1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:14,160 We tell the story of two men who were discussing the character of a third. 2 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:18,440 Let me describe him this way, said the first. 3 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:26,000 He's the kind of a guy who follows you into a revolving door and comes out ahead of you. 4 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:28,120 That's the kind of a man Jacob was. 5 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:33,120 And because of that, he had to leave home. 6 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:41,880 We pick up his story today in Genesis chapter 28, beginning in verse 10. 7 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:47,520 Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Heron. 8 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:53,200 And he came to a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. 9 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:58,120 And he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head and lay down in 10 00:00:58,120 --> 00:00:59,120 that place. 11 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:01,640 And he had a dream. 12 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:06,320 And behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven. 13 00:01:06,320 --> 00:01:13,520 And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 14 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:18,680 Have you ever wondered about the meaning of one of your dreams? 15 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:21,600 That's a normal human curiosity, isn't it? 16 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:26,960 There are books on the shelves today that naive people buy that purport to be able to 17 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:28,960 tell the meaning of dreams. 18 00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:36,080 Others call 900 numbers to find some psychic connected with the occult who claims to be 19 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:41,200 able to understand and to interpret dreams. 20 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:45,280 Jacob's dream is in a different category altogether than the kinds of dreams that you 21 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:47,800 and I have. 22 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:52,400 His dream was a dream from God. 23 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:59,800 It was a dream that was a revelation in which God said something very specific to Jacob. 24 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:06,640 His dream was not the result of an active imagination or some emotional trauma, much 25 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:10,040 less the product of a spicy meal. 26 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:17,160 His dream is given by Almighty God Himself as a divine revelation. 27 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:24,880 The dream of a ladder or perhaps better a stairway to heaven. 28 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:30,720 And the words spoken by the Lord on that occasion are significant and they are recorded here 29 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:32,840 for our learning. 30 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:38,880 It seems to me that the dream provides an understanding of God's divine work in the 31 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,200 world. 32 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:49,280 God is telling Jacob in this vision, this dream that he had about his work in the world 33 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:55,560 and as we look over Jacob's shoulder and we listen and we watch with him, then we also 34 00:02:55,560 --> 00:03:00,520 can understand something more of God's awesome work. 35 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:07,640 God's work is in conjunction with the promise given to send a Savior to redeem the fallen 36 00:03:07,640 --> 00:03:11,080 race of Adam. 37 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:18,200 Let's think about God's awesome work in the world this morning as we find it in our text. 38 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:24,400 The first work is this, that heaven descends to arrange the affairs of the earth. 39 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,160 Look at this dream again. 40 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:33,520 A ladder or a staircase links heaven and earth and angels are moving up and down both directions 41 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:35,840 on this staircase. 42 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:37,480 And what are they doing? 43 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:38,480 We wonder that. 44 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:45,040 They don't tell us precisely, but angels are the servants of the Lord and so we assume 45 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:49,200 that they are carrying out his will. 46 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:53,880 I believe what we are seeing here is the fact that God is involved in the affairs of the 47 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,080 earth. 48 00:03:56,080 --> 00:04:02,800 They are under his sovereign authority. 49 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:06,360 Which books of the Bible do you think talk the most about angels? 50 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:08,640 Have you ever thought about that? 51 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:16,600 They are mentioned in a number of books, but which talk the most about angels? 52 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:23,360 I think if you were to examine it, you would find that one would be the book of Daniel, 53 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:29,360 another would be the book of Revelation where some of us are studying together, and a third 54 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:31,560 would be the book of Zechariah. 55 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:39,640 Now when I stop to think about that, I ask myself, why do these books talk about angels 56 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:41,640 more than any other books? 57 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:49,080 And the first thing that I notice is that all of those books are prophetic books. 