WEBVTT

00:00:00.300 --> 00:00:02.459
I am Pastor Nathan, and today we're gonna be

00:00:02.459 --> 00:00:05.459
in Genesis chapter 32, looking at the lengths

00:00:05.459 --> 00:00:09.820
that God will go to shower his grace upon his

00:00:09.820 --> 00:00:13.880
people. You know, growing up, some of you may

00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:15.980
know this, some of you may not, but I was a very

00:00:15.980 --> 00:00:20.019
don't tell me what to do type of person. I know,

00:00:20.039 --> 00:00:23.260
shocking, right? Very rebellious. In seventh

00:00:23.260 --> 00:00:26.620
grade, I remember I wore these multicolored Converse.

00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:29.160
simply because everybody else said they were

00:00:29.160 --> 00:00:32.719
ugly. You know, the word don't meant do it with

00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:36.119
all your energy. And, you know, I was just, I

00:00:36.119 --> 00:00:38.780
was a very contrary person. I used to argue the

00:00:38.780 --> 00:00:41.439
opposite side of a topic with people, even if

00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:44.149
I didn't agree with the opposite side. just to

00:00:44.149 --> 00:00:47.869
be contrary. As I grew up through high school,

00:00:47.929 --> 00:00:51.929
I rejected higher education, largely because

00:00:51.929 --> 00:00:53.890
everybody said that's what you're supposed to

00:00:53.890 --> 00:00:55.530
do when you graduate high school. And I was like,

00:00:55.570 --> 00:00:58.609
well, then I'm going to do the opposite. And

00:00:58.609 --> 00:01:00.429
then in my early 20s, I started a whole bunch

00:01:00.429 --> 00:01:03.490
of small tech businesses because everybody said,

00:01:03.570 --> 00:01:05.650
don't do that because you're going to fail. It's

00:01:05.650 --> 00:01:08.310
too hard. So as you guys can imagine, I was a

00:01:08.310 --> 00:01:11.269
peach to be around growing up. But when I got

00:01:11.269 --> 00:01:16.579
saved, I knew Jesus Christ. I had given him my

00:01:16.579 --> 00:01:19.400
life. I knew he was God. I believed just in a

00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:22.159
moment. It was just boom, he's God and the truth

00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:24.219
of God is real and the word of God is real. He

00:01:24.219 --> 00:01:28.079
died for me on the cross. And so I gave my life

00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:31.280
to him or at least I thought I gave my life to

00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:33.439
him because what I really did upon my salvation

00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:37.040
is I gave him the guilty part of my life. I gave

00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:38.980
him that part of my life that needed forgiveness

00:01:38.980 --> 00:01:43.500
and salvation, but the rest of my life, was still

00:01:43.500 --> 00:01:46.099
mine to control. It was still mine to decide

00:01:46.099 --> 00:01:49.480
upon. And so I entered into Christianity much

00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:52.819
the same way I had lived my prior life. The first

00:01:52.819 --> 00:01:55.200
year or so of my faith, I never went to church

00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:56.920
because, well, that's what you were supposed

00:01:56.920 --> 00:01:58.879
to do and no one's going to tell me what to do.

00:01:59.459 --> 00:02:01.900
And after all, it wasn't church that saved me.

00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:04.659
It was Jesus. I had the same attitude towards

00:02:04.659 --> 00:02:07.359
reading the Bible. You know, oh, you're supposed

00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:08.819
to read the Bible. So I don't want to do that.

00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:10.680
I don't have to do that. The Bible didn't save

00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:13.560
me. Jesus did. Obviously, these are very immature

00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:19.099
ideas. But I was saved. I was going to heaven.

00:02:19.180 --> 00:02:21.259
I knew my sins had been washed away. Thank you,

00:02:21.259 --> 00:02:24.060
God, so much for that. And hey, bro, I'll check

00:02:24.060 --> 00:02:26.259
in when it's time to come home. And that was

00:02:26.259 --> 00:02:28.280
kind of my early, early, early Christianity.

00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:32.259
My spirit had been born again. My morality had

00:02:32.259 --> 00:02:34.819
shifted greatly as the Holy Spirit was now indwelling

00:02:34.819 --> 00:02:37.740
me. I was definitely changed, but I was not fully

00:02:37.740 --> 00:02:41.639
yielded to his control in my life. And over the

00:02:41.639 --> 00:02:45.860
years, there have been so many things in my life

00:02:45.860 --> 00:02:48.599
that God has had to knock out of socket to form

00:02:48.599 --> 00:02:51.300
the submission and the yielding to him that he's

00:02:51.300 --> 00:02:55.039
wanted in my life. And over my long life with

00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:57.879
the Lord and still continuing today, I've learned

00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:01.110
that God doesn't just want to be part of my life.

00:03:01.250 --> 00:03:04.949
He wants to be my life. He wants to be my everything.

00:03:05.650 --> 00:03:09.289
And so, you know, I'm just so thankful that God

00:03:09.289 --> 00:03:11.930
has never given up on me, that God has never

00:03:11.930 --> 00:03:15.409
ceased his work, and yeah, he still has an infinite

00:03:15.409 --> 00:03:18.069
amount of work to do. But, you know, the same

00:03:18.069 --> 00:03:20.370
principle, the same idea applies to every single

00:03:20.370 --> 00:03:22.949
person here in this room, online, and in the

00:03:22.949 --> 00:03:25.250
world that believes in Jesus Christ as their

00:03:25.250 --> 00:03:27.990
Lord and Savior, that he's never going to give

00:03:27.990 --> 00:03:30.550
up on you. That he's never going to stop working

00:03:30.550 --> 00:03:32.830
on you and molding you and sanctifying you into

00:03:32.830 --> 00:03:34.990
his image. And, you know, the reality is God

00:03:34.990 --> 00:03:40.490
can and does save us even from ourselves at times

00:03:40.490 --> 00:03:43.409
in our lives. There are times in our lives where

00:03:43.409 --> 00:03:47.409
he has to... Wrestle with us so that we can come

00:03:47.409 --> 00:03:49.689
to the place of fully surrendering those areas

00:03:49.689 --> 00:03:52.610
of our lives that are causing us to be separated

00:03:52.610 --> 00:03:54.409
from him. And this morning, we're going to see

00:03:54.409 --> 00:03:58.789
God do exactly that in the life of Jacob, teaching

00:03:58.789 --> 00:04:02.650
us that success in life, success in our spiritual

00:04:02.650 --> 00:04:05.490
walk, our faith life, all of that, the victory

00:04:05.490 --> 00:04:08.789
really comes from weakness, and victory comes

00:04:08.789 --> 00:04:11.229
from surrender. But before that, we're going

00:04:11.229 --> 00:04:14.069
to spend time worshiping God because he's worth

00:04:14.069 --> 00:04:15.909
it. And I say that every single week and I'll

00:04:15.909 --> 00:04:18.610
never stop saying that. This morning I got up

00:04:18.610 --> 00:04:20.310
and, you know, for those of you that don't know

00:04:20.310 --> 00:04:22.490
what EDM is, it's electronic music, you know,

00:04:22.509 --> 00:04:26.509
right? And there's some cool Christian EDM on

00:04:26.509 --> 00:04:28.209
Spotify and I was listening to that on the way

00:04:28.209 --> 00:04:31.449
in. And man, I was just jazzed. I was so excited.

00:04:31.490 --> 00:04:33.910
Now, you know, I just like the music. But I'm

00:04:33.910 --> 00:04:37.430
excited to praise the Lord. I'm excited to sing

00:04:37.430 --> 00:04:40.220
to him. Any kind of music. It doesn't matter

00:04:40.220 --> 00:04:42.279
because when we worship God, it's saying, God,

00:04:42.399 --> 00:04:43.920
what do you want us to sing to you today? Because

00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:46.279
we just want to declare to you how awesome you

00:04:46.279 --> 00:04:48.160
are and how amazing you are and how much we love

00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:50.100
you. And so that's what we have the opportunity

00:04:50.100 --> 00:04:52.279
to do right now. And I just encourage you guys

00:04:52.279 --> 00:04:55.240
to just sing with everything you got. I don't

00:04:55.240 --> 00:04:58.259
care if you sing off key. Sing with everything

00:04:58.259 --> 00:05:00.740
you got, all right? Now, if you can't clap on

00:05:00.740 --> 00:05:03.079
time, you know, it's hard to play when people

00:05:03.079 --> 00:05:05.819
are, no, just kidding. It really is hard to play

00:05:05.819 --> 00:05:09.019
though. But anyways. Worship God. Don't let anything

00:05:09.019 --> 00:05:11.019
get in the way of that. Just praise the Lord

00:05:11.019 --> 00:05:13.600
because he loves you so much. And he's working

00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:16.040
in your life today. And so we're going to be

00:05:16.040 --> 00:05:18.579
seeing that today. But let's pray. Father, we

00:05:18.579 --> 00:05:20.579
love you so much. And we're so grateful for the

00:05:20.579 --> 00:05:24.660
opportunity to know you. Lord, you are amazing.

00:05:24.839 --> 00:05:31.740
You are almighty. You are beyond ultimate understanding,

00:05:31.959 --> 00:05:36.110
Lord. And yet you know us. You love us. You died

00:05:36.110 --> 00:05:38.290
for us, God. You paid the price, Lord, that we

00:05:38.290 --> 00:05:39.850
would be able to have a relationship with you.

