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JOB 42: 5, 6

"AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD"

I. THE NEED OF AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD.
        A. Total life impossible without Him.
                1. One of man's greatest untapped resource potentials is
                   his spirit.
                        a. Man is a threefold being.
                        b. Many men are twofold beings.
                2. "And you hath He made alive who were dead."
                        a. What is meant? Your spirit!
        B. Our understanding incomplete.
                1. Job and his friends spent days trying to understand
                   Job's situation
                2. Psychology textbooks speak of the dicotomy of man.
                3. Modern day philosophy has come close to truth as they
                   speak of every man's need of an ultimate experience.
        C. In order to know ourselves.
                1. Job's friends had endeavored to convince him of sin to
                   no avail.
                        a. Job answered them --"My righteousness I hold
                           fast and will not let it go, my heart shall
                           not reproach me as long as I live."
                2. After a brief encounter with God, Job said, "I abhor
                   myself, I repent."

II. IT IS POSSIBLE TO KNOW ABOUT GOD AND STILL NOT HAVE A PERSONAL
    ENCOUNTER WITH HIM.
        A. Job speaks about hearing of God.
                1. It is possible for you to know all about a person yet
                   never really know the person.
                        a. You may read biographies of their lives.
                        b. You may know pertinent little intimate details
                           about them.
                                1. What time they arise in the morning.
                                2. What they eat for breakfast.
                                3. How often they brush their teeth.
                2. You can know all these things about them yet never
                   really know them.
                3. How often we are deceived by the public officials
                   today.
                        a. Their press releases, designed to impart a
                           certain image.
                        b. You may think you know them.
        B. Some of you may know a lot about God, yet never have a
           personal encounter with God.

III. HOW TO HAVE AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD.
        A. You must have an encounter with Jesus Christ.
                1. "I am the way, the truth.. no man cometh to the
                   Father but by Me."
                2. Jesus said, "Come unto Me..."
                3. Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock."
        B. It is possible for you to have the ultimate experience today.