Matthew-041

 

As we turn to the Word of God, as we come here not to listen to a man but to listen to what God wants to say to us, let us be quiet before him and prepare our hearts that he may speak to our hearts. Let us pray together.

Father, we want to keep praising you and thanking you that you are such a great God, wonderful and glorious, majestic, powerful, wise! As we gather here tonight, we know every person in this room is precious to you even though we may not yet know their names per­sonally, nor have met with them or spoken to them. We know that you know them already. You know their needs and we pray Father, that no person will leave this room without having allowed your Word to enter into his heart in some measure, and we pray that you will speak to every heart in a deep way. We ask that you will glorify your name. Amen.

 

Becoming a Christian is a matter of knowing Jesus

Becoming a Christian is a matter of knowing Jesus, and by knowing Jesus, I don’t mean knowing about him. We can know about a person without knowing a person. I think that distinction should be clear to most of you. So when I am asked, “Do you know so and so?” If I mean that I know his name and address, I cannot say I know him but I know about him. I know his name, where he lives, what he does, what he studies and so forth. But to know a person you will have to meet and talk with that person, and being a Christian is a matter of meeting with having met with God. Now I fear many Christians know Jesus in a certain way, but what they mean is that they know about him. And the same can be said of non-Christians. If I ask you, “Do you know who Jesus is?” You might say, “Well, I know about him. I know that he was born somewhere in the Middle East. He lived a long time ago at a certain place, and he did many marvelous things, so they say.” What I mean is not, “Do you know about him?” but “Have you met with him?” That is a very different question. And I wonder whether there are some people who call themselves Christians, who really only know about Jesus at second-hand, or third-hand. They have believed in Jesus because their father, mother, or friend believed in Jesus, so they said, “Well, if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me. If they believe in him, I’ll believe in him.” That is faith at second-hand. That is not knowing Jesus at all. And it is this that makes you either a true Christian, or a so-called “Christian”, or a non-Christian. This is the point I would like to make to you. This evening, we want to talk about getting to know Jesus, and knowing him in a very personal way.

 

Learning Simon Peter’s spiritual secret

We want to do this by looking at what a person called Simon Peter has to teach us by his character, mistakes, and the things he did. Simon Peter is a very interesting man. I think the Bible tells us a lot about Peter simply because he was a very likeable character, at least I like him. And today, we want to look at both the mistakes Peter made and the right things he did, and what we can learn about Jesus through them.

We can identify with Peter—at least I feel I can—because Peter is not one of these people who always does things right, who never says a word out of turn, and who is so perfect that you can just about see a halo over his head. But the thing about Peter is, the good man had a certain knack for always doing things wrong. Every time something was to be done wrong, Peter was there to do it. He is really marvelous! I feel I can identify with him. We think of apostles as saints. When we talk about apostles, we immediately think of some statues in some medieval church, dressed in funny long robes, holding a crook in their hands, and on their heads is the inevitable halo. And you will say, “Well, if being a Christian means becoming like this, I guess that’s not for me!”

I hope that by this sermon, you will see that Peter was not this kind of person at all. He was someone we can identify with, who had the same problems we have, who was so eager and earnest but always did the wrong thing. What a comfort it is that we can learn not just from the right things but also from the wrong that people do, because there are some Christians who are so good that when we compare ourselves with them, we feel so far down the scale. We think: “It’s no good. I’ll never get there.” So the great encouraging thing about Peter is, you look at him and say, “Well, I think I can just about make it to his level.”

We can see through Peter’s experiences, how did he come to know Jesus? How did he get on? What was his secret? What made him the great apostle that he was? He was after all one of the three greatest of the apostles. Then you will say, “How does this fellow who keeps blundering his way through life end up becoming one of the greatest apostles? Just what is his secret?” So we might entitle this talk, “Peter’s Spiritual Secret.” I find his secret very precious.

This account is in Matthew 14:22-33. I want you to use your imagination and try to see all the things that happen in that scene, and then ask yourselves, what can we learn from all this?

 

From fear to faith

From fear to faith. This really is a marvelous account! This is an account of Jesus coming to save his disciples. They are caught in a terrible storm in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Lake of Galilee. Sometimes, it is called “the Sea” mainly because it is a very big lake – six miles across, thirteen miles long. Certainly, it’s no joke to get caught in the middle of this lake when a storm hits it and throws the waves up into tremendous billows. Peter was a fisher­man, an experienced seaman. He had been on this lake many times, and knew it is a very dangerous lake. Even today, boats go down when a storm hits the lake. You don’t get any hint that a storm is coming, and what do you do when you are in the middle of the lake?

