CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF A THIRD KIND
By: Pastor Ken Jarman
OPEN DOOR OUTREACH MINISTRIES, NEW BERN, NC 28560
Sunday May 18, 2008
ACTS 9:1 –9
Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
And asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.
Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?
And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
So he trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.”
And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.
Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.
And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
Let us pray.
I want to talk to you today about close encounters.
I’m not talking about a close encounter with a nice looking man or a beautiful woman.
I’m not talking about a close encounter with some outer space alien.
I’m not talking about a close encounter with a car accident.
What I am talking about is a close encounter with Jesus Christ.
I want to talk to you about three types of close encounters with Jesus.
But, my main focus will be on a close encounter of the third kind.
Let’s take a look first at a close encounter of the first kind.
A close encounter of the first kind is when you come close to having an encounter.
Let me demonstrate, you’re driving down the road at your normal speed of 55 mph. All of a sudden you see a deer run out in front of you. You swerve to miss the deer end up running off onto the shoulder of the road, almost hit a mail box, swerve back onto the road just as another car is coming in the opposite direction. You just do miss the other car and finally get you car back straight onto the road. After you get your nerves calmed back down, you realize you’ve just had a close encounter of the first kind. You just came close to hitting each one of these things, but instead you missed them and never touched a one of them.
A close encounter of the first kind with Jesus could happen this way.
You are talking with a born again Christian, he tells you about Jesus. He tells you how Jesus was crucified on the cross, bore our sins, shed His blood and died for us. And that God raised Him up on the third day to be the First Born of the resurrection to eternal life. And how we can be saved and obtain eternal life through Him.
You listen with interest but you can’t quite get yourself to accept it.
Or you’re ridding down the road and tune in your radio and happen to run across a Christian Radio Station where a great preacher is preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
You listen with interest but you can’t quite get yourself to accept it.
Or you happen to go to church with someone. You hear a great choir sing beautiful hymns and choruses. You hear a message that the preacher is preaching and it seems to touch your heart. You feel this tug on your heart.
You listen with interest but you can’t quite get yourself to accept it.
You are given a Bible (maybe it was a wedding gift, or a birthday gift, or just a gift someone gives you) you read a book or two and find that it is a very interesting book and it has a lot to say about Jesus and the cross. You read about his arrest and trial. You read how he died for our sins. You read about the resurrection. You read about Him being the way, the truth and the life.
You read with interest but you can’t quite get yourself to accept it.
These are four illustrations of a close encounter of the first kind with Jesus.
You have heard the born again Christian tell you of Christ.
You have heard of Him on the Christian Radio Station.
You have heard the preacher in the church preach about Him.
You have even read the word of God pertaining to Him.
But you can’t quite get yourself to accept it.
My friend you are walking on dangerous ground.
You have had a close encounter with Jesus Christ
But you can’t quite get yourself to accept Him.
Hell is just around the corner.
Now let’s look at a close encounter of the second kind
A close encounter of the second kind is when you actually make contact with something or someone, but it’s just a minor encounter.
Let’s take a second look at the driving scenario. You’re driving down the road at your normal speed of 55 mph. A deer runs out in front of you. You swerve to miss the deer and brush up against his furry tail, but you don’t injure him. you run off the shoulder of the road and clip the door off the mail box, but you don’t knock it down. You swerve back upon the road and a car is coming from the opposite direction. You both slam on brakes and come to a stop as you tap bumpers. This is a close encounter of the second kind. You actually made contact with them all, but it was a minor contact.
A close encounter of the second kind with Jesus could happen this way.
You have a born again Christian friend, or relative, who tells you about Jesus. He tells you how Jesus, who is God, came to this earth in the flesh. To offer Himself to be crucified and die in our place, taking our sins upon Himself, as our substitute. Rose again the third day as the First Born of the Resurrection of eternal life, so that we could obtain eternal life through Him. You listen with great interest. He invites you to go to church with him, which you do.
You go to church, hear a preacher, preaching the wonderful Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit tugs at your heart. You listen with great interest. You feel an urge to run to the altar and give your heart and life to Jesus.
When the preacher makes the altar call, you’re the first one to reach the altar.
At that point you give your heart to Jesus and accept Him as your Lord and Savior.
You have just had a close encounter with Jesus of the second kind.
You have now become a new creature in Christ Jesus.
Now you now find yourself with some choices to make
Are you going to continue living the way you always have
Or are you going to change.
You will find at this point that the new man is going to be in a constant struggle with the old man.
Your new man wants to make changes in your life and start living in righteousness and holiness.
But the old man keeps looking at the past and starts murmuring about how much fun it was and how it was easier to live the old life.
You find there are some things that you are not willing to give up.
Old friends come into the picture and try to lure you back into your old ways.
Soon you find yourself giving in. One little beer won’t hurt as long as it doesn’t get out of hand. Going to a dance at the nightclub isn’t all that bad.
The old man is slowly giving in little by little until you go back to living the same way you always did.
Sure you still believe in Jesus, you accept Him as your Savior and you might confess your sins and still be saved.
But you only had a close encounter of the second kind with Jesus.
It was a minor encounter, a fender bender
He touched you but you did not get a complete makeover.
You let the old man win out.
My friend you’re in danger of loosing out altogether.
