The Oil of Intimacy pt. 1

The Secret Place

importance of intimacy

Devil has the goal to destroy intimacy

Devil isn’t concerned about you coming to church

singing songs

Bowing your head to pray

He is concerned about becoming close to your heavenly Father

He concerned about you knowing Him and then becoming aware of who you are in Jesus.

Genesis 3:7 “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.”

Eyes were opened

What were they opened too?

Their failure

Their sin

Their weakness

Their inadequacy

Their guilt and shame

Their identity apart from God

1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.”

John 17:20–26 ““I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.””

Day of Atonement starts this evening.

At one ment

Matthew 19:5 “and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?”

joined= glued. To be so close you can’t tell apart.

You can be married and not live together

Intimacy Killer- No time together

One marker of how close you are with the Lord is the amount of time you spend with Him alone.

In Matthew 6 Jesus tells them to

Give

Pray

Fast

IN SECRET

Go to the secret place

Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

Many people avoid being still and silent.

It makes them uncomfortable.

It makes them have to listen to their thoughts and deal with their emotions.

Stillness reveals your true self.

In the stillness we will often have our eyes opened to the reality of where we are.

Stillness with God is a true marker of someone seeking God.

Only people who are truly seeking God will seek stillness.

Not just praying and talking to God, but sitting with Him.

The most intimate couples or friends don’t have to say anything. They can just be in the presence of the other and be comfortable.

It is in the seeking of God and in that stillness that the flesh becomes weak and the Spirit begins to grow.

Matthew 25- the oil of intimacy

Jeremiah 29:13 “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

Luke 24:13–35 NKJV

Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him. And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?” Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.” Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them. Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

Are your eyes open?

What are your eyes looking at?

Preacher/Farmer story

You can be married and not live together.

Spend time with God and those you love!

Lydia getting out. Ruth hissing at her.