Revelation: Christ and the Churches

Walking on the Water

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: New Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2012-02-09

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver expounds Matthew 14:22-33, examining why Jesus constrained His disciples to cross the sea, the nature of Peter's faith and fear, and the biblical teaching that fear is the opposite of faith and love. He emphasizes that Peter sank not because of the wind but because he became afraid, and that perfect love casts out fear. Applications include the reality of weak faith, the displeasure of doubt to Christ, and the call to trust God in all circumstances.

[John Weaver] Let's open our Bible's day to Matthew chapter 14. Matthew chapter 14. The verses are 22 through 33. Matthew 14, 22 through 33. And the title of the message today is walking on the water. So, I think you'll understand it in just a moment. Walking on water. Matthew 14 verse 22. And straightway, Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him into the other side while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray.

[John Weaver] And when the evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went into them walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit, and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were coming to the ship, the wind ceased.

[John Weaver] Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped, saying of a truth, Thou art the Son of God." Some of you have seen the internet quiz, and it comes with a picture. And the quiz just simply asks the question, how many men have walked on the water? And the answer is three. Jesus, Peter, and then the third one is the guy below. And when you look at the picture, you see a man jumping over the edge with his feet just touching the water, and behind him a charging bull. And when you look at the picture, it looks as if the man is actually running on the water. However, I have seen the video, And the man actually sinks, and so does the bull. So what someone has done is they've done a little Photoshop work, and they've taken the picture just when his feet just barely hit the water, and it really looks like he's running across the top of the water.

[John Weaver] So whoever did it did a masterful job. But the truth of the matter is this. Only two have walked on water, and that is our Lord and, of course, Peter. And there are lessons that you and I are to learn from this incident in Matthew chapter 14. And of course, our message begins actually in verse 22 today. And I call your attention to verse 22 because the Bible says, and straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him into the other side while he sent the multitudes away. Now the word straightway actually means immediately at once. So our Lord immediately began then to command his disciples to get into a ship and go to the other side. Now, the interesting thing is the word constrain not only refers to a command, but it also refers to compulsion. So our Lord then was compelling his disciples to get into the ship and go to the other side.

[John Weaver] So you have to ask this question. Why was our Lord so insistent that his disciples leave immediately And why did he compel them to go to the other side?

[John Weaver] Now, the context of this incident is given to us after the feeding of the 5,000. If you look in Matthew chapter 14, beginning there with verse 15, And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past. Send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves vittles. But Jesus said to them, They need not depart, give you them to eat.

[John Weaver] And they said to him, we have here but five loaves and two fishes. And he said, bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass. And he took the five loaves and the two fishes. And looking up at heaven, he blessed and break and gave the loaves to his disciples and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat and were filled. And they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men beside women and children. So there was a huge multitude there. 5,000 men, if each one was married, that's another 5,000 women, plus children, probably 15 or 20,000 people there.

[John Weaver] And then our Lord immediately tells his disciples, he constrains them to get into a ship and go to the other side. Now the question is why? Well, John records something additional that Matthew does not record. If you look in John chapter 6, if you would, John chapter 6, after our Lord fed the 5,000 in John chapter 6 and verse 15, we read this concerning the multitude. Notice if you would, John chapter 6 and verse 15, the Bible says, when Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king, He departed again into a mountain Himself alone. So if you look at verses 13 and 14, you'll see it's immediately following the feeding of the 5,000 again. And so the people now are going to take our Lord by force and make Him a King. The people only desired Christ as King so that He might feed them and deliver them from the Romans.

[John Weaver] They had no desire to submit to Him and to recognize Him by repentance and faith. Their desire for a temporal king and a temporal kingdom was completely carnal and had absolutely no foundation in Scripture. So initially, since we're in John chapter 6, I will show you this. Initially, the multitudes sought Christ and followed Christ because they saw the miracles which He did. They were enthralled, they were entertained, and they were mystified.

[John Weaver] In fact, in Mark chapter 2 and verse 12, don't turn there, but after he'd done one miracle, they said, we've never seen it before in this fashion. In other words, this is something totally, completely different. So if you look in John 6 and verse 2, the Bible says, and a great multitude followed him because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. So here were some people then who wanted to be entertained. They were mystified. I mean, Christ was working all these miracles, and then we get to see them. Well, guess what? After He fed them, not only did they want to make Him a king, but now they are following Him for a totally different reason. Look in John 6 and verse 26. Look what our Lord tells them. Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, You seek me not because you saw the miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves and were filled. In other words, you want free food.

[John Weaver] Here were some welfare recipients. Ah, my soul. If they lived in America, they'd have been happy, wouldn't they? I mean, you know, the government will feed anybody and everybody as long as you submit to them. But hey, this is Christ. And he said, look, the only reason you're following me now is because you got some free So, let's ask the question now, again, why did our Lord command and constrain and compel His disciples to get into a ship and go to the other side?

[John Weaver] I can give you several possible answers. First, He probably did not want them to take part with a multitude and their rashness in trying to seek Him by force and make Him a king all for the wrong reasons. Very obviously it is easy to get caught up in a multitude. So he was preventing the occasion of sin by removing his disciples from the circumstance and the situation surrounding them. He commanded and compelled and constrained them to get into the ship and leave. In other words, you will not be caught up in this frenzy, in this rashness, in this carnal act.

[John Weaver] So he sends them away. Secondly, he may have simply wanted to teach them to obey. They wanted to stay, he wanted them to go. A good soldier learns to obey, even when he suffers hardship. They may not have wanted to leave him alone in a desert place. They were in a desert place, remember? They said, this is a desert place. And if you look down in verse 23 of Matthew chapter 14, we read this, and when he had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray, and when the evening was come, He was alone. They may not have wanted to leave our Lord alone. He was in a desert place, yet He commanded them, and He was in control.

[John Weaver] He was in command, and not them. He gave the orders, therefore it was theirs to obey. A third reason you could give for his sending the disciples away is simply this. It sets the stage for Christ not only to demonstrate his deity and his sovereignty by walking on the water, but also to teach a valuable lesson for all of us. So they obey. And if you look in verse 23, and when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray.

[John Weaver] And when the evenings come, he was there alone. Watch verse 24. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the sea was contrary, or the wind was contrary. Now, we're told in verse 24 that they were in the midst of the sea. The Sea of Galilee, or the Sea of Tiberias, it's all one and the same, is about 10 miles wide. In John chapter 6, without turning there, in verse 19, John tells us that they were about 25 or 30 furlongs out into the sea, which would be approximately 4 miles. So they were actually in the middle of the sea. And notice, if you would please, the wind was contrary to them. So they had been rowing all night and had not gotten more than 4 or 5 miles out. They had not even crossed the sea. He had told them to go to the other side. They're now in the middle of the sea. Now, look if you would at verse 24 again. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary.

[John Weaver] And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking on the sea. Now, the fourth watch of the night. would have been between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. What's that mean? That means these disciples had rode and toiled all night long. It was now getting close to daybreak and they had only gotten to the middle of the sea.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to try to picture this in your mind if you would please. The Lord has sent them away. He's told them to go to the other side. They're endeavoring to obey. But because of the wind, because of the sea, they're only about halfway to the other side. They're tired. They're exhausted. They're sleepy. They're frightened. Remember now, the sea is contrary to them. The wind is contrary to them.

[John Weaver] It is now nearly morning. So there's either just a little bit of moonlight, or maybe the sun is about to rise, and all of a sudden they're looking out in just a little bit of light, they see something that looks like a man walking on the water.

[John Weaver] Now you've got to remember, these people are four or five miles out in the sea. You've got to remember there's not enough light now to distinguish who or what it was that was walking upon the water. Why would they expect it to be Christ? They had left Him in a desert place. He had commanded them to go to the other side. So they're asking themselves, who is this or what is this? And they're supposing it's to be a spirit, a ghost.

[John Weaver] And they were terribly frightened. It's very easy to be frightened. once you're tired and exhausted and sleepy. Every one of us have been in a dead sleep from having been exhausted and all of a sudden, a loud noise occurs and what do we do? We jump straight up in bed. You have no idea what it is. You have no idea what it is. And it scares you momentarily.

[John Weaver] Well, I want you to note verse Uh, 26 and when the disciples saw him walking in the sea, they were trouble saying it is a spirit and they cried out for fear. So they're not only exhausted and sleepy. Now they're frightened. Verse 27, but straightway Jesus spake unto them saying, be a good cheer. It is I be not afraid instantly. Our Lord speaks to them. Here's the word straightway again. That is immediately. at once. So at once our Lord says, be not afraid, it is I.

[John Weaver] In other words, he did not wish them to be fearful at all. Adam Clark, the commentator, made this observation. He said, in this one miracle, we may discern three. Though at a distance from his disciples, he knew their distress. That is, he knew the wind and the sea was contrary to them. He found them out on the lake and probably in the midst of darkness. He knew exactly where to go. And three, he walked upon the water. Job, speaking of those things where about the omnipotence of God was demonstrated, says particularly in Job 9.8, he walketh on the waves of the sea, intimating that this is only possible for omnipotence, the one who is all powerful, indicating it has to be God.

[John Weaver] Now, the interesting thing is, in verse 27, when our Lord said, be a good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. Evidently, his words had the desired effect upon his disciples because Peter especially either ignores or forgets his toil, exhaustion, and sleepiness, and the storm and he asked to come to Christ. So in verse 28, and Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to note something very carefully in verse 28. Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. If it be thou, bid me come unto thee. Peter is not necessarily asking for a supernatural miracle. He is asking primarily to come to Christ. Walking on the water was just simply a means to the end. So Peter was not necessarily asking for some supernatural miracle in his life. What Peter wanted was this, Lord, I want to come to you, get me to you, no matter how I get there. I just want to be there.

[John Weaver] There are several lessons that we've got to learn right here. The first one is this, and it should be obvious any time that you discern by faith, according to the word of God, that Christ is moving toward you in grace and mercy. It is your duty and responsibility to endeavor to come to him in obedience and faith. If we discern the grace and the mercy of God upon us or approaching us or about to fall upon us, we have a greater responsibility to be more obedient and to exercise more faith.

[John Weaver] Let me show you the next lesson that is vastly important. When our Lord said, it is, I be not afraid. Peter did not rashly jump from the boat and cry out, Lord, I'm coming to you. He didn't do that. No, Peter asked permission. He said, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee. In other words, Peter is not going to leave that boat. Peter is not going to do anything rashly. Peter's not even going to attempt to come to Christ without Christ's warrant and authority. Do you realize what would have happened if Peter just merely jumped from the boat and said, Lord, I'm coming to you? Without Christ's warrant, without Christ's authority, it would have been nothing less than blasphemy because it would have been nothing less than tempting God. There is a vast difference between doing something that is biblical and commanded than there is doing something that is absolutely stupid and tipping Christ by saying that you trust Him and that you ask Him to protect you when you have no warrant and no authority to do that.

[John Weaver] It's almost like someone going to the Empire State Building Getting to the top of it and jumping off. And as you jump off, you say, oh, but I'm trusting Christ to catch me before I hit the bottom. Is that faith? That's not faith. That's foolishness. Such acts are not acts of faith. They're acts of presumption and they are a blasphemous tempting of God. Do you not remember that even our Lord himself was tempted in this manner? Because in Luke 4 and verse 9, it was the devil who took him up to the pinnacle of the temple and said, jump off if you're the Christ. And Christ refused.

[John Weaver] He would not do anything that was rash or presumptuous. No. So Peter was not acting rashly. Let me ask you, would you on your own, attempt to go 40 days and 40 nights without food or water. If you do, you're going to end up dead. You can go 40 days without food, but you usually can't go more than three days without water, without dying. And don't turn there.

[John Weaver] But let me tell you, Elijah did exactly that. But Elijah did it at the warrant and command of God. In 1 Kings 19 verse 8, the Bible says this, And he, that is Elijah, arose and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.

[John Weaver] Now very obviously it would have been foolish and presumptuous an attempting of God If Elijah simply decided to do that on his own initiative, he didn't decide to do that. God commanded him to eat and drink and then to go to Horeb. And that's exactly what he did. So it went 40 days and 40 nights without food or water. I remember Moses was in the Mount the same amount of time without food and without water.

[John Weaver] So Peter then is not acting rashly. He did seek our Lord's will and authority before he stepped out. And it must be admitted, you have to confess that Peter did act in faith when he left the safety of the ship and stepped into the raging sea. He did indeed trust that it was Christ. He didn't trust Christ's word because Christ said, come! Peter said, I believe it's you Lord and I believe your word. And Peter stepped out of the ship and began to walk to Christ. Impossibilities become possibilities when we obey the word of our Lord. Now there's a difference between Christ and Peter here walking on the water. Christ walks on the water by virtue of his own power and authority since he is God. Peter walks on the water being held up by the power of Christ. Spurgeon says this, Peter's Lord is about to teach him a practical lesson. He asked to be bidden to come. He may come. He does come. He leaves the boat. He treads the wave. He's on his way towards his Lord.

