1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,920 Yes, excited to see what the Lord's going to do this week and praying that the Lord 2 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:10,880 provides for them down there. 3 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:14,520 I don't even know what that would look like. 4 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:19,720 Pastor Daniel threw a number at me of what that would take to take care of those 30 girls 5 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:20,720 and their babies. 6 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:26,360 They're actually, he said they have 35 babies, so I don't know if they've rescued some babies 7 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,760 or if they've had some set of twins or what's going on. 8 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:35,200 But it is quite a task this guy is taking on. 9 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:41,200 It's amazing how the Lord, you know, he has these connection points where he connects 10 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:43,040 you with people. 11 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:49,240 I did a funeral yesterday in Twin for some family members. 12 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:53,600 They had a friend that didn't have any family, so they asked me to come do this service. 13 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:55,280 And I was talking to one of my cousins. 14 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:59,720 I haven't talked to her probably in 20 years, but I was telling her about us going to a 15 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:02,000 Costa Rica and stuff. 16 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,720 And she goes, "Well, I work for a guy. 17 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:08,280 He's like a multimillionaire several times over." 18 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:13,860 I said, "I would like to meet him." 19 00:01:13,860 --> 00:01:16,920 I'm just kidding. 20 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:17,920 But she said no. 21 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:22,820 She said he is a Christ follower. 22 00:01:22,820 --> 00:01:27,640 She said he's invested in different ministries in South America. 23 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:29,420 He's built medical facilities. 24 00:01:29,420 --> 00:01:31,540 He's built orphanages. 25 00:01:31,540 --> 00:01:37,000 And I said, "Well, I need to hook him up with Pastor Daniel and see if they could do something." 26 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:41,580 And it was just, you know, like I said, I haven't talked to my cousin in 20 years. 27 00:01:41,580 --> 00:01:49,260 I knew she was a Christian, but just how on fire she is and this guy that she works for. 28 00:01:49,260 --> 00:01:54,480 So the Lord, he's sovereign, right? 29 00:01:54,480 --> 00:02:02,360 He just does things and you're just going, "Wow!" 30 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:06,160 And I love being wowed by the Lord. 31 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:10,400 As we look at his word, I hope it wows you. 32 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:16,320 The older I get, the more I read it, the more I am wowed by our God and how good he is and 33 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:21,520 what he does and how he provides. 34 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:24,720 You realize you're his pawn, right? 35 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:26,760 We are pawns of the Lord. 36 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:30,640 And you're either pawns of the Lord or you're pawns of Satan. 37 00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:34,120 Or is that spawn? 38 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:38,080 That might be spawn. 39 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:48,840 But for him to move us around and jockey us in the position that he wants us in is a beautiful 40 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:49,840 thing to see. 41 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:55,520 So may we be pliable in the Lord's hands as he does that in each one of our lives. 42 00:02:55,520 --> 00:03:05,160 So we're looking here at Genesis 33 and I just want to pray here before we get started 43 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:11,340 and just ask the Lord to minister to our hearts as we see these two brothers being reconciled 44 00:03:11,340 --> 00:03:13,040 here in this chapter. 45 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:18,960 Lord, we thank you so much that you give the ministry of reconciliation. 46 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,660 You're the one who changes a man or a woman's heart. 47 00:03:22,660 --> 00:03:24,620 And I know that you're able to do that. 48 00:03:24,620 --> 00:03:28,320 You're able to change our hearts on a daily basis, Lord. 49 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:34,020 So as we look at this and as we see you giving Jacob a limp that he'll never be the same, 50 00:03:34,020 --> 00:03:36,200 I pray that we would never be the same. 51 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:43,680 Lord that you would wrestle all of that ugliness out of our hearts, Lord, and give us a purity 52 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:52,320 and Lord, just a simple faith that is powerful, Lord, and that can move mountains and that 53 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:56,160 you give us this gift and we praise you for it, Lord. 54 00:03:56,160 --> 00:04:01,800 So we just pray that it would grow and that we would grow, Lord, as your people and Lord, 55 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:07,560 that we would truly be that clay that would be like in the hands of a potter, Lord, that's 56 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:12,640 moistened and ready to be molded and shaped into your will, Lord. 57 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:18,520 And so would you do that today as we look at this and the work that you've begun in us, 58 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:23,120 Lord, you would continue to complete it and to work on us, Lord. 59 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:29,040 So we just, we love you, we praise you and invite you to be our teacher this morning 60 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:30,680 in Jesus' name. 61 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:31,680 Amen. 62 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:37,320 Okay, so we see Jacob last time, he's never the same, right? 63 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:42,200 Remembers this day, he's dragging a leg, right? 64 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:50,640 For the rest of his life, he is gonna be reminded of his encounter with the God that created 65 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:56,480 the heavens and the earth and everything that is in them and how often we see that in the 66 00:04:56,480 --> 00:05:04,960 scripture that it's a reminder and many times it's in a prayer, "Oh Lord, who has created 67 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:08,480 the heavens and the earth and all that is in them?" 68 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:14,360 When you pray that and you remind yourself of what God has done, right, your heart should 69 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:22,720 wax strong, you should be encouraged that you're petitioning this one who created everything 70 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:25,240 that you see. 71 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:32,280 And as Daniel told Belshazzar, even the one who holds your breath in his hand, he's magnificent, 72 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:40,160 he's all powerful, he's all knowing, he's everywhere present, this God of ours. 73 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:48,840 And so this is the encounter that Jacob/Israel has had. 74 00:05:48,840 --> 00:05:57,520 G. Campbell Morgan said this, he called Jacob's experience "the crippling that crowns" and 75 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:04,920 created the word Israel to mean a God-mastered man. 76 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:08,000 Has God mastered you? 77 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:10,840 'Cause he needs to. 78 00:06:10,840 --> 00:06:15,000 'Cause you and I sure don't do a very good job of it, right? 