The
Assurance of the Spirit
I'm going to talk, this evening, about something
that is near to everyone of us, and something that is absolutely imperative.
That is our assurance in our hearts that we have the Lord with us, that
His Spirit dwells within us.
What
Could Compensate?
I read of an Emperor Hadrian who accidentally
shot out one of his servant's eyes while he was doing some practice with
his bow and arrow. He prepared to offer any kind of a reward, give him
anything he wanted. He was terribly sorry that he had shot out his eye,
he was blinded in his eye. What would you like? What could I give you to
compensate? And he said, I want my eye. Nothing will compensate. I want
my eye. As we are walking through this world, and this world is dark with
sin and danger, and perhaps there is foreboding of danger in the future
and we know what was in the past, it is absolutely imperative that we have
the Lord with us, and that we have the assurance of His presence.
I was thrilled reading the last three weeks.
I've been dwelling on a very special man in the Old Testament, thinking
about the experiences of his life and how the Lord revealed Himself to
this man. It was so important that Jesus made reference to it to someone
in the New Testament. This man had a dream one time.
I might just go aside to tell you a little
short dream I had this last week and if you excuse me, Mrs. Hunter, you
were in it. I thought I needed a little vacation, two or three days this
year. But it didn't work out, so I dreamed about it. I dreamed Mrs. Hunter
came and she said, ``I think you should go to Arkansas for a short vacation.''
And she says, ``If you can work it out, I'll go along.'' And I said, ``Sister
Hunter, you realize that's in the South. That's far away from here.'' ``But,''
she said, ``I think it would be a nice little change, that we ought to
go.'' Arkansas! of all places! I don't if I've ever spoken the word before
in my life. But maybe I did when I was drilling the little children in
the grades. ``I'd like to go if we can work it out, for a few days to Arkansas.''
Jacob
But supposing (cf Gn 27-28) you have had trouble
at home, and your brother is seeking to take your life. And supposing you
had cheated him out of his birthright and then your father has forgiven
you, and has made a suggestion that you go get a suitable wife, and you
are traveling all alone. You wonder, does the Lord still think of me since
I did this thing? Even though I am sorry and my father has forgiven me,
and I've made it right, is it right with the Lord? Does the Lord forgive
me? and will His blessing be on me? This young man is thinking these thoughts,
and as he walks along and the sun starts to set, he thinks, There's a city
down there. I hope I make it through the gates before the sun sets.
The City of Luz means ``nut tree.'' So
let's presume that he picks a few nuts as he goes along, and cracks them,
and that is his evening meal. He's thinking about his brother. Is my brother
out to kill me? When I lie down tonight, will he come upon me suddenly?
Will he take my life? Or will he one day forgive me of the terrible thing
that I did to him? Will the Lord ever bless me? He's thinking all these
thoughts and he sees the city way far in the distance, and then the sun
sinks down over the horizon. He has come along this rocky road. The rocks
are thick and sharp, and he hasn't made much progress. He didn't make it
quite to the city gates. The city gates close when the sun sets. There
are enemies all around. The gates are closed fast and you can knock on
the gate. They won't let you in. So travelers who don't make it in time
often come as close to the wall and as close to the gate as they can, and
sleep there during the night.
So he walks along, and he says, I might
as well rest here. And we read about his rest in the book of Genesis, the
twenty-eighth chapter. We read how he looked around for a comfortable place
to lie. In the Middle East often people will make a rest for their necks.
They don't think of soft pillows. So he gathered some stones and he piled
them up, and he lay down, and he put his head on the stones.
And he dreamed, and behold,
a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and
behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold, the
Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father,
and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give
it, and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and
thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north,
and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of
earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all
places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for
I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee
of. (Gn 28:12-15)
All the things Jacob was wondering about:
Is the Lord going to bless me? Has He forgiven me? Is He with me? Will
He take care of me? And the Lord answered all of those things. ``And Jacob
awakened out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place,
and I knew it not.'' (Gn 28:16) Don't stop with ``Surely the Lord is in
this place.'' The Lord is in every place. But Jacob thought he had to go
to a special place to find the Lord, and to worship Him. And he said, I
found out the Lord is right here. He's right where I am, and I'm not alone.
I thought I was alone. I'm not alone. The Lord is right here, and I didn't
know it.
When you realize that the Lord has spoken
to you right out of heaven, and you heard his voice, and he makes all these
promises, and you feel His care and His love and His presence right there,
what might your first reaction be? Supposing your spiritual eyes were opened
tonight, and you see Jesus standing in here, right here? Maybe you would
rush up and fall at His feet. Or maybe you would start praising Him. Maybe
you'd want to throw your arms around Him or kiss the prints in His hand.
``Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.'' And he was afraid
and said, ``How dreadful is this place!'' (Gn 28:17a) In other words, this
is a very special place! The Lord is here. ``This is none other but the
house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.'' (Gn 28:17b)
``And Jacob rose up early in the morning,
and took the stone that he had put for his pillow, and set it up for a
pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.'' (Gn 28:18) That is what I
wanted to do tonight. Been thinking about this for several weeks. I think
this stone would be comfortable for the back of my neck. I don't know about
how big you would need. This is olive oil. Say it's from Israel. But he
took that stone and he poured oil over the stone, olive oil. He says, I
don't have time right now to build a big alter and have a sacrifice, but
I know that this is the house of God. And I'm going to do just this right
now. I'm going to pour oil on the rock. I'm going to come back later, and
I'm going to build an alter here where anybody can come and offer sacrifices
to the Lord. You read on and he did. He returned. He did build the alter.
What does it mean when he says, This
is the house of God and I'm going to name this Bethel, (cf Gn 28:19) which
means ``the house of God?'' It meant now that he poured the oil on here
and dedicated this to the Lord, that all the sacrifices can be offered
here. The burnt sacrifice, the sacrifice for transgression, the sin offering,
the meal offering, the burnt offering--all five offerings can be offered
here. That means in this place anybody coming and sacrificing and pouring
the blood out from and animal can be forgiven of his sins, looking to God.
Can be purified inside and made holy. Thinking about a Messiah that's going
to come. Can consecrate himself wholly for the Lord, to live for the Lord
and do His will, and walk in His paths. Can be at peace with God. Can be
at peace with his neighbor, have everything fixed up, peace with his neighbor.
Through these sacrifices all of this can be done at this rock now. Anybody
can come. This is the house of God.
Little did he know what sorrows, what
drain on his emotions, what terrible sadness was to come into his life.
Little did he know that he would have sons that were to be Israel. But
these sons would take one of his sons and sell him into slavery, and bring
home the dripping robes. Little did he know when he found a beautiful girl
to marry that his father-in-law would deceive him. All these things. He
didn't know what the future was going to bring. And it's good that he could
just trust the Lord and keep walking. I'm glad that night that he didn't
say, Well, the gates of Sodom and Gomorrah are always open. I can get in
there if I turn my steps and go that way. I could find a place in Sodom
and Gomorrah. They open the gates. But he directed his paths away from
wickedness. And he was walking alone, thinking about all these things and
the Lord was able to bless. And he drew aside from the world. He was trying
to do the Lord's will. The Lord came in a mighty way. He says, This is
the house of God.
The
Death of Jacob
We won't go through his entire life, but I
was really moved when I read of his death. (cf Gn 48-50) Was this an experience
that he was to remember, or was it just another dream? Was it an experience
that would give him some kind of a foundation that would do him well in
the hour of death? We find out that when he was taken down into Egypt and
called for by Joseph, his son, he stayed there seventeen years. He was
one hundred and thirty when he went. So he was one hundred and forty-seven
when he died.
So one day he became ill. And they sent
for Joseph. They told Joseph,
Behold, thy father is sick;
and he took him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And one told Jacob
and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto to thee: and Israel strengthened
himself, and sat upon the bed. (Gn 48:1b-2)
The old gentleman was ill lying flat on
the bed, and one said, Joseph is coming with his two little sons. He straightened
ups and dangled his feet on the side of the bed, and stirred himself to
meet Joseph. Joseph came in with these two little sons and he wanted his
father to bless them.
And Jacob said unto Joseph,
God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed
me, and said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee,
and I will make thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to
thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession. (Gn 48:3-4)
And he goes on to say, "When I was alone and
my sons went down to Egypt, I never thought I would see you again. I didn't
know you were alive. And the Lord worked it out so that I could see you,
and be sheltered by you. And now," he says, "I didn't think I could see
you, and now I see my two little grandsons." And he blessed them.
If you know the story (cf Gn 48:13-22),
he crossed his hands and he put his right hand on the younger son, and
he blessed him. Joseph says, "Father"--he probably thought he's getting
old, one hundred and forty-seven--"you're putting your hand on the wrong
son." And he says, I know it, I know it. I know what I'm doing. And he
blessed the younger son.
