An Intimate Relationship With God, Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. You see, He wants intimacy, not duty. He wants love, not religion. He wants intimacy, not distance. But He cannot force that upon you. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana.

Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's Word meets our world. One of the more painful experiences of life is when you're in a relationship with someone and you want the relationship to move forward. You want the relationship to go deeper. You want the relationship to become more intimate, but the other person does not share your perspective.

We've all kind of been there. Maybe a dating relationship where what you had hoped would happen as it moved forward never did. It can happen between a parent and a child where either the parent or the child wants a deeper, more intimate relationship, but it never comes about.

It can happen with siblings and friends and even your spouse. You see, there is a principle at work here, and that is that nothing you can do will force somebody to have intimacy with you. Nothing you can do can force somebody to have intimacy with you. Many years ago, Bonnie Raitt sang a song, and the chorus was, I can't make you love me if you don't.

You can't make a heart feel something it won't. The Bible presents God as the one who desires an intimate relationship with his people. The father so desires to establish the relationship that he sends the son. The son so desires this intimate relationship that he goes to the cross as a sin bearer.

But there's much more than that. Jesus talks about how the Lord, when one wayward lamb is lost, will leave the flock behind and go and bring that one back. Well, the Bible talks about the idea that as a wayward child of God, the prodigal finally decides to come back, and the father runs to him because he wants to have an established intimate relationship. We should know that right from the very beginning when Adam sinned.

After he had sinned and he and Eve had hidden, God came walking in the garden, crying out to Adam, Adam, where are you? God wanting an intimate relationship in the Bible and nothing has changed. God wants to have an intimate relationship with you, and he wants a relationship that's not based on ritual. He wants a relationship that doesn't require you to give him a couple hours every Sunday morning. He doesn't want a relationship that's only defined by respect. He wants a relationship that's defined by love.

That's not necessarily an easy thing for him to have with people just like you and me. Open your Bibles to Revelation chapter 2, the context, the letters to the seven churches, and the very first one will be Ephesus. And John writes this and says to the angel of the church in Ephesus, right?

And when we've studied that in the past, it's very likely to be their pastor. He says the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands, he says this. He said, I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance and that you cannot tolerate evil men and that you put to test those who call themselves apostles and they are not.

And you found them to be false. And you have perseverance and have endured for my namesake. And you have not grown weary. When you first look at this and begin to read this, you come to the conclusion that this is an impressive church.

It's almost like you think the Lord's going to give you a well done, good and faithful servants, a good attaboy. This is a church that he said, I know your deeds. I know your ergon, your works. He said, I know those.

You've done a lot of them. I know your toil. The kopos is the word. It means how hard you work. I know what you do and how hard you work. He said, I know your perseverance.

And that word is hupomone. It means how you patiently endure. He said, I also know that you're doctrinally astute and sound.

Someone comes in teaching lies and you you know who they are. You figure it right out. And so up till now, it seems like this church has everything you'd want. And I'm sure it had everything that they wanted. It just didn't have what he wanted. He said, but I have this against you. You have left your first love. Here's what I have against you.

You don't love me. Wow. What a warning.

You see, what a warning. This is paramount to the Lord. Nothing is more important than this to the Lord. Remember when Peter failed the Lord? And as he failed, he denied the Lord three times and he felt really guilty about it and thought, wow, you know, I thought it was going to be like the leader of the whole group here. And now I denied the Lord and I just feel terrible. And then the Lord shows up. And talks to Peter and he wants to get Peter back into service. And it's really an interesting thing because you would think that the Lord would talk about, look, Peter, as long as you know that you sinned and you deal with your sin, everything will be fine. Or Peter, you've got to realize that you've been a leader among these 12 the whole time, even among you and James and John, you're the leader. You have a lot of courage. You grabbed a sword and cut an ear off a guy for me.

You're a courageous guy. He didn't say any of that. He said, Peter, do you love me?

And Peter didn't get it like we don't get it. Well, yes, Lord. You know, I love you.

Feed the sheep. Peter, do you love me? Lord.

And as it goes on and on, what you end up happening is, see, the idea of it is all that he's trying to make his case is simply this. Nothing is more important to the Lord. If you're a child of God, then do you love him? Because that's the intimacy of the relationship.

This church looked like it had everything going for it, but it didn't at all. You see, the Lord can make you fear him. He can make you respect him. But he will not make you love him.

