Transcription
Hey, what's up YouTube family? It's Pastor KJ from Radiant Church, and I'm so excited for you to join us for today's sermon. We have such a powerful sermon in store. I believe it's going to strengthen you, challenge you, and encourage you. So get ready for this message.
Also, share this message with friends, family members, co-workers, everyone you know. I believe it would change their life. Get ready to jump into the word of God with us today. If you were taking notes, the title of my sermon is "Wind and Waves." Everyone say, "Wind." Wind. And "Waves." Waves. Wind and Waves.
Now, the reason why my sermon is called "Wind and Waves" is because wind and waves create something. The thing that wind and waves create is a storm. The thing that wind winds and waves create is the storm. So today, we're preaching about the storm.
Now, my question is, why do we see the storm in the spiritual sense? The reason why we see the storm is because the storm is Satan's way of scaring you. The storm is Satan's way of scaring you. And the reason why Satan wants to scare you is because he can't stop you. The reason he wants to scare you is because he can't stop you. And the reason why he can't stop you is because he's been disarmed at the cross, which means he's been stripped of his ammo, his bullets, his rights, his authority.
So since he can't stop you, he wants to scare you. Because when he scares you, what happens is you open the door to fear. And whenever you let fear interfere with your faith, that can stop you. So Satan wants fear to come inside of you because whenever fear is inside of you, it neutralizes your faith. Because fear is the contrary or the polarity to faith. So, so faith is believing God is going to move, and fear is believing Satan is going to move. So Satan wants you to have fear because when you're afraid, you have faith in Satan's system. In other words, God has called me to step out and walk into something. When I'm afraid, I'm afraid that Satan's going to stop me, so I don't walk into it. So fear is faith in reverse. Fear stopped me from walking out and it made me freeze, and that's what Satan wanted.
See, you got to understand something. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. Fear comes by hearing the lies of Satan. So faith and faith and fear are each other's polarity. The Bible says faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. I'm going to tell you something. Fear is the substance of things scared of and the evidence of not seen. So the same way faith works for the kingdom of God, fear works for the kingdom of Satan. Same way faith can unlock doors, fear can lock them. Same way faith can turn on the lights, fear can turn them off. So Satan wants you afraid.
Now, you have to know something about him. He has no power. Yes, he has no power. Satan is the best Halloween house you would ever see. Everything in there is fake, but it scared you to death. And that's how Satan is. Everything fake. His bullets is fake. His kingdom is fake. His lies is fake. Everything you're afraid of is fake. Fake. If I ask many of you guys to come on stage and speak right now, you'd be like, "I can't, 'cause I'm scared." What are you scared of? Yes, the microphone is gonna bite you? They're going to think I'm stupid? Are we really? It's so crazy that you're so busy being scared, you don't take time to dissect what you're scared of. You're not scared. "I'm scared of speaking." No, you're not. You talk all the time. You need to be quiet. "I'm scared." "You over here, I'm scared of water." Hold on, let me get something to drink. How you scared of water? You just drink it. "I'm scared of lightning and thunder." I know that lightning and thunder be beating hard, but when was the last time you got electrocuted or barbecue? Most of what you're scared of is literally an exaggeration. Satan inflating something and exaggerating, making you think something is real when it's not. The acronym of fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. Right? False evidence appearing real.
And what you have to understand about Satan is, Satan is the stage setter. He's the stage setter. He perfectly sets the stage, like you're going to fail, like you're going to die, like you're not going to make it, like your marriage is going to end, like your kids are going to leave God. He sets the stage to get you to freak out. Because whenever you freak out, you introduce his people into your life, and his people, them demons. You introduce them. You give them a right. The enemy has no authority in your life. You have to invite him in, let him in, bring him in. And you do that with fear. Wow. Just like faith gives heaven the right to move, fear gives darkness the right to move. So don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. And the Bible says, "Fear not." "Fear not." "Fear not." "Fear not." Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid.
And what you have to do is, you cannot walk in fear. And to walk in fear means to forget everything and run. Forget everything and run. And God said, "No, walk in faith." To walk in faith means to fight everything and rise. To fight everything and rise. I'm not going to forget everything and run. I'm going to face everything and rise. I'm going to fight everything and rise. I'm stepping out into what God has me to step into. I will not walk in fear.
