Ike, if I die before you, that
is one of my requests. That's all. Jacob experienced
what we just sang. Title of the message, The Sinner
Saved. A sinner saved. Back in Genesis, let me get back
over here, in chapter 28, we see this. Jacob was one of God's elect. Jacob the supplanter. Jacob the worm have I loved. have I loved." Although Jacob
at this time did not know it yet. I don't think he had experienced
it yet. No doubt he heard and watched
his father Isaac speak of God in worship. He attended whatever
services they had, however they had it. Jacob was there. I'm
sure he was faithful to it. But I do not believe he knew
God until this chapter here. I mean really knew Him. Just
as our children, I thought about this as an example. Our children
learn of Christ each week in the Bible classes. You parents
speak of the Lord to them in your homes. But that's not knowing
Him. That's not knowing Him. The Lord
must reveal himself to them just as he does to Jacob here in this
chapter. The Lord must speak to their
hearts if they are to be saved. We teach them, we instruct them,
we preach to them, but there comes a time if they are to be
saved, God must speak. God must speak in power. God
must reveal Himself in Christ to their hearts. Now Jacob leaves
Beersheba to find a wife, but he also leaves because he's in
trouble. He's in trouble. His brother
wants to kill him. If you'll remember, Abraham sent
his servant to fetch a wife for Isaac. But Isaac sends Jacob
to get a wife by himself. He just gets him out of town.
He says, arise and go. And what he's saying to Jacob,
hurry up, Jacob, get out of here. That's what he's saying, arise
and go. And he sends him on this journey by himself. And this is a journey of a sinner
coming to know God, coming to know Christ. It's what we're
going to say. And I believe the reason As I said, that he's got
to get out of town is because Esau wants to kill him over that
birthright. That's why he's got to get out
of town. You see, it looks like, if you just read this, that he's
just going to get a wife, doesn't it? But turn over to Genesis
chapter 35. Go over to Genesis chapter 35. And God said in verse 1, and
God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there,
and make thee an altar unto God. Go back to Bethel, Jacob. This
is what God is saying to Jacob. Jacob, go back to Bethel. Go
back to Bethel. That appeared unto thee when
thou fleddest, when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.
You see, when God speaks, When God speaks, God said, Jacob,
go back to Bethel. He said, remember when you fled
from the face of your brother Esau? And that's what he's doing
in chapter 28. He's fleeing from his brother.
He says there in verse 7 and verse 35, And he built there
an altar and called the place El Bethel, because there God
appeared unto him when he fled from the face of his brother. So Jacob is not only going to
get a wife, but Jacob's on the run. Jacob's fleeing from his
brother Esau. And Isaac called Jacob, and he
blessed him and charged him and said unto him, Thou shalt not
take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, those idolatrous women. Don't take a wife from them,
Jacob. Don't do that. Arise, hurry,
and go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Bethuel, thy mother's
father, and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters
of Laban, thy mother's brother. It is time for Jacob to be married."
Now, how is it going to send him back to his family? He said,
don't take any of the daughters of the Canaanites. They are idolatrous
women. They will lead you astray. They will lead you into worship
of another god. And later on, we'll see this.
When Jacob was coming back, he made him put away these other
gods and all these servants and things that he had accumulated.
And he's going to go back to Bethel. He tells them to put
away these things and they put them away. And that's what happens. You marry this unequally yoked
and trouble, trouble. This is very instructive here.
Believers are not to be unequally yoked to unbelievers. That's
why he's saying you go back, keep it in the family. That's
why he's telling it, keep it in the family. Then Isaac pronounces
a blessing on Jacob, which shows that Jacob, which shows that
Isaac, I have got to keep these names, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Keep trying to keep these straight
as we go along is a mental exercise for me. So if I twist the name
or something, you keep it right. You just straighten it up. But
Isaac, this shows that Isaac, listen, was not mad, not upset. Jacob deceived him for the birthright.
