The Secret Place

As you guys are giving, I'm going to just make a couple brief announcements. I

want Justin to have his time this morning. Listen,

good morning again this week. Midweek gatherings. Thursday

night, six o', clock, I'm telling you. Words from the rabbi,

Pastor Barbee. It's rich. It's rich. Go back on

live stream online if you want to watch it from the. From the previous

sessions. And it so good. So be a part of that on Thursday night if

you've got the capacity to do so. It's been really good Following

Thursday night this week at 7:15. At 7:15, we are going

to have our first team meeting for Celebrate Recovery. And so if

you're interested in helping us in that launch, which will happen in

August, I invite you to just linger after the gathering at 7:15,

come and see me. We're going to be meeting in the green room that's back

here, but I'll lead you back there. Come see me after that gathering and we'll

go back there. We'll be here for about an hour. Excited about what the Lord's

going gonna be doing through Celebrate Recovery. So that's happening on Thursday. And then

we wanna invite you to register for our conference. It's coming up in March.

Abide March 6th, 7th and 8th this week. We will put

more information about the teaching schedule and all that online. Register this week

so we can prepare for you to be here. It's gonna be really, really good.

I believe God's gonna do some things then, but what?

That's not it. This is the winter retreat for the youth.

Yeah, the youth's going on winter retreat. That's February 13th.

And so you guys register for that as well. Okay. God is

saving the very best for when? Right now. And Pastor

Justin has a great word for us this morning. Would you please welcome Pastor

Justin.

It's not any pressure being God's best right now. Like,

hey, this is God's best. You're like. And then they're like, Pastor Justin. You're like,

whatever, man. Hey, I got a call from Metro one time

and they wanted me to come in for an interview too.

You know what I told them? Absolutely not. We will

interview wherever you find me at. And y' all are

laughing like y' all believe me. That's just, you know. See, God will do

it, won't he? Second thing today is Pastor Ronnie Meek's birthday.

Y' all say hi, Pastor Ronn.

I don't know that. Cause I'm close with him. I know that. Cause Facebook reminded

me because he was Kind enough to put that I am close, but that's not

the reason why I know that, because he put his information in

properly on Facebook. So if you'll do the same, I will know when

your birthday is. I don't know what the part of my brain that used to

remember phone numbers and birthdays are doing right now. Like, there was a part

of my life where you knew everybody's phone numbers and birthdays. Don't know that anymore.

So I'm hoping I can unlock that this morning. We can retain this information.

Last thing I want to teach you guys, I'm operating at about a 75%

today. Those that know me know I run high octane. And

so anything less than that can be detrimental to

mortals. Normal guys, small bears. Anybody

that's not me usually would take them down for the count. But since I'm so

high energy, 75% for me is going to be a struggle. So

if I'm not as exuberant, don't be like, what's wrong with him? I'm just.

And got a little something going on up here today, okay. I've been

praying I didn't sneeze the first gathering. Boy, can you imagine this row right

here? Post Covid. They're like,

yeah, right. Where does the thing

go? Oh, there it is.

We're gonna be talking about intimacy with God this morning and

the secret place. And so if you would, let's go ahead and

stand and read and get into the script, and then I will share the message

with you today. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to

read as if you're at 75%. Okay? I

don't need nobody yelling in the back, okay? Take it down a notch.

This is my time, okay? It's God's best. It's right now, remember?

Are we ready? Here we go. I do not

ask for these only, but also for those who

will believe in me through their word that they may

all be one, just as you, Father, are in

me and I in you, that they also may

be in us, so that the world may believe that you

have sent me the glory that you have given me,

I have given to them that they may be one

even as we are one, I in them and you

in me, that they may become perfectly one,

so that the world may know that you sent me and

loved them, even as you loved me. And one more from

David's psalm. He who dwells in the shelter

of the most high will abide in the shadow of the

Almighty. Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for this day,

for the opportunity to share and speak, and I pray that

all of my jokes and quips will be quickly forgotten. But Lord, that the things

that you want to teach us and reveal to us and affirm inside of us

today, this morning, that you would do so through the power of the

Holy Ghost, according to your word and will, and that it would

grow deep root inside of us. Lord God, I pray that your son Jesus

will be glorified through our words and our time together. Father, be

inhabit this place. We love you and thank you. It's in Christ's name. Amen.

