Jacob's Ladder

We thank you Lord for the joy that he can bring, the contentment that comes to a heart that's at peace with God. Today Lord, we pray that you would speak to us through your word as you always do. Thanking you Lord for the opportunity to study it and to follow it precisely. In Jesus name, Amen. Turn with me in your Bible if you would to Genesis chapter 28.

Genesis chapter 28, you know we have a great opportunity to preach on each of these different symbols throughout the years and each year they're going to be different and so if you want to collect the CDs or the tapes on them you can so you get more information to give to your children. But today I want to be able to explain to you the significance of Jacob's ladder in Genesis chapter 28 that will help you explain to your children why this symbol is so significant when it talks about the arrival of the Messiah.

You know, it's always good when God speaks to man. Because the turning point in any man's life is when God speaks to him. That's so important. In Genesis 28 God speaks to Jacob for the very first time.

He will speak to him on six other occasions. This will be the first time and when God speaks to Jacob in Genesis 28, it becomes the turning point in his life.

And today I want to cover two points with you. One deals with the revelation of Jehovah and number two the response of Jacob.

The revelation of Jehovah and number two the response of Jacob. Because today we're going to learn, listen carefully, about what true worship is all about. Worship is the human response to divine revelation. We're going to see the revelation of God explained to Jacob and then we're going to see the response of Jacob to that revelation and we will see where Jacob is a true worshiper of God. Now the Bible says in John chapter 4 that God came seeking true worshipers.

Those who worship him in spirit and in truth. Today we will help you understand what a true worshiper looks like because Jacob is that kind of person. And it will help you this Christmas season understand what worship is about when you come to celebrate the Christ child. It will help you teach your children about worship. So when they come to church, they understand what it is they're doing when they arrive here each and every day. Let me read to you Genesis chapter 28 verses 10 down through verse number 22.

Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran and he came to a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head and laid down in that place. He had a dream and behold a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven and behold the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold the Lord stood above it and said I am the Lord the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac the land on which you lie.

I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth and you shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south and in you and in your descendants or seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed and behold I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land and I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it and he was afraid and said how awesome is this place.

This is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven. So Jacob arose early in the morning and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top and he called the name of that place Bethel. However, previously the name of the city had been Luz. Then Jacob made a vow saying if or since God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take and will give me food to eat and garments to wear and I return to my father's house and safety then the Lord will be my God and this stone which I have set up as a pillar will be God's house.

And of all that thou dost give me, I will surely give a tenth to thee. Marvelous story about the revelation of the Jehovah God and the response of Jacob to that revelation. Jacob was a man at this point his life was 70 years of age. 70 years old. He begins a journey from Beersheba to Haran, which is about 400 miles. That's a long journey in those days. It's a long journey today, but we can get there a little quicker than Jacob could in his day. He would begin a journey he would begin a journey because earlier in Genesis 28 his mother and father Isaac and Rebekah said to him Jacob you shall not take a bride from the Canaanites.

Instead this is what you will do. Esau heard it. Esau took a bride from the Canaanites, but Jacob obeyed his mother and father at 70 years of age. I want to begin by letting you know that the revelation of God always comes to those who are obedient to their parents. I want to let you know that there are a lot of people today who never understand what God wants for them because they live in disobedience to their parents. Jacob is 70 years old. My father is 77 years of age. My mother is 75. Now when they were 70 their parents were already dead.

But I can imagine my father submitting to his father at 70 years of age. But Isaac said to his son, you shall not do this. Instead you shall find a bride in Haran and that's what he intended to do. Because submission, listen, always opens the door for revelation. It always does. You need to be obedient to your parents. I was sharing with two of my boys yesterday, Andrew and Cade. Something my mother said to me when she was here the Monday before the Tuesday they left. She said, I want to thank you, Lance, for being obedient to your mother and father and most importantly to the Lord.

And she goes, I'm not sure how much longer I had to live, but I thank the Lord that I have had the opportunity to see the blessing of God in your life because of your submission to his word and submission to your parents. She goes, I want to thank you for calling me, for staying in touch with me, for talking to me on a regular basis. That means so much to me. And I was sharing with Cade and Drew yesterday, you know, you're young. One day you'll be my age. And the greatest blessing your mother will ever have is to know that you will be obedient to the word of the Lord and you follow Christ with all your heart.

