The Oil of Intimacy

Welcome to Gateway Church's podcast.

Wherever you're tuning in from, we hope you're encouraged by today's message.

We're wrapping up our series this weekend entitled Saturated.

And the funny thing about this message is this is a message that would probably get me a D or an F back in college if I were submitting it to my professor of biblical preaching.

But the good news is he's not here.

I'm not even going to read you our text, which is Matthew chapter 26, that sets up the whole message.

Matthew 26 · chapter mention

I'm not even going to read it.

I'm just going to tell the story.

You can study it later.

It's the story of a woman named Mary from Bethany.

And one day, apparently she got overwhelmed.

And she went out and bought a very, very expensive alabaster jar filled with fragrant oil.

So expensive, many say that this was probably worth about one year's wages.

And one day Mary burst into the home of a man named Simon the leper.

Jesus just so happened to be in the home.

Mary didn't care about anybody in the house.

She went right to Jesus.

She busted open that alabaster jar of fragrant oil and she dumped it all over his head.

The disciples were indignant.

They said, What is she doing?

What a waste of money.

She could have sold that oil and given the money to the poor.

And Jesus corrected them by saying, I want all of you to understand something.

This woman just did a very good thing.

And wherever my gospel is preached around the world, the story of what this woman just did will be told.

This weekend we're talking about my favorite oil of all the oils I see referred to in Scripture.

Think about it.

What kind of oil is worth a year's wages, ma'am?

What compels someone to trade in a year's worth of savings to buy one jar of oil?

Furthermore, what compels her to barge into a room and seemingly waste this oil by pouring it out on the head of Jesus?

Beyond that, what kind of oil could ever be worth a year's wages?

I humbly submit to you.

I think I know the answer.

It's the oil of intimacy.

I think Mary got a personal revelation.

She was so overwhelmed by that she couldn't help but pour out an extravagant sacrifice all over Jesus.

1 Chronicles chapter 28, one of my favorite verses in the Old Testament, we find King David sitting down with his son Solomon at the end of his life.

1 Chronicles 28 · chapter mention

And think about all the things that David could have said to his son Solomon at the end.

I mean, David had billions in present-day wealth.

He had more victories, more skins on the wall than any of his contemporaries.

Most say David was the best king, not named Jesus, Israel has ever had or ever will have.

Think about all the things he could have said to his son Solomon at the end of his life.

And in 1 Chronicles 28, verse 9, we see King David boil it down to one thing.

1 Chronicles 28:9

David says, Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately.

Worship and serve him, son, with your whole heart and a willing mind.

For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought.

Solomon, if you seek him, you will find him.

You must understand this one principle.

No matter who you are, no matter where you've been, no matter what you've done, the God of the universe wants an intimate relationship with you.

And I'm gonna give you a couple of things, two points in this message, five subpoints.

If you'd like to take notes, you can.

There aren't gonna be any one-liners on this screen today.

Because I felt like the Lord said, Preston, I don't want any of your words on that screen.

Because some will think intimacy is a you thing.

I only want my words up on that screen.

Because intimacy has always been a me thing.

And I want an intimate relationship with every one of them.

So I just want to give you two things to ponder to have a more intimate relationship with the God of the universe.

Here's the first thing: intimacy has a completely different way of seeing.

Intimacy has a completely different way of seeing things.

Many people think they know what God is like.

We have a word for this, theology, which means the study of God.

But at times it appears to me that theology has become the study of the study of God.

I personally believe that God never intended theology to be a merely intellectual thing.

Hear me?

I'm not saying we're supposed to turn our brains off.

God gave us brains to help us in this endeavor of knowing Him more intimately.

But I am saying I believe God never intended for theology to be merely an intellectual thing.

It was always meant to be an intimate thing.

When I proposed to my wife and got down on one knee, crying like a baby, I looked that girl in the eyes and I said, by the time I die, no human on planet Earth is going to know more about you than me.

I think this was always meant to be the heart behind our study of God.

When we talk about the study of God, we have to start with the attributes of God.

I just want to use two of the attributes to illustrate how those in intimate relationship with God see things differently.

Let's talk about the omniscience of God.

Well, what does that mean, Preston?

It means God knows everything.

Scriptures like Job 37, verse 16, one of Job's friends says to him, Do you know the balancings of the clouds?

Job 37:16

The wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge?

Speaking of God.

God knows everything.

God cannot learn a thing.

God knows everything about everything, both actual and possible things.

He knows everything, past, present, and future.

God knows it all.

Okay, so I know many of you know God is omniscient, he knows everything.

