WEBVTT 00:00:02.080 --> 00:00:05.360 Our scripture reading this morning comes from the book of Genesis. 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:10.480 Genesis 28 verses 1 through 22. 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:14.640 If you're using one of our black Bibles, it's on page 21. 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:18.079 And if you don't have a Bible, we encourage you to take one of those. 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:23.760 So Genesis 28, 1 through 22. 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:34.960 Please stand for the reading of God's holy and inerrant word. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:46.719 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him: You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:58.960 Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:06.079 God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:17.359 May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham. 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:31.280 Thus Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel, the Aramenian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother. 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:50.879 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him, he directed him, You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women, and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Padan Aram. 00:01:51.439 --> 00:02:02.799 So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, Esau went to Ishmael and took his wife, besides the wives he had. 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:15.680 Jacob left Beersheba and went towards Haran. 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:21.199 He came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:27.919 Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:35.120 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:39.439 And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:48.560 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:53.439 The land on which you lie I will give you and to your offspring. 00:02:53.759 --> 00:03:09.120 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:21.199 Behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:28.159 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:37.360 And he was afraid and said, How awesome is this place! There is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. 00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:46.240 So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar, pouring oil on top of it. 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:54.319 He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 00:03:54.879 --> 00:04:22.560 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I can come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and the stone which I have set up for a pillar shall be God's house, and all that you give me, I will give a full tenth to you. 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:25.360 This is the word of the Lord. 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:27.920 You may be seated. 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:33.360 Thank you. 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:36.399 Good morning, everyone. 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:38.000 It's good to see all of y'all. 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:40.560 All right, let me pray for us. 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:42.720 Thank you, Peggy, by the way. 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:44.639 Even with a boot on. 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:45.519 Thank you. 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:49.519 Without uh injury, thank you so much for coming up and reading scripture. 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:50.959 Let's let's pray together. 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:11.519 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:18.639 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:20.639 Father, this morning. 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:22.800 That's what we want to do. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:25.439 We want to meditate on your word. 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:38.480 On stories like this from Scripture that some of us might be familiar with, but I pray. 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:45.680 I pray that you would speak to each and every one in this room by your spirit. 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:52.319 Refresh us in your word, nurture us in our faith. 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:58.800 Strengthen our affections for you, that we might walk in your ways. 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:00.800 In Jesus' name. 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:01.600 Amen. 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:10.240 Alright, so we are continuing on this morning, uh, where we left off last week in Genesis 27. 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:22.639 You'll remember that Isaac was in the process of making sure that his eldest, his favorite son, Esau, uh, received his final blessings. 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:33.120 And without knowing, Isaac's wife, Rebecca, hatches a deceptive plan to get her favorite son, Jacob, those blessings instead. 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:48.319 And you'll remember that when Jacob finally goes in to see his dad, he not only, there's this incredible scene where he not only has delicious food prepared by his mother, but he's dressed in his brother's clothing. 00:06:48.560 --> 00:07:00.079 And not only that, he's got, he's got goat skin, hands, neck, just in case his blind father touches him, feels him, and notices, this is not my oldest son. 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:12.079 With all these forms of trickery, Jacob dupes his blind father into giving him the blessings that were meant for Esau. 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:20.800 And the Bible tells us that Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:29.360 And Esau said to himself, the days of mourning for my father are approaching, then I will kill my brother. 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:35.920 Somehow, Rebecca finds out about this plan. 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:46.480 And in another way of protecting her favorite son Jacob, she tells him to run away to her brother Laban in a city called Haran. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:55.920 Just long enough so Esau can calm down and back down from wanting to kill him. 00:07:56.879 --> 00:08:06.079 And what I want you to notice from this story, as we head into the next chapter, is just how much Jacob has to face the consequences of his sin. 00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:30.160 You see both incidents where he not only steals, kind of manipulates his brother into giving him the firstborn birthrights, explained that a while back, with just a bowl of soup and some bread, but also this deceptive trickery stealing away the firstborn blessings from his brother. 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:39.440 These two incidents, they expose just how obsessed Jacob is with accumulating money and possessions for himself. 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:41.440 That's what they expose. 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:48.559 He sinfully desired to take his father's wealth for himself, and he's willing to do that at any cost. 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:57.919 Even at the cost of a good relationship with his older brother, and even at the cost of his own honor, his own integrity as a son. 00:08:58.159 --> 00:08:59.759 So don't you miss that? 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:05.679 We are seeing Jacob and his heart being exposed for what it is. 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:09.679 Now Jesus had something to say about money and possessions. 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:19.279 He says in Mark 8, 36, for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but forfeit his soul? 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:26.960 You see, Jacob was what he thought was a fast path to gaining the world and finding significance in life. 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:39.840 But we know that in the end, no amount of money or wealth or possessions can buy us the happiness, the satisfaction, or the significance we all desire in life. 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:40.720 Amen. 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:52.799 And so, if that's the case, if we can gain the whole world yet forfeit our souls, then how do we find true and lasting significance in life? 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:55.440 That's the question I want us to wrestle with today. 00:09:55.759 --> 00:10:01.279 And so if you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, go ahead and turn back with me to Genesis chapter 28. 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:09.200 Genesis chapter 28, we're going to walk through the story that follows Jacob's deception of his father. 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:23.039 And as we walk through the story, I'm going again, I'm going to answer the question: if it's true that we can gain the whole world yet forfeit our souls, then how can we find true and lasting significance in life? 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:35.440 And the first answer I see in this passage is this true significance comes about when you enter into and cultivate a relationship with God. 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:42.159 True significance comes about when you enter into, and not only enter into, but cultivate a relationship with God. 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:47.519 I mentioned earlier that Rebecca hatches another plan to get her favorite son Jacob out of harm's way. 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:53.279 And if you look at the last verse of Genesis 27, this is verse 46, you'll see how she does this. 00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:54.240 It's really interesting. 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:56.799 She doesn't do it directly, she does it indirectly. 00:10:56.960 --> 00:10:59.039 Read there with me, verse 46. 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:06.080 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, I loathe my life because of the Hittite woman. 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:13.279 If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me? 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:22.159 So you notice she doesn't outright tell Isaac what to do, but she she kind of indirectly makes her point. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:30.399 You see, in Genesis 26, we find out that Esau, when he was 40 years old, he married two women from among the Canaanites. 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:31.440 They were the Hittites. 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:34.559 They're two Hittite women named Judith and Basmath. 00:11:34.720 --> 00:11:38.720 Now the Hittites were one of the many people groups living in the land of Canaan back in the day. 00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:44.879 And somehow these Hittite women, we don't know exactly why, they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah. 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:46.799 That's what the scripture tells us. 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:49.759 So much so that she loathes her life. 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:57.200 She literally hates her life, Rebekah says, because of these Hittite wives that her oldest son married. 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:08.480 And again, it's indirect, but what she says to Isaac is enough to clue him in to what he says next, what he does next. 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:11.519 So that's that's where we start off in Genesis 28, verse 1. 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:12.879 Look down there with me. 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:25.360 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, You must not take a wife from the Canaanite woman. 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:38.399 Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. 00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:43.360 So Isaac, in response to his wife's words, he gets the point. 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:44.799 He gets the message. 00:12:45.039 --> 00:13:03.120 And it's just enough for him to understand that he commands Jacob to very specifically head back to his uncle's home, Rebekah's brother's home, to the house of his maternal grandmother, uh, grandfather, and find a wife from specifically among his cousins. 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:05.519 It's a very specific command. 