A Fresh Encounter with God - Part 1

Welcome to the end.

That's not cast in time for Monday, May 30. Today you will be encouraged to reevaluate your priorities that I got nothing get pushed aside.

Here's part one and a fresh encounter with God. Do you ever feel that somehow your prayer life is just dried up and you lost your Jordan told the Lord and God doesn't seem to be answer your prayers and you think you just wasting your time you come to the place in your spiritual life where you think will.

I've heard enough about you no longer excited about learning some new spiritual truth you found yourself being able to lick all the people who is suffering and pain and hurting and feeling nothing. Have you found yourself enmeshed in material gain.

Then it is become a priority in your life and what you want about everything else is to make more more money.

Have you found yourself absolutely smothered by the world's ways and before you realize that you were doing with the world's doing has the world invaded your life to the degree that what you really want is to keep up with the world's fashions and other people expect of you. Do you feel so distant from Christ that he is the God the father's right hand, but you way down here.

Can you cheat your employer never have a twinge of conscience is your conscience send out a ripple. When you sin against God, and used to be that it was like a tidal wave, the Christ and upon you.

Can you keep going to a church that the gospel is not preached and there is no power of the Holy Spirit evident and be satisfied then more than likely, you need a fresh new encounter with the living God, and that is the title of this message of fresh encounter with God, and I want you to turn if you will to Isaiah chapter 6 and let me define what an encounter with God is all about, and I want to read in this sixth chapter of Isaiah, an account of a prophet of God who had a fresh encounter with and the result in his own life and what he did in the life of Isaiah, God desires to do the life of every single person when it comes to having an encounter. So let's begin. Let me give you a little background of what's happening can use our had been an excellent king, he observed the Lord as king of Judah for 52 years he had made Israel a bastion of military might and power and economically they had become a tremendously progressive nation, but it all went to his head and one day in his pride and arrogance use. I'll walk into the temple, and he himself, put incense on the altar, which was a responsibility given only to the priest and he did it in a way and God gave him a case of leprosy and he spent the last 12 years of his life in a house built specially for him isolated from everyone else until he finally died of leprosy or the people of God just began to indulge themselves in sin and Isaiah begins this chapter with a sense of helplessness about the nation and he says in the year the king you size death. I saw the Lord sitting on a throne loft and exalted with the train of his robe filling the temple seraphim stood above him, each having six wings with two he covered his face immaturely covered his feet and moved to he flew.

And one called out to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory and the foundations of a threshold that is of the temple trembled at the voice of him who called out while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said woo hoo is me Brian ruling because I'm a man of unclean lips, and I live among the people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of host then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand which he had taken from the altar with Tom and he touched my mouth and with knees and said, behold this is touched your lips and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us. Then I said, hereby send me and he said go and tell this people and the rest of that is a message of judgment upon the people of God that when we talk about a fresh encounter a new encounter with God will be talking about will encounter is a meeting with someone or something that is either casual or unexpected.

So we talk about having an encounter with Christ, we are talking about an unexpected visit an unexpected confrontation and unexpected experience for the Lord Jesus Christ and as I think about those submitted times in my own life and think about what their life. First of all, you cannot manipulate an encounter with God is unexpected is unplanned. You can't program it is a visitation of God in the life of a person when he mostly say something specific to that person. It is not isolated are limited to profits of the Old Testament of the apostles of the new or preaches the servants of God today. But God is still in the process instead of the business of confronting us and encountering guys at times in our life. So encounters a meeting of the law that's unexpected. I can remember two of those that I've had that I recall the speaker it finished and we began singing have done away Lord became the verse that says hold all my being absolute sway. All of a sudden I was totally overwhelmed and overcome with awareness of the presence of God, and I knelt there at the pew and I could not wait to get out. It was like just God and myself. I couldn't wait to get out of here.

I went back to the study I got on Mondays and for three hours. I wrestled with God and knew what he was saying to me. I didn't like it. I did want to do it.