But here would be my question: do you know the romantic why behind his omniscience?

Because I think there is one.

I think King David had a revelation of this.

If you put a marker in Psalm 139, flip over there, we're gonna read it together.

I personally believe Psalm 139 is one of the most romantic chapters in the entire Bible.

And if you want a little homework, just read it once a day, every day for the next seven days.

And then just try and find a new way you've never used before to tell God how much you love him.

Because when you read Psalm 139, you're gonna get wrecked.

King David understood the romantic why behind God knowing everything.

Let's read it together.

Psalm 139, verse 1.

Psalms 139:1

David says, Oh Lord, you have examined my heart, and you know everything about me.

God, you know when I sit down or when I stand up.

You know my thoughts, even when I'm far away.

You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.

You know everything I do.

You know what I'm going to say even before I say it, Lord.

David had a revelation that the God of the universe was obsessed with him.

Do you?

Do you know that the God of the universe is literally obsessed with you?

Knowing everything about everything is remarkably impressive.

But knowing everything about you is romantically obsessive.

I remember when I felt the Lord give me a personal revelation about the romantic why behind his omniscience.

I was having my time with him, and I felt like he gave me a picture, which this doesn't happen that often, but we were sitting on a park bench.

Not his physical presence, his manifest presence.

I was sitting there and I could tell he was there, and I just felt him say, There's a question you've never asked me.

I said, What is it?

He said, I'm omniscient, right?

I said, Yeah, that's a rhetorical question, right?

You know everything.

He said, right, but you've never asked me why I know everything.

I said, okay, why do you know everything?

He said, Preston, do you remember the day you told me you wanted to know everything about me?

I said, I do.

I was a teenager.

He said, you can't know everything about me.

My greatness is unsearchable.

You're gonna spend the rest of eternity studying me and never get to the end of my goodness.

But that same desire you have in your heart, Preston, to know everything about me.

I want you to know I have in my heart to know everything about you.

And in order to know everything about you, I must know everything about everything.

And so I do.

Preston, I don't know the numbers, the number of hairs on your head because I know everything about everything.

I know the number of hairs on your head because I never stop counting them.

Preston, I count them as they fall in the office.

I count them as they fall on your pillow.

Incidentally, I think this might be a semi-full-time job for the God of the universe.

And if you ever dial heaven's hotline in prayer and feel like there's a busy signal, he's probably counting some of these falling off my head.

And at the end of this conversation, I just felt the Lord say, You were in school for nearly two decades, right?

I said, Yes, sir.

He said, What was your favorite subject out of all the subjects?

I said, Well, in high school it was math, hated English, loved math.

He said, What about college?

I said, Well, in college, my favorite subject was anything that had anything to do with scripture.

He said, There's another question you've never asked me before.

I said, What is it?

He said, You've never asked me what my favorite subject is.

I said, What's your sub favorite subject?

He said, Thank you.

Now, you might be thinking, Preston, God doesn't talk like this to me.

He does.

You just have to study him enough.

I don't mean just the word.

You have to study his ways, his heart enough.

And you have to let your brain know, because your brain might be saying, that's not how God talks.

Listen, the reason it may be hard for you to hear God speak like that is because your brain is telling your heart that's not how God talks to you.

But I assure you, if you are a sheep, you hear his voice, and this is how he talks.

Here's another way to say it.

This is one of my favorite one-liners, even though I'm not allowed to put it on the screen.

Don't just settle for having an intellectual understanding of the omniscience of God.

Get a revelation that the God who knows everything about every subject has a favorite subject.

And it's you.

Here's another attribute of God that I think is wonderful to ponder.

That kind of helps us see a more intimate way of seeing things.

The omnipresence of God.

God is everywhere.

Okay?

Many of us know that.

But do we know the romantic why behind God being everywhere?

I think King David had the revelation.

Let's keep going in Psalm 139 now in verse 5.

David says, God, you go before me and you follow me.

You place your hand of blessing on my head.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand.

God, where can I go from your spirit?

Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend into heaven, you're there.

If I make my bed even in hell, behold, you're there.

If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

God, you're so obsessed with me, you're everywhere.

You're in every room I ever walk into waiting for me to come in and look you in the eyes.

I remember when the Lord gave me a more romantic revelation of his omnipresence.

I just so happened to be sitting in an elders' meeting here in Dallas.

Don't tell the elders this, I might get in trouble for this story.

I was sitting in the elders' meeting, and my son, my youngest son, was in a baseball game a thousand miles away.

