7 REALITIES OF EXPERIENCING GOD

New American Standard Bible (1995) Chapter 16

“Christianity is not a religion; it’s a relationship.”

How many of you have seen the bumper sticker or T-shirt that has this slogan? What does that slogan mean?

What does such a relationship look like?

Is it wrong to be religious , or do we go around correcting someone who says they are religious?

Be sure of this,

26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless

27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (James 1:26–27, NASB95)

Are we saying that we don’t have to obey religiously, because we are saved? Is going to church religious, or is it your relationship with God?

Who started that relationship and why?

The Bible is filled with stories of individuals who had a relationship with God. I could pick one, like Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Job, Peter, Paul, even Daniel (the man my Dad named me after)! To do them justice, I’d have to give an expository sermon from the parts of the Bible where they are.

Well, I hear people say, “I don’t need to preach, my life is the only sermon (or Bible) most people will get.” My life story with God is nothing compared to those men, but it’s all I’ve got.

So...Fine, this message is my personal testimony...

Continuing with questions to yourself…

Did you start that relationship by going to church?

I grew up going to church and hated it.

Did that relationship begin in church?

I was talked into going to a youth retreat when I was 14, where the Lord got ahold of me.

What about those who get “religion” or “born again” outside of a church experience?

How did that relationship begin?

Did you one day decide that you were going to become a Christian?

At the age of 8, I did — well I put on an act and got baptized...

Do you think you have that relationship because you were born into the church or grew up going?

I knew some people who wished that were so about me. I knew differently and was as lost as could be until Thursday night July 22, 1982.

Most anyone that knew me could deduce that I was religious because I went to a Southern Baptist Church (my Catholic friends scoffed at me over that ). Thankfully our church sent us kids to that summer camp.

However, it is better to understand that there are world religions and false gods and then there is Christianity — the only true religion where you can have a relationship with God.

Here is the truth:

1 John 3:16 “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

Deuteronomy 10:12–13 “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?”

1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Romans 10:9–10 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

AGAIN, WHO INITIATED THIS RELATIONSHIP AND WHAT IS REQUIRED?

Those scripture references all agree; they are not at odds with each other.

GOD PURSUES A LOVE RELATIONSHIP WITH US SO THAT WE WILL INTERACT WITH HIM DAILY, HEAR WHAT HE HAS TO SAY TO US , RECOGNIZE HIS WORK ALL AROUND US, AND JOIN HIM IN HIS WORK!

Have you ever lapsed in your church attendance?

Are you thinking that you used to walk with God, or maybe you put your time in long ago?

Are you thinking that it’s too hard or too late to walk with God?

Are you here this morning because somebody made you, or you are just putting in time?

If you are here this morning and have a relationship with Jesus —Ask yourself, “how did I hear the gospel, who told it to me, and who told it to them, who told them, and so forth?”

It took every bit of over 2,000 years for you to get that message that led to your salvation. A lot of saints obeyed, suffered, and died along the way to faithfully bring you the truth of the gospel.

How long are we going to go on bringing the gospel, and how many more are there waiting?

James 5:7–8 “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.”

It is not up to you and me to decide when or until when we will obey Him and share the gospel or follow Jesus. We don’t take a summer break or retire from it.

There are 168 hours in a week. We don’t go to church on Sunday or to a church event and the remaining 163 to 166 hours are ours.

Lots of famous Christian leaders have quotes or epitaphs attributed to them. Here’s one I’m working on in case I’m ever famous:

Imagine how the Church would look if every Christian denied himself, took up his cross, and followed Jesus every single day!

Imagine how the world would look if every Christian denied himself, took up his cross, and followed Jesus every single day!

In that daily obedience, you will experience God.

In the first few days of my new life in Christ, I wondered how I was going to make it into eternity.

That first night, I knew I had eternal life and wanted to share what God had done in me, but how long could I go without sinning, especially those really bad ones?

Surely, nobody else had that problem?

WHAT IS EXPERIENCING GOD?

Here are 7 realities, that should be true of each of you to let God get the most out of having given us the precious life of His Son:

Reality 1. God is always at work around you.

Isaiah 46:10–11 “Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.”

I wouldn’t have become a Christian if it wasn’t for my parents — that’s true for all of us, for hopefully obvious reasons.

My parents had just become Christians within 3 years before I was born. They grew up without church, but I grew up going where they went.

Along the way, I did not have a good experience going to church. In fact, I blamed God for all the bullies and humiliation everywhere even in church. I was afraid of a lot of things and did not feel secure with my own parents. However, I had myself to blame for the filth that I took part in growing up with other kids. There was plenty of hate in me, too.

