Peter Tan-Chi - Have a Fresh Encounter With God
Our message today, I find it very important, my heart is for all of you to know God and to love Him. So my title for today’s talk, for our anniversary is Fresh Encounter with God. Okay, everybody, let’s read. Have A Fresh Encounter With God. Our God is limitless, but you need to have a fresh encounter. What do I mean by fresh encounter? The Bible wants you to know it is so important that you come to know God every day on the fresh way of Him working in your life. Why? Because most of us have come to know Jesus, maybe some time ago, a few years ago, but you don’t have current experiences. God wants you to be fresh with Him. To have intimacy.
So let’s look at the Bible. Isaiah 6:1. «In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the LORD sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple». (Isaiah 6:1) It shows you the grandeur, the greatness of God. But notice the background, «In the year of King Uzziah’s death» (Isaiah 6:1), Isaiah was serving God under five different kings. King Uzziah, King Jotham, King Ahaz, King Hezekiah, and King Manasseh. What kept Isaiah faithful? First, you see, God takes the initiative to open the eyes of Isaiah. The Bible says, «In the year of King Uzziah’s death» (Isaiah 6:1).
When a king dies, there is political instability, economic uncertainty. I don’t know what’s going on with your life today. You may be facing challenges just like Isaiah. Isaiah may be nervous, he may be fearful. What is God’s solution? To open the eyes of Isaiah to have a fresh vision of who God is. «I saw the Lord» (Isaiah 6:1). What did Isaiah see? What was God doing? «sitting on a throne» (Isaiah 6:1). What does that mean? A king will come and go. No matter how rich a king is, no matter how much money the king has, no matter what kind of doctor he can afford, sooner or later, the king will die. The only King that will never ever die, that is always a King, forever the King is who? The LORD. God is telling you today, «I am in charge. I am in control».
Do you know why people worry? They want to be in control. And because they cannot be in control, they worry. Ladies and gentlemen, God is telling you, «Don’t worry, I am in charge». Amen? So God is telling all of you today, no matter what’s happening in your life, God is telling you, «I am on the throne». Now, what enters your mind when you think of God? You know, for some people, they have a distorted view of God because when they were growing up, maybe their parents were not responsible, their father was not good, so their image of God is distorted. They don’t feel good when they think of God. But can I tell you something? Our God is almighty. Our God is all powerful. But above all, our God is your Father. He loves you. He’s not only our King, He is the King of kings. There is no accident in the life of God’s people.
Now, you may think it’s an accident. Look at Romans 8, what kind of God do you have? Can I tell you the God of the Bible? The God of the Bible is not a policeman. The God of the Bible is not somebody who is angry. The God of the Bible is a King of kings who loves you. He wants to bless you. But you have to know something about Him. Let’s read this together. Everybody, «We know God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose». (Romans 8:28) This verse is very simple and profound. It says God causes all things, now God is not responsible for bad things, but He allows them.
If He allows bad things to happen to you, the only answer is this, God can cause bad things to become good. Understand? Is God in control? Yes. If you just teach God is in control, you have a problem. You must balance it with human responsibility. Let me repeat. The Bible is very clear. God is in control, but notice what’s your responsibility? Look at this verse. «God causes all things to work together for good» (Romans 8:28) But what must you do? What’s your part? To love God. You have to respond properly. Just because you have a problem, that problem does not become good, if you do not respond properly. You have to do your part. You love God. Submit to Him. Why can’t you love God? You cannot love somebody you don’t know. You cannot trust someone you don’t know.
So if I tell you, trust God, trust God. Do you know why people have a hard time trusting God? In this country, people know about God, but they don’t know God. What’s the difference? I may know about the president, but I don’t really know the president. You may know about God, but do you really know Him? That is the message today. A fresh encounter with God means what? You come to know Him intimately, personally. And you will discover God is not a cosmic Santa Claus. God is not a policeman. God is not a genie. God is the King of kings, the Lord of lords. And above all, you will learn something else, God is good. Why do I say God is good? Look at Romans 8, God wants everything done for your good. Remember, for our good. What is your good? «For those whom He foreknew, He predestined to become conformed» (Romans 8:29).