And I have an app on my phone that if I'm traveling and my son is playing baseball, it tells me pitch by pitch what is happening.

And I'm sure the elders were talking about earth-shattering things because that's usually what goes down, but I had no idea what they were talking about because I was dialed into this baseball game.

And after a little while, I felt the Lord just go, What's going on here?

And I said, Um, I love being in this room, but I'd rather be at my son's game.

And this is excruciating, and the feeling I have in the pit of my stomach that I might be sending my son the message that wherever I am is more important to me than wherever he is.

I'm sick to my stomach.

And God goes, There's a question you've never asked me before.

I said, What is it?

He said, I'm everywhere, right?

I said, Yes, sir.

He said, You've never ever asked me why.

I said, God, why are you everywhere?

He said, Preston, you know that feeling in the pit of your stomach that's making you nauseous right now from being absent from your son's game?

I said, Yeah.

He goes, the reason I'm everywhere is because I refuse to ever feel that feeling.

I am never going to miss one second of your games.

I am everywhere because I'm obsessed with you.

Here's a one-liner.

I love this one.

Don't write it down.

Just let it go into your heart.

And I hope you never ever forget it.

God's favorite place to be is wherever you are.

And I remember when I got a romantic revelation from the Lord on this.

It was about 15 years ago.

I was getting ready for work that day to come into the office here at Gateway.

And I went into my three-year-old little girl's bedroom.

Blonde little ringlets, gorgeous little thing.

She was dead asleep.

She had no idea I was standing over a bed like a stalker.

And I was so overwhelmed that day.

I said, Lord, out of all the daddies in the history of the world, thank you for letting me be hers.

And I just went on and on telling him how much I love her and how grateful I was that I got to be her father.

And I'll never forget in that moment I felt the Lord say, son, do you realize I do this over your bed every day of your life?

And then it was like he took me to that place in the library of my heart in Psalm 139, verse 18, where David says, And when I awaken, you are still there with me.

Psalms 139:18

God, you've been staring at me all night.

Why?

Because I love you.

You weren't just created to know things about God.

You were created to see and be overwhelmed by the romantic why behind everything He does.

Here's the second thing I want to I want to leave with you at the end of this series, kind of the last thing to talk about, our last point.

Intimacy has a different way of speaking.

Not just a different way of seeing.

Those in an intimate relationship with the Creator of all things have a different way of talking to God.

And I want to give you three different ways that I see in Scripture.

First, they speak to Him like a child.

Some of my favorite moments in this life involve me coming home from a long day at work, coming through the garage in our house and keller, and one or all of my children rushing towards me, locking onto my legs like magnets, and saying, Daddy, daddy, daddy, I'm so glad you're home.

I'm gonna go on record and say, I think God feels the exact same way in regards to you.

Galatians chapter 4, verse 4 is where we see it.

Galatians 4:4

It says, But when the right time came, God sent his son, born of a woman, subject to the law.

God sent Jesus to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that God could adopt us as his very own children.

And here's where the theology gets really romantic in verse 6.

And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out Abba, Father.

This word Abba is so much more intimate than father or dad.

The closest thing we can use to explain it is the word daddy.

Think about this.

I'll personalize it.

It's like the God of the universe.

Says, Preston, I know you, and I knew you would have some days where you would feel the weight of the world and you would be convinced you needed to be the man.

So here's what I did.

I put my spirit inside of you to woo you, to prompt you, to say out loud to me one of my favorite words in any language.

Daddy.

Daddy, I love you, Daddy.

Preston, one of the things my spirit does on the inside of every one of my children is prompt them.

Especially when they feel threatened or in trouble.

To cry out to me and say, Daddy, Jesus did this in the Garden of Gethsemane.

He didn't just say Father.

The scripture says, Jesus said, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.

It was like the little boy in Jesus was saying, Daddy, you can do anything.

You're so big.

This is how his children talk to him.

Who calls anybody a daddy but their children?

I believe one of God's favorite words to hear you say in your alone time with him is daddy.

Father.

God of the universe loves it when you call him that.

The second thing, the way someone in an intimate relationship talks to the God of the universe.

They talk to him like a friend.

Timmy, who's here in the front row, is my best friend in all the earth outside of my wife.

You probably call him Tim Ross.

I call him Timmy, probably not supposed to, because that's his wife's name for him.

But he's my best friend.

And here's what that means.

I would do anything for him.

And he would do anything for me.

There are things I know about him that you're probably never gonna know.

Because we're best friends.

There are things about me you're probably never gonna know that he's already completely aware of.

Because we're best friends.

