Pentecost_II_Bethel

So last week we started on this series called Pentecost and trying to compare the journey that Elijah took with Elijah

through Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho, Jordan to the place where he receives a double portion.

One of the things we said last week was a double portion is not about an increase in the measure of the Spirit.

We have been given the full measure of the Spirit, but it is an increase in the capacity to receive Him.

Increase in your capacity, our capacity to receive Him.

That's what we said last time.

So we said that as you go through these four places like Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho, and Jordan,

we come to a place where it increases our capacity to receive the full measure of the Spirit who is already present.

So a double portion is not about an increase in the measure of the Spirit.

It's an increase in your capacity to receive the full measure of the Spirit.

And as we explore Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho, and Jordan, we will be able to increase in our capacity to receive Him.

So today we talk about Bethel.

And Bethel, you'll find it in Genesis 28, 12-19. Genesis 28, 12-19.

So if you want to turn there, Genesis 28, 12-19.

Jeremy, can I have a tiny bit of volume more?

Sorry, not Jeremy 28, Genesis 28.

Genesis 28, 12-19. And here's what it says.

Starting at verse 10, Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Hiraan.

When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set.

Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and he lay down to sleep.

He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth with its top reaching to heaven.

And the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

There above it stood the Lord and He said,

I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.

I will give you and your descendants the land on which you're lying.

Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth and you will spread out to the west and to the east,

to the north and to the south.

All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go.

I will bring you back to this land.

I will not leave you until I've done what I promised you.

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought,

surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of it.

He was afraid and he said, how awesome is this place?

This is none other than the house of God.

And that's the word Bethel, house of God.

This is 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 the place Bethel, though the city was called Luz.

So that's how that's a story of Bethel.

So when we talk about Bethel, one of the things it means to us in the context of what we're teaching right now is Bethel is a place.

Bethel is a place where one is under an open heaven.

Where one is under an open heaven.

Bethel is a place where one is under an open heaven.

But as soon as we say Bethel is a place where one is under an open heaven,

we have to begin to define what an open heaven means.

And so let's go down that road.

So an open heaven, and it'll have to be a definition that corresponds with other scriptural examples.

So an open heaven is being where the Holy Spirit is descending.

An open heaven is being where the Holy Spirit is descending.

An open heaven is being where the Holy Spirit is descending.

That's the first one.

So if you go to Matthew 3.16.

Matthew 3.16.

Matthew 3.16.

Starting at verse 13.

Jesus then appeared, arriving at the Jordan River from Galilee.

He wanted John to baptize him.

John objected, I'm the one who needs to be baptized, not you.

But Jesus insisted, do it.

God's work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in the baptism.

So John did it.

The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up.

And he saw God's Spirit.

It looked like a dove descending and landing on him.

And along with the Spirit, a voice, this is my son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.

Let me read it from NIV.

Jesus replied, let it be so now.

It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.

Then John consented.

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.

At that moment, heaven was opened.

And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and a lighting on him.

And a voice from heaven said, this is my son whom I love, with whom I am well pleased.

With him I am well pleased.

So an open heaven is being where the Holy Spirit is descending.

It's the Holy Spirit who, at the end of the day, is the central piece or part of this idea of open heaven.

So an open heaven is a place where the Spirit is descending.

We'll talk about how to locate ourselves in places where we can walk under an open heaven.

Second, an open heaven is access.

We're trying to define what an open heaven is.

An open heaven is access to the throne room.

Access to the throne room.

An open heaven is access to the throne room, to God's council, to conversations.

And if you want to have a look at that, you can either go to Isaiah 6,

where Isaiah has this experience of an open heaven.

So if you go to Isaiah 6, it says,

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and exalted, seated on a throne,

and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Above him were seraphim, each with six wings.

With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

And they were calling to one another, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty.

The whole earth is full of his glory.

As the sound of their voices, the doorposts and the thresholds shook.

The temple was filled with smoke.

Wore to me, I cried, I'm ruined, for I'm a man of unclean lips,

and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand,

which he had taken with tongs from the altar.

He touched my mouth and said, See, this has touched your lips.

Your guilt has taken away. Your sin is atoned for.

Then I love this next part.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?

And he said, Here am I, send me.

And so there is this idea of an open heaven being a place or a position that a church can occupy

or a person can occupy, where he or us or we have access to the throne room.

We have access to the council of God, and we have access to conversations that are happening in heaven.

Acts chapter 7 56, Stephen is being stoned.

Acts 7 · chapter mention

He's almost at the point of dying.

And in Acts chapter 7 56, he again sees a glimpse of what it is that happens in heaven,

Acts 7 · chapter mention

where he sees, behold, the Son of God seated at the right hand of the Father,

and Jesus stands to receive Stephen as he's being martyred.

So the idea of an open heaven is the ability to position ourselves to,

one, know where the Holy Spirit is descending so that there's very little you have to do.

You just have to be present. You just have to be present.

And if you're present there, the Spirit of God is able to take you where he wants you to go.

And the second one is an open heaven has access to the throne room.