79 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:28,800 We go the other way like really fast and he continues to master me by exposing me to myself. 80 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:33,480 And he's gonna do that with Jacob as well. 81 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:39,400 When you really see yourself as God sees you, you realize, "Oh wow, there's a lot of work 82 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:43,720 to be done here." 83 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:51,240 So Jacob, he's here and we'll read the first three verses here in chapter 33. 84 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:57,680 It says, "Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there Esau was coming, and with him were 85 00:06:57,680 --> 00:06:58,680 400 men. 86 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:04,440 And so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two handmaids. 87 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:13,360 And he put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children behind, and 88 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:15,800 Rachel and Joseph last. 89 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:22,340 Then he crossed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times until he 90 00:07:22,340 --> 00:07:25,160 came near to his brother." 91 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:30,440 And so no doubt he's still thinking in his mind. 92 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:32,480 He's greatly afraid. 93 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:45,780 He's scared to death and he's putting in order of how he wants his family to die. 94 00:07:45,780 --> 00:07:52,840 And I think he's counting on Esau, by the time he gets to Rachel and Joseph, he will 95 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:57,720 have felt like he shed enough blood so maybe he won't kill Rachel and Joseph 'cause he 96 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:00,160 puts them clear in the back. 97 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:06,940 Remember Bilhah and Zilpah and Gad and Asher and Dan and Naphtali are out front. 98 00:08:06,940 --> 00:08:16,740 They're gonna get the brunt of Esau's wrath, or so he thinks, right? 99 00:08:16,740 --> 00:08:23,480 And so, but we know that Jacob is kinda, he's kinda changing. 100 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:30,040 You know, isn't it funny how when you come to Christ and he starts cleaning up your life, 101 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:35,160 you know, I mean it can be the way you talk, it can be the things you look at, it's, I 102 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:39,240 tell people it's kinda like a, you know, it's kinda like a snake when they start sloughing 103 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:41,340 their skin. 104 00:08:41,340 --> 00:08:44,520 Pretty soon those, you just, things just start sloughing off. 105 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:48,800 I was shocked how I was starting to talk. 106 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:54,640 I remember when me and Pastor Rick first got saved, he calls me, he goes, "Man, how do 107 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:56,080 you cuss when you get saved?" 108 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:58,520 He says, "Everything I say sounds so corny." 109 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,080 "Oh, golly gee. 110 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:04,320 Oh, shucky darn." 111 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:08,320 You know, "Doesn't sound near as good as like, you know, the F word or the Lord's name in 112 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:11,640 vain or, God, how do you cuss when you're saved?" 113 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:20,080 I said, "Golly gee." 114 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:21,800 But things do. 115 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:27,240 You see, you start to see, and some of us, it just, I don't know what it is, some of, 116 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:36,120 I seen people, when Rick got saved, his, he, I mean, he was like, he was like the Holy 117 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:37,120 Spirit on steroids. 118 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:40,320 I mean, he just grew so fast, so much faster than myself. 119 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:44,440 I was a little bit jealous. 120 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:50,560 But then my jealousy turned to, he was my hero, so to watch him grow in the grace and 121 00:09:50,560 --> 00:09:51,640 the knowledge of the Lord. 122 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:54,280 And we all should be in that place where we're growing. 123 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:59,720 Yeah, some are gonna grow faster than others, but we all should be in the place of moving 124 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:00,720 forward. 125 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:07,240 Because you know as well as I do, when you quit pedaling a bicycle, you fall over, right? 126 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,040 So don't quit pedaling, you know. 127 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:14,280 It may feel like you're going uphill in first gear and not really getting anywhere, but 128 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:17,640 you're getting there, so keep it up. 129 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:18,840 Don't weaken. 130 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:26,140 But so he's growing a little bit here because he goes out in front, right? 131 00:10:26,140 --> 00:10:28,880 He didn't just send them, he sent the animals, right? 132 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:32,720 He sent 580 head, we saw last week. 133 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:42,400 And man, kind of set Esau up if he wanted to be, but trying to cushion the blow, trying 134 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:52,840 to bring some humility or trying to, well, he's actually trying to suck up. 135 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:53,880 But who'd he learn that from? 136 00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:55,120 He learned it from Uncle Laban. 137 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:57,520 He'd butter him up, right? 138 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:03,680 It says there, and he says, "So he crossed over before them," verse 3, "and bowed himself 139 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:05,560 to the ground seven times." 140 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:16,720 Now, I don't know if what he's expecting here is expecting to, I think he's expecting for 141 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:18,520 Esau to pity him. 142 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:20,480 Do you want pity from people? 143 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:25,400 It really kind of irritates me when people want to be pitied. 144 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:28,800 I don't think that we should be pitied. 145 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:37,040 I know that I'm pitiful sometimes, but Jacob, it appears that he wants to be pitied by his 146 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:50,920 brother and he bows down seven times and trying, I believe, to soften the blow that he feels 147 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:54,220 like is coming. 148 00:11:54,220 --> 00:12:00,160 And so, in reality, I think the limp should have been enough. 149 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:05,120 You know, here, you haven't seen your brother for 20 years, and here he is, he comes walking 150 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:08,440 up to you, and he's got this limp. 151 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:18,400 That in itself should, right, that would be, "Aw, look at that poor guy." 152 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:24,400 Because maybe he has seen a, he's obviously seen a change in Jacob, where we've seen last 153 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:29,700 time where he calls him, he calls him Lord, and he calls himself your servant. 