And amen. You guys can be seated. And so

we're continuing in our series about abide.

And this morning, we're gonna be talking about intimacy with

go. What I've noticed is in my life, when I have come

across a teaching or a message similar

to this, I'm left feeling one of two ways.

It's either I hear the message, I listen to the

bullet points, and I go, okay. I feel like I'm

extremely close with the Lord right now, but usually

what happens is I will listen to the teaching, or I will listen to the

message and I'll go, do I even know God after listening

to all this want to do today is give you

guys a checklist and say, here are the things

that make you intimate with God. And then you try to

evaluate where you're at on that scale.

Kurt alluded to that earlier in the message

for the communion, and

that Christianity is completely unique in that

our God came down to us. Every other

religion, there is this scale, this wall, this ladder

that you're trying to climb to get close to the

Creator, to get closer to God. And usually it's performance

and works based. And our God said,

it does not matter how good you are, how long you

walk, how far you climb, you'll never make it. There's no. It's

too great a chasm. You can't come up here, so I'm

gonna have to come down to you. So this

morning is not about me giving you an intimacy

checklist for you to go, okay, killing it there. Not doing good

here. Didn't even know that was on the list. Right,

right. Cause that's usually what happens. I'm having a conversation with

Mario yesterday. We're in the kitchen and we're talking about intimacy.

And he brought up a good point. And this is one thing I love about

our eldership. He started the conversation by saying, now this isn't

biblical, and I appreciate that. And

if you're giving somebody advice, you might want to. If it's not biblical,

you might want to say, hey, this ain't biblical. So if it ruins your life,

don't, you know,

you can blame me. But don't blame him. It's not scriptural,

he said. But we started talking about that. Everybody has

a different type of love language, right? You guys are familiar with the love languages.

If you're not, I'll run through them real quick. So everybody has a love language,

a way that they give and receive love. And some are words of

affirmation or physical touch or I'm

quality time. I will force my wife to sit in the room with me.

She doesn't have to do the same thing I'm doing. She just has to be

in proximity so she's got her laptop

wherever I'm at doing her thing, right? Quality time. I don't

know that that's quality, but I just need to be able to look over and

see you there. Right? What is the other one?

Acts of service and gifts. Some people show love by giving

gifts. So now take this in the context of what we're

talking about with intimacy with God. If I were a quality time

person, then I may have the.

Is it proclivity? That's the right word, proclivity to come in here and say,

hey, if you want to be close to God, then you need to be saved.

Spending time with God. And those of you that

are words of affirmation say, well, I don't spend as much time

as Pastor Justin does. I guess I'm not close with the Lord.

Or those that are a words guy or gal may say, I

spend a lot of time in prayer, and I'm constantly talking to God. And then

if you're like me, you go, where do you have that time? I must not

be close to God, because I don't spend that much time in

prayer. And there may be some. It's like they're always doing

missions work, or they're out in the community or giving people people's rides, or they're

holding doors or they're doing things and they're constantly pouring out for the

kingdom. And you're like, well, I guess I might not be as close to the

Lord as they are because I don't. I've got six kids. I don't have

time to take a shower and wash my hair.

Obviously, that's not me, right?

But here's what I'm saying, guys. The goal and purpose of today is not

provide you with an intimacy Checklist. Because there were many

people who were close in proximity to Jesus. Jesus and

not intimate with Jesus. And what we don't want to be is a people

who are close to kingdom things and not intimate

in the kingdom. So what is intimacy? Let's

look at what the world says about intimacy. If I

ask this question right here, how many of you are uncomfortable

married folk? James, how is your

intimacy with your wife?

That seems like it's an inappropriate question. It's

not. Let me get there. Spoiler alert. Mary sue, right?

Dang, man. On the

outset, if you think about human intimacy, it means one thing.

