He leadeth me, O blessed thought! O words with empty comfort fraught! What ere I do, Where'er I be, still tends God's hand that leadeth me. He leadeth me. He leadeth me. By His own hand He leadeth me, His faithful follower I would be, For by His hand He leadeth me. Sometimes midst scenes of deepest gloom, Sometimes when Eden's flowers bloom, I watch her still for trouble see, Still tis his hand that leadeth me. And when my task on earth is done, When by thy grace the victory is won, In death's cold wave I will not flee, Since God through Jordan leadeth me. He leadeth me He leadeth me By His own hand He leadeth me His faithful follower I would be For by His hand He leadeth me For by His hand Praise God, he does lead us, amen. Thank the Lord for that. We'll dismiss a little once more with Mrs. Short at the creche, and the rest of us please open up our Bibles to Matthew chapter 14. And we're gonna begin with the text. All right, we're just gonna read a little bit of the story as we get started. Again, I know it's just been read by Boyd, but we'll come back to it here a little bit in our minds. Matthew chapter 14, verse 21, it says, that had eaten, were about 5,000 men, beside women and children. And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into the ship and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray, And when the evening was come, he was there alone, but the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with the waves, for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea." Don't you like how simply it states it in the Bible? You know, Jesus just walked out onto the sea. You know, have you ever tried to walk on water? Have you ever tried that? We have some friends that have a nice in-ground pool in their back garden in South Carolina. It was very hot last summer. when we were back there, and they used their pool for the Lord. And so we got the privilege of accessing that as much as we wanted when we were back in the area. And so it was fun. I like to swim. I've talked about that with the church before. They called me the fish when I was in college because I spent so much time at the men's swim time at the university down at the pool. And so I enjoy teaching the kids, my kids, to dive and their cousins to dive as well. We're working on that. And then we're just kind of doing wild and crazy things. I have a diving board. That's there. One of the crazy things we do was trying to walk on water. It's kind of fun to watch the video because it looks like it's going to work until they sink, right? And when they're running or walking, whatever it is, they get out there on the water and then they disappear. You know, it would be kind of amazing to walk on water, wouldn't it? I enjoy fishing and the one time I fished on the water, I've been in a boat, you know, and it's from the boat. Other times I'm on the shore, I've got waders on, or I'm fishing from the shore itself. But it would be great if you just see that fishing spot you want to get to, just kind of walk out there and you'll cast back in towards the shore. That would be kind of neat. But it doesn't happen because nature forbids it, right? It's not possible to walk on water. Yet in our story this morning, we read a story and it just says Jesus walked on the water. Read the story as well as we get further into it that speaks about Peter also walking on the water to the glory of the Lord. You know, it's one of those impossible things that, in the Bible, you look at and you go, there's just no way that could ever happen. You know, the disciples felt like that when Jesus said, it's very difficult for a rich man to get saved. It's like a camel going through the eye of an eagle. And the disciples said, maybe what you and I have said in our hearts at times in disappointment, we look at evangelism, we think nobody's getting saved, and we say with the disciples, who then can be saved? And Jesus looks at them and said, you know, with men it's impossible, but not with God. With God, all things are possible. And as you see that phrase, all things are possible, you could add this, even walking on water. You know, Abraham and Sarah promised children, but naturally they couldn't have children. And then Sarah's too old to have children. And I mean, it's just beyond hope. There's no way it could happen. And you know, the story is the Savior comes with the two angels is there in a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ, Abraham, in Genesis chapter 18, verse nine. They said unto him, where's Sarah thy wife? And he said, behold, she's in the tent. And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life. And lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. Now, Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age, and it ceased to be with Sarah after the banter of women. The Bible's very clear. Naturally, it's not possible for Sarah to have children. She couldn't, and then she's too old. Therefore, Sarah laughed within herself, saying, after I'm waxed old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord, being old also? And the Lord said to Abraham, wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, shall I have a surety to bear a child which is old? Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the time of pointing, I'm gonna return it to thee. She's gonna become pregnant. She's gonna have a son. But that statement, is anything too hard for the Lord? And we could there again say, even walking on water. Even something that is totally impossible by the grace of God, it is possible. But it is a fact that you can't walk on water. But it's also a fact that Jesus Christ and Peter did. And so God is able to help men walk on water. So my message this morning is this, walking on water. And the idea is that you can do the impossible walk on water by the power of God. And see, that is, God makes impossibilities possible. There's Sunday school children around the world that maybe today they've got that lesson in their Sunday school class and they're going to look at that story and they're going to see Jesus walking in the water. They're going to see Peter walk in the water. They're going to be inspired by that and say, wow, God is powerful. God is glorious. Look at, look at what God can do. You know what? Again, today we need some believers that will grab hold of the God of the impossible. and do some things that are impossible with men, but not with God, so that people look at that and say, I see that, wow, look at what God did in the life of that person. So you can do the impossible, walk on water by the power of God. Let's pray and ask the spirit of God to help us as we come to the word of God. Father, as we look into your word, I'm reminded that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, truly furnished unto all good works. And Father, we confess that what we see in this story is impossible. In fact, there's some people that deny it ever happened because they said, there's no such thing as miracles, but we know there are such things as miracles because you are God. And Father, I pray in the hearts of those that are here this morning, I just pray that our hearts look up to the God of the impossible. Say, maybe whatever impossible situation we're facing is something that is certainly something you want us to go through. that Father, we just look at you and say, with men it's impossible, but not with God. With God, all things are possible. I pray we encourage our church today. Father, we need this as individuals, we need this as families, we need this as a congregation, we need this in our community. But Father, the spiritual needs are great, and we long to see the God of the impossible do what only he can do. Father, I can't preach without your enablement. I don't wanna try, I just pray the Spirit of God will give liberty and guidance and direction today, enablement. Father, give us ears to hear, help us to take in the truth of the Word of God. And I praise you for the privilege of preaching and sharing your Word. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. All right, so you can do the impossible. And again, it's just the idea of walking on water by the power of God. And so I've got eight points. I was gonna say I promise you, but as close as I can, I'll promise you that they're short points and to the point, and we'll continue quickly through them. But the first one this morning is to walk on water, you have to know that you're looking at Jesus, okay? To walk on water, you gotta know that you're looking at Jesus. In our story here, it's 3 to 6 a.m. It's the fourth watch of the night. The Bible says in verse 25, in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking on the sea. And again, to go back into the story, the disciples have been toiling all night trying to get across the Sea of Galilee. The winds have come up, they're contrary winds, so I imagine they're rowing. It's just like they row forward and they get pushed back and they row forward and they get pushed back and they're very tired. A great miracle has just been accomplished just a few hours previously. In the passage in Mark, it says about this in verse 42, they did all eat and were filled and they took out 12 baskets full of fragments of the fishes, and they that did eat of the loaves were about 5,000 men. So there's this massive audience that has been there following the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's a feeding of the 5,000, but it's a feeding of the 5,000 men plus women and children. It's been an amazing feat that they have just observed, and I'm sure that's in their mind there as well. Jesus had commanded them to get in the boat, and in our passage here in chapter 14, verse 22, it says, and straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into the boat and to go before him unto the other side while he sent the multitudes away. And so Jesus is trying to disperse the multitude, and he's trying to get that set, and he says, you guys get in the boat, you just head on before me back towards Capernaum. The crowd's ready to make Jesus their king. John 6 verse 14 says, then those men which had seen the miracle that Jesus did said, this is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king, he departed again. into a mountain himself alone. And so Jesus sees what's taking place, the miracle's taking place, they look at him and said, ah, we're gonna make him the king. However, Jesus disperses the multitude, goes up into the mountain, he spends a season in prayer, it's now morning time, between three and six a.m., and he's gonna go to the disciples. So back to our text, Matthew 14, verse 26. It says, when the disciples saw him, walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it's a spirit. And they cried out for fear. You know, their first response as they see this, this body walking on the water is that this is a spirit. And immediately the Bible says, but straightway Jesus spake unto them saying, be of good cheer, it is I. Be not afraid. And you can't blame the disciples. I don't know what you would think if you're out in a boat and you see somebody walking in the water. You've never seen that before. I mean, your response is gonna be that that must not be a human body. That's gotta be a spirit, a being that looks like a body walking in the water. And so they cry out, but immediately Jesus says, what? Be of good