58 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:55,280 They are prophetic books that deal with political transitions of nations and empires and the 59 00:04:55,280 --> 00:05:03,320 ultimate establish of God's rule, the theocracy, the kingdom upon the earth. 60 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:09,680 And so it seems to me that angels are associated with the giving of revelation and are therefore 61 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:17,600 presumably involved in the histories of leaders and their administrations. 62 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:23,600 They are involved in the turning over of nations and empires. 63 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:30,680 They are involved in carrying out God's will in the affairs of man. 64 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:37,800 They are involved in doing the revealed purpose of the Lord upon the earth. 65 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:46,000 Wise is the leader who understands the rule of heaven in the affairs of the earth. 66 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:51,760 Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest man in the world in his day, came to understand that. 67 00:05:51,760 --> 00:06:00,440 And he says after a particular judgment from the Lord in Daniel chapter 4, all of the inhabitants 68 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:09,080 of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he, the most high, does according to his will 69 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:16,360 in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. 70 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:21,440 Nebuchadnezzar, this pagan king of Babylon, came to understand something about the most 71 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:29,680 high God, something he even came to believe, savingly, in the most high God. 72 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:33,880 That of course only heaven will tell. 73 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:39,200 But he did understand that the Almighty, the most high, has his way not only in the host 74 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:44,040 of heaven, the angels, but also among the inhabitants of the earth. 75 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,720 And it's interesting to me that he links the two. 76 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:53,520 That is, that he links the host of heaven with the affairs of man. 77 00:06:53,520 --> 00:07:01,720 And he says no one can ward off his hand or say to him, what has thou done? 78 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:10,640 Wise is the human leader who understands the rule of heaven over the affairs of the earth. 79 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:18,360 George Washington in his first inaugural address in 1789 says, it would be peculiarly improper 80 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:26,520 to admit in this first, omit rather, in this first official act, my fervent supplications 81 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:34,680 to that Almighty being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of 82 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,400 nations. 83 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:43,920 The first president of the United States, the father of his country, understood the 84 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:48,200 rule of the heavens over the affairs of men. 85 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:56,840 Our leaders today largely have forgotten that, and we have what we have in our world. 86 00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:02,720 Now when we say this, it does not mean, of course, that God is responsible for all of 87 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:11,200 the actions of men. The evil cruelties of men cannot be attributed to God. 88 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:15,080 What happened this week in Oregon, in that school, and has happened far too often in 89 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:21,080 schools across the country, cannot be attributed to the product of God's will. 90 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:27,880 Indeed, they originate in the sinfulness of human nature and in the manipulation and 91 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:29,400 the deception of the devil. 92 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:36,960 That's where evil originates. But the Almighty God so oversees and supervises all things 93 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:47,520 that his purposes cannot fail. The evil deeds of men are unable to impede or to defeat what 94 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:50,200 God decrees. 95 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:58,200 Now for Jacob, this dream was the assurance that although he was separated from home, 96 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:03,920 he was not separated from heaven, as Warren Wersby writes. 97 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:08,760 Jacob is seeing here that God is involved in the affairs of earth, including his own 98 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:19,080 life. God was at work in his circumstances, and the angels of God were caring for him. 99 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:25,640 The reassurance that you and I have is that God also is at work in our affairs as believers 100 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:33,040 in Jesus Christ, that his angels minister to us who are the heirs of salvation, Hebrews 101 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:36,720 1, 13, and 14. 