’s right hand praying for us. Oh, that every child of God on earth would let this truth lay hold of his heart!
ARE NOT WE TOO ON A TROUBLED SEA? For just as certain as those disciples were undertaking to cross a troubled sea that distressed their hearts, so are we out on life’s troubled sea undertaking to carry out our Lord’s orders. Yes, life’s troubled sea! And what a troubled sea it is just now! It is enough to bring distress to our hearts—-first, not only because of world conditions, but church conditions as well.
How important that we remember God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Psalms 46:1). It is good to have present help in time of trouble, but our God is more than present; he is very present. flow good it is to be in Christ, to be in his church and kingdom! Think of these words. "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations for ever and ever. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21). Yes, when the sea got too rough, Jesus came walking on the water. Just so he does for us—he is with us instantly in every hour of need. Keep this in your heart, weary pilgrim, as you travel on. But let us ask:
WHY DO WE BEGIN TO SINK?
Peter began to sink out there on the water, so do we often begin to sink along our journey. But what makes us begin to sink? The answer is simple: "But when saw the wind, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me." Peter began to look at the waves instead of keeping his mind on Jesus. How true it is with us. We begin to look at trouble and allow fear to come into our souls because of troubles that arise, and certainly we begin to sink. And how many right now are sinking because of fear, because they have taken their eyes off of Jesus and have them fixed on the storms of life. In running the Christian’s race, as commanded in Hebrews 12:1-2, we are instructed to look unto Jesus the "author and finisher of our faith."
Listen to this promise: "The Lord is at hand. In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus." (Php 4:5-7). And just before these words, Paul says: "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice." The fact that he repeated this certainly should make us know our Lord wants us to rejoice and be happy, and in nothing to be anxious and so troubled that we really have not sense enough to see him out on our troubled waters. The disciples saw something out there on the water, but their fears made them unable to recognize who or what it was. They thought it was a ghost. Jesus said: "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." How sweet are these words’ And how glad we are that he did not scold them for being afraid. But he does not want us to be afraid. Let us hear this voice even today, let us see him by faith as certainly as they saw him with their physical eyes. And let us know that Jesus, in every storm and difficulty, comes our way. He permits these things to try us and test us. He wants to know if we are doubting him. He wants to know if we really believe him when he said: "10, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." (Matthew 28:20 b). Why have we allowed ourselves to see him only in the sunshine and never in the storm? Yes, he certainly comes in every trial and trouble if we are really his. Has he not said: "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose"? (Romans 8:28). But get it: Sink we must when we put our hearts on troubles and keep them not on Jesus.
Hebrews 13:5-6 says: "Be ye free from the love of money; content with such things as ye have: for himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee. So that with good courage we say, The Lord is my helper; I will not fear: What shall man do unto me?" Is it not enough that he hath said it? One of the most needed lessons to the church today is this one I am now giving. The idea of taking from God’s people the consciousness of his greatness— infinite in power, his knowing our every need, his omniscience and omnipresence, and his boundless goodness. Take this not from us; it is the only thing that keeps us from sinking. The reason we have so many derelicts on life’s sea is because we have taken from our Lord’s people this life of trust, faith, and hope.
We should fight any effort of this kind viciously as we would the deadly adder. Paul says we are the true church if we hold fast our confidence and rejoicing in hope steadfast unto the end! (See Hebrews 3:6). But now look: A HAND IS STRETCHED FORTH IMMEDIATELY When Peter recognized he was sinking, he cried out: "Lord, save me." HOW much we need to make this cry today. But the cry had not died upon the winds until "immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and took hold of him." So will he do to you, my brother. The important thing is to get you to see that if you are not living this life of faith and trust, you are sinking. flow sad that some, because of their faith and trust, should be marked as unsound and unsafe today. But this is one of the things we must quickly get away from. Don’t give much thought about what man says. Paul says: "It is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment." (1 Corinthians 4:3). Let us be, as was Paul, unmoved by the criticisms of men! Learn what the book teaches and take it with the whole heart and with a grip that knows no breaking. our Lord gently reminded Peter of his little faith, and put the question that should be put to everyone: "Wherefore didst thou doubt? " Who will say he has not found himself, at times, sinking and that the sinking was started by doubting?
