1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,080 So I titled the message "I Surrender All," right? And it's really a requirement. It's not an option 2 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:18,640 for those who would name the name of Jesus and be those who walk with Him. 3 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:28,560 And Jacob is learning that, and I'm fascinated by the patience of God. Has God been patient with you? 4 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:39,200 Right. When you think of what we deserve and all of that, and you think, "Oh my gosh, how come God 5 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:48,640 has let me come thus far?" And in His mercy and in His grace, He kind of just lets us limp along. 6 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:56,320 And hopefully we're growing in the process. And sometimes we get stunted or we get turned sideways 7 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:05,600 and we abandon ship and we walk away from the Lord, and He promises never to forsake us, 8 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:12,480 even though we do. There's a scripture in 1 John that says, "If your heart condemns you, 9 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:20,000 know that God is greater than your heart." Right? And so often our heart does condemn us. 10 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:33,760 And rightly so. We're scumbuckets, right? And why God chooses to use us, those who are a little 11 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:40,240 lower than the angels, the Bible says, right? That we're just, we're down here. And yet the 12 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:45,920 Lord chooses to use us because He chooses the foolish things in the world to confound the wise. 13 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:51,040 And if you're in that camp of foolishness, you're in good company, right? Years ago, 14 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:58,240 when my little brother, he became a senior pastor at 26 and he preached a message one Sunday and 15 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:03,680 an old preacher was there. He'd heard about this upstart church in Pocatello, Idaho called 16 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:09,600 Calvary Chapel. So he goes and he's retired and he kind of wants to check this out. And 17 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:13,920 he walks up to Pastor Rick after the service. He goes, "Pastor Rick, I'm going to go to the 18 00:02:13,920 --> 00:02:18,720 church." And he goes, "Pastor Rick, after the service." He goes, "Pastor Rick," he says, "You 19 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:26,720 know, I was reading the other day where the Lord spoke to Balaam through a donkey. And so I just 20 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:36,960 want you to know you're in good company." Because Pastor Pooh was just a little bit arrogant back in 21 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:43,840 those days. He needed to be knocked down a notch or two. And that old boy did it. But we see Jacob 22 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:49,520 in our reading today in the 32nd chapter of the book of Genesis. And I was watching Amir 23 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:56,720 Sarfati this week and he was doing the timeline, the prophetic timeline of the nation of Israel. 24 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:02,960 Do you realize without the nation of Israel, folks, there ain't much of a prophetic timeline? 25 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:06,160 There just isn't. 26 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:14,560 Chuck Missler said it years ago, I remember hearing him say, he says, "Listen, Israel is 27 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:20,720 God's time piece. That's where time began and that's where time's going to end." Right? 28 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:26,960 And so what is the significance of the nation of Israel? It's 29 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:33,920 giganticuous. Is that a word? I don't even know if that's a word. It's incredible. And so 30 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:44,160 to know and understand Israel and its history and who Israel is, actually Israel was a person. 31 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:51,040 And we're looking at him here in chapter 32. And to know that history, because to know 32 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:56,640 so much of prophecy is connected specifically to the nation of Israel. When you read, 33 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:01,200 there would be no Daniel chapter nine, if it was not for Israel. Right? 34 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:10,480 And there would be no understanding of the book of Revelation. It's just like a house of cards 35 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:20,320 without this people that we know as Israel. And here's this dude, Jacob, he's stuck between a 36 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:30,400 Laban and an Esau. Right? We've seen last time he did the mitzvah thing with his uncle Laban. 37 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:35,920 Mitzvah, meaning may the Lord watch between you and me that you're not going to hurt me and I'm 38 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:40,800 not going to hurt you that you won't come to me to hurt me. Didn't say they couldn't come to each 39 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:46,880 other, but they couldn't come to each other for harm. And maybe you've got some relationships 40 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:52,800 like that. Hey, that's okay. Right? There's some people you have to love from a distance. 41 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:58,640 It's just the way it is. But in your heart, you don't want to hurt them. 42 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:05,520 And that's where the Lord would have you. He says, no man, no man can say that he loves God 43 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:12,960 and hates his brother. He's a liar. Right? You cannot, you cannot say that you love God and hate 44 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:19,680 your brother. You can't. You're out of line. You're not right with God. So if you got some hatred in 45 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:24,880 your heart towards somebody, get rid of it, take it to the Lord, get on your face, whatever it takes, 46 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:32,480 get that out of your heart. Cause there's no place for that. And so the last thing that 47 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:38,640 Jacob hears his brother Esau tell him is just that I hate you and I'm going to kill you. 48 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:46,880 Soon as dad's dead, I'm killing you. And that's the last time Jacob and Esau had any interaction. 49 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:52,400 And so I'm wondering as he's on this journey running from Laban, I'm wondering what, what, 50 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:57,520 if what that was like in his mind thinking, Oh my gosh, I'm running from Laban, but I'm running 51 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:07,680 right into the jaws of Esau. No doubt he was in turmoil. This, this, this Jacob. And he's kind 52 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:18,560 of stuck between the two as he is at peace for the moment, or he's actually removed from Laban. 53 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:25,040 Now he's moving towards, towards his brother Esau. Doesn't it just seem like sometimes 54 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:31,680 life is a constant grind. If it isn't one thing it's 20, right? It's just, if it isn't one thing, 55 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:36,720 it's another. And that's kind of, kind of where, where he's at with, he knows his brother was 56 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:44,800 offended and, and he's, he's, he's, he's possibly going to be hard after him. Proverbs 18, 19 says, 57 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:50,560 a brother offended is harder to win than a strong city. And the con and contentions are like the 58 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:57,600 bars of a castle. Have you experienced that? It's the very worst when it's family. 