I want to hear it until about three hours, I finally said yes Lord, if that's what you wanted. That's the way you wanted all right. One other time I was kneeling to the bed in the motel room in Florida and God just overwhelmed me with awareness of his presence to say, here's what I'm going to do another time I was in a hotel room heading out the door and God just absently stopped me and I was overwhelmed with his presence melted the bed crying out to God to show me what shall I do not go through a long list of times in my own life when I've had personal encounters with God. One time I was driving down the expressway and I can remember exactly where I was.

It's as if the Lord Jesus was sitting by my side of the car and God said to me something very specifically I'm telling you it was so real I wanted to look.

I didn't but I wanted to look the reason I say that is not to say to you, I'm going to preach to you some mystical sermon, but to simply say friend don't get satisfied with the relationship to Jesus Christ and he is up there.

See the father's right hand, and you are down here and never the twain shall meet, or at least not very often that is the way God works that is and who he is. He is a loving, intimate Savior who wants to walk with you and me day by day in an intimate, warm relationship that is more intimate than a husband and wife even could possibly be because it is spirit divine spirit with human spirit.

The perfect spirit of Christ with the spirit that is being transformed like an under his moment by moment, day by day he desires far more from us and our boss than we do of ourselves and is far more willing to make himself known.

Those encounters can come in all kinds of time. For example Moses was going about shepherding after 40 years on their backs out of the desert and one day with no warning whatsoever. The spirit of the Lord sheet that is Christ himself appears in a burning bush to say to him Moses. Moses and ascending back to Egypt.

It was the same God through the Holy Spirit who spoke to the Virgin Mary going about her everyday work mundane things in a household, but her life is transform never the same. It was Christ who had spoken to Paul at Troyes when he was trying to preach the gospel there in Asia and he saw in this vision a man who said from Macedonia come over and help us to change the direction of his ministry. John the beloved was on the Isle of Patmos who he had been banished by Roman Emperor to live there forever till he died but it was the Lord Jesus Christ who came to him and that encounter and said to him, John writes what I tell you that's how we got the book of Revelation is the Lord Jesus Christ is limited to Old Testament characters and New Testament characters. No, because you see the truth is you and I have something they didn't have. We have the whole story.

They just had part of it.

We got it all.

Genesis 11 Revelation last chapter last verse. You and I have the most awesome privilege of living in an intimate, personal, warm relationship with Christ and that's what he desires. He desires to have encounters with us to meet this person with the speakers, not simply to answer our prayer, not simply to enlighten, is in some verse of Scripture. But in a personal relationship and you see it grieves my spirit to think about how many people go to church week after week, and who simply satisfied. Going to church, listening to sermons reading the Bible, praying prayers, giving money and going home and grieves my spirit when I know that Jesus Christ desires to walk personally with you intimately with you closer than a friend, closer than a relative closer than a husband or wife, and to be of vital part of everything that you're a part of, and to be absolutely perfectly intimately interested in everything that interest you and the care for you in every single area of your life you can have a care he doesn't care about you can't be concerned about something he's not concerned about you can have a problem without him being perfectly aware of.

You can't face the crises that he is not in EC. That's the kind of Christ. He is he is not distant.

He is not out yonder.

He is living on the inside of us. He said I am abiding in you and you and me, but I will ask when you think about the Lord Jesus as he appeared to be distant, something of a myth. Have you limited him and relegated him to Roman and Greek mythology you see in our society is an interesting that you can still talk about God nobody gets to upset but start talking about Christ start talking about knowing Jesus start talking about Christ answering your prayer start talking about living for Christ start talking about him living on the inside of you start talking about some personal testimony and what happens everybody around you, and oftentimes believers get fidgety what are you embarrassed about.

Yet many of you who name him and say that you're his following that you're a Christian, that you're a believer, the real gut level. Truth is you are embarrassed when someone brings up his name in the presence of your friends. The people you work with who are not saved you get embarrassed. Why, why get embarrassed about Christ.

I want to tell you why because you have a distant relationship with when you loving and you walking intimately with him it was you say yeah limited to about anything.