But Isaac submitted to God's will. Isaac saw the hand of God
in this. So he calls Jacob to himself
and he's going to bless him. And this time when he blesses
him, he knows who he's blessing. See, the first time he was deceived,
this time he's not. This time he's not. And it gives
a little more light on the blessing. And God Almighty blessed thee,
verses 3 and 5, and make thee fruitful and multiply thee, that
thou mayest be a multitude of people, and give thee the blessing
of Abraham, the covenant, that covenant that God made with Abraham. Isaac is saying to Jacob, God
blessed thee with the blessings of Abraham. Did he give you what
he promised to Abraham? to thee, and to thy seed with
thee, that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger,
which God gave unto Abraham. And Isaac sent away Jacob, and
he went to Paddan Aram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the
brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother." Well, Esau hears
this. Esau hears this. You see, in
verse 6, when Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him
away to Padanerim to take him a wife from thence. And as he
blessed him, he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a
wife of the daughters of Canaan. Well, Esau begins to scheme again. And here's what he thinks. He
thinks, well, that pleased Dad, so if I go and marry in the family,
maybe I can get him to revoke the blessing. Maybe I can get
him to revoke it and give it to me. It belonged to me anyway.
And listen, and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and
was gone to Padenaro. And Esau, seeing that the daughters
of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father, you look over here in
chapter 27, look in verse 26, I mean 46. And Rebekah said to
Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth,
my daughters-in-law. whom Esau married of the Canaanites,
and they were Hittites, daughters of Heth. If Jacob take a wife
of the daughters of Heth, such as these, which are the daughters
of the land..." She said, you just killed me. That's what she
said. What good shall my life do me? My daughter-in-laws are
killing me. That's what she said. And if Jacob takes a wife like
this, I don't need to live. What good is my life? They were
miserable daughter-in-laws. And so Esau, he sees that this
pleased Isaac, that Jacob would go back and get a wife from the
family, back to Herod. And so what Esau does, he sees,
and Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his
father, then when Esau And what does he do? He thinks he's going
to keep it in the family. He goes to the family of Ishmael,
son of the bondwoman, the one that's cast out and will never
inherit any of the blessings. Spiritually ignorant. Still spiritually
blind, dead and ignorant. So he goes and he marries and
he took them to the wives, which he had Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's
son. Now, Ishmael was no doubt dead
by now, but this was probably a granddaughter. The sister of
Nebajoth to be his wife. So he was scheming, thinking
he was going to get Isaac to revoke the blessing if he goes
and marries. The whole thing he did was self-serving.
Everything Esau did was self-serving. It had nothing to do with God. He still despised the birthright.
His heart wasn't changed. He was still Esau. So now we come to verse 10 through
22. And these are the verses I want to bring the message from.
And Jacob went out from Beersheba and he went toward Haran. He
leaves home and it's going to be a long while before he finally
comes back. It's going to be a while. But
on his journey, he's going to be brought down He's going to
be laid in the dust and he's going to find out who the God
of Abraham and Isaac is. You see, Isaac said the God of
Abraham gave you the blessings of Abraham. Well, now he's going
to find out who God is. He's going to find out who the
God of Abraham is. And he lighted upon a certain
place and tarried there all night because the sun was set. And
he took the stones at that place and put them for his pillows
and lay down in that place to sleep. Now, these verses coming
up here are very instructive. He lighted on a certain place.
This place is supposed by many, and I believe it so, to be Mount
Moriah. Remember where Abraham and Isaac
went on Mount Moriah? Well, Mount Moriah became what?
Mount Calvary. Mount Moriah ended up being Mount
Calvary. So he comes to this place, Mount
Moriah, this place where the substitute was offered. God's
going to reveal himself in the place where the substitute was
offered. That's what he's going to do. This place where the substitute
was offered is Mount Calvary, and Christ was that substitute.