But if I say, what about your intimacy with the Lord? How come it means

a completely different thing? In our minds, intimacy is

defined as a deep sense of emotional closeness, trust

and vulnerability shared between individuals, extending beyond

physical and sexual contact. It involves being truly

seen, sharing innermost thoughts and fears and

feelings in an authentic manner. How many of us are afraid of

being seen by others? How many of

us are afraid for someone to see the real me?

Many of you know that a personal growth

area that I'm working on is

confrontation. And if you decide that

after this service you want to argue with me, most likely I'll

argue with you. I'm not perfect. I'm growing.

I'm working on it. I recognize it's a flaw. I recognize it's not

pastoral, okay? But if you come up yelling at

me, I'll match that energy, usually with whatever you've brought to

me. Just so that you know this can happen, right? You've seen two elk

where one of them says, hey, I'm fixing to lock these horns. Or you. Another

one says, well, bring it on, big boy. And then they rattle up, and the

others and the females are standing there. Look at these stupid guys fighting over

this, right? This is why you never argue with a fool. Cause from a distance,

you don't know which one is which. And I have a

problem. I didn't say that, by the way. I've never had an original thought. I

don't know whose quote that is. Forgive me. I'm not plagiarizing that.

That's not me. It's a famous quote.

But what I'm trying to say is

I don't remember what I was saying. Oh, here's what I was

saying. Here's what I was saying, right? Like I would say,

if you want to come argue with me, oh, now you're gonna see the real

me. Now you're really gonna see me, right? Because

for some reason, this person up here is

not who I am over Cole and Kalen's house. Like,

they get to see the real me. It's not that I'm

putting up a front. It's that I have a relationship

with them, that they get to see the walls come

down. When you go over somebody's house, you don't immediately just

get to go to the master bedroom. Right? That's an

intimate place inside of the home. You start out in the

foyer, take your shoes off. These floors are new. Okay, come

sit in my sitting room. Or if you're at my house, let's go to the

kitchen. But you don't just automatically go into those

deep, intimate places. Many of us are being

afraid by being seen by others, but a lot of us are being afraid by

seeing being seen by God. And isn't it amazing that we

know that God sees us and yet there's a part of us that

attempts to either hide or desires to.

There are many people that believe you have to come to a church building to

be close to God. John MacArthur writes, the

church is not an option for true believers. It is the very

family of God to which every true believer longs to be a

part of. Can you connect with God and

be close to God inside of the church building? Absolutely.

Some of the most powerful moments of connection in my life have

happened in this room, in that office, in

that back corner. I remember crying my eyes out a couple of years ago back

in that corner, praying for God to come meet me here.

Yes, you can connect with God in this building. Then there are

others who believe that you shouldn't even have to come to church and can connect

with God outside of its walls. Here's by everyone's favorite

tool, man who may or may not be a Christian.

Tim Allen says this. Why go to a

church to worship God? A church is man made. God

never said, and let there be aluminum siding.

Climbing a tree to talk to God sounds like a better

idea. So there is one group that believes if you

don't come to church, you can't connect with God. And then there's another group that

believe you don't even have to come to the church to connect with God. And

guess what? Both. Right. When it

comes to intimacy, there are typically four areas that we tend to look

at and inspect. And these areas become our

gauge of whether or not we're in an intimate

relationship. The first one we usually look at, I

don't have bullet points, so you're gonna write em down. And you know, don't look

up. There ain't Nothing up there. Okay. Just shaving you.

I missed number one. The first one is emotional

intimacy. Shared feelings.

Emotional intimacy is usually the first gauge that we

go to to determine if we're in an intimate relationship with someone.

Can we. Do we have shared feelings? The second one

is physical intimacy. Shared relations. And this is where

things get a little bit muddy. I'm gonna keep it pg. Cause we got youth

in here. Okay, I got you, Doug.

Right? Next week's lesson. What was Pastor Justin talking about

on stage? He'd be mad at me. He'd text me later. You have no

idea the emails I got after service. Y' all the one decided to come in

here. I ain't trying to protect you from the Bible.

Physical intimacy. Here's a. I just want to share a word on this.

