your heart does indeed long after God. And the reason we sang that hymn on the screen from the old hymn book, Soul Stirring Songs and Hymns, the old hymn book, was because we're on that theme this morning of back to Bethel. So if you have your Bibles there, please turn to Genesis and chapter 35 as we continue in our Sunday morning series, Genesis and chapter 35. And as I mentioned, we will be dealing with the theme today, back to Bethel. And we're not talking about Bethel ministries in the US, please, it's full of error, we're talking about the biblical Bethel, okay? And Jacob returning to the house of God, Jacob getting back on track for the Lord. We could state the theme this way, recovery from spiritual decline. or we could say recovery from apathy or recovery from backsliding, that's the theme really of this message this morning, one of spiritual recovery and praise God that's possible for you. if you'll let the Lord work with you. So Genesis 35 and we'll just read the first 15 verses for our reading this morning and then the message for this morning will be drawn primarily from the first seven verses and then God willing we will study the rest of the chapter when we come back here tonight. Genesis 35 reading from verse 1, and God said unto Jacob, arise and go up to Bethel and dwell there and make there an altar unto God that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household and all that were with him, put away the strange gods that are among you and be clean and change your garments and let us arise and go up to Bethel and I'll make there an altar unto God who answered me in the day of my distress and was with me in the way which I went And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is Bethel, he and all the people that were with him. he built there an altar and called the place El Bethel because their God appeared under him when he fled from the face of his brother. But Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak, and the name of it was called Alan-Bakuth. God appeared unto Jacob again when he came out of Paddan-aram and blessed him. God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob. Thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name. And he called his name Israel. God said unto him, I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins. And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. Let's pray shall we and commit this time to the Lord. gracious God and heavenly Father we give you thanks and we give you praise for this passage of scripture that is here before us. We thank you for the joy of being able to just read your word publicly like that in our country when we consider brothers and sisters in Christ who could be shot, killed, dragged off to prison for reading God's word. in that way and so we're thankful that we can have that freedom. We pray now, Lord, for that special searching of our hearts, that stirring of our hearts by the Spirit of God. Lord, I pray that you administer to every heart, to every life, Lord, I pray that you would touch each individual here, Lord, and that you would meet the need of every heart. Lord, I pray for myself, for strength, Lord, of voice, but above all, strength of heart, Lord, to be able to proclaim all that you'd have me to proclaim this morning from your Word. And we'll thank you for what you will accomplish in our hearts. In Jesus' name, Amen. Okay, sound fellow, let's just make sure the volume's up a little bit there so I don't have to push my voice this morning. Thank you for that. We have a most interesting chapter before us here in Genesis 35 and it really is quite a contrast to the previous chapter. We dealt with the Dinah disaster, didn't we, back in Genesis chapter 34 but now we see a different tone in this passage. The tone in this chapter is one of spiritual victory and spiritual triumph. Wiesby explains it this way, he says... Someone else said this, the 34th chapter of Genesis is Godless, the 35th is full of God. And so we see that here in Genesis chapter 35, God is moving in Jacob and in Jacob's family afresh. God is touching his life in a new and a very powerful way. And so there's a really, there's a wonderful message concerning recovery as we look at Jacob's return Bethel and so that's really the heart of the message this morning and I want to draw your attention to four facets of Jacob's return to Bethel and the lessons and the challenges that they teach us. So number one, I want you to notice the first lesson here, number one, the prompting to return to Bethel, verse one. The prompting to return to Bethel. Look at the initiative of God here. And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar unto God that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. The prompting to return to Bethel. God is prompting Jacob, God is touching Jacob's life, God is speaking into Jacob's life anew. And there are two points about this that I want you to consider. Firstly, the initiative of the prompting. Who was the one who took the initiative here? Well, it was God taking the initiative in Jacob's life. Now that reminds us, doesn't it, of the wonderful grace of God, because as we've traced the life of Jacob so far, we would have to agree that Jacob was an undeserving kind of individual, Jacob did not deserve God's grace and yet we find after all of Jacob's faults and all of Jacob's failings, yet we find God in his grace and God in his mercy moving afresh and in Jacob's life. Could I just encourage you this morning that we serve a God of the second chance, we serve a God of the third chance, and no matter how far you may have strayed from God as a believer, no matter how much you may have failed God, could I encourage you this morning that God wants to move in your life afresh? God wants to touch your life in a special way and so God takes the initiative here in stirring up Jacob back to spiritual revival. God takes the initiative in touching Jacob's life and in working in his life. Praise God, God is interested in our spiritual progress as his people. Praise God, he takes the initiative in our lives as his children to stir us up and to move our lives. Maybe that's what God is doing in your life this morning, maybe God would even use this message to touch your life afresh, to stir you up, to remind you of what you used to be, to remind you of the walk you used to have with God and of what God would have in your life. God is in the business of restoration, God is in the business of repair, God is in the business of recovering us out of spiritual apathy and spiritual decline. grace of God is seen here in this initiative. We also see the timing of God here, God was intervening in Jacob's life at a key point in time. In fact, as you survey the life of Jacob, as you study the life of Jacob, you will notice this, God speaking to Jacob at key points in his life. I mean this was a key point in Jacob's life when you remember the events of chapter 34 and the destructive things that had gone on there and the breakage that had taken place in Jacob's home and praised God that God was speaking into Jacob's life and dealing with Jacob's life afresh. So the initiative of the prompting, God took the initiative. Then notice some instructions in this prompting