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Introduction
Genesis 28:18–22 NKJV Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
• Welcome back church! You know something, I love serving in this church, I love this church family, I love this building, I love the fellowship, I love the worship, and I love going through God’s Word with all of you!
• Today we finish our series on Genesis 28, the series we have titled “When Heaven Meets Earth”.
• Now in Genesis 28 we see Jacob running for his life.
• His brother, Esau, has threatened to murder him… and he probably meant the threat…
• So Jacob is running to his uncle Laban’s house to hide out and lay low until things cool down a bit.
• In his haste, Jacob has left everything behind… not just his family, but all of his stuff too… Jacob makes this flight with no money, no livestock, no supplies… just the staff in his hand and the clothes on his back.
• Finally, exhausted from a long day of running on foot, Jacob takes up a rock as a pillow and falls asleep.
• When he sleeps he has this vision of this ladder reaching from earth up into heaven, and on the ladder are angles descending and ascending… it was a vision of Heaven meeting earth… thus our series title “When Heaven Meets Earth”.
• In the first sermon in our series we asked the question “Why does God send this vision at this time in Jacob’s life?”
• And the answer to that question was because God wanted to comfort Jacob… showing him that he is not alone, angles from heaven are working on his behalf… just as God comforts those of us who live according to His purposes.. He sends angles to minister on our behalf.
• God also reminds Jacob of all the promises, prophecies and blessings that have spoken over his life.
• You know I have had a stressful ministry week, and as I was writing that last line in this sermon… God reminded ME of the prophecies and promises he has spoken over this church… and all my anxieties melted away! Thank You Jesus!
• We talked in the second part of this series how God blesses us and keeps us… and what that means… what does it mean to bless someone, what does it mean to be blessed?
• A blessing is a bestowal of good from an authority to the person or things under that authority. Kings bless subjects, parents bless children, discipler bless disciples… and God blesses us. He speaks GOOD over us… He makes good to happen to us… He takes what was meant for evil and turns it for good.
• And not only that, but God keeps us… not meaning that God holds unto us, or maintains ownership of us… though that is certainly true as well… but the old English meaning of the word keep… which is to protect and guard.
• The strongest part of a castle, where everyone runs into for protection is called the castle keep, and God is our keep, our strong tower, our mighty fortress, He keeps us… just as he promised to keep Jacob in Genesis 28.
• Finally last week we came to the climax of the series… the crescendo of it all if you will… we learned that Jacob wasn’t just having a vision or a dream of a ladder… but he was actually having a vision of Jesus.
Genesis 28:12 NKJV Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
John 1:51 NKJV And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
• So we learned that when heaven meets earth, Jesus is there…
• And we learned with a level of certainty and finality that JESUS IS THE LADDER.
• And that means that it is Jesus who connects us with heaven… all of God’s favors come down to us through Christ and all of our service and praises go up to God through Christ. Jesus is the Ladder!
• Now this week we are going to close our the series by looking at how Jacob responded to this vision, to this dream and God speaking to him in this dream… so that leads me straight into point one this morning: When heaven meets earth WE MUST RESPOND.
Point One – We Must Respond
Genesis 28:16–21 NKJV Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God.
• God showed Jacob a vision, a dream… God showed Jacob he was not alone… that heaven was working with him and for him.
• God told Jacob that He would bless him and keep him… God reminded Jacob of all the blessings and promises and prophecies spoken over his life… And then Jacob wakes up…
• I wonder… has God ever done something like this in your life… have you ever experienced heaven meeting earth like this?
• Have you ever been invited to throne room of God, taken away in the Spirit?
• Or have you ever seen a miracle so mighty you can’t explain it?
