If you wish to follow along turn
to Genesis chapter 28 Genesis chapter 28 I Have two separate passages. I
want to kind of read as a starting text Genesis chapter 28 and verse
10 and I will make some comments about these I text and then we
will go back and look at some things in between these two texts. Genesis chapter 28 and verse
10. And Jacob went out from Beersheba. Why? Because Esau sought to kill
him. And that was a real bona fide
threat. Esau meant once the days of mourning Esau meant to kill Jacob. This is why Jacob flees. And
Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. And he
lighted up on a certain place. And oh, thank God, when the time
comes, when God's people, his chosen, those God set his love
on in Christ before the world began, thank God when they finally
light on that certain place. And he lighted upon a certain
place and tarried there all night because the sun was set. Oh,
that God may make your sunset. I know this is not the common
thought amongst many who call themselves Christians today,
but I pray God that he bring you nighttime. I pray God he
bring you nighttime and night, not nighttime for rest. but a
nighttime of revelation. And he tarried there all night
because the sun was set. And he took of the stones of
that place and put them for his pillows and lay down in that
place to sleep. And he dreamed. And this dream
is through the direct calls of God Almighty. This was not Jacob's
unconscious or subconscious mind working while he was in REM sleep. This is the revelation of God
Almighty. And he dreamed and behold a ladder
set upon the earth and the top of it reached to heaven and behold
the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And there is
nothing that fits that other than the person of Jesus Christ
himself. He is the God man. He is the
one who has brought heaven and earth together. He's the only
one. There is but one mediator between
God and men, and that is the man Christ Jesus. Your profession
of faith is not your mediator before God. Your church is not
your mediator before God. There is no other mediator other
than Jesus Christ himself. And Jacob is being taught this
lesson in this dream. And behold, the Lord stood above
it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father. Why did
he say that? Because God points out to his
people that there is but one God. God's men who preach his
gospel do not declare that there is a God. Now you pick what you
want about him. They declare that he is, as God
says here, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac,
and the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to
thy seed. 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, and to the south. And then, God, Preaches
him the same gospel that he had preached his daddy and his granddaddy
Does it not and it's just a few short words, but it is the gospel
nonetheless and he says this and in thee and in thy seed and
And remember what Paul said in Galatians, being moved by the
Spirit of God, it is always, when this phrase is always spoken,
it's always in the singular. Never is the word seed used plural
when it comes to this thing. And in thy seed, and in thy seed
shall all the families all the families, you and I sitting
here this morning better be glad that that is the gospel. And in thy seed shall all the
families of the earth be blessed. And behold, take note, and behold,
look at what's with the gospel. And behold, why does he say behold? Because he'd never considered
this before. It was always true before. It
was true of Jacob even before the world began, but Jacob didn't
know it. The word behold signifies something
glorious, yes, but the word behold also signifies something that
we did not fathom before. And behold, I am with thee. and will keep thee in all places
whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land,
for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have
spoken to thee of. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep,
and he said, surely, there is no doubt about this, surely,
The Lord is in this place. And I didn't know it. And I didn't know it. And brothers
and sisters, that's the way it was with each and every one of
us. When we finally came and lighted upon a certain place
that God was there and we didn't recognize it. Oh, but thank God
there comes a time when he causes us to recognize it, isn't it? Jacob awaked out of his sleep
and said, surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not.
And he was afraid. And let me tell you something,
when God Almighty converts you, fear is one of the first things
that begins to come. Not this smiling, happy, bubble
gum chewing, bubble popping, owl walking that you see today
in most professing Christian churches. He was afraid and said,
how dreadful is this place? Think about that. How dreadful
is this place? This is none other but the house,
think of it, not a house for God. This is the house of God. That is, here is where God is
particularly dwelling. Joseph spoke to us about God
being everywhere and knowing all things at all times, and
that is absolutely true. But this is a special presence
of God. It's later symbolized, which
was a symbol itself of that Ark of the Covenant was set in the
Holy of Holies. And that glory, that cloud came
down and sat right on top of that. What was that? The very
presence of God Almighty himself. And he was afraid and said, how
dreadful is this place. This is none other but the house
of God. And this is the gate of heaven. Jacob rose up early
in the morning and took the stone of that he had put for his pillows
and set it up for a pillar and poured all upon the top of it
and none of this Place and none of this manifestation will ever
make any difference until God Almighty pours the all of the
Holy Spirit upon it and He called the name of that place Bethel
Do you see it? Bethel, which means, if you look
at the house of God, the presence of God, where God is. But the name of the city was
called Luz, or that is separation at first. Now let me just say
a little something here. I will say this and then I will
have to explain it, I understand, but verse 19 lets me know this.