Let us picture what is happening here. The Lord Jesus has been feeding these 5,000 men besides women and children. That is a miracle! After that, these people got so enthusiastic for Jesus: “Jesus is marvelous! He feeds our bellies, so every time we are hungry, we’ll just go to Jesus. We’ll vote for Jesus!” They were going to crown him king right there!

There are two parallel accounts to this one, and when you study the Bible, you have to compare these accounts to get the overall picture. In John 6:15, they wanted to crown Jesus as king after this feeding. Now Jesus knew their thoughts. He says, “I know you very well. I know you want to make me king because your bellies are full. You want to make me king to solve all your financial problems, so that you’ll never have to work anymore.”

We want the kind of Lord that can solve our financial problems so that we can sit back, relax, and twiddle our thumbs. Then the meals will come down on trays in front of us, served by the apostles themselves! How is that for service? That’s just nice! So they want to vote Jesus as king. But Jesus knows our hearts. He is not having any of that. When we try to make use of Jesus and his power for our selfish purposes, you will find that Jesus withdraws from us.

 

If you want to know Jesus, don’t exploit him

If you want to know Jesus, then learn point number one: Don’t try to exploit him. Human beings are good at exploiting. If they can exploit anyone, they will do it. If God can be exploited, they will exploit God. One thing you have not reckoned on is he is the living God. He knows exactly what goes on in your mind. To their shame, many people, including Christians, too often think of God as some kind of glorified coin machine, which gives you an instant meal when you put in some coins. The way they pray to God rather gives me the impression that the prayer is like the coin they push in and they expect the answer to come out like an instant meal. If you try to make use of God like this, you will find that God just goes further and further away from you. You will get absolutely nowhere with him. He looks straight into your heart and knows what you are thinking. You are wasting your time if you pray like this. Don’t try to make use of God if you really want to know God.

I have known people who have tried to play games with God. When you play games with the living God, you are doing something very, very dangerous. I know a person who said, “God, I can’t afford a car at the moment, but I’ll make a deal with you. If you give me a car, I’ll come to church.” What are you doing? Does God need your presence in the church? Is he going to beg you and say, “Look, if you don’t come to church, I’m going to be badly off”? What has he got to gain from all of this? You are the loser, not him. It’s we who need him. Let’s not get the facts wrong. Bargaining with God gets us nowhere.

The crowds tried to make use of Jesus, the Messiah. They wanted to crown him king to make use of him, not because they want to glorify him. Jesus just dispersed the crowds. He said, “Go home everybody!” And he told the disciples, “Get into the boat, all of you, and go across the lake!” Then he went quietly into the mountains to pray. He was a man who loved to be close to his God and Father.

Now you can see the picture in your mind: Jesus was quietly praying up on the hills on the east side of the Lake of Galilee, and the disciples were in the middle of the lake. Night was falling, it was getting dark. I speak about the Lake of Galilee with great affection because I have been there, I know the place very well. I even took a swim in the Lake of Galilee remembering that Peter also swam in the lake. I wanted to see how that was like.

So the Lord Jesus was up in the hills praying on the east side of the lake, and the disciples were rowing across the lake. When they were three to four miles from shore, that is, they were in about the middle of the lake, a storm hits them (Jo. 6:18-19). Although they were experienced fishermen, they were struggling hard, pulling the oars with all their great muscles. This was a job they had done many times before. Notice, the Bible tells us they were rowing. You cannot use sails when the storm is coming straight on. People who have done some sailing know that they can tack against the wind, but in a storm, the best thing is to pull down the sails.

Now picture this. The eastern shore of the Lake of Galilee is where the 5,000 were fed. The disciples were rowing across the lake. Now when you row, which direction do you face? Of course, you row with your back to the front of the boat, because the back muscle is stronger. You cannot get much strength by pushing. You pull back­wards, stretch out your legs, and get quite a reasonable pull. You also sit down so that your center of gravity is low, and when the storm blows, you don’t fly off into the water. The disciples are pulling at the oars. The storm is terrific. They are getting absolutely nowhere, fighting the wind hour after hour. If any of you have tried rowing against a storm, you will know what it’s like. You just can’t make any progress. You are getting tired, but there is no progress. What is more dangerous is that water is coming into the boat, and people have to bail it out. The rowing force is diminished, progress is reduced, and the whole situation is looking pitiful.

