Sermon Text: Matthew 14:22-32
When Jesus Says Come: He has just opened a door for you to a greater life than you could imagine, but it will cost you something to get it. There will be a risk.
Let me say this to you, life comes with risk.
* Every time you get on the freeway, you are taking a risk.
* Every time you get on an airplane, you are taking a risk.
* Every time you let them put you under for surgery, you are taking a risk.
Some risks are big and some are small.
* Every time you deposit money into your bank account, you are taking a risk.
* Every time you get your hair done, you are taking a risk, that they won't turn it
green.
* Every time you take a drug with 37 side affects, you are taking a risk.
Let me insert this right here, life with Jesus comes with risk.
When Jesus walked the earth, he was hated by the religious system, and they wanted to kill him. It was a risk to be seen with Jesus. It was taking your life into your own hands to be on Jesus ministry team.
I prophesy right now that before this message is over, somebody is going to hear Jesus say come, and you’re going to have to decide, is it worth the risk?
It’s going to be just as real for you as it was for Peter on that stormy night, Jesus has not changed and he is still calling people to walk on the water and somebody listening to this message is going to hear that unmistakable voice and your life is never going to be the same.
Come: It’s really just another way of saying…
* You can do it.
* It’s your turn.
* Start.
* Jump.
* Go... quit making excuses, break free of your fears, and live your faith.
So many of Gods people live beneath their potential, they live what we’ll call the safe life.
But every once in a while you run into someone who heard Jesus say come and they went over the edge of the comfortable and predictable safe zone and they’re following Jesus in the Faith Zone.
So many times we sit back in our comfortable safe places, and talk about everything we would do for God (if) he ever called us.
Well my question is: Are you ready for the risk?
Nothing of any real lasting meaning or value has ever been accomplished without risk. Risk is built into the faith equation.
Risk means…
1. The possibility that something unpleasant or unwelcome will happen.
2. A situation involving exposure to danger.
3. The possibility of loss.
4. The possibility of an outcome opposite to your desire.
You and I most likely will never literally get out of a boat and walk on top of water as Peter did.
We may never during the course of our lifetimes be in the situation or the circumstances that Peter was in, when he literally and physically got out of his boat in the middle of a life threatening storm, and physically in the presence of eye witnesses walked on top of the water.
But while we may never physically leave the safety of a perfectly good boat, and leap out onto a raging sea. There will be times in our lives as we follow Christ that we will be faced with a decision between risk or safety, and we will be challenged to duplicate that same reckless risk of faith and abandon that Peter had when he let go of everything, so he could hold onto nothing but a word.
There is going to be some point in your faith journey, when you have to choose the high road or the low road.
If you choose the higher road it means you will have to let go.
The higher road means higher in the realm of faith, and higher on the risk level.
The greater the challenge, the higher the risk level.
But having said that, I also want to say… It takes a certain measure of faith just to ride out the storm. It takes a certain measure of faith to keep your sanity when all hell is breaking loose against your family, your finances, your health, and your ministry.
Some people are quick to criticize those other disciples because they weren’t willing to take a risk, and categorize them as being fearful and faithless.
But I don’t, because I know how it feels to be in a storm, and I know how much faith it took for me just to stay in the boat.
You know what I mean? To keep praising, to keep trusting, to keep tithing, and keep sowing and keep confessing, when I couldn’t see any relief in sight, and I couldn’t feel any relief and I couldn’t see anything but storm clouds and rough waters.
No I’m not condemning them; they made it through the storm, they made it to the other side, praise God they made it. That’s something to shout about right there.
I made it: I didn’t feel like I was going to make it, it didn’t look like I was going to make it, people said I wouldn’t make it, but here I am.
No I will not criticize them: I only have one thing to say about those other disciples (They missed the opportunity to take the high road.) They were brought to a place where they could have chosen a greater glory.
They missed the testimony of a water walker: All they had was a survival testimony… we survived, we rode out the storm.
I don’t know about you, but I want more than just a survival testimony...
* I want to be able to talk about the storm that I put under my feet.
* I want to tell somebody about the Goliath that I killed.
* I want to talk about the sickness that tried to kill me, but I beat it.
* I want to be able to tell somebody how I destroyed poverty and lack.
* I want to show somebody how I defeated fear, and anxiety, and worry.