It opens the door to many blessings. Why? Because God made it one of the Ten Commandments, honor your mother and father, right? It's not that difficult. But so many times we live in a world, as Second Timothy 3 states, that's marked by men who are disobedient to their parents, not obedient to their parents, who are unlovely and ungrateful and unkind.

And I find it so interesting that the very first time God appears to Jacob is when he's 70 years old.

And it's after he has decided to follow the counsel of his parents when it comes to finding a bride. Those of you who are looking for a bride or for a bridegroom, it's always wise to follow the counsel of your parents. Why? Because you marry into a family and God has given you parents for a specific purpose. And the book of Proverbs is filled with instruction about the mother and the father and how the son is to follow the instruction of his parents. Parents, you have a wonderful opportunity this evening when you sit down with your children to instruct them about Jacob's ladder to help them to understand the essence of submission in the family.

To a man who is on his own, who's an older man, but would listen to the counsel of his mother and father. As you instruct your children, you help them to understand that God wants us to honor our mothers and fathers. God wants us to be submissive to authority. The reason people have a hard time hearing the voice of God is because they have a hard time submitting to the authority that God has placed over them on this earth. Submission to authority that God has placed over you is one of the keys to understanding in hearing the voice of God through the revelation of his word.

Well, I wish I could spend some more time on that, but if I do I won't get through the story. But I want to cover four points with you. This morning when it comes to the revelation of Jehovah, and then I'll give you four points when it comes to the response of Jacob. First of all, I want you to see the place of the revelation.

Then the particulars of the revelation. The promise from the revelation. Then the praise for the revelation. First of all, the place of the revelation.

Listen to what the text says. Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran, and he came to a certain place. In the Hebrew it says he came to the place. This is just not any place. This is a particular place. This is the place that Abraham, his father, had been to when he called on the name of the Lord in Genesis chapter 12 and in Genesis chapter 13. That's why it's called Bethel, the house of God. It's important to realize, listen carefully, that if you want to hear the voice of God so you can respond to the revelation of God, you have to go to the place where God himself is going to speak.

And where is that place? You're sitting in that place, the house of God. Now listen carefully. If you go to a church that doesn't preach the word of God, it's not a house of God. The only place that's a house of God is a place that's characterized of the preaching and teaching of the word of God. But the psalmist said in Psalm 27 verse number 4, these precious words, One thing I have asked from the Lord that I shall seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in his temple.

Many of you know that that is the verse my father put in my very first Bible. Psalm 27 4. His prayer for me is that there'd be one thing that I would seek, one thing that I would aspire to, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. He had no idea what I was going to do with my life, but that's what his plan was for me, that I would have a passion for the house of God, for the habitation of God. Psalm 26 verse number 8 says, Oh Lord, I love the habitation of thy house and the place where thy glory dwells.

My father wanted for me a desire to be in the place where the glory of God dwells, in the habitation of the place where God himself is. That was his prayer for me. And I can recall when I was younger in high school, wanting to play football and having received a football scholarship right out of high school. That was my desire, but my parents had another plans for me. They didn't want me to do that. They wanted me to go to a Bible college. Well, I thought that's just stupid. Who wants to do that?

But I was submissive to my parents. And God would use his word to speak to me that very first semester in Bible college to show me that my desires and my dreams needed to be what God wanted for me, not what I wanted for me.

And the Lord opened up to me. Listen carefully. The Lord began to open up to me his will for my life because I was submissive to my parents' counsel. I followed the counsel of my parents and I heard the word of the Lord and he spoke to me clearly and plainly and I knew that he wanted me to be involved in some kind of ministry for him, not knowing exactly what it was when I was 18 years of age. But you know what? Now today at age 51, soon to be 52, I know exactly what God has for me. I know. But you know what?

It's important to be in the place where God speaks. Now we know that our bodies are the temple of the spirit of God, right? First Corinthians 6 tells us that.

God dwells in us. But we also know, according to Psalm 22, that God inhabits the praises of his people. And so we gather together on the Lord's day and we open God's word together. Guess what? God speaks to us. God reveals himself to us through his divine word. That's why the Bible says in Hebrews 10 verses 24, 25, do not, as you see the day approaching, what day is that?

