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Seven Alters of 2026 | Mark Estes

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  1. Praise the Lord. I want to uh get right

  2. down to business this morning because

  3. we've got a lot to cover. I want to look

  4. at the seven altars of 2026.

  5. Uh before we get into that, uh do want

  6. to remind the ladies that there is a

  7. planted women's ministry meeting

  8. Saturday, January 17th, 12 to 2. It's a

  9. free event. You can go by the

  10. information desk, pick up one of these

  11. little uh flyers, and register. Open

  12. your Bibles and turn with me to the U

  13. book of Romans.

  14. Romans chapter 12. And then we're going

    Romans 12 chapter mention

  15. to jump over to Genesis 12.

  16. Romans chapter 12 verse number one. I

    Romans 12 chapter mention

  17. beseech you, therefore, brethren,

  18. get the urgency in Paul's voice. I

  19. beseech you, I urge you, I plead with

  20. you, I beg you.

  21. There's this there's this u such an

  22. urgency like this is not something that

  23. you need to play around with. This is a

  24. time that is so important. I urge you,

  25. beseech you therefore, brethren, by the

  26. mercies of God, that you present your

  27. bodies,

  28. that you present your bodies a living

  29. sacrifice,

  30. holy,

  31. acceptable to God, which is your

  32. reasonable service or your spiritual act

  33. of worship. ship. Present your bodies a

  34. living sacrifice, holy, acceptable, and

  35. that is worship unto the Lord. And then

  36. in Genesis 12,

  37. we're going to start off with verse

  38. number seven. Then the Lord appeared to

  39. Abram and said, to your descendants, I

  40. will give this land, and there he built

  41. an altar to the Lord who appeared to

  42. him. So take a moment, lift your hands.

  43. But before you do, if you want the

  44. notes, and I would I would urge you to

  45. get the notes, 843755-6209.

  46. Text the word notes, download them. At

  47. the end, there's a 7-day prayer plan

  48. because I really want you while you're

  49. going through some of you this 21-day

  50. period, use this as a a focus point so

  51. that you can build those altars. Lift

  52. your hands with me. Pray this prayer

  53. with me. Holy Spirit, open my ears that

  54. I can hear what you have to say. Open my

  55. heart. Make it receptive. I give you

  56. permission to move deep in my life to

  57. form my heart to form my character.

  58. Jesus, have your way in me today. Amen.

  59. Now

  60. 2026 is a year for building altars.

  61. Altars are a place of intentional

  62. encounters with God. And through these

  63. encounters, God advances his purpose,

  64. his covenantal purpose in us. And so

  65. altars in scripture, they're not

  66. beautiful structures. They are decision

  67. points. An altar is a decision point.

  68. And so an altar marks a moment where

  69. heaven interrupts earth where God

  70. reveals himself and man in turn responds

  71. with worship, with obedience and with

  72. surrender. So if you follow the life of

  73. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you will

  74. discover seven altars that scripture

  75. records.

  76. Seven throughout the Bible signifies

  77. completion. It signifies fullness. It

  78. signifies a divine order. Seven days God

  79. created the heavens and the earth. Um,

  80. these altars chart a spiritual formation

  81. of the covenant people. Abraham teaches

  82. us how we are to respond to revelation.

  83. Isaac teaches us how we remain faithful

  84. and how we continue in the covenant. And

  85. then Jacob teaches us how we can be

  86. transformed and how we can be restored.

  87. So the word altar in Hebrew comes from

  88. the root which means to slaughter or to

  89. sacrifice. So what it really means is an

  90. altar is a place of surrender. It is

  91. where something is laid down so that

  92. fellowship with God can be established.

  93. So an altar always involves three

  94. things. An altar always involves cost.

  95. David said when he was going to offer,

  96. he said, "I will not offer anything to

  97. the Lord that cost me nothing."

  98. Altars always involve obedience. When

  99. you build an altar, you sacrifice on

  100. that altar, you are saying, "God, I am

  101. obeying you." And then altars involve

  102. always involve alignment. I am aligning

  103. my purpose with the revelation of God.

