The Importance of Encountering God

Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are seated there as our Father and yet you're here in our midst. Your dwelling place is there high in heaven and with the lowly and so Lord here we are lowly people. I believe that you want to be near every lowly person.

You are near every lowly person and we lowly people cry out to you for a fresh outpouring of your Holy Spirit today that will touch our hearts, that will stir us up Lord to follow you more wholeheartedly, to be done with the things of this world and the things of self. Oh Lord we cry out to you send outpouring of your Holy Spirit. Send that fire into our hearts this morning.

Open the windows of heaven Lord like you did on Mount Carmel and set that fire on the sacrifice. Oh look down upon the altar as we've laid our all and send the fire Lord upon our lives. Burn up all that is of dross, all that is of self, all that is not of Christ.

Burn it up Lord. You can take anything away from us Lord except yourself. We mean that Lord and if there's something we're holding on to, something, some person, some relationship, some attachment.

Oh Lord I pray you'll come and burn that up. Convict us of sin. Convict us of righteousness.

Convict us of judgment Lord. I pray, thank you that you've condemned sin in the flesh so that the fulfillment, the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after this the flesh but after the Spirit. Lord give us this life of walking after the Spirit and so Lord make us people who walk after the Spirit because we're filled with the Spirit and that every requirement that you have of us will be fulfilled.

You promised it Lord. Thank you Lord that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is operating in us. Not the law of sin and death, no longer sin and death but life in Christ Jesus.

Give us this life we pray and so Lord we open our hearts to you. We open our mouths wide. We open our ears Lord and pray that your Spirit will come and write your law in our hearts in the same way that your finger wrote on those tablets of stone the law that would exist for eternity.

Lord will you write now that new covenant law on our hearts. The law of love. Love for you.

Love for each other. Love for even our enemies. Write that law in our hearts Lord.

We can't do it. This is an eternal work that you must do through the Holy Spirit. We can never do it in a million years.

So Lord come through your Holy Spirit and give us marriage love. Give us family love in our homes. Give us church love Lord.

That divine love in the church and a love for you foremost Lord. The divine love in our hearts. Pour out, shed abroad your love in our hearts.

We believe you will. You're here to do that. You are near.

May there be a spirit of reverence Lord knowing that you Lord Jesus are here in our midst and you are gonna speak to us and when we hear your voice we will receive faith. Faith that will cause us to be overcomers this week. Never again to wallow in defeat and unbelief and discouragement and worry and fear and lust and anger and jealousy and bitterness and the love of money.

Lord thank you that you will do that. We shall overcome. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. Amen. I've had a bit of a burden on my heart this week and that's what I'm gonna share with you all.

