by Joseph "Mike" Willmouth
(This Sermon was preached at
Eastview Baptist Church during the Morning Service on June 6, 2004.
All Scripture references used in this sermon are based upon
the NKJV®, unless otherwise stated)
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Introduction: One balmy evening in the South Pacific, a navy ship spied smoke coming from one of three huts on an uncharted island. Upon arriving at the shore, the crew was met by a shipwreck survivor. He said, "I'm so glad you're here. I've been alone on this island for more than five years." The captain replied, "If you're all alone, why do I see three huts?" The survivor answered, "Well, I live in one and go to church in another." "What about the third hut?" asked the captain. "That's where I used to go to church." (World's Greatest Collection of Church Jokes, Paul M. Miller). This little story hits on the truth about believers, our sin nature tends to push us away from a close relationship with God and not towards Him – and yes even if we were the only ones on a uncharted island by ourselves, we would probably find it difficult to worship God without finding other distractions. We see the same tendency with Jacob in the Old Testament. In chapter 28 of Genesis, we have the old deceiver making a vow to God, after his vision of the ladder and the angels, saying that "this is my God and I will follow Him all the days of my life." Afterwards he went on his way; he became rich; he forgot God and the vows he made at Bethel. The years go by and now he is coming home. He has another experience with God; he wrestles with the angel and prevails. He meets Esau and Esau forgives and forgets. But Jacob is not yet filled with peace, for his sin is still on his heart. Then it is that God calls him: "Go back to Bethel. Go back where you made your vow, back where you first felt My presence. Go back and renew you vows and start life over again." Jacob heard God's call and went back to Bethel and rededicated his life in that holy place. Today many of us are far away from God. Back in the years gone by we remember our Bethel – the time and place where we put our faith in Christ. We had an experience with God. He touched us and saved us, but the years have come and gone, and our spiritual freshness has grown colder and further apart than it was at first. We have lost the joy of our salvation. No matter how far you have gone away from Him, God still loves you and still calls you. Some of you may be so busy with the world that you cannot hear Him, but He is still calling and you should answer. Transition: Lets look at how God dealt with Jacob and see how we too can get back to our "Bethel." First. . . I. It Requires A Heeding Heart
(vv.1, 3). Transition: It's not enough just to hear God calling you, the only way getting back to the place where you first began you walk with Him is. . . 2. By responding to God's call (v.3; 2Chron.7:14; James 4:10; Rev.3:20). Application: Christians today are a lot like Jacob. We come forward and confess Jesus as our Savior and then fade away. The Apostle John wrote about this in the book of Revelation, to the church of Ephesus (2:1-7). They had lost their first love. This was the same problem that Jacob had, he lost his first love. And God gives the same solution to the church at Ephesus as he did for Jacob, "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works. . ." (Rev.2:5); God told Jacob to return to were he had first met God. II. It Requires A Renewed Heart
(vv.2, 4). Application: We need to bury the worldly idols in our lives before the worldly things of this world bury us! The reason why our trips back to Bethel only seem to be like a 1 week visit, is because we fail to bury our idols. Instead of getting rid of them, we run back to them after a week or so and dig them back up – then the next thing you know your spiritual life has gotten worse! Don't blame God, blame yourself! Don't blame your weakness, blame your love of sin! This is what God's Word tells us in Romans 8:5-13, "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation-- but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live" (NIV). God told Jacob, to put away his idols before he went back to Bethel. You can't bring foreign gods into the house of God and expect to worship Him as you should, let along serve Him as He deserves. If you want to regain the walk that you once had with God and keep it, then you need to put away our idols once and for all. Transition: But putting away your worldly gods isn't enough, to return to your Bethel must be forgiven of your previous sinful behavior. . . 2. By confessing our sins (v.2b; 1 John 1:8-10; Psa.32:5-6; Prov.28:13). 2b . . . purify yourselves,Application: If your walk with the Lord isn't what it used to be, then the only back to Bethel, is to begin on your knees! There can be no renewal or joy in a believer's life when they refuse to come before God; Proverbs 28:13 "He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy." This is why King David said that when he kept failed to confess his sin before God that there was no joy in his life, only the heavy weight of sin; Psalm 32:3-4, "When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer" (NASB). But after he confesses his sins before God look what he says in verse11, "Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!" If you are missing the joy of your Salvation, then it is time you get back to Bethel! Transition: Not only must we purify ourselves through prayer, but we must take another step towards God. . . 3. By changing our behavior (v.2c; Col.3:9-10, 12; Rom.13:12). 2c . . .and change your garments.Application: The day Jacob went back to Bethel, he started living for God. Now that's thing we must do! We cannot afford simply to clean up a part of our lives and leave spots that will destroy our spiritual strength. We need to clean it all up and come back to God. Transition: Once Jacob cleaned up his life before God, he was ready to get back to worshiping God and. . . III. It Requires A Worshipful Heart
