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I do want to read beginning in 
verse 13, however, so we can set our text in its larger context. When Jesus heard it, he departed 
from there by boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the 
multitudes heard it, they followed him on foot from the cities. 
And when Jesus went out, He saw a great multitude, and He was 
moved with compassion for them and healed their sick. When it 
was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, This is a deserted 
place, and the hour is already late. send the multitudes away 
that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food. But 
Jesus said to them, They do not need to go away. You give them 
something to eat. And they said to him, We have 
here only five loaves and two fish. He said, Bring them here 
to me. Then he commanded the multitudes 
to sit down on the grass. And he took the five loaves and 
the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke 
and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave to the 
multitudes. So they all ate and were filled, 
and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. Now those who had eaten were 
about five thousand men, besides women and children. Immediately, 
Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him 
to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 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. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, 
tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the 
fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them, walking on the 
sea. And when the disciples saw him 
walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a ghost. And they cried out for fear. 
But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Be of good cheer. It is I. Do not be afraid. And Peter answered him and said, 
Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. 
So he said, Come. And when Peter had come down 
out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But 
when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid. And 
beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately 
Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him and said to him, 
O you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got 
into the boat, the wind ceased. than those who were in the boat 
came and worshipped Him, saying, Truly, You are the Son of God. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we 
thank You for Your Word, and we pray for the ministry of Your 
Spirit now. God, we confess again our sin, 
our darkened understanding, and we pray that through the blood 
of Christ and the power of Your Holy Spirit, we would receive 
with great joy the Word of God Most High. We ask that You would 
encourage us that as we see in this passage lessons concerning 
discipleship, that you would just help us to see things in 
proper perspective. Help us to not lose sight of 
the fact that a God of sovereignty and power and majesty is our 
God and our Father, that our Lord Jesus Christ is there in 
the midst of the trial and the difficulty with his people. Truly, 
as David said, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow 
of death, you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they 
comfort me. Give us grace, Father, to receive these things and help 
us to leave this place, having met with you. And may you affect 
us for good by the power of your Word and Spirit. We ask through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, as we saw last time, 
Jesus fed the multitudes. He took just a few fish and a 
few loaves and he fed 5,000 men, not to mention the amount of 
women and children that were there as well. So essentially 
what we find here in chapter 14 are several miracles done 
on the Sea of Galilee, around the Sea of Galilee. And here, 
specifically, in verses 21 to 33, there is high Christology. The emphasis of the story, or 
the climax of the story, is not the stilling of the wind. It 
is the confession by the disciples, truly, you are the Son of God. Remember, in our studies in the 
Gospel of Matthew, all along the way, Matthew wants us to 
behold our God. He wants us to see Christ as 
the Scripture. sets him forth. And so often, 
as Matthew writes, he's doing so with conscious awareness of 
Old Testament Scripture. There is psalm after psalm. There's 
many statements in the book of Job. There's statements throughout 
the Old Testament of God's mastery over the waters. And so when 
Jesus walks on the sea and when He calms the wind and thus the 
waves, this is an evidence and a demonstration that these disciples 
do not miss. They confess with their mouths 
that you are the Son of God. But it's not just Christology 
that Matthew is weaving together in this particular passage. There 
are great lessons here concerning discipleship. Just think for 
a moment concerning the time frames. Jesus at evening calls 
his disciples or commands his disciples to get in the boat 
and to go. He disperses the multitudes, 
and so Jesus then goes by himself to pray. It's probably dusk at 
this particular time. When it mentions the fourth watch 
of the night, that's 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. We don't know how long 
that storm affected the disciples, but there is something there 
for us to consider. that Jesus didn't immediately 
go to their rescue. And I think that all of us who 
have lived the Christian life for any time can probably say 
the very same thing. I prayed and it didn't immediately 
happen for me. God teaches us dependence. God teaches us patience. God 
teaches us that He is not our cosmic bellhop. We don't just 
make the request and then He performs. The other way around, 
God is sovereign, He is master, His timing is most excellent, 
and when He comes in the fourth watch, it is according to His 
plan and His purpose. So as I said, the passage is 
rich in Christology, the passage is rich concerning discipleship, 
and it's to that we now turn. Four segments are indicated in 
this section. First, the situation, verses 
22 to 24. Secondly, the storm, verses 25 
to 28. Thirdly, the salvation, verses 
28 to 31. And then the significance of 
the whole event in verse 33. That should have been 29 to 32, 
actually. My numbering system was wrong 
there. Anyways, that's the segments, 
that's the way we'll divide up the text, that's the way we will 
pursue, God willing, the wonderful doctrine concerning our Lord 
Jesus in His person and to consider Him in His aid given to His disciples. Note first the situation. Verses 
22 and 23. He commands the disciples. It's 
a very strong verb that's used here by Matthew. Immediately, 
Jesus made his disciples. He compelled them. It wasn't 
an option. They had to do this. This was 
something that he wasn't recommending. This wasn't something that he 
was suggesting. This was something that they had to undertake. And 
if we ask the question, why? Why does he compel them? Why 
does he make them go away? Why does he separate himself 
from this particular point? Well, in the context, we see 
because he wanted private time. He wanted to pray. He wanted 
to commune with his father. He needed solitude as the God-man. He nevertheless needs to commune 
with his father. This is absolutely essential 
and something that we need to remember. We have to steal away. 
