Genesis chapter 8, I mean 28,
I'm sorry, we'll be looking at verses 10 down through verse
22. Then these verses we have probably
a familiar story to most people. The title and lesson of the message
is Jacob's Ladder. I've been trying to look in the
book of Genesis on the messages on the radio and as I was reading
I thought, You know, it's one of those things you think about,
you just never take time to read it or to study it. And, you know,
all these things are pictures and types of the Lord Jesus Christ
as he reveals his self to chosen sinners. And Jacob, we know,
was the one that God chose. God told Rebekah in Romans chapter
9, before those boys had done any good or evil, Jacob and Esau,
before either one had done any good or evil, either one of them,
that the purpose of God according to election might stand. God
said, Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. And that's
what it says and that's what he meant. And he set his love
on Jacob. And all that God set his love
on before the world was made in time, he's going to cross
their path. in his time. You say, preacher,
when is a person saved? I can tell you exactly when.
When it pleases God. When it pleases God to cross
your path. It's just like we were talking
about Simeon. They brought the Lord Jesus Christ and they laid
him in his arms and he says, I can die now. This is the consolation
of Israel. God's salvation. So this is what
we see here. God coming to one of his elect,
Jacob, in mercy and grace, and revealing himself to them. It
said, And Jacob went from Beersheba and went toward Haran. Beersheba, I mentioned last week,
is the well of the oath. Or if we could talk, we could
even say it's the place of blessing to Iran, the place of the curse,
the place of death. So this is where Jacob's coming
from. You remember how that the reason
Jacob is even here is because His very name means surplanner
because when Esau was born, Jacob reached out and grabbed hold
of his brother's heel. Esau was the firstborn. Esau
had the right of the birthright. And Jacob is reaching out trying
to get that which didn't belong to him. And he surplanted and
he tricked his daddy into getting the blessing. That's what he
did. He tricked him. He deceived him.
God would in time have given it to him because it was his
by promise. But he still deceived his daddy. But let me tell you
this, God is not bound by anything. He's not bound or hindered by
anything. God determined for this boy to
have the blessing and he's blessed. And you know what God did to
Esau? God left him alone. He left Esau to his own way. Esau chose to do exactly what
he wanted to do. When he saw Jacob, I mean, Isaac
sent Jacob to Haran, to Laban's house, to get him a bride. And
you know what Esau did? He went and married him a Canaanite
woman, on purpose. That's his second wife. Because
Esau had displeased his daddy. He's a rebel. And all God has
to do to send a person to hell is just leave them alone. But
I'm glad God is determined to save a people. And in God's own
time, He will cross their path. And He will reveal unto that
sinner, He's gonna first reveal to you who you are. When the
Spirit of God has come, He will reprove the world of sin, of
righteousness, and of judgment. He's got to convince you what
sin is. Sin. Sin, sin is not an action,
sin is who you are. Then he's got to convince you
that he's righteous and that you have no righteousness. The
only righteousness you can have is the one that he gives you,
that of judgment, that judgment is satisfied. Only God can convince
you of that. I can't or nobody else can. But
God does through the preaching of his gospel. So this is where
Jacob is at. Here we see Jacob in his lost
condition. God never saves a man until he
brings him to recognize his lost condition. All through the scripture
it says God kills and God makes alive. That's how God always
works. He strips and then he closes. Here we have a revelation
of God. Jacob is lost. He's left his home and he's left
his parents. You know, I don't understand
all this. I know there's a whole lot more
here than any of us will ever see. But you know, Isaac lived
40-some years after this. The reason Isaac called him in
and blessed him, he thinks he's going to die. But he lived another
40-some years. And very little is ever said
about him after this. Very little. Why? I don't know.
I just think that's strange, don't you? But do you know that
Jacob's mama helped him deceive his daddy to get the blessing.