But in line with that I recently heard a story of a young young woman who quite young, a young mother who was diagnosed with a terminal disease and was and in what she said there was I think been given months to live, a young mother, two small children and it was very very touching, very moving to hear just the cry of her heart and that sense of was it was this unfairness as it were that somebody so young with children so young who probably will barely remember their mother and something she said at the end of that piece that I came across it really touched my heart and I don't know if this person knows Christ and it seemed like they didn't and but that something she said at the end was a paraphrase a little bit since I don't know what death is like she was saying there's no one to tell me what comes after I'll keep pretending I'll keep trying to remember that's what she had left all she could hold on to was memories that she had wanted to die with that sense of memory it really broke my heart when I came across that story since I don't know what death is like and there's no one to tell me what comes after this is why we're here on this earth brothers sisters and children we're here on this earth to tell the world that there we can know what comes after so often we can get so caught up with our own circumstances oh I don't have this or I don't have that or I don't feel like this or I wish my life was like that and so taken up with and I'm here to minimize any suffering that any of us is going through please know that but what a tragedy it will be if in the midst of the sir suffering and the affliction and the difficult trials that we go through on on earth God's people suffer greatly all who live godly will experience suffering we're told in second Timothy 4 so you can expect suffering if you're a child of God but what a tragedy it will be if we get to eternity and realize that God in the midst of our suffering was hoping that with everybody we came across we would leave them with a taste of eternity that there is hope after this life I believe you know it but you know that the vast majority of people around us whether they sit in churches or not don't know that don't know that you can know what happens after death I hope that nobody sitting here is afraid of death it starts their children I hope that you're not afraid of death you know that you don't have to be afraid of death if you are in Christ Jesus if you really have come to know this father we sang about you don't have to fear death at all death is just the passage to being with Jesus forever and it's wonderful but you know that their classmates whether you school at home or online or go to a school you know that the vast majority of those children will grow up not knowing what happens after and you have a few months a few days a few years maybe if they're in your class to leave them with a little taste for them to know I know a father in heaven a God who loves us so much and he's made a home for us and Jesus is coming back you can do that children it starts by you knowing God yourself and I want to start by asking especially you children but maybe this is for some of you adults as well are you sure that you will be with Jesus for eternity are you sure we ask you seriously are you sure that you will be with Jesus for eternity if not why not is there a reason that you're not sure God has done everything he's done everything for you to be sure and I believe if you've been in this church for even a few weeks or a few months which is almost everybody here you've heard us preach on it that it's a very simple step of asking Jesus come and forgive my sins and put your spirit within me so that I can be sure why not today then why not make this the day that you can be sure children I believe that most of you are old enough to know that and you have such peace you'll have an assurance you don't want to grow up like the rest of the world uncertain afraid some of you some of you I'm not I'm not trying to scare you please know that but somebody sitting here could be me could be one of you may get that news one day as a young boy or a young girl or somebody in their 20s or in their 30s that you only have a few more months to live and will you live in fear of what's going to happen after that I don't want to tell you if that was me sometimes I worry if if if I got that news that I've got a few months to live I have no fear about myself no not even a little bit I'm excited to see Jesus there is a little bit of uncertainty what will be of what will happen to my family will happen to my children of course the Lord will provide for them if the Lord allows that to happen he will take care of everything else and I'm growing in that faith but certainly I'm not afraid of death and none of you children should be afraid of death none of you adults should be afraid of death if there's a reason that you don't are not sure that you will spend eternity with Jesus why not and why not today be that day when you can be sure I want to ask you all another question as I've been asking myself are you sure that you have been filled with the Holy Spirit if not why not are you sure that the Holy Spirit has filled you filled your heart at least as much as you're aware he's going to continue to fill you yes there's a lot more filling every one of us but are you sure that every room in your heart that you're of aware of he is filled if not why not because God has promised to fill us and he wants you to have a life of not only being sure that you will spend eternity with him but that you're living here on this earth full of the Holy Spirit he wants that for us brothers sisters and children read something that I wrote in my journal this week I'll just read it as I wrote it I woke up last night this was a few days ago in the middle of the night the initial thoughts that started to come to my mind were regarding my children what our family's future would be like how I would be able to set them up for that I think any of you who are parents know can relate to that this was probably a result of conversations I'd had the previous day with someone about these topics almost instantly the Lord spoke a clear word to me I am coming soon I couldn't sleep for some time after that but my thoughts and prayers changed to yes Lord come soon and may your grace be with me to keep me ever ready for your return I'm gonna read that again but will you turn with me to the last page of your Bible the last chapter the last few verses Revelation chapter 22 I'd had a conversation with somebody and just thinking about how you know there's so much uncertainty it was around the context of that I back in the day I chose computer science because it seemed like a good field to go into and now I'm not so sure and like with their jobs are fewer because AI is taking it over and so there's so many other jobs that seem to be less affected these days and so I'm not sure I would recommend my children to go into that and on all that and so that was there in the back of my mind not in a fearful way but it was there uncertainty so I don't know what the world's gonna be like when my children are my age no idea it's changing so fast just in the last year it's changed so fast how much more in 30 years Revelation 22 verse 20 he who testifies to these things that is Jesus says yes I am coming quickly and John's response was amen let it be so come Lord Jesus so me read that again after I'd had these thoughts about my family's future almost instantly the Lord spoke a clear word to me I am coming soon please remember that your family as you go through this week Jesus is coming soon very very soon and so my prayer changed to I yes Lord come soon and may your grace because then he says the last verse of the Bible the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all may your grace be with me to keep me ever ready for your return I go on to write in my journal that I wrote the next morning I also had a burden that everyone at RLCM would have an encounter with God through the