And I know to be done, a soul
that won't be, for it knows I will, I will, I will. Genesis twenty eight again. Genesis twenty eight. I've been looking forward to
getting into the life of Jacob because I feel like I'm a son
of Jacob. And God called himself the God
of Jacob. And Jacob is a picture of every
sinner whom God saves. Everyone, every sinner will go
through what Jacob went through basically
every sinner Jacob is an example of God's sovereign electing saving
calling revealing grace Jacob is an example of God's sovereign
electing great Jacob was a depraved wicked man Jacob was a scoundrel
he was a worthless scoundrel that's what Jacob was There was
no good in him, no good, but God chose him. God set his love
and affection on him. Jacob, that's what Malachi once
says, how have you loved me? God said, I love Jacob, and I
love Jacob, meaning that, now there's a fellow that's not worth
loving, but God says, this is how I love. I love the unworthy. I love the unlovely. Christ died
for the ungodly. God set his love on him, revealed
Christ to him, made a covenant concerning him, and though Jacob
turned ever which way but loose, God kept him by his grace. Jacob. O ye sons of Jacob. Because God will not change,
you're not concerned. I wouldn't have put up with Jacob.
for one minute. I wouldn't have chosen him to
begin with, but I wouldn't have put up with him for one minute
after this. Jacob was a, like I said, Jacob,
point number one, Jacob was a lost man. Jacob was not saved up to
this point. I don't care what theologian,
what, who, anybody says Jacob was not saved because he didn't
know God. He'd never met God. And nobody's
saved until they know God and see Christ. And that's what happened
to Jacob here in this story. Jacob met the true and living
God and saw Christ, a picture of it. And all of God's people
are lost until found. All we like sheep have gone astray.
Jacob turned his own way, away from God. Jacob was running from
Esau, running away, and all we, the same way, running from God. Running from God. not knowing
God. Jacob didn't know God, but God
knew Jacob. Four knew Jacob and had saving
purposes concerning Jacob. All right, look at verse 11.
Verse 10, Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran,
and he lighted upon a certain place. He just happened upon
a certain place where God Well, a certain place. Jacob's lot
was God's sovereign direction. Jacob's lot was God's sovereign
direction. That's what the proverb says.
The lot is cast into the lap. Where are you going to go, Jacob?
Jacob says, well, I'll go here. That's exactly where I determined
for you to go. A certain place. The lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord." God brought
Jacob sovereignly to this place, and God will bring to a certain
place. And God will bring every sinner
to a certain place. Any old place won't do. It's got to be where God, the
voice of God, is heard, where the ladder of God is seen. where
God reveals himself. God brings every sinner to a
certain place where they hear a certain sound of a certain
Savior. They're going to hear the trumpet
sound, and it'll give a certain sound of a certain Savior who
certainly saves. Jacob was—look at verse 11 again. It says that Jacob was pretty
low at this time. He lied upon a certain place
and tarried there all night. The sun was set. Son was going
down on old Jacob. He traveled as far as he could
go, and so he laid down in the dust to sleep. He took the stones
of that place and put them for his pillows and lay down in the
dirt to sleep. Down in the dust. Jacob was brought
as low as he could go. Down in the dust and made uncomfortable. How comfortable would a rock
be for a pillow? Huh? Later on it was comfortable
to him, but it must have been very uncomfortable to him at
this time. He was brought down, and that's the way God deals
with every sinner. He brings down before he raises
up. He exalts only those that are
abased. He lifts up beggars from the
dunghill. That's as low as you can get
now, the manure pile. And he saves only lost people,
lost sinners who are into their rope. I've told you before of
that young fellow. Maybe somebody in here hadn't
heard that. Maybe. Years ago there was a young teenage
boy who had, like the prodigal son, wasted his substance and
riotous living. And one night after an all-night
wild spree, he lay down on a bench down in Key West, Florida. That's
the southernmost island of the Keys, the United States islands,
the Keys. And he lay down on a bench because
he could not find his way home, back to where he was staying. and slept until the next morning.