And if we ever find out who God is, If God reveals to us Himself,
we find out who He is, it will be at the cross of Christ. It
will be through Christ and Him crucified. This is where Jacob
found out who the God of Abraham was. On Mount Calvary. That's where he was at. This
is the place of the cross. Jacob did not know God until
he was brought to this place. This place where the substitute
was offered. This place of the cross. Not until then did he find out
who God is. Now when Jacob reaches this place, he's destitute. He's by himself. He said in one
place, I've come here with a staff. Only a staff. That's all he had.
That's all he had. Destitute. There was no servant
with him. No servant was sent with him.
He's walking all by himself. And when he came to this place,
it was about 48 miles stretch when he left. And one day he
walked about 48 miles. That's about what he walked to
this place. It was like 480 miles where he
was going on foot. And so he's brought to this place
and he's destitute. He's lonely by himself. He's guilty. He's on the run. He's fleeing his brother. His
brother wanted to kill him. And he's all alone. And the sun
is setting. He's in darkness. What a pitiful
sight. Here is Jacob. He's all alone. He's guilty. And now he's in
darkness. And this is a good description
of how God finds us. This is a good description of
how God finds every one of his Jacobs. Every one of them. Destitute. Guilty. And in darkness. In the dust? You see, Jacob's going to lay
where? On the ground. That's where you're going to
find him. This is how God finds every one of us. Lost and undone. When God reaches down His hand
for Jacob, this is where He finds him. In the dust. And notice
his pillows were stone. Stone. He used to sleep in a
comfortable bed with a roof over his head. But because of his
sin, of his deception, he's on the run and all comfort is taken
away. It's all gone. When God aims,
I mean when He aims at saving a sinner, He takes away all our
comforts, all our hopes, all our refuges and all our comforts. He takes them away. And notice
where God finds him. Lying on the ground. Lying in
the dust. In darkness. In darkness. In a strange place. With nothing
but the stars over his head as a canopy. That's all he had.
And he found him asleep. Vulnerable. You are never more
vulnerable than when you are asleep. This is how God found
Jacob. And I tell you this, Jacob, on
his way back to Haran, was not seeking the Lord. He was not
seeking the Lord. He was going back there to see
if he could find a wife. But the Lord was seeking him. The Lord brought him to this
place. Brought him out here by himself. Brought him out here
destitute, on the run, and then he's going to reveal himself
to Jacob as the God of Abraham. Jehovah, the Savior. And here's
the revelation. And he dreamed. You see, we can
teach these children, and we are to teach them, to teach and
instruct everyone who comes in here. But there comes a time. I'm telling you, there comes
a time when God has to reveal Himself. He has to reveal Himself. And today, it will be through
preaching. It will be through His Word.
But here on this day, listen, Jacob laid down in this place
in the dust and with a rock for a pillow. That was comfortable,
wasn't it? Just a rock for a pillow. And
it says, and behold, a ladder set upon the earth. And the top
of it reached into heaven. You couldn't see the top of it,
I don't believe. It's not like you could see the bottom of the
ladder. He could see that. But the top of it went right on through
heaven. Went right to the throne of God. That's where it went. And behold, listen, the angels
of God ascending and descending, doing the command of God, Doing
the bidding of God. Coming down and going back and
getting more orders and coming down and going back and getting
their orders and coming down and going back. Up and down this
ladder. Well, that's still going on. But that ladder is Christ. Turn
over to the Gospel of John. Let me show you. Let me show
you this ladder here is Christ. Let's establish this. Over here
in the Gospel of John. The Lord sees Nathanael, and
Nathanael said unto him, let me read verse 46. And Nathanael
said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?