When it comes to you and I, the gospel changes. When it comes to you and I, the
gospel changes. Because there was a time, even
though we may have heard the gospel, the gospel was just like
anything else. Just another message. Just another
place. And at best, when we heard the
word of God declared, we thought about separation. How can I be
different? But right here, Jacob himself
is no different. Jacob has encountered God Jacob
has encountered God he called the name of the place Bethel
and Jacob vowed of our saying if God be with me and this is
not an if of Maybe God will maybe God won't God's done promised
he would but on the basis of this if God be with me and If
God be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and
will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on. Notice how
simplistic his request. Food and clothes. And yet we set our lives toward
everything else other than those two things. Seth, you get your education
and apply yourself to it, but your education is not your hope.
You hear what you say? I just spent a week of classes
in Marion. I applied myself to those classes,
Joe, but that is not my hope. My only hope is in God almighty. And if I am under his wing, he
will give me what I have to have to go through this journey that
I'm going through. Before I say anything else, just
like Jacob, he had a place to go and a place to go back to
once he'd been to that first place. Each and every one of
us as believers here this morning, we have a place to go that God
has ordained for us to go and we will get there and we will
return back to God's land. So that I come again to my father's
house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God. And he did. Jacob
came back to his father's house in peace. but it wasn't the way
he would expect it to have come down the pike. Did any of you
read chapters 28 through 35? You will notice that already.
He did come to his father's house in peace, but the peace that
God gave him was not the kind of peace that he may have thought
of before. so that I come again to my Father's
house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God, and this stone
which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house, and of
all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the 10th unto
thee. Let me just say this. I heard
a quote, I think it was by Henry Mahan the other day, and he was
quoting the old preacher A.D. Mews, and he said, Mews said
this, if you're paying tithes, you're a legalist. If you're
not, you're a rebel. I'll go figure that one out.
I thought that was, I thought that's probably about one of
the best explanations of it so far. If you're paying tithes,
you're a legalist. If you're not, you're a wretch.
I like that. Now, you pass over chapter 29,
you see Jacob's life. Chapter 30, chapter 31, chapter
32, we come down to chapter 35. Now remember where he's at when
we first read. He was at where? Bethel. Now in chapter 35 and
verse 16, we read this. And they journeyed from Bethel. But remember, we've got all these
other chapters in between. He left Bethel and went into
the east. Things transpired, but then he
what? Comes back to where? He comes
back to where? Not the land first. He comes
back to what? Bethel. It wasn't about the land
first. He was in the land. Bethel was
in the land, but it wasn't about the land first. The primary thing
was what? Bethel. Why? Because that's where
God met him at the first. They journeyed from Bethel, and
there was but a little way to come to Ephrath. And Rachel travailed,
this is the 13th of the offspring of Jacob. This is the last son
of Jacob that we're going to look at here. Well, it actually
does mention him. Anyway, and Rachab prevailed,
and she had hard labor. And it came to pass when she
was in hard labor that the midwife said unto her, fear not, thou
shalt have this son also. How much different women were
in that day. when they were so untrained and
uneducated and unwise, how much more they cared about their children
in their womb than they did about their own selves, huh? There was even a day in this
country when that was so too. And I'll just drop that like
a hot potato and let it lie right there. And it came to pass as
her soul was in departing, for she died. Do you see it? For she died, that she called
his name Benoni, but his father called him Benjamin. And Rachel
died and was buried in the way of Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.
Now remember, when he fled, he fled because Esau was going to
kill him. His mama said, get out. But his
daddy also said, don't take a wife from the people of the Canaanites,
the people around us, the people that dwell around us, Don't take
a wife from there. Go back to our hometown and you'll
find the one God ordained for you. Did he say it exactly that
way? No, but that's what he was talking about. Here he found
her. Now she's dead. You know why? The most important thing in this
world are not our human relationships. The most important thing in this
world is our relationship with God Almighty in the person of
Jesus Christ. I love that woman sitting right
back there in one of those chairs. But one day our relationship
as husband and wife will be nothing. It will be over. Do you understand
that? Jacob set a pillar upon her grave
that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day. So we have the life of Jacob
from fleeing from Esau to the life of Jacob with the death
of one of his wives. In this period, one place stands
out, doesn't it? We see it mentioned in chapter
28, verse 19. Again in chapter 31, verse 13.
