1 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:10,720 As you guys are giving, I'm going to just make a couple brief announcements. I 2 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:14,160 want Justin to have his time this morning. Listen, 3 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:18,960 good morning again this week. Midweek gatherings. Thursday 4 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:23,080 night, six o', clock, I'm telling you. Words from the rabbi, 5 00:00:23,080 --> 00:00:26,960 Pastor Barbee. It's rich. It's rich. Go back on 6 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:30,720 live stream online if you want to watch it from the. From the previous 7 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:34,620 sessions. And it so good. So be a part of that on Thursday night if 8 00:00:34,620 --> 00:00:38,540 you've got the capacity to do so. It's been really good Following 9 00:00:38,620 --> 00:00:42,620 Thursday night this week at 7:15. At 7:15, we are going 10 00:00:42,620 --> 00:00:46,540 to have our first team meeting for Celebrate Recovery. And so if 11 00:00:46,540 --> 00:00:50,380 you're interested in helping us in that launch, which will happen in 12 00:00:50,380 --> 00:00:54,140 August, I invite you to just linger after the gathering at 7:15, 13 00:00:54,540 --> 00:00:57,100 come and see me. We're going to be meeting in the green room that's back 14 00:00:57,100 --> 00:01:00,300 here, but I'll lead you back there. Come see me after that gathering and we'll 15 00:01:00,300 --> 00:01:03,700 go back there. We'll be here for about an hour. Excited about what the Lord's 16 00:01:03,700 --> 00:01:07,680 going gonna be doing through Celebrate Recovery. So that's happening on Thursday. And then 17 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:11,240 we wanna invite you to register for our conference. It's coming up in March. 18 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:15,040 Abide March 6th, 7th and 8th this week. We will put 19 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:18,600 more information about the teaching schedule and all that online. Register this week 20 00:01:19,879 --> 00:01:22,960 so we can prepare for you to be here. It's gonna be really, really good. 21 00:01:22,960 --> 00:01:26,840 I believe God's gonna do some things then, but what? 22 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:30,920 That's not it. This is the winter retreat for the youth. 23 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:35,560 Yeah, the youth's going on winter retreat. That's February 13th. 24 00:01:36,260 --> 00:01:40,060 And so you guys register for that as well. Okay. God is 25 00:01:40,060 --> 00:01:43,900 saving the very best for when? Right now. And Pastor 26 00:01:43,900 --> 00:01:47,500 Justin has a great word for us this morning. Would you please welcome Pastor 27 00:01:47,500 --> 00:01:48,100 Justin. 28 00:01:51,380 --> 00:01:55,300 It's not any pressure being God's best right now. Like, 29 00:01:56,980 --> 00:02:00,460 hey, this is God's best. You're like. And then they're like, Pastor Justin. You're like, 30 00:02:00,460 --> 00:02:03,850 whatever, man. Hey, I got a call from Metro one time 31 00:02:07,450 --> 00:02:10,090 and they wanted me to come in for an interview too. 32 00:02:12,330 --> 00:02:15,930 You know what I told them? Absolutely not. We will 33 00:02:15,930 --> 00:02:19,850 interview wherever you find me at. And y' all are 34 00:02:19,850 --> 00:02:23,730 laughing like y' all believe me. That's just, you know. See, God will do 35 00:02:23,730 --> 00:02:27,730 it, won't he? Second thing today is Pastor Ronnie Meek's birthday. 36 00:02:27,730 --> 00:02:28,970 Y' all say hi, Pastor Ronn. 37 00:02:33,830 --> 00:02:37,310 I don't know that. Cause I'm close with him. I know that. Cause Facebook reminded 38 00:02:37,310 --> 00:02:41,230 me because he was Kind enough to put that I am close, but that's not 39 00:02:41,230 --> 00:02:44,630 the reason why I know that, because he put his information in 40 00:02:44,870 --> 00:02:48,750 properly on Facebook. So if you'll do the same, I will know when 41 00:02:48,750 --> 00:02:52,350 your birthday is. I don't know what the part of my brain that used to 42 00:02:52,350 --> 00:02:56,270 remember phone numbers and birthdays are doing right now. Like, there was a part 43 00:02:56,270 --> 00:02:59,990 of my life where you knew everybody's phone numbers and birthdays. Don't know that anymore. 44 00:03:00,070 --> 00:03:03,430 So I'm hoping I can unlock that this morning. We can retain this information. 45 00:03:04,150 --> 00:03:08,050 Last thing I want to teach you guys, I'm operating at about a 75% 46 00:03:08,210 --> 00:03:12,010 today. Those that know me know I run high octane. And 47 00:03:12,010 --> 00:03:15,410 so anything less than that can be detrimental to 48 00:03:15,410 --> 00:03:19,290 mortals. Normal guys, small bears. Anybody 49 00:03:19,290 --> 00:03:23,290 that's not me usually would take them down for the count. But since I'm so 50 00:03:23,290 --> 00:03:27,010 high energy, 75% for me is going to be a struggle. So 51 00:03:27,170 --> 00:03:30,930 if I'm not as exuberant, don't be like, what's wrong with him? I'm just. 52 00:03:31,470 --> 00:03:35,190 And got a little something going on up here today, okay. I've been 53 00:03:35,190 --> 00:03:39,070 praying I didn't sneeze the first gathering. Boy, can you imagine this row right 54 00:03:39,070 --> 00:03:42,430 here? Post Covid. They're like, 55 00:03:43,950 --> 00:03:47,950 yeah, right. Where does the thing 56 00:03:47,950 --> 00:03:50,030 go? Oh, there it is. 57 00:03:52,590 --> 00:03:56,590 We're gonna be talking about intimacy with God this morning and 58 00:03:56,590 --> 00:04:00,510 the secret place. And so if you would, let's go ahead and 59 00:04:00,510 --> 00:04:04,290 stand and read and get into the script, and then I will share the message 60 00:04:04,290 --> 00:04:08,210 with you today. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to 61 00:04:08,210 --> 00:04:12,170 read as if you're at 75%. Okay? I 62 00:04:12,170 --> 00:04:16,090 don't need nobody yelling in the back, okay? Take it down a notch. 63 00:04:17,770 --> 00:04:21,050 This is my time, okay? It's God's best. It's right now, remember? 64 00:04:22,970 --> 00:04:26,570 Are we ready? Here we go. I do not 65 00:04:26,650 --> 00:04:30,490 ask for these only, but also for those who 66 00:04:30,490 --> 00:04:34,300 will believe in me through their word that they may 67 00:04:34,300 --> 00:04:38,140 all be one, just as you, Father, are in 68 00:04:38,140 --> 00:04:42,020 me and I in you, that they also may 69 00:04:42,020 --> 00:04:45,980 be in us, so that the world may believe that you 70 00:04:45,980 --> 00:04:49,780 have sent me the glory that you have given me, 71 00:04:50,100 --> 00:04:53,700 I have given to them that they may be one 72 00:04:53,940 --> 00:04:57,860 even as we are one, I in them and you 73 00:04:57,860 --> 00:05:01,540 in me, that they may become perfectly one, 74 00:05:02,150 --> 00:05:05,590 so that the world may know that you sent me and 75 00:05:05,670 --> 00:05:09,510 loved them, even as you loved me. And one more from 76 00:05:09,750 --> 00:05:13,510 David's psalm. He who dwells in the shelter 77 00:05:13,510 --> 00:05:16,990 of the most high will abide in the shadow of the 78 00:05:16,990 --> 00:05:20,870 Almighty. Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for this day, 79 00:05:21,030 --> 00:05:24,310 for the opportunity to share and speak, and I pray that 80 00:05:24,870 --> 00:05:28,870 all of my jokes and quips will be quickly forgotten. But Lord, that the things 81 00:05:28,870 --> 00:05:32,870 that you want to teach us and reveal to us and affirm inside of us 82 00:05:32,870 --> 00:05:36,650 today, this morning, that you would do so through the power of the 83 00:05:36,650 --> 00:05:40,050 Holy Ghost, according to your word and will, and that it would 84 00:05:40,530 --> 00:05:44,450 grow deep root inside of us. Lord God, I pray that your son Jesus 85 00:05:44,450 --> 00:05:48,450 will be glorified through our words and our time together. Father, be 86 00:05:48,530 --> 00:05:52,330 inhabit this place. We love you and thank you. It's in Christ's name. Amen. 87 00:05:52,330 --> 00:05:54,610 And amen. You guys can be seated. And so 88 00:05:57,170 --> 00:06:00,050 we're continuing in our series about abide. 