 Happy Sabbath. Happy Day. I am happy to be here. I know the old world is in Xmas mood. And today is our last Sabbath to the Xmas. I don't know whether to wish you a merry Christmas or not because it is obvious that Christ was not born on the 25th December but it is not bad to celebrate that Christ was born because obviously Christ was born so it is let him be born in your hearts. I praise God for this day that He has given unto us that we may be able to worship Him this day and I want to welcome you to this worship. I'm glad because our choristers today really took us to heaven through the songs that we sung. They were homeward bound. Our topic today is saying the gate of heaven. The gate of heaven. And we are all yearning to be home. We will base our salmon today. Though not reading now in the book of Genesis 28 but stand through verse 17 that is our main text but we will get some background to it from chapter 27. I just want to tell you that Jacob this son of God who wanted to be good and he was destined for good things. Jacob is knowing the promise that God had given to the mother that the older will serve the younger and he knows that God will bring it but mum comes in because he overheard the father conversing with the brother and telling him that please go and bring some animal and then make a nice soup, bring to me then I will bless you. Then the mother who heard this comes to Jacob and tells him I've heard your father talk to your brother bringing two young gods I will make a nice soup and give to you then you will take to your father and your father will be able to bless you. This is because Isaac was very old and ice was gone and he could not be able to identify whether this is Isaac or Jacob so the mother knew this this is common with old age I remember my mum in the last 5 years just started to cry about her eyes that my eyes are going what is the problem can you take me to the hospital they can remove something from my eye they don't know what is that thing to be removed so that she can be able to see when I took her to the hospital the doctor said no this one is old age and other things so we can do this so he started saying that I am seeing somebody like an animal I just see something dark I don't see I can't see whether it's a person or something else and maybe I can see somebody when he or she is wearing something that is white so Isaac was in such a situation and the wife took this advantage to tell Jacob please bring some animals I will make a good soup but Jacob said something that I love Jacob you know sometimes when you want to sing something is talking to you and telling you that something is wrong with this scene you need to abandon this so Jacob is telling the mother in verse 11 and 12 of chapter 27 chapter 27 of Genesis verses 11 and 12 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother but my brother Esau is a hairy man when I have a smooth skin what if my father touches me I would appear to him I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing do you know if I go and do this thing my mom I will bring a curse on myself rather than bringing a blessing that I was going to seek for and is very deeply tied with that this one tells you that this man is not willing to do this thing but the mother is saying please go let that curse be on me you know some of us we always call curses on us for nothing and because he is a son and he needs blessing he accepts and brings and the mother makes and he comes for blessing and the father ask him who are you and he says I am your son Esau then the father is saying the voice is of Jacob but your skin is of Esau let me bless you then after the blessing Esau comes with a nice meal and comes to the father and says father have come the father is collapsing what has happened oh somebody else has taken your blessings who is this who has taken your blessing and he is telling you oh father have just come he is telling him no your brother has taken your blessings but Esau is crying and asking in verse 38 Esau say to the father only one blessing my father bless me too even me also then Esau wept aloud it was very painful then he was very bitter with the brother he cried he cried then he vowed Jacob took my birthright now he has taken my blessing also from the father I will wait for my father to die when we have finished the morning time I am going to kill him this statement was told to Rebekah and Rebekah tells Jacob that your brother has vowed to kill you I want you to run away and go to my father Laban so that you can be able to have a comfort there so that when some time your brother is at peace the anger is down you can come back I think they talk to Isaac and he agreed bless Jacob and told him please go to Laban and do not take away from Canon please go and take away from that land then Jacob with a lot of heaviness sets on a journey to a place that I want to believe that he was not sure of it was a distant place probably he had never gone there and it is not easy to reach there the kilometers from Biasheba where they were to Haran I am being told that it is more than 700 kilometers so that one is a long distance Jacob is feeling how will I walk from Biasheba to Haran it is a long distance how can I carry food that is going to carry me through all those days that I will walk in the wilderness it is dark and is feeling that how I wish I did not commit this sin how I wish I did not hear what my mother told me and he starts feeling the pain of separation between him and the brother he feels the pain of separation between him and the mother and the father by the way he will go there for a long time till when he will be back the mother will be dead it is painful when you are leaving home setting away from home one of us we feel we need to be home it is nice to be home this little boy who was in grade 8 had no parents parents were all dead the only family member who was still alive was an old grandmother they had nowhere to live because the house you know what a grandmother can have when they are living in poverty so it is somewhere you can't admire that was the only place he could have someone decided to give him a boost to go to school so at the end of grade 8 this boy is crying and saying now I am leaving this school and I don't know where I am going because I have no home to go the only thing I have in life is this small box that I have in school I have nothing in life and the boy is feeling pain that he is having no home all of us we feel that we want to be at home home has the lot of warmth that we need we need warmth the association that we get from our family members at home anytime whether you are traveling to a very nice country a very nice city and you have been there for some time you are away from home you just feel you are homesick