“And Peter answered Him and said, ‘Lord, if it is 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 on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Truly You are the Son of God.’” Matthew 14:28-33

If asked today by your pastor to step out of a boat on a storm-tossed sea and walk on water, how many of you would try it? Perhaps some would try if the weather was warm, the water was calm, and a life preserver was on, but who would try it on a stormy night with no life preserver?

Of course, if any man asked you to do such a thing, and you tried it, you could expect to sink. But if Jesus told you to come, it would be different!

When Peter was told by Jesus to come, he stepped out of the boat and, defying the laws of nature, walked on water to Jesus. He began to sink only because he took his eyes off of Jesus, looked at the boisterous wind and waves, became afraid, and began to doubt the word and power of Jesus.

Yet when he cried to the Lord Jesus for help, Jesus reached out His hand and saved him from sinking. Jesus rebuked Peter for his lack of faith, and, walking on the water, Jesus and Peter returned to the boat. When they entered the boat, the sea became calm, and they were immediately at their destination (cf. John 6:15-21), showing the truth that Jesus is the Son of God and has all authority in heaven and earth (cf. Matt. 28:18).

Jesus has not told us to walk on water, but He has commanded us to disciple all nations by going out, baptizing in the name of the Triune God, and teaching all He has commanded (Matt. 28:19-20). Jesus has all authority (v. 18), and He is with us always to the end of the age (v. 20).

In many ways, we are like those disciples in the tiny ship on the storm-tossed Sea of Galilee. The world opposes us and our message of salvation through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ (cf. Luke 24:46-48). And, we are afraid and making no headway.

But, our Lord Jesus has come to us and commanded us to step out of the safety of our little boats and walk to Him on the water. He commands us to do what seems impossible to us! How can we go to all nations and preach the Gospel to all creatures (cf. Mark 16:15)? How can we do such mission work with our limited resources?

If we do not trust the word of our Lord Jesus, or if we look at all the obstacles and opposition, we will stay in our little boats and never step out in faith and walk on the water. But if we believe that our Lord Jesus truly has all power and authority and that He is with us always, we will be willing to step out in faith and do as He has commanded us.

We will be willing to speak out for Christ and share the truths of His Word. We will be willing to give the Lord the first fruits of our earnings and trust Him to provide for all our needs (cf. 2 Cor. 9:6ff.; Prov. 3:7ff.). We and our little congregations will be willing to step out in faith and make mission work a top priority — not something we do only if time and money are left after all else is done.

Trusting in Christ our Savior, we will step out in faith and tell others the good news that, through faith in Christ Jesus, there is complete forgiveness for all our sins and life everlasting!

Lord Jesus, grant that we trust in You and Your Word and step out in faith to spread Your saving Gospel to all who will hear. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

“You search the Scriptures, because you think in them you have eternal life. These are they who bear witness of Me. Yet you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. I do not receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in My Father’s name, but you do not receive Me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, who receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you — Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” John 5:39-47

Do you believe the words of Jesus — that He is the only-begotten Son of God, come into this world a true man that He might fulfill God’s law for us and then suffer our condemnation and punishment by His death on the cross?

As Jesus’ words make clear, not all who claim to be God’s children and read and study the Scriptures understand the message of God’s Word. Not all see their utter sinfulness and failure to measure up to the demands of God’s holy law, and not all look to Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross in faith for mercy, forgiveness, and life everlasting.

Jesus’ hearers in John 5 read and studied the Scriptures — particularly the Torah, the writings of Moses — and thought they could please God and be acceptable in His sight by their keeping of God’s commandments. They failed to see that the commandments revealed their sinfulness and that the Scriptures pointed to the coming Messiah and Savior who would redeem them from their sins and iniquities by His innocent sufferings and death on the cross. Though the Old Testament Scriptures pointed them to Jesus the Messiah and to His atoning sacrifice as the only way to be acceptable in God’s eyes, they failed to see that Jesus was their Messiah and Savior — their only hope for salvation and partaking of the glories of God’s everlasting kingdom.

Instead of hearing God’s Word, they accepted the words and interpretations of men. And instead of seeking glory from God, they sought honor and glory from man and rejected the truth of God’s Word.

As Jesus said, He did not need to accuse them before God the Father; the very writings of Moses, in which they trusted, condemned them for their failure to keep God’s commandments and their refusal to look to Christ Jesus and His perfect sacrifice for pardon and forgiveness.

If Jesus’ hearers believed the writings of Moses, they would also believe Jesus’ words, repent of their sinful ways, and look to Jesus and His cross for mercy. Why? Because Moses wrote of Jesus and His coming.

