Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my life. Peter was a very strong, courageous,
and faithful follower of Christ since the day that the Lord called
him away from his fishing nets. He had every reason to be confident
that he would remain steadfast. After all, he feared no man.
Yet just prior to his arrest and trial, the Lord Jesus said
to Peter, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you,
that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that
thy faith fail not. All of the events which transpired
over the course of the next few hours were designed to occur
exactly as they did, to teach Peter his own weakness in the
flesh and the utter faithfulness of God to sustain and keep him
in spite of his failure, denial, and weakness of faith. Peter,
along with the other disciples, was sure that he would not deny
the Lord. Yet to a man they all fled and abandoned him as if
they did not know him. If one error characterizes the
false gospel which is so common today, it is the constant attempts
to stir up men to believe and have faith. Faith is commonly
viewed as a trait which any man can exercise simply by deciding
to do so. Many believe that it is possible
for men to increase their faith by obedience and determination,
and thereby to gain favor in God's sight by such exercise,
as well as to perform great and mighty deeds thereby. If anyone
could have done so, it surely would have been a lion-like man
such as Peter. The Lord directed his disciples
to set out by ship to cross the Sea of Galilee, while he stayed
behind to go up into the mountains alone to pray. As darkness fell
around the disciples, they found themselves toiling alone in the
midst of stormy seas, without any knowledge of the Lord's whereabouts
or what he was doing. Yet all the while he was praying
for them. His faithfulness and not theirs is what sustained
them in the lonesome and dangerous journey. When he appeared unto
them walking on the sea, they were very troubled, because they
were not sure who or what was approaching. Peter, being Peter,
and perhaps exuberant at the thought of Christ walking on
the water, called out to the Lord, confident that he was their
safety. The Lord bid him to come to him.
Peter, whose mind was on Christ and not the circumstances, descended
from the ship and began walking towards the Lord. Even faithful
men cannot walk on water. Yet here was Peter walking on
water with his eyes firmly fixed on Christ. What we see next is
that Peter began to sink as his focus became centered on the
impossibility of his situation and not the Master who had called
him. Quite often this account is set forth by teachers as an
example of the failure of Peter's faith. Yet the reality is that
this is an example of the inability of all flesh, and in this it
is not specific to Peter at all. The Lord did not call Peter to
come to him, hoping that Peter would traverse the water, only
to be disappointed when he did not. Rather, the Lord called
Peter to himself that he might demonstrate to Peter the weakness
of all flesh, lest he be lifted up with pride and recount to
the other disciples how he had walked on the water. This is
not a picture of Peter's having faith and then losing it, any
more than Samson's strength was in the length of his hair. Rather,
the Lord would show Peter that without him he could do nothing.
He would teach Peter that there is no place of salvation except
in the hand of him who plucked him from the waves. The Lord
said to Peter, Wherefore didst thou doubt? This question is
literally, why were you wavering or halting between two opinions?
Now the Lord knew the answer, but he would have Peter to recognize
the impossibility of trusting the arm of the flesh and obeying
Christ at the same time. There is no mixture of what man
does and what the Lord does. Salvation is all of grace. It
was in this dire situation and the state of halting mind, not
when he was in some triumphant condition of faith or victory,
that the Lord was pleased to reach down and pluck him from
certain destruction. And so it is that the Lord teaches
men of their own weakness, and shows them the peril that they
are in by nature, and it is He who moves them to cry out for
deliverance. Now the if-only crowd would view
this situation as a failure on Peter's part, which if only he
had kept faith he would have triumphantly crossed the water
to the Lord. Yet this is exactly what the Lord demonstrated to
Peter that he could not do. The Lord puts His people in situations
from which they cannot extricate themselves to teach them wherein
their strength truly lies. This was not a failed experiment
or a test of Peter's faith, but rather a demonstration of the
Lord's faithfulness to lead his people in a way that they knew
not, so that they might learn not to have any confidence in
the flesh. Doubt is not necessarily a bad
thing, especially when a man is made to doubt his own strength
and ability, as Peter was. When the Lord delivered Peter
safely to the ship, he understood the words of the psalmist, but
the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. He is their strength
in the time of trouble. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at 4the4 at windstream dot net.