Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
Speaker 2: I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope
Speaker 2: this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it
Speaker 2: gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life.
Speaker 2: Enjoy the message.
Speaker 1: This week.
Speaker 2: I'm working from Genesis chapter twenty eight, verses ten through
Speaker 2: twenty two, and I want to visit Jacob and I
Speaker 2: want to visit him from this perspective. I want to
Speaker 2: talk about the Gate of Purpose and we'll look at
Speaker 2: it together. Did you come to help me preach today?
Speaker 2: I believe this is something that we do together. These
Speaker 2: sermons do go out all over the world, and it's
Speaker 2: the chemistry that we have together as the Word of
Speaker 2: God goes forth from heaven and released into the earth
Speaker 2: that makes a difference. And so I want to thank
Speaker 2: you for your active participation, for your giving, for your service,
Speaker 2: for your prayers, and for bringing people to church with you.
Speaker 1: It makes a difference.
Speaker 2: Touch somebody say it matters, It matters. It matters how
Speaker 2: you engage with the message. It matters if you lean in.
Speaker 2: It matters that you're here and we are so grateful
Speaker 2: for your presence today.
Speaker 1: Genesis chapter twenty eight Amen.
Speaker 2: Genesis chapter twenty eight, Verse ten. Jacob left Beersheba and
Speaker 2: set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place,
Speaker 2: a certain place. God can bless you anywhere, a certain
Speaker 2: place where is. It doesn't matter. God can bless you anywhere, anytime, anyone, anywhere.
Speaker 2: When he Jacob the Deceiver, reached a certain place, he
Speaker 2: stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking
Speaker 2: one of the stones there, put it under his head
Speaker 2: and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in
Speaker 2: which he saw a stairway resting on earth, with its
Speaker 2: top reaching to heaven.
Speaker 1: There's a lady that's sure.
Speaker 2: All that glitters is gold, and she's no, that's another
Speaker 2: thing that's not. The Bible and the angels of God
Speaker 2: were ascending and descending on this stairway. There above it
Speaker 2: stood the Lord. There above its stood the Lord. He's
Speaker 2: always above it. He's always above the affairs of human men.
Speaker 2: He's always above the plots and schemes and dreams and
Speaker 2: dictates of humanity. There above it stood the Lord, and
Speaker 2: he said, I am the Lord, the God of your
Speaker 2: father Abraham, and the God of Isaac. In other words,
Speaker 2: this did not start with you. This is a continuation
Speaker 2: of aggressive revelation of who God is. And I will
Speaker 2: give you and your descendants the land on which you
Speaker 2: are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of
Speaker 2: the earth, and you will spread out to the west
Speaker 2: and to the east, to the north and to the south.
Speaker 2: What God is about to do is so big that
Speaker 2: you cannot contain it, not with your mind, not geographically,
Speaker 2: not demographically, it will not be contained. All the peoples
Speaker 2: on the earth will be blessed through you. See what
Speaker 2: God can do through you. And Jacob is seeing a
Speaker 2: vision while he's sleeping on the ground in the midst
Speaker 2: of a very difficult season in an uncertain time. So
Speaker 2: he said, I'm gonna bless the earth through you and
Speaker 2: your offspring, and I am with you. Here comes the promise,
Speaker 2: and we'll watch over you wherever you go, and.
Speaker 1: I will bring you back to this land.
Speaker 2: I will not leave you until I have done what
Speaker 2: I have promised you.
Speaker 1: So if it's not done, it's not over.
Speaker 2: If it's not good, God's not finished yet, give some time.
Speaker 2: It will play out, and I will not leave you
Speaker 2: until I have accomplished that which I've spoken concerning you.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, surely the
Speaker 2: Lord is in this place, and I was not aware
Speaker 2: of it. And he was afraid, and said, how awesome
Speaker 2: is this place? This is none other than the House
Speaker 2: of God. This is the gate of heaven. This is
Speaker 2: the gate of Heaven. Early the next morning, Jacob took
Speaker 2: the stone he had placed under his head and set
Speaker 2: it up as a pillar and poured oil on top
Speaker 2: of it. He called that place Bethel, So the city
Speaker 2: used to be called Luz. Bethel means house of God. Okay,
Speaker 2: like beth Lehem, house of bread, Bethel house of God,
Speaker 2: l l yhon El Shadai Lohem l God beth L
Speaker 2: house of God.
Speaker 1: Okay, Okay, we got that. Then Jacob made a vow saying.
Speaker 2: If God will be with me and will watch over
Speaker 2: me on this journey i am taking, and will give
Speaker 2: me food to eat and clothes to wear, so that
Speaker 2: I returned safely to my father's house, then the Lord
Speaker 2: will be my God, and this stone that I have
Speaker 2: set up as a pillar will be God's house. And
Speaker 2: of all that you give me, I will give you
Speaker 2: a tenth. Now listen closely rock Hill, because my focus
Speaker 2: is on the following verses, verse seventeen. How awesome is
Speaker 2: this place? This is none other than the House of God.