00:05:40.310 --> 00:05:43.170
And then, Lord, you do this work throughout our

00:05:43.170 --> 00:05:45.930
entire life here on earth of molding us and shaping

00:05:45.930 --> 00:05:49.870
us, God, and we don't deserve any of it. And

00:05:49.870 --> 00:05:53.029
yet, Lord, you do it. You're so faithful to your

00:05:53.029 --> 00:05:56.550
promises. And, God, I'm just so grateful, Lord,

00:05:56.610 --> 00:06:00.629
that even though that we constantly are wrestling

00:06:00.629 --> 00:06:02.589
against you and the things you want to do in

00:06:02.589 --> 00:06:05.579
our lives, that you are so patient, God. But

00:06:05.579 --> 00:06:07.459
Lord, today I just pray, God, that you would

00:06:07.459 --> 00:06:09.980
encourage us, Lord, in the extents that you will

00:06:09.980 --> 00:06:12.420
go, that your grace would just shower upon us.

00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:15.160
Lord, that we would understand that there's even

00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:16.939
times in the life of your children where you

00:06:16.939 --> 00:06:19.519
might knock something out of socket, where you

00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:22.660
might in a way cripple us, that we would be more

00:06:22.660 --> 00:06:27.889
victorious, Lord, in our life with you. And God,

00:06:27.930 --> 00:06:29.889
help us to listen and help us to learn, God,

00:06:29.930 --> 00:06:32.009
and help us to be aware of what you're saying

00:06:32.009 --> 00:06:34.209
to us this morning, God, about those things in

00:06:34.209 --> 00:06:37.089
our lives, Lord, that we're not letting go of.

00:06:37.149 --> 00:06:38.970
We may have been walking with you, God, for a

00:06:38.970 --> 00:06:42.649
very short time or a very, very long time. But

00:06:42.649 --> 00:06:44.990
Lord, all of us struggle with different things

00:06:44.990 --> 00:06:47.189
in our lives. And I believe today, Lord, God,

00:06:47.250 --> 00:06:48.769
is the day that you're calling every single one

00:06:48.769 --> 00:06:52.949
of us to let it go. God, that the victory over

00:06:52.949 --> 00:06:55.810
the issue or the sin or the struggle that we've

00:06:55.810 --> 00:06:59.649
been longing for has not come because we're still

00:06:59.649 --> 00:07:02.990
the ones trying to do the fighting. And Lord,

00:07:03.050 --> 00:07:06.389
when we surrender to you, to your control and

00:07:06.389 --> 00:07:08.490
your spirit and your way, God, we will truly

00:07:08.490 --> 00:07:11.230
find victory. So God, we want to worship you

00:07:11.230 --> 00:07:13.069
for everything. Everything that you've done,

00:07:13.170 --> 00:07:15.990
everything that you are. Lord, every blessing

00:07:15.990 --> 00:07:17.709
you've brought into our lives, God, we don't

00:07:17.709 --> 00:07:19.629
deserve any of it, but we receive it and we're

00:07:19.629 --> 00:07:23.689
so... grateful to you for loving us. God, thank

00:07:23.689 --> 00:07:27.319
you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We are

00:07:27.319 --> 00:07:31.040
in Genesis chapter 32 this morning, and to give

00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:33.500
a quick recap of where we're at in the story,

00:07:33.819 --> 00:07:39.459
Jacob has just departed or parted ways with Laban,

00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:43.100
his scheming uncle. He's the man that he had

00:07:43.100 --> 00:07:47.600
been laboring for for over 20 years to, one,

00:07:47.699 --> 00:07:51.519
pay the wedding cost or the bride cost, the dowry

00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:55.740
for his first wife. And it was supposed to be

00:07:55.740 --> 00:07:58.060
Rachel. He got tricked. He got... Laban's other

00:07:58.060 --> 00:07:59.540
daughter Leah. And so he had to work another

00:07:59.540 --> 00:08:02.500
seven years to actually pay the cost to be able

00:08:02.500 --> 00:08:05.139
to marry Rachel. And then after that, he worked

00:08:05.139 --> 00:08:08.180
another six years or so trying to build up his

00:08:08.180 --> 00:08:10.959
own flocks, his own herds in preparation of the

00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:13.519
day that God would call him to leave Laban's

00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:15.660
household in that land and head back to the promised

00:08:15.660 --> 00:08:20.120
land. And so Jacob had fled from there with his

00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:22.459
family and all his possessions. Laban had pursued

00:08:22.459 --> 00:08:25.959
him and they had this very kind of tense standoff

00:08:25.959 --> 00:08:29.550
there. That ended up with Laban leaving, not

00:08:29.550 --> 00:08:33.309
on good terms with Jacob. He had kissed his daughters

00:08:33.309 --> 00:08:35.830
goodbye. He had kissed his grandkids goodbye.

00:08:35.970 --> 00:08:39.149
But Jacob, I just think that Laban looked at

00:08:39.149 --> 00:08:42.450
him and scoffed and left. And so it wasn't a

00:08:42.450 --> 00:08:45.700
very good... goodbye. In fact, their separation

00:08:45.700 --> 00:08:48.700
was very hostile such that they made a covenant

00:08:48.700 --> 00:08:50.919
with each other, a vow with one another, where

00:08:50.919 --> 00:08:52.820
they essentially drew a line in the sand and

00:08:52.820 --> 00:08:55.480
said, you stay on your side and I'll stay on

00:08:55.480 --> 00:08:59.320
my side. And Laban was so upset with Jacob, he

00:08:59.320 --> 00:09:01.879
said, and since I can't keep my eye on you, I'm

00:09:01.879 --> 00:09:04.360
going to pray that your God keeps his eye on

00:09:04.360 --> 00:09:06.899
you. And if you treat my daughters badly, you

00:09:06.899 --> 00:09:09.480
treat my grandkids badly, then God's going to

00:09:09.480 --> 00:09:12.169
get you. And a little bit ironic considering

00:09:12.169 --> 00:09:15.649
that Laban was the larger schemer and deceiver

00:09:15.649 --> 00:09:19.529
there, but Jacob, it was music to his ears. I'm

00:09:19.529 --> 00:09:21.940
finally free. I'm finally free to go about my

00:09:21.940 --> 00:09:24.700
life. I'm finally free to go back and to be the

00:09:24.700 --> 00:09:26.620
head of my own family, go back to the promised

00:09:26.620 --> 00:09:29.440
land, see God and his promises prosper. And so

00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:31.720
it was after this 20 years of being manipulated

00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:34.799
and taken advantage of by his scheming uncle,

00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:38.379
he was now victoriously going home. He was a

00:09:38.379 --> 00:09:41.519
very, very wealthy man with camels and herds

00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:43.740
and flocks and all this stuff. And he was also

00:09:43.740 --> 00:09:47.580
very wealthy as a father and a family man because

00:09:47.580 --> 00:09:51.820
he had 11 sons. That is an incredible blessing

00:09:51.820 --> 00:09:53.779
in those days because sons were the ones who

00:09:53.779 --> 00:09:56.240
carried on the family name and legacy. And so

00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:59.120
a very blessed man as he goes. And so we pick

00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:02.419
it up here in Genesis 32, verse 1. It says, Jacob

00:10:02.419 --> 00:10:06.279
went on his way and God's angels met him. When

00:10:06.279 --> 00:10:09.440
he saw them, Jacob said, this is God's camp.

00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:14.720
And so he called that place Mahanaim. Earlier

00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:18.220
in Jacob's life, he had a major turning point

00:10:18.220 --> 00:10:21.679
that involved angels. When he had fled his homeland

00:10:21.679 --> 00:10:25.159
after he had cheated his brother Esau, he came

00:10:25.159 --> 00:10:27.679
to this place that he named Bethel. And it was

00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:29.860
a place where he saw the angels going up and

00:10:29.860 --> 00:10:32.080
down on the stairway between earth and heaven.

00:10:32.460 --> 00:10:35.440
And it was a moment where he learned something

00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:37.940
very valuable as a crossroads of his life. He

00:10:37.940 --> 00:10:41.620
learned that God was with him. That God was going

00:10:41.620 --> 00:10:43.799
to be with him no matter where he went in his

00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:46.480
life. And that because God had made promises

00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:49.460
to him, God was going to keep Jacob. Meaning

00:10:49.460 --> 00:10:51.200
that he was going to be with him, to protect

00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:53.980
him, bring him through the difficult situations.