This is the first go to for the world. And the

problem is most male and female

relationships that begin with physical intimacy

never reach emotional, intellectual, and spiritual

intimacy on a deep level. Because the order is

out of the way that God designed it. Physical

intimacy is the most vulnerable form. This is.

Everything is off. Here I am. And if you start

with that level of vulnerability and you never get to the

emotional vulnerability and saying, this is what I'm feeling. This is what

I'm thinking. This is how I'm wrestling with the theology and

understanding who God is. And you start with that physical intimacy,

you can never get it back. And this is why God says, you need to

wait on this if you're not willing to be vulnerable in this area.

And nowadays people want this. This physical intimacy without the

other. Emotional and intellectual and spiritual

connectedness. And it is opposite of the way that God designed it

to be. I gave you the

other two in that sentence. Intellectual intimacy, shared

ideas and thoughts, and spiritual intimacy, shared values,

beliefs, and deeper meanings. And just like these four ways that we

gauge whether or not we're in an intimate relationship, there's usually

four ways that we cultivate these. The first one is vulnerability.

Lowering our defenses, letting our guard down,

allowing others to see through the facade. Do you guys know

which gender has a hard time doing this?

Man. Somebody said at first gathering was scared to speak.

I was like, what do I say? Is this a test? There's two. Pick

one. You can be wrong.

Just pick guys. Guys have a hard time doing this.

And not that women don't. It's just historically,

guys have been. There's this idea that we have to be tough,

strong, that we have to have it together. We have to have all of the

answers that we cannot show vulnerability because it's

weakness. Because if I let my guard down, then somebody would see I don't have

it all together. So I don't want my sons to see me cry. Then they

might think I'm weak. You know, some of the

most tender moments in my life have been when I'm down

here on my knees in the altar space and I feel a little hand on

the back of my shoulder and it's one of my sons.

And then they pray for something that I'm not even dealing with.

And it's absolutely beautiful. And you know why?

Because they saw their dad being vulnerable. Bending the knee before

the gracious and great and almighty Father.

I will bend my knee to the king, and they will see that

vulnerability as strength. You cannot be intimate

if you are unwilling to be vulnerable. Here's what I. Here's where I'm at.

Here's who I am. God. Here. I don't know if I

believe this, God. I'm having a hard time with the church right

now. God. I don't know what direction to

go. You don't think he doesn't already know? He

already knows. And

tagging on to vulnerability is communication, Openly sharing what's

going on in your life. There's too many of us in the church

that when somebody asks how you're doing, you're like, I'm fine. Everything's fine.

Everything's good. And I'm like, you're a liar.

Now what I don't need is when you're over there getting your two pumps of

French vanilla to start a counseling session with me. I don't need

all that. If I say, how you doing? I'll be over there, brother. Let me

tell you this. Before you know it, that cup is filled with that French vanilla.

Cause you done started telling everything. But I so

appreciate my brother. Ben met me at the doors two weeks ago. We didn't

have service last week. He met me at the doors. He said, hey, man, how

you doing? I'm like, man, you know, I'm just. Just working through some stuff and

life is good. And he said, yeah, man, it's great. And then his face dropped.

He went, but how you really doing? And I was like,

just go on in the service. Don't do this to me outside these doors.

And we had a little 10 minute conversation. I said, here's what's really going on.

Here's where I'm struggling at in my mind. Here's what is really weighing down on

me. And you know why Ben could ask me that question? Cause me and Ben

have developed a relationship in which my hands can come down

and I can be vulnerable with him. But he at least had the

communication enough to say, hey man, what's really going on in your life?

What's really going on? And then it involved active

listening, being present and attentive, both conversational and

nonverbal. And the last is quality time. How are you going to be

intimate if you never spend time with someone?

You can't learn patience on top of a mountain by yourself.

You can only learn patience as a parent

or a school administrator whose kids go to

their school. Right.

You can't go to the top of the mountain and say, God taught me patience

up there. No, he didn't. Cause there's nobody to be impatient with.