God’s purpose is for you to be conformed to the image of His Son. God likes you to be like Jesus, in your character. And that is why He’s allowing you to have problems. But see, don’t stop here. You look at the next few verses. It is so important you get to know God. You know what God is telling you today? Remember, encounter God. «What then shall we say to these things»? Everybody, please read. «If God is for us, who is against us»? (Romans 8:31) How do you know God is for you? How do you know? Read the next verse. Everybody read. «He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us how will He not also with Jesus, freely give us all things»? (Romans 8:31–32) You know what God is saying? «If I sent my Son, Jesus to die for you, are you not convinced I love you»?
See my friend, Satan wants you to doubt God’s love for you, especially when you have problems. But God is saying «I love you. To prove to you that I love you, I have given you My Son». What kind of God do you have? Encounter with the true God. Who is the true God? King of kings, Lord of lords. The God who is on the throne. You see today, people have no idea that the holiness of God is His glory. What do I mean, the holiness of God? The power of God is very clear. God is almighty, but the holiness of God is about His character. There is absolutely no evil. The Bible says God is light in whom there is no darkness. Everybody read this. «God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all». (1 John 1:5).
You know what God is saying? God is saying, «I am absolutely pure. I’m absolutely good. There is no evil in Me». Meaning you can trust Him completely. Wow! God is not only almighty, God is absolutely pure. You can trust Him completely. Now, let me ask you, is that the God you know of? You see, if you know God, you will want to live a holy life. People who are intimate with God will want to run away from sin. People who know God will want to live a holy life because God is holy, God is pure. But people who have religion may not live a holy life. They want to use God to serve their purpose. So they play religious games. How you play religious games? You pretend to love God, but you don’t really love Him. You pretend to come and worship, but from Monday to Saturday, your heart is far away from God because you don’t know Him.
What can we learn about God? Fresh encounter. What does it mean? A high view of who God is. Is God in control? Is God good? All right. Once you have a high view of God, you learn to see yourself. Look at the Bible. Isaiah 6. How do you know you’ve encountered God? You know, the Bible tells us, «Then I said, 'Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips. I live among a people of unclean lips. My eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.'» (Isaiah 6:5)
What is the connection between seeing God for who He is and then «woe is me»? Do you know the connection? Let me give you a test. I want you to see a dot and tell me the color of the dot. What’s the color of the dot? Louder. Louder. (White) Really? In your mind it’s white. Well, let’s find out. I will give you a real white background. What’s the color? That is exactly what happens to somebody who comes to be intimate with God. You see, if you compare yourself with other Christians, with other people, you may seem good, but once you compare your life to the life of Jesus, once you understand the holiness of God, you begin to say, «Woe is me. I am a sinner».
What’s my point? The more I meet people who know Jesus, the more I discover they have one thing in common. Like the Apostle Peter, you know, when the Apostle Peter understood who Jesus is, you know what he said? «When Simon Peter saw that,» He saw the power of Jesus, he realized Jesus is not just a man. «How can this man control the weather? How can He control the sea? How can He control the fish»? Peter realized this man is no ordinary man. «he fell… Jesus' feet» in the presence of God, Peter said what? «Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man»! (Luke 5:8).
Friends, the people I have met who knows God, who is intimate with God, I noticed something about them, they don’t waste time attacking other Christians. They don’t criticize others. They don’t look at the sins of others. They look at their own life. The sad thing today, many of us are so aware of the sins of other people. We gossip. We talk about them, but you fail to look at your own life. You fail to see your own sinfulness because in your mind, you are not bad, you are good. Not Isaiah, when Isaiah met the Lord, look at him, what did he say when he met the Lord? Isaiah said, «Woe is me. I am ruined. I am a man of unclean lips». (Isaiah 6:5)
Why did he talk about the sin of the lips? Because the Bible tells us the lips and the heart are interconnected. What comes out of your mouth is that which fills your heart. That’s what the Bible says. Jesus is very clear. «The things that proceed out of the mouth comes from the heart». (Matthew 15:18) And the heart is deceitful. The heart is wicked. In fact, the Bible says, «Who can understand his own heart»? So, my friend, how do I know you know God? You have a proper view of who God is, the God who is sovereign. King of kings. And then, are you able to see yourself? Yes, God loves you. But until you realize you are a sinner, my friend, you will not understand the grace of God.
How do you know you have met Jesus? Simple. Have a proper view of who God is. King of kings. Holy. See yourself as a sinner, then you come to Jesus and your life will never be the same. If there is no transformation, if you still enjoy sin, if you don’t run away from sin, you don’t understand the heart of God, my friend, you have met religion, but you have not met the Lord. Look at Isaiah 6, what happened to him? Well, let’s find out. «Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, 'Behold, this has your lips, and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.'» (Isaiah 6:6-7)
Instantaneously. Did you notice? The moment he admitted «I am finished. I am a sinner. I am done». What did God do? The Bible says, God gives grace to the humble. He humbled himself. What did he experience? The forgiveness of God. Notice, these are prophetic. It’s a picture of what Christ will do. «burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar» (Isaiah 6:6).
