[0:00] Psalm 46, and we'll sing verses 1 to 7. Psalm 46 to verse 1, verse 1 to verse 7. God is our refuge and our strength, and strength is our present aid.
[0:14] Therefore, although the earth remove, we will not be afraid. Though hills amidst the seas be cast, though waters roared in need, and troubled be, ye row the hills by swelling seas to shake.
[0:25] And we'll sing down to the end of verse 7. The Lord of hosts upon our side doth constantly remain the God of Jacob's, our refuge, us safely to maintain.
[0:37] We'll sing these verses to God's praise. O do the refuge and our strength, God is our refuge and our strength, and we will not be afraid.
[1:02] The Lord of hosts upon our strength, and we will not be afraid.
[1:17] The Lord of hosts upon our strength, and we will not be afraid. The Lord of hosts upon our strength, and we will not be afraid. The Lord of hosts upon our strength, and we will not be afraid.
[1:31] The Lord of hosts upon our strength, and we will not be afraid. We will not be heard. The river below the hills, Thy swelling seas could shake.
[1:57] The river is to sing to God, The city of our God, The holy place where is the Lord, Messiah is the Lord, God is the mist of the earth, God dwells, Nothing shall remain, The Lord to the earth,
[3:00] The earth above the hills, And the dry death we blew, The heathen rings through the sea, The King comes and with the King.
[3:31] The King comes and with the Lord, The earth is met for the end.
[3:50] The Lord of hosts upon her night, The thronges near reenees.
[4:09] The mortal Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this, your day.
[4:43] We thank you for giving us the desire, the opportunity, the measure of health and strength that we have to be able to come together as your people. We thank you for the privilege that we have to be able to sing these songs, these psalms that have been inspired by the Spirit and preserved through the generations and brought before us today.
[5:06] We thank you for the words that we have just sung the Lord of hosts upon our side doth constantly remain, the God of Jacob's, our refuge, us safely to maintain.
[5:18] And we thank you for the encouragement, for the blessing, for the assurance, for the reassurance that we receive as we sing these words.
[5:28] You are the God who is our refuge. You are the God who is our strength. You are the God who is our ever-present helper, the one who is close at hand when we are in times of distress.
[5:40] And you are the God, the Lord of hosts, the Lord Almighty, who is on our side and who is with us, not against us, but with us.
[5:55] And we thank you that the call of the gospel is a call to come to Jesus, to come to the Saviour, and to be with the Lord.
[6:10] We think back to the beginning of the gospels as we hear Simon Peter and John and James and Andrew are being called to follow Jesus.
[6:22] And we remember that the calling placed upon their lives was a calling primarily to be with Jesus. And yes, to serve. And yes, to preach.
[6:34] And yes, to do good works that we're prepared in advance to do. But the primary call was a call to be with Jesus. And we recognise that that call is a call that remains with us today.
[6:50] And as we come before you this morning, Lord, we know that you call us to be with you, to draw near to you. And we thank you that we have the promise in the word of God that those who draw near to you, you will draw near to.
[7:05] We thank you that we have the assurance that when we come to you, you are the God who does not cast us off, but who draws us close. We thank you that as we wait upon the Lord with expectation, we have the assurance that you will meet with us.
[7:25] Even if it was only two or three of us, that you would be with us. We thank you for the blessing, for the refreshment, for the renewed strength that comes to all who wait upon the Lord.
[7:38] So we pray, that as we gather together this morning, as we wait upon you, that you would meet with us. We pray, Lord God, that you would speak to our hearts, that we would be aware of your presence near to us.
[7:52] We pray that you would give us grace, fresh supplies of grace. That you would give us strength. that you would help us, that you would calm our minds if we are troubled.
[8:04] That you would help us to know the peace of God that is not of this world, that peace that passes all understanding. And we ask, Lord, that even as we have sung the words of the psalm, that you are on our side, that we would be reminded, even this morning, of the fact that you are so much on our side.
[8:29] We look back this morning to the cross and to the empty tomb. This is the Lord's day. The day that we remember that Jesus, your Son, our Saviour, came to this world and lived for us and died on the cross to take away our sin.
[8:48] And on the third day, rose from the dead and promised eternal life, resurrection, hope to all who believe in him. So we thank you for the message of the cross.
