Cast Yourself Into The Sea — Fred Tomlinson

Let me start this way, you know when you step from the passenger boarding bridge into a waiting aircraft The intention is that you along with around 300 tons and About 400 people and a lot of luggage and a lot of other things Are going to do something that defies The unalterable law of gravity and fly.

Now the only way that this is possible is That another law a superior law in this case the law of Aerodynamics will over rule the inferior law the law of gravity that any failure in respect to the law of aerodynamics.

And the law of gravity will immediately seize everything in about that aircraft and everyone in it and It will take priority and with the inevitable result you know the Bible teaches us It doesn't word it quite this way, but when Adam and his wife as she was shuffled away from The Garden of Eden a Law not unlike gravity became the default of their lives.

The Law of Sin and Death and Humanity’s Self-Centered Default

Many many years later the Apostle Paul would refer to that law in Romans chapter 8 as the law of sin and death in the previous chapter the seventh chapter of Romans Paul talks about it without Defining it or labeling it in that same particular way.

But you know among the Categories of the functioning of that law of sin and death and there are many that we could talk about. There is this fact right at the core. It's right at the core of the human heart today and it's this that He sees himself as his own God.

He is preoccupied with himself. He worships or she worships herself. And and it's ceaseless. It's an ongoing factor it's a it's the default of human experience of human behavior and You know to be an authentic Christian man or a Christian woman.

That default must be overridden and It will require a force that is greater Than any one of us are in and of ourselves. We have no Inherent capability to to change that default. It's fixed. It's been sort of as it were programmed into our lives.

It's the bias of our lives. It's the better book by the Apostle. It's a law that's functioning that in and of itself is unalterable and We've all got stories either our own. Or the stories of other people Who have made their many endless?

Zealous attempts to change themselves at that level. We may succeed in behavioral modification as it's called we can change ourselves in various degrees. But we can't change that fixed law. That's there again.

It can't be done without a Greater force a force greater than ourselves a law greater than ourselves like the Illustration I gave of the aircraft and and that force that I'm referring to that power must be exerted continually.

And that's an important word for where I'm going with this. Now now with this kind of opener as it were We could we could veer off and pivot in many different directions and we could search a variety of different passages of Scripture Which would come to mind and which could help elucidate or illustrate what I'm talking about.

Peter’s Radical Call to Follow Jesus

What I'd like to do In this session is to ask you if you're turning in your Bible to turn to John's Gospel chapter 21. Now I'm not going to go directly to it. There's a passage a section of the chapter that If I had the option, I would like to read at length, but in this Time restricted setting that I think I'm in right now.

I can't do that I encourage you to read the chapter when you have an opportunity but What I'm doing at the moment before I even go there. I've got my finger in it. But I'm looking into Mark's gospel just for two two words two verses rather.

I'll read them to you. And so, you know where I am. I mean gosh the gospel according to Mark chapter 1 and Verse 16 now as he that is Jesus as he walked by the Sea of Galilee. He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen and Jesus said to them come ye after me and I will make you to become fishers of men and straightway, they forsook their nets and Followed him.

Now I'm turning over the pages to Luke's gospel and in chapter 5 I'm reading in verse 8 When Simon Peter saw it there's a context for this, of course, which is tied up with the italicized word in my Bible it.

When Simon Peter saw it he fell down at Jesus knees saying depart from me from I am a sinful man. Oh Lord and then it goes on and Jesus says as we read in the other gospel It was so that James and John the sons of Zebedee which were partners with Simon.

And they and then Jesus speaks to Simon or to Peter and he says fear not from henceforth thou shalt catch men and when They had brought their ships to land. They forsook all and followed him. I don't know whether you noticed in these two references, but the idea that I'm drawing On is the fact that Peter when he heard the call of Jesus to him and that in itself worth a whole session to think about just the wonder of what took place that this man Jesus walks into in this case the life of Peter and And simply says follow me and There's this immediate response from Peter his responses.

It's impressive. And the scripture text says they left all or they forsook Everything it was in other words It was um, it was a clear call that went deeper than just into his mind or into his motions but it reached him at that deepest core of his being and We could speculate as to what went on inside of him, but that's not necessary.

The fact is that the text says like immediately he responded and left everything and And That's incredible. All right. Now you can turn to that 21st chapter of John's Gospel and I've already apologized for not reading the whole text.