59 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:03,680 And this just breaks your heart. Oh no, I love these people, but I hate them right now. 60 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:11,760 I remember getting sideways with my brother, my older brother who had the AIDS, 61 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:19,040 had the HIV virus and, and he was doing some careless things and man, we, everybody got 62 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:26,240 sideways. Man made my mom mad and made my other brother mad. And my sister was far removed. She 63 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:31,040 wasn't in the middle of it. And man, we were just like, that's it. We ain't never coming over there 64 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:37,520 again. We ain't never seen you again. And eventually I have to go make peace, right? 65 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:44,240 It's really important to make peace. I mean, I, I should, you know, the Bible says that 66 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:49,600 with all that is within you, Paul said, be at peace with everyone, right? With everything that 67 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:59,840 you have, right? Oh man, no, oh, no man, anything but to love. That's what Paul says. And but when, 68 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:06,000 when, when you're trying to make peace, sometimes it doesn't go like you planned. You ran that, 69 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:11,440 right? Oh, I thought this was going to go so much better. And it just didn't. And 70 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:19,120 but all of us within you, because you can't, you can't determine what the other person does. 71 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:26,080 All you can do is say, grovel on your knees. Oh, please forgive me. Please forgive me. 72 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:34,400 I was wrong. I want to make it right. So I'm kind of a, 73 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:40,000 I like, I like movies that pull a little of emotion, right? I'm kind of a crybaby. 74 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:48,160 Just like, I'm honest. And so I watched the movie I can only imagine the other day, 75 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:55,520 you know, with Dennis Quaid. And when he comes to his son and he says, I want to make things right 76 00:08:55,520 --> 00:09:00,080 between me and you, right? Is there anything more powerful than that? 77 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:07,600 Is there anything more powerful than somebody coming to Lord and say, Lord, I just want to be 78 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:16,320 right with you. Isn't that, that's a beautiful thing. I actually got invited over for a cup 79 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:22,160 of coffee yesterday and got to talk to a guy that had kind of been estranged from the Lord for some 80 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:29,040 years, 43 years old, struggling, struggling in his life, struggling in his marriage. 81 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:35,120 He came to church here one time. The reason he called me over is because he wanted to apologize 82 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:38,400 for walking. He was in service. He was sitting right down here in front. So, and he wanted to 83 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:43,200 apologize for walking out of service. I was good, dude. You'd have to apologize. In fact, I don't 84 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:49,120 even think I remember seeing you walk out of service. Right. And I miss a lot from up here, 85 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:57,040 just saying. And, and he, and, but he says, I got to tell you the last five weeks, God has just been 86 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:02,000 rocking my wife and I's world. We were both, we were both running for the Lord. In fact, 87 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:06,320 four weeks ago, we were, we were on the verge of divorce. She was going to move back to Alaska. And 88 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:11,760 I, I was vowed. I was never going to go back to Alaska. I think he got on a plane today to go back 89 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:20,880 to Alaska and God is just rocking their world. And he just, you know what he did? He, he finally 90 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:27,760 went to the Lord and he goes, I'm done. That's it. I'm done. He finally surrendered after all 91 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:34,480 these years, he had gone to a Christian school growing up. If you're here today and you have not 92 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:42,640 surrendered all that you are and all that you hope to become to the Lord Jesus Christ, please do that. 93 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:52,000 It will do your soul good. Right? It will do your soul good. And, and it's just a powerful thing to 94 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:59,280 see people come to that place. Lord, I'm done. I cannot do this. I cannot live this life. It's just 95 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:07,200 too much. And all of us know somebody like that. Don't we? We got people in our families like that. 96 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:20,560 And God is so good. He's so loving. He's so willing. He's willing to forgive the Lord's willing to listen. 97 00:11:20,560 --> 00:11:30,320 However, it is strange how we convince ourselves that we can escape the past and not reap what 98 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:38,320 we've sown. We try to forget our sins, but our sins don't forget us. Right? Right. Be sure of this. 99 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:42,960 It says there in the Old Testament, right? Your sin will find you out. And in fact it does. And 100 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:50,080 it has a wage and it's very faithful to pay that wage. The wages of sin, the Bible says is dead. 101 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:57,520 Because of Jacob lying to his dad, snatching the blessing away from his brother Esau, right? With 102 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:06,480 the tricky little hairy thing going on, he rightly is fearful that Esau may just follow through on 103 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:16,240 his promise to kill Jacob. Right? But God. There it is again. Those two words. It's less like you 104 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:22,400 need to write that on a card and put it in your pocket. But God. God's going to intervene. God's 105 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:30,720 going to not let that happen. Right? God made a promise too. And I think God's probably better 106 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:37,920 at keeping his promise than Esau is. Which should always be our focus. God's promises 107 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:44,000 should be our focus. Do you focus on God's promises? Right? The promise of forgiveness 108 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:53,200 and redemption and a future and a hope and heaven and glory. Do you focus on those things? 109 00:12:53,200 --> 00:13:01,040 Or is it woe is me? This life is so hard. I think everybody in this room knows that. 110 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:05,920 I don't think nobody needs to tell each other that at all. This life is hard. 111 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:14,800 But with Jesus, it ain't near as hard. Amen. With Jesus, it ain't near. Okay. So we're going to 112 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:18,880 start. I'm going to pray and we're going to look at this chapter real quick. Lord, thank you for 113 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:25,840 your word. That is powerful. It's good. It's full of life, Lord. Full of incredible lessons. Lord, 114 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:34,480 what we learned from you is Lord it's life-giving. And so Lord, I just pray that we would be yielded 115 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:40,320 and have ears to hear that you would speak, that you would bless as only you can. Lord, 116 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:45,200 I know that there's hearts in here this morning that Lord, they just need a touch from you. 117 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:52,160 They just need reminded that you got them and you got a plan for their life, Lord. And Lord, 118 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:57,280 convince them too that they need to repent and turn from their sin and turn to you and experience 119 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:04,480 that second birth and experience the life of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus and help us to be 120 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:10,320 in that place. All of us, Lord, and that we would set our mind in a good place and that we would 121 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:16,800 have the mind of Christ in Jesus' name. Amen. Chapter 32 verse one. So Jacob went on his way 122 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:24,240 and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, "This is God's camp." And he called 123 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:33,680 the name of that place Meha-Naim. Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother 124 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:41,280 in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. And he commanded them saying, "Speak thus to my Lord 125 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:49,360 Esau. Thus your servant Jacob says, 'I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there.'" Excuse me, 126 00:14:50,160 --> 00:15:03,040 breakfast breed over there. Sorry. "I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there until now. 127 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:08,400 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants. And I have sent to tell my Lord 128 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:12,960 that I may find favor in your sight." And then the messengers returned to Jacob saying, 129 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:20,080 "We came to your brother Esau and he's also coming to meet you. And 400 men are with him. And so 130 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:25,360 Jacob was graciously afraid and distressed and he divided the people that were with him and the 131 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:31,280 flocks and herds and camels into two companies. And he said, 'If Esau comes to the one company 132 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:41,680 and attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.'" Wow. This is just like 133 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:49,440 going headlong right into a battle and right off the bat, right? But right off the bat, 134 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:59,760 the Lord shows up, right? The Lord shows up and He says, "And Jacob went on his way and the angels 135 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:07,360 of God met him." Angels, this is more than one. I don't know about you, but when I study angels, 136 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:16,960 they're a pretty ferocious creature, these angels. We see in the book of Kings there and Chronicles 137 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:28,960 or Isaiah when this one angel kills 185,000 man army, one angel. They're bad dudes, right? 138 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:35,520 And here there's more than one. The angels of God and He calls the name of it, "Mehaneinaim," 139 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:41,680 which means double camp. In other words, two camps. There's Jake's camp and there's angel 140 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:49,760 camp. Angel camp, that's a place somewhere. Anyway, right there's these camp. It's that double 141 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:55,200 camp that the Lord's letting Jacob. Dude, you're not alone. Do you ever feel alone sometimes? 142 00:16:55,200 --> 00:17:00,160 We do when we're going through those hard things and you think, "What nobody knows. Nobody knows 143 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:05,520 what I'm going through. I'm the only one." You're never the only one. You remember what the Lord 144 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:13,760 told Elijah when he was running from a girl? What a stinking whanny, right? Running from a girl. 145 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:19,040 And God goes, "What are you doing?" "Well, she wants to kill me and it's just me left. I'm the 146 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:24,240 only one that really serves you, Lord." And the Lord goes, "Elijah, what are you doing here?" 147 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:33,920 I have 7,000 prophets that had not bowed their knee to Baal. You are never alone, right? You're 148 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:43,680 never the only one that has gone through hard things. We are all people of like passion. 149 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:51,600 Everybody's got a story, but Satan wants you to isolate and focus on your own little pity party 150 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:59,760 hard life, right? And the Lord calls, "Quit looking at yourself, right? Take your eyes 151 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:07,920 out for yourself and look out and go where I tell you to go and listen to what I tell you to do." 152 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:16,720 And so we are never alone. And the Lord's telling Jacob, "Hey, man, the angels of God, 153 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:25,760 they're right here." This powerful, these powerful creatures, right? Hebrews 1 14 says, 154 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:32,960 "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who will inherit salvation?" 155 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:40,000 That's what angels are. You got some? I had a couple growing up, right? 156 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:45,520 Because I was such a blundering wonder. It is a miracle, you guys, that I'm here. 157 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:54,880 I'm serious. Everywhere from choking on a beer bottle cap to trying to run down a 158 00:18:55,600 --> 00:19:02,480 rooster pheasant on a motorcycle at 45 miles an hour. I'm chasing this pheasant because he jumps 159 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:06,320 up. I'm on this alleyway and he jumps up and he's flying just like, "Oh, I'm going to catch him on 160 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:14,000 my motorcycle." But what I didn't forgot to account for was right at the end of the lane is a T, 161 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:21,440 right? And the hay fields on the other side, but there's about this six or eight inch solid, 162 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:29,440 straight piece of dirt bank. And I didn't get stopped. I hit that thing and it launched me in 163 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:38,320 the air with front tire down like this. I fly about 35 feet in the air, land, I go over the 164 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:43,200 handy bars, the bike comes over the top of me and we roll out through there for another 35, 40 feet. 165 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:51,760 I mean, it should have killed me dead. My boss wasn't real excited about his panel bars because 166 00:19:51,760 --> 00:20:02,320 they were demolished. Run a jeep off into the irrigation ditch. I mean, 167 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:13,200 the Lord does watch out for fools and I was one. Well, still am. I told you about my wife seeing 168 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:18,720 me up in the tree. You're going to die. Probably. I'm probably going to get killed by some freak 169 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:25,040 accident, fall and hang my neck in a crook of a tree or something. And pastor dies falling 170 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:37,520 out of tree. I can see it now. But my angels, they, I know they're real. I just know they're 171 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:42,880 real. I don't know if you know and believe that they're real, but they are. They're for us who's 172 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:48,000 going to inherit salvation. Maybe you haven't got your inheritance yet. Are you saved? If you're not 173 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:54,480 saved, please get saved. Right? Give them something to work for. They've kept you alive to this point. 174 00:20:54,480 --> 00:21:03,840 Right? Reward your guardian angel by getting saved. Would you? And at the end of today, 175 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:10,240 I want to give you that opportunity. I'm kind of getting ahead of myself, but I love that question 176 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:16,880 that pastor Olypio Amorola asked everybody. So how did you become born again? And can you answer 177 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:22,640 that question? And if you're here today and you cannot answer that question, how did I become 178 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:28,160 born again? If you can't answer that question, you need to answer that question before you leave this 179 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:33,600 room today. Right? You need to answer that question. Yea or nay? If it's nay, then you 180 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:38,160 got some figuring to do. Right? And you're frustrating your guardian angel just saying. 