It may not be for four hours, it may not be for five hours, 
but the Christian, the man and woman of God, needs to be alone 
with the father on occasion. Well, hopefully every single 
day they find some time. If all of our handy tools and 
all of our internet and all of our phones and all of these things 
crowd into that time, we should get rid of them. We ought to 
prioritize our life. We ought to seek first the kingdom 
of God and His righteousness, knowing that all these things 
will then be added unto us. Christ understands this. Christ 
as man needs His Father. Christ as man needs to pour out 
His heart before a hearing Father. Christ as man needs communion 
and intimacy with the living God. But if we compare another 
context, remember in John's gospel after the feeding of the 5,000, 
the people wanted to take Jesus by force and make him a king. I mean, who wouldn't want a king 
that can take several loaves? and several fish and multiply 
it in such a way as to feed 5,000 people. That will certainly knock 
out any problems with poverty. That will certainly ameliorate 
the downtrodden and the poor. That will certainly help a nation 
when the governor or the king or the ruler has the ability 
to speak a word and feed great multitudes of people. They wanted 
to seize him by force and make him a king. Jesus probably knew 
that his disciples might be prone to jump on that bus as well. 
Jesus knew the hearts of men, so he commands them to get in 
the boat and get out of there. And then he disperses this particular 
crowd. He's trying to quench this messianic 
furor where the people might seize upon him and try to make 
him a king according to their will and according to their prerogatives 
rather than the divine agenda. Remember John the Baptist in 
his prison cell sent two of his disciples to ascertain from Jesus, 
are you the coming one or do we look for another? He wasn't 
disbelieving Christ. He had a problem with Christ's 
agenda. He thought when Messiah came, 
there would not only be healing, but there would be punishment 
of the wicked. And John is sitting in a prison cell of a wicked 
man. So he's curious. He's wondering. 
There was all this desire for the type of Messiah that would 
simply subjugate enemies. and put Israel into prestige. And so Jesus sends away the disciples 
and then he seeks solitude. Notice verse 23, and when he 
had sent the multitudes away, he went up on the mountain by 
himself to pray. Now when evening had come, he 
was alone there. You know there was those bracelets 
several years ago and that whole mindset of what would Jesus do? Probably some of us got caught 
up in that. What would Jesus do? You're given 
a particular situation and you say, what would Jesus do? It's 
a good question. Don't do what Satan would do, 
do what Jesus would do. It's not bad. Jesus would pray 
in private. We see that in the text. If your 
day does not have private time set apart for you and God, then 
you're not doing what Jesus would do. We live in an age where there 
are many hands on our time. And we need to guard, we need 
to watch, we need to make sure that we so regulate our lives 
that the most important things do not get crowded out. It's 
a matter of priority. And if the Son of God Himself 
made sure that He had alone time with His Father, then we should, 
asking the question, what would Jesus do? Likewise, the same. We ought to make sure that we 
have alone time with the Father. We need to be a people of prayer. 
We all have challenges. We all have issues. We all have 
temptations. And we all have trials. How do 
we face those things? In our own strength? In our own 
ability? In our own prowess? In our own 
savvy? No! We do that as prayerful women 
and men of God who trust Him to guide us. It's high time that 
we internalize some of these lessons that the Lord Christ 
is establishing by His example. You know my heart in terms of 
exemplary preaching. It ought never to take priority 
over the truth of the Gospel as declaration. The Gospel isn't 
good advice, it's good news concerning the Savior who lived and died 
and rose again and all those who believe on Him will have 
everlasting life. As we work our way through the 
Gospel accounts, it's not wrong to stop along the way and to 
observe our Savior and to see His conduct and to see what motivated 
Him and what He made time for. And yes, He made time for the 
multitudes to heal their sick. He made time for His disciples 
to minister to their needs. and to train them for the task 
that would be theirs when he ascended back into heaven. But 
he also made time for his own needs. This wasn't selfish. This wasn't wrong. This is absolutely 
crucial in the Christian life. If you're that busy, then may 
I suggest getting up earlier. Staying up later. It is that 
important. You know, we'll get up early 
when there's something important that we have to do. We'll get 
up early at a busy time in our work lives. We will all make 
that necessary sacrifice. But when it comes to God and 
alone time with Him, are we making any sacrifice? Very often we're 
limping along in the Christian life because we're not using 
the means. Doesn't James upbraid his audience? You have not. Why? Because you 
do not ask. Brethren, please take this as 
a pastoral encouragement to follow the Savior in this pattern of 
private prayer. Notice the storm described in 
verse 24. He's alone on the mountain praying. Verse 24, but the boat was now 
in the middle of the sea. There's a variant, it doesn't 
affect the reading, it doesn't affect the meaning. The boat 
was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for 
the wind was contrary." Osborne describes the Sea of Galilee. 