  104. So that first altar that I want to look

  105. at is in Genesis 12:7 where Abraham

    Genesis 12:7

  106. builds an altar to the Lord. And it is

  107. an altar of revelation in Genesis 12

  108. beginning with verse number one. Now the

  109. Lord said to Abram, "Get out of your

  110. country, from your family, and from your

  111. father's house to a land that I will

  112. show you, and I will make you a great

  113. nation. I will bless you and I will make

  114. your name great. How many want a word

  115. like that?

  116. Wow. And then he went on to say, "And

  117. you shall be a blessing, and I will

  118. bless those who bless you, and I will

  119. curse him who curses you, and in you all

  120. the families of the earth shall be

  121. blessed." So Abram departed as the Lord

  122. had spoken to him. And Lot went with

  123. him. And Abram was 75 years old when he

  124. departed from Heran. And then Abram took

  125. Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's

  126. son, and all their possessions that they

  127. had gathered, and the people whom they

  128. had acquired in Heron, and they departed

  129. to go to the land of Canaan. So they

  130. came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed

  131. through the land to the place of

  132. Sheckchham as far as the terab trees of

  133. Mora. And the Canaanites were there were

  134. in the land. And the Lord appeared to

  135. Abram and said, "To your descendants, I

  136. will give this land." And there he built

  137. an altar to the Lord who appeared to

  138. him. The word appeared in Hebrew

  139. literally means to see. It means to be

  140. seen, to perceive with clarity. So in

  141. this context, God is he is disclosing

  142. himself. He is revealing himself to

  143. Abraham. This is a self-disclosure

  144. from God. He's bringing himself into

  145. clarity. It's not that Abraham is

  146. pursuing God. He's not trying to

  147. discover God. It is the fact that God is

  148. revealing himself to Abram. And so

  149. Abram's relationship with God has moved

  150. in this passage from an indirect calling

  151. where God called him to leave his

  152. country to go to a land that he doesn't

  153. know. He's called him out of the

  154. familiar. And now he has a personal

  155. revelation, a personal encounter with

  156. God. He had previously heard the command

  157. of God, but now he is encountering God

  158. in a deeper covenant confirming way. And

  159. so notice the sequence because that's

  160. really important. God first reveals

  161. himself and then Abraham responds, the

  162. revelation and then the response. The

  163. altar is not built to provoke

  164. revelation.

  165. The altar is constructed because

  166. revelation has already occurred.

  167. >> So this establishes a a a foundational

  168. biblical principle and that is that

  169. revelation precedes worship

  170. because you can't really worship what

  171. you don't know.

  172. Throughout scripture, worship, worship

  173. is never humanity reaching up to

  174. discover God. Worship is humanity

  175. responding to God's gracious, merciful

  176. revelation of himself to man.

  177. So get this in your spirit. Abram does

  178. not build an altar to get a promise.

  179. He builds it because the promise has

  180. already been spoken.

  181. Authentic worship flows from revelation.

  182. It doesn't flow from desperation.

  183. It flows from obedience that deepens.

  184. The more he reveals himself to us, the

  185. clearer he becomes. The more he reveals

  186. himself, the more we obey, the more we

  187. worship.

  188. So in the New Testament, there's this

  189. story about 10 lepers.

  190. These these lepers cried out to Jesus.

  191. Jesus, they said, "Master, have mercy on

  192. us." 10 lepers. And and look at what the

  193. word says because Jesus healed them. He

  194. said, he told him, "Go show yourself to

  195. the priest." In verse 15, it says, "And

  196. one of them, when he saw that he was

  197. healed, returned with a loud voice,

  198. glorified God. And look at he fell down

  199. at his feet. He fell down on his face at

  200. his feet. Now you got to understand

  201. Jesus is the rock.

  202. >> What greater altar is there to bow at?

  203. He fell on his face at his feet giving

  204. him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So

  205. Jesus answered and said, "Were there not

  206. 10 cleansed? But where are the nine?

  207. Where are the nine Hebrews? Where are

  208. the nine Jews that I healed? There's

  209. only one Samaritan. But what happened?