* I want to testify about some personal battles, that ended in my victory over the devil.
A survival testimony is good, but when Peter began to testify, his testimony was different. Yes he was in the boat with all the rest, and yes he feared for his life like all the other disciples. But when Peter saw Jesus walking on the water, something on the inside of Peter told him… you can do that. If Jesus can do it, you can too.
Something inside of Peter said: If the teacher can do it, so can the students.
(All I need is a word from the master)
Friend… all you need is a word from the Master.
All you need is a can do word.
There may be a thousand voices telling you that you can’t do it, and a thousand reasons why can’t do it...
* You’re not educated enough.
* You’re not old enough.
* You’re too old.
* You’re the wrong color.
* You’re from the wrong side of town.
* You don’t have enough money.
* You don’t have any experience.
But if you have a can do word from God… You can do the impossible: You can go where they said you could never go, and you can do what they said you can never do, and you can be what they said you could never be, and you can have what they said you could never have.
But all you need is a can do word.
Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Mk 9:23 If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
1Jo 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
Peter had a can do word: Come. That’s all he had, but that’s all he needed.
No doubt the disciples argued with him and told him, it was impossible and begged him to stay in the boat, and stay on the same faith level that they were on. They probably said, don’t risk it Peter. But Peter had heard the Call.
Everyone in the boat had the same opportunity Peter had to walk on the water, the circumstances were the same, Jesus was the same, the word was the same.
They chose to hold on to the boat; They chose to resist the risk. But Peter chose to step out on the Word. When Peter took the risk, and he stepped out on the word: He also stepped into a brand new anointing.
He stepped into a supernatural water walking anointing. He began moving and walking and operating in the same realm, and the same anointing that Jesus was functioning in.
Let me make a point here: Jesus didn’t force Peter to get out of the boat, Jesus didn’t threaten Peter. Jesus didn’t condemn the other disciples for not walking on the water.
Jesus simply came to them all in a way that presented an opportunity for them to move to another level in their faith. He created an avenue for them to step from one realm of anointing to another, he called them to a higher experience, and a higher manifestation of his power in their lives.
But only one took that step: only one took the risk of faith, and that risk separated Peter from the rest of the disciples.
That step drew a line between the doers and the watchers, (between the boat sitters and the water walkers).
Somebody said” I’m afraid, I’m afraid I might get wet. Tell your neighbor… that’s a risk you have to take, if you’re going to walk on the water.
Yes you might get wet, in fact you probably will get wet. But that’s a risk I’ll take, because I made up my mind a long time ago, that I would rather be a wet water walker, than a dry boat sitter.
I’d rather get wet trying to do something for God, than to spend my life in a dry boat, and never experience the supernatural power of God.
I’d rather experience one day, one hour, one minute walking on the water, than a life time of sitting in a dry boat.
I prophesy and I declare to you that there is a new stirring in the spirit, and many who have been comfortable and satisfied in the boat of mediocrity, and religious expectation, and traditions of man are getting uncomfortable.The Spirit is calling come up hither, come up higher.
And many of Gods people are realizing that they weren’t created for the confines and the restrictions and the limitations of a barnyard religion. In other words: we are discovering our destiny, we are discovering our purpose and we are discovering the power that resides in us.
And we are discovering that we are not chickens, we are eagles. The truth is, you can choose to live on the lower plane as a chicken, but your eagle spirit will never be satisfied.
Someone hearing this message right now, you can’t figure it out, you’re uncomfortable, you’re uneasy and kind of edgy and irritable; nothing really satisfies you, you’re not satisfied by what you eat or the job you have or the car you drive.
You leave church feeling like something’s missing and you want to blame it on the Pastor, or the praise and worship team, or the teacher or the evangelist.
But the truth is: It’s not their fault. A different job or different food, or a different church, or more money, isn’t going to fix it.
The problem is: your spirit has heard the Eagle cry of the Holy Spirit and your spirit wants to break free, but your flesh is trying to hold you in captivity. It’s the anointing that is calling you; it’s the anointing that is pulling you.
It’s that same anointing that pulled Peter out of that boat. It’s that same word that called Peter to a life in the supernatural.
