Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (9/3/17)

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Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (9/3/17)

Oneness & Intimacy

September 3, 2017 • Benham Brothers

•God has created us for oneness - three levels:
•1) God, 2) Spouse, 3) Others (family, community, church)
•It's easier to love God than people - He doesn't stink, say the wrong thing, etc.
•Without God - 1+1=2. With God - 1+1+1=1. The Holy Spirit is the bonding agent.
•John 17:20-24 - “Father make them one as we are one.” They are Three.
•Cookie dough - individual ingredients mixed together make a new substance.
•The Holy Spirit is the eggs (bonding), the world is the mixing bowl (battle).
•Battle - God puts us in the context of battle so we’ll gel together - Gladiator: “As One!”
•Oneness means intimacy - “in-to-me-see” - fully known and fully accepted.
•** ACCEPTANCE is the key to oneness. LOVE is the key to acceptance.**
•ECC 4:9-10 - Dixie Stampede - when you’re one, you exert less effort but get more result.
•** THREE things you need to experience oneness (intimacy):
•1) CLOSENESS (Ecc 4:11) - God made us to be close - body heat (Cold Bed!)
•The result of Closeness is Comfort. But it often takes time. Two aspects:
•a)Two cold people (both hurting).
•b) One cold & one warm (one hurting and the other healthy) - the healthy needs to be patient.
•Temporary pain always leads to permanent gain.
•How do we stay close? Two aspects:
•ECC 4:12a - know you need each other (you’re in a battle) - the devil seeks to distract, deceive, divide.
•ECC 4:12b - invite a third person into the mix - God!
•*** Picture of Intimacy - Song of Solomon - a picture of marriage:
•SoS 1:2-4 - Kissing can’t happen unless you are willing to get close! (the girl chased him!!!)
•SoS 1:6 - Intimacy reveals our insecurities - vulnerability often makes people want to HIDE!
•Acceptance is the answer. Two facets to acceptance:
•a) Be accepting - Revelation 3:20 is our example.
•b) Be acceptable - if can change it, do it. But if not, accept yourself as God created you.
*** Don't accept the things you can change, and accept the things you can't.
•note - she was insecure about the thing her husband loved (vs 8-10 & 15 prove it).
•2) CONCENTRATION (Sos 4:1-16) - proactively think positive thoughts about others.
•When dating we think of what’s Right w/our spouse, but in marriage we think of what’s Wrong.
•This is why we have to take thoughts captive.
•Positive thinking about a person bonds you to that person. (where your treasure is....)
•In marriage, Concentration leads to Captivation - SoS shows us a captivated man.
*** When you are captivated, the things you used to criticize become cute.
•3) COMPLETENESS (1 Cor 13:4-7) - before oneness you need twoness.
•Two complete individuals - spiritually mature - LOVE is the mark of maturity.
•The characteristics of love in 1 Cor show up in the fruit of the Spirit Paul lists in Galatians 5:22-23.
•KEY - Love releases the power of the Spirit in our relationships - love for God and for others.
•Conflict - it is easy to love someone when nothing is wrong.
•Two things always manifest when conflict takes place:
•1) the issue itself
•2) the ability of the person to handle the issue.
** If #1 is good #2 will take care of itself.
** Two types of people:
•** those who welcome feedback and are willing to own their problem.
•** those who don’t welcome feedback and will not own their problem.
•Conflict is resolved and Closeness maintained when:
•a) ACCEPT - both parties willingly accept their part
•b) LOVE - both parties operate in LOVE.

More from Building a Spiritual Foundation

Why Genesis?