  210. This Samaritan had an encounter with

  211. Jesus. Jesus revealed himself as

  212. Messiah, as the healer. And the leper's

  213. response to that revelation was worship.

  214. I've got to worship him because he

  215. healed me.

  216. >> The second altar I want you to look at

  217. is the altar at Bethl. It's actually

  218. between Bethl and Ai. And it's also an

  219. altar that Abraham built. Abraham built

  220. four altars that I want to look at.

  221. Isaac built one altar that I want to

  222. look at. And then Jacob built two altars

  223. that we'll consider today. So this this

  224. next altar that Abraham built was

  225. between Bethl and Ai. Genesis 12:8.

    Genesis 12:8

  226. All right. So he he immediately moves

  227. when God speaks to him and goes like God

  228. says. He stops and he builds the first

  229. altar. Then the very next verse, I want

  230. you to look at this. He moved from there

  231. where he had previously built that

  232. altar, that first altar, he moved from

  233. there to the mountains east of Bethl.

  234. Bethl means house of God. And he pitched

  235. his tent with Bethl on the west, the

  236. house of God on the west, and Ai on the

  237. east. Ai means ruins, heap of ruins.

  238. Look at this now. There he built an

  239. altar to the Lord and called on the name

  240. of the Lord. Now the key phrase in this

  241. is called on the name of the Lord. He

  242. called on the name that that called on

  243. comes from the Hebrew word and it

  244. carries a sense of calling out of

  245. proclaiming of summoning of declaring.

  246. And he's not whispering a private

  247. prayer. This is not some little now I

  248. lay me down to sleep or oh God bless

  249. this food Lord. This is a prayer that is

  250. that is important. He he is crying out,

  251. declaring, summoning God. And equally

  252. important is the expression he called on

  253. the name of the Lord. In Hebrew, the

  254. word name, it's more than just an

  255. identity. It represents character. It

  256. represents reputation. It represents

  257. authority. And so Abraham is doing more

  258. than having devotions. He is aligning

  259. his life publicly with God's Yahweh's

  260. identity. He is declaring who God is in

  261. a land that is filled with competing

  262. gods.

  263. And that's what you and I need to do

  264. today. We need to build an altar that

  265. declares identity to God in a land that

  266. is in a world, a society, a culture that

  267. has all kind of things competing to be

  268. God. I'm telling you today that that

  269. Buddha is not God. I'm telling you today

  270. that Muhammad is not a prophet or God.

  271. I'm telling you today that there is no

  272. other way. Allah is not God. I'm telling

  273. you today that there is no other way to

  274. get to heaven than through the name of

  275. Jesus, through the blood of the cross of

  276. Calvary and through the empty tomb. If

  277. you want God, then you've got to come to

  278. the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

  279. His name is Jesus. He is Jehovah. He is

  280. Yahweh. He is Lord of Lords.

  281. So now I want you to see this that that

  282. even the geography of where this takes

  283. place reinforces the message. It takes

  284. place between Bethl and Ai. He builds an

  285. altar between the house of God and the

  286. mound of ruin. And so Bethl even the

  287. name Bethl brings about an anticipation

  288. of worship. But Ai is associated with

  289. ruin. It literally means a heap of

  290. ruins. It means ruin. And so the term

  291. the term that it refers to a ruined

  292. mound, a desolated site. It it's already

  293. embedded in the name. This is not

  294. something that happened when Joshua

  295. suffered defeated Ai. It was already

  296. named a mound of ruins. And so the

  297. scripture places Abram's altar between

  298. the house of God and then between a

  299. place that is known for ruin. And so

  300. worship often occurs amid the unresolved

  301. terrain rather than ideal conditions.

  302. >> You need to get this. This altar teaches

  303. us that worship is not only for

  304. destinations. It's not only for

  305. breakthroughs. It's not only for when

  306. you've achieved the victory, but it is

  307. for those in between places, when you're

  308. between the presence, the house of God,

  309. and total ruin. If you go the wrong way,

  310. you go to ruin. You got to get this in

  311. your spirit. This is when worship is

  312. important. As mature believers, we have

  313. to learn to proclaim God's name while

  314. we're still traveling on the way to

  315. breakthrough when all you can see is

  316. ruin ahead of you.