181 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:47,280 But it says, it says a lot about angels in the scripture. I love Psalm 34, seven, 182 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:54,480 the angel of the Lord in camps around all those who fear him. He fear God. Oh boy. 183 00:21:54,480 --> 00:22:03,200 It's a good thing. You remember Jesus when he was, he was in his battle with the devil 184 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:08,080 there in Matthew chapter four. And then the devil left him and behold angels came and ministered to 185 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:19,280 him. I love second Kings, right? When it talks about Elisha, I think I might've mentioned this 186 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:24,560 last week, but I don't think I quoted the chapter in verse, but it's found in second Kings chapter 187 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:31,440 six. And it says, and so he answered, do not fear for those who are with us. This is Elisha speaking 188 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:37,440 are more than those who are with them. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray open his eyes that 189 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:42,160 he may see. And then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man. And he saw and behold, the mountain 190 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:56,160 was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. Right? Guardian angels. They're awesome. 191 00:22:56,160 --> 00:23:04,000 And here Jacob encounters them. Right? And this isn't the first time, right? His, his time with 192 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:09,600 Laban, the two bookends is angels, angel experience, right? Remember there when he was at Beth-El 193 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,800 and he saw the angel of God ascending and descending on this ladder, 194 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:22,000 he's had some pretty intense experiences with angels. Now what's really sad is we live in a 195 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:28,560 society today where it's very popular for people to, they worship angels, right? They encounter 196 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:35,760 angels, righteous holy angels and or fallen angels. Sometimes they'll talk to them. That's 197 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:42,720 not a good idea. Every time that we see somebody in the scripture that has an experience with angels, 198 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:50,720 they're fearful, right? They're fearful. And we should not try to entice or conjure up 199 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:59,280 demonic or fallen angels. And so that's something you need to be careful about. Keep them 200 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:04,640 in their proper place. Just reading through Exodus chapter 20 with the 10 commandments, right? He 201 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:10,320 talks about graven images. Don't make under yourself any graven image of anything here on 202 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:18,880 earth or anything that's in heaven. Angel worship is so popular. We're to worship the one true God 203 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:23,680 and Him only. And so 204 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:32,400 it's interesting that the experience with the angels is right at the 205 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:38,080 right at the border of the promised land. And so they're always around that land. 206 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:45,360 It says in Deuteronomy that that land is protected. And we're seeing it right now, right? With 207 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:51,360 what's going on over there. Deuteronomy 11, 12 says, "A land for which the Lord your God cares. 208 00:24:51,360 --> 00:24:56,160 The eyes of the Lord your God are always on it." This is speaking of the land of Israel. 209 00:24:56,160 --> 00:25:04,080 From the beginning of the year to the very end of the year, Deuteronomy 11, 12, God watches over, 210 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:12,720 right? He watches over His timepiece, Israel. He watches over those who inherit salvation. 211 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:18,160 That'd be you and I. Thank you, Jesus. Right? He watches over. 212 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:25,520 So Jacob sends messengers. So here he is in this double camp, seeing the angels, 213 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:32,720 and he sends messengers to Esau. Now talk about flattery, right? And you're, you know, 214 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:41,520 because he calls, he calls him, "Oh, yes, my Lord, Esau, your servant, Jacob." Where did he learn 215 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:49,280 this? From Uncle Laban, right? He learned flattery. Oh yeah, just butter him up, grease him up, man. 216 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:57,440 He's, you know, you can just make him feel so good about himself. And I don't even know how many 217 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:07,440 times he says it here, right? That Esau, my Lord, or Jacob, your servant, he says it several times 218 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:20,320 there. And he tells him, he says, "I have stuff. Please be favorable to me. I have stuff. I come 219 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:33,200 with gifts." And I guess, you know, then he hears about the 400 men and he is absolutely terrified, 220 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:40,160 absolutely terrified there when he hears about it and says, "And he was greatly afraid and distressed 221 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:45,440 and he divided his people that were with him and the flocks and herds and camels into two companies." 222 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:48,800 Thinking that if he attacks, at least somebody can get away. 223 00:26:48,800 --> 00:27:02,400 Paralyzing fear. Jacob is so afraid, he springs into action. Maybe he totally forgets about the 224 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:11,120 angels that are there. Oh well, maybe somebody will survive. And in verse nine, we see something. 225 00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:18,560 This is the first time we see him actually pray, right? He recognizes God. He speaks about God, 226 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:26,480 but we see him actually talking to God here in verse nine. The first recorded prayer of Jacob, 227 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:34,800 AKA Israel. And then Jacob said, "Oh God of my father, Abraham, and the God of my father, Isaac, 228 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:40,960 the Lord who said to me, 'Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal with you. I 229 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:46,960 am not worthy of the least of all the mercies of all the truth, or mercies of all the truth, 230 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:54,960 which you have shown your servant. For I crossed over this Jordan with my staff and now I have 231 00:27:54,960 --> 00:28:00,560 come, become two companies. Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of 232 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:06,480 Esau. For I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children. For you said, 233 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:11,600 'I will surely treat you well and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, 234 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:13,920 which cannot be numbered for multitude.'" 235 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:26,160 So Jacob does something that's very powerful in prayer, right? His fear was good because it led 236 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:31,520 him to prayer. His fear was good because it led him to take a review of his life, right? 237 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:38,640 "Well, I came with nothing and now I'm loaded." And Jacob's fear was good because it led him to 238 00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:45,760 seek out a suitable promise from the Lord. He says, "No, I remember now. You promised me. 239 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:51,520 You told me." When you pray, you can remind God of what He said. He's not offended by that. 240 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:57,760 You can remind God of what He said, but you can't do it, but you don't know what He said. 241 00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:06,080 That's why it's so important to read God's word. Know what He said. And Jacob is remembering very 242 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:13,920 specifically what God said, that you are going to multiply my descendants as like the 243 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:21,520 like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. It's pretty incredible. 