[John Weaver] We can do anything if we have divine authorization and courage enough to take our Lord at his word. And that's true. We may do anything if we have, first of all, divine authorization, and secondly, courage to take our Lord at his word.

[John Weaver] Now, Peter walks on the waves of the raging sea, but something happens begins to change that situation very suddenly. In fact, Peter begins to sink. So if you will look at verses 29 and 30, and he, that is Christ, said, come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately, Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and said to him, O thou little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Now, the Bible tells us that he saw the wind was boisterous.

[John Weaver] That is, it was strong, it was powerful, it was violent. Wait a minute. Let's look at this again. Verse 30. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, cried, saying, Lord, save me. Wait a minute. Was it the wind exactly like that before they ever saw Christ? Well, yes. Because verse 24 tells us that they had rode all night and couldn't get anywhere because the wind was contrary to them. Let's wait another minute. Wasn't the wind exactly like that when Peter stepped out of the boat? And the answer is yes. So the wind was like that before Christ came. The wind was like that when he stepped out of the ship.

[John Weaver] So you have to ask the question, why did he sin? Well I've heard all my life, and I've heard it preached all my life, that the reason Peter began to sink was because he saw that the wind was boisterous, which means, quote unquote, that he took his eyes off Christ and looked at his circumstances and looked at his surroundings. Well, certainly it is never wise to take your eyes away from Christ or his word. However, we are always surrounded by circumstances because they're part and parcel of our lives.

[John Weaver] You have to remember something. Peter, by vocation, was a fisherman. Don't you think he'd been in storms like this previously? Of course he had. You can't be four or five miles out on a lake or crossing a lake without sooner or later having boisterous wind. He'd been in similar circumstances, I am sure. Let me ask you, if you're driving down the road and you see a tornado approaching you, is it wise to pray? Is it wise to shut your eyes while you pray? Remember, you're driving down the road and the answer is no. If I see a tornado coming, And I'm driving down the road, I am going to pray. But guess what? While I'm praying, I'm going to keep my eye on that tornado to make sure that I can avoid it and go in the opposite direction, or at least where it's already been, so that I will not be involved in that situation. So I'm going to pray, but I'm going to keep my eye upon my circumstances.

[John Weaver] Yet my faith is still in Christ. I'm seeking His divine protection. Peter may not have taken his eyes off Christ. If Christ is walking in the midst of the sea, if there in the midst of the sea, when Peter stepped out of the boat, guess what? The wind is everywhere. The waves are everywhere. He could have been looking directly at Christ and have seen the wind and the waves. Well, if it was not the wind, and the waves that made him sink. What was it? Well, look back at verse 30. But when he saw the wind boisterous. He was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. You have to remember, the wind was boisterous before Christ appeared. It was boisterous when he stepped out of the boat. There was no change in the wind. The only change was in Peter. He became afraid. You're going to say, but brother, don't condemn Peter right now, because let me tell you something, if I happened to be in that situation, I would have been afraid as well.

[John Weaver] Yeah, and you would have sunk too. You must understand there is a difference between biblical fear and humanistic fear. Biblically, One fears when he believes God and obeys his word and exercises faith in him. Let me show you. There's a difference whole Matthew 14, but look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 11 and look at verse seven. Some of you can quote this verse undoubtedly, but here it is for those who cannot look in math. Yeah, I'm sorry. Hebrews chapter 11 and verse seven. just showing you the difference right off now between biblical fear and humanistic fear. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 7, by faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear prepared an ark to the saving of his house by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. But notice the Bible begins by faith Noah being warned of God of things not yet seen, moved with fear. What was Noah afraid of?

[John Weaver] God, His judgment, His wrath, His truth, His word. He knew that God was not playing and that God would not lie. So Noah's fear then, was actually a reverential awe and respect of God which moved him to obey and to do what was necessary to save his family. So his fear then and his faith were evidenced by his obedience. Humanistic fear is totally different from that. Humanistic fear is simply fear that is not based upon faith. It is not based upon the Word of God. Humanistic fear is just simply fear for fear's sake.

[John Weaver] It is rooted and grounded in our perception of danger, helplessness, and hopelessness. We know that we're in danger, yet we don't know what to do. We don't know where to turn. We don't know how to respond. Such fear is condemned in the Word of God. It evidences an ignorance of the word of God and a lack of faith in the son of God. So humanistic fear is the opposite of faith.

[John Weaver] Look back in Matthew 14 again. Listen carefully. Humanistic fear is the opposite of faith. We normally think that unbelief is the opposite of faith and it can be. But I'm going to show you there's some other things that are the opposite of faith as well. We're told in no uncertain terms that fear is that which renders faith impossible. Notice verse 30, but when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid. It was only when he became afraid that he began to sink. The wind had not changed. Once he stepped out of the ship, the wind was still the same. The only change was Peter became afraid and he began to sink. Watch verse 31. And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand and called him and said to him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Why has He called him little faith? Because he feared. Fear is the opposite of faith. Now, whole Matthew 14, but look in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 29. Verse 25. We're going to look at a number of passages.

[John Weaver] I want you to see this. Proverbs 29, verse 25. Here's an excellent verse to memorize. Proverbs 29, verse 25. Look what the Bible says. The fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. The fear of man bringeth a snare. But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. What is a snare? A snare is a trap. Once we fall into the trap, we're snared, we're caught, we're caged like an animal. The fear of man is a snare. But he said, whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. That is, if you have faith in the Lord, you're going to be protected and defended. I want you to note here are two opposites. You have fear on the one hand and you have faith on the other hand. So it's the fear of man that bring in the snare, but who so trusted in the Lord, he shall be made safe without me taking the time to do this.

[John Weaver] You will remember this as you read through the new Testament. Think of how many did not obey our Lord. And you'll always find this phrase. because of the fear of the Jews. What? The fear of man bringing the snare. But who shall trust in the Lord shall be safe. Now everyone has fears. No one wishes to live by fear. Everyone has fears. I'll tell you what I used to have.

[John Weaver] And several have asked me, and I may do this sometime in the future again. I preached a message years ago, some of you have heard it, on the historical and biblical significance of the beard. About everybody has heard that one. Did you know, by the way, that is one of the top ones on Sermon Audio that most people listen to? It's astounding. Who is Israel? the historical and biblical significance of the beard, Romans 13. Those are the top ones that have been listened to all across this world. I even got an email from a man in Italy, a chaplain in the United States Army who'd listened to this one and said, I can't wait until I can get out of the service so I can grow my beard. The reason I grew this beard years ago, none of my grandkids have ever seen me without a beard. And my kids probably would never remember me without a beard. Aunt Wendy would, probably. Maybe the twins, I don't know. Ron does. But I've had this beard, I don't know, going on 40 years, 30 something, anyhow.

[John Weaver] But the reason I grew it was because of what the Bible teaches concerning beards. And when I first drew it, I would have horrible nightmares. And my nightmare was that I would wake up clean shaven, and I didn't know what happened to my beard. So I had a fear of losing my beard. You say, well, that's silly. No, it's not silly. It was a fear. And finally, after years and years, I got over it.

[John Weaver] But still, it was there. Everyone has fears. There is not one American that loves to hear these words, hello, I'm from the government and I'm here to help you. There are fears. We fear enemies. We fear agents. We fear entrapments. We fear power-mad politicians. We fear uncontrolled maniacs. We fear drunks and dopeheads and whoremongers and adulterers. And some would say they're all the same crowd. One and the same. Well, maybe. But the point I'm trying to make is there are many, many different fears.

[John Weaver] I want you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 10. And look if you would, beginning there with verse 25. Matthew 10, verse 25. Matthew 10 verse 25. Look specifically at what our Lord says. Matthew 10 verse 25. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master and the servant be as his Lord. If they have called the master of the house, Beelzebub, that is Satan or Lord of the filth, the Lord of the flies.

[John Weaver] How much more shall they call them of his household? So if they have stigmatized our Lord, if they've called him ungodly, wicked names, he says how much more are they going to call those of his own household? Watch. Verse 26. Fear them not therefore, for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed and hid that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak you in the light.

[John Weaver] And what you hear in the ear, that preach you from the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Or not to spare a soul for a farthing, and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your heavenly Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear you not therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows."

[John Weaver] Now I want you to note what he's referring to in this passage. First of all, he says, we're not to fear those who castigate us, who call us names. We're not to fear those who seek to take our lives. We're not to fear those who seek to take our goods. No, we're not to fear them. Why? Because we're more value than a sparrow. And those sparrows neither sow nor reap, yet your Heavenly Father takes care of them. Now, wait a minute.

[John Weaver] Let's turn in our Bibles to the book of Revelation chapter 2 and look at verse 10 at what our Lord told some believers there. Revelation 2 verse 10. Watch. Because this will get interesting. Revelation 2 verse 10. Revelation 2 verse 10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Now, wait a minute. You can suffer many things. You can suffer ill health. You can suffer loss of wealth. You can suffer loss of family. That's not all. He says, fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.

[John Weaver] Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tried and you shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee the crown of life. He said some of you will be cast in the prison.

[John Weaver] Now, you put these two passages together, our Lord tells us plainly that we're not to fear those who ridicule, mock, slander, persecute and prosecute. We're not to fear those who kill the body. We're not to fear those who seek to harm us in any way. We're not to fear that we're going to be forsaken or deserted or left alone. We're told that God providentially looks after His own and we're told that the only one that we are to fear is the one true and the living God and Him alone.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn to Hebrews chapter 13 and look if you would please at verse 6. If you have not memorized this verse, I would encourage you to do this. This is a powerful, powerful verse. I want you to notice Verse 6, Hebrews 13 verse 6, after you read all of these passages about fear not, fear not, fear not, fear not, this is the one verse that summarizes everything. Hebrews 13 verse 6, so that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Did you hear that? So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man can do unto me.

[John Weaver] Let that sink down into your souls. Consider it. Meditate upon it. Ponder it. Make application to your life. What is it that we are to say boldly, the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man can do unto me. What can man do to you? A lot of things. persecute you, prosecute you, imprison you, steal from you, take your life. But we're to fear none of these things.

[John Weaver] I want you to turn in your Bibles to second Timothy chapter one and look at verse seven. Second Timothy chapter one, watch verse seven. 2nd Timothy 1 verse 7. For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

[John Weaver] Now let me ask a question. If God does not give us a spirit of fear, From whence then does fear originate? Well, it could come from sin, flesh, the world, or the devil. But it doesn't come from God. It's interesting that when you read in the New Testament especially, When angels would speak to men, the opening words were usually, fear not. And even our Lord would often begin His with, fear not.

[John Weaver] I want you to look in your Bibles to Romans 8. Romans 8 and verse 15. Since we're talking about fear, Romans eight verse 15. Since God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and the love and of a sound mind in Romans eight in verse 15, look what the Bible says. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry ABBA father. So God says specifically. that we have not received the spirit of bondage, which is fear, but we have the spirit of adoption. That is, we are his children whereby we cry Abba father.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you this question. Why do we fear? Here's the answer. Because we do not have faith. And we're not perfected in love. I just showed you from the scripture how fear is the opposite of faith. I want you to understand that love is also the opposite of faith. Look in your Bibles to first John chapter four, first John chapter four. At verses 17 and 18. Yes, unbelief is the opposite of faith. Fear is the opposite of faith. But love is also the opposite of fear. Watch 1st John chapter 4 verse 17. Hearing is our love made perfect. That we may have boldness in the day of judgment because as he is sore, we in this world, there is no fear in love, but perfect love cast without fear because fear have torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. So faith is the opposite of fear and love is the opposite of fear.

[John Weaver] Now, in verse 17, the general idea is that love is rendered complete and entire in the manner which the Apostle specifies, that is, when we endeavor to be like Christ and please the Father. For he said, as he is, so are we in this world. Well, how was Christ in this world? Well, let me just quote John 8 in verse 29, where our Lord said, And he that sent me is with me. The Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please Him. How are we to be like Christ?

[John Weaver] How are we to have boldness in the day of judgment? Endeavor to always those things that please him in every area of our life Now what verse 18 tells us in verse John 4 is this if we love and exercise faith as we should Then he tells us there is no fear in love But perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath torment he that fear that is not made perfect in love Now notice he said there is no fear in love Do you understand that love is an affection? It is a disposition and a state of being which does not produce fear. If you genuinely love someone, you trust that individual.

[John Weaver] Let me say that again. If you genuinely love someone, you trust that individual. I'm not afraid of my mother. Why would I be afraid of my mother? I'm not afraid of my wife, although she shoots very well. I keep her supplied in ammunition. I have no fear that she's going to take that Glock and point it toward me one day. I don't fear that. I have no fear. I love her. I trust her. I have no fear for my children. I have no fear for my grandchildren. I have no fear for my friends. If you love someone, you trust them and love is a disposition which does not produce fear. Which means this. If our hearts are genuinely filled with the love of God, we would trust Him completely and there would be absolutely nothing to fear in this world or the world to come. Ever thought about that? We're told that perfect love casts out fear. That is, when love is complete, When it is allowed to exert its proper influence on the soul, there is absolutely nothing that will alarm us or cause us to be alarmed.