The day of the arrival of the Messiah, as you see that day approaching, do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together. Don't do that. Why? Because you need to be able to stimulate one another to love and good deeds and you can't do that if you forsake the assembling of yourselves together. You need to gather together. You need to praise and worship God because God inhabits the praises of his people. And when God's people gather together to hear the word of God, God will speak to them through the divine revelation of his word so they might know God's direction for their lives.

That's why the Bible says these words in First Corinthians chapter 14, verse number 23. If therefore the whole church should assemble together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say, you are mad? But if all prophesy, in other words, if all speak forth the word of God in that assembly, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.

Paul says it's not the miracle. It's the message. It's not the man. It's the master. And the master proclaims his word. And when an ungifted man, an unlearned man, an unsaved man comes into your assembly, it's not the hoopla and the miracles that's going to convert him. What's going to convince him that God is in that place is the proclamation of the revelation of God himself. Hebrews 1, 1 and 2 tells us that God in these last days has spoken to us through his son Jesus Christ. God doesn't speak through dreams anymore.

Doesn't speak through visions. Doesn't speak through burning bushes. He speaks now through the revelation of the written word. And when we gather together to worship God, that's why God is seeking those who worship him in spirit and in truth, that is the truth of his word, when we gather together and we open God's word together and God's word is proclaimed, an ungifted man, an unlearned man, an unsaved man will hear the word of God. He will become convicted by his sin because miracles don't convict of sin.

The message of God convicts of sin. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by a word about the Christ. So when you preach the word of God, when the revelation of God is given, that's what saves a man. And when you come and you hear the word of God, you know what to do. You know what to do. Over the years of our ministry here at Christ Community Church, only 15 of them, I have had countless number of people come to me and say, you know, I was going to call you about a decision that needed to be made or about some issues I needed to deal with.

But you answered my question when I went to church on Sunday. If I could have a nickel for every time someone said that to me, I could probably retire and have a house in Malibu someplace. It is so true that when you come to hear the word of God, and it's spoken, that God will speak to you and tell you exactly what to do that you might understand the revelation of God. It comes in a place called the house of God. Yes, God speaks to us every day through his word. You know, Jacob had to wait for God to speak to him.

Can you imagine being Jacob? God speaks to him seven times in his entire life. Seven times, that's it. Seven times. We can have God speak to us 700 times in one day if he would just take his word, open his word, and read his word. God has spoken to us through his son, Jesus Christ, in these last days. Oh, in those days, he spoke through prophets. He spoke through visions. He spoke through dreams. He spoke through burning bushes, but now he has given us his divinely revealed word. The word that was delivered to the saints once for all.

And we can hear God speak every time we open his word. He speaks to us. The place of the revelation of God was crucial for Jacob. The second thing I want you to see are the particulars of the revelation.

The particulars of the revelation. Three things. One deals with the staircase, the other deals with the seraphim, and the third with the sovereign God himself.

The particulars of the revelation. It says, he came to a certain place. He came to the place and spent the night there. It's a particular place. It's not just any old place. It's the same place that Abraham called upon the name of the Lord, which Abraham also called that place Bethel. Because the son had said, he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head and laid down in that place, and he had a dream. And behold, a ladder. And behold, the angels of God ascending and descending.

And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord, the God of your father, Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the land in which you lie. I will give it to you and to your descendants. Verse 15, And behold, I am with you. Four times. The word behold is used. If you have a King James version, it's used three times. If you have an OIV version, the only inspired version, the New America Standard Version, it's used four times. It's used four times in the Hebrew text. Behold, behold, stand amazed.

Look in awe. This is something that's amazing. Behold, there was a staircase. And the Hebrew syntax is very important. Because in the syntax, it demonstrates that the staircase itself came down out of heaven to earth. Not the other way around. It didn't go from earth to heaven. It came down from heaven to the earth. The question comes, what is the staircase? And these angels ascending and descending upon this staircase, what is that all about? And the Lord God Jehovah standing above it saying, I am the Lord your God.

I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. Demonstrating that he now is going to be the God of Jacob as well. What is the staircase? Well, if I'm a Jewish rabbi, I'm not. But if I was, I would teach you it's one of six things. One of six, all of which are wrong. But this is what they teach you. One, they would say, well, the staircase represents a pre-prophetic look at the law of Moses.

Hasn't been given yet. But the staircase represents the law of Moses. You can read pages about why the Jewish rabbis believe that this could be a pre-prophetic look at the law of Moses.

