Title: Dreams in Bethel (2)
Contents
continuing
Bible: Genesis 28:16-22
Past story--
4. Discover the house of God.
Jacob woke up from his dream and was terrified. The reason is that I met God here, whom I had only heard of with my ears. So he confesses that God is here.
“Jacob awoke from sleep and said, Surely the LORD is here, and I did not know it.”
“Then he was afraid, and said, Awe. Here, this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
After a dream, Jacob finds the house of God. And they discovered the passageway to heaven and the gate to the kingdom of heaven. So Jacob changed the name of the place.
--Bethel--House of God- His original name was Ruth. But from now on, that place is Bethel.
And he set a stone there and poured oil on it. This was to build a church by rain.
* Where is God? It is in the house of God. Where is the house of God?
That's the church. The church is Bethel. It is the temple of God. The temple is also where you stand. This is where you are sleeping. This is your dream place.
* Where is the gate of heaven? It's right there in the church. When Jesus established the church, he gave the church the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
“And I say to you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. The powers of Hades will not prevail. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Therefore, the church is the gate to heaven and the key to that gate.
So please remember that the church can either open or close the gates of heaven.
Now what do you see when you open this heavenly door? It's a ladder to heaven. A ladder, through which angels ascend and descend, stretches from the earth to the sky.
Dear saints,
Now, please believe that the Jaesong Church you serve is Bethel.
Please believe that Jaesong Church has a direct door to heaven.
We are building that Bethel temple now. We are building a beautiful temple with a wonderful and beautiful ladder leading to heaven. How thrilling is this? How excited are you? We hope that while we are building the temple, we will meet God, receive the keys to heaven, and look at the amazing view of the ladder.
5. Jacob's Vow
Then Jacob made a vow to God. Before making a vow, we present the prerequisites. In fact, this is the condition that Jacob gave because his measure of faith had not yet reached that point.
“Jacob made a vow and said, “If God will be with me and keep me on this way I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothes to wear, so that I may return to my father’s house in peace.”
Because God is merciful and full of love, He will accept any conditions, but please do not put us to the test. It is not acceptable to God to make God the object of testing. Jacob is saying these things with a pure heart because he has just met God, just like a child asks his parents. That is what God understands.
And three vows. To summarize the contents:
1) God will be my God--I will serve God as my master and live. (Spiritual Master)
2) This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will become God's house.
3) Of all that you give me, I will surely give a tenth to God.
This is the most basic way of life for us Christians. Jacob made this vow. The dreamer looks forward to the day when the dream will come true and gives thanks to God in advance. God will surely make our dreams come true, so we made a vow and believed in it.
Let's dream this year. Let's dream of the God of Bethel.
And dream of going out with only God as master.
Build a house of God church and dream of serving that church.
And dream and make it come true that you must give a full tithe of your income to God.
6. Finally, dreams come true.
Woodll knows Jacob's life all too well. Jacob's dream comes true. God guarded his steps. And he gave me bread to eat and clothes to wear. Moreover, his wealth was greater than that of his maternal uncle Laban. He was refusal to take this drug. And on the way back, God protected him, melted Esau's heart, and made him share his brother's love for the first time in 20 years. And finally he was given the new name Israel, not Jacob, and became the father of Israel.
Dear brothers and sisters, in 2010, God gave our church and you a wonderful dream. I pray that both the church and you will have a blessed year by looking only at God who makes that dream come true, taking God as the master and paying full tithes centering on the church.