Well would it be for us to turn to Psalms 78:19-22 and see that it is a sin and rebellion for us to limit God’s power to help his people. Here is what David said: "Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also, can he provide flesh for his people? Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel; because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation."
STAY IN THE SHIP This effort of Peter’s to go to his Lord by walking on the water perhaps was a mistake. Think of it as much as you please, was there any reason for Peter’s wanting to walk on the water? None whatever. He was too much like some of us today—wanting to do the spectacular, something that others could not do. Did he hope for Jesus to save him out there in the water? If so, what about the other disciples he had left? No, Jesus was headed for the ship, meant to enter the ship, as he later did. And don’t forget the wind did not cease until he had Peter back in the ship. Had we not better let this ship represent the "old Ship of Zion," the church of the living God, and know that our security is to be found in it? Had not our Lord constrained the disciples to get into the ship and cross to the other side? The work he had assigned them could be done only in the ship. Just so it is with us today. "Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end," is the declaration of Paul in Ephesians 3:21. It is all right for the Lord to walk on the water, but there is no reason in our undertaking such. We have lots of miracle-mongers these days—people who want to do things our Lord did while he was here just because he did them. You had better abide in the ship and keep busy doing what he has assigned to you as your duty in the church. When you get out of the church or away from the life a normal Christian should strive to live, sooner or later you will begin to sink. Stay in the ship. Our Lord will come whenever he is needed. If he has to walk on the water to get to us, this he is able to do; but our part of the program is to stay in the ship. It is in the church of our Lord that we have instructions to enter and cross to the other side of life’s stormy sea. Our Lord did lots of things we are not supposed to do. He could look into a man’s heart and see what was there. We cannot do this. He needed that no one testify to him of man, for he knew what was in man, so declares John 2:24-25. Hence, he called men whited sepulchers, hypocrites, fools, and children of the devil. To say the least of it, our being too free to thus speak to and of people is questionable. Our duty is to preach the gospel, God’s power to save, in all of its fullness, and leave results with God. Stay in the ship, and stop getting out and trying to walk where our Lord could walk with perfect safety, but where we will get into trouble if we undertake it. A study of Psalms 139 teaches that our Lord is everywhere and from his presence we cannot flee. But this does not justify us in trying to be everywhere. The only place for us is in the church of our Lord. All that he has commanded us to do is to be done in the church just as all he had commanded those disciples to do could be done only in that ship. Stay in the ship, I say, and when storms arise, be all the more determined to abide in the ship. We are too prone to get out of the ship and run off with our own heart impulses and ways. Only in that place where he has recorded his name has he promised to come and bless us. (See Exodus 19:21). His name is recorded in his church and not out of it. Our Lord allowed Peter to try walking on the water to teach him the futility of the effort of trying to do something just because the Lord could do it. What soldier who has any sense at all but that knows he is not expected and that it would be altogether out of order for him to try, to do all his captain is supposed to do. It is well that we remember this and not call people hypocrites, whited sepulchers, fools, children of the devil, and give as our reason for this manner of speech the fact that the Lord did it. Why not go all the way and try to open blind eyes, make the maimed whole, and raise the dead? Stay in the ship, preach the simple gospel, and live as you are commanded to live.
RESOLUTION Let me be a little kinder, let me be a little blinder. To the faults of those about me; let me praise a little more;
Let me be, when I am weary, just a little bit more cheery;
Let me serve a little better those that I am striving for.
Let me be a little braver, when temptation bids me waver;
Let me strive a little harder to be all that I should be;
Let me be a little meeker with the brother that is weaker;
Let me think more of my neighbor and a little less of me.
— Selected.