Right Experience with God

서론

- In the last April, I shared a message with Gen 35 where Jacob encountered God personally in Bethel.

- Do you remember that I asked you guys this question?: “Do you have the experience of Bethel where God appeared to you and met you and spoke to you?”

- I long for you guys to encounter God just as Jacob met God in Bethel. That is why I decided the theme of this retreat as “Encounter God!.” I hope this Summer retreat to be your Bethel.

- Since May, we have talked about people who encountered God in the Bible. We dealt with the stories of Samuel, Isaiah, and John, their stories of encountering God.

- Through the story where Samuel encountered God, we learned that God reveals Himself through His word. It means that we can encounter God through His word.

- Through Isaiah’s story, we learned that Isaiah saw and experienced God, the real King, and His glorious presence. We also learned that Isaiah dispaired because of his dirtiness before the Holy God, but he also experience God’s grace of forgiveness.

- Through Apostle John’s story, we learned that he experienced the beauty of Jesus, and that John was thoroughly overwhelmed by the glory and beauty. I told you that our Jesus is perfectly beautiful, and that we can experience the beauty of Jesus when we are in the Holy Spirit.

>> Tonight, I hope we all may encounter God just as Jacob, Samuel, Isaiah, and John met God.

~ Now, I’m about to talk about what a right experience is.

체험의 중요성! 바른 체험의 중요성!

- Experiencing God is translated into “체험" or “경험" in Korean.

- Experiencing God is important!

- If we know somebody only with knowledge or some information but don’t have any experience with him, is it a meaningful relationlship?

- EX: Do you know Obama? Trump? Biden? Yes. I know!

- But how about this question? Have you ever met him personally and have an enjoyable time with him? If not, it is not a special relationship.

- Agree?

- When we experience God, we can say that we really know Him. Through real experience, our faith can be strengthened, and our relationship with God can be more intimate.

- But there are wrong experiences.

- EX: Wrong experience can make us ignore the importance of the Bible or doctrine. Some experience can make people think that our thoughts and intellects are useless. Some experience can be so stimulating that people seek after only some particular intense phenomena.

- That is why “right experience” is important.

~ So today, I’d like to talk about what the biblically right experience with God is.

바른 체험이란? 바른 체험의 4가지 특징

What is a right experience with God?

- 아이들에게 질문하기

- Yes! Right experience is not focusing on some phenomena or self-centered emotion. But if the experience touch the relationship between God and you, it is a right experience.

- In other words, if the experience had a good influence on the relationship with God, it is a right experience.

Four Features of a right Experience

- For a few last weeks, we examined examples where people in the Bible experienced God in a variety of ways.

- Through the examples in the Bible, I summarized the diverse features discovered in the Bible into four things.

- These are four characteristics of the right experience with God. Remember these four characteristics. We will pray with four points after this sermon.

(1) Faith in the Existence and Presence of God <하나님의 임재>

- 하나님이 존재한다는 것과 그가 지금 나와 함께 한다는 것이 믿어짐

- If you rightly encounter God, you come to believe that God exists, and that God is with you.

- It is the experience beyond our intellectual understanding. At the moments, one vividly experience that God is really alive and present with him or her.

- EX: When we meditate on God’s word, or when we pray, we can sometimes have similar experiences. It feels like God is really with me or beside me. It feels like God’s presence thoroughly fills the heart and the place.

- This feeling is different from other common feelings. This is the feeling you can sense when you are replete with the faith that God is with you.

(2) Awe of God and Despair about Oneself <자기 절망와 회개>

- 하나님에 대한 경외심으로 충만해지며, 동시에 내 안의 죄로 인해 탄식하고 절망함

- A biblically right experience with God makes you fear God, and at the same time, it makes you grieve and despair because of sins in you.

- EX: 미국에 오기 전… 영어공부… 기대감.. 미국에 오니.. 진짜 원어민의 말을 들으니..

- 추운 겨울… 카페에서.. 어버버. “I.. am hot Americano...” 부끄럽고.. 좌절.. 절망..

- I realized my reality in front of the real thing. 진짜 앞에서 나의 현실을 깨달았다.

- When we rightly encounter God, we will realize that God is really high and exalted one, but we are so low and humble. God is holy and awesome, but we are awfully dirty and disgusting.

- Before his bright light, all our weakness and wickedness (부족함과 부정함) will be fully revealed. So we will grieve and despair.