89 00:06:00,850 --> 00:06:04,850 And this morning, we're gonna be talking about intimacy with 90 00:06:04,850 --> 00:06:08,830 go. What I've noticed is in my life, when I have come 91 00:06:08,830 --> 00:06:12,590 across a teaching or a message similar 92 00:06:12,670 --> 00:06:16,110 to this, I'm left feeling one of two ways. 93 00:06:16,910 --> 00:06:20,550 It's either I hear the message, I listen to the 94 00:06:20,550 --> 00:06:24,030 bullet points, and I go, okay. I feel like I'm 95 00:06:24,030 --> 00:06:27,950 extremely close with the Lord right now, but usually 96 00:06:27,950 --> 00:06:31,590 what happens is I will listen to the teaching, or I will listen to the 97 00:06:31,590 --> 00:06:35,550 message and I'll go, do I even know God after listening 98 00:06:35,550 --> 00:06:39,450 to all this want to do today is give you 99 00:06:39,450 --> 00:06:43,050 guys a checklist and say, here are the things 100 00:06:43,130 --> 00:06:46,850 that make you intimate with God. And then you try to 101 00:06:46,850 --> 00:06:49,770 evaluate where you're at on that scale. 102 00:06:51,610 --> 00:06:55,530 Kurt alluded to that earlier in the message 103 00:06:55,770 --> 00:06:59,370 for the communion, and 104 00:07:00,570 --> 00:07:04,170 that Christianity is completely unique in that 105 00:07:04,330 --> 00:07:08,030 our God came down to us. Every other 106 00:07:08,030 --> 00:07:11,990 religion, there is this scale, this wall, this ladder 107 00:07:11,990 --> 00:07:15,950 that you're trying to climb to get close to the 108 00:07:15,950 --> 00:07:19,270 Creator, to get closer to God. And usually it's performance 109 00:07:19,750 --> 00:07:22,390 and works based. And our God said, 110 00:07:23,990 --> 00:07:27,870 it does not matter how good you are, how long you 111 00:07:27,870 --> 00:07:31,870 walk, how far you climb, you'll never make it. There's no. It's 112 00:07:31,870 --> 00:07:35,780 too great a chasm. You can't come up here, so I'm 113 00:07:35,780 --> 00:07:39,580 gonna have to come down to you. So this 114 00:07:39,580 --> 00:07:43,060 morning is not about me giving you an intimacy 115 00:07:43,140 --> 00:07:46,940 checklist for you to go, okay, killing it there. Not doing good 116 00:07:46,940 --> 00:07:50,020 here. Didn't even know that was on the list. Right, 117 00:07:50,819 --> 00:07:54,420 right. Cause that's usually what happens. I'm having a conversation with 118 00:07:54,740 --> 00:07:58,580 Mario yesterday. We're in the kitchen and we're talking about intimacy. 119 00:07:58,900 --> 00:08:02,260 And he brought up a good point. And this is one thing I love about 120 00:08:02,260 --> 00:08:06,040 our eldership. He started the conversation by saying, now this isn't 121 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:09,760 biblical, and I appreciate that. And 122 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:13,600 if you're giving somebody advice, you might want to. If it's not biblical, 123 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:17,120 you might want to say, hey, this ain't biblical. So if it ruins your life, 124 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:18,800 don't, you know, 125 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:25,280 you can blame me. But don't blame him. It's not scriptural, 126 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:29,200 he said. But we started talking about that. Everybody has 127 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:33,200 a different type of love language, right? You guys are familiar with the love languages. 128 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:37,520 If you're not, I'll run through them real quick. So everybody has a love language, 129 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:41,200 a way that they give and receive love. And some are words of 130 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:44,840 affirmation or physical touch or I'm 131 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:48,600 quality time. I will force my wife to sit in the room with me. 132 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:53,520 She doesn't have to do the same thing I'm doing. She just has to be 133 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:56,920 in proximity so she's got her laptop 134 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:01,080 wherever I'm at doing her thing, right? Quality time. I don't 135 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:03,460 know that that's quality, but I just need to be able to look over and 136 00:09:03,460 --> 00:09:06,460 see you there. Right? What is the other one? 137 00:09:08,060 --> 00:09:11,740 Acts of service and gifts. Some people show love by giving 138 00:09:11,740 --> 00:09:15,580 gifts. So now take this in the context of what we're 139 00:09:15,580 --> 00:09:19,580 talking about with intimacy with God. If I were a quality time 140 00:09:19,580 --> 00:09:21,500 person, then I may have the. 141 00:09:23,340 --> 00:09:27,100 Is it proclivity? That's the right word, proclivity to come in here and say, 142 00:09:27,100 --> 00:09:30,670 hey, if you want to be close to God, then you need to be saved. 143 00:09:30,900 --> 00:09:34,660 Spending time with God. And those of you that 144 00:09:34,660 --> 00:09:38,660 are words of affirmation say, well, I don't spend as much time 145 00:09:38,660 --> 00:09:42,020 as Pastor Justin does. I guess I'm not close with the Lord. 146 00:09:42,420 --> 00:09:46,380 Or those that are a words guy or gal may say, I 147 00:09:46,380 --> 00:09:49,500 spend a lot of time in prayer, and I'm constantly talking to God. And then 148 00:09:49,500 --> 00:09:52,540 if you're like me, you go, where do you have that time? I must not 149 00:09:52,540 --> 00:09:56,260 be close to God, because I don't spend that much time in 150 00:09:56,260 --> 00:09:59,540 prayer. And there may be some. It's like they're always doing 151 00:09:59,860 --> 00:10:03,800 missions work, or they're out in the community or giving people people's rides, or they're 152 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:07,720 holding doors or they're doing things and they're constantly pouring out for the 153 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:11,000 kingdom. And you're like, well, I guess I might not be as close to the 154 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:14,960 Lord as they are because I don't. I've got six kids. I don't have 155 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:17,520 time to take a shower and wash my hair. 156 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:21,760 Obviously, that's not me, right? 157 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:27,760 But here's what I'm saying, guys. The goal and purpose of today is not 158 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:31,600 provide you with an intimacy Checklist. Because there were many 159 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:35,500 people who were close in proximity to Jesus. Jesus and 160 00:10:35,500 --> 00:10:39,500 not intimate with Jesus. And what we don't want to be is a people 161 00:10:39,500 --> 00:10:43,340 who are close to kingdom things and not intimate 162 00:10:43,340 --> 00:10:47,260 in the kingdom. So what is intimacy? Let's 163 00:10:47,260 --> 00:10:51,020 look at what the world says about intimacy. If I 164 00:10:51,020 --> 00:10:53,660 ask this question right here, how many of you are uncomfortable 165 00:10:54,940 --> 00:10:58,900 married folk? James, how is your 166 00:10:58,900 --> 00:11:00,220 intimacy with your wife? 167 00:11:02,940 --> 00:11:06,940 That seems like it's an inappropriate question. It's 168 00:11:06,940 --> 00:11:10,780 not. Let me get there. Spoiler alert. Mary sue, right? 169 00:11:12,380 --> 00:11:16,100 Dang, man. On the 170 00:11:16,100 --> 00:11:19,980 outset, if you think about human intimacy, it means one thing. 