cheer. It's I. Be not afraid. And as they hear his voice, they recognize the voice of their savior, their Lord. John 10, 27 says, Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And so there's an identification that takes place. He goes, this is Jesus. In fact, Peter, believing it's Jesus, just wants to make sure. He said in verse 28, Peter answered and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come. And so the point is that it's gotta be Jesus that we see, if we're going to walk on water, right? That's gotta be the Lord. There's a lot of charlatanism today. There's a lot of fakery, healing services, or prayer towels, or different things that are in the name of Jesus, but we gotta make sure that it's of Jesus, but if it's of Jesus, whatever that impossibility is that is there, if it's the Lord, it's okay, because impossible things are impossible if It is Christ. Let me just give you some ideas about kind of things I think about in my mind as I consider this this morning. It could be impossibilities like someone having their sin taken away by Jesus. The possibility is like having your heart that is dirty, cleansed by the blood of Christ. Isaiah 118 says, come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as gold. That is not possible. Though thou wash thee with niter, take thee much soap. The Bible says that man has no ability today to cleanse their heart. But praise God, impossibilities are possible because of Christ and who Jesus Christ is. Impossibilities like a wicked man become a righteous man. 1 Corinthians 6.11, such were some of you. drunkards and fornicators and whatnot, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of your God. And somebody can look at their life and say, there is no way today that I could be a godly man, a godly woman, a godly father, a godly wife. There is no way that could be me. And yet, impossibilities today are possible if it's the Lord. And we understand we're talking about these things. That is the Lord. The possibilities like being bold for Jesus, when you know you're timid. Acts 4.31, the disciples got on their knees, they began to seek the face of God, and the Bible says, when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. I mean, they're just men. The persecution is happening. But they've had to cry out to God and say, God, give us courage. And I don't think they're much different than us. I think everybody's hand would go up and you'd say that's me, but impossibilities are possible Because of God we're gonna need to close that door back. They're gonna do us some work on the building of things We heard him a little bit earlier this morning, but I'm really hearing them right now, so we just close those doors impossibilities like honoring God with your finances and seeing God supply Malachi 3 verse 10 It says, bring me all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in my house. Improve me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts. If I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, there shall not be room enough to receive it. And somebody can say this today, you know, pastor, it's not possible for me to tithe. It's not possible for me to get 10% of my income to the Lord. It's just not possible. My other needs aren't gonna be met. Yet God says this. He says, impossible things are possible. Tithe, improve me now herewith. My point is just that if we know it's the Lord, it's okay because if it's God, impossibilities are possible. It could be so many things like teaching a Sunday school class or going to Bible college or getting into ministry or missions or a career change. I mean, there could be any list of things that we look at and say, it's impossible. But if we look up and we go, but that's the Lord, then impossible things are possible. So whatever impossibility that we're looking at this morning, the first thing we need to know is that we're looking at Jesus and that Jesus is on the other side of what he desires us to do. And that's the second point. To walk in water, you have to hear Jesus say, come. You gotta hear Jesus say, come. Peter said, Lord, if it be thou bid me come on the water, And he said, come, okay, and I don't know what Peter's heart did when those words came out. You know, okay, Lord, if you'd be there, let me come. Did I just say that? You know, and then, come. Come. It's the Lord saying to do this. Peter wasn't just being adventurous. Peter loved the Lord, and he wanted to be with the Lord and do what the Lord was doing. And if Jesus was walking on water, Peter just thought, you know, Jesus is walking on water, I can get out there and I can walk on water with Jesus. Jesus said, come. You know, I look at Peter and I think, you know, here's a man that wasn't afraid to venture himself for Christ. Wasn't afraid to take some risks. If it was the Lord saying, come, he was ready to just kind of obey and do what the Lord wanted him to do. Back when I was a counselor at the Wilds, back in 1998, all right? We had a ropes course that was there and for cabin spirit, they'd have us go to the ropes course and you do the different obstacles and things and just kind of, you just learn to encourage each other and help each other and motivate each other. And so one of the things that they had was a platform that was maybe yay high over the ground. And what you had to do was stand on the platform with your knees locked and fall straight back off the platform. But the thing was, your group, your cabin, was supposed to be there. And they were supposed to catch you, right? could, I guess, with a platform that we got here. But you're there and your knees are locked and you're not supposed to turn around. You're not supposed to look