Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Definition:
Faith is The belief or trust in a person, thing, or idea.
A firm belief in something, even when there is not proof
A feeling of trust or confidence in someone or something
Matthew 14:22-24
22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.
23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.
24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.
We first noticed that Jesus made His disciples leave in the boat and He sent the multitudes away.
- Jesus did this because He wanted to be alone and pray.
- Jesus wanted to escape the crowd and get some rest.
- Jesus wanted the crowd to disperse to avoid a messianic uproar.
John 6:15
Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.
I don't know about you, but I could only imagine after spending the day with more than 8,000 people I would want some rest and relaxation. And what better way than to spend that talking to your heavenly Father.
I know most of you probably think after that day you would want to go home and kick off your shoes and spend it watching TV or looking on Facebook. However Jesus want to go home and talk to Dad and let him know about His day.
My wife has told me several times that she can tell when I have came to the church and spent time in prayer when I preach on Sunday Mornings. We need that time in prayer more than ever. Every demon in Hell is trying to get at us and destroy us every chance they get.
Matthew 14:25-27
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.”
"Now in the fourth watch of the night" was somewhere between 3:00AM and 6:00AM. According to Mark 6:47-52, Jesus came to the disciples when the boat was in the middle of the sea and after they had exhausted themselves rowing against the waves and windy storm.
This must have been a scary sight for the disciples at first. There has been a lot of stories that have come out of a sight like the disciples were seeing at that moment. However, Jesus didn't come to the disciples to scare them or make them afraid.
You need to put away fear.
- One reason may be that the problem is not nearly as bad as you had thought. This is the tactic the devil uses to scare you.
- You know that Satan is always trying to scare you so that you will not trust God.
- Even though the problem may be real, there is an even greater solution and help at hand.
You must have your trust in God. The storms are going to come and "yes" they may scare you at first, but it is at that time you must remember that God has your back. Remember what Jesus said back in Verse 27?
"Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid."
Remember what Jesus said also in:
John 16:33
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
You will have peace if you have that personal connection with Jesus Christ.
Matthew 14:28-33
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.”
At this point Peter had a lot of faith in Jesus. Jesus' extends the invitation to step out of the boat immediately. You see the disciples had been trained for some time and even given power to do exactly the kind of miracles that Jesus was doing.
Peter was a fisherman and he knew that dangers of Galilee and yet he still trusted and had faith in Jesus that he could do exactly what Jesus said "Come".
Peter got out of that boat with no fear and started to walk on that water, but when the wind started to hit him he immediatly started to lose his faith because of destractions.
I know that many of you today are so wrapped up in your cell phones, computer, iPads, and other things that you get distracted from Jesus and wonder why you are sinking in your problems that come your way. Maybe it's because we are not focused enough on what God has in front of us, that is our healing & deliverance.
Even when Peter failed, Jesus was there to save him. Peter knew who to call out to at the moment of his crisis.
And when Peter got brought back to the boat by Jesus himself he was told exactly what we hear today "O you of little faith."
Spurgeon said:
You do believe, and if you believe, why doubt? If faith, why little faith? If you doubt, why believe? And if you believe, why doubt?"
Why did you doubt: Jesus only asked this question once Peter was rescued. Yet at that point it was an entirely reasonable question to ask. Why did Peter doubt?
Why do you not have faith in Jesus for your healing?
Why do you do in Jesus for the guidance to go in the right direction.
Why do you doubt in Jesus for the deliverance in your life.
God can help you out of the situation you are in if you will listen and trust in Him.
You see are problem is that God will send the help in the middle of the storm if we will listen and accept what He sends.