Discipleship is not an option!

This sermon is about Faith in obedience.  It is about trusting Jesus and taking a leap of faith.  And if we do this we will experiance the supernatural.

Translation Services
Deutsch  Español  Français  Italiano 

Walking in the supernatural with Jesus!

Background:

  1. I. The feeding of the 5000.
    1. 1.They should have been full of faith and trust in Jesus. Jesus had just feed the 5000 with two fish and five loaves of bread.
    1.    a. Sounds like the wilderness journey and the manna.
    1. 2. They had become attached to Jesus and wanted to be with Him every moment.
    1.    a. The disciples did not want to leave. They were afraid that something might happen and they would miss it.
    2.    b. There had been threats by Herod earlier.

John 6:15 Jesus therefore perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force, to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.
    1. 3. Jesus needed to be alone with the Father.
    1.    a.  The crowd wanted to forcibly make Him king.
    2.    b.Jesus did not come to be an earthly king at this time.
    3.    c. Jesus did not want the disciples to become involved with this. Crowd control, crowd mentality.
    1. 4. Jesus wanted to help them understand that He was always available even when He is not physically with them. They had to learn to work together and have faith when times get rough.
    2. 5. Usually after a great victory there comes a trial.

Matthew 14:22 And immediately He made the disciples get into the boat, and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And after He had sent the multitudes away, He went up to the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.
  1. II. Jesus commands them to go alone to the other side of the lake.
    1. 1. Jesus puts them in the path of the storm.
    2.    a.Jesus knew about the storm coming up. He was not supprised by it.
    3.    b.Jesus knows about upcoming storms in our lives and may lead us into the storm. 
    4.    c. Reason for storms: 1) Correction, Jonah's storm. 2) Spiritual growth. This one is about spiritual growth.
    5.   d.The disciples acted obediently.
    7. 24 But the boat was already 4 miles away from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.
  2. III. Jesus comes unexpectedly in the night.
  3.      1. Jesus waited till they were ready.
  4.      2.They were quality fishermen.
  5.      3. It does not say that they were frightened at this storm like they were in  the last one.
  6.      4.Jesus came to the disciples when He was ready.
  7.      5.Jesus will always wait till the best time to intervene.
  8.      6.They were about 4 miles out and it was about 4am. Remember Jesus left them in the evening hour and now it is in the early morning.
  9.      7.The disciples had to be tired and possibly angry by this time.
  10.      8.Can you hear them complaining that if Jesus was here that this would not be happening?
  11.      9.Jesus had to slow the boat down for the miracle to occur. I the disciples had not run into the storm they would have reached the other side. They would have completed the task. Jesus had greater plans.
  12.    10.Jesus wanted to demonstrate the power He had over the elements once again. Jesus wanted to show His power.
  13.    11.Jesus had already calmed the sea once before. Jesus had something else in mind. He wanted to respond when they were not looking for Him but were consumed with their tasks. " I come when you least expect it like a thief in the night".

26 and when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were frightened, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid." 28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."
  1. IV. Peter tested Jesus.
    1. 1.They were afraid of Jesus. They thought Jesus was a ghost.
    2. Had Herod killed Him? When we are struggling we feel that Jesus is gone.
    3. 2.Jesus told them who He was.

V. Now look at the response of Peter:

    1. 1.Peter says: "if it is you bid me to come." This is similar to the questions Jesus was asked during His temptation.
    2. 2. How often do we question the reality of who Jesus is, during trouble, when Jesus confronts us?

VI. Peter wants to be close to Jesus.

    1. 1.He wanted to walk with Jesus.
    2. 2.He wanted to be next to Jesus.
    3. 3.He wanted to experience the supernatural.
    1.    a.We to must want to walk like Jesus, to be next to Jesus.

29 And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

 

VII.Peter took a step of faith.

    1. 1.Faith can never be called true faith unless it is accompanied by action, by obedience. "Faith without works is dead."

VIII. Peter experiences the supernatural.

    1. 1.Peter is the only one who walked on water.
    2. 2.The other disciples just watched.
    3.    a.Are we more content to watch or to experience?
    4.    b.Miracles have to be experienced to be understood
    6. 30 But seeing the wind, he became afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

IX. Peter takes his eyes of Jesus.

    1. 1. Peter began to look at his circumstances.
    1.    a. F.B. Meyer: "Unbelief puts our circumstance between us and God, but faith puts God between us and our circumstances".
    2.    b.When we keep our eyes on Jesus we are able to walk on water, but when we start looking at our circumstances, at our situation, at the storms in life, we lose faith, and the loss of faith causes us to sink.
    3.    c.Peter began to sink in fear. Perfect love casts out fear!
    4.    d.Jesus does not rebuke Peter; instead He reaches out a hand to help. At a crucial moment, the ONE who understands human weakness completely, immediately stretches out His hand and catches Peter. We need to believe this and trust Jesus to do it for us as well.
    5.    e.We are the hands of Jesus and we need to be willing to reach down and pick some one up who is sinking.

X. The other disciples missed the excitement.

    1. 1. They chose to sit by and watch.
    2. 2. They chose to wait for Jesus to come to them.
    3. 3. They missed a supernatural occurrence in their lives.
    4. 4. What the world needs is more people, who are willing to get out of the boat and walk on 'spiritual' water when Jesus says, "come".

32 And when they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, "You are certainly God's Son!"

XI. Jesus is worshipped.

    1. 1. First time the disciples said Jesus was "the Son of God".
    2. 2. If this had not occurred, the command to go, the act of obedience, the storm, the supernatural, then the worship would not have occurred like it did.

Conclusion:

    1. Don't be content to have just enough faith to sit safely in the boat but desire the best. Step out of the boat and draw near to Jesus, keeping your eyes on Him and not the circumstances and the storms, and if you begin to sink remember Jesus is just a cry away. "Jesus save me! Remember Jesus wants to reach out His hand and lift you up.