Chapter 14, verse 22 to 33. I will read it in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and for God's glory. Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. But the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the forest watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, it is a ghost. And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them saying, take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid. And Peter answered him, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. He said, come. So Peter got up out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased, and those in the boat worshiped Him, saying, Truly, you are the Son of God. Let us pray. Almighty God and Father, what a privilege it is to hear the Word of God, the living Word of God from a living God. And tonight, as we open our ears and give our full attention to you, our God, we ask you to speak to our hearts and our mind by the power of your Holy Spirit. Make us not only hearers of your word, but also doers of your word. Help us to remember that this is the word of God. the very Word of God that proceeded from your mouth. This is you, our God, speaking to us. And grant your Holy Spirit to each person in the sanctuary tonight to receive these words. as words from You, our Creator and our Redeemer. In Jesus' name, Your Son, we pray. Amen. Be seated. As you walk the Christian life, as you attempt as a Christian to live a godly life, to flee from sin and fear and doubt, The one thing that you need to know in the Christian life is this. There is only one person in your life, for you, who is able to transfer you from a state of fear to a state of faith. From a state of confusion to a state of confession. from a state of wondering to a state of worshiping. And that person is Jesus Christ, our Savior. In the miracle that Jesus performed, Jesus walking on the water, our Lord Jesus Christ made his disciples to go from a state of fear and doubt to a state of worshiping Him and to a state of faith in Jesus Christ. Here in this miracle, Jesus walking on the water, we will see or we will consider three important qualities in the person, in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the three things that I would like us to consider tonight are these. You see, when Jesus was walking on the water, and with that you consider his identity as the Savior of God's people, as your Redeemer, you learn three things about Christ. The number one thing that we learn from this miracle is Christ is a praying savior. And the second thing that you learn for your life as a Christian is Christ is a savior who is always in control. And the third thing that you can learn from this miracle is that Jesus Christ is a savior who is able to save completely. So keep these three things in your mind as we consider this wonderful, remarkable, and insightful portion of the Bible, Jesus walking on the water. And we need to ask, when was this miracle took place? You see, often we think Jesus walking on the water following the miracle that he performed. And the miracle was feeding the 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish. This miracle took place after that great miracle that our Lord Jesus Christ performed in his ministry. But that's not the only thing that was taking place in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ at that time. This miracle occurred, this miracle took place at the time that many people in Israel misunderstood the mission of our Lord Jesus Christ in the world. This miracle took place when People viewed Jesus Christ as a political leader who came to the world to overthrow Rome and establish a very powerful nation of Israel for them. People were confused about the mission of Jesus Christ. Why Jesus Christ came to the world. You remember the vision that John saw in heaven in the book of Revelation. He saw Jesus Christ as the Lion of Judah. And at the moment that he saw Jesus Christ as the Lion of Judah, he also saw Jesus Christ as a lamb who was slain. A king and a lamb. No king would die for the sin of his people. But Jesus Christ is king at the same time He is a lamb that was slain for the sin of the people of God. And the people of Israel, many of them didn't understand this. They thought Jesus came to lead a movement for them. And what makes this miracle Very important for us to take notice is even his own disciples have been affected by that kind of thinking. And Jesus was concerned about His disciples. The reason why He asked His disciples to go to the other side of the sea was for their good. And if you notice in our text, He constrained His disciples. He commanded them to go. To go away from that kind of influence. One of His disciples, Judah, was influenced by that thinking. within the frame of the plan of redemption of our God. For Jesus to die for the sins of God's people and Judah to betray him. You see, one of the reasons why Judah betrayed Jesus Christ was he was disappointed. Because what he thought about Jesus Christ didn't come true. He betrayed His Savior for not being a political leader and placed Judah in a higher rank in the government that He would establish for them. You see, that was the reason why He commanded His disciples to go away. Christ is a very gentle Savior. He's a very gentle Teacher. He was concerned about His disciples. So He commands them to go away from the bad influence around them. But our text tells us, after He commanded His disciples to go away to the other side of the sea, our text tells us He went up to the mountain to pray. Now you need to ask, why does Christ need to pray? Why does Christ need to pray? Does He really need to pray? He is the Son of God. He is God Himself. Why is He praying, sending His disciples to the other side of the sea? We see Him going to the top of the mountain and pray. Why? If you remember your confession very well, the Westminster Confession of Faith, especially chapter 8, where the confession talks about Jesus the mediator, this is what the confession says. And it is very biblical, and it's very important for you to understand it as a Christian. It pleases God in His eternal purpose to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, to be the mediator between God and man. Now this is what God has planned before the foundation of the world. This is what God has planned for His Son to do for His people before you were born. This is before the foundation of the world. God chose His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be the mediator between Him and His people. And He accomplished two things. He accomplished our salvation. Remember Isaiah said in Isaiah 42 verse 1, Behold My servant whom I uphold, My chosen in whom My soul delights. You see, whoever Christ saves, whoever Christ brings to His Father, the Father takes delight in it, and receives the person who has been saved by the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. The Father is always delighted in the work of His Son, Jesus Christ, for our salvation. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1, verses 18 and 20, "...knowing that you were ransomed from the futile waste inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb, without blemish or spot." Now listen to this. foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times. He was known as the mediator of God's people. And often we think once Christ died on the cross and he uttered that powerful and liberating word from the cross, it is finished. We always think his mission has come to an end. No. He lives to pray for you. He was ordained to be the mediator of God's people, not only to pay the penalties of your sin on the cross once for all. Once Christ died on the cross, no sacrifice was required. He was the final Passover lamb. But then you see, he lives. to pray and intercede for His people. You see, the reason why He went to the top of the mountain to pray was to fulfill His duty as the Son of God. To pray for His disciples, to pray for the church of Jesus Christ. John 17, we see Him praying for the unity of the church, for the salvation of the elect. We read our Lord Jesus Christ telling Peter, Peter, you will deny me three times, but Peter, you don't need to worry. You have been prayed for. I prayed for you so that your faith will not be destroyed forever. I prayed for you. And the Bible tells us in Romans chapter 8, verse 34, who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. What is he doing now? He's interceding for us. It's a continued ministry of our Savior, praying for his people. Not only that, you see the writer of the Hebrews understood this very well. Because he tells us this in Hebrews 9, for Christ has entered not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven. where the presence of our Heavenly Father is, into heaven itself. Now, listen to this, to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. He appears before His Father on your behalf, to pray, to advocate for you, to call your name, and be your advocate through prayer. and intercession before the presence of His Father in heaven. The reason why He went up to the mountain to pray, my brothers and sisters, is to pray for His disciples. What's going to happen to His disciples on the sea was not a surprise for Him. It was not a sudden occurrence for him. Christ was not surprised. The storm, the wind, the wave that was attacking the boat on which the disciples were going to the other side of the sea didn't come by surprise. He knew what was coming. He's God. He's the Son of God. That's the reason why he was praying. And what do you learn from this as a believer, as the child of God? You see, maybe there was a time in your life that you thought, my pastor doesn't understand me. People in this church, I don't think they are praying for me. No one understands what I'm going through. It's painful, but I can see they don't understand me. I don't think anyone is praying for me. Even though the church prays for you. Even though your pastor prays for you. Your pastor provides all the pastoral care that you need in your life. But you go through this kind of experience in life, no one understands me. Christ understands you. The One who always prays for you. The One who can understand things more than your pastor, more than your elders. The perfect Son of God. Who stands before the presence of His Father to always pray and intercede for you. knows your situation. He not only knows your situation, He knows it before it comes to you. And according to His promise, and based on what we see here about the duty of the Son of God, you are already prayed for. He not only prays for you, but he knows your situation very well. One time I heard a Christian, a believer saying about the verse in in James chapter 6, the prayer of the righteous has great power as it is working. He was worried. The brother was worried about this verse. And he came to me and he said, you see, no one is righteous. Who is that righteous person whose prayer is powerful to be effective in my own need? Yes, no one is righteous. James was not indicating that for God to hear our prayers, we must be perfect. But anyone who who prays being in Christ, anyone who became righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ and only through faith in the Son of God, he is a righteous person. Anyone who prays with the right motive, depending on God's grace and being righteous in Christ is the righteous person. When that person prays for you, God honors that prayer. But there is more. If you ever doubt about your brother who is praying for you, or your sister who is praying for you, that their prayer is not righteous, you have the righteous Son of God, the perfect Son of God praying for you. Undoubtedly righteous and perfect. You don't need to doubt Christ when He prays for you. His prayers are perfect and pleasant in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. And our Savior is always in control. Notice in verse 24, our text tells us, but the boat by this time was a long way from land, beaten by the waves for the wind was against it. This is the picture of your Christian journey. Your Christian journey is not exempted from wind, storm, to be under an attack from the evil one. This is a good picture of what the Christian life can be. And how did the disciples respond? These disciples, you would expect them to respond by faith. You would expect them to respond like Paul and Silas in prison. singing for God's glory. What happened here is the disciples responded in fear. And in times like this, you would wish or expect for Jesus Christ to just intervene, come to the