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:14.480 Verse 3 God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:24.320 May he give the blessings of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham. 00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:35.679 Thus Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Panan Aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:48.240 Now at this point, what I want you to see is that when Isaac blesses Jacob, he's finally, Isaac is finally aligning himself with the will of God. 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:49.679 I want you to see that. 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:50.879 This is what I mean. 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:57.679 You remember the prophetic words that Rebecca received when she was still pregnant with her two boys in the womb? 00:13:58.080 --> 00:13:59.120 I have it on the screen. 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:05.759 Genesis 25 says, This was the prophetic word given to her, because she was wondering why she was in so much pain when she was pregnant. 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:12.399 And the prophet said, Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples are within you. 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:14.960 From within you shall be divided. 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:18.320 The young, the one shall be stronger than the other. 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:22.240 The older shall serve the younger. 00:14:23.120 --> 00:14:32.639 And I think the events of last week's passage in Genesis 27, it just points to how Isaac was desperately trying to go against the words of this prophecy. 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:37.120 You see, he loved Esau more than he loved Jacob. 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:44.720 And if you notice, what Isaac was trying to do was he intended to give the blessings he accidentally gave to Jacob. 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:46.559 He intended that for Esau. 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:49.600 That's who he thought he was giving to in the first place, right? 00:14:49.919 --> 00:15:00.720 But in God's sovereign plan, even though it came through Jacob's deception, Isaac accidentally gave those blessings to Jacob. 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:04.080 But we know this was no accident. 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:25.840 Because God planned all along for the blessings of Abraham to go through the line of Jacob, who'd one day father Judah, who among his twelve brothers was handpicked by God to be the man whose line through whom came the ultimate offspring, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:30.559 Isaac was learning the truths of Proverbs 19, 21. 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:38.159 Many are the plans of the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:45.519 Now we see in this next section, the Bible tells us a little bit more about what Esau does in response. 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:56.799 And we find out that he actually overhears or figures out that Jacob was told by Isaac not to marry any woman from the land of Canaan, which is unfortunately something he has already done. 00:15:56.960 --> 00:15:59.360 Not just once, but twice. 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:02.480 Look at what happens next, verse 8. 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:18.879 So when Esau saw that the Canaanite woman did not please Isaac, his father, Esau, went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahaleth, the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Naboeth. 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:25.600 And you'll recall that Ishmael was the son of Abraham and his wife's servant Hagar. 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:38.159 The Bible tells us that after Hagar and Ishmael were thrown out of the household, Ishmael and his descendants eventually settle from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt, in the direction of Assyria. 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:39.679 So I've got a map up here. 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:41.919 There you go, kind of small, sorry. 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:47.840 But the green, so you see the Mediterranean Sea on the left, Israel's right there. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:53.679 What's in the green is supposed to show you generally where the Ishmaelites settled. 00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:56.000 That's just what the map shows. 00:16:56.080 --> 00:17:02.159 It's a lot of where the northwestern peninsula, uh northwestern portion of the Arabian Peninsula is today. 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:12.559 And Esau decides kind of to please his father, kind of make up for his mistakes, he goes and takes a third wife from among the Ishmaelites. 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:17.440 Now, why does the Bible leave this passage in here? 00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:21.279 Like, why does this detail, why is this detail important? 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:32.240 Well, remember how Abraham, towards the end of his life, he was adamant that his servant not take a wife from the land of Canaan for Isaac his son. 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:33.200 You remember that? 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:40.559 And so he tells his servant specifically to go back to his homeland to find a wife for Isaac from among his own family. 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:53.440 Well, instead, Esau does something the opposite of what Abraham had wanted his son Isaac to, who to marry. 00:17:53.599 --> 00:18:02.160 So one commentator points out that unlike Isaac, who married one girl from Abraham's family, Esau marries two Hittite women. 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:11.359 When Abraham's intense concern that Isaac should on no account marry a Canaanite is recalled, it's somewhat unexpected that Esau should marry two. 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:23.759 And once we realize that neither Esau nor Isaac care about Abraham's principle of not marrying Canaanites, we can't entirely condemn the way Jacob and Rebekah achieved their goals. 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:33.839 Esau's indifference to the law's demands, which Abraham held so dear, suggests that perhaps he does not deserve to inherit Abraham's blessing. 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:38.559 So a bit of commentary just on this section. 