Philip said unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming
to him, and saith of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom
is no guile, no deceit. He's truly an Israelite indeed. Not just in name, but indeed
a true Israelite. Well, Jacob's name was changed
to Israel. And every one of his children,
spiritual children, are called Israelites. He said, this is
a true Israelite. This is a true seed of Jacob,
spiritually. And Nathanael said unto him,
Whence knowest thou me? How do you know me? Jesus answered
and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou
wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. I saw you. I have my eyes on you. I have
known you way before you were born. Nathanael answered and
said unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the
King of Israel. Jesus said unto him, Because
I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest
thou? Thou shalt see greater things
than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God
ascending and descending. on the Son of Man. There's the
ladder. If we don't see Christ in this
ladder, it's useless. It's useless. Christ is the ladder. And the one who set this ladder
up is God the Father. And He set Him up before the
world was. He's the land slain before the foundation of the
world. He was set up as a mediator,
the king, the priest. He was sinner. And the purpose
of this ladder of Christ, whom this ladder represents, is that
God can be reconciled to sinners and sinners to God. That there
can be fellowship. There can be communion between
heaven and earth. You take away the ladder and
there's no fellowship. There's no way of a sinner like
us reaching and going up to heaven and having fellowship with God
the Father. It's not possible. But through
this ladder, which is Christ, the Mediator, the only Mediator
between God and men, we can have fellowship with God. We can go
into the presence of God in His name, just like you pray in His
name. We can go into the very presence
of God Almighty to the throne. The throne. God set this ladder up. The only
way to heaven is through Christ. He said in John 14, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father
except by me, except through up this ladder. Can't do it except
up this ladder. And if you'll notice, one end
touched the earth and the other end reached into heaven, just
as our Lord in His humanity, in His incarnation, walked on
this earth, touched the earth, bone of our bone, flesh of our
flesh. And at the same time, at the same time, he was in the
bosom of the Father. At the same time he walked on
this earth, he was still in the bosom of the Father. That's what
it says over in the Gospel of John. God is revealing to Jacob and
to us That the only way, the only way that a holy God, a just
God, and a sinful man like Jacob, a deceitful worm like Jacob can
have fellowship is through this letter. Through this letter that God has set up. You remember
in the scripture it says, God has set him forth. to be a propitiation
for our sins. Who? Christ. This ladder. That's the only way. The only
way. And where did Jacob see this
ladder set up? Where was it set up at? This ladder was seen by Jacob
in this vision set up right there on Mount Calvary. That's where he saw it set up,
right there on Mount Calvary. Mount Moriah. At the cross. At the cross is where sinners
are reconciled to God. At the cross is where God meets
men in mercy. At the cross is where God is
revealed as a just God and a Savior. At the cross. And if you'll notice, the first
time The first time it is recorded that God spoke to Jacob, the
first time God revealed Himself to Jacob, where was it? Mount Calvary at
the cross. The Lord said, Abraham rejoiced
to see My day and he saw it and was glad. Well, when was that?
on Mount Moriah when he offered up Isaac. And then God revealed
to him that ram caught in a thicket, substitution. And then I believe
He brings Jacob back to the same place. And the first time God
reveals Himself savingly to Jacob is at the cross. It's at Mount
Calvary. And that's when a sinner is saved.
That's when God saves a sinner. When He reveals to him Christ
and Him crucified. You cannot understand anything,
truly understand it spiritually, of God, of yourself, and of Christ
until you see it at Calvary. Not until then. He says here
in verse 13 and 14, And behold, the Lord stood above it, above
the ladder. And this is the Lord Jesus Christ
speaking to him. He's the Word of God. Every time
God speaks, He speaks through His Son who is the Word. And
he stood above it and he said, I am the Lord God of Abraham,
thy father, and the God of Isaac, and the land whereon thou liest,
to thee will I give it into thy seed. You see, Isaac said this,
didn't he? Isaac blessed Jacob. But the real blessing comes when
God says it. God says it. God pronounced the
blessing. He said, In 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 in thee. Here's the same blessing that He gave to Abraham.
And in thee and in thy seed, Christ, shall all the families
of the earth be blessed. That's the same thing He said
to Abraham. Same covenant. Same blessing. For the first
time, God revealed himself to Jacob, and he says, I am the
Lord God. At the cross, at Mount Calvary,
is where God is known as Jehovah. Where he is known as not only
as just God, but a Savior. A Savior. And notice, God said
that he was the God of Abraham, his father. And I thought about
this today when I read this. Why did he call Abraham his father
instead of Isaac? And I believe this is the reason.