filling of the Holy Spirit and I prayed that way for some time even as I fell back to sleep when I woke up this morning the first word the Lord spoke to me was you'll turn with me to Luke 1 verse 37 Luke 1 verse 37 and I'll read it in the Amplified Bible Luke 1 verse 37 when I woke up this morning I wrote the first word the Lord spoke to me was for with God nothing and here it is about seeking for the fullness of the Holy Spirit in the same way that the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and into Mary and formed Jesus in her supernaturally the Holy Spirit came and formed Jesus inside Mary's womb a picture of how the Holy Spirit is now going to come inside you and I and form Christ in us spiritually and in this context the angel says in Mary's like how can it be and you think how can I be filled with the Holy Spirit what does that mean I prayed or I don't know what to pray and children you're perhaps thinking how can I be baptized in the Holy Spirit what does that mean then you read verse 37 for with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment I go on to write it strengthened me that the word from God that he would fill us with a Holy Spirit that's Acts 1 verse 8 has power and is certain to be fulfilled that's the burden on my heart now is for the last few days especially this week and how I would express it this morning your brothers your sisters and especially for you children young people the most important thing is that you have an encounter with God have you had an encounter with God maybe you're an adult and you grew up in a Christian home and you've said the prayer and really Christianity is just a religion and it's a way of living your life you read your Bible and say your prayer and you do this you do that come to the church meeting come to the Bible study and but it's not you haven't had an encounter with God that's why the Christian life is boring and heavy and sometimes seems like a drag and you're not sure about things in life you're not sure if being a living a life that's devoted to Christ wholeheartedly is the only life worth living and if you haven't had an encounter with God all that you hear in the Christ in the in the church will just be head knowledge the memory verses you could get up here week after week and say your memory verse and please don't stop doing that that's an exercise of faith but if you continue to do that and you haven't had an encounter with God face to face with God you're missing out and God wants you to come to that place your family your friends listening online where you have an encounter with God we've read the stories of godly men and women in that book that we read they found the secret men and women some of them were very useful in ministry some of them were already pastoring churches and they had an encounter with God read the testimony of brother David Wilkerson in in his book the cross and the switchblade where he was pastoring a church and one day he had an encounter with God and it revolutionized his ministry it's like everything else was minuscule compared to that experience he had when the Lord filled him with the Holy Spirit and and you see he lived until the end of his life so filled story after story will Samuel Logan Brangle pastoring a church here and he knew that something was lacking he hadn't had that encounter with God and yet people thought he was a wonderful preacher and people were already packing his church and he heard about William Booth who had had an encounter with God he said I want that and so he said I'm giving up my pastoral ministry and I'm gonna go to England William and here he came as this respectable pastor William birth Booth had heard of him and he said oh yeah you're that pastor right yeah I have a job for you you're gonna be shining boots famous pastor and Samuel Logan Brangle thought Lord is this what you call me to do I thought I was gonna be saving lives joining brother Booth in the streets preaching to the prostitutes and the drunkards and now all I'm doing is shining boots and he had an encounter with God while he was shining boots and he was used powerfully in the Salvation Army this story after story like that dear RLCF family especially the burden of our hearts as elders is that not one of us should go through life or sit here week after week without having that encounter children there's one prayer we pray for you not that you'll have a successful life or even that you'll get up here and say your memory verses every week or all these other things or that you'll be healthy those are secondary prayers there's if you could boil down one prayer that we pray for you dear children please listen to me look up at me if you will your children look at me for a minute there's one prayer we pray for you and that is that you will have an encounter with God and if you have that encounter with God you could be four years old you could be eight years old like little Samuel was he had an encounter with God little boy that he was God spoke to him God's not just wanting to speak to the old people like us he wants to speak to you children and please when you sit here I pray that a spirit of reverence will be here in the meetings that you you know I know sometimes the meetings are long and we don't expect you to pay full attention you might get a little distracted and you might bring some coloring but keep your ears open because God wants you to have an encounter with him he'll change your life it's changed my life to have that encounter with God my personal encounters with God came when I was at my lowest point I had a number of them I'm not just talking about meeting with God like I I meet with God every time I'm in this place honestly every meeting I'm sitting here not a single one for the last number of years I experienced God I see Jesus I pray with all of my heart Lord I want to see you and I do see him a little bit more clearly I'm not saying that proudly please don't misunderstand I'm not more special or anything than that God has given me a gift to teach he's called me to be an elder but that in terms of seeing Jesus you and I are in the same place we're all equally entitled to see Jesus but I've just made it the passion of my heart that I never want to go a single day without seeing him I never want to sit one hour even one minute in my seat there without seeing Jesus and if you'll make that your prayer you can too and you can say every time I come into these doors and I sit down I see Jesus a little bit more clearly I hear his voice a little bit more clearly that must be our life but I've had specific encounters with God that I just feel undeserving of that's why I want to share that as an encouragement for you it's not that I attained some level of spirituality and went on the mount of transfiguration and saw God that was not my experience not even once it was always shortly after I had failed the Lord after I dishonored his name after I felt so unworthy that he would speak to me that he actually met with me and filled me afresh with the Holy Spirit and so if you're here and you're discouraged and you're feeling unworthy and thinking Lord I don't know I don't connect with some of the others they seem so spiritual around here at RLCF I want you to know that forget about all that cry out to the Lord if you're in a place of emptiness in a place of loneliness he's near the lowly he's near the broken-hearted sometimes it can be possible that sitting here in RLCF that you hear the language of the church and you seem seems like well they all have this language and let that never be a hindrance if if you speak a different language and by language I mean not another earthly language but you use different words we try to use biblical words that's why that language comes from when we when we use certain phrases it's because they're written like that in God's Word and that's good because that's how God chose to word it but if you express it differently that's fine but in the midst of that don't let that lack of if you feel a little out of place in