A church can learn this. A church can learn this during worship.

A church can learn this.

We are unconsciously doing it every so often during worship,

where you suddenly catch the drift of the Spirit, where it was important to sing the victory song today.

Where it was important to sing the victory song today because it meant different things to different people.

But in a second, the Holy Spirit descends and he begins to just brilliantly change things in and out of us.

And so it is not that we aren't doing this.

It's just that we aren't necessarily intentional or conscious of it in a subconscious way,

where this is how you always walk.

But don't think that it is not part of your experience in this church. It is.

But it has to be experienced not just limited to a service, but unlimited in life.

That's what we're trying to get at.

The third thing, there is a grown-up who ran out.

The third thing is an open heaven.

So from now on, if it's an o movement, it means open heaven movement.

An open heaven is seeing in the Spirit, is seeing in the Spirit.

Seeing what? Seeing things that exist in God.

Seeing things that exist in God.

seeing things in other realms,

seeing things in Kairos.

So an open heaven is seeing in the Spirit.

So you have examples of this, like Jesus did in John 1.51.

And so Jesus sees in the Spirit and he says,

I saw you, Nathaniel, when you were sitting under the fig tree.

Jesus wasn't there. In John 1.51,

he actually sees things without having seen them.

It's not a visible seeing.

And yet everything that Jesus does, at least by the power of the Spirit,

we have to do at least the same.

And then after you do the same, you can do more.

But Jesus was seeing in the Spirit.

Peter saw in the Spirit when he said,

why did you hide? He's saying to Ananias and Sapphira,

why did you keep back some of the money?

And then later on he talks to Sapphira and he talks to her

and she tries to hide something and he sees in the Spirit.

So part of an open heaven is his ability to see in the Spirit.

These are things that we barely touch and occasionally cultivate,

but it is something that people, if they learn how to live like this,

we'll talk about what will happen.

It's seeing in the Spirit. It's seeing things that exist in God.

And what I mean by that is things in the Word that sometimes pop up

and you've never seen it before and you see it.

There are things today that are being taught,

even in this message that maybe you and I haven't seen before,

that will pop up. Seeing things that exist in God.

Seeing things that exist in other realms.

Seeing things in Kairos. Kairos as in in the fullness of time,

things begin to happen and you see it before it happens.

Abraham in Hebrews chapter 11, it says,

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

Abraham saw a city that was not built with human hands,

whose foundation was laid by God.

And therefore he was okay going from tent to tent, pitching altar to altar.

He was willing to go because he had already seen what is described

in Revelation 21 where there's this city that's coming out of the heavens.

He already saw it. Four thousand years ago, a man saw it and he began a journey.

Today, after Jesus and Moses, he's the next most important person.

Nobody, not even Moses, God spoke to Moses face to face,

but nobody has been called the friend of God like Abraham was.

Seeing something that God shows allows me to both be sustained through hard times

because I've seen what God has shown.

And allows me to be fueled for long races because yes, I have seen what God has shown.

So an open heaven is seeing in the spirit.

Next one.

Ah, another time when Jesus saw into...

Seeing Kairos is know the fullness of time.

Like Abraham saw that there is a time coming when a city

without foundations will be built by God.

And therefore he's not going to cling to his clan, his country.

He's going to start moving.

He knew that he will not see many of the things promised to him.

But he knew having seen it that he can keep walking because the God who promised him is faithful.

That your descendants will spread like the sand of the sea.

In another case, in Luke chapter 10, Jesus sees something of the other realm.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

And we might say, but you're talking about Jesus.

No, we're talking about Jesus the Christ and his present body today.

Where his spirit allows us to do the same because Jesus was as limited in what he could see as I am.

Because he was fully human.

And in Luke 10, Jesus sees something.

When the disciples come back joyfully and say, we cast out demons in your name.

Jesus says, I saw Satan fall like lightning.

I don't know whether he's seeing something in the past or whether he's seeing something at that moment.

Whether he's seeing something in the future after the cross.

But all I know is Jesus saw and he speaks it.

It's a great skill to eventually learn.

We're not doing this for sensationalism.

We're doing it for the sake of King and Kingdom.

The next one.

An open heaven.

I love this one.

Is a release.

An open heaven is a release.

Of the sound of heaven.

An open heaven is a release of the sound of heaven.

And you hear the sound of heaven in Acts chapter 2 verse 2.

Acts 2:2

And suddenly there was a sound of a mighty rushing wind.

It is the release of the sound of heaven.

Acts chapter 2 verse 2.

Acts 2:2

And it begins to usher in a new movement of God.

It begins to usher in a new movement of God.

And it gives you wind beneath your wings.

It gives you wind in your wings as in the wind of the Holy Spirit in your wings.

And it gives you courage to endure.

It gives you courage to endure.

It gives you courage to endure.

So in 2 Kings 2.11.

In 2 Kings 2.11 there was the...

Trust me when the chariots of fire came and a whirlwind came.

It was in the silent movie.

It was loud.

As Elijah and Elisha part ways.

But a new movement begins on earth.

