The Audacity of Intimacy Pt. 3

Posted on by

intimacy-with-god-fs2

Wednesday 2/25/15

 

Series: The Audacity of Intimacy Pt. 3 

 

Topic – Being Yoked with Christ

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:01:19 — 84.2MB)

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS

Scriptures:

 Ps. 32

We spent some time with Psalm 32 to illustrate how much of our co-partnership is walked out in times when we have sinned. Our aim here is to learn how to walk out intimacy with Him.

We can’t claim to have come to Him if we are not learning of Him BY being yoked with Him.

I am not referring to this as a salvation statement, it is a statement of co-partnership with your Father…though when Jesus originally spoke it, it was in fact an invitation to initial relationship.

 

DO NOT BE LIKE HE HORSE or MULE

 

“At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.  (26)  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  (27)  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.  (28)  Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  (29)  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  (30)  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” ~ Mat 11:25-30

 

  1. Come unto Me: Jesus shows His authority when He says come unto Me. This invitation is unthinkable in the mouth of anyone else but God, and woe to the men who call people to themselves instead of Jesus!
  2. All you who labor and are heaven laden: Jesus directs His call to those who are burdened. He calls those who sense they must come to Him to relieve their need, instead of living in self-sufficiency.
  3. And you will find rest for your souls: Jesus describes His gift to His followers as rest for your soul. This gift is as simple as it is powerful and profound.
  4. My yoke is easy and My burden is light: Jesus summarizes this wonderful call with this. The yoke is light and the burden is easy because He bears it with us.
  5. When training a new animal (such as an ox) to plow, ancient farmers would often yoke it to an older, stronger, more experienced animal who would bear the burden and guide the young animal through his learning.

 

If your yoke is hard and your burden is heavy, then it isn’t His yoke or burden, and you aren’t letting Him bear it with you. Jesus said it plainly: My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

 

Burden’s we care or fail to….

  • Fundamentalists have you bearing it all to prove something to God
    • Your worthiness – Eph. 4:1
    • Your genuine (or enough) faith – 1 Peter 1:7
    • Your sincere love – Jn. 14:15

 

  • Hyper-grace has Christ doing and/or having done everything FOR you
    • Your behavior is no indicator – Matt. 7:17-19; Eph. 5:1-17; Heb. 12:11
    • Faith is NOT an issue – 2Cor. 10:14-16; Lk. 8:22-25; Matt. 13:58
    • Of course you love God, you just aren’t aware enough of His love for you yet – by which is meant you just don’t know what kind of a sugar daddy you have. If you knew, you’d like him.

EX: Akin to if you knew what toys Jimmy had, you’d like him!

 

Co-partnership is addressed throughout the 1 chapter of 1 John WHICH IS WRITTEN TO CHRISTIANS NOT SINNERS!

1 Jn. 1:6,7 – with God as we walk with Him

1 Cor 1:1-13 – Division

v10  Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

2 Cor. 6:11-18

12  You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.

Does NOT mean to avoid the world…

“I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.” ~ 1Cor. 5:9-11

Some other scriptures we covered…

Matt. 5:14-16 

Eph. 3:1-10 – NO DIVISION between Jew and Greek (Read Rom. 15)

2 Cor. 8:4; Phil. 1:1-5 – giving

 

The invitation was not to accept the mediator as the substitute for the Father, nor to go beyond the mediator to the Father alone, but to go to the Father BY MEANS OF and IN THE COMPANY OF the mediator.

“In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you;  (27)  for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.  (28)  I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.” ~ John 16:26-28

I hope it will challenge you and encourage you to discover genuine hope in Christ that transcends your previous expectations.

If you have been spiritually fed by this ministry and wish to give to its ministry, you may do so here.

 

Blessings!

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!