I remember the story of David and Goliath. And Goliath, he would come and he would taunt the people of God day and night. He would taunt them. He would taunt them. He would taunt them. He was the giant of taunting them, taunting them. And the Bible says the children of Israel, they shook in terror. They shook in terror. They were afraid. And I want you to know something, that Goliath was a prototype of sin. He was the giant taunting the people, like sin. Sin would come and sin would taunt us, and sin would cause us to shake in terror. It would cause us to shake in fear. But David was a prototype of Christ, and he was going to knock that giant of sin out on the cross and chop his head off. So the giant of sin won't have no power over you, no authority over you, no leeway over you. You don't have to fear the giant because Jesus has knocked the giant down.
But you got to know something about a giant. Don't your giant is dead, it doesn't mean it's still not deadly though. Giant is dead, it doesn't mean your giant is not deadly. I remember when I was with a friend and, uh, we was in the desert, and there was a rattlesnake. And I was going to go grab it quickly. And he said, "No, don't grab it." And he grabbed the stick and he hit the rattlesnake on its tail. It was dead. And when he hit it on its tail, it turned around and it lunged at us. And I was like, "Oh my gosh, like it's dead. How did it lunge at us?" He said, "I want to tell you even worse." He said, "Not only did it lunge at you, it can still bite you while it's dead and infuse venom in you." And then it got me to thinking, just because the giant is dead doesn't mean it ain't deadly. Dead giants still talk. Dead giants still lunge. And dead giants still attack. Sin has been dead, but if you go touching it, it still has the power to bite you. Fear has been dead, but if you go touching it, it still has the power to bite you. Anxiety is dead, but if you touch it, it still has the power to bite you. I'm not going to touch what's been dead. I don't have to fight fear no more. Jesus has fought fear. Fear has no power unless you give it to it.
So you got to quit letting fear interfere. And the Bible says, "Perfect love casts out all fear." Perfect love casts out fear. Wherever you're scared at, the antidote to your fear is love. It's love. And let me tell you what love does. It drives out. It casts out. In other words, love rebukes fear. When I love my God, and my God loves me, and I walk in the agape love of God, and I trust God, and I love God, the love of God rebukes fear out of my life, rebukes fear out of my marriage, rebukes fear out of my family. Perfect love casts out all fear.
So I want you to know something. The Bible says, "God is not giving you a spirit of fear, but a power, love, and a sound mind." Though it said he hasn't given you a spirit of fear, it never said he didn't give you the emotion of fear. But the problem is, if you don't handle the emotion of fear properly, the emotion of fear gives way to the spirit of fear. So when I feel fear, sometimes when I get ready to preach, and I get right there by this wall, I feel, I feel fear. I'm afraid. I don't want to mess up. I want to do right. I want to preach the word. I want to have sound doctrine. I feel fear. And then at that moment, what I do with that determines if that feeling subsides or if it gives way to a spirit. If I don't walk up on this stage, I have gave access to the spirit of fear. And God says, "You do not have a spirit of fear, but a power of love and a sound mind." So when you feel the feeling of fear, you walk and triumph over the feeling of fear, and it breaks the power of the spirit of fear. And if you don't have the spirit of fear, Satan can't interfere or enter inside of you because you're walking in the faith of God. Oh, come on somebody, give him a shout of praise.