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:41.759 Like, why does this exist in the Bible? 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:44.079 Let's move on to verse 10. 00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:51.119 Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:56.000 And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night because the sun had set. 00:18:56.640 --> 00:19:03.119 And taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:08.559 Okay, so in this next scene, we find Jacob. 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:11.039 And he's all alone. 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:14.880 He's facing the consequences of his actions. 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:19.440 He's fleeing from an older brother who's out to murder him. 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:28.400 And we're told he leaves from his home in Beersheba and heads to a distant place called City of Haran, which is in an area called Padan Aram. 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:34.400 So got a map just to show you just how challenging a trek like this would have been. 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:42.559 You see, he's in Beersheba, he's heading to Iran, and that star represents where he finds a place to rest that night. 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:47.680 And something incredible happens to him at that point. 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:50.880 Look down at verse 12. 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:53.680 And he dreamed. 00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:59.759 And behold, there was a ladder set up on earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.559 And behold, angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:14.480 Now it's been pointed out that angels in the Old Testament are conceived of as looking after different nations and their territories and as patrolling the earth. 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:26.000 And so one possible interpretation is that the ascending angels are those responsible for Jacob's homeland, and the descending ones are responsible for the foreign land to which he was going. 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:33.200 In other words, this vision of angels in a dream is an assurance of God's protection of Jacob. 00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:35.039 That makes sense. 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:51.519 The land on which you lie, I will give to you and to your offspring. 00:20:51.839 --> 00:21:04.559 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:14.000 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I've done what I have promised you. 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:25.920 You know, it continues to amaze me just how much God showers his blessings and mercy and his grace on completely undeserving people. 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:32.319 I mean, so far in this story, there's really not much to commend about Jacob, right? 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:34.559 There's not much to commend. 00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:41.759 And yet, here in this dream, God promises Jacob more than he could imagine. 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:46.079 And it's simply because God chose to do so. 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:59.519 You remember in Romans chapter 9, the Bible tells us that God chose Jacob over Esau even before they were born or had done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election might continue. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:04.960 Not because of works, but because of him who calls. 00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:29.039 Now, if I were to point fingers at Jacob and just wonder how in the world could Jacob be such a recipient, an undeserved recipient of blessings like this from God after all he's said and done, I only have to look at my own life and be utterly confounded by the same undeserving love God has shown me. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:55.440 I mean, if you were to tell me as a 16-year-old, a porn-addicted, grade-idolizing, popularity-seeking young man as I was, that God had a plan for me, not only to be porn-free one day, but to walk in newness of life and help others walk in newness of life. 00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:59.839 As a pastor, I would not have believed you. 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:12.960 And it just blows my mind how vast and deep and wide and unsearchable are the riches of God's mercy towards those he's chosen to love from before the foundation of the world. 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:13.920 Amen. 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:29.279 Now, when Jacob awakens from his sleep and realizes something special about the place he was in, he takes this stone that was under his head and sets it up as a pillar and he pours oil on it, and he names the place Bethel, which means house of God. 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:34.079 And then he makes, this is what I want you to see, most importantly, this vow. 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:36.799 He makes this interesting vow to the Lord in verse 20. 00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:38.160 Look down there with me. 00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:56.319 If God will be with me and keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. 00:23:58.079 --> 00:23:59.359 Future tense. 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:01.039 That's important. 00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:05.440 And this stone which I have set up for a pillar shall be God's house. 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:11.759 And all that you give me, I will give, a full tenth to you. 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:15.200 Notice those future tenses that he uses. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:23.680 When Jacob, what Jacob is saying here tells us something really, really important about where he is spiritually in his life right now. 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:28.640 You realize that Jacob is essentially giving a condition to the Lord. 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:39.920 And he's saying that if God, you take care of me, you protect me, you watch over me, not only to Haran, but back home, then you will be my God. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:45.759 Which means at present, the Lord wasn't his own God. 