The highest priority for the Christian is to experience and enjoy communion with God. Let’s all make that our goal for 2021.
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Communion With God
1 Peter 2:2
What is your highest priority in life? If I asked that question to 100 people on the street, I would probably hear family or career, or happiness, or pleasure, or wealth, or friendships, or health. Many people have chosen one of those as their highest priority in life. But for the Christian there is something far more important. For the Christian the highest priority in life is his relationship with God. Jesus said in Mt. 6:33, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Jesus taught that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength (Mt. 22:37). The greatest priority in life for the Christian is not to love his wife, or his children, or his health, or his job, or his pleasure, or his friends, or his money. It is to love His God!
Or, to put it another way, the highest priority for the Christian is his communion with God. Sometimes we make a particular cause our number one priority, like putting an end to abortion, or promoting racial equality, or even evangelizing the lost. However, if we make a cause the number one priority rather than communion with God, we will lose both. We will lose our communion with God, because all of our time and energy will go into this cause. We will lose our cause, because we won’t have the power to fulfill it unless it is born out of our relationship with God.
And since communion with God is the highest priority in the life of a child of God, I want to start off 2021 by having all of us think seriously about how we are doing in this area. I would like all of us to make this the theme of our lives for this entire year.
When something is your highest priority, it will show. You will pursue it more diligently than anything else in life. You will do it consistently. If communion with God is your highest priority, you won’t neglect it. You won’t choose other things over it. My friends, it should be obvious to anyone who really knows you, that your highest priority is to commune with God.
This sermon is going to be very simple. My whole goal in this sermon is to motivate you to choose communion with God as the highest priority in your life, and then live that out every day. Instead of resolving to go on a diet, or work out more, why not make a commitment to pursue God every day during this next year?
This morning we are going to look at a few questions.
- What is communion with God?
- How do we have communion with God?
1. What Is Communion With God?
It begins by being in union with God. In fact, the word “union” is part of the word “communion.” You cannot have communion with God unless you are united to Him. You can’t abide in the vine, unless you are united to the vine. This is what Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthians 1:30 when he wrote, “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption.” It is to go from being “in Adam” to being “in Christ.” It is to go from being dead in sins to being alive in Christ. “If any man is in Christ he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2Cor.5:17). When someone is united to Christ he is born again, justified, adopted, redeemed, reconciled, begins to be sanctified, and will be glorified. He is blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph.1:3).
It is to fellowship with God. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:9, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” When God called you, what did He call you into? He called you into fellowship with Jesus Christ. The word “fellowship” means a sharing together. So, when we have fellowship with Christ, there is a mutual sharing together of the believer with His Lord. The Lord communicates Himself to the Christian. The Christian communicates his needs, longings, thanks and praises to the Lord.
It is born out of a relationship with God. Thankfully, we can have a relationship with God. I can’t have a relationship with my oak tree, or an octopus. But I can have a relationship with God, because He is a person. He has personal attributes. He has a will. He loves. He hates. He desires. He can be grieved. He yearns. And I also share in all of those things. Therefore, because we both have personal attributes, we can have a relationship together. Communion flows out of relationship. Communion with God is not the same thing as doing good works. Good works flow out of communion with God, but they are not communion with God. Works that do not flow out of communion with God are dead works. And Hebrews 6:1 says that one of the elementary teachings in the Christian life is repentance from dead works. If you are doing a work which is not born out of your relationship with God, it is dead, and you need to repent of it. All our works must come from relationship with God.
It is experiential. When we commune with God, we experience Him. Communing with God is not the same thing as merely thinking about the Bible, or about God. It is to experience the presence of God as you fellowship with Him.
2. How Do We Have Communion With God?
How do we have communion with any person? We start by spending time with them. We listen to them. We share our thoughts and feelings with them. Notice that the word communion is very similar to communication. Both words share the same root. To have communion with God is to communicate with God. In order to commune with God, He must speak to us, and we must speak to Him. There must be interaction between the believer and his God.
How does God speak to us? Well, there are many ways God can speak to us. He can speak to us in a dream or a vision. He can speak to us in a word of prophecy. He can speak to us through an angelic visitation. He can speak to us audibly. However, the usual and normal way God speaks to His people is through His Word. God has told us about Himself in a Book. God is the central person revealed in that book. And when we read that Book, the Holy Spirit can open our understanding and give us a greater glimpse of Jesus Christ.
Peter ends his second epistle with these words, “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” As we commune with God, we grow. We grow in the grace of Christ and in the knowledge of Christ. In fact the way we grow in grace is by growing in knowledge of Christ.
In 1 Peter 2:1-3 we read this, “Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like new born babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.” Wow, there is so much here! Notice the analogy between the Christian and a newborn baby. What do newborns want more than anything else? Their mother’s milk! When they get hungry, and their little tummies start to rumble, they start crying. Why? To get their mother’s attention. They long for milk, and they will cry until they get it. In the same way, we are to long for the pure milk of the Word of God. What does milk do for a little baby? It nourishes him so that he will grow. What does the Word of God do for a child of God? It provides spiritual nourishment so that he grows spiritually. But what kind of growth are we speaking of? Growth in respect to salvation. This is growth in grace, spiritual growth. Peter says we are to long for the pure milk of the Word, if we have tasted the kindness of the Lord. Now, what does that mean? It means that if we have experienced and tasted the Lord’s saving kindness to us, and know how sweet and precious His kindness is, then we should long for the Word so that we might taste His kindness more and more. We taste the Lord’s kindness when He first saves us. But, thank God, that is not the only time we can taste His kindness. We are urged to long for the Word, so that we might grow spiritually and experience the Lord’s kindness over and over and over again!
Folks, according to this passage, how does a Christian make progress in his faith? How does he grow spiritually? It is through the Word of God!