Jesus is the Offspring of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15); Abraham’s Offspring through whom the nations of the world would be blessed (Gen. 12:3; 22:18); the substitute Lamb offered up in the place of God’s people foreshadowed by the ram offered up in the place of Isaac (Gen. 22:13-14); the perfect Lamb of God foreshadowed by the Passover Lamb and Israel’s sacrifices (Exo. 12:1ff.; John 1:29); the Prophet like Moses (Deut. 18:15-19).

And, of course, if we also include the Writings and Prophets of the Old Testament, we would know the place of Messiah’s birth, that Jesus is Yahweh Himself in human flesh and blood, that He would suffer and die and redeem us from all our sins, that He would rise again and establish an everlasting kingdom, that He would ascend into heaven, that He would come again in glory and be our judge, that the way to be saved is to turn from our sins and look in faith to Messiah Jesus and His cross and place our hope and confidence in Him.

Do you believe Jesus’ words? Do you believe Him when He reveals our failure to keep God’s commandments? When he reveals the fact that we are sinners and cannot stand in God’s judgment on the basis of our own life and works? Do you believe His words, as well as the testimony of Moses and all the prophets, that Jesus is God the Son and the Messiah and Savior? That only through faith in Him and His atoning sacrifice on the cross can we sinners be pardoned by God and acceptable in His sight?

If you do not come to Jesus and believe His words, if you do not trust in Jesus as your Savior, the words of Moses and all the prophets condemn you.

In John 3:35-36 we read: “The Father loves the Son, and has placed all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life. He who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

O gracious and merciful Father, we Thank You for the gift of the Son and for forgiveness and life through faith in His name. Grant that we hear and believe the witness of Your Word and the witness of the Son that we might repent of our sins and trust in Messiah Jesus, and so receive the everlasting joys of heaven. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.]

“You sent to John, and he bore witness of the truth. I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. He was a burning and a shining lamp, and you were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. I have greater testimony than that of John. The works which the Father has given Me to finish, the very works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. The Father Himself, who has sent Me, has borne witness of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe the One He has sent. You search the Scriptures, because you think in them you have eternal life. These are they who bear witness of Me. Yet you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” John 5:33-40

Jesus desired that His fellow Jews believe in Him and be saved, but many did not. Jesus pointed out that they weren’t just rejecting His claims to be the Son of God and their Messiah and Savior; they were also rejecting the witness of John and of God the Father.

For a time, at least, many of His Jewish hearers believed the witness of John the Baptist and rejoiced in His message calling on all to repent and announcing the coming of the Messiah and that the establishment of His kingdom was at hand.

What did John the Baptist say of Jesus? John 1 records his testimony. In John 1:29, John the Baptist said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” And, in v. 32-34, we read, “Then John bore witness, saying, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “The One on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” I have seen and have borne witness that He is the Son of God.’”

But Jesus didn’t need the testimony of man, not even the testimony of a great prophet like John the Baptist, to prove that His claims were true. Jesus said, “I have greater testimony than that of John. The works which the Father has given Me to finish, the very works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me” (John 5:36).

Think about it. Who could do the miracles that Jesus did if God did not send Him? Jesus healed the sick, restored sight to the blind, opened the ears of the deaf, enabled the crippled to walk, cast out demons, and even raised the dead to life again. And Jesus was doing the work the Father sent Him into the world to do — He was preaching the Gospel of the kingdom and then going to the cross to atone for the sins of all.

Jesus’ hearers did not hear God’s voice or see His form because they did not recognize Jesus, the very Son of God in human flesh, who had come into this world to redeem them. Not only did God the Father testify of Jesus at His baptism and again later on the Mount of Transfiguration that He is the beloved Son of God (Matt. 3:17; 17:5), but the Scriptures, given by inspiration of God — the same Scriptures they searched and studied — testified of Jesus, of His person and His work, but they did not believe.

Jesus’ words were true: “You are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (v. 40). And, of course, these words of Jesus still ring true today. We have heard of Jesus’ miracles and His teaching. The Scriptures we hear and study testify of Him that He is “the way, the truth, and the life.” “No one comes to the Father except through” Him (John 14:6) — He is the Son of God and the only way of salvation! But do we repent of our sins and look to Jesus and His cross in faith that He indeed has atoned for our sins, that in Him we have redemption and forgiveness, that through faith in His name, we have the everlasting joys of heaven?

If we don’t come to Jesus, we do not have life but will be condemned and cast out of His kingdom when He comes again to judge the living and the dead. Now is the time to hear and heed the witness of God concerning His Son and listen to Jesus!