Peter Returns to Fishing After the Crucifixion

But I'm going to drop down on odd verses or phrases here that you'll find when you read through it because consecutively. The fact is of course in the meantime Jesus has been crucified. He's risen from the dead there have been some Opportunities for them to see him after his resurrection.

Let me let me just read. I'll read from the top of the chapter 21. After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. And on this wise showed he himself. There were together Simon Peter and Thomas called Didymus and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee and the sons of Zebedee and to other of his disciples.

Simon Peter said unto them I go fishing. They said unto him we go with thee and they went forth and entered into a ship immediately and that night they caught nothing. Let me just stop there. The question is what is going on in Peter's life and in his heart and When in asking that kind of question with the limited information that we have in the text of Scripture we can only speculate and sometimes we do that just for our own benefit when we're alone perhaps when we're reading Scripture and Questions come to our mind and there's no answer to it because there's no record in the text of Scripture to tell us so we imagine things it's.

We're not building doctrines on our imaginations, but we're human beings and as we read We think I've said many many times over the years I wish the Bible you know was a whole lot thicker than it is not just because it's printed on thicker paper, but because We just beg for more information we long to know more.

But in any event the fact of the matter is that Peter has now made this statement. I'm going fishing. And the question that I'm asking is why? Why is he saying this? Well there are some very sort of logical answers we could give.

We could say well because he's hungry and What's been going on lately? Another reasonable question would be well. He was it would appear to be a commercial fisherman and He need he needed he needed some funds to keep going on it could be said.

Well was he just simply drawn back to his former trade in this slack period here. But my real question is Peter. And do you remember the way that you responded to the call of Jesus in the beginning? Do you remember the radical response that you made to that to that call when you first met Jesus?

Do you remember what Jesus said to you? The Prophetic sort of statement that he made to you concerning your life and concerning its purpose and its future. Peter. Had you had you forgotten that at this time do you remember when you left all the fishing behind to follow Jesus?

You know I think what I'm suggesting at least is that maybe maybe that default of his Earlier life earlier behavior earlier activities just kicked in here at this point in time. And in doing in saying that I'm keeping in my mind the fact that Prior to this moment here in the 21st chapter of John He's actually seen Jesus alive after that brutal crucifixion and his death.

He's actually seen his hands and his side. What's gone wrong and Maybe maybe what I'm saying here I I don't know who I'm speaking to in particular, but just maybe what I'm saying really highlights something about your own life.

But I think it I think this passage is highlighting to my mind, and I hope perhaps it can do the same for you. That If and when you drop your guard let me put it that way if and when you drop your guard you you inevitably have lost your focus and There will be a sense in which the default kicks in.

Remember my earlier illustration now to the issue here that I'm discussing is not the fact that we we in that Time period in that moment or whatever it is we lose our salvation. I'm not suggesting that at all.

But what I am suggesting is we inevitably lose the fruit or the benefit the richness the preciousness of what we have known and what we've Experienced remember I said that the the law of aerodynamics must function continually in that case when it ceases to function there are disastrous results inevitably and The fact is there's a sense in which that's true in our spiritual lives as well.

Spiritual Maintenance and the Danger of Drift

You know I Live here with my wife and our dog in a big old house. Which the Lord has made available for us some over the years we've had Christian meetings here. But because of the Kovac thing That's going on at the moment.

We're not allowed to have meetings in the home or even meet together in one another's homes except with certain exclusions. But the fact is you know There's just me and my wife as I say and the dog doesn't make any mess around here.

But there's there times when I go down some steps. And I go into a room that we built onto the house which is our meeting room. And I mentioned to my wife just the other day that this there's some cobwebs forming on those stairs down there.

Because because nobody's going up and down and they're not being attended to regularly. Making it sound like they need to be well. That's probably true as well. But the fact is you abandon your house, and it will become dusty.

If you abandon it for a longer period. It's pretty certain that insects will move in and If you leave it for a really prolonged time Eventually the house is going to fall apart. That's that's called entropy.

There must be an energy source. And an action Which is essential to prevent the natural Tendency to degrade and fall apart. This is this is true. You know I've often said that which is true in the natural is true in the spiritual.

And I think there's a direct parallel here. Which is very obvious, and I don't need to explain it anymore to you the point that I'm emphasizing. Is that that which God starts in the beginning must be maintained?

Failure will Result in loss now then. Just to open this a little bit wider. You know that human default as I've called it. It's such that it Moves men and women to gratify themselves to gratify their flesh.