00:10:54.100 --> 00:10:56.620
But it was the very beginning of God trying to

00:10:56.620 --> 00:11:01.110
teach Jacob that I'm God. Let me be in control

00:11:01.110 --> 00:11:03.690
of your life. A lesson that Jacob would struggle

00:11:03.690 --> 00:11:07.350
with for his entire life. But here he is now

00:11:07.350 --> 00:11:10.230
going back to the promised land and angels meet

00:11:10.230 --> 00:11:12.549
him again. Angels in the beginning, angels at

00:11:12.549 --> 00:11:15.179
the end. And he's very excited. Of course, because

00:11:15.179 --> 00:11:17.240
the first time it was like, whoa, I saw God and

00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:20.360
God made promises himself to me and reiterated

00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:22.679
it. And now he's seeing these angels again. And

00:11:22.679 --> 00:11:24.840
so he gets all excited and he proclaims this

00:11:24.840 --> 00:11:29.899
place God's camp. Now, this word Mahanaim is

00:11:29.899 --> 00:11:32.480
a very interesting term because it's what's called

00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:35.919
a dual form word in the Hebrew. What that means

00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:37.860
is it's a word that can mean multiple things,

00:11:38.039 --> 00:11:40.580
right? But there are multiple things that look

00:11:40.580 --> 00:11:43.730
kind of contradictory. What I mean by that is

00:11:43.730 --> 00:11:47.950
this word Mahanaim can mean two camps or it can

00:11:47.950 --> 00:11:53.210
mean camp. Pretty contradictory, right? Is it

00:11:53.210 --> 00:11:55.389
one camp or two camps? Depends on what's being

00:11:55.389 --> 00:11:59.049
said here, right? But it's the idea of that Jacob's

00:11:59.049 --> 00:12:02.990
had just come from two camps that were in opposition,

00:12:03.289 --> 00:12:05.970
right? His family's camp and Laban's camp when

00:12:05.970 --> 00:12:08.429
he caught up to him. And these two camps were...

00:12:09.269 --> 00:12:12.370
two camps of fighting, two camps of fear. And

00:12:12.370 --> 00:12:14.710
now what Jacob is saying is, as I've finally

00:12:14.710 --> 00:12:17.190
gotten away from that, now it's my camp and God's

00:12:17.190 --> 00:12:20.289
camp. And what I see here is two camps that are

00:12:20.289 --> 00:12:23.750
actually one camp. That I'm actually finally

00:12:23.750 --> 00:12:26.309
on the same page with God and God is on the same

00:12:26.309 --> 00:12:29.250
page with me. That he is here with me, blessing

00:12:29.250 --> 00:12:32.309
me and my family. We're united. He's truly still

00:12:32.309 --> 00:12:35.370
working on my behalf. How amazing. And you can

00:12:35.370 --> 00:12:38.259
imagine. Jacob's seeing these angels again, how

00:12:38.259 --> 00:12:40.600
encouraging that would have been to him, how

00:12:40.600 --> 00:12:42.600
encouraging for his faith and all this. So he's

00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:45.139
just so excited. These two camps are actually

00:12:45.139 --> 00:12:48.580
one camp. It's God's camp, my family and his

00:12:48.580 --> 00:12:51.919
angels together at last. But you gotta say, hold

00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:54.820
up, Jacob, because you still got a lot of work

00:12:54.820 --> 00:12:57.240
to do. There's a lot of work that needs to happen

00:12:57.240 --> 00:13:01.139
in your life. Yes, in Jacob's life, he had begun

00:13:01.139 --> 00:13:04.370
to acknowledge God's protection. and God's provision.

00:13:04.629 --> 00:13:08.549
You remember before he fled Laban's area with

00:13:08.549 --> 00:13:10.929
the family, he had to gather his wives up in

00:13:10.929 --> 00:13:13.330
secret and go, hey, I need to convince you that

00:13:13.330 --> 00:13:15.929
it's time to leave your father's household and

00:13:15.929 --> 00:13:18.690
your homeland because God said so. And so in

00:13:18.690 --> 00:13:20.830
that moment, we saw that Jacob had finally begun

00:13:20.830 --> 00:13:23.750
to say, God did all of this. God is the one who

00:13:23.750 --> 00:13:27.250
made us a rich and wealthy family. God is the

00:13:27.250 --> 00:13:28.950
one who's preserved and protecting me through

00:13:28.950 --> 00:13:31.230
all of this. And so we have to go because God

00:13:31.230 --> 00:13:33.960
said so. And so yes, Jacob was acknowledging

00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:36.220
God's protection and God's provision. He was

00:13:36.220 --> 00:13:38.700
starting to give God all the credit for all the

00:13:38.700 --> 00:13:41.100
blessings in his life. But as he was returning

00:13:41.100 --> 00:13:44.519
home with this joy and this peace with God and

00:13:44.519 --> 00:13:46.659
this unity and we're together and we're one and

00:13:46.659 --> 00:13:50.139
we're united, he was remembering that when it

00:13:50.139 --> 00:13:52.519
came to him and his brother Esau, there was disunity.

00:13:53.220 --> 00:13:56.039
That there wasn't peace there with his brother.

00:13:56.559 --> 00:14:00.149
He and his brother were not united at all. In

00:14:00.149 --> 00:14:02.309
fact, the last that Jacob had known about his

00:14:02.309 --> 00:14:05.230
brother Esau was that he wanted to kill him.

00:14:06.210 --> 00:14:08.649
And so this is coming to Jacob's mind as we're

00:14:08.649 --> 00:14:10.769
going to see in verse 3. But there is something

00:14:10.769 --> 00:14:14.190
about getting right with God that highlights

00:14:14.190 --> 00:14:16.929
in our hearts that we need to get right with

00:14:16.929 --> 00:14:20.080
some other people. There's something about coming

00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:23.399
to that place where, God, we're good, and I'm

00:14:23.399 --> 00:14:25.159
just praising you and worshiping you and reading,

00:14:25.299 --> 00:14:27.299
you're speaking to me, and I hear you, and God,

00:14:27.379 --> 00:14:29.659
this is great, and I'm stepping into your promises,

00:14:29.659 --> 00:14:33.399
and then God might say, yeah, but that friend,

00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:37.759
that family member, that spouse, that child,

00:14:37.980 --> 00:14:41.299
that coworker, there's a radical disunity there.

00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:44.379
And you know, in Matthew chapter five, verse

00:14:44.379 --> 00:14:49.600
23, Jesus was teaching his disciples and the

00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:51.360
people listening to him, and he said, look, basically

00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:53.899
if you're coming to worship God and something

00:14:53.899 --> 00:14:56.559
is not right with your brother, go reconcile

00:14:56.559 --> 00:15:00.700
with them first. Then come and worship God. And

00:15:00.700 --> 00:15:02.700
so Jacob's here in this place of he's stepping

00:15:02.700 --> 00:15:04.379
into the promised land, the promised land. Yeah,

00:15:04.460 --> 00:15:07.240
me and God are great, but me and my brother.

00:15:08.779 --> 00:15:11.779
are in disunity. And so he's starting to think

00:15:11.779 --> 00:15:14.559
about that. And really, if you go look at Matthew

00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:17.519
chapter five, verses 23 through 35, the principles

00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:20.580
of reconciliation that Jesus lays out there really

00:15:20.580 --> 00:15:22.379
are kind of like an outline of what this chapter

00:15:22.379 --> 00:15:25.700
is. But here in Genesis 32, verse three, it tells

00:15:25.700 --> 00:15:28.360
us, and Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to

00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:31.419
his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the territory

00:15:31.419 --> 00:15:34.549
of Edom. And it was this disquiet within him

00:15:34.549 --> 00:15:37.230
that caused him to do this. He commanded them,

00:15:37.330 --> 00:15:39.250
you are to say to my Lord Esau, this is what

00:15:39.250 --> 00:15:42.169
your servant Jacob says. I've been staying with

00:15:42.169 --> 00:15:44.769
Laban and I've been delayed until now. I have

00:15:44.769 --> 00:15:47.470
oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female

00:15:47.470 --> 00:15:50.769
slaves. I've sent this message to inform my Lord

00:15:50.769 --> 00:15:55.669
in order to seek your favor. Now, if you remember

00:15:55.669 --> 00:15:58.370
the map, I didn't get one up on the screen, but

00:15:58.370 --> 00:16:01.190
the map of Israel, right? Here's Israel. You

00:16:01.190 --> 00:16:04.879
guys see it? Okay, great. And you remember, Jacob

00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:07.620
is way up here in the north in Haran with Laban's

00:16:07.620 --> 00:16:10.700
family. And so he is heading back south down

00:16:10.700 --> 00:16:12.659
through the promised land, back to where his

00:16:12.659 --> 00:16:15.100
father Isaac had set up the family, which was

00:16:15.100 --> 00:16:17.840
in southern Israel in the Negev region, right?

00:16:18.279 --> 00:16:22.460
Now, it tells us that Esau had since settled

00:16:22.460 --> 00:16:25.279
in Seir Edom because that is an area that is

00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:29.940
way over here to the east. And so Esau is not

00:16:29.940 --> 00:16:33.679
a direct obstacle to Jacob coming back home to

00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:36.039
the land where his family was. And so we might

00:16:36.039 --> 00:16:38.700
ask the question, well, then why go? And that's

00:16:38.700 --> 00:16:40.860
why I was touching on the fact that he has this

00:16:40.860 --> 00:16:43.100
disquiet in his heart that even though there's

00:16:43.100 --> 00:16:45.399
peace between Jacob and God right now, there's

00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:47.940
not peace between Jacob and his brother. And

00:16:47.940 --> 00:16:50.580
so he has to reconcile. And it wasn't just because

00:16:50.580 --> 00:16:53.519
Esau was in the way, because he wasn't. For Jacob,

00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:55.799
It was a part of the spiritual growth. It was

00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:58.399
a spiritual necessity that in order for Jacob

00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:01.720
to fully enter into this peace, this peace relationship

00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:04.059
with God, he had to have peace within his own

00:17:04.059 --> 00:17:09.019
family. yeah, sure, I'm sure Jacob was just practically

00:17:09.019 --> 00:17:11.940
tired of living under a tense situation, which

00:17:11.940 --> 00:17:14.400
he did for 20 years with Laban. And that had

00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:17.680
taught him so much about the wrong he had did

00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:20.160
for his brother. And so just practically and

00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:22.619
spiritually, Jacob couldn't be at peace completely

00:17:22.619 --> 00:17:25.299
until he was reconciled with his brother as well.