154 00:12:29,700 --> 00:12:38,320 I'm your servant, Esau. 155 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:50,120 And so, Jacob actually could have borne witness with his limp and met Esau and gave praise 156 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:52,560 to God in his presence. 157 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:58,520 Psalm chapter 105 verse 1 says, "Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name, make known 158 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:02,840 among the nations what he has done." 159 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:08,000 Jacob seems to be walking a little bit by sight here and not by faith. 160 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:14,040 Still believing that, "Oh no, my brother's gonna kill me." 161 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:19,980 And hanging on to that promise from Esau kind of negates the promise that God had given 162 00:13:19,980 --> 00:13:26,340 him that, "Oh, wait a minute, I'm gonna bring you back into the land." 163 00:13:26,340 --> 00:13:32,920 You know, the Bible says that all of the promises of God to us word, towards us, are yes and 164 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:34,640 amen. 165 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:40,960 All of God's promises to you and to me are yes and may, amen, as we find ourself in Christ 166 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:43,000 Jesus. 167 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:49,880 And you know, so many people think, "Well, what's so cool about that? 168 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:52,760 Have you read the promises of God? 169 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:54,400 Do you know the promises of God?" 170 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:58,480 See, people who don't know the promises of God, that is no big deal. 171 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:04,360 But to you and I who know the promises of God, it's like, "Oh my goodness, I can't wait." 172 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,400 "This is gonna be so wonderful. 173 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:09,200 Thank you, Lord." 174 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:14,160 And it bolsters your faith and it encourages you. 175 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:18,200 He's expecting something bad to happen, but check it out here in verse 4. 176 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:25,600 It says, "But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and 177 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:26,600 they wept. 178 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:31,080 And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and the children and said, 'Who are these with 179 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:32,080 you?' 180 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:36,280 And he said, 'The children whom God has graciously given to your servant.' 181 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:40,480 And then the maidservants came near and they and their children bowed down. 182 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:43,720 And Leah also came near with her children and they bowed down. 183 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:48,740 And afterward, Joseph and Rachel came near and they bowed down." 184 00:14:48,740 --> 00:14:51,120 So he had coached them all. 185 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:59,040 We gotta keep this guy at bay, right? 186 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:02,760 No, I think God's done a work in Esau's heart. 187 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:05,800 God can change people's hearts. 188 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:08,720 He hasn't seen his brother in 20 years. 189 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:12,520 I don't know if you've ever been sideways with a sibling or whatever. 190 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:19,880 I've got this family that I was with yesterday, my family, some of the siblings, they've gone 191 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:21,920 5, 10 years without talking to each other. 192 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:25,360 I'm just going, "Are you guys crazy?" 193 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,800 Is it really worth it to be that bitter towards one another? 194 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:30,880 To not talk? 195 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:35,880 And it was cool to see them because they were all together and they were all joking and 196 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:41,880 talking and they had been sideways with each other for quite some time. 197 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:45,280 And I'm just thinking, "Man, life's too short. 198 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:47,200 It's not worth it." 199 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:55,000 Let your heart be softened towards, especially towards your family, let alone friends and 200 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:59,160 brothers and sisters in Christ, maybe people you've worked with over the years that you 201 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:00,320 get sideways with. 202 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:06,040 Man, put that behind your back because it's not good for anybody. 203 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:08,400 You're not hurting them by hating them. 204 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:11,560 You're hurting yourself. 205 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:15,640 I was talking to one family member yesterday and she said, "Yeah, I just had to let it 206 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:17,040 go." 207 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:19,700 I said, "Yeah, because the old saying is true. 208 00:16:19,700 --> 00:16:27,900 When you hate somebody, it's like drinking cyanide and expecting them to die." 209 00:16:27,900 --> 00:16:29,340 That's what it does to you. 210 00:16:29,340 --> 00:16:31,560 It just tears you up. 211 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:37,820 And so the blessing that Isaac spoke over Esau obviously happened. 212 00:16:37,820 --> 00:16:40,220 You remember he blessed Esau too. 213 00:16:40,220 --> 00:16:47,940 Not the blessing that Jacob got, but Esau weeps and falls on his neck and they both 214 00:16:47,940 --> 00:17:02,400 weep and no doubt Jacob is so relieved that Harry's not going to kill him. 215 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:06,800 It doesn't appear that there's a discussion, "Oh, Esau, man, please forgive me. 216 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:10,880 I kind of snuck in there and cheated you out of that birthright. 217 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:17,720 No offense, but God had told me that the elder is going to serve the younger. 218 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:21,840 God had said that and we were just kind of helping God out." 219 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:24,700 I just want you to know you don't have to help God out. 220 00:17:24,700 --> 00:17:26,540 God doesn't need your help. 221 00:17:26,540 --> 00:17:28,780 God doesn't need my help. 222 00:17:28,780 --> 00:17:31,320 He needs no help. 223 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:37,640 He will let us take part in the process and we should be seeking him to make sure we're 224 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,040 doing it according to his will. 225 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:44,460 But God was obviously working on both their hearts. 226 00:17:44,460 --> 00:17:49,840 David was already extremely humble by bowing down seven times and having the handmaids 227 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:53,640 and the kids bow down before uncle Esau. 228 00:17:53,640 --> 00:18:01,660 And they didn't feel like there was any need to argue over or discuss what had happened 229 00:18:01,660 --> 00:18:03,260 in the past. 230 00:18:03,260 --> 00:18:06,680 And when you can let things go like that, it's so awesome. 231 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:08,500 Just let it go. 232 00:18:08,500 --> 00:18:10,380 It's behind you, right? 233 00:18:10,380 --> 00:18:16,300 And Paul say, "Forgetting those things that are behind me and pressing on toward the mark, 234 00:18:16,300 --> 00:18:18,760 the call that God has on our lives." 