It's the root of slavery to sin, but you know we the modern phrase is well. You know it's all about me. Once upon a time I'm certainly not recommending this book, and I never read it. I but I saw the title decades ago.

Where someone of some degree of notoriety said wrote a book and it was entitled it's all about me. I've got to be me rather got to be me. Yes. But we we need in our lives this energy source. Now I've partly quoted a verse of scripture from the book of Romans.

The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus

I'm going to read it More fully here, this is how Romans chapter 8 opens up. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Note the words carefully who walk not after the flesh.

But after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. I've been talking to you about the law of sin and death and the need for a superior law to enable us to live above that and free from its power and its influence and this is what Paul is explaining here in this wonderful section of scripture.

He says it's the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. That releases us and sets us free from the law of sin and death. Notice as I mentioned the particular wording Paul says it the law of the spirit of life this superior law this most superior law.

Is where it's in Christ Jesus? It's not it's not something like an entity it's not a product it's not something that God gives to us. This this is a law that functions in Christ Jesus. And the message here is that that the benefit of that superior law to the law of sin and death will only be my experience or your experience insofar as I Discover it to be in him and I then I'm able to abide In him the benefit the blessing the release the victory and all that goes with it is In him.

He doesn't hand it to me so I can get that as an object in my grasp the call is Is to enter into a union with him which God is Enabling us to know and to experience. This is this is this is where we discover the Liberating power this is this is where we experience what we often talk about as being the the liberating Holy fire of the Spirit of God.

Or put another way all together. It's the life of Jesus. It's it's this factor described in these various ways by me just now, but it's this one single factor that uniquely Identifies the authentic Christian man and authentic Christian woman that they're not flopping all over the place up and down in and out.

You know, but they've discovered an abiding place in him where we benefit from all of the richness of his Liberating power his cleansing power his healing power is Refreshing power and so on and so on all the preciousness of fellowship with him in our hearts.

Lifelong Commitment and Abiding in Christ

And this is very very wonderful now without this as a continual Experience or if you prefer it to be put this way without this continual in filling Of his holy life his Holy Spirit this holy power. There will be loss and there will be an inevitable degrading that takes place you know, I think actually.

And I've gathered this somewhat from my own experience in earlier days. But certainly it's been reinforced by talking to a lot of people over these many years now and that is so many people In their ignorance.

And I'm not insulting anyone by saying that they they view the Christian life as as a kind of a product a kind of a one-time event a one-time exchange or a one-time commitment. But you know, it's not that the true Christian experience is a lifelong consistent in drinking of this Holy life of God where a man and a woman then walk in an undeviating and radical obedience to God.

The Apostle Paul will talk about that in the book of Galatians in chapter 5 and around verse 16. You can look it up for yourself. I Think probably most of the people I'm talking to today are familiar with a W Tozer who has now gone on Into a richer experience of the Lord's presence.

In one of his books that was written Entitled the pursuit of God he made this series of statements. Let me read them to you. He said that in this I Don't recall how he leads into it, but he's talking about in this sort of modern evangelical General position and here's the quote Everything is made to center upon the initial act of accepting Christ and We are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls.

We have been snurred In the coils of a spurious logic which insists that if we have found him We have no need anymore to seek him he then goes on to say this is Set before us as the last word of orthodoxy and is taken for granted that no Bible taught Christian ever believed otherwise.

But that is not true. That is not true and what I think perhaps almost more than anything I wanted to share in this message is just the need for the ongoing steadfast faithful Commitment to Christ in our daily walk failure to do that will result in loss.

You know, I think in so many cases Christianity we don't find that word in the Bible, of course, but Christianity is being reduced to a kind of a theological belief system where You know believing is essential.

There's no question about that We've got scriptures to teach that without any question believing is essential, but without receiving What we're claiming to believe we really don't have anything believing that fails to lead us to an actual receiving of what God is offering is always a faulty believing and There is the outcome of that and result of that is unbelief and I'm Reminded of what the Apostle Paul said.

He said whatsoever is not of faith is sin and As the result of that failure, there's there's no heart Transformation there's no actual victory. There's no evidence of holiness. There's no radiance of Christ and Sadly this is this is the experience of all too many and I suppose if there's anything even sadder it might only be this that for so many who claim to be Christians They've never even seriously entertained the possibility that they may be missing something and For many people when they're faced with that fact that there is something more perhaps than what you've experienced.