Speaker 2: This is the gate of.
Speaker 1: Early.
Speaker 2: The next morning, Jacob took the stone he had placed
Speaker 2: under his head and set it up as a pillar
Speaker 2: and poured oil on top of it. So it's an
Speaker 2: unusual title, but I want to speak to you about
Speaker 2: the pillow and the promise. The pillow and the promise,
Speaker 2: And I think this is one you'll never forget. You know,
Speaker 2: when you're about to get married, you start having certain
Speaker 2: conversations and you start trying to figure out are we're
Speaker 2: on the same page, Like how many kids do you
Speaker 2: want to have?
Speaker 1: And I just want to.
Speaker 2: Suggest have the first one and kind of see how
Speaker 2: it goes before you go sett in a number, you know,
Speaker 2: sample the product a little bit, you know, like they've
Speaker 2: walked around Costco to eat a little bit of the
Speaker 2: sausage before you buy the whole.
Speaker 1: How many kids? Here's another one.
Speaker 2: How many years do we want to be married as
Speaker 2: just human beings before we become indentured servants and uber drivers?
Speaker 2: How many years do we want to be married just
Speaker 2: before we start having kids?
Speaker 1: But here's one you never think of, and you need to.
Speaker 2: If you're a man, you need to put this in
Speaker 2: the conversation. When you're getting ready to bring that to me, Jonathan,
Speaker 2: you need to ask how many.
Speaker 1: He knows how many of these are we going to put.
Speaker 2: On the bed that we are not allowed to sleep
Speaker 2: on because God forbid we sleep on a pillow? We
Speaker 2: are an eight throw pillow family. Just in case you're wondering, eight.
Speaker 2: I counted them.
Speaker 1: It's eight, bro eight, eight of these.
Speaker 2: Eight ten minute routines for me to go through every
Speaker 2: night before I get in my bed.
Speaker 1: I'm serious. It took me. How long we've been married,
Speaker 1: fifteen years.
Speaker 2: It took me fourteen and a half years to come
Speaker 2: to terms with the idea that there are pillows on
Speaker 2: my bed for the sole purpose of taking them off
Speaker 2: before I.
Speaker 1: Get in it. I can't lie to you now.
Speaker 2: I'm kind of into it now now Sometimes when Holly's gone.
Speaker 1: Don't tell her I don't put them on or take
Speaker 1: them off.
Speaker 2: Wild and crazy when she leaves town. But now I
Speaker 2: got it down. I know where every pillow goes.
Speaker 1: I got it.
Speaker 2: I know the configuration. I have been taught. I have
Speaker 2: been taught I know which pillows.
Speaker 1: The karate chop you ever choughed the pillow you will.
Speaker 2: It was just hard for me to realize that the
Speaker 2: purpose of the pillow was not from my head.
Speaker 1: I just couldn't understand it's decorative, it's a throw pillow.
Speaker 2: I got an idea, let's throw it away.
Speaker 1: Now I bring it up.
Speaker 2: Obviously, I'm going to get in a little trouble in
Speaker 2: my marriage because of this, but I think it'll help
Speaker 2: me illustrate my point, because I was intrigued that Jacob
Speaker 2: was sleeping on something that he wasn't supposed to sleep on. Now,
Speaker 2: in his case, Jacob seventy seven years old, has to
Speaker 2: sleep and spend the night on a rock, but it's
Speaker 2: the closest thing.
Speaker 1: He has to a pillow.
Speaker 2: And I thought about calling this message between a rock
Speaker 2: and a hard place, but I thought you would think
Speaker 2: that was corny. You give me that polite little preacher
Speaker 2: laughter that you give when your preacher's trying to be human.
Speaker 2: I thought about saying that Jacob has made his bed
Speaker 2: and now he has to lie in it, and certainly
Speaker 2: the cliche applies here because he has manipulated his way
Speaker 2: into a blessing from his father that has caused him
Speaker 2: to have to hide from his brother and about sixty
Speaker 2: miles into his journey, which probably would have taken a
Speaker 2: few days from Beersheba to the place formerly known as
Speaker 2: Luhs and now known as Bethel. After this stunning revelation,
Speaker 2: which is the source of much theological speculation, and we
Speaker 2: cannot cover appropriately in the time we have allotted here today.
Speaker 1: But what he sees is spectacular.
Speaker 2: And yet I think the context is significant because it
Speaker 2: is not at his destination that God appears.
Speaker 1: But it is along the way.