This occurred regularly on that lake, since it was 600 feet below 
sea level and ringed with mountains to the east, so that the air 
would surge through the mountains and kick up huge waves, sometimes 
eight to nine feet high. So, I mean, the fact that Jesus 
walked on the sea is miraculous in itself. These are some big 
waves that he's navigating. And notice that he understands 
or realizes precisely where they're at. In the midst of a wind, storm, 
tossed sea, Christ is able to find his disciples without the 
aid of a GPS. There's much more miraculous 
stuff going on in the passage before us than might meet the 
eye in an initial skim over. So there is a storm on the sea, 
and the contrast is stark. Verse 23, he is alone in prayer, 
but, verse 24, the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed 
by the waves, for the wind was contrary. So the implication 
is, while he's praying in solitude, they're being tossed by this 
particular storm. Notice that he doesn't immediately 
stop praying, so that he can go render aid to his disciples. This goes back to the point I 
mentioned in the introduction. We are on God's time. How many 
times have we given up prayer because we haven't gotten the 
answer that we want? I don't think we believe no is 
an answer, actually. No is an answer. If your child 
comes to you and says, can I have a candy, and you say no, he doesn't 
struggle with, I don't think you answered me. No, he struggles 
with the answer that you gave him. And I think Christians can 
do this from time to time. God may have said no. We don't 
know until our lungs stop taking in air. We keep asking. We keep 
seeking. We keep knocking. God is privileged 
to say no to us. Without us whining, grumbling, 
crying, murmuring, or saying, well, you know, He just doesn't 
care. He just doesn't like me. He just doesn't know that it 
would be better for me. Imagine these disciples. Where's 
the Lord? What's going on? He's up on the 
mountain to pray, and we're in this storm-tossed sea. We got 
to deal with this? No! You don't find one whiff 
of that in the text whatsoever. The disciples of Christ are not 
immune from trial. The disciples of Christ, while 
He is engaged in prayer to His Father, and as the Scripture 
testifies in the 7th of Hebrews and in the 8th of Romans, He 
now sits and He makes intercession at the right hand of His Father 
on high. While He's engaged in that activity, it does not mean 
that Christians are without difficulty. We need to understand that. There 
is trial in the Christian life. There is hardship. There is difficulty. There are problems. How do you 
live in a sin-cursed world and not have issues? How do you have 
an unholy trinity that you daily have to combat the devil, the 
flesh, and the world, and not have troubles? How is it that 
you can have remaining corruption in your heart and not struggle? How is it that being surrounded 
by godless people doesn't vex your soul the way Peter says 
Lot's soul was vexed when he lived in ungodly Sodom? The Christian 
on earth is not immune from trial. I mentioned in prayer this lady 
Miriam. Does everybody know her story? 
She is pregnant. She has been sentenced to death 
in the Sudan. She's got a 20-month-old boy 
that's with her in jail. You know what the kindness of 
the courts has decreed? That she can give birth to the 
baby in her womb and then live for two years so that she can 
nurse this little one and then they'll execute her. That's life on this globe. That's 
life in this world. It's life in a sin-cursed society. She was given opportunity to 
recant, to forsake the Lord Christ, to embrace Islam, the religion 
of her father, whom she hadn't seen since she was six. No, I'm 
a Christian, she says. Praise God Almighty, from whom 
all blessings flow. The point, brethren, is that 
there are trials. There are difficulties. While 
Christ is interceding at the right hand of the Father, we 
live in a sin-cursed world where there's storms, where there's 
tempests, where there's trials, where there's issues, where there's 
difficulties. And the point of the narrative, 
or the point of the passage is, is that we need to be still and 
know that God is God. He has it under control. He is 
working all things for good to those who love Him, to the called 
according to His purpose. Romans 8.28, read Watson's Divine 
Cordial, or the All Things for Good is what it's now titled. 
It is an exposition of Romans 8.28. I suspect that's a text 
that's easy to understand when everything's going well. We certainly 
affirm, Romans 8, 28, that all things work for good when our 
wives like us, when our kids are well-behaved, when we've 
got a good reputation at work, and when we get a raise. Oh yeah, 
all things work for good to those who love God, to those who are 
called according to His purposes. But what Watson draws out and 
what is implicit by the apostles, not even implicit, because as 
you follow in the narrative, the apostle talks about Christians 
being slaughtered for the sake of God Most High. It is the bad 
things that God works out, too, for our good. You see, the storms 
and the trials and the difficulties and the temptations ultimately 
yield a man or a woman more conformed to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's 
his purpose! Hebrews 5 tells us that Jesus, 
the Son, learned obedience through what? Bible study? Catechism? Church instruction? Synagogue? Jesus learned obedience through 
suffering. It's tough, isn't it? See, that's one thing the Christian 
church cannot preach. Come to Jesus and all your troubles 
will go away. That was a song in the Second 
World War. Pack up your troubles in your 
old kit bag and smile, smile, smile. When the church takes 
that posture, she is now a synagogue of Satan. Those health, wealth 
and prosperity guys are vile, wicked, lying men. Because the Christian life promised 
by our Lord in John 16 is this, in this world you will have many 
tribulations. But be of good cheer, for I have 
overcome the world. Christ does come to them in the 
fourth watch. Christ does bring healing. It doesn't immediately take place, 
but He responds in His own timing to affect His purposes in the 
lives of His people for His glory and for their well-being. Now 
notice the storm, verses 25 to 28. The Lord went to them, verse 
25. Now in the fourth watch of the 
night, as I get again in the Roman reckoning there were four 
watches, Jewish reckoning there were three watches. More than 
likely Matthew's adopting the Roman reckoning and this would 
be 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. Now in the fourth watch, 
which indicates as well, not only that they've been in a storm-tossed 
sea for a while, but he's been in prayer for a while, hasn't 
he? It's been well said, if you ever 
want to humble a Christian, ask him or her about their prayer 
life. Do you spend hours from dusk till three praying? Probably 
not. That's why Jesus came, to die 
and rise again. It's for sinners like us. But notice, in the fourth watch 
of the night, Jesus went to them walking on the sea. He left his solitude to go to 
his disciples. He walked on the sea in order 
to reach them. Now, as I'm sure you will imagine, 
Just like there are people who say, you know, the feeding of 
the 5,000 really wasn't a miraculous event. It wasn't as if Jesus 
multiplied fishes and loaves. It was that this little boy took 
of his meager portion and shared with others. And that spirit 
of love and kindness so filled the hearts of the rest of them 
that they took out their meager portions and they shared too. 