The problem is none of it makes rational sense. The second thing is that they would say, well, this staircase represents an altar.

And the angels ascending and descending upon that altar are like the fragrant aroma in the nostrils of God. Because God is pleased with the sacrifice of a life. Interesting. But how do they get that out of the out of the chapter? The next thing is that they say, no, the staircase represents the greatness of the land. Because it's all about the promise given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob about a land, their descendants. And therefore the staircase represents the greatness of the land that the people of God will have that will lead them to their Lord God.

Nice idea. But that's not right either. Others say, well, no, it's really about prayer. Because Jacob needs to learn to depend upon God. And the only way to get to God is through prayer. And so the staircase represents prayer. And Jacob talking to God. Another would say, well, no, it really represents wisdom. Because in order for Jacob to live a godly life, he needs wisdom. And wisdom descends from above to earth. And therefore wisdom comes down to man. And in order for Jacob to be wise, he must receive wisdom from God.

All of that is wrong. It's all wrong. And Jacob himself knows what the staircase is. If Jacob knows, how do we know? How do we know what the staircase is? Well, turn with me in your Bible to John chapter one, if you would for a moment, please.

John chapter one. It's important to understand that the Bible always interprets the Bible. So if you have a question about the Bible, where do you go? To the Bible. Okay? So in John chapter one, it says in verse number 46. And Nathanael said to him, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said to him, behold, an Israelite, indeed in whom was no guile. Nathanael said to him, how do you know me? Jesus answered and said to him, before Philip called you when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.

Nathanael answered him, rabbi, you are the son of God. You are the king of Israel. Jesus answered and said to him, because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these. In other words, you haven't seen anything yet, Nathanael. And then verse 51. He said to him, truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man. Jesus takes Nathanael, who was a student of the law, who knew the law of Moses.

He takes him back all the way back to the beginning to help him understand that what he's going to see is a complete picture of what his father, Jacob would see, father of Israel, would see in Genesis chapter 28. That on that son of man, angels ascending and descending. Telling us that the staircase is the Messiah himself. Descending from heaven and coming to earth. The bible says in John chapter 3, verse number 13.

And no one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended from heaven, even the son of man. Now note this, every rabbi will tell you the same thing about the staircase. They'll give you a different interpretation as to what the staircase is, but they will all say the same thing about the staircase and they will all say this, whatever it is, we don't know what it is, but whatever it is, it is the link between man and God. They will all tell you that. And we know that there's one mediator between God and man and that is the man Christ Jesus.

We know that there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. We know that's Jesus Christ our Lord. We know that the bible says that he is the way, the truth, and the life.

No man comes unto the father, but by me. There's only one way to the father and that is up the staircase. That's the Messiah himself. It's through Jesus Christ our Lord. And Jacob knew that. How do you know Jacob knew that? Stay with me. I'm going to show you exactly how Jacob knows that truth that the rabbis have missed. Okay. So the particular, so what's the deal with the angels ascending and descending on the staircase? What's that all about? Listen, all you got to do is look at the history of the Messiah himself.

Who announced the arrival of the Messiah to Mary? Angel, the angel Gabriel. Who announced the arrival of the Messiah to the shepherds? Answer, angels. Who was at the temptation in the wilderness ministering to the Messiah? Answer, Matthew 4. Angels. Who was in the garden of Gethsemane being ministered to by angels? The Messiah himself. Read it in Luke chapter 24. In Acts chapter 1, when the Messiah ascends into heaven, there are two men in white apparel. Some think they're Moses and Elijah. Others think they're angels.

But whatever it is, they are supernatural beings. To let you know, as Psalm 91 says, that he will give his angels charge over thee. It's the care and protection of angels in the ministry of the Messiah during his earthly ministry. He would descend from heaven to earth because man cannot ascend to God. So God came to man in order to save man from his sin. And the angels would be the ministering spirits to the Messiah during his earthly ministry. And Hebrews 1.14 says that those same angels are ministering spirits for people like you and me because we are children of the living God.

And on the top of that staircase, you hear the voice of the sovereign God himself. I am the God. I am the Lord Jehovah. I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am Jacob, your God. The particulars of the revelation are so crucial. Which leads us, number three, to the promise from the revelation.

It involves five things. First of all, verse number 13, it says, I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham, and the God of Isaac, the land in which you lie.