Now, you and I have no idea about the significance of the altar. But if you studied with us, the Old Testament, you would know in the Old Testament the place to worship God, you first pass through the altar. The altar is the place where you put the blood of the animal. You sacrifice the blood there, and then you burn the animal. Complete offering. Then, and only then can you enter the inner chamber called the Holy Place, the presence of God. You cannot enter that unless go through the altar. You know what the Bible is saying? Your sins are forgiven because one day who will suffer and die on the cross? Who? Jesus.
My friend, do you realize God is holy? And because He is holy, He can not tolerate sin. Sin needs payment, and the only payment for sin is the death of His Son, Jesus. Pictured by the death of an animal, and that’s why the Bible tells us a beautiful picture. Look at this promise. Everybody read, «your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven». (Isaiah 6:7)
Friend, how do I know you’ve encountered the Lord? You will experience forgiveness. know forgiveness is from God. And you know what happened? Once you are forgiven, you become sensitive, you’re able to listen. You begin to know the heart of God. What do I mean? Look at the next verse, Isaiah heard the LORD, the voice of the LORD, and God was discussing, the Trinity. They were discussing among themselves. «Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us»? (Isaiah 6:8) They were discussing, you know, Isaiah heard, and then what did Isaiah do? Isaiah said, «Here am I. Send me»! (Isaiah 6:8)
What will make Isaiah volunteer for the next sixty years, Isaiah served the Lord, and the job was difficult. God told him, «They will listen but not listen. They will see but will not understand». But Isaiah said, «Here am I. Send me»! (Isaiah 6:8). My friend, once you know who God is, the King of kings, the Lord of lords. Absolutely holy. You’ll begin to realize what a privilege it is to serve Him. Nobody forced Isaiah to serve God. But when he heard from his heart, what did he say? «Lord, here I am, send me». Many of you need to respond to God’s call. God gave us a command in Matthew 28, «Go make disciples». Have you heard the command of God? Here, it’s not even a command. Isaiah just heard them discussing, and Isaiah said, «Here I am. Send me».
Can I tell you what they were discussing about? They’re discussing if you ask me, the gospel. Why do I say the gospel? Because God is saying, «Who will tell them the news? Who will tell them the good news»? What’s the good news? Isaiah is the prophet that best understood the coming Messiah. Do you know that? Isaiah wrote the book of Isaiah 600 years before Christ, and yet he wrote about Jesus. Look, Isaiah 53, let’s read. Isaiah wrote the following, everybody read, «But He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed». (Isaiah 53:5)
Who is this He? Jesus. Isaiah wrote about Jesus. He was pierced for my sin, our sin. He was crushed for our iniquities. Isaiah knew the gospel, that the Messiah will come. Look at the next verse, «All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way». (Isaiah 53:6) This is the very definition of sin. What is sin? Self-will, against God’s will. How do you define sin? People think of sin as murder, rape, immorality, stealing. Sure. But it’s deeper than that. Sin is this, «Each of us has turn to his own way». (Isaiah 53:6)
You know what is sin? Your will versus God’s will. You tell God, «I don’t care about Your will. Ten Commandments, I don’t care. I’ll do it my way». And that, my friend, is the very root definition of sin. Sin is self-will against the will of God. Sin is defiance, rebellion against the will of God. Rebellion against the authority of God. That is sin. Every time you make a decision not in accordance to the will of God, that is sin. You know what the Bible says? «But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him (Jesus)». (Isaiah 53:6)
So God wants people to know we are sinners, but there’s a solution. The solution is to repent and come to Jesus. The Apostle Paul understood this, because once upon a time Apostle Paul met Jesus, just like Peter, Apostle Paul said, «I am a wretched man. I am a sinner». And then the Apostle Paul heard the challenge of God. «Tell them the good news». And the Apostle Paul said, «Yes». Look at his commitment. The Apostle Paul after being impacted by the presence of God, the Bible says the Apostle Paul saw the light, the glory of God convicting him of sin. And then the Apostle Paul gave his life to Jesus. Look at his mission, everybody read, «I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel». (Romans 1:14–15)
What is the gospel? The good news. Everybody read. «For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also the Greek». (Romans 1:16) You know, Paul understood the heart of God. You know, the word «gospel» means euangélion. Gospel means what? Good news. What is the good news? Jesus loves us, He died on the cross to pay for our sins. Is that good news or bad news? What is the good news? God is on your side. He died for us. Amen? Now the good news, what must you do with the good news? Paul says, «I’m under obligation. I owe it to the people to tell them». Paul said, «I am eager to preach». Paul is excited. And then lastly, Paul said, «I am not ashamed».