January 6, 2019 • Benham Brothers

NEW BEGINNINGS - a message of encouragement from God to His kids (the Jews and Jesus) about the new phase of life in which they were about to embark * God to the Israelites: * The Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land. * What message would God have for them? * God downloaded five books into Moses, one of them went back to the beginning - Genesis. * The Jews needed this book to create a solid foundation for their new life. * Many scholars believe that the Israelites fled Egypt around 1450-1440 BC. * They also believe Moses wrote Genesis around 1400 BC. * KEY - Whatever God forms He fills. * But there’s an order to how He does it: * Illumination - Separation - Habitation. * He did this with all of creation - the earth first and then mankind. * Gen 1:1-2 - He created the heavens and the earth. * But the earth was FORMLESS - God needed to FORM it. * The earth was VOID - He needed to FILL it. * The Six Days of Creation are all about Him forming and filling. * 1) ILLUMINATION: Gen 1:3 * 2) SEPARATION: Gen 1:4-9 * * light from darkness * * waters below from waters above * * land from water * Illumination and separation prepared the way for habitation. * 3) HABITATION: * vs 10-31 - Vegetation, Animals, Humans. Day 1 - Heavens and the earth (nothing but water) - He lit it up and split it up! Day 2 - Sky - He separated the waters above and below Day 3 - Land - He separated the water from the dirt - vegetation was a part of this Day 4 - Stars - Gen 1:14-18 - Before habitation he had to create government so people could keep things separate. Day 5 - Fish Day 6 - Animals & Man * EXAMPLE - ADAM: God did with Adam what He did with the earth. * vs 2:19-20 - ILLUMINATION - no helper was “found” - he was looking. * vs 2:21 - SEPARATION - feminine was removed from masculine. * vs 2:22-25 - HABITATION - and they lived happily ever after. * FLOOD - when God brought the flood He set the earth back to its original form (full of water) - He removed Separation. (Genesis 7:21) * APPLICATION: Illumination - Separation - Habitation * 1) Walk in the light. Spend time with God in prayer and the Word. * 2) Stay separate from the world. “Be holy for I am holy.” * 3) When we walk in the light and remain separate we live in God and He lives in us.

Matthew 16:17-19 (2/4/16)

February 4, 2016 • Benham Brothers

• The disciples were expecting Christ to establish a new kingdom. • But He let them in on His plan - it was to build a church. • They knew what "ekklesia" meant: • 1) an assembly of Greek citizens that governed a city or district. • 2) the congregation of Israel when gathered for religious activity. • He didn't stop there - He let them in on the entire role of the church: • WHO - anyone who made the same claim as Peter. • WHERE - the "gates" represented power and authority - City Hall. • Gates of Hell represented the places where Satan exercised power and authority. • WHAT - keys represent access to authority. • The church would get access to God's authority. • The church could bind what was free (evil), and free what was bound (good). • CHURCH - "a religious governing body made up of Christians who exercise God's ruling authority on the earth." • This means there will always be a fight.

Mark 16:15-18 (3/15/18)

March 15, 2018 • Benham Brothers

* Christ’s last words on earth were a commission for believers to be Kingdom Advancers in this world. * vs 16 - it starts with belief. To believe is to “commit.” * vs 17-18 - Just as Moses had signs that accompanied him as well as the apostles in Acts, so will we as believers. * Signs represent to the outside what is true on the inside (like a skin disease). * Signs make the invisible visible. * Here are the signs that will accompany believers to show the POWER that’s inside them: * 1) We WILL cast out demons - this is a matter of AUTHORITY (the “right to use power”). * The power of God in us will overcome the power of Satan in others. * 2) We WILL speak in new tongues - this is a matter of CLARITY. * A believer will talk differently - it will be in a way others can understand. * We can also speak in prayer tongues if we’re open to the Spirit’s leading. * 3) We WILL pick up serpents with our hands - this is a matter of BRAVERY. * We won’t walk in fear - what others fear won’t affect us (there’s no mention of snake bite). * 4) IF we drink poison, it won’t affect us - this is a matter of IMMUNITY. * The things that are meant to harm us won’t because of the power inside us. * ** Persecution - when others want to harm us it won’t. * ** Purity - the stuff of the world won’t affect us on the inside (like a hose that’s on inside a mud hole). * 5) We WILL lay our hands on the sick and they will recover - this is about COMMUNITY. * Believers will be conduits through which God brings healing to others. * We not only have the power to do it but also the desire.