171 00:11:19,980 --> 00:11:23,660 But if I say, what about your intimacy with the Lord? How come it means 172 00:11:23,660 --> 00:11:27,510 a completely different thing? In our minds, intimacy is 173 00:11:27,510 --> 00:11:31,470 defined as a deep sense of emotional closeness, trust 174 00:11:31,470 --> 00:11:35,190 and vulnerability shared between individuals, extending beyond 175 00:11:35,190 --> 00:11:38,910 physical and sexual contact. It involves being truly 176 00:11:39,230 --> 00:11:42,910 seen, sharing innermost thoughts and fears and 177 00:11:42,910 --> 00:11:46,750 feelings in an authentic manner. How many of us are afraid of 178 00:11:46,750 --> 00:11:50,710 being seen by others? How many of 179 00:11:50,710 --> 00:11:53,790 us are afraid for someone to see the real me? 180 00:11:55,420 --> 00:11:59,180 Many of you know that a personal growth 181 00:11:59,340 --> 00:12:01,980 area that I'm working on is 182 00:12:02,460 --> 00:12:06,420 confrontation. And if you decide that 183 00:12:06,420 --> 00:12:10,420 after this service you want to argue with me, most likely I'll 184 00:12:10,420 --> 00:12:14,180 argue with you. I'm not perfect. I'm growing. 185 00:12:14,180 --> 00:12:17,500 I'm working on it. I recognize it's a flaw. I recognize it's not 186 00:12:17,500 --> 00:12:21,450 pastoral, okay? But if you come up yelling at 187 00:12:21,450 --> 00:12:25,410 me, I'll match that energy, usually with whatever you've brought to 188 00:12:25,410 --> 00:12:29,410 me. Just so that you know this can happen, right? You've seen two elk 189 00:12:29,410 --> 00:12:32,810 where one of them says, hey, I'm fixing to lock these horns. Or you. Another 190 00:12:32,810 --> 00:12:36,610 one says, well, bring it on, big boy. And then they rattle up, and the 191 00:12:36,610 --> 00:12:40,530 others and the females are standing there. Look at these stupid guys fighting over 192 00:12:40,530 --> 00:12:44,490 this, right? This is why you never argue with a fool. Cause from a distance, 193 00:12:44,490 --> 00:12:48,430 you don't know which one is which. And I have a 194 00:12:48,430 --> 00:12:51,190 problem. I didn't say that, by the way. I've never had an original thought. I 195 00:12:51,190 --> 00:12:54,470 don't know whose quote that is. Forgive me. I'm not plagiarizing that. 196 00:12:55,270 --> 00:12:57,750 That's not me. It's a famous quote. 197 00:13:00,390 --> 00:13:02,950 But what I'm trying to say is 198 00:13:04,310 --> 00:13:08,270 I don't remember what I was saying. Oh, here's what I was 199 00:13:08,270 --> 00:13:12,190 saying. Here's what I was saying, right? Like I would say, 200 00:13:12,190 --> 00:13:15,310 if you want to come argue with me, oh, now you're gonna see the real 201 00:13:15,310 --> 00:13:19,070 me. Now you're really gonna see me, right? Because 202 00:13:19,070 --> 00:13:22,870 for some reason, this person up here is 203 00:13:22,870 --> 00:13:26,870 not who I am over Cole and Kalen's house. Like, 204 00:13:26,870 --> 00:13:30,870 they get to see the real me. It's not that I'm 205 00:13:30,870 --> 00:13:34,630 putting up a front. It's that I have a relationship 206 00:13:34,630 --> 00:13:38,390 with them, that they get to see the walls come 207 00:13:38,390 --> 00:13:42,350 down. When you go over somebody's house, you don't immediately just 208 00:13:42,350 --> 00:13:45,940 get to go to the master bedroom. Right? That's an 209 00:13:45,940 --> 00:13:49,700 intimate place inside of the home. You start out in the 210 00:13:49,700 --> 00:13:53,700 foyer, take your shoes off. These floors are new. Okay, come 211 00:13:53,700 --> 00:13:56,780 sit in my sitting room. Or if you're at my house, let's go to the 212 00:13:56,780 --> 00:14:00,660 kitchen. But you don't just automatically go into those 213 00:14:00,660 --> 00:14:04,580 deep, intimate places. Many of us are being 214 00:14:04,580 --> 00:14:08,260 afraid by being seen by others, but a lot of us are being afraid by 215 00:14:08,260 --> 00:14:12,080 seeing being seen by God. And isn't it amazing that we 216 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:15,720 know that God sees us and yet there's a part of us that 217 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:18,160 attempts to either hide or desires to. 218 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:23,120 There are many people that believe you have to come to a church building to 219 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:27,040 be close to God. John MacArthur writes, the 220 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:30,720 church is not an option for true believers. It is the very 221 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:34,600 family of God to which every true believer longs to be a 222 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:38,410 part of. Can you connect with God and 223 00:14:38,410 --> 00:14:42,010 be close to God inside of the church building? Absolutely. 224 00:14:42,170 --> 00:14:45,810 Some of the most powerful moments of connection in my life have 225 00:14:45,810 --> 00:14:49,690 happened in this room, in that office, in 226 00:14:49,690 --> 00:14:53,570 that back corner. I remember crying my eyes out a couple of years ago back 227 00:14:53,570 --> 00:14:55,850 in that corner, praying for God to come meet me here. 228 00:14:57,290 --> 00:15:01,090 Yes, you can connect with God in this building. Then there are 229 00:15:01,090 --> 00:15:05,010 others who believe that you shouldn't even have to come to church and can connect 230 00:15:05,010 --> 00:15:08,950 with God outside of its walls. Here's by everyone's favorite 231 00:15:08,950 --> 00:15:11,910 tool, man who may or may not be a Christian. 232 00:15:12,630 --> 00:15:16,470 Tim Allen says this. Why go to a 233 00:15:16,470 --> 00:15:20,430 church to worship God? A church is man made. God 234 00:15:20,430 --> 00:15:23,989 never said, and let there be aluminum siding. 235 00:15:24,550 --> 00:15:27,990 Climbing a tree to talk to God sounds like a better 236 00:15:27,990 --> 00:15:31,910 idea. So there is one group that believes if you 237 00:15:31,910 --> 00:15:35,150 don't come to church, you can't connect with God. And then there's another group that 238 00:15:35,150 --> 00:15:38,710 believe you don't even have to come to the church to connect with God. And 239 00:15:38,710 --> 00:15:42,570 guess what? Both. Right. When it 240 00:15:42,570 --> 00:15:46,570 comes to intimacy, there are typically four areas that we tend to look 241 00:15:46,570 --> 00:15:50,290 at and inspect. And these areas become our 242 00:15:50,290 --> 00:15:53,330 gauge of whether or not we're in an intimate 243 00:15:53,570 --> 00:15:57,490 relationship. The first one we usually look at, I 244 00:15:57,490 --> 00:15:59,890 don't have bullet points, so you're gonna write em down. And you know, don't look 245 00:15:59,890 --> 00:16:03,890 up. There ain't Nothing up there. Okay. Just shaving you. 246 00:16:04,370 --> 00:16:08,350 I missed number one. The first one is emotional 247 00:16:08,350 --> 00:16:10,710 intimacy. Shared feelings. 248 00:16:11,830 --> 00:16:15,750 Emotional intimacy is usually the first gauge that we 249 00:16:15,750 --> 00:16:19,590 go to to determine if we're in an intimate relationship with someone. 250 00:16:20,390 --> 00:16:24,150 Can we. Do we have shared feelings? The second one 251 00:16:24,150 --> 00:16:28,070 is physical intimacy. Shared relations. And this is where 252 00:16:28,070 --> 00:16:31,550 things get a little bit muddy. I'm gonna keep it pg. Cause we got youth 253 00:16:31,550 --> 00:16:35,480 in here. Okay, I got you, Doug. 254 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:38,840 Right? Next week's lesson. What was Pastor Justin talking about 255 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:43,360 on stage? He'd be mad at me. He'd text me later. You have no 256 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:46,760 idea the emails I got after service. Y' all the one decided to come in 257 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:49,080 here. I ain't trying to protect you from the Bible. 