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Bible preaching from the pulpit of Choice Hills Baptist Church in Greenville, South Carolina
All right, let's get our Bible and go to the book of Matthew chapter 14 this morning.
Matthew chapter 14.
This morning we will spend some time in, of course, Matthew 14, but also in John chapter 6.
The passage we're going to read has a parallel in Mark chapter 6 as well as John chapter 6.
And so we will begin in verse number 22.
of Matthew chapter 14, verse 22.
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.
And when he had sent the multitudes away,
he went up into a mountain apart to pray. Verse 1, verse 1.
But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary.
And then 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? Verse 1.
Then they that were in the ship came and
worshipped him, saying, Of a truth,
thou art the Son of God.
Would you pray with me this morning?
Father, as we come to your word again,
we just desire that your will be done as
we study your word.
We can't possibly know everything that's in everyone's heart
and what the needs are.
But Lord, we do trust and entrust our needs to you.
Lord, your word has the ability
to meet every need that a person has,
be it a need of salvation or a need
of encouragement or rebuke.
Whatever the case might be, Lord, you have the
power to speak to each person individually by your
spirit through your word.
So, Lord, we commit this time to you.
We ask your blessing to be upon it.
Lord, I especially need your help and grace and
guidance to say exactly what is needed, what you
desire to be spoken from Matthew 14 and John 6.
Lord, please give me understanding.
and Lord that your will be done.
Lord help us to come away from our church meeting this morning
encouraged and strengthened in the truths of scripture
and better equipped to live for you and serve you
and to fellowship with you.
We ask these things in Christ's name, amen.
So this is of course a famous passage
about the Lord Jesus walking on the water,
and of course Peter walks on the water as well.
But verse 22...
it is not, as we might assume, the instance
of Jesus walking on the water does not happen
just out of the blue.
In fact, one of the main points of this
instance actually happens before you get to verse 22,
which is the feeding of the 5 ,000
in verses 13 to 21, which is what we
looked at last Sunday morning.
And we saw how that Jesus fed the 5
,000 as a sign of his identity.
that message and they understood that Jesus was the Son of God, that he had all power
and power over nature and those things, and he was able to feed those 5,000 people. And
then we go to, if you would look at John chapter 6, and I want to show you kind of the tail
end of this feeding of the 5,000, which leads us directly to the instance before us this morning.
We'll look at John 6 and verse number 13. John 6 verse 13.
The Bible says, Therefore they gathered them together,
talking about the pieces that were left over,
and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the
five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto
them that had eaten.
Then those men, pay careful attention to the verse
now, Then those men, when they had seen the
miracle that Jesus did,
said,
what?
This is of a truth, that prophet that should
come into the world.
Now when you read that, verse 14, you think
to yourself, wow, they saw it.
They understood the purpose of the miracle.
It wasn't just to feed bellies because, you know,
that's only temporary, but it was to demonstrate something
about the Lord Jesus.
And we look at this group of apparently the
5 ,000men, not counting women and children, they got it.
They caught on that this Jesus is not just a man. He's
should come into the world, which is a statement
concerning his place as the Messiah.
In verse 15,
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.
Now, when we look at the miracle of the
We might be tempted to assume that after such
a wonderful miracle that Christ had performed before their
very eyes, and all of them apparently knew it
and understood it,
we might be tempted to think that these people
are going to have a real attachment to Christ,
a real affection, a sincere attachment to Him.
But they did not.
They didn't.
And that might be a surprise to us.
They did not have a sincere attachment to the Lord Jesus.
Now, I'm going to have to pause here in
just a minute, and at the end of the message,
we're going to come back to John 6,
and we're going to see kind of the end
of the story with the feeding of the 5 ,000.
But you can see it in verse number 15.
They wanted Jesus to take Jesus by force and
to make him a king.
And the Lord was not into that, because that
was not, let me repeat, that was not his mission.
His mission was not to take over the earthly
kingdoms of the world.
Now, there would come a time, there will come
a time when he will do that very thing and he'll do it
without anybody's help.
He doesn't need help.
That's not his way to do it.
According to what the scriptures say, that when it
is time for the Lord to take the kingdoms
of this world, he will do so by his
power, by his mighty power, not by use of
means of us or anyone else.
He will appear, there will be a sign of
the Son of Man in heaven, he will descend
and the armies that will come with Him will
make short work of the kingdoms of this world
and he will rule, and he will reign forever and ever.