It's the sound of heaven.

There was a sound of heaven that Elijah put in words before it even happens.

And he hears it.

And he says to Ahab, you better go down.

Because I hear the sound of rain when there was not yet.

The sound of wind dropped.

Three and a half years it had not rained.

And this man is hearing the sound of rain.

It is not a faith statement.

It is being able to see what God is going to do.

Just because I don't understand or comprehend or haven't experienced something at present.

Doesn't mean I can try and comprehend and make it happen.

But I have to be open to the fact that these things are realities in the Bible.

There are so many realities that have transpired in your life.

Which at one point you didn't even know what to do.

I mean some of you speak in tongues.

Is it even humanly possible?

It will be gibberish.

Some of you have seen healings.

Some of you have seen miracles.

Did you ever think it was possible?

No. These are experiences that come our way.

Not because we could think it through.

But because we were open to it.

So you can't think this to happen.

This is not positive thinking.

But you can be positively open to anything biblical that the Holy Spirit wants to do.

Another thing about open heaven.

An open heaven authenticates you.

The voice of God.

An open heaven is a place where the voice of God

where the voice of God

authenticates you

authenticates you

and expresses his pleasure.

expresses his pleasure.

Where the voice of God authenticates you and expresses his pleasure.

This is something I often look for.

For Acts 29.

For the nations we go to.

For myself.

The Father, I must know that if I step here

I must know that if Acts 29 makes its move

I must know that you will authenticate it with your voice

and you will give us your pleasure.

Because if your voice does not authenticate it

and your pleasure and your presence does not go with us

then why should we go?

The last one and then you can ask questions.

I mean and you see this happening in Jesus' life

both in Matthew 3.16 when he gets baptized

and in Matthew 17 where he's on the Mount of Transfiguration.

These were hard things that they were stepping

Jesus was stepping into it.

Just before he steps into it

the voice of God authenticates him

and the voice of God shares his pleasure

expresses his pleasure.

Jesus needed it.

You think you don't need it?

You think we don't need it?

We need it often.

One of the sterling qualities of our God is reassurance.

I mean the prophetic in Isaiah and Jeremiah

is always so reassuring.

It doesn't matter how many times you've rebelled.

Let me give you a word of reassurance.

Every book ends with a chapter that talks about reassurance.

God is a reassuring God.

The last one is an open heaven.

It's an invitation.

An open heaven is an invitation.

An open heaven is an invitation to see what happens next.

To see what happens next.

This is very important to God

because God said do I do anything without letting my prophets know?

In Abraham's case it was

shall I hide from Abraham what I'm going to do?

It is a revealing of God's plans

and the doors God wants to open.

He loves having a people walk in a place

where they can easily respond

and recognize and then respond

to an invitation that God is giving.

Saying, hey come I want to show you what happens next.

One of the scriptures that points us out in Revelation

is Revelation chapter 4 verse 1.

Revelation 4:1

Revelation chapter 4 verse 1.

Revelation 4:1

And then I heard a voice.

And after that I heard a voice and I looked

and behold an open door in heaven.

And a voice that said come up higher.

I want to show you what will happen next.

This idea of an open heaven is

something that will really help us

increase in our capacity

of both receiving and working with the Holy Spirit.

Any questions before we go on?

If there's something that's not clear

please ask.

So thus far here's what we've done.

We've defined Bethel as a place

where one is under an open heaven.

But as soon as we say that

because this guy calls it that,

Jacob calls it that, and it's in the Bible.

And then we begin to define what an open heaven is.

There might be more things that can be added

but this is enough for now.

So any questions?

No? Okay.

So what is required for us to position

under an open heaven?

What is required, what is required

for us to position under an open heaven?

To position under an open heaven?

God is not reluctant to help us walk

under an open heaven.

But there are certain requirements

that allow me to position under an open heaven.

Allow us to position under an open heaven.

To begin with, Jesus weeps, say,

in Luke 19.41,

depending on the version that you read.

Jesus weeps that Jerusalem failed to recognize

the day of their visitation

because their eyes and ears were dulled.

In Luke 19.41, Jesus weeps.

I mean, it bothered me that Jesus wept

because of one simple thing,

that listen, I was here.

This was your day of visitation.

Heaven was here because the presence of God is heaven.

I was here.

And you did not recognize,

you did not discern the day of visitation.

This is exactly what happens to Jacob in Genesis 28.

Wow, this is the house of God.

This is the gate of heaven.

And I did not even know it.

And the reason, one of the reasons,

we are not able to recognize times

when all those six definitions I gave are present.

The reason we don't recognize it

is because of a dullness of hearing

and a dullness of seeing.

It's an Old Testament problem

and a New Testament problem.

Isaiah spoke about it in the Old Testament.

Jesus reiterated it in the New Testament.

Luke talks about it in Acts 27.

That my people do suffer from dullness of hearing

and dullness of seeing.

And it prevents us from recognizing

the day of our visitation.

And sometimes it is, in your individual case,

sometimes it's together as a church,

we fail to recognize that God is in this place.

