Stepping Out

By Jeff Fry

Matthew 14:26-30 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is ^aa ghost!" And they cried out ¹in fear. ²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "^aTake courage, it is I; ^bdo not be afraid." ²⁸ Peter said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." ²⁹ And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"

^NIV Exodus 3:1-17 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³ So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight-- why the bush does not burn up." ⁴ When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." ⁵ "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." ⁶ Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. ⁷ The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. ⁸ So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey-- the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. ⁹ And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. ¹⁰ So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." ¹¹ But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" ¹² And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you {12 The Hebrew is plural.} will worship God on this mountain." ¹³ Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" ¹⁴ God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. {14 Or I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE} This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" ¹⁵ God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, {15 The Hebrew for LORD sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for I AM in verse 14.} the God of your fathers-- the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob-- has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation. ¹⁶ "Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers-- the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-- appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites-- a land flowing with milk and honey.'

I.       Intro

A.   Mark Twain was accompanied by his wife on one of his visits to the Holy Land. They were staying in Tiberius on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. It was a moonlit night, and the weather was perfect, which gave Twain the romantic idea of taking his wife for a boat ride on the lake.

They walked down to the pier, and Twain inquired of a man sitting in a rowboat how much he would charge to row them out on the water. Twain was dressed in his usual white suit, white shoes, and white Texas hat. The oarsman, presuming him to be a wealthy rancher from the USA, said, "Well, I guess about twenty-five dollars." Mark Twain thanked him, and, as he turned away with his wife on his arm, he was heard to exclaim, "Now I know why Jesus walked!"

B.   We continue to consider the passage when Jesus walked on the water.  Matthew 14:22-33

II.    We must step out in faith rather than be paralyzed by fear

A.   State

1.     Faith is an essential element for a believer in Christ.

2.     Hebrews 11:6 says, " And without faith it is impossible to please God … "

3.     What do you do when you sense God calling you to do something which requires faith?  When He calls you to do something you know you can't do on your own strength?

a)    Do you respond in fear?

b)    Or do you respond in faith?

c)     I wish I could say that I've always responded by faith.  But I know on various occaisions that I haven't.

(1)  Often I have sensed God's tug to talk to someone about God and have resisted.  I stayed in my comfort zone and didn't say anything.

4.     What enabled Peter to step out of his comfort zone and onto the water while the other 11 disciples stayed safely in the boat?

5.     Well, note what possibly prevented the 11 from stepping out onto the water - fear. 

a)    Matthew 14:26 says, " When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear.

b)    The first thing that comes to the minds of the disciples is not the possibility that Jesus might be able to walk on water, but that it must be a ghost.  Thus underlining their lack of faith in who Jesus really was. 

c)     This showed a lack of understanding as to who Jesus was or a lack of faith as to what Jesus could do.  Or both. 

6.     But we are often like the 11 disciples.  God starts to show His power and we get afraid.  We are not sure it is God who is acting and so our first reaction is fear.

a)    Moses got an assignment to speak to Pharaoh and he immediately said, "send Aaron"!

b)    Jonah was sent to preach to Ninevah and headed in the other direction.

7.     So, Jesus immediately reassures them that it's okay.

a)    Matthew 14:27 says, " But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "^aTake courage, it is I; ^bdo not be afraid."

b)    He must have noticed their extreme fear.  So he reassures them that it is him.

c)     Now, remember that whenever we study the Bible we are trying to uncover the single intent of the author in any given passage. 

(1)  The fact that Matthew, writing in 60ad, about 30 years after Jesus died used the term "eigo eimi" ("It is I") is crucial. 

(2)  The gospel of Matthew was written specifically for a Jewish audience.  The Greek term "eigo eimi" would have had great significanc to any Jew of that time as it is the same phrase used in one of the most well-known OT passages - Exodus 3:14.

(3)  In this passage God tells Moses that He wants him to go to Pharaoh and deliver the message that he is to let the Israelites go free after 400 years of slavery.  And Moses says to God, "who should I say has sent me - what name should I give them?"

(4)  God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

(5)  And the same term is used in the Greek version of this OT verse "eigo eimi" (I am) as is used in Matthew's story out on the sea.

(6)  Matthew's point is that Jesus is the great "I am". 

(a)    The same God who delivered the Israelites from Pharoah's oppressive regime after 400 years of slavery

(b)   The same God who held back the waters of the Red sea while the Israelites scurried to the other side safely away from the Egyptian army.