And when he awoke the next morning, getting up, intending to try
to find his way back, he happened to look back, and on the very
bench where he was lying, on the very bench where he was lying,
was written this phrase. It said, This is the southernmost
tip of the United States. The very spot he was at was the
very southernmost point of all the United States. In other words,
he was as far down as he could go. He was as low as he could
go—literally. He couldn't go any farther down. And you know, about twenty-two
years later—you see, God brings down those that are low. He raises
the beggar off the dunghill. That boy might as well have been
on a maneuver heap. He was as low as he could go. He didn't know it at the time.
He does now. Twenty-two years later, he's
standing right in front of you. That's how God saves. He brings people low. low and
then he raises up and sets them among princes, sets them among
princes. Well, Jacob sees God through
Jesus Christ. He sees Christ. Verse 12, it
says, He dreamed and behold a ladder. He beheld a ladder set up on
the earth. The top of it reached to heaven.
the angels of God ascending and descending on it. That's a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jacob saw Christ. Jacob, after
being brought very low, God revealed Christ to him, revealed the way
up. He was down in the dust, and God revealed to him the way
up, the way out of the mess that he was in, the ladder, the way
to God, Christ who is the ladder. And I won't dwell on that any
further. We could, couldn't we? We could bridge another one on
that. Verse 12 says, Behold, the angels of God ascending and
descending on it, all the blessings of God, from God, acceptance
from God, are in Christ the latter. And Jacob saw God through Christ. Look at verse 13. It says, Behold,
the Lord stood above it. In other words, the end of that
ladder, the top of that ladder, when he kept gazing and beholding
that ladder, the further he looked up that ladder, the more he beheld
and gazed at that ladder, when he finally saw, he saw the glory
of that ladder when he saw God. He saw that that ladder reached
all the way to God, that God was above it. Jacob saw God in
Christ. He saw the glory of God in the
face, in the ladder, in the person, in the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at verse 13. And he goes on to say, verse
fourteen, And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth,
and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, to the east, to
the north, to the south, and in thee and in thy seed shall
all the families of the earth be blessed. So Jacob heard those
covenant promises. God spoke to Jacob his covenant. He told him, he promised to him.
that he would bless him in this seed, which is a picture of Christ
once again. The seed, the seed. Verse fifteen, And God comforted
him. God said, Behold, I am with thee,
and I will keep thee in all places where thou goest, and will bring
thee into this land. I will not leave thee until I
have done that which I have spoken to thee." Jacob's comfort was
God's, I will. Wasn't it? I shall. I have. I won't leave. Wasn't it? That was Jacob's comfort. God
comforted him by saying, I am. I am that I am. Who are you? that I am. Jacob's comfort was
I will. Jacob's comfort was I will keep
thee. Jacob's comfort was I will never
leave thee. Jacob's comfort was I will do
that which I told you that I would do. That's Jacob's comfort, and
that's his whole son of Jacob's comfort. The I wills, the I shalls,
the I ams, the I will never leave thee, the I will keep thee, I
will do that which I promised concerning thee. That's this
old Jacob's comfort. Sure is. Does that voice sound
familiar? Huh? Did you hear a familiar
voice in all that? Same voice. A little while later,
look over John with me, the book of John, chapter 8. Same voice. Oh, yes. Same exact voice. Look at John 8, said basically
the same things to us sons of Jacob, years and years later. John chapter 8, look at this,
verses 24 and 25, he says, if you believe not that I am Now,
look, the word he is in italics, doesn't it? That means it was
not in the original Greek Testament or the original Greek Gospels, the way God gave them to the
apostles and they wrote them down. That word he was not there.