  317. The third altar is the altar at Hebrin

  318. and it's found in Genesis chapter 13.

    Genesis 13 chapter mention

  319. It's another altar that Abraham built in

  320. Genesis 13 verse verse number 18.

  321. Then Abram moved his tent and went and

  322. dwelt by the terab trees of Mamry which

  323. are in Hebrin and he built an altar

  324. there to the Lord. Now Abram builds an

  325. altar immediately after the separation

  326. with his nephew Lot. Immediately. You

  327. know the story. Uh their their herdsmen

  328. are quarreling together. their their

  329. flocks are too large for the land and so

  330. they need to separate. And so Abram

  331. gives his nephew the choice of the land.

  332. And Lot chooses the fertile plains of

  333. Sodom. He chooses the easy place. Now

  334. Abram builds an altar immediately after

  335. Lot separates from him and the renewal

  336. and and there's a there's an expansion

  337. that God speaks to I'm going to bless

  338. you. Everything you see, I'm going to

  339. give to you. So, here's the pattern.

  340. When Abram chose to do the right thing

  341. and to walk in peace, not being feeling

  342. some kind of way because his nephew

  343. chose the best ground. His nephew chose

  344. the easy way. He could have gotten

  345. upset. He could have had hard feelings.

  346. He could have become bitter. No, he

  347. chose the way of peace. He chose to walk

  348. in peace. And so when he did, the

  349. revelation got even clearer. And once

  350. God made that promise clear, worship was

  351. what naturally flowed out of his heart.

  352. You see, Lot took all the easy way. But

  353. God said, Abram, come up to this

  354. mountain and everything you see, I'm

  355. giving it to you. Do you get this now?

  356. So the phrase moved his tent. After

  357. this, Abram moved his tent. It's more

  358. than just travel detail. God's just not

  359. filling up space by telling you little

  360. details about where Abram went. It

  361. signals Abram's identity as a souljourer

  362. as a and as a worshshiper. You

  363. understand that you're not a citizen of

  364. this earth. Your citizenship is in

  365. heaven. We're just passing through this

  366. place. our citizenship is we're just a

  367. souljourner on our way to Canaan land.

  368. And so he's not building permanent

  369. secure. We want permanent security.

  370. We want but God but what Abram was doing

  371. was cultivating permanent communion.

  372. That was more important. And so his

  373. altar

  374. his tent, there's a pattern here. Tent

  375. and altar. Tent and altar. It shows a

  376. life that is lived before God. Abram is

  377. not tied down to the world's idea of

  378. security or settling in as if this were

  379. home.

  380. If you're uncomfortable, that's a good

  381. thing. This is not your house. If you're

  382. not satisfied, that's a good thing. We

  383. have a better home for us in heaven.

  384. >> So after Abraham chooses peace, after he

  385. releases

  386. rivalry,

  387. he steps into a new level of relational

  388. closeness with God.

  389. Some altars are not built in crisis.

  390. They're built in maturity.

  391. When you release what you could fight

  392. for and you choose the way of peace.

  393. You see, obedience does not shrink your

  394. life. It expands the promise and it

  395. deepens your fellowship.

  396. The fourth altar that Abram built is the

  397. altar of surrender and it's found in

  398. Genesis

  399. 22

  400. verse number N. Then he came to the

  401. place of which the Lord told him. And

  402. Abraham built an altar there. And he

  403. placed the wood in order. And he bowed

  404. Isaac his son and laid him on the altar

  405. upon the wood. So this altar it this

  406. language is is built on testing and

  407. provision. Testing and provision. So in

  408. Genesis 22:1, it came to pass after

    Genesis 22:1

  409. these things that God tested Abraham and

  410. said to him,"Abraham," and he said,

  411. "Here I am." So he was testing him. And

  412. so that word to test literally means to

  413. prove, to test, to prove. And so the

  414. point is, it's not that God needed

  415. information. God wasn't looking for

  416. something. He already knew something.