(c)     

8.     Only Peter begins to believe that if the Jesus who just multiplied the bread and the fish could do that then maybe he can also walk on water.  And therefore maybe I can walk on water if Jesus wants me to, if he calls me to do that.

a)    After all the disciples had been trained for some time and given power to do exactly the sort of miracles Jesus was doing.

b)    Matthew 10:1 says, " He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness."

c)     Peter's beginning to see clearly now who this Jesus really is.

(1)  And fear begins to give way to faith

(2)  Matthew 14:27 says, " "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."

(a)    The sense is something like "Lord, SINCE it is you, tell me to come to you  on the water"

(3)  Peter's full of faith so that he can break out of his comfort zone simply by seeing Jesus for who He really is.

d)    Peter prevented himself from foolish action by making sure that he was acting on the call of Jesus in his life.

(1)  He heard the call of Jesus.

(2)   "Come!" said Jesus. 

(3)  He knows that he can trust that call.  God's word is always trustworthy.

(a)    God called Noah to build an ark even though there was no sign of rain yet.  In faith he built it.

(b)   God called Sarah and Abraham to have a child even though they were way too old for that.  In faith they received the promise.

(c)    God called Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac and he did sacrifice him.

(4)  If you believe that God is calling you to step out of your comfort zone but you are not sure whether it is God or you then find one or two mature Christians who can serve as a sounding board and who can ask good questions and pray with you for God's guidance together.

(5)  Be sure you are following God's call

B.   Illustrate

C.   Apply

1.     Are you full of fear or faith?

2.     In what area of your life is God calling you to step out in faith, to step out of your comfort zone

a)    Maybe for some of you God is calling you to trust Jesus to become Lord and saviour of your life.  You haven't made the decision yet, you haven't taken that step.  You are afraid.  What will it be like?  What will Ihave to change?  What will others think?

b)    For others of you, you have already made that decision but there are other areas in which you need to grow.  Ask yourself , "what do you fear"?  why do you fear it?  Maybe god is calling you to trust him to overcome that fear.  It may be the area in which you need to grow.

3.     How is your witness to others?

a)    Your witness in words?

b)    Your witness in action to your faith in Christ?

c)     Do you need to step out of your comfort zone in evangelism?  Maybe there is a friend who you'd like to invite to our meetings here but you are afraid to do this?

d)    Remember the "Can I Help You" prayer.  Pray that God would bring someone into your life who you can help get to know HIM.

4.     Is there an area of your life where you would like victory but can't seem to get it?

a)    Trust God to deliver you like He did the Israelites from the Egyptians

b)    Pray believing that God can change your heart and make it pure.

c)     Set you mind on things above that are pure, good, holy, true, noble and right.

III.  Conclusion

A.   You may say, "well, are the 11 disciples in the boat really to be condemned for just staying in the boat?"

1.     Consider a few things:

a)    Peter starts to walk on the water but then when he becomes frightened of the wind, he starts to sink and Jesus saves him.  At that moment Jesus says to him, " You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?". 

b)    But if Peter's faith is lacking, what are we to think of the other eleven in the boat?

c)     Faith is an essential element in a believer's life. 

d)    We were created to live by faith in a God that is all-powerful, and who loves us greatly and would never harm us.  That is our mission.

(1)  Abraham and Sarah greatly desired to have their own children but never could.

(2)  The Lord said to them in Genesis 18:14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son."

2.     Read Hebrews chapter 11 this week.  It's all about people in the Bible who lived by faith in God's word. 

a)    Abraham

b)    Noah, who believed God when God said to build an ark to protect himself from the coming flood even though he had never seen rain before.

c)     Moses - who was called to carry God's message of freedom to the most powerful man in the Egypt, Pharaoh, even though he was not a gifted speaker.

d)    Gideon - just a normal guy from the smallest tribe in Israel who was called by God to take on the false god of Baal and also lead the Israelites in battle against the stronger  Midianite army.

3.     They believed God and stepped out of their comfort zone and accomplished great things for God.

4.     Daniel 11:32 says, "… but the people who know their God will display ^bstrength and take action.

a)    Get to know God.  Start reading the Bible.

(1)  Read a psalm a day.

(2)  Start reading the Gospel of Mark

(3)  Or follow a reading plan to read the whole Bible.

b)    As you get to know this loving, powerful God you will be encouraged to live by faith.

5.     Twelve men looked out of a boat one night on the rough and stormy sea of Galilee.  11 saw the wind and the waves and were frightened.  One saw Jesus and was filled with faith.

a)    What do you see?

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For questions or comments or further information contact:

 

Rev Jeff Fry

Darwin Park Community Church