00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:27.880
And so he sends these messengers ahead basically

00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:30.980
to say, hey, brother, I'm coming home. I hope

00:17:30.980 --> 00:17:34.410
you're not still mad at me. Now, this plan here,

00:17:34.529 --> 00:17:37.309
it was Esau doing everything, or Jacob doing

00:17:37.309 --> 00:17:39.730
everything he could to make right with Esau.

00:17:39.769 --> 00:17:41.210
Because you'll notice he told his servants, he

00:17:41.210 --> 00:17:46.180
goes, go and say to Esau, my Lord. He refers

00:17:46.180 --> 00:17:48.640
to Esau as my Lord, and Jacob refers to himself

00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:51.700
as your servant. The idea here was that this

00:17:51.700 --> 00:17:54.980
was a term of superiority. This was a term of

00:17:54.980 --> 00:17:57.960
you're greater than I am. So my Lord Esau, he's

00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:00.819
trying to make sure Esau knows, like, I see you

00:18:00.819 --> 00:18:03.740
as superior. I respect you. I'm not coming back

00:18:03.740 --> 00:18:06.119
just to claim the birthright and take things

00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:07.819
from you. I'm just trying to come back home in

00:18:07.819 --> 00:18:10.519
peace. The idea of, like, tell him that I have

00:18:10.519 --> 00:18:13.319
oxen and donkeys and flocks. The idea there was

00:18:13.319 --> 00:18:15.990
Jacob was trying to tell Esau, Esau, I'm willing

00:18:15.990 --> 00:18:18.509
to pay back. I'm willing to make restitution

00:18:18.509 --> 00:18:20.349
for my wrongs. And that's a very important thing

00:18:20.349 --> 00:18:22.089
to do when we're trying to reconcile with people,

00:18:22.170 --> 00:18:25.309
is don't just say, oh, I'm sorry. But there's

00:18:25.309 --> 00:18:28.250
a genuineness on, I want to make it right, right?

00:18:28.329 --> 00:18:31.349
I want to correct the wrong I have done. And

00:18:31.349 --> 00:18:33.789
so this is what he's doing with Esau. But you'll

00:18:33.789 --> 00:18:35.529
notice at the end there, he goes, I just want

00:18:35.529 --> 00:18:39.450
to have favor with him. I'm not trying to come

00:18:39.450 --> 00:18:42.049
and plant my flag in the family and this is all

00:18:42.049 --> 00:18:44.130
mine. He goes, I just want favor with my brother.

00:18:44.190 --> 00:18:46.309
I want peace. I want blessing. And so verse six,

00:18:46.490 --> 00:18:49.150
it says, when the messengers returned to Jacob,

00:18:49.230 --> 00:18:51.809
they said, we went to your brother Esau and he's

00:18:51.809 --> 00:18:54.690
coming to meet you. Yay. And he has 400 men with

00:18:54.690 --> 00:18:59.769
him. Boo. Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed.

00:19:01.390 --> 00:19:04.470
Now, why was Jacob greatly afraid and distressed?

00:19:05.829 --> 00:19:08.650
It's because in those days, a 400 -man -sized

00:19:08.650 --> 00:19:12.109
force was specifically a militia -sized force,

00:19:12.410 --> 00:19:15.809
right? You didn't raise a militia and bring a

00:19:15.809 --> 00:19:18.910
militia -sized force with you unless you were

00:19:18.910 --> 00:19:22.250
ready to fight. And so Jacob is like, dang it,

00:19:22.289 --> 00:19:24.750
last time I heard about my brother Esau, he wanted

00:19:24.750 --> 00:19:27.609
to kill me, and now he's coming with a militia,

00:19:27.609 --> 00:19:31.430
right? It wasn't 275 men, it wasn't 483, it was

00:19:31.430 --> 00:19:36.819
400. This is a militia -sized force. So now Jacob,

00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:39.220
right, we just saw that he had come to this place.

00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:42.299
He saw these angels. He was so excited. Mahanaim,

00:19:42.339 --> 00:19:45.200
right? It's Mahanaim. There's this camp of unity

00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:47.259
here. It's two camps, but we are one. This is

00:19:47.259 --> 00:19:50.460
so exciting. You know, and so God is with me.

00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:52.940
I'm fine. No problem. Esau's coming with this

00:19:52.940 --> 00:19:56.279
big force. I'm okay, right? Well, that's not

00:19:56.279 --> 00:19:58.059
what Jacob does. Look what he does in the rest

00:19:58.059 --> 00:20:00.759
of verse 7. He divided the people with him into

00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:03.380
two camps, along with the flocks, herds, and

00:20:03.380 --> 00:20:07.220
camels. He thought, if Esau comes to one camp

00:20:07.220 --> 00:20:09.660
and attacks it, the remaining one can escape.

00:20:10.700 --> 00:20:14.220
And so instead of peace and trust and all is

00:20:14.220 --> 00:20:16.660
well and I'm good with God, God will protect

00:20:16.660 --> 00:20:20.299
me. I've been learning that. He freaks out. He

00:20:20.299 --> 00:20:23.559
panics and he's like, oh my gosh. And he divides

00:20:23.559 --> 00:20:26.599
his camp into two. He's forgetting all about

00:20:26.599 --> 00:20:29.900
the fact that God's with me here. He's forgetting

00:20:29.900 --> 00:20:33.480
all about Mahanaim, one camp, God is with me.

00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:35.740
And then he goes, you know what, Mahanaim, I've

00:20:35.740 --> 00:20:38.779
got to split everything back out. I've got to

00:20:38.779 --> 00:20:42.579
divide again. I mean, that's a logical response

00:20:42.579 --> 00:20:45.200
considering the possibilities that Esau is going

00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:47.700
to come and wreck everything. But how quick are

00:20:47.700 --> 00:20:50.480
we to go from, yay, Lord, everything's great,

00:20:50.619 --> 00:20:54.200
to the sky is falling. I'm all alone. God has

00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:56.640
abandoned me. It's like in one breath, we can

00:20:56.640 --> 00:20:58.819
make that switch sometimes. And this is what's

00:20:58.819 --> 00:21:01.440
happening here with Jacob. Now in verse nine,

00:21:01.579 --> 00:21:06.299
Jacob actually does a good thing. He prays. He

00:21:06.299 --> 00:21:08.819
prays to God and he says, God of my father Abraham

00:21:08.819 --> 00:21:12.119
and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said

00:21:12.119 --> 00:21:14.240
to me, go back to your land and to your family

00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:17.519
and I will cause you to prosper. I am unworthy

00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:19.220
of all the kindness and faithfulness you have

00:21:19.220 --> 00:21:22.140
shown your servant. Indeed, I crossed over the

00:21:22.140 --> 00:21:24.160
Jordan with my staff, and now I've become two

00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:28.059
camps. Please rescue me from my brother Esau,

00:21:28.140 --> 00:21:31.099
for I am afraid of him. Otherwise, he may come

00:21:31.099 --> 00:21:33.200
and attack me, the mothers, and their children.

00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:36.339
You have said I will cause you to prosper, and

00:21:36.339 --> 00:21:38.059
I will make your offspring like the sand of the

00:21:38.059 --> 00:21:43.099
sea, too numerous to be counted. So, good job,

00:21:43.220 --> 00:21:46.180
Jacob. You're doing the right thing when faced

00:21:46.180 --> 00:21:48.819
with an obstacle. Praying. This is the first

00:21:48.819 --> 00:21:51.480
time, incidentally. that we've seen Jacob pray

00:21:51.480 --> 00:21:55.359
in Scripture. We've been going over Jacob's story

00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:57.460
for a number of chapters now, and chronologically,

00:21:57.519 --> 00:22:01.039
that has covered a few decades, maybe four decades

00:22:01.039 --> 00:22:04.400
of time at this point. And yet, this is the first

00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:08.240
time that we have recorded that Jacob prayed.

00:22:08.680 --> 00:22:12.579
Now, good. Growth, right? The content of his

00:22:12.579 --> 00:22:15.339
prayer, however, it's just so appropriate and

00:22:15.339 --> 00:22:18.220
so good to his situation because he starts out

00:22:18.220 --> 00:22:21.349
acknowledging God. And we should always start

00:22:21.349 --> 00:22:24.390
prayer that way. A lot of times our prayer gets

00:22:24.390 --> 00:22:27.630
right into what I need. God, I need this. God,

00:22:27.690 --> 00:22:30.390
I need this. God, I need this. But it's a good

00:22:30.390 --> 00:22:33.289
place to start, to always start with God. You

00:22:33.289 --> 00:22:35.930
are great. God, you are mighty. You see how he

00:22:35.930 --> 00:22:38.250
starts. God of my father Abraham. God of my father

00:22:38.250 --> 00:22:41.750
Isaac. The Lord who said to me, it's like, God,

00:22:41.750 --> 00:22:44.710
you are amazing. You are the one who goes back

00:22:44.710 --> 00:22:46.410
to the beginning. I just want to start there

00:22:46.410 --> 00:22:49.529
by putting the right perspective on who you are.