At the time, it is the fourth watch in the morning, the dawn watch, that is, between three and six o’clock in the morning. It’s dark all around, the sun has not come up yet, but the morning sky is brightening. The disciples see the morning sky is brightening, turning silver, red, and the sun is slowly rising. They are pulling hard. Suddenly, they see a figure outlined against the sky, walking on the water! They must have blinked their eyes and said, “What’s happening? A figure is walking on water!” Can you imagine the fear that they felt in all this? A storm is bad enough, but a figure is walking on the water! They cannot see his face. It’s a dark outline against the brightness of the dawning sky. The Bible tells us they cried out for fear.

Can you say you are not afraid? Wait until it is all dark, and you are in the middle of the lake with a storm beating about. I have heard brave people turn into all sorts of cowards. When they sit in the room, they are really brave and say, “Who’s afraid of anything? I never believe in ghosts! Rubbish!”

We remember in our school days, we used to all say, “I don’t believe in ghosts. Superstition! Nonsense!” And then in the evening, just for the fun of it, we get together to tell ghost stories. I remember these fellows saying, “I never believe in this nonsense. Carry on with your ghost story.”

One of them said, “I’ll tell you a ghost story now, eh?”

He said, “Carry on. It never terrifies me.”

So the fellow tells his story. As the storytelling is going on, suddenly, he jumps on another fellow, who shoots right out of his seat saying, “What do you mean by frightening me like this?”

“I thought you didn’t believe in ghosts. Why are you frightened?”

“Oh, I don’t believe in ghosts!”

“So why are you frightened?” He could not quite make out why he was frightened.

And have you ever noticed that although you are sure you never believe in ghosts, when you go out into the dark after a ghost story session, and a cat squeaks, you jump again. It’s strange, isn’t it?

 

Faith requires courage

These disciples are strong muscle men. Remember, they had been working on this lake; they know this place. It’s no joke for them to see a person walking on the water! When this figure gets nearer and nearer, they are absolutely terrified, and cry out with fear! Here is the predicament. The strange thing is that Jesus is coming to save them. They are frightened by the storm and the one who is coming to save them.

Here is another lesson we can learn. I find this is a very important and invaluable lesson: Faith requires courage. It takes a lot of courage to have faith. Faith is not for cowards.

 

A group of students who lacked courage never met with Jesus

Let me give you an example. Some years ago in London, I was talking with a group of research students. They were all very left-wing, pro-Communist students, and they claimed that they were atheists. I said, “Atheists? That’s fine.” I’ve met a lot of atheists in my time and once I thought I was an atheist too until I met with God.

One was a research student in physics, another one was a doctoral student in chemistry, and I was one against the whole crowd of atheists. I said, “All right, you are atheists and you are all arguing with me. Look, I’m going to put you to the test, or you put me to the test. I’ll tell you about God who I believe in. I know that God is right here in this room.”

They said, “What?”

I said, “Yes, right here in this room.”

They said, “Well, we don’t know God, and we don’t see God around here.”

I said, “Okay, you don’t believe it. I’ll give you the chance to have a straightforward test.”

They said, “What test?” They were beginning to get uncertain now.

I said, “I said that God is in this room, and he is the living God who hears what we say, right?”

They said, “Right, you said that.”

“Now if you talk to this wall, does this wall answer you?”

“No, the wall doesn’t answer.”

“If you talk to this table, does this table answer you?”

“Oh no, of course, it doesn’t! How can a table answer you?”

“Okay, I’m telling you that if you talk to God, he will answer you. Are you ready to start now?”

“Just wait a minute! Hold it! We have to think about this.”

“Well, you said there is no God, right? You don’t believe in God.”

“Right.”

“So you’re not afraid of something you don’t believe in, are you?”

“No, we’re not afraid.”

“Okay. You don’t believe in God, so you’re not afraid of him.”

“No, I guess we’re not afraid of him.”

“Okay, I’ve just said if you speak to the wall, it can’t answer you. But I have told you that if you speak to God, he can and will answer you. Do you take me on?”

“Wait a minute. What’s this?”

“Look, I’m giving you a fair chance to prove it. If my God doesn’t respond to you, punch me. I’m right here. I’m not running away like one of these Chinese mai gao yao (quacks selling wonder drugs).”