It was spring to summer of 1982 that I had had enough of all of that. Enter Keith Garner, our new youth leader, and the first person in whose life I saw Jesus. I’m not saying that my own parents or other Christians failed. It’s been clear to me for over 43 years that God was working at that time through that man to draw me to Christ; the same for some of the other kids in my youth group.

Reality 2. God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal.

Mark 12:30 “and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.”

Keith exhibited Christ, because he showed us genuine, Biblical love. Since he recently separated from the Air Force, Keith used the GI Bill to go to college in our town. He may have received a small stipend for working with us youth, but the point was that he made a lot of sacrifices to minister to us.

During the remaining high school years, Keith discipled me, and helped me to have a strong Biblical foundation. It was a relationship with Jesus Christ and almost fearless confidence that help get me through to college — when I went to Boston University from Gainesville, Florida.

I knew as soon as I set feet in Boston that I needed to find a church. Baptist churches in Boston were sure different that my experience, but the key was connecting with Campus Crusade for Christ. With those friends I found myself going to the church where D.L. Moody became a Christian — Tremont Temple Baptist Church.

(The story of D.L. Moody is worth mentioning here as an example of these 7 realities. A timid Sunday school teacher from Tremont Temple reluctantly went to visit his student, Dwight. Very few people know the name of that teacher (Edward Kimball), but God was leading him to reach out to his young student. If he had disobeyed God and failed to do so, the world might not have had not just one of the greatest evangelists ever. Dwight L. Moody preached the gospel faithfully in the late 19th century, and his legacy into the 20th and 21st centuries include Billy Graham.)

Having found myself away from home in a big city and college town that far exceeded Gainesville and UF, it would have been easy to get wrapped up in a lot of pride and vices.

It was God’s love for me and those Christian friends that helped me close to God’s heart. Even when I found myself failing a class for the first time in my life.

I didn’t even realize at the time that I lost my scholarship as soon as I failed calculus and physics. Hey! but that marvelous love of Christ and that experience was building my character and faith foundation.

Reality 3. God invites you to become involved with Him in His work.

Mark 16:15 “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

Matthew 28:18–20 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

I wanted to share Christ and let friends in high school see the new me. I’d be lying if I said didn’t nearly ruin my Christian testimony during high school and even that year at Boston. With Campus Crusade, I got encouragement and equipping to boldly share the gospel with fellow students — even that time I got stoned, got guilty over it, and immediately started preaching to those guys on the floor of my dormitory — all within the first semester! Not my finest moment, but it made quite the impact the following semester when I stopped fooling around.

It was during a morning devotional memorizing Romans 12:1-2 that I woke up to this reality.

Romans 12:1–2 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

After a couple of years of more character building at home in Gainesville, I transferred to WVU. I spent the rest of my college years being involve as a leader in campus ministry.

At a retreat on my 20th birthday, I was challenged to answer an even greater call that could have involved pastoral ministry. It certainly was going to be my lifestyle for the rest of my days...

Or was it?

Honestly, to say that God invites us to join Him in His work is a severe understatement. He demands it of us.

Sure, to obey is better than sacrifice, but willingly laying down your life as a LIVING SACRIFICE — THAT’S REALLY LIVING!

As many years taught me, failing to die to myself for Jesus and the brethren brings misery and not such an abundant life.

Reality 4. God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

Hebrews 10:24–25 “and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

Others who shared my experiences in the campus ministry at the same time as I did might look back and say that those were the best years. Sadly there are many more that seem to have some kind of PTSD, if they think about it. I don’t think Jesus promised that it would be easy, but He wants to share that burden to make it light.

Just try “catching a vision” for a life of ministry without spending time in God’s Word, daily.

Try praying as if God was your servant or genie in the bottle and never listening to Him.

Try acting as if the Lord and other Christians should be thankful for all you do and be impressed with your faithfulness.

Try living your Christian life without Jesus or His people, even if you go to church regularly.

Well, really, don’t.... I DON’T dare you.

Hopefully those of you who have known me for the past 4 years since I started coming to Flushing Alliance will never grow tired of hearing me talk about the desert years. I have no regrets, and I have given Him my sorrow for the lost opportunities to Love Him, my wife, my kids, and coworkers. I will never tire from sharing this part of my story, but there is no time this morning for the details...

Thank God for His faithfulness and for speaking tirelessly to someone who spent too much time telling Him what my plan was.

Reality 5. God’s invitation for you to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

James 2:14 “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?”

I didn’t really drop out of Boston University, but I certainly felt left behind at first after realizing I had not scholarship to return. I heard a lot of God speaking during that first year, true, but I needed to be laid low so that I would listen. Whatever plans I thought I had for God, the year I transferred to WVU opened me to some huge decisions.