or anything. And they're just supposed to say, OK, fall. And you're supposed to fall straight backward. Now, if you're doing that, you might say, hey, you just want to make sure. Last week we had a little problem with going live when we were kind of ready to go live. You want to make sure that they said come, right? You want to make sure that they said it's time so that they're ready and you know that they're going to catch you. Now, I don't know about Peter here. I don't know if he said, what'd you say? But I mean, there's this aspect, if he needs to know that this is God, because if it's God, the impossible thing is possible because Jesus said to do it. You know, today, if anyone's gotten saved, and those of us that are born again, we responded when Jesus said, come. The Spirit of God spoke to our hearts and the Spirit of God said, hey, come out of the boat to me. John 7, 37, in the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, if any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. And we understand this today that absolutely the Spirit of God is maybe saying to some people that don't think they can get out of the boat and into salvation, don't think that they can take that step of obeying God. Surely today the Spirit of God is saying to those people, hey, come. Those of us that are saved, we responded to that come. Anyone who surrendered their life responded when the Lord Jesus said, come. Matthew 16, verse 24, then said, Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. He said, come, it's not gonna be easy. Gotta get your cross here, but here's the crosses I'm handing him out. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, And those of us that follow Christ in areas of surrender, we've responded, that we might've looked at and thought, no way, I've got my ideas about my life, I've got my things that I wanna do, it's impossible for me to give that up, it's impossible for me to step out of the boat, but as Jesus said, come, by God's grace, we came. Anybody in full-time ministry stepped out when Jesus said, come. Isaiah 6 verse 8, Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send? Who will go for us? Then said I, here am I, send me. And it could be a young person or adult that looks at their life and says, you know, I thought I had a career path. I thought I had what I was doing in my life, but I'm just hearing the spirit of God say, come, and stepping out of the boat in faith if it's Jesus. But we gotta know it's Jesus. There has to be that process of saying, you know, discerning that, that it's not just that's the Lord, but it's Jesus saying come. And if Jesus is saying come, then the third thing is this, to walk on water. you have to get out of the boat. To walk in the water, you have to get out of the boat. It says, and when Peter was come down out of the ship. Yeah, as a teenager, I spent a good amount of time on the water. We had canoes and we had a rowboat. A friend of mine had a rowboat. And the only time I would get out of the boat would be is if we're at a dock or if we're at dry land. You step out into dry land, you step out into in the middle of the lake step out of the boat, because you know what happens when you step out of the boat. Peter's a fisherman. Peter understands this better than anybody. He knows that it's not possible, and yet the Bible says, and when Peter was come down out of the ship, They're not right by the shore, but the Bible says that they're three to four miles out to sea. The Bible says in John 6, verse 18, the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. So when they had rowed about five and 20 or 30 furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea and drawing nigh onto the ship, okay? If this was a normal life experience, it would be what we see later in Peter's life As he sees Jesus on the Sea of Galilee, they're just a little way offshore, and the Bible says he cast himself into the sea. But this is different. This is Peter, the fisherman. I don't know what it looked like. I've seen the Jesus boat on the Sea of Galilee, which is a boat from the time of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not a huge boat, so I'm just picturing him stepping over the side rail, about like that, maybe the water's down about this level, you know? And I just see him planting his feet, and he stands on the water. Now, again, we read it in the Bible and we just think, well, that's what happened. We got to put ourselves in that position and understand that's a very difficult thing for a man that was a fisherman to do. You know, and this is where your imagination comes in, right? And was it slippery? The sea was heaving. Back when I was 11 or 12 years old, we got a waterbed. And I remember standing on that, you know, and kind of doing the waves and things. Was it like that? But just put yourself in the story a little bit. It's not easy for him to face this test, but he just steps out of the boat. You know, the faith that Peter demonstrates in this story is the faith that God expects. You've got to step out of what you're trusting in and step onto what God has said in his word you can do, right? Step out of those things that are those things that are matters of faith for you. What is your trust is in and put your trust in Christ. You know, for somebody today that could be stepping out of religion or unbelief. We've got plenty of people that their history is the Church of Scotland. I mean, that is what they grew up in. But in that denomination, they've not received the gospel. They've not heard about salvation by grace or faith in Jesus Christ. They were christened as a child instead of baptized as a born again believer. And for them, it's a