The Promise and Power of Opening the Gates of Heaven

Recording:

Summary:
In John 1:51, the Lord Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. What does this mean? This is God's promise! God promises that the body of Jesus Christ, which is the church, can open the gates of heaven. Angels will ascend and descend through the church! This sermon will discuss how to open the gates of heaven and how to fill the church with power!

1 Review of last Sunday's topic: The God Who Cares for People!
Let's review last Sunday's topic: The God Who Cares for People!
I saw a news report about a thief in a shopping mall in Guangzhou. When the thief was caught, he suddenly shouted, Someone is here to chop people! Suddenly, the entire mall was in chaos, and everyone rushed out desperately, fearing being slashed. In reality, there wasn't even a glimpse of a knife. Through this emotion, we can see that people all over China are already conscious of avoiding being chopped, but they lack the awareness of being protected and cared for by God. However, avoiding the knife does not guarantee avoiding other things. This is a generation filled with disasters. Last week, a friend, although not chopped by a knife, was just diagnosed with cancer. This is avoiding the knife but not avoiding cancer. Another friend's friend, her father was just in a car accident and suffered a comminuted fracture of his leg. Our friend mourned for her friend. Disasters are truly continuous. How difficult it is to live without God's care.
How grateful I am in my heart, because under the care of my God, I have avoided countless disasters! Having grown accustomed to days of being cared for and protected by God, I don't know how to live without God's care and protection. No matter where I go, I am not afraid of harm; my God will surely be with me, His rod and His staff, they comfort me. This is true. What must I say for you to believe? People should really not be arrogant, because one does not know what will happen tomorrow. Arrogance when things are fine, but when disaster strikes, one is powerless to resist, alas! People do not know what will happen tomorrow, nor do they know the root of these disasters. Without knowing the root of the problem, there is no way to talk about avoiding disasters! But we who believe in the Lord know the root of disasters. Not only do we know the root, but we also know how to take up our authority and weapons to resist these roots. I tell you, brothers and sisters, that all disasters come from the dark forces in the spiritual realm, which are evil spirits. This is what the Lord Jesus meant in the Lord's Prayer, deliver us from evil.
Brothers and sisters, new friends, you must know that God wants to care for us every day. But many people just don't want God's care. The Lord Jesus said, Mat 23:36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Mat 23:38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. Mat 23:39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
We must choose to hide under God's wings. If we choose to experience disasters outside of the Lord Jesus, it is our own choice! People blame God when they encounter disasters because they do not know what kind of God He is. How you perceive God is how you will experience God! A person who truly knows God is someone who trusts in God. He hides under God's protection.

Seeing Heaven Open and God's Care

In a person's life, receiving care from God is an extremely wonderful thing. He cares for our daily needs. He saves us from all disasters. Moreover, He gives us joy, gives us life, perfects our life, and allows our life to shine!
The Bible records a person, and that person is Jacob, later renamed Israel. He is a model of receiving care from God. Not only was he cared for by God, but God also opened the gates of heaven for him!
He is the ancestor of today's Israel. One day, he was forced to leave home because his brother wanted to kill him. As a result, he arrived in a mountain area where there was no village in sight. He had a dream there. What he asked for was God's care, but what God gave him was the opening of the gates of heaven.
Today, I want to share with you: Seeing heaven open, and God's angels ascending and descending among us.
2 Today's topic: Seeing heaven open, and God's angels ascending and descending among us!
Gen 28:11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. Gen 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. Gen 28:13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; Gen 28:14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt 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 families of the earth be blessed. Gen 28:15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. Gen 28:16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. Gen 28:17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. Gen 28:18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. Gen 28:19 And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was Luz at the first. Gen 28:20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, Gen 28:21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: Gen 28:22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

Jacob's Dream Revelation and God's Promise

Do you know why Jacob had such a dream? It was because Jacob, facing a crisis of survival, began to call upon God in his heart! See how simple Jacob's needs were. Jacob vowed, If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear, so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God. Gen 28:21. As a result, God watched over Jacob! Jacob knew very well that God is a God who cares for people. He had heard many such stories. Now it was his turn to experience God for himself! But how wonderful our God is! He not only allowed Jacob to experience Him, but also allowed him to see in a dream that the place where he lay, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the angels of God ascending and descending. What he received there was not food, clothing, shelter, or survival, but God's great promise! That was God's gift to Jacob, exceeding all that he asked or imagined. The original text says: Gen 28:13 And the Lord stood above it and 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 are lying. Gen 28:14 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. Gen 28:15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Brothers and sisters, this word is spoken to all who have the heart of Jacob. Because Jacob yearned to receive the promise God gave to his grandfather Abraham, he paid a great price for it! Jacob sought God's promise at all costs. He even believed that even if he was not the eldest son, he could turn things around! This is a man of faith. As a result, his brother almost killed him and was forced to leave home. Those who are willing to give everything to receive God's promises and blessings will not only be watched over by God, but also see God open the gates of heaven for them! God's angels will come to serve you and fulfill God's promises in your life.
This is what Jacob saw in his dream. But this was truly fulfilled when the church of the Lord Jesus was established. It is today that God will open the gates of heaven for us. God will send His angels to ascend and descend among us for our sake.
In fact, angels are often among us. It's just that many times, people's physical eyes cannot see them. From the moment Jacob had this dream, the angels never left him. They protected him and watched over him all the way on the road Jacob traveled. As a result, 20 years later, Jacob became an extremely wealthy man in that land, from having nothing to being extremely wealthy, and returning to the land that God had promised him. Why is this so? Because the heaven above Jacob was open. Angels were constantly ascending and descending to serve Jacob and help Jacob. Nothing could harm Jacob.
I think I have a bit of Jacob in me. Although I didn't have the dream Jacob had, nor did I see angels, but through the Bible, through my feelings, I know that in the past twenty years, angels have also been around me protecting me, watching over me, and bringing God's blessings down to me! If you see a person who always has wonderful things happening to him, who always sees God's protection in what he does, and who often does the things that the Lord Jesus did, then the heaven above him is open. For some Christians, the heaven above is open, and their prayers are often answered. For some Christians, the heaven above is closed, and their prayers are rarely answered.
Once, a person with an opened spiritual eye said that she could see a very bright light behind some Christians, that they were true Christians. Some did not. She could see that person's past and future. In fact, Christians should not go to fortune tellers. They can't figure it out. Because the fate of a true Christian is something that fortune tellers cannot figure out.

Open Heaven and Heavenly Power

Later, Jesus also mentioned the topic of the opened heaven. Let us read today's scripture.
3 Today's scripture: John 1:47-51
Jhn 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael approaching and said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” Jhn 1:48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree, before Philip called you.” Jhn 1:49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jhn 1:50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” Jhn 1:51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
4 Prayer – Open Heaven Prayer!
…..(Impromptu prayer)…
Pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen!
5 What does Jesus mean when He says, You will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man?
Later Jesus said, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
6 Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.
Luk 10:21 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

People in the kingdom of heaven are not those with complex minds.
7 Whoever can open the gates of heaven will receive all the blessings of heaven.
8 The church must open the gates of heaven. The heaven here is open. Therefore, prayers here are often answered!
9 How does the church open the gates of heaven and connect to heavenly power?

• Simple mind, no deceit
• Have dreams!
• Faith to claim God's promises!
• Long periods of spiritual prayer!
  10 Conclusion: The church is a church that connects to the power of heaven!
  Mat 16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Mat 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”