What he did in my life.

What difference does it make if somebody doesn't understand what difference does it make if they don't care what difference does it make if they get upset and they become nervous.

Listen, if I were lost and held now not become very nervous if you start talking about Jesus Christ. Mild hope of salvation. So friend expect them to get nervous and upset, fidgety, isn't it interesting how Christians are not unbelievers tell dirty, filthy, immoral, since you will jokes never say a word, they can criticize the Lord Jesus Christ and profane his name, and you never say a word. My friend is he an intimate friend or is he a distant somebody that you serve and saw the worship and I will ask you again are you satisfy what you know about Christ. Are you satisfied with just applying some of the things that you've heard and known, or could you say I have a DVD earning hunger to know this man Christ. I cannot get enough of him. I want to know how to live intimately with him. I want to know him, I will disserve him. I want my whole life to be his possession or you get your greatest sense of contentment with the world's approval, you love what the world has to offer you satisfied with the world's pleasures are you more interested in what the world has to offer what God has done what are you so in tune to the world's entertainment that you want to come to church and be entertained. Are you want to hear the truth. It repeats itself of your soul and challenges and threatens your lifestyle because you know deep down inside.

Christ is the friend that he desires to be. He's a distant Savior and somehow you're more comfortable with his distance well that's not the way he wants to be and that's not the way he's going to be in your life and mine and solace to look at the six chapter of Isaiah. In the light of a new encounter of fresh encounter with him when there is this sense with helm that I'm going to describe what can you expect the first thing you can expect is an overwhelming awareness of his presence. You see, you can have an encounter with Christ anywhere in church at whole is reset driving down the expressway in your office walking down the street doesn't make a difference where wherever he chooses, but one of the things that you always be aware of is an overwhelming sense of his presence to listen to what happened, dies at he said that he it was a year the king use our data. He saw the Lord sitting on a throne locked and exalted with the trend of the road filling the temple he was in the temple in the meditating or sitting. There are thinking about God. Whatever it might've been all of a sudden God gave him a vision of Christ is about wait a minute John chapter 1 verse 18 says no man has ever seen God so what did he see we call this a theophany, that is, he saw a manifestation of God and who is this he says in John chapter 12 what Isaiah saw was he saw the glorified living Christ. So what Isaiah sees, here is Christ in his exalted position is he says, sitting upon a throne, high and lofty and exalted. This is what he is seen now is it not normal and natural be expected with the when the Lord is going to speak to us in a very special way about something that we become aware of his presence. I want to ask you what is the last time all of a sudden you were just overwhelmed with awareness of the presence of Christ or have you relegated out again to the Old Testament of the New Testament listen. He says he is the same yesterday today and forever. So why would I not expect him to make himself known to me and overwhelm me with the awareness of his presence there times when I'm sitting at my desk and I'll be reading or studying something in all of a sudden I'm so overwhelmed with the presence of Christ and something about I just have to quit walk away and get on my face not begin to pray. But to be quiet and listen.

I don't want to say anything.

I know I want to say anything because I don't want to miss anything that God may be trying to say you know if I'm in too big of a hurry, and more than likely I'm going to miss even God and you see you realize that he has to compete with a lot of things in your life and mine. He has to compete with our schedule. He has to compete with the things that we love he has to compete with our friends. He has to compete with our work. He has to compete with all of the thousands of voices. When does God ever having the time to say I want to talk to you when does he have any time to make you feel the awareness of his presence. When is the last time either in church or you were doing anything. All of a sudden you just knew you were in the presence of the Lord is.

I don't think God does those things the day that my friend, you just confessed your distance from Allen ask a question. As you look at your life to look at anybody else's life.

Did you look at your lifestyle. Can God even get in a little bit, having dizzy, having a terminal is a lot I don't think I can really count as with him. Is it because your heirs were so attuned to the world's voices and it sounds and its music and its athletics and it's all this other stuff that you can even hearing thank you for listening to a fresh encounter with God.

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