very difficult thing for them to step out of that boat. be somebody steeped in unbelief, just saying, I just can't get out of this. I just can't step out in faith and obey God that, you know, I'm just, you know, whatever that unbelief thing is that, that is there, they've just got to set that aside and say, but I'm just going to trust God. It could be somebody stepping out of the expectation of peers and family. I mean, that's, that's, that's where their family's got them. And the ideas that their family has are the ideas that their peers have. But again, just stepping out. Could be so many things that we're right there in, and we got to get to this point of faith of just stepping out of the boat. For a believer this morning, it could be dependence on self, right? I was talking recently about, you know, you don't think you're trusting in your bank account until your bank account gets shaken a little bit. But stepping out of that security, whatever that is that we look at and say, it's so much easier to trust this than trusting in God, but stepping out to follow the Lord. And say this morning to us, you're not gonna do the impossible if you never get out of the boat, right? Talking about walking on water, it's not gonna happen unless we step out and get out of the boat. And so you have to know you're looking at Jesus, you have to hear Jesus say come, and then you have to get out of the boat. And then fourthly, this morning, to walk on the water, you have to step away from your security. He didn't just get out of the boat, he actually walked away from the boat. The Bible says he walked on the water to go to Jesus. You know, if you ever watched, I'm sure we all have, a child learned to walk, it's kind of fun. You know, and they got, it's a good thing they've got those nappies on, right, for all those big seats they take on the floor, you know, but they get up, they stand, they're kind of wobbly, And then they start to kind of shuffle their feet. They start to work their way along the sofa or whatever it is. And then you stand in the room, right? And you're kind of like, come on, you know? And what do you want them to do? You want them to step away from their security, right? That's their security. They got it. I mean, they're fine going along like this. But the idea of stepping out into the room, I mean, that's a whole nother thing. But they're not going to learn to walk until they step out into the room. For us, again, you look at Peter and you think, I don't know, did Peter hold the rail for a second? What was this like? How quickly did he depart? But the Bible says that he walked on the water to go to Jesus. That means this, he set aside his security. I was a student again at Bob Jones back as I was a student there, I remember Dr. Bob III saying this, get out of your comfort zone. Get out of your comfort zone. There's a lot of things that we'll just say, you know, we've all got it. And COVID has maybe, I don't know if it's made it worse or not, that bubble, you know, this is just my area. This is where I feel comfortable. This is where I've got it. And there's this fear of stepping out of that. But the thing is, we can't really do anything for God until we get out of that comfort zone, right? That thing that is our Security. My children, all children, probably have security blankets when they're weaned, right? Parents know what this is like. You got this blanket that's just like a favorite blanket. It gets really ragged. And dad's like, let's throw it away, in my experience. And mom's like, no, no, no, no. And she understands how important that is to the child and how precious that is. And one of our kids, Nelson, I think it was, lost his blanket. when we were down in Wolverhampton, England, and we'd been out to eat with the pastor there, and lost his blanket. And I'm sure my wife was thinking, like, World War III, tonight's gonna be horrible. And God was merciful to us in that we're leaving, we're driving, and we looked over about a block away from the church, and there, for some reason, was Nelson's blanket draped over a post, as people do when they find something. God saved us. Why? Because that security is important to a child. But I praise God that my daughter doesn't have a security blanket right now, because if she had a security blanket right now, there's no way that she would be doing God's will and be in Lattimore, North Carolina, studying Bible and music and doing what God wanted her to do. For her to do that, and I praise God for His grace in her life, she had to step away from security. You know, so often it's that way for us, isn't it? That we've got something that maybe we've got to step away from in obedience to God. For some people, it could be a sin, a sin that's keeping them from coming to Christ, something that they feel like they can't give up, whatever that thing might be that is their security. It's a habit, it's an addiction, it's a lifestyle. And they just look at it and say, there's no way, there's no way. but that they need to set that aside and walk away from that to Jesus Christ. For others, again, it might be a relationship. Let's keep them from following Jesus. And if I follow Jesus, I'm gonna have to give up these friends. I'm gonna have to give up this environment, this relationship that I think is precious. But listen, the relationship on the water with Christ is so much better, but that has to be set aside. You gotta step out of that, step away from that and go after Christ. It could be the world, it could be the allurements of the world, the things that are so familiar, just to turn your back on that and to go after, again, Christ. Whatever it is, if it's keeping us from Jesus, you know