Back to Bethel

Genesis chapter 28. To all of our first time guests, again, we say thank you. Thank you for being here. Jacob at a very pivotal moment of his life. We walk into a story that if you've been around church, Sunday school for any length of time, you may have heard this story. But for those of you that haven't, I always want to be reminded there may be someone here today that you have never heard this story. It will be where I will launch from today. I do feel the Lord is going to speak. And Jacob went out from Beerseba and went toward Haron. He lighted upon a certain place and terried there. Somebody say all night. All night. because the sun was set. And he took of the stones of that place and put them for his pillows and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed and beheld a ladder set up on the earth. And the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God ascending and descending upon 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 the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places, whether 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." And Jacob awakened out of his sleep and he said, "Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not." And he was afraid and said, "How dreadful is this place. This is none other but the house of God and this is the gate of heaven." And Jacob arose early in the morning, took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethl, but the name of that city was called Lo at the first. I want to preach for a little bit this morning on this subject. Back to Bethl. Back to Bethl. I want you just to let that sink into your spirit. It may not it may not feel any certain way or it may not seem relevant now but before we leave something will be spoken and God's going to take some of us back to Bethl in this house today would you pray one more time father in the name which is above every name I speak to every attentive heart and I ask God that your spirit would move and minister right now that you would move and have your perfect way. I cannot do what you have tasked me to do, but God, I I am being led by your spirit this morning to minister and speak in Jesus name we pray. And everybody say amen. If you're excited to be in the house of the Lord, clap your hands one more time and you may be seated. I pray that you will not allow that seat to hold you too comfortable. If you feel like standing, stand. You feel like shouting, shout. Amenss are appropriate. Run in the aisles are appropriate as well. Does not matter. But today, God wants to speak to our hearts and minister to our lives. There are places in life that you never forget. Not because of the not because of the scenery, not because of the people, but there are just certain places that you can't forget because God met you there. Can you go back in your in your mind? I still remember, and I know this may seem I I still remember that single wide trailer that I met this gorgeous, beautiful lady that's sitting on the front row today. I still remember that trailer that I met her as she walked out to meet this little scrawny, skinny boy that was in desperate need of a wife. I I feel like that was a God moment. I remember that moment. I remember that moment because it would set the trajectory for the rest of my life. There are moments in your life where you can go back and you can point and you can say, "God met me there." Does anybody have that testimony today? God met me there. I know it was God. I know it was the God orchestrated the events. God allowed me to to go this direction when I could have went that direction. God allowed me to to go into Home Depot in Huntsville, Alabama, Brother Kenny, and meet my son and the pieces of the puzzle would be connected and you would end up at this house. It's not by accident that God orchestrates the affairs of our life. And we look back now and we look back years from now and many of you today are going to have these words said out of your mouth. God met me there in that seat at that altar in that song in that message in that altar call. There was a meeting place between you and God. Jacob had such a place. Bethl. Bethl means house of God. But I want to suggest something deeper this morning. Bethl is not just a location. Bethl is a spiritual condition. It's where heaven touches earth. It's where man meets God and is never the same. But here when I read this and as I read this and struggled with this Jacob didn't just go to Bethl once, he had to go back. And that's where I feel in the Holy Ghost today as I as I lead according to his spirit that revival lives. uh not in the initial occurrence, but it's in the frequent visitation to the place uh to the moment uh to the spirit of God that changes you forever. Uh and what I feel for this service today is that we cannot just be satisfied uh with one trip to Bethl. We cannot be satisfied uh with just feeling the presence of God uh on a Sunday morning. Uh but there is something that I'm calling for deep within the reservoir of your spirit. Uh and it's something revelatory. Uh and that's when you go back to Bethl. When you go back to Bethl, you see that first Bethl experience. It was an unexpected encounter. And many of you sit here today and you say, "I didn't expect this. I've never been to a church like this." or I I I didn't expect to feel what I felt and I didn't expect the love that I feel and I sure didn't expect the spirit that I felt today. Well, welcome to the family of God. This is just not a one-time encounter. You see, Jacob is not on a spiritual retreat, if you will. Jacob is on the run. Running from Esau, running from consequences, uh running from guilt, uh running with fear, and he lays down with a stone for a pillow. This is not a man looking for revival. This is a man that is just seeking just mere survival. While Jacob sleeps, God speaks. He sees a ladder stretching northward, earth to heaven, angels ascending and descending, and God standing above that ladder. And Jacob