you just remember your parents and you feel you are homesick you just remember your siblings you feel you are homesick you just remember the warmth that is always at home you feel you are homesick you want to be home why myself even if I go to a first world country I will come back home because home is always best feel the experience you have ever felt when you are away from home how you have ever missed your children when you are far away that is the feeling of home we always need to be home and Jacob is feeling that now I am leaving home I am going to about 735 km away and I don't know when I will be back I don't know how I will feel when I am separated with my mother when I am separated with my father and it is because of something that I could have avoided that is the painful part of it but he has nothing to nothing else to do except to go because he will be dead if he is not running away so with that he accept to leave a certain package is given to him I just imagine that he must have carried up some food and because he is going for a very long journey he must start his journey very early in the morning he is going to walk in the wilderness then he walks from early morning the first day and in the night he cannot be able to move any further he is very tired he must rest somebody is telling me that the distance that he covered that day from Biasheba to a place that he called Bethel the original language of that place is called Luz the distance there is about 40 miles that is about 64 km so in that first day of walk Yakub covered about 64 km how many km have you ever covered in life in a day some of you don't even do 2 in a day we scarcely do 6 km in a day during olden times when they used to go and take dowaris to female places they used to walk like 40 km or 50 km with animals nowadays we go by there and give to the family Yakub walked for 64 km I believe the man was tired the bones were aching nafs were stiff this man felt it he is remembering that I am running away from home I am running away from my mother and my father I don't know when I will ever see them the man is feeling a lot of pain being away from home he sets somewhere to rest in the evening so we start from verse 10 chapter 28 from verse 10 the Bible is saying Genesis 28 from verse 10 Yakub left Biasheba and set out for Haran when he reached a certain place he stopped for a night because the sun had set taking one of the stones there he put it under his head and lay down to sleep he took a stone put it down and the stone was the pillow I don't know the experience that his head was having having a stone as a pillow and then it continues to say in verse 12 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 let's put a comma from verse 13 he is saying where he was lying down I want to believe he is lying down somewhere in the night there is a lot of cold fear of animals but he saw something in verse 13 the Lord verse 12 sorry verse 12 before verse 13 verse 12 says and he dreamed all there was a ladder that was set up on the earth and the top of it reached the heaven I thank God for this ladder and I thank God that the top of this ladder reached to the heaven meaning that God himself is reached by our us and the angels of God were ascending and descending on this ladder there is a communication between us and heaven our God is not a God who lives in heaven and away from the earth God who is concerned with our matters here on earth he is concerned with our pain here on earth when this man is pained that I am running away from my family members I am running away from home and I need to be home heaven is very close and communicating and the communication comes in to him in verse 13 that says that on top of the ladder stood the Lord and he said you know because this is a dream this is a dream you may think that maybe he saw an angel and believed that that angel was God but the name of the Lord that is written there you can see it is in caps that is a holy name of God a name that cannot be pronounced and I fear even pronouncing it but it is what was not to be translated which nowadays because we just call God without respect we pronounce it and we call it Yahweh so he is saying on top of the ladder was Yahweh Yahweh stood above it and maybe he still thought it could be God and gave it that holy title of God but what confirms that surely it was the Lord that he saw is the speech that he had the speech was the Lord said I am the Lord God of Abraha angel cannot say that one so even in that dream it was not an angel speaking to Jacob it was the Lord God talking and saying I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father be confident that I am the one speaking to you I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father and the God of Isaac and he says the land where thou last to thee I will give it and to thy seed continue thy seed shall be the dust of the earth and thou shall 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 the next verse is saying when God is continuing to speak he said in verse 15 but behold I am with thee I will keep thee in all places with thy ghost and I will bring thee again into this land for I will not leave thee until I have done which I have spoken to thee of may God bless that one God is promising and telling Jacob I am with you and I will watch over you he is seeing a vision he is having a dream and in this dream it is God himself talking to him not an angel God himself talking and saying I am with you and I will watch over you by the way sometimes we feel some other things that are troubling us sometimes we are troubled that we don't know how the trouble will end when the trouble will end but God is confirming one thing and saying I am with you in this place where you feel you are troubled where you are fearing cold where there is terror for wild animals don't worry I am with you I know you are fearing your future do not fear I am with thee that is what God is telling us do not fear I am with you and another the next statement which is very nice which we have already read is God said I will watch over you there will be terror surround but I am watching there will be fear surround but I will be watching you know watching means there is keen care that I am taking on your life keen care that I am taking on your finances keen care that I am taking on your family and God is telling you do not be afraid I am watching you do you know sometimes you just do even saying you just even do it without knowing that God is watching you do you know sometimes you are also terrified with something a situation in life until you forget that God is watching on you so God is telling him I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go anytime you are walking God is watching over you anytime you are in your family