235 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:19,760 Forget it. 236 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:21,320 Put it behind you. 237 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:24,360 Yeah, but no yabbits, okay? 238 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:26,800 Do away with the yabbits. 239 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:29,720 That's back there. 240 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:30,720 Let it go. 241 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:33,080 Now, do some people sometimes need counseling? 242 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:39,560 Yeah, I think people maybe need counseling, kind of help somebody kind of help them through 243 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:40,560 the process. 244 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:47,620 But the bottom line is, is you just start praying blessing over those people that you've 245 00:18:47,620 --> 00:18:50,780 had a hard time with. 246 00:18:50,780 --> 00:18:55,140 And God will begin to change your heart. 247 00:18:55,140 --> 00:18:58,180 And so he has everyone bowing down. 248 00:18:58,180 --> 00:19:05,120 Now I don't know why they're doing this other than just trying to maintain some kind of 249 00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:15,140 humility before Esau, but they had maybe forgotten Genesis 27 when it says, "Let peoples serve 250 00:19:15,140 --> 00:19:16,140 you." 251 00:19:16,140 --> 00:19:18,340 This is Isaac's blessing over his son, Jacob. 252 00:19:18,340 --> 00:19:22,880 Let peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. 253 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:27,960 Be master over your brethren and let your mother's son bow down to you. 254 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:33,280 Curse be everyone who curses you and blessed be those who bless you. 255 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:38,080 I couldn't help but think about Chuck Schumer here the other day talking about Israel. 256 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:44,760 I'm going, "Oh, dude, you are treading on thin ice, right? 257 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:46,440 You are going to be a crispy critter. 258 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:53,980 There's going to be a bolt of lightning come down out of heaven and fry your mind in, right?" 259 00:19:53,980 --> 00:19:59,480 And again, it's not because Israel is good, it's because Israel is God's, right? 260 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:01,400 That's why. 261 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:06,720 And this same promise that was made to Jacob, he probably shouldn't have been bowing down 262 00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:10,760 to Esau. 263 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:17,640 But he was humbling himself and I guess we can credit him with that. 264 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:22,160 Even Esau doesn't seem to think that it's that necessary in verse eight. 265 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:26,920 Then Esau said, "What do you mean by all this company which I met?" 266 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:27,920 Right? 267 00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:31,440 All these different groups of animals that he set, you know, and then how he split his 268 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:32,440 family up. 269 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:38,520 And he said, "These are to find favor in the sight of my Lord," Jacob says. 270 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:41,980 But Esau said, "I have enough, my brother. 271 00:20:41,980 --> 00:20:46,480 Keep what you have for yourself." 272 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:59,300 And so he's not thinking that it's necessary for him to do all this sucking up, so to speak. 273 00:20:59,300 --> 00:21:04,680 And Jacob said, "No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then receive my present 274 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:05,680 from my hand. 275 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:11,940 And as much as I have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God and you were pleased 276 00:21:11,940 --> 00:21:19,620 with me, please take my blessing that is brought to you because God has dealt graciously with 277 00:21:19,620 --> 00:21:22,820 me and because I have enough." 278 00:21:22,820 --> 00:21:26,360 So he urged him and he took it. 279 00:21:26,360 --> 00:21:29,120 So Esau's just that dude, you know, that's going, "All right. 280 00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:30,120 Yeah. 281 00:21:30,120 --> 00:21:31,120 You want to give it to me? 282 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:34,600 I'll take it." 283 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:41,040 And obviously he'll grow and do well with this gift from his brother. 284 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:46,260 Maybe it's just to soothe his own conscience, right? 285 00:21:46,260 --> 00:21:49,380 Jacob's generous gift. 286 00:21:49,380 --> 00:21:52,060 But Esau's like, "I don't need this. 287 00:21:52,060 --> 00:21:56,260 You know, there's no sense of superiority over Jacob. 288 00:21:56,260 --> 00:21:58,660 They're just two totally different people." 289 00:21:58,660 --> 00:22:03,820 And Esau is somebody who does not love God, right? 290 00:22:03,820 --> 00:22:06,000 He doesn't love God at all. 291 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:11,000 Jacob on the other hand, he's thinking, "I think I've got to deal with this God. 292 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,720 I'm going to have to stand before him." 293 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:15,620 He's having these encounters. 294 00:22:15,620 --> 00:22:19,580 He's seeing how God has worked in his life, how God has blessed him, how he has all this 295 00:22:19,580 --> 00:22:20,580 abundance. 296 00:22:20,580 --> 00:22:22,520 He can't ignore it. 297 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,340 Have you been ignoring God? 298 00:22:25,340 --> 00:22:28,720 Do you know how much God's blessed you? 299 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:33,980 When you look at your life and you start looking back and you think, "Wow. 300 00:22:33,980 --> 00:22:34,980 God you have. 301 00:22:34,980 --> 00:22:36,100 You've blessed me. 302 00:22:36,100 --> 00:22:39,800 You've brought me to a place I never thought I could be." 303 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:43,020 And that's definitely true in my life. 304 00:22:43,020 --> 00:22:51,180 And I think to never take him for granted, never take the life that we have for granted. 305 00:22:51,180 --> 00:23:00,780 And so they both said they had enough, and just like Isaac had prayed for them, they 306 00:23:00,780 --> 00:23:03,280 both received this blessing. 307 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:06,360 They both seem to be fairly content with what they have. 308 00:23:06,360 --> 00:23:10,760 First Timothy 6, 6 says that, "Godliness with contentment is great gain." 309 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:17,580 Do you have enough? 310 00:23:17,580 --> 00:23:22,400 I really think it's so important to know whether you do or not. 311 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:25,840 Because if you don't think that you do, then you start chasing after things you probably 312 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:28,760 shouldn't be chasing after. 313 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:34,380 And Jesus talked about the whole money and mammon thing and what it is that you feel 314 00:23:34,380 --> 00:23:39,280 like, "Well, if I just get this much, we'll be okay." 315 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:41,880 Well, what if you don't get that much? 316 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:48,480 Are you not going to be okay then? 317 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:53,360 For the most part, most of us sitting in this room, we have enough. 