Matthew 14:22-33 – Jesus Walks On Water – Sermon

Brother Mitch: Welcome to the Christ’s Sanctified Holy Church.

Man: Amen.

Brother Mitch: A privilege to be here and an opportunity, if you don’t know him. This is just another time and opportunity for you to seek him while you may be found, call on him while he’s near. You know, it could be, and I’m not…it might could be now or never for some of you here tonight. It could be. This could be if you don’t tonight, you may not ever get sanctified. We are not promised tomorrow. No guarantee. So I just want to welcome everyone. And I guess my message tonight, I’ve reading lately about walking on water, and the story in the bible, and also spiritually, maybe even metaphysically, how we can do that today. And what we do is we simply trust.

I thought about that song, I couldn’t find it. Trusting, trusting, simply trusting as long as we’re looking, as long as we’re focused on Jesus, he will lift us up. And calls us not that we’re any better than anybody else, sanctified or not. We are not any better. We are all equal, in every man we’re on the same…there’s no respecter of persons with God. Simply humble at the feet of Jesus. Recommending him in your heart today, and I think Christ in the 14th chapter, I wanna start off by reading the 14th chapter of Matthew starting with the 22 verse,

And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him on the other side,while he sent the multitudes away… he went and sent…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 waves, for the wind was very contrary. Matthew 14:22-24

I wanna mention contrary. I was looking that up and the meaning of contrary. Y’all know what that means? Is one of these words you know what it means, but you don’t know how to really give a proper definition of it. But I was reading where it means to be the opposite of nature. It also means to be contrary…it means to be the…if I had my thing, I could look it up. It also means to be going in one direction… going in the opposite direction. To be contrary of what the community and society thinks, of the norm. It’s, you know, sometimes you have to throw away the statistics and throw away what everyone may be saying, and the math and you just go with Jesus Christ.

And it says and we all have challenges. We all are gonna have these contrary things come up. We will be challenged, we will be tempted, we will be tested. Things will come up and we can’t control some of these things. Now, they might be battlefields of our own making, but sometimes we go through things in life that we cannot fix. And then that’s when we need to rise above and step on top of and trust in Jesus to take us over and through. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. Now, keep in mind he had just gotten through feeding and filling the need of 5,000 people. The miracle of changing water into wine, and sometimes we think we might do something and maybe we think we’re finished but we’re not.

There still more. He told them to go out in the boat. And he’d come walking on the sea towards them. He knew. See Jesus knows the storms before they come. He knows the future, and he knew they were in trouble. If you felt like you’ve been in trouble before, and you had to call on the Lord and you don’t want to do like…I like what sister read about how Paul was kind of fighting against his self, you know, sometimes you’ve got to get rid of what’s all in here in your head. Get rid of all what you think and what everyone else thinks, and then trust him and look to him,

And when the  disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled,  saying, “It is a spirit.” And they cried out for fear. Matthew 14:26

Brother Brian Collier preached an awesome sermon on fear one camp meeting. Fear is can bring…fatigue. Fear can paralyze people. Fear can take out that faith and they cried out with fear. And I think to me the saddest thing of this story is not everyone wants to talk about how Peter looked away. But Peter walked on water. The other 11 were huddled up in the corner afraid thinking they seen a ghost. They were the ones that lost out in my opinion. And so as we view Christ as we view the gospel, and we hear the message not with fear, but we need to step out. I guess the question is what is holding you in the boat? What is holding you in between your faith in God? And so Jesus says,

But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.” And Peter answered him and said, “Lord,…if it be thou, if it’s what you say it is, bid me come unto thee on the water.  If you are what you say you are. If it is…are you my savior, are you gonna help us.” And he says, “Come.” And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. Matthew 14:27-29

So he answered him. He answered his prayer. He answered his request. He said, “Come.”

Will you come? What is holding you back? What’s keeping you where you are without God? I think you can defy and change the things that are contrary. Christ changes, when he spoke, when he touched, when people touched his garment, whenever he arrived to a scene, whenever he anointed, he changes things from the norm. He really engulfs and blesses your life in a way that you can’t imagine, and he changes the nature of things.

