Matthew-042

 

When we were studying the last of the parables in Matthew Chapter 13, the Parable of the Dragnet, we saw in that parable how the sea is a picture of the world. So I would like to move from that parable where the kingdom of God is being compared to fishing in the sea, to the Lord Jesus and Peter walking upon the sea in Matthew 14:22-33. We want to learn some important spiritual lessons concerning the structure of faith from this passage, and I will entitle today’s talk as: “The Principle of Spiritual Excellence.”

 

Jesus expects his disciples to be extraordinary

Becoming a Christian means becoming someone extraordinary in this world. I hope you really understand this principle. When we study the Sermon on the Mount, you will immediately see that the Lord Jesus expected his disciples to be extraordinary. We are called to this high calling. He expects the Christian to become different in this world, by faith. Now how can a light be light if light doesn’t look any different from darkness? Light is light by the very fact that it is utterly different from darkness. Light stands out as something extraordinary in the midst of darkness. The very definition of light is to be extraordinary in the midst of darkness.

He requires his disciples to be extraordinary in the whole of the Sermon on the Mount. He says for example, “If you greet those who greet you, how are you different from the unbeliever?” implying that you are to be different if you are a Christian. He expects you to be different. He expects you to do far beyond what every unbeliever does. In fact, he expects you to do far beyond what even a religious person does. He says,

Why don’t we hear anymore of this teaching of extraordinariness, of spiritual excellence? It’s because we live in a day of spiritual medio­crity. What has happened is that the world has overcome the church, not the church overcome the world. Now that is the point of today’s message.

We saw that the sea represents the world, but a Christian is to learn to become a person who walks on the sea, in other words, to overcome the world. And those are the words of the apostle John in 1 John 5:4. “Faith overcomes the world” just as the Lord Jesus says, “I have overcome the world.” (Jo. 16:33) He expects us to be like him, to overcome the world by faith. So when we speak about spiritual excellence, we are talking about the nature of faith, for it is faith that makes us excellent or extraordinary in the world. Now the less faith you have, the less different you are from the world. The more faith you have, the more different from the world you will become, isn’t it?

 

Spiritual mediocrity is failure

Probably nothing worries the Lord Jesus today, and any Christian who really means business with God, as much as this matter of spiritual mediocrity. I am more afraid of the danger of becoming mediocre, of just living this life and being spiritually nothing that stands out in this world, than the lesser danger of falling away from God, not that there is no danger. There are people who think it’s very humble to be ordinary. Let me tell you that you have failed when you are an ordinary Christian. There is nothing humble about it because it only proves that your God is too small, your God hasn’t got the power to make you a new creation. Therefore you as a “Christian” in name, are simply the same as any non-Christian.

What does Paul mean when he says, “You have become a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17)? A new creature must stand out at once among old creatures. He must immediately look different from the crowd. A new garment that hangs in the midst of rags will stand out immediately. What is new cannot look the same as what is old. There is nothing humble about being mediocre in the spiritual life. I would like to drive this point into our hearts, brothers and sisters. To be mediocre is a disgrace to God who is able to make you excel, because that is not humility. When you are mediocre, it simply proves one of two things: Either God’s power or your faith is not sufficient. 1John 5:4 says, “Faith overcomes the world.” The only way to excel in this world is to overcome it, to be over and above it, to become different from it in its very character. This is the point of this wonderful passage here in Matthew 14:22-33, about the walking on water.

Three years ago, I preached on this passage at a Christian youth meeting. Many of you were not present, and you had not yet become Christians. In today’s message, I wish to emphasize something quite different. Such are the spiritual riches in this wonderful passage that I could preach several messages from it without repeating a single one! I am fascinated by this passage! I read it again and again, and every time I read it, it becomes more precious to me. And every time I meditate upon it, more riches come out to me. Today, I just want to bring out this one thing: The secret of spiritual excellence.

 

Jesus walked on water immediately after feeding the 5,000

This passage occurs immediately after the wonderful incident of the feeding of the 5,000. As you read in verse 21, this was immediately after that great incident. Now, let us come to Matthew 14:22 -33.

This is a truly fantastic passage! I have heard so many messages on the feeding of the 5,000, and I am sure you also have. Why doesn’t anyone preach on the walking on the water? Oh, it’s so wonderful!

 

Authors of three Gospels record this eye-witness account

This particular incident is mentioned in three of the four Gospels. If this were not so, I would have a hard time putting the whole picture together for you, and getting answers to the questions I want to ask. How wonderfully God has given us four Gospels instead of one!