would awaken from this deep sleep and say, "Surely the Lord is in this place." And I knew it not. I want you to let that just settle in your spirit. God was there before Jacob ever recognized him. God was present in Jacob's lowest moment. I don't know who needs to hear this this morning. Uh, but I've just come in a prophetic realm of the spirit uh to let you know God will meet you in your mess. Uh, not in your maturity. Uh, God will meet you where you're at. Uh, you don't have to get good to get God. Uh, you don't have to cross all the the tees and dot every eye to get the attention of heaven. You don't got to show up right where you are. I'm glad I serve a God that will meet me where I'm at. He will meet me, Brother Weaver, right where I'm at. I know I I know some may teach or believe that you got to get good. No, no, no, no. He will reach into the myy clay and pull you up and say, "I've got a rock for you to stand on. I'll meet you right where you are. I come against the lies of hell that will speak defeat into your mind and defeat into your It may be messy right now, but there is a miracle on the way. You may not can explain it right now, but there is a ladder that God would reveal to Jacob. It's not just imagery. It's not just some allegory. It's a revelation. It's a revelation that Jacob had to experience. What did that latter mean? The latter didn't go from heaven to earth. I don't know if you read that. The ladder went from earth to heaven. And what it let me know, heaven's not closed to us. Heaven's not close. Heaven's not close to who we are. And God is not distant. There is an access uh between God and man. You know, you want to know what that access is? Uh the man Christ Jesus uh the one who robed himself in flesh. Uh dead died and bled for our redemption. Uh and he said uh I will send my spirit unto you. Uh I will come to you and I will fill you. I will bridge the gap. Heaven's not closed today, church. I say the Holy Ghost is still being poured out. God's got your name already ready to be written in the lamb's book of life. Uh heaven's I feel like telling somebody, you've not gone too far. You've not sinned too much. The grace of God is still available. There is access. You've got access today. It's in this moment Jacob responds with a vow. He said these words, "If God will be with me, then shall the Lord be my God." Now, and I want you to notice this as I read this. I see a man trying to put parameters on his allegiance to God. If God, you do this, then I will do that. In other words, what Jacob and what what I what I got out of this, as long as there's an if in your vocabulary, as long as there's parameters on God, God, if you do this, I'll do that. God, if if is not full surrender. If is not full trust. That is transactional faith. God, if you do this, I'll follow you. God, if you do this, I'll serve you. But if we would be all honest today in this house, we've all lived at that address. We love his presence. We want his promises, but we still want to hold on to control. Yeah. You see, the first encounter at Bethl was an encounter as great and as revelatory as it was, it was an encounter without surrender. That's good. And and then when I saw this and I'm like, Lord, as I was, brother Zach and I were cutting the grass and weeding and doing all this stuff around the church late yesterday afternoon, I said, God, I got to have a word for this people today. It felt like the heavens were brass. And as sure as I'm sitting there standing, he said, "My people need to return to Bethl." And I'm like, "Oh my goodness, what in the" I started thinking and I said, "Lord, you're going to have to take me to the scripture." I started reading and when I began to peel the layers back. The reason that Jacob had to go back to Bethl because Jacob sets up a stone and here's what he does. He builds a pillar and not an altar. Help me right now, Holy Ghost. Jacob sets up a stone and he marks the moment. He even names the place, but there is no sacrifice. He commemorates the encounter, but there's no consecration of himself. Because if you look at the moments after that, you will see a life of great mixture. Uh and this is where most people live is the space between Bethl experiences. Uh we can mark the encounter. We can mark the place. Uh we can tell you when this happened and God did that. But what happened after that? Because Jacob leaves Bethl. He enters years and if you did a private Bible study it would do you great justice. uh he began with the manipulation of Laban. He began to strive for blessing and family dysfunction would continue partial obedience until God blesses him. Even in all of the manipulation and all the striving and all the family dysfunction and all the partial obedience, I look and I see God still blessed him. And I know this is going to mess with your theology today, but I've come to I've come to prod you in the spirit. You can be blessed and still not be fully surrendered. You can be prosperous and not be transformed because Jacob had wealth and Jacob had a family and Jacob had increase but he still had idols in his house. I said Jacob still had idols in his house. Uh, and I stand firmly today. Uh, it's possible that we've had a Bethl experience, uh, but never a Bethl transformation where we say, I'm clearing out the idols of my life. Uh, I'm clearing my priorities. Uh, I'm establishing something that would let God know he's first in my life. There is no little G's in my life. Uh, there is no pride. There is no arrogance. Uh there is no envy, there is no strife. Uh there is no malice, there is no offense. Uh I'm talking about true transformation. I believe that's where God's calling us today in this house. Uh it is not God's will for you to just live with just an experience with God. God is more concerned with your transformation. I told our recovery I c I told our recovery director this week who is doing a phenomenal job brother Kenny in recovery good in recovery and those of you that have been