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:49.519 He wasn't all in yet with the Lord. 00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:51.599 And I want you to notice something else. 00:24:51.759 --> 00:25:00.480 Notice how when God first appears to Jacob in this dream, he says, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac. 00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:11.839 And it's not until the whole next book over in Exodus chapter 3, verse 6, when God appears to Moses in the burning bush that he uses these words to describe himself. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:22.640 He says, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:30.799 So somewhere along the way between Genesis 28 and Exodus chapter 3, something changes. 00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:44.240 The Lord turns from being just another God out there somewhere for someone else to worship, to being a God who Jacob himself loves, trusts, and worships. 00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:45.519 You see that? 00:25:47.359 --> 00:26:05.440 What this tells us is that in every new generation, no matter how much previous generations have loved and trusted and worshiped in the Lord, every new generation has to re-establish and reaffirm their own personal faith in the Lord. 00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:18.640 One more evidence for this is that after Jacob spends the next 20 years with his uncle Laban, he's told by God to return to this very place in Bethel and make an altar there. 00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:26.480 After all, God has uh he's he's watched over Jacob, he's protected him, and he's now bringing him back to his homeland. 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:34.960 And then the Bible points out how Jacob tells his household and all who are with him to put away the foreign gods that are among you. 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:40.319 And he leaves all his idols under a terabinth tree that was near Shechem. 00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:42.079 That's what the Bible says. 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:58.960 So to me, this indicates a decisive moment in Jacob's life to turn away from worshiping idols and leading his family from turning away from worshiping idols to turning to Jesus, not turning to God to be his own personal God. 00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:01.119 It's a moment of repentance. 00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:08.960 And my point is that faith doesn't just automatically transfer from one generation to the next. 00:27:09.200 --> 00:27:22.400 And the story of Jacob's ladder and God showing up to him in a dream is meant to show how the God of the universe pursues and woos his elect, as unworthy and as undeserving as they are. 00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:27.680 He draws them to himself over the course of time into a relationship with him. 00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:38.400 And God was showing Jacob just how much more satisfying being in a relationship with him was than all the possessions that money could buy. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:46.960 I still remember back in college, I studied sociology. 00:27:47.839 --> 00:28:00.480 Sociology teaches this idea of socialization, which is essentially that who you are, what you believe is a direct result, or at least a very important factor. 00:28:01.359 --> 00:28:14.160 Who you are, what you believe is influenced significantly by where you grew up, who your parents are, what kind of faith they had, who your friends were, did you or did you not go to church? 00:28:14.319 --> 00:28:18.640 All of that, all of your environment shapes who you are in very significant ways. 00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:35.200 Not saying that that's completely off, but it really bothered me because I wondered, well, if I if I had not grown up with Christian parents, if they did not raise me up in the church, would I still have faith in God? 00:28:35.839 --> 00:28:42.720 What if you just picked me up out of this environment, dropped me down in another environment, would my faith stay intact? 00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:51.839 Summer after my freshman year, God gave me a chance to test that question, answer that question right on. 00:28:52.960 --> 00:28:56.720 And he did it through a summer study abroad experience. 00:28:56.960 --> 00:28:59.359 Some of you have been on study abroad experiences. 00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:03.599 I spent about two months in the nation of Japan. 00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:11.200 He literally picked me up out of Houston, Texas, where I was born and raised, dropped me down in Japan where I knew nobody. 00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:14.160 I had a host family that didn't follow Christ. 00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:16.079 I could be anyone I wanted to be. 00:29:16.160 --> 00:29:17.599 I could do anything I wanted to do. 00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:19.599 I could go to church, I could not go to church. 00:29:19.680 --> 00:29:21.920 I could tell people I'm a Christian or not. 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:27.200 So the Lord gave me a chance to test that out. 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:34.640 You know what? 00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:49.759 In those weeks in Japan when I could have done anything I wanted to, and be as far as I could from God, the exact opposite happened. 00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:58.160 And maybe it was a result of just being isolated from loved ones so far away on the other side of the world. 00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:07.599 But there was something about those weeks in Japan, those months in Japan, that drew me closer to God like never before. 00:30:08.720 --> 00:30:16.319 My host mother, not a Christian, had a phone book or something that she looked up, a looked up a church that I could walk to. 00:30:16.559 --> 00:30:18.240 Japanese-speaking church. 00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:22.720 I knew I knew understood nothing really of the service. 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:25.359 Thankfully, the pastor knew English. 00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:27.920 But I just sat there. 00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:37.519 And it you don't, you don't, it's hard to explain, but there's just still something special about sitting in a service where you don't understand anything. 