The House Of God by Apostle Arome Osayi: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Jacob's Encounter and the Definition of Territory

Genesis 28:10-17. Jacob was fleeing from his brother Esau after manipulating his way into the birthright. He did not know he was in a spiritually charged location. He stopped to sleep and chose a stone for a pillow — not knowing that his grandfather Abraham had built an altar in that same place years before. The stone he picked was likely one of the remnant stones of that altar.

When Jacob's physical senses shut down, his spiritual senses activated. He saw a ladder set up from earth to heaven, with angels ascending and descending. And the Lord stood above it.

Jacob's definition when he woke up: "Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not. How dreadful is this place. This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

This is none other than the house of God — not because of any structure, but because the dimensions of God were trapped there. A physical location becomes dreadful when the presence of God is trapped within it.

The Altar Is the Technology

God's dealings with different men in scripture revolved around different instruments:

• Adam — the trees of the garden
• Abel — sacrifice
• Noah — an ark
• Enoch — heaven (walking with God)
• Abraham — altars

Abraham pitched tents but built altars. Tents were temporary; altars were permanent. If you want to trace Abraham's navigation through Canaan, you follow the altars that are still standing long after the tents are gone. The altar was what was permanent in his life.

Abraham is claimed as ancestor by Muslims, Christians, and Jews — three sets of people spanning millennia. The essence he carried forms the foundation upon which redemption was eventually established. Redemption began with Abraham and found its culmination in the cross of Christ.

Earthly Permission for Heavenly Interference

This realm — the three-dimensional realm of space, matter, and time — is not a realm for spirits. Jesus confirmed this after his resurrection when he said: "Behold my hands and my feet. Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have." Luke 24:39. This world belongs to the sons of men.

Priesthood is the skill of granting earthly permission for heavenly interference. By royal decree the earth belongs to men. So if there's no altar, even though God desires to invade a location, he does not have the legitimacy — because the atmosphere has not been created. The altar is what opens the door.

When Abraham set up a righteous altar, it established a linkage — a conduit from earth to heaven. The orientation of that linkage depends on the nature of the altar:

• A righteous altar links earth to heaven — angels ascend and descend.
• A demonic altar links earth to hell — demonic entities are given license to operate in that territory.

What was driving the motion of the angels Jacob saw was not in heaven. It was on earth — it was Abraham's altar. The altar was the platform driving the angelic activity, years after Abraham himself had died.

Two or Three Gathered Together

Matthew 18:18-20 — "Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven." If English means anything, Jesus is saying earth is supposed to control heaven — because this is our jurisdiction. This is where God placed man to establish dominion.

• The first spiritual law here is individually applicable: whatsoever you bind on earth is bound in heaven.
• The second provision has no individual application: "If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven." This requires corporate agreement.

The reason this second law is efficacious is found in verse 20: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Two or three is the number of witness — the quorum required for this operation to function. When the quorum is satisfied and they are gathered in his name, the dimensions of God are trapped in that location. That place becomes none other than the house of God.

What the House of God Actually Is

The house of God is not a building — it is any place where the dimensions of God have been trapped through the priesthood of those who gathered. The presence of God, the angelic stronghold, the authority to bind and loose — all of these become active in a location where the altar has been set and the quorum has been gathered.

You have not known that this is a dreadful place. Until you know this, you cannot truly know God. Until you reverence the One who is present, you are not ready to navigate the path of spiritual progress.

What you know about the earth — even at 42 years old — is nothing compared to the spiritual infrastructure that was built in territories before you arrived. The altars that established Boston made it possible for the schools to be founded there. Everything that eventually stays on a land is regulated by the altars that demarcated it.

The Charge to the Church

What does a believer become after years of coming to church? That is the question the church of this generation must answer. The people that know their God shall be strong and do exploits — Daniel 11:32. The proof that you know a spirit being is the exploit you can do. If you cannot do exploits, you do not yet know.

The purpose of the equipping ministry is not to make you feel good. It is to bring you to a place where you can solve practical problems — because people's problems are not in a psychological realm. Someone is afflicted. Someone is under a curse. A trained believer should be able to handle that.