And do you know when he left home, that was the last time
he saw his mama alive? The last time. When she sent
him away and he had to leave. You know why? Because when he
got the birthright, when he got the blessing, Esau said, as soon
as my daddy's dead, I'm going to kill you. He meant it. That could have been one reason
God let him live another 40 years, to spare Jacob. That's how God
always does everything, to spare his people. That's why. But this
is the situation. He's left home. He's left his
father. He's left his comfort. And he's
going across this desert. You know, it's 400 and some miles
from Beersheba to Haran, 400 and some miles. And if you'll
go back and read in chapter 24, this is the same distance when
Abraham sent a servant to go get Rebekah and bring her from
Laban's house or her father's house, bring him all the way
back. But he's riding in a camel train. Jacob's not. He's probably alone. Can you
imagine how he feels? He's left his father, he's left
his mother, he's alone, and he's out here by himself. In verse
11, He lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all
night, because the sun was set. And he took of the stones of
that place, and put them for his pillar, and lay down in that
place to sleep. Nothing can ever hinder God in
his purpose. Everything Jacob experienced
that night, this night here in the desert, between Beersheba
and Haran, portrayed the work of God's sovereign grace in the
heart of a chosen sinner. You notice there it said, and
he lighted upon a certain place. A certain place. He just thinks
he's just out walking in the wilderness. But he comes to a
certain place. God determines the place and
the time. And you notice it said it was
night. When God comes to you in grace, it's darkness in your
soul. Talks about a lot of things that
happen in scriptures at midnight. Darkness, darkness, deadness. This is Jacob. God has never
personally, up to this time, ever spoke to Jacob. He spoke
to Abraham and pronounced a blessing on Abraham. He spoke to Isaac
and revealed himself to Isaac, but he's not yet revealed himself
unto Jacob up to this point. He tarried here all night. The
burden that he was carrying was this heavy heart. What am I doing? What did I do? It sure didn't
work out like I thought it would. I thought, when I'll get the
blessing and everything will be fine and Esau will bow down
to me. No, it didn't work out that way. He's having to leave. No light to walk in, dark, alone,
confused, and in despair. Does this sound familiar? Would
he ever see his loving mother again? Would he ever see his
home? Will he ever be able to go back
home? Here Jacob lay defenseless, helpless,
cold, and alone, a fugitive running from his brother. You remember
later on in the book of Genesis when he has to go back? You remember
how afraid he was the face he saw? And that's when he wrestled with
God. But he saw a minute. He is now able to see what his
efforts to get the blessings had cost him. But I want you
to see God is leading his elect child to this very place. Old writers, old Puritan writers
used to use this statement, prevenient grace, which means grace before
grace. Before God comes to you in saving
grace, his grace keeps you. The steps of a good man are ordered
of the Lord. Every step you made, every step
was ordered of God Almighty. Every step Jacob took was ordered. You said, explain how he deceived
his daddy how that can be ordained. I can't. There's no way to explain
the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. You just
can't do it. You just can't do it. but it's
grace before grace. This was God's time to visit
his child. When he is out here all alone,
destitute of any comforter or anything to bring him comfort,
it says he lays his head down on a stone. The way of the transgressor is
hard, especially a transgressor who belongs to the Lord. Jacob
is cut off from all ties, and that's what God does. When he
intends to save someone, you know what he does? He's going
to get them alone. It's just between you and him alone. God is bringing Jacob down. He
is humbling him. Hosea 2.14, therefore, behold,
I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and will
speak comfortably unto her. This is what God is doing to
Jacob. He is stripping Jacob. Who's
he gonna depend on? Nobody. Who's there to help him?
Nobody. Let's see him manipulate himself
out of this mess. He's been able all of his life
to get himself out of a jam and to manipulate and get what he
wants. He can't do anything here. Even when we say when he gets
to Laban's house, he's always trying to out trick Laban. And
Laban was just a little smarter than he was. And God's putting him in a place.
Listen, it's not my manipulation that you get God's blessings.
It's by grace. Man thinks that he can manipulate
God. He can surplant God. No, it don't
work that way. God's not like you are. He is stripping him of all of
his scheming, his manipulating. God kills and God makes alive. When God intends to reveal himself
to a chosen sinner, he always gets that sinner alone. Who's still back at home? Esau is. Esau had everything
he could ever want. You remember when Jacob finally
has to go back and face Esau, and Jacob brings all these presents,
you remember what Esau said? He said, I have enough. I don't need anything, I have
enough. Look in verse 12. We have the
revelation. So see where God's brought him.