That's not true. Right. You can't

cultivate intimacy with someone you're not around,

you're not spending time with. You cannot have an

intimate relationship with the Lord if you're

not spending time with Him.

It's just, it doesn't work like that. So

these concepts that we just talked about, can these ideas be applied

to our relationship with God? Yes. Thank

you. One person. On the

surface, yes, of course. But is God really to be

treated like our bestie? Are we really

supposed to treat the creator of the universe like a girlfriend who needs me to

spend time with him in order to feel loved?

I would say no, Mary Sue. That's right, pipe up, say it. Mary Sue.

So what is different about intimacy by these standards and the

intimacy God desires for his people? What is the intimacy that

Jesus prays for? We opened up in John

John 17 · chapter mention

chapter 17. And just to give you a little

thousand foot view of this chapter and what's going on in John,

this is Jesus last night on the planet.

Tomorrow the man is going to the cross

and in John 13 he starts to wash his

disciples feet. And then in 14 and 15, he's

having a meal with them and he's giving them final instructions in

15 and 16. And he saying, remain in me, stay in

me. I'm the vine, you are the branches. Apart from me you can do nothing.

Hey, trouble is coming. You better buckle up. They're gonna kick you out of the

church, they're gonna kill you. They're gonna think they're doing good stuff, right?

This is his last message to the disciples. And

then he gets to John 17 where he prays

this high priestly prayer. This is before

Gethsemane. If I were to say to you, do you know the Lord's prayer? What

would you say? Gosh, man, you

know what? It's 11 o', clock, dude.

Yes. If I said, do you know the Lord's Prayer? You'd be like, yeah, I

know the Lord's Prayer. And it would probably go something like this. Our Father who

art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy

will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day

our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive

those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the

glory, forever and ever. Amen. Y' all know King James and

didn't even know you knew it, right? Trespasses,

right? So if I send the

Lord's. You're not wrong. You're not wrong in that. We. That is the so

called Lord's Prayer. And here's why I say it's so called, because we call it

that, right? But that's actually more of the disciples

prayer, if you know where that comes from. It's in Matthew 5, when Jesus is

5 and 6, when he's teaching his disciples at the Sermon on the Mount, he

says, here's how you guys need to pray. That wasn't his prayer. He

said, this is how you need to be praying. It's the disciples prayer.

So I'm telling you this, so the next time you read your Bibles on this,

you'll be all messed up. You're like, what is it?

I did that on purpose. This John 17

is the Lord's prayer. Why? Because it's his prayer.

This was his prayer to the Father

in the presence of his disciples before he goes to the cross

and look at what he says. When Jesus had spoken these

words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, father, the hour

has come. I

did in first gatherings. I can't do it, man. Like I get overwhelmed

at that opening line. And here's why.

This is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

There have been thousands and thousands of years

waiting on the promise of Messiah.

And he his come to the earth in human form and

took on flesh, stepped out of heaven, took

on flesh. 33 years he's walked this

planet and now he says it's time.

The hour has come. I don't know why that hits me the way that it

does. I'm thinking about all of time and all of

eternity. And there's something significant about this moment

that Jesus is in where he looks up to heaven

in the presence of his disciples and says, it's time.

It's the time. Now's the time. And then he

says, glorify your Son, that the Son may

glorify you. Glorify me so that

I can glorify you, since you have given him all authority

over all flesh, to give eternal life to all

whom you have given him. And this is eternal life

that they know you.

We talk about getting saved, and you gotta get

saved from what? Saved

from what? And to what? Saved from

separation from the Father,

saved to relationship with the Father.

Jesus says, you wanna know what eternal life is that

you know? God. God, the only

true God. And this just creates an exclusivity clause right

here. Christianity is the most inclusive,

exclusive religion on the planet. And what I mean by that is,

anybody can come, but you can only come one way.

Sorry, buddy, if you say there's any other way than Jesus Christ,

you can't get in there. It's exclusive. He is

the way, the truth, the life. I don't care who likes it. I didn't write

it. Don't be mad at me following orders and telling you the truth.

But it's inclusive in that all. What did he say?