going to recovery recovery is good but it's not the will of God for us to have an experience at recovery it's the will of God to for us to have transformation at recovery we're not here to nurse our issues nurse our pain and nurse our s. No, no, no, no. God is calling us to a new life in him. He's calling us into a deliverance in him where we're not struggling with those things that have held us captive. We're not just dealing, well, that's just life, pastor. That's just something that's just No, no, no, no. I believe that when you receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost, you are a new creature in Christ. You're not walking around limping through life per se, trying to struggle with this and no. No, sir. No, ma'am. You are a new creature in Christ. Yes, I had an experience, but God, I want a transformation of your power in my life. I want a transformation of power. I can't let this day go by. I can't let this day go by and be content with just an experience. I can't do it. Well, I felt God. What happened on the inside? Well, I felt chill bump. Well, you can feel that at a ball game. Come on, somebody. You You can feel you get a pay raise. You might get a goosebump. I'm not talking about that kind of I'm talking about not only an experience with God but oh God I'm hungry for transformation. I don't want to be the same old man that I was uh yesterday but I want to grow into your image. I want to grow into your likeness. I want to become what you purposed for me. I want to become that man. I want this to become that church. Yeah, we cannot get complacent in an experience. Well, I go to the sanctuary. Check. I sing into praise team. Check. You can sing in a praise team and backslide. You can serve in ministry and still. Come on, somebody. But there's got to be something in us that causes us to wake up to realize I can't be satisfied with just an experience with God. I've got to go back to Bethl. I've got to go back and say, "God, I've got to go back until what needs killing is killed. I've got to go back and handle time and again until it's dealt with, until it's in here crucified. I'm crucified with Christ. I'm crucified with Christ. It's so crucified that when people see us, they should say, "Man, there's something different about that person. There's something different about the way he talks. There's something different about the way he walks." Because if you're going to be transformed, it's going to take another trip to Bethl after crisis, after failure, after turmoil. from 28 to chapter 35, God would deal with him and he would God would once again speak and he would be spoken to in verse 35. And God said unto Jacob, "Arise and go up to Bethl and dwell there." I don't want you just to have a Oh, I don't want you just to have a an encounter with me. But could Bethl be a state and a place of literal spiritual habitation that we live from. That when we get to it and God does a work that we literally live from that place. It does something on the inside that I live from. God was saying this to Jacob. This is not a suggestion, Jacob. I'm summoning you. Go back to where I met you. Go back, but don't be the same man this time. And that's what I feel in the spirit this morning. uh that sometimes uh that we get satisfied with just an encounter but we don't stay long enough in his presence that transformation comes and true life changes take place because this is what happened in Jacob's life. Jacob says to his household and this is revelation right here that I don't know that I've ever seen this quite like this. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, "Put away the strange gods that are among you. be clean and change your garments. And let us arise and go up to Bethl. And I will make there an altar, not a pillar, an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods that were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears. And Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Sheikum. And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about unto about them. And they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. So Jacob came to L, which is in the land of Canaan, that is Bethl, and he and all the people that were with him, and he built there an altar and called the place Elbethl, because there God appeared unto him when he fled from the face of his brother. Now, let me dissect that. When God would speak to Jacob the second time and God would instruct him to go to Bethl, there was something tied to the command that Jacob knew that I've got to deal with. And this is where transformation takes place is when God speaks, we respond with what we know to do. Yeah, because once you have an encounter with God and once you understand the word of God and you understand the principles of this holy and righteous God, it's amazing what repentance will produce in your life. A pastor doesn't really have to tell you much when you get the Holy Ghost inside. You don't have to have a list of dos and don'ts when you get the you're Now, we do we have standards and we have convictions and and I teach them and we applied them spiritually. But I'm telling you that before the Holy Ghost ever was given unto men and to indwell us, uh, there was a spirit of God that still moved upon men and put them and and thrusted them toward holiness and righteousness. And the first thing I cannot go back to where I had an encounter with God. I cannot go to that sacred place living the way that I have lived. God met him where he was. But in order to be transformed, there were some things he had to do. First thing he had to do was put away strange gods. First thing, second, he had to be clean. Third thing he had to do was change their garments. It's amazing to me that when you get the Holy Ghost and God starts inhabiting this vessel, you understand that you are the temple of the Holy Ghost. And there's just some things you don't put on. There's just some things you don't wear. There's just some places