244 00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:33,280 So we can remind God of His word because He is steams His word very highly. Now, Jacob 245 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:40,720 is no doubt remembering when he was there the last time on his way to Uncle Laban, 246 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:45,680 where the Lord said, "I am the Lord, the God of your father, Abraham, the God of Isaac. 247 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:51,920 I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like 248 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:57,280 the dust of the earth and you will spread out the west and to the east and to the north and to the 249 00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:03,040 south. All peoples of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you 250 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:07,040 and will watch over you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land." 251 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:12,960 He's remembering God's word. That's really cool. But isn't it amazing how fast you forget it? 252 00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:17,440 You can read something in the morning and by noon you've forgotten what you read. 253 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:23,360 Oh, it's terrible. Why are we like that? 254 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:31,840 I think it's on purpose. I think it is on purpose because God set a precedent when the children of 255 00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:36,160 Israel were in the wilderness. You guys remember the story, right? And they were hungry. And they 256 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:40,000 said, "Oh, we're going to starve to death out here and we should have stayed in Egypt eating 257 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:49,440 leeks and onions." That was a good belch, I bet. But God started raining down the manna. 258 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:54,320 He said, "Okay, every day go out and get the manna. Every day." You know they couldn't store 259 00:30:54,320 --> 00:31:01,920 up for two days. They couldn't binge. They had to go out every day, get enough for that day. 260 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:07,280 The only time they could double up is on Friday before the Sabbath, that it would carry them over. 261 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:13,040 Otherwise, stinky rotten worms would get in. It just would go off like really quick. 262 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:23,120 Folks, that is a picture of the word of God. It is truly manna from heaven. But you can't 263 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:27,680 binge the word of God. "Oh yeah, I read like 10 chapters every other month." 264 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:34,000 Doesn't work like that. Try eating every other month. 265 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:38,800 "Yeah, just one time every other month. Kind of gorge a little." Yeah, that ain't gonna work. 266 00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:50,320 So it needs to be a constant every single day. If you want to rest on Sunday and get it from a 267 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:54,960 dummy like me, go ahead. But you should be, if you're only getting it from here, you're starving 268 00:31:54,960 --> 00:32:04,640 to death spiritually. Right? You have to self-feed. And so God's word's powerful, and God remembers 269 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:12,240 His word, and God honors His word. So remembering what God has said in prayer is really good. 270 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:18,800 Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, "When God gave His promise, He did, as it were, put Himself in the 271 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:26,080 power of those who know how to plead the promise. Every promise is so much strength given to the man 272 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:32,080 who has faith in the promise, for he may with it overcome even the omnipotent God Himself." 273 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:46,240 That's a pretty bold statement. Because Psalm 138 says, listen, it says this. Verse 2, 274 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:53,200 "I will worship toward your holy temple and praise your name for your loving kindness and for truth, 275 00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:56,880 for you have magnified your word even above your name." 276 00:32:56,880 --> 00:33:05,520 The power of God's word. Folks, most Christians don't have a clue. 277 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:10,160 Satan knows the word better than most Christians. 278 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:18,320 Right? Satan even tried throwing the word at Jesus. You remember that, right? Right? He says, 279 00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:25,920 "Hey, since, since you're the Son of God, throw yourself off this temple, because the Bible says 280 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:32,880 that He will give His angels charge when they shall better you up." But He left something out. 281 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:38,400 That's what He's really good at. He left something out. And He would acknowledge you in all your ways. 282 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:46,800 That's the part He left out. So Satan will give you 80%, maybe 90% of the truth. 283 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:53,440 Throw a little cyanide in there. It's kind of like having a little jar with 100 jelly beans in it. 284 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:56,800 One of them is laced with cyanide. If it touches your tongue, you're dead. You're gonna, you're 285 00:33:56,800 --> 00:34:06,080 gonna eat it? Oh, give me one of those. That's how Satan works. So it's important to know God's word. 286 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:14,480 Here, Jacob remembers God's word. And because God takes His word seriously, right? 287 00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:23,360 Jacob did as well. It's the first thing he did here is he reminds God of what he said. 288 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:33,600 Secondly, in verse 10, it says, "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and all the truth, 289 00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:38,640 which you have shown your servant. I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become 290 00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:45,440 two companies." He is humble before the Lord. He realizes, "Oh God, look what you've done, right? 291 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:53,600 You've been merciful to me. I understand this truth of who you are, realizing that God has 292 00:34:53,600 --> 00:35:00,320 increased Him. And I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy of your mercies and your truth." Knowing you're 293 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:07,360 not worthy is really good. We live in a culture here in Eastern Idaho where there is a desire to 294 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:16,960 be worthy. And so many people will, "I'm not worthy." Well, you're absolutely right. You're 295 00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:22,800 not worthy. I'm not worthy. There is none worthy. There is none good. There is none righteous. No, 296 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:29,600 not one, the Bible says, right? And so Jacob acknowledges that this truth, wow, I am not 297 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:33,840 worthy of this mercy that God has showed me and this truth that He's revealing to me, 298 00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:38,400 nor are you and I. That doesn't mean it isn't ours. 299 00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:48,160 Because what makes us worthy is our God, not we ourselves, right? And so 300 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:59,600 he mentions truth here. And truth is something interesting. In fact, is there a truth project 301 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:07,600 going on right now? Anybody hosting a truth project? It's pretty powerful. The Bible talks 302 00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:15,360 about having a love for the truth. In 2 Thessalonians chapter two, it says, 303 00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:19,520 "And with all unrighteousness, deception," this