That's not what the text says, is it? What do you think those 
people do with Jesus walking on the sea? They say it must 
have been the shore and the disciples were wrong. Must have been a 
quick freeze and he was walking on ice. Some posit that there 
was a sandbar just underneath the water. But you see, that 
doesn't make any sense, for when Peter steps out of the boat, 
he walks on the water for a time and then what? He sinks. He doesn't 
sink in the shore, he doesn't sink through a sandbar, and he 
certainly doesn't sink through ice. Jesus is the ruler of the 
waves, as J.C. Ryle calls him. Jesus walks on 
the sea. Notice, the twice that it's referenced 
that Jesus walks on the sea. Peter walks on the water. Probably 
the indication is that Peter wasn't walking that long. You 
couldn't say what Peter said or what Peter did was walking 
on the sea. He walked on the water for a time, but he sunk 
right in. Jesus is walking on the sea. 
Do you understand that? How many times have you read 
that and not given any thought to it? Can you walk on the sea? Can you walk on water? Can your 
foot stand firmly just like it does on this carpeted floor at 
Calder's Lake? Could you do that? No! Who can 
do this? The Son of God! Who multiplies 
fishes and loaves? The Son of God. And not only 
does the Son of God do this Himself, He enables Peter to do it. Peter 
doesn't immediately step out of the boat and sink. He does 
walk on the water for a moment. He's got enough faith to leave 
the boat. He doesn't have enough faith to walk through the storms. 
That's his problem. But in this instance, it tells 
us he's walking on the sea. Davies and Allison says, what 
matters is not that Jesus has done the seemingly impossible, 
I add, though this shouldn't be disregarded. Davies and Allison 
lean a little bit to the critical mindset that maybe this didn't 
actually happen. What they go on to say makes 
perfect sense. What matters is not that Jesus 
has done this, the seemingly impossible, again I add, though 
this shouldn't be disregarded, but that He has performed action 
which the Old Testament associates with Yahweh alone. Now again, 
these men knew their Bibles. They knew the Old Testament. 
They knew Job 9.8. He alone spreads out the heavens 
and treads on the waves of the sea. By the time we get to their 
confession in verse 33, it makes perfect sense. They're thinking 
in terms of the Bible. They're thinking in terms of 
Yahweh. They're thinking in terms of mastery over the sea. And 
here comes Jesus walking on it. Psalm 77, 19. Your way was in 
the sea, your path is in the great waters, and your footsteps 
were not known. Isaiah 43, 16. Thus says Yahweh, 
who makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters. John Gill says it this way, by 
which action, this walking on the sea, he showed himself to 
be the Lord of the sea and to be truly and properly God, whose 
character is that he treadeth upon the waves of the sea. Job 9.8. What's the response 
of the disciples? They're afraid. They at first 
think it's a ghost. which is pretty intriguing. Gil 
mentions that there were some, at least in the Jewish writings, 
of a superstitious mentality among the Jews. Remember, we 
already saw that with Herod. When he asks the question concerning 
Jesus, he says, this is John the Baptist, risen from the dead, 
coming back to haunt me, essentially. It was this idea that people 
that drowned in the sea became ghosts and had the ability, because 
they weren't bodies, to walk upon the sea. So that was probably 
a common superstition in the time, at the time. But it is 
intriguing, isn't it? Just follow this for just a moment. 
What was it that they said with Reverend Kite? When he would 
teach the Bible, the young boys, so that they wouldn't fall asleep, 
would pluck eyelashes out. May I suggest, pluck? I pinched 
the inside of my leg, as per Pastor Albert Martin's instructions, 
just hard enough to bolt me back into a consciousness. Just pluck one out, and then 
rub it, But pay attention. They thought it was more believable 
that a ghost or an apparition would walk on the sea than that 
God himself was walking on the sea. It was more of a position 
they could wrap their minds around that an apparition had taken 
to the Sea of Galilee than that their master, their Lord, and 
their friend whom they had journeyed with. They see it. They say, it is a ghost. And 
then they cried out with fear. And now notice the Lord's encouragement 
to them. And this again is beautiful in 
each step of the way it builds until that crescendo confession 
of verse 33. He's walked on the sea. He has 
shown mastery over nature itself. He has the ability to do things 
that is ascribed to God alone in the Old Testament. And now 
notice what he does. He gives them a command. He says, 
be of good cheer. Isn't this contrary to what we 
want in our trials, in our sufferings, in our storms, and in our difficulties? Do we want somebody to come along 
when we're having a miserable day to say, be of good cheer! Be happy! Everything's going 
to be okay. What's the tendency of our hearts? 
You don't know how bad it is. You don't know how difficult 
it is. You don't know what I'm going through. You don't know 
what these storms are like. You don't know what the tempest 
is like. You don't know how I'm afraid. You don't know how I've 
lost everything. Jesus comes along and he commands 
them, be of good cheer. It's the same language he uses 
back in chapter 9, when they lower that man down that is the 
paralytic, and he looks at that man and he says, son, be of good 
cheer. Isn't that amazing? We get upset. What do you mean I'm paralyzed? I'm lying in a bed. Don't you 
mean just be miserable, just whine, just complain, just grumble? 