Okay, that was all free. You. We're going to start a sermon now. Matthew Chapter 14, verse 22. And we're going to watch Satan's tactic of how he tries to bring fear and inaugurate fear in our life. Matthew chapter 22. When you guys are there, say, "Ready." If you ain't got a Bible, it's on the screen, but you should have a Bible. It says, it says, "Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he sent the multitudes away." So Jesus made his disciples get in the boat and go to the other side. Why he sent the multitudes away? Verse 23, and it says, "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. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the winds were contrary. Now, in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them walking on the sea. And when the disciples walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost," and they cried out for fear. Verse 27, "But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'Be of good cheer. It is I. Do not be afraid.'" And Peter answered and said, Peter answered him and said, "Lord, if it's you, command me to come to you on the water." So he said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked onto the water to go to Jesus. Verse 30, "But when he saw that the winds were, when when he saw that the winds were boisterous, he was afraid and began to sink and cried out, saying, 'Lord, save me.'" So we see fear all over this, this chapter. And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him and said to him, "Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
Okay, let's execute this text for a second. So Jesus and his disciples, they just got done feeding 5,000 men, which could have been around 20,000 people. So they just did the miracle. They just did a miracle. They were feeding all of these people. And when they got done feeding these people, Jesus said, "Hey, I need you to go to the other side. Get on the boat and go to the other side." And the reason why he needed them to go to the other side is on this side, they were feeding people. When they would go to the other side, he would have them healing people. He said, "Hey, hey, you served your season. You served your time. You served your moment here. You fed people. I need you to go to the other side to heal people." I want you to know something. Whatever you're doing in your life, you could be serving God, being faithful, doing everything right, but Jesus is always calling you to the other side. Because on the other side is your assignment. On the other side is your purpose. On the other side is your destiny. On the other side is your calling. On the other side is your elevation. It's your next level. Jesus said, "You can't stay here. You got to go there. You have to go to the other side." And Jesus is always calling you to the other side because the other side is your breakthrough point. It's your blastoff point. It is your calling and destiny point. And he said, "Where you currently are is not your destination. Your destination is on the other side because I have work for you. You served me well on this side. Go to the other side."
Now, when Jesus calls us to the other side, we get afraid. And the reason why we get afraid is because we're comfortable on this side. We're used to being on this side. They accept our flaws on this side. They accept our attitude on this side. They accept all of the things we don't have together on this side. I'm comfortable. I know everyone's name. This is convenient. I know where to go. I don't want to go to the other side. I want to stay on this side. And Jesus said, "No, you can't stay on this other side because you have been destined for the other side." Jesus said, "You got to go to the other side." Jesus is like Adele. He's saying, "Hello from the other side." Because on the other side, I'm going to use you. I'm going to use you to bring healing. I'm going to use you to bring breakthrough. I'm going to use you to change people's lives on the other side. So you have to go to the other side. But we get so afraid, and we never want to go to the other side because we're afraid. We're scared. We don't know what's on the other side.
Now, why would Jesus tell them to go to the other side? The reason why Jesus told them to go to the other side is because he knew that their assignment grew and their assignment would evolve. Now, in the Book of Mark, it said when Jesus came walking on the water, it said if they didn't cry out for him, he would have passed them by. Wow. Wait, wait, wait. You're in a storm. You're in the water. You're afraid. You're screaming. You're terrified. You're crying out in the middle of a storm, and you got Jesus walking on top of the pool, and he's going to walk by. Have you ever been in the storm before and you feel like Jesus is just walking straight past you? Have you ever been in a storm and you feel like Jesus isn't stopping for you? Have you ever been in a storm and it just feels like Jesus is near, but he's, he's not talking to you, he's not coming to you, he's not stopping? The reason why Jesus was going to pass them by is because Jesus was headed to the other side.
I'm going to tell you something, church. Whenever Jesus instructs you to go somewhere, he meets you there. Which means that if you're in a season of your life and you're not hearing the voice of God, and you can't see God, and you can't sense God or feel God, I want to tell you where Jesus is. Jesus is at the end of the last instruction he gave you. The last instruction Jesus gave you, he's waiting at the end of that. Some of you guys, Jesus said, "Hey, you need to end that relationship." And now you can't hear Jesus because he's waiting at the end of that breakup. Some of you guys, Jesus says, "You need to let go of fear and take hold of faith." And you didn't grab faith. Jesus is waiting on the other side of that instruction. Some of you guys, Jesus said, "You need to walk in the peace of God," and you're not walking in the peace of God. Jesus is waiting on the other side of that instruction. Wherever you want, whenever you want to find Jesus, look at the place where he called you to. If Jesus said, "Go to the other side," you will not find the power, the spirit, and the presence of Jesus on this side. So many of you guys aren't sensing the power of God and the will of God because he's on the other side. He's waiting on you where he instructed you. So you have to follow Jesus and go where Jesus has instructed you. And if he's called you to the other side, you have to go to the other side because he will always meet you at the end of your obedience. He will always meet you there. So follow Jesus, obey Jesus, and he will always be faithful enough to meet you at the place of your obedience.