Speaker 2: It's sixty miles outside of Beersheba. He is not yet
Speaker 2: to Laban's house, where arrangements have been made for his
Speaker 2: safety and provision, where he will ultimately meet Rachel and Leah.
Speaker 2: And he loves Rachel, but he has to go through
Speaker 2: Leah to get to Rachel. All of that is yet
Speaker 2: to happen. But God shows up. And one time I
Speaker 2: preached a sermon called when God shows up in the
Speaker 2: middle of nowhere. But I was playing with it because
Speaker 2: I took the word nowhere, and then I moved the
Speaker 2: w over and spaced it, and it was then now here,
Speaker 2: when nowhere became now here. You remember, and we talked
Speaker 2: about when God shows up in the middle of nowhere
Speaker 2: and he's laying on the cold ground and the.
Speaker 1: Sun has set.
Speaker 2: The Bible points out it's no longer safe for him
Speaker 2: to travel. And sometimes God will arrange the conditions of
Speaker 2: your life so that you have to stop. Some revelation
Speaker 2: cannot be given while you are on the run, only
Speaker 2: when you have stopped running for long enough. And it
Speaker 2: is significant that Jacob sees the activity of God, not
Speaker 2: in his manipulation, but in his sleep. And in his
Speaker 2: sleep he sees something that would have been very familiar
Speaker 2: in Mesopotamian culture, because their gods were said to have
Speaker 2: come down the staircases to the earth and.
Speaker 1: Back up, and back down and back up.
Speaker 2: Jacob's dream is a little different because if you'll notice,
Speaker 2: this is just a little thing. It's not really going
Speaker 2: to be on the final exam, but they were ascending
Speaker 2: and descending. The order is important because it didn't start
Speaker 2: in heaven.
Speaker 1: It started on earth.
Speaker 2: They went up and then they went down, and they
Speaker 2: went up and then they went down. And so when
Speaker 2: we pray, let your kingdom come, you will be done
Speaker 2: on earth as it is in Heaven. Often God is
Speaker 2: awaiting initiative on earth to release what Heaven has in store.
Speaker 2: These messengers that ascended and descended.
Speaker 1: The stairs were going back and forth.
Speaker 2: And they were working. In the course of human history,
Speaker 2: God is always on the move. The messengers, the angels
Speaker 2: were going up and down. And Jacob saw it in
Speaker 2: his sleep, not when he was stealing his brother Esau's blessing.
Speaker 2: He didn't see it then because he was trying to
Speaker 2: make it happen, Not when he was taking his birthright.
Speaker 2: He didn't see it then because he was in a
Speaker 2: mental space of trying to figure out how am I going.
Speaker 1: To get the blessing.
Speaker 2: Now, notice this, Isaac gave Jacob a blessing, but God
Speaker 2: made Jacob a promise. People can give blessings, but only
Speaker 2: God can make promises, And the promise is this. God
Speaker 2: is illustrating through Jacob what Proverbs nineteen will later record.
Speaker 2: Many are the plans in a person's heart, but is
Speaker 2: the purpose.
Speaker 1: Of the Lord that will prevail. This is a living.
Speaker 2: Demonstration of how no matter how Jacob schemed and dreamed,
Speaker 2: God met him in an unusual place and showed him
Speaker 2: how determined God is to fulfill his purpose on the earth.
Speaker 1: Purpose is determined. Purpose is determined.
Speaker 2: God has made up his mind what he wants to
Speaker 2: do and who he wants to do it through. And
Speaker 2: purpose is determined. If you have a strong willed child,
Speaker 2: just wave your hand at me. I'll know we're in
Speaker 2: the same club. Purpose is more determined than your most
Speaker 2: strong willed child. And when the purpose of God makes
Speaker 2: up its mind to accomplish something in the earth, you
Speaker 2: almost can't mess it up. You almost can't send it back.
Speaker 2: There is no return to Sinder. For as the rains
Speaker 2: fall from the heaven and water the earth, so shall
Speaker 2: be his word that proceeds from his mouth.
Speaker 1: I'm getting a little excited a little early is determined.
Speaker 2: The gifts of God are without repentance, So something that
Speaker 2: you did when you were seventeen cannot reverse what God
Speaker 2: planned while you were still in your mother's womb. Purpose
Speaker 2: is determined. Nobody can break up with you and cast
Speaker 2: the purpose of God for your life to be interrupted.
Speaker 2: Nobody can fire you and interrupt the purpose of God.
Speaker 2: There is no stopping what God has started until it
Speaker 2: is complete. He will see it through. He doesn't change
Speaker 2: his mind. When Jacob blows it, He tracks him down
Speaker 2: and meets with him in his sleep. Determined, determined. The
Speaker 2: purpose of God is determined. A theological term would be predestined.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, all things work together for the good of those
Speaker 2: who love the Lord and are called a chort to
Speaker 2: his purpose for those he fore knew. He also predestined
Speaker 2: that we might be the first born among many brothers
Speaker 2: and sisters. And those he called he also justified, and
Speaker 2: those he justified he also glorified, and those he glorified
Speaker 2: he glorified to the end that his purpose might prevail
Speaker 2: in the earth. To break it down into real simple language,
Speaker 2: all I'm trying to say is God is still working.