They're offended and become Attempting to justify their position and sometimes it's worse, you know in my days in Liverpool England in the Fellowship where we were there for many years. It The house that we were meeting was a big old I don't know if this will mean anything to many of you Americans, but it was a Georgian styled house.

With a great big heavy thick front door on it and we would get close to 200 people in the meetings in this big house and I can remember without any question and doubt in my mind Occasions when during the course of the ministry of the Word of God There would be people who would get up from the meeting and they would run out down the hallway.

We could hear them going down the hallway. The door had a unique kind of catch on it that you press a button and it would click off to open and they would. You'd hear the click the door would open and the door would slam so hard.

You think the front of the house would fall off, but they wanted to get out. It was not for them. They were offended and I could tell a number of stories along that line. But you know, we had many occasions when?

During the preaching not not after as the result of an invitation. But during the preaching of the Word of God people would get out of their seats in a very different manner to the man I've just referred to and They would come and fall on their faces at the front of the meeting because they wanted To give themselves to God they wanted to receive what God was offering in my Chapter here of John John chapter 21 to remember I read to you the last part.

When Spiritual Effort Produces Nothing

You know, this is the way the verse starts. It says I go fishing and the last words in the verse of these that night they caught nothing. You know if in fact we find ourselves Drifting spiritually We may get involved in things even even things that may be considered to be Christian works things which are good ideas.

But at the end of the day, they produce nothing nothing that is of value In terms of eternity things that will very likely be burned up in that day. But To catch nothing I'm thinking If we face it in the moment when it may be our experience it's disheartening.

We realize it's been a waste of time a waste of years. There were some songs been written about that and About the wasted years when a man or a woman has permitted themselves to be drawn away By the by their flesh they've been drawn away from that sacred place of abiding in him.

We're alone there is victory and joy and You know This man Peter I've already referred to him as a commercial fisherman and his colleagues they were fishermen. They knew fishing. They knew how to fish they knew when to fish they knew were to fish and they've been fishing all night, and they caught nothing and I Suspect that was unusual For them.

But I'm wondering to myself. Did it ever occur? I'll have better things to talk about with Peter if I ever get to meet him in heaven Than to bring this up, but I've wondered to myself Peter Did it ever occur to you?

That it was actually God that chased the fish away from your net. I Think by the time I would get to speak to him if I ever do. He would agree with me wholeheartedly, but at the time. I'm not so sure he would have agreed.

But you know God does chase the fish away in our lives. You know There's there's so many records of scripture that we think about he causes water to dry up. You know important water That was desperately sought.

He causes a food supply to To dry up. I'm thinking of Elisha when I say that you know he causes plans that we make to fall flat. He causes businesses to go belly-up because his relationships to collapse.

He causes assemblies to to shrink. Why? He does it because he loves you. He does it. Because sometimes there's no other way for him to get your attention where he has you in a position where you're facing up to the fact that you have actually allowed yourself to be drawn away and You've been missing out you've been Experiencing spiritual loss and perhaps it's perhaps it's gone way beyond that even but nevertheless.

It can certainly be those things and sometimes there's just no other way it seems this is how I would analyze it anyway. For God to really get my attention He has to sort of break the cycle of resistance.

He has to in some cases. He has to deflate our egos and highlight to us our helplessness and and our need. But you know in this unfolding story in John chapter 21 There was actually a new day that was dawning.

Jesus Meets the Disciples on the Shore

Let me just read you a verse in the chapter verse 4. But when the morning was now come Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said unto them children. Have you any meat and they answered him no.

You know Let me tell you there's always a new day dawning when the man is standing on the shore. And and the man was not some fish wholesaler. Anxious to get their catch so he could profit from it. This man was the Son of God.

He was the man on the shore Hallelujah at first. He was unknown to them, but then He begins to unveil himself to them. In the lingo, I'm more familiar with How's it going boys? You know I can't digress to tell you a story, but I stood on one occasion as a police officer right next to another police officer and We were there to sort of because it was a formality and then among all the cars that were parked along the sides of the curb and Very plush black Jaguar pulled up double parking.

And the man we were expecting got out of the car he was the chief constable or the chief of police as you'd call him perhaps of the city and He came toward he got out the car came toward us and stopped right in front of us.

And he said this how's it going boys, so you see where I'm making the connection within about five or ten seconds of that question I'd been stabbed and thrown 12 feet with a knife in my back. How's it going boys?

