LOC #29: SINKING PETER (Matthew 14:22-33)

(This message may be used as an individual sermon or as part of the series.)

MATTHEW 14:22-33 – SINKING PETER

LIFE OF CHRIST #29

One of the greatest English speaking preachers who ever lived was Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He was known as the “Prince of Preachers”, and from a young age pastored in London England at a church that became known as Metropolitan Tabernacle. His sermons are still read today, as well as his classic commentary on Psalms, “The Treasury of David”.

The ministry of Spurgeon was almost stopped before it began when Spurgeon was 22 years old. In order to accommodate the crowds that wanted to hear him, Spurgeon had rented a secular music hall called “Surrey Gardens”. The place was packed out with a crowd of about 10,000 people.

Some pranksters yelled “Fire! Fire!” and panic resulted. In the confusion, 7 people were killed and thirty taken to the hospital.

Spurgeon was devastated by this tragedy. The press of that day tortured him in the newspapers. It looked like his ministry was ruined. He was taken to the home of a trusted friend to recuperate.

According to the Book, THE HIDDEN PRICE OF GREATNESS by Ray Beeson and Ranelda Mack Hunsicker, (C. 1991 by the authors, printed by Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois, pages 51-52) “Plunged into a pit of anguish, he sought comfort from God. None came. Tears and doubts filled his waking thoughts and nightmares filled his sleep. He opened his Bible in search of strength; it only deepened his grief. His prayers seemed to bounce off a sky of brass.”

“In the second week after the incident, while Spurgeon walked in a small garden, a verse from the Bible came forcefully into His mind. ‘Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him and gave Him a nmae which is above every name’ (Philippians 2:9). The words bathed his soul and restored his faith.

“The name of Jesus became a strong tower of safety. Song burst from him, and the chains about his mind broke in pieces. He was free…”

Just two weeks after this tragedy, Spurgeon was once again preaching in his pulpit. His first text back was the same one that set him free.

This is not an unusual story. Every Christian faces times of trial. Faith gets weak. We begin to sink.

Such was the case of Peter in our text. At one of the greatest spiritual moments of his life, a faith walk, he began to sink.

This passage is a great text for teaching us to walk by faith. Four times the Scriptures tell us “The just shall live by faith,” and that includes not just faith for salvation, but faith for daily living.

Peter has much to teach us about faith, especially faith during trials.

BACKGROUND: Vss. 22-24

Jesus ordered his disciples into a boat and sent them to the opposite shore.

Jesus sent the crowd that had witnessed the “Feeding of the Five Thousand” home and went to a mountain to pray.

A terrible storm came up. Out on the sea, the disciples battled for their lives.

MOTIVATED FAITH – Vss. 25-28

During the night Jesus came to His disciples, walking on the water. Note his encouraging words in verse 27.

In verse 28, Peter asks if he can join Jesus on the water. Notice there is no rebuke, but rather encouragement for Peter to take this step of faith. Notice also that Peter’s faith was motivated by the Word of Christ. Our faith needs to be motivated by the Word of God.

MOVING FAITH – Vs. 29

Peter got out of the boat and actually walked on the water. He did it! Jesus was the one who gave him the strength to do this. He trusted the Lord Jesus for the strength.

Moving faith is better than stationary faith.

Moving faith says, “I will actively trust God and do whatever He wants me to do.”

Stationary faith says, “Oh yes, God can do anything He wants, but I’ll play it safe, and not take any chances.” I don’t believe that stationary faith is really faith at all!

MISDIRECTED FAITH – Vs. 30

As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus he was fine. But the moment he took his eyes off Jesus and put them on the problem, he began to sink. Whenever we take our eyes off of Jesus and put them on the problem we have, we will sink too.

MENDED FAITH – Vss. 30-33

Jesus mended the faith of Peter in four steps.

REQUEST – Vs. 30 – Peter needed to focus again on Jesus and ask for help.

RESCUE – Vss. 31, 32 – Jesus got him out of danger.

REBUKE – Vs. 31 – Peter was reprimanded for his doubt.

REVERENCE – Vs. 33 – The end result was that Jesus was worshiped. That should be the end result of our mended faith as well.

(This message may be used as an individual sermon or as part of the series.)

MATTHEW 9:23-27 – STORMY WEATHER

LIFE OF CHRIST #24

We all face trials and troubles often. It is what Cole Porter called “Stormy Weather” in a song that he wrote.

There were a couple of times when the disciples faced storms on the Sea of Galilee.

As we look at this story about literal storm, we also learn lessons about the figurative storms that cause trials and troubles in our lives. Let’s see what lessons we can learn this morning about stormy weather.

STORMY WEATHER IS BEST FACED WHEN JESUS IS IN THE BOAT

Vs. 23 – Think of the boat as our lives.

Although God is present everywhere, there is a special sense in which God is present in our lives. When He indwells us, He has taken up special residence inside of us. John 14:16-17

God the Holy Spirit dwells inside of the Christian.

He is there to guide us, protect us, keep us, teach us, and comfort us.

And God has promised the Christian that this presence is unending! Hebrews 13:5-6

You have heard people say, and might have said yourself, “I wouldn’t want to face this problem without the Lord!”

How true! If God is willing to take up residence in our lives through his Holy Spirit it would be dumb not to avail ourselves of His presence.

