We typically tend to fear presumption and end up being overly cautious; but Scripture warns us the opposite. Jesus is constantly commanding us to trust Him in impossible situations. Are we going to follow Christ when He calls us to do something that others might call foolish? Or are we going to make convenient excuses under the pretense of not being presumptuous?
Excerpt taken from the full sermon, “Getting out of the Boat“.
Peter heard the Lord's voice. Some kind of confidence grabbed hold of him and he got out and he walked. And I'll tell you this, Jesus never faulted him for getting out of the boat. Jesus never faulted him for saying, "Lord, command me to come." He never faulted him for getting out of the boat. He never faulted him for walking on the water. He only faulted him for one thing. Only one thing - for doubting Christ once he was out of the boat. Listen. Presumption was never the problem here. I get the feeling sometimes, especially among those who bear this name "reformed" or "Calvinistic." It's almost like I get this feel that caution is the word of the day. That was not the case in Scripture. That is not the case. You cannot show me verse after verse after verse where Jesus was saying, "Guys, be very careful, lest you trust Me too much." Never did that come across. Nothing like that. You know what you find? You find that there in the Sermon on the Mount, we heard about it last night. God so clothes this and He takes care of that, and what does He say? "O you of little faith.... trust Me." You remember they were out there one day and they were in a boat again. They were with Jesus. And He said, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees." And they say, "Oh! We forgot to bring bread!" And He said, "O you of little faith." Or you remember another day. "Lord, why could we not cast that demon out of that young man?" "Because you didn't have faith." Isn't this what we get hit with over and over again? Or you remember another time that there was wind out there on the Sea of Galilee. And Jesus fell asleep in the boat. He didn't come walking on the water that time. But He woke up and same thing. "Why do you not trust Me?" You know, the thing is, we typically tend to fear presumption. Oh, I find that so often! We want to be so careful lest we be presumptuous, when in fact, Scripture seems to suggest that just the opposite is the issue. "Peter, why didn't you trust Me?" Not: "Peter, you idiot!" "Why were you so overconfident to step out of that boat?" It's not that. That's not what you find in Scripture. Constantly, Jesus is saying, "Do you not yet perceive?" "I fed the 5,000. I fed the 4,000. Is that not resonating in your head? That when I'm with you, you're good? When I'm with you, I supply your needs. When I'm with you, impossible things happen. So trust Me! And get out of the boat! Don't stay in the boat!" Oh, I am so convinced, we've got all these reformed people. You'll carry your Jonathan Edwards out of here, but all the time, you're in the boat. And Jesus has no hesitation to call us out. Let me ask you this, as you and I sit in our little boats looking over the side. Based on verses like this, do you get the feeling that God's more concerned that we're going to just rashly spring out of the boat and foolishly trust Him to help us and protect us in some crazy endeavor done in His name? Or is God more concerned... He wants us to step out. He wants us to do crazy endeavors in His names' sake. Those 120 came down from that upper room. That was a totally crazy endeavor they were about totally. Is God more concerned that lacking faith, we be too timid to ever get out of that boat? That's what it seems like here. Do you know what the boat is? Do you know what a boat is? The boat is where you don't walk on water. It's the place of safety, of security.