That they know you, the only true God, and Jesus

Christ, whom you've sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work

which you gave me to do. His

final prayer is. Help me finish. Well, and then

he goes on and says, this. Is that the right one? Oh,

and now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory I had with

you before the world existed. Then he says, I'm praying

for them. I'm not praying for the world, but those whom you have given me,

they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine. And I'm glorified in

them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world.

And I'm coming to you, Holy Father. Keep them in your name,

which you have given me, that they may be one even as

we are one. His prayer for the disciples

is oneness, that they would be one, the

same way him and the Father are. And then he

says, I don't ask for these only, but also for those

who will believe. Who is he talking to there?

I see that hand back there. I see that hand. Is two, y' all to

get it. 3, 4, 7, 11, 12.

Josh, you're included, too. There you go, bud. Jesus says,

I'm not just asking you to do this for them, Lord. I'm

asking you to do it for all who will believe. That includes

you, that they may be one. Just as you,

Father. Are in me and I in you. Have you noticed how many times he

says, God, I pray that they're in me because I'm in you and you're

in me, and they're in each other. He's saying, if you want to be close,

you got to get up next to me and you got to get up next

to these people. Because you can't do it on

top of a mountain. So that the world.

Why? So the world will believe that you have sent me. This is the key

and unlocks the whole prayer. He's praying for

the disciples, but he's including us. How come we look at the end of the

disciples in the early church and contrast that with our life of favor

and success? Would you say that the disciples were close with Jesus?

I would consider these guys pretty close. Except for one. He was

only close in proximity. He was only close in

proximity. And there's a danger in that, too. Guys, you can be around

godly things. You can have the best teacher.

You can have the world's greatest small group, right?

Which is community. You can have all of that and still be found

wanting. I would consider these guys

close and intimate with the Lord yet. And in a matter of hours, they would

fall away. It wasn't until they witnessed the resurrected Jesus

and the comforter dwelled inside them. They were able to face persecution

and death. And Jesus told them of their persecution. He said, they'll put you out

of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you think he's

offering service to God. And they'll do these things because they have not known the

Father, nor me. How would you like to have that

told to you? Right? Hey, guys,

you're gonna need to stay close to me. Cause this is about to get really

bad for you. I need you to remain in me.

Because this is gonna get really ugly. And people are gonna think they're doing the

Lord's work by doing this to you. Somehow

we have convinced ourselves that a life that is

filled with suffering means you are far from God.

Somehow, collectively, as the church, we look at

situations and sufferings and go, I

must not be close. I got. Let me tell you, look, I love my kids.

Y' all don't be mad at me. But y' all get in trouble a lot.

My kids aren't bad. They just don't follow all the rules.

And I found myself in the kitchen the other day going, God, what do I

need to repent of? What have I done? What have I

done? What did I do? Just tell me and I repent. Tell me. I need

to know. I called my parents. I said, mom. Actually,

it was my dad. I was talking to my dad. I didn't dare call my

mom. I called my dad. I said, dad, was I

this bad when I was a kid? He said, no, son. And my mom in

the way back, absolutely. This is your fault. You did

this. This is what you. I'm like, where did I sow these

seeds? God. But somehow we

think that if there's any type of discomfort or

like, are you hearing what

I'm saying? Like, any type of persecution or adversity, I'm like,

I must not be close to him. I must be far away. Do you know

how these guys died? I got to get on my horse and ride. Crucified.

Simon Peter was crucified upside down in AD

64 to 68 around under Nero's persecution of Christians.

You know why they persecuted him upside or crucified him upside down. He said, I'm

not worthy to die the same way my Lord did. Same guy denied him three

times, ran away. He said, no, no, no, no, no. Crucify me upside

down. Andrew was crucified on an X

shaped cross. He was not nailed to it, but was tied and was

said to have preached for days before he died.

James was beheaded by king Herod in AD 44.

John was exiled to Patmos where he wrote

Revelations after it was said there was an attempt to boil him and oil

was unsuccessful. Philip died in

Hierapolis, Turkey by

hanging in 80 80. Bartholomew

flayed to death by knives in India. Matthew

died by Halbert according to Tradition. Thomas,

which is Didymus, was martyred by a spear in India.

