February 14, 2025 • 42 mins
What if you’ve been missing your purpose because you’ve been looking in the wrong place? Learn how to see God moving right where you are.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope
this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it
gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life.
Enjoy the message.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
This week.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I'm working from Genesis chapter twenty eight, verses ten through
twenty two, and I want to visit Jacob and I
want to visit him from this perspective. I want to
talk about the Gate of Purpose and we'll look at
it together. Did you come to help me preach today?
I believe this is something that we do together. These
(00:38):
sermons do go out all over the world, and it's
the chemistry that we have together as the Word of
God goes forth from heaven and released into the earth
that makes a difference. And so I want to thank
you for your active participation, for your giving, for your service,
for your prayers, and for bringing people to church with you.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
It makes a difference.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Touch somebody say it matters, It matters. It matters how
you engage with the message. It matters if you lean in.
It matters that you're here and we are so grateful
for your presence today.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Genesis chapter twenty eight Amen.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Genesis chapter twenty eight, Verse ten. Jacob left Beersheba and
set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place,
a certain place. God can bless you anywhere, a certain
place where is. It doesn't matter. God can bless you anywhere, anytime, anyone, anywhere.
When he Jacob the Deceiver, reached a certain place, he
(01:32):
stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking
one of the stones there, put it under his head
and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in
which he saw a stairway resting on earth, with its
top reaching to heaven.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
There's a lady that's sure.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
All that glitters is gold, and she's no, that's another
thing that's not. The Bible and the angels of God
were ascending and descending on this stairway. There above it
stood the Lord. There above its stood the Lord. He's
always above it. He's always above the affairs of human men.
He's always above the plots and schemes and dreams and
(02:09):
dictates of humanity. There above it stood the Lord, and
he said, I am the Lord, the God of your
father Abraham, and the God of Isaac. In other words,
this did not start with you. This is a continuation
of aggressive revelation of who God is. And I will
give you and your descendants the land on which you
are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of
the earth, and you will spread out to the west
(02:31):
and to the east, to the north and to the south.
What God is about to do is so big that
you cannot contain it, not with your mind, not geographically,
not demographically, it will not be contained. All the peoples
on the earth will be blessed through you. See what
God can do through you. And Jacob is seeing a
(02:54):
vision while he's sleeping on the ground in the midst
of a very difficult season in an uncertain time. So
he said, I'm gonna bless the earth through you and
your offspring, and I am with you. Here comes the promise,
and we'll watch over you wherever you go, and.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
I will bring you back to this land.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
I will not leave you until I have done what
I have promised you.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
So if it's not done, it's not over.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
If it's not good, God's not finished yet, give some time.
It will play out, and I will not leave you
until I have accomplished that which I've spoken concerning you.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Now.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, surely the
Lord is in this place, and I was not aware
of it. And he was afraid, and said, how awesome
is this place? This is none other than the House
of God. This is the gate of heaven. This is
(03:56):
the gate of Heaven. Early the next morning, Jacob took
the stone he had placed under his head and set
it up as a pillar and poured oil on top
of it. He called that place Bethel, So the city
used to be called Luz. Bethel means house of God. Okay,
like beth Lehem, house of bread, Bethel house of God,
(04:17):
l l yhon El Shadai Lohem l God beth L
house of God.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Okay, Okay, we got that. Then Jacob made a vow saying.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
If God will be with me and will watch over
me on this journey i am taking, and will give
me food to eat and clothes to wear, so that
I returned safely to my father's house, then the Lord
will be my God, and this stone that I have
set up as a pillar will be God's house. And
of all that you give me, I will give you
(04:45):
a tenth. Now listen closely rock Hill, because my focus
is on the following verses, verse seventeen. How awesome is
this place? This is none other than the House of God.
This is the gate of.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Early.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
The next morning, Jacob took the stone he had placed
under his head and set it up as a pillar
and poured oil on top of it. So it's an
unusual title, but I want to speak to you about
the pillow and the promise. The pillow and the promise,
And I think this is one you'll never forget. You know,
(05:24):
when you're about to get married, you start having certain
conversations and you start trying to figure out are we're
on the same page, Like how many kids do you
want to have?
Speaker 1 (05:35):
And I just want to.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Suggest have the first one and kind of see how
it goes before you go sett in a number, you know,
sample the product a little bit, you know, like they've
walked around Costco to eat a little bit of the
sausage before you buy the whole.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
How many kids? Here's another one.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
How many years do we want to be married as
just human beings before we become indentured servants and uber drivers?
How many years do we want to be married just
before we start having kids?
Speaker 1 (06:13):
But here's one you never think of, and you need to.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
If you're a man, you need to put this in
the conversation. When you're getting ready to bring that to me, Jonathan,
you need to ask how many.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
He knows how many of these are we going to put.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
On the bed that we are not allowed to sleep
on because God forbid we sleep on a pillow? We
are an eight throw pillow family. Just in case you're wondering, eight.
I counted them.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
It's eight, bro eight, eight of these.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Eight ten minute routines for me to go through every
night before I get in my bed.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I'm serious. It took me. How long we've been married,
fifteen years.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
It took me fourteen and a half years to come
to terms with the idea that there are pillows on
my bed for the sole purpose of taking them off
before I.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Get in it. I can't lie to you now.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
I'm kind of into it now now Sometimes when Holly's gone.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Don't tell her I don't put them on or take
them off.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Wild and crazy when she leaves town. But now I
got it down. I know where every pillow goes.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
I got it.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
I know the configuration. I have been taught. I have
been taught I know which pillows.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
The karate chop you ever choughed the pillow you will.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
It was just hard for me to realize that the
purpose of the pillow was not from my head.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
I just couldn't understand it's decorative, it's a throw pillow.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
I got an idea, let's throw it away.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Now I bring it up.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Obviously, I'm going to get in a little trouble in
my marriage because of this, but I think it'll help
me illustrate my point, because I was intrigued that Jacob
was sleeping on something that he wasn't supposed to sleep on. Now,
in his case, Jacob seventy seven years old, has to
sleep and spend the night on a rock, but it's
the closest thing.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
He has to a pillow.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
And I thought about calling this message between a rock
and a hard place, but I thought you would think
that was corny. You give me that polite little preacher
laughter that you give when your preacher's trying to be human.
I thought about saying that Jacob has made his bed
and now he has to lie in it, and certainly
the cliche applies here because he has manipulated his way
(09:14):
into a blessing from his father that has caused him
to have to hide from his brother and about sixty
miles into his journey, which probably would have taken a
few days from Beersheba to the place formerly known as
Luhs and now known as Bethel. After this stunning revelation,
(09:37):
which is the source of much theological speculation, and we
cannot cover appropriately in the time we have allotted here today.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
But what he sees is spectacular.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
And yet I think the context is significant because it
is not at his destination that God appears.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
But it is along the way.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
It's sixty miles outside of Beersheba. He is not yet
to Laban's house, where arrangements have been made for his
safety and provision, where he will ultimately meet Rachel and Leah.