00:22:50.899 --> 00:22:53.700
It establishes the foundation of what you're

00:22:53.700 --> 00:22:55.519
going to be asking for. And so what Jacob is

00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:57.460
essentially starting this prayer with is, God,

00:22:57.480 --> 00:23:00.319
I'm doing what you told me to do. You're amazing.

00:23:01.059 --> 00:23:03.019
You're the God that I'm following. I'm going

00:23:03.019 --> 00:23:05.319
home. And then he says, you are the Lord who

00:23:05.319 --> 00:23:08.980
said, and he repeats the promise. You see, one

00:23:08.980 --> 00:23:12.180
of the great ways to start our prayers is to

00:23:12.180 --> 00:23:15.220
start with praying God's promise over your life.

00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:19.180
When we come to God and we come to him based

00:23:19.180 --> 00:23:21.380
on who he is and all that, there's this great

00:23:21.380 --> 00:23:23.579
example in this prayer of Jacob to start with.

00:23:24.019 --> 00:23:27.140
God, let me bless you. You are so amazing. You

00:23:27.140 --> 00:23:29.460
are the God of glory. I give you all glory. And

00:23:29.460 --> 00:23:32.559
I start with, God, this is what you promised.

00:23:33.900 --> 00:23:37.019
And you pray God's promises in your life. The

00:23:37.019 --> 00:23:38.920
second thing Jacob does, and again, this is a

00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:41.559
great example to follow in prayer, is he confesses.

00:23:42.819 --> 00:23:46.599
I deserve nothing from you, God. I am unworthy.

00:23:46.619 --> 00:23:49.599
I recognize that I deserve nothing from you.

00:23:49.640 --> 00:23:54.759
You have done so much in my life already. But

00:23:54.759 --> 00:23:57.319
God, like always happens in my life, I'm in the

00:23:57.319 --> 00:24:01.059
thick of it again. I have found myself in the

00:24:01.059 --> 00:24:04.119
mess again. And so starting with glorifying God

00:24:04.119 --> 00:24:06.380
and starting with God, you said this. This is

00:24:06.380 --> 00:24:09.160
your promise. This is a promise I am basing this

00:24:09.160 --> 00:24:11.599
prayer upon. Confession is the next part. And

00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:14.720
then the third part is petition. where he says,

00:24:14.779 --> 00:24:17.440
please rescue me from my brother. That's my prayer,

00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:22.160
because I'm afraid. You see, it's better to pray

00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:24.920
an honest, negative confession than a dishonest,

00:24:24.920 --> 00:24:29.660
positive one. What do I mean by that? He's not

00:24:29.660 --> 00:24:33.029
saying, God, I've got it together. I made these

00:24:33.029 --> 00:24:37.789
cool overtures to my brother. I've really got

00:24:37.789 --> 00:24:40.089
this figured out. But God, if you could step

00:24:40.089 --> 00:24:42.009
in and just do your thing, that would be great.

00:24:42.190 --> 00:24:45.910
He's honest with the Lord. God, I'm scared. I'm

00:24:45.910 --> 00:24:51.210
afraid. Be honest when you pray to God. Be honest

00:24:51.210 --> 00:24:53.430
when you're coming to him. Be honest of what

00:24:53.430 --> 00:24:56.269
your petition is based upon. It's very important.

00:24:56.690 --> 00:24:58.690
So he's like, please rescue me for I'm afraid.

00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:01.559
And then look how he closes his prayer with God's

00:25:01.559 --> 00:25:06.180
word again. You have said, I'm resting on what

00:25:06.180 --> 00:25:09.319
you said, God. Your word is the foundation of

00:25:09.319 --> 00:25:12.420
this prayer. I'm honest. This is what you said,

00:25:12.460 --> 00:25:15.420
but I'm scared. This is what you said, but I'm

00:25:15.420 --> 00:25:17.700
afraid. But you know what? You said it. And so,

00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:20.019
God, I'm offering this prayer to you, and I'm

00:25:20.019 --> 00:25:22.579
resting on your word, and I'm trusting your word.

00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:26.779
A great example to follow in prayer, and one

00:25:26.779 --> 00:25:28.460
of the things I've learned over the years is,

00:25:28.839 --> 00:25:33.799
Pray first. Pray first. Bad situation, pray first.

00:25:34.339 --> 00:25:37.559
And pray right. But when we pray first and we

00:25:37.559 --> 00:25:39.759
pray right and we're resting on his word and

00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:42.299
his promises, there's an expectation that then

00:25:42.299 --> 00:25:45.420
we move forward in confidence and trust to take

00:25:45.420 --> 00:25:48.299
action on those prayers. But you see, there's

00:25:48.299 --> 00:25:50.940
a difference between taking action on, I've prayed,

00:25:51.140 --> 00:25:53.500
I know the Lord, I trust him, his promises are

00:25:53.500 --> 00:25:55.660
true, boom, I'm bold to walk in those things.

00:25:56.359 --> 00:25:57.799
There's a difference between that and praying,

00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:00.299
and God, I trust you and everything, and I'm

00:26:00.299 --> 00:26:02.440
still afraid, and so then I'm gonna go make my

00:26:02.440 --> 00:26:06.019
own plans regardless. And this is what Jacob

00:26:06.019 --> 00:26:08.480
is doing here. We've already been told by Jacob

00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:11.799
in his honesty that he's afraid. But his actions

00:26:11.799 --> 00:26:14.960
moving forward are based on his fear, not on

00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:18.940
his trust. You see, Jacob is still trying to

00:26:18.940 --> 00:26:22.480
handle his own business. In a sense, what Jacob's

00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:25.400
prayer is doing here, although it is a good prayer,

00:26:26.170 --> 00:26:29.210
He's saying, Lord, I trust your promises, so

00:26:29.210 --> 00:26:31.829
here are my plans, and I want you to bless my

00:26:31.829 --> 00:26:36.569
plans. That's often how we do things, and it's

00:26:36.569 --> 00:26:39.210
not the right approach. Because although Jacob

00:26:39.210 --> 00:26:41.210
has grown in his faith, and he has grown in his

00:26:41.210 --> 00:26:43.289
walk with the Lord, and he's grown in his trust

00:26:43.289 --> 00:26:45.250
of God, and his protection, and his provision,

00:26:45.349 --> 00:26:47.410
all these things, there's still this part of

00:26:47.410 --> 00:26:50.890
Jacob that is saying, yeah, but I still want

00:26:50.890 --> 00:26:53.650
you to bless my way. I still want you to bless

00:26:53.650 --> 00:26:55.230
my plants. And that's where we pick up in verse

00:26:55.230 --> 00:26:58.829
13. It says he spent the night there and took

00:26:58.829 --> 00:27:01.069
part of what he had brought with him as a gift

00:27:01.069 --> 00:27:04.509
for his brother Esau. 200 female goats, 20 male

00:27:04.509 --> 00:27:08.029
goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 30 milk camels with

00:27:08.029 --> 00:27:11.549
their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys,

00:27:11.569 --> 00:27:14.650
and 10 male donkeys. He entrusted them to his

00:27:14.650 --> 00:27:17.670
slaves as separate herds and said to them, go

00:27:17.670 --> 00:27:20.130
on ahead of me and leave some distance between

00:27:20.130 --> 00:27:22.779
the herds. And he told the first one, when my

00:27:22.779 --> 00:27:24.740
brother meets you and asks, who do you belong

00:27:24.740 --> 00:27:26.880
to, where are you going, and whose animals are

00:27:26.880 --> 00:27:29.640
these ahead of you, tell him, they belong to

00:27:29.640 --> 00:27:33.059
your servant Jacob. They are gifts. They are

00:27:33.059 --> 00:27:36.819
a gift sent to my Lord Esau. And look, he is

00:27:36.819 --> 00:27:40.420
behind us. He also told the second one, the third,

00:27:40.539 --> 00:27:42.339
and everyone who is walking behind the animals,

00:27:42.380 --> 00:27:44.579
say the same thing to Esau when you find him.

00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:47.420
You are also to say, look, your servant Jacob

00:27:47.420 --> 00:27:51.279
is right behind us. For he thought. Jacob thought,

00:27:51.400 --> 00:27:53.900
I want to appease Esau with the gift that is

00:27:53.900 --> 00:27:56.599
going ahead of me. After that, I can face him,

00:27:56.680 --> 00:28:03.400
and perhaps he will forgive me. Lord, I trust

00:28:03.400 --> 00:28:06.759
you. I believe in you. You are the God who made

00:28:06.759 --> 00:28:09.960
these promises. Please rescue me from my brother.

00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:13.980
I'm afraid. And then he makes a plan and goes,

00:28:14.180 --> 00:28:21.039
maybe he'll forgive me. That's not faith. That's

00:28:21.039 --> 00:28:22.980
how we know he's operating out of fear still.

00:28:24.039 --> 00:28:26.480
That's how we know this plan is a plan of Jacob's

00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:29.500
and not a plan of the Lord's. Jacob's going,

00:28:29.539 --> 00:28:31.759
okay, I need to do this. And it's kind of a good

00:28:31.759 --> 00:28:35.640
plan, right? Over 550 animals separated in five

00:28:35.640 --> 00:28:38.799
herds meant to appease his brother Esau. Esau's

00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:42.240
coming in with 400 men, a militia. So what Jacob

00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:44.579
says is, okay, if I flatter him enough and I

00:28:44.579 --> 00:28:47.559
send enough gifts, maybe he won't be so mad when

00:28:47.559 --> 00:28:49.359
he gets here. And so the first group, right?