Everything you're doing is right. Be a murmurer. Doesn't Paul tell 
us though, and Philippians too, to do all things without disputing 
or grumbling? Doesn't Paul tell us, as Christian 
people, we're not supposed to murmur? That as Christian people, 
we're not supposed to complain? As Christian people, we're to 
be thankful in all circumstances? Jesus tells them to be of good 
cheer. That's the command. Notice the prohibition at the 
end of the verse. He says, do not be afraid. Again, I'd be like, Jesus, this 
is fearful. This is scary. Waves doing this? Winds blowing? Storm tossed? This must have been a doozy. Don't be afraid. We just sang 
this, didn't we? If you get one hymn in our book 
in your heart, get 80. Get 80. Internalize it. Soak it in. Why does Jesus command, be of 
good cheer? Why does Jesus prohibit, do not 
be afraid? It's because of what he says 
in the middle. He says, it is I. I want you 
to think for just a moment with me. Preachers say that just to 
make sure everybody's alert and awake. This is a statement that's 
used a lot in John's Gospel. As far as I know, it's only here 
in Matthew's Gospel. So some would say we ought not 
to make a big deal out of it. We ought not to see in it more 
than a simple identifier of it is I. But I think post-resurrection 
Christians couldn't miss the emphasis. You see, it's translated 
in John's gospel in two places, for instance, as, I am. John 8, 24. If you do not believe 
that I am, you will die in your sins. It's translated as, I am, 
again, in John 8, 58. Before Abraham was, I am. What was the response to that 
declaration? They took up stones to throw 
at him, to kill him for blasphemy, because he made himself to be 
God. The language of our text is the 
I am of Exodus 3.14. When Moses says, who shall I 
say sent me? Yahweh says, tell them I am sent 
you. It's the identifier of God Most 
High in the prophet Isaiah conspicuously. It's in Isaiah 41. It's in Isaiah 
43. It's in Isaiah 58. It is all over the place in the 
passages. I'm sorry, Isaiah 51. He is, 
in the language of Matthew 1.23, God with us. So, on a real practical level, 
brethren, you know why you can be of good cheer? And know why 
you can not fear? Because I Am is with you. Christ is your Lord. Christ is 
your Savior. Christ is your protector, your 
shield, your defender. It's the way that God identifies 
Himself to Abraham. I am your shield, your exceedingly 
great reward. What do you do with a man who's 
got that on his side? You step out in strength. You 
step out in faith. Christians, I understand. The 
Bible indicates, Jesus tells us, that in this world we will 
have tribulation. I'm preaching to myself this 
morning. We ought to be of good cheer. We ought not to be fearful. Because 
I Am is with us. One man said it this way. This 
is the I am of Psalm 77, 19. The I am who provides a way through 
the sea, a path through the mighty waters, leaving footprints unseen. As Yahweh treads the waters, 
so does Jesus. That's the point. That's what 
he wants us to see. The Lord to whom by grace you've 
entrusted your soul is God. He treads the waters. He stills 
the wind. He rescues His servants. He protects 
them. He defends them. He rules over 
them. He knows what's best for them every step of the way. If 
some time and a storm will ripen you up and sweeten you and make 
you more like His Son, then that's what it's going to take. We are 
a stubborn people. I'm sure you all, as parents, 
had in the mix of your children one that seemed to need a lot 
of extra sweetening. That one child in the pack that 
needed extra trips to the woodshed or wherever you did your business, 
that child needed to be sweetened up. That's how we all are. We need to be sweetened up. How 
does God sweeten us up? By sitting us in a chair and 
pouring sugary water down our throats? Or by taking us to the 
woodshed and scourging? As the Apostle says in Hebrews 
12, every son whom he loves. When Christ comes to Laodicea, 
the worst of the seven churches in Asia Minor, He says, as many 
as I love, I exhort. Isn't that beautiful? Another 
man, another commentator, says this is no ordinary hello on 
the water. It is the divine Lord addressing 
his storm-tossed church. Be of good cheer. Do not fear. Why? Because the hinge is there. I am the Lord God Most High, 
the maker of galaxies, the ruler over the waves, and the one who 
certainly knows what is best for His disciples. Note the salvation. Verses 28-32. This isn't in the 
parallel passages. Mark and John also record Jesus 
walking on the water. It's only Matthew that indicates 
this section about Peter. Peter's going to be somewhat 
preeminent throughout the rest of Matthew's gospel. It is Peter 
who typically answers questions. It is Peter who says, Thou art 
the Christ, the Son of the Living God. It is Peter who hears from 
his Lord that, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and 
blood did not reveal this, but my Father in Heaven. So Peter 
starts to rise to prominence, not in a popish manner, but he 
is the one that seems to be out in front very often in Matthew's 
Gospel from this point on. Now, he's not without blemish. 
He's not without issue. He denies his Lord. Every appearance 
here from this place forth is not always positive, but nevertheless, 
Peter is the one that we seem to see a lot of in Matthew's 
Gospel. So Peter asks that he can come 
out. Peter answered him and said, 
Lord, if it is you. That sounds almost like he doesn't 
understand or doesn't believe. It could also be translated, 
since it is you. Since it is you. Similar to the 
way Paul does in 2.1 of Philippians that we read. Since there is 
these things present. Since there are these things 
evident. Since these things are in place. 
Then I want you to live this way. Peter says to his Lord, 
Lord if it is you command me to come to you on the water. Now even in this there's faith. 
