Alright, I want to talk about
Bethel, the house of God tonight. Taking another Old Testament
picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us plainly that God spoke in old times by
the prophets by different types, different manners. dreams, visions,
and God spoke by pictures, by types, by dreams, by visions,
and He did it to reveal His purpose of redemption, His purpose of
grace that He gives His people through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And blessed is the man who can read the scriptures and find
the key of knowledge, which is the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
Our Lord charged the Pharisees, he said, they've taken away the
key of knowledge. And our Lord Jesus is that key. They all said, well, we have
Moses to be, we have Moses. He said, had you believed Moses,
you would have believed me. Because Moses wrote of me. And that's what Moses is doing
tonight, writing about Christ. Now I read these 12 verses to
you about Jacob. And Jacob's a man difficult to
understand when you see how he acts. At times he acts like a
real strong believer, and at times he acts like a supplanter,
a deceiver, a corrupt man. And Jacob's a man difficult to
understand, but one thing we do know about him, that this
was one of God's elect, and he was one whom God himself loved.
Blessed are the people who have the God of Jacob for their God.
You know, God loved him, he said, before the children. being not
yet born, that the purpose of God, according to election, might
stand, he said, the elder shall serve the younger, the elder
shall serve the younger, and Jacob have I loved, and Esau
have I hated. And you know over here in Genesis
27, look in 25, excuse me, in 25, look what happens when she
has these two children in her womb. Jacob he's a man one of God's
elect. God loved him. God loved Jacob
and hated Esau And it says here in verse 21 And Isaac entreated
the Lord asked the Lord prayed to the Lord because his wife
was barren and the Lord was entreated of him and Rebecca his wife conceived
and the children struggled together within her and And she said this,
if it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the
Lord. Those children were struggling.
And the Lord said unto her, there are two nations in thy womb.
Two men are of people shall be separated from thy bowels. And
the one shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall
serve the younger. Now I'm going to say a little something about
that. The two men are of people in there, it's like me and you.
We're two manner of people. We're two manner of people. There's
a struggle in us. When we come from our mother's
womb and God regenerated us and gave us his spirit, we became
another person. And there's a struggle. Struggle
between that old man and a struggle between that new man. and they
fuss and they fight and they struggle and they argue and they
get in fights with what we get into often struggles with ourselves
and that's what he said there's two people there and beloved
we are two people I read it today over in 1st Peter chapter 3 chapter
1 and it says we are born again not of corruptible seed that's
the first seed that's what we're all born of corruptible seed
but being born again of incorruptible seed by the Word of God, which
liveth and abideth forever. So that's two natures right there.
The nature that we have from the corruptible seed, that's
all we can get from our parents. And that incorruptible seed is
that seed of the Spirit of God, Christ in us, the hope of glory. So that's one thing that we can
say about it. But anyway, those two people
struggled in her womb. Now Jacob's name means supplanter. Supplanter. What does that mean?
That means he takes the place of another through force or by
plotting. And one thing Jacob was good
at, he was good at plotting. He was good at devising ways
to deceive people and get things from people. And you know, he
tricked his brother. He tricked his brother Esau.
He supplanted his brother Esau. He said, sell me your birthright.
Esau came in from the field. He was hungry. He was faint. He was without strength. And
Jacob had something fixed to eat. Fixed it himself. and his red potage and he said
give me some of that and he said I'll eat them and that word means
red and all the way through the scriptures Esau became to eat
them but anyway he tricked his brother Esau into selling him
his birthright he said sell me your birthright well what good's
a birthright gonna do me if I die sold it to him sold it to him
he tricked his brother supplanted his brother and then through
his mother's influence His mother helping him. And his mother figuring
out a way to get the blessing of the birthright, the blessing
of the firstborn. He deceived his father Isaac.
How did he do that? Well, he went out and got a goat.