00:28:50.029 --> 00:28:51.630
Who are you? Where are you coming from? Who are

00:28:51.630 --> 00:28:55.670
all these animals? Oh, my Lord Esau. Your servant

00:28:55.670 --> 00:28:58.509
Jacob sent these as a gift to you. He's coming

00:28:58.509 --> 00:29:01.829
behind us. And then the next wave, and the next

00:29:01.829 --> 00:29:04.789
wave, and the next wave. You see, the idea here

00:29:04.789 --> 00:29:08.210
was to soften Esau's heart and really to flatter

00:29:08.210 --> 00:29:12.730
Esau in a positive way. Like, hey, there's respect

00:29:12.730 --> 00:29:14.970
here. I don't think you're garbage. I don't think

00:29:14.970 --> 00:29:17.289
you're trash. There's this idea that I'm sorry

00:29:17.289 --> 00:29:19.509
for what I've done because the size of this gift,

00:29:19.650 --> 00:29:24.069
it's a royal -sized gift. The amount of animals

00:29:24.069 --> 00:29:26.109
and stuff he's sending to Esau is the type of

00:29:26.109 --> 00:29:29.289
gift one would send to a king. And so again,

00:29:29.390 --> 00:29:35.369
Jacob is trying to flatter here. Now, for Jacob's

00:29:35.369 --> 00:29:37.869
case here, there's actually something good in

00:29:37.869 --> 00:29:39.470
Jacob's life here, even though I believe this

00:29:39.470 --> 00:29:43.150
is Jacob's plan. And his prayer was, God bless

00:29:43.150 --> 00:29:46.029
my plan. We see that for once in Jacob's life,

00:29:46.130 --> 00:29:48.970
he's choosing to be last, not first in line.

00:29:50.430 --> 00:29:52.650
Now, yeah, there's a big part of that that's

00:29:52.650 --> 00:29:54.450
because like, well, we're gonna get to that later

00:29:54.450 --> 00:29:57.220
based on his fear. But still, Jacob is saying,

00:29:57.299 --> 00:29:58.940
I'm not going to walk in there and go, the birthright's

00:29:58.940 --> 00:30:00.380
mine and the blessing's mine. He's just like,

00:30:00.539 --> 00:30:04.079
I'm done trying to be in front in that way. Just

00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:08.240
here's the gifts. And so verse 21. So the gift

00:30:08.240 --> 00:30:09.980
was sent on ahead of him while he remained in

00:30:09.980 --> 00:30:12.579
the camp that night. During the night, Jacob

00:30:12.579 --> 00:30:15.559
got up and took his two wives, his two slave

00:30:15.559 --> 00:30:18.259
women, and his 11 sons and crossed the fort of

00:30:18.259 --> 00:30:20.759
Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the

00:30:20.759 --> 00:30:24.599
stream along with all his possessions. This is

00:30:24.599 --> 00:30:27.900
another piece here that shows us that Jacob is

00:30:27.900 --> 00:30:30.539
lacking peace and lacking calm, and there's really

00:30:30.539 --> 00:30:32.599
kind of a lack of the trust in the Lord here

00:30:32.599 --> 00:30:35.099
because crossing the river Jabbok, even though

00:30:35.099 --> 00:30:36.759
it was at a ford here, even though it was at

00:30:36.759 --> 00:30:39.200
a safer place, it was still a dangerous thing

00:30:39.200 --> 00:30:41.339
to do during the day, and he's doing this at

00:30:41.339 --> 00:30:44.019
nighttime. He's sending his wife and kids across

00:30:44.019 --> 00:30:45.720
this river, and he's sending all his possessions

00:30:45.720 --> 00:30:49.720
across this river at nighttime. That's a move

00:30:49.720 --> 00:30:52.519
of a little bit of a panic, of a worry, of a

00:30:52.519 --> 00:30:55.720
fear -driven, decision here. And so verse 24,

00:30:55.920 --> 00:30:59.660
after he moves his family over, it starts with

00:30:59.660 --> 00:31:02.180
this very important phrase, and Jacob was left

00:31:02.180 --> 00:31:08.420
alone. Now, some commentators will say that Jacob

00:31:08.420 --> 00:31:11.980
stayed on this side of the river, the Esau side

00:31:11.980 --> 00:31:15.059
of the river, because he just wanted to have

00:31:15.059 --> 00:31:18.079
a time of prayer and deep reflection and meditation.

00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:21.400
But that's not really the person Jacob is yet,

00:31:21.480 --> 00:31:25.730
right? After 20 plus years of life, we just read

00:31:25.730 --> 00:31:29.369
of his first prayer. So he's not really a man

00:31:29.369 --> 00:31:32.490
of prayer yet. Jacob is, and what we've learned

00:31:32.490 --> 00:31:35.490
from his life, he's a very practical man. He's

00:31:35.490 --> 00:31:40.470
a very self -reliant man. And he's a guy who

00:31:40.470 --> 00:31:44.349
has and still is trusting in his own plans a

00:31:44.349 --> 00:31:47.930
little bit more than he's trusting in God himself.

00:31:48.430 --> 00:31:52.150
And again, yeah, he's considered God. He had

00:31:52.150 --> 00:31:54.190
the presence of mind to go pray and ask God for

00:31:54.190 --> 00:31:58.490
help. But it's still his planning. It's still

00:31:58.490 --> 00:32:01.730
his plan that he's trusting in. And to be quite

00:32:01.730 --> 00:32:06.549
honest, I think he's just more tired and worried

00:32:06.549 --> 00:32:09.130
and upset based upon just leaving Laban and all

00:32:09.130 --> 00:32:12.730
this stuff going on that he just wants peace

00:32:12.730 --> 00:32:17.089
for a moment. I mean, for goodness sake, he has

00:32:17.089 --> 00:32:22.099
11 boys, right? He doesn't sleep. He hasn't slept

00:32:22.099 --> 00:32:23.880
in, you know, no, I don't know that that's the

00:32:23.880 --> 00:32:26.519
case, right? But for those of you that have had

00:32:26.519 --> 00:32:28.779
boys in your household, right, one of them's

00:32:28.779 --> 00:32:33.220
a lot. He's got 11 and four wives who don't necessarily

00:32:33.220 --> 00:32:36.079
like each other. It's just a really, so I think

00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:38.380
in many cases he was just like, I'm afraid, go

00:32:38.380 --> 00:32:40.519
over there. And then he's like, okay, tomorrow

00:32:40.519 --> 00:32:42.380
I'm going to meet Esau. I just want some peace,

00:32:42.519 --> 00:32:46.640
just some rest, right? Well, either way, he found

00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:51.150
himself alone. And that is often the very place

00:32:51.150 --> 00:32:56.210
that God comes in to speak to us. When we're

00:32:56.210 --> 00:32:59.190
in the quiet, when we're in our head, right?

00:33:00.789 --> 00:33:03.490
We're thinking and planning and scheming and

00:33:03.490 --> 00:33:06.970
worrying and, you know, I need to do this. And

00:33:06.970 --> 00:33:11.450
we're praying, God, bless my plan. Bless my way.

00:33:11.490 --> 00:33:14.670
You know, I came up with this and we're just

00:33:14.670 --> 00:33:17.710
worried and we're just, what we're seeking is

00:33:17.710 --> 00:33:21.339
peace. and calm. We're seeking, you know, to

00:33:21.339 --> 00:33:24.299
resolve the situation, but we're all tied up

00:33:24.299 --> 00:33:26.740
in knots over it. And this is where God meets

00:33:26.740 --> 00:33:31.420
Jacob. So verse 24 tells us, Jacob was left alone,

00:33:31.579 --> 00:33:35.279
and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When

00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:37.640
the man saw that he could not defeat him, he

00:33:37.640 --> 00:33:39.920
struck Jacob's hip socket as they wrestled and

00:33:39.920 --> 00:33:44.920
dislocated his hip. Now, Jacob has been struggling

00:33:44.920 --> 00:33:48.750
his whole life. In one way or another, and this

00:33:48.750 --> 00:33:52.890
is the main event for Jacob's long life of WrestleMania.

00:33:54.269 --> 00:33:59.450
This is it. This is the title card, right? Jacob

00:33:59.450 --> 00:34:04.130
knew who God was. Jacob believed in God, believed

00:34:04.130 --> 00:34:07.109
in God's promises so much he tried to steal them.

00:34:08.530 --> 00:34:11.050
He knew the stories of his father Isaac and all

00:34:11.050 --> 00:34:13.610
that Isaac had experienced. He knew the stories

00:34:13.610 --> 00:34:15.829
of his grandfather Abraham. He knew the promises,

00:34:15.869 --> 00:34:19.949
right? This was who Jacob was. But Jacob had

00:34:19.949 --> 00:34:23.849
always had a life of trying to do things his

00:34:23.849 --> 00:34:28.449
own way. God, I believe in you, and that's great.

00:34:28.530 --> 00:34:32.070
Thanks for loving me, but I'll handle the business.