• Have you ever felt the thick presence of God during worship, or heard God speak to you, directly, through a prophecy, a word, a sermon, a dream… and that moment, when God spoke to you… you just knew… you JUST KNEW that it really was God… and that what happened was more than just earthly nonsense… that it was truly heaven meeting you there…
• I wonder if you have ever had an experience like that? I know I have… many times…
• When God saved me, in that warehouse in Kent Washington… after a dream… and confirmation… and hearing Jesus call me… when God saved me… and everything changed… and worship was different, and prayer was different… and I was hit with the feeling of divine joy and love and peace all at once…
• Or when God healed my knee, and the prophet told me to take off my knee brace and jump up and down and worship, and I did, and I was healed, and heaven was there…
• Or when I was at a service in Singapore, and the preacher started praying for people and they started falling over, and I said in my heart “It doesn’t matter what he prays over me, or how hard he pushes… I AINT FALLING OVER” and then he comes to me and begins to pray and reaches out his hand to touch my head and before he even touched me I was out… taken away in the spirit to the throne room of God… I didn’t want to leave that place…
• BUT AT SOME POINT I HAD TO WAKE UP…
• Jacob had to wake up from his dream… there was still more to do.
• I had to go home after church… after being saved…
• I had to go back to work after being healed.
• I had to get off the floor of that sanctuary and return to the real world… at some point I HAD TO WAKE UP.
• And when you wake up, you have a decision to make… ARE YOU GOING TO RESPOND TO WHAT GOD HAS DONE… or are you going to just move on with life?
• Are you going to shout from the Mountains “Look what my God has done” or are you going to go to work and when someone asks “how was your weekend” are you going to respond “yeah it was nice”.
• But if I tell them that God spoke to me they will think I am crazy, pastor! NEWSFLASH: they already think you are crazy… and if they don’t then you are probably doing something wrong!
1 Corinthians 1:18 NKJV For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
• Hashtag Be The Fool! Tell people what God has done… pour out some oil on a rock… change the name of a city! RESPOND TO WHAT GOD HAS DONE!
• In Singapore when people get saved, often times at their baptism they will legally change their first name… to signify they are a new person.
• “Well that seems a little extreme pastor”… not as extreme as giving up everything for Jesus.
• I mean women change there names when they get married… why can’t a Christian change his name when he gets married to Christ.
• Speaking of names… I don’t want to tell you how to live your life… but if you prayed for a baby, and God gives you a baby… RESPOND TO THAT by giving that baby a name worthy of the miracle.
• Sarah laughs “I can’t have a baby at my age” and she has a baby so she names him “Isaac” which means laughter.
• Has God healed you? What are you going to do with that healthy body?
• Maybe it is time to start serving more, as a response to heaven meeting earth on your behalf.
• Has God provided miraculously for you? How are you going to use that provision in response to heaven meeting earth?
• Pastor Moses and Deacon Shana are a great example of this kind of response… God made a way for them to live in a brand new home… and they have ever since used that home for the kingdom of God and the things of God.
• Hosting small groups, helping people with a place to stay… they even hosted Wednesday night church services in their basement for a while…
• Has God called you to ministry?
• What are you doing about it, how are you responding?
• “Well I am just waiting for my pastor to…”
• “Waiting for to what? To ordain you? To tell you exactly what to do? To give you permission to be what God has called you to be?
• You don’t need my permission to start studying theology.
• You don’t need my permission to make more disciples.
• You don’t need my permission to support more missionaries…
• You don’t need my permission to serve more on Sundays…
• Sure if you want to be in leadership you need some guidance from me… but there is so much you can do to respond to God NOW…
• Instead what I see is people who just sit around and twiddle their thumbs “Well God has called me to be a pastor so I am not going to serve in Children’s church… that is not where i am called”.
• WHAT NONSENSE… everyone who I have ordained as a pastor was ALREADY serving sacrificially in the church because that was how they responded to God giving them that calling.
• Let me put it another way… when heaven meets earth we must respond.