of God. And God essentially exhorts Jacob to take four steps And they are the same steps that you need to take if you would recover spiritually, if you would get your life back on track with God. So let's look at those four steps and I've summarized them in four words. Firstly, rise. The step number one, rise. And God said under Jacob, arise. Now consider the context again, Jacob's been sitting there at Shechem possibly for 10 years, I mean he's been there for some time and we discussed that in our last message how that is a clear indicator there that Jacob had dwelled at Shechem for some time and do you see the picture there? God is saying Jacob, get up, Jacob arise, Jacob it's time to move again for the Lord, Jacob you've sat in this location, you've sat in this place for too long and Jacob it's time to get up and to get moving forward again with your walk with God. Maybe that's God's message for you this morning, maybe you are a believer, you know God but you've just sat in the same place many years perhaps, you haven't grown in your Christian life and maybe God would speak to you as he spoke to Jacob and say, arise, it's time to get stirred up for God, it's time to go forward for God. Can you see yourself in Jacob this morning? Have you sat in that place spiritually for too long? Second step, return. Rise, return. Arise, God said, Go up to Bethel, do you see that instruction? Go up to Bethel and dwell there. Jacob had been at Bethel probably about 30 years ago, God had met him there, God had moved in his life, we could say it was Jacob's salvation experience where he really for the first time came into contact with the one true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, came into living contact with God and his life had changed at that point and God had been moving in faithfulness in his life since then but now God wants Jacob to go back to that place, he wants him to return back to the place of spiritual victory, back to where God had met him. You see the direction of Bethel here? God said unto Jacob, arise go what? Up to Bethel. Now Bethel was literally about 1,000 feet higher than Shechem. It actually wasn't that far away, it was only about 15 miles or 24 kilometers from where Jacob was at Shechem but it was a thousand feet or over 300 meters higher You see the picture here, God is calling Jacob out of the lowlands of Shechem to return to the high ground of Bethel and not only was Bethel higher physically and geographically, most importantly, Bethel was higher ground for Jacob spiritually. Oh, may God help us to go back to higher ground, to leave the lowlands of the world with its defeat and with its breakage and with its sin. And that is the call of God here. God wants us to go upward spiritually, not in pride, but God wants us to move forward with him. And when you begin to follow God, you will find it takes you in an upward direction spiritually. Could I ask you this morning, which direction is your spiritual life heading in this morning? Is your life going downward and backwards? or is your life perhaps just at a plateau like Jacob was at this time in his life? He hadn't forsaken God, he hadn't turned his back on God, but he really wasn't going anywhere spiritually, he had gotten comfortable there in Shechem and God says, Jacob, enough, it's time to move upwards and forwards. Maybe that's God's message for you this morning, it's time for you to stop sitting there in the world, it's time for you to move onwards, forwards and upwards in your Christian walk. direction of Bethel, go up, the destination there, Bethel. Bethel means the house of God, Bethel was a special place in Scripture, God met Jacob there twice, he met him there as I mentioned all those years ago and God is about to meet Jacob afresh there and that's why it was called Bethel, the word Bethel simply means the house of God and so this would represent for Jacob a return to fellowship with God. Are you out of fellowship with God? Are you saved? Maybe that's your problem this morning, that you've never actually truly received Christ as your Saviour. You can't have a relationship with God until you're first born again. You can't have a walk with God until you first receive Him as your Lord and your Saviour. But maybe you might be like Jacob this morning and you say, yes pastor, if I'm honest, I know Christ as my Saviour, I can look back to a time in my life where I knelt and received Jesus Christ or I called on Him to save me, I know I'm saved, I know I'm on my way to heaven, but if I'm honest this morning, I'm simply not in close fellowship with God at the moment in my life. that's the call of God, back to fellowship with God. Bethel means the house of God, speaking of fellowship with God, and of course that would apply to your personal life, wouldn't it? You need fellowship with God in your personal life. Have you neglected the Word of God? Have you neglected the place of prayer in your personal life? God's call to you is back to Bethel, back to fellowship with Him. we can't help but think about this application as well, as we think about the house of God, the word Bethel means house of God, we're New Testament Christians, we think about the fact that the New Testament church is called the house of God, 1 Timothy 3.15, but if I tarry long that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Now I'm not saying, we understand we're dealing back in the Old Testament here, the church wasn't in existence yet. I'm saying as New Testament believers we just seek to find the principles and the Old Testament there that can apply to our lives and when we think about the fact that Bethel means the house of God, we can't help but be reminded of the need to get back into the house of God. Yes, you need to be back in fellowship with God in your personal life but you also need to get back into fellowship with God in the house of God, the local church. And maybe you've been out of church for years, you haven't been to church for years but in your heart of hearts you know that you know God, listen to me, if you would go forth with God, God's going to have this message for you, it's time to get back into my house. it's time to go back to church, back to the house of God, back to the fellowship with the people of God. We were just singing that this morning, I like that hymn we just sang, Back to Bethel, it says, back to the beautiful path I once trod, back to the church and the people of God. Amen? Out of the cold world of sin and its woe, Bethel is calling, and I must go. Actually, God is calling, not Bethel. God is calling you to come back into fellowship with Him. And if you're going to get your life right with God, mark it down, you're going to have to get back into a Bible-believing, Bible-paced, Bible-preaching church. By the way, could I just be on the record and say this? We don't believe in the concept of home church. you may call that home church, the Bible calls that disobedience. Because Hebrews 10.25 says, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching, you read through the Bible, you will not find home churches. You say, hang on a second, pastor. I know the Bible says that churches met in houses. Thank you very much. Churches met in houses, that's a world of