[John Weaver] Now, the reason that love casts out fear, he tells us in verse 18, is because fear has torment. Fear is a very distressing emotion. We fear poverty. We fear sickness. We fear bereavement. We fear death. We fear many things. And what John is telling us, it is the love of God that frees us and delivers us from all of these distressing apprehensions. It is the love of God that leads us to trust Him as we should. If we have hearts full of love, hearts full of faith, there will not be any fear. Perfect love casteth out fear. It's very simple. Fear hath torment. Fear distresses us. Fear fills us with anguish and makes us restless and uneasy.

[John Weaver] It keeps us in servitude. It keeps us in bondage. And as long as you fear, you're going to be in bondage. Period. You know, I like that passage. I believe it's in Romans 5 where he says, for the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. We need to pray more that the love of God would indeed fill our hearts because it is perfect love that casts out fear. And the scripture says, he that feareth is not made perfect in love. The fact that we have fear, the evidence that we fear demonstrates that we have a long way to go. Even the Apostle Peter was not perfect.

[John Weaver] He feared, therefore he sank. He was afraid. Because fear is the opposite of faith. Fear is the opposite of love. Had he loved as he should have, he would have trusted and he would not have sunk. It was not the wind, it was not the circumstances, it was the fear that made him sink. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah 35, Isaiah 35, and verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Look what the scripture tells us. Isaiah 35, verse 4.

[John Weaver] Isaiah 35 verse 4, say to them that are of a fearful heart. What are we to say to those who fear? Be strong! Fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. Even God with a recompense, He will come and save you. When you look at this world and this nation, to use a cliche that you're familiar with, and it's going to hell in a handbasket, what does God say to His own? Fear not. Be strong. I'm going to come with a recompense.

[John Weaver] I will take care of the problem. I will rectify the situation. Just be strong. Don't fear. I'll do it. Our Lord, and I'm going to quote these, in Matthew 8, said this to His disciples, listen carefully, And he saith unto them, Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. But notice what he said, Why are you so fearful, O ye of little faith? Remember, fear is the opposite of faith. If you had faith, you would not be fearful. In Mark 4 and verse 40, he said unto them, Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? In other words, if you have faith, you're not going to be fearful. If you have fear, it's because you don't have faith. In other words, like oil and water do not mix, faith and fear do not mix. Love and fear do not mix.

[John Weaver] If we would be holy, mature, and complete, we need to cease fearing, begin loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, body, spirit being, like He's commanded us, and exercising faith in Him. The more we believe, the less we doubt. The more we believe, the less we fear. The more we love, the less we fear. The more we love, the less we distrust. Peter began to sink, not because of the wind, not because of the raging sea, but because he was afraid.

[John Weaver] Now let me make some applications. The first one is this. There are no perfect saints in this life. Even the apostles were not perfect. The strongest faith and the greatest courage have a mixture of fear. Listen carefully. Those who may boldly say, Lord, I believe. Must also say, Lord, help mine unbelief. Nothing but perfect love can cast out fear and good men often fail in those graces in which they are the most eminent and which they exercise most often. Our failure just demonstrates the fact that we are not perfect. Peter was very courageous at first, but afterwards, his heart failed him. It is often the lengthening of the trial that exposes the weakness of our faith.

[John Weaver] I don't know how far Christ was from the boat. I don't even know how many steps Peter actually took on the water. He may have walked 3 or 4 steps, who knows? He may have walked 10 or 15, who knows? But Christ was far enough away that he began to fear, and when he began to fear, he sank. We have to learn that we not only must start out well, we must end well. Second application is this. Faith may be true and yet may be weak. Peter was a true believer. He had enough faith.

[John Weaver] To get out of the ship. And to enter the water. But he didn't have enough faith to carry him through. Therefore, Christ tells him. He had but little faith. But the good news is this, weakness of faith is still faith. He was still a believer. And the man who has the weakest faith is just as saved as the man who has the strongest faith, because faith is faith. The third application is this, the weakness of our faith, the prevalence of our doubts, And the lack of our love is very displeasing to our Lord Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] It is true He does not cast off weak believers. But it is also true He is not pleased with the weakness of our faith. Especially in those who are close to Him. For He asked Peter, wherefore didst thou doubt? Why did you doubt? If you and I were to really examine our fears, if we were to really examine our doubts with a strict inquiry, we would probably find there's no real good reason to doubt Christ or His Word. And there's no real good reason for you and I to have our fears and our doubts. Christ is still Christ on a stormy day as equally as he's Christ on a sunny day. He does not change. We may safely trust him in the storm as equally as we may trust him in the call.

[John Weaver] I want you to turn to one last passage. Psalm 46. Psalm 46, some of you will recognize this passage. This is a song that stirred Martin Luther to write, a mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing. Notice Psalm 46, verse one. God is our refuge and strength. Are you looking? A very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried in the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Notice, God is our refuge and our strength and very present help in the time of trouble. Therefore, will we not fear if the whole earth breaks asunder? We will not fear.

[John Weaver] And we must understand the reason we do fear is due to our smallness of faith and our lack of love to our sovereign Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So we need to learn to pray, Lord, I believe. Help now my unbelief. We need to learn to pray. Father, shed the love of God abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, help us to love and believe as thou has commanded us to in my word. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to you this day, we thank you for your truth We thank you for your encouragement. We thank you heavenly father, that thou art the sovereign God of heaven and earth. Help us Lord to boldly say the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man can do unto me. Give us grace that we may believe and to exercise the faith that you've given us. We ask that you would shed the love of God abroad in our hearts that make us, Lord, loving and submissive and obedient. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray.

[John Weaver] Amen.

Walking on the Water

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	VUVuCSriX6k
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Revelation: Christ and the Churches
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-02-09
Dictation Name
Book	Book 139: Revelation: Christ and the Churches — Chapter 8
Source Timed Segments	75

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Context

The message introduces the passage and the feeding of the 5,000 as background, noting the multitude's carnal desire to make Jesus king.

Let's open our Bibles today to Matthew chapter 14. Matthew chapter 14. The verses are 22 through 33. Matthew 14, 22 through 33. And the title of the message today is "Walking on the Water." So, I think you'll understand it in just a moment. Walking on water. Matthew 14 verse 22:

Scripture Reading — Matthew 14:22-33

"And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray."

"And when the evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased."

"Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God." Some of you have seen the internet quiz, and it comes with a picture. And the quiz just simply asks the question, how many men have walked on the water? And the answer is three. Jesus, Peter, and then the third one is the guy below. And when you look at the picture, you see a man jumping over the edge with his feet just touching the water, and behind him a charging bull. And when you look at the picture, it looks as if the man is actually running on the water. However, I have seen the video, and the man actually sinks, and so does the bull. So what someone has done is they've done a little Photoshop work, and they've taken the picture just when his feet just barely hit the water, and it really looks like he's running across the top of the water.

So whoever did it did a masterful job. But the truth of the matter is this. Only two have walked on water, and that is our Lord and, of course, Peter. And there are lessons that you and I are to learn from this incident in Matthew chapter 14. And of course, our message begins actually in verse 22 today. And I call your attention to verse 22 because the Bible says, "And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away." Now the word "straightway" actually means immediately, at once. So our Lord immediately began then to command his disciples to get into a ship and go to the other side. Now, the interesting thing is the word "constrain" not only refers to a command, but it also refers to compulsion. So our Lord then was compelling his disciples to get into the ship and go to the other side.

So you have to ask this question. Why was our Lord so insistent that his disciples leave immediately? And why did he compel them to go to the other side? Now, the context of this incident is given to us after the feeding of the 5,000. If you look in Matthew chapter 14, beginning there with verse 15, "And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat." "And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children." So there was a huge multitude there. 5,000 men, if each one was married, that's another 5,000 women, plus children, probably 15 or 20,000 people there.

And then our Lord immediately tells his disciples, he constrains them to get into a ship and go to the other side. Now the question is why? Well, John records something additional that Matthew does not record. If you look in John chapter 6, if you would, John chapter 6, after our Lord fed the 5,000 in John chapter 6 and verse 15, we read this concerning the multitude. Notice if you would, John chapter 6 and verse 15, the Bible says, "When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone." So if you look at verses 13 and 14, you'll see it's immediately following the feeding of the 5,000 again. And so the people now are going to take our Lord by force and make Him a King. The people only desired Christ as King so that He might feed them and deliver them from the Romans.

Why Jesus Constrained the Disciples

Jesus compelled the disciples to leave immediately to prevent them from joining the multitude's rashness, to teach obedience, and to set the stage for a lesson.

I can give you several possible answers. First, He probably did not want them to take part with the multitude and their rashness in trying to seek Him by force and make Him a king all for the wrong reasons. Very obviously it is easy to get caught up in a multitude. So he was preventing the occasion of sin by removing his disciples from the circumstance and the situation surrounding them. He commanded and compelled and constrained them to get into the ship and leave. In other words, you will not be caught up in this frenzy, in this rashness, in this carnal act.

So he sends them away. Secondly, he may have simply wanted to teach them to obey. They wanted to stay, he wanted them to go. A good soldier learns to obey, even when he suffers hardship. They may not have wanted to leave him alone in a desert place. They were in a desert place, remember? They said, this is a desert place. And if you look down in verse 23 of Matthew chapter 14, we read this, "And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone." They may not have wanted to leave our Lord alone. He was in a desert place, yet He commanded them, and He was in control.

He was in command, and not them. He gave the orders, therefore it was theirs to obey. A third reason you could give for his sending the disciples away is simply this. It sets the stage for Christ not only to demonstrate his deity and his sovereignty by walking on the water, but also to teach a valuable lesson for all of us. So they obey. And if you look in verse 23, "And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray." "And when the evening was come, he was there alone." Watch verse 24. "But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary." Now, we're told in verse 24 that they were in the midst of the sea. The Sea of Galilee, or the Sea of Tiberias, it's all one and the same, is about 10 miles wide. In John chapter 6, without turning there, in verse 19, John tells us that they were about 25 or 30 furlongs out into the sea, which would be approximately 4 miles. So they were actually in the middle of the sea. And notice, if you would please, the wind was contrary to them. So they had been rowing all night and had not gotten more than 4 or 5 miles out. They had not even crossed the sea. He had told them to go to the other side. They're now in the middle of the sea. Now, look if you would at verse 24 again. "But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary."

The Disciples' Struggle at Sea

The disciples rowed all night against contrary winds, only reaching the middle of the sea by the fourth watch, exhausted and frightened.

"And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea." Now, the fourth watch of the night would have been between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. What's that mean? That means these disciples had rowed and toiled all night long. It was now getting close to daybreak and they had only gotten to the middle of the sea.

Now I want you to try to picture this in your mind if you would please. The Lord has sent them away. He's told them to go to the other side. They're endeavoring to obey. But because of the wind, because of the sea, they're only about halfway to the other side. They're tired. They're exhausted. They're sleepy. They're frightened. Remember now, the sea is contrary to them. The wind is contrary to them.

It is now nearly morning. So there's either just a little bit of moonlight, or maybe the sun is about to rise, and all of a sudden they're looking out in just a little bit of light, they see something that looks like a man walking on the water.

Jesus Walks on the Water

Jesus came walking on the sea, and the disciples, seeing Him in dim light, were terrified, thinking He was a spirit.

Now you've got to remember, these people are four or five miles out in the sea. You've got to remember there's not enough light now to distinguish who or what it was that was walking upon the water. Why would they expect it to be Christ? They had left Him in a desert place. He had commanded them to go to the other side. So they're asking themselves, who is this or what is this? And they're supposing it's to be a spirit, a ghost.

And they were terribly frightened. It's very easy to be frightened once you're tired and exhausted and sleepy. Every one of us have been in a dead sleep from having been exhausted and all of a sudden, a loud noise occurs and what do we do? We jump straight up in bed. You have no idea what it is. You have no idea what it is. And it scares you momentarily.

Scripture Reading — Job 9:8

Well, I want you to note verse 26: "And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear." So they're not only exhausted and sleepy. Now they're frightened. Verse 27, "But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." Instantly, our Lord speaks to them. Here's the word "straightway" again. That is immediately, at once. So at once our Lord says, be not afraid, it is I. In other words, he did not wish them to be fearful at all. Adam Clarke, the commentator, made this observation. He said, in this one miracle, we may discern three. Though at a distance from his disciples, he knew their distress. That is, he knew the wind and the sea was contrary to them. He found them out on the lake and probably in the midst of darkness. He knew exactly where to go. And three, he walked upon the water. Job, speaking of those things where about the omnipotence of God was demonstrated, says particularly in Job 9:8, "he walketh on the waves of the sea," intimating that this is only possible for omnipotence, the one who is all powerful, indicating it has to be God.

