Walking on Water
Let us just have some fun in the Lord, and like a child with Lego bricks, just randomly join a few pretty bricks together, just having some fun, and we shall see what we shall see at the end. Back to ‘walking on water,’ well unless it is frozen as ‘Ice,’ water walking has been performed by very few, but we can water ski, surf and when towed along, scoot over the surface with pleasure and delight, or abject terror, but to actually step onto the water surface, well that is a bit different. We can as the song says, ‘Step into the water, wade out a little bit deeper,’ but with Jesus, well things get excitingly different. Matthew 14:25-32 “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 come into the ship, the wind ceased.”
Elijah and Elisha used a mantle to part the Jordan River to pass over on dry land, Israel Exodused and walked through the Red Sea, as well as the Jordan when it was in full flood, upon dry land, but Peter and Jesus walked on the top of the surface. Now if we bend this verse a wee bit, give it a little tug, we could get this, from Revelation 22:2 “In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree [were] for the healing of the nations.” If we use the ‘Tinted Glasses’ from our Title we assume that the midst of the street means the middle or the whole street, which is actually a “River,” sort of like in Venice, but instead of having to ride or paddle your Gondola, you just step onto the water, and stride up the river, stop and chat to your neighbour, and have a good ole yarn right there in the middle of the river, standing on the surface. It would make a great book or movie, maybe even a “Faith Test,” if you have enough faith to walk on the surface of the ‘River of Life,’ then you can walk right on in through the gates and into the city; with walking on water access only, are you coming in or are you just plain stuck and drowning outside?
Now just suppose that the ‘New Jerusalem’ was exactly like Venice, streets as waterways and rivers, then would you and I ever be able to gain access, well yes, access is available only as you ‘By Faith,’ walk upon the water. To poke at this a bit more, we have this from Matthew 17:20 “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” No not with huge heavy machinery and months of hard graft, just say the word and it is done, the mountain stands up and walks off and jumps into the sea, ‘By Faith,’ and the power of the word in command.
Romans 10:17 “So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” And John 1:1-2 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.” John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” Jesus is the Creator of all things, and Jesus is the son of God. If we continue to play with our blocks, we could get that Peter walked on the Water ‘By Faith,’ and alongside Jesus Christ, but Faith commeth by the word, and the word is Jesus Christ, so back to our pun and play on words, the New Jerusalem’s streets are rivers of water, how strong is your ‘Faith,’ can you stride up the streets of the city waking on liquid water? Then why not, we claim that as a believer we have Jesus and the Holy Spirit within, to live ‘By Faith,’ or is our ‘By Faith,’ so weak and watery, we just like Peter sink on down and maybe hopefully float, why can we not ‘By Faith,’ with our hand In Jesus’ “Walk upon the Water,” Peter did? What if ‘The Test of Faith, to enter the Kingdom,’ was for each one of us to rock on up and walk on the water, right up the river, and through the gates into the city, how many of us would be calling for the help of a Gondola?
Quote; “Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God’s ideal for His children.” {ED 18} Now if we adapt this to read that our “Faith” is to be higher than the highest human thought, and at this level we can so easily, “Walk on Water,” tell mountains to be removed, then our having fun is way more real than fantasy. “By Faith” we could so easily walk up the river of life and right in through the portals of the New Jerusalem, sounds a bit more plausible than not likely. Hebrews Chapter 11, gives us a great list of ‘Faithful,’ but the greatest bit is this part, Hebrews 11:32-35 “And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and [of] Barak, and [of] Samson, and [of] Jephthae; [of] David also, and Samuel, and [of] the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:” Faithful in all things, strong in Faith, and could most likely ‘Walk on Water.’ How big and powerful is your Faith, or do we need to quickly strengthen and grow our ‘Mustard Seed Faith?’ James 2:19 “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble,” but they can’t walk on water. 2 Timothy 3:5 “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away,” they also can’t walk on water either. James 2:20 “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? So ‘Step out of the boat,’ you will either sink or swim, but your Godly Faith and close relationship with Jesus should enable you to “Walk on Water,” cause it just might be the only way to ever enter into the New Jerusalem. Now as we are having so much fun, let us review this verse, and give it a wee tug also, Revelation 15:2 “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, [and] over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” Now if this is true, and we know that God’s love is deep and wide, then if this should be a literal ocean, then it is going to be very deep and very wide also, and as the ‘Redeemed’ have formed characters identical to Jesus Christ, then they can easily stand upon, and ‘Walk on Water’ as well, let us daily grow in grace and faith, just in-case we might need to ‘Walk on Water.’ If you are weighed down with sin and iniquity, sinking deep in sin and when drowning is imminent, then by repentance, confession and Baptism, going under the water, we leave our burdens on the bottom, ‘Rise up and Walk,’ “Walking on Water.” The redeemed in their redemption bodies are represented as standing on the ‘Sea of Glass’ the river of life is in the midst or in the middle of the street, maybe even the whole street, ‘Walking on Water’ right up to the ‘Tree of Life’ where we can eat of the fruit and the leaves, as we now have the right to the tree of life, and just maybe ‘Walking on Water.’
John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” So if the only way inside, is to stride over the ‘Sea of Glass,’ right up the ‘River of Life,’ that gushes out of the city gates, access is only by ‘Walking on Water.’ If we are weighed down by our trespasses and sins, Hebrews 12:1 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” let us lay aside every weight that would definitely drown us, and arise with newness of life, and ‘Walk on Water,’ right into the Kingdom. Remember this, Revelation 21:27 “And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither [whatsoever] worketh abomination, or [maketh] a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Looks like the redeemed actually can, “Walk on Water,” yes? Now when Jesus returns shortly for his own, to harvest the redeemed, to leave the lost in the field for burning and destruction, Paul tells us that ‘the dead rise first,’ then the alive and remain join them in ascending to Jesus waiting in the clouds, for we are no longer weighted down with the burden of trespasses and sins, float on up to be with him forever, just kinda looks like we are therefore then able to, “Walk on Water.”