  417. You understand? The test proved the

  418. reality of Abraham's fear of God. It was

  419. his fear of God, his reverence for God,

  420. that brought his faith into public

  421. evidence.

  422. When God said, "I want you to give me

  423. your son, your only son, Isaac, and I

  424. want you to sacrifice him."

  425. That was it was the fear of the Lord

  426. that caused Abraham to move toward

  427. Mariah so he could offer Isaac in

  428. sacrifice. He was willing to give up the

  429. thing that he most cherished.

  430. Some of you have been fighting against

  431. building your altar because you don't

  432. want to give it up.

  433. You love the relationship too much. You

  434. love the thing too much. You love the

  435. place too much. you love the the

  436. affluence of or the uh the notoriety of

  437. men, the favor of man too much. But

  438. Abraham names the place the Lord will

  439. provide. Jehovah Gyra, the Lord will

  440. provide. And so Genesis uh 22 tells us

  441. that it uses that word provide. The Lord

  442. will provide. In Hebrew, it literally

  443. means to see.

  444. The word provide means to see. And so in

  445. scripture, when God sees,

  446. when God sees, it means he sees to it.

  447. When God sees, he sees to it. And so he

  448. steps in at this point as Jehovah Gyra.

  449. And he supplies what is needed. When God

  450. sees that Abraham is willing to offer

  451. his son and he raises his hand with a

  452. knife to take his life and offer him as

  453. a sacrifice, the Lord says, "No, stop."

  454. And then there's a ram that's caught in

  455. the thicket. And that ram is taken and

  456. offered as a sacrifice. God sees the

  457. fear of the Lord and the faith in

  458. Abraham and he provides the lamb. You

  459. got to get this now because this altar

  460. establishes a pattern of substitution.

  461. Isaac is spared and the ram is offered

  462. in his place. And so God makes it clear

  463. that that something else can stand where

  464. judgment would fall. Don't you get this?

  465. You deserve judgment. I deserve

  466. judgment. But God sees us. He sees our

  467. fear of the Lord. He sees our heart of

  468. repentance. and he provided a lamb.

  469. >> So the this points toward the heart of

  470. the gospel.

  471. God provides a substitute for his

  472. people. What began on Mount Mariah finds

  473. its fulfillment in Jesus, the lamb of

  474. God who is slain from the foundation of

  475. the world. He takes away the sin of the

  476. world. John said, "Behold the lamb who

  477. takes away the sin of the world." Isaiah

  478. said he was wounded for our

  479. transgressions, bruised for our

  480. iniquity, bore the chastisement of our

  481. peace, and by his stripes we are healed.

  482. All we like sheep have gone astray. We

  483. have turned everyone from his own way.

  484. But the Lord has laid on him the

  485. iniquity of us all. That's the message

  486. of the gospel. And God revealed that to

  487. Abraham is God will provide. of the real

  488. meaning of the altar at Mount Mariah. It

  489. it teaches that the deepest worship is

  490. not songs. The deepest worship is

  491. surrender.

  492. >> Surrender. And the God who tests faith

  493. is the God who supplies what surrender

  494. requires.

  495. Get that in your spirit. Now, quickly,

  496. we have two more altars. The next one is

  497. in Beerseba, and it's an al it's

  498. actually three altars. Uh Beersheba is

  499. an altar that Isaac built in Genesis 26

  500. 24. And the Lord appeared to him the

  501. same night and said, "I am the Lord. I

  502. am the God of your father Abraham. Do

  503. not fear, for I am with you. I will

  504. bless you and multiply your descendants

  505. for my servant Abraham's sake." So he

  506. built an altar there and called on the

  507. name of the Lord and he pitched his tent

  508. there and there Isaac's servants dug a

  509. well. Now this altar is anchored in

  510. divine reassurance.

  511. The first thing that God says is do not

  512. fear. Fear is addressed headon because

  513. Isaac is living in the middle of

  514. conflict. He's living in the middle of

  515. resistance. He's living in the middle of

  516. uncertainty because they're fighting

  517. over wells. He digs a well and they

  518. claim the the people of the land claim

  519. that well. He digs another well, then

  520. they claim it, take it away from him.