He tarries here all night. He lays down. He pulls a stone
up and lays his head down on a stone for a pillar. And as
he lays in that place, he lays down to sleep. He's just wore
out. And he lays down to sleep. And
he dreamed. And behold, a ladder was set
up upon the earth. and the top of it reached to
heaven. And behold, the angels of God ascending and descending
on it. And behold, the Lord stood above
it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, the God
of Isaac, and the land whereon thou lies, to thee will I give
it and to thy seed. God came to Jacob in a dream. You need to understand this,
that in Jacob's time, they didn't have a Bible like you do. They
didn't have a complete revelation of God. We don't know how much
they had. And God in times past revealed
himself to people through dreams. He don't reveal himself to people
through dreams now. Why? We have the Word of God. We don't need dreams and all
these things. But in this time, he did. And God revealed himself
through a dream to Jacob and portrayed himself as a ladder,
reaching from heaven to earth. Everybody's familiar with the
ladder. You want something that is up high, you need a ladder
to take you to that place. You go from a low place to a
high place. And this ladder is a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is how God revealed himself
to Jacob, in a ladder. This is what God did. He said,
Jacob's dreaming. And he dreams and he sees a ladder.
Some said this is more like a staircase. And it's set up upon the earth
and reaches all the way to heaven. And at the top of this staircase,
he sees the Lord standing at the top of this staircase. You
said, now what can this mean? There is only one mediator. between
God and man, and that's the man, Christ Jesus. How are we going
to get from here to there? How can that be? How can that
be? God reveals to his child that
the distance between God and the sinner can only be bridged
by this ladder. Something about this ladder,
what did he say? He said it set up upon the earth,
right where Jacob was at. The Son of God took upon Himself
human flesh. When the fullness of time was
come, God set forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law, set up as a man upon this earth. You said, why is it important
that He took upon Himself a human nature? He's God. Now, He never
ceased to be God, but He was born in a virgin's womb. as a man, and he was set up upon
this earth. But the top of it reached into
heaven. The foot of the ladder on earth represents his humiliation. The top reaching to heaven shows
his exaltation. The only way anyone can have
access to God is by Christ, our mediator. Our Lord said, I'm
the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes into the Father
but by me. There is one God and one mediator
between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. And when man misses
it, he thinks himself to be his own mediator. He says, I don't
need God. I don't need Christ. Oh, yes,
you do. And this is how God revealed himself to Jacob in this letter. How do you know this is a picture?
Here's what our Lord said, John 1, verse 51. He said unto him, Nathanael,
verily, verily, I say unto you, hereafter you shall see the heaven
open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of
God. He's making reference to this
right here. He says, Nathanael, he says, because I saw you under
the fig tree, you believe, he said, you're going to see greater
things than this. greater things than this. Don't you see this? It was set upon the earth, it
reached all the way to heaven, and the angels of God are descending
and ascending upon this earth, upon this ladder. Now what can
this represent? I think these angels can represent
three things. I think, first of all, he refers
to Christ, who is the angel of the covenant. Have you ever noticed
how many times that God revealed himself to people in the Old
Testament in the form of an angel? How did he come to Abraham? In
an angel. And that was the Lord Jesus Christ. That's exactly
right. He didn't just begin when he
was born in the mother's womb. He's always God, and this is
how he manifested himself. Secondly, it can have reference
to the angelic beings. What are these angelic beings?
What is their purpose? They are ministers sent forth
to minister unto them who are the heirs of salvation. Did you
hear that? They are sent forth to minister
unto them who are the heirs of salvation. What do they do? They
watch over the elect of God. They protect them. They're ministering
spirits. That's their purpose. He said
the angels of God ascending and descending. They do whatever
he commands them. But I think this also can have
reference to gospel preachers who were sent as ministers of
Christ who bring the things of God down to man. Here's what
Paul said, If you're ever to learn anything about God, God
will have to send you a preacher. That's right. The Ethiopian eunuch. He came
to Jerusalem. He came to worship God. And he
had a copy of Isaiah in his possession. And he's riding in a chariot,
and he came to Jerusalem looking for something, and he didn't
find it. And he's reading Isaiah, and he cannot understand it.
