[Note: This sermon expounds Matthew 14:22–33. Delivered 24 September 1978, Montreal.]
First John 5:4 declares: "Whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that overcomes the world — our faith." The Christian is a new creature, and a new creature must stand out. To be spiritually mediocre is not humility; it is a disgrace. There is nothing humble about failing to become what God has made you to be. The principle of spiritual excellence is what we see enacted in Matthew 14:22–33 in the account of Peter walking on the water.
This account is recorded in three gospels: Matthew, Mark, and John. It is not found in Luke, which is significant. Matthew was present as one of the twelve. John was present and gives his own eyewitness account. Mark's Gospel reflects the testimony of Peter, who was supremely present. Luke, however, was a companion of Paul, and Paul was not among the disciples who crossed the lake that night. The accuracy of eyewitness testimony is often found more in what is not said than in what is. Luke's silence is itself confirmation of the historical reliability of the accounts.
The Lake of Galilee is roughly eight miles wide and thirteen miles long. The feeding of the five thousand had taken place on the eastern side, in the hill country. John 6 tells us something Matthew does not: the crowd had been so electrified by the miracle that they intended to seize Jesus and make him king by force. The disciples would have been caught up in that excitement — twelve ordinary men who had watched five loaves and two fish feed five thousand, and now the crowd wanted to crown their master. Jesus sent them away by boat immediately, before they could be swept along by the crowd's enthusiasm. He then dismissed the crowd and went up into the hills alone to pray.
The disciples set out rowing westward across the lake, but a strong wind from the west held them back. By the fourth watch — somewhere between three and six in the morning — they had been rowing all night and had covered only three or four miles. They were stuck in the middle of the lake, exhausted, straining against the wind in the darkness. Then they saw a figure moving toward them across the water, and they were terrified, thinking it was a ghost.
Mark 6:48 contains a detail that Matthew does not emphasize but which is crucial for understanding what happened next. Mark records that Jesus "meant to pass by them." He was not walking toward the boat; he was passing by. This explains why Peter responded as he did. Peter heard the voice of Jesus — the Lord called out to them — and Peter recognized it. And Peter, seeing that Jesus was about to pass by, could not bear to be left behind. He called out: "Lord, if it is you, call me to come to you on the water." Jesus said simply, "Come." And Peter got out of the boat.
What Peter did next was extraordinary. He walked on the water toward Jesus. Then he saw the wind, and he was afraid, and he began to sink. The word is "began to sink" — he was not instantly swallowed up. Even in his failure, he was being held up by the very hand he was reaching for. He cried out: "Lord, save me," and Jesus immediately stretched out his hand and caught him. The conversation Jesus had with Peter — "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" — was not a rebuke in the ordinary sense. It was a teaching moment. Peter's faith, even at its lowest point in this episode, was higher than the faith of any of the eleven who remained in the boat. His lowest is higher than our highest.
# The Principle of Spiritual Excellence — Matthew 14:22–33 (Part B) — Five Marks of True Faith; the Excelling Christian Life
[Note: This is Part B of the sermon on Matthew 14:22–33, continuing directly from Part A. Delivered 24 September 1978, Montreal.]
Jesus did not carry Peter back to the boat. He made Peter walk back. This is not cruelty — it is the completion of the lesson. The principle of spiritual excellence requires that even in failure, you do not collapse; you get up and continue. Peter had walked on water toward Jesus; now he walks back beside Jesus. The lesson is driven home: the power that held him up going out was the same power that held him up going back. It was never his own.
From this account, we can identify five marks of true faith. The first is that faith comes by hearing. Romans 10:17 states: "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." Peter did not recognize Jesus by sight — the figure was a silhouette against the pre-dawn sky, face not visible. He recognized the voice. John 10:3–5 tells us that the sheep know the shepherd's voice and will not follow a stranger. Peter heard, recognized, and responded. This is always how faith begins — not by what we see, but by what we hear from God.
The second mark is that through hearing, faith experiences the preciousness of Jesus. First Peter 2:7 says: "To you who believe, he is precious." John 12:32 records Jesus saying: "I, when I am lifted up, will draw all men to myself." Peter had heard the voice and knew it was Jesus — and immediately, he could not bear the thought of being left behind. Something drew him irresistibly. That is what the experience of Christ's preciousness does: it creates in you a hunger that overrides common sense and caution.
The third mark is that faith does God's will — specifically, it waits for God's command before acting. Peter did not simply leap out of the boat on his own impulse. He asked Jesus to call him: "If it is you, call me to come to you." Only after Jesus said "come" did Peter step out. This is not timidity; it is wisdom. Faith does not presume. It seeks the word of the Lord, and when the word comes, it acts without hesitation. Many people confuse human enthusiasm with faith — they leap without being called and wonder why they sink immediately.
The fourth mark is total commitment. To step out of a boat in the middle of a storm-tossed lake, in the darkness, in cold water, on the strength of one word — that is staking everything. Peter could not swim back; the boat was four miles from shore. There was no safety net, no alternative plan. He had committed himself entirely to the single word "come." This is what separates faith from religious experiment. A religious experiment has a fallback position. Faith does not.
The fifth mark is initiative. Peter asked Jesus to call him — he did not passively wait to see what happened. This is the spirit that Jacob showed when he wrestled the angel and said: "I will not let you go unless you bless me." It is the spirit Abraham showed when he interceded for Sodom — fifty, forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, ten — pressing God with holy boldness. Jesus said in John 16:24: "Until now you have asked nothing in my name; ask, and you will receive." And James 4:2 is plain: "You have not, because you ask not."
Hebrews 11 contains not one mediocre example of faith. Every person in that chapter is an example of excellence. Among the disciples, all had left everything to follow Jesus — that is already total commitment. But even within that totally committed group, Peter went further still. There are levels of excellence above total commitment. The Lord does not call us to mere adequacy; he calls us to the life that overcomes the world. Three consequences flow from this kind of faith: faith triumphs even in apparent defeat; faith experiences God's power in ways that cannot be explained by natural causes; and faith glorifies God, because Hebrews 11:6 states that without faith it is impossible to please him. Those in training especially must hear this call: do not settle for a mediocre faith. God has made you a new creature — become what you are.