difference to a home church. There are certain things that constitute a New Testament local church, and a church can meet in any building. We could meet outside this morning, we could meet in a school this morning, or if for some reason our building belt burnt down, we could even meet in a home. But a church is something that is established and organized and has pastoral oversight. If you think that you staying at home on a Sunday as a family and watching someone on the internet is church, that's not church. I said that's not church. I don't care what you say, that's not church, and I'm sure there are sincere people involved in that, but it's disobedience to the Word of God. You are not fulfilling God's command by doing that. And so that's the call. It's time to get back with God. Maybe you hear this morning and you say, you know what, I haven't been in church for so many years, I can never go back now. Could I just say, it's never too late to go back. It's never too late to get your life back on track with God. Don't let the devil lie to you and tell you that because you've stayed there for so long where you are and you haven't been walking with God, that that's the way you have to continue for the rest of your life. No, no, no, no, no. God is available and God is, in his grace, is willing to draw you forth and to help you if you'll recover. Allow him to help you recover. So you need to get back to Bethel, back to church, back to the house of God but just make sure it's a biblical one that belongs to God, is submitted to his authority and is seeking to be the pillar and ground of the truth. You want to know if a church is biblical or not? You need to apply the truth test. Do they preach the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Don't look for a church that has fancy programs, though there's nothing wrong with programs. Don't look to see whether it has an aerobics class or whether it has some other social club. Look for a church that where every Sunday the Bible is opened and declared without shame. The whole counsel of God. That's the kind of church you need to be in, the house of God, not the house of entertainment, not the house of rock and roll, not the house of movies, not the house of people, but the house of God where God is honoured and God is exalted. So, rise, time to get up, time to move, return, time to get back to fellowship with God, time to walk with God again. And dwell there. You see that? Jacob was to make the house of God his home, there was a clear message here, Jacob you're not to go back to Shechem, it's forward Jacob from here. Go to Bethel and dwell there. I want you to stay there for a while. Camp out there, Jacob. Don't be running back to where you used to be. So we have these exhortations, these instructions from God. Rise, return. Here's the third one, rebuild. Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there and make there an altar under God that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. rebuild, make there an altar. Now you may recall in our previous messages how Jacob had built an altar to God in that place and how Jacob had worshipped God, he'd raised up a pillar there, an altar of sorts but now Jacob is to go back and make a fresh altar at Bethel, we see the principle there of not only needing to return to God but then to rebuild. to re-establish the altar of worship and fellowship with God in your life. Could I just encourage you this morning that it takes time to rebuild your life if you've been away from the Lord for a time. It takes time to repair, it takes time but it is well worth the effort. And so here's the message, you've got to get up, you've got to rise, you've got to return, you've got to get back to fellowship with God and then with God's help you need to start rebuilding your life according to the Word of God and that will take some effort, that will take some time And it's probably that aspect that you may start to get discouraged about when you realize that this altar has been broken down for too long in my life and I've got to work on that. And then the Lord taps you on the shoulder and says, see that other altar over there in your life that needs to be rebuilt. And this area needs working on. You say, this is all too hard. No, no, no, no, no. Go through with God. Stay with God. Let him work. instructions in this prompting. Rise, return, rebuild, remember. Look at verse 1 again, remember. Essentially God is stirring up Jacob here by way of remembrance. He's taking his mind back to what God had done in his life all those years ago there at Bethel. that would encourage Jacob, that would stir Jacob up to obey God's command and to go back to Bethel. Could I ask you a question this morning? If you've been saved and you know Christ as your Saviour but you haven't been walking with God for a while, could you just pause for a moment and remember, think back on God's goodness in your life. Can you remember some key times, like Jacob could remember, where God touched your life? where God was good to you, where God showed you His grace. You know, that's so important, you need to remember that, that'll encourage you in this quest to return back to God when you remember the God you're returning to is a loving God, a gracious God, a faithful God, a God who has worked in power in your life before and the same God who worked in your life all those years ago will work in your life again if you'll let Him. Remember, This was clearly something that was at the forefront of Jacob's mind because he mentions it in verse 3. Verse 7. Do you remember that in your life, how God helped you through a trial? How that you were cast upon him in that hour of need, maybe some years ago, and how God helped you? That's the God you're coming back to. That's the kind of God you are re-establishing your fellowship with if you are a believer who has drifted from God. So Bethel would remind Jacob of at least three things, I think. Bethel would remind Jacob of the presence of God, God had met him there. Bethel would remind Jacob of the promises of God, God had spoken to him there. And Bethel would remind him of the protection of God, God had protected and kept him there from Esau. So we have the prompting to return to Bethel. Is God prompting you this morning? maybe even through this message, tugging at your heart, you belong to me, you're not supposed to be sitting where you're sitting, it's time for you to get back on track and walk with me afresh back to Bethel. But we come to a second point and I call it the preparation to return to Bethel and here's where the rubber meets the road. here's where things maybe will get a bit challenging for you. You say, yes, in your heart, I need to get back on track for God. I need to walk with God again. I need to get back into fellowship with God. I need to do that. Well, there's going to be some preparation for that. here in verse 2 to 4 we have Jacob's response to God's moving in his life and it just teaches us so much about what is involved in getting back into fellowship with God. Then Jacob said unto his household and all that were with him, put away the strange gods that are among you and be clean and change your garments. So where are they headed? They're headed back