He's reading Isaiah 53. He said, is this talking about
the prophet? Or is this talking about somebody else? And God
sent him a preacher. He said, Philip, join yourself
to that man's chariot. And Philip asked him, he said,
do you understand what you read? Do you understand what you read?
And he said, how can I, except some man guiding me? And you
know what he showed that man? He was talking about the latter.
He's talking about Christ, the one that would come between God
and man, born of a virgin, taken upon himself human nature, to
bear the sin of his people. Our great God has set this ladder
upon the earth and it reaches all the way to heaven. Oh, what great love. This is
why the song sings. Oh, the love that drew salvation's
plan. Oh, the grace that brought it
down to man. Oh, the mighty gulf. that God
did span at Calvary. You want to talk about a distance?
You imagine the distance between us and God. You remember when
the rich man went to hell and he prayed, he said, Father Abraham,
send Lazarus that he may come and dip his finger in water and
cool my tongue. He said, do you not realize there
is a great gulf fixed? He can't come to you and you
can't come to him. But there's one that spanned
that gulf. Someone said an Armenian bridge
is a bridge that just goes halfway across and you're supposed to
build the other half. The Armenians say you build your
own ladder and climb up one step at a time. That's what Nimrod
did when he tried to build his temple all the way into heaven.
That's what he was doing. But God reveals itself that it's
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he's doing
to Jacob. He's revealing himself to that
man. Let me tell you, salvation is
a divine revelation. You can read as many books as
you want to. You can listen to as many sermons as you want to.
It doesn't come by education. It comes by revelation. Now listen
to me. I've listened to men that they were as sound as sound could
be, but still did not know the master. I read something from
Henry Mahan years ago, which really blessed and spoke to my
heart. He says, there's a lot of people
that preach about Christ and don't preach him. I don't want
to be guilty of that. I don't want to just be guilty
and believing about him. I want to embrace him. It's not
in a doctrine, it's in a person. It's in a person. And the only
way you'll believe is for Him to open your eyes. And He'll
get you alone, He'll put you where there's nobody else but
it's just you and Him. And He'll make Himself known.
And He'll reveal that it's not by your efforts, it's not by
your strength, it's not by your scheming, it's not by your manipulating,
but it's by His grace. He's provided this staircase
from earth that reaches all the way into heaven. Can you imagine what Jacob thinks?
Now this man had been taught from Abraham. Wouldn't you have
loved to been taught? Wouldn't you have loved to sit at the
feet of Abraham? Wouldn't you have loved to sit at the feet
of Isaac? And they told him about this covenant God. God who revealed
it. God called Abraham out when he's
70-some years old. Why did he call Abraham? Why
didn't he call somebody else? He called Abraham. And he called
Isaac. And he called Jacob. And through
Jacob, God changed his name to Israel. And everybody knows about
Israel, don't they? Everybody knows about the nation
of Israel. Let me tell you, they are God's
chosen people. They are His chosen people. No
doubt, no question. Everybody knows it. Everybody.
Don't you mess with Israel. Now, I know they're just a picture
of the true Israel, but let me tell you, that little nation
over there began with this man right here. Ain't that right? He's a picture of all God's elect
Israel. You know, God even many times
refers to us. He said, you sons of Jacob, the
only reason you sons of Jacob are not consumed is because God
doesn't change. He's the unchanging God. But
he calls you, you're nothing but a son of Jacob. Sandy's talked
about this ever since Paul was here. She said she loved that
illustration where it looked like Paul, Paul Manning, remember
he reached down and he just picked up an old worm and said, that's
Jacob, that's us. That's who we are, just sons
of Jacob. But we're their sons of promise.
And we are heirs of all things. And every son of Jacob, God will
in his time reveal himself to that sinner. Every one of them.