Because Abraham is the father of the faithful. And Jacob, you're
one of the faithful. You're one of the faithful. And
he gives him this promise. And notice here, everything that
God promises. is never conditioned on Jacob.
It's never conditioned on this deceptive worm. He says, I will
give thee. I'll give thee. Jacob, you don't
deserve what I'm about to give you. You and I don't deserve. We do not deserve what God's
given us in Christ in no way, shape, or form. You do not deserve
what I am giving you You will not earn it. I'm going to give
it to you. I'm going to give it to you.
I give it to you freely by my grace, Jacob. This land, now
listen, this land, this birthright, this birthright, this land and
these blessings is yours, not by deception, but by grace. Don't you think that Jacob didn't
realize this? We'll see this. When he wakes
up, he was afraid. He said, God's in this place.
How awful this place is. God's in this place. Salvation
is the free gift of God. You could not do anything. You could not give enough, work
enough to earn it. It's free. It is the free gift
of God. Righteousness is the free gift of God in Christ. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works. Now listen to these gospel promises. Listen to these. And behold,
I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places, whither thou
goest. I 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. Take some comfort in this. This
belongs to us, too. I am with thee. I'm with thee. Jacob's out there
all by himself. And nobody's with him. He looks
like probably the loneliest man in the world. Lonely. But he said, Jacob, I'm with
thee. I'm with thee. God promised that He'd never
leave us nor forsake us. He promised that. His name shall
be called Immanuel, being interpreted God with us. It could have been
God against us, you know. But His name's Immanuel, God
with us. When you go through the fire,
I'll be with you. That's a promise. Jacob. Jacob. Is there any Jacobs here? I'm
with thee. I am with thee. I am. You're not alone. You've never
been alone. I am with thee. Here's the second one. And will
keep thee in all places whither thou goest. Jacob did not know
what he was going to run into. I think it was like 480 miles
of walking. He didn't know what he was going
to run into. And when he got there, he didn't know what kind
of reception he would meet with. Jacob, I'll keep you. We are
a kept people. We are a kept people. I will
keep thee in all places whither thou goest. Is there any place
you're afraid to go? I'll keep you in all places whither
thou goest. You are never alone. He's able
to keep. He's able to keep you from falling.
He's able to keep you by His power through faith. He's able
to keep. He will keep thee, He says, in all places. I read Psalm
139, Whither shall I flee from thy presence? No matter where
I go, thou art there. Be there before I get there. Thirdly, I will bring thee again
into this land. Oh, here's a promise to Jacob.
I will bring thee into this land. What is this land? Jacob, I promise
you that I'll bring you again into the promised land. We have
a promise of God. in Christ of this, I will bring
you to the promised land. I will bring you to heaven. I
will bring you home. Where's home? Home is where God
is. Home is where God is. And he
says, I promise you, Jacob, I'll bring you home. I'll bring you
home. I'll bring thee again into this
land. Our Lord said, I will lose nothing. I will not lose one of those
whom thou givest me. Now listen, if this will just sink in, not
even a hair of your head will perish. I honestly expect to have a full
head of hair when it's over with. I'm not trying to be funny, but
I do. I expect not one hair that I've lost will perish. Why? He said so. He said so. It will lose nothing. If this is not what sovereign
grace does, does it not keep us? Does it not bring us home? It will. And then he says here, fourthly,
And I will do as I have said, for I will not leave thee until
I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. Says in Philippians
1.6, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath
begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ. I will not leave you till I finish
the work. And when is that? When you and
I stand in his presence. Complete. Complete. And notice Jacob's reaction,
and I'll wind this down. After God revealed himself to
Jacob, listen, he was afraid. He was afraid. He trembled. He
trembled at God's Word. God spoke to him. And he said,
how dreadful is this place! Oh, I wish one time, one Sunday,
one Wednesday, that we all could leave here and say how dreadful
God is in this place. He doesn't mean dreadful in a
bad way. He just means my soul God was here. God was here. How dreadful this place. This
is none other but the house of God and this is the gate of heaven.