We wake up and say,

oh, God is in this place and I did not even know it.

And Jesus weeps about it.

And he doesn't do it once.

He does it multiple times.

He was in and out of Jerusalem for three years.

There was ample evidence that was provided for Jerusalem.

But a dullness of hearing and a dullness of seeing

prevents you after three years

from seeing the one who is heaven himself.

Heaven was on earth and they did not see it.

These were the people of God.

It was happening to the people of God.

It was happening to the people

who had treasuries of scripture

that revealed what was to happen.

And yet they did not see it.

Do you think it can happen to us?

I say yes, it can happen to me.

In Acts 28, verse 27, you read it.

Acts 28:27

Luke is talking about it.

Acts 28, verse 27.

Acts 28:27

Acts 28, verse 27.

Acts 28:27

For this people's heart has become calloused.

They hardly hear with their ears

and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their hearts

and turn and I would heal them.

The message puts it a little harsher.

These people are blockheads.

They stick their fingers in their ears

so they won't have to listen.

They screw their eyes shut so they won't have to look.

So they won't have to deal with me face to face.

Let me heal them.

And what happens when we continuously practice

missing our visitation

is that God moves on to another people.

We don't lose our salvation, but he says,

Okay Jacob, tried a lot.

I got to move on.

Let me pick Emmanuel.

So he picks Emmanuel.

It has happened throughout history.

It should not happen to us.

To respond to a Bethel invitation,

to respond to a Bethel invitation,

or in other words to position ourselves

under an open heaven.

The first thing is you have to let God find you.

You have to let God find you.

You have to let God find you

and begin to confront two things.

Your deceit and your strength.

That's what happens to Jacob, eh?

Deceitful guy who keeps running,

who keeps manipulating,

who keeps deceiving,

who gets what he wants.

And a strong guy who,

before all this happened,

was at a well where Rachel was trying to feed her camels.

And it needed many men to roll that stone away.

And Jacob, without superhuman strength,

rolls the stone away.

Here was a man who was very strong.

And here was a man who knew deceit

and had lived his entire life

and gotten everything in his life by deceit.

One of the first things that has to happen

if you are to respond to a Bethel invitation

is you have to let God find you.

And after finding you, begin to confront you.

Begin to confront you on two levels.

Your deceit and your strength.

Until that is done, there is no Bethel for me.

Yeah, so how does God find me?

God finds me when I have time and I have a willingness.

God is always aware of who I am.

But he finds me when I have time and I have willingness.

God finds me when I have time and I have willingness.

Both are such precious commodities today.

We've got so many competing interests.

There are two things we don't have,

is time and willingness.

But the more he gets to confront my deceit and my strength,

the more I walk under an open heaven.

It's beautiful when you actually think of it.

The more he confronts my deceit,

deceit is not just lying.

Deceit is anything where I'm crooked and not straight.

Any area where I'm crooked and not straight.

When he finds me and is able to deal with my deceit and my strength,

he has me under an open heaven.

That's the first requirement, and it's a beautiful requirement.

And he finds me when I have time and willingness.

And those are the two things that none of us have.

Those are the two things that I've fought for the most.

It's fascinating that in John chapter...

First, in Hosea 12, verse 4, it says,

Hosea 12:4

And he found me at Bethel.

That's what it says about Jacob in Hosea 12, 4, second part.

He found me, God found me at Bethel.

But it's fascinating that in John 1.51,

when Jesus is talking to Nathaniel,

he completely turns it around and he turns to Nathaniel and says,

Here is a man in whom there is no deceit.

Now see what's going to happen.

You will see angels ascending and descending.

There's a direct connection, John 1.51,

there's a direct connection between deceit and strength and open heavens.

Nathaniel is sitting there and he says,

Here is a man in whom there is no guile.

And now you think you're fascinated by me saying I saw your little victory?

I'm going to show you more.

Jacob had to come to the end of deceit and the end of its strength for an open heaven.

There's something to it.

Second thing we have to do if we want to respond to the Bethel invitation

is sharpen your ears, guys.

Sharpen your ears because all of us are in the,

because we live in the world,

we are constantly having our hearing and our seeing dulled.

So pay attention to sharpening your ears.

Sharpen your ears.

How?

By listening under.

Listening under, not listening around the word.

Listening under the word, not listening around.

Not around.

But listening under the word.

The word Samuel means shamma ul.

And shamma means to hear or listen, to heed.

To hear or listen, to heed.

That's the idea of shamma.

The word Samuel means here is a boy or here is a name where he listens to L.

But he listens not just to hear, he listens to hear and heed.

There is a listening under the word that keeps sharpening my ears.

It's a similar scripture that is spoken of in Hebrews chapter 5 verse 14

Hebrews 5:14

where it says that those who train themselves or practice discerning between right and wrong

are those that are now ready to chew meat and not just keep drinking milk.

Hebrews 5, 14.

So one of the ways we sharpen our ears is by listening under, not around the word.

Listening around the word is receiving it, being selective,

deciding what is palatable, what is not, and listening around.