So we have the disciples, and they're sitting here. And as they're sitting here, they are in a boat. And as the disciples are sitting inside of this boat, everything is good until they get halfway there. And when they get halfway there, the storm shows up. Because the storm never shows up until you get halfway there. And the reason why the storm shows up when you get to the halfway mark is because Satan knows that you are getting to your destination. So he wants to bring a storm to cause you to stall and turn around and go back to shore. Satan brings the storm to cause you to stall, to go back to shore. So whenever you're halfway, whenever you get to that halfway point, you will see the storm. And the storm was there because Satan was trying to stop them from going to the other side.
Now, I want you to know, you will see storms in your life. You will see wind, and you will see waves. You will see winds and you will see waves. And when you see winds and waves, everything goes crazy. When the wind and waves show up, and all of a sudden you're on the boat, and winds and waves come, now everything, everything's falling out of place. Your marriage is going crazy. Nobody's listening to you. People lying on you at your job. You don't know which way to turn. Everything is falling out of order because of the wind and waves. And Satan is bringing this storm to scare you. He's bringing this storm to stop you from walking into what God has called you to walk into. And all this is theatrics. It's all theatrical. Yes, loud. Yes, crazy. Yeah, there's lightning. Yeah, there's winds and waves. And what Satan does is he brings the winds and waves to scare you at this point because he wants you to turn around.
Now, so when you follow God, when you start going to church, when you start typing, when you start stepping out to the things of God, you will see the wind and the waves. And what happened is when they saw the winds and the ways, and the storm began to get boisterous, to be boisterous means to be exaggerated, rowdy. So now the storm got exaggerated, rowdy, and now it's all boisterous. And now they saw someone walking on water, and they thought they saw a ghost. And Jesus was like, "It's not a ghost. It's I. Fear not." And then Peter, I don't know what audacity you had, but when Peter saw Jesus, Peter said, "Lord, if it's you, command me to come." Now, a lot of people get on to Peter, but he said, "Lord, if it's you, command me to come." And the Lord said, "Come." And Peter got off the boat, and Peter began to walk on water.
Now, check this out. Many of you guys would have never got out the boat and went. And the reason why you wouldn't have got out the boat and went, went, is because Jesus only gave a word, not a paragraph. See, that wouldn't have been enough for you. You wouldn't have got out the boat on "Come." You wouldn't have needed Jesus to say, "Come, you won't drown. You will live. It'll be okay. I'll pay your bills. I'll work everything out. I'll make sure everything works in your favor. I'm your safe. I, I'm here to be your safety plan." So you wouldn't have came unless you knew Jesus worked everything out for you. But let me tell you, many times Jesus would just say, "Come." And you may feel like "Come" is not enough because "Come" is simple. But when it comes to God, you can't look for the spectacular. You have to look for the simple. And the reason why you have to look for the simple is because "Come" is just a word. But when Jesus speaks "Come," "Come" is no longer just the word, it becomes the Word. The Word of God. I'm telling you. And when it's the Word of God, a miracle can happen. Now, why? 'Cause the Spirit of the Lord is here. When Jesus says "Come," it's not just a word. It is the Word. Which means when Jesus says "Come," all your provision is a test to come. I'm telling you. When Jesus says "Come," he's going to protect you. He's going to shield you. He's going to guide you. He is for you. And when Jesus said "Come," he didn't give me details, but he gave Peter instructions and he gave him direction. And his direction has everything attached to it because what Peter would need to do, he would need to violate the laws of buoyancy. Which means he could walk on top of water. When Jesus says "Come," he left every step stool out so you can violate the laws of buoyancy and walk over what you need to walk over. And I want to tell you something. Maybe you're in despair right now, but when Jesus says "Come," go. And many times in your life, Jesus will give you a simple word. He might not give you a paragraph. You might be in a situation and Jesus would just say, "Pray." Or he would just say, "Love." Or "Forgive." Or "Apologize." Or "Have peace and have joy." And many of us don't obey God because we want more than just "Come." We want a, we want a description. What we really want is we want an insurance plan because his instructions aren't enough. But