He skinned the goat and put that goat's hair all over his arms
and hands. He come up to his father and
he had some deer meat all fixed up good the way he liked to eat
it. He said, Oh listen father, here. And he said, it's the voice
of Jacob, but he felt him. He said, but it's the hands of
Esau. So he deceived him and supplanted Esau in the birthright. And he got the blessing of the
firstborn from his father Isaac. And fourthly, he had to leave
his father's home because his brother said, look over here
at chapter 27 and verse 41. Because look what his brother
said he was going to do to him. What Esau was going to do. says
in verse 41 and Esau hated Jacob hated Jacob because of the blessing were
with his father blessed him and Esau said in his heart the days
of mourning of my father at hand and then will I slay my brother
Jacob and these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah
and she sent and called Jacob her younger son said unto him
behold thy brother Esau as touching thee doth comfort himself purposing
to kill thee now get up Go to my brother Laman and tarry there
with him a few days until thy brother's fury abates itself. So here this man is, I'm telling
you what, his supplanting, his plotting has got him, got him
the blessing, got him the birthright, but it also got his brother's
hatred. And so Jacob, he left, had to leave. Went right down
where Rebecca was from. They went down there to get her
wife for Isaac. And what a night! Here he goes.
He leaves home. Leaves by himself. And he lights
up on a certain place. And what a night! What a night
it was that God spoke to Jacob. God promised him his presence. And promised him his mercies.
And revealed to Jacob the way to God. through the Lord Jesus
Christ. Let's look here at verse 10 and
11. Go down through these verses and look together. And Jacob
went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. That's where his,
her brother Laban was. And I like this, and he lied
upon a certain place. God has a certain place for everybody. A certain man, a certain woman, And oh my, and tarried there
all night, because the sun was set, got dark. And he took the
stones of that place and put them for a pillar and lay down
in that place to sleep. And he dreamed a dream. Well, let's not get there yet.
But there's one reason. Verse 10 11. There's one reason
why Jacob's out here in this desert alone that night using
pillars for his Stones for his pillar wise away from his home
wise away from his family wise away from his mother wise away
from his daddy Because he and why he's fleeing for his life
and you know what that is His sin His sin you know That's what we are. Sins are
what we do. Sin is what we are. And that's
what Jacob is. A supplanter, a deceiver, a plotter. And his plotting and his deceiving
got him in this kind of situation where he had to flee. And it
is because of his sin. And beloved, we're sin. We're
sin. I was reading the other day where
John the Baptist says the axe is laid to the root of the tree.
And preachers want to trim the tree and talk about sins. If
you'll do away with this sin and that sin and quit this other
sin and some other sin and quit doing this and quit doing that,
then you'll be alright. But the problem's not the branches,
it's the root. That's why I said the axe is
laid to the root. You gotta kill it at the root.
And one of these days it's going to be completely dead and gone
and rotten and gone forever. But what we are, we're proud.
Oh my! There's not a person in this
building that will ever be in this building. It ain't got enough
pride in them to damn the whole human race if God was to mingle
around among them. Huh? Covetous! Proud, heady, high-minded. And sometimes we get lonely,
we get unhappy. Things don't go our way. But
he had to leave because of what he is, sin. And then beloved,
and then he looked where he was. And then where we are. He was
away from God. Huh? Away from God. He is away from God. We don't
find Him, beloved, ever seeking God. You never find this man
seeking God. You never find anybody seeking
God until you see what happens to Jacob right here. Huh? And I'll tell you what, where
we are, we're away from God. We're under the curse of the
law. We're under the curse of the Ten Commandments. That's
the thing when we talk about the law, we're talking about
Ten Commandments. And we're without strength. No strength to do anything
about it. Without help. Without hope. Without
any ability to do anything. And I tell you, and it's all
because of our sins. God said, your sins have separated
you and your God. And here says Jacob, Laying out
there in the middle of the night, alone. Brother hates him. He has to leave home, leave his
mother, leave his father. And oh my! Is Jacob worthy? Huh? Is Jacob worthy of God's
mercy? Is Jacob worthy of God doing
anything for him? He's as undeserving and unworthy
as us and all other Jacobs. And David said this in Psalm
51, he says, you're just in condemning us, and you're clear, you're
clear when He judges us. Just in condemning
us. I know that. God is just in condemning
us. And I tell you what, and clear
when He judges us. People think the judgment is
going to take a long time. And I do know this. Every man,
every man and every woman who is an object of God's grace,
an object of God's love, An object of his mercy. He judges himself. Somebody else don't have to judge
him. He'll judge himself. He'll write guilty. He'll write
condemned. He'll write there's no ability
in me. Yes, there's nothing to me. Then he'll shut his mouth. about
all he knew about God before, and all of his hopes before.