>> When you pray tonight, I want this work to happen to you guys. We need to realize our reality. There is no good in us.

>> Despair because of your spiritual state before God!

>> Repent your sins with tears tonight!

!! That is a real encounter with God.

(3) God’s grace of forgiving sin <하나님의 은혜>

- 나의 죄를 용서해 주시는 하나님의 은혜를 경험

- After making us despair of our reality, God never leaves us in that state. Our God always restore us from the despair.

- Those who experienced despair before God subsequently experience God’s grace of forgiving sins. They realize that God still loves them in spite of their unclean sins.

- In other words, they come to believe in the Gospel.

- In the past, they did not believe that Jesus is the Son of God or he died for us. But now they became convinced that Jesus died for them on the cross, and he solved all the problems of sins with his sacrifice, and He has risen from the dead after three days.

- They become greatly moved by God’s grace. It is really experiencing the Gospel.

>> I hope you all to experience this grace of being forgiven by God and of confirming God’s great love tonight.

(4) The personal and deep fellowship with God <하나님과의 교제>

- The right experience with God means that we enjoy the fellowship with God.

- Imagine the fellowship with our God. He is the Creator, our only King. He is our Savior. He is a beautiful one.

- So the fellowship with God is always sweet and peaceful.

- In His powerful presence, we will be overcome by His beauty so we will perfectly focus on only God.

- EX: James & Baily / When James came back home, the puppy ran into him and jump with ...

- I thought that they are almost dating. It looked happy.

- Our fellowship with God should be like that. When we rightly experience God, we can enjoy this kind of intimate fellowship.

!! The close fellowship is the essence of experiencing God.

<< EX 33:7

>> I bless you may enjoy this sweet and intimate fellowship with God tonight.

>> Confess your thanksgivings to Him! Confess your praises to Him! Say anything to your best friend who is always with you!

~ These four things are the features of biblically right experiences. <PPT>

믿음을 통해 이것들을 경험함 Experiencing these through Faith

- There is one common point of these four features. This is an all-encompassing thing.

- Faith!

- We don’t need to always see God with our eyes or hear His voice with ears to experience God. It is possible but not common.

- In the NT era, God gave us all the Holy Spirit. His role is to make us believe what is not seen.

<< Heb 11:1

- So, we experience God through faith.

- In fact, all the four features we just shared are regarding faith.

- (1) the faith in God’s existence and presence

- (2) the realization of his or her weakness and wickedness / a kind of faith

- (3) the grace of God. the conviction of the Gospel. This feature is coming to believe the Gospel.

- (4) the fellowship with God / This is also based on the faith that God is present and the faith that God is a personal being.

- When God appears to us, when we encounter God, this kind of faith arise in us. This faith in God fully fills our hearts.

- If you did not have faith before, the faith will newly arise in you.

- If you originally had this faith before, the faith will be strengthened and more vivid.

<PPT>

- Jonathan Edwards, who is famous for the Great Awakening in America, expressed this faith as “a new spiritual sense.” He also called this as “sense of the heart.”

- He said that when we experience God, a new sense arise in us. This is a sense we never experienced before. This sense makes us very sensitive to God and our sins.

- He continuously says, when we experience God, because of this vivid and sensitive sense, we become filled with the awareness of God’s greatness, glory, and grace, and we become filled with the love for God. At the same time, we will hate sins in us.

- He is talking about a new sense of a new experience. This means faith. “Faith and a spiritual sense” are different expressions for the same thing.

~ When this faith fills our hearts, diverse phenomena appear.

다양한 현상들

- EX: 다양한 현상들

- When you are filled with this faith, you may shed tears suddenly.

- You may recall your sins and come to confess all your big and small sins. You will accept that you are really a sinner.

- You can feel like God is present just beside you.

- You can feel peace that you have never experienced before.

- The assurance may arise in you that you can be saved because of Jesus although you are sinners.

- You may feel like God is so glorious. Then, you think, “Oh now I can understand the word “the glory of God.””

- You may think to yourself, “It is not a waste to do something for Jesus.” Some of you may make a resolve to offer your life to God tonight.

- EX: You can experience some spiritually mysterious phenomena.

- Suddenly you might speak in tongue.

- You can feel trembling or feel electricity in your body.

- You may see some vision in the Spirit. Some of you may hear God’s voice with your physical ears.

- These mysterious phenomena can happen to you. It is possible. These are good things. But these are not the most important things.

- Phenomena vary from person to person.