He says, if you believe not that I am, you shall die in your sins. Then said they unto him, Who
art thou? And Jesus said unto them, O the
same One." The same One that said it from the beginning. Same
voice, same person, same promises. The same that I said unto you
from the beginning. Verse twenty-eight, When you
have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall you know that I am. I am. Look at chapter 10. Turn over there a little bit.
Chapter 10. Listen to this voice. Have you
heard it? Sound familiar? Chapter 10, verse 27. My sheep
hear my voice. I know them. They follow me. I give unto old Jacob, said,
I'm going to follow you. I'm going to follow you. He said,
My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Jacob, I'll not leave thee. They shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which
gave me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck out
of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." We
are one. Look at chapter 16, John 16. He talks a little more intimately
with his disciples over in chapter 16. Look at this. Chapter 16,
John 16. No, I'm sorry, verse 14, John
14, look back. John chapter 14, look at verses
1 through 3. He says to his disciples, Don't
let your heart be troubled. You believe in God? Believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Listen to this language.
Listen, people. This voice has been heard before. I go and prepare
a place for you. I'll come again and receive you
unto myself. Jacob, he says, I'll bring you
again into this land. I'll bring you. Well, poor Philip,
he didn't know. He didn't know. Verse 9, Philip
says in verse 8, Lord, show us the Father Show us the Father. The Lord said in verse 9, have
I been so long with you and you haven't known me? Have I spoken
so many things to you and you hadn't recognized the voice?
It's the same voice. It's the same voice. He that
has seen me has seen the Father. Believe it's not, verse 10, that
I am in the Father and he in me? The words I speak unto you,
listen, I speak not of myself, the Father dwelleth in me." In another place he said, the things
that I say, the Father gave me to say. Gave me to say. Believe, verse 11, me, that I
am in the Father and the Father in me. Look at verse 18, I will
not leave you Jacob, I will not leave thee. I will not leave
you. Jacob, I will not leave thee."
Same person. Same person, same voice, same
promise. I will not leave thee, you son
of Jacob. Comfortless I will come unto
thee. Verse 20, At that day you shall
know that I am in my Father. and ye and me and I and you."
Same voice, Joe. Same one. Same promises. Same old sinner. Same sweet God. Sweet Savior. My boy. Old Jacob was comforted
in his God. It says Old David. When David
got down in sick lag, got down and depressed, The enemies were
chasing him just like Esau chasing him. Jacob says that David comforted
himself in the Lord his God. I am. I am with thee. I'll never leave you. I will
do just what I said concerning you. I am. I will. I have. I will never leave thee. Comfort yourself with these words.
Comfort one another with these words. And so Jacob, upon seeing
and hearing God in Christ, after hearing the gospel of the covenant
of mercy and grace, Jacob feared God, didn't he? Look at it. Verse 16. Jacob awaked out of
his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and
I knew it not. And he was afraid. Listen to
this language. This is unheard of in our day.
