Storm-Walking Power

MATT. 14:22-33

Subject: Life’s Trials

Theme: Dynamic and triumphant living recognizes the presence and power of Christ, even in the storms.

Matt 14:22-33

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. 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. 24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 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. 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? 32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.     33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God. (KJV)

Introduction: Responding with rock-solid faith in Jesus Christ is the alternative to fearful responses to life’s storms. Recognizing His Presence and Power replaces the coward’s heart with a champion’s heart. Continuous or chronic defeat rooted in our fears, worries, anxieties, and perplexities can be a matter of our history beginning today. Remember our Lord Christ inspires the weary storm-tossed believer to envision a life of triumph in spite of the troubles. You see, the faith that overcomes fears, obeys Christ’s commands, attempts the impossible, and experiences Christ great enabling power is for every genuine child of God. Beloved, you and I need to cultivate great confidence in the Presences and Power of Jesus. In the incident of the disciples, it is Jesus who moved them from fear to faith. How can we be transformed by the power of Christ’s presence during life’s challenges? How can we become “Storm-Walking Christians?”

Thesis Statement: To become “Storm-Walking Christians” we must Hear Christ’s Command, Attempt the Impossible, and Experience His Power.

This is the last of a three part series on Storm-Walking with Jesus. After we hear Christ's command and attempt the impossible, we are in the correct position to....

Message:

Experience Jesus’ Power in the Storm (Matt. 14:29-32).

Peter’s impulsive request led him to experience a rather unusual demonstration of God’s power. Jesus’ presence in the storm inspired Peter to implement a fearless faith to attempt the impossible. Jesus gives him the power to obey. Jesus said to Peter, “Come!” And then He granted him the ability to walk on water to Him. Peter did not have this ability in himself, but he was enabled to walk on water in direct response to Jesus’ command. Peter asked to do what Jesus was doing; he wanted to share in Jesus’ power! By doing so he walked on a massive storm at sea! So what are the possibilities for us today? Well, we can....

Experience Christ’s Power to Enable (14:29).

We should never waste time, energy, or opportunity wondering if God can empower us to execute any of His commands or requirements.

Do Not Hesitate To Obey What God Tells You To Do In The Midst Of Your Storm. While we want to be sure we have God's guidance before we act, once He has spoken to our hearts it is time to take action. God's people should be people of decisive action. The more we know the Old Book the better we can determine what God expects of us in a given situation.

Bring All of Christ’s Enabling Resources to Bear as You Respond to His Will.

We may experience God’s Power through Prayer. Peter’s little walk on the water began with a simple prayer request— “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come”—but what a powerful development it was as he defied the laws of nature and entered the realm of the power of God (See Acts 4:29-33). Through prayer we can experience miraculous life-changing power to defy our fears and hesitations to become actively obedient and to be empowered to transcend the mundane.

We can also experience God’s Power through Yielding. In 2Corinthians 12:9, Paul the Apostle says, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” The Christian life is humanly impossible without yielding to Christ’s grace. Without such strengthening grace we are left with meaningless pain, debilitating suffering, and the harsh limitations imposed by our conditions. However, through the grace of Christ we can know power in spite of our incredible weaknesses. We can live beyond our infirmities in the power of Christ. Our obligation is to yield to His will, His authority, and His right to do His perfecting work in His people. Let Him have His way with you, and He will work powerfully through you.

Christians may experience God’s Power through the Holy Spirit’s Activity in Us. Doctor Luke tells us of Christ’s promise in Acts 1:8, saying, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you….” The Holy Spirit empowers and equips us to carry out God’s commands. This is fundamentally power for witnessing throughout the entire world during our generation. We can overcome our general reluctance to engage people about spiritual matters in obedience to Christ. The Spirit of God generates godly boldness, love, and passion in the yielded heart propelling us into evangelistic ministry and endeavors. The same could be said for spiritual growth and maturation. Beloved, the Christian life, like walking on water, is humanly impossible. It can only be lived by the power of the Holy Spirit.         

Then lastly, we can experience God’s Power through confidence in Christ. Like Peter we can become distracted by the magnificence of a storm, but we really must learn to remain captivated by the majesty, grace, force, power, and will of Christ our Lord. Beloved, Jesus is the most, the highest, the greatest, the excellent, and there is nothing above or beyond Him. He truly can handle anything and everything! Look at Him…He is walking on a monster storm at sea! He is above it! He is superior to it! It cannot frustrate or intimidate Him. He is gloriously Lord Almighty…even in the storms! As long as we look away from every other distraction to Jesus alone (Heb. 12:2), we can experience the supernatural life. He gives us the courage, the strength, and the ability we need to act in obedience. Train your eyes on Jesus in the Word, Jesus at the Father’s right hand in Heaven, and Jesus who is coming again in awesome power and you will make it through any storm-walking challenge.

“Expect great things from God; Attempt Great Things for God”—William Carey             

William Carey is known as the Father of Modern Missions because he literally lived out his belief that the gospel should be preached to people of other cultures and countries.   

Before there was an extensive world missions movement and before there were any independent missions societies, and before there were any recruits for missionary work on foreign soil, William Carey was passionately declaring that there was a biblical mandate for cross-culture evangelism. He was a true pioneer in that he undertook missions work without any established guidelines, or without any individual to serve as a pattern of success or failure that he could consult with or draw from. 