some way or a lack of connection that might happen with some of you children or some of you adults don't let that prevent you from seeking to have a personal encounter with God you must have that dear family otherwise sitting in this church would be misery you'll always feel like this I don't quite get all of it I don't fit in and all what a difference an encounter with God will have you'll grow up and you'll find that fellowship actually happens not just friendship not just coming here and having a good time but something's happening our fellowship your family must be on the basis 100% only on the fact that each of us has had an encounter with God if you're not having an encounter with God and you're not seeking for it please I want to say this very carefully if you're not seeking for a personal encounter with God I want to tell you you and I will probably not have fellowship over time it'll just get more and more distant because I'm headed in that direction that's a passion of my life the only way I want to go is to continue to have a continual encounter with God and I hope that you'll join me and then you'll join the others here who are seeking that that's what our fellowship is going to be based on we're not a special group of people I don't do that looking at others at other churches or people who have left this church or anything like that I don't even think about that much anymore see Lord I want to focus my devotion and my affection on you and having an encounter with you continually and Lord build a church out of such people and I pray that not one of you sitting here will choose a different path you know there's nothing special about this church and the Lord may lead some of you elsewhere but perhaps not saying that all of us will be sitting here or that you must sit here but wherever you go if you leave this church let it be because the Lord has called you to have an encounter with him somewhere else not because of some earthly thing oh I want this I want that or my relatives or I'd better job or anything like that let it be that God you're calling me to have an encounter with you there in that other church sure absolutely that's what I want for you if the Lord gives you a clear word that he is going to give you an encounter with him somewhere else I will open the door for you and say please go there brother it won't I won't be offended we won't stop having fellowship but let it be because you want an encounter with God and he's leading you there and children he might lead you somewhere where you'll have an encounter with him somewhere else you become young people you may go somewhere else you might marry somebody that you go live somewhere else but let even that marriage you're seeking a marriage young young people I hope that all of you young people not those of you that are below 18 too early for that but the rest of you I hope that you have your aspirations to someday be married to a godly person make this your prayer your young sisters dear young brothers Lord lead me to that spouse that brought that man that woman to who with whom I can have an encounter with you let our marriage be one where we can have an encounter with you together as a husband and wife made one meeting with Jesus this is the marriage you will have if you make it the passion of your heart but as I was saying the encounters I had always came when I was at my lowliest when I failed the Lord but you know I I thought about it like this that what I found on the other side of it that is is that that experience the Lord breaking away some relationships from me some attachments to certain things or certain people that the Lord saw was hindering me from an encounter with him and he had to break away those things and I got this picture of a rocket the way I understand rockets I'm not a rocket scientist but a little bit that I know is there's a process called staging where parts of the rocket fall away and that falling away is because that extra weight is slowing it down yes it needs that initially it's that extra portion of the rocket provides that initial thrust to move it forward but now that needs to be stripped away and you see parts of the rocket just falling up falling away from the rocket so that it can propel up into the stratosphere and continue to move in its orbit and that's exactly what those experiences of failure loss pain suffering did for me the break the tearing away and it has nothing to do with who or what the Lord took away but it the purpose of the Lord had for my life and so I'm here to encourage you church family if you're in a place where the Lord's tearing away something or allowing you to go through some loss or pain or suffering in some way and if it is his doing trust him that he's looking for you to have an encounter with him that's my testimony I want to show you from scripture a few examples and the time left from the Bible of men who had an encounter with God and the difference it made in their lives and like to start with the story of Abraham if you'll first turn with me to Hebrews chapter 6 if you remember nothing else children young people and all of us as well I often speak to the children primarily so that all of us can understand and if it means writing it down that's why we give you bulletins where there's a little blank page on the back side of it so you can write this down write this down write this prayer down Lord I want to have an encounter with you make that personal Lord I want to have an encounter with you encounter means a deep meeting one-on-one just you and God in Hebrews 6 we read in verse 13 when God made the promise to Abraham since he could swear by no one greater he swore by himself saying I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you and why is the writer of Hebrews reminding us of this story it's already recorded in Genesis 22 why is he reminding us of this story we'll continue reading and so having patiently waited verse 15 he obtained the promise for men swear by one greater than themselves and with them and oath or swearing given as confirmation is an end to every dispute that means that settles it in the same way where here's why the writer of Hebrews is recorded reminded us of this story in the same God desiring even more to show to Santos put your name there the heirs of the promise that you and I the unchangeable miss of his purpose interposed with an oath that means he decided to swear why would God swear it's the only time that I know off in scripture where it says that God swore and the writer of Hebrews reminds us of that interposed with an oath so that was 18 by two unchangeable things that is God said it and he never lies in which it is impossible for God to lie he said it first of all promised it that's the first thing that's unchangeable and just to be absolutely certain he says I swore he took an oath and that makes it all the more unchangeable two unchangeable things he promised it and he can never lie and then he swore it by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie we you and I put your name there who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement and to take hold of the hope set before us this hope we have as an anchor of the soul a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek so something happened and you know when God swore to Abraham let's go back and read that in Genesis chapter 22 see God made promises to Abraham multiple times you the journey with Abraham actually begins in Genesis chapter 12 or chapter 11 right after you see the descendants of sham and then you see Abraham Abram he's called at that time showing up towards the end of chapter 11 and God's promise to Abraham starts in chapter 12 but this is that first unchangeable thing the promise of God and in chapter 12 and chapter 13 and chapter 14 chapter 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 it's God's promise it's God's promise it's God's promise he's reminding and reminding him and reminding him but he hasn't sworn yet the swearing and then we use that word carefully