Sermon Tone Analysis

If you truly believed that the miraculous God of the Old Testament and the resurrecting God of the New Testament is the same God of your life today, you would truly live differently.

In Matthew 14 we see Jesus walking on a raging sea.

In John 2, He turns water into wine.

In Exodus 14, God parts the Red Sea.

In Joshua 3, He parts the Jordan River.

In 2 Kings, He causes an axe head to float.

So, what is the point, what we perceive as the natural reality of things holds no limitations on the supernatural authority of my God.

Jesus Christ still holds the authority given Him over the natural realm.

Like Christ, wholly and holy honoring God with your entirety of your life positions you for the impossible to be made possible.

In Matthew 14, we looked at how the disciples were gripped with such fear of the natural reality of things that they could only hear the voice of the wind and Jesus was no more than a ghost, an object of their delusional superstition.

As a follower of the Christ in these days in which we live, Christ must be more than an object of your religious, spiritual and cultural ideology.

In verse 27 Jesus speaks out to them commanding them to not fear and telling them that it was Him.

And out of all the disciples crying out in fear, only one responds to the call of the Christ.

Even in Peter’s fleshly doubt, he makes a request to the Lord.

So, often we focus on the request to walk on the water.

But we miss the greater point here.

Peter ask for the Lord to “Command Him”!

The life commanded by the Lord is a life positioned for great purpose.

It is a life postured for the impossible to be made possible.

The life commanded by Christ is a friend of the Father.

Jesus said these words:

The reply of Jesus to Peter’s request was the same reply Jesus extends to you who would surrender your life to His command, “Come”.

Come, step out of the boat your are in, the mess you are in.

Come and step onto that which in the natural does not make sense.

Step out and walk by faith, trust and understanding that is found in the Christ alone.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “When Christ bids a man to come and follow Him, He bids him come and die.”

With his heart in fear, but his eyes on the Lord, Peter risk his life answering the Lord’s call.

This was but a small test of discipleship.

It was but a shadow of what following the Christ would cost him for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

Oh, how we so often will only follow Jesus when it is safe.

But following this Rabbi was not safe at all.

Nor is it any safer today.

If you are truly a follower, it must cost you everything and nothing less.

I think it is important to note that Jesus did not say, “Peter come.”

He just said, “Come”.

The call was extended to all of them.

But only one responded and took the first step out of the boat.

And when Peter stepped out of the boat, that first foot must have felt the cold water.

His leather sandals must have immediately felt soaked with the water.

Which meant that the second step may have taken a bit more faith.

One foot in the water is one thing, but to jump in with both feet is another.

It exemplifies the full commitment to follow Christ.

Verse 29 then states that “Peter walked on water.”

This is Peter doing the impossible because of Christ who made it possible.

Peter is literally walking in another realm of reality in the natural realm.

He is walking supernaturally naturally.

And once on the water, he did not wander, he walked straight toward Jesus.

How often, in our crisis, we wander from Him who seeks to save us.

Well, Peter did not wander but the wonder of it all became too much for his carnal understanding.

Look what happens in verse 30.

What was Peter problem? “He saw the wind.”

Now, I do not know about you, but I have lived on this earth for over fifty years.

I have been to Africa, Brazil, Israel, Mexico and all over the United States.

I have jumped out of helicopters on a rope at 200 feet and out of a C-130 at 1250 feet with a parachute.

I have climbed mountains and have seen a lot of things.

But I have never seen the wind.

Peter feared what he could not even see.

As my friend Colonel Shillcutt stated, as the waves rolled, he lost sight of Jesus except for the occasional glimpse.

But, even in this moment of weakness, unlike when he and the others cried out in the boat, this time Peter cries out, “Lord, save me.”

Wow!

If we would only cry out to Him with a sincere and desperate heart.

He who rules the waters and the rains is waiting to pull us out, pick us up, and draw us near to Him.

He alone can make possible the impossibilities in our daily lives.

Do you see a pattern here?

When it comes to saving you, he does not delay.

If Jesus had wanted, it could have just walked all the way to the boat and climbed in.

But this entire story is to reveal to use the purpose in the process and the person who is our Savior.

So it was for them and so it is for you and I.

Jesus never promised that this would be a life of smooth sailing.

But in Matthew 14, Jesus proves the words of God in Isaiah 43.

(Verse 43) For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

When Jesus is in your boat, the winds cease at His command.

Do you need a new possible, a miraculous possible, a radical change, a complete transformation in your life?

Then tell Him, “Lord, command me.”