Again in chapter 35, you'll see it mentioned several times. Verse
one, verse three, verse six, verse eight, verse 15, verse
16. Now here's my title. Conversion. Conversion. Not too many people talk about
conversion today, do they? They talk about, they don't even
say being saved. Professing Christianity today
talks about getting saved. You don't get saved. You have
to be saved. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
is an act of God Almighty. And when God Almighty saves somebody,
they don't just walk forward and pray some prayer at the front
of the building. God Almighty confronts their
path and He converts them. And He converts them because
He reveals to them Himself. This is my title, Conversion.
Bethel's glory. Two things to say here first
that's starting out. Conversion by the gospel, and I'll stop. The gospel is clearly delineated
in chapter 28, verses 11 through 14. You can go back there and
look at it. The New Testament clearly states
it. It says, the gospel was before preached unto Abraham. In thy
seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. So when
God repeated that to Isaac, it was the same gospel. Matter of
fact, Mason, same exact words. And when God repeated it to Jacob,
what was it? Same gospel, same exact words. When God Almighty preaches that
gospel to men and women today, it's that same gospel. And it's
all based upon those exact words. In thy seed shall all the families
of the earth be blessed. Salvation, God's narrative, all
down to this. That might not be the best way
to say it, but he's narrowed it down to all is Jesus Christ
his son. You miss Jesus Christ, I don't
care how good you are. I don't care how many conversion
experiences you have had. You miss Jesus Christ, you've
missed it all. Conversion by the gospel never,
never takes place. That is God's conversion. That
is the conversion that God works upon men and women. Conversion
by the gospel is never, it never takes place when men are at ease
with themselves. You see where Jacob's at? Chapter
28. He's in fear of his life. He is fleeing because he's a
corrupt, deceitful manipulator. Is he not? And his mommy helped
him with it. And somebody says, but that was
the purpose of God. Don't blame God for your sin.
Yes, it was the purpose of God, but you can't blame God for your
sin. He was deceitful, he was manipulative,
he cared more about his own physical well-being because he knew nothing
of the heavenly glories of those promises and that blessing. All he was looking at was this.
This piece of ground, these animals that my daddy's got, all these
women. Well, wait a minute, that was
Isaac. He knew how many daddy Abraham had. You see what I'm
saying? Jacob's eyes were right here
on earthly things. All of a sudden, he meets the
latter. that stretches from heaven to
earth. He all of a sudden meets the
Lord God of his father Abraham and Isaac. And later on, in between,
in these chapters, we find out he deals with this Lord God face
to face. Doesn't he? You remember the
wrestling of a man? And remember, the man wrestled
with Jacob. Jacob didn't wrestle the man. God Almighty must instigate
salvation in all of its parts and all of its facets. This is
a work of God. Jacob's in trouble, ain't he? I hear this a lot, and I don't
mean to criticize, but I've got to tell the truth. People say,
even to lost men and women, well as long as you're happy, I just,
if you ever said about one of your children, I just hope they're
happy. You better hope God disturbs their world. You best hope God
shuts it all down. You best hope God causes them
to light upon that certain place because they're fleeing from
God because of their sin. Oh God, disturb men and women. Our Lord said that when the Spirit
of God's come, what does it say his primary work's going to be?
The primary work is to take the things of Christ and show them
unto men. But men by nature can't see those
things. Right? So what's he come to do? He has
come to convince. The word in the KJV is rebuke,
but it's a stronger than, it's to convince the world of what? And what's the first thing the
Spirit of God does to a man or a woman? Convinces them of what? Sin. Sin. Sin. Jacobs began to get a glimpse
of what he's like. But you only will get a glimpse
of what you are really like when God Almighty gives you eyes to
see the person and work of Jesus Christ. He may open your eyes
to the law, and you may begin to see what sin is, but you never
see how bad sin is till God gives you eyes to see Jesus Christ.
And that's where it's at. Our sin and sins. Should I stop
and explain the difference? Yes, briefly. Sins are what I
do. Sin is what I am. I do the sins
that I do because of the sin that I am. Okay? God Almighty first convinces
me of sin. And you know what sin's like?
When Jesus Christ hung on that tree, God seen somebody's sin
in his son. And what did God do? He turned
his back on his son. So much so that the son, Mac,
and I can't explain it, I don't know that it ought to be attempted
to be explained. Even the Lord himself, who was
hanging there, said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? He knew why. That was for our
benefit. Why did he forsake? Because of
us. because of sinful, wicked men. And he was burying the sin
of sinful, wicked men upon him and within him, and God the Father
turned his back on the Son, and thank God the Son still said,
but thou art holy. Thou art holy. Paul puts it this
way about conversion, 2 Corinthians 10 verse five, I won't read it.