He'll shut his mouth, and he'll justify God and his righteous
judgment against our sins. And we won't say a word. Huh? I'll tell you what, remember
when you was under conviction? You didn't say anything to justify
yourself. Oh no. Oh no. But now look what
happens here in verse 12. And he dreamed a dream. And he
dreamed. And what did he dream about?
A ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached to
heaven. And behold, the angels ascending and descending upon
it. And behold, the Lord God, the Lord stood above it and said,
I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, the God of Isaac,
the land whereon thou lies to thee will I give it. and all
I give it to thee and then thy seed shall be as the dust of
the earth just like he told Abraham and thou shalt spread abroad
to the west to the east to the north and to the south and in
thee and thy seed which is the Lord Jesus Christ he's talking
about shall all the families of the earth be blessed now here
comes Jacob's alone here now, and the Lord comes to Jacob in
a dream, and He reveals His mercies to Jacob in a dream. And what
a blessed, blessed, blessed time it is, when the Lord is pleased,
oh when God's pleased, to speak to us in His grace, to speak
to us in His Son, We're on the road. We're on the road opposite
from God. We're far off from God. And I
tell you, we're on the road to destruction. And He stops us
on that road. And He reveals His mercies to
us in His blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we all know
we're the chief of sinners. And I tell you what, beloved,
the Apostle said it like this, you hath He quickened. who were
dead in trespasses and sins, who walked according to the course
of this world, according to the spirit of the power of the air,
children of disobedience, by nature the children of wrath,
but now listen to what the next word says, but God, but God,
who is rich in mercy, for the great love wherewith He loved
us, And quickened us, quickened us together. With who? With Christ. With Christ. And you know the
scripture says that when we were yet without strength, Christ died for the undaunted. And God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners. Christ, God commendeth
his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners. And here's
Jacob, the sinner. He's laying there, he's still,
he's quiet. And God spoke. And God revealed
Christ to him in a dream. through the dream God revealed
Christ to him and look what here how he done it he said he dreamed
a dream and behold a ladder was on the earth stood on the earth
and watch what it says the top of it reached to heaven and then the angels went up and
down on the ladder so our Lord Jesus Christ I want you to look
with me in John chapter 1 John's gospel chapter 1 you know That
ladder stood upon the earth and reached into heaven. Reached
into heaven. The top of it reached into heaven.
And you know our Lord Jesus Christ came down to this earth and He
stood on this earth in His flesh and yet He could reach into heaven. He went all the way down and
went all the way up. And only Christ can be here and
be there and take us from here and take us there to His Father.
Only Christ can do that. Look what He said here in verse
John 1.18. Now this is a mystery to me. And yet He's the Most High God
and He never left the bosom of the Father. I never saw this
till today. Verse 18, No man hath seen God
at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. I've always
preached and said that he unbosomed himself and came. But that don't
say that, does it? He said, which is in the bosom
of the Father. But now he's in the bosom of
the Father. He didn't say left the bosom
of the Father. So when He came here, the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory. But
yet at the same time He says He is in the bosom of the Father.