But this is not the time for that.
We haven't gotten to that point yet.
In fact, whenever there were people, and you might,
you know, especially, there's been so much political talk
here recently, for good reason, with the events that
have happened in our country, but there's so much
political talk in these days, you know, with so
much vying for power and all that kind of
thing, you see it, that's the name of the
game when it comes to politics.
You all know that.
And so for that reason, we look at this,
and Jesus is actually withdrawing himself from people that
look to want to believe in him and follow
him and exalt him and give him power and
those kinds of things, but he absolutely refuses it.
He repulses it.
Because the only thing that mattered was not power,
was not acclaim, was not praise.
The only thing, the singular focus of the Lord
Jesus Christ was the will of his Father.
Period.
That's all that he cared about.
That's it.
And it didn't matter, I mean, whether it's through
the temptation of Satan to offer him the kingdoms
of the world, he refused it.
And whatever other means, here is, this is actually,
what's interesting is this is a, the Satan is
not mentioned here.
But this is another temptation, it's essentially the same
temptation that the devil gave to him.
It's just the devil put his stipulation to fall
down and worship him.
But here, the same thing is happening.
People now are coming to him and saying, here,
Here, you can have power.
We'll give our allegiance to you.
And the Lord says,
No. Because it was not the will of his Father.
He had not fulfilled the will of his Father yet.
And of course, that ended at the cross.
At least as far as his earthly life was concerned.
And so he did not want this power.
Not to mention the fact that he understood,
when you read verse 15, Why would they take
him by force and make him a king?
Why?
What is motivating these people?
Remember, their bellies are full.
It's the afternoon.
It's getting close to evening.
The sun's going to go down.
Their bellies are full.
They're just in awe over what Jesus has done.
And imagine what's going through their mind is,
just imagine what this guy can do for us.
And what's on their mind, basically two things are
on their mind.
Number one, the fact that they've eaten and they're
full, and that's provable in John chapter 6,
so I'll show you later.
They're thinking about, they're thinking about, look, look at what he's doing for us.
He's giving us these things.
You know, he's fulfilling our needs and all of
the, you know, they're looking at the carnal desires,
but not just that.
They're also looking at their political situation.
You know, this statement, verse 15, does not happen
in a vacuum.
I mean, this was, this statement was dangerous.
The idea that they would make a king when
they already had a king, they had a king,
a local king, which was Herod, but they also
had an emperor,
Herod was a king under the emperor.
And at this time, to say something like that,
to say that they would make him a king,
I mean, that would be a death penalty offense. That's treasonous.
So they're not looking at Jesus.
Okay, let's just clear the air.
These people, even though they have benefited from the
Lord Jesus Christ, and even though he has blessed
them in this way with the feeding, they are
really not on his side for the will of
God for what the mission that he has to do.
They're in it for themselves.
They want to be free from Roman oppression.
They want to be free of having another kingdom
ruling over them.
You see that throughout the New Testament, from the
birth of Christ throughout, even after the resurrection of Christ.
Remember, wilt thou at this time restore again the
kingdom to Israel?
Do you remember that?
And what did Jesus say?
No.
He said, you go be my witnesses, which is
to say, there is not going to be a
restoration of the kingdom until I return.
return. Okay. But you know, I just want you to see, because we'll see it later, that these people are
not thinking of Christ, believing in him, and they're not thinking of their sin, or where they
stand with God, or if they're going to heaven or hell, or any of the things that we think of more
commonly. They're thinking of their belly, and they're thinking of political power. That's what's in their mind. That's what they wanted Jesus to do for them.
Neither of
those desires
neither of those desires was within the scope of God's will
for Jesus Christ at this moment.
Neither of them.
And the thing that they needed most of all
the thing they needed more than everything else
is something that they had no perception of whatsoever.
Look at this same chapter, verse 29.
Verse 29.
They ask him a question in verse 28. Then
Then said they unto him, What shall we do that we might work the works of God?
Man, that's a wrong...
I'd be like somebody coming to church that literally does not know Christ,
who's not born again, and says, How can I serve in the church?
And Jesus' answer is this.
Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God,
that ye believe on him who he hath sent. They're not even there.
And here in the context, and we'll see in a minute, again...
Again, John chapter 6, the audience here,
these are the same people that had eaten with the bread and the fish with the 5,000.