He knows that he can't walk on water. Peter was a fisherman. I don't know if he ever tried 
it, but he would at least know the laws of gravity, the buoyancy 
of water, the difference between a solid and a liquid. Peter would 
know all that. Without being a physicist, he 
would know all that. He can't walk on water. But he understood 
that if Jesus is walking on the water, then Jesus has the power 
to enable him to walk on the water. You see, there are things 
that we cannot do in our own strength, but we know that through 
Christ, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. That 
doesn't mean I can fly to the moon unaided. That doesn't mean 
I can manufacture gold in my basement. It doesn't mean I'm 
going to be the best basketball player ever. Sometimes that text 
is abused. I can do all things, throw the 
ball 90 miles an hour through Christ who strengthens me. I 
can do all things, play with my toys better than everybody 
else. That's not what it means. I can do all things that God 
calls me to do through Christ who strengthens me. And Peter 
understood this. He's standing on the boat. He's 
in the storm. He sees the Savior. He says, 
Lord, it is You who command me, and I'll come out and I'll walk 
on the sea. Notice the response of the Lord. Verse 29. So he 
said, Come. Isn't that great? It doesn't tell us why Peter wanted 
to do this. I mean, really, why does Peter 
want to do this? Say, hey, I walked on the water. 
I don't know. Doesn't give us that information. But he asks the question and 
Jesus says, come. Wait a minute, Peter. I don't 
think you're ready for this. He just says, come. Come. And when Peter had come down 
out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. He 
had faith. He had faith in the Savior. He 
knew that the Savior could enable him to do what was impossible. 
And so he steps out of the boat, and he actually traverses the 
water. He has faith to get out of the boat. He has faith to 
go to the Savior, that he doesn't have faith to press on through 
the storm. Sounds just like us, doesn't 
it? Again, we don't want to spiritualize it or take it out of its context, 
but this is us in many regards, isn't it? We have faith to continue 
with our Savior, but when the storms come, and when it gets 
boisterous, and when things get difficult, and when the trials 
get especially hot, we really waver. We really doubt. We really struggle. We really 
wonder, what is all this for? And this is Peter. But when he 
saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning 
to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me. He steps out in 
faith, he sinks because of little faith." Listen to Matthew Henry. 
Christ bid him come, not only that he might walk upon the water, 
and so know Christ's power, but that he might sink, and so know 
his own weakness. For as he would encourage his 
faith, so he would check his confidence and make him ashamed 
of it." The Lord has his purposes, you see. There's more at stake 
in Peter's development and cultivation as a disciple of Jesus Christ 
than this immediate request to walk on water. Peter needs to 
learn lessons. Do you think that perhaps in 
our cultivation and development as disciples of Christ, the immediate 
need to walk on the water isn't God's primary emphasis? That 
sometimes we go through these things, that sometimes we endure 
hardship, that sometimes we want to throw up our hands and say, 
no more! God has His purposes. We've got 
to believe this. We've got brethren in our church 
with trials. We need to pray for them. You 
realize that every week we have the same names that we pray for, 
and it's a blessing and a privilege to be able to. And I hope you're 
bringing them to your prayer closets at home and to your family 
altars as well. These are no non-issue things. These are real challenges to 
the faith of real believers. You know what it's like to not 
feel well? You know what it's like to have 
struggles? You know what it's like to go through issues and 
challenges and all those things? Brethren, this is a world marked 
with difficulty. Notice, though, what he does. 
He says, Lord, save me. I'm inclined to side with Spurgeon. Spurgeon said Peter was nearer 
his Lord when he was sinking than when he was walking. Isn't 
that beautiful? He was nearer his Lord when he 
was sinking than when he was walking. Can you testify to that? Have you gone through a trial 
or a difficulty or a situation and you've come out the other 
side and you say, I understand now. I get it. And that little 
cheesy footprints thing. It is true. He carries us. He's there. Peter was nearer 
his Lord when he was sinking than when he was walking. In 
our low estate, we are often nearer to Jesus than in our more 
glorious seasons." I'm so glad Jesus gave to the church 
good godly men that know the Bible. Notice, he was afraid, 
beginning to sink, he cried out saying, Lord, save me. Verse 31, immediately Jesus stretched 
out his hand and caught him and said to him. Note the order. He caught and then taught. What would you have done? Well, 
you should have believed. Let him sink a little bit. Let 
him feel the pain. Let him know the discomfort. 
You shouldn't have doubted. No. Stretches out his hand, touches 
him, and then addresses him. Psalm 144, 7. Stretch out your 
hand from above. Rescue me and deliver me out 
of great waters from the hand of foreigners. Yahweh, the Sea 
of Galilee. reaches out and grabs Peter and 
keeps him from that place. The Lord does reprove him. He caught, then he taught. He didn't neglect teaching. He 
said to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? He knows their feebleness, talking 
about disciples, and bears long with them. He would have us know 
that doubting does not prove that a man has no faith, but 
only that his faith is small. Do not celebrate little faith 
as a virtue necessarily, but do not cast yourself into hell 
because you have little faith. Knox Chamblin says, given the 
antecedent revelation, that means what's already occurred. In Matthew 
8, 26, the Lord came to his disciples in a storm-tossed sea and he 
saved them. In response to their cry, save 
me. Chamblin says, given the antecedent 
revelation, Peter's present doubt, while understandable, is inexcusable. But it is not unforgivable. That's what we need to learn. 
It's not unforgivable. Little faith doesn't mean no 
faith. No faith means no faith. You get the distinction? Little, 
none. What Machen says is right. Little 
faith doesn't move mountains, but it brings a soul into saving 
union with God through Christ. If you have little faith, praise 
God for it and ask for increase. Knox Chamberlain goes on, let 
it be emphasized that Peter exercises his little faith by crying out 
to Jesus for salvation. Now notice this, and that Jesus 
saves Peter even when aware of his little faith. Jesus knew 
the issue. Jesus knew the difficulty. Jesus knew the situation. He 
doesn't say, I'm going to leave you in that water until your 
faith grows. He catches him. He pulls him up, all the while 
knowing that Peter is a man of little faith. Nevertheless, Jesus 
saves him. Little faith is not an enemy. Unbelief is an enemy. Little 
faith ought to be fanned by the Word of God, by prayer, by the 
public means of grace. Little faith ought to grow by 
the hand and mercy of God Most High. But little faith does not 
bring one to hell. Little faith brings one into 
heaven because of the power of the Savior. When the Savior manifests 
His ability to save a Peter, who do we praise in that arrangement? 