318 00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:58,960 Maybe some of us just haven't recognized it yet, and bowed the knee to the God of heaven, 319 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:05,080 the one who has given us what we do have. 320 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:13,000 So Esau's peace and contentment seems to show that he was remarkably blessed, though he 321 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:19,200 didn't receive the promise of the Abrahamic covenant, as we just read there in Genesis, 322 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:25,000 right, that whoever, he says, "Let your mother's sons bow down to you. 323 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:31,440 Curse be everyone who curses you, and bless be everyone who blesses you." 324 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:32,440 And so it is with Israel. 325 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:38,280 And that's why I believe that Israel is legit for today. 326 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:42,300 They're not replaced by the church, right? 327 00:24:42,300 --> 00:24:47,600 And whoever blesses Israel today, God will bless. 328 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:49,880 And whoever curses them, God will curse. 329 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:54,560 So Americans, just brace yourself. 330 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:55,560 Brace yourself. 331 00:24:55,560 --> 00:25:01,960 Because if we pull away from Israel, which this administration is really pushing for, 332 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:05,880 shame, shame on America. 333 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:15,200 And we might experience some things that aren't very pleasant. 334 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:23,120 But in verse 10, would have been a great place for Jacob to witness to his brother, right? 335 00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:24,840 He's humbled himself. 336 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:29,560 Esau's embraced him and wept over him. 337 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:34,160 And no doubt Esau at this point has noticed Jacob's limp. 338 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:45,920 And all he said was, "If I found favor in your eyes, accept this gift. 339 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,240 For me to see your face is like seeing the face of God." 340 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:51,880 Now, Jacob had just seen the face of God, right? 341 00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:55,520 Isn't that what they called that place where he wrestled with God? 342 00:25:55,520 --> 00:26:01,840 He called it Peniel, the face of God. 343 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:05,240 And Jacob was making this comparison, but that's where he stopped. 344 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:07,120 Have you ever done that? 345 00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:08,540 You've had this opportunity. 346 00:26:08,540 --> 00:26:12,720 God opens this door for you to share with somebody and you just blow it. 347 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:17,560 I mean, you have an opportunity to share Jesus with somebody and you go, "Oh yeah, whatever." 348 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:20,360 You kind of just blow it off. 349 00:26:20,360 --> 00:26:24,480 That's kind of what he's doing here, right? 350 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:31,400 That he's seen the face of God the day before, the night before. 351 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:34,540 But he said nothing to Esau about it. 352 00:26:34,540 --> 00:26:38,000 He said, "God's been gracious to me." 353 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:40,840 But he didn't tell his brother the facts and give God the glory. 354 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:43,080 He said, "You see why I'm limping, dude? 355 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:47,080 I had this encounter with God." 356 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:49,160 Everybody likes to hear testimony, don't they? 357 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:50,320 I mean, everybody's loved to hear. 358 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:51,840 I love to hear people's stories. 359 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:55,520 "How'd you come to know Jesus?" 360 00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:59,760 And I just love all the different stories, whether it's people coming out of Mormonism 361 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:08,680 or people coming out of the drug world or people being delivered from pornography addiction. 362 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:12,780 I mean, it's just, it's awesome. 363 00:27:12,780 --> 00:27:21,200 And here Jacob has this opportunity with his brother and he doesn't share with them. 364 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:27,760 Our families, you guys, our families should see a difference in us. 365 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:37,200 And there's something powerful about just a consistent walk with the Lord and proclaiming 366 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:43,600 who Jesus is to those that we love and those that see us and those that have seen a change 367 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:44,680 in us. 368 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:51,600 And obviously Esau has seen a change in Jacob, but Jacob doesn't go into detail how that 369 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:53,360 changed happened. 370 00:27:53,360 --> 00:28:02,400 But in verse 11, he was negligent to share the facts with his brother. 371 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:04,960 He didn't tell Esau that he had a new name. 372 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:14,280 He said, "Well, this encounter that I had with God, he changed my name from, you know, 373 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:25,840 Cinchcutter, Heelcatcher, Kniver," and he didn't tell him about it. 374 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:37,280 Israel, what it was that the Morgan said, "A God-mastered man, God has mastered me." 375 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:44,560 I'm convinced that's God's will for all of us to be mastered by Him, to literally be 376 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:53,680 possessed by His Holy Spirit, that He would come and He would indwell us to the place 377 00:28:53,680 --> 00:29:00,000 where He wouldn't be grieved by the way we live our life, that He wouldn't be quenched 378 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:09,720 when the opportunity arises. 379 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:15,440 Some think that he didn't tell Esau his new name because probably he wasn't living up 380 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:17,600 to it yet. 381 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:22,140 He wasn't living up to his new name. 382 00:29:22,140 --> 00:29:31,940 He was a prince, but Warren Wiersbe said he was acting like a pauper, bowing down. 383 00:29:31,940 --> 00:29:34,080 Now both guys, they realized, "Hey, we're good. 384 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:37,340 We have enough." 385 00:29:37,340 --> 00:29:50,440 So after some urging, Esau took his gift, and Jacob, I'm sure, was convinced that that 386 00:29:50,440 --> 00:30:00,220 was important to this whole reconciliation thing, and that he and Esau would be in much 387 00:30:00,220 --> 00:30:08,580 better shape, that they could maybe live close to each other and not be embittered towards 388 00:30:08,580 --> 00:30:14,020 one another. 389 00:30:14,020 --> 00:30:19,620 In that culture, one never accepted a gift from an enemy, only from a friend. 390 00:30:19,620 --> 00:30:25,500 And so really by Esau accepting this, he's accepting the friendship of his brother. 391 00:30:25,500 --> 00:30:31,920 In verse 12 it says, "Then Esau said, 'Let us take our journey and let us go, and I will 392 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:33,300 go before you.' 393 00:30:33,300 --> 00:30:37,720 But Jacob said to him, 'My Lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and 394 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:44,340 the herds which are nursing are with me, and if the men should drive them hard one day, 395 00:30:44,340 --> 00:30:46,100 all the flock will die. 396 00:30:46,100 --> 00:30:49,340 Please let my Lord go on ahead before His servant. 397 00:30:49,340 --> 00:30:56,540 And I will lead on slowly at a pace which the livestock that go before me and the children 398 00:30:56,540 --> 00:31:00,900 are able to endure until I come to my Lord in Seir.' 399 00:31:00,900 --> 00:31:05,380 And Esau said, 'Now let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.' 