Do We Walk by Faith or by Sight?
To get a more completed picture of this biblical account, I will take this study from Matthew and John. Lets begin by reading from John 6:
5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"
6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
7 Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."
8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him,
9 "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"
10 Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.
…
14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."
15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.
Matthew 14 picks up the story in verse 22:
22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.
23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.
24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.
25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear.
27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid."
This account gives us incredible insight into the difference between walking by faith and walking by sight. Many people call themselves followers of Christ, but as we will examine more closely, they are usually divided into two camps. There are those who base their faith on experience, and those who base their faith on truth. Experiential faith is not faith at all. It is completely dependent on sight and circumstances. An ‘experiential Christian’ will only remain when they are experiencing benefit. A Christian who walks by faith based on the truth of God’s word will endure and obey regardless of what challenges arise. Let’s begin with a deeper look at the differences between ‘Experiential Believers’ and Believers based on faith and the truth of God’s word.
Experiential Believers
Let me begin by saying that there is nothing wrong with personal experience. In fact, it is our personal experience that we can look back on as an anchor point where we began our walk with Christ. Personal experience is a powerful testimony to others and can go far in building our own faith as well. Personal experience is a benefit from faith in Christ, but it is not the foundation of our faith in Christ. Our foundation is the truth of the Bible. Personal experience is the result of trusting in that truth. Experiential believers place their trust in circumstances and not in our God, Who is able to overcome any circumstance. Any religion or practice that promises personal benefit will draw experiential believers. Truth is easily compromised because truth is measured against the experience instead of measuring the experience against the truth. People are easily lead into sin because “they feel at peace” with their decision. However, we know from the truth of God’s word that what we sow will be reaped in our lives. We may be at peace with the idea of getting what our flesh desires now, but the end result will never be peace.
Experiential believers are not walking in God’s will. Even a true Christian can be lured into a false idea of faith, but anyone who has found faith through emotions alone should examine their salvation according to scripture to insure they have indeed placed their trust in Jesus Christ. An emotional experience can’t save anyone, only repenting (turning away from your sins) and trusting in Jesus alone can we inherit salvation. There are 3 characteristics that we find in our opening passages that reveal the error of experiential faith.
1. They Missed God’s Plan
Because they walked by sight, they could not see God’s plan of redemption. They could only see the circumstances. When the multitudes were getting fed, they were happy and wanted to make Jesus their king. This was not Jesus’ plan, but that made little difference to the crowd. They began to act as a mob and intended to take Jesus by force and make Him king. That is the first mark of an experiential believer. They have a false faith. God’s plan means nothing. They pray for God to fulfill their desires and it has little meaning to consider Gods plan. How many times have we heard people say they are praying for God’s will when clearly they are going against scripture. God will never even hear a prayer that goes against His clearly stated word. If God says, “Do not be unequally married to unbelievers” and we ask God to make an exception, this is a wasted prayer. God gives us the freedom make choices that go against His will, but we will suffer the consequences. God did not give this command to make it difficult for us, but to make it easier on us. True intimacy in marriage requires spiritual, physical, emotional, and intellectual intimacy. Spiritual intimacy is the foundation that everything else should be built on. Marriage can’t thrive the way God intended without spiritual intimacy. If two people are incompatible spiritually, an unhappy marriage will be the result. Or the believing spouse will have to compromise his or her faith to please the other spouse. A marriage can survive, but can’t achieve God’s design without spiritual intimacy.
A believer that walks by sight will pray for God to conform to their plans instead of asking God to lead them to His plan. Prayer becomes a tool to get what we want instead of a time of communion with God. The relationship with God is the top priority. God created His plan for our life before we ever had a day on this earth. Therefore, our goal in prayer is to build intimacy with God and to align our hearts with God so He can lead us to His perfectly designed plan for our life. An experiential Christian will always miss God’s plan because they are looking for God to be the tool to fulfill their own plan.
2. They Only See Circumstances
Because an experiential Christian can only see their own plan and are seeking specific experiences, they also can only look at their circumstances. Without a vision for God’s plan for your life, your ‘faith’ will rise or fall with every circumstance. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” There is no way we can believe the promise that “all things work together for the good of those who love God” unless you also recognize the second half of that passage – “and [you] are called according to His purposes”. If we can’t see that we have a specific purpose that God has ordained us for and called us to complete, every circumstance will make or break our faith. Everything that doesn’t feed us will be interpreted as the consequences to sin, lack of faith, the anger of God or God letting us down. We get disappointed in God because we can’t see the plan of God. When we see the bigger picture for our life, then we can have the absolute confidence that God is in control and there is nothing that happens that I will not thank Him for in the end.