102 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:43,800 So when we think of this dream that Jacob had, the first awesome work of God, it seems 103 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:52,120 to me, is that God descends to supervise the affairs of the earth. Not only the affairs 104 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:58,200 of nations and empires, but the affairs and the lives of his children. God is involved 105 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:04,320 in the macrocosm of history as well as in the microcosm of history, in the little things 106 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:12,080 of our lives. And to me that is awesome. That wherever I am today in my pilgrimage, wherever 107 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:19,640 you are in your pilgrimage, God is right there with you. And the angels of God are carrying 108 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:28,320 out the purpose of God in your life. Whether you see him or see them or feel them or recognize 109 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:38,280 him or not, God is at work, and his angels minister to you also. 110 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:43,520 But as we think some more about this vision, it seems to me that the second awesome work 111 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:49,200 of God that we understand is that heaven determines to bless the families of the earth. Let's 112 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:55,320 go on and read a little bit more in our text. Because it says in verse 13, Behold the Lord 113 00:10:55,320 --> 00:11:03,440 stood above it, that is the stairway, and said, I am the Lord, the God of your Father, 114 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:10,440 Abraham, and the God of Isaac, the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to 115 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:16,320 your descendants. Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth, and you shall 116 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:21,720 spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And in you 117 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:27,680 and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with 118 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:34,120 you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land, for I will 119 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:43,560 not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. And so God speaks to Jacob. 120 00:11:43,560 --> 00:11:52,800 In this young man who is now only about 77 years of age, traveling away from home toward 121 00:11:52,800 --> 00:12:00,960 Iran, a stark and lonely figure, desolate, perhaps fearful, he makes his way along the 122 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:06,920 caravan route that went through Bersheba north through Jebus, which was later Jerusalem, 123 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:16,600 and then up through AI, and nearby there he is at this place called Luz, or Luz. He has 124 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:23,320 covered about 60 miles so far in his journey, perhaps three or four days, of an arduous 125 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:30,840 walk. Donald Barnhill says, we do not know how much baggage Jacob carried on his shoulder, 126 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:39,160 but he was carrying a heavy load in his heart. Undoubtedly he was. And as he laid down that 127 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:46,360 evening to sleep using a stone for a pillow, his heart perhaps was fearful and lonely, 128 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:54,760 and he wondered what he was doing and where God was, and God speaks to him. It was a dark 129 00:12:54,760 --> 00:13:01,840 night in several respects for this man, Jacob. And God speaks to him in this dream and affirms 130 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:08,760 to him the covenant that God had made with his grandfather, Abraham, and with his father, 131 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:17,240 Isaac. Abraham, in fact, had been near this very spot. Earlier he had been there and built 132 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:23,480 an altar to the Lord on that mountain that was between AI and Bethel. It was a sacred 133 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:32,240 spot. It was near there that Jacob rested that night. And God spoke to him in the dream 134 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:37,520 and said, the land will be yours, this land upon which you lie. I will give it to you 135 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:43,600 and to your descendants. Secondly, he says, your descendants will be many and they will 136 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:54,360 be widespread. Third, he says, all the families of the earth, including Gentiles, including 137 00:13:54,360 --> 00:14:01,080 the family of Ishmael, the family of Esau, all the families of the earth will be blessed 138 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:08,280 in your descendants. And fourth, he says, my presence and protection and my promise will 139 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:14,600 be real in your life, Jacob. I'm with you. I will go with you where you're going. I will 140 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:20,960 bring you back to this place. I will not leave you until I have fulfilled everything that 141 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:31,520 I have spoken concerning you. Folks, this is all of grace. Jacob doesn't deserve this. 142 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:38,000 Jacob was in this fix because of what he had done. God is not rewarding him here because 143 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:46,040 he's been a good man. God is giving to Jacob by grace the promises of the covenant that 144 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:52,440 he had made with Abraham. The following events in Jacob's life demonstrate the reality of 145 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:59,240 what God says here because God was with Jacob as he went on to pay to Nerim. As he served 146 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:06,880 Laban, God blessed him. And then in 20 years or so, God brought him back to this very place. 147 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:15,960 In fact, to this spot as we shall see in weeks ahead. But God's purpose here is not only 148 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:22,520 for Jacob and for his descendants. What we learn here that is so awesome is that God 149 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:32,520 through Jacob determines to bless all the families of the earth. God blesses this family 150 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:39,400 so that it then can be a blessing to the whole world. Now we understand that the primary 151 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:47,440 application of this is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the descendant of Jacob, would bless 152 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:55,000 by his salvation all the families of the earth. You see the story here is bigger than Jacob. 