But listening under is different.

The problem with listening under the word,

listening under the word, there's an additional problem if you decide to listen under the word.

If you decide to listen under the word,

you might have to end up listening to the person who is delivering the word too.

Because you can't listen under the word without listening to the person who is delivering the word.

The word is taught. It is taught through people.

The word can be read by you.

The word can be taught by the Holy Spirit.

Whether I like it or not, it is taught through people.

Another way to sharpen your ears is to just practice humility.

Because in James chapter 1, verse 21,

James 1:21

it says that the word is grafted to me, into my life,

by receiving it with humility.

These are words, I'm just talking about ways to keep my ears sharpened.

The next one is destroy legalism in your life.

Destroy legalism in your life.

Legalism was the problem that the Pharisees had that prevented them from hearing,

and Galatians chapter 3, Paul says to the Galatians,

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

what has bewitched you?

Why, after having started in the Spirit, have you begun to now walk in the law?

There's such a dullness about you, Galatians.

What happened? Galatians 3, 1-6.

And so destroy legalism.

We must not for a second think that there is no legalism in our lives.

Legalism is when I get used to doing something without Jesus.

It eventually leads to the banishing of love and joy.

But it begins with, I can do this without Jesus,

because I know how to do this, and this is what I've been taught,

this is what I've been practiced, this is what I can keep doing.

That's what legalism is.

Then it gets structured, then it's given a base and a foundation,

then it gets institutionalized, but it starts with,

this has become rote for me.

That's where legalism starts.

And we all have it, there's none of us that are exempt from it.

None of us.

Number 3, James 1-21.

James 1-21.

James, a question.

Yeah.

Assuming that I'm reading the Word and I want to read it,

but I cannot, I cannot be comfortable, or it's difficult for me.

So how do I move forward in that?

No giant is going to turn me away.

What the devil meant for evil, he will turn to good.

So that's where I start.

Then the other thing is to now go and tell someone,

Prashanth, I'm struggling with this.

I have a problem with pride in my life.

I've got to bring it out into the light.

There's such power in that.

I know it's been often repeated, but if I can go tell someone,

that itself is the first step of humility,

where I have gone and told someone about it.

My pride in there itself is broken, and that begins the second process.

And the third process is to ask people to teach and help you get to a place

where whatever you're struggling with, just two or three,

or just a small group of people that know how to do it can help you out of it.

These are the three hardest steps to getting anywhere.

Three hardest steps.

After that, it's easy.

But these are the three hardest steps.

Destroy legalism.

And then the last one is resistance to being teachable.

Resistance, which is the same as pride, really.

Resistance to teachability.

Resistance.

It goes back to the whole, it's the same thing.

So sharpen your ears.

Sharpen your ears.

These are how we can learn to position under an open heaven.

Really, at the end of the day, God wants churches to thrive under an open heaven,

because he speaks into and through an open heaven.

Angelic activity happens when an open heaven is over a people, over a person, over a church.

He wants this.

But he's saying, Jacob, can you GPS yourself so that you know where I am,

so that I can do these things for you?

And it's not complicated.

We're not talking about some flaky thing out there.

It's a very natural thing.

These are not portals we are talking about, where, oh, there's an open heaven in Wally,

so let's all go there.

No, we're not thinking like that, like a portal where, like beam me up Scotty or something.

No, we are talking about this being what God does.

But I have to position myself to where God is going,

and that is what we're trying to do, sharpen our ears.

Confront deceit and strength.

Then the third thing is, obey without compromise.

Obey without compromise or dilution.

Obey without compromise or dilution.

Compromise or dilution.

You know, in Deuteronomy 28 verse 23, it says, disobedience closes the heavens.

Deuteronomy 28:23

Deuteronomy 28 verse 23, it says disobedience closes the heavens.

Deuteronomy 28:23

Guess what then?

Obedience opens the heavens.

Deuteronomy 28, 23, disobedience closes the heavens.

Well then, obedience opens the heavens.

So, you can literally be sat-nav'd by an open heaven if you are willing to be obedient

and not dilute what you've been told.

I mean, Peter almost missed it, eh?

He had an open heaven where he was sitting on the terrace of Simon the Tanner,

and he is waiting for his food to be served.

While he is waiting, he has a vision of heaven.

And he is sitting there, but legalism kicks in.

This is what I meant by how easily our ears can be dulled.

A man like Peter, sitting on a terrace, has an open-eyed vision.

And as he is sitting on the terrace and listening, legalism kicks in.

What is the problem?

He cannot go out with the Gentiles.

A sheet is lowered.

Not once, not twice.

Three times.

God wasn't trying to confirm his word.

God was trying to get it through his dull head.

That, listen, you need to eat this stuff.

And instead, Peter is trying to educate Yahweh on Old Testament law.

Till finally he gets it, and then there's a knock and the Gentiles are at the door.

Legalism almost dulled Peter's hearing while he was under an open heaven.

But because he was obedient and he does not know what's going to happen,

you can imagine how he feels.

He's walking through a Jewish neighborhood and heading out with a bunch of Gentiles.

He's going to enter their house, eat their meals, and this is going to ruin his reputation for life.

And he doesn't even know what's going to happen there.

And he goes.

And then the most amazing thing happens where Peter says,

What can we do now?

The same thing that happened to us is happening to them.

What obedience does when you have an open heaven over you is that thousands and thousands and thousands benefit.

An open heaven is not some kind of privilege you want to bask under.

An open heaven is so that God can work around and through you to the benefit of others.

Can you see how advantageous it would be for a church then?

It's not everything you've learned, yes, but it does not counter the word.

So we have a church in the United States, and it's a church in the United States.

It's not everything you've learned, yes, but it does not counter the word.

So we are fortunate.

We have an advantage. Peter did have that advantage, too.

We are fortunate in that whenever anything contradicts what we have learned,

we can always look at Jesus and begin to kind of put things together based on his nature.

Is this the nature of God?

God makes it a little easier.

And then once we do that, then we've got to go and look at scriptures.

And we're not trying to find a scripture to support a position.

We are trying to find the tapestry of scriptures.

How was it done here? How was it done here? How was it done here?

What is the first time this happened? What did he say to Abraham?

He had said to Abraham, I'll make you a blessing to the nations.

It was never a Jewish thing.

Paul got it immediately.

Paul says in Galatians 3, verse 28 and 29,

Galatians 3:28

that there is no Greek, no Jew, no Scythian, no barbarian, no man, no woman.

But we are all one in Christ.

He got the same thing from the same scriptures.

Only Peter had Jesus as a teacher and Paul had the Spirit of Christ as a teacher.

One was visible, one was invisible.

The scriptures were the same. They were both referring to the same scriptures.

Paul got it, Peter took time.

But it comes out of the nature of God.

Is God inclusive? Absolutely.

So can he leave out a whole bunch of guys and just concentrate on the Jewish people?

No. Does the scriptures prove it? Yes.

Obey without compromise or dilution.

Heaven is open when we set ourselves apart to obedience.

Sometimes obedience is costly.

Sometimes obedience is costly.

Sometimes obedience to God is costly.

Sometimes it is illogical.

Sometimes it chafes because you are agreeing with what someone is saying is God's direction to you.

That can chafe at times.

You think when the fisherman was told by a carpenter to cast his nets again on the other side after 12 hours of fishing,

you think the fisherman was thinking, great, all I needed was advice from a carpenter.

And Luke 5, verse 5 says that I have fished all night and we have caught nothing.

Luke 5:5

But because you have said it, I will do it.

And this is at a stage where Peter still doesn't know who Jesus fully is.

He does call him Rabbi or Master, but he's not calling him Lord.

Obey without compromise or dilution.

Obedience is costly.

Where's Aaron? Oh, he's downstairs.

Great coffee.

Perhaps the last one is you have to cry out to God for open heaven, man.

You have to cry out to God.

Not because of his reluctance to give, but because you don't know how to position yourself.

Cry out to God.

Cry out to God for it.

Saying, I started this way.

I cannot have it closed on me.

Moses is crying out, if your presence doesn't go, I'm not going.

You brought me this far.

You took me from the burning bush.

You took me to Pharaoh.

You made things 10 times tougher for me.

I agreed with you.

I stood with you.

Now you brought me out here.

Amazing hand of deliverance.

Broke open the Red Sea.

You are Yahweh.

There's nobody else.

But now that I've come to Mount Sinai, if you're going to shut things down now, I cannot go.

I need your presence.

I'm asking you to come with me.

I'm not going to settle down for an angel.

It doesn't matter that you send me the best angel you have.

Yahweh, if you don't come, I can't go.

There's a crying out.

There's a desperation.

There's a desire that I cannot settle for anything less.

I must have this or I don't have anything.

It's the same thing that's happening in Acts chapter 4, verse 28 to 31, where the disciples have seen the miracle that happened in Acts chapter 3, where a lame man rose.

Acts 4:28–31 Acts 3 · chapter mention

But now they're caught and they've been beaten.

They've been thrown into prison.

And now they've been released.

And they're being told, you cannot speak the name of Jesus.

And they're crying out saying, oh God, stretch out the hand of your mighty servant Jesus so that miracles and healings may start again.

Even in the face of these threats, oh God, pour out your Spirit.

And what happens?

The whole place begins to shake like it did in Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

There's a crying out saying, if you do not stretch out your hand, we cannot do anything.

And with that comes a boldness.

With open heaven comes boldness.

With open heaven comes boldness.

You know why?

Because you're at the end of your deceit and the end of your strength and you only have him.

And with him comes boldness because he cloaks himself with zeal.

Sometimes what you hear from God is only realized what you hear in Bethel.

What you hear in Bethel is only realized through wrestling.

What you hear in Bethel is only realized through wrestling at Pentiel.

Sometimes, not always, but sometimes when God says something under an open heaven and you are so thrilled about it,

you know that sometimes what is spoken at Bethel is only realized through wrestling at Pentiel

because what God has said under an open heaven now requires you to be changed.

