Building A Life of Love II, Receiving A Revelation of Love

This is North Way tape number 421. This is the second in a series on building a life of love. The title of this message is Receiving a Revelation of Love. This message was delivered on July 28, 1985, by Pastor Jay Passavant of North Way Christian Community. Notes and outlines are available through the North Way office. Turn your Bibles to Ephesians, the third chapter, would you, please? I have outlines, but I'm going to wait and pass those out at the end of the service. As long as Scott reminds me. Okay, brother. Ephesians 3. Okay, let's read together. Beginning in verse 14. For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man. And that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. And now to him, who by the power at work within us, is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think to him, be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Over the years, I've made an observation, and I want to ask if you affirm it in your own experience. In any area of life, people change only when one of two things happens. Here they are. Number one, they become absolutely sick and tired of a situation. They simply cannot take it anymore. Therefore, they change. Or secondly, something comes along which they discover that they want so badly that they'll do anything to get it. All the rest of life is just a series of lurching back and forth, kind of one step forward, one step back, sideways lateral movement. But when one of those two things happens, you've had it. You're despondent about a situation, or you find something that you just simply must have, you can't live without. Then you change. I was watching a program the other evening as I was getting near the end of the day. It was about a real estate fellow that was sponsoring one of those seminars here in the area. And he came on near the end of the program. I only watched about 20 minutes, and he came on. He said, I'll never forget the day and whatever it was 10 years ago when I turned around and walked out of a real estate agent's office. And he said, beckley, you'll never buy a house because you won't have the wherewithal to get a down payment together. And he said, and I told myself that's not true and I'm going to do something about it. And now he's making millions selling real estate and seminars and reaching out to all the people who've heard the same thing and wish they could get out there and make their millions. I've sat in my office and counseled with a young woman with anorexia nervosa. And for months met with her. No progress. She left my office hopeless, told me with tears, I want to change. I want to change. Left my office. Two years later I saw her. At the time she was in my office, she weighed 57 pounds. I saw her about two years later at the open door. She weighed about 105 pounds. I couldn't believe it was the same woman. I said, what happened? She said, I got to the point where I had to change. I had to. Now, in a rare case, both of those incidents, both of those circumstances occur, you're fed up with your circumstance and you find something you just can't live without. Look at Blaine. And that's what it took for this step of faith. But beloved, growth and progress in Jesus is the same way. Do you know what keeps us from growing more than anything else? It isn't all the external things that we equate with being difficult. You know what it is? We get satisfied. We just kind of like life the way it is rolling along and sort of in control. And we like to be able to call the shots to God and decide when we're going to go here and when we're going to go there and do what we want to do. And we just become a little bit satisfied with things. And therefore, when God speaks to us, we're not ready to change. We're not willing to embrace the fact that something needs to happen in us. And I want to share with you today what's got to happen before you'll ever break out of the old limitations of life, before you'll begin to move on and make progress in your walk in Christ. I want to share with you what it takes to get on from where you are right now. And it doesn't begin with resolve. I've had too many people tell me, well, I'm just going to do. Doesn't begin with discipline. How many of you have said at one point, well, I'm going to start tomorrow and get up at 6 o' clock every morning and pray. It doesn't begin with zeal. It doesn't begin with a warm fuzzy feeling. You know what it begins with? It all begins, beloved, with a revelation. A revelation of the love of God. The beginning of all transformation in your life. Listen to this. The beginning of it all transformation is not your repentance even. It's not your over evaluating yourself. It's when you encounter a vision of the love of God, a revelation of how much God loves you. And then you begin to change. Paul prays here in the book of Ephesians that the church would receive a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him. Ephesians 1:17. And we just read how he bows his knee before the Father and prays that they would see the breadth and the length, the height and the depths, the love of God. And I want to share with you this morning what it means to receive a revelation that you can come into a point of change. How many of us want to change? How many of us know there are parts of our lives we don't want to have the same? And we need a revelation today. Now, what does that word mean? You might want to jot this down. Revelation is from the Greek word apokalypsis. Does that sound familiar? Apocalypsis, from which we get apocalypse. And it means something that was hidden is now uncovered. Apo, the preposition from, and calypso means covered from, Covering, out of hiding. A revelation then is something that breaks in on your understanding that you once had no way of perceiving. Paul had a revelation. Remember that road to Damascus? Walking along, happy, things