And Joe, it is a besiegement. It's a good word, I'll use your
word instead of the one I was planning on. It's when God Almighty
shuts you in. And you can't go forward, you
can't go backwards, you can't go right, you can't go left,
you can't go up, and you're already about as down as you could be.
God Almighty hymns you in and you got no place else to go.
You can't go anywhere. You just hope you happen to light
up on a certain place. A place where Jesus Christ is
revealed to men and women. That's the second thing. Bethel
is the place of God's presence. Bethel is where Christ is revealed. Now it doesn't have to be in
what men call a church building. although do not denigrate the
gathering of the saints together. I'll use today's language, that's
the default. That's the default. It mostly
takes place in places like this, where men and women gather together.
But let me tell you, here's where that, it pleased God, by the
foolishness of what? to save them that believe. So wherever the house of God
is, there's going to be what? Preaching. And what kind of preaching? Not just any old kind of preaching.
The apostle Paul clarified, it says, we preach the cross of
Christ. The cross of Jesus Christ. The
sufferings of Jesus Christ. The substitutionary satisfaction
of Jesus Christ. The penal satisfaction to God's
holy law and God's holy righteousness. Jesus Christ dying in the place
of sinners. Has God brought me? Has God brought
you to Bethel? That's what you better think
about. I don't care if you believe everything that Joe and Walter
teach and preach, has God brought you to Bethel. You see, men only meet God in
mercy in Christ. That's the only place you'll
find mercy from God. Seek God's mercy. Men say, that's a good
thing. It is a good thing. But you seek it outside of Christ,
you won't find it. You just won't find it. there
is none other mediator. Period. I know there's not a
period there, but period. There is none other mediator.
Men and women, men and women only meet God in mercy in Christ. And Christ is only known in the
gospel ministry. Isn't that right? Romans chapter
10 verse 13. this religious world that calls
itself Christian, if everyone was being taped and they were
going on TV like this may eventually go on TV, you'll hear even them
quote this verse, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. And they tell men and women that if you're
to say Lord save me, everything's okay, even though they don't
delineate who the Lord is when they're preaching. And they think it's like a lucky
rabbit's foot, just say Lord save me. And that's not what
Paul said. He didn't stop with whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Mac, that's
a glorious truth. Because it is whosoever. But
it is defined. The whosoever are defined. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how
shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? So you
got to believe Christ first before you call on him. Huh? Before you can call on him. And
you can't even believe on him till you first what? Hear of
him. And you can't hear of him, you're not gonna hear of him
until God Almighty sends a messenger to you with who Jesus Christ
is. That's Bethel. That's Bethel. That's Bethel. There is no other
place of mercy outside the gospel ministry. You hear what I say? Because you're not gonna know
him in whom God shows mercy apart from the gospel ministry. After
Bethel, after Bethel, Jacob meets Rachel, remember? You read it?
He met her at the well. I figure when he first saw her,
he thought, whew, that's one, some kind of woman right there.
Don't you think? Before he ever met her, Daddy
Laban, he already had his eyes set on that gal. So, after Bethel,
he meets Rachel at the well, then he meets Laban, and he says,
I want that woman. Isn't that what happened? I may
be ad-libbing, paraphrasing, but isn't that what he said? But he didn't get her. His daddy-in-law-to-be put the
trick on him, and he got Leah. She was tender-eyed, the book
says. And it says Rachel was very beautiful to look upon.
Now when the book of God says a woman's beautiful, you bless
God, because this is an inspired word, she was beautiful. And
when it says Leah was tender-eyed, you know what that's saying,
don't you? She was wee bit homely. But she was tender-eyed. Don't
we say that today? But you know what? He got both. Jacob was told by his daddy,
go get a wife. God's in this thing. Right? And don't settle for nothing
less than over yonder. Don't take one from here. Well,
now he's got two. Now he's got two. Things are
pretty good. But you know what happens? Not
only does he have two wives, but his wives give their handmaids
to him to have as wives, or the scripture more accurately would
call them concubines. We call them all wives today,
don't we? The book of God calls them concubines. They're gals
on the side. Did you read through it? He had
four by Leah. He had a couple then when Rachel
realized that Leah had kids and Rachel hadn't had any kids yet,
she said, well here, take my handmaid, has a couple by her.
Well, then Leah gets upset and says, well, this ain't gonna
happen, so she gives her handmaid to Jacob as well, and he has
a couple by her. And then finally, Rachel conceives.
And somebody says, boy, those people were weird back then.
No, we are weird today. Our hearts and minds are set
in the flesh today. We practice the very same thing
today. We just make it so much easier.