Speaker 2: God was working in the things you did wrong the
Speaker 2: things you did right. The activity of God cannot be
Speaker 2: stopped by human decision or mistakes.
Speaker 1: In fact, some.
Speaker 2: Of your greatest mistakes will be the seed of your
Speaker 2: greatest miracles. It's called purpose, and it always prevails. And
Speaker 2: God is so determined that he meets with Jacob in
Speaker 2: a certain place when the sun is set because he
Speaker 2: made up his mind. I am the God of Abraham,
Speaker 2: Isaac and Jacob. But when we say that purpose is determined,
Speaker 2: I think it's important to make a distinction that purpose
Speaker 2: is not only determined by God, but it is also
Speaker 2: determined by us. The way I would put it is this.
Speaker 2: This is point number two. Purpose is determined before it
Speaker 2: is discover I'll explain that from the text. When Jacob
Speaker 2: awoke from his sleep, he thought, surely the Lord is
Speaker 2: in this place and I was not aware of it. Now,
Speaker 2: God did not show up when Jacob woke up. Jacob
Speaker 2: woke up to the fact that God was there all along.
Speaker 2: Can I get you to hit your neighbor and tell
Speaker 2: him wake up?
Speaker 1: Wake up? Woke is not a new term.
Speaker 2: Jacob was woke, but God did not God. God did
Speaker 2: not show up when Jacob saw it. He was waiting
Speaker 2: to be seen in something very common. And I believe
Speaker 2: that it's good to pray for God to be with us,
Speaker 2: But I think it's better to pray that we could
Speaker 2: see where He has already been, because He's been.
Speaker 1: There all along. When you pray God be with us,
Speaker 1: it's kind of redundant.
Speaker 2: Tell you why he said, I will not leave you
Speaker 2: nor forsake you. Surely I will be with you even
Speaker 2: to the end of the age. Now, if it's not
Speaker 2: over God is still here, so I don't have to
Speaker 2: ask him to do what he already promised to do.
Speaker 1: All I have to do is wake up to the.
Speaker 2: Reality that he's been working all along.
Speaker 1: Calm down. By the time you see it.
Speaker 2: By the time you see it, it's it's already been
Speaker 2: happening by the time you see it.
Speaker 1: By the time you got to church today, we had
Speaker 1: already done so much what you think we started when
Speaker 1: you got here.
Speaker 2: At some of our locations that meet in high schools
Speaker 2: and theaters, and we don't own the building, they're portable locations.
Speaker 2: And they're portable because as soon as we're done, we
Speaker 2: have to take everything out. And they're portable because during
Speaker 2: the week there's something else. But when we show up
Speaker 2: in there, guess what it becomes a church. It's not
Speaker 2: a church because we put a steeple on it.
Speaker 1: It's not a.
Speaker 2: Church because it says church on the sign. In fact,
Speaker 2: when you say I'm going to church, you're not exactly correct.
Speaker 2: You are bringing the church to a bill because that's
Speaker 2: what you are.
Speaker 1: You are a carrier of the presence.
Speaker 3: Of Almighty God. Jacob is so funny to me. God
Speaker 3: is here and I didn't know it.
Speaker 1: How can you miss God?
Speaker 2: How can God be in the actual place and you
Speaker 2: didn't see it? But he could only see it when
Speaker 2: he was asleep, and then he woke up to see
Speaker 2: what God was doing all along. That purpose is determined
Speaker 2: before it is discover he wakes up, okay, because remember
Speaker 2: we got a rock and Jacob makes it a pillow.
Speaker 2: So he is repurposing the rock to make it a pillow.
Speaker 2: It's not exactly a temper pedic, but it will work.
Speaker 2: Sometimes you can't be picky. Sometimes gotta take whatever you got.
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: It's not my favorite song, but I'm gonna worship.
Speaker 2: To it anyway, because I don't need my favorite song
Speaker 2: to worship God.
Speaker 1: It'll work. It'll work.
Speaker 2: It's not a lot of money, but I'm gonna make
Speaker 2: it work. Okay, my husband isn't exactly okay, then we're
Speaker 2: gonna skip that part. And he says, this will work,
Speaker 2: this will work, And when he lays down, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: do this for you. I'm gonna demonstrate this for you.
Speaker 2: Not many preachers would go to this extent to bring
Speaker 2: the point across. But if I gotta lay down on this,
Speaker 2: this monitor to show you what Jacob did and the
Speaker 2: situation he was in.
