Stay in the Boat
STAY IN THE BOAT
Week One – Stay in the BOAT
Matthew 14:22-36 King James Version
22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
23 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.
24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
34 And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.
35 And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;
36 And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.
PRAY
Good morning. It seems as if the enemy is hard at work. I believe all of us have been dealing sickness or know of someone who has. Society is going crazy. Who knows what is really happening in the government. Everything cost more and yet none of us are making more. Kids are unruly and headstrong. Relationships are stressed…
God reminded me of this sermon that He gave me when I first started preaching and He has made it into a series called Stay in the Boat. I feel like it is a right on time WORD from God to YOU…and to me.
Matthew 14:22-36 King James Version
22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
Earlier in this chapter, John the Baptist had just been beheaded and then the miracle of feeding the 5,000 had been accomplished.
The word constrained in the Greek means to necessitate, compel, drive to, constrain.
Jesus is compelling the disciples to go to the other side.
This same word is used in the
Luke 14:23
And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
I would dare to say that God has compelled us at Pebble Hill to do this very thing.
The point being is that God has given the disciples a command with a purpose…in this case, Jesus didn’t give the purpose.
23 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.
So Jesus wanted, needed to pray…like I said earlier, his cousin John the Baptist had been beheaded, he fed the 5,000 and he taught the multitude. Look at how this happened….
Matthew 14:13 NLT As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot from many towns. 14 Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
You know that Jesus the man had to be weary in well doing. His emotions had to been worn out…
We go back the story, so Jesus was praying. Meanwhile,
24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
Remember that four of the disciples were former fishermen. Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John. That’s ¼ if have done my math correctly.
So they knew their way on the sea. This was a bad storm.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
The fourth watch was 3-6 am.
Back in Biblical times, they fished with nets. Because of that they also fished at night. During the day, the fish must dive deeper or find shade to reduce the amount of light going into their eyes. At night they come closer to the surface. If one is fishing with nets in the sea of Galilee the fish are below where your nets can reach during the daylight. You can net them at night. Just now imagined what it must have been like to deal with fishing nets in very low light conditions. The most they had were small oil lamps---
I am telling you this because this was not their first time in a boat, at night, and I’m sure it wasn’t their first storm.
Also, the fourth watch maybe significant Biblically. Are you frequently being wakened between 3 – 6 am? It may be God calling…
There is strategic significance in praying during the early morning hours. Though many are called to different times of the day or night to pray, prayer/worship during these hours are highly effectual in harnessing God's transforming power. Biblically, strategic events take place particularly during the night and early morning hours/watches:
• Jacob wrestled with God and met Him face to face just before entering into his destiny as Israel. Genesis 32:22-31
• Moses led the Israelites across the Red Sea Exodus 14:25-26
• Gideon defeated the Midianites (middle watch), Judges 7:19-24
• The angels appear to the shepherds in the field to announce the birth of the savior. Luke 2:8-14
• Jesus is resurrected from the dead, Matthew 28:1
• The bridegroom came for His bride in the night hours, Song of Solomon, Matthew 25:1-13
• And Now we see Jesus praying….and then interceding on the behalf of the disciples in this storm.
So let’s see the disciples reaction….
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
How many of you have heard this story? How many have heard sermons on this story? Most of the time, I have heard this story with the angle of the faith of Peter.
One day I was reading this story and I told God that I didn’t understand this. I couldn’t relate to Peter…..and He said, you do this to me all the time….He told me to go back and read it again…
Notice how when Jesus showed up they thought he was a spirit. They didn’t even know if it was JESUS….
All they knew was that they were in trouble. Sometimes when we find ourselves in the middle of the storm, we start looking for a way out. We seek a “Word from God”. And sometimes we move without testing the spirit like the bible says we should.
1 John 4 New King James Version
1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Instead of really testing the spirits to God’s WORD, we test them to what we want to hear. We test against what we want to happen. We test them to our plans. Our beliefs.
Now Peter asks Jesus to tell him to come out to him. Jesus replied Come.
SO he stepped out and by pure blind faith….maybe the faith from just wanting a change. Maybe a faith from wanting to escape. Things started going well for Peter at first.
How many times have you changed things (jobs, relationships, churches, etc) and all was well at first but then…like Peter you began to sink…so God asked me this, “Was Peter off now or before when he was in the boat?”
Common sense would tell you he had actually made it worse. Thankfully, Jesus is always with us…even when we step out of the boat.
Now let me ask you this, I started the story by putting emphasis on that Jesus had implored or compelled them get in the boat and go across the sea.
So let me ask you this? Were they in God’s will to be in the boat? Yes…did the storm being there change the will of God? NO.
Okay, as far as Peter…was Jesus walking toward the boat? Yes…
Where did Jesus take Peter when he rescued him from drowning?
32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. 33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
So back to the boat…back to the first place that God called him to be.
So the point being this morning is:
Stay in the Boat
34 And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.
Remember that at the beginning of all of this, Jesus compelled the disciples to go to the other side? He gave them a command with a purpose…and there is where they landed…
Gennesaret, which means….a garden of riches or God’s Blessing.
STAY in the BOAT
35 And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;
36 And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.