Kenneth Steward Sermon – Troubled Waters

As I began listening to this sermon, I wasn’t sure if I would want to blog it or not, so I didn’t start writing down points. After around 10 minutes or so, I realized how useful a sermon it was going to be for practical living of the Christian life, then I began to note it – sermon highlights began there.

Before I forget, I would not have listened to this sermon if I had not been subscribed to the YouTube site, Christian Sermons and Audio Books: for biblical edification via the sermons and audio book readings of the best preachers of the past and present, subscribe.

Sermon Text: Matthew 14:30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out with His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. [NASB]

HIGHLIGHTS:

‘Troubled Waters’ in scripture, signify trials when Satan is present, stirring things up, ‘roaring;’ also, at these times, the Lord’s Spirit has withdrawn
The purpose: to teach a lesson:
That you might see your own weakness; your need of the Lord; your need to call out to Him in prayer…
Mark’s account of this event indicates that the disciples had not appreciated the miracle of the loaves and fishes
That is, that their hearts were not spiritually right with the Lord
Another action that indicated their spiritual state was that they did not begin to cross the lake immediately as Christ told them to do, but they waited on Him till 6 p.m.; an act of disobedience
Little disobediences lead to greater ones
All His commands are precious because they derive from Him
Cherry picking the commands we will follow reveals that a principle of disobedience is present in us
Why were they disobedient?
They were beginning to be SELF-RELIANT
The Christian life can ONLY be lived in the power of the Spirit of God
The path to Self-reliance: prayerlessness followed by self-reliance, and repetition of same
That is the description of a ‘vicious cycle’
What is a virtuous cycle?
Acts of faith and obedience ‘bouncing’ off one another to lift one upward, revealing greater faith and obedience
He reasoned from scripture to show that the apostles had been rowing against the storm for about 9 hours when Christ came to them walking on the water
A normal journey across the lake would have taken an hour or so
9 hours of rowing and they were half way across
Mark’s gospel states that Christ saw them as He prayed to His Father; He then prayed for them
He did not prematurely intervene because they needed to learn from this experience
Pastor Stewart told a brief story about a boy who had been watching a butterfly working itself free from a cocoon; he decided to help with his pen knife; his action resulted in the death of the butterfly, as the very act of freeing itself is essential for developing the strength it needs to survive…
Have you ever wondered why God has left you to struggle with a situation, a condition…?
Their response to the trial would reveal to them the quality of their faith
He would be able to grace
He came in the fourth watch of the night, 3:00 a.m. to give time to see if prayer would be awakened
When you are passing through troubled waters, God will visit you, but you need to recognize Him
He came to them ‘walking on the water’
The significance: The God who ‘made the waters;’ the God who ‘sits upon the waters;’ the ‘great I AM…’
Jesus was walking on mighty waves, not a calm body of water
They did not recognize Him, thinking He was a ghost
Pastor Stewart provided some examples as to why people do not recognize when God is around them during trials
These are manifestations of lack of spiritual fellowship with Him [not praying; not in the word…]
Causes: sin, unbelief, disobedience, self-reliance; all of which led to a spiritually cold heart
In grace, he announced Himself to them, telling them to be of good cheer, “It is I” which could be translated in the Greek, “I AM”
= I AM in the midst of this trial; I AM in control of your trial
Psalm 46:1 …God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble
Even though you called me a ghost, you must learn: to trust in Me; to call upon Me; to row in my strength; to be obedient to Me; to rely on my wisdom in all
Pastor discussed the significance of Peter’s request to be called onto the water
The emphasis of this chapter is on the sovereignty of God ‘awakening our desire’ [for fellowship]
If we are ‘in Christ’ [and not in our own strength], then we will be able to ‘walk on the water,’ spiritually
Peter began to sink because he focused on the wind and waves
In our trials, we should only notice the ‘wind and waves’ out of the corner of our eyes; our focus should be fixed on Christ [on His commands; promises; trusting; obeying…]
Have you noticed in your own lives, how gracious God is when you come only after you’ve exhausted all your other perceived resources, again and again and again…
He still accepts us
Christ stated, Oh little faith…
That was their problem all along: too much reliance on self and not enough on Christ
This passage of scripture is possibly the most important of the entire Bible when it comes to practical Christian living
The key to everything is to focus on Christ and NOT be distracted by the wind and waves, let them go on being boisterous
[The spiritual, social, and political environments in the western world are in great tribulation presently; but God is in the midst of it with us; that is, the globalists and the Marxists are not running anything except in their own imaginations; the chaos we are experiencing would not be happening it God did not permit it: while He is judging this nation, He is growing the faith of His people and watching over them – so this sermon indicates]
APPLICATION:
He spoke of Christ’s words regarding the Lord’s Supper, “Do this in remembrance of Me”
He stated some possible reasons why believers don’t continue to do so
Christ is herein calling you to get out of the boat and He will enable you to walk on the spiritual water
The apostle John’s account of this event noted that when Christ entered into the boat, it was immediately on dry land
You may have been rowing [in your self-reliance] for days, months, years…and getting nowhere
Have you ever seen a Christian take a step of faith and with that step leap forward spiritually?
You’re being called to do that
Prayer
Singing of part of Psalm 107
Closing