Listen to the language of a man who meets God. Listen to the
language of a sinner who comes into the presence of Almighty
God, the Great I Am. Listen to the language of somebody
who really comes in contact with the Sovereign Lord and the Sovereign
Christ. It said, how dreadful is this
place. That's an unheard of language
in it. I'm speaking in tongues right now to most people. Dreadful? How dreadful is this place. This
is none other but the house of God, the gate of heaven. Jacob feared God. Right here. He didn't have them before. Right
here, he starts fearing God. And you know what that is, don't
you? The fear of the Lord. It's the beginning of wisdom. It's able to make a man wise
unto salvation. The fear of the Lord. And he
had respect. He feared the Lord. He met the
Lord God. He saw Christ, had Christ revealed
unto him. And he had respect unto the place
that the Lord appeared unto him. Listen to John, Dr. John Gill. He's about the only one I would
even, well, give that title to, he doesn't deserve it. But nevertheless,
the man was—the old writers, they feared God too, and they
spoke in a language worthy of God. Listen to this. Just cut
this out of Gil's commentary. Listen to it. When Jacob said,
Surely the Lord is in this place, I knew it not. He was afraid
and said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other but
the house of God. Listen to what Gil says, he was afraid and he
said, how dreadful is this place. He wasn't saying how terrible,
how horrible, like Mount Sinai, but like Zion, like Mount Zion. Not like hell, but as the very
gate of heaven, majestic, venerable, because of the glory of God that
appeared in it, whose name is holy and reverent. and because
of the holy angels that were present there. And so the church,
the church of which this was an emblem, is a solemn assembly,
an awful and venerable, a city of solemnities because of the
worship of God in it. light place, not a levitous place,
not a frivolous place. It's not a frivolous, light thing
that we do, a flippant thing we do, but a very serious and
sober time. Be sober, God says in His Word. This is what this man, a city
of solemnity, Because the worship of God is in it, we're approaching
the Lord God. His presence is there. Who is
to be feared in the assembly of the saints? Who is to be had
in reverence of all of them that are about him? Where persons
should behave, that's what Paul said in 1 Timothy 1, or 3, 15. Where persons should behave in
a serious and solemn manner. And you wonder why. insist upon
us being very serious in treating this place and what we're doing
with the utmost reverence and respect, even down to the way
we dress and behave ourselves. The Targum of Jonathan, one of
those early versions of Scripture, says this. This is what that
verse says in one of the early Mideastern Translations of Scripture
says how tremendous and praiseworthy is this place. This is no commonplace. This is none other, Jacob said,
than the house of God, which afterward he calls Bethel, which
signifies the house of God. And so the church is called that
many times, even in the New Testament. which is of God's building. It's
the place God builds. It's the people God builds. It's
where he dwells, where his family is, of which he's the master
and the governor, and which he beautifies and adorns and fills
and repairs and defends. And on and on Brother Gil goes. This is none other than the house
of God. It makes a mere church service
more than that. Sure does. Us sons of Jacob ought
to treat this place and what we're doing like Jacob did. Or
else we're not wise. We're not wise. And he was afraid. Jacob was afraid. But I tell you what, though,
Jacob was now a saved man. Jacob was now a saved man. Anybody
whom God instills his fear in. Anybody who God shows himself
and reveals himself to, anybody he reveals Christ to, is a saved
person. Anybody who God preaches the
gospel to and promises of the covenant to, And they believe. Jacob believed. And they believed. They're saved. They're saved. Jacob was now saved. Man, he
wasn't up to this point, John. He was not saved yet. Isn't that
right? Couldn't have been. He'd seen
the glory of God, and he'd seen the way to God in Christ. This
is eternal life, Christ said, that they might know thee. Jacob
had never met God. He has now. That they might know
thee, the only true God, thee I am. and Jesus Christ, the latter,
whom he has sent. Jacob met the holy, sovereign,
omniscient, omnipresent God of glory, and it struck fear in
him as well as gratitude and resolve. And he said, Surely
the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. Let me just give
you a few points on this verse here, okay? He said, Surely the
Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. Does the Lord actually meet in
this little building here? Does he? Yes. Yes, he does. Jacob was, where was Jacob? Huh? You know, the Lord is in this
place, and like when I told you that story, that young man, he
went into the house of God time and time again, that young man.
And the Lord was in that place, but he knew it not. He knew not
the Lord. He didn't know His presence.
He didn't know His presence. He didn't know who is the Lord.
Who was the Lord? He didn't know it. Jacob didn't
either. You know, the Lord is every place. Yes. It's a special
sense which the Lord is with his people. The Lord is every
place. Right? He is omnipresent everywhere
at one and the same time. David said it in Psalm 139. If
I send into heaven, you're there. If I send into the lower parts
of the earth, thou art there. Where shall I flee from his presence?