And he loves Rachel, but he has to go through
Leah to get to Rachel. All of that is yet
to happen. But God shows up. And one time I
preached a sermon called when God shows up in the
(10:24):
middle of nowhere. But I was playing with it because
I took the word nowhere, and then I moved the
w over and spaced it, and it was then now here,
when nowhere became now here. You remember, and we talked
about when God shows up in the middle of nowhere
and he's laying on the cold ground and the.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Sun has set.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
The Bible points out it's no longer safe for him
to travel. And sometimes God will arrange the conditions of
your life so that you have to stop. Some revelation
cannot be given while you are on the run, only
when you have stopped running for long enough. And it
(11:02):
is significant that Jacob sees the activity of God, not
in his manipulation, but in his sleep. And in his
sleep he sees something that would have been very familiar
in Mesopotamian culture, because their gods were said to have
come down the staircases to the earth and.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Back up, and back down and back up.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Jacob's dream is a little different because if you'll notice,
this is just a little thing. It's not really going
to be on the final exam, but they were ascending
and descending. The order is important because it didn't start
in heaven.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
It started on earth.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
They went up and then they went down, and they
went up and then they went down. And so when
we pray, let your kingdom come, you will be done
on earth as it is in Heaven. Often God is
awaiting initiative on earth to release what Heaven has in store.
These messengers that ascended and descended.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
The stairs were going back and forth.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
And they were working. In the course of human history,
God is always on the move. The messengers, the angels
were going up and down. And Jacob saw it in
his sleep, not when he was stealing his brother Esau's blessing.
He didn't see it then because he was trying to
make it happen, Not when he was taking his birthright.
He didn't see it then because he was in a
(12:17):
mental space of trying to figure out how am I going.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
To get the blessing.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Now, notice this, Isaac gave Jacob a blessing, but God
made Jacob a promise. People can give blessings, but only
God can make promises, And the promise is this. God
is illustrating through Jacob what Proverbs nineteen will later record.
(12:41):
Many are the plans in a person's heart, but is
the purpose.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Of the Lord that will prevail. This is a living.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Demonstration of how no matter how Jacob schemed and dreamed,
God met him in an unusual place and showed him
how determined God is to fulfill his purpose on the earth.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Purpose is determined. Purpose is determined.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
God has made up his mind what he wants to
do and who he wants to do it through. And
purpose is determined. If you have a strong willed child,
just wave your hand at me. I'll know we're in
the same club. Purpose is more determined than your most
strong willed child. And when the purpose of God makes
(13:35):
up its mind to accomplish something in the earth, you
almost can't mess it up. You almost can't send it back.
There is no return to Sinder. For as the rains
fall from the heaven and water the earth, so shall
be his word that proceeds from his mouth.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
I'm getting a little excited a little early is determined.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
The gifts of God are without repentance, So something that
you did when you were seventeen cannot reverse what God
planned while you were still in your mother's womb. Purpose
is determined. Nobody can break up with you and cast
the purpose of God for your life to be interrupted.
(14:20):
Nobody can fire you and interrupt the purpose of God.
There is no stopping what God has started until it
is complete. He will see it through. He doesn't change
his mind. When Jacob blows it, He tracks him down
and meets with him in his sleep. Determined, determined. The
(14:47):
purpose of God is determined. A theological term would be predestined.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah, all things work together for the good of those
who love the Lord and are called a chort to
his purpose for those he fore knew. He also predestined
that we might be the first born among many brothers
and sisters. And those he called he also justified, and
those he justified he also glorified, and those he glorified
he glorified to the end that his purpose might prevail
(15:19):
in the earth. To break it down into real simple language,
all I'm trying to say is God is still working.
God was working in the things you did wrong the
things you did right. The activity of God cannot be
stopped by human decision or mistakes.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
In fact, some.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Of your greatest mistakes will be the seed of your
greatest miracles. It's called purpose, and it always prevails. And
God is so determined that he meets with Jacob in
a certain place when the sun is set because he
made up his mind. I am the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. But when we say that purpose is determined,
(16:03):
I think it's important to make a distinction that purpose
is not only determined by God, but it is also
determined by us. The way I would put it is this.
This is point number two. Purpose is determined before it
is discover I'll explain that from the text. When Jacob
(16:26):
awoke from his sleep, he thought, surely the Lord is
in this place and I was not aware of it. Now,
God did not show up when Jacob woke up. Jacob
woke up to the fact that God was there all along.
Can I get you to hit your neighbor and tell
(16:47):
him wake up?
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Wake up? Woke is not a new term.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Jacob was woke, but God did not God. God did
not show up when Jacob saw it. He was waiting
to be seen in something very common. And I believe
(17:20):
that it's good to pray for God to be with us,
But I think it's better to pray that we could
see where He has already been, because He's been.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
There all along. When you pray God be with us,
it's kind of redundant.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Tell you why he said, I will not leave you
nor forsake you. Surely I will be with you even
to the end of the age. Now, if it's not
over God is still here, so I don't have to
ask him to do what he already promised to do.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
All I have to do is wake up to the.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Reality that he's been working all along.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Calm down. By the time you see it.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
By the time you see it, it's it's already been
happening by the time you see it.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
By the time you got to church today, we had
already done so much what you think we started when
you got here.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
At some of our locations that meet in high schools
and theaters, and we don't own the building, they're portable locations.
And they're portable because as soon as we're done, we
have to take everything out. And they're portable because during
the week there's something else. But when we show up
in there, guess what it becomes a church. It's not
(18:46):
a church because we put a steeple on it.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
It's not a.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Church because it says church on the sign. In fact,
when you say I'm going to church, you're not exactly correct.
You are bringing the church to a bill because that's
what you are.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
You are a carrier of the presence.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Of Almighty God. Jacob is so funny to me. God
is here and I didn't know it.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
How can you miss God?
Speaker 2 (19:23):
How can God be in the actual place and you
didn't see it? But he could only see it when
he was asleep, and then he woke up to see
what God was doing all along. That purpose is determined
before it is discover he wakes up, okay, because remember
(19:44):
we got a rock and Jacob makes it a pillow.
So he is repurposing the rock to make it a pillow.
It's not exactly a temper pedic, but it will work.
Sometimes you can't be picky. Sometimes gotta take whatever you got.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
It's not my favorite song, but I'm gonna worship.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
To it anyway, because I don't need my favorite song
to worship God.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
It'll work. It'll work.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
It's not a lot of money, but I'm gonna make
it work. Okay, my husband isn't exactly okay, then we're
gonna skip that part. And he says, this will work,
this will work, And when he lays down, I'm gonna
do this for you. I'm gonna demonstrate this for you.
