Take your Bibles and turn to the book of Colossians. Book of Colossians chapter number two. We're gonna look at a verse here and then you can hold your place there and then turn to Matthew chapter 14. Matthew chapter 14. But we'll start in Colossians chapter number two. I want to speak this morning on a subject that I hope will, of course, be a blessing and a help to us, but before we can accept certain truths or facts, things that Scripture tells us, we have to be ready to listen. And we have to be ready to accept what God has for us. A dangerous thing in the Christian life is when we read the scriptures and we change what it means or says to fit what it is we feel comfortable with or what it is we feel it should be. But the Bible is there to speak to us and to change us. to change our lives, to bring us closer to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I hope that this morning that we will accomplish that as we look at a passage here and as we springboard from Colossians into Matthew, and hopefully share some truths that will be of help to us. Colossians chapter number two and verse number six, just one verse, it says in verse number six, as ye have therefore received Christ, Jesus, the Lord, so walk, ye in him. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him." This is a very important verse amongst these verses in Colossians. Of course, the theme of Colossians is Christ is all and all is in Christ. And what a wonderful thing and truth that is, especially for the Christian. that we have everything we need in Christ. Christ is everything. When Christ is everything, the other things in life just tend to fall into place. And we live a life of faith, as we sang about this morning. Faith is the victory. And living a life of faith is the Christian life. I want to kind of bring something to our attention, hopefully, that will help prepare us for what we're gonna look at in Matthew. But a couple important facts that I think we should understand, and probably you already know, but it'll help be reeling, is that of sanctification. Of course, if we study scripture, we understand as a Christian, one day, if you came to a place and realization that Jesus died for you, and understanding the history of that, and the fact that there is no way on earth that you could ever pay for your own sin debt, Everyone has a sin debt. We all have debt. And Jesus Christ is the only one that could pay that debt. And we have to accept by faith what Christ did on the cross for us. And there was a time and place when I did that as a young person. Sometimes for some people it's older, sometimes it's younger. Whatever that time may be, you took a step of faith and trusted Christ for what He did for you. and now you have been accepted into the family of God. The Bible tells us we have a positional sanctification. That means that I have been sanctified or set apart for the use of God. Then there's also another aspect that I think it's important for Christians to make sure we understand, and that is that of what we call practical sanctification. You see, when Jesus saved you, when you were saved, you were saved from the penalty of sin. Amen? But then also, you need to be saved from the power of sin. It's an ongoing process. Now, you're not being saved every day from the penalty of sin. Christ did that. He died once for all, for you and for me. But we have to ask God to help us live the Christian life, a life lived by faith, and we have to do that, and we have to ask God to help us. Search in me, see if there be any wicked way in me, the psalmist said, and confess it before God. and get it right, because what the Bible tells us we should do, we obey, it changes our lives, and therefore we grow as Christians. That's where we understand that teaching and principle from Scripture. What a wonderful thing it is to grow as a Christian. The Christian life is a life of faith. If you just read down a little bit more in verse number seven, which we didn't read, rooted and built up in Him and established in the, what's the next word? Faith. It is a faith-lived life. The Christian life is not a natural life. It is, in fact, a supernatural life. And John 15, verse 5 says, For without Me ye can do nothing. Hebrews 6, 11, But without faith it is impossible to please Him. Philippians 4.13 goes further, and it talks about, See, Christ is our strength. We try to have strength sometimes, but it's not our strength that gets the job done. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. And so we need to live a life of faith because the Christian life is an impossible life. I heard one preacher say it like this when he was in a meeting. He said he heard another preacher preach at a camp meeting, and he said he heard the preacher preach, and the preacher mentioned and made a statement that said the Christian life is hard. And the truth of the matter is, he didn't get up and just correct him, but he made a statement the next day, I guess when he spoke, and he made a statement that the Christian life is not hard. The Christian life is actually impossible. There is no way that you or I can ever live the Christian life, but it is the power of God that works through us. The last time I spoke, we mentioned in Philippians chapter number two that it is Christ that worketh in us. We have to work out what Christ has worked in us, and that's simply working out the salvation that God's given us. But see, God has made us pretty wonderful and amazing creatures. The Bible says in Psalms 139, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. It was not an accident. It was by design. And God has made us. And you know what? We're pretty capable of a lot of things. And I'm a pretty self-sufficient person when it comes to trying to solve problems and trying to correct things. But the truth is, in my life, there's nothing that I can do to fix myself to be more holy. Not one item, not one thing. And if salvation had 1% to do with me and the rest to God, there's no way in the world I could ever be saved, because it's all God. And He has to work in my life, and He's the one that has to change me. This is an important statement, and I want us to make sure we get this before we move on, and I hope this is clear. And I heard this statement, and Brother Van Gilderen, representative of Baptist School of Christian Ministry, I believe I said that right, said this in a message, and I never forgot it. It says, we are either going to live the victorious Christian life with failure as the exception, or we're going to live a failed Christian life with victory as the exception. Now that statement Shocked me. But the truth of the matter is, we have so many Christians today who live a life who are just satisfied with a norm. They don't really, and they're not really concerned with the supernatural. But the truth of the matter is, they will never grow as a Christian unless they start to acknowledge the things that God wants to do in their life and live a life of faith and God wants to work supernaturally in their life. You see, the Christian life ought to be something that's lived supernaturally. We ought to have supernatural things all the time. I'm not talking about extravagant events, you know, but little things. Noticing that it is God doing the work and not for ourselves. So with that question this morning, are we going to live the victorious Christian life with failure as the exception, or living the failed Christian life with victory as the exception? Now you say, but the McKeever, the Christian life's a victorious life. It is, but not every Christian lives that way. And so it's important that we understand the truth and live by it. Now let's turn over to Matthew chapter 14. Matthew chapter 14, and this is a very familiar story. Very important record in scripture, and I'm gonna begin reading in Matthew chapter 14, verse number 22. Verse number 22. The Bible says, and straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. If you, I won't keep interrupting, but when we get, if we were to study the other passages of scripture which compare this, this story's recorded as two other times in Mark and in John, and we get a little bit more light in terms of the reason why Jesus sent them away and the people after he had just fed the 5,000 had wanted to, they were following him and they were actually seeking to make him king. But you see, it wasn't time for Jesus to be king, crowned king. He needed to get away and get alone, so he left the multitudes. It says, verse 23, and when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray, and when the evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit. And they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I. be not afraid.' And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me 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. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were coming to the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship came and worshiped him, saying, Of a truth, thou art the Son of God. This is a very familiar story, and I've certainly studied this passage and read this passage of Scripture and heard lessons on this passage of Scripture, and although it's familiar, there's so much you can get from this account that we have for us of Jesus performing a miracle of walking on the water. And of course, if we were to study the other two references in Mark and in John, we would see a little bit more about this passage. And one of those I just gave to you earlier for verse number 22, verse number 23, but we would see and understand that Jesus walking on the water was the miracle that's recorded in all three of those gospel records. This particular part with Peter walking on the water is only towards Matthew. and probably really the fact that Matthew is written primarily to the Jewish people, and knowing that Peter probably sheds some more light for them to know and understand, but also for us as Christians. And we have here this story, and John, Mark chapter six, verse 52 adds, at the end it says, for they considered not the miracle of the loaves. They consider not the miracle of the loaves. You see, just previous to this, just before this miracle is recorded for us, we have the feeding of the 5,000. What a wonderful