153 00:15:55,000 --> 00:16:02,040 It is God at work bringing about the promised Redeemer and through him blessing the families 154 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:08,480 of the earth. The reason that God blesses you and me too is so that we can be a blessing 155 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:17,680 to the world. This is an awesome thing that God is at work right here in Jacob's life 156 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:22,480 determining to bless all the families of the earth although he is with Jacob in this one 157 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:31,520 isolated spot on this night giving him this dream. The world is in view. Folks, God always 158 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:41,680 has the world in view. God has a heart for all peoples of the earth. I'm so excited 159 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:47,360 that we're a part of this world view for world healing conference this week because you see 160 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:53,720 that's why God has blessed us that we might bless the nations of the world. And so we 161 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:59,440 house these young people who are coming. We work at the conference as volunteers. We support 162 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:05,400 it financially. We do our little part so that these people can be equipped and go back to 163 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:12,960 the nations of the world. That is always God's view. The world, the world, not just us, the 164 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:23,440 world, the world. God determines to bless all the families of the earth. That's awesome. 165 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:30,720 And we see that here. We come to understand what God is about in this vision. That brings 166 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:38,880 us to a third awesome work and that is that heaven deploys to reconcile the lost of the 167 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:45,760 earth because there is another insight that I want us to get from this story. An insight 168 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:50,560 that we gain not from the text itself here but from John chapter one and I invite you 169 00:17:50,560 --> 00:18:02,040 to open your Bible to the gospel of John. The Lord Jesus is beginning to call his disciples 170 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:12,200 to himself. And it says in verse 40, and one of the two who heard John speak and followed 171 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:18,400 him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. And he found first his own brother Simon and said 172 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:23,200 to him, we found the Messiah. He brought him to Jesus and Jesus looked at him and said, 173 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:29,000 you are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas or Peter. The next day he 174 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:34,560 purposed to go forth to Galilee. And he found Philip and Jesus said to him, follow me. And 175 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:40,080 Philip was of the beset of the city of Andrew and Peter. And he found Nathaniel and said 176 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:46,440 to him, we found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, 177 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:52,640 the son of Joseph. Nathaniel said to him, can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip 178 00:18:52,640 --> 00:19:00,600 said to him, come and see. Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him and said of him, behold, an 179 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:09,360 Israelite indeed in whom is no guile. Now that's an interesting statement. Who is the 180 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:22,560 original Israelite? Jacob. And what was he best known for? Deceit, guile, trickery. You 181 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:28,080 see, Jesus is linking this back to Jacob. He says, here's an Israelite, a descendant 182 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:36,880 of Jacob in whom there is no guile. Nathaniel said to him, how do you know me? Jesus answered 183 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:44,760 and said to him, before Philip called you when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. 184 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:53,880 Wow. Jesus saw him as he was resting under the fig tree. Nathaniel responded, Rabbi, 185 00:19:53,880 --> 00:20:01,200 you are the son of God, you're the king of Israel, messianic language. He sees that this 186 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:08,000 one who is speaking to him has knowledge that not a normal man has. He's supernatural. 187 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:12,000 And Jesus answered and said to him, because I said to you that I saw you under the fig 188 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:19,400 tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these. And he said to him, truly, 189 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:26,640 truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and 190 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:38,640 descending on the son of man. So you see, again, there is this tie back to the dream 191 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:50,280 of Jacob. The stairway or the ladder in Jacob's dream may not be a type of Jesus Christ specifically, 192 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:57,880 but there is no question that Jesus draws an analogy between that ladder and himself. 193 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:06,640 What he is saying is that he is the bridge that spans the separation between God and 194 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:18,880 man. He is the bridge that spans the gulf between heaven and earth, just as that ladder 195 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:29,360 in Jacob's dream spanned heaven and earth. W.H. Griffith Thomas writes, write down to 196 00:21:29,360 --> 00:21:38,680 Jacob's deepest need the ladder came, right up to the presence of God the ladder reached. 