Look in John 3.13, I'll tell you what I'm talking about. 3.13, And no man hath
ascended up to heaven, But he that came down from heaven, now
listen to this, even the Son of Man which is in heaven. Now explain that to me. He's
here. He ascended up to heaven. No man's ascended up to heaven,
but he that came down from heaven. Even the Son of Man which is
in heaven right now. So he's in the bosom of the Father.
He is on the earth and he's in heaven at the same time. And that's what he means when
he says that it reaches from the earth to the top. Christ
is in both places at the same time. How can he do that? He's
God. Oh my, then the angels went up
and down. Look at that again in 1 John
1.51. John 1.51. I should have told
you to stay over there. John 1.51. Look what it says
here. The angels went up and down the ladder. And that shows
us that the only way we're able to ascend to God and go into
the presence of God is only by and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And it's only through the Lord Jesus Christ that God comes to
us. Look what he said here in verse 51. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, Hereafter you shall see heaven opened, and
the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. So, we got our Lord Jesus Christ. This speaks so clearly of our
Lord Jesus Christ on earth and in heaven. Angels coming and
going only way God can come to us is through Christ. Don't we
go to God through Christ? And God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself and look back over here now in our text
and let me show you something Down verse 15 And when God spoke to Jacob and
he stood above that ladder when God spoke to Jacob he gave him
his promise and this promises is the same promises that you
and I have as believers and look what he says and behold first
thing he told him I'm with thee I am with thee God in his blessed
covenant I'm with thee God in his precious blood in the shedding
of the blood of his son He is with us. And in His dwelling
in us, He is with us. You know, for whom the Scriptures
tells us, for whom He did foreknow. Whom He did foreknow. Then He
also called. Then He called, He also justified.
Whom He justified, then He also glorified. What shall we say
then to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? I'm with thee. I'm with you. Where are you going Jacob? I'm
with you. I was with you before you left
your house. I'm with you now and I'm going
to be with you till... And I'll show you that in a minute.
But that's why it says nothing, nothing shall ever separate us
from the love of God that's in Christ. So I'm with you. In covenant, in grace, in blood,
in righteousness. With you constantly. Our Lord
said I'll never leave you and I'll never forsake you. And then look what he says in
the next one. He said, and I'll keep thee. He didn't say, now Jacob, get
up and do the best you can. And I'll follow along for you
and help you out. And if somebody gets in your
way, I'll get them out of your way. He said, no, I'm going to
keep you. I'm going to keep you. I tell you, beloved, that is
not a person whom God has chosen, not one of His elect, not one
for whom the Lord Jesus Christ died for, not one that Holy Ghost
brought to the Lord Jesus Christ, not one of them, not one of them
shall ever perish. I tell you, you talking about,
people talk about eternal security, we got a heapsight more than
eternal security. I mean, we got a heapsight more
than that. If God says, I'm going to keep you, that's a heapsight
more into security, ain't it? Huh? I'm going to keep you. Oh my. You know, I've said it
so many times. all that the father giveth me
shall come to me and him that cometh to me I love this I will
in no wise cast out now I went through that today and I went
thinking through things today Moses when he smoked the rock twice
God never put him out when David committed adultery and had Bathsheba's
husband slain God never cast him out when Simon Peter denied
him three times Christ never cast him out When Noah was drunk
in the tent. And if I tell you something,
that's why I say, you know, when you start looking at people in
the Bible, when you start looking at people in the Bible in the
faith and lot, you start looking at people in the Bible and you
say that if you saw somebody doing some of the things they
did, you say there's no way that man can be a Christian. But I
tell you, that's why we can never judge. You know why we can't?
Because look at ourselves. If we ain't done it, we've thought
it. And I'm telling you this, that the only thing that's ever
kept us is God's providence and the opportunity. He never brings
them together at the same time. If the temptation's there, and
He crosses your path with the thing that you're tempted with,
you're going to fall. But God and His providence will
let both of them come together at the same time. Because if
He does, you know what's going to happen? You're going to be
a David. So I wouldn't do what David did. Well, what I'm telling
you is, if God don't keep us, I tell you God, I've done things
that if God was going to cast a man out, He would have cast
me out. I'm telling you He would have cast me out. Oh my! And our Lord said, I give
unto them eternal life, and they, they, they, they, they shall
never perish. Perish the thought that we would
ever perish. Then look what else he said.