He will not. That has to come from you. Turn the page of the chapter three for a moment in verse 14. The church of Laodicea, 3.14. And again, to the angel of the church of Laodicea. Right.

The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of creation of God says this. I know your deeds. You're neither hot nor cold. I wish you were hot or cold. He says, so because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I'll spit you out of my mouth because you say I am rich and I've become wealthy and I have need of nothing. And you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I advise you, he says, to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich and white garments so that you may clothe yourself. And that, he says, the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed. He says, and I salve, he says, to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Now, notice what happens. This is a different group.

Not quite as good a church as Ephesus. But there's something there that's really interesting and really parallels so many of us. And that's this, if things are going fine in my life. If everything's going fine in my life. I got a house, I got a nice wife, I'm making good money. God and I are fine.

That's what they're doing. We're rich. We've got everything. What else could you want?

It really doesn't come down to what else you want. You see, it turns out from the Lord's point of view to be indifference toward him, lukewarmness. Oh, you can open your Bible during a sermon.

You can. Show up in church most weeks. You might say grace, especially in public, so people can see you before you eat. And every once in a while, you might say a prayer before you go to sleep. That's not the same as loving Jesus Christ.

That's something else. You see, the problem with all of that is the perspective is it's all about me. So Jesus says this to them. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline. Therefore, you better be zealous and repent.

I love that. You know what Jesus could have said? Don't you know who I am? I'm God. You see, having a red john or Colossians, I created everything. I went to the cross.

I rose from the dead. And you're going to treat me in a lukewarm manner? You see, he could have done that. He could have said, I demand that you change. But do you know what he says? He says, I would discipline you to get you to change your mind, and you know why? I love you.

Wow. He says, those who I love? He said, the reason I would discipline you is because I love you.

That's astounding when you think about it. These churches seem to have one thing in common that they really don't love the Lord. And when I keep thinking about how could have the Lord reacted to that, even in our lives, but how could the Lord react about this? And you could have easily seen him saying, I demand it. You see, he can demand your obedience, but he'll never demand your love.

Now, what's the solution? And by the way, one of the most misinterpreted Bible verses in the entire scriptures. This has nothing to do with unbelievers. This is not an evangelistic call. Jesus is talking to believers who are lukewarm to him. He says, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will commend him and will dine with him. He with me.

It's not what you kind of expect. King of kings, Lord of lords. By the way, if you pick up the rest of this, start reading in four and then read all the way to the end.

Chapter four, all the way to the end. Find out when the Lord comes back in Revelation 19 and see what kind of God he is. See the power that he has. And see, what I'm thinking is what the Lord's going to do for people like you and I that don't love him. I'm thinking he's just, boom, kick that door in.

Huff and puff and blow it down. What does he do if you don't love him? Behold, I stand at the door and knock. You can't make a heart love. God will not make your heart love him. He loves you. But he will not make you love him.

He just stands at the door, knocks. You see, he wants intimacy, not duty. He wants love, not religion. He wants intimacy, not distance. But he cannot force that upon you.

It's up to you. And it's so dangerous if you don't see this. Turn with me to the Gospel of John, John 16. The Gospel of John, John 16.

The night before Christ is crucified. When you think of the leaders of Judah, the scribes, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, these were extraordinarily religious men. They had memorized the Pharisees, the Old Testament. They knew all the verses. They were very, very religious. They always showed up. They did their prayers the same time of day. They did all those disciplines.

They did all of that. And Jesus says this to his disciples, verse 1. He says, these things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. He says they and that's who he's describing the religious leaders. He said they will make you outcasts from the synagogue. But an hour is coming for everyone who kills you. To think that he is offering service to God.

Wow. If you don't have an intimate relationship with God, how far could that go? Jesus said, well, I'll tell you how far it could go, they will kill you. And when they kill you, they'll say we're serving God. Jesus says, you want to know why they're so far off?

The next verse. These things they will do because they have not known the father or me. They don't know the father. They have no intimacy with God.

They don't have any with me either. And so they end up martyring the followers of Jesus Christ. They end up crucifying their own savior.

That's how far off it can come when when your faith becomes religious duty to you. Rather than love for Christ. Each of us need a personal passion, a pursuit of intimacy with God. Paul understood this. Let's go to Ephesians, Chapter one, Ephesians one. And I want you to listen to what he said, because remember, Jesus, we started this message by saying Jesus is speaking to the Church of Ephesus. So Paul was writing to the Church of Ephesus.