to Bethel. But Jacob understands we're going to have to deal with some things before we get back to Bethel. We're going to have to work through some things as a family and as a household. There are some things in our lives here that are going to have to be removed that are not compatible with the Bethel life. So let me give you two points about this preparation and lots of little points underneath those. The example in the preparation, here we see Jacob calling his household together and seeking to lead them in the pursuit of God's will. Now again, if you've been following the series, this is a breath of fresh air compared to last chapter. Last chapter, I would think you would have to agree with me, we don't really see Jacob, pardon me, exercising strong leadership. Jacob is being too passive in the situation, his hot-headed sons are taking charge of things, But now we see Jacob, God has stirred his heart afresh and praise God, Jacob gets the household together and the family together and says this is the direction we're going. That's strong leadership isn't it? He's going to set the example for his family and we've hammered on this point many times throughout this series but here it is again, it is so important for heads of homes to be the spiritual leaders of their families. It's so hard for your wife and for your children to really go forward in their Christian walk if you're not on board. Now it is not impossible and I say that because maybe you're here this morning and you don't have a saved Christian husband or wife, don't let that stop you from seeking God and from pursuing God with the grace of God and the power of God. You can still take steps forward in your Christian walk and you must, but I'm just saying if you are married to a Christian man this morning, you need to pray for him and Christian men, you need to be the spiritual leaders of your home. So important. example in the preparation and now look at the exhortation for the preparation. Here we get to the heart of what needed to happen in order for Jacob and his household to prepare to go back to Bethel. Then Jacob said unto his household and to all that were with him, put away the strange gods that are among you and be clean and change your garments. This is a call from Jacob to his family back to spiritual revival. Back to spiritual revival and refreshment in their lives. And I want you to see that there was a call to a number of things here. There was a call firstly to clear out their idols. Preparation for Bethel. The call was to clear out, to remove their idols. Jacob was consciously aware that there were idols in his household should not have been there. Now we know at least Rachel had idols, we've read about that in previous chapters, how she took the idols, stole those gods from her father and took them with them back to the land of Canaan but clearly the problem has spread beyond Rachel's tent here because Jacob is now exhorting his family and his household, he's aware that there are false gods, there are idols there, perhaps the sons of Jacob had picked up some of these idols when they looted Shechem, quite possibly, along with the spoils of war there, they probably brought back charms and amulets and idols from the Shechemites, whatever the case may be, there was idolatry in Jacob's family and that would not be compatible with the worship of the one true God, they had to go. Could I just encourage you this morning if you're going to go forward with God, if you're going to get back into fellowship with God, you cannot take your idols with you. You can't take the junk of this world with you. God is a jealous God, that simply means God will have no rival. God wants your exclusive attention and worship of Him, because He's God. so I don't like that concept of God being a jealous God. Well would you be happy for your spouse to have multiple people in their lives, multiple partners or do you want them to be devoted just to you? You want them to be devoted just to you because you understand in that special relationship that the husband and the wife should be devoted to one another to the exclusion of all others. That is what it means when God says he's a jealous God. He will have no rival. He wants you to be married to him and to him only. God will not tolerate false gods in your life. And so Jacob knew they couldn't take those idols with them to Bethel. Bethel was all about devotion and consecration to the one true God and false gods could have no place at Bethel nor could they be tolerated by God who demands no rival. So you want to get back into fellowship with God? You're going to have to leave some things behind. I said you're going to have to leave some things behind. And by the way, let's go right back to the starting point. When you get saved, there is a turning to God from idols. Remember what Paul said about the Thessalonian Christians in 1 Thessalonians 1, when he was speaking about their conversion experience, he talked about the fact that they had turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. That's salvation, when you turn in repentance from sin and from the idols of this world, and turn to Christ alone and put your faith and your trust in him for salvation. And that's what happens at the start of the Christian walk. But let's be honest this morning, even as God's children, we can begin to get tangled up again in the idols of the world and the things of this world. And there is a need at times in our lives to pause and to purge out the junk of this world out of our lives. So, if you would know spiritual recovery, revival in your life, you can't bring your junk from the world with you. The idols must be dethroned in your life and the way made clear for King Jesus to rule in your life. Are you listening? You can't take your idols with you. Jacob knew that, we're getting back into fellowship with God, we're getting back into contact with God, these things have got to go! That's revival, isn't it? A revival involves not just returning to God, but a removal of those things that are abominable to Him. The removal out of our lives of those wicked things that are an offence to God, and you say, well, you know, I'm not one of these people who worships heathen idols, I don't have any idol statues in my home. Excuse me, an idol is anything that usurps the place of God in your life. There are idols of the heart, the Bible talks about in the book of Ezekiel. idol is anything that usurps the rightful place of God on the throne of your heart and life. Let me ask you this question, what idols are there in your life that you need to give up? What idols in your life do you need to give up in order to experience blessing again in your life? Let me just try and stir your minds a bit to think this through. Do you have actual idols in your life? You know, we're living in a day-to-day where you can't even just overlook that. In our nation, people have lucky charms, people have sometimes occultic objects, New Age objects, Buddha statues in their gardens, could I just say that in case? I don't, I think that's probably the case in here but if you're a Christian here and you have that kind of superstitious stuff in your house, it's got to go! It's demonic. Satan can work through those