In Shanghai, there were people who always thought of a new way to make a living. And I remember near our house, we had a fellow coming around who sold medicinal tablets, and he guaranteed that if you swallowed this tablet, no snake will ever bite you. The trouble is, if you look around, there is no snake. The only snake around was his snake, and his snake doesn’t bite anyone. By the time you take your tablet and go to the zoo and stick your hand through the cage to the snake, he would be gone! Or by the time you come back the next day to say, “Look at what happened to me!” he has moved onto the next town to sell his wonder drug over there.

Well, I said, “I’m not running away. I’m right here. That’s a fair enough test, right?”

They said, “Say that again, what do we have to do?”

I said, “You come to the living God, and you are going to talk to him. You’re going to tell him the problems you have told me. You tell him you don’t believe in him, and give him the reasons why you don’t believe him. I hope you have some reasons.

They said, “Well, we thought we had some just a while ago.”

“So can you tell him the reasons why you don’t believe in him. State them honestly, fairly, straight from the heart, humbly please. You are dealing with the living God. I won’t like to be on your side of the chair if you behave too wrongly. If you don’t just want an argument, if you are sincere in wanting to know the truth, well, here’s your oppor­tunity. If he doesn’t answer you, I’m here. Tell me I’m a liar. I’ll have to accept it, won’t I? Come humbly to him if you really want to know God, and say, “God, I don’t know you, I haven’t met with you. I don’t even know how to know you. But this man here tells me that if I come humbly to talk to you, if I’m prepared to let whatever hindrance that stands between you and me be taken away, you’ll speak to me, you’ll let me come to know you.” If you are prepared to do that, I tell you, God will speak to your heart in a way that you will know it. Now are you willing to take my challenge?”

It’s strange, do you know what? The whole lot of them turned coward. Not one was willing to take my challenge! They were frightened because I said, “Here is the truth. I stand for it. I know I speak the truth. If you don’t think that I speak the truth, put me to the test.”

Do you think I would be preaching the gospel, and not find myself another job where I can make four or five times as much money, if I didn’t believe that God is true? But you don’t have to go on my belief. What I am inviting you to do is you prove for yourself. That’s fair enough. Can you be fairer than that?”

But they were frightened. That is why I said faith requires courage, the courage to face the truth even if you don’t like it. You are pre­pared to say, “Okay, if that’s the case, I’ll do it even if it’s going to cost me that much.” But the whole lot of them, atheists as they claimed, turned coward. Not one would take me on.

Some time later, I saw one of them again. By that time, he had completed his doctorate and was lecturing in London University. I came home one day, and somebody told me there was someone waiting for me in the sitting room. And there was he. He was the leader of the left-wing, pro-Communist group for the students in London. I was very surprised to see him because he was one of that group I had challenged that day.

He said, “I’ve come to have a chat with you.”

I said, “You’re most welcome. Come to my room.”

And he said, “Tell me something, how did you become a Christian?”

Well, I told him how I became a Christian. And he asked me many, many questions.

He said, “I want to tell you that I would really like to come to know God. I realize that what you are saying is true.”

But he was afraid. Even to that day, he was still afraid. He dared not take the step forward. He dared not leave the security of his little boat, if you can call it security. Even though that boat might be sinking any minute, it was still a boat! After all, if you step out of it, you are on pretty uncertain ground; you are right in the water. So he felt safer even in his insecure boat.

Right up to that evening, I saw that he was fighting within him. Later that night, he left, and he said to me, “I really want to know God. I’ll go back and think about this more carefully. I knew he lacked the courage to be a Christian. His delay was very costly because I heard later that he had been deported from England because of his left-wing activities. I was very sad about this because I felt he was so close to meeting with God, but it was too late. He was slung out of the country, and I don’t know where he is now.

 

Another student had courage to face the truth, and his life was changed

But on another occasion, I put the same challenge to someone, who and was also a left-wing student. He had so many questions to ask me. When I finished one answer, he asked another question, and I hardly had time to catch my breath when he asked me another question. I said, “Look, hold on a minute, all right? You have so many questions that I’ll be here all night, and maybe the next few days trying to answer them. There’ll never be an end to it because by the time I answer one, you’ll have another, and when I answer the other, you’ll have yet another one. Are you trying to argue with me, or do you really want to meet with God?”

He said, “Oh, I’m not arguing with you. I really do want to meet with God.”

So I said, “Do you mean that?”

He said, “I mean that.”

“Okay. Are you prepared to do what I will tell you to do?”

“What is it?”

“Talk to God.”