All you got to do with the first wife is divorce her and then
go get you another one. And then you can still go see
the first wife on the side if you want to. And nothing's illegal
about it. Now, am I telling you the truth
about our society today? We ain't no better than these
folks back here. Men and women read this book, and especially
behind pulpits, and especially in Sunday school rooms, and they
try to put the best light on all this. Well, that's the way
those people were back then. We're worse than they are. We
try to make it legal as though that makes it right. Boy, you're getting down and
dirty now. Now, I'm talking about what actually
happened here. 12 children were born to Jacob.
A couple things here, a couple things here. Think about it,
this didn't happen as Jacob desired when he first seen Rachel at
the whale, did it? Things did not come down the
pike as Jacob thought they would come down the pike. But neither
Jacob, nor Laban, nor Leah, nor Rachel, nor anyone else in the
account from chapter 28 all the way through 35 is ever justified
for their sins. Never. God's sovereign purpose
is unfolding before our eyes. And yet no one is ever excused
for their sin. Mason, they're just not. As a
matter of fact, all hell breaks loose on occasion because of
this sin. But here's a couple thoughts
on this. Number one, God's purpose is not thwarted by men's ways. even their evil, wicked, corrupt
ways. So much so, two things. We know
that even the death of Jesus Christ, and he was tortured,
not to death, but would have been, were it not for the fact
that he had his life in his own power. He was tortured, and they
tortured men to death back then. Their capital punishment was
not, well, we can't have inhumane treatment. They inhumanely treated
men and women when they put them to death then. And our Lord,
because of his sovereign power, because he was doing the will
of God, he laid down his life under this torture when he hung
there. But you know what this book teaches us? That those evil
men and women did exactly what God Almighty ordained before
to be done. It was almost as if, Joe, they
had the Bible in front of them, so what do we do next? Now they
did not, and they were not following God's word, although they were
following God's will. And it's like they were tight,
now what do we do to him next? Crown of thorns next. What do
we do now? Put a cross on his back, let
him carry it up. What do we do next? We nail his
hands and his feet. What do we do next? We poke a
spear in his side. What do we do? Give him gall
and vinegar to drink. Mason, it's all right here. And they
were doing exactly what God Almighty had ordained in the open book
of God. Jews were reading it all the
time in synagogues. God's purpose is not thwarted
by men's ways. Now here's the second thing.
We know this. All things work together for good. Now how? Many all things, all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. And you know what? We here know
that. We know that. No, no, we know
that. But we don't always walk in that
truth. We don't always walk in that
truth. I will illustrate. And I'm not picking on anybody.
If I point a finger at you as the old say, I got three or four
pointing back at me. But let me just give you an example
of this. You have two believers and they're at odds about something. Okay, think about it. You got
two believers, they are at odds with one another about something.
And it's not the doctrine of Christ. Okay? It's one thing
to be at odds with somebody else, even another believer, over the
doctrine of Christ. But they're at odds with one
another over the doctrine of Christ. Here's the scenarios. You have one believer that not
only knows all things work together for good, but desires to walk
in a way that they know all things work together for good. So they
seek to point no fingers. they just acknowledge, we're
having trouble. Part of the fault's them, part of the fault's me,
it may be all me, I don't know, but all things work together
for good and I will deal with it this way, I will take it from
God's hand and get along with them as best I can. Or, another
scenario is, here you got two believers and they say, all things
work together for good, but I'll tell you what they done. But I will tell you what, somebody's
got to know what they've done, what they think, what they've
done. I've got to somehow expose them. Wait a minute, I thought
all things work together for good. Or you have the other scenario.
Here you got two believers and both of them are at odds with
one another and just cannot settle it. Why? They know all things
work together for good. but they're gonna hairlip God
if they can help it. And they're gonna make sure that God Almighty
lets everybody, everybody knows, including God Almighty, that
this thing is his fault or this thing is her fault. If we truly
walked according to the truth, and we truly knew all things
work together for good, we would never cast aspersion on another
believer ever again. I don't care if they fall flat
on their face. All things work together for good. When Peter
fell flat on his face, I'm sure some of the other, the other
10, and I am saying that right, the other 10 probably could have
said, boy, look at old Peter. But remember, God Almighty was
teaching Peter a lesson. And when God Almighty's teaching
somebody a lesson, take your hands off. Because we know all things work
together for good to them that love God. I've got to move on. Secondly in this, God's purpose
in grace, when we look at this account, God's purpose in grace
depended on one potent man. Think about it. Bilha, Zilpha, Leah, and Rachel. All four of them entangled in
heaven babies right and left. Yes or no? I mean all kinds of
stuff's going on if you went back and read it. I'm not going
into all that. What's the one constant in all
this? Jacob. There's a little light going
off now. What's the one constant in all of this deceit and manipulation? Even drugs were used. You hear
what I say? Even drugs were used. Now I know,
we've been on the TV for I don't know how long, somebody ought
to want to know where that's at in the Bible. They won't care about the months
of us preaching Christ, Joe. They're going to want to know
where drugs were used in the Bible. I didn't even realize I was probably
going to say that when it happened, but that's probably going to
be a fact. This is probably going to be the one time somebody's going to contact
us. The one constant in all this
was who? The potent man, Jacob. He could have kids and he was
having them right and left. That remind you of anything?
