What is the house of God? In this sermon clip, Bill Johnson talks about the open Heaven that Jacob experienced in Genesis 28, after which he declared “This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of Heaven”. Bill expounds on the nature of the house of God, and teaches that God’s desire has always been that you and I would be the house of God; perfectly positioned on the edge of two worlds to display His glory, that others may also come to know Him and experience the reality of Heaven. Jesus is our ultimate example in what it looks like to be the house of God.
you see this is the initial fulfillment
of that Old Testament unusual metaphor
of an open Heaven Angels coming and
going the Fulfillment of Divine Purpose
on the earth through a house that
happens to be positioned on the edge of
Two Worlds
[Music]
this is 28 verse 12 then he dreamed
that’s Jacob and behold a ladder was set
up on the earth and its top reached to
heaven and they’re the angels of God
were ascending and descending and behold
the Lord stood above it and said I am
the Lord God of Abraham your father
the god of Isaac the land on which you
lie I will give to you and your
descendants jump down to verse 16. then
Jacob awoke from his sleep and said
surely the Lord is in his place and I
did not know it that’s a lot of church
services are like that right there
surely the Lord is in this place and I
did not know it
and he he was afraid and said how
awesome is this place listen carefully
this is none other than the house of God
this is the Gate of Heaven there’s a
very strange
metaphor being used here to illustrate
the nature of God’s design he said this
is none other than the house of God the
Gate of Heaven okay Verse 18 Jacob Arose
early in the morning took the stone he’d
put at his head set it up as a pillar
poured oil on it he called the name of
that place Bethel that’s a good name
verse 22 this Stone which I have set as
a pillar shall be God’s house now that’s
very strange there’s no building here
now the house of God we see unveiled in
many different ways throughout the Old
Testament and New Testament the Old
Testament we have a temple that Solomon
built was the house of God we have a
tabernacle that David built which was a
house of God we have the Tabernacle of
Moses also I’ve got the rebuilt Temple
of Solomon we have many houses of God
but this is the first mention of the
house of God and the entire Bible First
mention always sets a standard here’s
the bizarre thing it’s not a building
it’s a rock
it’s a rock
or Jacob slept had a dream saw heaven
open Angels ascending and descending and
God spoke through the open heaven and
spoke a word to Jacob
House of God
I think what excites me the most out of
this particular story
was
I’m sure to Jacob it was logical to me
it’s just it it challenges me he said
this phrase this is none other than the
house of God
the Gate of Heaven
this is none other than the house of God
the Gate of Heaven
what’s a gate
a gate is a it’s a reality
that it’s it’s something that takes you
from one reality to another
you may go through a gate from your
backyard to your driveway you may go
from a gate in your front yard to a
public sidewalk but it’s it’s something
that takes you from one reality to
another
and yet this first mention the first
revelation in the entire Bible on the
nature of the house of God has several
elements that are important for us to
remember because it will Define
everything we are
number one what is it it’s a place where
there’s an open heaven
it’s a place where there’s an open
heaven
number two
God speaks through that open heaven
Number Three Angels come and go
this Angelic activity
that’s all
open Heaven that’s all House of God
a gate
on the edge of Two Worlds the Gate of
Heaven
and negate into the hearts lives of
people
it’s the house of God
look with me at John chapter 1.
John chapter 1
um
in verse 14 it says
Jesus is the word of God made flesh
tabernacled or dwelt Among Us so the
point I want to make is that Old
Testament prophecy in Genesis 28
prophesies the nature of the house of
God the initial fulfillment or
illustration of that prophetic
metaphor is in the person of Jesus
he is the Tabernacle or the house of God
on planet Earth chapter 1 verse 14. jump
all the way towards the end of the
chapter and we see Nathanael has this
interesting experience his brother begs
him to come and to meet Jesus come and
see him Jesus saw Nathanael verse 47
coming towards him and he said behold an
Israelite and whom is no deceit there’s
no guile
Nathaniel said to him how do you know me
Jesus said before Philip called you when
you were under the Fig Tree I saw you so
Jesus is saying hey I saw you
not in the natural he could see in the
spirit he could see Nathanael inviting
his brother to come and to meet Jesus
Nathaniel verse 49 answered and said
Rabbi you’re the Son of God you’re the
king of Israel Jesus answered and said
to him because I said to you I saw you
under the Fig Tree do you believe you
will see greater things than these
and he said to him now listen carefully
most assuredly I say to you Hereafter
you shall see Heaven open and the angels
of God ascending and descending on the
son of man
notice any similarities
you see this is the initial fulfillment
of that Old Testament unusual metaphor
of an open Heaven Angels coming and
going the Fulfillment of Divine Purpose
on the earth through a house that
happens to be positioned on the edge of
Two Worlds
we’ve been summoned and called
to do greater things in Jesus it if if
it wasn’t in the Bible
that would be the worst thing you could
possibly say
to do greater things in Jesus but Jesus
himself announced it greater things than
these shall you do
you can’t do greater until you’ve done
the same
there are many believers who
in in this day and age have a greater
faith for the return of Christ than they
do in the power of the Gospel
and what I mean by that is the return of
Christ is
Beyond glorious so I’d never want to say
or do anything to dumb that down
but what is a frustration to me
is that many people have a faith for the
return of Christ because they believe
that the only thing that can fix this
world is not the power of the Gospel we
preach but the return of a military
invasion of God to set things in order
in other words the confidence isn’t in
the message we’ve been given
you know
can an individual life that is
absolutely an utter room can it be saved
not just forgiven can it be restored
restored
place of Sanity addiction is broken off
have a healthy family have a healthy
lifestyle
can it happen to one
then can it happen to his family
can it happen to his family line
what about his neighborhood
City
you see the point the point is is the
power of the Gospel
is what is needed to re-embrace tuning
Our tuning fork to the one sound the
original sound that said
do what I taught you to do teach
everyone under you to do the same have
them to teach those that they raise up
to do the same don’t change the standard
get the tape measure out again and do it
the way you were instructed to do it lay
hands on the sick don’t worry about how
good you do don’t worry about how bad
you do just obey what he said to do I
don’t have the right I don’t have the
luxury to change the assignment to what
I know how to do well
[Applause]
most people’s Ministries are defined by
what they do well
most people when they try to figure out
what their Ministry is they just try to
figure out what they’re good at
not what they’re called to do
now I’m good with you doing what you’re
good at
but don’t do it at the expense of what
you’re called to do
well I pray for the sick nothing nothing
happens
find out why just don’t change the
assignment
yeah I’m so glad that you watched this
video I do pray that it’s a great great
strength and encouragement to you and
I’ve got a verse that it really is My
Cry for all of us and it’s Psalms 20
it’s verse 4. may he grant you your
heart’s desire and fulfill all your
plans
that’s my prayer that’s my prayers that
this would be the season of rich rich
fulfillment
thanks for joining us