And here they are, they have no clue where they stand with God.
No clue.
All they're thinking is their belly and politics, basically.
They had no idea of what they needed.
And the Lord's going to deal with that. But go back to Matthew chapter 14 if you will. And I want to tell you
something. That is a common human trait. It's so common. The popular practical theological
term is felt needs. You guys have probably heard that before. We need to minister to people's
felt needs. That's not what you see Jesus doing. What Jesus is speaking to in this case is their actual needs.
Now, we know he fed them.
We already talked about that last Sunday.
But the thing he is most concerned with is
what their real needs are.
And they don't feel that need.
You understand?
They don't feel that.
Like many people in this world, they're thinking about,
all right, how am I going to make sure
I have money in my bank account?
How am I going to make sure I put
food on the table, which is exactly what they're thinking.
And they're thinking about political questions, what's going to
happen with our country.
you know that's not that that's unimportant because that
has a level of importance but it is dwarfed
by the question of where we stand with God.
It is dwarfed by what our relationship is to God.
And I sure hope that at Charlie Kirk's funeral,
that people, that whoever is leading that,
whoever is presenting that,
that that question is a question
that's being put forth to people.
Because that's an eternal question.
So we see back in Matthew 14,
Matthew 14,
The Bible says in verse 22, Jesus constrained his disciples.
You know what that means?
He basically had to force them.
So to get into the ship and to go
to the other side of the lake,
right? You know, the Sea of Galilee, depending on
where you're at, can be up to 10miles across.
Okay, so I mean, that's a long way.
And he told them, you know, remember, this is
what the crowd has just finished telling Jesus.
And they're talking to each other.
We ought to get this guy and just forward.
to be a king.
Well, I'll do it right now.
We would make our life so much better.
Jesus gets wind of it, and he says,
first thing he does is he sends his disciples away.
I don't know.
Commentators, when you read them, they say that maybe
that he wanted to protect the disciples from that
thinking because he had another mission for them entirely.
But whatever the case, he sends them away.
But you get this idea because the Bible says
he compels them that they're resisting.
They don't want to leave him.
They don't want to leave him there.
there, and how are you going to get back
across, or whatever the reason was, but when I
saw that, I thought to myself,
man, is that not, how many times does the
Lord have to absolutely bring us to the point
of being compelled to get us to do what
he tells us to do?
We just, we find ourselves so resistant to what
we know is the will of God, and sometimes
we veil that and sugarcoat that with, I just
don't really know what to do.
In fact, we do.
We just don't want to do it.
And the Lord finally hedges us in to a
place where we have no choice.
And I'll be honest with you.
I'm glad when he does that to me.
Because I am stubborn enough to need to be
put in a place where I have no other choice sometimes.
Can some of you kind of relate to that?
Even if you can't, I can.
So he compels them to get into the ship and...
and to go to the other side while he
sent the multitude away.
So he's trying to disperse the multitude.
He doesn't want this idea.
This is not...
Listen now.
Now be careful here.
Is Jesus king?
Well, of course he is.
He is the blessed and only potentate.
That's his name.
King of kings and Lord of lords.
But he refused the title at this moment.
So although he is the title, he has the
has the title of king.
This is this dynamic that plays in the religious world, right,
as it relates to political things, you know.
It's this dynamic.
Is Jesus king?
Absolutely.
We have no king except Jesus.
In fact, you see that actually in this passage of Scripture.
But here's the thing.
But it must be done in his time and in his way.
He refused the title at this moment.
He wants to disperse
this multitude.
Look at verse 23.
And when he had sent the multitudes away,
he went up into a mountain apart to pray.
Here the Lord Jesus, I know some people get
hung up, some of you that are into apologetics
and things, some people get hung up on the
deity of Christ because they say something like this,
if Jesus is God, then how can God pray to himself?
Has anybody heard that line of reasoning?
If Jesus is God, then how can God pray to himself?
Well, what we see when Jesus is praying is
first of all Jesus is fully God but he's
also fully man.
The theological term is the hypostatic union, the fact
of Jesus being 100% God while also being
100% man.
So to put it plainly, the Lord Jesus Christ
and the Father are not the same.
They are God because God is three persons in one.
There are three that bear record in heaven,
the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
and these three are one.
But Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word,
the Son and the Father are distinct persons within that Trinity.
That's what the Bible teaches.
Well, the word Trinity is not in the Bible.