I will give it to you and to your descendants. The promise, number one, deals with the right to the land.

Who has a right to the land of Israel? The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob only. We don't even have a right to that land. But the descendants of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, they have a right to the land. Next, it says, your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in you, your descendants, shall all the families of the earth be blessed. It deals with the reproduction of those descendants.

Jacob's not even married yet. But there's a promise of reproduction. There's a promise of redemption, because through your descendant, through your particular seed, and we know that Galatians 3, 6 talks about the seed of Abraham, that that particular seed would be the redeeming seed, that the gospel was preached through Abraham, because there was a promised seed given to him. So the promise of the revelation describes for us not only the right to the land, and the reproduction of the descendants who will inhabit that land, but the redemption of all nations, because of that seed.

It also deals with their return to the land. Look what it says in verse 15. And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land, and I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. In other words, that deals particularly with the return to the land. Listen, they left the land at the end of Genesis for 400 years Egyptian bondage. They left the land for 70 years of captivity, because of the Babylonian captivity. They left the land because of Rome and the dispersion for 2,000 years.

But guess what? They're back in the land today, and the book of Amos says they will never leave the land again. There is no record of any more dispersions for Israel in the Bible. They've been gone three times, now they're back. It's the fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy, the Valley of the Dry Bones. They are a nation. They are back. They are a nation corporately. They are not a nation spiritually. They will be when Messiah returns, but they are back in their land. God kept his word to Jacob. He says you will return to the land, and I will be with you in that land.

So no matter what anybody does in Iran or Iraq or in America, Israel is never leaving the land again. They're there to stay. That is a promise given to by God to Jacob. We had the book of Revelation. We know what happens in the end. There is no more dispersion of Israel from the land. They're there forever. Never to leave, because God is true to his word. And then there was the promise of the reliability of that message when he says, I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.

Jacob had a promise from God. Nothing like getting a promise from God. He never lies, never steals, never cheats, never reneges on his word. It's always true. And he gives the promise to him, which leads us to put him before the praise for the revelation. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it. And he was afraid and said, how awesome is this place? This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. Let me ask you a question.

Did you see a gate in the vision? I never saw a gate in the vision. Did you see a gate? I never saw a gate. How did Jacob know the staircase was the gate to heaven? How did he know that? Oh, by the way, Jesus says in John 10, 9, I am the gate.

Just in case you didn't know that. Our translation reads, I am the door. It literally reads, I am the gate. You see, God revealed to Jacob on this night in Genesis 28, there's only one way to heaven. It's the gate that God has provided, the doorway. And that doorway is the Messiah himself, the promised seed that would allow him and his descendants to enter the glories of the Lord. And it's only through Jesus Christ, the Messiah himself. He might not have known the name Jesus, but he knew that the Messiah was the gateway to heaven.

There was no other way. And Jacob knew that. He awakes from that place with a celebration. Oh, man, this is awesome. Certainly God is in this place. Because this truly is the house of God. Why is it the house of God? Because God has spoken to me in this place. God has revealed himself to me. Because God has revealed himself to me, this becomes his place. This becomes his house and he has shown me the only way to heaven. There's only one way to heaven and that's through the Messiah himself. There is no other way.

And that's what caused Jacob to praise God for the revelation given to him. Listen folks, when you know the way to heaven, there is praise on your lips. Because you know what Jesus Christ has said in his word. We're receiving now to the response of Jacob. This is so good. I just got a few minutes left. The response of Jacob. This is so good. It involves four words. One is a celebration, right? That's the word number one.

A celebration. Certainly God is in this place. God is awesome. When you hear the voice of God, because he speaks to you through his word, when you hear his voice, there's a celebration. On your lips. And Jacob was celebrating that God had revealed himself to him. This is so important. Listen what the Bible says in Psalm 56.

In God whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust. Psalm 56 verse number 10. In God whose word I praise, in the Lord whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust. The psalmist learned to praise God for his word because his word revealed God to him. Listen.

Listen, listen. When you come to the house of God, if you leave today saying God is in this place, God certainly is awesome. You have truly worshiped God. If you leave without that, you did not come to worship him today. That is the honest to God truth. Let me tell you why.