If circumstances and selfish desires rule our lives, we will always reject God’s plan. God tests our faith to see if we are following Him or selfish desires. Anyone dependent on circumstances will always reject God’s plan when there is a personal cost.
3. They Reject God
Jesus never let the world follow Him. Each time the following became great, Jesus forced a decision that separated the selfish from the faithful. The plan was always secondary to who He was. Following His purposes was a primary mission, but that did not take a back seat to who He was. The purposes of God were founded on God, not on accomplishing the mission. Each time the people turned their back on Jesus, they were rejecting God. Jesus did not allow people to tag along without making a personal decision to accept Him as He was. An experiential Christian wants God, but they want to create God in the image they desire or to shape Him into a personalized God. God will not allow us to shape Him into another image. If we reject God for who God is, we reject God completely.
When Jesus didn’t conform to the people’s desire, those focused on self gain rejected Him completely. That is why the same people who came to make Him a political king would later be found shouting, “Crucify Him!”. A few days before Jesus’ crucifixion, the people were shouting His praises and singing “Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”. Their expectation was that He would take the throne, free them from Roman oppression and usher in a time that would be prosperity and glory for Israel. When Jesus did not fulfill this expectation, they rejected God’s plan and turned their back on Jesus. They went from praising Him to demanding His murder.
An experiential believer will turn their back on God and reject His plan when the idea they have doesn’t match God’s plan. Instead of moving to God’s will, they believe God doesn’t work. They can’t let go of their self-benefiting plans and can’t conceive that God will be the One to fulfill those who deny themselves. Instead of denying themselves and taking a step of faith, they reject God and seek another way to be fulfilled. People spend their entire lives grasping for fulfillment even though God has promised fulfillment to those who will trust Him.
Now take a moment to look at the other group found in our passages.
Believers by Truth
The people Jesus fed show us what it means to walk by experience, but the disciples reveal true faith. They did not have a clue what Jesus’ purpose was until after His resurrection, but they still kept the faith. The disciples also believed Jesus was to fulfill all of the prophecies of Messiah at the time of His visitation. When the people came to take Jesus, there was a clear sense of urgency with Jesus. Look again at Matthew 14:22
Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.
Immediately Jesus ‘made’ His disciples get into the boat. The sense of urgency is lost in the translation. ‘Immediately’ is self explanatory, but ‘made’ is not. The Greek word translated into ‘made’ literally means to constrain by force or by threats. Jesus did two things here. He protected His disciples from getting caught in the mob mentality by removing them from the situation. The moment the trouble began to take over, He immediately forced them into the boat. They didn’t grasp the trouble brewing, so He used strong force and commands. Second, He gave a clear command that His disciples go to the other side and He would join up with them later. They obviously didn’t understand what was going on, but they obeyed.
Here, their true faith is revealed. The Sea of Galilee is notorious for sudden windstorms even today. It can be a cloudless sky, but when the temperature changes or the winds shift, it blows over the mountains and swoops through the low-lying areas. Any learned fisherman knows that the first response is to get off the water or risk serious peril. Everything pointed to returning back to the other side, but the disciples continued to row against the wind. They made no progress and probably lost a lot of ground, but they continued to row. All they knew was that Jesus commanded them to go to the other side. They were going where Jesus was going and nothing stopped them. They struggled against the wind from the evening, well into the night. They fought adversity for over 9 hours without even knowing why.
An experiential believer can never endure hardships because trials will not fulfill the desire for the experience they are seeking. We all like to experience the good things of God, but we can’t let personal experiences become our purpose. There are 3 characteristics that the disciples showed that proved their faith was founded on truth.
1. They followed Christ, not the experience
It would have been so easy to quit rowing and allow the wind to drive them back to where they started. They had a legitimate excuse. They also could have thought, if this was the will of God, why wasn’t God blessing their efforts?