it's not swearing like using a bad word but it's God taking an oath and he did it with an intentional purpose after chapter 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Isaac has come now Abraham has seen the fulfillment of the promise he sees his little boy now not so little by the time you get to chapter 22 a Isaac is I believe 16 17 18 years old probably certainly strong enough to carry wood so he's a strong young man the darling of Abraham's heart the promise that he held on to his only son at this point but God has still not sworn God wants to swear God wants to take that oath to make it absolutely sure so that you and I who have fled to God for refuge might have strong comfort and encouragement and lay a hold of the hope that is in us and before God can do that he says Abraham I want you to have an encounter with me so that I can take a note and you know the story first chapter 22 this is God about to take that oath and make it absolutely certain for you and I today see it wasn't just about Isaac it wasn't just about Abraham it was so that Abraham and Isaac going through that experience could give us that's what the writer of Hebrew says could give us strong encouragement brother sister child do you have strong encouragement in your heart to lay a hold of the hope that is before us if not meditate on Abraham and Isaac and see God taking an oath came about after these things but God has promised and promised and promised and promised and promised and promised and he's fulfilled the promise he says listen I want to take an oath about what I said I know you see a Isaac I know you see the fulfillment of the promise but there's much more Abraham after these things that God tested Abraham if you want to have an encounter with God it's going to require a test God tested Abraham and said to him Abraham and he said here I am take now your son your only son the one thing you have whom you love Isaac and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you so Abraham rose early in the morning you know what happened between verse 2 and verse 3 I believe Abraham came God spoke to Abraham in the middle of the night 11 o'clock at night Abraham's falling asleep and God says take Abraham take Isaac your only son I know I've given you the promise but I'm gonna test you now that even the fulfillment of the promise is not gonna come between me and you Abraham now you think Abraham slept a wink that night he tossed and turned how can it be or this is the promise you want me to kill the promise that's what happened between verse 2 and 3 Abraham had a sleepless night tormented his soul and if you want to have an encounter with God it's gonna cost you something it's gonna cost you giving up that which is most precious to you and but he woke arose the next morning and you know the rest of that story and he verse 9 they came to the place of which God had told him and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood and it's tormenting he's eating it up little by little as he's putting that more wood he's like what is this wood for Isaac is still confused Abraham's putting another piece of wood and with each piece of wood he's just is a little bit more of his heart is just being eaten away eaten away eaten away think about that thing which is most precious to you the Lord asking you to give it up and it's not just an instantaneous taken away from you in a moment it's a process and he's taking it away he's taking it away he's taking it away and then he starts to tie Isaac up and with each time he bound put that rope around Isaac's wrists he's thinking this is my son and Isaac's confused and I can imagine the tears flowing down Abraham's face thinking Lord you're asking me to give up this son of mine and Isaac's probably looking with pleading eyes seeing what's happening here Abraham built the altar the middle of verse 9 and arranged the wood and bound his son seems like just small words on on paper but walk through Abraham walk with Abraham through the emotions he went through there and laid him on the altar on top of the wood and Abraham stretched out his hand and to that very moment see the devil's coming at Abraham not thinking what are you doing Abraham don't do this your only son how could God ask you to give up that one thing that he promised you and Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son but the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said Abraham Abraham you've had an encounter with me and he said here I am he said do not stretch out your hand against the lad do nothing to him for now I know that you fear God this is the encounter God wants you to have with him brothers and sisters to know that you reverence God above everything else he's everything to you reverence for God means that God has become so precious to you so much you're everything that you're really willing for him to take away everything else around you take away whatever you might whatever your life looked like whatever you thought your future was going to look like he could snatch that up and you say yes Lord I fear you I reverence you alone now I know that you reverence me since you have not withhold your only you have not withhold your only then verse 15 the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven all the delight in this encounter that Abraham had with God and said I have sworn this is where God takes that oath you gave up that which was precious I've sworn it will come to pass my dear brothers dear sisters God has promised this hope this is our hope we read in that we read in Hebrews 6 an unchangeable hope where Jesus is seated at the right hand of God it enters within the veil what is that that you and I will be conformed into the image of Jesus and unless you have that encounter with God you will always face that uncertainty you'll think well I don't know I just failed how is God really gonna do that am I really gonna become like Christ but if you have that encounter with God and you're willing for him to ask you to lay that which is most precious to you on the altar and you do you will have that encounter with God you think Abraham regrets it today you know you read and he in I think it's in Romans that he he actually thought that Isaac was gonna die he didn't expect the angel to stop him he thought I'm gonna kill him but Isaac is gonna be raised back from the dead that's how much hope he had in faith you read that that he was sure that God is able to resurrect Isaac from the dead and so even if God causes something to die in your life he's able to bring it back to life in his will and in his way what is the Lord asking you to lay on the altar and you know sometimes we go into thinking well Lord you're gonna stop the knife right not really gonna have to give it up Lord I give it up I really do like Abraham see he didn't have the advantage of there was no Abraham before Abraham that he knew not somehow but he said Lord I don't care what it looks like but you're able to bring back Isaac from the dead because I saw you do that in my body my body was as good as dead Sarah's body was as good as dead you can bring back Isaac from the dead why not sure Lord I give it to you and when you give that which you have promised back to me after I have given it up then you'll know that you are more precious to me even than that gift and that promise that encounter with God now I don't read that Isaac had such an encounter with God I'm not gonna read too much into it but you know Isaac story is kind of sad at the end of his life he's blind and he can't tell the difference between his own sons Esau and Jacob and he he's not listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit to tell him he got deceived I mean have you ever thought that such a thing is possible that somebody could put goats hair on his hands and his father could be so fooled and deceived into feeling that goats hair and thinking yeah this is human hair that's how blinded and deceived Isaac became and blindly gave the blessing to I to Jacob thinking it was Esau Isaac loved