Peter's Request and Step of Faith

Peter asked permission to come to Jesus on the water, demonstrating faith under divine warrant, not presumption.

Now I want you to note something very carefully in verse 28. "Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water." If it be thou, bid me come unto thee. Peter is not necessarily asking for a supernatural miracle. He is asking primarily to come to Christ. Walking on the water was just simply a means to the end. So Peter was not necessarily asking for some supernatural miracle in his life. What Peter wanted was this, Lord, I want to come to you, get me to you, no matter how I get there. I just want to be there.

There are several lessons that we've got to learn right here. The first one is this, and it should be obvious any time that you discern by faith, according to the word of God, that Christ is moving toward you in grace and mercy. It is your duty and responsibility to endeavor to come to him in obedience and faith. If we discern the grace and the mercy of God upon us or approaching us or about to fall upon us, we have a greater responsibility to be more obedient and to exercise more faith. Let me show you the next lesson that is vastly important. When our Lord said, "It is I; be not afraid." Peter did not rashly jump from the boat and cry out, Lord, I'm coming to you. He didn't do that. No, Peter asked permission. He said, "Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee." In other words, Peter is not going to leave that boat. Peter is not going to do anything rashly. Peter's not even going to attempt to come to Christ without Christ's warrant and authority. Do you realize what would have happened if Peter just merely jumped from the boat and said, Lord, I'm coming to you? Without Christ's warrant, without Christ's authority, it would have been nothing less than blasphemy because it would have been nothing less than tempting God. There is a vast difference between doing something that is biblical and commanded than there is doing something that is absolutely stupid and tempting Christ by saying that you trust Him and that you ask Him to protect you when you have no warrant and no authority to do that.

It's almost like someone going to the Empire State Building, getting to the top of it and jumping off. And as you jump off, you say, oh, but I'm trusting Christ to catch me before I hit the bottom. Is that faith? That's not faith. That's foolishness. Such acts are not acts of faith. They're acts of presumption and they are a blasphemous tempting of God. Do you not remember that even our Lord himself was tempted in this manner? Because in Luke 4 and verse 9, it was the devil who took him up to the pinnacle of the temple and said, jump off if you're the Christ. And Christ refused.

Peter's Fear and Sinking

Peter became afraid when he saw the boisterous wind, and fear, not the wind itself, caused him to sink.

That is, it was strong, it was powerful, it was violent. Wait a minute. Let's look at this again. Verse 30. "But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me." Wait a minute. Was it the wind exactly like that before they ever saw Christ? Well, yes. Because verse 24 tells us that they had rowed all night and couldn't get anywhere because the wind was contrary to them. Let's wait another minute. Wasn't the wind exactly like that when Peter stepped out of the boat? And the answer is yes. So the wind was like that before Christ came. The wind was like that when he stepped out of the ship.

So you have to ask the question, why did he sink? Well I've heard all my life, and I've heard it preached all my life, that the reason Peter began to sink was because he saw that the wind was boisterous, which means, quote unquote, that he took his eyes off Christ and looked at his circumstances and looked at his surroundings. Well, certainly it is never wise to take your eyes away from Christ or his word. However, we are always surrounded by circumstances because they're part and parcel of our lives. You have to remember something. Peter, by vocation, was a fisherman. Don't you think he'd been in storms like this previously? Of course he had. You can't be four or five miles out on a lake or crossing a lake without sooner or later having boisterous wind. He'd been in similar circumstances, I am sure. Let me ask you, if you're driving down the road and you see a tornado approaching you, is it wise to pray? Is it wise to shut your eyes while you pray? Remember, you're driving down the road and the answer is no. If I see a tornado coming, and I'm driving down the road, I am going to pray. But guess what? While I'm praying, I'm going to keep my eye on that tornado to make sure that I can avoid it and go in the opposite direction, or at least where it's already been, so that I will not be involved in that situation. So I'm going to pray, but I'm going to keep my eye upon my circumstances.

Fear as the Opposite of Faith and Love

Scripture teaches that fear is the opposite of faith and love; perfect love casts out fear, and God has not given a spirit of fear.

Look back in Matthew 14 again. Listen carefully. Humanistic fear is the opposite of faith. We normally think that unbelief is the opposite of faith and it can be. But I'm going to show you there's some other things that are the opposite of faith as well. We're told in no uncertain terms that fear is that which renders faith impossible. Notice verse 30, "But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid." It was only when he became afraid that he began to sink. The wind had not changed. Once he stepped out of the ship, the wind was still the same. The only change was Peter became afraid and he began to sink. Watch verse 31. "And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" Why has He called him little faith? Because he feared. Fear is the opposite of faith. Now, hold Matthew 14, but look in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 29, verse 25. We're going to look at a number of passages.

I want you to see this. Proverbs 29, verse 25. Here's an excellent verse to memorize. Proverbs 29, verse 25. Look what the Bible says.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 29:25

"The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe."

The fear of man bringeth a snare. But whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe. What is a snare? A snare is a trap. Once we fall into the trap, we're snared, we're caught, we're caged like an animal. The fear of man is a snare. But he said, whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe. That is, if you have faith in the Lord, you're going to be protected and defended. I want you to note here are two opposites. You have fear on the one hand and you have faith on the other hand. So it's the fear of man that bringeth a snare, but whoso trusteth in the LORD shall be safe. Without me taking the time to do this.

You will remember this as you read through the New Testament. Think of how many did not obey our Lord. And you'll always find this phrase: "because of the fear of the Jews." What? The fear of man bringeth a snare. But whoso trusteth in the LORD shall be safe. Now everyone has fears. No one wishes to live by fear. Everyone has fears. I'll tell you what I used to have.

And several have asked me, and I may do this sometime in the future again. I preached a message years ago, some of you have heard it, on the historical and biblical significance of the beard. About everybody has heard that one. Did you know, by the way, that is one of the top ones on Sermon Audio that most people listen to? It's astounding. "Who is Israel?" "The historical and biblical significance of the beard," "Romans 13." Those are the top ones that have been listened to all across this world. I even got an email from a man in Italy, a chaplain in the United States Army who'd listened to this one and said, I can't wait until I can get out of the service so I can grow my beard. The reason I grew this beard years ago, none of my grandkids have ever seen me without a beard. And my kids probably would never remember me without a beard. Aunt Wendy would, probably. Maybe the twins, I don't know. Ron does. But I've had this beard, I don't know, going on 40 years, 30 something, anyhow.

But the reason I grew it was because of what the Bible teaches concerning beards. And when I first grew it, I would have horrible nightmares. And my nightmare was that I would wake up clean shaven, and I didn't know what happened to my beard. So I had a fear of losing my beard. You say, well, that's silly. No, it's not silly. It was a fear. And finally, after years and years, I got over it.

But still, it was there. Everyone has fears. There is not one American that loves to hear these words, "Hello, I'm from the government and I'm here to help you." There are fears. We fear enemies. We fear agents. We fear entrapments. We fear power-mad politicians. We fear uncontrolled maniacs. We fear drunks and dopeheads and whoremongers and adulterers. And some would say they're all the same crowd. One and the same. Well, maybe. But the point I'm trying to make is there are many, many different fears.

I want you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 10. And look if you would, beginning there with verse 25. Matthew 10, verse 25. Look specifically at what our Lord says. Matthew 10 verse 25:

Scripture Reading — Matthew 10:25-31

"It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?"

That is Satan or Lord of the filth, the Lord of the flies. How much more shall they call them of his household? So if they have stigmatized our Lord, if they've called him ungodly, wicked names, he says how much more are they going to call those of his own household? Watch. Verse 26:

Scripture Reading — Matthew 10:25-31

"Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light."

"And what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows."

Now I want you to note what he's referring to in this passage. First of all, he says, we're not to fear those who castigate us, who call us names. We're not to fear those who seek to take our lives. We're not to fear those who seek to take our goods. No, we're not to fear them. Why? Because we're more value than a sparrow. And those sparrows neither sow nor reap, yet your Heavenly Father takes care of them. Now, wait a minute.

Let's turn in our Bibles to the book of Revelation chapter 2 and look at verse 10 at what our Lord told some believers there. Revelation 2 verse 10. Watch. Because this will get interesting. Revelation 2 verse 10: "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer." Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Now, wait a minute. You can suffer many things. You can suffer ill health. You can suffer loss of wealth. You can suffer loss of family. That's not all. He says, "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer."

"Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." He said some of you will be cast into prison. Now, you put these two passages together, our Lord tells us plainly that we're not to fear those who ridicule, mock, slander, persecute and prosecute. We're not to fear those who kill the body. We're not to fear those who seek to harm us in any way. We're not to fear that we're going to be forsaken or deserted or left alone. We're told that God providentially looks after His own and we're told that the only one that we are to fear is the one true and the living God and Him alone.

Now, I want you to turn to Hebrews chapter 13 and look if you would please at verse 6. If you have not memorized this verse, I would encourage you to do this. This is a powerful, powerful verse. I want you to notice verse 6, Hebrews 13 verse 6, after you read all of these passages about fear not, fear not, fear not, fear not, this is the one verse that summarizes everything. Hebrews 13 verse 6:

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 13:6

"So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."

Did you hear that? So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man can do unto me. Let that sink down into your souls. Consider it. Meditate upon it. Ponder it. Make application to your life. What is it that we are to say boldly? The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man can do unto me. What can man do to you? A lot of things. Persecute you, prosecute you, imprison you, steal from you, take your life. But we're to fear none of these things.

I want you to turn in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 1 and look at verse 7. 2 Timothy chapter 1, watch verse 7. 2 Timothy 1 verse 7:

Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 1:7

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Now let me ask a question. If God does not give us a spirit of fear, from whence then does fear originate? Well, it could come from sin, flesh, the world, or the devil. But it doesn't come from God. It's interesting that when you read in the New Testament especially, when angels would speak to men, the opening words were usually, "Fear not." And even our Lord would often begin His with, "Fear not."

I want you to look in your Bibles to Romans 8. Romans 8 and verse 15. Since we're talking about fear, Romans 8 verse 15. Since God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind, in Romans 8 and verse 15, look what the Bible says. "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." So God says specifically that we have not received the spirit of bondage, which is fear, but we have the spirit of adoption. That is, we are his children whereby we cry Abba, Father.

Now, let me ask you this question. Why do we fear? Here's the answer. Because we do not have faith. And we're not perfected in love. I just showed you from the scripture how fear is the opposite of faith. I want you to understand that love is also the opposite of fear. Look in your Bibles to 1 John chapter 4, 1 John chapter 4, at verses 17 and 18. Yes, unbelief is the opposite of faith. Fear is the opposite of faith. But love is also the opposite of fear. Watch 1 John chapter 4 verse 17: "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." He that feareth is not made perfect in love. So faith is the opposite of fear and love is the opposite of fear.

Now, in verse 17, the general idea is that love is rendered complete and entire in the manner which the Apostle specifies, that is, when we endeavor to be like Christ and please the Father. For he said,

Scripture Reading — 1 John 4:17-18

"as he is, so are we in this world."

Well, how was Christ in this world? Well, let me just quote John 8 in verse 29, where our Lord said, "And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him." How are we to be like Christ? How are we to have boldness in the day of judgment? Endeavor to always do those things that please him in every area of our life. Now what verse 18 tells us in 1 John 4 is this: if we love and exercise faith as we should, then he tells us there is no fear in love. But perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. Now notice he said there is no fear in love. Do you understand that love is an affection? It is a disposition and a state of being which does not produce fear. If you genuinely love someone, you trust that individual.

Let me say that again. If you genuinely love someone, you trust that individual. I'm not afraid of my mother. Why would I be afraid of my mother? I'm not afraid of my wife, although she shoots very well. I keep her supplied in ammunition. I have no fear that she's going to take that Glock and point it toward me one day. I don't fear that. I have no fear. I love her. I trust her. I have no fear for my children. I have no fear for my grandchildren. I have no fear for my friends. If you love someone, you trust them and love is a disposition which does not produce fear. Which means this. If our hearts are genuinely filled with the love of God, we would trust Him completely and there would be absolutely nothing to fear in this world or the world to come. Ever thought about that? We're told that perfect love casts out fear. That is, when love is complete, when it is allowed to exert its proper influence on the soul, there is absolutely nothing that will alarm us or cause us to be alarmed.

Now, the reason that love casts out fear, he tells us in verse 18, is because fear has torment. Fear is a very distressing emotion. We fear poverty. We fear sickness. We fear bereavement. We fear death. We fear many things. And what John is telling us, it is the love of God that frees us and delivers us from all of these distressing apprehensions. It is the love of God that leads us to trust Him as we should. If we have hearts full of love, hearts full of faith, there will not be any fear. Perfect love casteth out fear. It's very simple. Fear hath torment. Fear distresses us. Fear fills us with anguish and makes us restless and uneasy.

