UNIT FOUR

LOVE AND GOD'S INVITATION

Last week we looked at the whole aspect of being in a love relationship with God and we are continuing on with that theme. One of the incredible things with God is that we find that a call to be in relationship with Him means to also be on mission with Him. The fact of the matter is that God works through those He loves to carry out His Kingdom purposes in the world.

The authors of 'Experiencing God, Blackaby and King say this, "You will never be satisfied to just know about God. Knowing God only comes through experience as He reveals Himself to you."

You know, being religious is simply knowing about God and going through the motions of what is known. But truly knowing God is about a personal loving experience with Him.

 

  1. Knowing God

    2. When I met Julie-Ann she was this new face. I knew nothing about her except that she had just got back from the United States after 18 months over there. Initially we chatted for about 2 hours. Then over the next 18 months we became very good friends. We confided in one another, encouraged one another, I even paid her to do my washing a few times. After the 18 months, we then took the relationship to another plain - soon after we got engaged then married. Over that time what was once an acquaintance, now became an intimate loving relationship. Now, we could have sat back and said, "Well we're married now, let's just do our own thing, after all, it's just the certificate that counts." Now that sounds pretty silly, but many couples treat their relationships like this. They don't work on communication, they don't work on their relationship - they just exist and let things happen as they come.

    Sadly, many Christians do the same with their relationship to God. They say, "Well, I'm now a Christian, I know I should do certain things, so I'll just go through the processes, but I've still got my life to run you know." These Christians miss out on the blessing that comes in knowing God intimately, personally, and lovingly.

    So, how do we get to know God by experience?

    Let's look at Samuel in 1 Samuel 3.

    1 Samuel 3:1-21

    The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.

    2One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4Then the Lord called Samuel.

    Samuel answered, "Here I am." 5And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me."

    But Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." So he went and lay down.

    6Again the Lord called, "Samuel!" And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me."

    "My son," Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down."

    7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

    8The Lord called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me."

    Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 9So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.' " So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

    10The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!"

    Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

    11And the Lord said to Samuel: "See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. 12At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family--from beginning to end. 13For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them. 14Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, 'The guilt of Eli's house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.' "

    15Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, 16but Eli called him and said, "Samuel, my son."

    Samuel answered, "Here I am."

    17"What was it he said to you?" Eli asked. "Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you." 18So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, "He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes."

    19The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. 20And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. 21The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

    So what we see here is that Samuel met with god in an incredible way - God made Himself known to Him. But at this stage there was no personal, intimate, loving relationship. But we notice at the end of this passage, that the relationship grew. Verse 19 tells us that Samuel didn’t let any of God's words fall to the ground. In other words, Samuel took to heart everything god said and followed through on what God spoke. We also see the phrase that 'The lord was with Samuel as he grew up." So this relationship developed to be real, personal, intimate and loving. Samuel didn't sit back on his laurels and say - well, God's on my side so I can now get on with my own life. No, because we see through the following chapters as to how this relationship with God grew and was nurtured and how Samuel took it seriously. This relationship with God was experienced, not something just kept locked into Samuel's head - there was a real depth of love Samuel had for God.

     

  2. Loving God

John 14:21

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

When you obey Jesus, you show that you love Him and trust Him. This verse makes clear to us that the Father loves only those who love His Son. And for those who love Hi, Jesus said He would love them and show Himself to them. We learn from this that obedience is the outward expression of our love for God. And the reward for this obedience and love is that Jesus will show Himself to us. In John 14:31 Jesus said, "The world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my father has commanded me. So Jesus Himself was obedient to every command of the Father because He loves the Father.

The point is this. A love relationship with God requires that you demonstrate your love by obedience. This is not just a following of the 'letter' of the law, but it is following the 'spirit' of the command as well. If you have an obedience problem, then you have a love problem. If this is the case, then you need to focus your attention on God's love.

 

1 John 4:16

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

The phrase here that 'God is love' is vital for the Christian. Did you know that your relationship with God right now reveals what you believe about Him. It is spiritually impossible for us to believe one way and practice another. If you really believe that God is love, you will also accept the fact that His will is always the best.

Whenever God gives you a directive, it is always right. God's will is always best.

Many of us, when we sit tests and exams like the multiple choice questions because they help us to eliminate the obviously wrong answers which then helps us with the odds to get the question right, especially if we are uncertain of the answer. Now, many Christians like God to reveal His will to us with multiple choices. We like to view the options and choose the best for us and then say - well, it's God's will anyway because He gave me the choice. My question is, 'Does He really give us the choice?' or Is the choice simply so we can see where our heart truly is at - for ourselves or for Him? Afterall, He already knows the answer to that question.

The great thing about God is that we never have to ask Him if whether His will is best or right. Simply because it is always best and right. The reason we know this is because He loves us and knows us. And because He loves you perfectly, you can trust Him and obey him completely. Therefore, we can afford to get involved in His activity and mission. We can afford to look to where He is already at work and join with Him in His work.

You know, God's commands are designed to guide us in life's very best. You will not obey Him, though, if you do not believe Him and trust Him. And you cannot believe Him if you do not love him. And you cannot love Him until you know Him.

John 14:24

He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

So to move ahead in our relationship with god we need to:

  1. Joining With God

You have heard me say this before, that god invites you to join Him in His mission. The Bible is the record of God's activity in the word. In it He reveals Himself (His nature), His purposes and plans, and His ways - and we have already seen this in the example of Samuel. God's word isn't a historical collation about individual people throughout history. It is about God's activity and His relationship with individuals. So the focus is on God and His activity.