God is everywhere, but there's a special sense in which he said,
I am with my people. I am there. I am there. Now, men are unaware of the presence
of God. God is everywhere, and men are
unaware of it. The presence of God can be seen,
or at least known, in nature, can't it? Presence of God, surely
God, this world, surely the Lord is in this place, and men don't
know it. It's clear to us that the invisible
things from creation of the world are clearly seen unto us who
have had our eyes open, right? But not them. Why? They're blind.
The Lord is in this place. We can walk through the woods,
can't we? When through the forest glades
I walk," and so forth, see the brook and hear the gentle breeze,
then sings my soul, how great thou art. We see Him, don't we?
We hear Him. We feel Him, the presence of
God. Men don't by nature. Why? There's a blur. Surely the
Lord is in this place in nature, but men don't perceive it not. Surely the Lord is in providence. The Lord is in Providence in
Isaiah. He said, I have girded you. He said, I've girded you. I've done
every, you have what you have. Every person here has what they
have is who they are by the great, God said, I've girded you though
you don't know me. And men pass it off to all kinds
of things, don't they? They pass off their good fortune
to luck, to chance, to their own industry. Surely the Lord
is in providence, and men don't know it. Right? The Lord in power. The Lord displays His power every
day. As of late, the past few months,
all these power—these thunderstorms we've been having. Anybody hear
the voice of God in all that? Huh? You know, the Bible, when
the Lord spoke, when Christ was on this planet, the common people,
the disciples heard God speak. And the other people said, well,
it thundered. That's just thunder. The apostles said, no, God spoke. I hear His voice in the thunder,
don't you? I see His display of power on every hand. His floods
and hurricanes, we're getting... God's beating the shores with
hurricane. I'm God! But they don't perceive. Boom! Outside of town, I'm God! Men go, blind? Who is the Lord
we should be serving? Boom! I'm God! Blind as a bat, aren't they? Blind as a bat. Surely the Lord
is in this place. And men don't perceive it. It's
all over. In power. In power. God is everywhere. Well, here's
the thing. No man can pass by where God is And it is
nothing to them. Nothing to them. No place. About like the tabernacle in
the woods. Was God? Deborah, that little tent. You know that little brown tent
out in the wilderness years ago. Out in the wilderness. It's covered
with badger skin. A little brown tent. A little
tent. Can God be in a tent? The heavens
cannot contain Him. Was God in that tent? Well, all
the Haibites, and Hergesites, and Jebusites, and Hittites,
and Amorites, and all of those Hites, Arminianites, went by,
passed by, and they looked down and said, What's that tent? Well,
the Israelites say God's there, and they say He's nowhere else
but there, that only the glory of God's seen in that little
tent. They laughed. There? That little place? And they passed by and there
wasn't anything to them. Oh boy. Children of Israel, when they
smell smoke roll out of the Holy of Holies, ask Aaron. Ask the
sons of Levi. Is God in that little place?
Oh, is he? The Shekinah glory is there.
God's there. God is in this place. We perceived
it not. We perceived it not. Let me ask
you, dear, why don't we say that God is in this place? How do you know that God is in
a place? That's a good question, isn't
it? How does one know that God is in a place? Turn to one scripture,
Matthew 18. Matthew 18. Now, I've only been
exactly 30 minutes. Can you, well, bear with me just
a few more minutes? And we've only been in this building
48 minutes, not even one hour. Just hang on. Matthew 18. How does one know? We need to
clarify this, don't we? We need to be able to give a reason for
the hope that lies within us with fear. We say God is in this
little place, Central Baptist Church, do we? Yeah. We say that. How? Why? How do
you know? Matthew 18, and you know where
I want to read, don't you? Somebody would like to say it?