we don't go. This is old testament principle but new testament revelation that when his spirit indwells us uh that there is some things we consecrate unto him we do it because we're going to battle we're going to a holy place uh an encounter and a transformation place that I can't carry these gods with me into that place this is words everybody okay strange gods, cleanliness, garments, they had to be changed. So that lets me know he was doing some things he shouldn't have been doing. He had some things in his closet he needed to get rid of. There was a life he was living that he knew he shouldn't. And God would send his spirit to convict him. And what' they do? They said, "Bring me all your trinkets. Bring me all your earrings. Bring me all bring me everything that you know that's not pleasing unto God. We're going to bury that junk. We're going to put it under the tree because where we're going, we don't need that stuff. Where we're going, he is our provider. Where he's going, he is our supplier. Where we're going, this God that's kept me and provided for me. I don't need none of that. I don't need anything to prop the pride of this flesh up. I just need him. And here is the principle that I want to help you with. This did not happen the first time he went to Bethl. And here's where I want to help somebody. Did you know transformation is a process? I had an encounter and a lot of life in between. I had an encounter and I know it's real, but there's a lot of life in between. But sooner or later, God gets your attention. Said, "Okay, boy. Come on home. Okay, girl. Come on. Get back in. You know where you belong. And in the journey, there is some things you will lose. In the in the journey, there is some things you're going to have to bury because the first encounter revealed God, but time exposes what was still in Jacob. Revival always demands removal. You cannot pursue God and stay where you've been. You cannot step into a life of blessing, a life of transformation, and try to hold on to who you once were. That's why there's some friends you're going to have to say, "I love you, but I got to leave you. I I can't go and do and I can't become who I desire to become in Christ and still do what I've always done." You cannot carry idols and host God's presence because you may fool man but you can't fool him. You may fool everybody else in the same but you can't fool God. This time in Jacob's life is something that was transformative. The first time was a pillar but the second time was an altar. That altar meant death. That altar meant surrender. That altar meant sacrificed. God is not impressed with our memory of our encounter that happened 20 or 30 years ago. He's not impressed. He's not impressed what happened at youth camp or youth congress camp meetings. No, no, no. What what our God's looking for, he's looking for our surrender in the present. A pillar says God met me. But an altar says God has me. When I build an altar, he's saying, "God, you've got me. There's nothing I won't lay on that altar. There's nothing I won't surrender on that altar." At Bethl, God declared again what he had already declared previously. "Your name is Israel. You're not Jacob. are not the deceiver, but you are Israel. You are a prince with God. Between the two declarations, there was a lot of life. And I've come to prophesy over somebody. I know it's been a long time since you felt his spirit. I know it's been a long time since you've had an encounter with God. But the same God that spoke prophetically over you as a young man or a young woman is the same God that's going to meet you uh right where you are in your mess in your in between seasons uh and remind you you're not who the enemy says you are. You're not what the world may try to label you. You are a man of God. You are a woman of God. You're not Jacob. You are Israel. You got favor. You're a prince with God. Wake up to your full potential. [panting] Wake up to who you really are in him because when you do, you're going to re the revelation of the power will happen. The first Bethl revealed God, but the second Bethl revealed who Jacob really was. You don't discover your identity in comfort. You don't discover your identity in comfort. Brother Tim, you discover your identity in consecration. That's that's when you when you say no to this flesh, you push that plate back. You come by the church and you pray. you get involved in the kingdom of God. If there's something going on, I want to be there. I I I want to be connected to what God's doing. I want to be engaged. That's where you discovered in consecration. I'm on a mission today, church. I'm not incognito. I'm I'm I'm coming full force for you. God will meet you where you are, but God will never leave you. Let me say it like this. God will meet you where you are, but you won't leave. He won't leave you there. [panting] God will meet you where you are, but he won't leave you there. I felt this so strong in prayer last night and this morning. The first Bethl proves his grace, but the second Bethl proves his transformation. I'm happy for the grace of God, but I can't I can't I I got to move on to I I've got to move on in maturity. I've got to move on in consecration. I've got to move on into transformation. I like what one writer said, encounters are in encounters are invitations, not conclusions. The moment you felt God at an altar, in a room, in a closet, in a service, wherever that was, that wasn't the finish line. That was the invitation. Come closer. Well, pastor, I believed. Well, he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. I received the Holy I was baptized in Jesus name as a kid. But have you got the Holy Ghost? Well, well, I believe. Do you have the Holy Ghost? Do you have the quickening power of God living on the inside of you? Delayed obedience still requires return. Jacob delayed, but God still called him back. Some of you right now, God sent you. You've been in delay mode. You've been circling. You've