The Presence of Jesus

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The message was brought by Rev Jack Sprinkle.

Matthew 14:22 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. 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. 24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves:
for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus
went unto them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw him
walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried
out for fear. 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of
good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28 And Peter answered him and said,

Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said,
Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to
go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and
beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately
Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O
thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? 32 And when they were
come into the ship, the wind ceased. 33 Then they that were in the ship
came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God. 34

And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.
35 And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out
into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;
36 And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment:
and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.

The presence of the Lord does one of two things. It draws us
closer or drives us away. The problem of His presence was that the disciples
didn’t know who He was. For three years they had slept, walked with, listened
to the teaching, and even declared He was the Son of God. Yet on the water they
could not relate to Him. Was He the Jesus they knew? They were upset and
afraid. They had seen all the miracles and still did not realize this was Jesus
walking on the water. They sold Jesus short. They could not place Jesus in
their life. They should have said “that’s Jesus. He raised the dead. It’s no
trouble for Him to walk on the water.” When real troubles come do we depend on
Him? Would we be like the disciples? If all 12 of them had jumped out of that
boat we would have seen a different story.

The proof of His presence is that
Jesus comes in such a way that we know it is Him. He reveals Himself to us. We
need to realize it is not a doctor that heals us; it is God. Sometimes we don’t
recognize Jesus; our minds are too full of other things. He wants us to know He
is still God. The Bible speaks of a great falling away, and it will happen. It
doesn’t have to happen to this church; it doesn’t have to happen to us. It
looked like they might sink. There was a storm all around them. Jesus told them
to be of good cheer. God wants to help us. Mark says that Jesus would have
passed them by, but they cried out. If we aren’t careful today He’ll walk right
by us and when the storm comes He’ll be gone. There is no need to call on Him
then. He came after the storm reached dangerous conditions. Why?  Why did He even send them out in the boat to
start with? He needed them to realize He is God and the only one who can help
them. They didn’t recognize Him. Let us get to know Him and let Him win our
victories.

The proof of Him was up to them. He said in effect for them to get
their eyes on Him. We can’t. He can. The permission of His presence is seen in
verse 29. He simply said “come.” He says “come to me all ye that are heavy
laden and I will give you rest.” Let’s come to Jesus as we never have before.
Where do we have Jesus?

He probably shocked Peter when He said “come.” Should
we not go to Him? We need to make up our mind. We need Him and we won’t see
that until we fail. In that regard, Jesus gives us permission to fail. He gives
us permission to call on Him. We are putting our eternity in His hands. Should
we not put our storms there as well?

There is power in His presence. The power was left up
to the disciples in that boat. Would they release the power of Jesus? If all of
them had stayed in the boat, they would not have realized the power of God. He
wants us to say “come” to Him as well. Not one of us can live a Christian life
without Jesus.

There is the praise of His presence. We see this truth in verse
33. They came and worshiped Jesus again affirming He was the Son of God.
They should have done this all along. They were so wrapped up in the storm and
themselves that they couldn’t see Jesus. Here is a challenge.  Allow God to release His blessing. Let Jesus
come.  Will we allow Him to do this for
us, for the church?  Will we just ask?