Let me tell you something. Isaiah 42 verse four, the prophet
moved by the spirit of God said these words concerning Jesus
Christ, he shall not fail nor be discouraged. The one constant
in all of this universe is the person and work of Jesus Christ
and his absolute ability to bring forth every child unto God that
God Almighty ordained to be brought forth unto God. Yes or no? That's what this book teaches.
That's what this book teaches. Bilhah, Zilphah, Leah, the one
constant was who? Jacob, Jacob, Jacob. Conversion to Christ is when
trouble really begins. That's when it really begins.
I mean, Jacob running from Esau, he didn't know how much trouble
was coming down the pike. Till he lit upon a certain place
and he called it what? Bethel, Bethel, Bethel. That's where, you know, After
Bethel and all these things happened, what's this book say? Laban's
countenance changed. Remember reading that? Laban's
countenance changed. But where do I go in trouble?
Look at 31 verse 13. Now Jacob is recounting to Rachel
and Leah. Laban, his daddy-in-law's face
had changed. He loved old Jacob for a while.
Things were going great. But now he's thinking he's getting
too big. He's getting too big. And look at what Jacob is telling
Rachel and Leah that God Almighty's told him. Verse 13, this is the
first part. I am the God of Bethel. You see that? Remember, Jacob,
here's what it's all about. Me. Not you, Jacob. Not your daddy-in-law, not your
wives, not your sons, not your one daughter. Not your cattle,
not your herds, not your goats, not your sheep. Here's what I
said, I am the God of Bethel. Remember what I told you I was
gonna do for you back at Bethel? Remember what I told you I was
gonna do for you back at Bethel? Where do you run when you're
in trouble? The gospel ministry's the only place to run to. I'm telling you folks, we need
one another. We need one another. Can we survive on our own? Yes,
but you don't want to. Your troubles will be a whole
lot worse out there by yourself. than they will be if you suffer
them, or when you suffer them troubles, and you do it with
the people of God. God said, I'm the God of Bethel, and he
says, get back to the land now. And that was good. Get back to
the land now. And Jacob went to Bethel first. He went to Bethel first. Let
me, I've got to move along. You see, think about this. The
Apostle Paul told those Corinthians, and you, just go back and study
sometime about Corinth in that day. It was the San Francisco
of the day. More like San Francisco and New
York kind of packed together. Everything to do. all the pleasures
of the world. Money and wealth could be had
there. Great enjoyment could be had
there. And here this old ex-rabbi, this old ex-Pharisee walks in
and says, I determine to know nothing among you, save what?
Jesus Christ and him crucified. Because the only answer to your
trouble is Jesus Christ and him crucified. And even after, a
bunch of them are converted. It's so tough in Corinth, Joe.
They had real troubles in their church. And Paul was forced to
deal, Mac, with those particular troubles. But I dare you, go
back and look. How did he deal with them? What
was his answer to all those troubles? Every time it's Christ, Christ,
Christ, Christ. Go back and read 1 Corinthians
again. Christ, Christ, Christ. God says to us all the time,
I am the God of Bethel. Even if you can't get back to
Bethel right now, you best have your heart and mind and soul
set on what? Bethel. Bethel. Bethel. You see, to be with God's people
is God's ordained place. Bethel, remember, was in the
land of promise. He said, get back to the land.
What's the first place? Go back and read it. Bethel.
Bethel, Bethel in the land. Now let me tell you something,
that land signified just like we see today. That land had all
those 12 tribes, and they each had what? Their particular place
in that land. Did they not? What is God's church
today? But local assemblies spread out
all upon the face of this earth, and each one has their particular
place to dwell and live. But what was one of the hallmarks,
though, that big conglomeration of 12 tribes? And the tribe over
here had trouble, and they needed help, and they often needed help. What were they supposed to do?