• Remember Moses at the burning bush… that has got to be a moment of heaven meeting earth…
• What if Moses didn’t respond to that moment, never when to Pharaoh, never commanded that God’s people be let go… if Moses just went “Huh… that was strange” and moved on with his life.
• Or how about the disciples at Pentecost… we all want a revival service like Pentecost… tongues of fire coming down… miracles, and signs , and wonders… thousands getting saved…
• What if the disciples just went home that night and were like “Wow that was awesome… what a great church service.… welp busy day at the office tomorrow, better head off to bed”… and that was it… no missions, no churches planted in Asia and Africa… just… bed… just… back to life.
• Sometimes I wonder if God is just up in heaven going “WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO FOR THESE AMERICANS?! I GIVE THEM POWER, I GIVE THEM AUTHORITY, I GIVE THEM ABUNDANCE, I GIVE THEM MIRACLES… AND THEY JUST SAY “THAT WAS NICE” AND MOVE ON LIKE HEAVEN DID NOT JUST MEET EARTH ON THEIR BEHALF!”
• Man, I will be honest as your pastor… I have seen an uptick in miracles happening in this church, PRAISE GOD! but I wonder, will that result in an uptick in testomnies, an uptick in the amount of people serving, an uptick in giving, an uptick in missions…
• Or will church remain the same… with nothing change other than some of us having some found but vague memories of miracles happening…
• Now that brings me nicely into point two this morning… TITHING IS A MONUMENT.
Point Two – Tithing is a Monument
Genesis 28:18–22 NKJV Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
• Let me read that last verse on it’s own here one more time…
Genesis 28:22 NKJV And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
• Even thought it was God who gave the gift, Jacob vows to give 10% back to God… why?
• Well it was not because God was poor and needed a refund on the things He gave to Jacob… After all, God paves the streets of heaven in Gold!
• So then why give 10% back to God? It wasn’t because it was commanded in the law… that wouldn’t happen for another 500 or so years… in numbers, a Leviticus, and Deuteronomy.
• So then why give 10%? It wasn’t because God said that if he didn’t he would be robing God… God did not say that until about 1,500 years after Jacob had this dream and made this commitment to tithe.
• So why then give 10%? Well it wasn’t because Jesus said to as good to tithe… Jesus wouldn’t say that for another 1900 years or so.
• So why then… why does Jacob decide to honor God in this way… I think Jacob sets in his heart and vows to God to tithe (tithe just means 10th or 10% by the way) Jacob says “I will tithe on all that you give me” because he wants that act, that sacrifice to be a MONUMENT in his life…
• The context of Jacob saying this is the context of monument building… He set up a stone, anointed it with oil, made a proclamation, mad a vow to God… And part of his monument building was to REMEMBER. That’s what monuments are for, they are for remembering.
• Samuel, for example, set up an Ebenezer stone to remind the people that God had bought them that far and helped them all the way.
1 Samuel 7:12 NKJV Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
• Joshua set up Twelve stones in the Jordon to remind the generations of the miracle that happened there…
Joshua 4:6–7 NKJV that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”
• I mean even today we have the monument of the Lord’s supper reminding us what Jesus did for us.
Luke 22:19 NKJV And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
• So when we look at Jacob’s vow to tithe in the context of MONUMENTS we realize that tithing is a monument… something done to help us remember.
• How quickly Jacob could forget about all that the Lord had done, if Jacob didn’t tithe.
• Jacob might forget, if he did not tithe, Jacob might think “All these speckled and spotted sheep! I DID THAT! It was because I was so stinking smart and put those whit stripped sticks in front of them! THAT’S WHY I HAVE ALL OF THIS, BECAUSE OF HOW AWESOME AND GREAT I AM!
• That would be an easy mindset for Jacob to get into… you see I am talking about Jacob here, so don’t get offended… I am just talking about Jacob…
• But if Jacob did not tithe he would be effectively forgetting who gave him all his wealth in the first place.
• I don’t want that for Jacob, I want Jacob to remember that it was God who gave him everything.