When you trust Christ as your payment for sins, you are what the Bible calls, born again, by the Spirit of God. And God the Holy Spirit takes up residence in your life. Romans 8:9

If you have truly trusted Christ as your Savior, you have God’s presence in your life no matter what the storm may be. Make sure that you have Christ in the boat that is your life!

STORMY WEATHER RESULTS FROM OBEDIENCE

Vs. 23 – The Lord Jesus entered the boat. The disciples followed Him into the boat. It was the Lord Jesus who decided where they were going. Luke 8:22

The disciples ended up in a storm on the Sea of Galilee because they were following Jesus in obedience.

Of course, being obedient to God as a Christian and following Jesus’ leadership in our lives is the right thing to do. Luke 9:23-24

Following Jesus after trusting Him for forgiveness does not mean that it will be an easy life. In fact, we will have storms. 2 Timothy 3:12, James 1:2-4

The storms that Jesus leads through will make us strong and mature. And I’d rather follow Jesus in the middle of a storm than to not follow Jesus. Being in the center of the Lord’s will is always the safest place to be.

But you’ll also face storms if you’re not obedient to God.

Would you rather face storms being in the center of God’s will, or out of God’s will? Which makes the most sense?

STORMY WEATHER IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS

Vs. 24 – I don’t have to tell you how dangerous storms can be. Just consider last year’s tsunami and hurricanes Ivan and Rita.

This storm was a very violent storm, and even seasoned fishermen like Peter, Andrew, James, and John were having trouble with it.

The storms of life which we face are also dangerous.

Sometimes we will be in physical danger because of persecution, accidents or illness.

Other times we are in emotional danger with our “storms” threatening to overwhelm us with fear and/or depression.

Other times we are in Spiritual danger, with Satan’s attacks challenging us to give up or to sin.

And this verse alludes to another danger. We might be concerned because in the midst of the storm God appears to be asleep. He does not seem to be responding to our problems during the storm. He seems to be silent.

Our Lord Jesus was able to sleep because He had a human body that got tired. He was also able to sleep because, being sinless, He had a clean conscience. He was also able to sleep, because He quietly allowed Himself to rest in the hands of His loving Heavenly Father.

If you are doing what is right before the Lord, confessing your sins as a Christian, and striving to live for Him, don’t panic when God appears to be asleep. He’ll show Himself to be very much alive at just the right time.

STORMY WEATHER INVOKES FEAR AND PANIC

Vs. 25 – When storms come we tend to fear. And sometimes when storms come we will go into a panic. The situation seems to be absolutely hopeless!

Humans tend to be fearful. If we didn’t tend to be fearful, God would not have put so many verses in the Bible telling us not to be afraid. I’ll just give you two samples, but there are many more “do not fear” verses in the Bible. Psalm 27:1, Isaiah 41:10

We tend to fear and worry about what might happen but hasn’t happened.

We tend to fear and worry about the future.

We tend to fear and worry about the opinions of others.

We tend to fear and worry about our children, our parents, our spouses.

Then comes the times our problems are so real to us that they tend to overwhelm us. We hit the panic mode.

Yes, many fears are justified. But there is a proper way to handle fear.

These seasoned fishermen were literally in over their heads and they knew it, coming to Jesus in panic.

STORMY WEATHER REQUIRES PRAYER AND FAITH

Vs. 25 – The disciples awoke the Lord Jesus.

Their anxious prayer was an indication that they had come to the end of themselves, and that they had at least a little faith that Jesus could help.

I personally think that they waited too long to ask Jesus for help. The moment things got a little stormy, I think they should have come to Him.

We are like that. If things seem to be just a little stormy or troublesome, we’ll just worry over it and try to solve it ourselves, instead of bringing it to God right away.

But when problems get full blown, we come in a panic with a little, but not much faith that God can help. Philippians 4:6, James 1:5-8

Vs. 26 – Note that Jesus did not rebuke the disciples for waking Him up. Like I said, I feel that He would have welcomed being woken up sooner.

Notice our Lord’s calm rebuke in the midst of the storm.

He was not in a panic. He’s totally under control. He can even take the time to rebuke the disciples before He did anything. He is master of the situation.

Let’s remember when we give our stormy problems to God He is not in a panic. He can solve the problem leisurely if He chooses to. There is no reason to get in a dither or bent out of shape.

STORMY WEATHER REVEALS THE GLORY AND POWER OF GOD

Vs. 26 – Jesus said the word and there was perfect calm. It was like there had been no storm. There was no rocking of the waves that normally follow a storm. There was perfect peace.

When Jesus speaks the Word there is perfect peace.

Sometimes the problem totally disappears, but more often than not the place where the greatest miracle has occurred is inside of us.

We are at peace.

God has calmed the ragging in our souls.

Vs. 27 – The disciples were absolutely amazed! The Lord Jesus had done what they had never seen before. A human being told the storm to cease and it did. The winds obeyed Him! The waves obey Him.

They had a new appreciation for the power of Jesus!

They had a new appreciation for the glory of Jesus!

And when Jesus calms our storms, we too, should have a new appreciation for the power and glory of the Lord Jesus.

We should be amazed!

We should be filled with praise and worship.

We should be ready to trust Him when an even bigger storm comes.