God is watching over you anytime you are in pain God is watching over you then he says I will bring you back to this land and I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised to you God is saying this is a vow God is saying that you have left your home you are going to a strange land you may suffer on the way but I will watch over you I will take care of you and one big promise I will bring you back home I will not keep quiet I will not stop till you are home I will take care of you till you are back home I will make sure that the promises that I have given to you they will come to pass I will make sure that all the blessings that I have said you will receive them when Jacob awoke from his sleep when Jacob awoke from his sleep he thought surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of it let me see what King James is saying and Jacob awaked out of his sleep and he said surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not when he started sleeping in this place outside in the night all the fears were on him and he knew that this obviously is a curse but that is the situation when God is coming to him and speaks to him and shows him and he sees the holiness of God and he proclaims surely the Lord is in this place by the way do you know that that situation that God has called you to that you are feeling is so stressful to you the Lord is in that place he said he claimed that surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it by the way when you are in a stressful situation when things are not making sense there are times that you feel that the Lord has rejected you but here the Lord has assured him and this man of God is able to say that even in this situation the Lord has never abandoned me the Lord has been with me and the Lord will never abandon me and he claims that surely the Lord is in this place do you know sometimes your sins have brought you curses in life until you think that there can never be the eyes of God washing over you to bless you and that situation God is saying please I am with you and I will watch over you can you just imagine and say surely the Lord is in this place even if I am in a situation that is troubling me even a family that is disturbing me you can claim and say surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not do you know what he said after that he said how awesome is this place this is none other than the house of God do you know sometimes you come to church and you feel that God is asking you for too much he wants you to leave many things that you love doing and God is demanding too much how awesome is this place this is none other than the house of God because you have felt the presence of God so Jacob is saying the way I have seen God this place is awesome it is none other than the house of God even this situation where I am in this is a house of God and he claims and says let me repeat verse 17 he says how awesome is this place this is none other than the house of God this is the gate of heaven those many demands you are seeing that God wants you to be straight it is none other than the gate of heaven you might have walked zigzag routes but the Bible says it is none other than the house of God it is the gate of heaven it might be challenging the road may be very straight not straight that meaning it has corners straight that means that it might be very strict very tough but it is the gate of heaven Jacob is saying I am going to go a long way I am going to go a long route but this route is none other than the house of God I have realized that the Lord is in this place and because the Lord is in this place it is the gate of heaven and you know all his desires were always to go home I want to bring you two paragraphs from the book of Ministry of Healing and the servant of God writing in page 473 I think it will be brought to us the servant of God is saying we are never called upon to make a real sacrifice for God we are never called upon to make a real sacrifice for God what does it mean all those things that you are feeling you are sacrificing to God they are nothing we are never called upon to make a real sacrifice for God many things he asks us to yield to him but in doing this we are but giving up which hinders us from heavenward way when he is asking us to give up he is asking us to leave those things that prevent us from going to heaven even when called upon to surrender next statement those things which in themselves are good we may be sure that God is thus working out for us some higher good sometimes something you feel is very good it is slipping away from you but even when that something which is good is slipping away from you God is working in you for some higher good the next paragraph she tells us Prophet God is telling us that in future life in future life when could this be maybe in heaven in future life the mysteries that here have annoyed and disappointed us will be made plain have you been annoyed by situations have you been disappointed by situations so the Bible the writer is saying that in future life in future life that here have annoyed us and disappointed us will be made plain they will be plain we will understand them we shall see that our seemingly unanswered prayers and disappointed hopes have been among our greatest blessings you have seen many things as a disappointment thank you so much you might have seen many things as a disappointment and some things that are good and you are yearning for them but they slipped away in future you will realize that in them slipping away God was working for your higher good in order to make you reach home all of us we are yearning to reach home this is why Jacob in living home Jacob is crying and would want to live home but when he meets God he remembers the ultimate home the heavenly home where we all desire to be we all want to be home and Jacob is told you are desiring to come back home I will watch over you till you come home I will take care of you till you come back home but not only home he is given a beautiful glance of a better home where he sees a ladder that is connecting heaven and earth and our God is standing not sitting standing on top of the ladder and promising blessings and that one gives you a desire that I am working on you till you reach home you are desiring to be at home where there is father and mother but there is a home where our father is God himself may God bless you as we sing song 601 we feel that home is near heaven is close to us we have seen signs that morning is coming it has been dark but there are signs that morning is coming soon we will be home it is our desire it is our pleasure it is our joy God is saying you decide to be home I will not rest till all of us who love the appearing of the Lord will safely be at home and may God bless us