400 00:31:05,380 --> 00:31:07,660 But he said, 'What need is there? 401 00:31:07,660 --> 00:31:09,840 Let me find favor in the sight of my Lord.' 402 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:16,620 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir, and Jacob journeyed to Sukkoth, built himself 403 00:31:16,620 --> 00:31:19,300 a house, and made booths for his livestock. 404 00:31:19,300 --> 00:31:22,940 There the name of the place is called Sukkoth." 405 00:31:22,940 --> 00:31:25,860 And that's what Sukkoth means, is booths. 406 00:31:25,860 --> 00:31:28,660 So Esau's going, "I'll just go before you. 407 00:31:28,660 --> 00:31:30,540 I'll run interference for you, man. 408 00:31:30,540 --> 00:31:31,540 Let's go. 409 00:31:31,540 --> 00:31:32,900 Let's go to Seir." 410 00:31:32,900 --> 00:31:36,860 And that was south of where they were going, and they could go down and he could alleyman 411 00:31:36,860 --> 00:31:41,640 right like God told him and go to Bethel, which is just across the Jordan from where 412 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:44,740 Esau was residing. 413 00:31:44,740 --> 00:31:47,580 And Jacob's going, "Oh, no, no. 414 00:31:47,580 --> 00:31:52,220 Now that I know that you don't want to kill me, I don't really want to hang out with you." 415 00:31:52,220 --> 00:31:53,220 Right? 416 00:31:53,220 --> 00:31:57,580 Now he wouldn't say that because he's still probably kind of scared of this guy, but he 417 00:31:57,580 --> 00:31:59,500 didn't tell him that, but that's what he did. 418 00:31:59,500 --> 00:32:00,500 Right? 419 00:32:00,500 --> 00:32:01,500 He goes, "Come on. 420 00:32:01,500 --> 00:32:02,500 I'll leave some guys with you. 421 00:32:02,500 --> 00:32:05,780 They'll help you and protect you." 422 00:32:05,780 --> 00:32:07,340 I mean, who couldn't use help? 423 00:32:07,340 --> 00:32:10,420 But no, he's going to keep you in their arms linked. 424 00:32:10,420 --> 00:32:11,420 Oh, no, no. 425 00:32:11,420 --> 00:32:13,100 Don't get too close. 426 00:32:13,100 --> 00:32:17,540 Don't get too close. 427 00:32:17,540 --> 00:32:19,900 God had truly done a work in Esau's heart. 428 00:32:19,900 --> 00:32:21,800 He's wanting to help his brother. 429 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:25,140 We will go ahead of you, but Jacob wasn't so sure. 430 00:32:25,140 --> 00:32:31,340 No, he says you go on ahead and he wouldn't even let him lead the men with him because 431 00:32:31,340 --> 00:32:33,180 he knew what he was going to do. 432 00:32:33,180 --> 00:32:37,080 He was being Jacob. 433 00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:38,740 He wasn't being Israel. 434 00:32:38,740 --> 00:32:39,740 He was being Jacob. 435 00:32:39,740 --> 00:32:42,580 You ever find yourself in that place? 436 00:32:42,580 --> 00:32:43,700 Right? 437 00:32:43,700 --> 00:32:46,140 You know what God's called you to do? 438 00:32:46,140 --> 00:32:48,540 I mentioned it last night at our cowboy church, right? 439 00:32:48,540 --> 00:32:53,820 James chapter 4, where it says, "He who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is 440 00:32:53,820 --> 00:32:56,740 sin." 441 00:32:56,740 --> 00:32:59,980 And Jacob, he's not wanting this. 442 00:32:59,980 --> 00:33:06,340 He's kind of still keeping Esau at arm's length. 443 00:33:06,340 --> 00:33:10,700 He's still buttering him up. 444 00:33:10,700 --> 00:33:12,260 Warren Wiersbe says this about it. 445 00:33:12,260 --> 00:33:21,740 He says, "Jacob was scheming instead of trusting, bowing instead of limping, pleading instead 446 00:33:21,740 --> 00:33:25,620 of witnessing, promising but not performing." 447 00:33:25,620 --> 00:33:27,500 Oh yeah, we'll catch up with you. 448 00:33:27,500 --> 00:33:28,780 He had no intentions. 449 00:33:28,780 --> 00:33:31,500 He's going to duck out, right? 450 00:33:31,500 --> 00:33:33,180 Esau's headed south. 451 00:33:33,180 --> 00:33:41,220 He takes a right, heads northwest back to Sukkoth and ends up in a place called Chechem. 452 00:33:41,220 --> 00:33:42,780 But isn't that just like us? 453 00:33:42,780 --> 00:33:49,620 That's what Paul was talking about in Romans chapter 7 when he says, "Listen, for what 454 00:33:49,620 --> 00:33:52,300 I am doing I do not understand. 455 00:33:52,300 --> 00:33:55,740 For what I will to do, that I do not practice. 456 00:33:55,740 --> 00:33:58,340 But what I hate, that I do. 457 00:33:58,340 --> 00:34:04,180 If then I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 458 00:34:04,180 --> 00:34:07,820 But now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 459 00:34:07,820 --> 00:34:12,820 For I know that in me," that is in my flesh, "nothing good dwells. 460 00:34:12,820 --> 00:34:18,500 For to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 461 00:34:18,500 --> 00:34:21,460 For the good that I would do, I do not. 462 00:34:21,460 --> 00:34:27,020 But the evil I will not to do, that I practice." 463 00:34:27,020 --> 00:34:29,700 You ever had that go on in your life? 464 00:34:29,700 --> 00:34:32,500 Why do I do what I do? 465 00:34:32,500 --> 00:34:35,020 Why did I say that, right? 466 00:34:35,020 --> 00:34:37,380 Find sight. 467 00:34:37,380 --> 00:34:45,260 That's why the Bible says, "Be slow to speak. 468 00:34:45,260 --> 00:34:54,860 Be slow to get angry and be quick to hear." 469 00:34:54,860 --> 00:34:57,660 It is hard. 470 00:34:57,660 --> 00:35:07,180 It is hard for this guy to be Jacob and Israel at the same time. 471 00:35:07,180 --> 00:35:11,580 But that is the same condition that you and I are in. 472 00:35:11,580 --> 00:35:13,540 We have an old man that wakes up every... 473 00:35:13,540 --> 00:35:16,800 We have a Jacob that wakes up every morning, right? 474 00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:20,440 We have an Israel available to us every morning. 475 00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:27,460 The Spirit of God that will master you, that will keep you in a right headspace. 476 00:35:27,460 --> 00:35:29,180 It will keep you thinking right. 477 00:35:29,180 --> 00:35:31,180 It will keep you walking right. 478 00:35:31,180 --> 00:35:36,580 It will keep you going in the right direction. 479 00:35:36,580 --> 00:35:38,720 But not if you don't feed it. 480 00:35:38,720 --> 00:35:40,460 You gotta feed it. 481 00:35:40,460 --> 00:35:46,540 You gotta eat that spiritual food. 482 00:35:46,540 --> 00:35:48,340 And all of us struggle with this. 483 00:35:48,340 --> 00:35:49,340 It's good and evil. 484 00:35:49,340 --> 00:35:50,700 It's the flesh and the spirit. 485 00:35:50,700 --> 00:35:52,460 It's the sinner and the saint. 486 00:35:52,460 --> 00:35:56,180 Who doesn't experience this? 487 00:35:56,180 --> 00:35:58,120 We all do. 488 00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:01,820 You remember what God told Cain? 489 00:36:01,820 --> 00:36:04,640 He says, "Listen, Cain." 490 00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:07,080 You know, his countenance was falling. 491 00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:09,460 He was all angry. 492 00:36:09,460 --> 00:36:14,660 He was getting ready to get a club and beat his brother to death. 493 00:36:14,660 --> 00:36:21,560 And the Lord says, "Cain, if you do well, will you not be accepted? 494 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:22,940 But know this. 495 00:36:22,940 --> 00:36:25,820 Sin is lying at the door. 496 00:36:25,820 --> 00:36:32,620 And its desire is for you, but you must master it." 497 00:36:32,620 --> 00:36:35,900 How do you do that with the Holy Spirit? 498 00:36:35,900 --> 00:36:37,180 It's the only way you do it. 499 00:36:37,180 --> 00:36:38,180 You can't do it. 500 00:36:38,180 --> 00:36:39,800 I can't do it. 501 00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:43,780 He will do it in us as we yield to him. 502 00:36:43,780 --> 00:36:46,780 He will give us that strength. 503 00:36:46,780 --> 00:36:55,780 So he lied like a stinking rug to his brother and went the other way and caved in. 504 00:36:55,780 --> 00:36:58,900 Then to his fear and his flesh. 505 00:36:58,900 --> 00:37:05,160 And in verse 18 it says, "Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in 506 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:06,900 the land of Canaan. 507 00:37:06,900 --> 00:37:12,520 And when he came from Paddan-aram, and he pitched his tent before the city, and he bought 508 00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:18,420 the parcel of land where he had pitched his tent from the children of Hamor and Shechem's 509 00:37:18,420 --> 00:37:21,540 father for 100 pieces of money. 510 00:37:21,540 --> 00:37:29,040 And then he erected an altar there and called it El Elehor Israel." 