is talking about the lawless one who is to come, 304 00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:26,320 "among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might 305 00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:33,840 be saved." Do you love the truth? Even, listen, even when it hurts, because the truth really does 306 00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:41,600 hurt. The truth about myself, it really hurts. But if I embrace it, I'm in a good place. And that's 307 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:48,000 what Jacob does here. He's starting to see, oh yeah, God's been faithful. He's been merciful to 308 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:56,720 me, even with my conniving and what I have done in the past. Lastly, so first of all, he 309 00:36:56,720 --> 00:37:04,640 reminds God of his word. And secondly, he humbles himself. And lastly, he asks for the Lord to 310 00:37:04,640 --> 00:37:10,320 deliver you. He asks for the Lord for help. Have you asked for the Lord for help this week? 311 00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:18,560 If not, maybe you should start, because he'll help you. I know on Sunday mornings, it's my prayer, 312 00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:24,720 and I know it's profound. And I get up every Sunday morning. Well, a lot of mornings, not just 313 00:37:24,720 --> 00:37:30,880 Sunday, but especially Sunday, because I get up so early. And I say, "Oh, Lord, please help. 314 00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:42,560 Please help today. I gotta have your help. I can't do this. I don't know all the ins and outs. 315 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:47,120 The hermeneutics and the stuff that I'm supposed to be doing right. I don't know those things. 316 00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:53,040 God's got to help me by his Spirit. And if he don't, I'm sunk. And you guys are probably 317 00:37:53,040 --> 00:38:02,560 wasting your time." But he's been so faithful. So he prays there and says, "Deliver me. Deliver me, 318 00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:11,360 I pray." His prayer had faith. He believed. And a lot of times, God puts you in a really tight spot, 319 00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:18,160 so you'll look up. You ever been in a... It's amazing to me. When I get calls from people, 320 00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:23,040 I go, "Man, please come pray with us." Why do they want me to come pray? Well, they want me to come 321 00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:28,320 pray because they have already assessed the situation and realized it's hopeless. 322 00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:35,680 We can't do anything. And it's helpless. Have you been in that place? You're just helpless. 323 00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:41,360 I'm so helpless here. It's really tough when you get called to go pray for a little kid or something 324 00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:45,520 that's been injured or their life is hanging in the balance and you got to come pray. And I'm just 325 00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:55,440 like, "I don't know. I can't fix that kid." But I know who can. And we have to come to him by faith. 326 00:38:55,440 --> 00:39:04,880 He boldly asked God to do something and gave him humble grounds for why the Lord should fulfill 327 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:09,360 his word. He said, "Lord, you told me I'm going to have the sand of the sea. I've only got 11. 328 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:14,800 I have 12 can't dine it." We don't know how many daughters he had. But he said, "They're definitely 329 00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:18,480 not the sand of the seashore. So this still has to happen. This thing needs to happen." 330 00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:30,560 George Mueller years ago was a man considered a man of faith and prayer. And he once asked what 331 00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:35,600 was the most important part of prayer. And he answered, "The 15 minutes after I have said Amen." 332 00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:38,160 He says that's the most 333 00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:48,400 important part because no matter how great Jacob's prayer was, his faith would be seen 334 00:39:48,400 --> 00:39:54,560 in what he did after his prayer. Was he going to trust God or was he going to revert back 335 00:39:57,280 --> 00:40:05,760 to his own ways? Well, Jacob's faith is still pretty small, right? Is yours? I feel like mine 336 00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:13,360 is at times. Proverbs 24 verse 10 says, "If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is 337 00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:18,880 small." I think one version says your faith is small. If you faint in the day of adversity, 338 00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:26,080 well, who doesn't have days of adversity, right? Where's your faith at where you're going through 339 00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:33,280 those hard things? Unlike Moses, right? Unlike Moses, when he's standing at the Red Sea, 340 00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:36,800 we read through that this last week, where he says, 341 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:47,920 "Do not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish 342 00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:57,840 for us today." Right? That's faith. And what happens? The waters part. Pretty cool. 343 00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:12,960 So what does Jacob do? He invokes, he invokes Proverbs 21 14, "A gift in secret pacifies anger 344 00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:18,800 and a bride behind the back strong wrath." He's going, "I got to give him a gift." Right? 345 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:25,920 I've got to give him a nice basket. A nice, you know, a nice gift basket. I got to give my brother 346 00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:33,920 and then maybe he won't be mad at me anymore. Well, let's read it. Verse 13 says, "And he 347 00:41:33,920 --> 00:41:40,640 lodged there that same night and he took what came to his hand as a present for Esau his brother." 348 00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:46,880 200 female goats and 20 male goats and 200 Jews and 20 rams. 30 milk camels with their 349 00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:53,920 colts. 40 cows and 10 bulls and 20 female donkeys and 10 foals. And then he delivered them to the 350 00:41:53,920 --> 00:42:01,840 hand of his servants and every drove by itself and said to his servants, "Pass over before me and put 351 00:42:01,840 --> 00:42:07,040 some distance between successive droves." And he commanded the first one saying, "When Esau my 352 00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:14,320 brother meets you and asks you saying, 'To whom do you belong and where are you going? Whose are these 353 00:42:14,320 --> 00:42:19,680 in front of you?' And then you shall say, 'They are your servant Jacob's. It is a present sent to 354 00:42:19,680 --> 00:42:26,480 my Lord Esau and behold he also is behind us.' And so he commanded the second, the third and all who 355 00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:31,600 followed the droves saying, 'In this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find them and also 356 00:42:31,600 --> 00:42:37,520 say, 'Behold your servant Jacob is behind us.' For he said, 'I will appease him with the presence 357 00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:44,080 that goes before me and afterwards I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.'" So the present 358 00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:50,480 went on over before him and he himself lodged that night in the camp. So he said, "You guys go, 359 00:42:50,480 --> 00:42:56,080 set a little distance between you, you know, and take the goats and then the sheep and then 360 00:42:56,080 --> 00:43:05,680 the camels and then the donkeys and the cows and five things he takes." And he gives him 580 head. 361 00:43:05,680 --> 00:43:14,640 Now as a stockman you're going, "Oh, that's a really good start, right? 40 head of cows and 362 00:43:14,640 --> 00:43:22,400 10 bulls? Man, you could sell most of the bulls. Two bulls could service 40 head of cows and that's 363 00:43:22,400 --> 00:43:33,120 young bulls. And then the 20 male goats and the 200 female goats and the, I mean, he's setting 364 00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:37,840 Esau up. I don't know what Esau's got but after this it would be a couple years he'd be over a 365 00:43:37,840 --> 00:43:54,320 couple thousand head. That's a good deal." And yet Jacob, he's trying to buy him off, right? 