258 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:53,640 Physical intimacy. Here's a. I just want to share a word on this. 259 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:58,660 This is the first go to for the world. And the 260 00:16:58,660 --> 00:17:01,860 problem is most male and female 261 00:17:01,860 --> 00:17:05,660 relationships that begin with physical intimacy 262 00:17:06,540 --> 00:17:10,460 never reach emotional, intellectual, and spiritual 263 00:17:10,460 --> 00:17:14,460 intimacy on a deep level. Because the order is 264 00:17:14,460 --> 00:17:17,820 out of the way that God designed it. Physical 265 00:17:17,820 --> 00:17:21,420 intimacy is the most vulnerable form. This is. 266 00:17:22,220 --> 00:17:26,100 Everything is off. Here I am. And if you start 267 00:17:26,100 --> 00:17:29,780 with that level of vulnerability and you never get to the 268 00:17:29,780 --> 00:17:33,740 emotional vulnerability and saying, this is what I'm feeling. This is what 269 00:17:33,740 --> 00:17:37,460 I'm thinking. This is how I'm wrestling with the theology and 270 00:17:37,460 --> 00:17:41,460 understanding who God is. And you start with that physical intimacy, 271 00:17:41,540 --> 00:17:45,260 you can never get it back. And this is why God says, you need to 272 00:17:45,260 --> 00:17:48,900 wait on this if you're not willing to be vulnerable in this area. 273 00:17:49,060 --> 00:17:52,870 And nowadays people want this. This physical intimacy without the 274 00:17:52,870 --> 00:17:56,150 other. Emotional and intellectual and spiritual 275 00:17:56,150 --> 00:18:00,030 connectedness. And it is opposite of the way that God designed it 276 00:18:00,030 --> 00:18:04,030 to be. I gave you the 277 00:18:04,030 --> 00:18:07,790 other two in that sentence. Intellectual intimacy, shared 278 00:18:07,790 --> 00:18:11,510 ideas and thoughts, and spiritual intimacy, shared values, 279 00:18:11,510 --> 00:18:15,230 beliefs, and deeper meanings. And just like these four ways that we 280 00:18:15,230 --> 00:18:19,110 gauge whether or not we're in an intimate relationship, there's usually 281 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:23,640 four ways that we cultivate these. The first one is vulnerability. 282 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:28,840 Lowering our defenses, letting our guard down, 283 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:32,720 allowing others to see through the facade. Do you guys know 284 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:35,160 which gender has a hard time doing this? 285 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:41,240 Man. Somebody said at first gathering was scared to speak. 286 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:46,810 I was like, what do I say? Is this a test? There's two. Pick 287 00:18:46,810 --> 00:18:48,010 one. You can be wrong. 288 00:18:51,530 --> 00:18:55,130 Just pick guys. Guys have a hard time doing this. 289 00:18:55,290 --> 00:18:58,650 And not that women don't. It's just historically, 290 00:18:59,450 --> 00:19:02,970 guys have been. There's this idea that we have to be tough, 291 00:19:03,370 --> 00:19:06,290 strong, that we have to have it together. We have to have all of the 292 00:19:06,290 --> 00:19:10,090 answers that we cannot show vulnerability because it's 293 00:19:10,090 --> 00:19:13,730 weakness. Because if I let my guard down, then somebody would see I don't have 294 00:19:13,730 --> 00:19:17,120 it all together. So I don't want my sons to see me cry. Then they 295 00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:20,960 might think I'm weak. You know, some of the 296 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:24,920 most tender moments in my life have been when I'm down 297 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:28,880 here on my knees in the altar space and I feel a little hand on 298 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:32,200 the back of my shoulder and it's one of my sons. 299 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:36,680 And then they pray for something that I'm not even dealing with. 300 00:19:41,980 --> 00:19:45,500 And it's absolutely beautiful. And you know why? 301 00:19:46,220 --> 00:19:50,020 Because they saw their dad being vulnerable. Bending the knee before 302 00:19:50,020 --> 00:19:52,940 the gracious and great and almighty Father. 303 00:19:53,980 --> 00:19:57,900 I will bend my knee to the king, and they will see that 304 00:19:57,900 --> 00:20:01,780 vulnerability as strength. You cannot be intimate 305 00:20:01,780 --> 00:20:05,780 if you are unwilling to be vulnerable. Here's what I. Here's where I'm at. 306 00:20:05,780 --> 00:20:09,530 Here's who I am. God. Here. I don't know if I 307 00:20:09,530 --> 00:20:13,290 believe this, God. I'm having a hard time with the church right 308 00:20:13,290 --> 00:20:17,090 now. God. I don't know what direction to 309 00:20:17,090 --> 00:20:21,050 go. You don't think he doesn't already know? He 310 00:20:21,050 --> 00:20:24,970 already knows. And 311 00:20:24,970 --> 00:20:28,970 tagging on to vulnerability is communication, Openly sharing what's 312 00:20:28,970 --> 00:20:32,970 going on in your life. There's too many of us in the church 313 00:20:33,290 --> 00:20:37,050 that when somebody asks how you're doing, you're like, I'm fine. Everything's fine. 314 00:20:37,050 --> 00:20:39,760 Everything's good. And I'm like, you're a liar. 315 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:44,600 Now what I don't need is when you're over there getting your two pumps of 316 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:48,480 French vanilla to start a counseling session with me. I don't need 317 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,800 all that. If I say, how you doing? I'll be over there, brother. Let me 318 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:55,280 tell you this. Before you know it, that cup is filled with that French vanilla. 319 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:59,000 Cause you done started telling everything. But I so 320 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,880 appreciate my brother. Ben met me at the doors two weeks ago. We didn't 321 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:05,760 have service last week. He met me at the doors. He said, hey, man, how 322 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:09,270 you doing? I'm like, man, you know, I'm just. Just working through some stuff and 323 00:21:09,270 --> 00:21:12,270 life is good. And he said, yeah, man, it's great. And then his face dropped. 324 00:21:12,270 --> 00:21:15,790 He went, but how you really doing? And I was like, 325 00:21:17,710 --> 00:21:21,710 just go on in the service. Don't do this to me outside these doors. 326 00:21:22,910 --> 00:21:26,110 And we had a little 10 minute conversation. I said, here's what's really going on. 327 00:21:26,110 --> 00:21:29,710 Here's where I'm struggling at in my mind. Here's what is really weighing down on 328 00:21:29,710 --> 00:21:33,590 me. And you know why Ben could ask me that question? Cause me and Ben 329 00:21:33,590 --> 00:21:37,510 have developed a relationship in which my hands can come down 330 00:21:37,510 --> 00:21:40,990 and I can be vulnerable with him. But he at least had the 331 00:21:40,990 --> 00:21:44,510 communication enough to say, hey man, what's really going on in your life? 332 00:21:45,950 --> 00:21:49,630 What's really going on? And then it involved active 333 00:21:49,630 --> 00:21:53,150 listening, being present and attentive, both conversational and 334 00:21:53,230 --> 00:21:57,230 nonverbal. And the last is quality time. How are you going to be 335 00:21:57,230 --> 00:21:59,630 intimate if you never spend time with someone? 336 00:22:00,910 --> 00:22:04,670 You can't learn patience on top of a mountain by yourself. 337 00:22:05,900 --> 00:22:09,020 You can only learn patience as a parent 338 00:22:11,260 --> 00:22:15,260 or a school administrator whose kids go to 339 00:22:15,260 --> 00:22:18,460 their school. Right. 340 00:22:19,500 --> 00:22:22,500 You can't go to the top of the mountain and say, God taught me patience 341 00:22:22,500 --> 00:22:25,740 up there. No, he didn't. Cause there's nobody to be impatient with. 342 00:22:26,860 --> 00:22:30,220 That's not true. Right. You can't 343 00:22:30,220 --> 00:22:33,340 cultivate intimacy with someone you're not around, 344 00:22:34,490 --> 00:22:38,330 you're not spending time with. You cannot have an 345 00:22:38,490 --> 00:22:42,290 intimate relationship with the Lord if you're 346 00:22:42,290 --> 00:22:44,010 not spending time with Him. 347 00:22:46,090 --> 00:22:49,370 It's just, it doesn't work like that. So 348 00:22:50,010 --> 00:22:53,890 these concepts that we just talked about, can these ideas be applied 349 00:22:53,890 --> 00:22:57,850 to our relationship with God? Yes. Thank 350 00:22:57,850 --> 00:23:01,500 you. One person. On the 351 00:23:01,500 --> 00:23:05,180 surface, yes, of course. But is God really to be 352 00:23:05,180 --> 00:23:09,180 treated like our bestie? Are we really 353 00:23:09,180 --> 00:23:13,100 supposed to treat the creator of the universe like a girlfriend who needs me to 354 00:23:13,100 --> 00:23:15,060 spend time with him in order to feel loved? 