• And if Jacob started giving only 5% and calling it a tithe… well first of all Jacob would be wrong because tithe means tenth… 5% is not a tithe it is half a tithe… but IF Jacob… now I am speaking about Jacob y’all… if Jacob were to give only 5% then Jacob would be showing just how unfaithful and ungrateful he was towards God… Jacob would be saying “God I don’t think 90% is enough for me… I don’t think I can afford to live on the 90% you gave me… so this month I am only going to give 5%… because God what you gave me wasn’t enough”.
• OHHHHHHHHH!!!!! It makes me so mad… Jacob… when I buy something for my kids and they say it is not enough…
• I can’t tell you how much it makes me as a father RAGE when I buy my kids vanilla ice-cream cones and one of them starts crying because they wanted a Blizzard and not a cone.
• YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE LOVEBUGS… YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I GOT ICE CREAM WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE?!
• So Jacob… Don’t be ungrateful towards your Father’s gifts by acting like it was not enough.
• Now had Jacob lived today I would tell him that Almighty God commands the tithe multiple times throughout Scripture… I would read to Jacob in Malachi where it says if you don’t bring the full tithe into the storehouse that you are robbing God.
• I would show Jacob where Jesus said that we ought to tithe on even the smallest of herbs in our garden, Jesus said that in Matthew 23:23 and Luke 11:42.
• I would have also encourage Jacob with the many Old and New Testament verses about tithing that promise… Like Malachi 3:10-12
Malachi 3:10–12 NKJV Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
“And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the Lord of hosts; And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,”
• Yes if Jacob were alive today I would let him know that there are blessings tied to tithing, and there are commands that we must tithe…
• But Jacob was around before all of these things… for Jacob it was simply “I will honor and remember the Lord by giving 10% back”.
• So I would say to Jacob “Never forget to tithe… Let the full tithe always come in… because when you tithe you remember “This all came from God and belongs to God anyway”.
• When you tithe, Jacob, you make yourself separate from the heathen… who can’t even fathom the concept of giving 10% back to God…
• When you tithe, Jacob, you tell God “10% of everything you have given me… I want it to be exclusively used for your purpose and Your kingdom… what you are doing when you do that, Jacob, is you are tieing all of your endavours to the Kingdom of God… nothing comes through these hands without some of it going back to God.
• Jacob, if you would set up and HONOR a monument of tithing in your life then you will NEVER forget God because everything you need to live you will tithe on… so every time you get provision you will have a time of remembrance and sacrifice to God… even in your old age, as you get closer and closer to moving into glory, if you let this monument remain, you will have a constant reminder “GOD DID THIS. GOD BROUGHT ME HERE. GOD PROVIDED FOR ME”.
• So no, Jacob, you don’t need a command to tithe… though those commands will come latter… and you don’t need promised blessings for tithing, though those promises will come later… you just need the understanding that God is the one giving you all you have, and you need a willingness to remember “God gave me all of this”. Let’ that willingness be a driving force, Jacob, as you give your tithes and offerings…
• Because Jacob, as you well know, Tithing is a monument.
• Now all of that was for Jacob… “Pastor talks about money too much”… HEY that was for Jacob… don’t blame me if you gleaned something from it… I will just let you do with all of that as you will.
• But I know in my house I NEVER want to forget what God has done, is doing, and will do… so tithing is a MONUMENT in our house…
• Now let’s close this thing down this morning.
Conclusion
Genesis 28:16–22 NKJV Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
• Pray a prayer of remembering what God has done.
• Miracles.
• Salvations.
• Promises, Prophecies, Blessings.
• Healings.
• Provision.
• Hope.
• Life.
Join us this Sunday at either 8:30AM or 10:30AM for worship followed by this message from the Word of God.
Christian Life Church of Cedar Rapids
2808 Schaeffer DR SW,
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
www.CedarRapidsChurch.com
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