In this sermon, the preacher discusses the life of Jacob and the four pillars that make up the testimony of Jesus entrusted to the church. The first pillar is awakening, where individuals must recognize their need for deliverance from themselves and cry out to God. The second pillar is separation, where there is a separation of the spirit and the soul. Jacob's encounter with God in a dream symbolizes the third pillar, transformation, where he receives promises and blessings from God. Finally, the preacher mentions the fourth pillar, resurrection power, as Jacob's wife Rachel gives birth to a son before dying. The sermon emphasizes the importance of being face to face with God for self-reflection and transformation.

Will you please turn to Genesis, Chapter 28. Genesis, Chapter 28. We'll read from verse 10. Genesis, Chapter 28, verse 10. And Jacob went out from Beersheba and went towards Haran, and he lighted on a certain place and lodged there, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of the place and made it his pillow, and lay down in that place. And he dreamed. And, behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to the heavens. And, behold, angels of God ascended and descended upon it. And, behold, Jehovah stood above it. And he said, I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac, the land on which thou liest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed. 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 the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places to which thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land. For I will not leave thee until I have done what I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, Surely Jehovah is in this place, and I knew it not. 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. And Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had made his pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. And he called the name of that place Beth-el, but the name of that city was Luz at the first. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and keep me on this road that I go, and will give me bread to eat and a garment to put on, and I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall Jehovah be my God, and this stone which I have set up for a pillar shall be God's house. And of all that thou wilt give me, I will without fail give the tenth to thee. Chapter Thirty-one, verse forty-five. Chapter Thirty-one, verse forty-five. And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. And Jacob said to his brethren, Get a stone. And they took stones, and made a heap, and ate there upon the heap. And Laban called it Jegah-Sahaduthah, and Jacob called it Gelid. And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Gelid. And Mispah, for he said, Let Jehovah watch between me and thee, when we shall be hidden one from another. If thou shouldest afflict my daughters, or if thou shouldest take wives beside my daughters, no man is with us. See, God is witness between me and thee. And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold the pillar which I have set up between me and thee. Let this heap be witness, and the pillar a witness, that neither I pass this heap to go to thee, nor thou pass this heap and this pillar to come to me for harm. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahal, the God of their father, judged between us. And Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac. And Jacob offered a sacrifice upon the mountain, and invited his brethren to eat bread, and they ate bread, and lodged on the mountain. Chapter 35, Verse 9. And God appeared to Jacob again after he had come from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, Thy name is Jacob. Thy name shall not henceforth be called Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name. And he called his name Israel. And God said to him, I am the Almighty God. 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 that I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. And God went up from him in the place where he had talked with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had talked with him, a pillar of stone, and poured on it a drink offering, and poured oil on it. And Jacob called the name of the place where God had talked with him, Bethel. And they journeyed from Bethel, and there was yet a certain distance to come to Ephrathah, when Rachel travailed in childbirth, and it went hard with her in her childbearing. And it came to pass when it went hard with her in her childbearing, that the midwife said to her, Fear not, for this also is a son for thee. And it came to pass, as her soul was departing, for he died, and that she called his name Benoni. But his father called him Benjamin. And Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrathah, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob erected a pillar over her grave. That is the pillar of Rachel's grave to this day. May we look to the Lord. Our Father, we do praise and thank Thee that Thou dost drawn us to Thyself, to worship Thee, and to listen to Thy word. We ask that Thy Holy Spirit will quicken Thy word to our hearts, and