355 00:23:17,140 --> 00:23:20,420 I would say no, Mary Sue. That's right, pipe up, say it. Mary Sue. 356 00:23:21,620 --> 00:23:25,180 So what is different about intimacy by these standards and the 357 00:23:25,180 --> 00:23:28,860 intimacy God desires for his people? What is the intimacy that 358 00:23:28,860 --> 00:23:32,400 Jesus prays for? We opened up in John 359 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:34,960 chapter 17. And just to give you a little 360 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:40,480 thousand foot view of this chapter and what's going on in John, 361 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:44,720 this is Jesus last night on the planet. 362 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:48,560 Tomorrow the man is going to the cross 363 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:53,440 and in John 13 he starts to wash his 364 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:57,320 disciples feet. And then in 14 and 15, he's 365 00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:01,160 having a meal with them and he's giving them final instructions in 366 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:05,100 15 and 16. And he saying, remain in me, stay in 367 00:24:05,100 --> 00:24:08,940 me. I'm the vine, you are the branches. Apart from me you can do nothing. 368 00:24:09,020 --> 00:24:12,820 Hey, trouble is coming. You better buckle up. They're gonna kick you out of the 369 00:24:12,820 --> 00:24:16,700 church, they're gonna kill you. They're gonna think they're doing good stuff, right? 370 00:24:17,100 --> 00:24:20,940 This is his last message to the disciples. And 371 00:24:20,940 --> 00:24:24,620 then he gets to John 17 where he prays 372 00:24:24,780 --> 00:24:28,220 this high priestly prayer. This is before 373 00:24:28,220 --> 00:24:32,210 Gethsemane. If I were to say to you, do you know the Lord's prayer? What 374 00:24:32,210 --> 00:24:36,210 would you say? Gosh, man, you 375 00:24:36,210 --> 00:24:38,330 know what? It's 11 o', clock, dude. 376 00:24:41,690 --> 00:24:44,250 Yes. If I said, do you know the Lord's Prayer? You'd be like, yeah, I 377 00:24:44,250 --> 00:24:48,049 know the Lord's Prayer. And it would probably go something like this. Our Father who 378 00:24:48,049 --> 00:24:51,970 art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy 379 00:24:51,970 --> 00:24:55,850 will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day 380 00:24:55,930 --> 00:24:59,930 our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive 381 00:24:59,930 --> 00:25:03,680 those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, 382 00:25:04,070 --> 00:25:07,870 but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the 383 00:25:07,870 --> 00:25:11,750 glory, forever and ever. Amen. Y' all know King James and 384 00:25:11,750 --> 00:25:15,670 didn't even know you knew it, right? Trespasses, 385 00:25:16,470 --> 00:25:20,470 right? So if I send the 386 00:25:20,470 --> 00:25:24,470 Lord's. You're not wrong. You're not wrong in that. We. That is the so 387 00:25:24,470 --> 00:25:27,710 called Lord's Prayer. And here's why I say it's so called, because we call it 388 00:25:27,710 --> 00:25:31,710 that, right? But that's actually more of the disciples 389 00:25:31,710 --> 00:25:35,710 prayer, if you know where that comes from. It's in Matthew 5, when Jesus is 390 00:25:35,710 --> 00:25:39,670 5 and 6, when he's teaching his disciples at the Sermon on the Mount, he 391 00:25:39,670 --> 00:25:43,670 says, here's how you guys need to pray. That wasn't his prayer. He 392 00:25:43,670 --> 00:25:47,470 said, this is how you need to be praying. It's the disciples prayer. 393 00:25:47,710 --> 00:25:50,990 So I'm telling you this, so the next time you read your Bibles on this, 394 00:25:50,990 --> 00:25:53,150 you'll be all messed up. You're like, what is it? 395 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,840 I did that on purpose. This John 17 396 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:02,760 is the Lord's prayer. Why? Because it's his prayer. 397 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:07,240 This was his prayer to the Father 398 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:11,720 in the presence of his disciples before he goes to the cross 399 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:16,120 and look at what he says. When Jesus had spoken these 400 00:26:16,120 --> 00:26:20,040 words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, father, the hour 401 00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:24,010 has come. I 402 00:26:24,010 --> 00:26:27,210 did in first gatherings. I can't do it, man. Like I get overwhelmed 403 00:26:28,410 --> 00:26:30,490 at that opening line. And here's why. 404 00:26:32,170 --> 00:26:35,130 This is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. 405 00:26:36,809 --> 00:26:40,490 There have been thousands and thousands of years 406 00:26:42,330 --> 00:26:45,290 waiting on the promise of Messiah. 407 00:26:46,170 --> 00:26:50,080 And he his come to the earth in human form and 408 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:54,080 took on flesh, stepped out of heaven, took 409 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,840 on flesh. 33 years he's walked this 410 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:00,800 planet and now he says it's time. 411 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:06,840 The hour has come. I don't know why that hits me the way that it 412 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:10,360 does. I'm thinking about all of time and all of 413 00:27:10,360 --> 00:27:14,240 eternity. And there's something significant about this moment 414 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:18,310 that Jesus is in where he looks up to heaven 415 00:27:18,310 --> 00:27:21,790 in the presence of his disciples and says, it's time. 416 00:27:22,990 --> 00:27:26,990 It's the time. Now's the time. And then he 417 00:27:26,990 --> 00:27:30,670 says, glorify your Son, that the Son may 418 00:27:30,670 --> 00:27:34,550 glorify you. Glorify me so that 419 00:27:34,550 --> 00:27:38,510 I can glorify you, since you have given him all authority 420 00:27:38,750 --> 00:27:42,470 over all flesh, to give eternal life to all 421 00:27:42,470 --> 00:27:46,030 whom you have given him. And this is eternal life 422 00:27:46,810 --> 00:27:49,130 that they know you. 423 00:27:51,370 --> 00:27:55,290 We talk about getting saved, and you gotta get 424 00:27:55,290 --> 00:27:59,050 saved from what? Saved 425 00:27:59,130 --> 00:28:02,810 from what? And to what? Saved from 426 00:28:02,810 --> 00:28:05,210 separation from the Father, 427 00:28:06,890 --> 00:28:10,090 saved to relationship with the Father. 428 00:28:10,730 --> 00:28:14,570 Jesus says, you wanna know what eternal life is that 429 00:28:14,570 --> 00:28:18,230 you know? God. God, the only 430 00:28:18,230 --> 00:28:22,230 true God. And this just creates an exclusivity clause right 431 00:28:22,230 --> 00:28:26,150 here. Christianity is the most inclusive, 432 00:28:26,550 --> 00:28:29,750 exclusive religion on the planet. And what I mean by that is, 433 00:28:30,070 --> 00:28:32,870 anybody can come, but you can only come one way. 434 00:28:33,990 --> 00:28:37,670 Sorry, buddy, if you say there's any other way than Jesus Christ, 435 00:28:37,830 --> 00:28:41,670 you can't get in there. It's exclusive. He is 436 00:28:41,670 --> 00:28:45,030 the way, the truth, the life. I don't care who likes it. I didn't write 437 00:28:45,030 --> 00:28:48,520 it. Don't be mad at me following orders and telling you the truth. 