Speaker 1: I will lay down on this monitor that's not even comfortable,
Speaker 1: not even kind of comfortable.
Speaker 2: But it'll work. It'll work, it'll work, and he sees
Speaker 2: some way. He sleeps and he wakes up and he goes, well,
Speaker 2: that was awesome, that was amazing.
Speaker 1: This is the house of God.
Speaker 4: Well, first, the Bible says he was afraid because fear
Speaker 4: is the flip side of faith. Fear is what you
Speaker 4: feel that enables you to open yourself to faith.
Speaker 2: Fear is the sensation that leads you to something greater
Speaker 2: than yourself, that causes you to have faith that God
Speaker 2: is greater.
Speaker 1: So first he was afraid. Then he was excited and
Speaker 1: he said this is awesome, this is awesome. Wow, this
Speaker 1: is lit. He would have said it who.
Speaker 2: That's what Moses said it to burning bush.
Speaker 1: Now this is the house of God.
Speaker 2: Remember Now he took some oil, rubbed it on the
Speaker 2: rock and said, this is the house of God.
Speaker 1: Pointing at the rock.
Speaker 2: God doesn't live in a rock, except that one verse
Speaker 2: that says that if we don't praise him, the rocks
Speaker 2: will cry out.
Speaker 1: See God can show up anywhere. That's the point.
Speaker 2: The point is he took some oil is symbolic of
Speaker 2: the Holy Spirit, of the joy of the Lord. But
Speaker 2: it's also when something special was being consecrated, like a
Speaker 2: king or a priest, they would pour oil on it.
Speaker 2: It was a part of the consecration. And the rock
Speaker 2: is something common. And so Jacob consecrates something that is
Speaker 2: common and says, this is the house of God, pointing
Speaker 2: at a rock.
Speaker 1: This is where God lives. No, he doesn't. God doesn't
Speaker 1: live in a rock, but he can't. He can't notice this.
Speaker 1: When Jacob says this is the gate of heaven. He
Speaker 1: didn't say that because God said it. God didn't say
Speaker 1: this is the gate of heaven. Jacob said, this is
Speaker 1: the gate of heaven.
Speaker 2: So apparently I have the ability to be in a
Speaker 2: common situation. You hear me an uncertain situation and put
Speaker 2: some oil on it, and put some holy ghost.
Speaker 5: On it, and put some purpose on it. And if
Speaker 5: I say it's a gate, it'll be a gate. And
Speaker 5: if I say it's a blessing, it'll be a blessing.
Speaker 5: And if I say God isn't it, God isn't it.
Speaker 5: And if I say it's a church, it'll be a church.
Speaker 5: And if I say it's a setup, it is a setup.
Speaker 5: And if I say it's an opportunity, it is an opportunity.
Speaker 1: Try it out. Somebody shout, this is the gate, this
Speaker 1: is the gate. He wakes up, He goes, this is crazy.
Speaker 1: This is awesome, this is awesome, this is awesome. It's awesome.
Speaker 1: It's awesome something.
Speaker 2: So he takes the rock that he made the pillow,
Speaker 2: and he takes the pillow and makes it a pillar.
Speaker 2: The rock became the pillow, the pillow became the pillar.
Speaker 2: It is what you make of it. If you say
Speaker 2: it's a gate, it will be a gate. If you
Speaker 2: point to your pain and say, this pain is a
Speaker 2: portal to the glory of God, and something that is
Speaker 2: going to come through this pain is going to bring
Speaker 2: me deeper joy. It will bring the joy of the
Speaker 2: Lord into your situation.
Speaker 1: So point to your pain and say, this is the gate.
Speaker 1: This is the gate.
Speaker 2: I can look at something that seems so ordinary, a
Speaker 2: moment that seems so trivial, a job that I had,
Speaker 2: can become the gate.
Speaker 1: If I point at.
Speaker 2: It and annoy it. God didn't call it the gate.
Speaker 2: Jacob did, and it became what he called it. This
Speaker 2: is the gate. This is the gate. Shout it out.
Speaker 2: This is the gate.
Speaker 1: This is the.
Speaker 2: Moment, this is the time, this is the season, this
Speaker 2: is the day that the Lord has made.
Speaker 1: I will rejoice and be glad in it.
Speaker 2: If the enemy had his way, I'd be so focused
Speaker 2: on tomorrow and what it holds that I would miss
Speaker 2: the provision of the strength that God wants to bring
Speaker 2: while I am.
Speaker 1: In in Bethel. But this is the gate. This is
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, y'all. I just thowt some made me laugh.