Not many preachers would go to this extent to bring
the point across. But if I gotta lay down on this,
(20:31):
this monitor to show you what Jacob did and the
situation he was in.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
I will lay down on this monitor that's not even comfortable,
not even kind of comfortable.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
But it'll work. It'll work, it'll work, and he sees
some way. He sleeps and he wakes up and he goes, well,
that was awesome, that was amazing.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
This is the house of God.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Well, first, the Bible says he was afraid because fear
is the flip side of faith. Fear is what you
feel that enables you to open yourself to faith.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Fear is the sensation that leads you to something greater
than yourself, that causes you to have faith that God
is greater.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
So first he was afraid. Then he was excited and
he said this is awesome, this is awesome. Wow, this
is lit. He would have said it who.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
That's what Moses said it to burning bush.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Now this is the house of God.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Remember Now he took some oil, rubbed it on the
rock and said, this is the house of God.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Pointing at the rock.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
God doesn't live in a rock, except that one verse
that says that if we don't praise him, the rocks
will cry out.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
See God can show up anywhere. That's the point.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
The point is he took some oil is symbolic of
the Holy Spirit, of the joy of the Lord. But
it's also when something special was being consecrated, like a
king or a priest, they would pour oil on it.
It was a part of the consecration. And the rock
is something common. And so Jacob consecrates something that is
common and says, this is the house of God, pointing
(22:49):
at a rock.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
This is where God lives. No, he doesn't. God doesn't
live in a rock, but he can't. He can't notice this.
When Jacob says this is the gate of heaven. He
didn't say that because God said it. God didn't say
this is the gate of heaven. Jacob said, this is
(23:11):
the gate of heaven.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
So apparently I have the ability to be in a
common situation. You hear me an uncertain situation and put
some oil on it, and put some holy ghost.
Speaker 5 (23:27):
On it, and put some purpose on it. And if
I say it's a gate, it'll be a gate. And
if I say it's a blessing, it'll be a blessing.
And if I say God isn't it, God isn't it.
And if I say it's a church, it'll be a church.
And if I say it's a setup, it is a setup.
(23:50):
And if I say it's an opportunity, it is an opportunity.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Try it out. Somebody shout, this is the gate, this
is the gate. He wakes up, He goes, this is crazy.
This is awesome, this is awesome, this is awesome. It's awesome.
It's awesome something.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
So he takes the rock that he made the pillow,
and he takes the pillow and makes it a pillar.
The rock became the pillow, the pillow became the pillar.
It is what you make of it. If you say
it's a gate, it will be a gate. If you
point to your pain and say, this pain is a
(24:30):
portal to the glory of God, and something that is
going to come through this pain is going to bring
me deeper joy. It will bring the joy of the
Lord into your situation.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
So point to your pain and say, this is the gate.
This is the gate.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
I can look at something that seems so ordinary, a
moment that seems so trivial, a job that I had,
can become the gate.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
If I point at.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
It and annoy it. God didn't call it the gate.
Jacob did, and it became what he called it. This
is the gate. This is the gate. Shout it out.
This is the gate.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
This is the.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Moment, this is the time, this is the season, this
is the day that the Lord has made.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
I will rejoice and be glad in it.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
If the enemy had his way, I'd be so focused
on tomorrow and what it holds that I would miss
the provision of the strength that God wants to bring
while I am.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
In in Bethel. But this is the gate. This is
I'm sorry, y'all. I just thowt some made me laugh.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
I pictured you're going to work, and I pictured the
person that annoys you so much coming up to you,
and I picture you not saying it out loud, but
just smirk a little bit and say to yourself, this
is the gate. Because God is gonna use the people
that I can't stand to make me patient. You've been
praying for patience. It's gonna come through the gate of Pete.
(26:12):
You know, Pete at work, Pete with the bad breath,
Pete who takes all the credit.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Pete is the gate.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
He missed the whole point too, He missed the whole point.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
This is the gate. I'm gonna come back here.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
God, if you bless me if you give me a car,
and if you watch over me. He's trying to negotiate
something God already told him he was gonna do. Anyway,
One time, Pastor Mickey took me to visit a businessman
and I was asking him for money because I wanted
to bring in some preachers for the Fellowship of Christian.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Athletes for our high school.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
And he taught me something as a seventeen year old.
Because Eugene Oliver started writing the check and I had
only said three words, we're trying to and he said
how much.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
The first thing I didn't know is put a few
more zeros on it. If somebody asked that question. Because
I asked him for five hundred dollars, I wish I
would go back.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
But while he was writing the check, I kept talking,
we're gonna take the money we're gonna use, and Pastor
Mickey put his hand on my LIGs.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
It squeezed me. He looked at me. He didn't say
anything till we got out of there.
Speaker 6 (27:24):
He said, I'm gonna teach you something right now when
he's writing the check.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Shut up, shut up.
Speaker 6 (27:41):
I don't know, but maybe you could look at your
neighbor and say, shut up, it's already done.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
It's already done.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Trying to strike a bargain with God, who already said
he'd be with you. Well, if you will, then uh will?
God is not an if then God. The promises of
God are yes and amen. He's already done. That's what
he saw sleeping on that rock. This is the game,
so it means I can go into any situation, even
(28:19):
the uncomfortable ones. Isn't it crazy that God used the
place of Jacob's discomfort to give him his greatest revelation.
Don't you think that seventy seven year old man woke
up with a sore neck after sleeping on a rock,
But he said, it's awesome not because of how it felt,
but because.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Of what I saw.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Not because of what I felt, but because of who
I know.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
This is awesome this place. How awesome is this place?
You know? You can say that anywhere, not just in Hawaii, right,
not just in church. This is the game and it's.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
The gate because I gave it a purpose. Purpose is
what allows you to see that. Let me say it
like this, In every place there is a purpose. In
every place, there is a purpose. But before it is discovered.
It must be determined, and God will allow you to
determine the purpose of the place you're in. So you
(29:23):
can simply survive it, or you can be strengthened by it.
You can resent it, or you can be like John
who on the island of Patmos wrote the Book of Revelation.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
You decide the purpose for the place.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Is this going to be the place where you become
bitter and lay down and die from your disappointment, or
is this going to be the place that you discover
a dream, a deeper source to drink from all the
good grasses in the valley. You can only get strength
from certain places. This is something that Jacob could not
(30:02):
get anywhere else but here in this place. The Lord
is in this place. Remember he still got four hundred
and ninety miles to go before he gets to his destination.
But the Lord is in this place. It means that
he is with me on the way. He's with me
(30:23):
on the way, and any time I want to, I
can open a gate to the revelation of his goodness.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
This is the gate.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
Difficult time with your teenagers, I get it.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
This is the gate. This is the gate. They got
quiet on that one. I must have hit a nerve.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Just just walk around pointing to stuff, winking and stuff.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
This is the gate. Make it a gate, Make it
a gate, Make it a gate this season. This is
the gate. I'm not waiting this is the gate.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
I'm not waiting for a relationship before I feel significant.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
This is the gate.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
I'm made in the image of God, all by myself.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
This is the cat. This is the season. This is
the time. That's just the year. Now when I'm.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Forty five, not when I get the debt paid out.
This is the day I will rejoice anthy glad in.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
It, enter his gates with thanksgiving. You hear this word
God gave me. This is the gate.
Speaker 6 (31:27):
This is the gate, and it is determined before it
is discovered. So Jacob decides, I guess this rock is
as good as any I'm making a monument.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
It was a very common.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Practice, he said, I'll set this up to remember how
God met with me.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Here. After he was sleeping on something.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
That he wasn't supposed to sleep on, After he was
sleeping on something that he wasn't supposed to be sleeping.
Speaker 7 (31:59):
On, after he was sleeping on something. I'm asleep on
this thing. After he was sleeping after he wait a man,
Jesus did this.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
This is not just a Jacob thing. Let me see
if I can find it, Mark four thirty five. I
found it.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
When Jesus was sleeping in something that he wasn't supposed
to be sleeping at.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
And there's a commonality. There's there's a common threat. I
wonder do you see it?
Speaker 2 (32:42):
In verse thirty five, it says that when evening came,
Jacob breasted on the rock when the sun went down.
Jesus is on a boat as evening approaches, and he
said to his disciples, let's go over to the other side.
(33:05):
Next verse, leaving the crowd behind.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
They took him along just as he was in the boat.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
There are also other boats with him. A furious squall,
not a word we often use, just a raging storm
came up and the waves broke over the boat so
that it was nearly swamp. Now we're going to see
a contrast between what Jesus did and what.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
The disciples did.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
Because Jesus, in the middle of a life threatening storm
where the survival of the mission was at stake, was
in the stern.
Speaker 8 (33:48):
Sleeping in the storm. Jesus found a pillow. Somewhere in
that boat he found a pillow, and he laid it,
said down and went to sleep, and the disciples woke him.
The disciples were awakened by their fear, and Jesus was
(34:14):
asleep in his purpose. I'll show you, And they said
to him.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
Don't you care if we tried watch wrong with you?
Don't you care?
Speaker 2 (34:29):
The only way for us to understand the meaning of
this passage is to contrast what they thought with what
he knew.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
But first watch what he did.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
He got up, rebuked the wind for disturbing his rim cycles.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
And said to the waves, shut up, be still.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
I think you need to say that sometimes to your thoughts, Hello,
to your monkey mind, to you're amigdal. Sometimes the most
spiritual thing you can say is shut up. And the
wind died down. It was completely calm. He said to us,
dec that was why he's afraid. He said, no faith,
And they were terrified, like Jacob, because the flip side
(35:16):
of faith is always fear. And they were terrified and
asked each other.
Speaker 1 (35:20):
Who is this? Oh, I thought you knew now.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
It took an uncomfortable situation to show them the revelation
of who was.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
With them all along, and they were not aware. Do
you see it?
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Even the wind and the waves obey him.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Who is this now?
Speaker 2 (35:39):
What started as a storm turned into a sermon, and
Jesus preached who he was, not by what he said,
but by what he did. He took a pillow and
laid his head down because he knew something that they
did not know, that in every purpose there is a promise.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Every purpose there is a promise. I will not leave.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
You until I have accomplished everything that I have created you.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
For in every purpose there is a problem. In every
place there is a purpose. But in every purpose there
is a promise.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
Because this is Mark chapter four, And in Mark chapter five,
Jesus is going to meet a man who is possessed
with so many demons that he simply calls himself legion,
which means many, so overcome by issues and oppression that
he doesn't even know his identity anymore. And he'll meet
the man and free the man, and cast the demons
(36:36):
out of the man, and send the man back into
the capitalists.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
And when the man goes.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
Back into the capitalist to tell the people Mark five
twenty how much the Lord has done for him. The
Gospel enters a whole new region, and the mission is born.
That was pronounced in Genesis when God told Jacob, I'm
gonna bless the whole earth through you.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
That happened in Mark chapter So.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
What Jesus knew was I can't drown in Mark chapter four.
So I'm gonna get a pillow because I got a promise.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
You hear me, Church, I might.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Be lying down, but that doesn't mean I'm not preaching. Heart.
When you've got a promise from God, let me tell
you what to do when God gives you a promise.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
How many of you have a promise.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
From God and you really believe it that He will
be with you?
Speaker 1 (37:39):
Come on, how many of you have to promise from God?
Speaker 2 (37:41):
How many of you have a promise from God that.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
He will not fail you? When you've got a promise,
let me show you what to do.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
When you got a promise, sleep on it, Touch the
person next you.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Sleep on it.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
I'm not going to stress about it. I'm not gonna
weep about it. I'm not gonna expend any more energy
trying to manipulate it. I'm gonna do what Jesus did.
I'm gonna find a pillow because I got a promise,
and I'm about to sleep on it. And while I sleep,
God is strategizing, And while I sleep, the angels are coming.
(38:21):
And while I sleep, the provision is being made. And
while I rest, the promise of God is coming to pass.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
In my situation, this is the game. Come on, three
two one.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
You got a promise, it's your pillow. What good is
the promise if you're not gonna believe it. When you
got a promise from God, you can rest your soul
and rest your and rest assord that in every purpose
(39:04):
there is a promise.
Speaker 9 (39:07):
And he said in Mark four thirty five, let us
go to the other side. It was the proof that
we cannot die in the storm because there is a
purpose on the other side. How I make it through
(39:29):
this season, in this storm, in this valley.
Speaker 6 (39:32):
Is that I know there's something on the other side.
Every valley is between two mountains, there is something on
the other side.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
Sleep on it.
Speaker 6 (39:48):
Sleep on it. Gostor cares upon him. He cares for
you to sleep on it. I feel so awkward up
here showing how Jesus was the promise.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
A pillow and the promise. Hey, you know what, I
just realized I'm He wasn't sleeping on a pillow. He
was sleeping on purpose.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
He knew that no matter what storm I go through,
no matter what season I'm in, the purpose of God
will prevail.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
Sleep on it. Sleep on it.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
Therefore, since we have this promise of entering into His rest,
let us.
Speaker 1 (40:41):
Take heed that we do not fall short of it.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
There is a purpose that produces rest, and there is
a promise that produces peace.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
To sleep on it. It was a rock, it became
a pillow. It was a pillow, it became a pillar.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
And what you're going through right now is going to
be the foundation of the revelation of who God really is.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
Sleep on it.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
Sleep on it, and I'll give you the ground you're
lying on, and I will not leave you nor forsake
you until I have done everything I promised you. I
can lay my head on that, I can bang my
life on that I can trust my children to God,
(41:36):
knowing that.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
The Lord is in this place, the storm, the valley,
the wilderness, this place.
Speaker 6 (41:51):
We all have those places in our lives where we're
passing through and we wonder what is the purpose of this?
Speaker 1 (41:58):
But faith declares what Jacob declared. Surely the Lord is
in this place, and I I was not aware, but
now I am. I see it now. Thank you for
joining us.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
You can click the link in the description to give
now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more
information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
share it on your social stories and tag us at
Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (42:40):
Thanks again for listening. God bless you
Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope
this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it
gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life.