So what?
There's a ton of other theological words that aren't
in the Bible that we accept as true. That's irrelevant.
And some people look at this and they say,
well, how could Jesus, if Jesus is really God,
then how could he pray to himself?
Jehovah's Witnesses love this line of argument.
But actually,
this actually proves the doctrine of the Trinity. Because the doctrine of the Trinity states that Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the
Father are actually not the same person. That God has, God is, his nature is three persons, right? And so
the fact that Jesus did pray demonstrates that truth. It actually shows that he communicates with
his Father within the Trinity.
This actually proves the truth.
And it does not deny the fact that Jesus is God, but He does...
to his father privately, first of all, obviously,
because he's fellowshipping with his father.
But secondly, and the thing I want you to
see, is he does this as an example to
us in his human nature.
He is very God indeed, but he is also a man.
Jesus was a man.
A man bled and died on a cross.
A sinless man with flesh and blood like you
and I have.
A man with limitations like you and I have.
That is the nature
have.
That is the nature of Christ's humanity.
And in his humanity, he prays to his Father.
But notice, he goes up into a mountain apart to pray.
Now all this, you think about the feeding of
the 5 ,000, all of this hustle and bustle
of ministry and service that the Lord has been
involved in, his disciples have been involved in.
There were times in the ministry of the Lord
that they didn't even have time to eat.
There were so thousands and hordes and hordes and
hordes of people that came to Jesus and wanted help. But the hustle and bustle of his ministry and the hustle and bustle of
service should never, and it did not, distract our Lord from his private and personal fellowship
with his Father. And this is the principle that we need to take with us as well, is that our private, personal fellowship with God
can never be replaced...
by busyness, by service.
But see, that's the danger.
And I'm going to be transparent with you.
That's the danger for me personally.
I'm a person that wants to do, do, do,
do, do, and I live by list, or the
David's like that too, lives by list.
I don't know if he's exactly like me,
but he lives by list.
He's got a lot more list than I do.
But the danger with working and serving and all
of that, the danger is that you neglect the
thing that is of greater importance and you allow service and ministry to others and
activity in that way to be a substitute for
personal and private fellowship with God.
You think of Luke chapter 10.
I won't go there right now, but Martha was at fault.
Remember when Martha was cumbered about much serving,
but Mary was worshiping the Lord and hearing his word.
And the Lord pointed it out and said,
she hath chosen the better part.
But Martha had allowed that devotion, that fellowship with
with the Lord Jesus Christ to be put secondary
and for acts of service to be primary.
And that's what happens in our lives.
But the problem is when that happens,
our spiritual life begins to wane
because we must have fellowship with God.
Private, personal fellowship with God.
And you know what?
Our salvation...
is what enables that kind of private
and personal fellowship with God.
You know, it's not possible for you.
If you're a person who is not a child of God,
you're not born again, according to the scriptures,
it is not possible for you to have fellowship with God
because you're an alien from God.
You are cut off from the life of God.
You don't have any capacity to fellowship with Him.
furthermore if you're a person who is a member of a church
but you're not born again
you also
cannot fellowship with God
1 John 1 3 says this
that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you
that ye also may have fellowship with us
now listen to this
and truly
our fellowship
is with the Father
and with His Son
Jesus Christ.
You see, salvation is, There's a lot of facets to salvation.
It deals with eternal punishment.
It deals with our sin.
It deals with our repentance and faith.
But one of the key things salvation deals with
is our relationship to God, the idea that we're
brought into a relationship to God that we did
not have previously.
Somebody says, well, I grew up in a Christian home.
I grew up as a Christian.
No, you did not.
Every single one of us has to come to
the point where we understand that we are not
in fellowship with God.
We are alienated from God.
That is how the Bible describes someone without Christ.
Nobody is born in fellowship with God.
That is something that you are brought into the moment
that your faith finally comes to rest squarely and solely on Christ
and his blood shed for you.
At that moment, you are introduced to God for the first time.
for the first time.
So prior to our salvation,
we are alienated from God.
even if we're a part of Christianity, the religion, right?
You know, there are tons, listen, there's tons of people.
We've gone through Matthew.
You have seen it.
I've seen it.
We've seen it over and over and over.
There are tons of people that are within what is referred to
as the boundaries of Christianity that do not know God.
that do not know God.
That's not a surprise.
That's not a surprise.