We praise the Savior, not the Apostle. And that's the point 
that I want us to understand. So many times people struggling 
with their faith says, I must not be a believer. Well, unbelievers 
don't struggle with their faith. Pagans don't care. Pagans don't 
concern themselves with such things. If you struggle, that's 
a good indicator. That's a good sign. The fact 
that you want to fight against sin. The fact that you don't 
want to do those things. The fact that there is a desire 
in you to please the Savior. Where do you think those things 
came from? They come from above. Praise God for them. But do pray, 
Lord, increase my faith. They get back into the boat and 
then the wind ceases. They get back into the boat, 
the wind ceases. Psalm 107, 29. He calms the storm 
so that its waves are still. Job 26, Psalm 65, 89. Jonah 1, 
15. John Gill says, he walked upon 
the sea whilst the wind was blowing hard and the waves were tumultuous. He comes into the ship and all 
is calm. Both winds and sea obey him, 
who is Lord of both. And that brings us, fourthly 
and finally, to consider the significance of this particular 
miracle in Matthew's gospel up to this point. Verse 33. Then those who were in the boat 
came and worshipped him, saying, Truly, you are the Son of God. That's high Christology. One 
commentator said, the disciples are catching up to what the readers 
already know. Matthew 1, 23, God with us. Matthew 2, out of Egypt I will 
call my firstborn. Matthew 3, this is my beloved 
Son in whom I am well pleased. Matthew 4, when the devil says 
to Jesus, if you are the Son of God, Matthew 8, when those 
two men, plagued by demons, see Jesus, they say, Son of God, 
The disciples have seen mastery over fishes and loaves. The disciples 
have seen what is true of Yahweh in the Old Testament applied 
right before their eyes. They have heard with their own 
ears the assertion, I am. Now, whether they knew the full 
significance of everything or not, at this particular point, 
their confession is legit. They have no other thing they 
can possibly say. In the presence of God Most High, 
confession of God Most High is absolutely accurate and appropriate. This is what the angels do in 
the presence of God. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord 
of hosts. The whole earth is full of His 
glory. When Ezekiel and Isaiah are confronted with His glory, 
they fall as dead men at His feet. Here the disciples, they 
see Him and they say to Him, truly, You are the Son of God. 
And they respond by worshipping Him. What do you do with a man 
who walks on the sea? You worship. What do you do with 
a man who multiplies loaves and fish? You worship. What do you 
do with a man who raises the dead? You worship. What do you 
do with a man who calms the storm? There's none of us, no one. All these miracle guys out there 
with the big-haired wives that are able to heal people, go stand 
in the midst of a tempest and tell the wind to stop blowing. 
None of them try that. None of them stand in Chilliwack 
and say, rain cease. They're charlatans and hucksters. 
They'll tell somebody who had a problem with their eyesight, 
well read John 3.16 to the audience. Who doesn't know John 3.16? It 
doesn't mean he's seeing. Christ is the Son of God. This is what Matthew wants you 
to understand. John Gill, again, beautiful on 
this section of Scripture. Not by creation as angels and 
men, nor by office as magistrates, but by nature, being of the same 
essence, perfections, and power with God his Father. This is the appropriate response 
to Jesus Christ, the Lord. Confession of His deity and worship 
of His person. That's what the disciple wants 
you to learn. That's what Matthew has for us in this glad hour, 
on this Sabbath day, in May of 2014. Inshallah. He wants you 
to behold the Son, He wants you to see Him as the true Son of 
God Most High, and He wants you to worship. We gather together 
here for a purpose. We gather together Sunday morning 
and Sunday evening, not first and foremost to charge our batteries, 
we gather first and foremost to worship our God. to praise 
Him, to thank Him, to glorify Him, to sing psalms and hymns 
and spiritual songs to Him, to hear from His Word, and to bow 
in His presence. Isn't that a high and noble purpose? 
Doesn't that make Sunday rich and beautiful and the best of 
the seven days? We get to come in and out of 
the world, and we get to meet with this One, whom the disciples 
confess, truly, You are the Son of God, and we get to worship 
Him. Just by way of reminder, the reality of trial and difficulty 
in the Christian life cannot miss that in this passage. Labored 
to try and bring this out and something else that is very important 
that we say. Not everybody is always going 
to know all your trials and all your difficulties. There's a 
lot of private people in Christ's Church. A lot of private people 
that don't email elders and don't say anything and suffer. And 
it could be the case that elders don't know, could be the case 
your husband doesn't know, could be the case that your wife doesn't 
know, but your Lord always knows. Do you think anybody else thought 
about these 12 men in a boat on the Sea of Galilee in a storm-toss 
night? No. I mean, probably the wives 
did. How come they're not home yet? 
They're going to get nagged at when they got home. Why were 
you so late? Well, we got stuck in a storm, honey. Thanks. Actually, I doubt that's what 
occupied the breakfast table discussion that morning. Honey, 
Jesus walked on the sea. And Peter could tell his honey, 
I did too. It was just for a short time, 
but I did too. And then I fell right in, but 
he picked me right out. There's times, brethren, when 
you're going to suffer and no one knows it. And what does that 
produce in the heart? Nobody cares. Nobody loves me. Nobody's kind to me. They forget 
about me. You can't do that with this Lord. 