Grab a shofar, and whoo! And what was that to say? To
all the other tribes within hearing distance, come help us out. So you see, it's not just about
your local assembly. It's about all those close around
you too. It's good every once in a while
just to blow the show far. We need help. Ellen, we don't
dwell as a local assembly alone any more, you shouldn't, any
more than you can dwell as a believer by yourself. It's not good for
you. Because God said what? Go back
to the land. Go back to my people. Isn't that
what he said? Oh, what a glory. This is paramount
in trouble. This ain't just about some command,
keeping some command, don't forsake the assembly themselves together.
It's our life's blood, spiritually speaking. You see, the gospel ministry
in the local assembly is paramount. Remember John, the apostle was
banished to Patmos? By what all accounts I get of
history and even from the book of the Revelation, though we're
not told directly, Mason, I don't know if anybody else was even
with him. I don't know. But one thing, it wasn't a thriving
metropolis, Joe. It was the Isle of Patmos. And
he begins to see the revelation and be told the revelation of
Jesus Christ. And go back and start to read
chapter one, and he sees Christ in all of his glory. Does he
not? All of his glory, but then where
does he see him at? In the midst of the churches. That's where Christ is most predominantly
displayed. You can see him in nature, but
nature doesn't tell you who he is and what he did. You can read
him in this Bible, but this Bible's above all of us, apart from spiritual
revelation. But if he ever confronts you
at Bethel, you'll never be able to get over that. And then you'll
start to understand some of this book right here. Then you'll
start to look at nature and say, ah, I get some of that now. I see his wisdom and magnificence
displayed. Let me move on. Just a few other
thoughts. According to chapter 31, verse 24. Go back and turn
to that one. I know I've been a little long,
but look. Chapter 31, verse 24. What did I think I'm in the wrong, did
I say chapter 31, verse 24? No, here it is, yeah, it's there. Chapter 21, remember, Jacob fled
from Laban. Why? Because his countenance
had changed. He's starting to conduct himself very untoward
toward Jacob, but look at what it says in verse 24. And God
came to Laban, the Syrian, in a dream by night. This man was
lost. Laban was not saved. to Laban in a dream by night
and said unto him, take heed that thou speak not to Jacob,
either good or bad. Now he could have kept Laban
from even catching up with Jacob. But he didn't do that. But he
did tell him, when it comes to Jacob, keep your mouth shut.
You see that? In other words, never underestimate
God. He will make even your enemies
to be at peace with you. Now he may not always do that,
but he can do that. And he does do that, probably
a whole lot more than we even understand, else they'd have
us strung up somewhere. Never underestimate God, and
also, go back and look at chapter 32, 24 through 31, and specifically
verse 31, Christ reveals himself afresh to us. I believe it was
Jesus Christ himself came down in human form and wrestled with
Jacob. And he wrestled with him in a
way that Jacob said, I'm not letting you go until you bless
me. Oh, that kind of experience get
ahold of men and women. Here you have preachers begging
people, begging people to come forward, pray a prayer. If that
man ever wrestles with you, you'll be begging him. I ain't letting
you go till you bless me. And he'll say, I'll bless you,
and I'm gonna change your name. I'm gonna change your name. No
longer are you the supplanter. You're now called Israel, a prince
with God and men. Think about that. And then God
also did what? He changed his walk. Touched
the hollow of his thigh. Now I know in religion I was
taught that. He changed his walk, but I want you to think about
it. He's running from Laban. Who wants to be halt? If you think about that, his
running is slowed down. Do you get it? He didn't know
God had spoke to Laban, but God knew God had spoke to Laban,
and he's saying to Jacob, I'm gonna slow you down even further,
old boy, and you will deal with what I purpose for you to deal
with. You see it? He halted upon his thigh. Here's
another thing, never suppose Never suppose before God has
wrought in time his eternal purpose, never suppose. That's what I
meant, that may be an open-ended thing. I'm saying never suppose
before God has wrought in time what his eternal purpose was.
Look at chapter 33 and verse four. Now remember, he's fleeing
from Laban. He finally meets up with Laban
and everything's okay. Ain't it? God even slowed him
down and made him do this. But now, while he's fleeing from
Laban, he hears what? Well, he's going back to Esau.
Well, he's going back to where Esau's at. He starts preparing
gifts for Esau. Gonna butter him up a little
bit. That's what he was doing. They were no different than we
are today. We're gonna butter him up. Well, I gotta do this
for them. They did this for me. Huh? We'll butter him up a little
bit. Then he heard Esau was coming to meet him. Did you read it? And wait a minute, he's not just
coming to meet him. He's coming to meet him with 400 men. What would you think? I'm in
trouble. I'm doing this. And what's he do? He go, I'll
plan, Joe, your message. I'll plan my own way. I got two
bands here. I'll separate them into two bands.
