The Pastor's Corner
Mark C. Minney
March, 2010

"Walking on the Water"

 

"And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me to come unto thee on the water. And He said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus." (Matthew 14:28-29).

How many of us would have had faith enough to walk on the water like Peter. Yet his faith weakened when he saw the boisterous wind, which undoubtedly caused the sea to get rough. What Peter done went against all natural laws. Walking on the water was a miracle indeed. A miracle of grace wrought faith.

Even though his faith faltered, Peter was never in any danger. Why? Because the Lord, who had bidden him come, was there. When Peter’s doubts overcame him and he began to sink, he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord stretched forth His hand and caught him. Jesus held Peter up.

As far as I am concerned, Peter walking on the water was perseverance, and Christ stretching forth His hand to hold him up was preservation. There was no way that Peter could sink and be physically lost, because he was being preserved by the Lord Jesus Christ.

If we look at it in this sense, all of God’s people are walking on the water. Every day we live in this old sin-cursed world we are defying every law of our old nature. Paul told the church at Ephesus, "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." (Ephesians 2:2-3). Yes, when saved by grace, we are given a new nature. Being in Christ we are a "… new creature: old things are past away; behold, all things are become new" (II Corinthians 5:17). But we must never forget the miracle of grace here; this is a new nature serving Christ through the old nature. It is this old nature that Jeremiah was referring to when he asked the question, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to evil" (Jeremiah 13:23). Can those who were never righteous, do righteousness? Can those who never sought after God, not only seek after Him, but love and serve Him. The answer is YES. It can only happen by the wonderful marvelous grace of God. The sovereign grace of God which can cause us to serve the Lord through this old sinful flesh that is still full of lust and desires, but which are brought into submission by this same grace. Paul said, "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway" (I Corinthians 9:27). Is Paul glorying in himself here? Is he boasting? No, for he declares that, "… by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (I Corinthians 15:10). The above scriptures were written by the same man that wrote, "But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord " (Romans 7:23-25).

Nature declared that Peter should sink, but grace declared that he would walk on the water. We are serving Christ every day through a body of death that loves sin and hates righteousness. It is by the grace of God that we persevere and walk on this water, and it is because that we are preserved in Christ that we do not sink. How many times have you as a child of God doubted, even like Peter, and you could feel yourself sinking, but when you cried out to the Lord He stretched forth His hand and held you up, and gave you grace to continue walking on the water. From the time we are saved by grace, we are walking on the water, fighting the law of this old sinful nature, and when at times we doubt, "… we are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (I Peter 1:5). Lord, give me grace each day, that even in the face of Satan’s boisterous winds and troubled seas, I will continue to walk on the water till I come into thy glorious and beautiful presence. Amen.

(Elder Mark C. Minney - The Pastor’s Corner - The Voice In The Wilderness - March, 2010)

Return To Elder Minney's Page

Return To Baptist Authors

Return To PBC Home