Sunday, November 19, 2017

The Call to the Deeper Life


The God Who Calls us to Depth – 5:2-4
Luke 5:2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 

Jesus chooses to get into Peter’s boat here, revealing Jesus’ conscious choice of Peter on that day to learn what it is like to be a vessel for Him to use and work through.

Jesus could not stop ever telling, teaching, proclaiming the Gospel.  He did it publicly and in small groups for both hold great value and both have great effectiveness for the believer. The early church did the same as they met publicly and in homes (small groups).

 Why did Jesus spend so much more time communicating the Gospel than any other ministry?  What is it about the proclamation and teaching that is so critical in the church and in missions.
We gain some valuable insight from Paul on this, so let’s look at it. 


Romans 10:14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

 Note that both of these flow out of the speaking of Scripture

(1) Salvationpeople don’t come to faith without a messenger communicating the truth of Jesus.
(2) Sanctificationpeople don’t grow in their faith without the teaching and application of Scripture.

            The Deeper Life
That day when Jesus stepped into Peter’s boat, it was much more than the purpose of it being used as a floating pulpit, but Jesus was actually taking a step deeper into Peter’s life. He was going to call Peter to so much more than his current life.  The call to push off from the shore would change everything for Him.

Jesus aim is always Deeper Revelation!

Luke 5:4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

Notice as well how Jesus is going to use Peter’s business as a means to fully engage Peter to follow.

Jesus is calling Simon to leave the comfort of the shore and do something that is against his experience, knowledge, not practical at all – Go fishing in the middle of the day. 

**Sometimes Jesus calls us back to a place where we have been toiling in our own power and nothing happened so He can show His power.***

Peter did not want to go back out and do the same thing again. 

If we are not careful we can think that Jesus does not have a perspective on our job, church, family, circumstances.  He always has the right knowledge.


            “at your Word I will let down the nets”
If Simon Peter hadn’t obeyed what was to him a seemingly foolish & unimportant command to put out the boat into deeper water and lower the nets, he would have missed out seeing Jesus perform this incredible miracle.  

But Peter did submit to Jesus’ authority even though he had no clue how things would turn out or what the Lord was up to.  This ought to encourage our hearts to simple obedience to the Lord and His every command, even when we don’t understand what He is doing.

Peter knew the futility to try and fish during the day, but he obeyed, not because it made sense to him, but because Jesus asked him to do it. 

However much faith he truly had in that moment in the boat we don’t know, but we know his faith was far from magnificent at the moment, but the great object of that faith – Jesus himself – produces a transforming miracle in Peter’s life.

God will reward our obedience if we will go ahead and do what He has told us to do. 

 How many things do we miss because we think we know better than God?

A little faith in the might of Christ has always seemed to bring about amazing things!
Do we obey Jesus only when it makes sense to us, or we you obey him simply because he asks us to obey? The answer to that question reveals the condition and understanding of our faith.

Maybe Jesus is calling you and I to something more, to get out into deeper water and we want to stay near the shore.  Peter was in danger of missing out because he thought he knew more and nothing was going to be caught out on the water.

Even in spite of his objections Peter agrees to do so because Jesus is asking.

His Word must always outweigh our objections or logic!

His Word must be enough to foster our obedience even if it does not seem logical. 

So, Peter does this...“let down the nets”
This is “chalao” and it means to let go, loosen, relax, let down from a higher place.  Even though this is referencing something tangible, it also represents his obedience to let go of his objections and obey.


     “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Simon’s reaction is not surprising, but his reaction is not because he thought Jesus had better fishing techniques and he was going to want to utilize them more.

Peter immediately in that moment is wholly focused on Jesus, and Simon has just seen Jesus more clearly.  In that moment everything shifts for Peter from seeing Jesus earlier as master, to now calling Him "Lord". Master underscores the understanding of someone in authority and Lord was a Messianic title. 

Peter is realizing in the moment exactly who Jesus really is. Note the irony that up until now Luke has called him Simon, but when he falls on his knees, Luke calls him Simon Peter.  Peter in this moment is being the name Jesus gave him in John 1:42.



The Greatest Treasure – 5:11
Luke 5:11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

We will not be able to fully follow Jesus in deep intimacy until we are willing to forsake our own plans.  

On the most successful business day of their lives, they just walk away from it all.

Q: Why does someone just walk away from it all like this?  You do this because you have found the greater treasure and Peter saw that walking with Jesus would be worth any worldly loss.


The word "followed" means to walk the same road, to accompany someone and that is exactly what Peter did for the rest of his life.

I just close this blog with this question...

Do we see Him as the greater treasure?

If we do see Him in this way, then there is no doubt that we will walk in the deeper life!












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