Close Encounters: Part 2

I have been counting the days till the season opener of Mississippi’s turkey season and it’s only a couple weeks away! Also the weather has been unseasonably warm during these late winter days and with reports of turkeys already gobbling and strutting I don’t know if I can make it another two weeks. Just the thought of a close encounter with a spring monarch makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Again, as I think of this the Lord whispers to me, “I wish you would get that excited about me from time to time.” So let’s get back to our study on getting close to God as we look at Abraham’s close encounter with the King of Glory.

Genesis 18:1-19 (19) For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

What Does God Have To Say About You?

The LORD met face to face with Abraham and even ate supper with him. Can you imagine having Jesus, accompanied by a couple of angles, over at your house for supper? Let us look into the story and see what lessons we can learn about God from the conversations at Abraham’s supper table.

I. The First revealing fact about God is His Knowledge.
* Specifically His knowledge of us, “I know him”
See here The Cognizance of God
A. God is Omniscient
1. Omniscience: a theological term that refers to God’s superior knowledge and wisdom, His power to know ALL things. God knows our thoughts from afar. Not only is He the Lord of your heart, God is the Lord of your mind.
2. God seen Sarah’s thoughts in verses 11-13
3. God’s Knowledge brings Delight to the Righteous but Difficulty to the Wicked.
a. He knows your faith
b. He knows your feelings
c. He knows your family
* Many times our faith may be so unselfish that it may go unnoticed by others even sometimes ourselves,
but not unnoticed by God. He sees every thought and every action very clearly.
* However, God knows all about the evil deeds done; even though the wicked think they have concealed
their evil thoughts and actions from others.

II. The Second revealing fact about God is His Nature.
* Specifically His Nature toward us: “The way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment”
See here The Character of God
A. God is Omnipotent: “Is anything too hard for the LORD?”
1. Omnipotence: A theological term that refers to the all-encompassing power of God. The almighty God expects human beings to obey Him, and He holds them responsible for their thoughts and actions. He is the all-powerful Lord who has created all things and sustains them by the Word of His Power.
2. Power to Praise the Just
3. Power to Punish the Unjust
4. Are you for Him or against Him?

B. God is Omnipresent
1. Omnipresence: A theological term that refers to the unlimited nature of God or His ability to be everywhere at all times. God is not like the manufactured idols of ancient cultures that were limited to one altar or temple area. God reveals Himself in the Bible as the Lord who is everywhere. God is present in all of creation. God is present in our innermost thoughts. God was present before, now, and forever will God be.
2. God sees in secret and rewards in secret, as Jesus taught His disciples: He looks not only on outward actions, but especially on the inner attitudes of a person’s heart. Because God is the Creator and Sustainer of time and space, He is everywhere. Being everywhere: He is our great Shepherd, He is our great Comforter, He is our great Friend, and He is our great Savior.
* This is the whole essence of this study. Knowing that His presence is always near and embracing it!

III. The Third revealing fact about God is His Testament.
* Specifically God’s Testimony about us, “I know him, that he will command his children and his household after
him.”
See here The Compliment of God
COMPLIMENTS
* Compliments cost nothing, yet many pay dear for them.
* A compliment is a gift, not to be thrown away carelessly unless you want to hurt the giver. Eleanor Hamilton
* You must not pay a person a compliment, and then straightway follow it with a criticism. Mark Twain
* I can live for two months on a good compliment Mark Twain
* Don't tell a woman she's pretty; tell her there's no other woman like her, and all roads will open to you. Jules Renard
* Nothing is so silly as the expression of a man who is being complimented. Andre Gide

A. God complimented Abraham for his Leadership of his family.
1. Honor in the Home
a. How “command”
b. Command is too strong for our day, but it happens to be acceptable with God.
c. Joshua 24:15, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
2. Headship is the Husband
a. This is the man’s job
b. It’s time for the men to be men and lead their homes as God has ordained.
B. God complimented Abraham for his Love for his family.
* To lead your family in the ways of the Lord is the best way to show God and this world that you love them.
* H.A. Ironside quotes Proverbs 13:24, “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.” Family discipline should be patterned after the divine discipline of Hebrews 12. It is not love, but the lack of it, that allows a child to go undisciplined. He is allowed to develop unchecked tendencies and inclinations that will result in future sorrow. Ours is a day of great laxity in discipline. The coming generation will reap the bitter fruit of the absence of restraint and the evident aversion to discipline in the majority of homes. A sickly sentimentality, supposedly wiser and more compassionate than God Himself, has made it fashionable to denounce the use of the rod as a relic of a barbarous age. But the difference in the character of disciplined children and the well ordered home certainly proves the truth of Scripture.
* It is even worse when control is ignored among Christians on the plea that grace is reining. Grace never sets aside restraint. The two principles are not opposed. In the divine ways, grace and restraint work side by side, as they should in the home.

* God said something positive about Abraham.
* Does God have something positive to say about you?

It is my prayer that you are searching for that close encounter with Almighty God. Now he may not come over to your house and literally eat supper with you, as seen here in Abraham’s case. However, you can open up your heart unto Him as you open up the scriptures and He will feed you intimately from His Word. And if you are doing this simple act on a daily basis I would say that He does have something positive to say about you. If not, you are missing out on a close encounter that will do more than make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Join us again next week, as we look further into these close encounters with the King of Glory.

God Bless and Happy Hunting.

Posted by Mark Newell