The first thing that impresses me about this picture that we have here, is that this is an eye-witness account; and the more I study this passage, the more it stands out as written by someone who was there, because if this were written by someone second-hand, he would have made so many mistakes. In other words, those of us who are trained to study with great accuracy have a trained eye to catch the slightest mistake. Often, the accuracy lies more in what is assumed than what is stated in an eye-witness account. It assumes certain facts because that assumption is already in the writer’s mind, and we read what is behind the account through what he writes.

It is very significant that three Gospels, Matthew, Mark and John record this account because behind each of the three Gospels stand one of the twelve apostles: the apostle John, the apostle Matthew and the apostle Peter, whose narrative is represented in Mark’s Gospel! Mark was not an apostle but he was the translator into Greek for Peter wherever Peter preached. We learn this from the Early Church accounts. The only Gospel which does not record this happening is the Gospel of Luke. It is the apostle Paul who stands behind Luke’s Gospel; Luke is a Pauline Gospel. But Paul was not one of the twelve, and he was not present at this incident. It is very impressive that we have an account here from three apostles: Matthew, Peter and John. All the more we see the significant fact that it is an eye-witness account.

 

A geographical background helps us picture the situation

I will begin to describe to you what is happening. Let us assume for a moment that you are sitting at the Lake of Galilee, so that you can picture what is going on. The sun would be on the east side in the morning. The Lake of Galilee, at its widest point is 8 miles wide, and it is 13 miles long. The feeding of the 5,000 took place in the hill country on the east side of the lake.

Now I am familiar with the Lake of Galilee. It’s so beautiful! I spent some time there when I studied in Israel, and I made that trip across to the other side of the lake, which is the Golan Heights where so much fighting took place in the Six-day War. A steamer goes across these 8 miles in about twenty minutes. The normal time it would take to row across from one side to the other—granted that the winds are favorable, and given powerful rowers such as these fishermen—would be two to three hours. Bear those facts in mind.

 

Jesus dismissed the crowds as they wanted to make him king

Now picture it like this. The sun is going down on the west. The Lord Jesus is on the east side dismissing the crowds. (Jo. 6:22) If we did not have John’s Gospel, we would not know the facts behind. We know that after the feeding of the 5,000, people wanted to make Jesus king (Jo. 6:15), but the Lord Jesus would have none of this. He was not going to become the king of the Jews by popular demand. So he dismissed the crowds.

At the same time, he was not going to leave the disciples there because being very carnal, they were getting all very excited at this idea that their teacher was going to become king of Israel, and they were going to become prime minister, finance minister, foreign minister and other ministers. So the Lord Jesus said, “Now get into the boat and off you go. I’m going to dismiss the crowds.” And they said, “How are you going over to the other side?” And he said, “Don’t worry. You just get in the boat and off you go over to the other side while I dismiss the crowds. I’ll meet you there.” By the time he had sent the crowds away, it was getting dark. The sun was going down, the crowds were going away, and the Lord Jesus went up into the mountains—near the Golan Heights where there has been so much fighting in recent years—to pray quietly. From those heights you could look right across to the other side of the lake. There the Lord Jesus was praying in the dark.

 

A strong wind impeded the disciples’ rowing

As he was praying, the wind rose, coming from the west side blowing across the Lake of Galilee. Now those who were at Camp Magog canoeing with me, will have learned some experience. Do you remember what happened when the wind came up and you were rowing in the boat? It took us one hour to go down one direction of the lake, and three hours to get back, because we didn’t reckon with the wind factor! Two sisters were waiting for us, and the boat did not come back at 1 o’clock for lunch. We got back at 3 o’clock, many hours later, and they must have been worried for us. We were trying to fight our way against the wind, and that was an exhausting job. Although the wind was not exceptionally strong, only a fairly moderate wind, we struggled for three hours just to cover the distance that it took us only one hour to cover when we went with the wind. That is the picture here.

Picture the disciples rowing the boat going from one side across to that side, 8 miles across the lake, and a strong wind came against them. These powerful muscular men struggled and rowed. Don’t you think of those first apostles as skinny, intellectual types! No, they were fishermen – strong, muscular men. And you wouldn’t like to quarrel with one of those first apostles! They were straining every muscle pulling at the oars, but how slow was the progress. They were struggling, fighting the wind, but they were getting nowhere.

It was the “fourth watch” by now. The sun had gone down, it was pitch black, the wind was howling over the lake. And these strong men were straining at the oars pulling away right up to the fourth watch in the morning. Do you know what time is the fourth watch? The fourth watch is between 3 to 6 a.m. It was sunrise! They were struggling, rowing all night until the day was beginning to dawn.