going great, persecuting those Christians, putting them in jail, beating them, even standing around while they're getting killed. He had a revelation of the love of God. But you know something? We don't all have to have Damascus road experiences to have a revelation. Nathanael was sitting under a tree and Philip came to him and said, I found the Christ. Philip said, how can anything, Or Nathaniel said, how can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip said, come and see. And Jesus spoke one little word to him, said, I saw you when you were under the tree. You see, beloved, Jesus knows what to say to you. So that when you're ready to hear it, you're going to change. Your life will not be the same. All through the Bible we see encounters of men and women who were on their way, doing their thing and they received revelation. Think of Peter in the boat trying to be a fisherman, not getting anywhere. Jesus said, cast out your nets once again. Couldn't haul in the fish. There were so many of them. What did Peter say? My Lord and my God, depart from me. I'm a sinful man. You. You see, we need a revelation of the love of God, of his holiness, of his person, of how much he really means to us. And when we receive that revelation, church is when we begin to change. We get into a rut in church, you know that we get into a rut of doing things and substituting the things for the love of God. I want you to know this morning, none of us would exist very long in a marriage if all we looked at were the things that were happening. Imagine getting a card that says something warm and fuzzy. I got one of those this week for our anniversary. And it's a lovely card. And it was really precious that night. It was just great. It still looks nice there. But if that's all that I get to remind me of my wife's love in six months and one year and five years, if that's the only revelation of her love that I receive, it's going to get pretty stale, pretty old. It's like the man and wife that after 10 years of marriage, the woman said, honey, don't you love me? Tell me you love me. And he said, why do you keep questioning me? I told you that when we got married. You see, it doesn't work to hear it once. It doesn't work just to see God once in your life. Church maybe. You came to the Lord in the last couple of months and you remember back to that special day when the Lord showed Himself to you, showed your need, helped you to see how much he loved you. But you haven't been like that in the last couple of months. And you're saying, well, it's getting stale and cold. It's not meant to be that way. You see, we're to live in a daily revelation of the love of God. And we substitute, you know, we substitute so many good things, don't we, for God's love and for him, his own. We substitute ministry. And I know that many of us are guilty of feeling like because we're doing things for God, that's the same as his love being revealed. It's not. We can even substitute his blessings for his love, and they're not. We can even substitute other relationships for his love. And as much as you may love someone else in the body of Christ, they're not the revelation of Jesus love to you in and of themselves. What we need is a revelation of him, of who he is. That's what we need. That's what our heart quickens to. That's what brings about a change. Isaiah said in chapter 40, verse 22, look unto me and be saved. Not just the blessings, not just the good things of being together. Look unto me. In John, chapter nine, there's a story of a blind man who received his sight. Remember that story? We don't have time to turn there. But he received his sight. And Jesus disappeared in the crowd. And he was just rejoicing. Having been born blind, he now could see for the first time. Now, something interesting happened, and that is that after he was healed of his blindness, the Pharisees came and began to pick on him and say, what are you doing? And who did this? And why did he do it? And who should get the credit for this and all that? And that blind man did not have a revelation of who God was. And Jesus then came back to him and said, do you believe in the Son of Man? And the blind man said, well, I don't know who he is that I can believe on him. And Jesus said, you, who I, who you now see, am he. I who you now see, am He. And the blind man said, lord. And he believed. You see the difference between God doing something for you and God revealing himself to you in Jesus. Oh, beloved, never equate blessings with God. Blessings are the overflow of a relationship of love with him. And I want to share with you today just a few things that can help you to know how to walk in a revelation of the love of God. Now, first of all, let me give you five or six what I consider to be roadblocks. Now, these are things you might want to jot down. It's the only thing that's not in your outline. The first one, the first roadblock to receiving a revelation of the love of God is ignorance. Isaiah 5:13. Therefore, my people go into captivity for want of knowledge. I'll tell you something, Church. The people of God, Christians, many Christians, are locked in ignorance. Many of you sense something inside of you. That's why you left the churches you were in, because there was something in you that you knew wasn't being answered to. And people all around you were held locked in ignorance. And you knew it, but you didn't know what to do about it. I want to say Jesus had the harshest words for those who held people in religious bondage when they substituted head knowledge and religion for a revelation of his own love and relationship with him. John, chapter three. Jesus looked at Nicodemus, didn't Understand what it meant to be born again and receive the kingdom of God. And Jesus said, you're a teacher of Israel and you don't know what this means. And beloved, don't let ignorance keep you from the blessing of God. Don't let it