food there's a lot I'm not here to make it about Isaac but I don't see that he had that encounter with God but you know who did Jacob the deceiver let's turn to Genesis chapter 28 sometimes it skips a generation it doesn't have to Genesis 28 after Jacob is deceived by by cunning by his own ability Jacob is made his name means grabber deceiver take advantage of others I'm gonna grab it take you know trick you while you're sleeping while you're not looking and after that he has to run for his life and so verse 10 he knows I Esau will kill him if he doesn't if he stays there and so he goes away Jacob departed from Beersheba and went down toward Haran and he came to a certain place and spent the night there because the Sun had set and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head and lay down in that place and he had a dream behold a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven behold the angels of God were ascending and descending on it and behold the Lord stood above it now where's the Lord he's way up there at the top of the ladder a faraway God this isn't the encounter that Jacob's gonna have yet this is him seeing God and perhaps that's where you and I have been that perhaps that's somebody sitting here where God I've seen him I hear him from a distance I sit in the meetings and his voice a little faint I think this is the word of the Lord the Lord stood it says the Lord stood above it and said I am the Lord the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac the land on which you lie I will give it to you and to your descendants here's the promise of God but Jacob hasn't yet had an encounter you know why he goes on from that place the place is called Bethel the the house of God is the literal meaning there and perhaps your experience with God is that house of God experience I come to the meetings not this physical house but the gathering of God's Saints and I hear God yeah one or two lines from the sermon or one or two lines from the songs or I get it a little bit it's God at the top of the ladder speaking far away saying I promised you I'll do it I'll make you like Jesus I'll fulfill that promise in your life but hasn't changed Jacob perhaps it hasn't changed you years after year sitting at RLCF God is far away you hear a little bit and now and then it clicks but then you just continue to live same old life Jacob continued to be a disabler for years after that and then he got tricked by his father-in-law into marrying the wrong person then he had got tricked into serving extra years and so he tries to get his father-in-law back by by trickery to get more sheep to make his flock bigger and this trickery goes on and then he deceives his father he gets his wives his father-in-law's children to join him and they run away you know he goes he says let me go far away he tells his father-in-law let me live from a distance so that you can have your space and I'll have my space what's he thinking I'm gonna bolt and he tricks his father-in-law Laban is tricked and Jacob escapes but then Laban finds out and he's chasing after him this Jacob still tricking others still trying to grab God he hasn't had that encounter with God and then he finally does let's skip to verse chapter 32 here he is on the run where he Laban finally tells him hey why were you trying to run these are my daughters I'm not gonna harm them I'm not gonna harm you just go your way okay you want to run but now he knows he's got to go meet I saw and no matter how long it's been decades he says I'm sure this brother hasn't forgiven me I remember that look of hatred on his face and I know he's he's gonna kill me I know he saw man a hunter that he is red blooded fiery redhead that he is he's gonna nothing wrong with redheads but please understand it's a I'm secretly a redhead I think you guys know that in my heart but he it says it's good you know he's angry man and and he Jacob is is is uncertain and he is afraid then we get to chapter 32 verse 24 Jacob was left alone and your family this is where you'll have that encounter with God most often I'll tell you the encounters I've had with God that are those stagings like I said the rockets have that propelled me we're almost never in this room it was always somewhere at home somewhere by myself where God met with me Jacob was left alone now you don't have to you could there could be others around you and perhaps it'll happen here that's part of the reason why we don't really do altar calls because it's difficult I find now there's nothing wrong with them some churches do them and if that's where it happens but I found even through altar calls that there can be that a little bit of Opie I'm aware that people are looking with me and I I find I'm just self-conscious and maybe you're you know you're able to get past that but more often than not certainly having an altar call in public should never should never stop you or prevent you from having those alone with God and seek for that dear family brothers sisters and children seek for that where you're left alone that means everybody has left you and you nobody can stand with you you have no friends left perhaps and you feel lonely and you feel like Lord who else is gonna leave me now and that's where God will have that encounter with you and that will make all the difference Jacob was left alone and now God comes down to him he's no longer God at the top of the ladder speaking from heaven he's come down he's fighting with him says Jacob I want to break you for years I've been trying to break you through allowing circumstances but now it looks like the only thing that will break you is an encounter with me face to face wrestling with God have you had that brothers sisters children say Lord I want you to come down from being far away I've heard enough at RLCF and I feel like you've been speaking to me from there but will you come down you come down and meet with me or dear young people I want to challenge you afresh if you're listening please listen this is the encounter that will preserve you when you leave home and you go whether you go to college or you go and get a job or you go somewhere else you must have an encounter with God the knowledge that you get in your mind of the Bible and a prayer and the teaching will never preserve you the encounter with God alone will and it will protect you from so many mistakes and so much failure God will give you all that he wants to give you in life if you have that encounter with him you don't have to fail you don't have to make mistakes you don't have to wait till you leave home let this be the day cry out from your heart and say Lord I want to have that encounter with you like Jacob had and when he saw that he had not prevailed against him he touched the socket of his thigh and you know that from that moment on Jacob walked with a limp that man that wrestled with God a picture of God himself poked him in his thigh and broke him broke his thigh his hips so badly that he could never walk straight again he needed it a crutch there may be things God will break in your life that will have a permanent effect forever you will carry that pain in your body or in your heart perhaps but you'll have had the encounter with God you think Jacob regretted it every time he got out of bed and needed to lean on that staff it was like I had that encounter I'm holding on to God he was holding on to that staff that staff was a picture of God that he had that encounter with God let's continue reading then he said the man said 26 let me go for the dawn is breaking but Jacob said I will not let you go unless you bless me I want that encounter with you God I want that blessing that you promised I want to be a victor I want to have victory I want to be an overcomer I want to have the gifts that you want me to use in your body I want the fruit of the Spirit I want love in every circumstance I want rejoicing in the Lord always I want peace that passes understanding Lord you promised it I will not let you go until you give me this life the life of Christ and so he said to him what is your name he says well I've been grabbing I'm grabber I get everything by grabbing nobody will give it to me so I tricked them into giving it to me and he says no longer your name will no longer be grabber you'll no longer be the same person that's grabbing this and grabbing that and complaining against God because you don't get what you want and complaining against God and grumbling no longer grumbler how about that no longer will your name be complainer no longer will your name be one who is anxious no longer will your name be one who is discouraged and condemns yourself no longer your name will now be Israel you have because you have striven with God where's 28 you and had an encounter with God and have prevailed he blessed him there this is the encounter and you leave read later on that he actually comes back to Bethel you read a few chapters later and he builds an altar for God there but this time it's different this is Jacob in the house of God has having had an encounter with God penny L is that place where he had he wrestled with with God and that place means the face of God have you seen dear brothers and sisters and children at RLCF let's make RLCF not just the house of God but the place where we're seeing the face of God are you coming here will you come here if not if it didn't happen today will you make it your goal in life Lord every time I walk in these doors at least these doors it can happen throughout your life but every time I walk in these doors this is the place where I'm going to see the face of God a lot of people want to go to the house of God but you can be sitting in the house of God and God is far away at the top of the ladder speaking from a distance but can you sit here in that chair and see God face to face this is the longing of his heart and if you have that encounter your life will be one where you're seeing God face to face may it be so and he never grabbed again you read in Hebrews 11 that he worshipped leaning on God leaning on his staff a picture of God you read the stories of Isaiah and Ezekiel I don't have to time time to show you but in Isaiah 6 you read but is he Isaiah at the time when King Uzziah died and I believe Isaiah had counseled Uzziah and Uzziah started out as a good king but then he got proud you read in I forget the exact passage in 2nd Chronicles where Uzziah got proud and thought he was because he had had so much success and all he had so much wealth he thought well I'm a king I might as well be the priest too and God had forbidden any king to be a priest and he went into the temple and had that censor and God judged him well the priests came in and confronted him and then he yelled back at the priests and God gave him leprosy in that moment here was Isaiah the prophet mourning over this Uzziah who had fallen seeing a leader fall like that Isaiah was a prophet of the Lord and in the year Isaiah 6 of Uzziah's death God gives Isaiah of an encounter with him those first five chapters of Isaiah you read him preaching he's preaching but I believe his preaching lacked anointing the words lacked authority he was condemning woe to them and woe to them and woe to you and woe to you and it was just a lot of good preaching and then he has an encounter with God and the first thing on his mouth lips are woe is me read that in Isaiah 6 no longer do I have a finger to point at anybody else look at how they treat me or what are they doing to me or they spoke about me like that or this person doesn't treat me right they didn't include me in that no woe is me Lord I've had an encounter with you now it's no longer about how other people treat me but woe is me because I've seen the living God I've seen his holiness what was me you know often when I leave the meetings here I'll tell you every time I have that kind of an encounter with God I leave the place thinking Lord why did you pick me woe is me why did you pick me to include me in your family that's one of the marks that you've had an encounter with God you no longer have a finger to point at even one other person no matter what they've done to you or how they treated you because you've seen the living God Ezekiel you read in chapter 1 his vision he sees the glory of God that transforms he was preaching to people who were in captivity in Babylon you could be a slave like Ezekiel was and see the glory of God have an encounter with him then lead God's people Ezekiel died in Babylon in captivity but his words are preserved until this day and we read it the promise of the new covenant was given to Ezekiel all the way there in captivity in Babylon because he had an encounter with God before I close I wanted to speak about some of the New Testament turned him with me to Acts chapter 1 this encounter with God is more than just knowing Jesus having asked him to forgive you for your sins and having your hearts cleansed through the blood of Jesus this is something deeper this is a touch with God I've seen some of you brothers and sisters and children even I've seen some of you have those encounters with God I tell you it's precious I've seen God move in your hearts and I think about that and I pray that those encounters that you've had where I've seen tears coming down your eyes I've heard the pray prayers coming from your hearts even little children where I know you've had a touch from God and that's what I'm trying to remind you of Paul encouraged Timothy with this don't forget the anointing you received when I laid hands on you now dear young people if you had those moments of encounters with God don't neglect that don't lose sight of that I know you've had that I've seen it happen in our prayer meetings I've seen it happen here and if it hasn't happened a seek for it seek for those moments when you just couldn't stop singing and you didn't want the prayer meeting to end because God had touched you and you look back on the past and you were so grateful for his love this is what I'm speaking about an encounter with God oh that you'll seek for it and long for it and dear young people especially that will transform your life that will preserve you in the dark world and this was the experience of the disciples they've walked with Jesus Jesus was far away in the sense that they were here and he was here next to them physically but not in them Jesus was somebody that make he could handle situations for them but he was a distinct person from them and if Jesus was ever in a moment not around them then they all hell broke loose literally the boat they got in a panic the boat was gonna sink because Jesus wasn't there or if he was there he was asleep in the bottom of the boat on a pillow is a Jesus that you believe in sometimes asleep in your life then you need to have an encounter with God other moments when you feel like God is not present and you start to lose your way and like Lord I haven't heard from you what do I do I've got to make these decisions for my family I've got to make these decisions for my life but I don't hear your voice oh that you will have an encounter with God and the disciples remained these fearful men and then the women you read in chapter 1 because they hadn't yet had that encounter with God acts 1 verse 12 then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet which is near Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey away and when they did entered the city they locked themselves up in an upper room afraid of what's gonna happen next Jesus is gone we saw him and we stayed there you read earlier on just a few verses they watch the heaven and then we can't see Jesus anymore I don't know what it's like you know sometimes you see these balloons going up helium filled balloons and you see I can still see it I can still see it there's a little dot I think that's it I imagine that's what it was like for them seeing Jesus slowly ascending up they're like yeah he's gone he was just here I held his hand I leaned my head on his shoulder but now he's gone he's far away I can barely see him like a dot in the