 

The disciples saw Jesus and thought he was a ghost

Do you know how far they had rowed? John tells us they had gotten to “25 to 30 stadia” (Jo. 6:19), which is 3 to 4 miles. I told you that the lake is about 8 miles wide, so they had covered 3 to 4 miles rowing all night against the wind! In other words, where do 3 to 4 miles land them? Bang in the middle of the lake at dawn! Exhausted, very, very depressed and still wondering, “When will we ever get home fighting against this wind? We are all tired now. We’ve had a very, very busy day giving out the fish and the bread to feed the 5,000, and gathering those bread crumbs. And now we have not had any sleep all night, rowing till daybreak, and we are stuck in the middle of the lake!” That is not exactly the circumstances to fill you with exuberance and joy.

And now, picture the scene at that moment about 4 o’clock in the morning. The eastern sky was beginning to get bright, turning golden. The storm is still howling, the waves are lashing about, and because of the spray of the waves it is very misty. You cannot see all that far, and you cannot hear very much because of the roaring of the wind. Now picture what rowing is like. They were not canoeing, they were rowing, and I’m sure that you know a bit about rowing. Rowing means that you face the direction opposite to the one you are going. That is what I don’t like about rowing, but the reason for that is because you can use the stronger set of muscles in your body. You can lean back on the oars and pull with your might and that is very important. So they were going west and they were facing east.

As they were pulling away, very tired by now, they saw the sky slowly dawning on them. It’s getting golden in front of them. Behind them the sky is still black. The wind is still fighting against their exhausted bodies. Through their weary eyes, they look at the dawning sky, and what did they see? They see a figure walking on the water! That is about the last straw for them! I think some of them were ready to jump overboard and call it a day!

 

Jesus knew his disciples’ fear and immediately re-assured them

What is very important to observe is that this figure would not be very far away. When I analyze the facts, it becomes very plain that by the time they saw the Lord Jesus, he was already fairly close to the boat. It is very simple to deduce that. You don’t have to be a Sherlock Holmes to work this one out. First of all, they were within speaking distance in spite of the storm. You would not hear anyone speaking very far away in a howling wind. But they hear Jesus speaking to them. Immediately, Jesus knows their fear. He doesn’t leave them in their fear, and immediately re-assures them. He said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And notice that Peter is able to speak back to him. Clearly, the distance is not terribly far away, perhaps 30 to 40 yards away.

Secondly, the waves are spraying up in the storm, and when water is all around you, you cannot see all that far away. Matthew 14:29 tells us that Peter walked right to Jesus. I expect he did not walk half way across the lake although he did walk some distance.

 

The disciples’ fear is justified, because spirits are real

When that figure appears, Matthew 14:26 tells us they thought it was a ghost. So what happens to these disciples, these mighty, powerful, muscular men? They are cowering in the boat by now, and they are crying out for fear. You’ll say, “What? You are scared of ghosts? I’m not scared of ghosts. That’s superstition. Rubbish!” You talk as if you’re a brave man, but wait until you see something like this, then we will see how brave you will be.

I heard an account in Malaysia, where some people ridiculed the whole idea of ghosts and spirits. One of them said, “This kind of thing is nonsense.” So another person said, “Okay, you come with me, and I’ll show you something.” So he took him to a cemetery, and he said, “Come on! You’re not going to frighten us with cemeteries are you?” And the other person said, “I’m not going to frighten you with any cemetery. You wait and see.” So they did a very dangerous thing. This person who played around with the spirits, stuck a little bamboo pole into one of the graves and made some kind of incantation.

Now I warn you not to play around with spirits because I can tell you that spirits are very real. They are not to be played around with. It’s not a joke. However, some people don’t realize this. These people thought that in this day of materialism, nobody believes in spirits. But I tell you: Do not play around with them!

The person who told me about this incident was present at the scene. This is not hearsay. They stuck a bamboo pole into the grave and made some incantation over it, and he said, “I saw the figure of a person coming up through the bamboo pole! These people who said, “I’m not scared of spirits” were so terrified that they were falling over each other as they fled! These big fellows were all running for their lives, away from this figure that appeared!” Spirits are not to be played around with. Let us not think that we, in the Twentieth Century are so clever, that we don’t believe in spirits.

These apostles knew about spirits and they were not about to take this figure as a joke! They were terrified because they knew the power the spirits have. So they cried out in fear, until they heard that reassuring voice: “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” Before this assurance is the Greek word translated as take heart. It is a very typical word of the Lord Jesus. He uses this expression seven times, and nobody else in the New Testament uses it. “Take courage! Don’t be afraid. It’s me.”