be a roadblock to revelation. Don't let performance or good works or some lesser thing keep you in a box. But believe God to show you something of himself. Another roadblock is pride. You know, Oswald Chambers said, the greatest curse in spiritual life is conceit. Let me say that again. The greatest curse in spiritual life is conceit. Thinking you know it already. I've already heard that. I forget a time I gave a young guy a Bible. He said, hey, I already read that. I think he was as much in ignorance as he was conceit. But beloved, conceit, pride, spiritual pride. I'll tell you some evidences of spiritual pride. It's when you find yourself unwilling and unable to hear words of someone in authority. Always questioning what you're hearing from your home group leader or a deacon or an elder or someone in authority in your life spiritually, when you're always critical of ministry, no matter what's happening, it's not really right. That's how you know when you're dealing with spiritual pride. When everything in your life is self directed and nobody has any input as to when and where and how things in your life should be worked out. These are ways you can tell that you're getting into some conceit in your life. Who is he to tell me what to do? I'll tell you. A soft and tender heart is one that welcomes correction, welcomes direction, welcomes input from another. A third roadblock is busyness. I think it's significant that Jesus went off, the Bible says in Mark 1:35, to a lonely place to pray, out of the rat race to get alone with God. Are you too hurried to receive a revelation of God's love? I was with someone not too long ago that was in the midst of a real difficult situation, struggling. They said, well, I know what I should do, but I don't have time to do it. But you see, if you don't have time to be alone with God, then whatever it is that you're trying to keep from happening is going to happen because you can't hear correctly what the word of the Lord would be and receive a revelation of his purpose and his love for you. The fourth thing is confusion. Wow. Boy, does that one strike home with me. How many of you have tape Players in your car and radios in your houses. We're just brimming over with electronic communicators. I feel sorry for the people that have to carry those beepers around. Never alone, right? And yet do you know that those things, if you don't keep them in check, they will rob you of a revelation of the love of God? Every once in a while I'm writing, I'm listening to a tape. I mean, I listen to tapes all the time because everyone in the place gives me one eventually. And I love those. I love the people who. God will show you something on a tape. And you've got to hear this Jay. And I've got a. You've got to hear this Jay file now. So keep them coming, though. I'm working through them. I'm about two years in arrears right now, and I'm catching up. But, you know, the Lord spoke in my heart one time as I was traveling. I'm listening to an excellent teaching by, I think it was John Wimber. And the Lord said, turn that off. Just listen to me. You ever have the Lord just check you? Because all you're doing is just force feeding yourself with all this truth. And it's not truth unless God makes it alive to you. So busyness can distract. Confusion can distract you from the things of God. A fifth thing is oppression. Daniel was 21 days in receiving a revelation of God. Why? Because he was oppressed by the enemy. And I want to say to you, Church, that religion can oppress you. Relationships can oppress you. Oppression can come in a lot of different ways. But the way that you know that God is speaking to you is when all those other things don't satisfy, when religion doesn't satisfy, when your heart doesn't have peas, then you know. But you need to press on until you break through that oppression. Jesus said to that blind man in John chapter nine, he said to him, I who speak to you am He. See, The Pharisees had said, what is this? You think you're going to tell us what to do? He was being oppressed. He almost didn't receive that revelation because the religious Pharisees were beaten down on him, saying, who are you to tell us you're born in sin? I love his line, I don't know. All I know was that once I was blind and now I see. Amen. Finally, the sixth obstacle is fear. Church. Fear will keep you from receiving a revelation of God's love. Fear that somehow God's going to ask something of you that you can't do. Can I tell you something? The will of God will never take you where the grace of God won't sustain you. Just remember that God will never reveal something to you of himself that he cannot equip you and will not equip you to follow through. And that's a wonderful confirmation. So these are roadblocks to receiving that love. But what happens if we break through and go ahead and say, lord, I want to receive, I want to encounter you, I want to have what's uncovered made plain to me, a coming forth, an unveiling. Let me tell you some of the results. Here's the first one. You will find yourself being released in liberty, in the love of God. Do you want to know why? Worship as we worship here at North Way is hard for some of you. It was hard for all of us until the love of God in all of its magnitude and glory, became more real to you than your own fears. What transformed us and enabled us to speak with liberty, to raise our hands and to lift our voices to not be timid, was the love of God became more dynamic, more real than all the fear that I felt inside. I How about you? And when that happens, church, then you know what it means. As it says in Psalm 63, because thy steadfast love, thy loving kindness is better than life. My lips will praise you, and thus will I bless thee. I will lift up my hands to thy name. You see, when you know the loving kindness of God, then you can't help but worship him. Now, I'm not putting down anyone that worships