make Thy word living to us, that through Thy word we may receive Thy Son. In the name of our Lord Jesus, Amen. Without going back to Adam, we remember that Abraham erected altars. Isaac dug wells. And in Jacob we find that he set up pillars. Altar signifies the cross. Well signifies the spirit of life. And pillar signifies the testimony of God. Out of Abraham came Isaac. Out of Isaac came Jacob. Out of the cross you come into the fullness of the spirit, you bear the testimony of Jesus. Pillar in the scripture always stands for a testimony, a witness, something that is set up, visible, to be seen. The first mentioning of pillar in the Bible. Now do you remember where it is? Where is the pillar is the first mentioning of the word pillar in the Bible. That's right. In Genesis chapter nineteen you find that Lot's wife as he looked back to the city of Sodom, she turned into a pillar of salt. It is a negative testimony. A testimony to those who are the Lord and yet who lingered after the world. Then the second mentioning of pillar is in the life of Jacob. We will touch upon that later. After that we find when God took the children of Israel out of Egypt, he led them through the wilderness by the pillar of fire and of cloud. In other words, if we put it into New Testament terms, we know that it is the Holy Spirit who dwells in us and he leads our way through the wilderness according to the testimony of Jesus. After that we find pillars in the tabernacle. The pillars in the tabernacle serve as supports. They signify strength to support the house of God. And of course in Solomon's temple you find he had two pillars standing before the temple, not for support but as ornament, as symbols of strength. One is called Jacob, which means he was a pillar established. The other is called Boaz, in him is strength. So you find the pillars before the temple of Solomon stand for strength, for beauty, for testimony, the strength and the beauty of God. When you come to the New Testament, you find Paul mentioned in 1 Timothy 3 that the church of God is the base and the pillar of truth. Why? Because the church of God stands in the truth and it testifies to the truth and nothing but the truth. Then in Galatians you find Paul mentioned how Peter, James and John are the three pillars in the church in Jerusalem. Why? Because they are strength, supports to the church there. And then later on you will find in the book of Revelation chapter 3 how God promised, how our Lord promised the overcomers in the church in Philadelphia that they were rewarded as pillars in the temple of God and the name of the Lord will be inscribed upon them. They are supports, they are testimony to the Lord Jesus. So we may say that pillars in the scripture represents testimony. It is symbolic of strength and of support. Now with this in mind, we may let us go back to the life of Jacob. Now in Jacob's life you will find he erected four pillars all together. Now you do not just erect a pillar at random. You will find that these pillars were erected at certain times, out of certain experiences. So these pillars actually were testimony to the experience of God that Jacob had in his life. And brothers and sisters this is very true with us today. We are not only to experience the cross, we are not only to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but we are to bear the testimony of Jesus. In other words, the testimony of Jesus today is upon us. But how are we going to bear the testimony of Jesus? It has to be something first, being wrought into our lives. Or to say it this way, Christ has to be incorporated into us. And out of that in working or in incorporation of Christ in our lives, a pillar, a testimony is set up for all to see. So this is not something that we can do at any time by our own will. It is something that has to come out of our life as the result of a new experience of Christ. Of an experience of Christ being wrought into us, being a part of us and then out of us the testimony of Jesus will be seen by those around us. Jacob had a desire for spiritual things. Because he had such a desire for spiritual things, he robbed his brother of the birthright and also of the blessing of the birthright of the firstborn. Now of course he did all these with carnal means. In other words, you find that he had a spiritual aspiration, but he used fleshly means. Why? Because his religion was traditional, not personal. In other words, he knew about God. He knew about God's blessing. And he wanted God's blessing, the blessing of the firstborn. But he had no personal encounter with God. He did not know God in a personal way. He only knew God through tradition, by hearing from his father. And he desired spiritual blessings, desired spiritual things, but he used carnal methods. And the result was, even though he got the firstborn, birthright, and he also got the blessing of the firstborn from his father. It seemed as if he had everything in his hand now, but at the very same time he lost everything. He had to flee for his life. He had to leave his home. He became a fugitive and a wanderer. He was travelling towards Paran. He was in the wilderness. It was night. And he found a