Applications and Conclusion

Applications include the imperfection of saints, the reality of weak faith, Christ's displeasure with doubt, and the call to trust God boldly.

Now let me make some applications. The first one is this. There are no perfect saints in this life. Even the apostles were not perfect. The strongest faith and the greatest courage have a mixture of fear. Listen carefully. Those who may boldly say, Lord, I believe, must also say, Lord, help mine unbelief. Nothing but perfect love can cast out fear and good men often fail in those graces in which they are the most eminent and which they exercise most often. Our failure just demonstrates the fact that we are not perfect. Peter was very courageous at first, but afterwards, his heart failed him. It is often the lengthening of the trial that exposes the weakness of our faith.

I don't know how far Christ was from the boat. I don't even know how many steps Peter actually took on the water. He may have walked 3 or 4 steps, who knows? He may have walked 10 or 15, who knows? But Christ was far enough away that he began to fear, and when he began to fear, he sank. We have to learn that we not only must start out well, we must end well. Second application is this. Faith may be true and yet may be weak. Peter was a true believer. He had enough faith.

To get out of the ship. And to enter the water. But he didn't have enough faith to carry him through. Therefore, Christ tells him he had but little faith. But the good news is this, weakness of faith is still faith. He was still a believer. And the man who has the weakest faith is just as saved as the man who has the strongest faith, because faith is faith. The third application is this, the weakness of our faith, the prevalence of our doubts, and the lack of our love is very displeasing to our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is true He does not cast off weak believers. But it is also true He is not pleased with the weakness of our faith. Especially in those who are close to Him. For He asked Peter, "Wherefore didst thou doubt?" Why did you doubt? If you and I were to really examine our fears, if we were to really examine our doubts with a strict inquiry, we would probably find there's no real good reason to doubt Christ or His Word. And there's no real good reason for you and I to have our fears and our doubts. Christ is still Christ on a stormy day as equally as he's Christ on a sunny day. He does not change. We may safely trust him in the storm as equally as we may trust him in the calm.

I want you to turn to one last passage. Psalm 46. Psalm 46, some of you will recognize this passage. This is a song that stirred Martin Luther to write, "A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing." Notice Psalm 46, verse 1: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof." Notice, God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in the time of trouble. Therefore, will we not fear if the whole earth breaks asunder? We will not fear.

And we must understand the reason we do fear is due to our smallness of faith and our lack of love to our sovereign Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So we need to learn to pray, Lord, I believe. Help now my unbelief. We need to learn to pray, Father, shed the love of God abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, help us to love and believe as thou hast commanded us to in thy word. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to you this day, we thank you for your truth. We thank you for your encouragement. We thank you heavenly Father, that thou art the sovereign God of heaven and earth. Help us Lord to boldly say the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man can do unto me. Give us grace that we may believe and to exercise the faith that you've given us. We ask that you would shed the love of God abroad in our hearts that make us, Lord, loving and submissive and obedient. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray.

Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Obedience to Christ's Commands

Summary: Jesus constrained the disciples to leave, teaching them to obey even when they might have preferred to stay.

Evidence: He commanded and compelled and constrained them to get into the ship and leave. In other words, you will not be caught up in this frenzy...

Faith Requires Divine Warrant

Summary: Peter did not act rashly but sought Christ's permission, showing that true faith operates under God's authority.

Evidence: Peter is not going to leave that boat. Peter is not going to do anything rashly. Peter's not even going to attempt to come to Christ without Christ's warrant and authority.

Fear as the Opposite of Faith

Summary: Peter sank because he became afraid; fear renders faith impossible and is condemned in Scripture.

Evidence: It was only when he became afraid that he began to sink. The wind had not changed... Fear is the opposite of faith.

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

Summary: Love is also the opposite of fear; when love is complete, it expels fear and brings trust in God.

Evidence: There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment.

Weakness of Faith and Christ's Displeasure

Summary: Weak faith is still saving faith, but Christ is displeased with doubt and fear in His disciples.

Evidence: It is true He does not cast off weak believers. But it is also true He is not pleased with the weakness of our faith.

Key Arguments

Jesus constrained the disciples to prevent sin and teach obedience

Summary: Jesus compelled the disciples to leave to keep them from the multitude's carnal plan and to teach them to obey His commands.

Evidence: He probably did not want them to take part with the multitude and their rashness... He may have simply wanted to teach them to obey.

Peter's request was not presumption but faith under authority

Summary: Peter asked Christ to bid him come, showing he would not act without divine warrant, unlike tempting God.

Evidence: Peter is not going to do anything rashly... Without Christ's warrant, without Christ's authority, it would have been nothing less than blasphemy.

Peter sank because of fear, not circumstances

Summary: The wind was the same before and after Peter stepped out; his fear alone caused him to sink.

Evidence: The wind had not changed. Once he stepped out of the ship, the wind was still the same. The only change was Peter became afraid and he began to sink.

Fear is the opposite of faith and love

Summary: Scripture contrasts fear with faith and love, showing that fear indicates a lack of trust and love toward God.

Evidence: Fear is the opposite of faith... There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.

God commands believers not to fear

Summary: Multiple passages command believers not to fear man or circumstances, because God is their helper.

Evidence: So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Scripture References

Matthew 14:22-33

Context: The primary passage of the sermon, describing Jesus walking on water and Peter's attempt.

John 6:15

Context: Explains why Jesus sent the disciples away: the multitude wanted to make Him king by force.

John 6:2

Context: The multitude followed Jesus because they saw His miracles.

John 6:26

Context: Jesus said the multitude sought Him because they ate the loaves and were filled.

Job 9:8

Context: Cited to show that walking on the waves is a demonstration of omnipotence.

Luke 4:9

Context: The devil tempted Jesus to jump from the temple, but Jesus refused to act presumptuously.

1 Kings 19:8

Context: Elijah went 40 days and nights without food or water at God's command, not on his own initiative.

Hebrews 11:7

Context: Noah moved with fear (reverential awe) and built the ark, showing biblical fear leads to obedience.

Proverbs 29:25

Context: The fear of man brings a snare, but trusting in the Lord brings safety.

Matthew 10:25-31

Context: Jesus taught not to fear those who kill the body but to fear God who can destroy both soul and body.

Revelation 2:10

Context: Believers are told not to fear what they will suffer, even imprisonment and death.

Hebrews 13:6

Context: Believers can boldly say the Lord is their helper and will not fear what man can do.

2 Timothy 1:7

Context: God has not given a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind.

Romans 8:15

Context: Believers have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but the Spirit of adoption.

1 John 4:17-18

Context: Perfect love casts out fear because fear has torment; he who fears is not perfected in love.

Isaiah 35:4

Context: Those with fearful hearts are told to be strong and not fear, for God will come with vengeance and save.

Matthew 8:26

Context: Jesus asked why the disciples were fearful, O ye of little faith, before calming the storm.

Mark 4:40

Context: Jesus asked why they were so fearful and how they had no faith.

Psalm 46:1-3

Context: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble; therefore we will not fear.

Historical References

Adam Clarke, commentator

Context: Clarke observed that in this one miracle we may discern three: Christ knew their distress, found them in darkness, and walked on water.

Charles Spurgeon

Context: Spurgeon is quoted: 'Peter's Lord is about to teach him a practical lesson... He treads the wave.'

Martin Luther

Context: Psalm 46 stirred Martin Luther to write 'A mighty fortress is our God.'

Important Quotes

Impossibilities become possibilities when we obey the word of our Lord.

Significance: Summarizes the principle that faith acting on Christ's command enables the impossible.

Fear is the opposite of faith.

Significance: Central thesis of the sermon, explaining why Peter sank.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment.

Significance: Key verse used to show love as the remedy for fear.

So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Significance: The summary verse for the believer's confidence in God against all fears.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Significance: Establishes that fear does not originate from God.

The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.

Significance: Contrasts fear of man with trust in God.

Christ is still Christ on a stormy day as equally as he's Christ on a sunny day. He does not change.

Significance: Encouragement to trust Christ consistently regardless of circumstances.

Discussion Questions

Why did Jesus constrain His disciples to get into the ship and leave immediately after feeding the 5,000?

Context: The sermon gives several reasons: to prevent them from joining the multitude's carnal plan, to teach obedience, and to set up a lesson.

What is the difference between acting in faith under divine warrant and acting presumptuously?

Context: Peter asked permission before stepping out, unlike tempting God by jumping off a building and claiming to trust Him.

According to the sermon, why did Peter begin to sink? Was it the wind or something else?

Context: The wind was the same; Peter sank because he became afraid, showing fear is the opposite of faith.

How does the Bible contrast fear with faith and love?

Context: Multiple passages show fear as the opposite of faith and love, and that perfect love casts out fear.

What does it mean that 'perfect love casteth out fear' and how can we grow in that love?

Context: Love is a disposition that trusts; when love is complete, it expels fear. We need the love of God shed abroad in our hearts.

Why is Christ displeased with doubt and fear in believers, even though He does not cast them off?

Context: Christ asked Peter 'Wherefore didst thou doubt?' showing that weak faith displeases Him, especially in those close to Him.

Applications

Examine our fears and doubts

Summary: We should strictly inquire into our fears and doubts, recognizing there is no good reason to doubt Christ or His Word.

Evidence: If you and I were to really examine our fears... we would probably find there's no real good reason to doubt Christ or His Word.

Pray for increased faith and love

Summary: We need to pray, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief' and ask God to shed His love abroad in our hearts to overcome fear.

Evidence: We need to learn to pray, Lord, I believe. Help now my unbelief... Father, shed the love of God abroad in our hearts.

Trust Christ in all circumstances

Summary: Christ does not change; we may safely trust Him in the storm as much as in the calm.

Evidence: Christ is still Christ on a stormy day as equally as he's Christ on a sunny day. He does not change.

Boldly confess the Lord as helper

Summary: We should boldly say, 'The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.'

Evidence: So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T21:20:55Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T13:23:07Z