miracle. And I think that's a wonderful miracle to study. It's one of my favorites. But he does and performs that just before this. And we, of course, believe it to be probably more than 5,000, that's just men, but there could be women and children, up to 15,000 people Jesus fed. What an amazing miracle. Now, if we probably had ourselves a wonderful get-together, if we come together for the family picnic pretty soon, and we discover we've only got a pound of brisket and a pound of pulled pork, if those things are going to be had, and we're going to feed a bunch of people Some of us might start getting pretty nervous, you know. That's gonna be a lot of people to feed. But God worked a miracle with five loaves and two fishes and he fed 15,000 people. That's pretty amazing. And they just came from this miracle that Jesus performed and Jesus compels them, he gets them into the ship and he says they need to sail across and probably where they sailed across, if you look at the Sea of Galilee, it's probably just the top tip there and probably about five miles from beginning to end, something like that, and they were coming to the midst And it says, through all this, and when you get through the end here, it says, they forgot about the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. How does that happen? You know, God ever worked something amazing in your life, and then you thought, boy, that's wonderful. See, I need to remember that. I need to remember what God did for me. But yet, you tend to forget about it in a time when it's really troublesome. You see, the ultimate truth is, and I'll key in on this more in a minute, but the truth is, is that it's not so much the miracle that we always need, it's the one who performs the miracles. You see, it's getting close to Jesus that truly helps us. It's not just Jesus performing the miracle and the supernatural and saying, wow, isn't that amazing? But it's not for us, it's for Him. It's for God's glory. And John 6, 15 explains a little bit more of why Jesus departed, which I explained. So to kind of go through this and kind of sum up real quick, starting with verse number 22, Jesus straightway constrained his disciples, he sent them across to go. Now Jesus already knew exactly what was going to happen before he sent them over. It wasn't new to him, okay? So Jesus sent them on their way, and while he did that, he went up into a mountain to pray. And while Jesus is up there, Night begins to fall, and as night begins to fall, he notices that these men are out in the Sea of Galilee, and things are starting to look pretty rough. A storm has come. And it says in verse 24, but the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary, meaning the wind was either going against them, or probably the wind had changed and went against them. It was going one way, now going another. It's contrary to what they were doing, something against. And things are not looking good. Now remember that these are experienced sailors. These were not brand new to the ocean. Many of them fishermen. They knew what they were doing. How many of you like boats? Anybody here like boats? Okay. How many of you do not like boats? A few? Okay. One, two. You know, boats are nice. I like fishing. I haven't been really fishing in a long time. The last time I went was in Virginia. I like lake fishing mostly, but I went on the ocean with the Powells when we were down in Chesapeake area in that bay. And we went really early in the morning. It was great. We were out there on the water. Nothing like sticking your pole in the water and just sitting there. I don't know what it is about it, but it's just nice. You talk with friends. I started to get a little seasick. Now, I don't really get seasick. I've been on boats, and I've been on a cruise, a big boat, and a couple other things, but I don't really get seasick. But for whatever reason, I got seasick that day. And I mentioned to Tim, I said, I need to go ashore. I said, this is not good. And it's about that time when you realize, I probably do need to go in, because you think maybe it'll pass. And then when you're thinking, nope, it's not going to pass, you've already waited a little too long, and now you've got like another 10 minute ride. So now you're just holding on, and you're trying to, and he's yelling back, keep your eye on the horizon. You're bobbing up and down. Now, I'm not an experienced fisherman. So although I didn't really often get seasick, I did that day. And these men are not new to the fact of riding an ocean with waves bobbing up and down. They didn't have Dramamine back then, you know. So no doubt, not only with the waves crashing and with maybe coming over the boat and you have it's dark outside, and you have to think too, the lights in that boat They probably weren't very bright. You have a flashlight today, but in the dark, if it's really dark outside, have you ever tried to light a lantern or a candle? Not a propane, I'm talking about a candle. And you go outside and you try to light your way and see? Now imagine that on a boat in the water. That's about probably all they had. And probably with all the waves