Intimacy with God - 2

                                                                  Intimacy with God - 2

Subject – The Apostle Paul’s Passionate Quest

By Rick Welborne

Philippians 3:7-14 (NKJV)
⁷  But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
⁸  Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
⁹  and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
¹⁰  that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,
¹¹  if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
¹²  Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
¹³  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
¹⁴  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 3:10 AMP                                                                                                                                         [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him—that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding [the wonders of His person] more strongly and more clearly. And that I may in the same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [the power it exerts over believers]; and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death.    

--In this single sentence we find the Apostle Paul’s goal or quest for his life. He refers to it as his “determined purpose” as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

--Did you hear what he said. You need to read it again and again probably out loud watching for key statements and words that can blow your mind. Such as:

--That I may know Him…progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him…perceiving …recognizing…understanding…continually transformed.     

--Could anything on this earth be more important for any of us who call ourselves Christians? I don’t think so, yet, strangely so few of us pursue this most important priority.    

1. A Determined Purpose

--What is that saying to us? It says that there is or should be a change in order. We have to deliberately embrace this aim to “become more intimately acquainted with Christ.” That I may know Him. 

--Hear me, not intimately acquainted with theology, as important as theology may be. Not intimately acquainted with the church, as valuable as the church may be.

--Not even with sharing Christ with others, as important and significant as evangelism may be. We must become intimately acquainted with Christ and with Him alone. 

--It is not knowing about Jesus, hearing another sermon, watching a video, listening to a podcast…about Him.

John 5:37-40 (NLT2) ³⁷  And the Father who sent Me has testified about Me Himself. You have never heard His voice or seen Him face to face,
³⁸  and you do not have His message in your hearts, because you do not believe Me—the One He sent to you.
³⁹  “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to Me!
⁴⁰  Yet you refuse to come to Me to receive this life. 

--From this day forward, our goal in life should be to become intimately acquainted with Jesus and with Holy Spirit. I believe this is what Jesus was talking about in the book of Matthew:

Matthew 6:33 (NCV)
³³  The thing you should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what God wants. Then all these other things you need will be given to you.

--The psalmist understood the desire, the quest that I am speaking about. Nothing was more important to him.

Psalm 42:1-2 (NKJV)
¹  As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.
²  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? 

--These are the words of a man whose inner being ached to go deeper with God and to be more intimately acquainted with Him. 

--How powerful are the words, “My soul pants for you, O God.” When was the last time you were so hungry to get into God’s presence? To have intimate communion with Him? 

--Listen to Charles Spurgeon describe the word picture that the psalmist is trying to convey:

Spurgeon – David was heartsick. Ease he did not seek, honor he did not covet, but the enjoyment of communion with God was an urgent need of his soul…an absolute necessity, like water to a stag…His soul, his very self, his deepest life, was insatiable for a sense of the divine presence. O to have the most intense craving after the highest good!    

2. Nothing is of Greater Importance than Knowing Christ Intimately

--This was the whole point the Apostle Paul was trying to make to the Philippians before he shared with them his “Determined Purpose.”      

--Paul quickly and intentionally shares with his readers his accomplishments which would have made the finest Jews stand up and take notice.

 Philippians 3:3-6 (NLT2)
³ …We put no confidence in human effort,
⁴  though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!
⁵  I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law.
⁶  I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. 

--Talk about a resume’. If anyone had reason to be proud of their accomplishments, it was Paul. But before you could absorb or applaud what he just said to you he follows up and declares:

Philippians 3:7-8 (NKJV)
⁷  But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
⁸  Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ

--In comparison to knowing Christ deeply and intimately, he considered everything else as loss, as rubbish, and even one translation which I believe to be more correct ‘dung’. Crap! 

--We almost have it completely backwards in the church today. Our faith is no longer a means of drawing us closer to Jesus but a means of getting more things…we want more stuff. 

--Bumper sticker – The one who dies with the most toys wins. It is all about having more and more. Accumulating more and more things that we cannot take with us. John warned us about this attitude.

 1 John 2:15 (NKJV)
¹⁵  Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  

--This was more than just some cute idea for Paul. It was a very strong conviction in his life…something he believed passionately and with every fiber of his being.

--Paul’s conviction about intimacy with Christ should be an encouragement to us to spend less energy and time pursuing human accomplishments and more time cultivating an intimacy with Christ.

3. Holy Spirit is Our Key to Intimacy with Christ.

--Think about this…Jesus is the Mediator between God and man. Without Jesus to fill that gap, we are all in trouble. We have been reconciled to God through Christ.  

--Question…Jesus is the Mediator between God and man is indisputable, but Who is the Mediator between Christ and the believer? In other words, Who is the One Who connects us to Jesus? Of course, Holy Spirit.

--When Jesus was on the earth, He was limited by being in only one place at a time. When He was leaving He knew His followers would need someone close to all of them all the time. 

 John 16:7 (NKJV)
⁷  Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 

--It is amazing to me what different translations say about Holy Spirit in this passage…Helper…Advocate… Counselor…Friend…Comforter. All of this points toward intimacy.      

--When King David messed up so badly with Bathsheba, what was one of his greater concerns?

  Psalm 51:11-12 (NKJV)
¹¹  Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
¹²  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. 

--David knew his connection (his intimacy) with God was through the presence and power of Holy Spirit. So many times we worry about not making it to heaven because of our sins.

--David knew the potential of his sin and that was losing his intimacy with God by Holy Spirit. Take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. 

--You Pentecostals are so emotional. Absolutely! My emotions are attached to the presence of Holy Spirit in my life drawing me closer to Jesus.

--God, please draw us closer to Jesus by the beautiful intimacy we can have through Holy Spirit.