Just because God gives us a command or calls us to a mission doesn’t mean that God is going to pave an easy road. The reason we were created is to have fellowship with God. Nothing else matters. We glorify God by seeking that fellowship. All of our works should be to please God and draw others into fellowship with God. God will always test our faith. It is during times of testing that we learn how to depend on Him. It is during times of testing that we also prove our purpose. When every support and all the strength of our own might is stripped away, we will know what our true motives are. Many people hear God’s call and answer, but very few endure through difficult times. Most people fall away even when the going is not difficult because they are not willing to make God’s call a priority, therefore other things crowd their life. They want to do good works solely for the purpose of feeling good. When it doesn’t feel good and working requires discipline, you will see people dropping out of the picture. Jesus said, “Many are called, but few are chosen”. God’s call is to everyone, but God only honors those who answer out of obedience and love for Him, not those who are pursuing their own merits or work by their own strength.
When God tests our faith, we will prove our motives. Those seeking personal experience will fade when personal gain seems out of reach, but those who want God will persevere.
2. They believed the Word of God
Jesus commanded them to row to the other side and that He would meet them. They didn’t know when or where, only that He gave a command with a promise. God has given us the absolute promise, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35). God will always honor His word. God will never honor what goes against His word. He may redeem us from our failures, but we also miss the benefits He planned for us and suffer the consequences of our actions.
It was the word of Jesus’ command that kept the disciples on track, not the success. They could have succeeded in going anywhere but the other side, but it would not have been obedience. Success without obedience is always failure. God can’t bless disobedience. God will test our faith to see if we will disobey. The world will give you a million reasons why it is ok to change course. There are plenty of reasons you can use to justify your actions. This is why Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Even a well meaning Christian can deceive themselves into justifying disobedience. A thousand good reasons can’t justify one act of disobedience. Our heart frequently deceives us into choosing good reasons against obedience to God, but when all the masks are removed, it is always selfish disobedience. We can promise everything to God’s glory, but even success without obedience is failure. God calls us to believe His word. We either believe God, or we declare our wisdom to be above God’s commands.
3. They trusted in God’s plan, not their own understanding
Out of obedience, the disciples were placed in the path of a brutal windstorm they could not conquer. The only reason they remained in the middle of the water was because they obeyed. That is exactly how the life of a Christian often plays out. When we obey God, we are placed in the middle of trials. When God gives us a call, our natural expectation is that God will bless His own call. It is true that God will bless what He ordains, but the timing is always unknown to us. Sometimes we will see rapid success and sometimes we do not. It is God’s plan and He knows what the results will be. One thing we know for sure is that the winds will come. When the winds are coming, we don’t know. When the success will come, we don’t know. God does not call us to succeed nor does God call us to achieve. God only calls us to obey. The results of our obedience and the fruit of our labors belong solely to God.
People give up because they think God owes them success. In reality, we have been given a greater reward than we could ever repay in our lifetime. Our salvation through Jesus Christ has made us a child of God and there is no greater reward and there is nothing we can give to repay that reward. We can only give back to God what is already His. It is vital that we understand that the results of our obedience are out of our hands. We only have the promise that what we sow in our lives, we will reap in due time. The Bible tells us that if we sow in obedience, we will reap righteousness. If we sow disobedience, we will reap corruption. Our task is not to accomplish anything, but only to obey and to build our relationship with God. God allows the winds of this life to blow off course anyone who is not rooted in a relationship with Christ.
We see that God allowed the disciples to struggle for over 9 hours before He intervened. It is important to realize that the struggle was a task given to them, but the accomplishment of the mission was fulfilled by Jesus. Once Jesus stepped into the boat, the struggling was over, the testing was complete, and He took them to the other side. That is how it is in our lives. We struggle to obey, but God has promised that He will never allow us to be tempted beyond our abilities. Once God has proven our faith, He produces the results. The battle is the Lord’s, but obedience belongs to us. If the disciples had given up, they would have never seen the power of God as He rebuked the winds and calmed the sea.
We are called to endure all things. We are called to work and to stand strong in the Lord. We must also remember that we are also told that God produces the results. Struggling to remain in God’s will not only proves our faith, but it also proves to humble us. God cannot bless the proud. We learn that the power is not ours, but Gods. If we had immediate success each time we dreamed big, we would quickly become proud and feel like it is our own holiness. But when we struggle, we learn to depend on God and we see that only God can accomplish our calling. I believe that we are truly benefited when we are tried because it returns our focus to the power of God. Trials are the tools that make the mission to no longer be about us, but about the glory of God. When God is glorified, we inherit the benefit.
*** This sermon can be downloaded as a Word document by following the link at
http://www.exchangedlife.com/Sermons/topical/walk_by_faith.htm
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