That's right. Verse 20. Verse 20, Christ says, Where
two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I, or there
I am, in the midst of them. The I am is in the midst of them. We don't miss, we don't have
to perceive it for God to be here. The angels of God ascending
and descending? Where the ladder is set at? Huh? And if God could open our
eyes like he did Elijah, Elijah, servant, or Elijah, I forget
which, and see the heavenly host, angels, ministering spirits,
the saints of God. Where two or three are gathered,
he said, in my name. Christ, God said, where two or
three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst
of them. In Christ's name, what does that
mean, in Christ's name? What does that mean? Well, for
his glory. Those who are gathered in the
name and believing and worshiping the name which is above every
name, and believing his name means that. Those who believe
Jesus means Jesus. Those who worship the Christ,
those who believe he is Christ, and they don't un-Christ him.
They're not anti-Christ. It is all Christ and nothing
more. Christ, and that's all. That's
to be in the name of Christ, not in a man's name, not in the
name of denomination, not in the name of Sam Hill or whoever,
but in Christ's name. Right? In Christ's name for his
glory, his honor, not as a show of religion, not to be religious,
not for the sake of the denomination. not to count heads, not to build
a big building or an organization or to have a place that kids
can have fun, but in the name of Jesus Christ, for the glory
of, for the exaltation of, to extol and honor and declare and
set forth and lift up the name of Jesus Christ. That's where God is. Count on
it. and nowhere else. The place,
and I have written all over the time, but I won't spare you the
turning. In Deuteronomy 14, he says, the place where I've caused
my name to be placed, where my name is heard, where my name
is declared, where those truly believe my name means what it
means. Lord, not in word only, but in
truth. Jesus, not in name only because
it sounds good, but in truth, Savior Christ, the only hope
for sinners. That's where God is, where two
or three, not the masses, two or three, doesn't have to be
a big crowd, two or three, two or three are gathered in my name. For the glory, for the honor,
for the worship, Paul said, we are the true circumcision. We are the true circumcision. Beware, he said, of dogs. There
are a bunch of dogs out there. He said, we are the true people
of God. Oh, Paul is awful dogmatic, see?
Awful bigoted. How could you say that? He said,
this is for three reasons. Because we worship God in spirit.
That is from the heart. We don't have all the outward
trappings of religion. The less you have of God's presence,
the more you need of those things. We're here to worship God from
the heart. God from the heart. The less
worship of God there is, the more entertainment you have to
have. The less of God's Word you have, the more entertainment
you have to have. The more singing you've got to
do. Right? God's people say, let's dispense
with the singing. Let's get to the Word. People
in the world say, let's put this preaching in the corner and let's
do more singing. Well, he can't preach a lick.
That's what I'd want to hear anyway if I had to. I'd want
to hear more singing if I had to put up with that preaching
there. Let's give the preacher about 10 minutes and give the
choir 40. The God's people, it's where
they worship God in spirit, and they rejoice in Christ Jesus.
They're not rejoicing over their church, their denomination, their
works, their profession of faith, anything about man. All they're
rejoicing, all of their worship, is in the person and the work
of Jesus Christ. And put no confidence in the
flesh. No confidence in the flesh. None whatsoever. No confidence. in anything outward form or show
of religion. No confidence. All their confidence
is in Christ. That's where God is. That's where God is. I don't
care what the world says. That's what God says. Who hath
despised the day of small things? The world does. That's it. God's
people don't despise it. Oh Bethlehem, Ephratath, though
thou be smallest among the nations, yet indeed shall he arise whose
goings forth have been of old." Smallest! He said, I didn't set
my love upon you because you were the greatest. You're the
smallest. Two or three. God's house. This is a dreadful place, I'm
here to tell you. It's a dreadful place. But a lovely place, an amiable
place. How amiable are thy tabernacles? Verse 19, so Jacob, here's Jacob's
vow. Jacob makes a vow. Verse 19,
it says that, I'm back, I'm in Matthew. Genesis 28, look at
verse 19. It says, Well, verse 18, Jacob rose up
early in the morning and took the stone that he had put up,
put for his pillows and set it up for a pillar, poured oil upon
the top of it. He called the name of that place
Bethel. The name of that city was called by a man, an almond
tree. He called it Bethel, the house
of God. That's what the Lord called it.