things in your life, those objects have no place in your life. But maybe you would say, well no, that's not me, I don't have any of those kinds of things in my life, those objects in my life. But maybe for you it's the idol of materialism. I'm just going to just give you a few different thoughts here because an idol is anything that usurps the place of God in your life and could I just say while in Australia on the whole we don't have a lot of statue idols around the place, although that's increasing, while we may not have a lot of that, we certainly have the idol of materialism. And that's going to hold you back. See, the thing you've got to understand here is those idols are going to hold you back from going up. Those idols are going to hold you back from getting back into fellowship with God. You say, but it's a sacrifice to let them go. Listen, letting go of the trinkets of this world and the junk of this world and having in its place fellowship with God and the blessing of God. There's no comparison. Don't let the devil lie to you that you're giving up so much to become a Christian or you're giving up so much to walk a godly life. Listen to me, the blessings of God far outweigh a million times over anything that the world offers. Don't believe the lie of the devil there that this is such a hard thing. Just let go of the idols, get rid of them. I love the fact that they took all these idols here and they buried them beneath the oak there at Bethel. Do you get the picture there? They buried them, they left them behind and went forward in their walk with God. maybe you don't have a statue idle in your home but maybe for you, money has become an idol in your life and you have no time for the Lord but you can be consumed in the pursuit of financial gain, that's a big one. No time for church but you can work your hide off money and I'm not saying we don't need to earn a living. Understand all of that but do you get the point I'm making? No time for God, no time to read his word, no time to pray because the idol of materialism is on the throne of your heart. What about the idol of ungodly media? You can't find time to come faithfully to God's house each Sunday and struggle to sit through a one-hour sermon when you do but you have no problem staring at a screen for hours and consuming the world's media. Can't find time to spend in God's book but you can waste many hours on Facebook. You knew that was coming up, didn't you? Is it the idol of worldly music? Are those albums on your iTunes or Spotify account holding you back in your spiritual progress? Is it that collection of records, tapes or CDs in your life and in your home? That can become a god. Tell you what, Australians may say that they're not big worshippers, I tell you what though, they worship the pop stars and the movie stars, that's the God of us, they're the gods of today. Interesting, isn't it, how they call these programs Idol, Australian Idol, American Idol, I don't watch them but I'm just saying, idolatry. That's a big one. And again, it's holding you back from your walk with God. Listen, I speak from experience. As a Christian young person, rock music got a hold of my heart and became an idol in my life and guess where I went spiritually? Nowhere! You can't go forward spiritually with the beat of the world pounding in your life and all those ungodly lyrics pounding into your head. But I just listened to that harmless stuff like, we all live in the yellow submarine. Have you noticed yellow submarines around the place? They were singing about drugs! Nothing innocent about the Beatles and those songs, they were singing about being high on drugs. Is it the idol of unwholesome literature? Books, magazines and unholy fantasies in your life? Here's a big one, have you made an idol out of a hobby? That's a big area of idolatry in our day. Now hobbies are not sinful in and of themselves but if we're not careful they can turn into idols and take God's place in our lives. True? Absolutely they can. There are Christians who can't give an hour on a Wednesday night for prayer at God's house with God's people but can find hours to watch their favorite sports programs or hours to watch tutorials on YouTube for their favorite pastimes. can't get in the car to come to church faithfully but can spend hours working on your favorite car in the back shed. Again, is it sinful to have a car? No, but it's a big sin if that becomes an idol and you can pour thousands of dollars into that mean lean machine and hundreds of hours into that thing, but you can't show up to serve God. You can't give anything to the work of God. Do you see what I'm saying here? These are subtle dangers. You can't find time to go out sowing on a Saturday, but you can find time to crack out the surfboard or the fishing rod. You say, phew, none of those categories fit me. Well, just work out, you fill in the blank for your life. You know what I'm talking about. It can be anything. It can be, again, and there might be things that are wholesome, it can be exercise. And I'm not against exercise. In fact, I was going to the chiropractor so many times, with a bare back, I thought, I need to do some exercise and since then I've hardly been back to the chiropractor. I'm not saying there's not a place for these things, but if I was neglecting the Word of God and my pastoral duties and every day three hours a day so I can have a six-pack, there'd be something terribly wrong with that! Telling my boys as they become teenagers, no problems. If you want to pump some weights, it's good. You need to expend some energy. The glory of young men is their strength. Not a problem with that, as long as it doesn't become an idol in your life. And don't worry about whether you have a six-pack or not. Forget about that. Who cares? The ones that say amen the loudest are the ones that are least likely to have one. When you get married, you do grow muscles in that area as men, but that's from all the good food from your wife. I'm just saying. whatever, your favourite hobby, pastime, I'm just saying, they may not be sinful and it may have even an appropriate place in your life but if it becomes all-consuming and it becomes a gold in your life, you're either going to have to severely reduce it or even in the case of some Christians they say, do you know what, this is such a stumbling block in my life, I'm just going to have to do away with it altogether. And I'm not making a rule out of that because it's different for each individual whatever it is for you might be different and how God leads you might be different. It might not be a problem for one other brother to have that hobby but it might be a problem for you. I'm just saying, whatever it is in your life, the idols that are holding you back from getting back into fellowship with God, getting back into the place of victory with God, they've just got to go. And this is where it gets difficult, doesn't it? Are you going to let go of those idols in your life? You know, I think we have a New Testament illustration of the same kind of thing in the Ephesian bonfire. In Acts chapter 19 verse 18 to 20, amazing work of God done there in pagan Ephesus. all of its idolatry and how the gospel pierced the darkness there in the Ephesian