511 00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:32,180 And so, what's that? 512 00:37:32,180 --> 00:37:35,440 You want me to? 513 00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:36,580 I don't think I pronounced it right. 514 00:37:36,580 --> 00:37:44,060 I just pretended. 515 00:37:44,060 --> 00:37:48,020 And so he pitched his tent. 516 00:37:48,020 --> 00:37:50,700 The guy is buying a piece of ground. 517 00:37:50,700 --> 00:37:52,640 He was supposed to go to Bethel. 518 00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:54,860 That's not obedience, right? 519 00:37:54,860 --> 00:37:59,420 What does it tell us there that when the Lord, when Samuel was talking to King Saul, you 520 00:37:59,420 --> 00:38:00,660 remember what he said? 521 00:38:00,660 --> 00:38:03,720 To obey is better than sacrifice. 522 00:38:03,720 --> 00:38:12,740 But to disobey is as the sin of rebellion and witchcraft. 523 00:38:12,740 --> 00:38:19,960 And Jacob's being a little witchy here when he don't go to Bethel, to the promised land. 524 00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:21,980 That's where he was supposed to go. 525 00:38:21,980 --> 00:38:27,140 Genesis 31, 13 reminded him, "I'm going to bring you back to this place." 526 00:38:27,140 --> 00:38:30,780 No, he was going where he shouldn't go. 527 00:38:30,780 --> 00:38:34,300 He bought a piece of ground there. 528 00:38:34,300 --> 00:38:38,180 I don't know that he should have done that. 529 00:38:38,180 --> 00:38:44,440 James 4 tells us this, "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow, we will go to such 530 00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:49,900 and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell and make a profit, whereas you do not 531 00:38:49,900 --> 00:38:51,820 know what will happen tomorrow. 532 00:38:51,820 --> 00:38:53,380 For what is your life? 533 00:38:53,380 --> 00:38:57,820 It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 534 00:38:57,820 --> 00:39:04,480 Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.' 535 00:39:04,480 --> 00:39:06,960 But now you boast in your arrogance. 536 00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:10,580 All such boasting is evil." 537 00:39:10,580 --> 00:39:12,660 What he was doing was evil. 538 00:39:12,660 --> 00:39:15,300 He was going it alone. 539 00:39:15,300 --> 00:39:21,100 He was just wanting to create distance between him and his bro, who seemed to be cool with 540 00:39:21,100 --> 00:39:25,440 everything. 541 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:27,140 And most of you know what happened. 542 00:39:27,140 --> 00:39:32,860 We'll look at it later, but at Shechem, it's not good. 543 00:39:32,860 --> 00:39:38,580 It doesn't go good for him. 544 00:39:38,580 --> 00:39:46,220 Now right there at the end, it says, "And he erected an altar there and called it El 545 00:39:46,220 --> 00:39:50,580 Eloheh, Israel." 546 00:39:50,580 --> 00:39:58,520 Which means, it means it is the God, the God of Israel. 547 00:39:58,520 --> 00:40:02,460 Now Jacob knows who God is. 548 00:40:02,460 --> 00:40:06,820 Esau, we don't see him ever bowing a knee, ever. 549 00:40:06,820 --> 00:40:10,380 Esau never, never bows a knee. 550 00:40:10,380 --> 00:40:15,460 We never see him not once bowing a knee to the Lord. 551 00:40:15,460 --> 00:40:21,420 And yet we see Jacob here building an altar, giving a public witness of his faith in the 552 00:40:21,420 --> 00:40:25,420 Lord. 553 00:40:25,420 --> 00:40:30,020 But like you said, sacrifice is no substitute for obedience. 554 00:40:30,020 --> 00:40:35,300 And a lot of people thinks it is. 555 00:40:35,300 --> 00:40:42,140 I think I've told you about the fellow that I know that he's never had a drink of alcohol, 556 00:40:42,140 --> 00:40:43,140 right? 557 00:40:43,140 --> 00:40:47,140 He's made that sacrifice never to have a drink of alcohol. 558 00:40:47,140 --> 00:40:49,580 But he commits adultery on his wives. 559 00:40:49,580 --> 00:40:53,320 Wives, I say, because he's had more than one. 560 00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:56,620 Not at the same time. 561 00:40:56,620 --> 00:41:07,640 But he thinks the sacrifice of not drinking alcohol nullifies his adulterous acts. 562 00:41:07,640 --> 00:41:09,860 How stupid is that? 563 00:41:09,860 --> 00:41:11,100 Right? 564 00:41:11,100 --> 00:41:12,320 Right? 565 00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:16,420 That's like a guy thinking because he helped grandma cross the street and then goes down 566 00:41:16,420 --> 00:41:19,900 the street and shoots somebody, "I helped grandma cross the street. 567 00:41:19,900 --> 00:41:23,180 You shouldn't prosecute me for that." 568 00:41:23,180 --> 00:41:24,300 Does it work that way? 569 00:41:24,300 --> 00:41:30,420 It doesn't work that way. 570 00:41:30,420 --> 00:41:35,420 Sacrifice is never, never takes a place of obedience. 571 00:41:35,420 --> 00:41:39,700 God loves it when we're obedient. 572 00:41:39,700 --> 00:41:47,820 His ear is open to those who will call on his name and who are willing to do his will. 573 00:41:47,820 --> 00:41:51,740 Even when those who don't think they can, but they're willing to, God can work with 574 00:41:51,740 --> 00:41:52,780 that. 575 00:41:52,780 --> 00:41:59,680 It's the ones that aren't willing that God has to chasten and discipline and bring hard 576 00:41:59,680 --> 00:42:06,780 things to their life. 577 00:42:06,780 --> 00:42:10,560 Just a couple thoughts as we close. 578 00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:15,260 First of all, none of us have arrived, right? 579 00:42:15,260 --> 00:42:18,060 Jacob hasn't arrived or let's call him Israel. 580 00:42:18,060 --> 00:42:20,380 Israel hasn't arrived yet. 581 00:42:20,380 --> 00:42:26,140 There's still a lot of stuff, a lot of work to do in his life where he's at that place 582 00:42:26,140 --> 00:42:30,380 where he's truly walking in the will of God. 583 00:42:30,380 --> 00:42:32,760 We all have trials to endure. 584 00:42:32,760 --> 00:42:40,100 We possibly have self-inflicted heartache in our future because we're good at that. 585 00:42:40,100 --> 00:42:45,580 People are just good at making messes. 586 00:42:45,580 --> 00:42:51,760 Also there will be tragedy in our lives that is outside of our control. 587 00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:54,260 It'll come. 588 00:42:54,260 --> 00:42:55,260 It's part of it. 589 00:42:55,260 --> 00:43:00,080 Reading through the book of Job right now, just hard things come. 590 00:43:00,080 --> 00:43:03,600 You're not gonna escape them. 591 00:43:03,600 --> 00:43:05,340 Don't think that you are. 592 00:43:05,340 --> 00:43:09,680 Because when you think that you are and you stay in that place, "Oh, it's just so good. 593 00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:11,020 We're so good. 594 00:43:11,020 --> 00:43:12,580 God's so good to us. 595 00:43:12,580 --> 00:43:14,940 Nothing bad's gonna happen." 596 00:43:14,940 --> 00:43:18,460 Then somebody dies or a tragedy happens. 597 00:43:18,460 --> 00:43:25,220 And because of your thinking is so out of whack, it just tips people over, ruins their 598 00:43:25,220 --> 00:43:26,220 lives. 599 00:43:26,220 --> 00:43:28,980 No, tragedy is part of this life. 600 00:43:28,980 --> 00:43:30,660 John Corson used to say it all the time. 601 00:43:30,660 --> 00:43:33,180 I remember sitting in an excavator over the years. 602 00:43:33,180 --> 00:43:38,180 I don't know how many times I heard him say it and listening to his Bible teaching. 603 00:43:38,180 --> 00:43:41,920 This life is tragic. 604 00:43:41,920 --> 00:43:45,420 It's tragic. 605 00:43:45,420 --> 00:43:49,540 And if we didn't have the hope of heaven, what would be the use? 606 00:43:49,540 --> 00:43:50,720 Right? 607 00:43:50,720 --> 00:43:52,320 What would be the use? 608 00:43:52,320 --> 00:43:58,980 What would be the use of living in obedience if we didn't have that hope? 609 00:43:58,980 --> 00:44:01,800 But we do have that hope. 610 00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:06,980 So it's not that these bad things are gonna happen, but when they do, the important thing 611 00:44:06,980 --> 00:44:16,460 is, is we don't forget the sovereignty of God, that God's sovereign, that God's goddess. 612 00:44:16,460 --> 00:44:19,840 Whether we live or whether we die, Paul talked about that, right? 613 00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:28,140 No matter what, we belong to the Lord. 614 00:44:28,140 --> 00:44:32,840 So the scripture the Lord laid on my heart this morning in closing is Isaiah chapter 615 00:44:32,840 --> 00:44:36,320 55, verses six through nine. 616 00:44:36,320 --> 00:44:42,160 You might wanna turn there and just maybe put a little border around it or something. 617 00:44:42,160 --> 00:44:46,980 It's just a great passage. 