"Jesus said to Simon Peter, Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch"   Luke 5:4

Let me share with you four lessons about launching out into the deep-

1. When God says, “launch out into the deep” it’s usually at a time when you’re tired and discouraged!

2. When God says, “launch out into the deep” your pride has been humbled by His greatness!

3. When God says, “launch out into the deep” your life is about to become radically changed!

4. When God says, “launch out into the deep” your spiritual authority is going to skyrocket to another level!

LISTEN- Launching out into the deep never makes sense—it goes against all human understanding! IT REQUIRES ABSOLUTE OBEDIENCE, and that’s why so few ever experience the deeper life in Christ!

There were five valid reasons for Peter not to launch out—

1. He was an experienced fisherman! Jesus was carpenter!

2. He was exhausted—Peter wanted to just go home, have some breakfast, and go to bed!

3. He was discouraged—he had nothing to show for all his labours!

4. His work schedule had been messed up—he had to wait until Jesus was done preaching!

5. It was costing him money for every hour they stayed at the lake- Peter could have had as many as 16 employees!

But because Peter set aside every rational argument and obeyed Christ, his life was radically changed! He left the familiarity of his boat to blindly follow a new adventure with the Lord!

Here’s a vital lesson for us from the prophet Ezekiel’s spiritual experience at the river that flowed from out of the temple in Ezekiel 47. This was a prophetic preview of the abundant life that Christ would provide through His sinless sacrifice on the cross.

“And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes.” (Ezk 47:9)

We need to understand something very important from this passage—Ezekiel did not go from his ankles right to his head—there was a slow forward progression in the water—from his ankles to his knees to his waist, and finally to his head!

As we boldly launch out into the deep at Christ’s command, we too go from faith to faith—from glory to glory—from strength to strength—from authority to authority! And when we finally find ourselves in the deepness of our vast destiny, Christ then says to us “I have made you fishers of men—let down your nets for a haul!”