00:34:32.969 --> 00:34:36.789
I'll do it my way. From the very beginning of

00:34:36.789 --> 00:34:39.750
his life, when he was born, it tells us he was

00:34:39.750 --> 00:34:43.429
born grasping the heel of his brother. That's

00:34:43.429 --> 00:34:46.860
what his name means, heel catcher. It means supplant

00:34:46.860 --> 00:34:48.739
or deceiver. The idea is that he was like, no,

00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:52.179
no, no. I want to dictate my own destiny. I will

00:34:52.179 --> 00:34:55.800
be first from the very point of the womb. And

00:34:55.800 --> 00:34:59.000
then he lied and cheated to steal the birthright

00:34:59.000 --> 00:35:02.119
from his brother. He believed the birthright

00:35:02.119 --> 00:35:04.179
was valuable. He believed the promise of God

00:35:04.179 --> 00:35:07.400
in it, but he was going to get it his way. He

00:35:07.400 --> 00:35:09.460
deceived his dad to steal the family blessing.

00:35:10.699 --> 00:35:14.460
His whole life. had been struggling against those

00:35:14.460 --> 00:35:20.159
who had what he wanted. Most recently in his

00:35:20.159 --> 00:35:24.320
life, 20 years. Because Laban had the woman he

00:35:24.320 --> 00:35:27.179
wanted to marry as his wife. He had been cheated.

00:35:28.320 --> 00:35:31.440
And so he had been struggling. And what we find

00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:33.579
now in Jacob's life as he's going, look, I want

00:35:33.579 --> 00:35:36.699
to send all these herds and stuff to my brother.

00:35:36.780 --> 00:35:42.360
I just want favor. I just want acceptance. I

00:35:42.360 --> 00:35:45.099
just want blessing. I just want to know that

00:35:45.099 --> 00:35:49.739
I'm good and everything's good. And then here,

00:35:49.840 --> 00:35:52.639
I just want one night of rest and peace and quiet.

00:35:54.239 --> 00:35:57.099
And yet he finds himself wrestling again with

00:35:57.099 --> 00:36:00.280
another man. Now we ask the question, who is

00:36:00.280 --> 00:36:04.460
the man? Right? Hulk Hogan is no longer with

00:36:04.460 --> 00:36:06.599
us. He's passed, gone to be with the Lord, and

00:36:06.599 --> 00:36:09.730
so it's not Hulk Hogan. It's not any other famous

00:36:09.730 --> 00:36:12.489
wrestler, right? Who is he wrestling with? Well,

00:36:12.530 --> 00:36:14.250
there's all kinds of crazy ideas out there, even

00:36:14.250 --> 00:36:17.750
today. And I love how God anticipates the questions

00:36:17.750 --> 00:36:20.030
that we have, especially people who think they're

00:36:20.030 --> 00:36:22.110
smart and want to, you know, read between the

00:36:22.110 --> 00:36:24.829
lines on everything. Hosea chapter 12 verse 3

00:36:24.829 --> 00:36:26.929
tells us exactly who this is Jacob's wrestling

00:36:26.929 --> 00:36:30.070
with. It says there, in the womb he grasped his

00:36:30.070 --> 00:36:32.630
brother's heel, and as an adult he wrestled with

00:36:32.630 --> 00:36:39.760
God. The man wrestling with Jacob here in Genesis

00:36:39.760 --> 00:36:44.260
is none other than God himself. Whether this

00:36:44.260 --> 00:36:48.000
is a Christophany or a Theophany or all those

00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:51.820
types of things, it doesn't matter. He's wrestling

00:36:51.820 --> 00:36:55.500
with God. He's having this physical altercation

00:36:55.500 --> 00:37:00.480
with God himself. And so you have Jacob who is

00:37:00.480 --> 00:37:03.599
here on this side of the river sitting alone

00:37:03.599 --> 00:37:10.019
in his fear. sitting alone in his anxiety, hoping

00:37:10.019 --> 00:37:12.860
his plan works, hoping God blesses his plan,

00:37:13.079 --> 00:37:17.340
trying to figure things out. And as he's just

00:37:17.340 --> 00:37:18.980
sitting there out of the darkness, a pair of

00:37:18.980 --> 00:37:23.059
strong hands grab him and start grappling with

00:37:23.059 --> 00:37:25.960
him, and this cosmic wrestling match ensues.

00:37:26.119 --> 00:37:28.440
And so, you know, instead of an anxious night

00:37:28.440 --> 00:37:31.000
of rest that Jacob was hoping for, it was another

00:37:31.000 --> 00:37:36.400
night of struggle. Why? Why was God wrestling

00:37:36.400 --> 00:37:39.659
with Jacob here? Why was this what Jacob was

00:37:39.659 --> 00:37:43.219
faced with instead of his semi -peaceful night

00:37:43.219 --> 00:37:46.000
of fearful sleep? It's because he didn't yet

00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:51.719
understand that his fear, his anxiety, his worry

00:37:51.719 --> 00:37:57.260
is what has driven his entire life. Just about

00:37:57.260 --> 00:37:59.780
every decision he ever made was driven by fear.

00:38:01.119 --> 00:38:03.360
Driven by anxiety and driven by worry, he was

00:38:03.360 --> 00:38:06.019
always afraid that he was gonna lose out on what

00:38:06.019 --> 00:38:09.199
was most important to him if he didn't intervene

00:38:09.199 --> 00:38:13.320
himself, if he didn't get involved, if he didn't

00:38:13.320 --> 00:38:18.000
run the show, he was gonna miss out. And really,

00:38:18.059 --> 00:38:19.820
he thought that way because at the end of the

00:38:19.820 --> 00:38:26.880
day, at this point in Jacob's life, one of, if

00:38:26.880 --> 00:38:30.530
not the last major stronghold in his life, was

00:38:30.530 --> 00:38:32.349
even though he believed in God and professed

00:38:32.349 --> 00:38:35.989
God, Jacob was the only one Jacob could fully

00:38:35.989 --> 00:38:43.130
trust. He never had rest. He never had peace.

00:38:43.530 --> 00:38:46.889
He always struggled and fought and schemed and

00:38:46.889 --> 00:38:49.989
learned very slowly over the years that his own

00:38:49.989 --> 00:38:55.039
self -reliance was why he never had rest. That

00:38:55.039 --> 00:38:57.440
the only one he fully trusted in was the only

00:38:57.440 --> 00:39:00.199
one who kept letting him down over and over and

00:39:00.199 --> 00:39:04.559
over. His stubbornness, his defiance, his pride

00:39:04.559 --> 00:39:09.559
was the very thing keeping him from favor and

00:39:09.559 --> 00:39:12.820
full acceptance and experiencing the full blessing.

00:39:13.440 --> 00:39:15.840
The very thing he kept trusting in to say, no,

00:39:15.920 --> 00:39:18.340
only I can figure this out in my plans, in my

00:39:18.340 --> 00:39:21.199
way. And he's seeking peace and he's seeking

00:39:21.199 --> 00:39:24.590
all the things. He was the one keeping himself

00:39:24.590 --> 00:39:31.070
from the blessing. And so God steps in. And that's

00:39:31.070 --> 00:39:33.969
the beautiful story so often in the Bible. But

00:39:33.969 --> 00:39:38.670
God. But grace. Right? That stubbornness, that

00:39:38.670 --> 00:39:42.949
defiance, that pride. That which was the very

00:39:42.949 --> 00:39:45.510
source of his latest plan. Oh, let me flatter.

00:39:45.650 --> 00:39:49.670
Let me send money and gifts. was the very thing

00:39:49.670 --> 00:39:52.929
that was preventing him from fully yielding and

00:39:52.929 --> 00:39:55.190
submitting to God's complete control in his life.

00:39:56.429 --> 00:40:00.869
And so God is showing up to deal with that. And

00:40:00.869 --> 00:40:03.869
it says they wrestled all night. And then it

00:40:03.869 --> 00:40:05.710
says this man, who we've already identified as

00:40:05.710 --> 00:40:08.309
God, says he could not defeat him. And you think,

00:40:08.309 --> 00:40:10.349
well, if it's God, how could God not defeat him?

00:40:11.530 --> 00:40:14.489
This wasn't about God's inability to defeat Jacob.

00:40:14.650 --> 00:40:18.050
This was about God seeing that Jacob's stubbornness,

00:40:18.110 --> 00:40:22.570
Jacob's pride is what prevented Jacob from putting

00:40:22.570 --> 00:40:24.929
God on the throne of his life to making God the

00:40:24.929 --> 00:40:28.110
preeminent number one. That at this point in

00:40:28.110 --> 00:40:33.230
Jacob's life, God was part of his life. But God

00:40:33.230 --> 00:40:37.670
wanted to be his life in total. See, it's like

00:40:37.670 --> 00:40:41.539
this. The other day, my grandson James, He got

00:40:41.539 --> 00:40:44.519
mad at me because I told him no on something.

00:40:45.159 --> 00:40:47.659
And I was sitting in the recliner and he does

00:40:47.659 --> 00:40:49.179
this thing when he gets mad, he does the eyebrows.

00:40:50.199 --> 00:40:52.179
He looks down at you like that and he came up

00:40:52.179 --> 00:40:55.480
and he hits me on the leg. And I went, really?

