The Nearness of God Unrecognized

Genesis 28:10- 22

 

Intro : Dreams -  I know I have them / but rarely do I remember - usually the result of something I ate.  Bad Pizza. 

A) The other night - visiting worship team / horrible & doing kooky stuff on the stage - ( REALLY WEIRD HOWARD WAS LEADING )

 

B) DREAMS - not much meaning or significance for me - but tonight we are going to see how a DREAM changed Jacobs’s life .

 

A long journey, a hard pillow, an uneasy conscience, and a heavy heart - these are the things that make men dream.

 

CERTAINLY TRUE IN THE CASE OF JACOB

C) We left off w/ Jacob - got his brother to trade his birthright for a bowl of stew / then tricked Dad out of blessing

1)  Living up to his name - Conniver & a heal Catcher

 

D) Esau is going to kill him / so his parents - seek to send him away - off to uncle Laban’s / refuge / and a wife.

 

V. 10 -13a

 

Here we read of Jacob having a dream - dream of a ladder coming down out of heaven to meet him right where he was at

A) The ladder is none other than Jesus Christ -

 

B) Picture - God at the top / Jacob the sinner at the bottom - alone in the valley - this ladder bridging the gap between the two

1)  Perfect Representation of Jesus

 

C) JN 1 sheds some insights on this passage. turn.

 

JESUS FINDS PHILLIP V.43 SAYS FOLLOW ME

 

44  Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

45  Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote; Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."  FOUND THE MESSIAH

 

46  And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Naz. ?" Philip ANSWERED WISELY , "Come and see."   ( read e-mail )

 

47  Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!"

48  Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?"

 

JESUS BLOWS HIS MIND -

Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."

49  Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"

50  Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these."

 

51  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."

 

NATHANEL BEING A MAN OF THE SCRIPTURES - would know that the only place where Angels are seen ascending & Descending is in Gen.28

ON JACOBS LADDER

 

A) Jesus was claiming to be JACOBS LADDER - the connection between the sinner & God the Father!    back to Gen .

 

v.13 the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.

14  "Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

15  "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 spoken to you."

 

HERE WE SEE GOD’S GRACE TO THE SINNER - THE LORD SAYS

JACOB YOU HAVE MY 

1)  PRESENCE - I am w/ you

2)  PROTECTION - I will keep you

3)  PERSERVATION- I will bring you back to this land

4)  PROMISE - I will not leave you

 

THEREFORE YOU HAVE MY PEACE

 

Feel like a Jacob tonight ? Blown it - on the run - made a mess

know God’s heart - Patient - loves you so much

 

v.16-17 16  Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it."

17  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!"

 

 

JACOB IS MADE AWARE HERE OF THE OMNIPRESCENCE OF GOD - (God is everywhere )       NOTICE THE TENSES

A) Jacob doesn’t say the Lord was in this place - but I didn’t know it - I missed it -

 

B) No Jacob says the Lord is in this place & I did not know it - I knew it not that He is present - He is here !

THE SUPREME TRADEGY OF LIFE IS THE UNCONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD - that men miss God .

A) Morgan said - The SUPREME FACT OF LIFE IS - that in Him we live & move & have our being - the SUPREME TRADEGY is that we don’t know it !

 

B) Question Why do men miss God ? Why unconscious of God ? 3 Reasons

 

1st - SOME MISS HIM - because they only see what is in front of them.

A) They are so focused on the here & now that they - don’t see anything else

 

B) So focused on things on the HORIZONTAL PLANE -/ HORIZONTAL RELATIONSHIPS

1)  that they miss - importance of the VERTICAL RELATIONSHIP

 

C) GEHAZI - only saw what was in front of him. ( open eyes )

 

D) Paul says - god of this world has blinded the eyes of some - ( pray blinders lifted )

 

 

2nd reason - SOME PURPOSELY IGNORE HIM

A) Belshazzar    Daniel - 5 /  king of Babylon - MOCKERY OF GOD

 

B) God was there - HAND - MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

 

MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it;

27  "TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting;

28  "PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."

 

 

 

Men make a Mockery of God today - IGNORE HIM -  but they are w/out excuse . 

19:1  The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork

 

A) MTS - GOD SPEAK - I AM-    

 

139:1  O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

2  You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. 3  You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. 4  For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. 5  You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. 7  Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8  If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.9  If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10  Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.

 

 

NO ESCAPING THE PRESCENE OF GOD !!!!!!!!

 

 

3rd REASON- THE STRIVINGS OF MANS FLESH - this was the case w/ Jacob

A) Jacob was not a godless man - Jacob believed in God - grew up knowing about God

 

B) Jacob’s problem was that He didn’t believe that God could manage w/ out His help

 

C) As a result Jacob was always trying to hurry things up & make things happen through his own WIT , WISDOM & CLEVERNESS.

1)  Instead of allowing the Lord to lead & work

SAME THING IS TRUE OF THE BELIEVER WHO IS CONSTANTLY TRYING TO WALK IN THE ENERGY OF HIS FLESH

A) He gets in the mist of what he is doing & there is no conscious awareness of God

 

B) There is Zero or little sensitivity to the H.S.

 

 

C) As I look back at Jacob on that night I see that he was spiritually deadened & dulled

1)  But God was there when he chose the stone that he put under his head -

 

D) God was there when he fell asleep - but he had no sense of it - he didn’t know it - ( WASN’T INTELLECTUAL LIMITATION )

1)  BUT SPIRITUAL DULLNESS

 

 

E) Why was Jacob spiritually Dull - it was because of his sin - behind all spiritual deadness & dullness is the problem of sin.

 

MORGAN “ It is sin that dims my vision of God . It is sin that atrophies my spiritual life & makes me unconscious of the nearness of God - so that I may live & move &  have my being in Him & not know it

 

 

So here is Jacob unconscious of the nearness of God - Yet God through this dream makes it known to Him -

A) Here we see another great truth of the Bible

 

B) Paul declared in Romans 3:11 There is none who seeks after God.

 

C) Know one is consciously seeking after God - unconsciously yes - because man is seeking after something - VOID / EMPTINESS

 

D) But not seeking after God -  not consciously - but God seeks to make his presence known so that man might turn to Him.

 

E) Jacob was not looking for God but God was w/ Him & made His presence known to Jacob through this dream.

 

JACOB’S LIFE WAS FOREVER CHANGED !!!!!!

 

 

Person says God has never appeared to me in a dream - yes but you have knowledge of that which the dream spoke of

 

A) JESUS IS THE BRIDGE

 

 

FINISH - CONVERSION FOR JACOB SEEN IN 3 THINGS

18  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.

19  And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously.

20  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,

21  "so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God.

22  "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."

 

SEEN 1ST IN HIS WORSHIP - Built an altar -

A) Always a true mark -  

 

2ND SEEN IN HIS WORKS - TITHE - GAVE A TENTH

3RD SEEN IN HIS WALK - CH. 29:1 29:1  So Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the East.

 

A) The word went means that he lifted his feet / lit in Heb. He had happy feet

 

B) New Joy in His life  

 

C) May the Lord help us who have been converted like Jacob to show the signs of our conversion in our walks -

1)  Some Believers are so dower - no Joy -

 

D) I look at them & I don’t want to be like them - wonder - why would a non believer !

 

E) Mike Rozell / Jon Courson/  Jack Hibbs / guys I have gotten to know - excited about the Lord.

1)  Larry & Pearl - any time -

 

SEEN IN WALK / WORK / WORSHIP