There is a difference, by the way. Paul was writing about thirty one, thirty two years earlier. So he's writing his letter about 30 years before Jesus is speaking to the church in Revelation. And in the beginning of Ephesians one, one of the greatest sentences in the entire New Testament. One sentence from verse three all the way through half of that chapter. But Paul says in verse three is this blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

So the first thing that basically in line of what I'm talking about right now is Paul says, do you know how much. The Lord loves you. He's given you every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

He not only died for you, you see not made penalty for your sin. He's given you every spiritual blessing. And then when he gets down to verse 18. Paul says. I want you to see something here.

I want you to see what I want you to have. He said, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of his calling. He said, what are the riches of the glory of the inheritance of the saints? What is the surpassing greatness of his power? He says, tortoise who believe.

He says these are in accordance with the working of his strength and might and which he brought about in Christ when he raised them from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenlies. He says, look, here's my prayer for you. I want you to know God. I want you to know the Lord.

That's what I want. It's interesting that when Paul prays, he almost never prays the way you pray or I pray. Whenever Paul was praying for a friends or a church, he almost never prays ever for their circumstances that change. He almost always praise that their relationship with God would be closer, more intimate. Now, think of how we pray. See, so often someone will come to me and say, Pastor, there's a very, very terrible thing that could happen. Please pray that it doesn't happen.

I'm glad to. Or sometimes you'll come and say, Pastor, I just want to let you know there's this wonderful, wonderful, wonderful thing that might happen. Please pray that it does happen. OK, that's how we pray.

That's pretty much Paul doesn't do that. He said, I'll tell you how I'll pray for you. I pray that you know him in a more meaningful way. And you know why that's so important? Because if you do, it doesn't matter what happens.

That's the difference. Turn to chapter three of Ephesians with me and add to verse 14 as he continues this thought. He says in verse 14. For this reason, I bow my knees before the father. There's this prayer again. He says, from whom every family in heaven on earth derives its name, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with the power of his spirit in the inner man.

So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith and that you being rooted and grounded in. Love. I want you to love him. I want you to love him the way he loves you. You see, that's what I'm praying for. Grounded and rooted in love. That you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length and the height and the depth and to know the love of Christ.

I love this. He says, I not only want you to love him, I want you to finally get how much he loves you. What a great prayer.

Have you ever prayed that for yourself? Lord, keep revealing to me how much you love me. Father, convict my heart of my need to love you. You see, we miss this.

And it's easy. The Church of Ephesus, right there, Paul says, look, you're a great church. You've got a great start. But I'm praying that you really love the Lord. Thirty years later, what does Jesus say? He says, you know, you're a wonderful church in so many ways, but I have this against you. You don't love me. You see how this works? The longer you're in the faith, by the way, the easier it is to fall out of love with Christ.

If you don't nurture that relationship, you fall out. Listen, the first time I realized what the grace of God meant, what the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross was for my sins. I didn't know anything other much other than the gospel, but I know this.

I loved him. And I thought, wow, you saved me once forever? Just because I trust you?

I was overwhelmed. But you know what? As time goes by as a Christian, that becomes underwhelming. Yeah, yeah, Christ died for my sins. But I'm a Christian man, and you know what Christian men do? They show up in church. You see, you show up in church, you ask to do something, you volunteer and do it. And you give some money, too, to make sure everything works.

He could do all that for nothing, for absolutely nothing, if there's no love. Remember that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com. That's oneplace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online. At that website, you will find not only today's broadcast, but also many of our previous audio programs as well. At Fellowship in the Word, we are thankful for those who financially support our ministry and make this broadcast possible. We ask all of our listeners to prayerfully consider how you might help this radio ministry continue its broadcast on this radio station by supporting us monthly or with just a one-time gift. Support for our ministry can be sent to Fellowship in the Word, 4600 Clearview Parkway, Metairie, Louisiana, 7006. If you would be interested in hearing today's message in its original format, that is, as a sermon that Pastor Bill delivered during a Sunday morning service at Fellowship Bible Church, then you should visit our website, fbcnola.org.

That's fbcnola.org. At our website, you will find hundreds of Pastor Bill's sermons. You can browse through our sermon archives to find the sermon series you are looking for, or you can search by title. Once you find the message you are looking for, you can listen online, or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listen at your own convenience. And remember, you can do all of this absolutely free of charge. Once again, our website is fbcnola.org. For Pastor Bill Gebhardt, I'm Jason Gebhardt, thanking you for listening to Fellowship in the Word.