area. And the Bible says in Acts 19, 18 to 20, "...and many that believed came and confessed and showed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together and burned them before all men and they counted the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed." But I paid money all of those crystal balls, I paid good money for all of those TV shows, I paid good money for all of that music, it's not worth your spiritual life, let it all go, get rid of it. And some of it you may not even be able to resell. If it's a sinful thing, why would you hand on a sinful thing to someone else so you can make some money, just get rid of it. Christian brother came to me some time ago and I didn't know, I don't even know what sermon it was, he said that he had a comic collection that was worth around $150,000. He said, God convicted me through one of your messages and I threw it out. You say, wouldn't have you sold it? Well, the Spirit of God said to him, it's not worth it, get rid of it. Don't let the toys and trinkets of Shechem keep you from returning to Bethel. Could I encourage you? It'll be worth giving them up. It'll be worth giving them up to no close fellowship with God again. I mean, God speaks into Jacob's life, speaking his promises to him and God blesses him. Could I just say the blessings of God just far outweigh anything from this world you may give up. And so the Ephesians had the same kind of experience. these books which were connected with their witchcraft, the Ephesian letters that had all sorts of spells and different things written in them, were burnt and given up. Much of today's technology has changed but the principle is the same. For you it might mean a purge of the DVD cabinet, a cleanup of your iTunes account, a wipe of a hard drive. I remember hearing one Christian brother who gave this testimony how he had spent a lot of money buying these comedy shows and he had a hard drive full of them and the Lord convicted him about them one day because of the blasphemy and the innuendos and other things that were just not glorifying to God and he stayed up all night one night deleting them off his computer. deleting songs and movies that dishonor the Lord, discontinuing your Netflix subscription and disconnecting from destructive social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. It means a cleanup of the wardrobe, the closet and the home, books, posters, pictures, statues, clothing, all must be reviewed in the light of God's truth and God's holiness. Do you realize how much destruction those big streaming giants are doing to the next generation? I subscribe to the television, Parents Television and Media Council, it's a think tank in the States and a lobby group that tries to call out just the terrible things that are being pumped through these streaming giants and TV and movies in the name of entertainment. And they're trying to get awareness going at the moment for the HBO streaming platform and this show called The Idol. And again, I'm not looking into these things deeply because it's so defiling, but I want to keep my finger on the pulse a bit. It is absolutely staggering what these streaming giants are doing as far as the corruption of the morals of the next generation and what they're pushing. I was listening to the founder in an interview of this lobby group, and he said these streaming giants are not pushing the envelope, they're shredding the envelope. in one 8-part series has a vile swear word, I won't even give you the first letter because I don't want you thinking about it in church, something like 798 times in 8 programs. And it's been marketed to teens and pre-teens And some of their videos, promotional videos and clickbait have racked up 1.2 billion views on TikTok, which is the favoured platform for young people today. And they're making millions, if not billions, off of destroying the hearts and minds of our children. the call to return to Bethel comes with a call to remove the idols from our lives. I like the verse in that hymn, O for a closer walk with God, that says this, the dearest idol I have known, whate'er that idol be, help me tear it from thy throne and worship only thee. So this is Jacob's exhortation to his family. There was a call to clear out the idols. The second part of his exhortation here was to clean up their lives. He says, put away the strange gods that are among you and be, what? Clean. There's a call to spiritual purity. There's a call back to spiritual holiness and certainly that is God's call to us today. If ever there was a day where there was a need for a return to purity and to holiness, it would have to be today in this wicked, wicked world. 1 Peter 1 15 to 16, but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation because it is written, be ye holy for I am holy. So here Jacob calls them to clear out the idols, he calls them to clean up their lives. They are to be clean, no doubt that involved a physical cleanliness, but much more importantly, spiritual cleanliness, spiritual purity. And praise God, this morning we have two very powerful cleansing agents available to us as believers to purify our lives. We have the cleansing of the blood of Christ to purge us and to make us clean, 1 John 1.9. And we also have the purifying of the word, Psalm 119 verse 9, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word. John 15 verse 3, Jesus said, now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Ephesians 5 26, the washing of water by the word. There's a need for purity in our lives, purity that comes from the cleansing of the blood of Christ and the purifying of the word of God. You're going to have to get before God if there's been idols in your life. and pray for the blood of Christ to cleanse you and to purge your life and then get your life under the fountainhead of the Word of God and let the Scriptures soak your life and let the Word of God pour into your life and cleanse your life. Third part of Jacob's exhortation, clear out the idols, they were called to clean up their lives. Number three, change over their clothes and change your garments. And change your garments. I think there's at least two truths conveyed in this picture of the changing of the clothes. Firstly, there's a need in our lives to change the clothes of our inner life. We have that figure in the New Testament of putting off and putting on. a clothing picture, there's certain garments of the old life that are to be removed and the garments of the new life are to take their place. Ephesians 4 speaks about this and Colossians chapter 3 and specific things that are to be put off like corrupt communication and anger and stealing and bitterness and wrath and clamor evil-speaking and then the wonderful put-on list, things like mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, forbearance, forgiveness and love and so with God's grace and power we need to put off the dirty garments of self and sin and put on the pure garments of holy living. Put away the strange gods that are among you and be clean change your garments, change the clothes of your inner life. But I think it also would apply that we need to change the clothes of our outer life and I think this is the main thing Jacob is instructing his family