and the wind, candles don't like water. It's pretty dark. And so you've got the winds and the waves and everything's not going well. And it says, A couple quick things is that he waited till the fourth heart watch of the night, which is about roughly 3 a.m. to the morning, 6 a.m. So they were out there for quite a while. It became dark, tossing to and fro, and there was a time period when they were just trying to struggle to make it. And yet Jesus sees them and their struggle, and then he comes to them. It says in verse 26, and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirit, the root word meaning phantos or phantom, like a ghost. And it says, and they cried out for fear. As I heard one preacher put it, you know, they're out on the boat, it's dark, it's rough, waves are coming, wind is boisterous, they look out and they're being chased by a ghost. You know, I mean, what could get any worse? But they look out, And they see what they think to be a ghost, and they hear the voice of Jesus. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, straightway, right away, immediately, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come. on the water. Let me meet you on the water. And we have this miraculous story, not only of Jesus walking on the water, but Peter walks on the water. Now let me tell you this, men cannot walk on water. It's not possible. You can search all through the scriptures, there's no one else that's ever walked on water. And really, Jesus is the only one that has the power to walk on water. But he was not just a man, he was God as a man, still with his deity. But man cannot walk on the water. You know, you realize, no matter how hard you try, if you started today and you started for the next several years to try and practice walking on water, in 20 years, you'll never be closer. It won't happen. Why? It is impossible. No matter how hard you try, it is supernatural. And you see, as Christians, we should strive and desire and want to live a supernatural life. But it's so sad that so many times we don't have the faith that we need to trust God for the supernatural. And I think it cripples a lot of Christians. Notice, first of all, I have a few things to mention in this passage and I'll be done. Notice, first of all, Jesus comes to them. Jesus comes to them, verse 27. Now I want you to think about this picture. How many men are in the boat? The disciples, so 12. And you have these men in the boat, and no doubt, they're doing the best they can, hold on for dear life, trying to settle, get the boat under control, try to get across the ocean. I mean, we're only talking about five miles of ocean, so it's not that far. and they're struggling, and they hear the voice, they hear the voice of Jesus, he says, be of good cheer. By the way, that cheer doesn't mean the hilarious form of cheer, okay? He's not expecting them to laugh and carry on, but he is saying, be of comfort, have courage, trust me. He says, be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. Who is he speaking to? Everyone on the boat, right? He was speaking to all 12. However, who responded? Peter responded. You see, it is not God, he said, be not afraid, it is not God that gives us the spirit of fear, but of love, of power and of love and of a sound mind. You see, when we have fear, it drives out love. And when we don't have the love, we don't have the love of Christ, we can't trust him like we ought to. And when we have fear, we cannot trust God. You see, the devil likes to blind us to the goodness of God because God, the Bible says in Romans 2, 4, the goodness of God leadeth to repentance. Getting it right with God, confessing what you know is right before God and letting Him judge. The devil says, if God really cares about you, you ever feel like this? If God really ever cares about you, He wouldn't let you go through something like this. The trouble you're facing, God wouldn't allow that. But then, Ephesians 3, 17 through 19, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. That ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints. There's that word saints set apart. What is the breadth and length and depth and height? And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled with the fullness of God. The fullness of God. Romans 8, 35, who shall separate us? from the love of God. You see, God, see, has power over everything this world can do. God has power over anything that Satan tries to throw your way. And how often we as Christians, we forget. It happens to leave us and forget the fact that we're so thankful that in times of trouble, Jesus comes to us and he'll say, fear not, don't be afraid, it's I, be of good cheer. So Jesus came to them. Number two, Lonest Peter talks to Jesus, verse 28. And Peter answered him. So out of all the men there, just Peter answers. Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. Very interesting thought. Why did Peter respond? What was Peter's reason for responding? Why not the other 11? You see, at the moment of seeing Jesus, I really don't know what it was like, other than the fact of terrifying on the boat for these men, but when they understood and knew that it was Jesus, and he said, be of good cheer to his eye, be not afraid, I really wonder what their thoughts were. Were they still, I'm sure, hanging on? You see, the storm didn't stop at the moment. It will stop, but it didn't stop yet. And he called out to them, and what are they thinking? Are they still, or was nothing else in view, or were they just focused on? Well, I think probably out of all those men, the only person that could have been was Peter. Because Peter responded. And when we respond to the Lord, the other things just didn't seem, they were just down in priority. The way the boat was rocking. The waves that were, the wind that was blowing. The men all around him that were afraid. I don't know what they were saying to each other. The Bible doesn't give us that information. But Peter, no doubt, put the priority and responded to what Jesus was saying. It's amazing. We as Christians should not be relying on others around us to make the response to God that we ought to. You see, it's what God does in our life, it's not about what God's doing in other people's life. You can't give excuses of, well, they're not doing what God wants them to do, why should I? We should be serving God and asking God what he wants for us because it's what's right for us. What does God want for you and me? As Christians, we should want to live the supernatural life. Peter talked to Jesus, notice verse 29, and he said, come. Now this is Jesus speaking, if you ever read the tradition Bible, the word come is in red. He said, come. So Peter comes out of the boat, And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water. Someday I wanna ask Peter, and I think I've heard other preachers say this, and I think I agree. What was it like to walk on water? It's gotta be a pretty amazing thing. I mean, think about it. He walked on the water. Does that mean the water particles, I mean, water's fluid, right? It's water. And did he walk on a base that was around and still the water covered his feet? I don't know, did he still get wet? Or was it like walking on wood, you know, something hard, you know, standing up on top of a tip of a wave, I don't know. Maybe he kind of, maybe a couple of the feet he just floated over because he was on a wave, I don't know. But the Bible says he walked. So what was it like? We don't know. And it doesn't really matter with those specific details other than the fact that God is pretty amazing. And it says he walked on the water. But the key here that I don't want us to miss, and this is very important, is that it says in that verse, Peter came down out of the boat. You see, it's one thing for Peter to respond and say, Lord, bid me come under the water. Now, I don't imagine what these guys around him were probably thinking. Peter, are you nuts? What are you thinking? You're gonna come down out of the water? I wouldn't do that. But Peter, he's like, I wanna get on the water. And so he gets down out of the boat. You see, so many times in the Christian life, we just don't get out of the boat. God tells us that He wants us to come, tells us in the imperative there, in the original language, come, and we don't respond. We don't get out of the boat. We don't take the step of faith. Let me ask you a question. When was Peter's faith evident when he took the step? Now he responded, he said, bid me come. He said he wanted to come. But until the action of him stepping out onto the water, that was the step of faith. You see, this morning you're sitting here in a pew, and you have a lot of, I see a lot of people have pretty confidence that the pew is holding you up quite well. Simple illustration. But the truth is, I don't see anybody sitting in the auditorium tonight kind of doing this, you know, today, you know. I don't see anybody kind of struggling, sitting with one foot on the pew. You're sitting down comfortably. Now, chances are if the pew ever does collapse, you'll probably have a little hard time trusting it until the next time, right? We have a couple of dining room chairs and they're a little bit older because somebody had donated them to us years ago, but they're still good and wood glue does a lot of good things for furniture. And I fixed a few of the chairs, but one night we had a group of people over and we were playing a game and one of the people just collapsed. Now that person was a little bit more, you know, we didn't give them another one of the dining room chairs, you know, mental thing. We gave them a folding chair, you know, so that way they weren't thinking, is it going to collapse? That person in their mind, oh, that collapsed last time. I'm going to be a little careful. Now they took it quite well. It was funny. They weren't hurt. They were okay. But the truth of the matter is, is we sat uncomfortably. We trust that chair, that pew to hold us up. Simple faith, trusting, we don't really think about it. But boy, what if the Christian were just to simply trust God, but you see, you took an action, you sat down. And that's when you were evident that you trusted the pew. When Peter took that step on the water, that's when he trusted