Not only did I need to recover my grades and get back on track with my engineering education, it was time for me to submit. I had determined that I was going to be a civil engineer and use it for missions, well bless my 20-year-old heart. Studying engineering and trying to be a student leader in a campus ministry subjected me to some of the greatest moments of humiliation, or humility, for the remaining college years.

After graduating, Janet and I (while not dating yet) both felt led to become staff with Great Commission Ministries at WVU. I was told to drop out of the staff training because I wasn’t ready, while Janet continued and then had to raise support for her ministry. I still helped her and worked together with her in our campus and career group.

My crisis of belief at the time was in persevering and obeying the calling that I still believed God gave me, even as I watched all my plans crumble around me. Within two years, Janet and I were married, and I had to focus on my career, and, of course, building a family.

Reality 6. You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.

Luke 9:23–24 “And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.”

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

It’s important to say at this point that these are 7 Realities, not seven steps. You don’t accomplish Reality 5, and go back to Reality 1 if you fail the crisis. Anyone here that has been a Christian for a long time ought to recognize that life is full of crises.

God never stops working around us, and He never stops speaking to us. For many people, they may come to realize that they do not have that love relationship with God but continue to think that they are somehow still good with God.

Jesus makes it pretty clear that you have a serious problem if you are not obeying Him. I am not here to tell you that he throws you away when you continue disobeying. The final judgement will take care of that.

I know what it is like living with His promises and His calling on my life only to fail over and over again to deny myself daily. I am thankful to be here after 34 years since that moment when I had to figure out where God was leading me after dropping out of the staff training. With 32 years of being a husband and 30 years of being a father, God’s high calling to make disciples and preach the gospel did not end when I did not have a career in ministry as I planned. In fact, He raised the stakes!

I never got to use my civil engineering profession directly in missions, but I worked at it, learning to be a witness in my job and by supporting ministries financially.

Was I called to be a pastor, as I believed I was those many years ago? That is in God’s hands, and at almost 58, is far from impossible. The adjustments I have made in my life have been to remain faithful to Him and His calling to be His disciple, no matter what or how many times I missed the mark.

Paul said in Philippians 3:13–14 “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

I hope everyone here who has put your faith in Jesus realizes that “the upward call” was not limited to the apostles, your pastor, or missionaries. This is the new nature in your personal relationship with Jesus Christ and does not go away.

Reality 7. You come to know God by experience as you Obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you.

John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”

Luke 14:33 “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”

If I were to falsely believe that these 7 Realities were sequential, then I’d be tempted to think that I have arrived, as if I’m at the Holy City already. Actually, I am not satisfied and know that there is much work and sacrifice ahead. Am I working toward being a pastor or missionary? Well, there is some training and character development going on, and I am submitting to His leading so that I can be part of what God is doing at Flushing Alliance Church, the Alliance denomination, and Crossroads Farm.

Pastor Nathan preached on the pitfalls of thinking we have arrived and looking back on our faith life and maybe are ready for our reward. Whether you are 8, 28, 58, or 78, obeying God should be like breathing, just like He continues working. Obeying God isn’t merely the absence of doing those bad things you see the world doing.

What has He given you? His precious Son? eternal life? your job? your family? your nice house? your boat? more money than you know how to spend?

How will you respond to the reality of experiencing God? Will you just settle for knowing Him? Somehow, I do not believe that He settles for that.

PLEASE NOTICE THAT REALITY 1 TAKES PLACE IN THE OTHER 6 REALITIES — THERE IS NOTHING GOING ON IN YOUR FAITH JOURNEY THAT EXCLUDES GOD, EVEN WHEN YOU TRY YOUR HARDEST TO EXCLUDE HIM.

I hope each of you here have accepted the gift of salvation that the Father offers you through His Son.

I hope that you realize that it was not a cheap gift and is free from obligation.

I hope you acknowledge that Jesus is not just Lord (every tongue is going to confess that one day) but that He is your Lord if you received Him as Savior.

Tuesdays at 6 pm, Men’s Discipleship is going through the EXPERIENCING GOD BIBLE STUDY from Blackaby Bible Institute

One Sunday morning sermon is certainly not enough to cover these 7 Realities in depth.

Anyone interested in studying this further is encouraged to read Experiencing God, Knowing and Doing the Will of God by Henry & Richard Blackaby with Claude V. King, especially the 2021 edition.

Or you can go individually through the Bible study course, which is currently into a 2022 edition and reprinted in 2024. Highly recommended as a group study not limited to our Men’s Discipleship group on Tuesdays.