[9:00] We thank you for the hope of resurrection. We thank you for these many evidences that reassure us of your great love for us and encourage us to come and place our lives in your hands and to trust you for time and for eternity.
[9:22] So help us, Lord, we pray this day and to trust you. Give to us faith, eyes to see, Jesus, ears to hear the gospel call, hearts that will be softened and moved by your spirit and not hardened.
[9:37] We ask, Lord, that you would minister to us, that you would meet each one of us at the point of our need. We pray, especially this morning, for those who are grieving.
[9:48] We are conscious that as a congregation here, there have been many bereavements over past days and weeks and months and the pain that leaves is a pain that takes time to ease.
[10:06] We know, Lord, that you are the God of all comfort. You are the God who is able to bind up broken hearts. And so we pray for all who are grieving this morning, that they would know your presence, that they would know your peace, and that even in the midst of grief, that they would know that blessing of God in a special way, that you are the God who is with them and you are the God who promises that although we have no continuing city here, there is a place prepared for all who are in Christ.
[10:39] to comfort all who are grieving this day, we pray. We pray also that you would meet with those who are sick. We think of those in hospital and we ask, Lord, that they would know your hand of healing upon them if that you will.
[10:55] And we pray that they would know that grace is sufficient for each day as they come to you and as we pray for them. We pray for those who are anxious, for those who are troubled, that you would give to them peace.
[11:08] We pray for those who are struggling in no way materially or in any worldly sense. We pray for those who are healthy, for those who have much of this world's riches, but who have no sense of eternity, no sense of a need for Jesus.
[11:29] And we ask, Lord, that you would awaken souls in this place and across all of the islands. we pray that there would be an awakening, a renewed sense of the fact that we are sinners, that Christ came into this world to be the saviour and that there is salvation for all who look in faith to him.
[11:50] Move, Lord, we pray, in the power of your spirit, awakening those who are dead, reviving, quickening, we as your people and help us, Lord, to fix our eyes this day and each day upon Jesus.
[12:04] hear our prayers, take away our sin, guide us and lead us. We pray for the congregation here especially in this time of vacancy, that you would uphold them, that you would strengthen them, that you would be with Thomas as he leads them at this time and that you would guide them to the man that you have set aside of your choosing, the man who will bring your word here for the next chapter in ministry in this place.
[12:29] and we thank you that you are trustworthy, that you have a plan for our lives as individuals, as congregations and we pray that you would lead us and that you would guide us as we acknowledge you and we ask all these things in Jesus' name and for Jesus' name.
[12:46] Amen. It's good to see a few boys and girls here this morning and so I think I'll take a moment and I'll just speak to the boys and girls.
[13:03] I don't know if you speak back to me, I might ask a question or two, we'll see if anybody's brave enough to speak back to me. Someone in my pocket. Can anybody tell me what are these?
[13:21] They're keys and so what do keys do? What do you use keys for? Well, yeah, that's one use.
[13:35] There's a few different keys. You think this key would unlock my car? This one here. No? No? So keys, they can be used to unlock a car and other keys can be used.
[13:53] What do you think that key's for? That one there. I think it's not for a car. Do you think it's for a tractor?
[14:05] Helicopter? No? What do you think? Do you think it might be for a door? It's for a door.
[14:17] But do you think this key will unlock any door? Do you think I could go right to the back of the building? I've lost my bearings here where the toilet is. And I could lock the toilet when somebody's inside with this key.
[14:31] No, I couldn't because it's not the key for that toilet. This is a key for our front door. And this key's for a car. But do you think this key's for any car? Do you think I could go up to your car in the middle of the night and go, push the button and it would open up and I could drive off on your car?
[14:50] No. Why not? Because this key is just for one car. So you can't use any key for any door.
[15:05] There's a special key and the special key opens a special door. So this key will only open one door, the front door of our house.
[15:18] This key here will open a door in the church. This key here will open the door of a little Volkswagen up car that I wish I didn't have but I have to have.
[15:29] as my daughters are learning to drive. But one key for one door. Here's a question for you. How does the door to heaven open?
[15:48] Jesus told us, didn't he, that there's a place that's prepared for all who know him and trust him. And that place is called heaven.
