25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.
27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! 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.”
29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”
(Mat. 14:25-33)
Here we see Christ walking on water to the disciples in the middle of the sea. And Peter, wanting to be with Christ asked to come out with Him. And Peter soon becomes afraid because of the wind and begins to sink.
I recently had a conversation. There was a quip about rocking the boat. My reply was, you have to swim sometime. The response was “I might drown”. Then it dawned on me, in my walk with Christ, that the Lord pointed me to the above Scriptures. What the Lord wanted me to see is that it’s not so much swimming as it is walking on water that He calls us to. And by faith we can. Notice what the Lord’s response to Peter was .
“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
The Lord has decreed that we have authority with just a little bit of faith. Even no bigger than a mustard seed. We can walk in His footsteps. For even Scripture says:
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:15-18)
If we have faith in Christ, and we follow Him as He has called us and appointed us to His ministry and gifts we will not just swim but He will pick us up out of the water so that we can walk on it. These things are done by faith.
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. (I John 5:14-15)
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. (I John 4:18)
Now let me write a bit more about what faith is. We know what Scripture says about faith.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. (Heb. 11:1-3)
And I know that this Scripture is pointing to our Hope and Salvation in Christ. I also see that it points to our walk in Christ that if He has promised to give us any power in this world it is for His Glory and to draw men and women to Salvation in Him alone. That we cannot walk in any such power unless we have proven ourselves as trustworthy to Him in our zeal to perform His will on the basis of Mark 16:15-16. But also in our obedience to not walk according to the ways of this world but according to the ways of Christ.
How do we get to such a point of faith? It seems a great mystery to many, but the truth is that it begins with a hunger to know Christ and not reject Scripture. For if we reject Truth we cannot have faith. If we have faith we have the Truth and we have Christ Jesus our Lord, our King. So then we must study Scripture laying aside our own preconceptions seeking understanding from Christ.
26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will[a] abide in Him. (IJohn 2:26-27)
This of course does not mean we cannot receive a teaching from a man, but we need to measure all things in light of Scripture. This also means we must leave behind the cult of personalities who covet attention from men. Who also pervert the Gospel for their own gain.
Now I haven’t completely addressed why Peter’s faith was challenged so that he began to sink.
30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
So then the boisterous wind can represent winds of doctrine, worldy challenges in our life and lack of focus on Christ and our walk with Him. It can also represent spiritual attacks from the devil. All the more reason to walk in Christ. Because those challenges are real. The devil will always be there to challenge our faith. Men and women will always be there to counter our walk because they are of the world and we are not.
So then let us press into our faith in Christ to do the Lord’s will. Let us walk on the water prepared for us. For that water before us will be nothing but a sea of glass for us to walk upon. No wind of doctrine from men or satan can throw us from the water’s surface if we are securely in our faith.
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. (Heb. 12:1-3)
Last Days of the Age 
It is certainly a wonderful thing to read the many promises of God in the scriptures and to hope in the ultimate fulfillment of some of them through us. Far too often these promises are merely claimed yet go unfulfilled because the conditions have not been met. Those conditions are as you have made clear:
1. Having faith in what God says
2. Having proven oneself trustworthy
Having faith is not difficult, it is simply a matter of trusting in what God says to be true and aligning oneself accordingly. Proving oneself as trustworthy, now that’s an entirely different matter. We would all like to claim this to be so, but being trustworthy is more than just being honest. It is having our faith tested (past tense) with the commands of God and having come out purified after the test. The test of course includes various trials (which we are to consider a joy) knowing that these tests produce endurance. This endurance (if embraced) will have a perfect result that results in men becoming (in present tense) complete and lacking nothing. (James 1) The test is ongoing always, and as we endure more severe trials we become increasingly endowed with more power to meet the need- more of Him equals more power.
On one hand we are already complete in Christ (now) and on another we need more of Christ practically each and every day. I agree that we each have a responsibility to seek Him ourselves (to have personal devotion) and also that we can learn as the Holy Spirit teaches us through others at times.
I’d love to teach on how proving oneself to be trustworthy intersects living worthy of our calling in Christ. Sadly, I’m still a little short on walking on water…..this side of a frozen lake that is……
Great post as always Al. Thanks for your ongoing contribution to us all.
I was also thinking….How can a man claim to be anything or have anything when he is not His own? Does God actually give individuals gifts and authority outside and independent of Himself? Wouldn’t the very thought of that nullify our oneness with Jesus Himself?
No, Jesus manifests Himself through us, He is the gift (in whatever form), He is the Power and He is the Blessing to others through us.
A man who claims to be something is to be avoided. Whatever he or she has I don’t want, nor would I want to pass that along to others.
The best place to start and finish is on the bottom of the pile. Sure, it hurts a little more and isn’t always the most pleasant, though it is where Jesus Himself is to be found.
He made Himself of no reputation…..now there’s a reality check for those who would start or attempt to finish above their brethren.
Amen Michael,
29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first. Mat. 19:29-30
And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26 then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. 29 They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”(Luke 13:24:30)
10 But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. 11 And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ 13 But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”(Mat. 20:10-16)
Praise to our Holy Lord for this lesson and exhortation!
Reblogged this on BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB.