Revival in the Family – Part 5 | Sun 23 Oct | 2022 Year of Abundant Harvest

We welcome you all to the house of one and the only living God.

Today also we will continue to learn in the Part-5 of our ongoing series, “Revival in the family!”

We are talking about building a family altar, which is not just a place of sacrifice, but also a place of encounter with God.

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Altar of Sacrifice

And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

Called unto the name of the Lord

From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.

Bethel is the place where Abraham had a visitation from God.

So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb. Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.

This was the place that Abraham visited the second time, because he remembers that he met the Lord for the first time here. Even we keep memories of certain places that we relish in our memories.

You read about Abraham, his sons, his grandsons and on and on. However, we will be talking about one more patriarch.

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.”

Now you understand what was happening in the life of Jacob. He was running from his brother Esau, because he tricked his brother. While Jacob is running away, he came to a place and slept. He went to “Paddan Aram”, his mother’s father’s place. Because Jacob’s mother knew that Esau was angry.

Now Jacob is right in the middle of nowhere. If he goes to his uncle Laban, he doesn’t know what will happen. Rather than going to his uncle, Jacob slept. And as he slept, heaven opened up and several angels visited him. Why? Because once his grandfather, Abraham, had built an alter there. Jacob had no plan other than to run away from his brother, but God had a different plan with him. God wanted to encounter Jacob and to speak with Jacob.

Abraham raised that altar generations ago and his grandson is enjoying these spiritual blessings.

And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 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. 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.”

So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.

“What is Bethel? It is nothing but the house of God”, he said!

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’s conduct hitherto, as recorded, was not that of one who simply feared and trusted in God. But now in trouble, obliged to flee, he looked only to God to make him to dwell in safety, and he could lie down and sleep in the open air with his head upon a stone. Any true believer would be willing to take up with Jacob’s pillow, provided he might have Jacob’s vision. God’s time to visit his people with his comforts, is, when they are most destitute of other comforts, and other comforters. Jacob saw a ladder which reached from earth to heaven, the angels going up and coming down, and God himself at the head of it. This represents, 1. The providence of God, by which there is a constant intercourse kept up between heaven and earth. This let Jacob know that he had both a good guide and a good guard. 2. The mediation of Christ. He is this ladder; the foot on earth in his human nature, the top in heaven in his Divine nature. Christ is the Way; all God’s favours come to us, and all our services go to him, by Christ, Joh 1:51. By this way, sinners draw near to the throne of grace with acceptance. By faith we perceive this way, and in prayer we approach by it. In answer to prayer we receive all needful blessings of providence and grace. We have no way of getting to heaven but by Christ. And when the soul, by faith, can see these things, then every place will become pleasant, and every prospect joyful. He will never leave us, until his last promise is accomplished in our everlasting happiness. God now spake comfortably to Jacob. He spake from the head of the ladder. All the glad tidings we receive from heaven come through Jesus Christ. The Messiah should come from Jacob. Christ is the great blessing of the world. All that are blessed, are blessed in him, and none of any family are shut out from blessedness in him, but those that shut out themselves. Jacob had to fear danger from his brother Esau; but God promises to keep him. He had a long journey before him; to an unknown country; but, Behold, I am with thee, and God promises to bring him back again to this land. He seemed to be forsaken of all his friends; but God gives him this assurance, I will not leave thee. Whom God loves, he never leaves.

God manifested himself and his favour, to Jacob, when he was asleep. The Spirit, like the wind, blows when and where it listeth, and God’s grace, like the dew, tarrieth not for the sons of men. Jacob sought to improve the visit God had made him. Wherever we are, in the city or in the desert, in the house or in the field, in the shop or in the street, we may keep up our intercourse with Heaven, if it is not our own fault. But the more we see of God, the more cause we see for holy trembling before him.

God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

Now how can Jacob can go back and settle?

And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother.

God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him.

The comfort the saints have in holy ordinances, is not so much from Beth-el the house of God, as from El-beth-el, the God of the house. The ordinances are empty things, if we do not meet with God in them.

Church, establish an altar at your home. When you are hopeless, you will know where to encounter Jesus. Pray for your families, home and your generations to come, that God will use you in a way that the generations will recognize your relationship with God.

God appeared to Jacob. He renewed the covenant with him. I am God Almighty, God all-sufficient, able to make good the promise in due time, and to support thee and provide for thee in the meantime.

Jacob was running away, despite of that, God showed Himself to Jacob and brought him to a place of encounter.

People, whatever situation you are in, surrender yourself to God, establish an altar and let God do the rest. And trust that when time comes, God will lift you up and make you victorious.

When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

Every time Abraham moved, he built and altar and cried unto Lord. You can do that same because you are carrying the burden. Come to the altar and God will answer your prayers.

Church, thank you for joining us and we hope you feel encouraged today. We look forward to see you all next Sunday. God Bless!