Enjoy the message.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
This week.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I'm working from Genesis chapter twenty eight, verses ten through
twenty two, and I want to visit Jacob and I
want to visit him from this perspective. I want to
talk about the Gate of Purpose and we'll look at
it together. Did you come to help me preach today?
I believe this is something that we do together. These
(00:38):
sermons do go out all over the world, and it's
the chemistry that we have together as the Word of
God goes forth from heaven and released into the earth
that makes a difference. And so I want to thank
you for your active participation, for your giving, for your service,
for your prayers, and for bringing people to church with you.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
It makes a difference.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Touch somebody say it matters, It matters. It matters how
you engage with the message. It matters if you lean in.
It matters that you're here and we are so grateful
for your presence today.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Genesis chapter twenty eight Amen.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Genesis chapter twenty eight, Verse ten. Jacob left Beersheba and
set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place,
a certain place. God can bless you anywhere, a certain
place where is. It doesn't matter. God can bless you anywhere, anytime, anyone, anywhere.
When he Jacob the Deceiver, reached a certain place, he
(01:32):
stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking
one of the stones there, put it under his head
and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in
which he saw a stairway resting on earth, with its
top reaching to heaven.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
There's a lady that's sure.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
All that glitters is gold, and she's no, that's another
thing that's not. The Bible and the angels of God
were ascending and descending on this stairway. There above it
stood the Lord. There above its stood the Lord. He's
always above it. He's always above the affairs of human men.
He's always above the plots and schemes and dreams and
(02:09):
dictates of humanity. There above it stood the Lord, and
he said, I am the Lord, the God of your
father Abraham, and the God of Isaac. In other words,
this did not start with you. This is a continuation
of aggressive revelation of who God is. And I will
give you and your descendants the land on which you
are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of
the earth, and you will spread out to the west
(02:31):
and to the east, to the north and to the south.
What God is about to do is so big that
you cannot contain it, not with your mind, not geographically,
not demographically, it will not be contained. All the peoples
on the earth will be blessed through you. See what
God can do through you. And Jacob is seeing a
(02:54):
vision while he's sleeping on the ground in the midst
of a very difficult season in an uncertain time. So
he said, I'm gonna bless the earth through you and
your offspring, and I am with you. Here comes the promise,
and we'll watch over you wherever you go, and.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
I will bring you back to this land.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
I will not leave you until I have done what
I have promised you.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
So if it's not done, it's not over.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
If it's not good, God's not finished yet, give some time.
It will play out, and I will not leave you
until I have accomplished that which I've spoken concerning you.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Now.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, surely the
Lord is in this place, and I was not aware
of it. And he was afraid, and said, how awesome
is this place? This is none other than the House
of God. This is the gate of heaven. This is
(03:56):
the gate of Heaven. Early the next morning, Jacob took
the stone he had placed under his head and set
it up as a pillar and poured oil on top
of it. He called that place Bethel, So the city
used to be called Luz. Bethel means house of God. Okay,
like beth Lehem, house of bread, Bethel house of God,
(04:17):
l l yhon El Shadai Lohem l God beth L
house of God.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Okay, Okay, we got that. Then Jacob made a vow saying.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
If God will be with me and will watch over
me on this journey i am taking, and will give
me food to eat and clothes to wear, so that
I returned safely to my father's house, then the Lord
will be my God, and this stone that I have
set up as a pillar will be God's house. And
of all that you give me, I will give you
(04:45):
a tenth. Now listen closely rock Hill, because my focus
is on the following verses, verse seventeen. How awesome is
this place? This is none other than the House of God.
This is the gate of.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Early.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
The next morning, Jacob took the stone he had placed
under his head and set it up as a pillar
and poured oil on top of it. So it's an
unusual title, but I want to speak to you about
the pillow and the promise. The pillow and the promise,
And I think this is one you'll never forget. You know,
(05:24):
when you're about to get married, you start having certain
conversations and you start trying to figure out are we're
on the same page, Like how many kids do you
want to have?
Speaker 1 (05:35):
And I just want to.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Suggest have the first one and kind of see how
it goes before you go sett in a number, you know,
sample the product a little bit, you know, like they've
walked around Costco to eat a little bit of the
sausage before you buy the whole.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
How many kids? Here's another one.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
How many years do we want to be married as
just human beings before we become indentured servants and uber drivers?
How many years do we want to be married just
before we start having kids?
Speaker 1 (06:13):
But here's one you never think of, and you need to.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
If you're a man, you need to put this in
the conversation. When you're getting ready to bring that to me, Jonathan,
you need to ask how many.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
He knows how many of these are we going to put.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
On the bed that we are not allowed to sleep
on because God forbid we sleep on a pillow? We
are an eight throw pillow family. Just in case you're wondering, eight.
I counted them.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
It's eight, bro eight, eight of these.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Eight ten minute routines for me to go through every
night before I get in my bed.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I'm serious. It took me. How long we've been married,
fifteen years.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
It took me fourteen and a half years to come
to terms with the idea that there are pillows on
my bed for the sole purpose of taking them off
before I.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Get in it. I can't lie to you now.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
I'm kind of into it now now Sometimes when Holly's gone.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Don't tell her I don't put them on or take
them off.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Wild and crazy when she leaves town. But now I
got it down. I know where every pillow goes.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
I got it.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
I know the configuration. I have been taught. I have
been taught I know which pillows.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
The karate chop you ever choughed the pillow you will.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
It was just hard for me to realize that the
purpose of the pillow was not from my head.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
I just couldn't understand it's decorative, it's a throw pillow.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
I got an idea, let's throw it away.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Now I bring it up.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Obviously, I'm going to get in a little trouble in
my marriage because of this, but I think it'll help
me illustrate my point, because I was intrigued that Jacob
was sleeping on something that he wasn't supposed to sleep on. Now,
in his case, Jacob seventy seven years old, has to
sleep and spend the night on a rock, but it's
the closest thing.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
He has to a pillow.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
And I thought about calling this message between a rock
and a hard place, but I thought you would think
that was corny. You give me that polite little preacher
laughter that you give when your preacher's trying to be human.
I thought about saying that Jacob has made his bed
and now he has to lie in it, and certainly
the cliche applies here because he has manipulated his way
(09:14):
into a blessing from his father that has caused him
to have to hide from his brother and about sixty
miles into his journey, which probably would have taken a
few days from Beersheba to the place formerly known as
Luhs and now known as Bethel. After this stunning revelation,
(09:37):
which is the source of much theological speculation, and we
cannot cover appropriately in the time we have allotted here today.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
But what he sees is spectacular.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
And yet I think the context is significant because it
is not at his destination that God appears.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
But it is along the way.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
It's sixty miles outside of Beersheba. He is not yet
to Laban's house, where arrangements have been made for his
safety and provision, where he will ultimately meet Rachel and Leah.