 

Jesus encouraged Peter to come to him

Jesus did a second thing. But first, let me ask this question: Why did Peter step out onto the water to walk to Jesus? Couldn’t this man have the patience to wait for Jesus to come to the boat? What do you think? You would say, “This Peter is really too impetuous!” He hears Jesus saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid,” and not only is he not afraid, he gets up in the midst of the storm and says to Jesus, “If it’s you, call me to come to you upon the water.” And Jesus says to him, “Come.”

I would like you also to notice that the Lord Jesus did not rebuke Peter and say, “What a silly request that was! Haven’t you discovered yet that I’m the only one that can walk on water?” Or did Jesus say to him, “Don’t ask for such silly things. Ask for something practical. What’s the use of walking on water?” No, the Lord Jesus does not rebuke him at all. It’s strange, isn’t it? He simply says, “You ask to come to me? By all means come!”

 

Peter walked on water – he pursued the excellence of faith

What does Peter do? This is what I want to talk about: The excellence of faith. This is what makes people different from the crowd. In spite of his weaknesses and failings, he was walking the path of excellence of faith, extraordinariness. I see something very extraordinary about Peter. The rest of the crowd was so concerned with themselves, hiding in the boat. It never crossed their minds to think about such a thing as to walk to Jesus. If you were in the boat, would it have crossed your mind? I don’t know if it would have crossed my mind to think of such a thing. But immediately, Peter said, “If it’s you, call me to come to you.” And Jesus says, “Come.”

Perhaps if you were the one who says, “Call me to come to you” and Jesus says, “Come,” you might regret and say, “Why did I ask such a thing?” When you are going to put your leg over the side of the boat, and you see the waves, you will say, “Lord, another time please, when the waves subside. Right now the waves are too scary. We’re right in the middle of the lake and the Lake of Galilee is terribly, terribly deep. Wait till we get nearer the shore. At least if I sink, I can swim to the shore where my feet might be on solid ground. Or wait till you calm the storm first, and I’ll come to you.” The excellence of Peter is that he did not ask for any of these things: “Nevertheless Lord, if you say so, I’ll come.”

I think this is something incredible! This is what I call the excellence of faith. Can you picture Peter putting his leg out over the side of the boat? And he puts his foot on the water. “Hey! The water is holding me up!” He puts the other foot in and it’s holding him up, and he’s walking on the water to Jesus! The waves were billowing and he’s tossing left and right. And he is keeping his balance walking on the water. That is incredible and exciting! That is excellence!

He was not afraid to go forth, at least not to begin with. But having walked some distance, suddenly it got to him. “What am I doing here?” He looks back and sees the boat quite a way back, and he sees Jesus still some distance in front. And suddenly, he breaks out in sweat: “What did I let myself in for?” And then he hesitates. The moment he hesitates, he starts sinking.

 

Jesus was bypassing the boat, so Peter begged to go to him

But we still have not answered the question that I asked a moment ago. Why did Peter not simply wait for Jesus to come into the boat? Why did he have to walk out to Jesus? Do you know why? Do you think it’s because he is impatient? Not at all! Here is where I said you need to look at all the accounts, put them together, and the picture emerges. When you put the picture together, you will see the reason for it. If you look at the parallel passage in Mark, you will understand why, because Mark 6:48 tells us. It is very important to get this point that the Lord Jesus was not walking towards the boat, but bypassing it. You must get that point very clearly into your mind. The last sentence in Mark 6:48 says, “he meant to pass by them.” There you get the picture. Have you got the point?

Why was the Lord Jesus not walking straight towards the boat? One reason is very easy to see. It was because he knew how frightened the disciples were. At least, if you see a ghost that is not walking straight at the boat, that is still some comfort. He is walking somewhat past the boat, so at least there is a good chance that this figure will not attack the boat in some way or other. He had regard for the fear of his disciples, knowing that so small was their faith that even his assurance might not be enough. He was walking by them, not straight at them in the storm, which would be a frightening thing. But Peter’s ear was very sharp. He heard that voice: “Take heart. Be not afraid. It is I.” And he recognized the voice of his Lord!

 

Peter could not see Jesus, but he recognized the voice

Now the first thing to notice about it is that he recognized the voice but he could not see who it is. Why can’t he see? Look at the picture again. That is why I said every detail of that picture is very important. One slip and whoever wrote this account will be caught. I said it tells you more by what is not said than by what is said. It just tells you that it was the fourth watch. From this you know that it is dawn. You know from which direction the Lord Jesus is coming. Remember the light is behind the Lord Jesus; the sky is dawning in the east. He is coming from the east, so what you see is simply a silhouette against the brightening sky behind. You still cannot see his face. That was the reason why the disciples were so afraid. It was not that Jesus did not want them to see him. It was that they could not see him because the light was coming behind him. They saw the form of Jesus walking towards them against that dawning sky. The only way to tell whether it was Jesus was by the sound of his voice. It’s rather like when you pick up the telephone and I am phoning you, you don’t always have to ask, “Who is it?” You hear my voice and you know. “Oh, I know that voice! That’s him!” Peter listened to that voice and he knew that was the voice of Jesus.