00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:41.279 You're in the presence of God with the presence of God's people. 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:49.119 But there was something about that summer that solidified my conviction that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord and Savior of my life. 00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:53.359 And it doesn't matter if I'm in Houston, Texas, or in Tokyo, Japan. 00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:56.480 He's Lord over my life. 00:30:59.839 --> 00:31:10.799 God was drawing me closer and closer to him through experience after experience as a young man, just like he did with Jacob in our story today. 00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:18.640 So I want to speak for a moment to those of you here who don't consider yourselves a Christian. 00:31:19.759 --> 00:31:22.000 Do you see yourself in Jacob? 00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:29.279 Do you see yourself in Jacob chasing after the things of this world as you search for significance in life? 00:31:29.759 --> 00:31:39.200 There may come a day where, just like Jacob, everything you've accumulated or sought to accumulate or build in your life just crashes in front of you. 00:31:39.680 --> 00:31:43.440 That's where Jacob was, all alone in the wilderness. 00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:49.759 And you experience just how disappointing and unsatisfying whatever you were chasing really is. 00:31:51.039 --> 00:31:58.559 You realize how it never can fulfill you or bring you the satisfaction or sense of significance you were hoping for. 00:31:59.920 --> 00:32:12.319 You see, Jesus Christ laid down his life on the cross, shedding his blood for you and for me, so that none of us would have to hopelessly chase after things in this world, ultimately to find disappointment. 00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:23.599 Because he knows that the only way that we could find significance in this life is to find that sense of significance in a relationship with God alone. 00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:32.480 So I urge you to turn away from chasing after worthless idols. 00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:36.640 And turn to Jesus to be Lord and Savior of your life. 00:32:37.039 --> 00:32:41.920 He paid the cost of your sins so that you wouldn't have to pay for it yourself. 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:50.480 And he offers to all those who place their faith in him forgiveness of sins, past, present, and future, and the gift of eternal life. 00:32:50.640 --> 00:32:55.359 A relationship with him that lasts not only in this life but in the life to come. 00:32:56.720 --> 00:33:07.839 So if you want to learn more about what it means to be in a relationship with Jesus, how to cultivate one, come find me after service or speak to someone here at our church. 00:33:08.960 --> 00:33:11.839 It's my brothers and sisters in Christ. 00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:29.200 Whenever you feel like your heart is growing cold towards God, towards his gospel, I want you to bring to mind your own story of how he patiently walked with you through your doubts and your struggles, just like he did with me as a college student. 00:33:29.519 --> 00:33:31.279 He was patient with you. 00:33:32.480 --> 00:33:34.960 And think about this idea. 00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:43.519 Was there anything worthy or deserving in you that make God want to choose you to be in a relationship with? 00:33:44.240 --> 00:33:51.680 Did you, because you were so amazing, just somehow wake up one morning and say, ah, I want to follow Jesus? 00:33:54.000 --> 00:34:08.880 Or did God painstakingly stoop down into the drama of your life and slowly begin to draw you to Himself over a long period of time, giving you the eyes to see and the ears to hear the gospel when it was finally presented to you? 00:34:09.679 --> 00:34:15.199 Who played the ultimate and decisive factor in your salvation? 00:34:16.159 --> 00:34:22.480 You see, thinking about these things will warm your heart towards the Lord once again. 00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:29.519 Remind you just how great his love for you is for such undeserving sinner like you and me. 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:43.519 And church, the story of Jacob should remind us how we can't neglect the work of intercessory prayer for those who are far from God but close to us, including our own kids. 00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:49.679 The story of Jacob teaches us that no one can ride the coattails of their parents' faith into heaven. 00:34:49.840 --> 00:34:50.480 Amen. 00:34:51.599 --> 00:34:57.039 We must all individually come to terms with who Jesus Christ is and whether or not he is our God. 00:34:57.119 --> 00:35:00.800 Not just a God out there for others to worship, but our God. 00:35:01.599 --> 00:35:09.519 And so pray we must for those whom we love that God would grant them faith and repentance unto salvation. 00:35:09.920 --> 00:35:10.559 Amen. 00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:19.519 And so back to the question if we can gain the whole world yet forfeit our soul, how can we find true and lasting significance in life? 00:35:20.159 --> 00:35:26.960 The first answer I saw on this passage is that true significance comes about when you enter into and cultivate a relationship with God. 00:35:27.039 --> 00:35:34.320 And the second one is this true significance comes about when you leverage your life. 00:35:34.639 --> 00:35:36.079 Everything about your life. 00:35:36.239 --> 00:35:39.280 When you leverage your life for the purposes of God. 00:35:39.920 --> 00:35:47.039 So I want to go back to this passage and I want to point out two specific things that you don't want to miss. 00:35:49.760 --> 00:36:02.239 When God shows up to Jacob, he promises Jacob something he specifically hasn't done before to his father Isaac or his grandfather Abraham. 00:36:02.719 --> 00:36:04.559 Verse 13, look down there. 00:36:05.360 --> 00:36:07.360 And behold, the Lord stood above it. 00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:08.239 That was the ladder. 00:36:08.320 --> 00:36:13.679 This is a dream, and said, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac. 00:36:13.840 --> 00:36:17.760 The land on which you lie, I will give to you and to your offspring. 00:36:17.920 --> 00:36:21.360 Now, so far the promise given to Jacob here is nothing new. 00:36:21.679 --> 00:36:25.280 He said those things to both Abraham and Isaac. 00:36:25.519 --> 00:36:26.880 Nothing new. 00:36:27.599 --> 00:36:28.880 Verse 14. 