“Talk to God? How do I do that?”

I said, “Well, talk with him in the way that you talk with me.”

“Oh! You mean he listens to me?”

“Certainly he listens to you. If you have talked with him and he hasn’t replied, you will know it, won’t you?”

He said, “Sure, I’ll know.”

I said, “Right, put all these questions you are putting to me to him. Tell him your problems. Discuss it with him in the same way as you are talking to me now. But you have to come humbly to God. We will kneel down here before God. Nobody swaggers into the presence of him who created heaven and earth. Remember, you are not even as big as a peanut in terms of the universe. Come humbly before God. If you want to know the truth, put away arrogance from your heart. Arrogance is the supreme hindrance to knowing the truth. You don’t even have to be a scientist to know that. Every scientist knows that as well. In searching for truth, you always have to come sincerely, humbly, but with determination. And it can be costly in time and energy, determined to get through to the truth. Are you ready?”

He said, “Okay.”

So we knelt down, and I prayed for him, and I said, “Go on, talk to God. Tell him your problems.”

So he started, and off he went. After a while he stopped. We got up, and he said, “You know, something’s happened to me.”

I said, “Has it? I told you.”

He said, “Something’s happened. I don’t know what’s happened, but I have somehow been changed.”

I said, “That’s right. You have. You have met with God. I told you right from the beginning, you are dealing with the living God. What did you expect?”

He said, “I never expected this. All my life I have been looking for – I don’t know how to describe him – God, who could transform my life, and He’s done it!”

He was so astonished! He is a very active Christian serving God right to this day. At that time, he was just about to begin his studies in medicine, but such was his experience of meeting with God that he didn’t want to study medicine anymore. He brought down the anger of his family on him, as you can imagine. But he said, “Now I know God, I’ve met with him, I really want to get on to know him. That’s the most important thing for me now.” He had caught the vision. He had met with God.

Unless you have met with God, it’s no use analyzing someone else’s experience because everyone’s experience is different. When you have met with God, you know that you have met with him. And there is no question about it. Are you a “second-hand Christian”? That is, you are a Christian because someone else believes in God, and you think, “Oh, his reasons are quite good, I’ll accept them for myself.” Then you don’t know God. You only know about him. And if you are not a Christian, take me on! I’m not selling bogy medicine. I’m here to be proved.

 

Sin causes storms to blow up in our lives

Let us carry on and look at this picture. These disciples are rowing in the storm, just as we row in the storm of life. Storms in this world, in our lives, in our families, are caused by sin. Sin causes storms to blow up in our lives. People become restless within themselves. When sin sweeps through their lives, it’s like a plague of locusts, or a storm that turns everything wild in their lives. It’s a terrible thing. Look at the mess the world has become because of sin.

God so loved the world that he sent Jesus to solve the problem of sin starting with each particular person. The disciples are caught in the storm, beaten about by the wind and waves, and the Savior comes to their help. And what happens when the Savior comes? They are terrified. Just like those research students are frightened, when I said to them, “Come humbly to God, because God tells us to come to him.” They dared not come.

So I say to you, please learn this lesson. Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid,” just as he said to these disciples. He is not going to harm you. God sent Jesus to save you, to give you peace. God is going to transform you by taking sin out of your life, and making you a new kind of person, who is not controlled by sin. Instead, you will have the joy of communing with God. The whole purpose of talking to you about this is that you find out for yourself. You don’t have to take my word for it. It is that you can meet with God and know him.

Now Jesus is walking towards his disciples, just like he is ever-ready to come to us. Even as you listen to the words of the gospel that I am speaking to you, God is approaching you through Jesus. Now you don’t have to run away. Jesus says, “There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’ve not come to hurt you in any way.”

 

What can we learn from Peter’s response?

What is Peter’s reaction when Jesus says, “Do not be afraid”? Peter listens and recognizes that it is the voice of Jesus! Well, it’s easy to recognize a voice. When you pick up the telephone, you don’t always have to ask who is speaking. You hear the voice and you can recognize it. But what Peter was not expecting was Jesus walking on the water! What is more, he could see the form but he could not see Jesus’ features. He was silhouetted against the dawning sky.

You have to compare the account between the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and John, and Mark 6:48 tells us that Jesus was not coming straight at the boat. Can you think why? They were frightened enough just to see him slightly passing by the boat, so if he were coming straight at the boat, you can imagine they would all jump into the water! Imagine the fright! I find that Jesus is so wonderful. Here we can learn is another thing about Jesus: he is so wonderful in his dealings with us.