boat, and calm the storm. And He has done that before. He has done that for His disciples. But remember, when Jesus received the news, of the serious illness of Lazarus, knowing that Lazarus was going to die. Jesus didn't come immediately. He had a purpose. Lazarus has to die. And now the disciples had to go through this experience. In fact, to add fear on their fear, Jesus Christ was coming to them, towards them, walking on the water. And this was at in between 3 to 6 a.m. in the morning. It was dark. And Jesus was walking towards them on the sea. And their response was fear. They responded in fear. My friends, often people respond based on experience or knowledge. You have to respond based on your own experience or your own knowledge. First, they were afraid. Because of their fear, they confused Jesus Christ with what He is not. They confused Christ with a ghost. These are disciples. They have been with Him. They have been learning from Him. They heard His voice. They heard all the promises of God from the mouth of their Master. When they saw Him walking in the water, they were confused. And because of fear, you see, they confused Jesus with something else. But one of the things that contributed to their fear, according to many Bible scholars, is the false doctrine that was circulated around them. The doctrine of the spirits. It was not strange for the disciples. Though they had a sect of Sadducees which denied that doctrine, but many around them believed that the devil, by God's permission, has a power to trouble and agitate the air. They even believed the devil, by God's permission, can assume a visible shape and make people by sea or by land become terrified. They had that influence. Maybe they remembered what happened to the children of Job and how they were vanishing. Remember, prior to this, Jesus, in the presence of his disciples, has performed that great miracle of feeding the 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish. But it didn't impact them. In fact, the Bible tells us With that miracle, Christ showed his disciples that he was the Messiah. He was the Son of God. He showed them that he had the power over all the universe, including waters, waves, and storms. But Mark tells us it didn't impact them. Mark 6, 52. For they did not understand about the loves, but their heart were hardened. No effect. They saw that great miracle, but there was no effect in their life. Jesus' words for them was self-manifestation and encouragement. Jesus saw them being terrified. And he told them this, be of good cheer. Take heart. Do not be afraid. You see, the word, do not be afraid, is a constant word of encouragement to the people of God. Do not be afraid. You remember Moses? When he was giving the law to the people of God in Exodus 20, verse 20, Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you. And in Exodus 14 verse 13, Fear not, stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. You see, Moses was pleading with the people of Israel not to live in fear. Even Paul tells us God didn't call us to a life of fear and trembling, but to a life of faith and worship of God. But this word is also a warning based on what they know about Him. and his power. You see, Jesus was telling them, remember who I am. If you truly know me, if you truly know what I am able to do, and what I have already done for you, you wouldn't fear. You wouldn't die from fear. Jesus also told them, it is I. You see, my brothers and sisters, he said, do not be afraid. And then he gives them the reason why they don't need to be afraid. He told them it is I. And this is taken from Exodus 3. I am who I am. I am the eternal God. I'm unchangeable. I'm the same yesterday, today, and forever. It is I. Sometimes Christ may be very near to you. Maybe you doubt about your own salvation. Maybe you doubt about whether God has forgiven you, forgiven your sin completely or not. You might fear, you might doubt what is waiting for you tomorrow. Sometimes Christ may be very near to you, but you don't realize it. Remember the experience of Jacob. God was with him the whole night. But he didn't know it. And he woke up in the morning, he said this, then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it. The answer is with you. The Lord of heaven, your savior, his presence, his promises, his provision is with you. But you don't realize it. You don't recognize it. then you will be overtaken by fear. You will be overwhelmed by fear. Then he doubts, not only about the presence of God, but about the very promises of God to you. Mary Magdalene, when she was at the tomb, Jesus was standing by Mary, but she took him to be the gardener. She didn't recognize him. She didn't realize that she was talking to Jesus. But Jesus was right with her in person. It was after he called her that she said, Rabbi, teacher. But she didn't recognize who was talking to her. You see, we do have a distinct knowledge of Christ, His person, His offices, His grace, His power. We know our doctrine, we understand the promises of God, but a time comes to our life that we doubt Christ and His power for us as His children. It is I, Jesus said, it is I. And because it's me, because it's your Savior, because it's your Redeemer, because it's the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Lord of the universe, even the waves and the wind and the storm that you see around you, you don't need to be afraid. I am the Lord of these waves and this wind. My friends, if you are truly a child of God, and you have tested the goodness of God in your life. I encourage you, I urge you through the calling of the word of God tonight, not to be afraid of anything. If God is with us, who can be against us? That's a promise for you. And Jesus said, go and I will be with you till the end. That's a promise. And for us not to doubt His presence, He gave us the Holy Spirit to be with us every time of our life. And thirdly, you see, Jesus Christ is a Savior who is able to save completely. One of the disciples, when he saw Jesus Christ, walking on the water. One of the disciples who was excited was Peter. And you would expect that. You would expect Peter to be excited. He was that kind of disciple. And he asked Jesus Christ, Lord, if it is you, you see, he was not sure. In John chapter 10, Jesus said, I know my own