But many times,
people mistake their membership in Christianity as,
as equivalent to a relationship and fellowship with God,
and it is not the same.
It is not the same.
Those that I'm describing here, though they might be
within Christianity,
to them God is distant and sort of unknown.
Even if you know all kinds of facts about
God, yet He is still distant, there is no fellowship.
And because there is no fellowship, substitutions are attempted.
In other words, we come up with ritual prayers that we can pray over and over and over
to make us feel like that we're fellowshipping with God,
but there is no fellowship.
It's just repetition.
It's ritual.
It's a form.
It's a form of godliness.
There is no actual fellowship,
especially when you go into the realm of what we see here with the Lord Jesus,
which is private fellowship.
When nobody's around,
you carrying on a relationship to God when it's just you
and Him. Nobody else.
Generally
speaking,
People that do not know the Lord Jesus Christ,
that's foreign to them.
Because it requires a true relationship with the living
God to have that.
And as I said, it's substituted.
The real thing is substituted with a fake imitation
in the form of ritual prayers because they make
us feel like, they imitate true fellowship with God
in this form.
Let me ask you a question.
Do you think Jesus was fellowship with
was fellowshipping with his father by repeating certain numbers
of rote prayers?
Do you think that's what he's doing?
Now, just imagine.
I know religions teach that kind of thing, but imagine.
Is Jesus Christ fellowshipping with his father, repeating prayers
that he's learned?
No, because that's not fellowship.
He was pouring out his heart to his father
because he knew his father.
I think the reason...
that people do not privately fellowship with God at
all is because they do not have fellowship with
God at all.
They don't know God.
And truly our fellowship is with the Father and
with His Son Jesus Christ.
Do you have actual fellowship with God privately in
the secret of your life?
Do you have that?
Is that a characteristic of your life?
I don't want to care.
I do not care your rituals that you perform.
perform. I don't care how many prayers you've memorized.
I don't care how many times you repeat them. I don't want
to know that. I want to know, do you have
private, true, sincere fellowship
with God?
Demonstrating a real relationship with
Him.
In Matthew 14, notice
verse number
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. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. Let me ask you a question.
Are...
you a question.
Are these disciples in the will of God?
Yes.
Now you remember Matthew chapter 8, the Bible says
that they followed Jesus into the ship.
This is a different instance where there was a
big storm and they thought they were going to
sink and all of that.
This is a little bit different.
This is just a storm of wind.
They're not afraid of losing their lives at this point.
But in that case, they follow Jesus into the boat.
In this case, they're not following Jesus into the
boat because he's not in the boat.
they are obeying his command
they are obeying his command
so Jesus says I want you to do this
and by faith they are doing what Jesus says
they are responding to what Jesus tells them to do
but in contrast to the previous example
here Jesus is not with them
so he is growing them
he is growing them
the Bible says in John that they had rode, we won't look there, but they had rode 25 or 30 furlongs.
which is a furlong is about 600 feet.
So they had rowed about two to three and a half miles from the shore.
So basically it's three o'clock in the morning, fourth watch, three to six a.m.
There's four watches in the night at this point in history, each three hours.
This is three to six a.m.
So it's dark, dark.
It is
there in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.
Now I've never been on a body of water in the middle of the night,
but to me, have any of you ever been on a body of water in the middle of the night?
Is it a little bit creepy?
Everybody's kind of like, yeah.
But of course, these guys were experienced.
Crossing the Sea of Galilee in the middle of the night was nothing.
They did that all the time.
So they're in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.
It's about 3 a.m.
And he commands them to cross the sea.
You have to understand to get this point is
that they are doing just exactly what Jesus tells
them to do.
You see that and really if you boil down
the Christian life to one thing it is this.
Do what the Lord tells you to do.
And that is done by faith, which is exactly
what they're doing.
Jesus says, get into the boat, and they're resisting him.
But finally, they relent, and they go,
go because for the only reason,
well, Jesus, how are you going to get there?
What are you going to do?
Where are you going to be?
Where do we meet?
Just get in the ship and go.
Trust me,
go. Go, do what I say.
Just do it.
Obedience by faith.
Just do it.
And so they're in the will of God.
They're doing what the Lord wants them to do.
Verse 24, but the ship was now in the
midst of the sea tossed with waves for the
wind was contrary.
But aren't they in the will of God?
Why is it so hard?
Why is it so difficult?