Clean Transcript

Walking on the Water

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Let's open our Bibles today to Matthew chapter 14. Matthew chapter 14. The verses are 22 through 33. Matthew 14, 22 through 33. And the title of the message today is "Walking on the Water." So, I think you'll understand it in just a moment. Walking on water. Matthew 14 verse 22: "And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray."
#1 | 0:15 to 0:57 | cleaned
"And when the evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased."
#2 | 0:58 to 1:47 | cleaned
"Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God." Some of you have seen the internet quiz, and it comes with a picture. And the quiz just simply asks the question, how many men have walked on the water? And the answer is three. Jesus, Peter, and then the third one is the guy below. And when you look at the picture, you see a man jumping over the edge with his feet just touching the water, and behind him a charging bull. And when you look at the picture, it looks as if the man is actually running on the water. However, I have seen the video, and the man actually sinks, and so does the bull. So what someone has done is they've done a little Photoshop work, and they've taken the picture just when his feet just barely hit the water, and it really looks like he's running across the top of the water.
#3 | 1:48 to 3:00 | cleaned
So whoever did it did a masterful job. But the truth of the matter is this. Only two have walked on water, and that is our Lord and, of course, Peter. And there are lessons that you and I are to learn from this incident in Matthew chapter 14. And of course, our message begins actually in verse 22 today. And I call your attention to verse 22 because the Bible says, "And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away." Now the word "straightway" actually means immediately, at once. So our Lord immediately began then to command his disciples to get into a ship and go to the other side. Now, the interesting thing is the word "constrain" not only refers to a command, but it also refers to compulsion. So our Lord then was compelling his disciples to get into the ship and go to the other side.
#4 | 3:00 to 4:02 | cleaned
So you have to ask this question. Why was our Lord so insistent that his disciples leave immediately? And why did he compel them to go to the other side?
#5 | 4:03 to 4:14 | cleaned
Now, the context of this incident is given to us after the feeding of the 5,000. If you look in Matthew chapter 14, beginning there with verse 15, "And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat."
#6 | 4:14 to 4:40 | cleaned
"And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children." So there was a huge multitude there. 5,000 men, if each one was married, that's another 5,000 women, plus children, probably 15 or 20,000 people there.
#7 | 4:41 to 5:22 | cleaned
And then our Lord immediately tells his disciples, he constrains them to get into a ship and go to the other side. Now the question is why? Well, John records something additional that Matthew does not record. If you look in John chapter 6, if you would, John chapter 6, after our Lord fed the 5,000 in John chapter 6 and verse 15, we read this concerning the multitude. Notice if you would, John chapter 6 and verse 15, the Bible says, "When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone." So if you look at verses 13 and 14, you'll see it's immediately following the feeding of the 5,000 again. And so the people now are going to take our Lord by force and make Him a King. The people only desired Christ as King so that He might feed them and deliver them from the Romans.
#8 | 5:23 to 6:31 | cleaned
They had no desire to submit to Him and to recognize Him by repentance and faith. Their desire for a temporal king and a temporal kingdom was completely carnal and had absolutely no foundation in Scripture. So initially, since we're in John chapter 6, I will show you this. Initially, the multitudes sought Christ and followed Christ because they saw the miracles which He did. They were enthralled, they were entertained, and they were mystified.
#9 | 6:31 to 7:03 | cleaned
In fact, in Mark chapter 2 and verse 12, don't turn there, but after he'd done one miracle, they said, "We never saw it on this fashion." In other words, this is something totally, completely different. So if you look in John 6 and verse 2, the Bible says, "And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased." So here were some people then who wanted to be entertained. They were mystified. I mean, Christ was working all these miracles, and then we get to see them. Well, guess what? After He fed them, not only did they want to make Him a king, but now they are following Him for a totally different reason. Look in John 6 and verse 26. Look what our Lord tells them. "Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled." In other words, you want free food.
#10 | 7:04 to 8:02 | cleaned
Here were some welfare recipients. Ah, my soul. If they lived in America, they'd have been happy, wouldn't they? I mean, you know, the government will feed anybody and everybody as long as you submit to them. But hey, this is Christ. And he said, look, the only reason you're following me now is because you got some free food. So, let's ask the question now, again, why did our Lord command and constrain and compel His disciples to get into a ship and go to the other side?
#11 | 8:03 to 8:34 | cleaned
I can give you several possible answers. First, He probably did not want them to take part with the multitude and their rashness in trying to seek Him by force and make Him a king all for the wrong reasons. Very obviously it is easy to get caught up in a multitude. So he was preventing the occasion of sin by removing his disciples from the circumstance and the situation surrounding them. He commanded and compelled and constrained them to get into the ship and leave. In other words, you will not be caught up in this frenzy, in this rashness, in this carnal act.
#12 | 8:34 to 9:20 | cleaned
So he sends them away. Secondly, he may have simply wanted to teach them to obey. They wanted to stay, he wanted them to go. A good soldier learns to obey, even when he suffers hardship. They may not have wanted to leave him alone in a desert place. They were in a desert place, remember? They said, this is a desert place. And if you look down in verse 23 of Matthew chapter 14, we read this, "And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone." They may not have wanted to leave our Lord alone. He was in a desert place, yet He commanded them, and He was in control.
#13 | 9:21 to 10:05 | cleaned
He was in command, and not them. He gave the orders, therefore it was theirs to obey. A third reason you could give for his sending the disciples away is simply this. It sets the stage for Christ not only to demonstrate his deity and his sovereignty by walking on the water, but also to teach a valuable lesson for all of us. So they obey. And if you look in verse 23, "And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray."
#14 | 10:06 to 10:41 | cleaned
"And when the evening was come, he was there alone." Watch verse 24. "But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary." Now, we're told in verse 24 that they were in the midst of the sea. The Sea of Galilee, or the Sea of Tiberias, it's all one and the same, is about 10 miles wide. In John chapter 6, without turning there, in verse 19, John tells us that they were about 25 or 30 furlongs out into the sea, which would be approximately 4 miles. So they were actually in the middle of the sea. And notice, if you would please, the wind was contrary to them. So they had been rowing all night and had not gotten more than 4 or 5 miles out. They had not even crossed the sea. He had told them to go to the other side. They're now in the middle of the sea. Now, look if you would at verse 24 again. "But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary."
#15 | 10:41 to 12:00 | cleaned
"And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea." Now, the fourth watch of the night would have been between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. What's that mean? That means these disciples had rowed and toiled all night long. It was now getting close to daybreak and they had only gotten to the middle of the sea.
#16 | 12:01 to 12:34 | cleaned
Now I want you to try to picture this in your mind if you would please. The Lord has sent them away. He's told them to go to the other side. They're endeavoring to obey. But because of the wind, because of the sea, they're only about halfway to the other side. They're tired. They're exhausted. They're sleepy. They're frightened. Remember now, the sea is contrary to them. The wind is contrary to them.
#17 | 12:34 to 13:02 | cleaned
It is now nearly morning. So there's either just a little bit of moonlight, or maybe the sun is about to rise, and all of a sudden they're looking out in just a little bit of light, they see something that looks like a man walking on the water.
#18 | 13:03 to 13:27 | cleaned
Now you've got to remember, these people are four or five miles out in the sea. You've got to remember there's not enough light now to distinguish who or what it was that was walking upon the water. Why would they expect it to be Christ? They had left Him in a desert place. He had commanded them to go to the other side. So they're asking themselves, who is this or what is this? And they're supposing it's to be a spirit, a ghost.
#19 | 13:29 to 13:58 | cleaned
And they were terribly frightened. It's very easy to be frightened once you're tired and exhausted and sleepy. Every one of us have been in a dead sleep from having been exhausted and all of a sudden, a loud noise occurs and what do we do? We jump straight up in bed. You have no idea what it is. You have no idea what it is. And it scares you momentarily.
#20 | 13:59 to 14:32 | cleaned
Well, I want you to note verse 26: "And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear." So they're not only exhausted and sleepy. Now they're frightened. Verse 27, "But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." Instantly, our Lord speaks to them. Here's the word "straightway" again. That is immediately, at once. So at once our Lord says, be not afraid, it is I.
#21 | 14:33 to 15:08 | cleaned
In other words, he did not wish them to be fearful at all. Adam Clarke, the commentator, made this observation. He said, in this one miracle, we may discern three. Though at a distance from his disciples, he knew their distress. That is, he knew the wind and the sea was contrary to them. He found them out on the lake and probably in the midst of darkness. He knew exactly where to go. And three, he walked upon the water. Job, speaking of those things where about the omnipotence of God was demonstrated, says particularly in Job 9:8, "he walketh on the waves of the sea," intimating that this is only possible for omnipotence, the one who is all powerful, indicating it has to be God.
#22 | 15:08 to 16:00 | cleaned
Now, the interesting thing is, in verse 27, when our Lord said, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." Evidently, his words had the desired effect upon his disciples because Peter especially either ignores or forgets his toil, exhaustion, and sleepiness, and the storm and he asked to come to Christ. So in verse 28, "And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water."
#23 | 16:01 to 16:43 | cleaned
Now I want you to note something very carefully in verse 28. "Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water." If it be thou, bid me come unto thee. Peter is not necessarily asking for a supernatural miracle. He is asking primarily to come to Christ. Walking on the water was just simply a means to the end. So Peter was not necessarily asking for some supernatural miracle in his life. What Peter wanted was this, Lord, I want to come to you, get me to you, no matter how I get there. I just want to be there.
#24 | 16:45 to 17:28 | cleaned
There are several lessons that we've got to learn right here. The first one is this, and it should be obvious any time that you discern by faith, according to the word of God, that Christ is moving toward you in grace and mercy. It is your duty and responsibility to endeavor to come to him in obedience and faith. If we discern the grace and the mercy of God upon us or approaching us or about to fall upon us, we have a greater responsibility to be more obedient and to exercise more faith.
#25 | 17:30 to 18:17 | cleaned
Let me show you the next lesson that is vastly important. When our Lord said, "It is I; be not afraid." Peter did not rashly jump from the boat and cry out, Lord, I'm coming to you. He didn't do that. No, Peter asked permission. He said, "Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee." In other words, Peter is not going to leave that boat. Peter is not going to do anything rashly. Peter's not even going to attempt to come to Christ without Christ's warrant and authority. Do you realize what would have happened if Peter just merely jumped from the boat and said, Lord, I'm coming to you? Without Christ's warrant, without Christ's authority, it would have been nothing less than blasphemy because it would have been nothing less than tempting God. There is a vast difference between doing something that is biblical and commanded than there is doing something that is absolutely stupid and tempting Christ by saying that you trust Him and that you ask Him to protect you when you have no warrant and no authority to do that.
#26 | 18:19 to 19:49 | cleaned
It's almost like someone going to the Empire State Building, getting to the top of it and jumping off. And as you jump off, you say, oh, but I'm trusting Christ to catch me before I hit the bottom. Is that faith? That's not faith. That's foolishness. Such acts are not acts of faith. They're acts of presumption and they are a blasphemous tempting of God. Do you not remember that even our Lord himself was tempted in this manner? Because in Luke 4 and verse 9, it was the devil who took him up to the pinnacle of the temple and said, jump off if you're the Christ. And Christ refused.
#27 | 19:49 to 20:36 | cleaned
He would not do anything that was rash or presumptuous. No. So Peter was not acting rashly. Let me ask you, would you on your own, attempt to go 40 days and 40 nights without food or water? If you do, you're going to end up dead. You can go 40 days without food, but you usually can't go more than three days without water, without dying. And don't turn there.
#28 | 20:37 to 21:21 | cleaned
But let me tell you, Elijah did exactly that. But Elijah did it at the warrant and command of God. In 1 Kings 19 verse 8, the Bible says this, "And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God."
#29 | 21:22 to 21:46 | cleaned
Now very obviously it would have been foolish and presumptuous and tempting of God if Elijah simply decided to do that on his own initiative. He didn't decide to do that. God commanded him to eat and drink and then to go to Horeb. And that's exactly what he did. So he went 40 days and 40 nights without food or water. I remember Moses was in the Mount the same amount of time without food and without water.
#30 | 21:47 to 22:15 | cleaned
So Peter then is not acting rashly. He did seek our Lord's will and authority before he stepped out. And it must be admitted, you have to confess that Peter did act in faith when he left the safety of the ship and stepped into the raging sea. He did indeed trust that it was Christ. He trusted Christ's word because Christ said, "Come!" Peter said, I believe it's you Lord and I believe your word. And Peter stepped out of the ship and began to walk to Christ. Impossibilities become possibilities when we obey the word of our Lord. Now there's a difference between Christ and Peter here walking on the water. Christ walks on the water by virtue of his own power and authority since he is God. Peter walks on the water being held up by the power of Christ. Spurgeon says this, "Peter's Lord is about to teach him a practical lesson. He asked to be bidden to come. He may come. He does come. He leaves the boat. He treads the wave. He's on his way towards his Lord."
#31 | 22:15 to 23:42 | cleaned
We can do anything if we have divine authorization and courage enough to take our Lord at his word. And that's true. We may do anything if we have, first of all, divine authorization, and secondly, courage to take our Lord at his word.
#32 | 23:42 to 24:07 | cleaned
Now, Peter walks on the waves of the raging sea, but something happens begins to change that situation very suddenly. In fact, Peter begins to sink. So if you will look at verses 29 and 30, "And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" Now, the Bible tells us that he saw the wind was boisterous.
#33 | 24:07 to 24:54 | cleaned
That is, it was strong, it was powerful, it was violent. Wait a minute. Let's look at this again. Verse 30. "But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me." Wait a minute. Was it the wind exactly like that before they ever saw Christ? Well, yes. Because verse 24 tells us that they had rowed all night and couldn't get anywhere because the wind was contrary to them. Let's wait another minute. Wasn't the wind exactly like that when Peter stepped out of the boat? And the answer is yes. So the wind was like that before Christ came. The wind was like that when he stepped out of the ship.
#34 | 24:55 to 26:03 | cleaned
So you have to ask the question, why did he sink? Well I've heard all my life, and I've heard it preached all my life, that the reason Peter began to sink was because he saw that the wind was boisterous, which means, quote unquote, that he took his eyes off Christ and looked at his circumstances and looked at his surroundings. Well, certainly it is never wise to take your eyes away from Christ or his word. However, we are always surrounded by circumstances because they're part and parcel of our lives.
#35 | 26:05 to 26:48 | cleaned
You have to remember something. Peter, by vocation, was a fisherman. Don't you think he'd been in storms like this previously? Of course he had. You can't be four or five miles out on a lake or crossing a lake without sooner or later having boisterous wind. He'd been in similar circumstances, I am sure. Let me ask you, if you're driving down the road and you see a tornado approaching you, is it wise to pray? Is it wise to shut your eyes while you pray? Remember, you're driving down the road and the answer is no. If I see a tornado coming, and I'm driving down the road, I am going to pray. But guess what? While I'm praying, I'm going to keep my eye on that tornado to make sure that I can avoid it and go in the opposite direction, or at least where it's already been, so that I will not be involved in that situation. So I'm going to pray, but I'm going to keep my eye upon my circumstances.
#36 | 26:50 to 28:08 | cleaned
Yet my faith is still in Christ. I'm seeking His divine protection. Peter may not have taken his eyes off Christ. If Christ is walking in the midst of the sea, if there in the midst of the sea, when Peter stepped out of the boat, guess what? The wind is everywhere. The waves are everywhere. He could have been looking directly at Christ and have seen the wind and the waves. Well, if it was not the wind and the waves that made him sink, what was it? Well, look back at verse 30. "But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me." You have to remember, the wind was boisterous before Christ appeared. It was boisterous when he stepped out of the boat. There was no change in the wind. The only change was in Peter. He became afraid. You're going to say, but brother, don't condemn Peter right now, because let me tell you something, if I happened to be in that situation, I would have been afraid as well.
#37 | 28:08 to 29:44 | cleaned
Yeah, and you would have sunk too. You must understand there is a difference between biblical fear and humanistic fear. Biblically, one fears when he believes God and obeys his word and exercises faith in him. Let me show you. There's a difference. Hold Matthew 14, but look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 11 and look at verse 7. Some of you can quote this verse undoubtedly, but here it is for those who cannot. Look in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 7. Just showing you the difference right off now between biblical fear and humanistic fear. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 7, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." But notice the Bible begins "by faith Noah, being warned of God of things not yet seen, moved with fear." What was Noah afraid of?