My house shall be called the house of prayer. Paul said this
is called the house of God and first Timothy and God's house
where God dwells where God's family in verse twenty Jacob
bowed about and said if God will be with me. Now he's not. This is not a condition Jacob
is not making some kind of condition here Jacob. This is not a statement
of unbelief here. Well if it's not a statement
of suspicion well I don't know if. If he's true, if what he's
saying, if God will be with me, that's not what he's saying here.
Didn't he just say? Didn't he just say the Lord is
in this place? And I knew it. Now, this is a
dreadful place. This is the house of God. This
is the gate of heaven. That sounds pretty confident,
doesn't it? Those statements of faith aren't the job. There
ain't no doubt in those statements. The Lord is here. What this word, if, is just like
it's used over in Colossians 3, verse 1. You remember that?
If you be risen with Christ, set your affection. Well, ain't
nobody can set their affection except those that are risen with
Christ. Right? Sense is the word there. Sense,
or since you are risen with Christ. And this is what Jacob is saying
here. Sense God. what he's saying here, if God
will be with me, it's kind of a statement of just of amazement
and wonder. If God will be with me, the likes
of me, if God will be with the likes of me and keep me in this
way, I don't know why it had anything to do with me in the
first place, but if he will be with me and keep me Give me bread
to eat? I don't deserve it. And raiment
to put on? And so that I come again to my
Father's house in peace? That's going to be my God. The Lord, that's my God. You
know, that's the type of Christ right there, isn't it? Do you
see Christ in all that, John? Huh? He said, God will be with
me. What's Christ's name? Immanuel.
What's that? God with us. if God will be with
me and will keep me in this way. Christ said, I'm the way. He
said, I'll never leave you. I will keep you that I go and will give me bread
to eat. Christ said, Moses didn't give
you that bread. I gave you that bread. I'm the
bread that you eat. And raiment to put on. What's
that? Christ's righteousness. So that I come again to my Father's
house, would Christ say? In my Father's house are many
mansions. I'm going to prepare a place for you. And if I go,
I'll come again and receive you to myself in peace. That Lord
is my God. That's what Thomas said. My Lord.
When Thomas finally found out, he said, My Lord and my God. This Jesus. is none other than
my Lord and my God." Oh, isn't that great? If I was
Brother Fred, I'd say, somebody say amen. Well, Jacob in verse twenty says
that Jacob took the rocks, the stones he'd been laying on, resting
on, and set them up for a pillar. That's good Jacob rested on a
rock and he worshipped at the rock he rested on. He was rested
on a rock and he worshipped at the same rock that he rested
on. The pillar, listen to this, the house of God, which is the
church of God, the pillar, and ground of the truth. That's what
Paul said in 1 Timothy 3. And Jacob vowed this vow. He
said that, if God will do all that for me, my, my, it's my
reasonable service. The Lord, he's my God. He's going
to be my God. Verse twenty-two, and he said,
This stone which I set for a pillar shall be God's house. And of
all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth
unto thee. Now, a vow, people. I'll just
be honest with you. I've always had trouble with
these vows. I've not really And I made some
wrong statements concerning that vows aren't necessarily a bad
thing. Vows are scripture. Not like. We're talking in the study about
that fool remember that fool Robert Tilton I hesitate to say
his name but remember that idiot all he talked about was pay your
vows pay your vows you know what he meant by that don't you pay
your vows pay me money. I looked up the word vow and
vows and so forth and numerous, numerous in the scripture. You
remember Jephthah's vow? He vowed his daughter. The Lord
be with me, I'll give the first thing that walks through that
door. Remember that? God held him to it. And he did
it. Now here's the thing about a
vow. And let me just read you a couple or I just so you know
don't take my word for God's work. We just read you a couple
for and principally the vows we want to make to God are vows
of praise and like Jacob said there and I'm going to worship
God. This is I'm going to worship
this God and support his cause. But let me just read a couple
of says in Psalm 76 bow and pay unto the Lord your God. Listen
to this, Psalm 116, it says this, several instances here in Psalm
116, he says, I'll pay my vows. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? That's what Jacob's saying,
isn't it? What shall I render unto the Lord for what he's doing
and promising me? David said the same thing. I'll
take the cup of salvation. I'll take it. I'll take what
God said. I'll take it. and call upon the
name of the Lord with those that call on him, I will pay my vows
under the Lord in the presence of his people." And that's what God, all of God's
people, need to vow that vow. This God's going to have me,
I'm going to have him, and I'm going to have his people. That's
what you did the other night, Rebecca. That's what you did
in that pool. If this Christ would do that
for me, if he'd have me, I'm going to have him. And his people,
just like Ruth, Ruth Shively, said, His people be my people.