Yet, not having seen but only having heard Jesus’ voice, and then noticing that he is passing by the boat, Peter thought, “The Lord is passing us by! We’re going to get left behind in this storm! He’s going on to the other side, and here I am in this boat!” So he says, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you. I’d like to walk with you to the other side. Don’t pass me by! Please don’t leave me in the boat! Take me over to the other side! You are going by!” Do you see the picture now? It’s not a question of just waiting a few more minutes and Jesus arrives at the boat. Jesus is passing by the boat. He is not coming to the boat at that stage. That’s so important to understand. That is the reason why Peter asks the Lord Jesus to take him along. “I want to come to you. Please Lord, don’t leave me here.” The Lord Jesus said, “Come. Come to me.” And Peter begins that incredible historical walk! No one besides Jesus ever walked on water except Peter! This is incredible!

 

Peter began to sink as he began to fear and lose his faith

Look again at the account. Peter was walking to Jesus. It doesn’t matter whether he took two steps or twenty steps. The fact is nobody can even walk one step on water. If you don’t believe it, you just try it some time. Just see how far you can walk on water. You won’t even take one step. The moment you put your foot in, you would sink. Now notice he has come a distance towards Jesus as Jesus is walking by, and look at what happens. As he became afraid and hesitated, he began losing his faith. Remember, fear and faith don’t go together. He who is afraid is the person who does not have faith. The person who has faith does not fear. The greater your faith, the less you fear. That is the beauty of the situation. Faith is not for people who have no courage. Faith is not for people who are scared all the time. It takes courage to have faith.

Now as he began to be afraid, look at those incredible words in Matthew 14:30, “beginning to sink.” Did those words ever strike you? Have you ever seen anybody beginning to sink? I suggest that you go to a swimming pool, step out from the side and try to begin to sink, and see how slowly you can go down. Have you tried it? Go to the swimming pool. Learn the lesson from life. The moment you step into the water, you don’t begin to sink, you just disappear! Notice those words: “beginning to sink.” Those are incredible words. Nobody begins to sink. You step out there and zoom you go down! In fact, before you could say, “Oh!” you have water in your mouth. You have no time to say, “Lord, save me!” I guarantee you. If you can say quickly, “Lord!” That might be all you might manage to say. There is no time to say, “Save me!” The moment you sink you’ll go straight down. This is the beauty of the account. Read carefully the Scriptures: he began to fear and so he began to sink. He did not lose his faith completely, but he began to fear, so he began to sink. In other words, even as he was sinking, the Lord Jesus was holding him up. Isn’t that incredible? If the Lord Jesus had let him go that moment, he would have disappeared into the lake and that is the last you will see of Peter. No, the Lord Jesus was still holding him, letting him go down slowly, letting him learn the lesson of spiritual excellence. “Peter, you have made a good start but you’ve got more to learn. Spiritual excellence is still ahead of you.”

 

Peter strove for the highest — to attain spiritual excellence

When you are prepared to learn the lesson of spiritual excellence, you are in for exciting things because even there, God’s hand holds you. You strive for excellence, for the highest, not just for mediocrity. What Oswald Chambers used to say, “My utmost for His highest.” We go for the highest. It’s no secret that when you study and try to get 98%, you might just get 80%. But if you aim for 80%, you might end up with barely a pass mark. Peter went for the highest and his failure, his lowest was higher than our highest. When you go for excellence, your lowest will still be higher than the highest that most other people attain.

Peter began to sink and the Lord Jesus held him, slowly letting him go down, letting him learn the lesson. And Peter cries out, “Lord, save me!” What does the Lord Jesus do? The account tells us the Lord Jesus reaches out his hand and lifts Peter up again.

 

Peter walked to Jesus, who made him walk back to the boat!

Then what did the Lord Jesus do? He picked up Peter and put him on his shoulder and walked back to the boat, is that right? No. Then how did Peter get back to the boat? The Lord Jesus grabbed Peter under his arm and towed him back to the boat? How did he get back to the boat? He made Peter walk all the way back to the boat. Isn’t this beautiful! Peter walks to Jesus and he walks back to the boat. Do you think Jesus is going to carry him back to the boat? He makes him walk back again that he may learn and complete the lesson of spiritual excellence. This is so wonderful!