197 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:47,920 And my friend, that is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ is. He is the one who reaches 198 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:56,000 right down to the deepest needs of the sinner and brings us right up into the presence of 199 00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:07,720 God himself. Heaven is reached through Jesus Christ. What we see in this dream is that 200 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:17,200 heaven deploys to reconcile the lost of the earth. The Father dispatches the Son. He sends 201 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:25,080 the Son to be the Savior of the world. God is infinite and we could never know God apart 202 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:36,200 from the Son coming into the world revealing Him to us. In the Son we behold the condescending 203 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:45,720 grace of God making it possible for us to know Him. God is holy and we can never be 204 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:52,360 reconciled to God apart from His Son. And in Jesus Christ we see the exalting love 205 00:22:52,360 --> 00:23:04,520 of God making it possible for us to share His heaven and His glory. Descending and ascending. 206 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:16,080 God reconciling sinners through Jesus Christ we become vitally connected with God. Vitally 207 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:22,400 connected so much as branches to the vine. We are joined to His very life so that we 208 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:32,640 may draw from its fullness. This is God's most awesome work. As the poet said, his most 209 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:42,320 awesome work done in the frailty of His Son. Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and 210 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:51,560 man. It is His cross that bridges the gulf. He provides in His sacrifice the access to 211 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:58,560 God for all who believe. He opens the way to heaven for us becoming as it were the 212 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:08,080 latter. He is the Lord from heaven. He touches heaven. But He is also the Son of man. He 213 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:17,200 touches earth. And He brings heaven and earth together in Himself. One poet has written 214 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:25,840 as to the holy patriarch that wondrous dream was given. So seems my Savior's cross to 215 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:36,960 me a ladder up to heaven. Warren Wersby writes, Jacob is a perfect picture of a lost soul. 216 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:44,680 In the darkness fleeing for his life away from the presence of his father's house, 217 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:53,680 burdened with sin and ignorant of the fact that God is near him and wants to save him. 218 00:24:53,680 --> 00:25:03,160 That's what this awesome dream is about. And it had a life-transforming effect on Jacob. 219 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:14,480 His response is the response of faith. This is his conversion experience. This is the 220 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:20,760 time when his faith personally goes out to the revelation of God's love and grace to 221 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:29,560 him. And as a result of that, our text says that he raised a memorial to God. He took 222 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:37,560 that stone on which his head had rested. He placed it upright and he poured oil, probably 223 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:47,920 olive oil on top of that stone, making it as it were an altar. On this weekend we remember 224 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:53,960 those who have given their lives in defense of freedom for our nation. We call it Memorial 225 00:25:53,960 --> 00:26:06,200 Day Weekend. What we have here is also a memorial, a stone that becomes an altar as Jacob worships 226 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:14,560 God in faith. And he renames this place by faith. Instead of it being called Luz, from 227 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:22,640 this point on it is called Bethel, the house of God. Henry Morris says Bethel would become 228 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:31,080 a lifelong memorial of God's promises to him and his ability to fulfill those promises. 229 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:35,880 Whenever you hear the name Bethel, and we hear it a lot in our community, the first thing 230 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:43,880 that should come to your mind is, I remember that God is faithful to his promises. That's 231 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:51,520 what the name means. We see Jacob making a vow of loyalty to God. Notice it says in 232 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:59,720 verse 20 of Genesis 28, if God be with me, and he's not questioning it, it might be better 233 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:05,640 understood saying, since God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I 234 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:11,280 take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, I'll return to my Father's house 235 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:20,360 and safety. The Lord will be my God, he says. He makes this personal commitment to God, 236 00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:28,600 a vow of loyalty to God. And this stone which I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, 237 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:35,200 and of all that thou dost give me, I will surely give a tenth to thee. And so he promises 238 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:41,800 to God a tithe of all of his increase, representing the whole of all that he would gain under 239 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:48,920 the blessing of God. From this we begin to understand something of what a faith response 240 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:55,560 includes. When we are believing God, it means that we are praising him, that we are giving 241 00:27:55,560 --> 00:28:01,720 a testimony to God, that we are committing ourselves to him, we are giving to him. 242 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:07,400 