If this, if Jesus told them to do it,
should it not be easy?
If Jesus told them to cross,
should it not be smooth sailing?
After all, Jesus of all people
is going to make sure they have smooth sailing.
Well, he didn't first time
when he was in the boat,
and he's not this time
when he's on the mountain
and probably can see them from a distance if there's enough light.
You see, we're reminded of the fact that we saw in Matthew 8 again
that walking in God's will is no guarantee
that there will never be contrary circumstances.
That is a falsehood that is promoted by modern Christianity
that is false, it is untrue.
And these disciples
are learning the lesson again.
Yes, they're in God's will,
And it is contrary because sometimes the will of
God is not easy.
Sometimes it is hard to obey the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sometimes it is hard to act in faith.
Sometimes it is difficult when you're following the Lord Jesus Christ.
But our problem is that we seek the path
of least resistance where it's easy.
Whether it's in the will of God or not
in the will of God, we look for an
escape hatch, We look for an ejection button because we want
to be out of the difficulty.
Now, put to the side the fact that usually
that escape patch is going to lead to far
greater suffering later, but put that to the side.
That's what we're looking for, an easy out.
And we do, and I think sometimes sincerely get
the idea that, look, if I'm doing what the
Lord wants me to do, if this is the
case, then why is this so stinking hard?
Why is it so hard?
hard. Why can't it be easier? Why can't it be simpler? Because the Lord has lessons for
you, and he has lessons for me. You see, Jesus is about to walk across the water. Let me show
you this real quick. Look at Job chapter 9, the book of Job. I thought this was really neat.
Job chapter 9.
verses in Job that sometimes connects with what you're reading.
In verse number one, the Bible says, then Job
answered and said.
So this is a part of the book of
Job where Job is the speaker.
That's important to note.
Job nine, verse number, let's look at verse number four.
He is wise in heart and mighty in strength,
who hath hardened himself against him and hath prospered.
Talking about God.
Which removeth, speaking of God now, removeth the mountains
and they know not, which overturneth them in his anger,
which
This is a description by Job the prophet of the Almighty.
The Almighty is described as someone who treads upon
the waves of the sea.
I want you to note though, it does not
say he treads upon the face of the waters,
although that could be said as well.
It specifically says, treads upon the waves of the sea.
Now let me ask you a question.
Why are there waves in this instance in Matthew 14?
The waves are the product of the very thing
that is contrary to them.
The waves are produced by the contrary wind.
That is the thing that is making their life difficult.
The difficulty is producing the waves...
which are then going to be part of the fulfillment that demonstrates by Job 9-8
that this man walking on the water, no, no, walking on the boisterous water's waves
is indeed the Almighty.
In other words, it wouldn't have been fully, Job 9-8 would not have been fully fulfilled
if there had not been waves.
But there's waves because it's hard.
And so you see Jesus walking.
Go back to Matthew 14, verse...
Verse 25,
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 the 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, of course, we see Peter walks on the water.
But notice, before we get there, Jesus is walking on the sea
and
this difficulty
provided, difficulty
difficulty for the disciples, provided them an opportunity to
see something about the Lord Jesus Christ that a
smooth and easy journey would not have provided them
the opportunity to see.
And I agree, it would have been amazing if
the Sea of Galilee had been slick as glass
and Jesus had been walking on the Sea of
Galilee, I would have been like, wow, that's awesome.
Moistrous and churned up in that water and all
the waves and all of those things to see
Jesus walking on it.
The picture given is he is absolutely in control.
He is absolutely in control over nature.
He walks on it.
It is under his feet.
That's the visual picture,
right? But that was, listen, there was no way
to see that unless they were in the boat
in this contrary circumstance in the will of God.
Do you understand that?
Here's what I'm saying.
saying, the Lord Jesus Christ is the God of providence.
He is the God who is leading you.
It might seem that you're following the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
You're doing what he told you to do alone
because he was not in the ship with them.
It might seem like that, but he is fully
aware of what is going on in your life
and he knows what he is doing.
And there are things about the Lord Jesus Christ
that you and I need to know about him
that you can only see when
if there's waves and a contrary sea in your life.
That's the only way you're going to see it.
So are you going to be the one who
says, okay, Lord, you say get in the boat.
I don't understand it.
This is hard.
This is not what I expected.
This is the will of God as I understand
it is not as easy as I thought it would be.
What are you going to do?