  521. And so, he doesn't know what's going to

  522. come next. But but this altar is Isaac's

  523. response to a God who reaffirms his

  524. covenant presence and says, "I am with

  525. you."

  526. And so the text repeats the same worship

  527. formula that God gave to Abraham. Isaac

  528. called on the name of the Lord. And that

  529. repetition is so important. It's very

  530. theological. Isaac is not inventing a

  531. new spirituality.

  532. He is walking in the inherited covenant

  533. patterns. The continuity matters. God

  534. identifies himself as the God of his

  535. father Abraham. The covenant is

  536. personal, but it is transgenerational.

  537. Abraham began the covenant, but Isaac is

  538. continuing the covenant. And Bersea is

  539. one of those places that shows up again

  540. and again in scripture in Genesis. It's

  541. a place where God settles things and it

  542. becomes known as a covenant place. It's

  543. a a place where oaths are made, where

  544. conflicts are revol resolved, where

  545. people walk away with a sense of peace

  546. and a sense of confidence. And so in

  547. Genesis 31 uh verse 31 and 33, the Bible

  548. tells us that therefore he called the

  549. name of that place Beersa

  550. because the two of them swore an oath

  551. there and they made a covenant at

  552. Bashibba. So Aimilec rose with Fol, the

  553. commander of his army and they returned

  554. to the land of the Philistines and Abram

  555. planted tamaris tree in Beerseba and

  556. they're called on the name of the Lord

  557. the everlasting God. And then you have

  558. in Genesis chap 26

  559. verse 31-33

  560. that they arose early in the morning

  561. swore an oath with one another and Isaac

  562. sent them away and they departed from

  563. him in peace. The the conflict is

  564. settled. He has a well now that that

  565. will provide. In verse 32, it came to

  566. pass the same day that Isaac's servants

  567. came and told him about the well which

  568. they dug and said to him, "We've found

  569. water." And so he called it Sheba.

  570. Therefore, the name of the city is

  571. Beersba this day. So, I want you to see

  572. this. The altar here functions as a

  573. marker. It's Isaac's security. It's not

  574. in geography. It's not in the place.

  575. Don't get that. It is in the fact that

  576. God said, "I'm with you." His security

  577. is not in Bashibba. It is in the the

  578. presence of almighty God. Your your

  579. security is not in being an American in

  580. America. Your security is being a child

  581. of the king. You belong to the King of

  582. Kings and the Lord of Lords. Your

  583. security is not in your nationality. It

  584. is in your heavenly citizen citizenship.

  585. And so God is he is saying I am God is

  586. saying I am with you even while the

  587. circumstances around you are trying to

  588. intimidate you and prove you wrong. The

  589. sixth altar is the altar of Sheckchum

  590. and it's found in Genesis 33:20. He

    Genesis 33:20

  591. erected an altar there and he called it

  592. l Eloh

  593. Israel. This is another altar that Isaac

  594. built. And so the context of this is

  595. Jacob had been estranged from his

  596. brother Esau because he tricked him out

  597. of his birthight and he deceived his

  598. father Isaac to get uh the blessing. And

  599. so his brother was not happy with him.

  600. But he was reconciled to Esau and and he

  601. returned to the promised land. And so he

  602. had wrestled with God. And that

  603. wrestling with God before he was

  604. reconciled to his brother led to him

  605. receiving a new name. He went from Jacob

  606. deceiver to Israel, a prince with God.

  607. And so Jacob now arrives at Sheckchum

  608. not as a deceiver who is on the run, but

  609. as a transformed man who is now walking

  610. in covenant mercy. And so the altar that

  611. he builds is llohrael.