what? We gotta walk away from it. We gotta be willing to set that aside to get to Christ. And so to get to walk on the water, you've gotta know that you're looking at Jesus. You have to hear Jesus say, come. You have to get out of the boat. You have to get away from security. And then to walk on water, you have to keep your eyes on Jesus. You know, have you ever been on a body of water where it's really windy or along the shore? Go down to the North Sea as that east, you know, northeasterly comes in and you see those waves crashing. And I've been out on the Sea of Galilee on the boats that they have there for the tourists when they come and it was placid. It was amazingly calm. But just the wind comes in, that sea starts heaving, and all that is taking place, and all that's going on, there's spray, there's whitecaps, there's turmoil, all around Peter. And Peter begins to take his eyes off Christ. He begins to look at the turmoil, he begins to look at what's happening, and as he does that, there's a fear that's creeping into his heart. To go back to the illustration of the kid walking in the room, it's kind of like you get their attention. You're like, come on, come on. And what do you do? You kind of keep your eyes right in their eyes, your face right down in their face, your hands right there in front of them, and you're backing up, right? You're getting further away. And then all of a sudden, they look back at what? Their security. And a lot of times when they see their security, what do they do? Sit down, right? because they've gotten so far away from it. They take their eyes off of you. If they just keep their eyes on you, they're doing fine, they're getting it. They got the balance, they got everything going on, but they look back in fear and they sit down. You know, I could say to us this morning, where you keep your eyes is a testimony of your faith or your lack of faith. You know, what you're looking at, it shows whether you're in a position of dependence upon God or a concern about things. Remember the story of the 12 spies, they go to spy out the same land, they see the same things, they come back, but as they come back, when they report, it's clear that they're looking at two different things. In Numbers 13, verse 26, it says, they went and came to Moses and to Aaron, to all the congregation, the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Canish, and they brought back word unto them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him and said, we come unto the land where thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless, the people be strong that dwell in the land. And the cities are walled and very craved. And moreover, we saw the children of Anakht there, and the Amalekites dwell in the land of the south, and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. What did the 10 spies see? Big walled cities. Big giants. They saw the good stuff too, but they And the problem and the turmoil in those things are so great. And Caleb stands up, the Bible says he's still the people before Moses, and he said, let's go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it, and we're gonna see where his eyes are. But they're not in the atmosphere. And the people respond, and the fear crept in the heart of all the people. The men that went up with them said, we be not able to go up against this people, for they are stronger than we, and the whole congregation begins to murmur. So what are they looking at? They're looking at the turmoil. They're like, it's chaos. There's no way. But the Bible says in Numbers 14, verse six, Joshua, the son of Nun and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes. And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, the land which we pass through to search it, Could Israel have gone in by faith and conquered the promised land at that time? Yes. Yes, but the reason they couldn't is because their faith failed. Why did it fail? Because the guys go, look at the turmoil, look at the big giants, look at the big walled city. There's no way it's gonna happen. But two guys, Caleb and Joshua, look at it and say, look, we see God. And if God's for us, it's gonna happen. It's gonna get done. You know, this morning, what do your eyes see? You see Brexit? Do you see the gas shortages? Do you see the, the COVID. There's so many things that we look at, the lack of souls being saved. I mean, there's things that we understand, and it's tough, and there's a battle against Christianity, and yes, there is homosexual agenda being pumped into our schools, being pumped into our society, and we can see these things, but are we looking at those things, or are we looking at the God that's greater than those things? What do we see? We gotta keep our eyes on Jesus. And so this morning, you gotta know you're looking at Jesus. You gotta hear Jesus say, come, then get out of the boat, get away from security, keep your eyes on Jesus. And then to walk on water, you have to maintain a position of faith. So he looks around, and what's the Bible say? It says he was afraid and beginning to sink. As soon as he began to fear, what happened? At the point of failure, then he begins to sing. I want to point out something about this as we look at this in our Bibles this morning is that faith was not making Peter walk on water. Peter's walking on water by the power of God. It's not his faith that was making it possible. However, it's his faith is what received the power of God to walk on water. You see, If somebody's not saved, it's not because God doesn't have the power to save them, it's because they haven't accessed by faith the power of God to save them. We know absolutely today that anybody could