Yet, by the grace of God, he developed an all-encompassing program involving spiritual, educational, social, and evangelistic activities setting a pattern of a well-rounded missionary model of missionary work.  He served for forty years as a missionary in China planting indigenous churches and translating the Bible into several languages. He personified his sermon from Isaiah to, “Expect great things from God; Attempt Great Things for God.” He was indeed a ‘water walker!’        

           

Experience Christ’s Power to Rescue (14:30-31).

Doubt is giving credence to our fears and providing a workshop for the devil. Doubt is a feeling of uncertainty and a lack of convictions. It is the position of not knowing what to do; a condition of being unsure. When doubt is stronger than our faith we lose confidence in God. We question His promises and feed our fears forgetting what we should know about God and His Word. We in effect place a question mark where God placed a period. If this condition remains unchecked or uncorrected it can paralyze us and reduce us to slaves of our disbelief. When you think about it…doubt is a violent insult upon the integrity and faithfulness of God! It is unbelief that calls an honest God a liar! In this account Peter's doubt was feed by the conditions and circumstances around him. He took his eyes off the Lord Jesus and focused on the storm. This is why he sunk!

Deliverance can swiftly when Peter cried out to the Lord Jesus in humble trust. Peter’s faith was challenged, therefore as he sank, he frantically cried to the Lord for help. “Lord, save me!” When Peter’s faith faltered, he reached out to Christ, the only one who could help. He was afraid, but he still looked to Christ. When you are apprehensive about the troubles around you and doubt Christ’s presence or ability to help, remember that He is the only one who can really help.                                                    

Immediately the Lord caught him, saving him from drowning in the waves. Jesus’ immediate response showed Peter that divine assistance and power are present in times of testing. Jesus will not only come to you in the storm, but He will make a difference in the storm. Though we struggle with doubts and fears, He is still with you and He will never forsake you. This is especially true in the storms of life. You do not endure them alone.

You may feel like you are sinking under the waves of pressure, debt, temptations, parenting, failures, and rejection, but our Storm-Walking Lord Jesus is always there. Look to Him! We too must cry out to Christ for deliverance, restoration, and divine enabling. There is power for deliverance in the storms!

Discovery is a wonderful part of the Storm-Walking experience. This experience was difficult for Peter, but it helped him to grow in his knowledge of himself and of the Lord. Beloved, we really get to know the Lord as we walk with Him through the storms! It is equally true that we can discover a great deal about ourselves. Some of it will be honoring and other discoveries will be surprising. All of these realizations can prove to be healthy. The storms of life are not easy, but they are necessary. They teach us to trust Jesus Christ alone and to obey His Word no matter what the circumstances may be. It has well been said, “Faith is not believing in spite of evidence, but obeying in spite of consequence.” Our Lord Jesus can rescue us from doubts, deliver us from our fears, and help us discover truths about Him and ourselves.

Beloved, recognizing the Lord’s Presence in the Storm will inspire faith, generate security, embolden the timid to attempt the impossible, and avail Christ’s power to triumph over the storms of life. Fear, intimidation, mediocrity, doubts, and frustration have stolen many believers desire to live the impossible life. They do not realize that acknowledging Christ’s Presence and Power in the Storm is the difference between discouragement and dynamic living.

What do you fear? Is it yourself...failure…success…sacrifice…the unknown…making mistakes…what people may say or think? I want to encourage you to never allow your fears to define you. Focus on Jesus and He will empower you to live the impossible life to His glory!

Conclusion: In the final analysis, Christ aims to grow and strengthen our faith and He will use the storms of life to achieve His grand design. Yes, there is power and help to actually grow through the storms. This was a major purpose for this storm—to help the disciples mature in their faith. Nothing makes our doubts surface like a serious test of our faith! Because of the storms we become aware of our true level of faith, and we have the opportunity to become more aware of our Lord’s faithfulness. We also come away knowing WHO we believe! Such awareness heightens and encourages our confidence in Him.

In the context of Matthew 14, Jesus would one day leave His disciples, and they would face many storms in their ministries. It was necessary for them to learn to trust Him even though He was not physically present with them, and even though it looked as though He did not care. On this occasion they grew in their faith…especially Peter who walked on a storm.

Jesus came early that morning with unexpected help and encouragement during the disciples’ time of desperate need—they were in a life threatening storm at sea. Beloved, their need was real; their fears were real, and their energies were depleted. But in the presence of Jesus, fear must give way to faith.

When Jesus arrived, he made a huge difference! Because of Jesus—all he taught, all he did—your life is different now! You're not alone. You have a heavenly Father, a living Savior, and a powerful Comforter. All the problems that beset you are now theirs as well. In the face of every problem, each heartbreak, every troubling diagnosis . . . Hear Christ’s Command, Attempt the Impossible, and Experience His Power!

I believe it was R. A. Torrey who said, “The first result of walking with God is great joy, abounding joy, and secondly, a great sense of security, of abiding peace.” Beloved, peace can be yours also…even in the middle of the storm. Trust the Lord and walk with Him still…even through the storms at sea. Through faith in Christ Jesus we become storm-walking Christians whose lives are empowered by Him.