Jesus says, "My instructions are your insurance." In other words, there was a lady, she was stuck on top of the roof. She, she, she worked out a job and she was sitting on her window and then and then she ended up going outside her window and she was out on top of the roof and it was slippery. She was scared to walk back in the building. She was on top of the roof and she said, "Somebody get the fire marshal. Someone get the fire marshal. I need the captain of the fire marshal." So she got the captain of the fire marshal. So he came and he got there, and he was down there, he was talking to her on the megaphone and he said, "Ma'am, we got this under control. We got you. Everything is safe. Everything is good." And she said, "Okay, praise God." He said, "I'm glad you're a believer." "I'm a believer too, praise God. God got you. We got you." She said, "Okay, sir, what do you need me to do?" He said, "Jump." She looked to the right, looked to the left, looked down. She said, "Jump." She said, "I don't see nothing down there." He said, "Jump." She said, "I don't see nothing down there." He said, "Jump." She said, "You must be thinking I'm crazy. I ain't jumping nothing." He said, "Okay, ma'am, no problem. I'll send someone up." So he sent another firefighter up. And then he said, she said, "I don't know who that fire marshal is. He must have lost his mind telling me to jump. I can't see nothing down there. I ain't jumping. He's crazy." And then she said, "My Jesus ain't going to let me jump. I ain't going for it." He said, "You believe in Jesus?" She said, "I believe in Jesus." She said, "Praise God. Well, I'm glad you're here. Bless Jesus. I'm glad you're here." He, she said, "I'm glad you're here to help me." And he said, "Okay, I got you." She said, "What do you need me to do?" And he pushed her off the roof. And when she fell, she landed on a big air balloon that she couldn't see from her perspective. And many times, God is saying, "Jump." But you can't jump in faith. God is saying, "Move." But you can't move in faith. God is saying, "Come." But you can't come in faith. And sometimes the Holy Ghost just has to push you out into the deep. Has to push you off the roof. Has to push you into the things you need. Because though you can't see it, don't mean it's there. Just because you can't see the way, don't mean a way ain't been made. Why? 'Cause my God is a way maker, and he's a miracle worker. Oh, give him a 10-second praise break in this place.
Just because you're scared isn't a license to not go. It's not a license to not go. So Peter, he gets out of the boat, and he heard Jesus, and he saw Jesus. And when he saw Jesus, he began to walk on water. Now, when he first saw Jesus, Jesus was so far away, he thought Jesus was a ghost. Which means Jesus wasn't right in front of the boat. Which means Peter would have had to walk on water for a while because eventually Peter sank, and Jesus was immediately able to grab his hand. Which means Peter walked on water for a while. And the reason why Peter was able to walk on water is because Peter saw Jesus. And I got news for you. You can walk over depression if you can see Jesus. You can walk over fear if you can see Jesus. You can walk over anxiety if you can see Jesus. You can walk over demonic possession if you can see Jesus. You can walk over everything the enemy is trying to bring to kill you if you can see Jesus. And Jesus said, "If you can see me, you can walk over your history, stretch towards your destiny, and be all I called you to be." If you can see Jesus. And as Peter saw Jesus, he was able to walk on water. When he saw the Savior, he walked on water.
But then, as he walked on water, the storm got boisterous. And the storm got blister. And the reason why it did that is because Satan was mad. And the reason why Satan was mad is because Peter was stepping on something Satan didn't want him to step on. So the storm got boisterous, and Peter stopped looking at the Savior. He started looking at the storm. And what he was selling over, he started sinking in. And now he's sinking because your life will always follow your focus. If you focus on Jesus, you will sail. But if you focus on the storm and the wind and waves, you will sink. So Peter began to sink. And Peter sunk, and he didn't suppose to sink. And the reason why he didn't suppose to sink is because the smallest boat can float on top of the biggest ocean. And the reason why the smallest boat can float on top of the biggest ocean is because the boat was created to float on the ocean. Only when what the boat was designed to float on gets in it, it sinks. And God said, "You were designed to trample over snakes, devils, demons, and scorpions. You were designed to float over storms. You was designed to float over everything that will come against you. Only when the storm gets in you, you sink. But if you don't let the storm in you, you will float."