get saved, but they haven't accessed it because they haven't put their faith in Jesus Christ yet. John 1 12 says, but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. They're still in the boat. They think, I can't walk on the water. I want to get saved. I want to have salvation. I want to know for sure that if I died, I'd go to heaven, but I just can't get out of the boat. But the thing is, get out of the boat, trust. The faith part or the work part is who? It's God. It's just somebody saying, you know what? To them gave he power to become the sons of God. Praise God for that. You know, so many times it's like, was the gospel preached as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. These were great men of God preaching the word of God, but salvation did not take place. Why? Because they didn't receive it by faith. It's the same for us this morning. They're saying we're talking about a Sunday school that need to trust God and to believe God and to pray, but it is faith. that accesses the power of God. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 7 says, for we walk by faith, not by sign. We walk by faith, not by sign. It says in 2 Timothy 1 verse 7, for God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. As Peter looks around, he begins to be afraid. I think this, if he would have looked back at Jesus and forgot about that, I don't know what it would have looked like, him coming up out of the water, you know, or how exactly it would have worked. but it was his lack of faith that caused him to sink. This morning, as you think about that, do you feel like you're sinking? Do you feel like you're getting down below the waves? I just wanna remind us, you know, faith access is the power of God. Just get back to that position of faith and say, you know what, I'm just gonna trust God. 1 John 5 verse 4 says, for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. I could doubt God's provision, I could doubt God's guidance, I could doubt God's ability to give me help, I could doubt so many things about what God could do in my life, but I just gotta give back to a position of faith and say, you know what, I'm just gonna trust God. Because that faith is what accesses the power of God. To walk on water, I'm gonna ask Boyd, if you will, try to track those guys down, let them know we're having a service, we'll be done about 12, 15, and just give them a heads up, they may not realize how loud it is in here. And look up, I think it might be on the roof, I don't know, good luck. Okay, to walk on water, you have to know that you are looking at Jesus, you have to hear Jesus say come, you have to get out of the boat, you have to get away from security, You have to keep your eyes on Jesus. You have to maintain a position of faith. And then just two points as we conclude, all right? We're on number seven. You have to trust that Jesus will always deliver you. You have to trust that Jesus will always deliver you. And he cried saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and he caught him. You know, let me say, don't ever criticize Peter because he sank, all right? You and I would still probably be in that boat. There are a lot of disciples, a lot of godly men in that boat, but only one guy said, Jesus, if it be you, bid me come. It'd be very easy to look at Peter and say, oh, Peter, you know, you should have done better than that. But Peter's faith is amazing, and I wanna say about Peter's faith, Peter would never have gotten out of the boat if he believed Jesus would let him drown, right? he would have never stepped down. So even though Peter, yes, he takes his eyes off the Lord, he begins to sink, he knew this, Jesus is not going to fail me, right? And let me say, there's gonna be times you get out of the boat and it seems like it's going pretty well, it seems like you're making progress, all of a sudden you start to sink, always remember this, Jesus is not going to let you sink. God hasn't called us to failure. God hasn't called us to defeat. God hasn't led us into a path. Think about Israel. Israel gets to the Red Sea, they look at it and they go, God failed us. But God's just gonna say, hey, there's a path, go forward. Our faith is gonna be so small sometimes, but God is our security. I went rock climbing in Arizona as I was doing my internship out there And the rock face that we climbed was a 100-foot vertical face. And I rock climbed two times in my life. This, I think, was my second time. And I had all the gear on, the rappelling gear. And Adam Rowland, the youth pastor of the church, he was there to be the anchor and whatever it is called, delay the line or whatever it is. And so I'm climbing. I'm climbing that face. But as I'm climbing, you know what my faith was in? My faith was in Adam. Adam, if I fall, what am I thinking? Adam's not gonna let me die. He's gonna grab hold of that thing, he's gonna stop me, he's gonna lower me back down, it's gonna be okay. And again, it's not that I had complete confidence that I could do it, but I had confidence in the person who was down there. Today, as we think about this, our confidence is not in our faith. Our confidence is in the object of our faith. It's that God's got it. I can step out on a boat. I can step out with confidence. Yeah, my faith might fail me. I might get to Bible college and panic and think, how am I gonna pay the bills? It happened to me. It could be anything that I step out by faith and I think, oh, but my faith is insufficient. Yes, it is. But it's okay. Because God's got you. God's the one that's gonna keep you. God is perfect. And we're trusting in him. And so to walk on water, you gotta know you're looking at Jesus. You gotta hear