618 00:44:46,980 --> 00:44:54,780 And kudos to Jacob here for building this altar and reminding himself that he needs 619 00:44:54,780 --> 00:44:57,380 to be a worshiper. 620 00:44:57,380 --> 00:45:02,540 You and I need to be worshipers. 621 00:45:02,540 --> 00:45:04,900 I just listened to a guy as I was coming in today. 622 00:45:04,900 --> 00:45:06,420 He was talking about worshipers. 623 00:45:06,420 --> 00:45:09,740 He said, "And men have the hardest time with being a worshiper." 624 00:45:09,740 --> 00:45:10,740 Right? 625 00:45:10,740 --> 00:45:17,020 Well, it's just too, you know, it's so gay or so, it's so just, it's so uncool, it's 626 00:45:17,020 --> 00:45:19,020 so unmasculent. 627 00:45:19,020 --> 00:45:20,960 Right? 628 00:45:20,960 --> 00:45:27,420 And he says, "And really what you're doing when you don't worship is you're robbing yourself." 629 00:45:27,420 --> 00:45:29,860 Right? 630 00:45:29,860 --> 00:45:32,140 You know, I can never do the hands up thing. 631 00:45:32,140 --> 00:45:33,140 Right? 632 00:45:33,140 --> 00:45:38,660 Now, it just seems like, it seems like only girls do that. 633 00:45:38,660 --> 00:45:41,340 I do that, right? 634 00:45:41,340 --> 00:45:43,060 'Cause this is a sign of surrender. 635 00:45:43,060 --> 00:45:44,060 Right? 636 00:45:44,060 --> 00:45:45,460 All right, stick 'em up. 637 00:45:45,460 --> 00:45:47,380 Okay, Lord, you got me. 638 00:45:47,380 --> 00:45:48,380 Right? 639 00:45:48,380 --> 00:45:50,700 That's what it is. 640 00:45:50,700 --> 00:45:51,700 It's a sign of surrender. 641 00:45:51,700 --> 00:45:52,700 Okay, I surrender. 642 00:45:52,700 --> 00:45:56,420 That's what Jacob had to do. 643 00:45:56,420 --> 00:45:58,940 That's what Esau should do. 644 00:45:58,940 --> 00:46:00,940 Which one are you? 645 00:46:00,940 --> 00:46:06,100 Okay, Jacob. 646 00:46:06,100 --> 00:46:14,560 Because when you start to worship, right, you start losing you. 647 00:46:14,560 --> 00:46:17,140 And you really does need to go away. 648 00:46:17,140 --> 00:46:18,580 Right? 649 00:46:18,580 --> 00:46:22,500 The Bible says to deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow Him. 650 00:46:22,500 --> 00:46:26,340 I got called to attempted suicide kid. 651 00:46:26,340 --> 00:46:32,540 I knew him, knew him fairly well, knew him since he was a little bitty shaver. 652 00:46:32,540 --> 00:46:37,180 And I went to BHC, they had him there. 653 00:46:37,180 --> 00:46:44,660 You know, he had a brother, cut him down and didn't get the job done, praise the Lord. 654 00:46:44,660 --> 00:46:48,620 And I said, "Hey, so you feel like you need to go away, huh?" 655 00:46:48,620 --> 00:46:50,020 He goes, "Yeah." 656 00:46:50,020 --> 00:46:54,180 I said, "Well, you do, but not like that." 657 00:46:54,180 --> 00:46:55,720 Right? 658 00:46:55,720 --> 00:47:01,540 You need to die to yourself and replace your life with the life of Christ Jesus. 659 00:47:01,540 --> 00:47:03,520 That's what you need to do. 660 00:47:03,520 --> 00:47:09,320 You do need to go away, but not like you were thinking. 661 00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:12,120 And praise the Lord, he's still around. 662 00:47:12,120 --> 00:47:16,820 He hasn't gone back there, but we all have to come to that place. 663 00:47:16,820 --> 00:47:21,020 You have to come to the end of yourself. 664 00:47:21,020 --> 00:47:23,620 And then you can do this, what it says here in Isaiah. 665 00:47:23,620 --> 00:47:24,620 Isaiah 55. 666 00:47:24,620 --> 00:47:28,720 It says, "Seek the Lord while he may be found. 667 00:47:28,720 --> 00:47:31,640 Call upon him while he is near. 668 00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:36,840 Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. 669 00:47:36,840 --> 00:47:43,480 Let him return to the Lord and he will have mercy on him and to our God for he will abundantly 670 00:47:43,480 --> 00:47:45,020 pardon. 671 00:47:45,020 --> 00:47:51,400 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor my ways your ways, says the Lord. 672 00:47:51,400 --> 00:47:56,240 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my 673 00:47:56,240 --> 00:47:59,240 thoughts than your thoughts." 674 00:47:59,240 --> 00:48:09,380 See when you start worshiping, when you honestly worship before the Lord, he starts sharing 675 00:48:09,380 --> 00:48:11,080 his thoughts with you. 676 00:48:11,080 --> 00:48:15,620 Because naturally, I don't think like he does. 677 00:48:15,620 --> 00:48:20,980 But in the New Testament, we see Paul encouraging people, "Let this mind be in you that was 678 00:48:20,980 --> 00:48:22,360 also in Christ Jesus." 679 00:48:22,360 --> 00:48:25,900 Right? 680 00:48:25,900 --> 00:48:29,380 And then he says, "And then think on these things." 681 00:48:29,380 --> 00:48:30,840 And then he gives that list, right? 682 00:48:30,840 --> 00:48:38,200 What is virtuous and wholesome and lovely and godly? 683 00:48:38,200 --> 00:48:42,020 Think on these things. 684 00:48:42,020 --> 00:48:50,360 It's a process and it's not easy, but with the Spirit of the Lord, anybody can do it. 685 00:48:50,360 --> 00:48:54,120 So don't be sitting here today thinking, "I can't do that." 686 00:48:54,120 --> 00:48:56,000 Yes you can. 687 00:48:56,000 --> 00:49:02,240 If I can, you realize what this is standing in front of you today? 688 00:49:02,240 --> 00:49:04,540 It's not much. 689 00:49:04,540 --> 00:49:12,220 But I've understood over the years, I have got to yield my life to him because I have 690 00:49:12,220 --> 00:49:14,200 nothing to offer. 691 00:49:14,200 --> 00:49:15,360 Right? 692 00:49:15,360 --> 00:49:16,360 But that's cool. 693 00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:20,960 Because everything we see that's all beautiful, he made it out of nothing. 694 00:49:20,960 --> 00:49:24,480 So if we become nothing, then God can make something out of us. 695 00:49:24,480 --> 00:49:25,480 Amen? 696 00:49:25,480 --> 00:49:26,480 Amen. 697 00:49:26,480 --> 00:49:27,480 Let's pray. 698 00:49:27,480 --> 00:49:29,720 Lord, thank you. 699 00:49:29,720 --> 00:49:30,720 Thank you for your love. 700 00:49:30,720 --> 00:49:32,960 Thank you for your word that is powerful, Lord. 701 00:49:32,960 --> 00:49:35,600 It is truly that sharp sword. 702 00:49:35,600 --> 00:49:37,240 It cuts into our conscience. 703 00:49:37,240 --> 00:49:40,480 It cuts into our person, Lord. 704 00:49:40,480 --> 00:49:43,360 And it can kill the old man. 705 00:49:43,360 --> 00:49:49,760 Lord, that truly trips us up and causes us to go the other way, just like we see Jacob 706 00:49:49,760 --> 00:49:51,320 running from his brother. 707 00:49:51,320 --> 00:49:57,320 Lord, help us to not run, but help us to face those things in our lives, even the hard things. 708 00:49:57,320 --> 00:50:03,080 Lord, knowing that you're with us and that you're able to deliver us if we'll just yield 709 00:50:03,080 --> 00:50:05,120 ourselves to you. 710 00:50:05,120 --> 00:50:08,400 Lord, I pray that you would teach us your ways. 711 00:50:08,400 --> 00:50:12,600 Lord, that we would be those who seek you while you may be found. 712 00:50:12,600 --> 00:50:15,480 Lord, and maybe that's today. 713 00:50:15,480 --> 00:50:22,460 Maybe some here today haven't been seeking you at all, but here you are as you tell us 714 00:50:22,460 --> 00:50:24,960 there in Revelation chapter three. 715 00:50:24,960 --> 00:50:29,300 Lord, you stand and you knock at the door, the door of our hearts. 716 00:50:29,300 --> 00:50:33,400 And I just pray for those who haven't yet opened that door that they would do so. 717 00:50:33,400 --> 00:50:39,240 And Lord, that they would cry out to you and say, "Oh Lord Jesus, come into my heart. 718 00:50:39,240 --> 00:50:40,240 Forgive me of my sin. 719 00:50:40,240 --> 00:50:44,920 Lord, I turn from it and I turn fully and completely to you. 720 00:50:44,920 --> 00:50:47,680 Do what you want with my life." 721 00:50:47,680 --> 00:50:53,120 I just pray that anyone who hasn't done that, Lord, that they would just come to that place. 722 00:50:53,120 --> 00:50:59,400 What a beautiful place it is, Lord, that we would truly, as this man was, be changed from 723 00:50:59,400 --> 00:51:01,280 a Jacob to an Israel. 724 00:51:01,280 --> 00:51:05,960 Lord, so help us to reconcile those things in our lives that we can. 725 00:51:05,960 --> 00:51:12,160 Lord, help us to realize the things we can't change and Lord, may we leave that right at 726 00:51:12,160 --> 00:51:18,560 the foot of your cross, knowing that you covered it and all you encourage us to do is to own 727 00:51:18,560 --> 00:51:21,040 no man anything but to love. 728 00:51:21,040 --> 00:51:26,560 And just like you loved us and laid down your life for us, even when we were lost and dead 729 00:51:26,560 --> 00:51:31,800 in our sin, Lord, help us to have that heart, we pray in the mighty name of Jesus. 730 00:51:31,800 --> 00:51:32,320 Amen. 731 00:51:32,320 --> 00:51:50,160 [ Silence ]