438 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:52,680 But it's inclusive in that all. What did he say? 439 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:56,840 That they know you, the only true God, and Jesus 440 00:28:56,840 --> 00:29:00,840 Christ, whom you've sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work 441 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:04,840 which you gave me to do. His 442 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:08,800 final prayer is. Help me finish. Well, and then 443 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:12,730 he goes on and says, this. Is that the right one? Oh, 444 00:29:12,730 --> 00:29:15,770 and now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory I had with 445 00:29:15,770 --> 00:29:19,690 you before the world existed. Then he says, I'm praying 446 00:29:19,690 --> 00:29:23,530 for them. I'm not praying for the world, but those whom you have given me, 447 00:29:23,530 --> 00:29:27,130 they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine. And I'm glorified in 448 00:29:27,130 --> 00:29:30,290 them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world. 449 00:29:30,290 --> 00:29:34,250 And I'm coming to you, Holy Father. Keep them in your name, 450 00:29:34,250 --> 00:29:37,900 which you have given me, that they may be one even as 451 00:29:37,900 --> 00:29:41,820 we are one. His prayer for the disciples 452 00:29:41,820 --> 00:29:45,740 is oneness, that they would be one, the 453 00:29:45,740 --> 00:29:49,700 same way him and the Father are. And then he 454 00:29:49,700 --> 00:29:53,660 says, I don't ask for these only, but also for those 455 00:29:53,900 --> 00:29:57,420 who will believe. Who is he talking to there? 456 00:29:59,420 --> 00:30:02,500 I see that hand back there. I see that hand. Is two, y' all to 457 00:30:02,500 --> 00:30:04,580 get it. 3, 4, 7, 11, 12. 458 00:30:06,580 --> 00:30:10,500 Josh, you're included, too. There you go, bud. Jesus says, 459 00:30:10,500 --> 00:30:14,340 I'm not just asking you to do this for them, Lord. I'm 460 00:30:14,340 --> 00:30:18,340 asking you to do it for all who will believe. That includes 461 00:30:18,340 --> 00:30:22,140 you, that they may be one. Just as you, 462 00:30:22,140 --> 00:30:25,540 Father. Are in me and I in you. Have you noticed how many times he 463 00:30:25,540 --> 00:30:29,540 says, God, I pray that they're in me because I'm in you and you're 464 00:30:29,540 --> 00:30:32,680 in me, and they're in each other. He's saying, if you want to be close, 465 00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:35,880 you got to get up next to me and you got to get up next 466 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:39,840 to these people. Because you can't do it on 467 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:43,560 top of a mountain. So that the world. 468 00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:47,400 Why? So the world will believe that you have sent me. This is the key 469 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:51,360 and unlocks the whole prayer. He's praying for 470 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:54,640 the disciples, but he's including us. How come we look at the end of the 471 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:58,480 disciples in the early church and contrast that with our life of favor 472 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:02,040 and success? Would you say that the disciples were close with Jesus? 473 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:08,680 I would consider these guys pretty close. Except for one. He was 474 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:12,600 only close in proximity. He was only close in 475 00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:16,240 proximity. And there's a danger in that, too. Guys, you can be around 476 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:20,000 godly things. You can have the best teacher. 477 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:24,280 You can have the world's greatest small group, right? 478 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:28,240 Which is community. You can have all of that and still be found 479 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:32,220 wanting. I would consider these guys 480 00:31:32,220 --> 00:31:35,460 close and intimate with the Lord yet. And in a matter of hours, they would 481 00:31:35,460 --> 00:31:39,220 fall away. It wasn't until they witnessed the resurrected Jesus 482 00:31:39,220 --> 00:31:43,060 and the comforter dwelled inside them. They were able to face persecution 483 00:31:43,060 --> 00:31:46,940 and death. And Jesus told them of their persecution. He said, they'll put you out 484 00:31:46,940 --> 00:31:50,860 of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you think he's 485 00:31:50,860 --> 00:31:54,540 offering service to God. And they'll do these things because they have not known the 486 00:31:54,540 --> 00:31:58,300 Father, nor me. How would you like to have that 487 00:31:58,300 --> 00:32:01,420 told to you? Right? Hey, guys, 488 00:32:02,620 --> 00:32:05,660 you're gonna need to stay close to me. Cause this is about to get really 489 00:32:05,660 --> 00:32:09,580 bad for you. I need you to remain in me. 490 00:32:09,660 --> 00:32:13,300 Because this is gonna get really ugly. And people are gonna think they're doing the 491 00:32:13,300 --> 00:32:17,260 Lord's work by doing this to you. Somehow 492 00:32:17,500 --> 00:32:21,460 we have convinced ourselves that a life that is 493 00:32:21,460 --> 00:32:25,150 filled with suffering means you are far from God. 494 00:32:26,910 --> 00:32:30,590 Somehow, collectively, as the church, we look at 495 00:32:30,590 --> 00:32:34,430 situations and sufferings and go, I 496 00:32:34,430 --> 00:32:38,190 must not be close. I got. Let me tell you, look, I love my kids. 497 00:32:38,430 --> 00:32:41,790 Y' all don't be mad at me. But y' all get in trouble a lot. 498 00:32:43,950 --> 00:32:47,630 My kids aren't bad. They just don't follow all the rules. 499 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:52,480 And I found myself in the kitchen the other day going, God, what do I 500 00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:56,480 need to repent of? What have I done? What have I 501 00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:59,880 done? What did I do? Just tell me and I repent. Tell me. I need 502 00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:03,760 to know. I called my parents. I said, mom. Actually, 503 00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:06,040 it was my dad. I was talking to my dad. I didn't dare call my 504 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:10,000 mom. I called my dad. I said, dad, was I 505 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:13,440 this bad when I was a kid? He said, no, son. And my mom in 506 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:17,140 the way back, absolutely. This is your fault. You did 507 00:33:17,140 --> 00:33:21,020 this. This is what you. I'm like, where did I sow these 508 00:33:21,020 --> 00:33:24,980 seeds? God. But somehow we 509 00:33:24,980 --> 00:33:28,900 think that if there's any type of discomfort or 510 00:33:28,980 --> 00:33:32,780 like, are you hearing what 511 00:33:32,780 --> 00:33:36,700 I'm saying? Like, any type of persecution or adversity, I'm like, 512 00:33:36,700 --> 00:33:40,380 I must not be close to him. I must be far away. Do you know 513 00:33:40,380 --> 00:33:43,430 how these guys died? I got to get on my horse and ride. Crucified. 514 00:33:44,070 --> 00:33:47,430 Simon Peter was crucified upside down in AD 515 00:33:47,510 --> 00:33:51,310 64 to 68 around under Nero's persecution of Christians. 516 00:33:51,310 --> 00:33:55,110 You know why they persecuted him upside or crucified him upside down. He said, I'm 517 00:33:55,110 --> 00:33:59,109 not worthy to die the same way my Lord did. Same guy denied him three 518 00:33:59,109 --> 00:34:02,790 times, ran away. He said, no, no, no, no, no. Crucify me upside 519 00:34:02,790 --> 00:34:06,550 down. Andrew was crucified on an X 520 00:34:06,630 --> 00:34:10,630 shaped cross. He was not nailed to it, but was tied and was 521 00:34:10,630 --> 00:34:13,250 said to have preached for days before he died. 522 00:34:15,079 --> 00:34:18,279 James was beheaded by king Herod in AD 44. 