Speaker 2: I pictured you're going to work, and I pictured the
Speaker 2: person that annoys you so much coming up to you,
Speaker 2: and I picture you not saying it out loud, but
Speaker 2: just smirk a little bit and say to yourself, this
Speaker 2: is the gate. Because God is gonna use the people
Speaker 2: that I can't stand to make me patient. You've been
Speaker 2: praying for patience. It's gonna come through the gate of Pete.
Speaker 2: You know, Pete at work, Pete with the bad breath,
Speaker 2: Pete who takes all the credit.
Speaker 1: Pete is the gate.
Speaker 2: He missed the whole point too, He missed the whole point.
Speaker 1: This is the gate. I'm gonna come back here.
Speaker 2: God, if you bless me if you give me a car,
Speaker 2: and if you watch over me. He's trying to negotiate
Speaker 2: something God already told him he was gonna do. Anyway,
Speaker 2: One time, Pastor Mickey took me to visit a businessman
Speaker 2: and I was asking him for money because I wanted
Speaker 2: to bring in some preachers for the Fellowship of Christian.
Speaker 1: Athletes for our high school.
Speaker 2: And he taught me something as a seventeen year old.
Speaker 2: Because Eugene Oliver started writing the check and I had
Speaker 2: only said three words, we're trying to and he said
Speaker 2: how much.
Speaker 1: The first thing I didn't know is put a few
Speaker 1: more zeros on it. If somebody asked that question. Because
Speaker 1: I asked him for five hundred dollars, I wish I
Speaker 1: would go back.
Speaker 2: But while he was writing the check, I kept talking,
Speaker 2: we're gonna take the money we're gonna use, and Pastor
Speaker 2: Mickey put his hand on my LIGs.
Speaker 1: It squeezed me. He looked at me. He didn't say
Speaker 1: anything till we got out of there.
Speaker 6: He said, I'm gonna teach you something right now when
Speaker 6: he's writing the check.
Speaker 1: Shut up, shut up.
Speaker 6: I don't know, but maybe you could look at your
Speaker 6: neighbor and say, shut up, it's already done.
Speaker 1: It's already done.
Speaker 2: Trying to strike a bargain with God, who already said
Speaker 2: he'd be with you. Well, if you will, then uh will?
Speaker 2: God is not an if then God. The promises of
Speaker 2: God are yes and amen. He's already done. That's what
Speaker 2: he saw sleeping on that rock. This is the game,
Speaker 2: so it means I can go into any situation, even
Speaker 2: the uncomfortable ones. Isn't it crazy that God used the
Speaker 2: place of Jacob's discomfort to give him his greatest revelation.
Speaker 2: Don't you think that seventy seven year old man woke
Speaker 2: up with a sore neck after sleeping on a rock,
Speaker 2: But he said, it's awesome not because of how it felt,
Speaker 2: but because.
Speaker 1: Of what I saw.
Speaker 2: Not because of what I felt, but because of who
Speaker 2: I know.
Speaker 1: This is awesome this place. How awesome is this place?
Speaker 1: You know? You can say that anywhere, not just in Hawaii, right,
Speaker 1: not just in church. This is the game and it's.
Speaker 2: The gate because I gave it a purpose. Purpose is
Speaker 2: what allows you to see that. Let me say it
Speaker 2: like this, In every place there is a purpose. In
Speaker 2: every place, there is a purpose. But before it is discovered.
Speaker 2: It must be determined, and God will allow you to
Speaker 2: determine the purpose of the place you're in. So you
Speaker 2: can simply survive it, or you can be strengthened by it.
Speaker 2: You can resent it, or you can be like John
Speaker 2: who on the island of Patmos wrote the Book of Revelation.
Speaker 1: You decide the purpose for the place.
Speaker 2: Is this going to be the place where you become
Speaker 2: bitter and lay down and die from your disappointment, or
Speaker 2: is this going to be the place that you discover
Speaker 2: a dream, a deeper source to drink from all the
Speaker 2: good grasses in the valley. You can only get strength
Speaker 2: from certain places. This is something that Jacob could not
Speaker 2: get anywhere else but here in this place. The Lord
Speaker 2: is in this place. Remember he still got four hundred
Speaker 2: and ninety miles to go before he gets to his destination.
Speaker 2: But the Lord is in this place. It means that
Speaker 2: he is with me on the way. He's with me
Speaker 2: on the way, and any time I want to, I
Speaker 2: can open a gate to the revelation of his goodness.
Speaker 1: This is the gate.
Speaker 2: Difficult time with your teenagers, I get it.
Speaker 1: This is the gate. This is the gate. They got
Speaker 1: quiet on that one. I must have hit a nerve.
Speaker 2: Just just walk around pointing to stuff, winking and stuff.
Speaker 1: This is the gate. Make it a gate, Make it
Speaker 1: a gate, Make it a gate this season. This is
Speaker 1: the gate. I'm not waiting this is the gate.