to do. He's not speaking figuratively here, they were to dress appropriately for their audience with God No doubt the inroads of idolatry in Jacob's family had come... that with the inroads of idolatry in Jacob's family had come a deterioration in their dress code. The clothes of Shechem were to be laid aside. God is concerned about both the inward adornment of the heart and the outward adornment of our bodies which are his temple. That shouldn't be such a shocking thing to say today. Oh see, we heard about this, that church, it's legalistic, all the ladies wear dresses there. Since when did dressing up for church become legalism? Since when did doing our best for the Lord become legalism? Do you remember our grandparents' generation where they used to speak about your Sunday best? Wearing your Sunday best? What do people do today? They dress worse for church than they do for the boss. they're happy to dress up for the boss to make money but show up to church in a pair of shorts and t-shirt and get on the platform and jump all over the place like a bunch of loons and say that that's worship! Now, I understand it. You say, are people allowed to visit? Of course. We understand if someone comes in here and they don't know a thing about God, we're not going to be harsh with them or anything to do with that because they need their hearts transformed. We understand that. But we make no apology in this church for emphasizing that an inward change does eventually at least affect the outward life. And it means you speak differently to the way you used to and you don't go to the same places of entertainment you used to go to, the sinful places, and you dress differently and you talk differently. Yes, the gospel transforms us inside, but it affects us outside. if you're a visitor you can come dressed just about any way you want to if you as long as you're not obscene we don't have any don't believe the propaganda that you know if you show up as dressed a certain way you'd be turned away at the door it's all a lie we we understand people at different points of Christian growth because I just go on the record and say we make no apology for encouraging a culture where we strive for excellence for the Lord because after all we're coming to meet with the King of Kings Could I just say we make no apologies either for encouraging a culture of distinction between male and female. You should not have a problem with that today in a day that is blurring the distinctions between male and female with the transgender agenda and all of these things going on. It should not be branded legalism that Christians would want to emphasize that men should look like men and women should look like women. So if you're going to meet with God, you should dress accordingly. It's a pity we even have to talk about something that should be so basic, but in a day when the concept of a sloppy, messy, even outright immodest approach to worship is encouraged, we need to emphasize it. When you get saved, you don't talk the way you used to talk, go to the sinful places you used to go to, or dress the way you used to dress. The inward transformation of salvation does have an effect on the outside, even if it takes time. We understand that sometimes it takes time for people to learn and to grow and understand God's mind. We're not talking about becoming like the Amish or some sort of weird thing there which is a form of legalism. We're just simply saying the principle there is very clear. Jacob says we're going to meet with God, you've got to get rid of your idols and those clothes you're wearing, they're not appropriate for fellowship with God! Change your garments! I thought that salvation meant something. It used to be that when you got saved, you tipped your wine and your beer down the sink, you threw your ungodly clothes in the bin, you got rid of the packet of cigarettes and you lived a different kind of life. That's not legalism, that's salvation. When God changes your life, your life will change. And so there's a call here. Do you see how God had told Jacob to arise and to go up to Bethel and now Jacob takes that same call and issues it to his family, let us arise and go up to Bethel. time to leave Shechem and its idols behind. Well how did Jacob's family respond to this? They could have responded one of two ways, they could have said well no Jacob we're hanging on to our idols, I like what happens in verse 4, and they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand and all their earrings which were in their ears and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. execution of the preparation. They now carry out and fulfill Jacob's exhortation. Consider the totality of it, all the strange gods, underscore the word all there. How many idols were removed? All the idols. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand. What idols in your hand? Figuratively or literally, what idol are you hanging on to in your hands in your life? Those idols are stopping you in your spiritual progress and praise God they heard Jacob's words, they heard the exhortation and their hearts responded and praise God they let the idols go. Isn't that the best outcome? But how many Christians just say, no, that's it, I hear a message like this, I'm hanging on to those idols, I'm not letting go of that rock music, I'm not letting go of my favourite TV show, I'm not letting go of that unclean habit in my life, I'm not letting it go! No, no, no, let it go! God must have first place, this is total surrender, isn't it? totality of it, all the strange gods, the specificity of it, all their earrings which are in their ears, not only did they give up their idols but the pieces of jewelry that appear to have been associated with it. that's the only connection I can see here, that obviously there was some connection between the earrings they were wearing and the strange gods, probably not dissimilar to certain lucky charms and certain symbols that are even worn in jewellery today that would not be compatible with the worship of God. I'm not saying that this is a blanket ban on all earrings and that's another subject, I'm just saying that in this context here, Whatever the case may be, clearly they had to get rid of their gods and the pieces of jewellery that were connected with those false gods. That was very common in those days, that certain jewellery would be worn as a part of the worship of those false gods. And so, they're being very specific here, they're getting rid of the idols and they're getting rid of the things that are associated with those idols. Perhaps these earrings were like some sort of charm or had pagan symbols on them. Maybe they were even symbols of pagan sensuality of Shechem that had to go. The totality of it, all the strange gods, the specificity of it, all the earrings which are in their ears, the finality of it, they hid them under the oak. They gave them up and they left them behind. We need to move along here. We've seen the prompting to return to Bethel, God prompting Jacob. We've seen the preparation to return to Bethel, let me just give you briefly the last two points, the preservation in the return to Bethel, verse 5 and 6. And they journeyed and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. So Jacob came to Luz which is in the land of Canaan, that is Bethel, he and all the people that were with him and Do you see that God had his hand of preservation and his hand of protection upon Jacob and his family as they stepped out in faith, in obedience to God's command? And I want to encourage you with that because I'm sure I've seen this before where a Christian maybe feels convicted that they need to move forward in their walk with God and the devil comes along and tries to make you scared about that and says, this is going to be dangerous. You know, if you step out for God again, you know, what if this happens? And what if that happens in your life? Your life might be damaged. Could I just encourage you that the path of obedience to God is the path of safety and God's hand of protection and God's hand of preservation will be upon you if you will step forward in your Christian walk in obedience to God. That's clearly what's happening here. There were powerful enemies that would want to destroy Jacob and his home. And let me tell you, if you're going to step out on the path of victory in your life, the devil is going to try and destroy you. The devil is not wanting you to go forward in your life. Don't be surprised if there are some battles. But the point here is, if you go forward by faith, God's hand of protection will be upon you. The path of submission to the will of God is the place of spiritual safety. And so a supernatural fear from God came over these surrounding nations so that they did not attack Jacob and his family. Interesting, isn't it? The path of purity is the path of spiritual safety. Matthew Henry said, while there was sin in Jacob's house, he was afraid of his neighbors. But now that the strange gods were put away, his neighbors were afraid of him. There's power in purity. Jacob and his family just had a massive cleanup and the power of God is now working in that family afresh and anew and the power of God is dealing with those enemies. Step forward, don't let the devil tell you that if you step forward by faith your life is going to be ruined. No, you take the step of faith and let God preserve you and let God keep you. Lastly, the performance after the return to Bethel, verse six and seven. So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is Bethel, he and all the people that were with him. And he built there an altar and called the place El Bethel because their God appeared unto him when he fled from the face of his brother. Jacob follows through here on his commitment to obey God and to go to Bethel. And that is a wonderful truth in and of itself because many start on the road to spiritual recovery, but don't reach the destination. I've seen this time and time again as well. Maybe people get convicted by God that they need to start moving forward in their Christian walk again, dealing with things in their lives and they go so far and then the Lord says, see that there's still something here that needs to go and they stop at that point. It just all gets too hard. No, no, no. Go through with God in your life and let God keep you all the way. Don't quit. keep going, getting to Bethel is worth it! I said don't quit, keep going, you've stepped out in faith and taken some steps in the direction of spiritual victory, don't give up, don't quit, it's worth getting back into fellowship with God at Bethel. Jacob rebuilds an altar there and calls it El Bethel, which means literally God of the house of God. When he first had that encounter with God, probably about 30 years previous, he called it Bethel, the house of God. Now he calls it El Bethel, God of the house of God. It's interesting to see how Jacob has matured from his first encounter with God at Bethel to this second encounter. You see there's a greater emphasis in Jacob's heart and mind on God himself. It's not so much about the place anymore, it's about the God of the place. The God of the house of God. It was the presence of God that made Bethel so special to Jacob. And so, back to Bethel. Back to Bethel. Is that God's message for you this morning? It's time to get back to Bethel. Let's bow for prayer as we close. Every head bowed, every eye closed. Let me ask you, some questions for you to think about. Firstly, are you saved this morning? Maybe you've never even started on the walk of faith and need to turn from your idols, as the Thessalonians did, to receive God's gift of salvation. Is there anyone here this morning who might say, Pastor, if I'm honest, if I was to die today, I'm not 100% sure. that I would go to heaven. But I'd like to settle that today. I'd like to know for sure that I have received Christ as my Saviour, that my sins have been forgiven. God's Word can give you the answers to that. God's Word can give you the truth that will set you free. Is there anyone at all, if that's you, would you just raise your hand while every head is bowed, every eye is closed. I'd like to pray for you as I close. After the service I'd love to take the Bible and show you, not my opinion, but show you from God's Word how you can settle that matter, how you can know for sure your sins are forgiven and that you're on your way to heaven. Is there anyone at all, would you just raise your hand and say, Pastor, if I'm honest I'm not sure if I was to die today that I would go to heaven. I need to settle that. Anyone at all? Maybe you're here this morning, you say, no, I am a Christian. I know Christ as my Saviour. But if I'm honest, as I've heard the message this morning, there are some idols that have crept into my life. There are some things I'm hanging on to that I need to let go. Pastor, would you pray for me as you close? If that would be you, would you just raise your hand and say, Pastor, pray for me? Yes, amen. You can put your hand down. I'm not going to come and ask you. If you want some counselling, I'm happy to give it, but I'm not going to come and ask you what idols are in your life. Would you like to just acknowledge now before God? Just raise your hand, Pastor, pray for me, and I'll acknowledge before God there are some idols, thank you. Amen. There's some idols in my life I need to deal with. And by God's grace, amen, amen. God bless you, sir, you can put your hand down. And by God's grace, when I leave here today and go home, I'm going to deal with those idols. Pray for me as you close. Anyone else? Yes, amen. Some things in my life that need to go, they're holding me back in my walk with God. Is there anyone else? Yes, praise God. Put your hand down. Thank you for that. Anyone else? Amen, amen. Praise God. Anyone else? Pastor, pray for me. There are some idols in my life that need to go. Lord, thank you for these ones who've humbled themselves and raised their hands asking for prayer, Lord, acknowledging before you that there are things in their lives that need to go. Lord, I pray you'd help all of us to purge out wickedness and sin and things in our lives that are holding us back from our forward progress for you and we ask now that you would strengthen those ones who've raised their hands Lord that they would follow through with your grace and with your power to remove those things out of their lives we pray in Jesus name we ask you ask it I'm in