And he loves Rachel, but he has to go through
Leah to get to Rachel. All of that is yet
to happen. But God shows up. And one time I
preached a sermon called when God shows up in the
(10:24):
middle of nowhere. But I was playing with it because
I took the word nowhere, and then I moved the
w over and spaced it, and it was then now here,
when nowhere became now here. You remember, and we talked
about when God shows up in the middle of nowhere
and he's laying on the cold ground and the.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Sun has set.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
The Bible points out it's no longer safe for him
to travel. And sometimes God will arrange the conditions of
your life so that you have to stop. Some revelation
cannot be given while you are on the run, only
when you have stopped running for long enough. And it
(11:02):
is significant that Jacob sees the activity of God, not
in his manipulation, but in his sleep. And in his
sleep he sees something that would have been very familiar
in Mesopotamian culture, because their gods were said to have
come down the staircases to the earth and.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Back up, and back down and back up.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Jacob's dream is a little different because if you'll notice,
this is just a little thing. It's not really going
to be on the final exam, but they were ascending
and descending. The order is important because it didn't start
in heaven.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
It started on earth.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
They went up and then they went down, and they
went up and then they went down. And so when
we pray, let your kingdom come, you will be done
on earth as it is in Heaven. Often God is
awaiting initiative on earth to release what Heaven has in store.
These messengers that ascended and descended.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
The stairs were going back and forth.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
And they were working. In the course of human history,
God is always on the move. The messengers, the angels
were going up and down. And Jacob saw it in
his sleep, not when he was stealing his brother Esau's blessing.
He didn't see it then because he was trying to
make it happen, Not when he was taking his birthright.
He didn't see it then because he was in a
(12:17):
mental space of trying to figure out how am I going.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
To get the blessing.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Now, notice this, Isaac gave Jacob a blessing, but God
made Jacob a promise. People can give blessings, but only
God can make promises, And the promise is this. God
is illustrating through Jacob what Proverbs nineteen will later record.
(12:41):
Many are the plans in a person's heart, but is
the purpose.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Of the Lord that will prevail. This is a living.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Demonstration of how no matter how Jacob schemed and dreamed,
God met him in an unusual place and showed him
how determined God is to fulfill his purpose on the earth.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Purpose is determined. Purpose is determined.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
God has made up his mind what he wants to
do and who he wants to do it through. And
purpose is determined. If you have a strong willed child,
just wave your hand at me. I'll know we're in
the same club. Purpose is more determined than your most
strong willed child. And when the purpose of God makes
(13:35):
up its mind to accomplish something in the earth, you
almost can't mess it up. You almost can't send it back.
There is no return to Sinder. For as the rains
fall from the heaven and water the earth, so shall
be his word that proceeds from his mouth.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
I'm getting a little excited a little early is determined.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
The gifts of God are without repentance, So something that
you did when you were seventeen cannot reverse what God
planned while you were still in your mother's womb. Purpose
is determined. Nobody can break up with you and cast
the purpose of God for your life to be interrupted.
(14:20):
Nobody can fire you and interrupt the purpose of God.
There is no stopping what God has started until it
is complete. He will see it through. He doesn't change
his mind. When Jacob blows it, He tracks him down
and meets with him in his sleep. Determined, determined. The
(14:47):
purpose of God is determined. A theological term would be predestined.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah, all things work together for the good of those
who love the Lord and are called a chort to
his purpose for those he fore knew. He also predestined
that we might be the first born among many brothers
and sisters. And those he called he also justified, and
those he justified he also glorified, and those he glorified
he glorified to the end that his purpose might prevail
(15:19):
in the earth. To break it down into real simple language,
all I'm trying to say is God is still working.
God was working in the things you did wrong the
things you did right. The activity of God cannot be
stopped by human decision or mistakes.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
In fact, some.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Of your greatest mistakes will be the seed of your
greatest miracles. It's called purpose, and it always prevails. And
God is so determined that he meets with Jacob in
a certain place when the sun is set because he
made up his mind. I am the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. But when we say that purpose is determined,
(16:03):
I think it's important to make a distinction that purpose
is not only determined by God, but it is also
determined by us. The way I would put it is this.
This is point number two. Purpose is determined before it
is discover I'll explain that from the text. When Jacob
(16:26):
awoke from his sleep, he thought, surely the Lord is
in this place and I was not aware of it. Now,
God did not show up when Jacob woke up. Jacob
woke up to the fact that God was there all along.
Can I get you to hit your neighbor and tell
(16:47):
him wake up?
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Wake up? Woke is not a new term.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Jacob was woke, but God did not God. God did
not show up when Jacob saw it. He was waiting
to be seen in something very common. And I believe
(17:20):
that it's good to pray for God to be with us,
But I think it's better to pray that we could
see where He has already been, because He's been.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
There all along. When you pray God be with us,
it's kind of redundant.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Tell you why he said, I will not leave you
nor forsake you. Surely I will be with you even
to the end of the age. Now, if it's not
over God is still here, so I don't have to
ask him to do what he already promised to do.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
All I have to do is wake up to the.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Reality that he's been working all along.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Calm down. By the time you see it.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
By the time you see it, it's it's already been
happening by the time you see it.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
By the time you got to church today, we had
already done so much what you think we started when
you got here.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
At some of our locations that meet in high schools
and theaters, and we don't own the building, they're portable locations.
And they're portable because as soon as we're done, we
have to take everything out. And they're portable because during
the week there's something else. But when we show up
in there, guess what it becomes a church. It's not
(18:46):
a church because we put a steeple on it.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
It's not a.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Church because it says church on the sign. In fact,
when you say I'm going to church, you're not exactly correct.
You are bringing the church to a bill because that's
what you are.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
You are a carrier of the presence.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Of Almighty God. Jacob is so funny to me. God
is here and I didn't know it.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
How can you miss God?
Speaker 2 (19:23):
How can God be in the actual place and you
didn't see it? But he could only see it when
he was asleep, and then he woke up to see
what God was doing all along. That purpose is determined
before it is discover he wakes up, okay, because remember
(19:44):
we got a rock and Jacob makes it a pillow.
So he is repurposing the rock to make it a pillow.
It's not exactly a temper pedic, but it will work.
Sometimes you can't be picky. Sometimes gotta take whatever you got.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
It's not my favorite song, but I'm gonna worship.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
To it anyway, because I don't need my favorite song
to worship God.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
It'll work. It'll work.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
It's not a lot of money, but I'm gonna make
it work. Okay, my husband isn't exactly okay, then we're
gonna skip that part. And he says, this will work,
this will work, And when he lays down, I'm gonna
do this for you. I'm gonna demonstrate this for you.