Do not be afraid of it.

You get to see God face to face in the dark.

In the darkness of a gorge, all alone, completely dark, you will see his face.

And he will wrestle with you and he will change you.

Do not be afraid of it.

Learn how to leave the place without a limp.

But do not be afraid of it because some of the things that are spoken,

some of what you hear in Bethel is only realized through wrestling at Pentiel.

Don't be afraid of it.

It changes you and prepares you.

How can you be better in wrestling than in the world?

A couple of things.

One, things are getting hard but they are not destroying you.

They are making you better.

That's one of the things.

Two, you are beginning to change in your very persona.

Things are getting hard and life is challenging but it is not destroying you.

You know that even though it's challenging, something is rising up in you.

It's not spoiling you.

It's not ruining you.

It's almost like, okay, I know something is happening.

This is very hard but I am being changed.

Your very persona begins to change.

Who you are, who you really are is beginning to change and you love it.

You've struggled with this for years.

You've never been able to get out of it.

Now you are being needed and the process is not fun.

But every time you look at yourself in the mirror, you are seeing that the vase is being recreated

and there is something that is so liberating inside you that you think to yourself,

my God, this is difficult and so fun.

Two words that never go together.

The guy wouldn't let go, man.

He was dragging his feet.

One feet is not dragging.

Try wrestling with one foot limp.

Okay, let's come in for a landing.

So Bethel, like I said earlier, this idea of open heaven is, or Jacob called it the gate of heaven.

The gate of heaven.

The gate of heaven.

The gate of heaven is like a nexus or an entry point between two realms.

Nexus or an entry point between two realms.

That's what the gate of heaven or open heaven is.

God speaks.

God speaks in open heaven situations.

And there is a lot of angelic activity.

Angelic activity.

Which you don't need to see, but you need to be aware of that whenever there is an open heaven,

there are millions and millions of angels that work.

Hebrews chapter 1 talks about it.

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

That God sends out his ministers of fire or sends out his spirits that are like wind.

And there's a lot of angelic activity.

And the main focus is to bring people to salvation.

Hebrews chapter 1, the last, I think verse 14 or thereabouts, talks about that.

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

But at the end of the day, an open heaven is where the Holy Spirit is at work.

An open heaven is where you can hear the counsel of God and the conversations in the throne room.

An open heaven is where the wind of the Spirit begins to carry you.

An open heaven is where God begins to usher in new movements.

When you are able to, as a church, when we are able to walk under something like that,

what begins to happen is God uses you to now become the entry point, the gateway of heaven,

through which others can be affected.

And others can be affected with ease.

Others can be affected in mass movements.

Others can be affected with such power, with very little flesh, with a lot of spirit.

Be the ladder on earth and let heaven ascend and descend.

Be the ladder on earth and let heaven ascend and descend.

Be the ladder on earth, let heaven ascend and descend.

And I love it when I don't do any work and the Holy Spirit does something.

And if people come and thank you or receive it, well, you know who did it.

Be the ladder on earth that heaven can ascend and descend on, new commissions initiated and completed.

And here's the odd thing, eh?

Bethel means house of God.

And it's the first mention in the Bible of this idea of the house of God.

And guess what? There is no building.

It's almost like God saying, hey, yes, you'll have a temple built by Solomon.

Yes, you will have a tent built by Moses.

Yes, you will put up an ark and you will come and worship me at this temple.

But I want you to know that the first time I mentioned the house of God,

it was when there was no building.

It was always meant to be a place where there was no building, but it was a people.

All that was there at this place called the house of God was a rock, which was a pillow.

So right from the beginning, God's intent in terms of the house of God was never a building.

It was never a building.

And he's hoping that a church can respond this way

because his preferred method of bringing the rule of heaven to earth

is through the community of heaven on earth.

His intent, can I bring the rule of heaven to earth

through a community of heaven on earth?

That's why he hopes it won't be an individual thing where a Derek or a Jeevan or a Jane or a Jillian or a Mae

decide, okay, this is what I'm going to walk on.

No, no, no, no. It is us as a people because his intent is,

can I bring the rule of heaven on earth through a community of heaven on earth?

That's always been his plan.

And when that happens, then the glory of God is tangibly,

then the glory of God which is in us is tangibly evident around us and through us.

Then the glory of God that is in us becomes tangibly evident through us and around us.

Now you have mountain, a mountain that is on fire.

Now you have the mighty rushing wind.

Now you have the wheels within the wheels as in Ezekiel.

Now you have the Shekinah in the cloud and the pillar.

Now you have, because the people learn to walk like this.

Last thing I want to say before some of you fall off to sleep because you haven't been sleeping this week.

People on the recording will wonder why everything has gone silent.

We should do that once. In the middle of teaching or worship, everyone goes quiet.

And then there's this letter that flashes across the screen,

Rapture.

Oh, they can still see the people standing.

Oh, that won't help.

Revivals are an expression of open heaven.

That's what happens in a revival. It's an expression of an open heaven.