523 00:34:18,839 --> 00:34:22,519 John was exiled to Patmos where he wrote 524 00:34:22,519 --> 00:34:26,199 Revelations after it was said there was an attempt to boil him and oil 525 00:34:26,359 --> 00:34:29,839 was unsuccessful. Philip died in 526 00:34:29,839 --> 00:34:33,519 Hierapolis, Turkey by 527 00:34:33,519 --> 00:34:37,239 hanging in 80 80. Bartholomew 528 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:41,090 flayed to death by knives in India. Matthew 529 00:34:41,090 --> 00:34:44,970 died by Halbert according to Tradition. Thomas, 530 00:34:44,970 --> 00:34:48,570 which is Didymus, was martyred by a spear in India. 531 00:34:49,210 --> 00:34:52,810 James son of Alphaeus was stoned to death in AD 532 00:34:52,810 --> 00:34:56,410 62. Thaddaeus was 533 00:34:56,410 --> 00:35:00,130 martyred in Persia via arrows. Simon the Zealot was 534 00:35:00,130 --> 00:35:04,010 crucified according to tradition, and Judas Iscariot hung himself 535 00:35:04,010 --> 00:35:07,780 after betraying the Son of Man. All of these men shared the 536 00:35:07,780 --> 00:35:11,380 same sentiment as Paul when writing to the Philippian Church. 537 00:35:12,180 --> 00:35:15,860 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss 538 00:35:16,020 --> 00:35:19,900 for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as 539 00:35:19,900 --> 00:35:23,700 loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ 540 00:35:23,780 --> 00:35:27,620 Jesus my Lord. For his sake. I have suffered 541 00:35:27,620 --> 00:35:31,340 the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may 542 00:35:31,340 --> 00:35:34,660 gain Christ and be found in him, not having a 543 00:35:34,660 --> 00:35:38,180 righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which 544 00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:42,360 comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that 545 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:46,160 defends on faith that I may know him and the power 546 00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:49,520 of his resurrection and share in his sufferings. 547 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:53,520 Becoming like him in his death, that by any means 548 00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:56,960 possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 549 00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:02,120 Paul says that I may know him, the power of his 550 00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:05,880 resurrection, share in his sufferings, become like him in his 551 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:09,680 death, die daily. Even though the apostles literally 552 00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:13,660 died same death, that we both may attain resurrection. 553 00:36:13,980 --> 00:36:17,660 This was to be considered intimacy with God. 554 00:36:20,300 --> 00:36:24,020 Jesus connects our personal intimacy and our collective 555 00:36:24,020 --> 00:36:24,700 intimacy. 556 00:36:27,900 --> 00:36:31,780 You know that the Bible is about God's relentless desire to have his 557 00:36:31,780 --> 00:36:35,540 family restored to him and what links he will go to to ensure it 558 00:36:35,540 --> 00:36:39,370 happens. You can read about 559 00:36:39,530 --> 00:36:43,370 David's prayers in the Psalms. David was pretty intimate with the Lord. 560 00:36:44,490 --> 00:36:48,250 And at the top of a passage he goes, I don't even know if you 561 00:36:48,250 --> 00:36:52,010 see me here, God. And then at the bottom he goes, 562 00:36:52,250 --> 00:36:56,090 I'm as close as I've ever been. I'm wrapped up under your blanket. 563 00:36:56,490 --> 00:37:00,290 I'm snuggled right up under you, God. And then two chapters later, you 564 00:37:00,290 --> 00:37:03,100 go, why have you abandoned me? 565 00:37:05,250 --> 00:37:07,650 Right? And you go, this guy's all over the place. 566 00:37:09,010 --> 00:37:12,290 He is wrestling with what it means to be close to God. 567 00:37:13,650 --> 00:37:17,410 There were seasons where he felt close and seasons where he 568 00:37:17,410 --> 00:37:21,170 wandered and wondered if God was even there. Do any of you actually 569 00:37:21,330 --> 00:37:25,290 wonder if you don't even feel close to God? Have you ever 570 00:37:25,290 --> 00:37:27,970 been in a place where you're like God? I don't even. I don't even feel 571 00:37:28,450 --> 00:37:29,640 close to you. You. 572 00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:36,440 You can't be intimate and be far away. Intim is intimacy is 573 00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:38,840 not just predicated on proximity. 574 00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:44,720 Look at the prodigal son. He said, man, I don't like being away from my 575 00:37:44,720 --> 00:37:48,520 father's house. I don't like being away from my father's house. 576 00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:52,600 Being in my. But being in my father's house is not about doing chores. 577 00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:56,620 Yes, you should pray. Yes, we should need to be reading the Word. How 578 00:37:56,620 --> 00:38:00,420 else will we know him and know his character and his heart? Yes, serve and 579 00:38:00,420 --> 00:38:04,340 pour out and be selfless, just like the Son of man. But the son did 580 00:38:04,340 --> 00:38:07,780 not go back to the father's house just to do chores. 581 00:38:09,060 --> 00:38:12,740 The Father wanted his son back to be a part of his 582 00:38:12,820 --> 00:38:16,820 family. And family is intimate and close 583 00:38:16,900 --> 00:38:20,740 and vulnerable. They share ideas. They share hopes and 584 00:38:20,740 --> 00:38:24,660 dreams. And fellowship with the Father requires fellowship with one another. 585 00:38:30,100 --> 00:38:34,100 Jesus final lesson was a living parable. 586 00:38:35,060 --> 00:38:38,900 He may have given them a verbal lesson, 587 00:38:38,900 --> 00:38:42,900 but he showed them something far more powerful. The 588 00:38:42,900 --> 00:38:46,740 Word says that when Jesus came into the room 589 00:38:46,740 --> 00:38:50,380 and they're all there, it says he laid aside his 590 00:38:50,380 --> 00:38:54,110 outer garment. Garments. He took off his kingly 591 00:38:54,110 --> 00:38:56,870 garments and stepped into humanity. 592 00:38:58,150 --> 00:39:01,950 And then what did he do? He tied it around his waist and he bent 593 00:39:01,950 --> 00:39:03,750 down and he washed their feet. 594 00:39:05,670 --> 00:39:09,670 He washed their feet. And Peter, being Peter, was like, absolutely 595 00:39:09,670 --> 00:39:13,630 not. And Jesus said, if I don't wash 596 00:39:13,630 --> 00:39:17,470 you, you're not going to have any part in me. Peter says, well, 597 00:39:17,470 --> 00:39:21,310 then you got to wash my whole body, too. And Jesus says, 598 00:39:21,310 --> 00:39:25,190 you don't get it. You don't get it. Those who have bathed 599 00:39:25,190 --> 00:39:29,150 don't need to be bathed again. And I'm paraphrasing. And what Jesus is 600 00:39:29,150 --> 00:39:32,470 saying to Peter in that moment is, you've already received this 601 00:39:32,470 --> 00:39:36,390 cosmic level of forgiveness. What you don't understand is you 602 00:39:36,390 --> 00:39:40,350 don't have to keep coming back for that same salvation. 