[16:02] So how do we get into heaven? If we use this picture, what's the key or where is the key or who's the key that opens the door of heaven?
[16:16] Do you think if we work really hard we can get to heaven? No. Do you think if we read ten chapters of the Bible every day then that's the key to unlocking heaven?
[16:33] No. Do you think if we can say, well, I was in Calvary Church 40 out of 52 Sundays in the era? That's the key to opening heaven.
[16:44] No. There's one key, there's one way, there's one name to get to heaven and that name is Jesus.
[16:56] And Jesus in John chapter 14 verse 6 he said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.
[17:09] So boys and girls of all ages if we want to be sure that we have a place in heaven the only way that we can be sure that we are safe forever that we have a place in heaven is if we are trusting in Jesus.
[17:28] We have to come to Jesus ask him to take our sin away ask him to be our Lord and our Saviour. And boys and girls don't leave it until you're older.
[17:41] I remember when I was eight sitting in church in Stornham and knowing that I was a sinner and knowing that Jesus was the Saviour but I wouldn't come to him.
[17:53] It was two years and I knew that I was a sinner but I wouldn't pray asking Jesus to be my Saviour. It wasn't until I was ten that I remember going into my room and praying and saying Lord Jesus I know that I'm a sinner and I want to be sure that I'm safe forever and I've got a place in heaven so will you please take my sin away and come into my life and he did when I was ten but I should have been eight.
[18:23] So don't wait till you're older and you've got grey hair on the sides like me or you've got no hair on your head like some others might. come when you're young and let's pray.
[18:36] Lord God we thank you that you love us and we thank you for the message of the Bible which is so deep but it's so simple too. And we thank you that you've made it so clear to us that there is this world that we live in for a while and then there's heaven or hell.
[18:56] And we thank you that if we want to know that we are not going to hell but we have a place in heaven all we have to do is trust in Jesus.
[19:08] We thank you that he went to the cross to pay the price for our sin. He went to the cross to take our sin away. And we thank you that he promises that everyone who comes to him and asks for forgiveness and asks him to be their saviour he promises that he will save them and that he will save us.
[19:30] So we ask for all the boys and girls here that they would be trusting in the Lord Jesus. And we pray for all the older ones as well that we would be trusting in the Lord Jesus that we would come in that childlike way with childlike faith to say that we are sinners and that we need Jesus to be our saviour and our Lord.
[19:53] So we ask Lord that you would work in our lives as we look to you as we trust in you that you would save us and you would give us the peace and the joy of knowing that there is heaven.
[20:06] And we ask for us in Jesus name. Amen. We're going to sing again to God's praise and we're going to sing from 46 and 46 once more. We'll sing the second half of the psalm from verse 8 to verse 11.
[20:21] Come and behold what wondrous works have by the Lord been wrought. Come see what desolations he on the earth have brought unto the ends of all the earth. Wars into peace he turns.
[20:33] The bow he breaks, the spear he cuts and fire the chariot burns. Be still and know that I am God. Among the heathen I will be exalted, I on earth will be exalted high.
[20:44] Our God who is the Lord of hosts is still upon our side. The God of Jacob our refuge forever will abide. These verses only sing to God's peace. O man behold what wondrous work have been wrought and see what is the earth!
[21:28] earth that brought to the end of the earth!
[21:43] Watched if he burns The flow he breaks as the end he cuts in fire the jack of burns!
[22:10] still and know! the light of God the mark of his and I!
[22:27] will be! in love! on earth!
[22:38] be in divine! God is the heart of God is!