People say, well, I go to church. I don't have that kind of celebration in my life. Well, there's an answer for that. It's because when you came to church, you came to fellowship. You didn't come to worship. Big difference. Fellowship is a bipartisan worship. But you came primarily to fellowship. You didn't come to worship. If you came to worship, you'd worship in spirit and in truth. And you would leave saying God is in this place. If you came to be entertained and not to be enlightened, you won't leave saying God is in this place.

If you came because you wanted to be entertained some way and somehow you wanted your needs met and you didn't come to be enlightened by the by the illuminating spirit of God and through his word, then you won't leave saying, boy, God is awesome. I am so glad I went to church today. But you know, very few people ever leave that way, do they? That's because they come to be entertained, not to be enlightened. They come to fellowship. They don't come to worship. Another reason is they come out of pressure, not out of pleasure.

They come because somebody made them come, not because they want to be here. If you come out of pressure, I got to go because what's the pastor going to think if I'm not there? I got to go because what's my wife going to think if I'm not there? I got to go because what are my kids going to think if I'm not there? There's a pressure to come. If I come out of pressure and not out of pleasure because I want to please my God, I'm not going to leave saying, oh man, God is in this place. Surely God is awesome.

And by the way, if I come satisfied with my sin, instead of wanting to be set free from my sin, I won't leave saying God is in this place. We come satisfied with our sin. We come complacent to church. We come thinking we're okay. We're pretty good. My life's good. My marriage is better than their marriage. My kid's better than their kids. I'm pretty good. Things are okay. I come satisfied with my sin instead of coming to be set free from my sin. See that? Jacob, once the revelation of God was exposed to him, he left saying, oh, this place is awesome.

This place is great. This is the best of all places to be, because this is God's house. God is in this place. Now, if God's word is not preached in that house, you'll never leave saying that, right? You'll never leave saying that. But when God's word is preached and God's word is the focus of that church, then God inhabits the praises of his people. And you leave saying, God has spoken to me. God revealed himself to me. Why? Because I didn't come to get anything. I came to give everything. I didn't come to fellowship.

I came to worship. I didn't come satisfied with my sin. I came because I wanted to be set free from my sin. I didn't come to be entertained by anybody. I came to be enlightened by God himself. That's why I'm here. And when you come with that kind of attitude, guess what? You will always leave the same way. Oh, man. Yes! God is in this place. You see, very few people ever leave that way. I don't see people getting up saying, man, this is the greatest moment. This is great, man. This is all God is in this place.

God, he is awesome. We don't do that. When our team wins, we do that kind of stuff. But we don't do that in church. And I just give you several reasons as to why that is. That's the way Jacob was. And you see, Jacob had to wait for God to speak. We don't have to do that. We have his word. We can open up and God can speak to us right through his word. Every day, every moment of every day. I don't have to wait to go to church to hear him speak. I can go home tonight. I can open his word and I can read exactly what he says to me.

And I go to worship him, to celebrate him for who he is. There is a celebration on the lips. That's the response to the revelation of God. Number two, there's a consecration of the life.

Consecrate. What's the human response to divine revelation? Jacob's response. So Jacob rose early in the morning, took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top. And he called the name of that place Bethel, the house of God. There was a consecration of the life. In Hebrew literature, the outpouring of oil was a symbolic of consecration. Remember the Apostle Paul? Second Timothy four, verse number eight, he said, my life is being poured out like a drink offering.

Philippians two, verse number 17, he says, my life has been poured out for you. Why? Because his life was a total consecration to God. It was a pouring forth of his life. Jacob was symbolizing the consecration of not only the place, but his person to God. See, when God speaks to you, it's like, I'm all yours. Whatever you want, I'm yours. Just do whatever you want and I'll follow. When you hear the words of the Lord speak to you, it's like, I am yours. Just do whatever you want. My life is yours.

And there was a consecration of the life because there was a celebration on the lips because God was in that place. God has spoken to me through his word and he heard the voice of God. Oh, I have seen the gate to heaven. I know how to get there. I know the key to glory. It's been revealed to me. Thank you, Lord. And thirdly, the response of Jacob, there was a conviction, a conviction about his Lord.

Listen to what he says. Then Jacob made a vow. You know, every time you leave church, you should leave with making a vow. Did you know that? Everything God speaks to you, you should leave, leave making a vow. This is what I will do now.