So what is the storm? What is the storm? I believe the storm is the thing that Jesus kept cautioning them against. They're in the boat, they're in the storm, the winds are blister, there's wind, there's waves, there's rain, it's crazy. And all Jesus cared about was one thing: "Fear not. Fear not. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Fear not. Fear not. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid." And I believe Jesus cared about that so much because Jesus knew something. He knew that they had authority over the storm. So what is the storm? The storm actually symbolizes Satan. So Jesus knew they had authority over Satan. So Jesus was saying, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, fear not. Don't be afraid." Because what happens is when you're afraid, you let the storm inside of you. And when the storm is in you, it can take you under. See, that little boat can soar on top of the biggest sea as long as it never lets the sea in it. And you can soar on top of all the tricks of the enemy, all the attacks of the enemy, all the wiles of the enemy, as long as you don't let his stuff in you. So Jesus is saying, "Fear not. Fear not." He's saying, "Don't fear." Because if you fear, you let fear interfere with faith. And when fear interferes with faith, you sink. So if you've been sinking in your situation, sinking in your life, sinking in all the things that God has instructed you to do, it's because you're letting fear interfere. And when fear interferes, it triumphs your faith. And fear tolerated is faith contaminated. Fear tolerated is faith contaminated. So you can't tolerate fear because when you tolerate fear, you contaminate faith. So all of a sudden, Peter tolerated fear, and it contaminated his faith, and he began to sink.
Now, check this out. Check this out. Peter sank. But I want to show you something. I want to show you something. Peter began to sink. But I'm going to back it up a little bit. If you have your Bibles, go to Matthew 14:32. I'm going to read something, and then I'll explain to you what happened. Matthew 14, verse 32 and 33. It says, "And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those who were in the boat came and worshiped him, saying, 'Truly you are the Son of God.'" So, so, just to pick up Peter, Peter's faith was contaminated. He sank. And then Jesus says something so, so crazy. He said, "Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt?" Hold on, wait a minute. Let me put some Jesus in it. All right, you mean to tell me this man got out the boat, violated the laws of buoyancy, walked on water, and you call his faith small? You call him little faith? Some of us got faith, Pastor. Have you walked on water and violated the laws of buoyancy? Well, Jesus is calling this little faith. We ain't got a chance unless there's more to this story. Jesus, let it be more to this story. Jesus said, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" But why is Jesus criticizing little faith when he's the same Jesus that said, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains"? So in one sense, Jesus is saying, "If you had little faith, the size of a mustard seed, you can move a mountain." So why is he calling him, "You of little faith"? Why did you doubt? I believe because Jesus isn't talking about the density of Peter's faith. He's talking about the duration of Peter's faith. I don't believe he's talking about the amount of Peter's faith. I think he's talking about the length of Peter's faith. I don't think he's talking about the strength of Peter's faith. I think he's talking about the length of Peter's faith. He wasn't saying that Peter's faith wasn't strong enough. He was saying Peter's faith wasn't long enough. In other words, he says, "You don't need enormous faith. You need enduring faith." You can have faith the size of a mustard seed. It don't need to be enormous, but it does need to be enduring. And he said, "Peter, it's not that you didn't have enough faith. It's that you didn't sustain faith. You had enough faith to get you out the boat, walking on water, but you didn't have enough faith to get you to me." So it's not about the density. It's not about the mass of your faith. No. It's about the duration. Jesus was saying, "You have little faith." In other words, not that it wasn't strong enough, it's that the faith wasn't long enough. And Jesus said, "I gave you a word. You trusted me for three days. And now you're backsliding because I ain't showed up on that bill yet. But can you trust me for three months? Can you trust me for three years? Can you trust me on mountain high and valley low? Can you trust me when your light bill goes off? Can you trust me when that eviction notice is on your door? Can you trust me while your kids are running from God? Because I said, 'I have never seen the seed of the righteous forsaken, or their seed begging for breath.' Can you trust me till I show up?" You need an enduring faith. A faith that don't just start, but a faith that finishes. Thank you.