Now you might ask, 'How does God invite me to be involved? Well let's look at Jesus' example in John 5:17, 19-20.

Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." … "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. 21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.

So Jesus knew what to do in His Father's work because He saw what the Father was already doing. Jesus' response was to join the Father in what He was already doing.

Now, today is a special day in that it is Mother's Day. There is a very special relationship between a mother and her child. One thing kids do is watch what we do and learn from that. Over the last couple of years it has been interesting to watch Samuel and Joshua observe Julie-Ann and my activities and then join in with what we are doing once they muster up enough confidence. From the age of 2 Samuel watched Julie-Ann carefully dusting the house and vacuuming and sweeping floors and even doing the dishes. Samuel, after a while, and because of his love for his mum, joined in the work without being asked. So now, Samuel and Joshua (because Josh learned form his brother), gets out the vacuum cleaner and does the floors for mum. Occasionally they also take themselves to the kitchen sink and wash the pots and pans. You see, out of love and from the relationship, the kids watched, learned and then got involved in what we did. Not out of duty, but out of the relationship we have as a family.

The same applies for us in our relationship with God. Because our focus is on the relationship, not what we gain for ourselves, we see God at work and join with Him in that work. Not out of duty, but as a result of the love relationship with Him. Therefore, our activity with God is entwined in the love we have for Him - we want to get involved with him, and our personal desires become secondary - that is what love does.

Have you ever noticed how young lovers sacrifice their own interests for the sake of the other person. Often it doesn't enter their mind that there is any sacrifice because their responses come from love for the person. Selfishness is put aside for the sake of the relationship. So it is for our love for God. What we want for ourselves is put aside for the sake of a growing, intimate, and loving relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Because of this we clearly see and know where God is at work, and we then join Him in that work. How is this so?

Let's look at the following passages.

John 14:15-17

"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

You see, as we know and love God, then the Holy Spirit indwells our lives. Notice the names given to Him - Counselor and Spirit of Truth. He counsels us in God's ways and reveals to us God's truth so that our relationship with him is maintained in a life of righteousness and love.

John 14:26

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

The Holy Spirit will also guide us in teaching us God's word and reminding us of what Jesus has already spoken to us. In other words, as we love God, His word becomes real and living to us, because the Holy Spirit is actively bringing the reality and truth of His Word into our lives in very practical ways.

John 16:8

When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:

So, lastly the Holy Spirit - god at work in our lives - makes known to us where there is sin, He reveals to us God's righteousness and shows us how we might live a righteous life and finally He convicts us that the reality is we will face a judgement, and I believe that judgement is based not merely our works but our characteristics of a Christ-like life. And that only comes from a heart full of love and a passion for obedience to God.

With these things in place, we then find it easy to see and know where God is at work. We also easily see and know where God wants us involved in His work.

Here is where God is at work:

  1. Where God is drawing people to Himself
  2. God causes those people to seek after Him
  3. God reveals spiritual truth to the person
  4. God convicts the person of guilt regarding sin
  5. God convicts the person of righteousness
  6. God convicts the person of judgement.

Let me give you an example.

On Thursday I was downloading, from the internet, my email. While it was downloading I received a message, via a program that allows other people to see when I am online. The girl was from Melbourne and had added me to her contact list only a few days ago. How she came across my name was just by typing my name Scott and then searched the internet for Scott's. Anyway, we had some small chat at first, at the time I was writing my sermon and so kept thinking, "I really need to end this conversation". But there was something that kept telling me, "stay on line with her'. So I did for about an hour. The result was that I was able to share with her what a real relationship with God was all about. You see, God was already at work in that girls life. If He wasn't then my name would never have been added to her list of contacts. All that was required of me was to recognize where God was at work and join with Him in that work. Now she wasn't converted and there is a very long way to go. But the fact is, God is working in that girls life. I didn't need to pause and say, 'Lord, is this your will that I speak to her of matters regarding yourself?' I just needed to recognize that, "Hey, God's touching this girl in some way and He wants me to be a small part of His work in her life."

You see, if we truly know and love God, then we can clearly see where He is at work.

 

CONCLUSION

So to sum up this morning let me finish with this which is a direct quote from the book 'Experiencing God'. Blackaby and King write:

We have focussed on the fact that God invites you to become involved in His work. You need to connect the following two points to this fact.

1. God speaks when He is about to accomplish His purposes. When God reveals to you what He is doing is when you need to respond. He speaks when He is about to accomplish His purposes. That is true throughout Scripture. Now, keep in mind, the final completion may be a long time off. Abram’s son was born 25 years after the promise from God. The time God comes to you, however, is the time for your response. You need to begin adjusting your life to Him. You may need to make some preparations for what He is about to do through you.

2. What God initiates, He completes. What God speaks, He stands to guarantee that it will come to pass. This holds enormous implications to individual believers, churches, and denominations. When we come to God to know what He is about to do where we are, we also come with assurance that what God indicates He is about to do is certain to come to pass.

SUMMARY FOR SERMON

This sermon has been created and adapted from the book 'Experiencing God' by H.T.Blackaby and C.V.King by Pastor Scott Douglas for teaching in the Burdekin Baptist Church on 9nd May, 1999.