In Matthew 13:33 Jesus tells a simple parable to show what the Kingdom of God is like – when you think Kingdom, think the rule or realm of God. He likens his Kingdom to a woman taking a little yeast, a little leaven and concealing it or incorporating it into some flour until the whole lump of dough is affected and changed by the leaven.

 

This is such a simple yet profound illustration of the way God works in his people and for the original audience it was presenting a very different system to the religious system of the day. They were used to an external system of rules and outward forms of worship – they were still relating to God through the old Covenant. They were the descendants of those who at Mt Sinai had told Moses to speak to God on their behalf and to hear God for them because they were afraid to draw near to hear God for themselves. Thousands of years later they were for the most part still relating to God from a distance, through the priesthood. Now Jesus arrives and begins to preach that the Kingdom of God, the rule and realm of heaven was “at hand” - as close by as their hand.

 

Then he goes even further and begins to talk about how this rule and realm of God is actually intended to get into individuals and to become an internal Kingdom. This is radically different – this is the New Covenant that God was making with mankind through his son Jesus Christ. Hebrews 8, Ezekiel 37 and Jeremiah 31 all speak of this New Covenant that God made through Jesus Christ – “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts… they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.”

 

Once when questioned about the coming of the Kingdom of God by the Pharisees Jesus said, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you and in your midst.” Luke 17:20-21.

 

This message of an internal Kingdom, of God coming by His Spirit to dwell in the heart of man is a radical message. The message of the cross is this – as our old nature dies with Christ we become a new creation and the rule and realm of heaven impacts our lives from the inside out. We have spent many weeks now encouraging you to seek a revelation of this new creation for your own life. When we understand what the gospel actually is, what it actually does in us as God’s spirit comes to dwell within us, everything changes.

 

Worship goes from being an outward exercise of singing songs or reading scripture to being a heart response to an ongoing encounter with the living God who dwells within our lives. When you encounter His love and His heart worship becomes the attitude in which you live your life.  Eg Paul and Silas

 

Prayer becomes a vibrant ongoing conversation with the one who lives in our lives and who knows us better than we know ourselves, rather than lifeless words spoken to a God who is far off in heaven.

Guidance is altogether changed. Before our lives were guided by outward rules… do this, don’t do that etc. Now His ways are written on hearts and they compel us to walk as Jesus walked. Consider Psalm 32:8-9 “ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.” The old system of the law and its punishments was like the bit and bridle coercing God’s people to obey Him. But this was not His ideal for relationship with his people. Even in this passage written to those under the Old Covenant God speaks of a higher way – His desire was to be able to instruct and teach and lead his people in the way that was right for them… not through power or control or the threat of punishment but simply by with his loving eye. The eye is the gateway to the soul – as we look into the loving eyes of our Father we get a sense of His heart for us and as we begin to love Him we obey because we don’t want to grieve His heart. As Jesus said in John 14, “If you love me, you will keep my commands.” The issue is firstly an issue of love… from love comes obedience. You don’t prove your love by being obedient… you obey because you love. God wants a people led from within, not from the external controls of laws.

Our identity is to come from the Spirit of God dwelling within us, not from the external influences of what we do for a living, what possessions we have, who our friends are, what the world says about us.

In the Kingdom of God, EVERYTHING comes back to this one thing – CHRIST WITHIN US. This is the good news of what Christ accomplished through his death and resurrection. This is what it means to be born again, to be filled with his Spirit. As Paul said in Colossians 1 … this is the mystery of God kept hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to all… “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

If this is the central truth of the gospel, then perhaps the most important thing we can give our lives to is learning to fellowship with God who dwells within us as Holy Spirit. This is what I want to encourage you to do today…

How to do this??!!

 

The gospel was never meant to be just head knowledge. It’s not enough to simply know about God… to know how Jesus became an offering for our sin … We are each invited into relationship with Him and its when His Spirit comes to dwell in our spirits that this relationship becomes possible. Jesus spoke of two baptisms… the baptism in water and the baptism in the Spirit (Acts 1:5). When you choose to follow Christ this choice is sealed through being baptised in water and in the Spirit. It’s not meant to be complicated! For years I have pondered the process of salvation… trying to neatly fit it into a step-by-step process. I have realized, though that God doesn’t work by formulas, He works relationally with each of us in an individual way – no two testimonies are the same. And so, even in the stories of the early church we see many different ways that God gets hold of individuals to the point that they are born again and filled with the Holy Spirit. Compare the disciples with Paul’s experience with the experience of the Cornelius and his household. The issue for each person is “where are you at within this process?”… Have you been born again? Have you received the gift of the Holy Spirit in your life?

