Intimacy with God: Cultivating a Life of Deep Friendship Through Obedience Outline
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Intimacy with God: Cultivating a Life of Deep Friendship Through Obedience Outline I. Introduction – See and understand what God is doing in the world today A. God Speaks to Us 1. Experience Power of God 2. Bless the life of another person a. Physical Healing b. Emotional Healing c. Deliverance d. Provision e. Reconciliation B. God’s Communication – Faith created as God’s Holy Spirit conveys information 1. Scripture – 2. Rhema Word a. Sources 1) Scripture highlighted for a particular moment (specific need or to give direction) 2) A word from heaven, through an individual, about something they are to do b. Results 1) Carries with it the power of God to bring the word given into reality 2) Creates a gift of faith or a major increase in faith for ministry 3) Contributes to issues of life needing direction, help or encouragement 4) Does not contribute to new doctrine or Scripture c. Types 1) Words of Knowledge 2) Prophecy d. How God Communicates 1) Dreams 2) Open Visions 3) Impressions 4) Mental Pictures 5) Feeling pain that is not your pain 6) Seeing words that supernaturally appear in your mind’s eye. 7) Divine Appointments 3. Faith a. Core beliefs we have about God b. The Faith to trust or believe so strongly that one actually acts on the first kind of faith. C. God is Still Speaking Today 1. God speaks to ordinary people 2. Brian Starley – Word of Knowledge for Brandon, a member of a notorious biker gang, led to healing of degenerated discs and multiple salvations D. Colossians 1:27, 29 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. E. Biblical Interpretation 1. Western Rationalism - rooted in a non-supernaturalistic worldview. Miracles of Scripture were either accounted for by natural explanations or seen as legends or myths 2. Christian Rationalism - denigrates faith related to or based upon the supernatural—the signs and wonders of the Bible—viewing it as inferior to faith not associated with signs and wonders. 3. Dr. Jon Ruthven On the Cessation of the Charismata: The Protestant Polemic on Postbiblical Miracles F. Understand the full redemptive value of the cross of Jesus II. Ch 1 - Twenty-First-Century Discipleship and the Supernatural A. The Power of the Holy Spirit 1. Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 2. Romans 15:18-19 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. 3. 1 Corinthians 2:3-5 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. 4. 1 Corinthians 4:20 The Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 5. Matt Scott Testimonies a. Healing of three deaf people in India leading to salvation of all 25 gathered in the house. b. Healing of a man’s shoulder led to the salvation of radical Muslims and Hindus. B. Advancing God’s Kingdom on the Earth III. Ch 2 - Signs, Wonders, and Miracles in Jesus’ Ministry A. Jesus healed from a place of intimacy with the Father and with great compassion. B. What does radical obedience from a place of intimacy with God involve, and why is it important for us as believers today? 1. It is what Jesus modeled, taught and commissioned us to do (heal the sick, cast out demons, and bring good news to the poor (Matt 10:8). 2. Commission begins with intimacy a. Door to revelation b. Builds a confident faith c. Allows the miraculous works of the Kingdom 3. Supernatural flow from God to humanity draws humankind to the Father C. Biblical Word Usage 1. Miracles – 27 times 2. Signs – 72 times 3. Signs and Wonders – 21 times D. Gospel of John 1. Focuses intently on the divinity of Jesus as the manifestation and expression of God in the world, 2. Emphasis on the intimacy and obedience of Jesus in performing miracles. 3. 6 of the 7 miracles are unique to the Gospel of John 4. John 20:30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. E. John Wimber, Power Healing, 11 distinct ways in which the miracles of Jesus occurred. 1. word spoken, twenty-one references 2. touched by Jesus, thirteen references 3. Drove out demons; nine references 4. the faith of another, eight references 5. The person’s faith, six references 6. The prayer of another; five references 7 Preaching of Jesus, four references 8. Teaching of Jesus, four references 9. Jesus moved with compassion, four references 10. Touching Jesus, four references 11. Person touches Jesus, two references F. Testimony of Jesus 1. Jessika’s testimony of a word of knowledge for knee pain leading to healing and deliverance. 2. 1 Chronicles 16:12 Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced 3. Revelation 19:10 For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. 4. Luke 8:40-48 - Woman with the issue of blood healed when she touched the edge of His cloak. a. “As word of the woman’s healing spread, faith for healing rose up in others who then did as she had done. b. Matthew 14:35 People brought all their sick to him 36 and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed. UPPER ROOM DISCOURSE IV. Ch 3 - Intimacy and the Ministry of Healing A. Jesus’ final crucial words to His disciples before His death contained secrets of His power and His relationship with the Father that grew out of His obedience. B. John 14:10-14 – The Father Receives Glory through Works in Jesus Name 1. Connection between Intimacy (from obedience), healing (from God’s presence), and bringing glory to God. 2. With His presence in us, we (the church) are able to bring God glory through the miraculous, just as Jesus did. 3. Leif Hetland obeyed God and sang in Norwegian to a group of Africans, resulting in salvations, healings, deliverances, and God being glorified. C. Anyone with Faith in Jesus 1. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 2. Faith is the condition needed for this promise to become reality. D. The Trinitarian Emphasis 1. There is a relationship between intimacy with Jesus and the manifestation (or revelation) of Jesus and visitation (or habitation) of the Father and the Son with us by the Holy Spirit. 2. Connection between authority and power, and between presence and joy E. Friends of God, not Servants 1. John 15:15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 2. This position is built on the former position of being servants. 3. Friends receive revelation. Friends know the Master’s business. F. The Regenerating Work of the Holy Spirit 1. Connection between intimacy and obedience. a. John 14:15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. b. We are not saved by obedience, but we can have greater intimacy with Jesus if we obey Him. 2. Connection between obedience and receiving the Holy Spirit a. John 14:16-17 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the 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. 3. Connection between intimacy and the revelation of Jesus a. 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. 4. John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 5. Caleb Roe obeyed a word of knowledge and prayed for waitress who was healed of back pain from scoliosis V. Ch 4 - Intimacy and Fruitfulness A. John 15:4-8 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.