[22:57] be upon the God is the God who is near Genesis chapter 28 and we'll read from verse 10 of the chapter so we find Jacob here and he is on a journey from home he's in the middle of nowhere probably as far as he's concerned at this point and he's left a lot of troubles back at home which we'll get into in the course of the sermon and the Lord meets with him so Genesis 28 verse 10 and Jacob went out from Beersheba and went towards Haran and 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 pillows and lay down in that place to sleep and he dreamed and behold a ladder set up on 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 and the God of Isaac the land whereon thou liest to thee
[25:04] I will give it and to thy seed and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed and behold I am with thee and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest and I will bring thee again into this land for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of and Jacob awaked out of his sleep and said surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not and he was afraid and said how dreadful is this place this is none other but the house of God and this is the gate of heaven and Jacob rose early in the morning and took the stone that he had put for his pillows and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it and he called the name of that place Bethel but the name of that city was called Luz at first and Jacob vowed a vow saying if God be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on me so that I come again to my father's house in peace then shall the Lord be my God and the stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house and of all that thou shalt give me
[26:34] I will surely give thee the tenth unto thee and also just a short reading from John chapter 1 John chapter 1 and just a short section at the end of chapter from verse 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and saith of him behold an Israelite indeed and whom is Mulgairo Nathanael saith unto him whence knowest thou me Jesus answered and said unto him before that Philip called thee when thou wast under the fig tree I saw thee Nathanael answered and said unto him Rabbi thou art the son of God thou art the king of Israel
[27:34] Jesus answered and said unto him because I said unto thee I saw thee under the fig tree believest thou thou shalt see greater things than these and he saith unto him verily verily I say unto you hereafter ye shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man Amen and may God bless that reading of his word to us we'll sing again to God's praise we sing Psalm 8 Psalm 8 How excellent in all the earth Lord our Lord is thy name you ask thy glory far advanced above the starry frame from infants and from such ones mouth thou didst strength ordain for thy foes cause that so thy mightst the avenging foe the stream we'll sing it from verse 1 to verse 4 of Psalm 8 the fourth stanzas to God's praise who excellent who excellent in all the earth
[28:49] Lord our Lord is thy name who has thy glory heard For thy hope's cause, that's all our might, the avenging hope we swing.
[29:49] When I look up unto the heavens, which thy little fingers ring, unto the moon, unto the skies, which never ye are in, then say I what is mighty, remember this mighty.
[30:44] Oh, what the sun of man and I, so I give him his peace.
[31:07] Let's pray again for the moment as we turn back to God's word. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your goodness, your kindness to us.
[31:19] We are remembered by you and we thank you for your grace. We ask, Lord, that as we see your dealings with Jacob, who in so many ways was a sinner, we recognise that we see ourselves in Jacob.
[31:38] We thank you for your grace. We thank you for your grace. We thank you for your grace as we look at the way that you dealt with Jacob, the way that you came to Jacob. And we thank you that you are our God.
[31:50] You're the God who does not change. And we ask that you would meet with us and that you would reveal yourself to us, we pray, through the words of Scripture this day. And that you would open our hearts once more.
[32:02] Lord, that we would be responsive to your word. We pray for the children. We thank you for those who teach them just now as they go to Sunday school. And we ask, Lord, that you would bless them where they are, that you would give to them that childlike faith, that they would remember their Creator in the days of their youth, that they would trust Jesus as their Savior and walk with them all the days of their lives.
[32:29] And so we pray that you would bless them. We pray for the congregations around us here, every denomination where Christ crucified is preached. We ask, Lord, that you would add your blessing to the word as it's shared, as it's read, as it's preached, that you would build your church.
[32:47] And we ask, Lord, that you would bless us and that you would help us in preaching and listening and responding. And we ask all these things together. Once more, with the forgiveness of our sin in Jesus' name.
[33:00] Amen. I want to start this morning with sharing two testimonies, just a brief version of two testimonies.
[33:17] When I was preparing this message from Genesis chapter 28, my mind went to the testimony, first of all, of a guy that I knew called Roddy.
[33:31] And when I met Roddy, he'd have been mid-twenties, I think, maybe late twenties. And he was sharing his testimony one evening.
[33:42] And his testimony was that he grew up in Inverness. He went to church in Inverness. And he went to Sunday school, youth fellowship, until he got to his mid-teens.
[33:53] And then he stopped. He started to protest about church in Sunday school. He wasn't going. His parents gave in to that.
[34:04] And so, right about mid-teens, he stopped going to church. He stopped going to Sunday school. And as far as he was concerned, he was done with church. And he was done with the things of God. He wasn't interested.
[34:16] He finished school. He headed to university. And he got a degree in economics. But having got this degree in economics, he realised at the end of it that he didn't want to spend the rest of his days wearing a suit and working in a bank or an accountant's office.
[34:36] So, he, on the spur of the moment, checked the tickets. He phoned to the airport. And he checked ticket prices and availability.