(vv.5-15). A. By our going to the altar of God (v.14a; John 4:23-24; Eph.5:18-21; Phil.3:3; Col.3:16-17).Application: When our hearts are right with God, then His house will no longer be a common place. It will be a special place where we can come and worship God with our whole heart, free from the distractions of the world around us. God's house should be a place where we long to be at. It should be a place worthy of God's presence. When God's house becomes something common to us, then it ceases to be a special place where we go to worship God, it just becomes "church." It will no longer be a place that makes a difference whether we show up or not. Jacob went to God's house, Bethel, with the attitude of worship – and that's what made this place special. Here's how the Psalmist described his feeling about going to God's house to worship, does this describe you? Psalm 84:2, 4-5, 9-12, "My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God...Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You... Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage. . .O God, behold our shield, And look upon the face of Your anointed. For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!" There should be something special about going to God's house, if there isn't there cannot be any true worship. If you want to truly worship God then you have to ready to go to His altar. Transition: Not only did Jacob go to the altar of God, but he took an offering. We worship God... B. By our giving (v.14b).Application: Worshiping God is more than just going to church. Worship is the act of giving of yourself to God, as Jacob demonstrated. We worship God through the giving of our possessions, because it recognizes that they all belong to God and He has given us everything we have; we worship God through the giving of our time, because He is the giver of life and has set the limits of our time upon this earth; and we worship God through the giving of our self in service and ministry, just as Christ did for us. Worship is not one dimensional, it starts in the heart and works it way out in all directions. After all, when we love someone you are willing to do anything and everything to prove it. This should be the believer's natural response to God, if we are in the right relationship with Him. If this doesn't describe your relationship with Him, then you need to get back to Bethel, back to the place where you lost your first love. Transition: Jacob not only worshiped God through his offerings, he recognized God sovereignty over him and this place. We also worship God. . . C. By our recognition of His ownership (vv.7, 15; Matt.16:18; 21:13; Acts 2:41-47; Eph.3:20-21; Rom.11:36; 1Cor.10:31).Application: We cannot worship God until we understand that He is the owner and possessor of ourselves and over all creation. Jacob, recognized and called "El Bethel" which means "the God of the house of God." We call our church the house of God, but do we really believe it? Do we show it in how we take care of this place? Do we show it in how we respond to His Word? Do we show it in how we treat one another? When you accept Christ as your Savior, you are no longer your own master, because you were brought with a price from the slave market of sin by Christ; 1 Corinthians 6:20, "For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." Therefore, get back to Bethel, where your master says you belong. Transition: I saved verses 9-14 last on purpose, because I wanted us to see what happens when we have a right relationship with God. Notice how God responded to Jacobs worship and repentance. . . 2. That God responds to (vv.5-14). A. By His presence (v.9a; James 4:8).Application: God appeared to Jacob, because Jacob appeared before God with a right heart. Jacob didn't return to Bethel and sit down and said, "Now God, make me feel like I worshiped you." He went to Bethel to ascribe worth to God, that is what worship is. As a result, God made Himself known to Jacob. When was the last time you felt the presence of God here at our church? If it has been a long time, then let me ask you, when was the last time you came to altar of God with a right heart? When was the last time that you came confessed up and cleaned up before God? When was the last time you came with joy in your heart seeking to worship God through all that you have and through all that you are? If you come expecting someone else to God into your presence, then you haven't come prepared to truly worship God. God's presence becomes real to us when we come to Him in worship. B. By His blessings (v.9b; Heb.10:35-36; 11:6; James 1:25; Eph.1:3).Application: Usually it is when we are not walking with God that we have the most doubt about our faith or even our salvation. But when you get close to God, He'll get close to you and will give you all the reassurance that you'll ever need. The Apostle James tells us to "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8a). When we get back to where God is, then we will once again find comfort in the promises of God and His promise of salvation to us in verses such as John 10:28-30, "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one."9b . . .and blessed him.C. By His renewal of promises (vv.10-12; Heb.13:5; John 10:28-30; Jude 1:24). Transition: Finally, God responds to a worshipful heart. . . D. By His communication (vv.13-14; 1Pet.3:12; Psa.34:15-17).Application: Bethel was a place of communication between God and man – it was a place of prayer. We are reminded by Jesus that God's house is supposed to be a place of prayer (Matt.21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46). If your not hearing God answer your prayers, then the problem isn't God! 1 Peter 3:12, "For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil." When was the last time you made God's house of house of prayer? When was the last time you gone to the God's throne room in prayer? Invitation: - This journey begins within the heart of confession to your heavenly Father who will eagerly forgive.2. Don't waste anymore years wandering far from your heavenly Father's home, return today. |