James son of Alphaeus was stoned to death in AD

62. Thaddaeus was

martyred in Persia via arrows. Simon the Zealot was

crucified according to tradition, and Judas Iscariot hung himself

after betraying the Son of Man. All of these men shared the

same sentiment as Paul when writing to the Philippian Church.

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss

for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as

loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ

Jesus my Lord. For his sake. I have suffered

the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may

gain Christ and be found in him, not having a

righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which

comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that

defends on faith that I may know him and the power

of his resurrection and share in his sufferings.

Becoming like him in his death, that by any means

possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Paul says that I may know him, the power of his

resurrection, share in his sufferings, become like him in his

death, die daily. Even though the apostles literally

died same death, that we both may attain resurrection.

This was to be considered intimacy with God.

Jesus connects our personal intimacy and our collective

intimacy.

You know that the Bible is about God's relentless desire to have his

family restored to him and what links he will go to to ensure it

happens. You can read about

David's prayers in the Psalms. David was pretty intimate with the Lord.

And at the top of a passage he goes, I don't even know if you

see me here, God. And then at the bottom he goes,

I'm as close as I've ever been. I'm wrapped up under your blanket.

I'm snuggled right up under you, God. And then two chapters later, you

go, why have you abandoned me?

Right? And you go, this guy's all over the place.

He is wrestling with what it means to be close to God.

There were seasons where he felt close and seasons where he

wandered and wondered if God was even there. Do any of you actually

wonder if you don't even feel close to God? Have you ever

been in a place where you're like God? I don't even. I don't even feel

close to you. You.

You can't be intimate and be far away. Intim is intimacy is

not just predicated on proximity.

Look at the prodigal son. He said, man, I don't like being away from my

father's house. I don't like being away from my father's house.

Being in my. But being in my father's house is not about doing chores.

Yes, you should pray. Yes, we should need to be reading the Word. How

else will we know him and know his character and his heart? Yes, serve and

pour out and be selfless, just like the Son of man. But the son did

not go back to the father's house just to do chores.

The Father wanted his son back to be a part of his

family. And family is intimate and close

and vulnerable. They share ideas. They share hopes and

dreams. And fellowship with the Father requires fellowship with one another.

Jesus final lesson was a living parable.

He may have given them a verbal lesson,

but he showed them something far more powerful. The

Word says that when Jesus came into the room

and they're all there, it says he laid aside his

outer garment. Garments. He took off his kingly

garments and stepped into humanity.

And then what did he do? He tied it around his waist and he bent

down and he washed their feet.

He washed their feet. And Peter, being Peter, was like, absolutely

not. And Jesus said, if I don't wash

you, you're not going to have any part in me. Peter says, well,

then you got to wash my whole body, too. And Jesus says,

you don't get it. You don't get it. Those who have bathed

don't need to be bathed again. And I'm paraphrasing. And what Jesus is

saying to Peter in that moment is, you've already received this

cosmic level of forgiveness. What you don't understand is you

don't have to keep coming back for that same salvation.

I used to struggle so bad, Church, with thinking every time

I picked up a little bit of dirt, every time I made missed the mark,

every time I fell, I was so far away from God because my name

was written in chalk in the Lamb's book of life. That's it. You did

it. Screwed it up. And I would go back over and over, and

I'd be like, I need to be baptized again. I need to. I need to

come down here and say the sinner's prayer again. And Jesus says, I've already bathed

you. Let me wash your feet.

You're picking up dirt, son. You're picking up

dirt, but I can't wash them if you keep running around

over here talking about how close you are to me. You have to come and

you have to sit in my presence and let me do the work.

Are you hearing me, what I'm saying, Church? This ain't about no

checklist. This is not about if you do X, Y and Z, you'll be close

to God. It's saying, God, I'm picking up dirt. I know I need to come

and sit here and let you do a work. And then what does he do?