As Moses came to the dead end one time, he said, “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord”. Exodus 14:13

And the nature of water stood up. And God made a way where there seemeth to be no way.” Exodus 14:21-29

There are things in life I didn’t think that would ever change, or I’d seen someone that I didn’t think could ever change, or I thought in my mind I had it all. But then God has a way of defying all things. We can rise above. I know my name is…you know, we sing, “I’ll rise above all doubt and strife, and I read my title clear.” I know that my name is there. And straightaway, Jesus spake unto them, oh, he said in come, the 29th verse,

And Peter was come down,.. and it says that out of the ship, he walked on water to go to Jesus. He walked on water. Matther 14:29

But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. Matthew 14:30

And he began to look at the details of what was contrary. When he began to think about the natural, when he began to kind of ponder that surf, or that current, or those little…how that water and the foam and the noise and all the clatter, and when he began to look at the what-ifs, then that’s when he began to sink. When we allow,

No man that warreth  entangleth himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who had called him to be a soldier. 2 Timothy 2:4

So, you know, I’ve laid up late at night sometimes start thinking about a problem, and then pretty soon it becomes so exaggerated in my mind, and pretty soon you start thinking on the negative, and pretty soon you start doubting.

And so if you really wanna rise above, if you really wanna walk on water, and you can keep your focus on God and keep your eyes on him, and he’ll make a way where there seems to be no way. There was a group of guys that came out with…and there’s really no other way to overcome things in life. People try a lot of things. Christ in your life can do so much. There was a group of men that developed these tennis shoes I seen. And they get a running start, you know, they got up to the lake and they had these. They took advantage of the social media and YouTube. And they got ahead of steam and they were showing these shoes off, and they would run and they would walk on water, they were hitting. They’d take about four, five steps and then they would sink.

And they advertised these shoes, and they thought man, and everyone was buying into it, you know. This is the message about how people wanna try to live without Christ in some other way.

He that climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. John 10:1

You know and people bought into this, and I don’t know how much money they made. But come to find out they had about a three-inch piece of Plexiglas, about one inch below the water, and they were bouncing on the water and it was all a scam, you know, and people thought, “Well, how do you do this?” You know they’re saying, “Well, you’re not doing it right. You’re not running fast enough.” You know and they you know they were just being deceived, and, you know, and I thought about how when people want to be happy, and people the world and society and people will try to tell you this is Christ, and this is the way you can live, and this is what you need to do.

But when Jesus comes on the scene, he changes all the norm. He causes us to rise above the things that are in the world. I now arise above the sin that’s in the world. And so they want you to accept the norm but we can arise above what the world tells us, the world of sin and live a sanctified life. It is possible, it is possible to walk on water. It is possible to defy no matter what problem. It doesn’t matter what mistakes that you’ve made in life. It doesn’t matter the sin that you have done in the past. That’s not what you need to beat yourself up over. But Peter he stepped out of that boat. He says you know what? I’m going to walk on water, and he walked towards Christ while the other 11 stood there and missed out. Thought it was impossible, but with man it says I believe.

Man: Yeah, with man this is impossible…Romans 8:31

Brother Mitch: But with God, nothing shall be impossible and we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:37

And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, I can just see that hand coming down. He caught Peter and said unto him…oh sorry,”Oh though of little faith. Wherefore didst though doubt.” And when they were coming to the ship, the wind ceased. Matthew 14:31-32

And they that were in the ship. Now, here’s the other group that was watching. Then they come out and they came and worshiped him saying of a truth thou at the son of God. Matthew 14:33

Now, they believed. They seen it. They didn’t recognize him at first did they when he was first coming out? You know, he was maybe I don’t know, it was dark but they seen, the opportunity was there.

Well, I don’t know. So you’re here tonight, you know about sanctification, you’ve seen people get sanctified. You probably have seen people come to the altar. You’ve seen their lives. You’ve seen the evidence. You’ve seen people walk on water. So what is holding you in the boat? Remember he changed the nature, the thing that was contrary because in the old Bible, people brought animals, and they brought the literal things. But what does it say,

For what the law could not do and that it was weak in the flesh? God sending his own Son, and the likeness of simple flesh for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Romans 8:3-6

What does it talk about?

The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, and these two are contrary. Galatians 5:17

Remember that? They are contrary one to the other.

So they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:8

In your mind, in your thoughts, in your sufficiency, you will fail. You cannot figure it out. You’re fighting against yourself. If you think you can fix things, the past, and if you think you can serve the Lord on your terms, you will fail.

But when you can focus on Jesus and leave the past behind, and get rid of the clutter, and don’t worry about that boat and what everyone else even though they were disciples. Peter stood up. He stood up. He stepped out. He walked on water. He walked on water. He did what was impossible. He did the miracle as Christ did the miracle before then, and Christ can do a miracle in your life. Now, he is real, he is here and he changes lives. I just believe it.