stone to be his pillow. He lay himself down and he went to sleep. Now I always feel that this is a picture of great tragedy. Why? Because when you take a pillow and put your head on a pillow, now what kind of pillow will you choose? Now we will of course choose a soft one, so you can rest your head upon it and go to sleep. But here you find Jacob's extremity. He was in such desperate situation. He couldn't find something to lay his head. So he found a stone, a hard stone to be his pillow. Now can you sleep by resting your head upon a hard stone? I think unless you are in such exhaustion, such fatigue, that you will go to sleep. Otherwise you will never go to sleep. So it really depicts a picture of extreme distress. He was at the end of himself. He was exhausted, completely exhausted. He was in a hopeless position. So even with a stone at his pillow, he slept and he dreamed a dream. God met him at the most unlikely place, under the most unlikely situation, at the most unlikely time. Jacob did not expect to meet God at that time, under that kind of circumstances. But God met him there in a dream. A letter. A letter from God joining earth with heaven. And the angels of God ascending and descending. That's communication. God was standing at the top of the letter and Jacob was lying at the end of the letter. And God spoke to Jacob. God gave him promises. God blessed him. God promised to give him the land that God has promised to his father Abraham and to his father Isaac. And God promised that he will bless him. His sea shall be as the sand of the seashore. And God said, I will protect you. I will be with you. And I will bring you back to this land. Jacob awoke. He was frightened. He said, God is here. I didn't know it. I didn't know it. He said, this is dreadful. Now why is it, it is dreadful? Because he was not prepared to meet God. He was not ready to see God. He said, this is the house of God. The gate of heaven. He took that stone that served as his pillow. He set it up vertical as a pillar. Pour oil on it. And he vowed a vow. And he said, God will keep me safe, give me clothes to wear, food to eat, and lead me back to my father's house. Then I will make God my God. And this stone, this pillar, shall be the house of God. And I will give one-tenth of all that I had to Him. We call this pillar, the pillar of awakening. Spiritual awakening. Jacob's religion was traditional. He aspired for spiritual things. But he did not know God. All he knew was human ways. And because of that he was severely disciplined by God. God has to use drastic means to wake him up. Off his complacency. Out of his traditional religion. To have a personal encounter with God. And that makes all the difference. The gate of heaven. It means revelation. When the gate of heaven is open, then revelation is given. Through the revelation from above, Jacob saw God. He heard God. He had a personal experience of God. The gate of heaven is also the house of God. Why? Because revelation always leads us to God's house. Why does God reveal His Son in you? That He may build you with other believers into His house. So the gate of heaven is also the house of God. And the house of God is the gate of heaven. Because the gate of heaven is the house of God. Because in the house of God, heaven is open to you. In other words, in the house of God, you are to receive revelation from above. That you may know Him who is in heaven more and more. And as you know Him more and more, the house is built higher and higher. More and more complete. So these two things cannot be separated. It is the house of God as well as the gate of heaven. That is the beginning of spiritual awakening. Now of course we know, at that time Jacob understood very little. God promised him a great deal. But all he thought was very little. God promised to give the land to him. Promised to make his seed a sand of the sea shore. Promised to lead him back to his house to inherit the land. But all he asked of God was clothing, shelter, safety, coming back. And he even bargained with God. God promised him without any condition. God said, I will do this to you, I will do that to you. But Jacob just couldn't understand anything that is of grace, of free grace. Because that was not in his dictionary. You know, he couldn't think of free grace. So he started to bargain with God. And said, now God if you would just give me this little, then I will make you my God and I will make this pillar your house and I will give you one tenth, I will tithe myself. It shows that Jacob knew very little. Yes he had a beginning. This pillar of awakening is a beginning. The beginning of a spiritual life. He pour oil on it. You know when oil is poured on anything it means that it is being sanctified. It is being set apart for God. So at least that experience of Jacob has set apart for God something in his life. It is not much at that time. But there is something that has begun. So this is the first pillar. The pillar of awakening. And I do believe brothers and sisters that we all need to set up that pillar. You know if our religion is just traditional. If all we know about God is from what we have heard from our fathers. We may be