Ladies and gentlemen, if you are able to hear the voice of God today and you say, «Lord, here am I, send me». I want you to pray. Imagine if you share the gospel with ten people, one on one we have all the materials for you, you share with them, because you say, «Lord, here am I, send me». Not just ten. Share with 1,000, as many people as you can. Do you think God will use you? Yes or no? I think so. Because the Gospel has power, power to save lives. But you will not share the gospel until you experience the gospel. Let me repeat, you will not share the gospel until you experience the gospel. What do I mean? The gospel is good news that you are forgiven. But did you know the bad news, why you need to share the gospel? Do you know why God was discussing «who will We send»? Because here is the truth, the truth is this one day all of us will be judged because God is holy, He will judge sin.
Let me repeat it. A holy God cannot allow sin to continue. I have good news for all of you. One day, all the crooks, all the liars, all the cheaters, will be called to account. I guarantee you that. The holiness of God demands that everybody will be judged. What’s my proof? Look at Revelation 20, «Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence in earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them». (Revelation 20:11) The great judgment. One day it will surely happen and nobody can run away. They will try to run away, but the super angels will get them. And the Bible tells us, «And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life;» (Revelation 20:12)
The Bible talks about two kinds of books. The first book is called The Book of Deeds. It is your life. It’s your life story. And the Bible says, everybody, they «were judged (everybody) from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds». So when people say God is not fair, I’m sorry. God is very fair. Everybody will stand before God and your life deeds, everything you have done will be exposed and you will be judged. That is called justice. And what will happen? Look at the next verse? «And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire». (Revelation 20:15)
You want justice? You’ll get justice. If you are sinless, you go to heaven. But if you’re with sin, you go to hell. That’s justice. Someday I will stand before God. I will not insist on justice. You know what I’ll ask God? Grace. I’ll ask for mercy. And the Bible says, if you come to Jesus, your name is written where? My name is written in another book. My name is written in the book of life. The book of life are names of people who have experienced forgiveness, and the grace of God. Salvation is not by works, it is by grace. Two kinds of people. You want justice? You’ll get it. You want grace? You’ll get it. Your choice is today. Humble yourselves, repent and come to Jesus. That’s called grace. But you have to admit you’re a sinner Or, have a stubborn heart, play games with God, and don’t be sincere, and someday you’ll get what you deserve. It’s called justice.
How much sin must you commit to go to hell? How many sins? Oh, let’s look at Revelation. Let’s read, «But for the cowardly unbelieving, and abominable and murderers, and immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters and all liars». (Revelation 21:8) How many of you have lied? Raise your hands. Higher, higher, higher. You have not lied? Okay. Raise your hand because my eyes are very good. I know people. Are you telling… today… No, no, keep it up. Are you telling me, we are all liars? Are you sure? Okay. If we are all liars, what’s our problem? It’s not coming from me. The holy God said something. The holy God said the following. Everybody read, «and all liars, their part» Louder. (their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone)
Now, I don’t know about you, I don’t want to be in that place. Some of you are playing with sin. You are not afraid of judgment. Your heart has become callous. I fear for you. I want you to encounter God today so that you’ll have a soft heart. My concern are people coming here regularly, but their heart is hardened. You are living a double life. I’m scared for you. And I cannot change you. Only God can change you. You need to come before God. Open your eyes and God will open your eyes. Today, you need a fresh encounter to know who God is. His glory, His Majesty, His Holiness, Then you see yourself, «Lord, I am a sinner». And then? And then, and only then can you begin to help others. Is God speaking to you?
Lord Jesus, Here I am. Here we are available for You. Available to You. And we want to serve You. Make us Your messenger to send us wherever You want. Help us to be faithful. Help me to be faithful. Thank You for reminding us of 40 years of Your faithfulness, and now You want us to share the good news with others. In Jesus' name, we all pray, amen and amen.