The ruler over the waves, the one who's able to still the wind, 
is the God of absolute sovereignty who knows you better than you 
know yourself. And He is there in the midst 
of the trials with you. That's a promise from Scripture. 
So while everyone around you may not know what you're going 
through, Jesus Christ the Lord most certainly does. The reality 
that God works according to His own plan and purpose, they don't 
just snap their fingers and they get delivered. We don't just 
snap our fingers and get delivered. We don't just dictate to God 
when, how, why, where, and what we want. It's not the way it 
works. We are the creature dependent 
upon the Creator. We are the redeemed dependent 
upon the Redeemer. We are the ones needy. We are the ones that supplicate. We are the ones that petition. 
It is God who in His infinite wisdom, goodness, power, and 
rightness deals with His people appropriately. and the reality 
that little faith is not the same as no faith. Davies and 
Allison make this point as well, concerning Peter. We're going 
to see that in Matthew 16. Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, 
for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in 
heaven. Somebody were to say to you, other than the Lord Jesus, 
name the top ten most important people in the Bible. Peter would 
probably be on that top ten list, I would imagine. Peter was preeminent 
among the early disciples. After his recovery, when Jesus 
forgives him, who stands up on the day of Pentecost to interpret 
Joel the prophet for the audience or for the hearers? It's Peter! Who was one of the close companions 
and associates of the Lord Jesus? Peter, James, and John. He had 
twelve apostles. Out of that twelve, he had three 
special close friends. There's a doctrine of kinship 
in the Bible. Jesus gravitated toward Peter, 
James, and John. They were the men that he took 
to the Mount of Transfiguration. They were the men that went to 
Gethsemane with him. They were the men that were his 
bosom friends. Peter was an eminent man. Davies and Allison say, there 
is here no portrait of a faultless hero. The apostle doubts, and 
he sinks. You see, the best Christian man 
has got huge problems. It's been well said, the best 
of men are men at best. They say, thus greatness and 
frailty go hand in hand in the disciples of our Lord Jesus. On the one hand, Peter says, 
command me and I'll walk on the water. And then he sinks and 
says, Lord, save me. Greatness and frailty. That's going to be true in every 
Christian. That's why we can't make Christians our heroes. When 
we have a celebrity preacher that we listen to day in and 
day out, and then he ends up falling into sin or doing something 
we don't like, we get our hearts shattered. It ought not to be 
that way. I'm not saying we ought to expect 
the fall of every man, but we shouldn't act like, wow, I can't 
believe it. When Simon Peter denies his Lord 
to a servant girl, we ought to conclude from that that just 
about anything is possible in the Christian church. Secondly, the Christological 
significance of the passage cannot be missed. I know we're going 
long. I'm going to stop in a moment. Don't miss this. As I said, the 
crescendo, the climax, the point of the narrative isn't 32. They 
got in the boat and the wind ceased. It's 33. They worship 
and they confess truly, you are the Son of God. That is Matthew's 
purpose throughout his gospel, is to display for us who Jesus 
Christ is, in His essential glory, as man, as Redeemer, as Savior, 
as Lord, as the one who reaches down to a man that's in boisterous 
water and pulls him out again. He wants us to see him as one 
who answers prayer. When Peter says, Lord, save me, 
he doesn't first reprove. He doesn't first rebuke. He saves 
him. It is the Son of God that Peter 
wants us to focus on. And then thirdly, an encouragement. 
And this is based on verse 27. Be of good cheer, it is I, do 
not be afraid. If ever there's a thing you ought 
to put in your head, and in your mind, and in your heart, yeah, 
it's hymn 80. But even before hymn 80, put 
verse 27 there. Hymn 80 just sings verse 27. Right? I gotta give you this quote from 
Ryle. This is what he says. There is encouragement here for 
all true Christians. Let them know that there is nothing 
created which is not under Christ's control. He may allow His people 
to be tried for a season and tossed to and fro by storms of 
trouble. He may be later than they wish 
in coming to their aid and not draw near till the fourth watch 
of the night. But never let them forget that 
winds and waves and storms are all Christ's servants. They cannot 
move without Christ's permission. The Lord on high is mightier 
than the mighty waves of the sea. Psalm 93, 4. Are we ever 
tempted to cry with Jonah, the floods compassed me about? All 
thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Jonah 2, 3. Ryle makes 
this point. Let us remember they are His 
billows. Let us wait patiently. We may 
yet see Jesus coming to us, walking on the sea. Praise God, we have 
such a Savior. If you're not a believer here 
this morning, believe. Come to this Christ. Truly, He 
is the Son of God. He lived in obedience to His 
Father's will. He dies as a sacrifice and a 
substitute on the cross. He rose from the dead so that 
everyone who looks to Him in faith will have everlasting life. The most important thing for 
you that transcends any other concern in this world is to confess 
truly you are the Son of God and to worship Him. Well, let 
us pray. Father, we thank You for Your 
Word, and we thank You for this account of our Lord walking on 
the sea, this account of our Lord stilling the wind and saving 
and rescuing His disciples. God, we see in this text so many 
wonderful lessons, and I pray that You would seal them to our 
hearts. God, I pray for any and all who are outside of Christ 
that You'd open their hearts that You would give them the 
gifts, the graces of faith and repentance, that they may close 
with the Savior today, that they may confess, truly, You are the 
Son of God, and they may worship Him. God, go with us now, we 
pray and we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.