 

Faith is: Step towards Jesus who has overcome the world

What are the lessons of spiritual excellence that we learn in this beautiful account? We begin in the spiritual life first in the primary school of faith. In order to get to spiritual excellence, you have to begin some time, and set your target upon the heights and press on towards the mark of our high calling. I am dealing with the character of faith as it applies to a young Christian, or even to a non-Christian who is stepping out towards Jesus for the first time, or also to the advanced Christian. The principles apply throughout all levels of faith. If you are not a Christian and you are prepared to take a step towards Jesus, who reconciles us to his God and Father, you have already made that step of faith. It is a faith that steps out upon the sea, that is, the world; and tramples upon the sea, that is, overcomes the world. God, living in Jesus, was trampling upon the waves of the sea, exactly as we read in Job 9:8, “God tramples upon the waves of the sea.” So the Lord Jesus said, “I have overcome the world.”

 

Learn five lessons concerning spiritual excellence

1. Faith comes by hearing Jesus’ words

Let us look at five points concerning the character of faith. And the first of these is that faith comes by hearing. Notice that Peter did not see Jesus clearly at all. None of the disciples did. That is why they thought it was a ghost. They could not recognize him. The only thing they could recognize was the voice. Faith comes by hearing. It tells us in Romans 10:17, “faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” This is something truly striking!

In John 10:3-5, 16, the Lord Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice.” If you are his sheep, you recognize the voice that it’s he who is speak­ing. As you hear the Word of God expounded Sunday by Sunday, do you recognize the voice of Jesus speaking to you in his teaching? If by the grace of God, you are beginning to recognize his voice speak­ing to you, if you are beginning to recognize these are the words of truth and power, then you have already begun to take the first step of faith.

I have noticed many times that there are people who only need to come to one service, they listen and say, “That is the voice of truth, that Jesus is the Son of God.” We are not talking about anyone; we are talking about Jesus. If Jesus is not the Son of God, why do you want to believe in him? If Jesus Christ sent by God cannot overcome the world, cannot destroy the power of Satan and sin in this world, why do you want to believe in him? If he cannot walk upon the water of this world, if he cannot trample the waves, just why do you want to believe in him? What can he do for you? Nothing! But when he stepped into the boat, they worshipped him. “Our eyes have seen that you are the Son of God!” But first, it begins with the hearing of faith, listening and recognizing that voice. It’s so wonderful to see that the true sheep of Jesus recognize the sound of truth the first time they hear it, even if they have never heard the Word of God before.

This principle of always learning to discern the voice of Jesus continues all the way from when you are young to old in faith. And as you grow in spiritual life, you will also learn to listen to the voice of God’s Holy Spirit speaking to you. I have shared with you before how on some occasions, the voice of God spoke to me directly, such that I could hear it distinctly and recognize him speaking to me. But there are always higher levels of spiritual excellence. You may have scored 90% when you were in primary school, but that is not the end because you still have to get 90% in secondary school and at university and so on; there are always higher levels of excellence.

 

2. Faith comes from experiencing the preciousness of Jesus

The second thing to notice about faith is that through the hearing of faith you experience Jesus. It is when you hear Jesus’ teaching and you respond to him, that you experience him and God whom he reveals. Then Jesus begins to become precious to you. You begin to sense a value and wonderfulness of Jesus, and your heart is drawn more powerfully to him.

It is precisely because Jesus was so precious to Peter that he did not want to get left behind. If Jesus is not precious to you and he is walking by, then you will say, “Bye-bye Lord. Have a nice walk to the other side. We’ll see you later.” No, Peter was not going to have any of that. He was not going to be passed by. He said, “If you are going, take me with you. I don’t want to be left behind. I don’t want to be separated from you. Where you go Lord, I want to go.”

The book of Ruth is a book about discipleship: “Your God is my God. Where you go, I will go. Where you die, I will die. Where you are buried, I will be buried.” When Peter saw Jesus walking by and he wanted to go out to him, because Jesus in whom he believed had become precious to him: “I’m not going to have you go away. Don’t pass me by. Don’t leave me.” Jesus becomes precious to every Christian, because he is the cornerstone of our faith (cf. 1 Pet. 2:6).

Is he precious because you believe? Or do you believe because he is precious? Both are true. It moves in a blessed cycle. The more you believe, the more you respond to his call, the more you experience his preciousness. And the more you experience his preciousness, the more you trust in him, the more you believe in him. So it becomes a blessed cycle going upwards. That is the path of spiritual excellence. It is so wonderful because now Jesus draws you. First, you hear his teaching, and secondly, he draws you. The Lord Jesus says in John 12:32, “When I am lifted up, I will draw all men.” As you listen to his teaching, do you feel him drawing you? That faith is active in your heart. It is faith that is sensitive to that drawing of Jesus, because he, the Christ who reflects the glory of God (2 Cor. 4:6), is becoming more and more precious to you.