  612. And it makes he's he's making a decisive

  613. shift. Jacob is publicly identifying the

  614. Lord as the God of his new identity. And

  615. he's signaling that his restoration is

  616. not just relational with Esau, but it is

  617. spiritual before God. Behold, if any man

  618. be in Christ, he's a new creation. The

  619. old is gone and the new has come. So

  620. this is an identity altar. He doesn't

  621. just build to build. He's building and

  622. and there's this name the naming l Eloh

  623. Israel means that God the God of Israel

  624. not the nation. This is before the

  625. nation. Israel is his name. He is saying

  626. God my God.

  627. So the power of this moment is not in

  628. the translation but in what it declares.

  629. Jacob is publicly affirming that the God

  630. who encountered him is no longer only

  631. the God of his fathers. He's not living

  632. on his father's relationship with God.

  633. He is now God of his transformed new

  634. name.

  635. And so Jacob's new name, Israel, was

  636. given after he wrestled with God. And so

  637. there's there's this scene about

  638. transformation through encounter. If

  639. you're struggling, you need an encounter

  640. with Jesus. If you qu can't quit that

  641. addiction, you need an encounter with

  642. Jesus. If you can't quit that

  643. perversion, you need an encounter with

  644. Jesus because Jesus will transform your

  645. walk.

  646. So in Genesis 33, after he's reconciled

  647. and he returns to the land, he builds an

  648. altar that functions like a public

  649. identity statement. It's the God who

  650. renamed me is the God who I'm serving.

  651. And so that verb erected in Genesis

    Genesis 33:20

  652. 33:20, it underscores the

  653. intentionality. This is not accidental

  654. worship. Jacob is setting a visible

  655. marker that his life is reentered. After

  656. years of striving, after years of

  657. deceiving, after years of bargaining,

  658. after years of fear, he is learning

  659. covenant alignment. And this altar

  660. proclaims transformation must be

  661. confessed,

  662. not concealed.

  663. Quit hiding the fact that you're a

  664. Christian on your job.

  665. Quit hiding the fact that you're a

  666. Christian where you go in society. You

  667. need to be proud and know in whom you

  668. have believed.

  669. >> And then the final altar is the altar at

  670. Bethl in Genesis 35 1-7.

  671. Then Jacob then God said to Jacob,

  672. "Arise and go to Bethl. Dwell there and

  673. make there an altar to the God who

  674. appeared to you when you fled from the

  675. face of Esau your brother." And Jacob

  676. said to his household and all who were

  677. with him, "Look at this. Put away the

  678. foreign gods that are among you."

  679. "Purify yourselves and change your

  680. garments." And then, "Let us arise and

  681. go to Bethl. Make an altar there to the

  682. God who answered me in the day of my

  683. distress and has been with me in the way

  684. which I have gone." And so they gave

  685. Jacob all the foreign gods which were in

  686. their hands, and the earrings which were

  687. in their ears. And Jacob hid them under

  688. the terab tree which was by Sheckchum.

  689. They journeyed and the terror of God was

  690. upon the cities that were around them

  691. and they did not pursue the sons of

  692. Jacob. So Jacob came to Les that is

  693. Bethl which is in the land of Canaan and

  694. he and all the people who were with him

  695. and he built an altar there and called

  696. the place Elbethl because there God

  697. appeared to him and he fled from his

  698. brother. Now when you when you look at

  699. this I want you to see a couple things

  700. that are that are really important. He

  701. he opens with gen Genesis 35 with this

  702. direct command from God. Arise and go to

  703. Bethl. And I believe that's a word that

  704. some of you need to get. God's calling

  705. you to arise and go back to the place

  706. where he first encountered you.

  707. Some of you gone away. You've tried.

  708. You've been like Jacob. You've lived

  709. this deceitful life. You tried to be two

  710. people. God's calling you back to Bethl.

  711. He's calling you back to the original

  712. place. And so Jacob obeys. And and

  713. what's what is just as important is

  714. obedience is immediately accompanied by

  715. purification. God he told his family to

  716. put away the foreign gods and to be

  717. clean and to change their garments. See,

  718. this is something that some of you need

  719. to get. You cannot be the man God's

  720. called you to be holding on to the dirty

  721. stuff of the world. Put away the foreign

  722. gods. Stop it.