Grant that I hear and heed the testimony of Your Word, O God, that I repent of my sins and look to Jesus and His cross in faith that I may have life and not be condemned on the day of Christ’s return. In His name, I pray. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.]

“Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. For our heart will rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Your lovingkindness, O LORD, be on us, just as we hope in You.” Psalm 33:20-22

Rather than placing our hope and confidence in the plans of men and of nations, believers place their hope and trust in the LORD, who created the heavens and the earth with His almighty Word and still preserves them (cf. Psalm 33:6-9).

The Levites professed this in Nehemiah 9:5-6 when they said: “Stand up and bless the Lord your God forever and ever! Let them bless Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and You preserve them all. And the host of heaven worships You.”

And, it is as the psalmist writes in Psalm 33:10-11; 16-19: “The Lord frustrates the counsel of the nations; He restrains the purposes of the people. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the purposes of His heart to all generations. … No king is saved by a great army; a mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; it will not deliver by its great strength. The eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His lovingkindness, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.”

Therefore, we believers wait on the LORD and trust in Him to watch over us and keep us. We trust in Him to care for our every need. We rejoice in Him and His merciful goodness toward us.

And, above all, we pray with the psalmist (Psalm 33:22): “Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be on us, just as we hope in You.”

We know that we are sinful and unclean — that we deserve none of the blessings the LORD God showers upon us — and so we pray that God’s lovingkindness, His mercy, would be upon us. We pray that instead of dealing with us according to our sins and shortcomings, He would deal with us in grace, forgiving our sins and accepting us as His dear children.

And how can God do that? For the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ! Jesus lived a perfect and holy life in our stead in His thoughts, desires, words and deeds, and He went to the cross and suffered the just punishment for our sins, making full atonement for our sins and the sins of the whole world, that God might deal with us in mercy and forgive our sins when we look to Jesus and His cross in faith.

“Jesus Christ the Righteous One … is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1,2).

For Jesus’ sake, God’s lovingkindness and mercy are upon all who place their hope in Him and His sacrifice for the sins of the world. And, because of Jesus, our hope is not in vain!

“Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be on us, just as we hope in You.” Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.]

“No king is saved by a great army; a mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; it will not deliver by its great strength. The eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His lovingkindness, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield.” Psalm 33:16-20

In what should we place our trust? Can a mighty army or powerful weapons of war save us from our enemies? Can we, by our own great strength, escape the assaults of those who would harm us and take away our property or life?

The Bible teaches us that it is foolish to trust in these things, for without the LORD’S help, we would all perish, no matter how great our strength or how powerful and sophisticated our weapons of war may be.

History shows us that the mightiest have fallen, and the Bible provides numerous examples of the LORD giving victory to the smallest and weakest of armies (cf. Judges 7; 1 Sam. 14; Gen. 14). Consider also what the LORD did for His people when He brought them into the land of Canaan. The walled and fortified cities could not stand against the armies of Israel because the LORD fought for His people.

Shall we place our trust in our own strength, in the guns in our homes, or in the mighty armies or sophisticated weaponry of our nation? Such would be vain and foolish, for no earthly strength can deliver us from our enemies if the LORD is not with us!

In what should we place our trust? God’s Word tells us: “The eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His lovingkindness, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine” (Psalm 33:18-19).

Our trust should be in the LORD God who made the heavens and the earth, who “spoke, and it was done,” who “commanded, and it stood fast” (Ps. 33:6,9). Certainly, He who created all things by His almighty Word can protect and defend us against the greatest of enemies!

And the LORD promises to watch over those who honor and respect Him as their Maker and hope in His mercy. He has redeemed us in His Son, Jesus Christ, and His help and protection are upon those who trust in Him to mercifully forgive their sins for the sake of Christ’s blood shed for them on the cross.

God has delivered our souls from death by sending His Son to suffer death in our stead and rise again so that we might have spiritual and eternal life through faith in His name (cf. John 3:14-16; Col. 1:12ff.; Eph. 2:1ff.).

The Bible also says: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32).

Since God has so loved us that He sent His Son to redeem us and has adopted all who trust in Christ as His children and given them eternal salvation in His Son, will He not also protect and defend those who trust in Him against their enemies and provide for their earthly needs, even in times of shortage and famine? Certainly so! (Cf. Matt. 6:31-33.)

Therefore, with the Psalmist, we say it is vain and useless to place our trust in great numbers or strength; all of these have failed. But the LORD will never fail those who place their trust in Him! “Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield” (Ps. 33:20).

Dear LORD God, teach us to place our trust in You alone to grant us eternal salvation and to watch over and keep us in this life. In the name of Jesus our Savior, we pray. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.]