This is How You Go! Part One (BFM #18)
Text: Matthew 14:22-36
By: Ken McKinley
(Read Text)
In his book Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back Charles Swindoll tells a story about a farmer who wanted to impress his hunting buddies. So this farmer went out and bought the smartest, most expensive retriever he could find, then he trained this dog to do something that no other dog on earth could do, impossible feats that would surly amaze anyone who saw them. Then when duck season finally rolled around the farmer invited his friends to go hunting. After waiting a couple of hours in the boat, a group of ducks flew overhead and the hunters were able to shoot a few of them. As usual; a few of the ducks fell into the lake so the farmer looked at his prize retriever and said, “Go get em’ boy!” The dog jumped out of the boat and walked on the water, picked up a bird and returned to the boat. The farmer was beaming with pride and he looked over at his friends as the dog trotted off on top of the water to get the next duck. The farmer said to his friends, “Do you notice anything unusual about my dog?” One of his friends scratched his head for a moment and then said, “As a matter of fact I do. That stupid dog doesn’t know how to swim does he?”
Many people give Peter the same reaction. Instead of recognizing that he was the only disciple who even stepped out of the boat, he’s criticized for his lack of faith. Peter drew closer to Christ while 11 other disciples sat in the boat, content with their perceived safety. Let’s look at the context here. The disciples had just gotten the news about John the Baptist being beheaded. But they really didn’t even have time to grieve because the next thing we see if the multitudes of people coming to Jesus. Then we have the feeding of the 5,000, and right after that Jesus tells the disciples to get into the boat and go to the other side. The literal Greek says that He STRONGLY URGED them to get into the boat and go to the other side. Then as they are trying to be obedient to the Lord’s command, a storm comes along.
Now the first thing this should tell us is that when you are serving God, and trying to be obedient to Christ, you may have to face storms in your life. Now I’m not talking about physical storms that are common in weather, but storms of trials or difficulty. Even sitting here today you might be going through a storm in your life. It might be severe, it might not. Maybe it’s financial problems, or problem with family members, or emotional problems, problems at your job, or at school. We all have storms that come into our lives.
Anyone who tells you that Christianity is all smooth sailing doesn’t understand what the Bible teaches about serving the Lord.
So the disciples are in this storm, even though they were trying to be obedient to Jesus. Now that’s not the only reason people go through storms. Remember Jonah? Jonah went through a storm because he was disobedient. He went through a storm for correction, but that’s not the case here in our text (and let me just say this quickly; we should never presume that a person, or a group of people are going through a storm, be it literal or figurative, because of sin. Pat Robertson is a moron. Luke 13:1-5) The disciples were trying to do what Jesus had told them to do. They were trying to get to the other side.
Remember the last part of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus taught that we should build on the Rock? Let’s turn there… Matthew 7:24-26 (Read). Jesus was saying there that if your life is built on Christ Jesus, then that does not exempt you from storms in life, but you will be able to weather them. The wise builder had to go through the storm, he had to endure it, but the difference was his foundation.
And in that instance as well as in our text the issue is obedience. The wise builder was wise because he was not only a hearer of God’s Word, he was also a doer of God’s Word. The disciples were obedient as well. Jesus had told them to “Go to the other side,” at least they were trying to.
Which brings us back to Peter. Peter stepped out in faith and obedience to the Lord’s call of “Come.” D.L. Moody, once asked the question “What could God do with a man who was totally committed to Him?” And then Moody answered his own question, “Lord let me be that man.” D.L. Moody went on to pastor one of the largest churches of his day, he became a well known evangelist and founded the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Press. A lot of Christians are content to only do little things for God. Peter wasn’t like that – Peter climbed out of the boat and walked on water. Now we don’t know how far he got before he started to sink, but he walked on water father than any other disciple, because none of the others got out of the boat.
So how does all of this relate to the BFM article 11 “Evangelism and Missions?” Well I’m betting most of you have already figured it out. We’ve got to get out of the boat. Jesus told the disciples, “Go to the other side.” Jesus has told us, “Go into all the world.”
Now if you remember last Sunday I asked the question, “Why don’t we fish?” And I listed some of the areas, probably the main areas why Christians say they don’t. I’ll list them for you again.
1. They aren’t sure how to do it.
2. They are afraid to do it.
3. They don’t have the time to do it.
4. They don’t have the desire to do it.
5. They don’t know any non-Christians to witness to.
Those are the most common reasons that Christians give for not sharing the Gospel. So today in the time we have left, I want to address these reasons and show you from Scripture how we can overcome these and Lord willing be more effective for the cause and kingdom of God.
Turn with me to Luke 5:17-20 (Read). There are a lot of hurting people out there who need help. And guess what? The Church has what they need, or at least we should. We have the answer and that answer is Jesus Christ. But if someone is hurting; spiritually, physically, emotionally… we can’t help them unless we know they’re hurting. So as individual members of the Body of Christ, it is our duty to get them here so that we can help them, or bring the help to them. If you know someone who is sick, depressed, or just beat down by the world, invite them to church where they can find comfort, and love, and fellowship and compassion. If they are in need of something, we as the representatives of Christ here on earth, need to be ready to help them. I’m not saying we give hand-outs every time. I’m saying we as the Church need to be ready to meet that need and help people in need in the best way possible. Sometimes by an offering, sometimes by teaching them a better way to live, sometimes just by being there.