Every one of them. It may not look like it now in
Jacob's life. Look at him when he's leaving.
God's even controlled every bit of this to get him alone. Look at the verse saying how
God revealed himself. You know what? Look what he said.
And behold, the Lord stood above it and he said, I am the Lord
God. Who is he? He says, I am the
Lord God of Abraham, thy father, the God of Isaac and the land
whereon thou lies to thee will I give it into thy seed. I am
the covenant-keeping God. He said, I'm not only Abraham's
God, I'm not only Isaac's God. You know what he's saying? I'm
your God. This is the first time that God spoke directly to Jacob. And God speaks to him. Does God
still speak to sinners? Oh, yeah. He said, my sheep hear
my voice, and they follow me. Remember when he came to Lazarus's
tomb, what did he say? Lazarus, come forth. And he comes
down, he speaks to Jacob. He says, Jacob, I'm not just
Abraham's God. I'm not just Isaac's God. I'm
your God. And listen to me, Jacob can't
depend upon his grandpa being God. Jacob can't depend on his
daddy being God. He must trust God himself. That's right. And the only way you'll ever
trust him is for him to open your eyes. Jacob will never get
over this, never. Before this, he had been his
father's God and grandfather's God. But now God says, I'm your
God. And he says, the land whereon
thou is, to thee will I give it. The earth is the Lord's and
the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein.
I love it ever since the first time I heard Jeff Leedis in that
song, this is my father's world. I own it. He said, I own it all.
It's all he is. But let me tell you this. God
didn't choose that land over there. Why did God choose that
land to give it to Israel? Anybody want to explain that
to me? Did he give them that land? That's the land he gave
them. And it's still theirs because
God gave it to them. You know why he gave them that
land? I'm going to tell you why. Because one day, somebody's going
to dig a hole, and they're going to drop a cross in it, and God's
going to hang his son on it. That's why. God in the Old Testament
put a lot of significance on places. Bethel, this is the same
place where Abraham came Mount Sinai, Mount Horeb, all those
places. Do you know they believe that
the very place where Abraham offered up Isaac is where the
temple was erected? You think that's an accident?
It all revolves around him. And he said, I'm gonna give you
this right here. He didn't say Jacob, now you
gotta work for it. You gotta work to get it and
you gotta work to keep it. He said, no, I'm gonna give it to you. And everything we have in grace
and mercy and forgiveness and pardon, God gives it to us, gives
it to us. He'll give it to whom he will.
In his sovereignty, he gave him that land. to the people of his
choice. He said, I didn't choose you
because you was the greatest in number. He told him, he says,
look at your father and look at your mother. Your mother was
a Amorite and your father was a Hittite or vice versa. But
that's what he said. You remember the hole from which
you were dug. Why did God show you mercy? Why
does God allow us to meet and worship him? Why? He gave us this land. He gave us Christ. He said, Jacob,
I'm gonna give you this. I didn't just give it to your
father and to his son. I'm giving it to you. It's yours. The land where you lie right
now, to thee will I give it and to thy seed. We know all the
blessings are in Christ. Everything is in him. In him, this same man, from this man,
came a great nation who came out of Egypt 430 years later. Millions of people. His people. Remember what he told Pharaoh?
He said, you've touched my firstborn. He said, you've touched the apple
of my eye. And you know what God did? God
killed his firstborn. And do you know what he said? He said, that's mine. And you
know where he brought him? You know where he brought him? Back to the very place he gave
him. Didn't he? That's what it is in the book
of Joshua. You know what they're doing?
He said, the iniquity of the Amorites is full. I put up with
this long enough. And you're going to go in and
take what I've give you. And it is. Verse 14, And thy seed shall
be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt be spread around
to the north, to the south, and in thee and in thy seed shall
all the nations of the earth be blessed. And what it says
in Revelations chapter 14 verse 6, And I saw another angel, flying
in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach
unto them that dwell on the earth, to every kindred, nation, tongue,
and people. He said, go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature. All the nations of
the earth would be blessed through him. God set apart that people. Why did He set apart this people?