00:36:44.079 --> 00:36:59.440 Now when God says that he promises that his offspring will be like the dust of the field, dust of the earth, or as innumerable as the stars of heaven, those promises are all already, they've been given. 00:36:59.679 --> 00:37:02.800 Abraham and Isaac, it's nothing new. 00:37:04.239 --> 00:37:08.960 What's new is right in the middle of that. 00:37:09.440 --> 00:37:13.920 And he also talks about offspring being a blessing to all the families of there. 00:37:14.159 --> 00:37:15.280 So none of those things are new. 00:37:15.360 --> 00:37:17.519 But what's new is right in the middle. 00:37:17.679 --> 00:37:18.719 Don't miss this. 00:37:20.079 --> 00:37:34.320 God adds on top of his previous promises to Abraham and Isaac that Jacob's offspring will spread abroad to the east and to the west and to the north and to the south. 00:37:34.639 --> 00:37:35.920 That is new. 00:37:36.239 --> 00:37:37.599 That's different. 00:37:38.239 --> 00:37:39.280 That's important. 00:37:40.800 --> 00:37:45.360 Now, we can interpret this one of two ways, at least. 00:37:45.679 --> 00:37:56.960 And the first is to interpret it as simply the ethnic Jews that have descended from the line of Jacob and how they eventually filled the land of Canaan and beyond. 00:37:57.039 --> 00:38:00.639 And now, even to this day, we know that Jews are all over this world. 00:38:02.480 --> 00:38:14.880 But another way to interpret this is to connect these words to how it would be fulfilled, that in the spreading of these people, there would be the blessing of all the families of the earth. 00:38:15.920 --> 00:38:39.760 When Jesus tells his disciples just before he returns to heaven that you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth, we realize that God's promises to Jacob in Genesis 28 are ultimately fulfilled as the church of Jesus Christ spreads from Jerusalem to the east and to the west, to the north and to the south. 00:38:40.480 --> 00:38:49.039 And this has come about by missionaries going out, spreading the gospel to new lands, not only in the days of the early church, but even in our day. 00:38:49.360 --> 00:39:02.159 This has also come about when Christians migrate from one land to another, whether for work reasons, to pursue a better life, or to escape persecution or war or harm. 00:39:03.599 --> 00:39:07.199 You see, we know that there are Jews all over this world. 00:39:08.079 --> 00:39:18.960 But what separates the Jewish diaspora from the global church is that only one of these groups has the ability to bring blessing to all the families of the earth. 00:39:19.199 --> 00:39:19.840 Amen. 00:39:23.519 --> 00:39:24.880 One more thing to show you. 00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:26.320 Verse 22. 00:39:26.719 --> 00:39:37.920 The last part of Jacob's vow, he says that if God you will bring me safely back home, I will give you a full tenth of all that you've given me. 00:39:38.480 --> 00:39:42.239 Now, where does Jacob get this idea of giving God a full tenth? 00:39:42.480 --> 00:39:45.920 Or in other words, a tithe to the Lord. 00:39:46.559 --> 00:39:55.039 You know, the only other time in the book of Genesis where this whole idea of giving a tenth to someone, someone gives a tenth to someone else, is in Genesis 14. 00:39:55.360 --> 00:40:07.280 When Abraham, after going to war against these kings and their people, because they had kidnapped Lot, he brings the spoils of war and gives a tenth to a man named Melchizedek. 00:40:08.079 --> 00:40:12.800 He was a king of Salem, but the Bible also tells us that he was a priest of the Most High. 00:40:12.960 --> 00:40:17.920 That's the only other time in Genesis where a tenth was given from someone to another person. 00:40:18.719 --> 00:40:37.199 And what I want you to notice is that Jacob is vowing that if God were to bring him safely home, not only would the God of his fathers be his own personal God, but that he would express his newfound commitment to the Lord by giving him of his wealth and possessions. 00:40:37.599 --> 00:40:39.519 That's an amazing thing. 00:40:41.360 --> 00:40:45.679 Now the reality is that the Lord has no need for Jacob to give him anything. 00:40:45.760 --> 00:40:50.079 He has no need for us or anyone else to give him anything. 00:40:50.400 --> 00:40:53.360 He's completely sufficient in and of himself. 00:40:54.559 --> 00:40:57.920 Psalm 50, verse 10 through 12. 00:40:58.480 --> 00:41:04.000 For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. 00:41:04.239 --> 00:41:08.719 I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. 00:41:08.880 --> 00:41:13.280 If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. 00:41:14.400 --> 00:41:17.519 Acts chapter 17, verse 24 to 25. 00:41:18.079 --> 00:41:35.679 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor served by human hands as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 00:41:36.639 --> 00:41:47.599 So if God doesn't need anything from us, why do we see in scriptures from the Old Testament to the New people offering sacrifices to the Lord or giving back to the Lord? 00:41:47.840 --> 00:41:50.400 Why does that even happen? 00:41:51.760 --> 00:42:00.159 And why, as it's been pointed out, does Jesus talk more about money and possessions more than he talks about heaven and hell combined? 00:42:02.000 --> 00:42:08.400 I'm going to answer those questions by attempting to summarize what the Bible says about money and possessions. 00:42:08.559 --> 00:42:09.039 Here we go. 00:42:09.199 --> 00:42:10.000 Number one. 00:42:11.119 --> 00:42:21.519 Because we were born with inherently sinful natures, our hearts are bent towards the worship of false gods and false idols, including the worship of money. 00:42:21.840 --> 00:42:32.480 And I think it's important to note that Jacob vows to give God a full tenth of his possessions in light of the fact that he's struggled so much for most of his life with a love of money. 00:42:33.519 --> 00:42:42.000 Jesus says, no one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. 00:42:42.320 --> 00:42:44.960 You cannot serve God and money. 00:42:45.280 --> 00:43:00.480 Number two, when a person repents of sin and trusts in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, one area where the Holy Spirit begins to go to work on in our lives is our love and worship and trust of money and possessions. 00:43:02.079 --> 00:43:05.519 Again, we cannot serve both God and money. 00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:14.719 Number three, the way God begins to transform this part of our lives is by changing our perspective on what money is and what its value is to us. 00:43:15.440 --> 00:43:35.119 You'll remember that Jesus said, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal, but lay up treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 00:43:35.199 --> 00:43:39.360 For where your treasure is, there your heart also will be. 00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:56.480 And once we see money as a simply a tool given to us to provide for our families and to provide for ourselves, and then also to advance God's purposes in this world, we will begin to leverage our resources to honor God rather than to serve our own heart idols. 