skies the clouds have hidden him then the angels came and said what are you doing still looking up in heaven God wants you to have an encounter with him that'll change the way you think about Jesus and sure enough they did what did they do they obeyed Jesus he said go and wait in Jerusalem lock yourselves put aside all the other things don't move from this place until you've had that encounter with me that's what happened in Acts chapter 2 the Holy Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost and now Jesus was in them and now all heaven broke loose you couldn't stop Peter from getting in front of that crowd of multitudes and say this Jesus whom we preach is the source of salvation you must repent and you must be baptized and then they got beaten a few days later and they got thrown in jail and they went through suffering after suffering after suffering and one day Peter was hung upside down as he finished his life at a very young age but he died having experienced the true Jesus in him having had that encounter with God and dear family I don't know when the end of our your life will be I don't know when the end of my life will be but I pray it will be as ones who have had that encounter with God don't reach the end of your life without having had that encounter with God and I don't know what the eternal destiny will be for those who just knew Jesus far away at the top of the ladder somebody who was with me every now and then and fell asleep every now and then another Jesus the Jesus of today is one who wants to live in your heart through the Holy Spirit who wants to fill you with the same Spirit of Christ this is the life that you and I are called to live this is what it means to be a disciple and that encounter made them bold witnesses one last example Paul Acts chapter 26 I think we know that Paul was alive on the day of Pentecost was a young young man and then he grew up and became a Pharisee a few years later started to persecute the church I think he was in his late 20s or early 30s by time Acts chapter 9 and by the time this incident happened here was Paul being a zealous for God zealous for God being zealous for God and then he has an encounter with God Acts chapter 26 he says while so engaged being zealous for God doing lots of things for God a good member of RLCF not having had the encounter with God but here every meeting coming to the prayer meetings coming to the Bible studies helping out when there's anything that needs to be done haven't yet had that encounter with God that's where Paul is Acts 26 verse 12 I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priest at midday O King I saw on the way a light from heaven brighter than the sun shining all around me and those who are journeying with me and when they we had all fallen to the ground I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew in his own language I heard a voice saying to me Saul Saul this is what it means to have an encounter with God Santosh Santosh Samuel Samuel you read in the book of first Samuel but your name there God calling you specifically Paul had an insult had an encounter his name was changed after that why are you persecuting me it is hard for you to kick against the goals I said who are you Lord you're calling me by name until now I I revered you as the God who dwells in heaven Jehovah Jira the provider and and all that and I I revered you revered your law and this was God to me the law was everything but now you're calling me by name you're a person who are you he says I'm Jesus I am Jesus whom you are persecuting Jesus and Saul wrestling Jesus welcoming Paul and saying Paul you're mine get up stand on your feet because I for this purpose I've appeared to you I brought you to this encounter Saul for this purpose to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen but also to the things in which I will appear to you rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of sin and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me this encounter with God revolutionized Paul's life he was so filled with the love of God that it compelled him it constrained him dear family this is what God wants to do at RLCF that every single one of us sitting here will have that encounter with God you don't have to be a preacher you don't have to have a outwardly visible gift but there are people like the story I just started out with who don't know what death is like and don't have anyone to tell them what comes after it God is looking for those who had an encounter with him so he can stand you up and say stand on your feet and quit being so self-centered and occupied with your own life and your own future and your own things and self because I've called you and I've appointed you to be a minister that applies to you brothers applies to your sisters and all children young people it applies to you let's pray Heavenly Father I pray that the words that you've spoken not my words will sink deep into the hearts of every one of us myself first of all Lord I need this encounter with you even today Lord will you bring us to that place whatever it takes whatever it is we're still holding on to whatever baggage we're still carrying whatever grievance we still have whatever whatever it might be that's holding us back whatever things are entangling us whatever sin is still besetting us all Lord bring us to this encounter with you and set us free that we might fulfill the purpose for which you placed us here on this earth I believe you will Lord and may we not quickly lose may we never lose Lord the word that you've spoken to us this morning may we live as those who are seeing you face to face the face of God we believe you'll do that Lord Oh fill us with your spirit I pray don't be in a rush to move on your family your children you'll go to your Sunday school class don't worry but pause for a moment and make seal it now before you go the devil's gonna come rushing in and try to steal it from you God wants you to have an encounter with him build an altar for him now and say Lord I'm not gonna let go of you until I see your face I've heard your voice from a distance I hear you every now and then but I want to see your face Lord that will change me for eternity Oh Lord do that I pray that not a single person at RLCF will miss it I pray for those who have chosen to join us online as well I believe you want them as well to have an encounter it's not just in this place here in Loveland Lord that you're doing it all over the face of the world your spirit is moving seeking for those whose hearts are completely yours that they might have an encounter with you so that you can strongly support them Lord do that we pray I believe you will thank you thank you for your love thank you for your spirit who's with us until the work is finished thank you thank you Oh give him praise pray to him and say thank you Lord that you're gonna send you're gonna do this in my life I refuse to remain in unbelief I refuse to remain ungrateful but I thank you Lord that you who promised the Holy Spirit are sending him even now into my heart you're moving Lord here in this meeting right now I believe you're sending the Holy Spirit that we will see Jesus will have an encounter with him that will change our lives we won't go back to the same old defeated life Oh Lord do that I pray send a revival into this church Lord not an emotional revival not an earthly stirring Lord but a move of your Holy Spirit a revival to repentance a revival to true humility a revival to setting things right that need to be setting right a revival to unity in our homes and a revival to holiness Lord in our young people in our children Lord you'll do it I believe thank you thank you thank you Lord we praise you for what you've done we praise you for what you are doing we praise you for what you will do thank you Lord we give you thanks we give you thanks Lord we haven't seen all of it yet but we believe we see with eyes of faith what you're doing praise you Heavenly Father we praise you thank you in Jesus name amen