366 00:43:54,320 --> 00:43:58,240 He's trying to buy him off. He's kind of, Jacob's kind of like that guy, you know, 367 00:43:58,240 --> 00:44:06,720 that we see in Mark chapter 9 when he comes to Jesus and it's after the mount of 368 00:44:06,720 --> 00:44:11,520 transfiguration he comes to Jesus and this guy comes and he falls down before him with tears and 369 00:44:11,520 --> 00:44:18,240 said, "Man, heal my son. He's demon possessed." He frosts at the mouth and the demon tries to 370 00:44:18,240 --> 00:44:23,680 throw him into the fire and Jesus asked him, he says, "So do you believe I can heal you?" 371 00:44:23,680 --> 00:44:31,840 He goes, "Lord, I believe that help my unbelief." Do you ever feel like that, right? "I believe, 372 00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:41,280 Lord, but help my unbelief. I waver at times." Jacob is wavering here by sending these gifts. 373 00:44:41,280 --> 00:44:47,440 Or maybe he just feels like he's got to do his part. He doesn't agree with Moses and stand still 374 00:44:47,440 --> 00:44:55,040 and know that I'm God and you're going to see the salvation of the Lord. And so he's struggling. And 375 00:44:55,040 --> 00:45:01,040 so we see him all by himself in verse 22, and I'll finish up the chapter here. We see him all by 376 00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:06,800 himself. And he rose that night and he took his two wives, his two male servants, or female servants 377 00:45:06,800 --> 00:45:12,720 and his 11 sons and crossed over the fort of the Jabbok. And he took them and sent them over the 378 00:45:12,720 --> 00:45:20,080 brook and sent over what he had. And Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him until the 379 00:45:20,080 --> 00:45:27,600 breaking of day. Now, when he saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the socket of his 380 00:45:27,600 --> 00:45:32,800 hip and the socket of Jacob's hip went out of joint as he wrestled with him. And he said, "Let me go 381 00:45:32,800 --> 00:45:38,640 for the day breaks." But he said, this is Jacob, Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless 382 00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:44,560 me." And so he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." And he said, "Your name 383 00:45:44,560 --> 00:45:50,880 shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel. For you have struggled with God and with men 384 00:45:50,880 --> 00:45:58,160 and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked saying, "Tell me your name, I pray." And he said, "Why is it 385 00:45:58,160 --> 00:46:03,520 that you ask about my name?" And he blessed him there. So Jacob called the name of that place 386 00:46:03,520 --> 00:46:10,000 Penuel, which means face of God. "For I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved." And 387 00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:17,040 just as he crossed over Penuel, the sun rose on him and he limped on his hip. Therefore, 388 00:46:17,040 --> 00:46:22,720 to this day, the children of Israel will not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket 389 00:46:22,720 --> 00:46:30,640 because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip in the muscle that shrank. And so here it is. I don't 390 00:46:30,640 --> 00:46:37,360 know if you've ever seen somebody with a hip out of joint, but woo doggies, do they squall to high 391 00:46:37,360 --> 00:46:44,000 heaven? We were in high school doing a scrimmage and my buddy, Hobie Peterson got hit a certain 392 00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:52,480 way and I heard him scream. And as I looked over, it was strange because he was on his belly like 393 00:46:52,480 --> 00:47:00,640 this, but his leg was going up behind him, straight up like that from his hip right here. It popped 394 00:47:00,640 --> 00:47:07,280 out of socket and it was stuck straight like that. And I mean, he was squalling like a gut shot cat. 395 00:47:08,560 --> 00:47:15,120 He was in severe pain. This is a very painful thing, but who's he wrestling with? There's all 396 00:47:15,120 --> 00:47:24,160 kinds of conjecture because angels have appeared as men before. Most people think it's Jesus. It's 397 00:47:24,160 --> 00:47:34,320 a pre-incarnate Christ that he's wrestling with. He's wrestling with God and he's alone and he 398 00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:42,160 needs to be alone. You and I need to get alone with God. Put all the distractions aside. You 399 00:47:42,160 --> 00:47:47,920 need to be quiet. You need to be still before the Lord, let him speak to your heart. He's got a lot 400 00:47:47,920 --> 00:47:55,280 going on in his brain right now. Right? Worried and, and, and, and a position in himself and trying 401 00:47:55,280 --> 00:48:02,480 to not die at the hands of his brother. And pretty soon he's just alone with God. He's kind of like 402 00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:10,880 the guy I was telling you about. Okay. I've done all I can do. I'm done. I'm done. And 403 00:48:10,880 --> 00:48:19,680 Psalm 46 verse 10 says, "Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. 404 00:48:19,680 --> 00:48:28,960 I will be exalted in the earth. And when you are, I are still before the Lord and truly let him speak 405 00:48:28,960 --> 00:48:36,480 to our heart. He's exalted in our hearts and that's where he needs to stay. Exalted is in 406 00:48:36,480 --> 00:48:45,840 your heart and mind that we would hold him, esteem him high because he is high above us. 407 00:48:45,840 --> 00:48:52,160 And yet when we call out to him, he will humble himself and come to us." 408 00:48:54,960 --> 00:49:00,000 Jacob wrestled with God and man. His whole life. He wrestled with God and man. 409 00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:03,440 You wrestle with people. You struggle with people. 410 00:49:03,440 --> 00:49:12,480 God would have you be at peace. Like Paul said, I mentioned it early. He says, I, I, I'm going to be 411 00:49:12,480 --> 00:49:18,240 in debt to no man. The only thing I'm going to owe anybody is God's love. That's the only thing I'm 412 00:49:18,240 --> 00:49:26,320 going to owe anybody is God's love. And the idea is there that you're paying up all the time. 413 00:49:26,320 --> 00:49:37,440 You're paying up God's love. We all need to be alone. And yes, it might be a wrestling match. 414 00:49:37,440 --> 00:49:44,960 It might be a wrestling match with God, but know that we sing that song. He's already won the 415 00:49:44,960 --> 00:49:49,840 victory for us. We don't have to struggle against him. We need to be going with him. 416 00:49:49,840 --> 00:49:56,000 Hosea talks about this in Hosea chapter 12. It says, he took, speaking of Jacob, he took his 417 00:49:56,000 --> 00:50:01,920 brother by the heel in the womb and in his strength, he struggled with God. Yes. He struggled 418 00:50:01,920 --> 00:50:09,200 with the angel and, and prevailed. He wept and sought favor from him. He found him in Bethel. 419 00:50:09,200 --> 00:50:16,720 And there he spoke to us. That is the Lord God of hosts. The Lord is his memorable name. And so you, 420 00:50:16,720 --> 00:50:24,000 by the help of your God, return, observe mercy and justice and wait on your God continually. 421 00:50:24,000 --> 00:50:35,360 You're wrestling with God. Can I just encourage you? Don't. Right? Let him have his way with you. 422 00:50:36,640 --> 00:50:43,280 Don't struggle against him. Right? He, cause he will change you. Notice he asked him his name. 423 00:50:43,280 --> 00:50:48,240 So Jacob confesses right here. Right? He's so honest. What's your name? 424 00:50:48,240 --> 00:50:57,520 Do I have to? Right? Do I have to say it? Jacob. Right? I'm the heel catcher. 425 00:50:57,520 --> 00:51:05,600 I'm the cinch cutter. I'm the cheat. And he confesses who he is. And the Lord goes, 426 00:51:05,600 --> 00:51:12,000 bingo. That's how you get right with God right there. Right? First, y'all in one night, 427 00:51:12,000 --> 00:51:15,200 confess your sins. He's faithful and just, forgiving you sins. Cleanse you from all 428 00:51:15,200 --> 00:51:21,440 unrighteousness. Jacob confessed who he was to God. Have you? Does he know all about it? 429 00:51:21,440 --> 00:51:23,920 Well, I know he knows all about it, but have you confessed it to it? 430 00:51:23,920 --> 00:51:32,800 Cause we had this bizarre, futile idea that God does not know about us. 431 00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:45,200 That when you're all by yourself, nobody's here. Nobody'll know. 432 00:51:45,200 --> 00:51:54,320 Are you crazy? Has Satan lied to you so much that you actually believe that? Nobody will know. 433 00:51:54,320 --> 00:52:03,120 Because man, he'll whisper. You get all by yourself and it's quiet. And you're not, 434 00:52:03,120 --> 00:52:07,360 you're not talking to your God. You're not inviting the Lord into your, 435 00:52:07,360 --> 00:52:10,960 into your heart and into your mind. Satan will have a hay day with you. 436 00:52:10,960 --> 00:52:20,400 Years ago, when I was at the school, I went to Colorado state to take an artificial 437 00:52:20,400 --> 00:52:25,040 insemination course that they put on over there. Cause we had a horse program over here. 438 00:52:25,040 --> 00:52:32,240 I was all by myself. And he tried that on me. And then I was reading the word. I was, 439 00:52:32,240 --> 00:52:37,520 I was sleeping in the van. I was all by myself, man. They had happy hour. And, and there were, 440 00:52:37,520 --> 00:52:44,240 you know, not very well-dressed waitresses and stuff like that at this, at this motel where they 441 00:52:44,240 --> 00:52:51,040 were having this, this class. And I'm just going and Satan whispers in your ear. Hey Scotty, 442 00:52:51,040 --> 00:52:56,720 go by yourself. There's some cuties, some hotties here. And I was just like, 443 00:52:56,720 --> 00:53:01,840 obviously Connie and I, at that time we'd been married for 20 some years and I'm just going like, 444 00:53:02,640 --> 00:53:09,680 he stinking pig, right? You're going to, you try to get me, you'd want to destroy everything. 