You might be one today who has had a close encounter of the first kind.
You have heard about Jesus but you have never really accepted Him as your Lord and Savior.
You might be one today who has had a close encounter of the second kind.
You have heard about Jesus. You have accepted Him as you Lord and Savior. But you have never completely given your life over to Him
Brothers and Sister’s what we all need is a close encounter of the third kind.
We need to have a head on collision with God.
When God told Abram to: get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
The Bible says’ So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him.
Abram had a close encounter of the third kind
He didn’t question God he left everything and went and he never looked back.
Abram later was named Abraham by God.
When God told Abraham to take Isaac to the mountain and there he was to offer him up as a burnt offering. Just as Abraham was about to thust the knife into Isaac, the Lord stopped him and provided a lamb of His own for the sacrifice.
Abraham had a close encounter of a third kind
He was willing to give everything to God.
We have read in Genesis chapter 32 verses 24 thru 32 where Jacob wrestled with God all night and would not let him go until he blessed him.
Jacob had a close encounter of the third kind.
Jacob got hold of God and held on until he blessed him.
Moses had left Egypt after killing an Egyptian man and lived in the desert in the land of Midian. He had been living there for 40 years when God appeared unto him at mount Horeb in a burning bush that was not consumed by the fire. God chose Moses to lead the Israelites out of the Bondage of Egypt.
Moses had a close encounter of the third kind.
Moses became the lawgiver and wrote the first five books of the Bible.
David was anointed by Samuel, as God had Commanded, to be King over Israel when he was yet a young teenage boy. David went out to the battlefield where the Giant Goliath was taunting the Israelite army. David met Goliath armed with just a sling and a rock. He slew the Giant with the rock and used his own sword to cut off his head.
David had a close encounter of the third kind
God delivered the Giant Goliath into David’s hand that day.
God had told Elijah to anoint Elisha to be prophet in his place.
1KI 19:19 So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him.
Elisha had a close encounter of the third kind.
Elisha became a great prophet and man of God
Elijah taken up in a whirlwind.
2KI 2:11 Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego the three Hebrew boys would not bow down to the image of the King Nebuchadnezzar.
Elijah had a close encounter of a third kind
Let’s take a look at Shadrach, Meshach and Abed=Nego
DA 3:10 "You, O king, have made a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the gold image;
DA 3:11 "and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
DA 3:12 "There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; these men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up."
DA 3:13 Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. So they brought these men before the king.
DA 3:14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up?
DA 3:15 "Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?"
DA 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
DA 3:17 "If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.
DA 3:18 "But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up."
DA 3:19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.
DA 3:20 And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
DA 3:21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
DA 3:22 Therefore, because the king’s command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.
DA 3:23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
DA 3:24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, "Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?" They answered and said to the king, "True, O king."
DA 3:25 "Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."
DA 3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here." Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire.
DA 3:27 And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.
DA 3:28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!
DA 3:29 "Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this."
DA 3:30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon.
Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego had a close encounter of the third kind.
God had gotten into the fiery furnace with them.
Let’s take a look at Daniel
DA 6:1 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, to be over the whole kingdom;
DA 6:2 and over these, three governors, of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them, so that the king would suffer no loss.
DA 6:3 Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.
DA 6:4 So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him.
DA 6:5 Then these men said, "We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God."
DA 6:6 So these governors and satraps thronged before the king, and said thus to him: "King Darius, live forever!
DA 6:7 "All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.
DA 6:8 "Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter."
DA 6:9 Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.
DA 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.
DA 6:11 Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.
DA 6:12 And they went before the king, and spoke concerning the king’s decree: "Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any god or man within thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?" The king answered and said, "The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter."
DA 6:13 So they answered and said before the king, "That Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day."
DA 6:14 And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him.
DA 6:15 Then these men approached the king, and said to the king, "Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed."
DA 6:16 So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, "Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you."
DA 6:17 Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed.
DA 6:18 Now the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; and no musicians were brought before him. Also his sleep went from him.
DA 6:19 Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions.
DA 6:20 And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?"
DA 6:21 Then Daniel said to the king, "O king, live forever!
DA 6:22 "My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you."
DA 6:23 Then the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God.
DA 6:24 And the king gave the command, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions-them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den.
DA 6:25 Then King Darius wrote: To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you.
DA 6:26 I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, And steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, And His dominion shall endure to the end.
DA 6:27 He delivers and rescues, And He works signs and wonders In heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.
DA 6:28 So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
Daniel had a close encounter of the third kind.
God closed the mouths of the lions.
We read in the Book of Acts where the disciples were waiting on the promise of the Father.
AC 2:1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
AC 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
AC 2:3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
AC 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
AC 2:5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.
AC 2:6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.
AC 2:7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?
AC 2:8 "And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?
The disciples had a close encounter of the third kind.
The Bible says there was added three thousand to the church that day.
Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus
AC 9:1 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
AC 9:2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
AC 9:3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.
AC 9:4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"
AC 9:5 And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads."
AC 9:6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
AC 9:7 And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.
AC 9:8 Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.
AC 9:9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
Paul had a close encounter of the third kind.
Saul became Paul and became the Apostle who wrote most of the New Testament.
Have you had a close encounter of the third kind.
Have you sold out to God.
Have you given Him everything.