The Old Testament is about what? Israel. It's all about Israel. It's about Israel's king. It's
about God providing for them. They would sin against God and
God would raise them up a judge. Well, then He gave them a king.
He gave them David. Then He gave them other kings.
And then He took them into captivity. But then He sent them the Lord
Jesus Christ. And that's all the reason why.
to bring him into this world, and it's through him all the
nations of this world are blessed. If you've ever heard the gospel
one time, you're blessed. Ain't that right? Why you? There'll be people perish who
have never heard the gospel. Ain't that right? Go back and research again. Go
back and study what Corinth was like. Go back and study what
Ephesus was like and worship that great goddess Diana and
all that mess. Go look at it. Those nations
were under a curse for years. But then God sent them to gospel. He sent them to gospel. And you
know what? He blessed them. Blessed them. He has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. Look what he says in verse 15,
we have the promise. I want you to notice this. Notice the I am's and the I will's
and the I have's. And behold, I will be with thee,
and will keep thee in all places whether thou goest, and will
bring thee again into this place, for I will not leave thee. and
to have done that which I have spoken unto you. He says, I'm
going to keep you and I will never leave you. Remember what
he told the disciples when he's getting ready to leave and go
back to glory? He said, lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the earth. What did he say? I will never
leave you nor forsake you. He never left him alone. And he said, this is what I'm
going to do. This is what I'm going to do. In verse 16, we have Jacob's
response to the dream. And Jacob awaked in verse 16
out of the sleep and he said, surely the Lord is in this place. And I knew it not. Here in this
certain place, our God brought Jacob to this place to be gracious
to him. He said he was afraid. He said,
verse 17, how dreadful is this place? That means he was all
in reverence. He said God was in this place
and I didn't even know it. This is the response of one who
has seen and beheld the Son of God in all His glory. Who was
it? Somebody said, I think it was
Sheryl, talking about how they don't fear God. Why don't people
fear God? They've never saw Him. Have you
ever seen? It's not a slavish fear. Perfect
love cast out fear. We don't serve God from a slavish
fear. It's reverence. He's holy. You remember John on the Isle
of Patmos? He said, when I saw him, I fell
at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon
me saying unto me, fear not, I am the first and the last. But when he saw him, he fell
on his face. Verse 17, he was afraid and said,
how dreadful is this place. This is none other but the house
of God. And this is the very gate of
heaven. That staircase or ladder, whichever
one you want to call it, not only takes you to heaven, but
it takes you in. He said, this is the gate of
heaven. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth and the life. No man comes into the father,
but by me. Verse 18. And Jacob rose up early
in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put for a pillar,
and he set it up for his pillar, and he set it up for a pillar,
and poured oil upon the top of it. He consecrated it to God,
and he called the name of that place Bethel. But the name of
the city was called Luz at the first. And Jacob vowed about
saying, now notice that word if, you need to mark that out
and put cents. It's if you read it with if it
makes it seem like God that he's bargaining with God Let me read
said if God be with me and will keep me in the way I go and will
give me bread to eat and raiment to put on so that I come again
to this house in peace Then shall the Lord be my God. It's not
if it's since It's since God's been gracious to him. That's
what he's gonna do. It's not if we don't bargain
with God and For this stone which I have set up for a pillar shall
be God's house, and all that thou shalt give me I will surely
give thee the tenth thereof. He never got over this right
here, never. Let me read you a couple of verses.
Genesis 31, 13, I am the God of Bethel, where thou knowest
the pillar, and where thou vowest a vow unto me. Now arise, get
thee out of this land, and return to the land of thy kindred. In
Genesis 32, 10, he said, it's when he's getting ready to meet
Esau, he said, I'm not worthy of the least of all these mercies
and of the truth, which thou has showed unto thy servant.
For with my staff, I passed over this Jordan and now am become
two bands. You know where God blessed him?