Well At first I think I think Peter thought Well that well that I need to read a bit more of the verse Jesus said to them cast the net on the right side of the ship and you shall find. And I think at that moment the must have been a question in the minds of these fishermen like We've been out there all night trying to get there.

Let me pause here in saying that it just could be that there there's one or two or maybe many more than that. Listening to me this morning and you have come to the recognition that you've lost out somewhere.

They've lost your way. You've pivoted off for one reason or another to one place or another into one experience or another. But you've left that central point of bliss and now you're aware of it but it's as though it's as though Jesus is standing on the shore of your life and You're becoming aware of the fact that yes You're not you're not where you should be.

Perhaps and I have no idea just exactly how God may speak this word to you. But maybe there's something in some vague way equivalent to Cast your net on the right side, you know to do something that seems foolish.

It seems inappropriate for one reason and maybe you think just maybe you just dismiss it, maybe Peter was tempted to dismiss it, but He doesn't and that's that's the good news. He may have thought it was crazy he was slow to discern what was going on.

But they go out they throw their net in and there's this huge Cache that is described in the sections of scripture and it's wonderful and it was at that moment but that I read in verse 7 therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved that's a reference to John.

The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter it is the Lord. John was quicker to discern that the man on the beach was in fact The Jesus that they had known. The Jesus who had been crucified and raised from the dead.

It was he who was standing there. But but here's the point I'm back to Peter again. In that moment there was something about that Transcendent authority of the man on the beach who told them what to do and they did it with this remarkable result John Makes the statement.

It's the Lord and as soon as Peter recognized that you know The light went on we have a silly expression from decades ago in England. It has to do with old-fashioned telephone kiosks and things. We won't talk about right now, but we talk about the penny-dropping.

Casting Yourself Into the Heart of Jesus

The the light went on Peter recognized truth and in that moment Peter's focus was Transformed can I suggest to you? It's as though the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus kicked into him and in that moment His response was radical he immediately the scripture says he plunged into the river Into the into the into the lake rather he threw himself in.

My dear friend that's exactly what you must do we all must do it we must do it continually. We must continually be throwing ourselves into the very heart the the open Embracing heart of Jesus and give ourselves To him he you know he there was unreserved Abandon for this man at this point.

And it happened Because of this fresh revelation of Jesus and it overrode the default in his life as I was calling it earlier Amen you know. By the time I reach verse 12. I've got Jesus saying to these men Come and come and dine.

He was he was inviting them. He was inviting them in the context in which they were at that point into a fellowship Experience that was beyond compare. They would they would receive Bread from heaven now certainly.

Abandoning Distractions for Radical Obedience

Before just closing this talk I'm giving Let me just ask a question a personal question. Are you ready perhaps in your own life to? To face up to. What might be your version of fishing you or your fishing default if you will?

Are you really ready to leave? You're fishing forever. He really prepared to give yourself without reservation to God. Are you are you really ready to take your obedience to him to another level and abandon all of the distractions?

You know as we glance back before we leave this Situation what we see there in this morning light. The Seven men who were gathered around the fire, but the seven men their names we read them earlier. They're transfixed by an eighth man who was there.

This is this is the man who stood on the shore. This is the Jesus that they had known and I believe That as the seven sat around him on that occasion They're transfixed with him filled with wonder this was the most stunningly amazing Supernatural transcendent experience that could be imagined all things considered and they sit there.

I see them just gazing upon him in silent wonder. It's interesting that the number eight in the Bible has a significance it always refers to new beginnings. Now when morning was come it was going to be a day of a new beginning and it would be a day of new beginning because of the eighth man that was there who really is the first man and You know they would partake of the Fresh bread and fried fish.

I don't know quite how it looked in particular being served to them by Hands that bear nail prints. The man from heaven is Feeding them it would be a meal that they would never ever forget and truly in those moments gathered there any former default that had that they had had and been subjected to or allowed themselves to be subjected to and it's been eclipsed completely by The powerful love of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

Prayer for Fresh Surrender and Spiritual Renewal

Let me just pray Father I just pray here In the closing moments of this talk and I don't know who you're speaking to Lord. I don't know anything about their circumstances, but I pray Lord that by your Holy Spirit You will cause this communication to be more than words of a man but we pray father that the very Holy Spirit of God would take these words and Plunge these words deep into every listening heart Lord and do which only you can do Lord we pray that you'll quicken an understanding and quicken a response in the heart and Come and meet these precious souls in a fresh and wonderful way today, and I pray in Jesus name Amen.