#38 | 29:44 to 31:13 | cleaned
God, His judgment, His wrath, His truth, His word. He knew that God was not playing and that God would not lie. So Noah's fear then, was actually a reverential awe and respect of God which moved him to obey and to do what was necessary to save his family. So his fear then and his faith were evidenced by his obedience. Humanistic fear is totally different from that. Humanistic fear is simply fear that is not based upon faith. It is not based upon the Word of God. Humanistic fear is just simply fear for fear's sake.
#39 | 31:14 to 32:06 | cleaned
It is rooted and grounded in our perception of danger, helplessness, and hopelessness. We know that we're in danger, yet we don't know what to do. We don't know where to turn. We don't know how to respond. Such fear is condemned in the Word of God. It evidences an ignorance of the word of God and a lack of faith in the Son of God. So humanistic fear is the opposite of faith.
#40 | 32:07 to 32:40 | cleaned
Look back in Matthew 14 again. Listen carefully. Humanistic fear is the opposite of faith. We normally think that unbelief is the opposite of faith and it can be. But I'm going to show you there's some other things that are the opposite of faith as well. We're told in no uncertain terms that fear is that which renders faith impossible. Notice verse 30, "But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid." It was only when he became afraid that he began to sink. The wind had not changed. Once he stepped out of the ship, the wind was still the same. The only change was Peter became afraid and he began to sink. Watch verse 31. "And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" Why has He called him little faith? Because he feared. Fear is the opposite of faith. Now, hold Matthew 14, but look in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 29, verse 25. We're going to look at a number of passages.
#41 | 32:40 to 33:56 | cleaned
I want you to see this. Proverbs 29, verse 25. Here's an excellent verse to memorize. Proverbs 29, verse 25. Look what the Bible says. "The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe." The fear of man bringeth a snare. But whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe. What is a snare? A snare is a trap. Once we fall into the trap, we're snared, we're caught, we're caged like an animal. The fear of man is a snare. But he said, whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe. That is, if you have faith in the Lord, you're going to be protected and defended. I want you to note here are two opposites. You have fear on the one hand and you have faith on the other hand. So it's the fear of man that bringeth a snare, but whoso trusteth in the LORD shall be safe. Without me taking the time to do this.
#42 | 33:57 to 35:07 | cleaned
You will remember this as you read through the New Testament. Think of how many did not obey our Lord. And you'll always find this phrase: "because of the fear of the Jews." What? The fear of man bringeth a snare. But whoso trusteth in the LORD shall be safe. Now everyone has fears. No one wishes to live by fear. Everyone has fears. I'll tell you what I used to have.
#43 | 35:07 to 35:48 | cleaned
And several have asked me, and I may do this sometime in the future again. I preached a message years ago, some of you have heard it, on the historical and biblical significance of the beard. About everybody has heard that one. Did you know, by the way, that is one of the top ones on Sermon Audio that most people listen to? It's astounding. "Who is Israel?" "The historical and biblical significance of the beard," "Romans 13." Those are the top ones that have been listened to all across this world. I even got an email from a man in Italy, a chaplain in the United States Army who'd listened to this one and said, I can't wait until I can get out of the service so I can grow my beard. The reason I grew this beard years ago, none of my grandkids have ever seen me without a beard. And my kids probably would never remember me without a beard. Aunt Wendy would, probably. Maybe the twins, I don't know. Ron does. But I've had this beard, I don't know, going on 40 years, 30 something, anyhow.
#44 | 35:50 to 37:14 | cleaned
But the reason I grew it was because of what the Bible teaches concerning beards. And when I first grew it, I would have horrible nightmares. And my nightmare was that I would wake up clean shaven, and I didn't know what happened to my beard. So I had a fear of losing my beard. You say, well, that's silly. No, it's not silly. It was a fear. And finally, after years and years, I got over it.
#45 | 37:15 to 37:49 | cleaned
But still, it was there. Everyone has fears. There is not one American that loves to hear these words, "Hello, I'm from the government and I'm here to help you." There are fears. We fear enemies. We fear agents. We fear entrapments. We fear power-mad politicians. We fear uncontrolled maniacs. We fear drunks and dopeheads and whoremongers and adulterers. And some would say they're all the same crowd. One and the same. Well, maybe. But the point I'm trying to make is there are many, many different fears.
#46 | 37:49 to 38:34 | cleaned
I want you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 10. And look if you would, beginning there with verse 25. Matthew 10, verse 25. Look specifically at what our Lord says. Matthew 10 verse 25: "It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?" That is Satan or Lord of the filth, the Lord of the flies.
#47 | 38:37 to 39:14 | cleaned
How much more shall they call them of his household? So if they have stigmatized our Lord, if they've called him ungodly, wicked names, he says how much more are they going to call those of his own household? Watch. Verse 26: "Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light."
#48 | 39:16 to 39:42 | cleaned
"And what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows."
#49 | 39:43 to 40:12 | cleaned
Now I want you to note what he's referring to in this passage. First of all, he says, we're not to fear those who castigate us, who call us names. We're not to fear those who seek to take our lives. We're not to fear those who seek to take our goods. No, we're not to fear them. Why? Because we're more value than a sparrow. And those sparrows neither sow nor reap, yet your Heavenly Father takes care of them. Now, wait a minute.
#50 | 40:12 to 40:47 | cleaned
Let's turn in our Bibles to the book of Revelation chapter 2 and look at verse 10 at what our Lord told some believers there. Revelation 2 verse 10. Watch. Because this will get interesting. Revelation 2 verse 10: "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer." Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Now, wait a minute. You can suffer many things. You can suffer ill health. You can suffer loss of wealth. You can suffer loss of family. That's not all. He says, "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer."
#51 | 40:47 to 41:28 | cleaned
"Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." He said some of you will be cast into prison.
#52 | 41:28 to 41:41 | cleaned
Now, you put these two passages together, our Lord tells us plainly that we're not to fear those who ridicule, mock, slander, persecute and prosecute. We're not to fear those who kill the body. We're not to fear those who seek to harm us in any way. We're not to fear that we're going to be forsaken or deserted or left alone. We're told that God providentially looks after His own and we're told that the only one that we are to fear is the one true and the living God and Him alone.
#53 | 41:41 to 42:17 | cleaned
Now, I want you to turn to Hebrews chapter 13 and look if you would please at verse 6. If you have not memorized this verse, I would encourage you to do this. This is a powerful, powerful verse. I want you to notice verse 6, Hebrews 13 verse 6, after you read all of these passages about fear not, fear not, fear not, fear not, this is the one verse that summarizes everything. Hebrews 13 verse 6: "So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." Did you hear that? So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man can do unto me.
#54 | 42:17 to 43:11 | cleaned
Let that sink down into your souls. Consider it. Meditate upon it. Ponder it. Make application to your life. What is it that we are to say boldly? The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man can do unto me. What can man do to you? A lot of things. Persecute you, prosecute you, imprison you, steal from you, take your life. But we're to fear none of these things.
#55 | 43:11 to 43:49 | cleaned
I want you to turn in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 1 and look at verse 7. 2 Timothy chapter 1, watch verse 7. 2 Timothy 1 verse 7: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
#56 | 43:51 to 44:29 | cleaned
Now let me ask a question. If God does not give us a spirit of fear, from whence then does fear originate? Well, it could come from sin, flesh, the world, or the devil. But it doesn't come from God. It's interesting that when you read in the New Testament especially, when angels would speak to men, the opening words were usually, "Fear not." And even our Lord would often begin His with, "Fear not."
#57 | 44:29 to 45:30 | cleaned
I want you to look in your Bibles to Romans 8. Romans 8 and verse 15. Since we're talking about fear, Romans 8 verse 15. Since God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind, in Romans 8 and verse 15, look what the Bible says. "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." So God says specifically that we have not received the spirit of bondage, which is fear, but we have the spirit of adoption. That is, we are his children whereby we cry Abba, Father.
#58 | 45:31 to 46:23 | cleaned
Now, let me ask you this question. Why do we fear? Here's the answer. Because we do not have faith. And we're not perfected in love. I just showed you from the scripture how fear is the opposite of faith. I want you to understand that love is also the opposite of fear. Look in your Bibles to 1 John chapter 4, 1 John chapter 4, at verses 17 and 18. Yes, unbelief is the opposite of faith. Fear is the opposite of faith. But love is also the opposite of fear. Watch 1 John chapter 4 verse 17: "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." He that feareth is not made perfect in love. So faith is the opposite of fear and love is the opposite of fear.
#59 | 46:24 to 48:07 | cleaned
Now, in verse 17, the general idea is that love is rendered complete and entire in the manner which the Apostle specifies, that is, when we endeavor to be like Christ and please the Father. For he said, "as he is, so are we in this world." Well, how was Christ in this world? Well, let me just quote John 8 in verse 29, where our Lord said, "And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him." How are we to be like Christ?
#60 | 48:07 to 48:49 | cleaned
How are we to have boldness in the day of judgment? Endeavor to always do those things that please him in every area of our life. Now what verse 18 tells us in 1 John 4 is this: if we love and exercise faith as we should, then he tells us there is no fear in love. But perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. Now notice he said there is no fear in love. Do you understand that love is an affection? It is a disposition and a state of being which does not produce fear. If you genuinely love someone, you trust that individual.
#61 | 48:50 to 49:42 | cleaned
Let me say that again. If you genuinely love someone, you trust that individual. I'm not afraid of my mother. Why would I be afraid of my mother? I'm not afraid of my wife, although she shoots very well. I keep her supplied in ammunition. I have no fear that she's going to take that Glock and point it toward me one day. I don't fear that. I have no fear. I love her. I trust her. I have no fear for my children. I have no fear for my grandchildren. I have no fear for my friends. If you love someone, you trust them and love is a disposition which does not produce fear. Which means this. If our hearts are genuinely filled with the love of God, we would trust Him completely and there would be absolutely nothing to fear in this world or the world to come. Ever thought about that? We're told that perfect love casts out fear. That is, when love is complete, when it is allowed to exert its proper influence on the soul, there is absolutely nothing that will alarm us or cause us to be alarmed.
#62 | 49:45 to 51:35 | cleaned
Now, the reason that love casts out fear, he tells us in verse 18, is because fear has torment. Fear is a very distressing emotion. We fear poverty. We fear sickness. We fear bereavement. We fear death. We fear many things. And what John is telling us, it is the love of God that frees us and delivers us from all of these distressing apprehensions. It is the love of God that leads us to trust Him as we should. If we have hearts full of love, hearts full of faith, there will not be any fear. Perfect love casteth out fear. It's very simple. Fear hath torment. Fear distresses us. Fear fills us with anguish and makes us restless and uneasy.
#63 | 51:36 to 52:37 | cleaned
It keeps us in servitude. It keeps us in bondage. And as long as you fear, you're going to be in bondage. Period. You know, I like that passage. I believe it's in Romans 5 where he says, "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost." We need to pray more that the love of God would indeed fill our hearts because it is perfect love that casts out fear. And the scripture says, "he that feareth is not made perfect in love." The fact that we have fear, the evidence that we fear demonstrates that we have a long way to go. Even the Apostle Peter was not perfect.
#64 | 52:38 to 53:31 | cleaned
He feared, therefore he sank. He was afraid. Because fear is the opposite of faith. Fear is the opposite of love. Had he loved as he should have, he would have trusted and he would not have sunk. It was not the wind, it was not the circumstances, it was the fear that made him sink. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah 35, Isaiah 35, and verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Look what the scripture tells us. Isaiah 35, verse 4.
#65 | 53:32 to 54:12 | cleaned
Isaiah 35 verse 4: "Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you." When you look at this world and this nation, to use a cliche that you're familiar with, and it's going to hell in a handbasket, what does God say to His own? Fear not. Be strong. I'm going to come with a recompence.
#66 | 54:31 to 55:10 | cleaned
I will take care of the problem. I will rectify the situation. Just be strong. Don't fear. I'll do it. Our Lord, and I'm going to quote these, in Matthew 8, said this to His disciples, listen carefully, "And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm." But notice what he said, "Why are ye so fearful, O ye of little faith?" Remember, fear is the opposite of faith. If you had faith, you would not be fearful. In Mark 4 and verse 40, he said unto them, "Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?" In other words, if you have faith, you're not going to be fearful. If you have fear, it's because you don't have faith. In other words, like oil and water do not mix, faith and fear do not mix. Love and fear do not mix.
#67 | 55:10 to 56:11 | cleaned
If we would be holy, mature, and complete, we need to cease fearing, begin loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, body, spirit, being, like He's commanded us, and exercising faith in Him. The more we believe, the less we doubt. The more we believe, the less we fear. The more we love, the less we fear. The more we love, the less we distrust. Peter began to sink, not because of the wind, not because of the raging sea, but because he was afraid.
#68 | 56:13 to 56:57 | cleaned
Now let me make some applications. The first one is this. There are no perfect saints in this life. Even the apostles were not perfect. The strongest faith and the greatest courage have a mixture of fear. Listen carefully. Those who may boldly say, Lord, I believe, must also say, Lord, help mine unbelief. Nothing but perfect love can cast out fear and good men often fail in those graces in which they are the most eminent and which they exercise most often. Our failure just demonstrates the fact that we are not perfect. Peter was very courageous at first, but afterwards, his heart failed him. It is often the lengthening of the trial that exposes the weakness of our faith.
#69 | 57:00 to 58:16 | cleaned
I don't know how far Christ was from the boat. I don't even know how many steps Peter actually took on the water. He may have walked 3 or 4 steps, who knows? He may have walked 10 or 15, who knows? But Christ was far enough away that he began to fear, and when he began to fear, he sank. We have to learn that we not only must start out well, we must end well. Second application is this. Faith may be true and yet may be weak. Peter was a true believer. He had enough faith.
#70 | 58:20 to 59:11 | cleaned
To get out of the ship. And to enter the water. But he didn't have enough faith to carry him through. Therefore, Christ tells him he had but little faith. But the good news is this, weakness of faith is still faith. He was still a believer. And the man who has the weakest faith is just as saved as the man who has the strongest faith, because faith is faith. The third application is this, the weakness of our faith, the prevalence of our doubts, and the lack of our love is very displeasing to our Lord Jesus Christ.
#71 | 59:12 to 1:00:03 | cleaned
It is true He does not cast off weak believers. But it is also true He is not pleased with the weakness of our faith. Especially in those who are close to Him. For He asked Peter, "Wherefore didst thou doubt?" Why did you doubt? If you and I were to really examine our fears, if we were to really examine our doubts with a strict inquiry, we would probably find there's no real good reason to doubt Christ or His Word. And there's no real good reason for you and I to have our fears and our doubts. Christ is still Christ on a stormy day as equally as he's Christ on a sunny day. He does not change. We may safely trust him in the storm as equally as we may trust him in the calm.
#72 | 1:00:05 to 1:01:25 | cleaned
I want you to turn to one last passage. Psalm 46. Psalm 46, some of you will recognize this passage. This is a song that stirred Martin Luther to write, "A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing." Notice Psalm 46, verse 1: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof." Notice, God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in the time of trouble. Therefore, will we not fear if the whole earth breaks asunder? We will not fear.
#73 | 1:01:28 to 1:02:35 | cleaned
And we must understand the reason we do fear is due to our smallness of faith and our lack of love to our sovereign Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So we need to learn to pray, Lord, I believe. Help now my unbelief. We need to learn to pray, Father, shed the love of God abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, help us to love and believe as thou hast commanded us to in thy word. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to you this day, we thank you for your truth. We thank you for your encouragement. We thank you heavenly Father, that thou art the sovereign God of heaven and earth. Help us Lord to boldly say the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man can do unto me. Give us grace that we may believe and to exercise the faith that you've given us. We ask that you would shed the love of God abroad in our hearts that make us, Lord, loving and submissive and obedient. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray.
#74 | 1:02:39 to 1:04:06 | cleaned
Amen.
#75 | 1:04:06 to 1:04:07 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T21:20:55Z