And notice Jacob stayed in the back band. He didn't get out
front, he stayed in the back band. And the two bands, the
first band was told to divide up in droves and kind of hit
Esau a little bit at a time with presents and gifts. Isn't that
what it says? It's exactly what it says. And
guess what it says right here. Now where's I at? 33 verse four.
And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his
neck, and kissed him, and they wept. Don't underestimate God
before God Almighty does what he's going to do. You understand
what I'm saying? Oh, everybody's against me. Everybody's,
yeah they are. But they can't thwart God. You're
going to wherever God Almighty ordained for you to go. Now,
he may make you halt, and you may limp around, and one supposed
enemy after another come, but it'll be okay. And just like
the three Hebrew children, even if God don't deliver me physically,
even if we burn up in that fire, we won't worship your false gods. You see it? Come, in other words,
the old phrase, we know this in West Virginia, come hell or
high water. I stand with Christ. I stand with Christ. Here's number
three. Never avoid your responsibility. Chapter 34, verse five, you remember
Dinah? She's gonna go out on the town.
That's what Dinah, his daughter, decided to do. She's gonna go
out on the town, meet all the other gals of Cadan. Well, meet
them all. Well, one old boy took a liking
to her and took her. Did he not? Look at what it says in chapter
34, verse five. Let me look at it here. Yep,
and Jacob heard that he, that is this other boy, this young
fella, had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with
his cattle in the field, and Jacob held his peace. Who's in charge of this band
of folks? Who's in charge here? Jacob is
in charge here. He held his peace until they
come. He should have already sent out messages saying, boys,
something's happened, and here's what we're going to do. He left it alone. Never avoid
your responsibility, no matter how tough it is. I'm gonna give
you a question now. When I fail, when you fail, if
we fail together, And we will. You mark that down. You're gonna fail individually,
I'm gonna fail individually, we will fail as a group, as a
local assembly, together. Some errors will happen. When we do, which is better?
To be a coward like Jacob or to be fearless like his sons?
Does anybody wanna publicly answer that question? Which is better, to be a coward
like Jacob, or to be fearless like his sons? I will give you
the answer to the question, neither. Neither. Oh, Jacob, what a coward
he was. Yeah, he was. Oh, his sons, how
fearless were they. But what were they doing? They
were defending human dignity. They used, listen, they used
the covenant of God. as a guise to get the upper hand
on some fellas and kill them. Did you read it? They said, well,
everything will be hunky dory, you boys circumcised yourselves.
Isn't that what they told them? You remember what circumcision
was? It was a sign of the covenant. But did they intend to embrace
these folks as people of the covenant? No, they tended to
slaughter them while they were still healing from their circumcision.
And they did it! Jacob said, you made me to stink.
But Jacob's problem was this. He said, and I being few in number,
they shall gather themselves together against me and slay
me and I shall be destroyed in my house. That wasn't true. God
done promised him he was gonna make it back to the land. Your careless or your fearlessness
don't mean squat. And neither does mine. It's God's
promise in the gospel. Do you see it? Well boy, that
person wronged me. And ain't nobody wrongs me. I
don't make them pay back for it. God says vengeance is mine. Is that what he says? Vengeance
is mine. Why do we take vengeance? Because
we think we deserve it. And I don't care whether you're
a coward or whether you are fearless, it's all flesh. It's all flesh. Oh God help me to remember what? Bethel. And let me read it and
we'll close. 28, the end of that gospel glory. And behold, I am with thee. That was God's promise to him,
wasn't it? And God promised us the exact same thing, Joe? He
said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. He says all things
work together for your good. Didn't he say that? And behold,
I am with thee and will keep thee in all whether thou goest.
And we put places, that's okay, but it's not just the place.
It's the circumstances themselves. And bring thee again to this
land for I will not leave thee until I've done exactly what
I said I would do. Is that not the gospel? There's
our strength. Mason, there's my strength. There's
our strength. It's not in, well, boy, I'm tough. Or, well, I'm just meek. As Tim
James once said, men become proud in their own humility. We become proud in our own humility.
And then when we're fearless, we try to act like we're humble.
See, that's all flesh. One thing's not flesh, that's
the gospel of Christ. The gospel of Christ. Mac, would you close
us in prayer and give thanks for the food? the teaching of our Lord. May
we take it and apply it to our hearts and realize it as we study
that there's nothing as important as you and the teachings that
we find in the Bible concerning our wonderful Savior. Lord, thank
you for the food that's been prepared to give us strength
to be able to tell others about the love you had for us on the
cross at Calvary. for these things we ask in Jesus
name, amen.