- When you pray and experience God, there may or may not be phenomena.

- Although there is no special phenomena or intense feelings, don’t be disappointed.

!! What matters is faith!

!! If you become filled with the faith in God, especially the faith in the four features we talked about, and if you have a personal fellowship time with God in His presence, it is a right experience.

결론

<< Jer 29:13

- Encountering God is up to God. It’s God’s grace and God’s work. For us to meet God, He should appear to us.

- But he also promised to us that we can meet Him if we seek Him with all our hearts.

- “Eagerness” is needed for us now. <PPT>

- EX: Lastly, let me testify about one of my experiences.

- I often said that I was changed with the grace of God when I was 22 yrs old. This also happened when I was 22.

- In that year, I participated in some retreat. It was Summer. That night, the speaker encouraged us to pray that we may receive the gift of speaking in tongues. I longed for it so much. But sadly, I couldn’t receive the gift of speaking in tongues although many other people received the gift.

- After coming back home, I was still eager for the gift. Now I know that speaking in tongues is not the most important thing. But I just wanted to experience God at that time. Because I was so eager for God, I could not sleep. Past 2 AM, I came out to the yard of our church. There I sat on a chair, and I earnestly prayed to God. At that time, I just longed for God.

- I can never forget the experience of the time. I had the experience that my heart was fully filled with faith in God’s presence. And I was speaking in tongues. And I felt like a thing like electricity flows through my body.

- By the way, feeling or phenomena are not important. What matters is the faith, the faith in God, the faith in the four features.

- At that time, I had eagerness, so I could experience God.

- After experiencing God that night, my life was changed.

- This world was the same as before. But my heart was changed. My perspective was changed.

- The world looked bright. People all looked lovely. I could understand all people’s behaviors, even bad behaviors. I felt sorry for them.

- After that night, I began to think of God more than before.

- Importantly, absolute faith in the Bible arose in me. And when I prayed, I really believed in the power of my prayer, So I experienced a lot of answers.

!! That night, I had a very special exprience that I was filled with the faith in God, and God’ presence. And the key was “eagerness.”

>> Tonight, pray to God earnestly to appear to us.

>> Let’s pray to give us the grace of coming to believe.

>> Focus on God, His promise, His presence! Look to God!

>> Don’t care about other things that make you distracted. Don’t care about other people.

>> Consider only you and God!

<함께 기도하기>

1일차 기도합주회

<찬양 1 "Holy Spirit you are welcome here" (지금 여기 계신 성령님)> 영어 >> 한국어

- 성령의 임재와 도우심을 위하여 기도하기 /

그 성령님이 하시는 일이 무엇이냐? 우리의 가리워진 눈을 여셔서 주님을 보게 하신다.

믿음의 눈을 여셔서 하나님이 믿어진게 하신다. 주님의 아름다움을 경험하게 하신다.

성령님이 중요하다.

성령께서 우리의 마음을 만지시고, 우리의 귀를 여시고, 우리의 믿음의 눈을 열어달라고 기도해야 한다.

우리 안에 계신 성령께서 내 안에서 일하여 달라고 기도해야 한다.

- 내 마음을 믿음으로 가득히 채워달라고 기도해야 한다.

하나님을 체험하게 하소서 / 새로운 영적 감각을 주소서! 믿음을 주소서!

<찬양 2 "마음이 상한 자를"> 한글 >> 영어 / 1절만 / 2절은

- 나를 만나달라고 간절하게 기도하자! / 렘 29:13 "간절하게 온맘으로"

- (1) 하나님이 계시다는 것과 나와 함께 하신다는 것이 믿어지도록

<찬양 3 "Amazing Grace">

- (2) 거룩하신 하나님 앞에서 자신의 더러움을 보게 해달라고! 자신의 죄를 깨닫게 해달라고! 나의 죄인됨을 인정 / 회개의 영이 임하도록! 회개기도!

- (3) 나를 용서해주시는 하나님의 은혜를 경험하게 하소서! 복음을 선포! 복음을 경험하도록

<찬양 4 "더 원합니다">

- (4) 하나님과의 교제를 누리며 기도하기

- 복음의 확신이 없는 친구들을 위해 / 아이들을 도전하기 / 하나님께 돌아오라!

<마지막 찬양 5 "예수 아름다우신 (Beautiful Savior)">

불 키고, 다 함께 일어서서 찬양!!!

Way Maker 찬양팀 올라와서 찬양