2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” Here we learn how transformation takes place. To be transformed is to be changed from one thing into another, right? Did you know God wants you to change? He wants to undergo a steady process of spiritual transformation from the time you are saved until you meet Him face to face in heaven. That is His will for you. His plan for you is that you be conformed into the image of His Son. But how does that take place in our lives practically? It is by beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord. James tells us that the mirror is the Word of God. We are to gaze into the mirror of the Word, and behold the glory of the Lord. And, as we behold God’s glory, we are transformed from one degree of glory to another. All of this takes place from the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us. Again, we see that transformation takes place through the Word of God.
Brothers and sisters, if you want to commune with God, grow spiritually, and be transformed, you must be people of the Book! You must be radically committed to God’s Word. You must feed on it daily. The words of this Bible must become the nourishment of your soul. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
How do we speak to God?
Well, that one’s easy – PRAYER! If you are going to fulfill the highest priority of your life, you must be a man or woman of prayer. You are going to need to develop your prayer life.
Jesus Christ set the example for us. Mark 1:35 says, “In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.” Luke 5:16 says, “But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.” After Jesus fed the 5,000 he went up on the mountain to pray and continued there most of the night. If Jesus, the holy Son of God, felt the need to commune with his Father in prayer, how much more do we?!
We also speak to God in PRAISE and WORSHIP. We not only pour out our needs and petitions in prayer, but we lift up our hearts in praise and worship. I encourage you to make songs of praise part of your communion with God. What better way to express your love, gratitude and praise to God, than by singing to Him?
Some Practical Application
So, if our highest priority as Christians is to know and commune with God, then we need to have a plan on how we are going to seek to do that. And, that, I think, is where many believers fail. They have never resolved that they will seek God every day as the first and greatest priority of their lives. They have no spiritual discipline. They know they should read the Bible, but they don’t know where, so they dip a little here and a little there whenever it’s convenient. If that’s you, I want to help you develop a plan this morning.
We have a Bible Reading Plan for 2021. We will be reading from 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation, Mark, Luke, John and Romans as well as the Psalms. I have broken down these books into manageable daily portions. There are daily readings for Monday through Friday. You can choose to do something else on your weekends.
I want to be extremely practical here. For those of you who are not consistent in having communion with God, I want to give you some helpful directions. Of course, what I’m going to suggest is not the only way you can have communion with God. But I think it is a good way. I have been practicing what I’m going to share with you for years, and it is very rare when I leave feeling like I did not hear from God in some way.
- Choose a time and place where you will be able to focus without distractions. I think it is best to spend time with God first thing in the morning. The reason is because if you don’t, you will probably find it difficult to make the time after the responsibilities of the day begin pouring in on you. Find a place in your home where you can be alone with God. Either turn your phone off, or put it on vibrate in another room, where it will not distract you. Our cell phones can be wonderful blessings but they can also be a curse. They can distract you from God. I know, because it has happened to me on many occasions! How would you feel if you were having an important discussion with your spouse, and they kept looking down at their phone and texting while you were trying to talk to them? I imagine God feels the same way when we allow ourselves to be so easily distracted from fellowship with Him. Let’s not show such blatant respect to God!
- Bring a journal and pen with you. You will get much more out of your time with God if you capture your thoughts in writing. I have a journal, and every new day I put the date, and the text I’m reading at the top.
- Before you begin reading, ask God to enable you to behold His glory in the Scriptures. What I mean by that that is that you are asking God to make the truth of His word impact your mind, emotions and will in a powerful way so that you experience some level of transformation.
- Read through the daily reading, slowly, and carefully. You may need to read it over 2 or 3 times. If you have questions while you are reading, take the time to try to find answers. Ask questions of the text like, Who, What, Where, When, and Why. Look for repeated words or phrases. Notice the connecting words like “therefore, but, for, however, etc.” See if you can pinpoint what is the main point of the text you are reading.
- As you are reading, see if you can put your finger on what you believe the Holy Spirit is wanting you to see that morning. What truth impacts you the most from the text? What portion of the text hits home to your heart? That is probably the portion you should focus the most on.
- Begin to write your thoughts in your journal. Don’t worry about it being perfect. At this point all you are doing is trying to discover what the Lord wants you to hear from His Word that morning. Seek to discover how you can practically apply the truth you are seeing in your life.
- Text the message you believe you are seeing in the Word to the church text group. Brothers and sisters, I would like to see many people in the church texting their takeaways to the rest of the church. Many days there is only one or two people who are sharing what they are receiving from the Lord in the Word with the church. It would be so much richer if 10 or 12 people were sharing their discoveries! I exhort you to begin to do this as a way to love your brothers and sisters in Christ. Don’t worry that your thoughts won’t be as good or as spiritual as someone else’s. Just step out in faith, and share what you believe the Lord has given you for that day.
- Then, after God has spoken to you in the Word, you need to speak to Him in prayer and praise. The most natural thing for you to talk to the Lord about is what He has just spoken to you about. So, if He has spoken to you about your need to love the brethren, talk to the Lord about that. Confess your lack of love. Ask Him to help you to love difficult people. Ask Him to show you opportunities where you can demonstrate true brotherly love. Praise Him for loving you when you were unlovely. Sing songs of praise and thanks to Him. I like to do this by taking a walk around my neighborhood. I feel free to sing, and speak to the Lord audibly.
- Later that day, meditate on the Scripture passage, and revisit what you believe the Lord spoke to you, so that you are not just a hearer of the Word, but also a doer.
Brothers and sisters, in this way you will hold daily communion with your Lord. He will speak to you, and you will speak to Him. You will be transformed by beholding the glory of the Lord. This is the way of joy, sanctification and happiness. May you take up this challenge, and seek to hold daily communion with your Lord in 2021!
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