As you look at all these historical details in these accounts, you can see they are written by an eyewitness. Matthew is writing this. Matthew was there of course. He was one of the disciples. He is writing as someone who saw the whole thing as it happened.

Now take for example, Mark’s Gospel, it is based on Peter’s account, as most of you will know. Peter is telling the story to Mark. When Peter went abroad preaching in various places, Mark translated for him because his Greek was not very good. It’s just like in many churches, a person is preaching in Mandarin, and someone translates into Cantonese, or vice versa. So we have this account by eyewitnesses who were present at the scene. Mark tells us Peter’s account, that Jesus was walking somewhat to the side of the boat, seeming to pass by the boat, because the disciples would have been so terrified if he were coming straight at the boat.

 

Peter thinks the only safe place is to be with Jesus

Now, Peter sees Jesus coming somewhat beside the boat, and he hears the voice. What do you think is going on in Peter’s mind? He might well be thinking: “Hey, if he is Jesus, he’s not going to walk straight past here, and leave us in the middle of this storm, is he?” So he got an idea, and called out, “Lord Jesus! If it’s you, call me to come to you. Say the word, “Come,” and I’ll come to you walking on the water.” He knows it’s good to be by Jesus wherever Jesus is. This boat is going down.

Selfish man, Peter! I told you we could identify with him, can’t you? No normal man says, “If the boat goes down, I’ll go down with it.” No, none of this! “If that’s Jesus, I’m not going to sit here. Not me!” Then he said, “Lord Jesus, if it’s you, then call me to come to you. I want to be with you where you are.” Marvelous!

And what did Jesus say? Did he say, “You silly man! Why do you ask a silly question like this, to come to me on the water? Only I can walk on the water, not you!”

But this is the kind of thinking in Peter’s mind. It’s really very interesting when you think what goes on in Peter’s mind: “We’re in a mess here, and Jesus is there.” Most of the other disciples have probably thought, “Well, this boat is sinking, but it’s floating at the moment. I don’t fancy stepping out into the water for the moment.”

But Peter’s thinking is not like that. He thinks: “No, this boat is floating at the moment, but not for very much longer. It’s safe to be where Jesus is.” So he wants to go there, and says this incredible thing.

And what did Jesus say? Jesus takes him on! This is marvelous! Jesus could have said, “Stay in the boat. You’ll be okay there. I’m right here.” No, Jesus takes him on. Sometimes, we think the Lord is afraid of us, but who is afraid of who? We must be joking! It is we who are afraid. Jesus said, “Come. Do you dare to step out of the boat? Do you dare to walk on the water? I’ll take you on. Come!” And Peter actually does it. He says, “Your word is good enough for me. You said the word, and I’ll do it.”

 

Peter made a lot of mistakes but he was willing to be humble

You will remember another time, Peter and his friends had worked all night, but they caught nothing, and Jesus said, “Take the boat out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (Lk. 5:4). Peter must have thought: “What? In broad daylight? Nobody fishes in broad daylight. No! The fish go too far under the water. Night time is when we fish. You might teach me something about the gospel, but you don’t teach me about fishing. I’m the fisherman here.” But Peter was a man who was willing to be humble. He made a lot of mistakes, but he had his qualities. What did Peter say? He said to Jesus, “All right Lord, if you say so, I’ll do it.”

This is the strength of Peter. “If you say so, I’ll go out.” And he probably thought in his mind, “Well, I’ve caught nothing all night anyway. So at most, I’ll throw the net down and nothing happens.” I hope I’m not being unfair to Peter. But the greatness about Peter was that he said, “Lord, if you say so, I’ll do it.” Whatever his own thoughts were, whatever his feelings were, he overcame them. He would do it. He went out, threw the net down, and lo and behold, he could not bring the net up because it was so full of fish!

In this incident of walking on the water, he was saying, “Lord, if you say the word.” He was not going to be silly and just jump out of the boat. Not at all! It’s bad enough inside the boat, but much worse outside the boat. Peter was not quite as silly as that. He had his head reasonably well screwed on. Even if you are a good swimmer, your chances of being drowned in a storm are pretty good. But he said, “If you say the word, tell me to come to you, and I’ll come,” because he had already experienced what Jesus said earlier, and it came true. Jesus said, “Come,” and Peter thought, “Jesus gave me his word!” So Peter steps out of the boat and walks across the water.