 

3. Faith does God’s will

Thirdly, faith does God’s will. Notice in this wonderful picture that Peter doesn’t just step out on the water and walk to Jesus. No, he doesn’t do that. Why did Peter say, “Call me, Lord”? Why didn’t he just get out of the boat and walk? Peter had been a disciple, and he understood the principles of faith. He understood that if Jesus doesn’t command, you don’t just walk there by yourself. So he asked Jesus to call him. “Lord, if it is you, call me.” He doesn’t just step out. He waits for Jesus to command him. When Jesus says, “Come,” then he steps out. Faith is always obeying what the Lord Jesus teaches, just as he says of himself in relation to his God and Father in John 8:28-29:

 

4. Faith involves total commitment to step out with courage

The fourth point about faith involves total commitment. Look again at the picture of this boat. Peter steps out into the water. Now if that is not commitment, I don’t know what commitment is. You try stepping out of a boat in the middle of a storm and you will know that is commitment. I am a reasonably good swimmer myself, but I would think many more times than twice before stepping out of a boat in the middle of a storm in the middle of a lake. Do you know why? Because it is very hard to get back to the boat. The current of the stormy sea has a way of dragging you off, and the movement of the wind blows you away. Even if you are a good swimmer, you will have to swim back half of the lake to shore.

What is more, in that hour in the morning, and near Easter time, the water is pretty cold. You could be frozen long before you could swim across. The biggest enemy is the cold, even to the best swimmers. Some of our brothers and sisters know this first-hand, because they tried to swim across Lake Magog, and were almost frozen by the icy waters.

Peter was not reckoning on the fact that he could swim when he stepped out into that storm. No, it was not a question whether he could swim well or not. There is a total commitment. When Jesus says, “Come,” and he steps out, he is now totally committed to Jesus’ word. If Jesus is wrong, Peter has had it! It is as simple as that. He stakes everything on that one word of Jesus’, “Come.” You have the whole Bible to live by, he got one word, “Come,” and he steps out into the water. Will Jesus’ word be sufficient? That is the question. It is the courage of faith, because he recognized that voice. Jesus has become precious to him and he steps out in total commitment.

 

5. Faith has clinging initiative

Finally, does it mean that because faith is obedience—both in doing his command and in being totally committed—that it becomes mechanical and passive? That is to say, it is sits back? No! It is impor­tant to observe that faith has an initiative. Peter could have said, “Well, this idea crossed my mind to go to Jesus, but I think it’s absurd. Since he didn’t say anything, I’ll just wait here until he calls me.” You will never experience a lot of things in the spiritual life because you never asked for it. The apostle James says, “You do not have because you do not ask.” (Jam. 4:2)

I would like to say that an important spiritual ingredient in spiritual excellence is to have the spiritual initiative of faith, not to sit back and wait for something to happen, but ask God to make it happen. The glory and excellence of faith is not to be afraid to say, “Even if it seems impossible, if you ask me, I will do it.” What makes the difference between the giants of faith in the Bible and the average run of Christians is that they ask God for it, even if he did not say anything up until then.

 

Giants of the Bible have spiritual initiative of faith

Take for example, Jacob. Do you remember that he held on to the angel? And he said, “I will not let you go until you bless me.” And you say, “The cheek of this fellow to ask for a thing like this. If God blesses you, he blesses you. But if he doesn’t want to bless you, don’t force him. You have to be a little polite. Don’t say, “Bless me! Bless me! Bless me!” No manners! Rude!” Praise God! God likes rude people when it comes to persistence in faith. The angel kept saying, “Let me go. I’ve got to get going now.” But Jacob said, “No! I’m not going to let you go until you bless me. He was persistent to get this blessing. He doesn’t give up. That is the excellence of faith that clings, asking for something unheard of!

Or take Abraham, another giant of faith. Think of the cheek of Abraham if you might put it like this. “Lord, if there are 50 righteous in Sodom, would you spare Sodom?” God said yes. “What about 45?” You’ll say, “You just said 50 and now you want to say 45?” God said 45. “Well, God, seeing that you agreed about 45, what about 40?” This guy’s cheek is unheard of! God said okay to 45, now he wants 40. Then he went on asking God for 30, and then 20, and God agreed to both. Then he said, “I haven’t finished yet God. If you don’t get angry, let me ask you once more. What about 10?” You’ll say, “By this time God will be losing patience with him.” No, God said to him, “All right, 10.”

How’s that? He clings to God. That is the excellence of faith that asks for something unheard of. When did God ever turn away his judg­ment from a sinful city? God is going to destroy Sodom. Who is going to stand between God and Sodom? Oh yes, Abraham would. He stood in the breach and pleaded for Sodom. That is the excellence.