Walking on the Water

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver expounds Matthew 14:22-33, examining why Jesus constrained His disciples to cross the sea, the nature of Peter's faith and fear, and the biblical teaching that fear is the opposite of faith and love. He emphasizes that Peter sank not because of the wind but because he became afraid, and that perfect love casts out fear. Applications include the reality of weak faith, the displeasure of doubt to Christ, and the call to trust God in all circumstances.

Introduction and Context

The message introduces the passage and the feeding of the 5,000 as background, noting the multitude's carnal desire to make Jesus king.

Scripture Reading — Matthew 14:22-33

"And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray."

Why Jesus Constrained the Disciples

Jesus compelled the disciples to leave immediately to prevent them from joining the multitude's rashness, to teach obedience, and to set the stage for a lesson.

The Disciples' Struggle at Sea

The disciples rowed all night against contrary winds, only reaching the middle of the sea by the fourth watch, exhausted and frightened.

Jesus Walks on the Water

Jesus came walking on the sea, and the disciples, seeing Him in dim light, were terrified, thinking He was a spirit.

Scripture Reading — Job 9:8

Well, I want you to note verse 26: "And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear." So they're not only exhausted and sleepy. Now they're frightened. Verse 27, "But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." Instantly, our Lord speaks to them. Here's the word "straightway" again. That is immediately, at once. So at once our Lord says, be not afraid, it is I. In other words, he did not wish them to be fearful at all. Adam Clarke, the commentator, made this observation. He said, in this one miracle, we may discern three. Though at a distance from his disciples, he knew their distress. That is, he knew the wind and the sea was contrary to them. He found them out on the lake and probably in the midst of darkness. He knew exactly where to go. And three, he walked upon the water. Job, speaking of those things where about the omnipotence of God was demonstrated, says particularly in Job 9:8, "he walketh on the waves of the sea," intimating that this is only possible for omnipotence, the one who is all powerful, indicating it has to be God.

Peter's Request and Step of Faith

Peter asked permission to come to Jesus on the water, demonstrating faith under divine warrant, not presumption.

Peter's Fear and Sinking

Peter became afraid when he saw the boisterous wind, and fear, not the wind itself, caused him to sink.

Fear as the Opposite of Faith and Love

Scripture teaches that fear is the opposite of faith and love; perfect love casts out fear, and God has not given a spirit of fear.

I want you to see this. Proverbs 29, verse 25. Here's an excellent verse to memorize. Proverbs 29, verse 25. Look what the Bible says.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 29:25

"The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe."

I want you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 10. And look if you would, beginning there with verse 25. Matthew 10, verse 25. Look specifically at what our Lord says. Matthew 10 verse 25:

Scripture Reading — Matthew 10:25-31

"It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?"

Scripture Reading — Matthew 10:25-31

"Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light."

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 13:6

"So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."

I want you to turn in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 1 and look at verse 7. 2 Timothy chapter 1, watch verse 7. 2 Timothy 1 verse 7:

Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 1:7

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

Scripture Reading — 1 John 4:17-18

"as he is, so are we in this world."

Applications and Conclusion

Applications include the imperfection of saints, the reality of weak faith, Christ's displeasure with doubt, and the call to trust God boldly.

Amen.

Walking on the Water

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	VUVuCSriX6k
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Revelation: Christ and the Churches
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-02-09
Dictation Name
Book	Book 139: Revelation: Christ and the Churches — Chapter 8
Source Timed Segments	75

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Context: The message introduces the passage and the feeding of the 5,000 as background, noting the multitude's carnal desire to make Jesus king.
Why Jesus Constrained the Disciples: Jesus compelled the disciples to leave immediately to prevent them from joining the multitude's rashness, to teach obedience, and to set the stage for a lesson.
The Disciples' Struggle at Sea: The disciples rowed all night against contrary winds, only reaching the middle of the sea by the fourth watch, exhausted and frightened.
Jesus Walks on the Water: Jesus came walking on the sea, and the disciples, seeing Him in dim light, were terrified, thinking He was a spirit.
Peter's Request and Step of Faith: Peter asked permission to come to Jesus on the water, demonstrating faith under divine warrant, not presumption.
Peter's Fear and Sinking: Peter became afraid when he saw the boisterous wind, and fear, not the wind itself, caused him to sink.
Fear as the Opposite of Faith and Love: Scripture teaches that fear is the opposite of faith and love; perfect love casts out fear, and God has not given a spirit of fear.
Applications and Conclusion: Applications include the imperfection of saints, the reality of weak faith, Christ's displeasure with doubt, and the call to trust God boldly.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Jesus constrained the disciples to prevent sin and teach obedience

Jesus compelled the disciples to leave to keep them from the multitude's carnal plan and to teach them to obey His commands.

He probably did not want them to take part with the multitude and their rashness... He may have simply wanted to teach them to obey.

Peter's request was not presumption but faith under authority

Peter asked Christ to bid him come, showing he would not act without divine warrant, unlike tempting God.

Peter is not going to do anything rashly... Without Christ's warrant, without Christ's authority, it would have been nothing less than blasphemy.

Peter sank because of fear, not circumstances

The wind was the same before and after Peter stepped out; his fear alone caused him to sink.

The wind had not changed. Once he stepped out of the ship, the wind was still the same. The only change was Peter became afraid and he began to sink.

Fear is the opposite of faith and love

Scripture contrasts fear with faith and love, showing that fear indicates a lack of trust and love toward God.

Fear is the opposite of faith... There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.

God commands believers not to fear

Multiple passages command believers not to fear man or circumstances, because God is their helper.

So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Scripture References

Matthew 14:22-33: The primary passage of the sermon, describing Jesus walking on water and Peter's attempt.
John 6:15: Explains why Jesus sent the disciples away: the multitude wanted to make Him king by force.
John 6:2: The multitude followed Jesus because they saw His miracles.
John 6:26: Jesus said the multitude sought Him because they ate the loaves and were filled.
Job 9:8: Cited to show that walking on the waves is a demonstration of omnipotence.
Luke 4:9: The devil tempted Jesus to jump from the temple, but Jesus refused to act presumptuously.
1 Kings 19:8: Elijah went 40 days and nights without food or water at God's command, not on his own initiative.
Hebrews 11:7: Noah moved with fear (reverential awe) and built the ark, showing biblical fear leads to obedience.
Proverbs 29:25: The fear of man brings a snare, but trusting in the Lord brings safety.
Matthew 10:25-31: Jesus taught not to fear those who kill the body but to fear God who can destroy both soul and body.
Revelation 2:10: Believers are told not to fear what they will suffer, even imprisonment and death.
Hebrews 13:6: Believers can boldly say the Lord is their helper and will not fear what man can do.
2 Timothy 1:7: God has not given a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind.
Romans 8:15: Believers have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but the Spirit of adoption.
1 John 4:17-18: Perfect love casts out fear because fear has torment; he who fears is not perfected in love.
Isaiah 35:4: Those with fearful hearts are told to be strong and not fear, for God will come with vengeance and save.
Matthew 8:26: Jesus asked why the disciples were fearful, O ye of little faith, before calming the storm.
Mark 4:40: Jesus asked why they were so fearful and how they had no faith.
Psalm 46:1-3: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble; therefore we will not fear.

Historical References

Adam Clarke, commentator: Clarke observed that in this one miracle we may discern three: Christ knew their distress, found them in darkness, and walked on water.
Charles Spurgeon: Spurgeon is quoted: 'Peter's Lord is about to teach him a practical lesson... He treads the wave.'
Martin Luther: Psalm 46 stirred Martin Luther to write 'A mighty fortress is our God.'

Important Quotes

Impossibilities become possibilities when we obey the word of our Lord.

Summarizes the principle that faith acting on Christ's command enables the impossible.

Fear is the opposite of faith.

Central thesis of the sermon, explaining why Peter sank.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment.

Key verse used to show love as the remedy for fear.

So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

The summary verse for the believer's confidence in God against all fears.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Establishes that fear does not originate from God.

The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.

Contrasts fear of man with trust in God.

Christ is still Christ on a stormy day as equally as he's Christ on a sunny day. He does not change.

Encouragement to trust Christ consistently regardless of circumstances.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

Why did Jesus constrain His disciples to get into the ship and leave immediately after feeding the 5,000?

[Context]

The sermon gives several reasons: to prevent them from joining the multitude's carnal plan, to teach obedience, and to set up a lesson.

[Question]

What is the difference between acting in faith under divine warrant and acting presumptuously?

[Context]

Peter asked permission before stepping out, unlike tempting God by jumping off a building and claiming to trust Him.

[Question]

According to the sermon, why did Peter begin to sink? Was it the wind or something else?

[Context]

The wind was the same; Peter sank because he became afraid, showing fear is the opposite of faith.

[Question]

How does the Bible contrast fear with faith and love?

[Context]

Multiple passages show fear as the opposite of faith and love, and that perfect love casts out fear.

[Question]

What does it mean that 'perfect love casteth out fear' and how can we grow in that love?

[Context]

Love is a disposition that trusts; when love is complete, it expels fear. We need the love of God shed abroad in our hearts.

[Question]

Why is Christ displeased with doubt and fear in believers, even though He does not cast them off?

[Context]

Christ asked Peter 'Wherefore didst thou doubt?' showing that weak faith displeases Him, especially in those close to Him.

Applications

Format deepseek deepseek-v4-pro structured study JSON | Source Commentary.net transcript enrichment

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T13:23:07Z