Now you try to picture walking out on the water! Look at the Bible account. It doesn’t say that Peter took one step or two steps, but he was walking! Wow! He thought to himself, “It’s amazing! I’ve been fishing in this lake for years, years and years. But walking on it! This is incredible!” He was walking right up to Jesus. Matthew 14:29 says, “So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.”

 

Faith is courage, unbelief is fear

But verse 30 goes on to tell us that when Peter saw the wind, he was afraid. As long as he was looking at Jesus that’s all right, but he looked at the storm around him and was afraid. He might have thought, “If I tried to swim back in the storm, I would never make it.” Suddenly, all the problems began to hit him like the storm. He continued to think: “What am I doing here right in the middle of the lake?” As he began to worry about the storm, he got frightened again.

So faith is courage. The opposite of faith is fear. Unbelief has to do with fear. But faith is courage. Peter got frightened, and he began to go down.

Please think for a moment. When was it he began to sink? It is very interesting that Matthew 14:30 says, “beginning to sink.”

Beginning to sink? Wait a minute. Think carefully about this. Even better, take your swimming trunks, and go to the swimming pool. Step onto the water and see what happens. What do you think happens? When you step onto the water, you’ll just go straight down “Phoom!” There is no “beginning to sink.” Do you see the point? That is the beauty of it. Read the Bible very carefully. It’s really marvelous!

Now think, if the moment he lost his faith or his faith weakened, Jesus just allowed him to go by the law of gravity, before he could say, “Uh!” he’ll have gone under. It’s very easy to prove this in the swimming pool. He would never have had a chance to say, “Lord, save me!” What a long sentence. Before he could say, “Lord,” he would have sunk right down, out of sight.

Here Jesus’ response reveals the beauty of God’s dealings with us. God doesn’t want us to be afraid. He takes us on even when we ask astonishing things sometimes. He is so kind to us that we don’t deserve it. When Peter began to doubt, the Lord Jesus taught him a lesson. Many Christians have learned this the hard way too. He let him go down slowly – “beginning to sink.” Peter had walked all this way to Jesus, and now he began to find the water coming up, and he said, “Lord, save me!” This is the beauty of Jesus, who reflects God perfectly. If God dropped us every time we lacked faith, we would be down at the bottom of the sea most of the time! The Lord Jesus just let him go down slowly. He had to teach him a lesson, but he would not drop him completely. This is something beautiful! Oh, I love this passage! We learn so much about the way God deals with us.

When Peter was going down, he called out to Jesus. Notice, he was already so near to Jesus! It’s like some children trying to walk on a log going across a ditch. They start out balancing quite nicely, but suddenly, in the last few steps they lost their nerve, which is rather like Peter, and then they fall into the ditch. In fact, if they just kept calm a bit, and held their courage together, they might have made it. If Peter could have the courage of faith still holding onto Christ, he would have made it, but he got frightened. He started to sink. He was so near that Jesus probably walked just another step towards him, and pulled him up.

Consider this. Peter had to walk the whole way back to the boat on the water! He was not next to the boat. He had walked to Jesus, and had to walk back with Jesus. Here is the other beautiful lesson for Christians. Sometimes, when your faith is weak, you sink. God, as revealed by Jesus, does not drop you, otherwise you would go “Wheet!” straight down to the bottom. He lets you sink a little bit, and when you call out to him, he pulls you up again. And then you walk with him. Jesus put Peter back on his feet. Jesus did not carry him back to the boat, did he? He walked with him right back to the boat. We can learn this beautiful lesson.

John 6:21 tells us that they were glad when Jesus entered the boat, because they knew the boat was safe and they were surely glad to see Peter back in the boat too! This is something truly wonderful!

 

What can we learn from Peter?

1. Peter was very responsive

What can we learn about all this from Peter? First of all, we see that Peter, for all his weaknesses and failings, was very responsive. In becoming a Christian, the first thing is we must respond. How do you ever progress if you never respond to anything? It’s useless. You might as well talk to a wall when you talk to some people. You’d get more response from the wall, because when you talk to the wall, you might get an echo back. However, the gauge stays on zero when you talk to some people who just have no response. They hear the Word of God, and they think, “That was all right. That was interesting. Let’s go home and have our dinner now.” They have no response! If a person were responsive, he would say, “If that’s true, I’ve got to do something about it.”