Not many preachers would go to this extent to bring
the point across. But if I gotta lay down on this,
(20:31):
this monitor to show you what Jacob did and the
situation he was in.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
I will lay down on this monitor that's not even comfortable,
not even kind of comfortable.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
But it'll work. It'll work, it'll work, and he sees
some way. He sleeps and he wakes up and he goes, well,
that was awesome, that was amazing.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
This is the house of God.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Well, first, the Bible says he was afraid because fear
is the flip side of faith. Fear is what you
feel that enables you to open yourself to faith.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Fear is the sensation that leads you to something greater
than yourself, that causes you to have faith that God
is greater.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
So first he was afraid. Then he was excited and
he said this is awesome, this is awesome. Wow, this
is lit. He would have said it who.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
That's what Moses said it to burning bush.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Now this is the house of God.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Remember Now he took some oil, rubbed it on the
rock and said, this is the house of God.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Pointing at the rock.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
God doesn't live in a rock, except that one verse
that says that if we don't praise him, the rocks
will cry out.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
See God can show up anywhere. That's the point.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
The point is he took some oil is symbolic of
the Holy Spirit, of the joy of the Lord. But
it's also when something special was being consecrated, like a
king or a priest, they would pour oil on it.
It was a part of the consecration. And the rock
is something common. And so Jacob consecrates something that is
common and says, this is the house of God, pointing
(22:49):
at a rock.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
This is where God lives. No, he doesn't. God doesn't
live in a rock, but he can't. He can't notice this.
When Jacob says this is the gate of heaven. He
didn't say that because God said it. God didn't say
this is the gate of heaven. Jacob said, this is
(23:11):
the gate of heaven.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
So apparently I have the ability to be in a
common situation. You hear me an uncertain situation and put
some oil on it, and put some holy ghost.
Speaker 5 (23:27):
On it, and put some purpose on it. And if
I say it's a gate, it'll be a gate. And
if I say it's a blessing, it'll be a blessing.
And if I say God isn't it, God isn't it.
And if I say it's a church, it'll be a church.
And if I say it's a setup, it is a setup.
(23:50):
And if I say it's an opportunity, it is an opportunity.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Try it out. Somebody shout, this is the gate, this
is the gate. He wakes up, He goes, this is crazy.
This is awesome, this is awesome, this is awesome. It's awesome.
It's awesome something.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
So he takes the rock that he made the pillow,
and he takes the pillow and makes it a pillar.
The rock became the pillow, the pillow became the pillar.
It is what you make of it. If you say
it's a gate, it will be a gate. If you
point to your pain and say, this pain is a
(24:30):
portal to the glory of God, and something that is
going to come through this pain is going to bring
me deeper joy. It will bring the joy of the
Lord into your situation.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
So point to your pain and say, this is the gate.
This is the gate.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
I can look at something that seems so ordinary, a
moment that seems so trivial, a job that I had,
can become the gate.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
If I point at.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
It and annoy it. God didn't call it the gate.
Jacob did, and it became what he called it. This
is the gate. This is the gate. Shout it out.
This is the gate.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
This is the.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Moment, this is the time, this is the season, this
is the day that the Lord has made.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
I will rejoice and be glad in it.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
If the enemy had his way, I'd be so focused
on tomorrow and what it holds that I would miss
the provision of the strength that God wants to bring
while I am.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
In in Bethel. But this is the gate. This is
I'm sorry, y'all. I just thowt some made me laugh.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
I pictured you're going to work, and I pictured the
person that annoys you so much coming up to you,
and I picture you not saying it out loud, but
just smirk a little bit and say to yourself, this
is the gate. Because God is gonna use the people
that I can't stand to make me patient. You've been
praying for patience. It's gonna come through the gate of Pete.
(26:12):
You know, Pete at work, Pete with the bad breath,
Pete who takes all the credit.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Pete is the gate.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
He missed the whole point too, He missed the whole point.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
This is the gate. I'm gonna come back here.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
God, if you bless me if you give me a car,
and if you watch over me. He's trying to negotiate
something God already told him he was gonna do. Anyway,
One time, Pastor Mickey took me to visit a businessman
and I was asking him for money because I wanted
to bring in some preachers for the Fellowship of Christian.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Athletes for our high school.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
And he taught me something as a seventeen year old.
Because Eugene Oliver started writing the check and I had
only said three words, we're trying to and he said
how much.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
The first thing I didn't know is put a few
more zeros on it. If somebody asked that question. Because
I asked him for five hundred dollars, I wish I
would go back.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
But while he was writing the check, I kept talking,
we're gonna take the money we're gonna use, and Pastor
Mickey put his hand on my LIGs.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
It squeezed me. He looked at me. He didn't say
anything till we got out of there.
Speaker 6 (27:24):
He said, I'm gonna teach you something right now when
he's writing the check.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Shut up, shut up.
Speaker 6 (27:41):
I don't know, but maybe you could look at your
neighbor and say, shut up, it's already done.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
It's already done.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Trying to strike a bargain with God, who already said
he'd be with you. Well, if you will, then uh will?
God is not an if then God. The promises of
God are yes and amen. He's already done. That's what
he saw sleeping on that rock. This is the game,
so it means I can go into any situation, even
(28:19):
the uncomfortable ones. Isn't it crazy that God used the
place of Jacob's discomfort to give him his greatest revelation.
Don't you think that seventy seven year old man woke
up with a sore neck after sleeping on a rock,
But he said, it's awesome not because of how it felt,
but because.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Of what I saw.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Not because of what I felt, but because of who
I know.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
This is awesome this place. How awesome is this place?
You know? You can say that anywhere, not just in Hawaii, right,
not just in church. This is the game and it's.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
The gate because I gave it a purpose. Purpose is
what allows you to see that. Let me say it
like this, In every place there is a purpose. In
every place, there is a purpose. But before it is discovered.
It must be determined, and God will allow you to
determine the purpose of the place you're in. So you
(29:23):
can simply survive it, or you can be strengthened by it.
You can resent it, or you can be like John
who on the island of Patmos wrote the Book of Revelation.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
You decide the purpose for the place.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Is this going to be the place where you become
bitter and lay down and die from your disappointment, or
is this going to be the place that you discover
a dream, a deeper source to drink from all the
good grasses in the valley. You can only get strength
from certain places. This is something that Jacob could not
(30:02):
get anywhere else but here in this place. The Lord
is in this place. Remember he still got four hundred
and ninety miles to go before he gets to his destination.
But the Lord is in this place. It means that
he is with me on the way. He's with me
(30:23):
on the way, and any time I want to, I
can open a gate to the revelation of his goodness.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
This is the gate.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
Difficult time with your teenagers, I get it.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
This is the gate. This is the gate. They got
quiet on that one. I must have hit a nerve.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Just just walk around pointing to stuff, winking and stuff.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
This is the gate. Make it a gate, Make it
a gate, Make it a gate this season. This is
the gate. I'm not waiting this is the gate.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
I'm not waiting for a relationship before I feel significant.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
This is the gate.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
I'm made in the image of God, all by myself.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
This is the cat. This is the season. This is
the time. That's just the year. Now when I'm.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Forty five, not when I get the debt paid out.
This is the day I will rejoice anthy glad in.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
It, enter his gates with thanksgiving. You hear this word
God gave me. This is the gate.