I was thinking of how vividly at that age
he remembered what the Lord said that night when he appeared to him. He
remembered word for word. And the Lord kept His promise. He didn't fail
him. He kept His promise. Do we remember where we met the Lord, and some
promises we made, and some promises the Lord made to us? We look through
the Bible, ``I will never leave thee nor forsake thee,'' (He 13:5) and
all the promises in the scripture. As we walk along and we remember these
alter occasions where we met the Lord and we said, Surely the Lord is in
this place, and I didn't know it until He opened heaven to me, until I
heard His voice, until He touched my heart. Maybe He opened the fountains
of tears and the blessings. As we walk in faith believing and fallow the
Lord, He always keeps His promises, whatever they are, to us.
If we would take time tonight to mention
the terrible heartaches that Jacob went through and the Lord brought him
through, preserved his life, comforted him, brought him through to old
age. You read in the Bible (cf Gn 49) after He talked to Joseph, he then
sent for all his other sons, and he prophesied to them wonderful prophecies.
He told them what they were going to be doing and how it would work out
in the end times for them. And then the Bible says he pulled his legs up
again onto the bed, and he lay down and died. He mentioned to Joseph, not
to leave his bones in Egypt. He said, When you go take me with you. You
read that in Genesis.
Jesus
and Nathaniel
It's a great thrill to me as I turned in the
New Testament and found out that Jesus remembered this very clearly. Most
Bible commentators will say when He talked to Nathaniel, this occasion
is what He had in mind, this dream, this ladder going up to heaven. This
is when Jesus walked this earth. One day He came in contact with Nathaniel.
Phillip findeth Nathaniel and
say unto him, We have found him of whom Moses and the law and the prophets
did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. (Jn 1:45)
Somebody had mentioned, Isn't it wonderful
that he knew what the prophets had said. Isn't it wonderful he knew what
the scripture said about Jesus. Phillip says, we found him! Guess what!
We have found him. We go back to the Old Testament and say, He's right
here and we didn't know it. We found Him.
And Nathaniel said unto him,
Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Phillip said unto him, Come and
see. (Jn 1:46)
Come and see for yourself. Of course, when
Nathaniel found out that He was born in Bethlehem, perhaps that helped
ease his mind on that point.
Jesus saw Nathaniel coming
to him, and saith to him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is
no guile! Nathaniel saith unto him, Whence knoweth thou me? Jesus answered
and said unto him, Before that Phillip called thee, when thou wast under
the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathaniel answered and said unto him, Rabbi,
thou art the Son of God; thou art the king of Israel. Jesus answered and
said unto him, Because I said unto thee I saw thee under the fig tree,
believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these. And he said unto
him, Verily, verily I say unto you, Hereafter, ye shall see heaven open,
and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. (Jn
1:47-51)
There's quite a lot of comments about Jesus
knowing all about Nathaniel. Nathaniel thought Jesus had walked by and
seen him over there. Some think that Jesus knew all about Nathaniel. It
wasn't just the human part of Jesus that knew about Nathaniel. He knew
about him. And it was Jesus that drew Nathaniel. Nathaniel didn't come
to Jesus. Jesus drew him. Jesus is the one who called Nathaniel and made
the first imprint on his heart. We may think, Does the Lord know my name
tonight? Does He know what I'm thinking, what I'm doing, what I did yesterday?
Jesus knows. He know our names. He does know what we did yesterday. He
knows our thoughts, and intents of our hearts. And He said to Nathaniel,
You believe just because I know this? You're going to see greater things
than that.
What might he have seen? Probably saw Christ.
We know he saw him after the Resurrection. He saw Him crucified. He saw
Him laid in the tomb. He after He arose from the dead. He probably saw
Him ascend into heaven. What else was revealed to Nathaniel? We don't read
about it in the Scripture. I believe the same thing that is revealed to
everyone of us, that right now the Lord is in this place. And not only
is His abiding presence here but He comes to dwell within us. And it's
possible, through His sacrifice on the cross to have His abiding presence
in our hearts and lives. This is what I feel, it is absolutely imperative
that we know this in our hearts that He is with us, and that He abides
with us, that He walks with us through this world of sin, and that we,
when we come to the time of death, we can look back and say, I remember
what the Lord did for me and He's been with me ever since. He's been abiding
in my heart, and He has done this thing for me that has given me the victory
over all my enemies, over sin, over the world.
Jesus
is the Ladder to Heaven
So may the Lord bless us; and remember that
Jesus really is the type here, that he is the ladder to heaven. Jesus has
made the way that we can communicate with the Lord, with God Almighty.
He called Himself the Son of Man so that He can also identify with us in
His humanity. He becomes our ladder to heaven and our way to communicate,
and a way for the Lord to communicate with us. The Lord bless you. |