And I'm going to bring thee again into this land. What land is he talking about?
You know, he's talking about the promised land. Talking about
the promised land. You know, Canaan was typical
of heaven. And I do know this, that our
Lord Jesus Christ says this, I went to prepare a place for
you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and
bring you into the place where I am. And I in my Father's house
are many mansions. And I tell you what, Christ is
going to bring all of His sheep, every single one of them, into
glory. Huh? Into glory! Huh? Father, and you know when
we get to glory, it's going to be completely full And then there's going to be
room for everybody, but there ain't going to be no vacancies.
And there ain't going to be no cabins in the corner of glory
land. I don't care why, you know, when
I talk about dwelling in glory, all I talk, all I can think about
is being with Christ. I'd like that thief on the cross,
he said, today, today thou shalt be with me. That I'll bring you to where
I am, that you may be with Me. That's what we're interested
in, going to be with Christ. Shirley is telling me about a
woman out in West Tennessee. She's been in several conferences
around. She got very sick to all the chemo she can take and
she just said now all she wants to do is go home and be with
the Lord. Go home and be with Christ. And I'll tell you what, beloved,
I ain't nothing. I'm well physically. Very well
physically. But that still don't keep me
from being homesick. Don't you know the only people
who get homesick is people who's got a home? Folks don't get homesick,
home for heaven, home for Christ, because they don't have a home.
When we talk about going home, we talk about going yonder. When
we talk about going to the house, we go to where we live. Let's
go to the house. But when we're talking about
home, we're talking about heaven. Two different things. Our Lord Jesus, God of perfection,
and He said, I will bring thee. I'm going to bring you. How are
you going to get there if He don't bring you? Huh? Oh my. And then look what He
says then next. And I'll not leave thee until
I have done that which I've spoken of. I'm not going to leave you
until everything's accomplished, until everything's done, every
promise is fulfilled. So what that means is that we're
never, ever going to do without Him. I'm not going to leave you
until that which I've spoken to you of. And I tell you, our
Lord shall not fail. He shall not be discouraged.
The pleasure of the Lord is going to prosper in the Lord's hands.
And I tell you what, whatever God promises to us, it's going
to come to pass. It's going to come to pass. And
every place you find in the Bible where it came to pass, everything
about God always comes to pass. Alright, look in verse 16. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep.
Oh my, could you imagine him waking up with what he had just
seen, what he had just heard, what he had just dreamed. God
speaking to him. Waking up like that. And oh, he woke up out of his
sleep. And the first thing he said was this. Oh my, and that's
what happens to us. Sometimes we just... We're asleep
and then God wakes us up. And look what happens. He said,
surely the Lord's in this place. Oh my. The Lord's here. This is God's place. This is
where the Lord is. And listen to what he said, and
I didn't even know it. You know, the earth is the Lord's
and the fullness thereof. Everything belongs to God. And
when God stirs us up, we see that. And Wes said, Lord it's
in this place. And I didn't know it. I know
it now. And look what happened next.
And he was afraid. He was afraid. Oh my. Don't act like this generation
of church folks today. They don't care to call him the
old man upstairs. They don't care to call him Jesus. They don't care to, you know,
to whoop and holler and carry on and beg and plead with people
to let Jesus have their way and let him into their hearts. But
here he said he was afraid. I'm afraid. I'm afraid that I would dishonor him. I'm
afraid that I'd bring shame on him. And he was afraid. And then look what he said. How
dreadful is this place. Oh my. How dreadful is this place. this is none other but the house
of God and the gate of heaven and then he said and he rose
up early in the morning put his pillars up for a pillar and poured
oil on the top of it and he called the name of that place Bethel
that means the house of God and the gate of heaven now I'll tell
you something this can't be church buildings he's talking about
which men call the house of God This can only be where God actually
dwells. Where God actually dwells. You
know where God's house is? Where God is. Wherever He's at. Whether you're in your car, whether
you're washing dishes, wherever you're at, on your job, whatever
it is, where God comes to you, that's where God's house is.