Speaker 6 (31:27):
This is the gate, and it is determined before it
is discovered. So Jacob decides, I guess this rock is
as good as any I'm making a monument.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
It was a very common.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Practice, he said, I'll set this up to remember how
God met with me.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Here. After he was sleeping on something.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
That he wasn't supposed to sleep on, After he was
sleeping on something that he wasn't supposed to be sleeping.
Speaker 7 (31:59):
On, after he was sleeping on something. I'm asleep on
this thing. After he was sleeping after he wait a man,
Jesus did this.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
This is not just a Jacob thing. Let me see
if I can find it, Mark four thirty five. I
found it.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
When Jesus was sleeping in something that he wasn't supposed
to be sleeping at.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
And there's a commonality. There's there's a common threat. I
wonder do you see it?
Speaker 2 (32:42):
In verse thirty five, it says that when evening came,
Jacob breasted on the rock when the sun went down.
Jesus is on a boat as evening approaches, and he
said to his disciples, let's go over to the other side.
(33:05):
Next verse, leaving the crowd behind.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
They took him along just as he was in the boat.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
There are also other boats with him. A furious squall,
not a word we often use, just a raging storm
came up and the waves broke over the boat so
that it was nearly swamp. Now we're going to see
a contrast between what Jesus did and what.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
The disciples did.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
Because Jesus, in the middle of a life threatening storm
where the survival of the mission was at stake, was
in the stern.
Speaker 8 (33:48):
Sleeping in the storm. Jesus found a pillow. Somewhere in
that boat he found a pillow, and he laid it,
said down and went to sleep, and the disciples woke him.
The disciples were awakened by their fear, and Jesus was
(34:14):
asleep in his purpose. I'll show you, And they said
to him.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
Don't you care if we tried watch wrong with you?
Don't you care?
Speaker 2 (34:29):
The only way for us to understand the meaning of
this passage is to contrast what they thought with what
he knew.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
But first watch what he did.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
He got up, rebuked the wind for disturbing his rim cycles.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
And said to the waves, shut up, be still.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
I think you need to say that sometimes to your thoughts, Hello,
to your monkey mind, to you're amigdal. Sometimes the most
spiritual thing you can say is shut up. And the
wind died down. It was completely calm. He said to us,
dec that was why he's afraid. He said, no faith,
And they were terrified, like Jacob, because the flip side
(35:16):
of faith is always fear. And they were terrified and
asked each other.
Speaker 1 (35:20):
Who is this? Oh, I thought you knew now.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
It took an uncomfortable situation to show them the revelation
of who was.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
With them all along, and they were not aware. Do
you see it?
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Even the wind and the waves obey him.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Who is this now?
Speaker 2 (35:39):
What started as a storm turned into a sermon, and
Jesus preached who he was, not by what he said,
but by what he did. He took a pillow and
laid his head down because he knew something that they
did not know, that in every purpose there is a promise.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Every purpose there is a promise. I will not leave.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
You until I have accomplished everything that I have created you.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
For in every purpose there is a problem. In every
place there is a purpose. But in every purpose there
is a promise.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
Because this is Mark chapter four, And in Mark chapter five,
Jesus is going to meet a man who is possessed
with so many demons that he simply calls himself legion,
which means many, so overcome by issues and oppression that
he doesn't even know his identity anymore. And he'll meet
the man and free the man, and cast the demons
(36:36):
out of the man, and send the man back into
the capitalists.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
And when the man goes.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
Back into the capitalist to tell the people Mark five
twenty how much the Lord has done for him. The
Gospel enters a whole new region, and the mission is born.
That was pronounced in Genesis when God told Jacob, I'm
gonna bless the whole earth through you.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
That happened in Mark chapter So.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
What Jesus knew was I can't drown in Mark chapter four.
So I'm gonna get a pillow because I got a promise.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
You hear me, Church, I might.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Be lying down, but that doesn't mean I'm not preaching. Heart.
When you've got a promise from God, let me tell
you what to do when God gives you a promise.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
How many of you have a promise.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
From God and you really believe it that He will
be with you?
Speaker 1 (37:39):
Come on, how many of you have to promise from God?
Speaker 2 (37:41):
How many of you have a promise from God that.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
He will not fail you? When you've got a promise,
let me show you what to do.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
When you got a promise, sleep on it, Touch the
person next you.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Sleep on it.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
I'm not going to stress about it. I'm not gonna
weep about it. I'm not gonna expend any more energy
trying to manipulate it. I'm gonna do what Jesus did.
I'm gonna find a pillow because I got a promise,
and I'm about to sleep on it. And while I sleep,
God is strategizing, And while I sleep, the angels are coming.
(38:21):
And while I sleep, the provision is being made. And
while I rest, the promise of God is coming to pass.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
In my situation, this is the game. Come on, three
two one.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
You got a promise, it's your pillow. What good is
the promise if you're not gonna believe it. When you
got a promise from God, you can rest your soul
and rest your and rest assord that in every purpose
(39:04):
there is a promise.
Speaker 9 (39:07):
And he said in Mark four thirty five, let us
go to the other side. It was the proof that
we cannot die in the storm because there is a
purpose on the other side. How I make it through
(39:29):
this season, in this storm, in this valley.
Speaker 6 (39:32):
Is that I know there's something on the other side.
Every valley is between two mountains, there is something on
the other side.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
Sleep on it.
Speaker 6 (39:48):
Sleep on it. Gostor cares upon him. He cares for
you to sleep on it. I feel so awkward up
here showing how Jesus was the promise.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
A pillow and the promise. Hey, you know what, I
just realized I'm He wasn't sleeping on a pillow. He
was sleeping on purpose.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
He knew that no matter what storm I go through,
no matter what season I'm in, the purpose of God
will prevail.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
Sleep on it. Sleep on it.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
Therefore, since we have this promise of entering into His rest,
let us.
Speaker 1 (40:41):
Take heed that we do not fall short of it.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
There is a purpose that produces rest, and there is
a promise that produces peace.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
To sleep on it. It was a rock, it became
a pillow. It was a pillow, it became a pillar.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
And what you're going through right now is going to
be the foundation of the revelation of who God really is.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
Sleep on it.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
Sleep on it, and I'll give you the ground you're
lying on, and I will not leave you nor forsake
you until I have done everything I promised you. I
can lay my head on that, I can bang my
life on that I can trust my children to God,
(41:36):
knowing that.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
The Lord is in this place, the storm, the valley,
the wilderness, this place.
Speaker 6 (41:51):
We all have those places in our lives where we're
passing through and we wonder what is the purpose of this?
Speaker 1 (41:58):
But faith declares what Jacob declared. Surely the Lord is
in this place, and I I was not aware, but
now I am. I see it now. Thank you for
joining us.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
You can click the link in the description to give
now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more
information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
share it on your social stories and tag us at
Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (42:40):
Thanks again for listening. God bless you
Host
Steven Furtick
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