 

When Jesus told his disciples he would ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to be with them in John 14 & 15 he spoke of the Spirit being their advocate, their counselor, their helper, the one who would teach them all things and fill their lives with righteousness, peace and joy. When we are born again and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, God comes and makes His home in us. Where once his presence dwelt in the holiest place in the temple, He now takes up residence in our spirit – our lives become the Holy of Holies, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Every believer is called to fellowship with the Holy Spirit, to develop a deep friendship with Him, to listen to Him and to learn to be led by Him. Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:7) Wow! Do you understand what he is saying? It is better for us to be filled with the Spirit than to have Jesus with us in the flesh!

Over the years there are two ways that I have learnt to help bring focus to my times of seeking God – on is to turn my gaze towards God on His throne (using Revelation 4) and the other has been to turn my gaze inward towards God in my spirit. It’s this second practice of fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit that I want to encourage you in today.

When we talk about fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit, we’re talking about learning to relate to the Holy Spirit who dwells on the inside of us. It’s about learning to turn the attention of our mind to the Spirit of God dwelling in our spirits. St Augustine once said that he had wasted a great deal of time in the early years of his journey with God by looking for him outwardly rather than turning inwardly. He’s probably not alone!

Years ago Pete got hold of a book written by Jeanne Guyon… a book first written in 1685 by a French woman that literally upset history – it’s a book that caused such a stir that it was publicly burned. It’s a book that radically impacted people from The Quakers, to John Wesley, to Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians and Hudson Taylor and Watchman Nee. It’s a book that ultimately led to the imprisonment and death in exile of its author. It’s a simple book that invites believers to move from a shallow knowledge of God to a deep inward relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit who dwells within them. I want to share today a couple of the keys I have learned from Madame Guyon’s teachings on prayer. I know if you will apply yourself to practice them, you will grow in your relationship with God… This is your inheritance as a child of God… as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18… “And we all, who with unveiled faces reflect or behold or contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with every increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

God has made it possible for you to know Him in a deep and intimate way. The invitation is put to us as his children… Do you want to know me? Do you want to be close to me? It starts with desire on our part … any amount of it will do! God is addictive! Our souls and spirits are like sponges… what we soak in does penetrate! Remember the Mrs Marsh Colgate ads… chalk and ink – “it really does get in.” Our inner being (our soul/spirit) is like that… what we soak in gets in. As we experience more of him we desire more of him. That’s good news… it means God starts with you right where you are at!

God has made it possible for you to know Him and to become like Him through a basic form of prayer which is simply fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit dwelling within you. Our natural man immediately responds, “How do I do that?!” We easily relate to things we can see, hear and touch. But we don’t naturally see, hear or feel the indwelling Spirit – that comes with practice. And that is where the simple teachings of Madame Guyon have been so helpful for me. I want to share a few things with you today – if you will give yourself to practicing these, I know they will transform your relationship with God!

 

 

Often when we read the bible, we read quickly, moving through a section trying to understand what it’s all about. Praying the Scripture is something altogether different. Choose a passage of scripture that is simple and fairly practical – perhaps something from one of the gospels or Psalms or one of the New Testament letters. Come quietly before God, prepared to give Him time rather than rushing through a reading. Read just a small portion of the scripture. Read slowly and take it in as you go – think of it like you are tasting and then digesting the Word. The whole point of this type of reading is to sense the heart and presence of God in what you are reading. When you sense something of God in what you are reading turn it into prayer. Quietly and simply talk to God about it. When it seems that you have gotten the essence out of that sentence move on to the next in the same way. You might only get through a paragraph or two, but you will find that the Holy Spirit begins to bring revelation from the Word to your heart – this form of prayer is about fellowshipping with Him over the revelation He brings. If you practice this form of reading/prayer the Word of God will come alive for you! You will begin to encounter God in the midst of His Word and He will transform you from the inside out.

 

This second method of coming to the Lord uses scripture, but in a different way. The greatest difficulty we have in waiting on God or beholding Him is our mind. Our mind has a tendency to wander and get distracted by anything and everything! When you come before God to simply wait on Him or behold Him, use scripture to quiet your mind but then just wait in His presence, simply behold Him.