Jesus say, come. You gotta get out of the boat. You gotta get away from security. You gotta keep your eyes on Jesus. You gotta maintain a position of faith. You gotta trust that Jesus will always deliver you. And then our final point, to walk on water, you have to be prepared to see the smallness of your faith. So walk on water, you gotta be willing to be humble to see the smallness of your faith. Jesus said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Okay, when it says little faith, it's not speaking about the quality, it's speaking about the duration. Peter had amazing faith, faith that could walk on water in obedience to Jesus, but his faith was short in duration. And so Jesus says, without a will of faith. We were at the mall in Livingston, and they had electric cars there. And I got to ask the question that I've always wanted to ask to somebody that's selling electric cars, because I look at them and I think, really? We're gonna go to batteries? But anyway, so I asked, I said, how far can they go? How far can they go? The lady looked at this one, she goes, this one could go 210 miles on a full charge. This one could go 170. And I'm thinking, Wow. And I said, then how long does it take to fill up? Well, you can do a short charge. She says 15 minutes, but that's going to shorten your distance after that. To go that distance again, you really got to get a full charge. Like, you know, again, and I'm thinking my diesel van. can go about 550 miles. And if the petrol stations are stocked up, I can pull in and I can fill up with diesel and I can go another 550 miles. It only takes me 15 minutes to fill up. You know, and I'm thinking, do we really want to go to something that has such a short duration? But she said this, the more you charge it, the further it can go, all right? Once you break in that battery, it can get further and further. Somebody can get saved, and their faith duration may get them this far, right? But if somebody begins to trust God, sees God working in their life, we gotta ask God, God, increase my, you know, O thou of low faith, increase that distance. Increase that distance. So someday it's no longer Jesus going like this, and us walking, you know, and then we look back and fall down, but us just walking by faith. because we've got it, and we're walking on water because God has made it possible. The Bible says in verse 32, And when they were coming to the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship came and worshiped him, saying, Of a truth, thou art the Son of God. And when they were gone over, they came into the land, of Gennesaret. As I read the end of the story, my imagination takes over a little bit because I see the disciples all getting out. Jesus goes to do something important. The disciples are taking care of whatever they need to take care of. They look, Jesus is out of earshot, and they go to Peter. They go, Peter, what were you thinking? Peter, you said, if it be thou, bid me come. Peter, you walked on water. What was it like? That's amazing, that's amazing. Jesus walked on water and they looked at that and they say, Jesus is God. And they saw God's servant in obedience to the Lord walk on water. I wanna point out again about Peter. Peter walked on water because Jesus wanted him to walk on water. So that you and I can look at the story today and go, wow, look at what God can enable somebody to do. It's not possible to walk on water, but with God, all things are possible. And so as we think about this morning, we need to do the impossible for God's glory. We've gotta know that we're looking at Jesus, that we're not misled in whatever we're thinking about, but obviously there's some very specific things that would definitely be of God, but it's Jesus, so it's Jesus, and I hear Jesus saying, come, and I would say to us today, what is Jesus saying come about? It could be so many things with people. It could be salvation, baptism, surrender. It could be tithing. It could be setting aside something that's been a point of dependence. But Jesus is saying, set that aside and come. We gotta be willing to step out of the boat. Take that big step. And that's a biggie, isn't it? To step out, but then to walk away from that. Say, I don't have to have that security anymore. I'm just gonna walk with the Lord. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Don't look back, don't look at the turmoil. Maintain a position of faith. Just say, God, by your grace, I'm not gonna fear, I'm just gonna keep a position of faith. Always trust that God's gonna deliver you. Never think, I got out here and God's gonna depart, God's just gonna leave me and that's just gonna be me. Just always know, God's got me, but be prepared to see the smallness of your faith. Be prepared to look at it and go, man, I'm sorry, Lord. My faith, the duration of my faith was just small. God help me to do better with that. I think, having looked at the message as we have, that it would make sense that the Spirit of God is speaking to somebody, saying, Tom, for that person, this is the opportunity, right? It's time to get out of the boat. It's time to follow the Lord and what God desires us to do. We gotta bow our heads right now, we're gonna do that, and just say to God, okay, God, whatever it is that is impossible, I look at my life, but you want me to go through it? You want me to do it? You're saying come? By God's grace, I'm gonna get up and go. Let's pray. Father, I just pray that the Spirit of God would speak to hearts right now. Father, it might be somebody that is thinking, you know what, I gotta get saved. Jesus is saying come. Father, they've been in the boat, just staying in the boat. God, I pray they come.