God. That's when his faith was made known. Now did Peter use, this is not a trick question, at least I don't mean it to be, did Peter use physical strength to step out of the boat? Yeah, he did. Yeah, he used physical strength. So, he had to pull himself up. I don't know how he came down out of the water. I don't know if he went down a ladder or what, but maybe he, I don't know, I don't think he jumped. It says he came down out. So, you know, he stepped up and he picked up. He had physical strength, right? God didn't float him onto the water. So, he still used what he knew he could, but what could Peter not do? Walk on the water. You see, living the Christian life for the supernatural is doing the things we know we should do and trusting God for the things that we cannot do. We know as Christians there are things we ought to be doing. And Peter trusted God's strength in his weakness. His weakness was he couldn't walk on the water. So he trusted God. The Bible tells us, my strength is made perfect in his weakness. Or, study the word, it's lack of strength, or strengthlessness. See, it's when we don't have strength that God uses his strength. Peter trusted God for the supernatural when he stepped out on the water. And I'm fearful that so many Christians, they acknowledge, they accept, but they don't actually follow through with what God has given them. Now, if we're honest this evening, or this morning, excuse me, I don't know why I keep thinking it's night. If we're honest this morning, and we say there's ever a time when God ever convinced you of something you need to change or get right, or some promise you made to God that you needed to hold to, how many of you have ever failed to hold to it? I'll be the first to raise my hand. As we'll see here more in the story, I have reasons for that, or the Bible does. When Peter stepped out by faith, he trusted God to do the supernatural, something he could not do. Could not do. Now, the reasoning behind the supernatural is in the end of that verse. Peter wanted to go to Jesus. You see, again, it's not about the miracle itself that Peter wanted to see. He wanted to go to Jesus. And as Christians, we need to go to Jesus. In all these situations and in storms of life and things that are going on around us, the waves are big, the wind is howling, and we need to focus, we need to have faith and go to Jesus. And Peter steps out onto the water. Now the other disciples, I'm sure, are watching. I'm sure they didn't have other things to do at the time. And I don't know what they were talking about. Maybe they're thinking, Peter's crazy. And then when it's successful, they say, look at that, he's walking on the water like Jesus is. I don't know what they were talking about. And then as Peter walks on the water, notice in verse number 30, it says, but when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. Now, imagine this, disciples are watching, Man, Peter, they go from, Peter, you're crazy, probably, I know I'd be, going to, wow, he's walking on the water, that's amazing. And then they look out, oh, he's sinking. Peter, you're dumb, you know? What are you doing? So, they're out there. It's important to know that others are watching us. And if we live a consistent Christian life, are they gonna see what God is doing? Or are they gonna see all of our problems? Are they going to see the miraculous working of God or are they going to see our human frailty? What did Peter do? It says he cried out. Now, it's interesting to note in verse 26, the whole group of men, it says they cried out for what? Fear. But in verse 30, Peter's walking on the water, he took this step of faith, he's out there, he gets his eyes off of the wind. Now, it says here he cried saying, Lord, save me. See, there's a huge difference. crying out in fear and crying out to the Lord, Lord save me. That's a life of faith. It's also interesting to note when we read this verse sometimes in our, we try to change this, verse 30, it says, No, it doesn't say that. It says, but when he saw the wind boisterous, it said back in verse number 26, or verse 24, it says, now that Steve was tossed with waves and the wind was contrary. The wind and the waves and the storm had not just started, they were already going on. You see, it wasn't Peter walking out on the water when it was calm, and then the storms came, and then he took his eyes off Jesus, they were already happening. He had already accepted by faith to step out on the water and trust Jesus with whatever was going on around him. He was going to Jesus, he trusted Jesus, and what happened? He took his eyes off Jesus. And he looked around, and he saw the wind boisterous. You see, you and I are not perfect. We cannot live the Christian life. It is impossible. It is a life of faith. But Peter cried out. He failed. You see, the Christian life, we're going to fail. It's going to happen. But what's sad so many times is Christians convince themselves they're living the Christian life and stepping out by faith when they haven't even took a step of faith yet. But the problem with Christians that are taking steps of faith, they're going to