In Laban's house. God blessed him. Do you know
Moses never got over the burning bush? He talked about the goodwill
of him that dwelleth in the bush. Paul never got over talking about
the Damascus Road. I know people put too much on
experiences, but you know what Jacob did? He took those stones,
he set them up, he consecrated them, and he said, this right
here is the house of God. This right here is nothing but
bricks and shingles and tin and sheet rock. But where God meets
his people, that is the house of God. He said, this is the
house of God. Well, two or three are gathered
together in my name. There, I'm in the midst. And then he said, the last part
of verse 22, and all that thou shalt give me, I will surely
give thee the tenth thereof." From Moses to Christ, the tithe
was a legal duty. Remember, Abraham paid tithes
unto Melchizedek. This is before the law was ever
instituted. But since the time of Christ,
God's people are free from this obligation of tithing. Let me
tell you, when we were in religion, when people didn't give, you
know what you do? You preach for Malachi. Would a man rob
God? And say, well, if you don't tithe,
God's going to get his. Ever heard that? Say, well, if
you don't tithe, God, your car's going to break down or something
will happen, you're going to lose. God's going to get it.
And people live in fear. Listen. Under grace, we realize that
everything, everything belongs to him. You know what he said?
What you gave me. Them clothes on your back, God
gave it to you. That car you're riding in, God
gave it to you. That job you have, God gave it
to you. And that's what he's saying.
It's all his. You know what grace does? Grace makes a man gracious. If it doesn't make somebody gracious,
it's not grace. Grace How could I ever repay
Him for what He's given me? I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, the mercies of God, that you present your
body, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. Why?
It's just reasonable service. It's not unreasonable. It's reasonable. Everything. Just imagine what God's given
us. He's been pleased to reveal himself to us as the only mediator
between God and man. It's not us trying to do our
best. It ain't our free will efforts.
It's God providing a way whereby a sinful man can approach a holy
God. Oh, the mighty gulf that God
did span And Calvary, oh the love that drew salvation's plan. Oh the grace that brought it
down to man. Who brought it to Jacob? He did. Boy, don't you know that was
the best night's sleep he ever had. He said, I didn't even know God
was in this place. He was. And he still is. where he is exalted and where
he is honored, that's where he's at. He says, I'll honor them
that honor me. Those that exalt him and glorify
him, he's gonna get all the glory, every bit of it. And you know
what he's gonna do? He's gonna save every single
son of Jacob. My question to you is, has God
been pleased to reveal himself to you? Are you just believing
in Grandpa's God, and Daddy's God, and Mama's God, or is he
your God? Has he been pleased? I pray if
he has, I pray that he will. And you know, we commit our children,
people we know, our friends, our family, in the God's hands,
because only God can make himself known. And you know it. That's
why we that preach the gospel. We don't try to get people to
do something they don't want to do. We leave it in God's hands. I hope you'll read one of that
article there in the bulletin. It was the very first one, talking
about the man, he knew that he was, he was lost and he didn't
have any peace. So you know what he done? He
set out to workin'. He says, well, I'm gonna do this, well,
then God'll give me peace. No, he didn't. So he planned
to have a prayer meeting in his home. So he memorized the prayer
and he was gonna have all these people over. He said he throwed
the prayer down on the table and said, well, that's enough.
That'll do. And he said a little voice whispered
in his ear and he said, no, it won't do. But Christ will do. And God gave him peace, and peace
flooded his soul. That's what it's about. It ain't
what you do, it's what he's done. He has set up a ladder upon earth
that reaches from earth to heaven, and he stands at the top of it
as the gate. If any man hunger, let him come
unto me. If any man thirst, let him come
unto me and drink. He's the way, the truth, and
the life. No man comes to the Father but by Him. May God use that to speak to
our hearts and remind us again that it's not what we do. It's
what He does. And you know what? He keeps on,
in His mercy and grace, revealing Himself to our heart. Doesn't
He? Anyway, he's just reminding us
all over again. It's in his hand. He said, I'll
never leave you. Have you ever felt like he left you? He says, I'll keep you. You don't
keep yourself. You're kept by the power of God.
He leads you. He directs you. And he said,
Jacob, no matter where you go, I'm going to bring you back.
Did He bring him back? He said, I'm going to bring you
back to your father's house. And He did. And He established
him. And He blessed him. We're a blessed
people. Blessed. Amen.