And Jacob, twenty years later, as I said earlier, returns to this very place, and a similar 243 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:15,120 experience takes place as he worships God here, God having then fulfilled his promises 244 00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:21,840 in Jacob's pilgrimage. From this account we understand something of what God is about 245 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:29,320 in the world. He is not a God who is far off and distant and uninvolved, he is a God who 246 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:39,800 is accessible. He is a God who is near. He is a God who comes to us too in our loneliness, 247 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:47,600 in our fears. When we are running from God, when we are in darkness, and he comes to us 248 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:56,400 and reveals himself to us, that's the kind of a God that we are called upon to trust. 249 00:28:56,400 --> 00:29:03,400 He believed the promise of God, and the question today is, will you? Will you believe whatever 250 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:08,320 the promise of God is that he is trying to write on your heart today? In that area of 251 00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:16,440 your life where God is saying, will you trust me? Will you give me this? Will you lean upon 252 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:34,040 me? God is a trustworthy God, a God of awesome deeds. He is a God who seeks us out in grace. 253 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:41,600 Max Locato tells the story in one of his books of Christina. Let me give it to you in his 254 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:47,680 words. Longing to leave her poor Brazilian neighborhood, Christina wanted to see the 255 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:53,600 world. Discontent with a home having only a pallet on the floor, a wash basin, and a 256 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:59,280 wood-burning stove. She dreamed of a better life in the city. One morning she slipped 257 00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:04,240 away, breaking her mother's heart. Knowing what life on the streets would mean for her 258 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:10,000 young, attractive daughter, Maria, hurriedly packed to go find her. On her way to the bus 259 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:16,640 stop, she entered a drugstore to get one last thing, pictures. She sat in the photograph 260 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:21,920 booth, closed the curtain, and spent all she could on pictures of herself. With her purse 261 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:27,600 full of small black and white photos, she boarded the next bus to Rio. Maria knew Christina 262 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:32,120 had no way of earning money. She also knew that her daughter was too stubborn to give 263 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:41,440 up. When pride meets hunger, a human will will do things unthinkable. Knowing this, Maria 264 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:48,000 began her search. Bars, hotels, nightclubs, any place with a reputation for street walkers 265 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:55,440 or prostitutes. She went to the mall. At each place, she left a picture taped on the bathroom 266 00:30:55,440 --> 00:31:02,920 mirror or tacked to a hotel bulletin board or fastened to a corner phone booth. On the 267 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:08,240 back of each photo, she wrote a note. It wasn't too long before both the money and the pictures 268 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:13,960 ran out and Maria had to go home. The weary mother wept as the bus began its long journey 269 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:21,160 back to her small village. It was weeks later that young Christina descended the hotel 270 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:26,600 stairs. Her young face was tired. Her brown eyes no longer danced with youth but spoke 271 00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:33,560 of pain and fear. Her laughter was broken. Her dream was becoming a nightmare. A thousand 272 00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:39,000 times over, she had longed to trade those countless beds for her secure pallet. Yet 273 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:45,120 the little village was in too many ways, too far away. As she reached the bottom of the 274 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:52,080 stairs, her eyes noticed a familiar face. She looked again and there on the lobby mirror 275 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:58,200 was a small picture of her mother. Christina's eyes burned and her throat tightened as she 276 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:04,840 walked across the room and removed the small photo. Written on the back was this compelling 277 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:13,720 invitation, whatever you've done, whatever you've become, it doesn't matter. Please 278 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:23,960 come home. And she did. And do you see friend, that is what the latter is about. It's God 279 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:32,160 coming to earth, involved in our affairs, seeking us out, saying no matter what you've 280 00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:43,560 done, I love you. Please come home. What an awesome God. Let's pray. Father, I pray this 281 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:52,360 morning with all of my heart that we will see that we also are in an awesome place. 282 00:32:52,360 --> 00:33:00,000 For anywhere you are working is awesome and you are working in our lives. And I pray that 283 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:04,560 we will hear your voice and respond to you this morning. And for those who do not know 284 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:13,360 Christ, may they in particular understand that you love them and want them to come. 285 00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:19,960 And for those of us who are your children but who are out in the darkness wandering away, 286 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:34,680 may this be a morning of a fresh new commitment. In Christ's name. Amen.