To be best friends means to be completely committed to one another.

And committed to learning more and more about one another.

You were created to be best friends with the creator of all things.

And did you know the most famous verse in the world proves it?

John 3, 16.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Preston, I don't get it.

I don't see how I was created to be best friends with the God of the universe in John 3.16.

Oh, it's there.

What is it you think eternal life is?

Is it just a get out of hell card?

Or is it a spend forever with him thing?

Jesus answers the question: what is eternal life?

John 17, verse 3, Jesus says, and this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

John 17:3

I don't know if you've ever been told this before, but the God of the universe wants to be known by you in a way no one else in the world has ever known him.

Because that's what best friends do.

They know things not everybody else knows.

I'll show it to you.

Jeremiah chapter 9, verse 23.

Jeremiah 9:23

This is what the Lord says.

Don't let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches.

But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone.

God's saying this.

Preston, you want to boast?

Because you are an arrogant little 18-year-old who loved to brag all the time.

You want to boast about something?

I'll give you something to boast about.

Boast that you truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth and that I delight in these things.

Preston, you want to brag about something?

Brag about how you're doing in the area of knowing me more today than you did yesterday.

Someone in intimate relationship with the God of the universe talks to him like a friend.

Preston, I didn't know I could talk to God like a friend.

Well, go and read the book of Psalms.

It might release you to be a little bit more honest about where you're at with your best friend.

And here's the last thing: someone in intimate relationship with the God of the universe talks to him like a lover.

Okay, Preston.

I thought you were weird for most of this series.

Now I know.

Because, bro, you just lost me, and I think you done lost your mind.

God is not my lover.

I didn't say that.

Neither to scripture.

But it most certainly does say God is love.

See, it's unfortunate, in my opinion, that the enemy has taken this term lover and turned it into a completely sexual thing.

But I have news for you.

I know lots of people out in the world who are having sex and do not have love for one another.

The term lover is a far more romantic thing than that.

And I submit to you, it's a far more spiritual thing, too.

I think the word lover means something more like this: one who is in love, who shows more and more their love as they grow more and more in love.

We are created to be lovers of God.

You were created to love and be loved by the God who is love.

I tell people, I think the Bible is the most romantic book ever written.

And of course, there's always some jokester when I say that, and they say, like Leviticus?

I'm like, yeah, just like Leviticus.

How is Leviticus romantic?

Huh.

One way to see it is God saying, you know what I love?

I love it when you do this, just like this.

I love it when you come into my presence and it smells like this.

Ladies know what I'm talking about right there?

Little candle.

The Bible is, in my opinion, the most romantic book ever written.

Think about it like this: John 15.

It gets a wrap for being the friends chapter, where Jesus goes on record and says, if you're my disciples, you're my friends.

But Jesus says something so powerful in John 15 that I think are some of the most romantic words in the entire Bible.

I'll give you my paraphrase of John 15, 13.

Don't put it up on the screen, I'll show it to him afterwards.

Jesus says this.

It's in my paraphrase.

He's talking to his disciples, his friends, whom he loves, and he says, I have access to every word in every language in all of history.

And I'm trying to come up, craft a sentence that expresses to you just how much I love you.

But no words do my love for you justice.

I got it.

Greater love hath no man than to lay his life down for his friend.

Jesus says, you're never gonna have a friend like me.

And I'll prove it to you.

Because there's no greater love than for them to die for you.

And I did, so I win.

I love you more than anyone ever will.

Think about this.

Jesus was asked, What's the most important commandment in the Bible?

Because it's important to get a revelation just how much God loves you.

But did you know that Jesus wants you to love the Father the same way he loves you?

Jesus is asked, what's the most important commandment?

Matthew 22, verse 37, Jesus says in response, here's the most important commandment.

Matthew 22:37

You shall love the Lord your God.

You shall be a lover of God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

This is the first great commandment.

Okay, so big question.

What does a conversation sound like between one who has an intimate relationship with God and the God of the universe?

What does a loving relationship sound like?

I'll give you one verse, Psalm 63, verse 1.

Psalms 63:1

King David said, O God, you are my God.

I earnestly search for you.

My soul thirsts for you.

My whole body longs for you.

Okay, Preston, that's awkward.

Is it?

Is it awkward to talk like that to the one who loves you more than anyone ever will?

Well, Preston, I've never talked to God like that.

That's okay.

It doesn't make you bad, but it doesn't mean He doesn't want to hear it from you.

I remember when I felt the Lord give me a romantic revelation of this.

This one's gonna stretch you and test how mature you are.