603 00:39:40,590 --> 00:39:44,430 I used to struggle so bad, Church, with thinking every time 604 00:39:44,430 --> 00:39:47,630 I picked up a little bit of dirt, every time I made missed the mark, 605 00:39:47,710 --> 00:39:51,550 every time I fell, I was so far away from God because my name 606 00:39:51,550 --> 00:39:55,510 was written in chalk in the Lamb's book of life. That's it. You did 607 00:39:55,510 --> 00:39:59,510 it. Screwed it up. And I would go back over and over, and 608 00:39:59,510 --> 00:40:02,350 I'd be like, I need to be baptized again. I need to. I need to 609 00:40:02,350 --> 00:40:05,430 come down here and say the sinner's prayer again. And Jesus says, I've already bathed 610 00:40:05,430 --> 00:40:08,670 you. Let me wash your feet. 611 00:40:10,430 --> 00:40:14,120 You're picking up dirt, son. You're picking up 612 00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:18,040 dirt, but I can't wash them if you keep running around 613 00:40:18,040 --> 00:40:21,840 over here talking about how close you are to me. You have to come and 614 00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:24,920 you have to sit in my presence and let me do the work. 615 00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:29,480 Are you hearing me, what I'm saying, Church? This ain't about no 616 00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:33,400 checklist. This is not about if you do X, Y and Z, you'll be close 617 00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:37,320 to God. It's saying, God, I'm picking up dirt. I know I need to come 618 00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:40,820 and sit here and let you do a work. And then what does he do? 619 00:40:41,140 --> 00:40:44,820 Says he gets up and says, hey, you saw what I did. Go do it 620 00:40:44,820 --> 00:40:48,340 for each other. Take showers under First John 621 00:40:48,340 --> 00:40:52,260 1:9. Every day you gotta be vulnerable 622 00:40:52,260 --> 00:40:55,940 with somebody else to say, I'm picking up dirt on my feet. I don't even 623 00:40:55,940 --> 00:40:59,540 like feet. I don't even wanna. There's a certain age 624 00:40:59,540 --> 00:41:03,260 limit where you age out of me wanting to wash your feet. That's over two. 625 00:41:03,260 --> 00:41:07,260 Get them out of here. Here. Dead serious, man. I can't 626 00:41:07,260 --> 00:41:09,500 stand feet. Hate him. 627 00:41:11,100 --> 00:41:13,340 Don't like my own feet. Wear socks all the time. 628 00:41:15,020 --> 00:41:18,860 It's not what he's talking about, man. How am I going to say 629 00:41:18,860 --> 00:41:22,860 that? I'm. I'm so Intimate with God, but yet I'm so disconnected from his 630 00:41:22,860 --> 00:41:26,860 people. You know, most of the time, the way God speaks to 631 00:41:26,860 --> 00:41:30,340 me or speaks to us is through somebody else in here, man, let me wash 632 00:41:30,340 --> 00:41:34,270 your face, feet. Let me wash your feet. Man, you're 633 00:41:34,270 --> 00:41:38,070 picking up dirt. Let me 634 00:41:38,070 --> 00:41:41,310 wash your feet. And then you go wash someone else's. 635 00:41:42,350 --> 00:41:46,230 That's how we become close. That's how he's close with us. 636 00:41:46,230 --> 00:41:49,270 And then. I love what it says. It says, then he put on his outer 637 00:41:49,270 --> 00:41:53,230 garments and resumed his place. He came and 638 00:41:53,230 --> 00:41:56,530 took off his heavenly garments, stepped into humanity, 639 00:41:57,160 --> 00:42:00,720 served us on a cosmic level, gave us ultimate 640 00:42:00,720 --> 00:42:04,640 forgiveness and a way to receive daily restoration. And then he 641 00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:08,640 took his rightful place in the heavens and said, now you do it for 642 00:42:08,640 --> 00:42:12,520 each other. Yeah, you clap. Don't clap for me. 643 00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:16,720 You clap for the king. Cause that's what he did. And in 644 00:42:16,720 --> 00:42:19,960 order for us to experience intimacy with him, 645 00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:24,700 then we follow that same path pattern of washing each 646 00:42:24,700 --> 00:42:25,460 other's feet. 647 00:42:29,700 --> 00:42:33,220 Like I said. So I don't know. There are times where you don't feel intimate, 648 00:42:33,220 --> 00:42:37,100 but I'm going to liberate you guys right now. It is not about how 649 00:42:37,100 --> 00:42:40,420 you feel. God is not. It's going to sound bad. 650 00:42:41,620 --> 00:42:45,220 Just hear what I'm saying. God is not concerned with your feelings. 651 00:42:47,220 --> 00:42:50,990 Do you hear me? Now, I didn't say God don't care about your feelings, 652 00:42:51,150 --> 00:42:55,030 but he's not moved by them. He's not moved by 653 00:42:55,030 --> 00:42:58,710 those same ones that said, but, Lord, we cried in the worship 654 00:42:58,710 --> 00:43:02,470 service and we cast out devils in your name, and we laid 655 00:43:02,470 --> 00:43:06,230 hands on the sick in your name. He's like, I didn't know you. You was 656 00:43:06,230 --> 00:43:10,110 close, but you weren't intimate. I didn't 657 00:43:10,270 --> 00:43:13,900 know you. I never knew you. 658 00:43:14,930 --> 00:43:18,770 I didn't know who you were. You didn't know who I was. You was just 659 00:43:18,770 --> 00:43:22,690 running around doing church stuff. It's the most terrifying 660 00:43:22,690 --> 00:43:23,810 verse in the scriptures. 661 00:43:27,410 --> 00:43:31,330 It's not about how we feel. Lord, I can't see you right 662 00:43:31,330 --> 00:43:35,090 now. God, show me your heart in these pages. But God, I can't hear 663 00:43:35,090 --> 00:43:39,010 you speak like others do. Do you know there's some people say, well, I never 664 00:43:39,010 --> 00:43:42,450 heard God's audible voice. Do you know what kind of situation the man had to 665 00:43:42,450 --> 00:43:46,300 be in in to hear God's audible voice? Did y' all hear 666 00:43:46,300 --> 00:43:49,780 that testimony just a couple of weeks ago? I was ready to kill myself. And 667 00:43:49,780 --> 00:43:53,100 God says, no, you don't. I got plans for you. I'm not done with you. 668 00:43:53,900 --> 00:43:56,460 And we think because we ain't heard God's audible voice 669 00:43:57,660 --> 00:44:01,260 oh, my God, I don't have enough time this morning. I 670 00:44:01,420 --> 00:44:04,460 don't. I swear. Y' all be like, yeah, man, I am hungry, 671 00:44:06,540 --> 00:44:10,140 but I don't feel close to you. God, where are you? You. It's not. How 672 00:44:10,140 --> 00:44:13,900 about you? It's not about how you feel. I'm right here. To 673 00:44:13,900 --> 00:44:17,660 abide in Jesus is to keep, to stand by, to continue 674 00:44:18,140 --> 00:44:21,860 to remain, not by feelings, but by faith. Mastering 675 00:44:21,860 --> 00:44:25,580 the mundane. Me and Jess didn't get as close as we are 676 00:44:25,580 --> 00:44:29,540 now overnight. I look at my wife like this. She come in the shop 677 00:44:29,540 --> 00:44:33,500 the other day and I was like, wow. And she rolls her eyes. She's 678 00:44:33,500 --> 00:44:35,490 like, God, what are doing you. You looking at? 679 00:44:38,370 --> 00:44:41,250 And I'm like, God forbid I be in love with somebody. 680 00:44:42,210 --> 00:44:45,690 God forbid. I, I just, Just enamored by your 681 00:44:45,690 --> 00:44:49,250 presence. She's like, whatever. I need to tell you about something, 682 00:44:49,570 --> 00:44:53,490 right? No, that don't happen overnight. 683 00:44:53,490 --> 00:44:57,410 Like the, the. The. The longer we walk together, the more I 684 00:44:57,410 --> 00:45:00,930 love her. And sure, we have 685 00:45:01,090 --> 00:45:04,950 mountaintop moments and we have spectacular conversations, but most 686 00:45:04,950 --> 00:45:07,630 of the time it's, hey, what does your schedule look like this week? Because I 687 00:45:07,630 --> 00:45:09,990 got a game at five and I know you got church on Thursday and is 688 00:45:09,990 --> 00:45:13,990 it. It's not always three and a half hours in 689 00:45:13,990 --> 00:45:16,750 the morning that I have to sit and stay. 690 00:45:17,630 --> 00:45:21,550 It's mastering the mundane. It's giving every day, every 691 00:45:21,550 --> 00:45:25,510 moment. It's giving our life to the Lord and saying, I don't know what 692 00:45:25,510 --> 00:45:29,200 today looks like, but I'm going to lean into you. I don't know what tomorrow 693 00:45:29,200 --> 00:45:32,640 looks like when I'm gonna lean into you. And we've gotta get out of this 694 00:45:32,640 --> 00:45:36,600 checklist mentality of where we scale up and down 695 00:45:36,600 --> 00:45:40,560 and surrender our lives to him and be willing to have our feet washed and 696 00:45:40,560 --> 00:45:44,560 to wash someone else's. And that's how you'll be close to God. So if you 697 00:45:44,560 --> 00:45:47,600 need to pray, there'll be a couple people down here to pray with you this 698 00:45:47,600 --> 00:45:50,840 morning. And I want you to move by faith, not by your feelings. 699 00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:55,680 And if you don't need to pray for anything this morning, then we're gonna worship 700 00:45:55,680 --> 00:45:59,280 and we're pray. Gonna. Going to praise a holy God together. Because that prayer that 701 00:45:59,280 --> 00:46:03,280 included us, included them. And I want to worship and praise 702 00:46:03,280 --> 00:46:06,840 that same God. So let's pray, praise and worship.