[34:50] And there was a flight to the US. So, wearing just what he had on, he picked up his guitar case and his guitar and he grabbed a toothbrush and he went for the plane.
[35:06] And he headed to the States with dreams to make it as a singer in the USA. And he kind of did. In 22 through to about late 20s, he toured America.
[35:23] And he went from place to place. And he made a little bit of money. Not a huge amount of money. But he made a little bit of money. Enough to take him around the country. He had a wee fan base. And he had moderate success.
[35:34] But he had no fulfilment. No happiness. And one night, when he was staying in a motel in the middle of nowhere, middle America, God met with him.
[35:56] And the Holy Spirit took a text that Roddy had heard in Sunday School 20 years previous. And it was brought back to his mind with great power.
[36:11] And Roddy tells the story of how in that wee dingy room, he went on his knees at the side of his bed. And he confessed his sin.
[36:23] And he asked Jesus to be his saviour. So on that night, in a dingy motel in middle America, it became like Bethel to Roddy.
[36:41] And Jacob's words from verse 16 became Roddy's words. Surely the Lord is in this place.
[36:54] And I knew it not. Another testimony that came to mind is that of the Reverend Alan MacArthur, who ministered for many years in Lough Caron, where I was before I went to Harrods.
[37:12] And he, again, grew up in a Christian family. He went to church, Sunday school, all these different things. But he, by his own confession, he ran away from God.
[37:27] And as a teenager, he moved away from the Lord.
[37:39] He got a job in the Navy. He travelled the world. And then one night, as he lay sick in his cabin, far, far from home, which had been Nila Lewis.
[37:53] I can't remember exactly where. And God met with him in this cabin. A million miles from home, in the far side of the sea, the Lord met with Alan in great power.
[38:09] And that cabin, that wee cabin, became like Bethel to him. And he was converted in that cabin. And he, too, could have said with Jacob, surely the Lord is in this place.
[38:25] And I did not know it. What I'd like us to do this morning is look at one more testimony.
[38:39] And it's the testimony of Jacob. And we're going to read and think through the verses that we read, which really cover the testimony of Jacob.
[38:51] And give us an account of how God met with Jacob in a powerful and personal way in Bethel. And as we think about Jacob's testimony, we can pray afresh that the Lord will meet with us.
[39:07] And that we will know the wonder of the Lord being in this place with us today. My prayer is that all of us will have a testimony that we can share.
[39:23] Four points. Relocation is the first point. The second point is revelation. The third point is the relationship that God is calling Jacob into.
[39:39] And the final point is the response of Jacob to God's word is called. So first of all, relocation. Verses 10 and 11.
[39:50] Let me just read the verses again. If you've got your Bibles open, you'll find it helpful. If you just step through the verses once more. Jacob went out from Yesheba and went towards Haran.
[40:01] And he lighted upon a certain place and carried there all night because the sun was set. And he took the stones of that place and put them for his pillows and lay down in that place to sleep.
[40:14] So picking up at verse 10. In Jacob's story. Jacob is moving home. Jacob has been relocated.
[40:25] And they say that social commentators say that moving home is one of the most stressful things that you can do in life. Most of us have moved at some point.
[40:36] Most of us have moved at some point. And we can probably agree with that. Moving home is highly stressful. But Jacob's move from home is more stressful than most.
[40:47] When we move from home, we usually move because we want to study or we want to work. Maybe we're getting married. And so that takes us away from what we consider to be home to some other place.
[40:59] But Jacob is moving at this point. Not for a study. Not for a work. Jacob is moving because his family is falling apart. And if you glance back at a verse or two to chapter 27 and verse 41, we see that Jacob's brother, his twin brother, has designs to kill him.
[41:25] He wants to kill his brother. So this relocation on Jacob's part is a forced relocation. He has to move. He has to go. And for Jacob, this would have been a real shock to the system.
[41:42] We know the story of Jacob and Esau. And Jacob and Esau, twins. But they were very different characters. Esau was the kind of outdoors, rugged character that could survive and be quite comfortable in the great outdoors.
[41:56] Jacob was not like that at all. He was a home bird. Esau liked to be out with his father hunting and shooting. Jacob, meantime, was in the kitchen.
[42:09] Cleaning and cooking. Spending time with his mother. And his mother, Rebecca, she just loved to spoil him. And we can just imagine in our minds, Rebecca, each day, with a son that she doted on.
[42:25] And we can just imagine at the end of the night making his hot chocolate and fluffing up his pillows to make sure he gets a good night's sleep. And that's the kind of relationship they had. And yet here is Jacob.
[42:36] And he's far from home. And he's sleeping under the stars. And for a pillow, he has a stone.
[42:48] So we see this relocation. This forced relocation. So what can we learn from this picture just by way of application before we move on to the next point?
[43:04] Well, we can see first of all here that sin has consequences. All of us are sinners. And we are thankful for the fact that there is grace.
[43:19] There is forgiveness when we ask for it. But sin has consequences. Jacob, if you scan back through his story, we're reminded of the fact that he was not a particularly nice character.
[43:37] He was a schemer. He was a liar. He was a liar. Expert liar. He was a deceiver. He sinned against God. He offended. He sinned against his father and his brother. Genesis 25 to 27.
[43:48] Give us the story of that. And as a consequence of Jacob's actions, he was a liar.
[44:00] He was a liar. It was a consequence of Jacob's action. Although he is God's man and we see that as the story develops.
[44:12] Jacob as a consequence of his actions has gone from the comfort and the security of the family home to the discomfort and the danger of being at this stage homeless.
[44:27] And he's sleeping rough. And we see here one illustration of the fact that sin has consequences.
[44:41] A second thing we can see, maybe as we draw some application out from this point, is I think we can see just the beginnings of a preview of Jesus.
[44:55] I remember there was an elder in Toradon called John Maxwell, he's now in heaven, and he used to say to me, on every page of the Bible you're in, look for Jesus.
[45:11] As we think about Jacob and his family, we go back to Genesis 12 and we can see that God had promised that a blessing would come to and through this family line.
[45:27] And if we were to trace this family line forward, as many will do over the Christmas period, when we come to the beginning of Matthew, we can trace the family line forward from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, all the way through to Jesus.
[45:50] And what did Jesus do? Well, Jesus left the comfort and the security of his heavenly home. He wasn't forced, he came willingly.
[46:04] He came to this world, he came to this world to deal with the sin of Jacob and all the Jacobs, because we're all like Jacob. And one of the things that Jesus said when he was in this world, Luke chapter 9, verse 58.
[46:24] Jesus said, foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.
[46:36] So are we here, even at this early stage, seeing just pointers forward, previews of Jesus, the one through whom the blessings come?
[46:54] So first of all, relocation. Second point is revelation. Takes us into verse 12 and 13. And Jacob dreamed, and behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached the heaven.
[47:12] 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, and the God of Isaac.
[47:26] So here we've got Jacob. If you think back to the story of what's going on. And Jacob, he's in the middle of nowhere.
[47:39] And he's trying to settle down in this uncomfortable place to sleep. But notice that there's nothing here that suggests to us that Jacob is looking for God.
[47:54] He doesn't rifle in his bag and look for Spurgeon's morning and evening reading notes and select the evening reading. He doesn't pick up his iPod and select a Christian podcast or a sermon from his favorite preacher.
[48:10] He doesn't read a chapter of the Bible before he goes to sleep. Why not? Well, because there was no Bible. There was no Spurgeon. There was no iPod. But even if there was, there's nothing to indicate here that Jacob would have had a desire or made a decision to read anything spiritual.
[48:36] Or fill his ears with words of God. Jacob does not appear to be looking for God. But the sovereign, electing God is looking for Jacob.
[48:52] And in Jacob's dream, God reveals something of himself to Jacob. There's a revelation of the character of God to Jacob in this dream.
[49:04] Now we might ask the question at this point, what was it about Jacob that caused God to reveal himself, to choose to reveal himself to Jacob? Was there something worthy about Jacob?
[49:16] Was there something attractive about Jacob? And we know the answer to that question is no. It's quite the opposite. Jacob is a really hard character to like.
[49:30] He is very clearly a sinner. He's a sneaky, snyty kind of character. There's nothing that would attract us to Jacob.
[49:47] There's nothing worthy in the way that he's behaved thus far. And Jacob at this point in his experience is very, very lost.
[50:00] But God determined that he would draw near to him. And God revealed himself to Jacob.
[50:13] And God loved Jacob. And here, as we take a moment to apply this, that we have a picture of the gospel.
[50:31] This is the way that God deals with us. And here we have another, much clearer preview of Jesus.
[50:43] When we think about the revelation of God, the clearest revelation of God is seen in Jesus.
[50:58] Yes, we have a revelation of God as we look out on the beauty of creation. We see his creative power. And we can step through the prophets and we have all these signposts to God and the character and the dealings of God and the Messiah who's coming.
[51:16] But the clearest revelation of God is seen in God the Son, Jesus. Colossians 1.15 says, He is the image of the invisible God.
[51:29] And Jesus came to this world for sinners. Like Jacob. And like us.
[51:42] Luke 19.10 It says, For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Romans 5.8 It says, God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
[52:09] When there was nothing worthy in us, nothing attractive in us, God loved us. Christ died for us.
[52:26] So as we look in on Jacob here, we can see that God's revelation of himself to Jacob, it was in low definition. It was a bit bloody.
[52:39] In this dream that he has, in this vision that he has as he sleeps. that God's revelation of himself to us today is in high definition.
[52:54] It's clear. It's in focus. Because we are called to look to and to fix our eyes upon Jesus. Relocation. Relocation.
[53:06] Revelation. Thirdly, relationship. From the second half of verse 13 into verse 14. God is speaking to Jacob.
[53:19] He says, The land that on there liest to thee, I will give it unto thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth. And thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south.
[53:33] And in thee, and in thy seed, shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Thinking about who Jacob was, and thinking about how Jacob had behaved, the things that he had done, the disgraceful things that he had done.
[53:58] We would expect, if we were writing the script here, we would expect that when God meets with Jacob, the word that is spoken would be a word of rebuke.
[54:10] Chastisement. But that's not what happens. God is gracious to him. God does not treat Jacob in the way that Jacob deserved to be treated.
[54:26] Instead he has shown kindness, and love, and grace. And the promise that was given to Jacob's grandfather and father, Abraham and Isaac, the promise of blessing, the promise of family, the promise of land, the promise of protection, it is given also to Jacob, but it's given to Jacob in even, in even fuller terms.
[54:56] There's more given to Jacob by way of promise than there was given to Abraham and Isaac. The promise of God to Jacob is more personal than the promise that was first given to Abraham.
[55:10] Look at verse 15. God says to Jacob, Jacob, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places where thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land, for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
[55:33] So what God promises to Jacob is a relationship. There's a relationship that's promised here.
[55:47] I am with you, says the Lord. Now put yourself in Jacob's shoes at this point. Imagine him just out in that place.
[55:57] What a comfort it must have been for Jacob to hear these words as he's sleeping rough under the stars on his own, fearful for what the wild animals will do if they get to him, and the God who made the starry frame, the God who set the stars in their place, says to Jacob, I am with you, and I will not leave you.
[56:25] What a comfort that must have been. And I will keep you. Now wherever you go, says the Lord to Jacob, and Jacob's far from home.
[56:37] At this point, he's not quite sure where he is. He's not quite sure where he's going to end up. He would have felt so lost, everything so strange, he would have felt so vulnerable, but the God of all the earth says, I will keep you.
[56:54] Doesn't matter where you go, I will keep you. If you take the words of Psalm 121, and apply them, and you're going out, and you're coming in, I will keep your soul, says the Lord to Jacob.
[57:19] I will bring you back to this land, I will not leave you until I have done everything that I have promised. and we read these promises, and we look into this relationship that the Lord calls Jacob into, and we're rightly amazed by the grace of God.
[57:40] We look in on this, and we think about Jacob in that place at that time, and we think, how amazing for Jacob to have received this, and had this experience, and have heard all these promises.
[57:52] It's right that we see all of that, but what we need to remember as we apply this, is that these promises don't stop with Jacob.
[58:05] They filter down to us. We sang in Psalm 46, the God of Jacob is our refuge. the same God that we are reading about in this chapter, who dealt with Jacob, who said he sins to Jacob.
[58:23] The God of Jacob is our refuge. The God of Jacob calls us into relationship with him.
[58:38] Just as the Lord came to Jacob when he wasn't expecting it, or wasn't worthy of it, the Lord has come to us, not in a dream, not lowering down a ladder from heaven, but in Christ.
[59:00] Christ came down from heaven. Warren Wearsby, the commentator, says the ladder symbolizes Jesus Christ Jacob is a perfect picture of the lost soul in the darkness, fleeing for his life, away from the father's house, burdened with sin, ignorant of the fact that God is near to him and wants to save him.
[59:28] The ladder pictures Christ as the only way from earth to heaven. He opens up heaven for us and brings heaven's blessings to our lives.
[59:39] and he alone can take us to heaven. That's what Jesus was teaching Nathaniel in John chapter 1.
[59:51] He takes the words of this passage and he applies it to himself. He is the one who came down from heaven so that we can find our way up to heaven.
[60:06] he is the one who has lowered this ladder of grace that we can take hold of as we trust in him.
[60:21] So being a Christian is about being in a relationship with God. Being a Christian is about knowing Jesus as our saviour.
[60:39] Being a Christian is about knowing Jesus as our Lord. The Lord takes us from being lost to being saved. The Lord takes us from darkness to light, from death to life, from this sin-sick world to the Father's eyes in heaven if we trust him.
[61:13] And there's such comfort in that and I'm aware as a congregation that there's been much grief over past weeks and months.
[61:24] in this world we are all too aware of relationships, relationships with those whom we have loved being broken.
[61:37] Seems like month by month, sometimes week by week, we are conscious of being separated from those whom we love by death. But our relationship with God and the relationship that we have with each other when we are in Christ, there's nothing that can separate us.
[62:05] Not even death. Because Jesus has overcome death. Romans 8, 38, for I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
[62:39] And we're not going to get to our final point today, but I want to just ask the question just now, are you in Christ Jesus?
[62:53] Because if you are in Christ Jesus, if you are trusting in him, these promises, this comfort, is for you.
[63:05] God of heaven and earth, the God of Jacob, he comes to you and I this morning and he calls us into relationship with him.
[63:23] He calls us to take his son and to ask him to be our saviour, to be our Lord. He calls us to be in Christ.
[63:37] And when we are in Christ, all the promises and more that we have heard given to Jacob are for us. God will be with us. Never leave us.
[63:49] Never forsake us. Take us to the Father's house. But it all hinges on whether we are in Christ. And it squares in this quote, just a year or two ago and we'll finish with this.
[64:08] He says, we have suffered bereavement after bereavement, but we are going to the land of your mortal, for graves do not exist. Here, sin is a constant grief to us, but there we'll be perfectly holy, for there will be nothing in heaven to defile it.
[64:30] there are no needs in the furrows of celestial fields. It is a source of deep joy to realise that the wilderness journey of our earthly pilgrimage will end and we will inherit heaven.
[64:52] That is a promise for those who are in relationship with the living, saving God. In God's house, forevermore, my dwelling place will be.
[65:09] But that is dependent on us being able to say from our hearts, the Lord Jesus is my shepherd. Is he your shepherd?
[65:24] Have you been to Bethel? If not, this place, this moment, can be your Bethel as you and I respond to the Lord who calls us to trust him.
[65:46] We'll pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you for the promises of the gospel. Help us to take hold of them by the faith that you are willing to give us as we harden not our hearts, but hear your call and come to you.
[66:04] We ask all this in Jesus' name. We'll sing to conclude Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd and all want. The Lord is my shepherd and all want.
[66:28] He makes me turn! He is my!
[66:41] He heard Within the paths of righteousness, In for His own things sake.
[67:30] Yea, though I walk in death, In the dark veil, yet will I fear the hill, For Thou art with me, and Thy road, As thou be come for chill.
[68:05] My table Thou hast furnished, In presence of my souls, My heaven-cast with all the noise, And my cup of water flows.
[68:41] Goodness and mercy of my life, Shall surely follow me, And in the sounds of heaven o'er, My glory, grace shall be.
[69:17] Amen. In the name of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, The love of God the Father, And the fellowship, the comfort of God the Holy Spirit, Be with us all, now and forevermore.
[69:31] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[69:41] Amen.