Ok; stay in Luke chapter 5 and look at verses 27-32 (Read).
Here we have Matthew the tax collector. Matthew wasn’t a Bible scholar, or theologian, or anything like that. He wasn’t a pastor or evangelist. So it’s obvious that Matthew didn’t have all the answers about Jesus or Christianity. But look at what he does here. Matthew had a dinner party for Jesus, but look who else was there. “A great number of tax collectors and others.” The scribes and Pharisees called them sinners. So Matthew has a party for Jesus, but then he goes and invites the people he knows as well. His fellow tax collectors and other sinners. In John chapter 4 the Samaritan woman at the well does pretty much the same thing. She brought the entire town to where they could meet Jesus.
Now that might be someone right here in this church today. You might not know all that the Bible has to teach. You may not know the Bible as well as you would like and you may not be able to answer some of the tough questions people might ask, but I betcha’ there’s someone here at this church that can. If you have friends, or co-workers or associates with questions, don’t let that stop you from witnessing. If they come up with a question or something that is too tough for you, introduce them to someone who can answer their question, or better yet bring them to church. I’m not promising that I can answer every question you might get asked, but I will tell you this, if you come to me with a question about the Bible or about the Bible’s teachings, I will do my very best to try to find the answer for you. That’s one of the reasons we come together in this setting, so that we might grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
So what we see Matthew and the woman at the well doing is what a lot of people would call relational evangelism. They are sharing with people they have built relationship with. That’s kind of what our missionaries do as well.
Now I don’t recommend you use this method unless you walk matches your talk. It’s been said that the greatest single cause of atheism is Christians who acknowledge God with their lips, but deny Him with their lives. That’s the sort of thing that created men like Charles Darwin and Karl Marx, and Lord knows we don’t need any more people like that running loose in the world.
Those are just two examples of how you can share your faith with others. I’ve written up several other ideas and put them in your bulletins as an insert. If you don’t have one in your bulletin then pick one up in the foyer up front before you leave.
The Bible teaches we learn how to witness and share our faith simply by doing it. We learn by doing. So there’s the answer to reason #1 why Christians don’t share, but it leads us to reason #2 – fear.
Fear is one of the main reasons Christians don’t share the Gospel with others. Fear of persecution, fear of looking foolish, fear of offending others… fear. Remember what Jesus said when He came walking to the disciples on the sea? He said, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Fear comes from a lack of understanding.
Do you fear persecution? Then you’re a normal human being. But if you are a Christian who is faithfully sharing the Gospel then you need to realize right now, that you are going to be persecuted. You need to get it settled once and for all in your mind that it’s going to happen, and then you have to make a choice. Am I going to fear men, or God? Turn with me to Luke 12:4 (Read). You notice that passage doesn’t say, “If you’re serving God you won’t face persecution.” No, we’ve already seen that sometimes in obedience we have to go through storms. What it says is, “Make sure your fear is properly placed.” Jesus tells us over and over again, “Fear Not!” But in this one instance He tells us there is a proper kind of fear, and you notice the context. It has to do with witnessing. “Don’t fear men, Fear God.”
Fear in witnessing comes from a lack of understanding. We fear men because we don’t understand the proper fear of the Lord. We fear persecution because we don’t understand that is the Christian lot in life. We have been wrongly taught that Christianity is easy, that its safe, that it involves no sacrifice. We gloss over Scriptures that tell us to take up our cross and follow Him, and we conveniently forget that the cross is not a gold ornament on a necklace, but it’s an instrument of torture and death. We ignore Jesus teaching that in this world you will have trouble. We forget that anyone who desires to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
So what about a fear of looking foolish? Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the Gospel…” Turn with me to 1st Corinthians 1:18-25 (Read). Are you going to look foolish? Most likely. Because the things of God are not discernable by those who are spiritually dead in trespasses and sin. But it doesn’t matter because it is that foolishness that God has ordained as the means of saving lost sinners.
What about a fear of offending someone? Again the message is stumbling block to some. But we don’t have to apologize for the Bible. God said what He meant and He meant what He said. It’s not our job to make the Gospel politically correct, or more “seeker friendly.” It’s our job to present it faithfully and consistently.
Now we’ve got 3 more reasons Christians don’t witness to look at, but I’m out of time for today, so we’re going to have to look at them next Sunday. So let’s review quickly and then we’ll close.
We’ve been given our orders – Go! Go into all the world and preach the Gospel; Get out of the boat!
Now in being obedient to this command, we are going to face a storm. We’ve been told over and over again, that we will. It’s going to happen.
But the storm is secondary because Christ is with us, and we have a job to do, despite the storm.
There are many ways to share the Gospel, but the best way to learn how is by just going out and doing it. And fear is not a reason to not share. Because the Lord is our light and our salvation, whom shall we fear? The Lord is the strength of our lives, of whom shall we be afraid? (Ps.27:1)
LET’S PRAY