Where is the gate of heaven? Mount Calvary. The cross of Christ. Christ crucified is the gate
of heaven. He's the ladder and He's the gate. Oh, Jacob, he was afraid. Fear
of God is the beginning of wisdom. I believe for the first time,
for the first time in his life, he truly experienced reverence
and awe of God. And this is none other but the
house of God and the gate of heaven. Where God is, I already
mentioned this, but where God is, that's where his house is. That's where his house is. I
read somebody today and they said it wasn't until the third
century that buildings began to be built to meet him, like
this. It wasn't until the third century. The church used to meet
wherever they could meet. Where God is, is where his house
is. And this is the gate of heaven. Christ said over in the Gospel
of John, I am what? The door. The gate. I am. I am. And Jacob rose up early
in the morning, took the stone that he had put for his pillows
and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it.
Early! This shows his obedience. This
shows his reverence to God in worship. He didn't get up late
and stagger to get dressed and attempt worship. He got up early. He was eager. When he found out
who God is, God revealed Himself to Jacob. He got up early. He
was eager to go to worship. And he dedicated that place.
He poured oil, it says, upon that rock. He performed a worship
service. That's what he did. I don't know what all this means
here on this rock. The first thing I thought of
when I read that was that last Sunday we saw where our Lord
said, whoever falls on this stone shall be broken. And I thought
of Jacob lying on that stone. Found out who God is. God revealed Himself. And what
did he do? He turned around and took that,
which was his pillow, which was so rough and hard, and poured
oil on it and said, this is the house of God. This is the house
of God. And he called the name of that
place Bethel. Bethel. House of God. That's what he
said. House of God. This is the house of God. But
the name of that city was called Luz at the first. And then he
gives an expression of faith. Last of all. And Jacob 20 and
22, and Jacob vowed a vow saying, now that word if should be translated
since, since. Since God will be with me and
will keep me in this way, this way of redemption, this way of
mercy, this way of grace. this way that I go and will give
me bread to eat and raiment to put on." Boy, the first thing
that jumped out to me was this. God said, I'll give you this
land. I'm going to make you a great people. Your seed is going to
be like the stars of heaven. And what does Jacob say? He said,
Lord, if you just give me something to eat and raiment to put on,
that's enough. When he found out, when he found out, who the Lord
is, he became content. Contentment set in. You'll never
be content until you have Christ. Christ is the only one who can
give contentment. And he says here, and if you'll
give me bread to eat and just something to put on. That's contentment. He wasn't worried about all this
other land and people and all that. so that I come again to
my Father's house in peace." Oh, that you bring me home to
glory in peace. Then shall the Lord be my God. I think he's saying this, then
shall it be evident the Lord is my God. And this stone, this
stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house. Our Lord
said to Peter, upon this rock shall I build my church. Upon
this confession of faith, what you've said. And all that thou
shalt give me, I'll surely give thee a tenth of it. Jacob committed
everything to Christ for his well-being. And he glorified
God with his substance from that day on. And listen to this Scripture,
and that's it. 2 Timothy 1.12. Same spirit of
faith. Same spirit of faith. In 2 Timothy, for the which cause
I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed. That's what Jacob is saying,
I know whom I have believed. And they are persuaded that he
is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that
day. What have you committed unto
him against that day? Absolutely everything. Lock,
stock, and barrel. That's what sinners say. God
brought Jacob to the house of God. He brought him to the house
of God, revealed the gospel to him, saved his soul, gave him
the promises, revealed the covenant to him. And right now, Jacob's right
there praising him, praising him. Okay, Mike.