1. GROWING IN INTIMACY To Abide in the Word is to Abide in His Love
Ludwig
07/04/19

2. 2 Corinthians 13:14
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

3. Luke 1:16-17
16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

4. How Do We Know The People Are Prepared?
When many hearts turn to the Lord God
Hearts of the fathers turn to their children and the hearts of the children turn to the fathers (Naturally and Spiritually)

5. Review Preparation For Increase Purpose of the Person
The Goal of Intimacy (Sincerity of the heart)

6. Do we want…? To be disciples of Jesus (John 15:8)
Bear fruit & much fruit (John 15:2, 8)
Answered prayers (John 15:7)
To be free and delivered (John 8:31-32)
Fellowship with God (1 John 1:6)
Walk in truth and obedience (1 John 1:5-10)
Successful and Prosperous (Joshua 1:7-8)
ABIDE IN HIM

7. To abide in Him means to abide in the Word, and the Word is Jesus
It means to stay
How this Word is used in the New Testament: abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry
To abide in Him means to abide in the Word, and the Word is Jesus

8. John 15:1-17
1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

9. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

10. 9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love
9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

11. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you
14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.

12. The Word and Love are inseparable.
Key Words
Abide
Word or Commandment
Love and Love one another
The Word and Love are inseparable.

13. 1 John 1:1-7
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

14. 5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

15. Key Words
That which we have heard from the beginning (The word, the message…)
Word of Life
Light (Word which gives light)
Truth (The Word is Truth)
Fellowship (with Father, Son, Holy Spirit and one another – Love God and love your neighbour)

16. 1 John 2:7-11
7 Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. 8 Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. 9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

17. 1 John 2:24
24 Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

18. 1 John 3:11
11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, We can’t love one another without first loving God (1 John 4:7-11).

19. 1 John 4:7-11
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

20. Matthew 22:34-40
34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

21. 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

22. Love is the “how” Word and is not the “what” Word
Love does not tell us what to do but it tells us how; which is to love one another
Where do we then get the what? That’s the Word, God’s commandments.

23. Jesus is the Living Word
The Word speaks of God’s nature and character
The Word in me must be living and bring forth fruits
The Word must become flesh

24. Song of Songs 1:2
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth for your love is better than wine.
Kiss speaks of intimacy
Kisses of his mouth speaks of God’s Word (The Living Word)

25. I cannot grow in intimacy with God apart from His Word
By Word, I mean the Living Word; that is the Spoken Word
The dynamic relationship with God is with the Living Word and not a text book.
The written Word is the medium to receive the rhema Word.

26. The Word without the Spirit leads to legalism
The Word without the Spirit leads to legalism. The Spirit without the Word leads to lawlessness.

27. Practical Steps To Abide in Him/Word
Attitudes of our hearts (Sincerity of the heart)
Read the Word of God (The Written Word)
Receive the Rhema Word
Write it down
Observe the Word (Take heed, beware, protect, attend and guard)
Meditate the Word
Pray the Word (Spirit and understanding)
Speak the Word
Practice the Word