very religious. Or we may be very zealous for spiritual things. Or we may be able to do many spiritual works. We may seem to have spiritual things in our grasp. But you know if it is only traditional one day you will lose them all. Because they are not yours really. But God knows your heart. If you really have a heart for God and for spiritual things. When you do not expect it God will meet you. He will meet you in a way that you do not expect. And He will awaken you into real spiritual knowledge of Himself. Now even though in the beginning you may know just a little bit. Actually He promised you a great deal. But all you can take is just a little bit. And even though in the beginning probably that bargaining spirit is still within you. You do not really understand for what grace is. What gift is. And yet there is a beginning in your life. And that beginning is set up as a pillar. At least there is some testimony to the Lord Jesus in your life. Jacob went to Peranara. Now we do not want to go into that interesting history. Twenty years of history. Now he went to Peranara to his uncle Levin's house. And there he served Levin for twenty years. The first fourteen years for his two wives. And the last six years for the flocks and the herds. During those twenty years it was a tremendous history. Why? Because these twenty years were very difficult years for Jacob. After twenty years Jacob fled. Because his father-in-law was not happy with him. His father-in-law thought that Jacob had robbed him of all his property. So Jacob had to flee for his life again. You know during those twenty years Jacob seemed to forget to return to the promised land. Jacob seemed to forget all about God. He was trying very hard to build up his own house. He had many children. He had lots of flocks, herds, servants. He built up his own house with difficulties. And he forgot about God's house. He forgot about returning even to his own native land. So God used circumstances to force him to return. Now during those twenty years these were very difficult times. Why? Because later on when Levin went to Peranara Levin chased him and found him in Gilan. You know what Jacob said? Jacob said, during those twenty years I was with you, you required everything out of my hand. Whenever there is any loss in the herd or in the flock, you ask from me. He said, if you ask from me, in the daytime I was consumed by heat, in the night by frost, and sleep escaped me. He suffered through twenty years. And he said, Levin, you changed my wages ten times. It is not because of God. You will come, take away my wife, my children, my flock, and leave me all by myself alone. Now that was Jacob's twenty years in Peranara. Why? Because God wanted Jacob to know himself. You know, you do not know yourself. You cannot see yourself unless you hold a mirror before you. Yes, do you know how your face looks? If you have never looked into a mirror, you don't. But if you hold a mirror before you, then it is reflected. And you come to know yourself. Now Jacob did not know himself. There was no way for him to know himself. You know, we love ourselves too much to really know ourselves. So God sent him to Peranara, and hold before Jacob a mirror. Levin. Levin was Jacob's mirror, because these two men were very, very similar. You know, Jacob was a person that was maneuvering, planning, plotting, and so was Levin. Jacob met his match in Levin. And there in Levin, Jacob began to know himself. Jacob began to see himself in Levin. Jacob began to have his flesh, his self, being dealt with by Levin. Jacob began to see himself in Levin. You know, the very thing that was in him, was in Levin. And the very thing in Levin was in him. So these men just dealt with each other, and helped to see each other in the true light. So for twenty years, you find God put Jacob before Levin, and let Jacob saw himself. Now these were painful years. Brothers and sisters, if you begin to see yourself, it is a very painful experience. You know, if you are ignorant of yourself, you may have a good time. But when you begin to see what you really are, in the sight of God, when you really begin to see the ugliness, the sinfulness, the fealty of your flesh, you will hate yourself. You will abhor yourself. And He will put you into dust and ashes. Now that's Jacob's experience through that twenty years. God is doing a separating work. God wants to separate Jacob from Jacob. Or to separate Jacob from Levin. You know? So after twenty years, you know what happened? He fled. Levin chased him. They came to that place. And they had a kind of controversy. But God intervened. And because of the intervention of God, Jacob was not being hurt. So finally you will find that Jacob set up a stone there. Make it a pillar. And asked all the brethren to pile stones on it. Make a heap of stones. And this place is called Gilead. Heap of stones. Testament. Witness. A witness. A witness. And what did he say? Levin said, this pillar, this pile of stones, is a witness between us. I will not cause this pillar to hurt you. And you will not cause this heap of stones and pillar to hurt me. From now on we are separated. So you will find that this pillar