His God's my God. Where they worship, I'll worship.
Same thing. That's a vow, isn't it? It's
a vow. He said, I'll offer God's sacrifice
of thanksgiving. I'll pay my vows. He said it
twice. Under the Lord now, in the presence
of all his people, in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst
of Jerusalem, I'll praise the Lord. But here's the thing about vows,
he said this, he warned us about this, he said, vow a vow and
defer not to pay it. Don't you dare make a vow before
the Lord you don't intend to keep. And that's the reason, you know,
I've talked to you about marriage, what a serious thing marriage
is, vowing a vow. When you take that oath of marriage,
you say before in the presence of all these witnesses and before
God Almighty, will you take this woman to be and so on and promise
so on and so forth. So help me God, yeah. Oh, don't
bow that vow unless you intend to keep it. The marriage vows. Their vows are scripture. They
sure are. They're scripture. But don't
vow a vow and defer to pay it. Pay it. Well, this place, Bethel. Bethel. Oh, I'll never forget a message
that my pastor preached on back to Bethel. That's one of the
And you can't send and get it, because I'm going to preach it
soon. I'm going to tell Ron Traybent
not to send any of those to Rocky Mountain, because I don't want
to preach it. But Bethel—you see, this place
of Bethel is where Jacob met God. It's where he first saw
God's glory. It's where he first heard the
gospel. It was the beginning of his confidence—steadfast in
church. Old Jacob left. He left. And oh, he got in a
mess, didn't he? We're going to see the mess Old
Jacob got in. Oh, Jacob got in. You name it,
Jacob did it. Right? Jacob Ross. You name it,
sons of Jacob have done it. And bless God, he brings them
back to Bethel. That's where he brought old Jacob
back. Brought him back to Bethel. Back to the beginning of his
confidence. Back where he first met the Lord and renewed his
covenant with him. And rekindled that love that
he had first lost. That first love he lost. And
changed Jacob's name. He said finally, when he brought
him back to Jacob, he said, Jacob, you're going to quit being a
Jacob. I'm going to change you. Quit this foolishness. I'm going
to change your name, Jacob, to Israel. In other words, God started
molding old Jacob into the image of the prince of Israel. Right? Well, he ran wild for a while,
didn't he? He ran wild for a while. But God brought him back. And
Jacob said, now, we're going to change your name. And that's
when things kind of leveled off for old Jacob. And Jacob is Israel. Israel. That great patriarch
who blessed all the sons of Jacob and the patriarchs and the twelve
tribes of Israel. Right? All right. Let's sing another item, another
hymn. I picked out and tried to find it. Now I know what it
was. 272, on Christ, the solid rock
I rest, or stand, my pillow, all other ground is sinking sand. His oath, His covenant, His blood
support me in the whelming flood. Let's sing those two verses and
stand as we sing. Verses 1 and 3. I hope this builds
on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not
trust the sweetest name that Holy Jesus gave. On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is stinking sand, all other ground is stinking sand. Herbert is on his prowl, and
my fist clutches mine, hold me in, love will be mine. When all around my soul gives way, All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.