00:43:56.960 --> 00:43:58.239 Number four. 00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:20.960 God's desire for his children in how to handle money is that we learn the joy of generosity and begin to live lives where being generous towards others and generous towards the needs of this world, especially the expansion of the global church through the spread of the gospel, is just a part of normal Christian living. 00:44:21.760 --> 00:44:24.320 1 Timothy 6, 17 through 19. 00:44:24.719 --> 00:44:36.159 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 00:44:36.559 --> 00:44:53.039 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of what is truly life. 00:44:54.159 --> 00:45:10.079 Number five, we are to keep our lives free from love of money and be content with what we have, trusting that God will supply every need of ours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. 00:45:11.519 --> 00:45:25.599 So here's the connection I want to make for you guys between verse 14, where God promises Jacob that his offspring is going to spread to the east, west, north, south, and be a blessing to all the families of the earth. 00:45:25.760 --> 00:45:32.559 And then what Jacob does in verse 22 in offering a full tenth to the Lord. 00:45:34.400 --> 00:45:44.480 Jacob turns from being a lover of money into someone who leverages his money for the glory of God. 00:45:45.199 --> 00:45:46.559 That's what I see. 00:45:48.559 --> 00:46:08.079 And more broadly speaking, when God turns selfish money worshippers like us into generous givers through the power of the Spirit, it is then the generosity of the church that fuels the spread of the gospel around the world through the planting of new churches. 00:46:10.639 --> 00:46:14.960 True significance comes when we leverage our lives for the purpose of God. 00:46:15.119 --> 00:46:19.280 And that's of course in the context of an overflow of a relationship with the Lord. 00:46:19.440 --> 00:46:20.800 Not apart from that. 00:46:21.920 --> 00:46:32.960 Just last month I was at an event where the CEO of a Bible translation organization called the Sea Company explained why his organization exists. 00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:38.880 There are over 7,300 known languages in the world. 00:46:39.440 --> 00:46:46.559 And back in the 1990s, there were just so many languages left to translate the Bible into. 00:46:59.360 --> 00:47:15.519 A man who was leading Wycliffe Bible translators became the first president of the Seed Company, and they came up with different innovations to get this accelerated, to tackle the problem of Bible poverty around the world. 00:47:15.920 --> 00:47:32.079 And one of the innovations was instead of using foreign missionaries to live for decades with people and learn their language and teach it back to them and then start translating the Bible, they used local indigenous people to help this process and speed it up. 00:47:33.199 --> 00:47:52.960 And Bernie had an audacious goal at the very beginning, when the seed company was just started, to raise enough funds for 10 new languages to have the Bible translated fully into their language at a rate of$10,000 for the next 10 years. 00:47:53.199 --> 00:47:54.559 That's$100,000. 00:47:55.519 --> 00:47:57.039 It's a lot of money. 00:48:09.519 --> 00:48:17.119 By God's grace, Bernie found generous givers to do this and to fund it. 00:48:17.599 --> 00:48:19.360 It's a million dollars. 00:48:20.239 --> 00:48:22.000 And that was in the 90s. 00:48:22.320 --> 00:48:29.760 Fast forward to today, there are still over 500 languages with no scriptures in their language whatsoever. 00:48:30.639 --> 00:48:38.239 And the Seed Company and other Bible translation organizations are hoping to get the Bible translated into the remaining languages as soon as possible. 00:48:38.400 --> 00:48:51.599 And once these Bibles are in the hands of indigenous peoples, there's still going to be a great need for pastors and missionaries to go into that people to explain what the Bible says, to teach them the Word of God and the gospel. 00:48:53.760 --> 00:49:05.360 And all of this can happen only as God's people continue to give generously the funds needed for these efforts to happen for the glory of God. 00:49:06.320 --> 00:49:22.639 Again, when God turns selfish money worshipers like us into generous givers through the power of the Spirit, it is then the generosity of the church that fuels the spread of the gospel through the planting of churches around the world. 00:49:24.159 --> 00:49:31.920 You see, true significance comes about when we leverage our lives and everything about our lives and all our resources for the glory of God and for the purposes of God. 00:49:32.079 --> 00:50:07.199 So, parents, as you raise up your kids in your home, take advantage of the time you have before they leave for college and cast a wider vision for your kids than simply to make good grades, to build their resumes, to get into the best college that they can so that they can get the best job that they can, so they can make money and afford a nice, comfortable lifestyle in the neighborhood of their choice, so they can raise their own families and do this whole cycle again. 00:50:07.679 --> 00:50:10.400 Cast a wider vision for your children than that. 00:50:13.599 --> 00:50:26.320 Instead, cast a grand vision, a grander picture for your kids of how they could leverage their skills, their passions, their resources for the glory of God and the spread of the gospel around the world. 00:50:26.639 --> 00:50:37.280 Help them see that they could very well play a very tangible role in fulfilling the Great Commission by becoming a missionary to an unreached language group. 00:50:37.599 --> 00:50:48.719 Or they could simply use their skills and find a job in a place somewhere else in the world where there are unreached language groups that live there. 00:50:48.880 --> 00:50:54.239 And they could join a church and be a great member, a faithful member in that church. 00:50:54.400 --> 00:51:00.719 And as they work and as they live and as they play, share the gospel with the people around them. 00:51:00.960 --> 00:51:10.400 They don't have to give up their jobs, their careers, their callings, their skills to make a difference for the glory of God around the world. 00:51:10.800 --> 00:51:19.679 And help them develop eyes to see the gospel needs around the world by praying at home regularly for unreached language groups. 00:51:20.400 --> 00:51:25.920