is called the pillar of separation. The pillar of separation. Because there you will find Jacob and Levin were separated forever. They were not to see each other from now on. They were not crossed over this pillar. From one side to the other side. They were completely separated. From twenty years they were tied together. They were as one. Jacob saw himself in Levin. But now the time had come for them to be permanently separated. To put it in New Testament terms. It is the dividing of the spirit and the soul. You know brothers and sisters, after we are awakened spiritually, it doesn't mean that's the end of our spiritual experience. That is only the beginning of our spiritual experience. And then the Lord will lead us on. And the next important stage of our experience is the experience of separation. Not only being separated from the world, but you find it is the dividing of the soul and the spirit. Now this experience is a very painful experience. It takes a long time. You need some mirror to reflect you. Otherwise you will never know yourself. And that is the reason why often times you will find during that period God will put you with somebody else. And with somebody else you begin to see yourself in those people. And you begin to be dealt with in these places. And this is the way we begin to see the ugliness of our flesh. And we begin to see the need of the dividing of the separation of the spirit from the soul. There you will find Jacob is to be delivered from Jacob. And that Jacob is leaven, represented by leaven. So here you will find we need to be delivered from our soul life. And to have our spirit free from the bondage, from the persecution, from the oppression of the soul. Now brothers and sisters it is always like that. You know, that which is of the flesh always persecutes that which is of the spirit. And it will be under persecution until it gets stronger and stronger. And one day it gets free from the tyranny of the flesh. So this experience, the pillar of separation represents the dividing of the soul and the spirit. And at the same time that place is also called nispa. Nispa means watchtower. In other words, Leaven said God is watching. We do not seek each other but God is watching. That you do not ill treat my daughters. God will take care of that. In other words, you will find under divine watch, even that which comes out of the soul will be perfected. First the dividing of the spirit and the soul. And then you will find all the functions of the soul will be purified under the watchful eyes of God. Now we will go into that later. So anyway you will find the second pillar is the pillar of separation. And brothers and sisters, do we have this pillar? You just cannot erect a pillar at any time. It needs something being done in your life. Has this thing been done in your life? Do you begin to see yourself? Do you begin to abhor yourself? Do you begin to cry out for God to deliver you from yourself? Is your soul, spirit crying out that he may be delivered, he may be delivered from the tyranny of the soul? Now if you are crying out, you will find gradually, hopefully not twenty years, but gradually you will find you will be freed from the bondage of your soul. You will be separated. There will be a separation of the spirit and the soul. And that will be the second testimony, the second pillar that will be erected in your life. Now after Gilead, Jacob moved on. As he moved on, he sent messenger to his brother Esau, telling his brother that he is coming. And then the messenger came back and Esau came back with four hundred men. Now why should he come with four hundred men? Jacob was afraid. So you remember what Jacob did? Again he tried to plan and plot how he sent gifts after gifts to his brother to try to appease his brother, soften the anger of his brother against him. And then he still didn't feel safe about it, so he divided his own family into two groups. And he said now if Jacob Esau should attack one group, the other group can flee. So that night he sent the whole family across the stream of Jebuch. But he alone remained on the other side. Why he couldn't cross the stream? All these things, he didn't have the sense of security there. And then a man came, an angel of the Lord came and wrestled with him. And he with that angel. And they wrestled through the night. And that angel could not overcome him, could not prevail against him until the day began to dawn. And a man touched Jacob's thigh. And Jacob was crippled. Then he raped upon that man and said, bless me. And the man said, your name is Jacob, but you shall be called Israel, a prince with God. Or wrestle with God. And from then on, Jacob was crippled. He went to meet his brother. But he found his brother was very favorable to him. His brother forgot all the past, just like Esau. And his brother just loved him and said now let's go together. So Jacob again played his trick and said now you go ahead because my children are young and all the flocks and herds, they are tender. Now if we try to rush them, they will die. So you just go ahead and I will come and join you in Seir. And Esau being a very straightforward person, you know, he said all