445 00:53:09,680 --> 00:53:14,080 And that's what he does. He hates us. He wants to destroy everything. It was a fight. And the 446 00:53:14,080 --> 00:53:18,000 second to the last day me and this guy got to talking, he was a believer. And he goes, 447 00:53:18,000 --> 00:53:20,880 and he goes, you've been sleeping in your van? I said, yeah, I've been sleeping in the van. I said, 448 00:53:20,880 --> 00:53:25,920 we're pretty low budget here. And it was this time of year while it was in February, pretty low 449 00:53:25,920 --> 00:53:31,040 budget. He goes, he says, my roommate just left. He said, I got an extra bed in, in, in my room. 450 00:53:31,600 --> 00:53:37,120 And this guy was a believer and we fellowshiped and encouraged one another. And I'm just going, 451 00:53:37,120 --> 00:53:42,880 you're never out of the woods. When you're all by yourself, if you're not seeking the Lord, 452 00:53:42,880 --> 00:53:47,920 it's a good chance you're going to get in trouble. Right? Cause you're going to believe that lie. 453 00:53:47,920 --> 00:53:56,080 Oh yeah. Nobody knows. Well, sure they do. Heaven knows. The angels are watching. You're, 454 00:53:56,080 --> 00:54:01,920 you're toast. You're busted. You're not getting away with anything and you will never get away 455 00:54:01,920 --> 00:54:08,880 with anything. Every secret thing. Right? Look chapter 12, every secret thing will be revealed. 456 00:54:08,880 --> 00:54:11,200 Everybody's going, no. 457 00:54:11,200 --> 00:54:23,680 God knows us. He comes clean. We just need to come clean with him. He changes his name. No longer, 458 00:54:23,680 --> 00:54:30,080 no longer shall you be called Jacob, but right here, right now, I am changing you. 459 00:54:30,080 --> 00:54:36,640 I am changing you from Jacob to Israel. That's who you are now. And that's who we are in Christ. 460 00:54:36,640 --> 00:54:42,800 Right? There's all kinds of conjecture. What does Israel mean? Right? You listen to John 461 00:54:42,800 --> 00:54:48,960 Corson means governed by God, right? You look at some of the literal translations of the word 462 00:54:48,960 --> 00:54:53,440 Israel, prince with God. Some say it's, it's God's wrestler. 463 00:54:53,440 --> 00:55:05,440 I'm convinced that it's just God's person. Israel becomes God's person. I'm changing you from a, 464 00:55:05,440 --> 00:55:12,240 from a cheat to a person who's right with God. Just being right with God. Are you right with 465 00:55:12,240 --> 00:55:17,200 God today? Have you surrendered? What's it going to take? Is God going to have to cripple you? 466 00:55:18,480 --> 00:55:22,480 Does God have to cripple you? I don't mean physically, could be physically. 467 00:55:22,480 --> 00:55:26,400 I've known people who've been crippled physically. Yeah. That's what it took to get 468 00:55:26,400 --> 00:55:30,080 their attention. You might get crippled financially. 469 00:55:30,080 --> 00:55:39,840 Why not just surrender? Why not have God not have to cripple you? Just surrender. Be 470 00:55:41,520 --> 00:55:48,960 all his right. Because Jacob will never, ever, ever forget this day ever. 471 00:55:48,960 --> 00:55:57,920 I've never forgot the day that I threw my hands in the air and I said, Jesus, it is yours. I was just 472 00:55:57,920 --> 00:56:04,160 like that guy talked about. I'm done. I am not going to try to live this life without you anymore. 473 00:56:04,160 --> 00:56:10,720 I do nothing but make a stinking rotten mess. Jacob will never forget this day. And there's 474 00:56:10,720 --> 00:56:16,800 two witnesses that will cause him another one. What he named the place, Peniel, face of God. 475 00:56:16,800 --> 00:56:24,480 He saw the face of God that day. Have you encountered God? Do you have a reference 476 00:56:24,480 --> 00:56:31,680 point that you can go to? If not, you need your day. It may be today. Today might be your day. 477 00:56:31,680 --> 00:56:37,840 The day that I surrendered and I said, okay, you got it all. You got all that I am, 478 00:56:37,840 --> 00:56:44,640 all that I hope to become, I give to you, Jesus. That's what our pastor told me and Connie to tell 479 00:56:44,640 --> 00:56:50,080 each other when we said our wedding vows. All that I am, all that I hope to become, I give to you. 480 00:56:50,080 --> 00:56:55,280 That's what it is for those who would follow Jesus. 481 00:56:55,280 --> 00:57:00,560 All that I am, all that I hope to become, I give to you, Jesus. 482 00:57:04,480 --> 00:57:11,040 And that is a life that is going to do exploits, right? For the kingdom's sake. 483 00:57:11,040 --> 00:57:15,680 I've seen it over and over and over again. 484 00:57:15,680 --> 00:57:26,640 So I'm going to close with a thought. Absolute surrender is what your soul needs. 485 00:57:26,640 --> 00:57:34,400 Many people today have become Christians, are Christians. They're saved by God's grace and 486 00:57:34,400 --> 00:57:41,280 yet they're still mastered by their own flesh. They're not mastered by God. They're still a 487 00:57:41,280 --> 00:57:47,760 Jacob. They're still resisting God's will. They're still living as though God exists. Listen to this, 488 00:57:47,760 --> 00:57:58,400 because this is so true of the American church. They are still living as though God exists to 489 00:57:58,400 --> 00:58:08,720 please them rather than vice versa, right? That God exists to please them rather than vice versa. 490 00:58:08,720 --> 00:58:18,160 I'm telling you it's vice versa. God is servant to no one. He owns it all. He owns your breath. 491 00:58:18,160 --> 00:58:23,200 He owns the beat of your heart. Why not willfully just give Him all that you are 492 00:58:24,320 --> 00:58:29,920 and all that you hope to become. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for today. Thank you for 493 00:58:29,920 --> 00:58:36,320 Lord giving us an example of surrender. And even though it was painful, 494 00:58:36,320 --> 00:58:44,240 and there may be some here today, Lord, that have yet to surrender to you. And maybe you're 495 00:58:44,240 --> 00:58:48,800 knocking pretty loudly on the door of their heart right now. And so Lord, I just want to give them 496 00:58:48,800 --> 00:58:56,400 an opportunity, Lord, for you to minister to them and to lift up their souls, Lord, to let them know 497 00:58:56,400 --> 00:59:02,960 that all of their sin and their failure has been paid for by you. And so if that's you and you're 498 00:59:02,960 --> 00:59:08,480 just saying, okay, I'm at that place. I need to totally surrender to Jesus and give Him all that 499 00:59:08,480 --> 00:59:13,760 I am and all that I hope to become. And if that's you, as we're just in an attitude of prayer right 500 00:59:13,760 --> 00:59:18,640 now, I want you to stand to your feet. I want to pray for you. I want to encourage you. And I 501 00:59:18,640 --> 00:59:25,840 want you to remember this day, that this is the day that you said, yes, I surrender. I surrender to you, 502 00:59:25,840 --> 00:59:38,800 Lord Jesus. Okay. I see a few of you standing. I'm standing with you. 503 00:59:38,800 --> 00:59:46,560 I'm going to pray with you. In fact, I want you to pray with me. Say these words, Lord Jesus, 504 00:59:47,760 --> 00:59:54,480 I surrender to you. I want to give you all that I am and all that I hope to become. 505 00:59:54,480 --> 01:00:05,520 I turn from my sin, the things that have kept me from you. Wash me, make me clean and make me new. 506 01:00:05,520 --> 01:00:13,280 Lord, show me the way and how you want me to walk with you and how to bring glory to your name. 507 01:00:14,160 --> 01:00:20,480 Lord, I want it forever for all of my days. Lord, I'm with Him. I want it forever for all of my days. 508 01:00:20,480 --> 01:00:26,960 Give us your strength, your wisdom, your spirit. Lord, you're able to keep us. You're able to cleanse 509 01:00:26,960 --> 01:00:33,280 us and wash us. You're able to help us to put all of our past behind us, just as you did, Jacob. 510 01:00:33,280 --> 01:00:38,640 And Lord, we just thank you for this day. May we remember it. 511 01:00:39,360 --> 01:00:46,560 And may we honor you with all that we are. All that the future holds, we lay at your feet. 512 01:00:46,560 --> 01:00:53,680 And all of the past, we lay at your cross. Thank you in Jesus name. Amen. 513 01:00:53,680 --> 01:01:02,240 Let's all stand. We're going to worship Him because He truly knows our name.