Are you going to turn back and row back to the shore?
Or are you going to,
by God's grace,
beg God for help
to continue
in the will of the Lord?
Now to finish,
I want to return to
the feeding of the 5,000
in John 6.
If you'll go back to John 6 real quick
I'll read 14 and 15 once again.
It says this,
Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did,
said this is of a truth, the prophet that should come into the world.
When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king,
he departed alone into a mountain himself alone.
Now, look at verse 22.
The day following, all right?
three in the morning, they're on the ship.
All right, Jesus gets back into the boat,
and the wind ceases, which tells us that the
whole storm and the wind and all that was
for the explicit purpose of showing them his power
over the water and to show them what he
wanted to show them, because as soon as he
got in the boat, it was over.
And they get to the shore, so it's the next day.
If it was Monday, now it's Tuesday.
Jesus had just fed the multitude on Monday.
Remember, Monday afternoon.
The day following, verse 22,
when the people stood on the other side of the sea,
they stood on the other side of the sea,
saw that there was none other boat there,
save the one whereunto his disciples were entered,
and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat,
but that his disciples were gone away alone,
howbeit there were other boats from Tiberias 9 to the place
where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks.
When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there,
neither his disciples,
they also took shipping
and came to Capernaum
seeking for Jesus.
So it's very simple.
All the people that had eaten are looking
and they know the disciples left in the boats
and they know Jesus was not with them
and there aren't any other boats.
So they're like, where's Jesus at?
He should be here because he wasn't on the boat.
They didn't know that he had just walked across the Sea of Galilee.
So what did they do?
You think, man, these people are really, they love the Lord and they're seeking after God.
Are you trying to find Jesus?
Yeah.
They paid the fare and went across the Sea
of Galilee seeking for Jesus. Verse 25.
This is the issue with the seeker sensitive thing.
You know, be careful of the seekers.
These are not good seekers.
And when they had found him on the other
side, verse 25, of the sea, they said unto
him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither?
And Jesus, as he always does, our Lord,
he cuts right through it down to the heart.
Every time he does this.
I love it.
He says,
Jesus answered and said, Verily, verily, I say unto
but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled.
That's what I was telling you earlier.
What was on their mind?
This is the same group that had eaten the day before.
Jesus says, continues in 27,
Labor not for the meat which perisheth,
but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life,
which the Son of Man shall give unto you,
for him hath God the Father sealed. Then said they unto him, I mean, this is, they have no idea what even they're asking.
What shall we do that we might work the
works of God?
And Jesus is essentially saying, works of God?
Forget about that.
This is the work of God.
This is what you need to be thinking about.
This is the work of God that you believe
on him whom he hath sent.
And can you believe what they say in verse 30?
They said therefore unto him, what sign showest thou
then that we may see and believe thee?
What dost thou work?
work. The bread and the fish hasn't even gone through their digestive tract completely yet.
And they're demanding a sign. It's not looking good for them.
Look at verse 24, or I had to read verse 24. Look at verse 41. Same group. Then the Jews,
the Jews then murmured at him because he said,
I am the bread which came down from heaven.
Verse 42.
Verse 42.
And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son
of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?
I thought he was the great prophet. Remember,
yesterday? How is it then that he saith,
I came down from heaven?
Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.
Look at verse 60.
Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard
this, said,
in hard saying who can hear it same people
it's no wonder
You see what I'm saying?
The Lord cut right through all of that and
saw right through it like it was transparent glass.
And this, I think, in closing, I think this
demonstrates an aspect of mankind that we see all
the time in our day.
All the time.
People seeking after Jesus for what they can get.
They have different motivations for what they want Jesus
to do for them.
And when Jesus tells them what his plans are
for them, they're not interested.
Oh, I want to save you from sin.
No, I'm good.
I actually want my sin.
Thanks.
I like going out and bar hopping and I
like living my lifestyle.
I like it.
I'm actually good.
But if you could pay my light bill and
you could do the thing and make sure the
person I won't get selected. I'm good with that, but I'm not really interested in being
right with God. But that's exactly what
they're doing. What a dark
presentation of the very recipients of Christ's
miracle, is it not?
So all of the things the Lord says
about mankind, and all of the things the Lord says about mankind and all of the things
that the Lord says
that mankind needs
above Everything else is demonstrated when you see the progression of this story.
The progression of this story.
Would you pray with me?