Now, to prove to you I feel like I'm theologically correct. Is this? He said, "Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt?" He said, "Hey, you with little faith, why did you doubt?" Here's what he was saying. He was saying, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, you were doing it. You were walking on it like, like you had enough." Then he said, "Why did you doubt?" Like, like, "Why did you doubt?" I'm going to tell you why he doubted. He doubted because the storm got boisterous. Whenever you start infringing on Satan's territory, the storm will be boisterous. And why did he doubt? "Hey, I got you this far. Why you down now?" And some of you guys, if you will look behind you, you will see all the giants and bears that the Lord has killed for you. You will see all the times people provided for you, all the times he fed you, all the times he had your back. And now you get an eviction notice on your door, and it's looking boy. And Jesus is saying, "Why you want to doubt now? If I did it then, I can do it again."
Now, the thing that I feel like we missed as leaders and pastors, the thing I feel like we missed. It said that they went and got into the boat, and the winds ceased. I feel like the thing that we have missed is this: They were in the boat. Jesus said, "Go to the other side." The Bible says in Mark, he was going to pass them by. He never intended to stop because he was going to pass them by. Which means they were supposed to go to the other side. But they got afraid because the storm got boisterous. And then when Peter got out of the water, walked on water, he started sinking. Jesus grabbed him and put him back in the boat. Which means Jesus was never coming to the boat. He told the boat to go to the other side. Peter left the boat. He put him back in the boat. So I got a theological question. And I know us pastors probably preached this wrong for a hundred years. But why do we preach sermons saying, "Get out the boat! Get out the boat! It's time for you to step out the boat! You need to step out! You need to get out the boat!" When I read this Bible, it looks like Peter was never supposed to leave the boat. He said, "Get in the boat, go to the other side." They got afraid. Peter wasn't supposed to leave the boat. When Peter got out the boat, Jesus put him in the boat. He was supposed to stay in the boat. And I'm going to tell you, some of you guys are in the boat right now that Jesus don't want you to get out. You're in the boat right now. Some of you guys are in a struggle, and you're like, "I need to leave this job because Jesus don't want me struggling." Jesus is saying, "Stay in the boat." Some of you guys are at a church, and it's hard and it's frustrating. "I need to leave this church." Jesus is saying, "Stay in the boat." Some of you guys are in situations that's growing you and pruning you and refining you, and Jesus is saying, "Stay in the boat."
So we have a theological question. Then why did Jesus let Peter out the boat? 'Cause Jesus never invited him. It was Peter that asked. That wasn't Jesus's idea. It was Peter's idea. So why did Jesus let Peter out the boat? Peter was terrified. He saw Jesus. He said, "Lord, if it's you, bid me to come or command me to come." So the question is, why didn't Jesus just say, "No, stay in the boat"? Here's why. Peter is in his head over this storm, terrified. He's in his head. So when he said, "Lord, bid me to come out of the boat," I believe Jesus said, "Come," because he was allowing Peter to learn a lesson. He was saying, "What you're in your head about, I actually put under your feet. You're in your head over a storm that's under your feet." This storm symbolizes Satan. The Bible says, "The Prince of Peace will tread Satan's head under your feet." The Bible says, "The devil is under your feet." So he was saying, "Peter, I'm going to allow you out the boat so I can allow you to step on what you're scared of." And sometimes Jesus will let you out of the boat to say, "You're scared of the unknown? I'm going to let you step on it to show you we have authority over the unknown." Because what you don't know, Jesus knows. Some of you guys are scared of a medical situation, and Jesus said, "I'm going to let you step out of that so you can see you have authority over it." Some of you guys are scared of people, and Jesus said, "I'm going to let you step out of that boat to show you you have authority over it." Jesus said, "Peter, you walking on water is basically me prophesying through your feet to say the storm is under your feet. Depression is under your feet. Worry is under your feet. Anxiety is under your feet. And fear is under your feet." Give him a shout of praise.