been pondering. You've been praying. You've been asking God, "Where do I go? What do I do? Who where do I need to land? What what do I God said, I've brought you to this place because I'm calling you back because somebody needs hope. There is a generational blessing connected to you. You're here today, but where's your family? You're here. Where's your brothers? Where's your sisters? Where's your Where's your nieces and where's your nephews? Where's those family members that are looking today for hope? They've had an encounter, but where are they today? They had an experience, but life happened. Hurt happened. I've come I've come by his spirit to tell you it's not too late to go back to Bethl. It's not too late to come to an altar. Revival is more than an experience. Revival is a return. return to your first love. Come on. Come on, church. Come on, church. In the book of Revelation, revival is not hype. It's return. It's return from the heart. I'm not seeing how much I can do and get away with. I want to be more like him. I'm not trying to live so close to the world and appease my flesh. I want to live so close to him that I'll sacrifice and I'll give and I'll be and become who he designed me to be. How does an individual sit where you are and go back to Bethl? Musicians come. What gives you hope? How do you go back to Bethl? I sat and I asked the Lord last night. I said, "God, I don't know who's going to be here. I don't know who you're going to send under the sound of my voice. I don't know who needs this." But how does someone in the in between seasons go back to Bethl? And I do feel like the Lord gave me a a direct word to speak. He said, "Tell my people recognized where you drifted. Where did your zeal or where did your fire cool off? Where did your prayer life lose its fervor? Where did your passion begin to wayne? Where did your involvement in the kingdom begin to become questionable? Recognize where you drifted. Number two, how do you go back to Bethl? You got to remove the idols. I'm not talking about statues. I'm not talking about some pretty figure, you know, some figurine. No, if you need you probably if you got one of them, you probably do need to get rid of it. You Buddha don't need to be in your living room. But but but what if an idol looks like this in your life? What if priorities have been misaligned? What if distractions have caused a season that you don't even know how you got here? But I got distracted, pastor. I I got distracted in just living life. What about if it's hidden compromises? You'll never get back to Bethl trying to hide who you really are. You got to rip the mask off and say, "I've got to remove every idol in my life. I've got to I've got to rip the mask off and say, "It's me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer." If you'll realize and recognize where you drifted, if you'll remove the idols, I'm telling you today, and renew your consecration. You got to move from God, bless me to God, have me, have me, God, have who I am. When you renew that consecration and you renew that place in him, there's going to be an altar that you will construct and build. That means time with God will become a priority. Prayer will no longer be an option. Worship will become your mandate and surrender will be your life. It will become a way of life when you rebuild the altar. Things have changed. You can always look at somebody's life, look at their altar. Their altar would tell you everything you need to know. Long as there's idols, the altar is non-existent. priorities misaligned that alter. No, but the call I've come to give to this great church, it was the call that God gave to Jacob. Arise and go back to Bethl. I'm not talking about go to a physical location. Now, I'm not talking about a physical location. I'm not saying pack your bags up and go where you can't. No, that's not my message. What I am saying is I said in my opening remarks, I believe Bethl is and can be a way of life. Go back and start doing what you know to do. Arise and go back to the place where you had an encounter. And maybe it was just an encounter and you never put the disciplines in your life to form a relationship with God. Maybe you never stayed long enough in his presence to get trans transformed. I'm talking about a trip to Bethl that's not just emotional, not just temporary, but fully. I'm talking about pray till you pray through. I'm How long has it been since you prayed through? till you spoke in other tongues. I'm I'm praying till I surrender my flesh and my will to a higher power. The higher power is Jesus Christ through the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It's what is in me, the hope of glory. Too many live at the first Bethl. You You had an encounter. You had a moment. You had a touch. But I'm calling you deeper today. Others have drifted. You remember what it felt like when and and you could fill in the blanks cuz I started writing. I started remembering when I remember what it was like when I was involved in church. I remember when I was excited to get up and get ready to go to church. I remember what it was like when I worshiped and I knew it was real from my heart. I remember when I showed up to prayer meeting and my goodness, the fire of God was falling. I remember when God's presence was near. I don't know who you are, but there's a call going forth. Arise and come back to Bethl. Arise. Come back. He's calling you home. He's calling you to an altar. He's calling you from the comfortable. He's calling you out of the mundane. There's no happiness where you are. There's no contentment where you sit. There's no contentment in the state of mind. I want you to stand. I don't want to just remember. I don't want to just remember Bethl church. I want to return to Bethl. I don't just want to remember Bethl, but I want to remove any idol. I want to rebuild the altar because the God who met you then is ready to transform you now. Who will it be today? Who will it be? Who will it be?