Says he gets up and says, hey, you saw what I did. Go do it

for each other. Take showers under First John

1 John 1:9

1:9. Every day you gotta be vulnerable

with somebody else to say, I'm picking up dirt on my feet. I don't even

like feet. I don't even wanna. There's a certain age

limit where you age out of me wanting to wash your feet. That's over two.

Get them out of here. Here. Dead serious, man. I can't

stand feet. Hate him.

Don't like my own feet. Wear socks all the time.

It's not what he's talking about, man. How am I going to say

that? I'm. I'm so Intimate with God, but yet I'm so disconnected from his

people. You know, most of the time, the way God speaks to

me or speaks to us is through somebody else in here, man, let me wash

your face, feet. Let me wash your feet. Man, you're

picking up dirt. Let me

wash your feet. And then you go wash someone else's.

That's how we become close. That's how he's close with us.

And then. I love what it says. It says, then he put on his outer

garments and resumed his place. He came and

took off his heavenly garments, stepped into humanity,

served us on a cosmic level, gave us ultimate

forgiveness and a way to receive daily restoration. And then he

took his rightful place in the heavens and said, now you do it for

each other. Yeah, you clap. Don't clap for me.

You clap for the king. Cause that's what he did. And in

order for us to experience intimacy with him,

then we follow that same path pattern of washing each

other's feet.

Like I said. So I don't know. There are times where you don't feel intimate,

but I'm going to liberate you guys right now. It is not about how

you feel. God is not. It's going to sound bad.

Just hear what I'm saying. God is not concerned with your feelings.

Do you hear me? Now, I didn't say God don't care about your feelings,

but he's not moved by them. He's not moved by

those same ones that said, but, Lord, we cried in the worship

service and we cast out devils in your name, and we laid

hands on the sick in your name. He's like, I didn't know you. You was

close, but you weren't intimate. I didn't

know you. I never knew you.

I didn't know who you were. You didn't know who I was. You was just

running around doing church stuff. It's the most terrifying

verse in the scriptures.

It's not about how we feel. Lord, I can't see you right

now. God, show me your heart in these pages. But God, I can't hear

you speak like others do. Do you know there's some people say, well, I never

heard God's audible voice. Do you know what kind of situation the man had to

be in in to hear God's audible voice? Did y' all hear

that testimony just a couple of weeks ago? I was ready to kill myself. And

God says, no, you don't. I got plans for you. I'm not done with you.

And we think because we ain't heard God's audible voice

oh, my God, I don't have enough time this morning. I

don't. I swear. Y' all be like, yeah, man, I am hungry,

but I don't feel close to you. God, where are you? You. It's not. How

about you? It's not about how you feel. I'm right here. To

abide in Jesus is to keep, to stand by, to continue

to remain, not by feelings, but by faith. Mastering

the mundane. Me and Jess didn't get as close as we are

now overnight. I look at my wife like this. She come in the shop

the other day and I was like, wow. And she rolls her eyes. She's

like, God, what are doing you. You looking at?

And I'm like, God forbid I be in love with somebody.

God forbid. I, I just, Just enamored by your

presence. She's like, whatever. I need to tell you about something,

right? No, that don't happen overnight.

Like the, the. The. The longer we walk together, the more I

love her. And sure, we have

mountaintop moments and we have spectacular conversations, but most

of the time it's, hey, what does your schedule look like this week? Because I

got a game at five and I know you got church on Thursday and is

it. It's not always three and a half hours in

the morning that I have to sit and stay.

It's mastering the mundane. It's giving every day, every

moment. It's giving our life to the Lord and saying, I don't know what

today looks like, but I'm going to lean into you. I don't know what tomorrow

looks like when I'm gonna lean into you. And we've gotta get out of this

checklist mentality of where we scale up and down

and surrender our lives to him and be willing to have our feet washed and

to wash someone else's. And that's how you'll be close to God. So if you

need to pray, there'll be a couple people down here to pray with you this

morning. And I want you to move by faith, not by your feelings.

And if you don't need to pray for anything this morning, then we're gonna worship

and we're pray. Gonna. Going to praise a holy God together. Because that prayer that

included us, included them. And I want to worship and praise

that same God. So let's pray, praise and worship.