So Jesus said, "You have little faith. I was giving you this lesson. It's under your feet. Why did you doubt?" We didn't get to finish the lesson. Then he put him back in the boat. Put him back in the boat. Now, before I talk about that last scene of him putting him back in the boat, I want to say this. When Peter walked out on water, it was by faith. What is faith? The Bible tells us. The Bible tells us faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Let's break this down. Substance. In other words, he was saying faith is something. It's a substance. It's a material. It's an, it's an ingredient of what you're hoping for. He said, "It's a substance." In other words, it's a thing. You can make something out of it. God can cook a miracle with it. He can, he, he, he can lay down stepping stones on top of oceans and seas. It's a substance. It's a thing. And then it says, "It's the evidence of things not seen." Evidence is a court word. If you want someone acquitted or convicted, it requires evidence, sir. Yes, sir. He's saying, so, so faith is the evidence that you have a right to walk on this water. Faith is the evidence that you have a right to break open this door. Faith is the evidence that you have a right to break open this chain. Faith is the evidence that you have a right to break the jaws of depression, to break the oars of anxiety, to break the legs of fear, to break the feet of worry. Faith is your evidence. It's a court term. It's evidence in things not seen. So Peter can't see how he's walking on water, but faith is evidence. If you trust God, it's evidence that you can walk on water. And you don't need much faith. You just need long faith. You need enduring faith. And Jesus said, "Why did you doubt? Why did you doubt? Why did you doubt?" And I believe he says the same to you. Why are you doubting this season when Jesus says he's with you? He says, "Lo, I'm with you always." Why are you doubting? Why are you afraid? Why are you doubting? Why aren't you trusting God?
And my business, I have this huge air compressor, and it's really loud. It's massive, and it's loud. Just, it just, it bangs real loud. Just, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. When it's filling up air, it's really, really loud. When my daughter would hear, she would run. She would go, and she would go, "Hi." And then finally, I said, "Baby, you don't have to be scared of that. You got authority over that. You got dominion over that." She said, "Okay, Daddy." "Radiant, get Daddy's hand." Radiant gets Daddy's hand. And she got my hand. She said, "Let's go, Daddy. Let's go back there." And she grabbed my hand, and we went back there. It was wrong. She said, "Let's go, Daddy. Open the door. Let's go back there." All of a sudden, she was afraid, but she wasn't afraid no more because she had her Daddy's hand. I don't know what you're scared of, and I don't know what you're afraid of, but your Father God is saying, "You can grab his hand and walk into that next season. You can grab his hand and walk into what you're afraid of. You can grab his hand and walk into your victory. You don't have to be afraid no more because you have Daddy's hand." And Jesus said, "Lo, I'm with you always." In other words, you don't have to be afraid because Jesus is with you. Why are you afraid of a storm that Jesus is in with you? You don't have to fear the storm.
As my praise and worship team comes up now, Jesus puts everyone back into the boat. And as he puts everyone back into the boat, the Bible says the storm ceases. Then it said, "Immediately after the storm ceased, they began to worship God." That's cool. But I would have much rather them worship God in the storm. Can I see that storm again? It's cool to worship him when it's all calm. It's cool to worship him when it's all good. But can you worship him when it's like this? Can you worship him in the middle of the storm? God, I'm going to bless you. I'm going to worship you. I'm going to trust you. God, I'm stepping out into the wind and waves. I'm worshiping you in the storm. Jesus, I know the storm is surrounding me, but I know you're surrounding it. I know this storm is loud, but I can hear your small still voice. I know the wind and waves are boisterous, but I know we have authority over the wind. I'm going to worship God in the storm. I'm not going to wait till the storm ceases. No, no, no, no. I'm going to worship God in the middle of the storm. Can you worship God in the storm, or do you have to wait till everything is okay and everything is right?
Jesus is saying, "Hey, if you need to get out the boat to see you have authority over what's in your head, I'll show you that. But I'm putting you back in the boat so you can go to the other side." And I want you to know, it is by faith that you can get to the other side. It is by faith because it's the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Wow.
I pray you was blessed by that message. I pray it has spoke to you and encouraged you, challenged you, and stressed you. Share with your friends, family members, co-workers, share with everyone you know, and I pray their life will be impacted as well. If you would like to be a part of Radiant Ministry, a part of Radiant Global, or get more information about our church, text 903-201-0161. Text "more" for information. We will tell you all about our ministry. And also, if you would like to partner with Radiant financially, you can do that at RadiantChurchTSK.com and hit the gift tab. It is your generosity that fuels our mission and it empowers us to be able to do ministry all around the world. Thank you so much for your generosity and have a blessed day.