right, but I'll leave some men with you to help you. Oh, Jacob said no, don't do that. You don't need to leave any men there, you know. You just go ahead and I will join you later. And after his brother left, what did he do? He moved to Sychoth, build and intended to stay there. He wasn't going to join his brother. He was going to stay in Sychoth, in Shechem. That's where he wanted to stay. But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon him. A very shameful thing happened to the house of Jacob because his daughter Dinah was being put to disgrace. And the result was his two sons killed all the men of that city. And Jacob was really put into great distress because enemies all around him. He told his sons what you did will mean that it will be the end of us because all the people around will hear about it and they will certainly come and destroy us. But at his extremity God appeared to him. And God said, Jacob, go back to Bethel. That's where you should go. Jacob remembered what he promised God. But he knew it was a serious thing. So he told his family, take out all the gods that you have with you, all the images. Think of that. Take out all the images because we have to be purified to meet God. And he buried all these images there. Then he moved on to Bethel. When he moved on, Rebekah's nurse that was with Jacob passed away. The last link with his mother was gone. You know, Jacob loved his mother very much. He was attached to his mother. In other words, Jacob, lots of Jacob's character, you know, followed his mother's. And that the last link was gone. He came to Bethel. He built an altar and called the altar God, the God of Bethel, the house of God. God appeared to him. God gave him promise. God said, I will bless you. King and king shall come out of you. Your sea shall be as the sand of the seashore. The land shall be yours. You shall not be called Jacob anymore. From now on you shall be called Israel. And God called him Israel. And after God went, he took up a stone, set it up as a pillar, poured drink offering, wine on it, and also oil on it. And called that place Bethel the second time. Now this is the third pillar. Now what shall we call this third pillar? We call this third pillar, the pillar of transformation. The pillar of transformation. Now the dividing of the spirit and the soul is a negative thing. In other words, the spirit is so imprisoned by the soul that it has to be set free. And to set the spirit free is the dividing of the spirit and the soul. So this experience actually is a preparation. It is a negative process. It is a freeing process. But the you need a positive experience. A positive process. And the positive one is transformation. Now what is transformation? Transformation in the scripture happens in the soul. When all the faculties of the soul are being purified, that instead of being used by the self life in the soul, it begins to be characterized, to be given by the spirit life in the spirit, which is the Holy Spirit. Then you'll find your soul goes through a transformation. In other words, your mind began to be renewed, to have the mind of Christ. Your emotion began to be purified, to have the love of God. And your will began to be changed to wield the will of God. You see, your soul is being transformed. After the spirit is free from the soul, then the life of the spirit begins to penetrate the soul and transform it. So that all the faculties of your soul comes under new management. The management of the Holy Spirit. And thus you are being transformed and be conformed to the image of Christ. In other words, from Adam image you are transformed into Christ image. Now that is transformation. Remember, transformation is done in the soul. So here you'll find Jacob. After the pillar of separation, he has a period, a series of events in his life. And during that period, the hand of the Lord was very heavy on him. Why? Because God was transforming him. You know, after the penile, he came to face to face with God. He wrestled with God. He would not let himself go, you know. But God finally prevailed over him. He had to let go because he was crippled. But he hang on to God. He was blessed. And God changed his name to Israel. But even after that experience you'll find lots of Jacob was still there. Even though God has changed his name to Israel. And yet Jacob was still there. It was still Jacob planning and plotting. But the hand of God was very heavy upon him. In other words, God will not let him go. Under the disciplinary hand of God, God will transform him completely. Until he is really Israel. And that's the reason why such terrible thing happened to his family. Because God was determined to transform Jacob into Israel. Thank God for that. Now how are we transformed? In 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 you remember? As our hearts are turned towards the Lord, the veil is taken away from our heart. Then we behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled face. Face to face. You have to be brought face to face with God in order to be transformed. In other words, if you do not see the beauty of the Lord, if you do not see the glory of the Lord, you will not