Second meeting
"WHY CAN'T PEOPLE MEET GOD?"
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12)
*People are unhappy because they are separated from God. Life apart from God brings misery. Then, why can’t people meet God?
1. It is because people have left God.
(1) Their spirits are dead (Eph. 2:1)
Eph. 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
(2) It is the state where God's spirit has departed.
① Original man -God's Spirit was with man (Gen.1:27)
Gen. 1:27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
② After the fall, God's spirit left him and he became spiritually dead. Therefore, without a constant blood sacrifice, man immediately received curses (Cain, Gen.4)
③ Because God's spirit has left, Satan's spirit took control (1Cor.2:12)
1 Cor. 2:12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
(3) They became ignorant of God’s will because even their knowledge and wisdom become darkened (2 Thess. 2:10-11)
2 Thes. 2:10-11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,11and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
(4) Even though they received God’s Word, they could not understand it (2 Cor. 4:4-5)
2 Cor.4:4-5 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake.
2. People are struggling to meet God.
(1) Mankind is a spiritual being, so we have the nature instinct to seek God.
(2) People think they can meet God by being sincere but it ends in failure.
(3) People think that religion is the answer, so they seek out a religion and zealously live a religious life (Mt. 12:43-45).
Matt.12:43-45When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. 44"Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45 "Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.
(4) People try to meet God through philosophy, but they fail and fall into a state of greater emptiness (Col. 2:8-9)
Col. 2:8-9 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
(5) This is all because people don’t know what original sin is.
3. You cannot meet God, if you have not received salvation.
(1) You must first receive salvation to meet God.
(2) Without being born again, you cannot see God (Jn. 3:3-5)
John 3:3-5 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see thekingdom of God." 4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
(3) Salvation means freedom from Satan, destiny and fate.
(4) Salvation means coming out of sin.
(5) Salvation means deliverance from the power of hell.
(6) Hell is the place designated for Satan and Satan's children. (Mt. 25:41)
Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: Matt. 25:41
(7) But heaven is the place for God's children.
4. Just as a corpse cannot move, a dead soul’s efforts are useless.
(1) The efforts of those have not received salvation result in external changes. His efforts may change some physical aspect of himself, but his spirit is still dead.
(3) Nothing on earth is worthy enough with which to gain heaven. You cannot enter heaven by the things of the world
5. Why can’t you gain salvation through works (effort)?
(1) You cannot revive your spirit with your own efforts.
(2) You cannot revive your spirit with the help of others.
(3) No hero has ever been sent to the earth to defeat Satan (Acts 4:12).
Acts 4:12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
. 2:8-9) Eph(4) Salvation is the grace of God (
Eph. 2:8 not of works, lest anyone should boast. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
6. Healing - Bad dreams
(1) Health problems - regular exercise, orderly life, nutrition
(2) Meditative prayer - meditation
(3) Scheduled prayer - Dan 6:10,22, Gen 13:18, Acts3:1, 16:16-31
Dan. 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.