differently. I'm just saying that when that love gets inside of you, you just have to let it come back so you'll be liberated in your expression of love to the Father. The second thing is, when you receive a revelation of love, you're going to have power to love one another. How many of you believe that Christians are easy to love? Turn to someone and tell them you're easy to love if you mean it. Uh oh, I'm getting some resistance here. Let me ask this question. Who would say that it takes the love of God to love one another? The Apostle John knew that when he said, we love because God first loved us first. John 4:19. I think it's very significant church that Paul inserts this very profound prayer for the love of God right in between his expression of the purpose of the church, Ephesians 3:10, then the functioning of the church Ephesians 4. He realized that the purpose of the church to take this gospel to all the nations and that the functioning of the church according to spiritual gifts was impossible without the love of God. That's why it appears there. I'll tell you, you need an illustration of this. Get in a home group. It's wonderful to come here on Sundays and say, wow, this is great. I really feel God's love and people are so friendly. Get in a home group and see what it costs you to love someone else. By the way, in the next several weeks, we're going to be sharing with you just a renewed vision for home groups that God's giving us. And we want you to just be praying about that and get ready to hear how God's going to refresh us in our commitments to one another. The third result, though, of receiving a revelation of love is that you're going to have power to love a world that God cares about. You know, we struggle with priorities. Oh, God, what should I do? How much time should I give to the church, my family? And balancing all these things out, we worry about lifestyle and schedules and how much of this and that. Somehow, I don't know about you, but when I read the New Testament, those things don't seem to come up that much. The apostles and disciples, just, they were intent on going. And as I struggled with this, one thing the Lord seemed to say to me was, the reason why we struggle so much is because we haven't really seen the love of God and its worthiness of receiving our whole lives. Once we do, then all these things just seem to fit in and find their place. George Foreman was a boxer of about 10 years ago, maybe eight years ago, world champ. I forget who he beat. Was it one of them? Who was it? He beat Joe Frazier to win the title, and he was on the top of the heat. And after one fight, I don't know if you know this story, it was in Time magazine, I believe he went into his locker room, won the fight, wasn't beaten or anything. And he had a vision of Jesus Christ and saw Christ standing before him with his arms open. And he saw the blood in his nail, pierced hands. George Foreman. Now, if you guys, you know, I'm not talking about someone that was Mr. Religious all of a sudden. I'm talking about somebody who was violent. And in that revelation, he was melted down. One revelation of the love of God, the love of Christ on a cross. George Foreman took off his gloves. And do you know that now, eight or nine years later, he's never put them on again? And he went down in Texas and he purchased a farm, and he helps Rehabilitate people who are down and out. And he goes around and preaches in little churches. Now, you won't hear that kind of story in most of the media because they can't explain it, but it's a revelation of the love of God. Let me conclude today, beloved. If you're here today and you're saying, I need a revelation, Jay, I would say to you that I've dried up in my love. Most of what I do is labor. It's work. It's a struggle. I don't feel that God is even near me many times. Well, the Lord gave me a scripture to conclude with today that I want to share with you. He said in Jeremiah 33, verse 3, Call unto me, and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things which you have not known. Let me say it again. Call unto me and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things which you have not known. And that was a promise that God made alive to me to share with you. That if you're here today and you've not received a revelation of love, that you haven't seen God in the fullness of his glory, that you haven't known the quickening of the joy inside of his love, then today you can, right now, in response to the Word in your heart, you can say, lord, I want that today on the outline, I've made a number of different things that you can do. But I want you to know today, this morning, right now, some of you are under. You're hearing me inside, and you know that I'm speaking to you. And today you can call into the Lord and he will show you great and hidden things you have not known. And you can begin to receive a revelation, an uncovering of the magnitude of the love of God. It's for us, Church, not just the first time, but day by day by day, that's the way I want to live. And a revelation of his love. Let's pray together. Hallelujah. Father. Lord Jesus. Lord, we stand in awe and amazement what manner of love the Father has shown unto us that we would be called sons of God. And we are. But, Lord, we come to you today as those who struggle in life, struggle in marriage, struggle, struggle in our jobs, struggle with other people and financial problems and physical problems. And, Lord, in the midst of all this, for some of us, our love has begun to dry. Lord, we don't even know that your love is real right now. But as you call out to us right now, God, as our hearts are quickened we would turn to you and we would call unto you, Lord. We would call unto youo and believe that yout would show us great and hidden things that we have not known of youf love. And we would receive, even now, an uncovering of that love. Praise the Lord.