2. Peter was willing to take the risk of faith

Notice the second thing about Peter is, he not only responded, but he was also willing to take the risk of faith because he is stepping out into the unknown. He doesn’t know what he is in for. There is a certain cost. That is why I said it takes courage to have faith. When God called Abraham, Abraham did not know where God was sending him. He went out not knowing where he was going. That is the courage of faith.

To walk with God, you don’t know what is ahead. Yet, it’s not blind faith because you are looking to him. You don’t know what the future holds, but you know who holds the future. This is faith. The courage of faith takes hold of God.

Peter’s attitude is, “Lord Jesus, if you say the word, I’ll do it. If you say ‘Come,’ I’ll come, even though I know it might be dangerous.” Think of the courage it took. It must take a fair amount of courage to step out into the water in the raging storm. That’s something, isn’t it? But faith is made up of that. Peter was like that. He was a rather daring kind of person; you might say foolhardy. But that was his weakness and his strength, and he was greatly blessed. He was always prepared to venture out if Jesus said so. He was the kind of person who always wanted to be close to Jesus. He was the kind of person who was willing to pay a cost to learn the truth.

There are some people who want to know the truth, but they never want to venture into anything. There would never be any explorers in this world if no one dared to go out beyond the limits of what they knew. There would be no science today if no one dared to press beyond the limits of knowledge. You are taking a risk. You are venturing out. You might put in a lot of money and get absolutely nothing for it. It’s a risk. Research is willing to take that risk in order to know the truth, because maybe something really valuable will come out of it.

That is the Christian life. For you, of course, it’s a risk to become a Christian, because you don’t know God. For Peter, he knew Jesus but he didn’t know him that well. But he knew him well enough that he was willing to take him at his word, even if it involved a risk in a new and dangerous situation.

Now ask yourself, “Are you a responsive person? Are you the kind of person who is willing to take some kind of risk in order to know the truth?” If you are, then that is something you can learn from Peter. Then you are a blessed person.

 

God doesn’t drop us when we lack faith in him

Know that faith is something that dares to venture out and say, “God, if you said so, I’ll take you at your word.” Mighty men of God have done these things all through the years. They have taken God at his word and they have found that God never fails. God never fails! That is why I dared to make the challenge to those skeptical students. I dared to make the challenge because I know God never fails. I don’t just believe in the vague sense of “believe”; I don’t just imagine. I challenged them, but they dared not. It was they who lacked the courage.

So I put the same challenge to you today, that if you are willing to respond to God’s Word, if you are willing to venture forth, then like Peter, you will see that his Word holds true.

If you are a non-Christian, you may feel that you are taking the first few shaky steps towards God whom Jesus fully represents. Don’t be afraid. Take those steps, and if you begin to sink, you will know that he is very kind, very merciful. He won’t let you just drop to the bottom of the sea. No, not at all! He will stretch out his hand and lift you up, and he will say, “Why were you afraid? Why did you doubt? Don’t you think I’ll stay true to my word? I said you can come. Why are you afraid?”

Tonight, I put before you the challenge of this wonderful passage, that you will encrypt this picture in your mind, and you will know that even if you take those steps forward, even if those steps seem to be shaky, you will know that God, whom Jesus manifests is very kind. You may say, “Well, I’m not sure if I’m doing it quite right. I’m not sure that I have all the courage I need.” Don’t be afraid. You will find that God is very, very patient, and wonderfully loving. He has come to save you. You know you don’t need to be afraid of him. So stretch out your hand of faith and take hold of God, and you will experience what I have said, that God never fails. Take my challenge and prove it.

If anyone here wants to come to know God, or if any non-Christian wants to commit his life to God tonight, don’t be afraid to come and see me after the meeting, and I would love to talk with you. Now let us be quiet before God, and you speak to God in your heart.

 

Prayer

God, we thank you that you are a wonderful Savior, mighty to save, glorious in power. You have great power and call on us to trust in you, not to be afraid. We are weak, but you are strong. And so Father, I do pray for everyone in this room. Have mercy upon each one. If there are those here who don’t know you, who have not experienced your power, and therefore are skeptical of that power, have mercy upon them. Help them to be ready to respond to your Word. Help them by your grace to venture forward towards yourself that they may know you are there to help them, and that you will never fail.

If there are Christians here who don’t yet know you in a deep and personal way, O God, speak to their hearts too, and draw them to yourself. Speak to many hearts that you may be exalted, and that your people may be blessed.

Father, we thank you and praise you, that you are such a wonderful Savior to save us through the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask this for your glory’s sake, amen.