Christ Walking on the Sea

Read Matthew 14:13-36. This is another miracle performed by Jesus Christ. A greater display of miraculous power is seen at the beginning of an age, or at the development of a kingdom, than may be expected at the continuance of either. A miracle of God’s omnipotence becomes a pedestal on which He plants His truth. Therefore, when the building of truth—a definite truth—is finished, the scaffolding is taken down. It is true with miracles, and this is why there is an absence of such miracles in the Epistles. Objective light is well-established in the present dispensation. Therefore, it is no longer the need of God giving more miracles to be seen, but grace to be experienced.

Paul said, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love” (I Cor. 13:9-13).

Christianity bids men not to covet great gifts by which they may dazzle people, as did Simon of Acts 8:9-10—“Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, This man is what is called the Great Power of God.”

People are not born again by something external, but by the internal and secret work of the Holy Spirit. As ruined as the depraved soul is, it must be won from within. As ignorant as the understanding is, it must be taught from within. As hateful as the heart is, it must be made to love by the indwelling Spirit. Therefore, it takes more than miraculous power to awe, terrify, or force; it takes the Spirit of regeneration to cause one to love Christ because He first loved me.

Here is a picture of our present age. Paul said, “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes [name means he vexed; he oppressed] and Jambres [name means phony healer; nothing to it] opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind; rejected in regard to the faith. But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’ and Jambres’ folly was also” (II Tim. 3:1-9).

It is not unusual that after a great blessing comes a greater trial. This was to test their faith after witnessing such manifestation of power. The disciples in the ship are a great symbol of Christ’s people in the world. We are not of the world, but we are in it for a testimony to it. John said, “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (I John 5:19).

It is a great addition to trouble when Christ is absent. God’s people must learn what it is to be without the personal presence of the Son of God. Absence makes the redeemed heart grow fonder. While the disciples were in the ship, how was Christ engaged? He was praying on a mountain side. The Son of God does not wait until we are in trouble and then pray for us. He prays for us first (read John 17:9-24), and then He sends us into trouble. Luke wrote, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded [obtained by asking] permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (John 22:31, 32). As mariners are tempest-tossed by reason of the unsettled path they travel at sea, so believers are tempest-tossed. The lesson to be learned is that fear is not to take the place of prayer. Christians must learn what it is to be without prayer in the midst of trouble.

The Christian life is never represented as an ever ascending scale; it will always appear as a zig-zag line, indicating our falling and rising again. The Psalmist said, “Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me; Then I will be blameless, And I shall be acquitted of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:12-14).

There is no suggestion of a dualism—Christ or Satan. Believers are not in a contest whose outcome is still undecided. One of the most important aspects of the doctrine of perseverance must be the relation between perseverance and temptation. In temptation, we are faced with situations over which we have no control.

Paul goes from admonition to consolation back to admonition. If we take admonition alone, there would be a doubt about the final outcome. If we take consolation alone, there would be slothfulness. Watch how Paul carefully distinguished the two: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry” (I Cor. 10:12-14). In verse 13, we have the human elements, the Divine element, the preventive providence, and the protective providence.

It is interesting to observe the missing disciples who were absent when Christ prayed. It is worthy to note that the disciples did not pray. Isn’t it wonderful to know that Christ does not forget us when we forget Him! He does not fail to intercede for us when we cease to look to Him.

It is wonderful to know that Christ does not send His people into a greater trial until He has accustomed them to a smaller one. Contrast this experience with the trial of Matthew 8:23-27—“When He got into the boat, His disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, Save us, Lord; we are perishing! He said to them, Why are you afraid, you men of little faith? Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

What do we mean when we say that a depraved man is capable of doing good, but he is not capable of being good? The Lord does not condemn public prayer, but the object is not to be seen or heard for the sake of men. Paul said prayers in public before his regeneration and conversion, but he prayed in secret after he was saved. “And the Lord said to him, Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying…” (Acts 9:11).

Christ did not appoint either the place or the posture of prayer. In Matthew 6:6, we are not to dwell on the words “inner room.” The thought is for one to be alone with God. “Close your door” means to be secluded in observation. In an uninterrupted state, one is to perform his personal duties. God desires truth in the inward parts. “Meaningless repetition” (Matt. 6:7) should not exist among Christians. Believers are not to repeat over and over as the priests of Baal or as the Ephesian mob (I Kings 18:26; Acts 19:28). Evidently, they thought that they would be heard for their much speaking. “Your kingdom come” was a petition often on the hearts of godly people in the Old Testament. Apart from the prophecies of such a kingdom, there could have been no basis for such a petition (Is. 6; Dan. 2).

In Matthew 6:10, since they were to pray for the kingdom, how could the kingdom be in existence? How could this be a model prayer for all Christians during this age of grace? A theory is hard pressed for argument that can change “Your kingdom come” into a present, existing kingdom. There will be no kingdom, Biblically speaking, until Christ comes. Christ is the One who ushers in the kingdom.

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The NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE—UPDATED EDITION is the source of all Scripture quotations in this message, unless otherwise noted.