Now you can talk about the peter that started to sink if you want to, but I prefer to talk about the Peter that walked on the water, cast out devils, healed the sick, and raised the dead, and preached the inauguration of the dispensation of the Holy Ghost and 3,000 souls were saved.
I want to talk about Peter, the man who was willing to take a risk. The man who let go of everything to take hold of one word from God.
As I said earlier you and I may never jump out of a boat like Peter did and walk on water, but at some point in your faith journey God is going to give you the opportunity to launch out into the supernatural: You’re going to hear him say come… And it’s going to be just as crazy and just as reckless, and some people will criticize you and call you crazy, some people will make fun of you and forecast your failure and anticipate your demise. And you’re going to have to decide if it is worth the risk or not?
At some point you have to make a choice: Are you going to live by what man created (the job) (the position) (the reputation) or are you going to live by what created man?
Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that (the worlds were framed by the word of God), so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Somebody is getting out of the boat, somebody is making a decision to take a risk, to go higher, to walk by faith and not by sight.
Somebody today is moving into what I call (Crazy Faith) It’s the kind of faith that will let go of everything just to take hold of one word from God.
That one word from Jesus saved Peters life, and probably everyone on that boat: I want you to lift your hands right now and begin to praise God for some crazy people, I mean people who are willing to risk everything on a word.
I mean people who will answer the call into the unknown, people who will say yes to God.
Abraham, Paul the apostle, Joseph, Daniel, the Three Hebrew children, and Jesus himself are in that group.
That’s a pretty good crowd to run with.
I believe that somebody is hearing the voice of Jesus right now, he’s saying come, let’s do this together...
* Let’s go to the mission field.
* Let’s start that business.
* Let’s build that church.
* Let’s write that book.
* Let’s go back to school and get your degree.
* Let’s launch that ministry.
When Jesus says come: He is inviting you to take hold of his power, his wisdom, and his ability.
I believe there is a call going out in the spirit right now, for men and women to let go of the safe life and step up to the faith life. To take a risk in order to walk with God where you’ve never walked before, and see what you’ve never seen before, and do what you’ve never done before.
Peter did not sink and neither will you, Jesus would not have called you if he couldn’t hold you up.
When Jesus says come everything you need to accomplish the work is contained in that word.
But there is one question you will have to answer, and no one can answer it for you… is it worth the risk?
I want to say something right here…
* In the risk is where miracles happen.
* In the risk is where the power of God is manifested.
* In the risk is where the glory of God is revealed.
* In the risk is where the devil is humiliated, and Jesus is exalted.
* In the risk is where the the kingdom of God comes in power.
* Fiery effective Bible faith, is born, and is forged in the fires of risk and adversity.
What’s the difference between a life of the miraculous, and walking on the water, or spending a life sitting in the boat?
It’s called the risk of faith.
Right about now you’re probably thinking… Pastor Terry, what is it that makes it so important for me to take the risk? In other words, what do I stand to lose if I decide just to sit this one out, and just let Jesus pass me by.
That’s a good question, and I will try to answer that for you. If you decide to just sit this one out, it may be the last opportunity you ever have, to tap into the greater glory, and become a partner with the Holy Spirit in the miracle working power of God.
Is that all I stand to lose? Not quite! If you decide to let this God invitation pass you by, you stand to lose a generation...
* You stand to lose a nation.
* You stand to lose your children and your grandchildren, to a very wicked and evil
communistic, marxist idealogy that will destroy this country.
* You stand to lose your sons and daughters, and grandchildren to not only an
ideology, but in fact a satanic agenda, to destroy not only the physical identity of
our kids, but their mental, and emotional, and spiritual identity, as well.
* You stand to lose the freedom to worship God according to the dictates of your
own heart, and instead be under government supervision, that will permit you just
enough freedom to be religious, but not enough to worship God in Spirit, and in
truth.
* You stand to lose the legal right to pray, and to worship God, and to read your Bible,
or even own a Bible.
* You stand to lose the glorious privilidge of being able to share your faith, privately
or publically.
* You stand to lose the freedom to follow your dreams, and fulfill your destiny.
* You stand to lose every promise, and every benefit, that Jesus payed for with his
blood, and his sacrifice.
* You stand to lose the power, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit… because the
anointing is for doers, not sitters.
I believe there is just one question that must be answered, and it's personal, no one can do it for you, and it is this... Is it worth the risk?