Speaker 2: I'm not waiting for a relationship before I feel significant.
Speaker 1: This is the gate.
Speaker 2: I'm made in the image of God, all by myself.
Speaker 1: This is the cat. This is the season. This is
Speaker 1: the time. That's just the year. Now when I'm.
Speaker 2: Forty five, not when I get the debt paid out.
Speaker 2: This is the day I will rejoice anthy glad in.
Speaker 1: It, enter his gates with thanksgiving. You hear this word
Speaker 1: God gave me. This is the gate.
Speaker 6: This is the gate, and it is determined before it
Speaker 6: is discovered. So Jacob decides, I guess this rock is
Speaker 6: as good as any I'm making a monument.
Speaker 1: It was a very common.
Speaker 2: Practice, he said, I'll set this up to remember how
Speaker 2: God met with me.
Speaker 1: Here. After he was sleeping on something.
Speaker 2: That he wasn't supposed to sleep on, After he was
Speaker 2: sleeping on something that he wasn't supposed to be sleeping.
Speaker 7: On, after he was sleeping on something. I'm asleep on
Speaker 7: this thing. After he was sleeping after he wait a man,
Speaker 7: Jesus did this.
Speaker 1: This is not just a Jacob thing. Let me see
Speaker 1: if I can find it, Mark four thirty five. I
Speaker 1: found it.
Speaker 2: When Jesus was sleeping in something that he wasn't supposed
Speaker 2: to be sleeping at.
Speaker 1: And there's a commonality. There's there's a common threat. I
Speaker 1: wonder do you see it?
Speaker 2: In verse thirty five, it says that when evening came,
Speaker 2: Jacob breasted on the rock when the sun went down.
Speaker 2: Jesus is on a boat as evening approaches, and he
Speaker 2: said to his disciples, let's go over to the other side.
Speaker 2: Next verse, leaving the crowd behind.
Speaker 1: They took him along just as he was in the boat.
Speaker 2: There are also other boats with him. A furious squall,
Speaker 2: not a word we often use, just a raging storm
Speaker 2: came up and the waves broke over the boat so
Speaker 2: that it was nearly swamp. Now we're going to see
Speaker 2: a contrast between what Jesus did and what.
Speaker 1: The disciples did.
Speaker 2: Because Jesus, in the middle of a life threatening storm
Speaker 2: where the survival of the mission was at stake, was
Speaker 2: in the stern.
Speaker 8: Sleeping in the storm. Jesus found a pillow. Somewhere in
Speaker 8: that boat he found a pillow, and he laid it,
Speaker 8: said down and went to sleep, and the disciples woke him.
Speaker 8: The disciples were awakened by their fear, and Jesus was
Speaker 8: asleep in his purpose. I'll show you, And they said
Speaker 8: to him.
Speaker 1: Don't you care if we tried watch wrong with you?
Speaker 1: Don't you care?
Speaker 2: The only way for us to understand the meaning of
Speaker 2: this passage is to contrast what they thought with what
Speaker 2: he knew.
Speaker 1: But first watch what he did.
Speaker 2: He got up, rebuked the wind for disturbing his rim cycles.
Speaker 1: And said to the waves, shut up, be still.
Speaker 2: I think you need to say that sometimes to your thoughts, Hello,
Speaker 2: to your monkey mind, to you're amigdal. Sometimes the most
Speaker 2: spiritual thing you can say is shut up. And the
Speaker 2: wind died down. It was completely calm. He said to us,
Speaker 2: dec that was why he's afraid. He said, no faith,
Speaker 2: And they were terrified, like Jacob, because the flip side
Speaker 2: of faith is always fear. And they were terrified and
Speaker 2: asked each other.
Speaker 1: Who is this? Oh, I thought you knew now.
Speaker 2: It took an uncomfortable situation to show them the revelation
Speaker 2: of who was.
Speaker 1: With them all along, and they were not aware. Do
Speaker 1: you see it?
Speaker 2: Even the wind and the waves obey him.
Speaker 1: Who is this now?
Speaker 2: What started as a storm turned into a sermon, and
Speaker 2: Jesus preached who he was, not by what he said,
Speaker 2: but by what he did. He took a pillow and
Speaker 2: laid his head down because he knew something that they
Speaker 2: did not know, that in every purpose there is a promise.
Speaker 1: Every purpose there is a promise. I will not leave.
Speaker 2: You until I have accomplished everything that I have created you.
Speaker 1: For in every purpose there is a problem. In every
Speaker 1: place there is a purpose. But in every purpose there
Speaker 1: is a promise.