Set aside time to spend with God. If necessary find a quiet place where you know you won’t be interrupted. Close your eyes to the things around you and turn your heart towards the indwelling Spirit of God – this is done by exercising your faith. In this way you give your full attention to the deep inward parts of your being. It is done by faith – believe that God dwells in you and open the eyes of your heart towards Him. Read a portion of scripture and as you get a sense of the presence of God simply pause… set your gaze on the Holy Spirit dwelling within you. If your mind begins to wander turn your attention again to your inward parts, to where the Spirit dwells in you. At first this might be difficult because you are choosing to ignore your physical senses and simply wait on God. Allow His presence within you to become your focus. Practice dwelling or fellowshipping with Him in this way.

At first it will be difficult to settle your mind because it’s used to wandering in its thoughts wherever it likes. But it will learn this new habit of beholding God. You can be sure that God desires to reveal Himself to you and He has abundant grace for you to find Him.

Sometimes you have a few moments of quiet in your day, but you don’t have scripture with you to feed on like we have been talking about. Most of us are familiar with the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray… we call it the Lord’s prayer. You can easily learn to use it as a means of fellowshipping with the Spirit anywhere, anytime.

Quiet your mind and turn your heart inwards to where God’s presence dwells. Once you have a sense of His presence be still and quiet before Him. Let your heart have an attitude of worship – not with words, but as an attitude. Then begin to use the Lord’s prayer…. Father – let the full meaning of that word deeply touch your heart. Call on Him as Father and pour your heart out before Him in worship and love as a child. Words are not so important in this simple, heartfelt prayer… use words to express your love, but don’t just talk… learn to simply be with God and to love and worship Him from your heart. As you sense Him presence move on to the next part of the prayer… Your Kingdom come – offer yourself again to God so that He may rule in your heart. Invite Him to reign in you. Each time you sense God’s presence simply rest there – be silent before Him and wait on Him. When the sense of waiting passes go on to the next part of the prayer… Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Surrender your heart and life, your all to God again. Continue through the prayer in this way… fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit and waiting on God as He leads you.

At first this form of silent waiting or beholding may seem difficult, but it is simply about learning to yield to the indwelling Spirit and allowing Him to lead you, to speak to you, to work in you whilst you wait on Him.

I have come to realize that there are times when I easily sense God’s presence as I turn my gaze towards Him, but there are other times when it’s just hard - sometimes I’m distracted and things feel dry and God seems a million miles away. These times certainly test your motive – if you come primarily to receive something from God these difficult times will discourage you. If on the other hand you come first and foremost to love Him, not seeking something for yourself but just to be with Him and to love Him, then it really doesn’t matter how things go… It’s no longer about how you feel or what you receive, but it’s about loving Him and being with Him because He is worthy – He is worthy of your time, He is worthy of your love, He is worthy of your worship. He is worth pursuing!

If you set out to grow in fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit you will encounter seasons of dryness. In these times know this: God desires to give Himself to those who earnestly seek Him and yet He will hide himself from those who do seek Him! His purpose in hiding Himself from you is to cause you to pursue Him. You will have times of dryness in your relationship with God. The important question is what will you do in a time of spiritual dryness? Our natural man responds in one of two things. We either strive harder to find Him thinking that our striving will bring us closer to Him or we start to doubt, get discouraged and give up! There is a better way – simply keep on waiting on Him, patiently coming before Him and loving and worshipping Him in spite of how you feel. He is no less worthy of our love and worship and simple adoration when He is close to us as when He seems far away. He is the Lord and there is no other. He will surely reward those who wait patiently for Him – as David wrote in Psalm 37… Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret!

I want to encourage you to prioritise your relationship with God and to set aside time often to practice turning these methods of fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit. If you need a quiet place free from distractions then book into the Prayer Room. If you want to come on Friday mornings from 6-7am I am there with whoever wants to join me using an IHOP Worship with the Word session. These are great as they mix worship and scripture and simply give you space to fellowship with God. Free webstreaming at www.ihop.org .

If you are sitting here today and you know you have not yet made the decision to follow Christ but want to – we’d love to pray with you. If you have given your life to Christ and have even been baptized in water but don’t think you have been filled with the Spirit – we’d love to pray with you too. If you’re just not sure but feel things aren’t quite as they could be in your relationship with God – we’d love to pray with you. If God has been speaking to you this morning please don’t leave here without responding to Him.