Untitled Sermon

Intimacy With God

Intimacy with the Father is the most important aspect of our relationship with God.

What do I mean by intimacy? Intimacy means a close familiar feeling or friendship; closeness. A private cozy atmosphere.

John 15:4–11 ESV

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

Go over each verse.

The first thing we must do is abide in Jesus and in return he will abide in us. If we can constantly seek after God and he is abiding in us then as Jesus says we will bear fruit.

11 different times in the midst of all of miraculous things Jesus was doing AND CONSTANTLY having a crowd following him, he always made it the priority to have 1 on 1 time with the Father.

Though throughout the Gospels it is written that 11 times Jesus withdrew to private places, I believe that Jesus was constantly withdrawing to these desolate places to spend time with God.

So if this perfect, sinless man saw intimacy with the Father so important, then how much more important is it for us as people who have sinned against God?

There are three things that having a intimate relationship with the Father can do for us:

1. It gives us eternal life and helps us bear fruit.

Repenting of our sins and turning to the work that Jesus did on the cross gives us not just true life here on earth but also eternal life with the Father. Pursuing Jesus creates in us Godly fruit for others to see in us. This fruit is grown as our relationship with God is grown. There is nothing on the earth that we could ever do to receive eternal life on our own. We can never work our way to Heaven on our own based off of our good deeds and being “a good person”. David, a man after God’s own heart, would say in Psalm 16:2 “I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”” It is simply by repenting of our sins and drawing near to the one true God that we have salvation and anything good in us.

2. Lead us more into his love and further away from the things of this world.

Paul would say in Galatians 5:16 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” So, if we can never stray away from having this intimate relationship with God then we will not longer turn to the things of this world that we once turned to; instead, we will grow more in the Love of God. Anytime a Christian gets off track and was once living on fire for God but is not anymore is because they started to drift in their relationship from God. May we never forget what Jesus has saved us from, and may we never drift away from this intimate relationship with God.

3. Destroys the fear of criticism.

Paul would say in Galatians 1:10 “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Quite simply, if we are more concerned about pleasing man over pleasing God than we really are not servants of Christ. You are looking at a young man that 4 years ago would have never stood before a church to spread the Gospel. I was a shy boy and always wanted to please others which isn’t a bad thing until that pleasing of others is more important than pleasing God. So it was only by growing in my relationship with the Lord that the fear of criticism and pleasing others over God was destroyed. As I grew more in the love of God that kind of love triumphed over any kind of love or approval this world could ever give me! Making it the priority in our lives to constantly grow in our relationship with Jesus will create in us a sense of security and approval that the world can never match up to.

4. Lead us to truly love others

Matthew 5:43-44, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” It is easy to love those who love us, care for us, and pray for us, but what about the people that speak false things against us. Or the people that show us pure hatred and wish the worst for us? It is very hard to love those people, but Jesus calls us to truly love those people as well. It all starts with back with having intimacy with God. Once we can see how much the Father loves us and we are constantly pursuing that love, well then that love will pour out of us onto others.

5. Gives us courage to spread the Gospel

Once we dig deep and give Jesus everything we got, then our hearts start to slowing become like the heart of Jesus. Because whether we realize it or not, God is always working and always pursing after us and others. Jesus simply has a heart to save others, heal others, love others, and forgive others, and those same things can be our heart as well when we have intimacy with the Father. Spreading the Gospel is not just a suggestion from Jesus, it is a calling that we all are called to step into. Whether we are a pastor or a janitor we are all called to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Jesus says in Mark 16:15-18 “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues: they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.””