I was in my time with the Lord, and I I sat down in my chair, and he kind of says with a sounded like a sarcastic voice to me, he said, What's the last thing your wife says to you before the two of you go into your room to experience the most physically intimate act I've given you to experience on this earth?

You can read between the lines what he was talking about.

I was like, okay, we're starting our time off together talking about this.

This could be great.

He said, What's the last thing she says?

I was kind of being honre, and I said, Well, if you're being literal, usually because of our kids, the last thing she says is, hey babe, will you shut the door and lock it?

Because if you're a parent, you know that your children are completely convinced that every square inch of your house belongs to them.

And so my wife would typically say, Hey baby, will you please shut the door and lock it?

And at my time that morning, the Lord goes.

I just want you to know something.

Every time you come into this room, I say the exact same thing.

Preston Holly says that to you because she's sending you a message that's what that what is about to happen on that side of the door is so sweet and special and raw and intimate that not even her own flesh and blood can get in on it.

Son, I want you to know every time you come into this room to be alone with me, the first words you'll hear out of my mouth.

Hey, buddy, will you shut the door for me?

Because what's about to happen on this side of the door is so sweet and so special and so raw and so intimate.

I don't even want your own flesh and blood getting in on this.

This is just us.

And then he showed me in scripture, Matthew chapter 6, verse 6.

Matthew 6:6

The disciples say, Jesus, teach us how to pray.

And Jesus says, When you pray, go into your room.

And when you have shut your door, pray to your father who is in the secret place.

So here's where we are.

I felt the Lord give me a picture for this moment.

I was sitting in a classroom, and I felt like he was sitting on my right.

I couldn't be sitting on his right, that seat's already occupied.

He was sitting on my right, and it wasn't his physical presence.

Please don't read into this, just his manifest presence.

I was sitting in the middle, and then there were two students on my left.

And I felt him pass me two notes.

One for each student.

And he said, Preston, will you pass these to them for me?

I said, Yes, Lord.

And the first note was addressed to the one I love whose love for me has grown a little cold.

And I opened it up and it basically said this.

My beloved, I miss you.

I'm not here to condemn you.

I'm here to woo you.

I miss our time together.

I miss those moments of laughing together.

I go into every room you ever walk into just because I can't wait for you to walk in to be with me.

I just want to know.

Can we go back to the way it was?

Will you fall in love with me all over again?

And the second note was addressed to the one I love who doesn't know me personally yet.

And I opened it up because I'm nosy and I wanted to read it.

And here's what it said.

My beloved, I'm obsessed with you.

I've loved you since before I started personally forming you in your mother's womb.

I know you're gonna try and come up with a thousand reasons to resist my love.

But I want you to know I've come up with a way to deal with them all.

I just need you to receive what I've done.

I want to spend forever with you.

I want to wipe away everything you're so ashamed of.

I don't want anything to get in the way of the two of us ever again.

To my beloved who does not yet know me personally.

I just want to know, will you spend forever with me, letting me love you?

I want you to bow your heads and close your eyes.

I want to be really sensitive in this moment.

I want to admit, Holy Spirit, I don't know what to do next, but I just want to follow your lead.

If you're at any of our campuses or watching online, wherever you are, I'm gonna ask a question.

If you don't know the God of the universe personally yet, but you want to spend forever being chased down by perfect love.

With every head bowed, every eye closed, I just want you to stand right where you are.

Just stand right where you are.

In your home at the coffee shop, I want in on this love.

I want to be loved like that.

Yep, go ahead.

I know no one's looking at you.

Stand up right where you are.

God, I want to be loved by you forever.

In a minute, you're gonna have a chance to give your life to Jesus.

If you're at one of our campuses, we're gonna have a moment where we just respond to the Lord in worship.

And after that, we're gonna have some friends come to the front of the room you're in.

And if you want to know God personally and receive what Jesus did for you, the greatest act of love mankind will ever know, you can fall in love with Jesus today.

Forever.

For the rest of us, we need to respond.

So we're going to just have a time of worship at every campus.

And I just want to encourage you to respond however you feel led.

Maybe you stand in worship, maybe you kneel, maybe you stay in your seat, maybe you lift your hands.

Holy Spirit, would you fill every room joining us right now?

I pray that the love of God in this moment would be irresistible.

Come and have your way, Holy Spirit.

Shower us in the love of the Father.

And in turn, we are going to respond in love.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thanks for joining us today.

If you'd like to connect with us, text Connect to 71010 or visit gatewaypeople.com.

We hope you have a great week.