And then they were in the ship. Came worshiping saying, “Oh, the truth, thou art the Son of God.” And when they were gone over they came into the land. And then I wanted to read, it reminded me so much of Isaiah 43, if I could share this with y’all. Sometimes we don’t think, we may doubt, doubting and all these things that, you know, not only is it a wonderful experience to walk on water, and be sanctified but you want to share that experience with other people now. And you know when you’re walking on water, if you’re walking you’re moving forward.

It’s great for me but it is different than the rock, you know, the rock is solid. I’m standing on Christ the solid rock I stand but when I’m walking on water, I’m going somewhere. I’m going, I’m moving. To stay where I am and to let other people go there. I like to go, you know, God changes a lot of things but there’s some things I still enjoy fishing like I always have. But when you go fishing you can’t…I don’t just go to one spot and fish all day long. I got to walk around. I got to move around and find out where the fish are, find a different spot if I’m not catching nothing. And so I feel that when we’re active in the Lord, whatever it may be then you need to go forward.

We used to have a boat…well, we’ve had a few and you gotta get up to some good speed to ski on your bare feet. My brother could ski on his bare feet, and you get up to about 40 miles an hour in a boat and you put the surfboard, and you sitting on that and you get up and the conditions are just right and before you know it, he could go and he was skiing, and he was on water with bare feet, going all the way across. And I could never do it. I tried and I would never do it. But it takes some speed and it takes some focus that he would get over and get through. Now, I’m telling you, if you wanna go through, you’re gonna have to get up and do something.

Strive to enter in. You wanna change, you can’t keep doing the same old things and expecting a change. But you’re gonna have to get out of that comfort…wherever the enemy has you, not assuming he has you, but if he does have you in the comfort of the boat, you’re gonna to have to get up and you gonna to have to step out. It could be a simple raising your hand at church sometime. It could be a little bit of, “Hey, you know what,” and speaking up and saying, “Just pray for me.” God loves that. But here’s something to keep in mind to defy what’s contrary, to go against what everyone else seems to say you can’t do.

A lot of times, when people tell me I can’t do something, makes me wanna try harder sometimes just to be successful at it. Isaiah 43,

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Isaiah 43:2

So they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:8

Peter, he called it him out. What are you gonna do when God calls you out? You gonna stay put or you gonna move? You gonna go forward, you’re gonna sit?

But when thou passes through the waters. I’ll be with thee. Through the rivers shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire thou shall not be burnt. Neither shall the flame kindled against thee.  For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Isaiah 43:2-3

And it says in the 8th verse….I like this verse,

Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that hear ears.Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth.  Isaiah 43:8-9

And I like this part here it says in 11th verse,

I even I am the Lord. Beside thee, there is no other savior. Isaiah 43:11

Really to get through in life we need the Savior. We need God on our side.

We need the nature changed. First, there’s repentance and then there’s the nature change and we can walk on water. I have declared and saved thee and it says in the 15th verse, I believe it says, oh, not that one. In closing, I wanna to leave you with James 4:5. It all starts with you…it all starts with humility. Thank you for being patient.

Man: [inaudible 00:21:22]

[00:21:25]

[music][if your life is lonesome and you need a bosom friend, He will never leave you, He’ll stay with you to the end,If the clouds are heavy and the light you cannot see, Let me introduce you to the man of Galilee-Written by Brother Paul P.Merritt]

[00:21:36]

Brother Mitch: Yeah, that’s right. Amen.

[00:21:43]

[music]

[00:23:28]

Brother Mitch: James 4:10,

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up. James:4:10

As Christ reached his hand down to Peter and he lifted him up. And then it says in 1 Peter 5:6,

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.                   1 Peter 5:6

Exalting is lifting you up. You need to be lifted up. You ever had a day, or when it was like Monday all day, you needed a little lifter upper. Look on to Jesus. Keep your focus on him. Keep your eyes on him. Don’t let the things of the world and the waves and things that are contrary.

If you’re around negative people and its just bringing you down, start getting some new friends. I’m telling you, you know, you start hanging around that enough and you start to be like them if you’re not careful. And so I’m thankful for that. I’m trusting in that I’m seeing his hand today. It’s reached down. I know, I know there are a lot of you here that y’all been through some things and God has been there. Has he not delivered? Has he not been there and caused you to rise above what you didn’t think you could do? Wasn’t it as the heavens are higher than the earth so are his ways higher that our ways. So I feel like I can walk on water. I feel like I am walking on water today in no goodness of my own but through Jesus Christ. I ask that when you pray, y’all pray for me.

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Matthew 14:22-33 - Jesus Walks On Water - Sermon

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Matthew 14:22-33 - Jesus Walks On Water - Sermon Will you come? What is holding you back? What’s keeping you where you are without God? I think you can defy and change the things that are contrary. Christ changes...