What do you see when you look at Hebrews 11? Faith. When you look at faith, is any of that faith mediocre? Is there anything average about that faith? Nothing. When you look at every illustration of faith, it is an example of the excellence of faith. Moses turned his back on Egypt. Is that mediocre? Ordinary? Not at all!

 

Even within the totally committed, there are many degrees of excellence

But I would like you to know that even within the totally committed, there are many degrees of excellence. Don’t think that total commitment is excellence in itself. Think carefully of those disciples in the boat. Who were those disciples? Every one of the disciples in the boat was totally committed, but amidst the totally committed people, there was yet one Peter who strove for excellence above that. There are higher degrees of total commitment.

Peter steps out into the water. You could be safely in the boat and be totally committed. But he steps out of the boat to be totally com­mitted. That is excellence. May God give to us people who don’t make excuse for their mediocrity, for their ordinariness. Say, “God, make me what you would have me be.” Claim something from God. See whether your God is the living God. He is not afraid of the challenge. You are, but he isn’t.

 

Consequences of excellent faith:

1. Triumph

What are the consequences of this kind of faith? We see three things. Firstly, we notice that this faith is triumphant. Are you a defeated Christian? Do you walk around with a long face because the world, the waves of the sea beat you down? You didn’t trample the waves of this world, but rather, the world got you down. You ran into some problems, a wave smacked you in the face and you went down. No, true faith triumphs and overcomes the world. Even in defeat, Peter still triumphed. This is the beauty about the excelling faith. He still sees God’s saving power working in Christ Jesus, even when he begins to sink. We see that even the “beginning to sink” is a miracle in itself; he did not just disappear beneath the waves. This is the glory of the triumphant faith.

 

2. Power

Secondly, this faith has power. It is the faith that experiences God’s power. Do you think walking on the water is too hard for God? Christ was walking on water by the power of God. I am sure many of you think: “Oh, this can’t be! Whoever has walked on water?” Is it because your God does not have the power to help you to walk on water? Is God too weak?

In the Twentieth Century, some of you may have heard that Sundar Singh, that great Indian servant of God, did something very similar to this by the power of God. That God who did those things in that day is the same God today. But to you, all this sounds like myth because you haven’t experienced it, and you have not experienced it because you have not got the excelling quality of faith. The more you learn to excel in faith, the less surprised you are at these things. God can do these things.

What problem does God have for you to walk on water? For us, it’s impossible, but if your God only does what every man does, why do you want to believe in him? In the years that I have walked with God, I have seen miracle after miracle after miracle! Walking on water would not surprise me. I have seen God do so many amazing things. However, it is those who seek to excel in faith—in spite of our many weaknesses, failings and shortcomings, like Peter—who experience God’s power. I thank God that it is Peter who walks out on water. If it were John, I would be scratching my head because I cannot com­pare with John. He is too good for me. John is such a loving, gracious man. When I look at him I would say, “O God, John is too far ahead of me. I can’t manage that.” At least we have got a chance with Peter. He is the one who is excelling in faith in spite of his many failures. And I can say, “God, thanks be to you. In spite of my many failures, I will still press on for excellence, so that the excellence will be from you, not from me.”

 

3. Glory to God

The third point is: extraordinary faith brings glory to God. It is pleasing to God. The only way you can please God is through faith. That is why it says in Hebrews 11:6, “but without faith it is impos­sible to please him.” I wonder if you have experienced this kind of faith.

Perhaps your faith is at the elementary stage. Perhaps you are just becoming a Christian, you have just heard the voice of Jesus. You still cannot see clearly, you are still puzzled, but you are stepping forward in courage. Then you will see, as the Lord Jesus said in John 11:40, “Did I not say to you that if you will believe, you shall see the glory of God?” You don’t wait to see the glory of God before you believe. The Biblical principle is the other way around. Do you want to see the glory of God? Then believe. He requires you to trust him first. That is the way. God decides the conditions, not us.

 

Press on towards the mark of our high calling: Excel!

Do you know the excellence of faith? I pray that this church may be a church that knows what it is to excel, and I pray that for those in training. The thing that worries me about them, and the thing that frightens me most is that we might be just so ordinary as not to glorify God. It is faith that glorifies God. If you want to glorify God, you must have faith. If those people in training just become ordinary, then I will consider that I have failed my task. And God cannot accomplish his purpose in their lives. Let us strive, as Paul says, to press on towards the mark of our high calling that we may excel. Let us make it our prayer, that like Peter, we don’t want to be passed by, to be left behind spiritually, but we determine to go forward together with God.

As the lyrics of a hymn says: