Services/Sermon in ElkRiver 17.11.2019

As we gather this afternoon for our services, we gather with that continuing prayer of heart that the Heavenly Father would yet bless us with His Word. And for a few moments, as we gather here, we would be strengthened and comforted in our weak faith.

This afternoon I thought that I would read a part from the Old Testament, way back in the first pages of the Bible, the part from the 28th chapter of Genesis. And it was a time when Jacob was living. You remember the patriarchs of old. We refer to them as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Abraham we often refer to as the first patriarch. And then his son Isaac, and Isaac's son Jacob. And of course there's others that are often referenced in addition to these three. But this took place in Jacob's life when Jacob was a young man. And I will read from the 10th verse onward. The words are as follows in Jesus' name.

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 the stones of that place and put them for his pillows and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed. And behold, the 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 I will give it 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 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 he 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. Amen.

Amen. I don't know if any of you children ever have dreams. And what kind of dreams do you have? Sometimes we have, when I was a little boy, I didn't have so many dreams that I had like nightmares or night tears. I didn't like those kinds of dreams. I was often, I would wake up fearful. We were visiting about that at lunchtime. But there's also times that we can have pleasant dreams. And I don't know how much stock we can put in dreams. But yeah, we know from scriptures that there are many times where God spoke to His children in dreams. One of those that you would remember much of would be Joseph, who would actually be a descendant of Jacob. But Joseph, he was known as the dreamer. And his brothers, his brothers didn't like it either. Because you remember the dreams that Joseph had. They were those kinds of dreams that his older brothers would be bowing down to him. And his older brothers, it doesn't go over real well, does it? If somehow the older brothers have to bow down to the younger brothers. It's just not the way it works in a family. The hierarchy, the oldest boys have, you know, they're the strongest and the fastest. And so they're kind of the top of the heap. And all the younger boys have to listen to what the big boy, big brother says.

So in Joseph's life, when he had those dreams, when they called him the dreamer, he was mocked and also ridiculed. And ultimately, his brothers hated him. And you remember the story of Joseph, how he was sold into slavery, and he went into Egypt. But in the end, God meant it to good, didn't he? So there are those kinds of dreams that sometimes God gives to his children to prepare them for different events in life. But sometimes the dreams just seem kind of silly.

But this dream that took place in our text was a dream that Jacob had. You remember, Jacob was Isaac's son. He had a brother named Esau. They were twin brothers. Esau was the older of the two. And when they were in their mother's womb, already the Bible says that there was this battle that was going on between Esau and Jacob. As the Bible says, it was like two nations of people striving against each other. When they were born, the boys were so different. They were completely different kinds of boys. You remember Esau? He was a hunter. And his father, Isaac, loved the meat that Esau would bring.

This time of year now is hunting in Minnesota and also throughout the country. Often people are hunting, bringing animals home. And Isaac was one of those kinds of fathers that loved the meat that Esau would bring home. Jacob was a bit different than Esau. He wasn't an outdoors type. So, they were very different.

But you remember then as Esau and Jacob were growing up, Esau was that one that would have received the blessing because he was the oldest, the blessing of the father, the firstborn. But as they were growing up, Esau, he sold that birthright to his brother Jacob. He gave it to him for a bowl of pottage. And it's a picture of someone who has given up their faith for really for what? Today, brothers and sisters, as we are members and children of God, it's such a wonderful gift that God has given to us. May it be that we never lose sight of the preciousness of this gift that God has given.

The songwriter asks, and even in Scriptures asks, what would you give in place of your soul? What would you give? And how much would you take if someone came and said, okay, if you give me your faith, I'll pay you this much or give you this much. It could be pretty tempting if you start getting up in big numbers of hundreds, thousands, millions. We're flesh and blood and it's not it's not like any one of us to be attracted to the things of this world. Our flesh is. It's drawn to those things of this world. Our flesh is of this earth. It's earthy. And it doesn't know anything different. All our flesh knows is of this earth and it never wants to leave this place.

I don't know if you've experienced those who have passed away from this life, but the flesh of man battles for life all the way to the bitter end. But the soul in man longs to go to its home in heaven. The soul longs to go to God who has created us. We have this battle all day, every day, all the days of our life. The enemy of souls, as we know, I have this little grandson. He's not so little anymore, but when he was littler, he came to his mom and he asked, Mom, what shoulder does the devil sit on? And his mom asked, well, why? He said, because I don't want to talk to the devil. I want to talk to the angel. So in his little mind, he was thinking, well, if he's on this shoulder, then he's going to talk to the angel on this shoulder. And I thought that was a good thing for this young boy. And hopefully that young grandson can keep that kind of sincerity his whole life.

But you young people, you're tempted with things that this world offers. Glory, glamour, wealth, riches. Remember Moses, he was also tempted similarly. He was in the house of the Pharaoh. He could have lived there the rest of his life. But the Bible says he gave that up for the reward that waited for him in heaven. But this Esau, he gave up that faith. He sold it to his brother Jacob.

And then you remember the story how those boys grew older and it came time as Isaac was getting older, he needed to bless his son with that blessing that he had been given by his father Abraham. And so he called his son Esau and said, Esau, go now and prepare and go hunting and catch an animal and we'll prepare the feast and you can receive your blessing. And you remember the story that took place. But instead of Esau receiving the blessing, his younger brother Jacob received that blessing. Jacob was the one that we could say he was like a fake Esau in that he was dressed with skins of the animals so that his father who would, as he was getting older and his eyesight had become dim, when he called his son for the blessing. He thought he was calling Esau but Jacob came. And he said, well, you have the sound of Jacob but you feel like Esau. And so his father ended up blessing Jacob.

These skins that Jacob wore are very similar to what we today brothers and sisters wear as God's children. We wear that which Christ has adorned us with. We are dressed with this robe of righteousness. And God sees us through the merit work of Christ. He doesn't see our sinfulness which is a wonderful blessing. but God rather sees us through his son.

But you know and you remember from when after Jacob received that blessing from his father it made Esau very, very angry. He wanted to kill Jacob. All along Jacob's mother was there Rebecca. and she was the one who prepared Jacob to receive that blessing. And it's similar today now also in God's kingdom where the God's kingdom cares for us and prepares us for eternity. The congregation is our mother that loves us.

So this text then speaks of that time when Jacob fled from his father's house and his mother had told him that it would be better that he would leave and that you would go and Isaac blessed Jacob and he was to go to his uncle Laban's home. It was Laban was Rebecca's brother but they lived a long long ways away. At this point they were living in Beersheba and he needed to go to as our text said he would go from Beersheba to Haran. It was many many hundreds of miles maybe a thousand miles away and he was going to walk there. Much different travel now than back in those days but it would have been a long long journey to go from Beersheba to Haran.

Part of the reason why they wanted to send both mother and father Isaac and Rebecca that they would send Jacob there that he would go and find a wife from among their family. And it pictures also for you young people the importance of finding a spouse from among God's own. Esau when he heard that his brother Jacob was going to Laban's home out of spite perhaps I don't know why but Esau decided that he was going to go take a wife from the Canaanites and he did. And Esau's life was not blessed as Jacob's was. That's another story altogether.

So when Jacob left he left his father's home it doesn't say what he left with but I'm sure he left with the blessing of mom and dad. When you children when you're as believing boys and girls living in mom and dad's home it's a wonderful blessing. There in that believing home you're given the teaching the food that God wants you to have and the believing home I think I don't know I don't think we'll be able to ever understand completely in this life the blessing of a believing home. Maybe in heaven but a believing home is a very very wonderful blessing.

As we talked this morning it's a nest. It's a place of security. And I've been fortunate now in recent years to work among believers primarily. First only my own business in Colorado and then secondly now from there going to Phoenix and working among the believers in Phoenix and now more recently working at the LLC office. A person is quite sheltered working amongst believers. It's a wonderful blessing.

And there's times when you feel and experience what the world might be. Last night I stopped to get some takeout food from a pizza shop near us and in this they have good food but it's not a good place to eat. At least I found that out. Someone had told me that yeah they have good pizza but don't go to the restaurant. And when I was in there picking up that pizza it's a wayside it's like a bar. And there was people in there and they were loud and obnoxious they had some ball game going and it was like it was so difficult to think that this is some person's life. This is how they lived their life. It's such a shallow existence compared to what God has blessed with His children.

So when Jacob left his mother and father's home for this long journey to his uncle Laban's to find a wife and also he fled because of the fear of his brother's wrath, Esau's wrath. So he went on this journey and it was just at the early part of that journey where we have our text where it says that he lighted upon a certain place and he tarried there all the night. because the sun was set and it says he took the stones of that place and put them for his pillows and lay down at that place to sleep.

And I think you children have probably seen illustrations of this story where Jacob is there sleeping and there's this ladder that reaches from earth to heaven. And what was on that ladder? ladder. And this is that which Jacob dreamt. As he slept there, he must have been a tired traveler, exhausted from the length of the journey. How else could you put rocks as a pillow? It doesn't, I could never use, well, I suppose if you're exhausted enough, then you would use rocks as a pillow. But this is what Jacob did. He put rocks and there he slept.

And as he slept, there was this dream that he had. And it says, 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. I think Jacob was pretty fortunate to be able to see this dream. I've never been able to have this kind of a wonderful dream that Jacob had, of a ladder that reached all the way to heaven. It must have been really assuring, comforting for Jacob to feel and to experience that.

You know, have you ever thought what heaven is? I'm sure we all have. From the time we were little boys or little girls, we pondered heaven. What it's like. The Bible speaks a little bit about heaven. And each of us would have our own kind of ideas, what heaven must be. I've shared this story many times, but you all know, most of you would know my older brother. And we were in bed sleeping when I was a young boy. And I remember going to bed that night and I was pondering heaven. I could listen and hear mom and dad's voices downstairs and thinking about my brothers and sisters that God had given these wonderful escorts. And I thought, how can heaven be much better than this? A believing home. There's food. There's love. There's happiness. There's forgiveness. Can heaven be much better?

And so I asked my brother, I said, Mike, are you sleeping? He said, no. And I'm sure I bugged him when I was a kid, asking him all these questions, but he was patient with me. I said, what's heaven like? How do I know? I've never been there. And he said this to me when I was a little boy. He said, I don't know what heaven is, but I know the Bible says that when we die from this life, we have two choices. We either go to heaven, or what's the alternative? We go to eternal damnation and hell. And he said, I don't want to go to hell. He said, so I want to take my chances with heaven.

And I've thought about that in such a simple way over many, many times, especially in the times of heavy temptation. When the enemy of souls comes and brings such tease, and he knows how to tease us, doesn't he? He can make something that's completely sin and filthy appear to be such a wonderful thing. He teases us in those kinds of ways.

So, we all have our own idea or thought what heaven might be. So, brothers and sisters, what does heaven mean for you? Jacob was given to see this, this ladder that extended all the way to the glory of heaven. And angels ascending and descending on that ladder. And it says, in our text as it continues, it says, behold, the Lord stood above it. So, God was there above this ladder and He said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father and the God of Isaac. And then He made this promise to Jacob that the land that thou liest to thee will I give thee unto thy seed. And then this promise as well that in 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.

Oh, what kind of comfort this would have been for a tired traveler. To hear this voice of God to see and to hear the message of angels. Angels are those messengers that God has sent for each of us. Each one of us has angels. The Bible says that God is the creator of both the visible and the invisible world. And there are those angels of which God's word speaks. And these angels as Jesus spoke in the eighth chapter of Matthew. When he talked about you to offend from you and he reminded that these little ones always have these angels that the Heavenly Father sees and knows.

So each one of our children are given these kinds of loving angels that watch over us and guard us and keep us from danger. We also have these kinds of heavenly angels that are living in our midst. Have you ever experienced this kind of heavenly angel, whether it's a mother, a father, a sister, or a brother, who brings the message of God directly to your own place of address? That dear child, you can believe your sins forgiven in the name and precious blood of Jesus. Those are angels that God sends.

These were all those things in which Jacob was able to see. And this promise that his seed would be blessed. This comforting thing even for you parents today. That it's okay that you would allow and bring those little ones into this world. Those blessings that God has given and entrusted into your care. Because God will send angels and God will care for them and He will bless you and them. This is God's promise for us, His children.

And behold, I am with thee, and I will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land, and I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. What a promise. A testimony that Jacob received there that night on this long journey to his uncle's home there in Haran.

When he woke up that morning, Jacob waked out of his sleep and he said, Surely, the Lord is in this place. And I knew it not. Too often, brothers and sisters, when we are in the middle of our heaviest difficulties or trials, on the longest part of the journey, too often we forget that God is with us. We think we're so alone. But this is not the case. God's Word tells us time and again that He knows us. He will care for us. We are His own.

So today we can also, with assurance of faith, trust and believe that God, the Giver of life, the One who also takes life, knows us as His own, and will bless us as we need blessings on this journey homeward.

What was Jacob then when he woke up? He didn't know what he had saw. And he was afraid. And he said, How dreadful is this place? And now here is a prime example Sam mentioned earlier today of that Bible translation committee that is looking at other translations. If we think of the word dreadful, in current use, it's not a good thing. Something that's dreadful is dire. It's like a dreadful place. I don't know, no one would want to live there in a dreadful place. Someone has a dreadful life. It's sorrowful. But in the original text, this dreadful means something completely the opposite. Dreadful is something that's awe-inspiring. Or it is awesome. So if we were to change that dreadful and he was afraid and he said, how beautiful or how awesome or how awe-inspiring is this place.

What did Jacob see? This is none other but the house of God and this is the gate of heaven. God's kingdom remains as the gate to heaven. we are at that gate. We are in that gate. The next step, brothers and sisters, from this life is into heaven. Jacob was able to see that. He was there in God's house at the gate of heaven.

This kingdom of God, this kingdom of heaven, is that which Jesus spoke as we spoke this morning, to seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and everything else will be added. When Jacob continued his journey, he did. He ended up in Haran. there at his uncle Laban's home. He lived with him for 14 years. First, for one of his daughters he married and then second, he married his second daughter. And for each of the daughters he had to work seven years.

And so, Laban ended up with a pretty good deal, I think. He ended up with a son-in-law that worked for 14 years but in those years of working you remember how Jacob was blessed abundantly by God. And when you read as when Jacob left Laban's house, he left with many, many, many blessings. He left with animals, he left with children, with daughters and sons.

And you should also read of that experience when Jacob left and he was to be reunited with Esau. Some many, many years later, he hadn't seen Esau. They left as enemies. But they were going to be reunited. What did Jacob do? He took his wives and his children and he lined them up and he put them at the front of the caravan as they were going to meet Esau. And Esau was able to see them from a long, long way off. And when they finally met, Esau asked Jacob that, who are all of these? Jacob said, these are whom, these are those of whom God has blessed me with. All of those children and all of those blessings, Jacob recognized as being a blessing from the hand of the Heavenly Father.

Let me talk about then further on in the life of the patriarchs, Joseph, and how he was blessed double. We often say that God's children are also blessed to double. In this life, think, brothers and sisters, we are able to dwell in God's kingdom. And what is God's kingdom? We talked about heaven, but what is God's kingdom for you? God's kingdom is a beautiful place with which we can live. There's love, there's friendship, there's teaching, all of this which comes from the hand of the Heavenly Father. There's the forgiveness of our sins. So we're blessed in this way.

But we're also then blessed with a double portion. Not only are we blessed in this life, but one day the blessing of heaven waits. is there a greater, more fortunate one than you and I, brothers and sisters. May we with Jacob always keep and think of how beautiful a place it is where we can see the ladder that goes directly to heaven as a part of God's kingdom. Heaven waits and through faith one day we will make it there.

This afternoon, dear brothers and sisters, again, as you find yourself on this long journey as Jacob was also journeying, tiredness comes, weariness comes, doubts and fears, but also times of refreshment as we've experienced today, where we've again been assured and reassured that our sins are forgiven. So you can again uplift your hearts to believe all sins, doubts forgiven. In Jesus' name, precious atoning blood.

And you children, you are also on the way that leads to heaven. It's a good place. There in heaven, it will be whatever you want it to be. What is your most wonderful dream or wish in this life? Heaven will be even more than that. love. But for the older, as I've grown older, the streets of gold doesn't mean so much anymore. All of the beauty that's there, it's still interesting to read of. But what really is appealing, as the Bible says, there is a place of eternal rest. no more sin, worries, or doubts. There, the Bible says that God will wipe away the last tear from our eye.

The journey is long, but it has a wonderful end in the glory of heaven. Remain believing and trusting in God's care as Jacob trusted. And as I finish my turn of serving here, again feeling my own lackings and my own doubts, many sins, can I also have my sins forgiven? I want to believe with each of you. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.