And the book of Ecclesiastes says it's better not to vow than to vow and break it. So it's better not to do anything if you're going to break it anyway. But the bottom line is you should, if you're going to really worship God and you're going to have a response to divine revelation, you respond, you respond out of deep conviction. This is more than just a belief. This is a conviction. We have lots of beliefs, but convictions move me to action. And this is what moved Jacob to action. Since God will be with me, remember God made the promise, I'll be with you.

It's not if as boy, I hope he's going to be, it's if as in, yes, he has. And he will, since he will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take and will give me food to eat and garments to wear. And I returned to my father's house in safety. Then the Lord will be my God. There's a conviction. He's mine. He's my God. When I was growing up, I was saved when I was 14 years of age, but I rode on the coattails of my parents' faith for years. He was their God. But when I moved out and lived on my own, I began to realize that he's my God too.

He's my God. And to be able to make that transition as to always living off of your mother and father and always being a part of what they're doing. And then to go off on your own and to realize that God truly is my God as he was my parents' God. And my parents, they love the Lord. They serve the Lord. They honor the Lord. And I admire my parents for their commitment to Christ. But now I can establish that same kind of commitment because I know he's my God, because he has watched over me. He has taken me.

He has been with me. He has made his promise to me. He has kept that promise. And God, you are my God. And there was conviction about the Lord. God, you are mine. It's not the Lord is a shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. It's not that he is a king. He's my king. It's not that he is a deliverer. He's my deliverer. There was a conviction about who God is in Jacob's life. Do you have that conviction? It comes because of divine revelation given to you through the word of God. There was a celebration on the lips, a celebration on the lips.

There was a consecration of the life. There was a conviction about the Lord. When you leave today, you should leave with deep convictions about Jesus Christ, our Lord. And lastly, there was a contribution out of love for the Lord. Let's know what Jacob says. And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar will be God's house. And of all that thou dost give me, I will surely give a tenth to thee. And lastly, there was a contribution out of love because of all that God had shown him. See that? Now, isn't it interesting that he would say, a tenth of all that thou hast given me, because he recognized everything was from God, right?

He recognizes it's all from God. We talked about this last week. It's all from God. God owns it all. It's all from God. In a tenth of all that I have, my food, my clothes, my animals, my money, a tenth of all that I have, Lord, I give to you. Why a tenth? Because a tenth is where giving begins, not where it ends. If you're not given a tenth of what you have, you have yet to begin to give. That's where it begins. Why? How did he know to give a tenth? He said, well, that's Old Testament law stuff. No, it's not.

No. Genesis 14, Grandpa Abraham gave a tenth of all that he had to Melchizedek. Remember that? Genesis chapter 14? Gave a tenth of all that he had. Why did Abraham give a tenth of all that he had? Because he knew that was symbolic of a life that was convicted of who God was, and that out of love, he would contribute to his God sacrificially, because of his great love for God. That's how you know. That's how you know. Now, we've already taken the offering today. It's already gone. Too bad, huh? But you see, he knew.

He knew. He knew. And unfortunately, most people don't even know today that giving begins with a tenth. It doesn't begin with a tenth. One percent. It begins more than that. True sacrificial giving out of a heart of love begins with a tenth. Begins there. Where have you begun in your giving patterns? That was a response to the divine revelation of God in his life. God has spoken. Has God spoken to you today? If you're here today and you're listening, he's speaking. You might not be listening. You might not want to listen.

But God is speaking. And my trust in him is that you're listening to everything he says, because you want to honor him with your life. That's what Jacob did. Tonight, you'll sit down with your children. Maybe you have a little gesture treat. Take out your ornaments. Bring a little ladder. Help them understand it's not really a ladder, it's a staircase, steps that descended from heaven to earth. And that what Jacob learned that day was that that staircase was the gateway to God. There's only one way to the Lord Jesus Christ, to the Father himself, is through the Lord Jesus Christ.

And you explain to your children, this is the way of salvation. This is the way it is. And Jacob knew that. And as a result of what he knew and what God revealed to him, this is what he did to the Lord. There was a celebration on his lips. There was a consecration of his life. There was a conviction about the Lord. And there was a contribution out of love. Let's pray. Father, we thank you, Lord, for the truth of your word. And my prayer, Lord, is that all of us would see what Jacob saw and believe what Jacob believed and live as Jacob lived for the glory and honor of Christ himself.

In Jesus name. Amen.