be transformed. You will be contented with what you are. You think what you are is good enough? Maybe naturally you're very gentle. Maybe naturally you're very kind. Maybe naturally you're very moral. Maybe naturally you're good. And unless you're brought to face to face with God and see the glory of the Lord, His beauty, you will be quite contented with yourself. You will think that you don't need to be transformed. Your form is pretty good. But when you are brought to be face to face with God and you see the glory of the Lord, as 2nd Corinthians 3 says, then you will be transformed according to His image from glory to glory as by the Lord. So brothers and sisters, how we need to be face to face with God. Face to face with Lebanon will enable you to see yourself. Face to face with God will enable you to be transformed to the image of Christ. So here you'll find after he returned to Bethel, and there God called his name Israel. From then on he is Israel, a new person in Christ. But then this was not the end. And you'll find they began to move on. As they move on, Rachel, his wife, was hard in childbearing. Rachel, his wife, she was dying. And before she expired, a son was born. So the midwife said, you got a son. But Rachel was in such pain, she called her son, Benoni, which means son of my affliction. And she died. But Jacob, Israel, changed the name to Benoni. Benoni means son of my affliction. From Benoni to Benjamin. And Benjamin means son of my right hand. And there Jacob set up a pillar at Rachel's grave. That is the last pillar that Jacob set up. What shall we call that pillar? It may surprise you. We can call this pillar the pillar of the Son of God, resurrection power. There was death. But out of death came life. Out of affliction came son of my right hand, authority. And you know Ephra means fruitfulness. Bethlehem means the house of bread. We are familiar with these places because Christ was born in Bethlehem. So this pillar speaks of life out of death. The power of His resurrection. Being conformed to His death, that we may arrive at the out resurrection from among the dead. If we want to put it into New Testament terms, you can come to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Here Paul said, I bear in my body the dying of Jesus. That the life of Jesus may be manifested in my body. Not only that, but death works in me, that life may work in you. In other words, out of this kind of experience come bread, come fruit, come ministry. You know spiritual ministry comes out of death and resurrection. In other words, here you will find the death is not because of sin. The death is because of giving birth to life. Through the travail of our Lord Jesus, the church is born. And through the travail of Paul, the church is in Galatia, were formed. And through the travail of God's people throughout the ages, you will find a spiritual ministry goes on for the building of the house of God. How can we impart Christ to other people? Unless we know what travail is. Unless we know what Christ is or what death is. Unless we are willing to give up our right. Unless we are willing to give up ourselves. Unless we are willing to spend and be spent. Unless we are willing to sacrifice as it were. Pour out ourselves as a drink offering. Unless we are willing to do all these things, brothers and sisters, life will not be imparted to other people. There will not be bread. There will not be fruit. There will not be spiritual authority. So this last pillar, we may call it the pillar of resurrection. Here you find in the life of Jacob, four pillars. The pillar of awakening. The pillar of separation. The pillar of transformation. And the pillar of resurrection power. And put these together, you have the testimony. Now today, of course, the testimony of Jesus is entrusted to the church. As members of the church, we are supposed to bear this testimony of Jesus in this world. We are supposed to bear this testimony of Jesus in this world. But this testimony of Jesus is not an outward thing. It is not a form. It is not just some doctrines and teachings, being orthodox, scriptural, accurate, all these are important. But the testimony of Jesus is something more. The testimony of Jesus has to be Jesus being wrought into our very being. And that is the testimony of Jesus. And then be seen by all. That is the testimony of Jesus. We need to be spiritually awakened. We need to have our spirit divided from the soul. We need to have our soul transformed. And we even need to pour out our life, the dying of Jesus upon us, that the life of Jesus may be upon others. And when these things begin to happen in our lives, you know you have the testimony of Jesus. May the Lord help us. Shall we pray? Our Heavenly Father, we just commit these words into Thy hands. Human words are useless, will soon be forgotten. But we pray that Thy Holy Spirit will bring the truth into our hearts and bring us into Thy truth. Oh, that the testimony of Jesus, that is committed to the church, may be maintained in this world, that the world may yet see who Jesus is and what He is. To Thee be all the praise and glory, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.