fail. There's gonna be a time when you get your eyes off of what Jesus is trying to do and circumstances, and you begin to sink. But the truth of the matter is, is that Jesus is always there, standing there, ready to catch us when we fall. And Peter, it says, cried out, Lord, save me. As one commentator put it, he didn't begin with a beautiful flowery prayer, Lord, all powerful, almighty, dear God, you know, God of the earth. He just said, Lord, save me. Simple, cut to the chase. And what did Jesus do? Notice Jesus' reaction in verse 31. It says, but when he saw, oh, excuse me, verse 31, and immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand. immediately stretched forth His hand. Jesus is always there, standing, ready to reach out His hand for whatever we're facing. If we just cry out and say, Lord, save me. You see, we accepted Christ as our personal Savior if you're a Christian this morning. We've trusted Him. But you see, He keeps on rescuing us. He keeps on saving us. not from the penalty of sin, but from the power of sin. And we realize that we got our eyes off of Jesus and we say, whoop, that's not right, that's not what God wants, Lord, I confess that I'm not doing what's right. You see, the failure wasn't the fact that he fell, the failure was that he took his eyes off Jesus. That's the failure. And that's where he realized, I failed, Lord, save me. And when we acknowledge what it is we've done wrong and we confess it before God, 1 John Chapter number one, if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's our fellowship with God. That keeps us in close fellowship with God. The day we got saved, Christ saved us from sin, but He continues to save us from the power of sin. Living the Christian life is getting out of the boat, trusting Jesus for steps of faith, and to do what we cannot unless He intervenes and does it for us. And somehow, if we turn away from what God is doing, we can turn back and He lifts us back up, and we continue walking the Christian life. If you looked at Colossians real quick, once again, we do not read this verse. Colossians chapter number 1 and verse number 29, just before the verses that we read, it says, Notice it says, Paul speaking here, I labor, okay? He's physically laboring. Striving according to his working. which worketh in me mightily. We looked at the word work last time I spoke, and the fact of worketh and the inergio, the energy that God gives us, it's him that works in us, okay? And then work, the other work is the productivity of work, things you do. And you have this working here, his working is a supernatural working, which worketh, that word worketh again is the energy, it says which worketh in me mightily. You see, it's not us, it's God. And God uses us, human instruments, to accomplish things we cannot do on our own because He empowers us to do it. But the truth is, is do we as Christians trust what God is trying to do? Maybe today you have some sin in your life, something that you cannot seem to overcome, something that seems to be gripping you. When Jesus comes to you and says, be not afraid, you see when you take your eyes off Jesus, or when you're fearing the storm and things going on around you, you fear and you happen to walk on faith, get out there, take your eyes off, you begin to fear the things that you see and you can't stop looking at it. I can't, I gotta turn, you gotta put your eyes on Jesus. And maybe there's some sin in your life you need to confess and tell God, this is not right, I need to turn to you. I need to get my eyes back on you, this isn't right. Maybe there's some commitment, something you've made to God and you said, this needs to change. I've taken my eyes off of you, I need to get it right. We can't live the Christian life and be successful if we don't confess our sins, and ask God for help. You see, it's 100% God and zero me. Nothing of mine. We need total dependence upon God. If I was to go further, I won't take the time to do it, but real quickly, it says, and when they were coming to the ship, the wind ceased. The wind ceased. Time of rest. Now, it doesn't mean troubles are gonna stop. You see, living the Christian life thinking, I'm not going to have any problems, that's a complete false idea. It's the idea that the great Christians in life have no problems. They've probably got more problems than you do, because they're realizing all kinds of things that are not right in their life that God needs to fix. We need to live the victorious Christian life. It says in verse 33, and they that were in the ship came and, what's the next word? Worshipped Him. saying of the truth, thou art the son of God. You see, when God does the work and performs the miracle, it's not about necessarily just the miracle, it's about who performed the miracle, and you'll give God the honor and the praise and the glory for whatever it is he does. That is the power of God. We need to live the victorious Christian life with failure as the exception instead of the failed Christian life and victory as the exception. What powerful Christians could accomplish for the work of the Lord if we just did that. Let's pray.