The 20s and the 30s that we've talked about in terms of revival.

I want to end with reading this.

I just want you, then I'll ask Jeeva to come up and pray.

I want to end with this.

Revivals are an expression of an open heaven over a people, over a city, over a nation.

I'm reading two excerpts that you heard last year.

While this man was praying in his barn, I myself, taking part in the faith mission convention at Bangor in North Ireland,

was suddenly arrested by the conviction that I must leave at once and go to the island of Bernera,

where I found myself within three days.

Almost immediately on arriving, I was in the midst of a most blessed movement.

Again, the promise was being fulfilled.

I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and I will flood dry ground.

The first few meetings were very ordinary,

but the prayers offered by elders of the congregation breathed a confidence in the sure promise of God.

Again and again, reference was made to the words of Psalm 50 verse 3,

Psalms 50:3

Our God shall surely come.

They did not wait long for the fulfillment of the word from God.

Guys, you've got to think like this.

Can a man who has addictions, who is broken, who is sin-ridden,

can a man like that be saved and restored by God?

And the answer is a resounding yes.

Can a man then have God do the same thing to his family?

Yes, he can change the man's family.

He can save them one by one, restore them, bring them back to fullness.

Can God then affect that man's neighbor?

Yes.

Can God affect that man's neighbor and his family?

Yes.

Over a period of weeks and months and years,

can God begin to work like Levin through these few in their small group?

Can God over seven or eight years begin to affect a village?

What we don't realize is that for 2,000 years people were waiting for a prophecy to come to pass,

that the Son of God, that the God of Israel would turn up in Israel.

It took 2,000 years. It did happen.

The reason for thinking most of these things are impossible,

that the latter reigns which are supposed to come,

that have been prophesied again and again and again over the last 56 years that I've been alive,

I've been hearing about the latter reigns, I've been hearing about revival,

I've been hearing about Joel chapter 2 coming,

Joel 2 · chapter mention

that the Spirit of God shall be poured upon all flesh and the earth shall see things that they've never seen before,

that dry bones shall live, that the river shall flow.

And you think how many times do we need to repeat this?

How many Sundays?

I pray to God, life by life, individual by individual, family by family, it will happen.

Till one day my prayer is, Oh God keep me alive, Oh God keep me alive, Oh God keep me alive,

do what you did with Anna and Ias and Simeon and Anna, I must see it, Oh God.

Do not take me away before I see it.

Because I know what I have seen, I know what I've been promised,

not for myself but for this church and through this church.

One evening, again and again reference was made to the words of Psalm 50 verse 3,

Psalms 50:3

Our God shall surely come.

They did not wait long for the fulfillment of the word from God.

One evening just as the congregation was leaving the church and moving down towards the main road,

the Spirit of God fell upon the people in Pentecostal power.

No other word can describe it.

In a few minutes, the awareness of the presence of the Most High became so wonderful and subduing

that one could only say with Jacob of old, surely the Lord is in this place.

There under the open heavens by the roadside, the voice of prayer was mingled with groans of the penitent

as free grace awoke men with light from on high.

Soon the whole island was in the grip of a mighty movement of the Spirit,

feeling deep conviction of sin and a hunger for God.

This was less than 100 years ago.

You think it cannot happen again.

You think sin is any competition to the blood of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit.

Here's another story.

In 1949, the Spirit of grace and supplication fell upon a congregation,

fell upon a congregation, fell upon a congregation.

He still thinks of the church as a primary vehicle through which the kingdom does things.

He still thinks of the church as a primary vehicle through which he moves.

In 1949, the Spirit of grace and supplication fell upon a congregation in the village of Arnall

on the Isle of Lewis in the Scottish Hebrides.

They prayed for revival.

Will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you?

Show us your mercy, Lord, and grant us your salvation.

From Psalm 85, verse 6 and 7.

Psalms 85:6

One night they crowded into the home of the blacksmith, a smith named Smith.

But the spiritual atmosphere was dry.

A sense of deadness prevailed as one after the other.

They tried to break through in prayer.

Duncan Campbell, a visiting evangelist, called on Mr. Smith to pray.

The prayer was short and sharp.

Oh God, you made a promise to pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground.

And Lord, it's not happening.

He paused and then continued in a rising voice.

Lord, I do not know how Mr. Campbell or these other men stand with you.

But if I know my own heart, I know that I'm thirsty.

You have promised to pour water on him who is thirsty.

If you don't do it, how can I ever believe you again?

Your honor is at stake.

You're a covenant-keeping God.

Fulfill your covenant engagement.

At that instant, the granite house shook like a leaf.

And a power was unleashed that swept the entire parish.

Campbell said, I could stand only in silence as wave after wave of divine power swept through the house

in a matter of minutes following this heaven-sent visitation.

Men and women were on their faces in distress of soul.

He steps outside and discovers that the whole village was astir.

Though it was 11 o'clock at night, people with lanterns and flashlights were making their way along the roads

and across the fields towards the meeting place as if summoned by a silent bell.

And open heaven can change the lives of people.

Amen.