Huh? Where God dwells. And I'll tell
you something, beloved. And where God dwells and where
God reveals himself, that's the place where God is. And then
it talks about the gate of heaven. You know, straight is the gate,
narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life. And what is that life?
Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, I'm
the door. I'm the door. You want to get
in? I'm the door. And I tell you what, he said,
I'm the door and by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.
And I tell you this, people have too little apprehension of God,
I'm afraid, too little apprehension of God. Then look in verse 20. Jacob responded to God's call,
responded to God's revelation of himself. And you know that
word Luz, it called that place Bethel, that house of God. And that city was called Luz
at first, and Luz means separated. So he went from a place of separation
to where God's house was. And Jacob called that place Bethel.
And then Jacob vowed a vow. Vowed a vow. First time vow you
see in the Bible. And let's just leave off the
ifs. We don't have any of them ifs. We have, I will, and you
shall, and I shall, and you will. This is Jacob going back to his
old ways. He's trying to supplant. I tell
you, that's why he's a contradiction. God made him all these promises,
and then he turns around and says, if you'll be with me, and
if you give me my bread every day, and let me go back to my
father's house and say, this is what I'm going to do for you. But I do know this, that Jacob
responded to God's call. He responded to God's revelation.
As every one of those that God chose does. Our Lord says, thy
people shall be willing in the day of thy power. And our Lord
Jesus said, I have other sheep which are not of this fold. And
I tell you what, this is what I like about it. He said, them
I also must bring. must bring. And when I bring
them, he said, I must bring. And then the next word says this,
and they shall hear my voice. I must bring them and they shall
hear my voice. And that's going to be one foal
and one shepherd. And the people of God are not
saved, are called against their wills, but they're made willing. They're made willing. That's
why we're bound to give thanks to God, because He has from the
beginning chosen us unto salvation in Christ. No man can, no man
is able, no man has the desire to come to Christ. except God
first come to him. That's right. And God teaches
that soul, teaches that person. The Holy Ghost teaches that person.
And then he brings that soul to Christ. And he finds his hope,
he finds his life, he finds everything, everything that God requires
And God provides in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that ladder
started down here and went all the way up there. And you know
who was at the top? God was. Where'd God speak at
from up there? Let me show you Isaiah 43 warning
and then I'll quit. Isaiah 43.1. You know, it's a wonderful thing to be
taught of God. Wonderful thing to be taught
of God. And now look what he says here.
We're Jacob. We're Jacob. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob. Jacob became Israel. Thus saith
the Lord that created thee, O Jacob. God said, Jacob, that Jacob we
just read about. He said, I created you. He that
formed thee, made you, formed you. O Israel, fear not, for I have
redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name.
Thou art mine. Thou art mine. Oh, God our Father. God our Father. Lord, your Word is so much more
than we could ever possibly get out of it or deal with it the
way we'd like to deal with it. But yet, Lord, it's a living
Word. It's a powerful Word. It's the
Word of God. It's the Word of Christ. We thank
you for it. Continue to teach us. Continue
to teach us, O Father. Teach us of our Savior. Teach
us of our Lord. Give us that grace. Give us that
knowledge that's in our Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, as these
dear saints go their way, go home tonight. You protect them
and keep them. Send them safely home. Bless
them in their going down. Bless them in their getting up.
Bless them through their days. And Lord, You keep us all. Keep
us all. We ask in our Lord Jesus' name.
Amen. Amen. Thank You, Lord, for saving
my soul. Thank You, Lord, for making me whole. Thank you, Lord.