ship and my own ship knows me. And when they hear my voice, they recognize it. And Jesus said, it is I. Peter was still wondering. This shows us that his faith was not strong as it should have been. And that after he heard his master's voice, he asked Jesus Christ to command him, to give him permission to walk on the water the same way that Jesus was walking on the water. And Jesus gave him permission. And this is Peter walking on the water by the permission of his Savior. And notice, until the time that he removed his eyes from Jesus, when he was walking on the water looking at Jesus, The same way that the writer of the Hebrews exhorts us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith. He was doing well. There was no problem. There was no fear in the life of Peter. The moment he removed his eyes from Jesus and he started looking to the circumstances around him, he was taken by fear. Where are your eyes being fixed? Are you looking to your circumstances? Are you looking to your own sickness? To the trouble that you are going through in your life? Difficulties in your life, persecution? marriage problem, whatever you are experiencing in life, are you fixing your eyes on those problems or on Jesus Christ who can solve those problems for you? Who can give you sufficient grace to endure those things as a Christian? Where are your eyes being fixed? You see, Peter removed his eyes. from Jesus, and he was looking to his circumstances, and he was afraid. Remember, the meaning of his name was rock. But have you ever noticed that Peter, the rock, didn't sink like a rock? I had a friend in Eritrea who did everything in his ability to be able to swim. He paid a lot of money. just to manage to swim. And I remember him saying to me, Zaki, I have tried all, all, all things in my ability to swim. But the moment I start swim, I sink like a rock. People fear water. The first time my family came, I was trying to gain favor from my youngest son, because he was feeling as a stranger towards me, as if he was saying, who is this guy? Who is this person? Because he was only two weeks old when I left. So I was trying to gain his favor. And one day, I managed to took him into the water, to the swimming pool. That was a good opportunity for me to test of his love to me. Because he never said to me, I love you more than my mom. His answer always was, I love my mom more than you. So when we were in the water, and he's always terrified of water, and I know that. I said to him, Senai, do you like me? Yes. Do you love me? Yes. Because he was afraid, even more than your mom. And he looked at me and he said, yes, but don't tell my mom. He was afraid. He was afraid. That's fear. For my son, the only hope that he had in that water was me, his father. And for Peter, it was the same. Peter said, save me. You might wonder why Jesus did that with Peter. Why Jesus let Peter, this is Christ, this is the Lord. He controls the sea, the waters, the wave and the storm. When he commanded him to walk on the water and come towards him, he commanded the water to carry Peter as if it was a dry land. This is Jesus. When he doubted, he commanded the water to let Peter sing, but do it slowly. Because he was in a school of faith. When God allows such trial come to your life, He teaches you about faith. And Christ was teaching His disciple Peter about faith. The reason why Jesus let Peter sink into the water, even though slowly, was to teach him to cry to Him. To teach him to depend on Him. It was not Peter's faith, his personal faith, that was holding him on the water. It was his faith in the words of Jesus Christ. And he knew that. That was the reason why he asked permission from Christ. He knew that he cannot do it by himself. So he asked permission. But when he doubted, Jesus told him to cry to him. to depend on Him for the things that He needs in life. Jesus commanded Peter to walk on water in the same way that He commanded the water to bear His weight. Remember what the Bible says in Deuteronomy 10.14, To the Lord your God belongs heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. All that was to teach Peter to cry to him, Lord save me. Jesus said to him, oh little face, why do you doubt? My friends, doubting is directly contrary to faith. It will not conclude a person to have no faith, but still it is little faith. It's contrary to the will of God. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, from which Jesus cannot save you. Jesus is able to save you completely. Listen to these words from Hebrews 7. The former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. But He, Christ, holds His priesthood permanently because He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him. You see, my friend, He is able to save you to the uttermost, completely. Isaiah said, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save. His hand is able to save you completely. How do we apply these things in our life tonight? Jesus is praying for you. But do you realize that? Do you know that in your life as a Christian? You are prayed for. Jesus is interceding for you continually. Jesus is in control, even in control of your difficulties in life. The question to all of you is, do you believe that? Do you trust Christ as a Savior who is in control? He's also able to rescue completely. If you are not in Christ tonight, you can come to Christ in repentance and faith through the Son of God, and you will be rescued completely. If you are a Christian walking in Christ, you need to remember that Christ is able to save you from all kinds of trouble in life, not partially, but completely. Let us pray. Our Father and our God, once again, we give praise to you, our God, for the infallible, holy, and life-giving word that we all heard tonight. And as we confessed from the beginning, this is your word. And especially tonight, after hearing all these words and all these truths from your word, help us to be a people of faith. Help us not to live in fear and in doubt. Instead, help us to trust our Savior, a praying Savior, a Savior who is in control, and a Savior who is able to save completely. May your Holy Spirit work in our own life to recognize these things and continue trust in your Son, Jesus Christ, the author and the finisher of our faith. And it is in His name that we pray. Amen.