I was listening to an old preaching tape the other day and the preacher was preaching on “The Danger of Losing Depth”.
He took his text here:
Ezekiel 47:1-5 —[1] Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. [2] Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. [3] And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles. [4] Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. [5] Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.
He was talking about the Lord taking the prophet Ezekiel out into the water bit by bit. The prophet started out in ankle deep water, then knee deep, waist (loin) deep, until he was out in waters to swim in. DEEP Water !!
The preacher I was listening to said that we all have that experience as new Christians getting closer and closer to the Lord. When we got saved, we were on the bank, as we surrendered to Christ, we stepped out into that “ankle deep” water. The more the Lord opened up His Word to us, the deeper we went into the water. As we embraced Holiness and laid off the world, we ended up in “waters to swim in”…
But this is what he was really getting at:
As Holiness people (especially those of us who have been in this way a while), we often begin to gradually go back toward the shore…back to the shallow waters. We don’t even realize that we have drifted. We don’t recognize that we have “lost depth” in God!
We say we are just as deep as we always have been! We still believe like we always have ! We haven’t compromised! But if the Spirit of God would take a measurement of our spiritual depth, would we shocked to find we have deceived our own selves?
He told a story about how he had always wanted to buy a boat. He saved and saved his money until one day, he finally was able to go out and buy his boat. He pulled up out front of his house and honked his horn. His wife came out and looked at his boat dubiously. “Is that thing even safe to put on the water?” She asked. lol 😂 He said “She hurt my feelings! My little $200 boat is just as good as those $30,000, $50,000 bass boats!” The next weekend, the preacher and his son took the boat out of to the lake. He said (after about an hour, lol 😂) his little boat started right up and off they went across the lake. His “new” boat even had an extra bonus feature! It had a depth finder installed. The preacher’s son asked, “Dad, what’s the water depth right now?” The preacher responded, “It’s 50 feet!” A little bit later, his son inquired again… still 50 feet. They went out a little farther and checked the depth finder yet again. STILL 50 feet. And again… still the same. His son said, “ Dad, is this entire lake 50 feet deep?” The preacher, kinda perplexed himself at the lack of change of depth , said “maybe, we are in some kind of erosion channel or something, with this being the main part of the lake. Could be washed out evenly here” So he fired up the motor and took the boat off the main part of the lake and into a cove. His son said “What’s the depth here, Dad?” Amazingly, the display still read 50 feet!! About that time, there was a loud noise, the preacher looked over the side and the motor prop was kicking up mud. They had gotten so shallow that they were now in the mud!! About that time, a guy in one of those big $30,000 bass boats came by and said, “Hey, Buddy. Whatcha doing over there stirring up the mud?” The preacher said he didn’t have the heart to tell the man that his depth finder had given him incorrect information. He didn’t realize he was that close to the mud because his instrument had told him he was still 50 feet deep!! His instrument had failed him!
Wow! He recounted how a lot of Christians are like that! We have broken depth finders! we “think” we are doing just fine—We are still out deep in the Spirit. A lot of times, we have traded the tried and true “measuring line” for some newfangled instrument. This new instrument has deceived us to believe that we are still where we should be. We are still “right”!
He also read the text over in Acts 27:27-29 about that tempestuous storm called Euroclydon.
[27] But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country; [28] And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms. [29] Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day.
Those sailors in that day sure didn’t have advance technology or all the cool electronics. But they had a tried and true method to “determine their depth.” They realized they had to be able to find out exactly where they stood. It was a grave danger for the sailors not to know how shallow the water was due to rocks and other stuff that could damage their ship. The sailors had a rope that they used to measure the depth. They tied strips of leather or cloth (every so often) on the rope to mark off specific feet. They could tell how deep the water was by how much rope they had to use and how many ties were submersed beneath the surface. While it was inconvenient and cumbersome to use, the results was virtually fool-proof.
Just like the sailors had a foolproof instrument, we, too, have been given a sure “measurement” for our spiritual depth!! It is the Word of God!!
If we will lay down our lives and measure them by the principles of God’s Word, we may find out that the new instruments we have been using are broken! We have been rocked into such a sense of complacency in this last day church. We have lost so much ground as a movement! We no longer possess the full outpouring of the Spirit nor the anointing and the Power we once had. We all can see the shoreline of the world getting closer and closer, all the while, we keep looking at our depth finders, saying we are still 50 feet depth! We haven’t changed! We are still just as close as we always have been!
Take evaluation- are you doing stuff, allowing thoughts, and saying things to or about others that you would never have done, entertained, or said 5 years ago, 10 years ago?? Are you picking back up stuff now that you laid off years ago? Do you justify your actions by saying “times are different” or perhaps “I was just a little zealous back then?”
I’d do a double check if I were you…It may not be a case of different times or being overzealous, it may be that some of your spiritual depth is being lost!!
Anyway, when I heard that message, it caused me to do my own self evaluation in my spiritual life. Have I lost depth spiritually? Am I relying on the tried and true instrument of God’s Word to keep me anchored in the deeps? Or have I changed that out for new tools of carnality, worldly perspective, human reasoning, and self exaltation?
It caused me to fall on my knees and to repent! I want my life to governed by the Word of the Lord. I don’t want to embrace a worldly perspective! I don’t want to become self serving! I don’t want to be a carnal Christian stirring up the mud in the shallows!!
I want to allow God to get me back out there in those “waters to swim in” spiritually!! The Bible tells us :
Romans 8:7-8 —(7) Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (8) So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
I want to please God—Not THIS CARNAL FLESH!!
I don’t want to lose DEPTH spiritually!!
How about you? Is your spiritual depth finder reading accurately?
Or perhaps, you may be saying, “Sister Tiph,
I think I may have indeed lost some depth in my spiritual life.”
Let me encourage you, if you have found your boat sailing closer to the shore of this world than out in the deep waters (of surrendering to God and His precepts), don’t despair!! If you are willing, God still has a depth finder that will work! Let’s allow Him to be our measure and our guide! He will never give us a wrong reading!!
-From my heart to yours,
-Tiphanie ❤️
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