  723. So, the order is intentional. You can't

  724. return to a holy place while you're

  725. clinging to divided loyalties.

  726. And so Jacob then names the altar El

  727. Bethl and it means God, the God of

  728. Bethl. And so that shift in language

  729. matters because no this place is no

  730. longer defined by an encounter. Now it

  731. is defined by the God who owns it. When

  732. Jacob was at Bethl earlier, there was a

  733. condition. He said, "God, if you bless

  734. me and you go with me, then then you are

  735. my God. I'll give you a tenth of

  736. everything that I have." It was a if you

  737. go with me kind of conditional thing.

  738. But now he speaks and his faith has been

  739. settled. God's no longer somebody to

  740. negotiate with. He is the God of the

  741. house. He is the one who owns the place.

  742. He is the one who owns the promise. And

  743. so Genesis 35:7 gives us the reason for

    Genesis 35:7

  744. this altar. And that reason is because

  745. God appeared to him there. God appeared

  746. to him. And this is this

  747. self-disclosure. See, this is what the

  748. whole thing God wants to reveal himself

  749. to you. And when he reveals himself,

  750. build an altar.

  751. >> He's returning to the place where God

  752. broke into his life.

  753. This is the time that he returns with a

  754. purified household, with surrendered

  755. leadership, with a faith that's been

  756. tested and matured.

  757. Some of you, he is calling you back to

  758. that place where you first met him, but

  759. he's calling you as a transformed man or

  760. woman. And so, Bethl teaches us that

  761. revival is return. It's often return.

  762. It's never returning to the old you. I

  763. don't want you to go back to where you

  764. were before you had problems. I want you

  765. to go higher than where you were. I want

  766. you to go deeper than where you were. I

  767. want you to go and find a place that'll

  768. give you more power and more authority

  769. than what you had before. And so these

  770. seven altars reveal a consistent

  771. pattern. God reveals himself and his

  772. people respond with sacrifice and with

  773. obedience because every altar required

  774. something. It required something to be

  775. laid down. It required an an altar where

  776. you make room for the fire of God's

  777. presence to rest on his covenant

  778. faithfulness in your life. So from

  779. Abraham's surrender to Isaac's steady

  780. endurance to Jacob's transformed return,

  781. covenant is advanced not by convenience

  782. but by consecration.

  783. And that brings us back to Romans

    Romans 12 chapter mention

  784. chapter 12 where Paul said, "I I beseech

  785. you therefore, brethren, by the mercies

  786. of God that you present your bodies as

  787. living sacrifices,

  788. holy, acceptable to God, which is your

  789. reasonable service." Because when you

  790. place your life on God's altar,

  791. he meets you with fire and he confirms

  792. his promises that he made to you and he

  793. brings his work to completion.

  794. So I want you to make a declaration with

  795. me.

  796. I want you to make a declaration with

  797. me. You ready? I want you to say this

  798. out loud and mean it from the bottom of

  799. your heart.

  800. I declare

  801. >> that I will build my life on the altar

  802. of covenant obedience.

  803. >> All right, let's say it together.

  804. >> Ready? I willingly lay down what God

  805. requires, trusting him to supply what

  806. the fire consumes.

  807. I choose to live as a living sacrifice

  808. aligned with God's purpose and faithful

  809. to his promises. The fire of God's

  810. presence will rest on my altar. The

  811. covenant of God will govern my life and

  812. the work he has begun in me will be

  813. completed in the time in his time and

  814. power.

  815. >> Amen. Come on, give the Lord a hand clap

  816. of praise.

  817. Come on and praise the Lord because

  818. revival is coming to Venezuela and

  819. revival is coming to Cuba and there is

  820. liberty and freedom that is flowing

  821. through all of South America, I declare

  822. in the name of Jesus that what Satan has

  823. tried to destroy, God is restoring and

  824. he is bringing about the fulfillment of

  825. his purposes.

  826. Hallelujah.

  827. A

  828. 2026 is a time for revival. It is a time

  829. of the harvest. God is bringing about a

  830. harvest. And these altars are showing us

  831. that the first harvest has to be in your

  832. home.