Speaker 2: Because this is Mark chapter four, And in Mark chapter five,
Speaker 2: Jesus is going to meet a man who is possessed
Speaker 2: with so many demons that he simply calls himself legion,
Speaker 2: which means many, so overcome by issues and oppression that
Speaker 2: he doesn't even know his identity anymore. And he'll meet
Speaker 2: the man and free the man, and cast the demons
Speaker 2: out of the man, and send the man back into
Speaker 2: the capitalists.
Speaker 1: And when the man goes.
Speaker 2: Back into the capitalist to tell the people Mark five
Speaker 2: twenty how much the Lord has done for him. The
Speaker 2: Gospel enters a whole new region, and the mission is born.
Speaker 2: That was pronounced in Genesis when God told Jacob, I'm
Speaker 2: gonna bless the whole earth through you.
Speaker 1: That happened in Mark chapter So.
Speaker 2: What Jesus knew was I can't drown in Mark chapter four.
Speaker 2: So I'm gonna get a pillow because I got a promise.
Speaker 1: You hear me, Church, I might.
Speaker 2: Be lying down, but that doesn't mean I'm not preaching. Heart.
Speaker 2: When you've got a promise from God, let me tell
Speaker 2: you what to do when God gives you a promise.
Speaker 1: How many of you have a promise.
Speaker 2: From God and you really believe it that He will
Speaker 2: be with you?
Speaker 1: Come on, how many of you have to promise from God?
Speaker 2: How many of you have a promise from God that.
Speaker 1: He will not fail you? When you've got a promise,
Speaker 1: let me show you what to do.
Speaker 2: When you got a promise, sleep on it, Touch the
Speaker 2: person next you.
Speaker 1: Sleep on it.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to stress about it. I'm not gonna
Speaker 2: weep about it. I'm not gonna expend any more energy
Speaker 2: trying to manipulate it. I'm gonna do what Jesus did.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna find a pillow because I got a promise,
Speaker 2: and I'm about to sleep on it. And while I sleep,
Speaker 2: God is strategizing, And while I sleep, the angels are coming.
Speaker 2: And while I sleep, the provision is being made. And
Speaker 2: while I rest, the promise of God is coming to pass.
Speaker 1: In my situation, this is the game. Come on, three
Speaker 1: two one.
Speaker 2: You got a promise, it's your pillow. What good is
Speaker 2: the promise if you're not gonna believe it. When you
Speaker 2: got a promise from God, you can rest your soul
Speaker 2: and rest your and rest assord that in every purpose
Speaker 2: there is a promise.
Speaker 9: And he said in Mark four thirty five, let us
Speaker 9: go to the other side. It was the proof that
Speaker 9: we cannot die in the storm because there is a
Speaker 9: purpose on the other side. How I make it through
Speaker 9: this season, in this storm, in this valley.
Speaker 6: Is that I know there's something on the other side.
Speaker 6: Every valley is between two mountains, there is something on
Speaker 6: the other side.
Speaker 1: Sleep on it.
Speaker 6: Sleep on it. Gostor cares upon him. He cares for
Speaker 6: you to sleep on it. I feel so awkward up
Speaker 6: here showing how Jesus was the promise.
Speaker 1: A pillow and the promise. Hey, you know what, I
Speaker 1: just realized I'm He wasn't sleeping on a pillow. He
Speaker 1: was sleeping on purpose.
Speaker 2: He knew that no matter what storm I go through,
Speaker 2: no matter what season I'm in, the purpose of God
Speaker 2: will prevail.
Speaker 1: Sleep on it. Sleep on it.
Speaker 2: Therefore, since we have this promise of entering into His rest,
Speaker 2: let us.
Speaker 1: Take heed that we do not fall short of it.
Speaker 2: There is a purpose that produces rest, and there is
Speaker 2: a promise that produces peace.
Speaker 1: To sleep on it. It was a rock, it became
Speaker 1: a pillow. It was a pillow, it became a pillar.
Speaker 2: And what you're going through right now is going to
Speaker 2: be the foundation of the revelation of who God really is.
Speaker 1: Sleep on it.
Speaker 2: Sleep on it, and I'll give you the ground you're
Speaker 2: lying on, and I will not leave you nor forsake
Speaker 2: you until I have done everything I promised you. I
Speaker 2: can lay my head on that, I can bang my
Speaker 2: life on that I can trust my children to God,
Speaker 2: knowing that.
Speaker 1: The Lord is in this place, the storm, the valley,
Speaker 1: the wilderness, this place.
Speaker 6: We all have those places in our lives where we're
Speaker 6: passing through and we wonder what is the purpose of this?
Speaker 1: But faith declares what Jacob declared. Surely the Lord is
Speaker 1: in this place, and I I was not aware, but
Speaker 1: now I am. I see it now. Thank you for
Speaker 1: joining us.
Speaker 2: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
Speaker 2: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
Speaker 2: You can click the link in the description to give
Speaker 2: now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more
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Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening. God bless you