00:40:55.880 --> 00:40:58.880
And he backed up with the eyebrows. Then he came

00:40:58.880 --> 00:41:02.619
back and he hit me again. I said, is that how

00:41:02.619 --> 00:41:05.019
we deal with our emotions? Is that how we deal

00:41:05.019 --> 00:41:07.440
with our problems? And then he stepped back even

00:41:07.440 --> 00:41:09.239
further and he came like kind of flying in like

00:41:09.239 --> 00:41:11.739
a gorilla. And boom, hit me with both his arms

00:41:11.739 --> 00:41:15.260
right on my stomach. This went on for about five

00:41:15.260 --> 00:41:19.599
minutes. And I looked at him and I said, you

00:41:19.599 --> 00:41:24.780
can't hurt me. He'd hit me again. I said, are

00:41:24.780 --> 00:41:29.800
you done? He hit me again. I said, you can't

00:41:29.800 --> 00:41:36.320
hurt me. He hit me again. I still love you. Hit

00:41:36.320 --> 00:41:39.420
me again. You can't make me stop loving you.

00:41:39.480 --> 00:41:41.739
I'm always going to love you. This went on for

00:41:41.739 --> 00:41:47.079
five minutes. And finally he got tired. I said,

00:41:47.099 --> 00:41:50.500
are you done? That's kind of how I see this with

00:41:50.500 --> 00:41:54.119
Jacob and God here, right? It's not that God

00:41:54.119 --> 00:41:56.139
was like, dang, he's so strong. It's just like,

00:41:56.219 --> 00:42:01.159
are you done, Jacob? Are you going to let go

00:42:01.159 --> 00:42:05.650
of that last stronghold in your life? And Jacob

00:42:05.650 --> 00:42:10.010
just wrestle, wrestle, wrestle, wrestle. And

00:42:10.010 --> 00:42:13.769
so it says he could not defeat him. That God

00:42:13.769 --> 00:42:17.329
saw that Jacob couldn't let go of that stubbornness,

00:42:17.329 --> 00:42:20.610
that pride. That although Jacob believed in him

00:42:20.610 --> 00:42:25.309
and his promises, that Jacob was still ultimately

00:42:25.309 --> 00:42:28.869
the one Jacob could, Jacob was the only one that

00:42:28.869 --> 00:42:32.650
Jacob could trust. And so what does God do? God's

00:42:32.650 --> 00:42:34.610
going to intervene in Jacob's life for Jacob's

00:42:34.610 --> 00:42:36.489
benefit. It says he struck Jacob's hip socket

00:42:36.489 --> 00:42:39.929
as they wrestled and dislocated his hip. And

00:42:39.929 --> 00:42:44.070
you might think, well, that's cheating. Again,

00:42:44.170 --> 00:42:46.889
here's a supernatural God going, are you done?

00:42:48.630 --> 00:42:53.110
Are you done? Why do you trust yourself? Why

00:42:53.110 --> 00:42:54.690
can't you fully trust me? That's what I want

00:42:54.690 --> 00:43:01.840
you to do. No, I'll do it my way. And then, This

00:43:01.840 --> 00:43:04.880
is how I see this. God saw that the stronghold

00:43:04.880 --> 00:43:09.599
was so strong in Jacob's life that God steps

00:43:09.599 --> 00:43:13.539
in and deliberately cripples him to break this

00:43:13.539 --> 00:43:19.199
stronghold out of his life. Now, why the hip

00:43:19.199 --> 00:43:23.139
socket, right? First service, this just came

00:43:23.139 --> 00:43:26.940
to me out of the blue. Like, why did he touch

00:43:26.940 --> 00:43:29.980
the hip socket? Best dad joke ever, because this

00:43:29.980 --> 00:43:38.760
was the birth of hip -hop. Great, I got the dad

00:43:38.760 --> 00:43:42.880
joke. Ha, ha, ha. There, see? No. Why the hip

00:43:42.880 --> 00:43:47.519
socket? Jacob's thought throughout his entire

00:43:47.519 --> 00:43:50.019
life was always, if my plans don't work out,

00:43:50.079 --> 00:43:55.039
I could always run. That was Jacob's... Early

00:43:55.039 --> 00:43:57.000
life, steal the birthright, steal the blessing.

00:43:57.139 --> 00:44:00.840
Oh no, things didn't go my way, gotta flee. While

00:44:00.840 --> 00:44:02.820
he's fleeing, God shows up at Bethel and says,

00:44:02.980 --> 00:44:05.079
I want you to know something, Jacob, that's gonna

00:44:05.079 --> 00:44:06.860
be a foundation of your entire life. I'm with

00:44:06.860 --> 00:44:08.699
you no matter where you go. You cannot run from

00:44:08.699 --> 00:44:12.139
me. And my promises are gonna hold true because

00:44:12.139 --> 00:44:16.159
I'm God and I made those promises. And Jacob's

00:44:16.159 --> 00:44:18.760
like, cool, okay. He goes, and he has his 20

00:44:18.760 --> 00:44:21.340
years of difficulty with Laban. And at the end

00:44:21.340 --> 00:44:23.619
of those 20 years, Laban and his countenance

00:44:23.619 --> 00:44:25.340
is changing. Jacob's like, oh, no, things are

00:44:25.340 --> 00:44:28.480
getting bad. I got to run again. Gathers his

00:44:28.480 --> 00:44:32.880
wives. Hey, honeys, we got to go. Right? Multiple

00:44:32.880 --> 00:44:36.860
lies. Okay. And they say, yeah, sure. Our dad's

00:44:36.860 --> 00:44:39.760
a punk. He's not a nice man. Let's go. So they

00:44:39.760 --> 00:44:43.300
flee. And that was the very basis of Laban's

00:44:43.300 --> 00:44:45.659
upset. You fled in secret. What was up with that?

00:44:46.989 --> 00:44:49.610
Here Jacob is here, and he's growing. He's growing

00:44:49.610 --> 00:44:51.909
in the Lord. We see that. But now he comes to

00:44:51.909 --> 00:44:53.269
this place. He's like, God, I'm scared. Please

00:44:53.269 --> 00:44:55.949
rescue me. Okay, I have this great plan to flatter

00:44:55.949 --> 00:44:59.449
my brother, to do all this, instead of just like,

00:44:59.510 --> 00:45:01.650
I trust God. I don't need to do anything other

00:45:01.650 --> 00:45:04.909
than just let God go before me. But I'm going

00:45:04.909 --> 00:45:06.650
to send the animals and all this stuff. My plans,

00:45:06.710 --> 00:45:10.389
my plans. And then God shows up here and says,

00:45:10.449 --> 00:45:15.309
look. Do you think you're going to be able to

00:45:15.309 --> 00:45:17.150
run again if this plan doesn't work out too?

00:45:18.650 --> 00:45:24.329
I don't think so. So God steps in and takes away

00:45:24.329 --> 00:45:28.650
Jacob's last possible way of self -reliance.

00:45:29.449 --> 00:45:34.630
The last possible method of retreat. Jacob literally

00:45:34.630 --> 00:45:38.210
could not run away now. Not fast enough to get

00:45:38.210 --> 00:45:41.610
away from Esau and his army. God closed that

00:45:41.610 --> 00:45:44.630
door. God took care of it. There was no escaping

00:45:44.630 --> 00:45:48.829
now. There was nothing else Jacob could do. In

00:45:48.829 --> 00:45:52.570
verse 26, then the man said to Jacob, let me

00:45:52.570 --> 00:45:58.309
go for it's daybreak. Jacob, you want to cling

00:45:58.309 --> 00:46:02.230
to your stubbornness? You want to rely on your

00:46:02.230 --> 00:46:06.449
plan? You know you can't run this time. How do

00:46:06.449 --> 00:46:10.409
you think that's going to work out? But hey,

00:46:10.449 --> 00:46:13.570
I'll honor your free will. Let me go. Just let

00:46:13.570 --> 00:46:15.809
go of me. You could go deal with this on your

00:46:15.809 --> 00:46:19.269
own. And then it tells us that Jacob said, I

00:46:19.269 --> 00:46:24.409
will not let you go unless you bless me. Now,

00:46:24.489 --> 00:46:26.590
we read those words, and some people read those

00:46:26.590 --> 00:46:28.630
words, and it sounds like Jacob is coming from

00:46:28.630 --> 00:46:34.130
a position of domination, right? Like, no, I've

00:46:34.130 --> 00:46:36.170
got you, God. I ain't going to let you go until

00:46:36.170 --> 00:46:37.989
you bless me. But that's not what's taking place

00:46:37.989 --> 00:46:41.170
here. You see, again, in Hosea 12, verse 4, it

00:46:41.170 --> 00:46:44.010
says, Jacob struggled with the angel. We already

00:46:44.010 --> 00:46:46.070
know that it's called God, so we know it's God,

00:46:46.190 --> 00:46:50.389
and prevailed. It says he wept and sought his

00:46:50.389 --> 00:46:55.110
favor. You see, Jacob wanted favor. He wanted

00:46:55.110 --> 00:46:59.230
acceptance. He wanted to be blessed, and he wanted

00:46:59.230 --> 00:47:01.710
that not just from Esau, but he wanted that from

00:47:01.710 --> 00:47:04.070
God. He believed in God. He wanted all that from

00:47:04.070 --> 00:47:06.389
the Lord, but he was still trying to get it through

00:47:06.389 --> 00:47:12.150
his own efforts. And when God removed the last

00:47:12.150 --> 00:47:16.989
possible out, and Jacob says, I will not let

00:47:16.989 --> 00:47:19.949
you go unless you bless me. It wasn't from a

00:47:19.949 --> 00:47:23.170
position of domination. It was Jacob finally

00:47:23.170 --> 00:47:26.070
surrendering. It was Jacob finally coming to

00:47:26.070 --> 00:47:29.010
the place of saying, look, I can't run. All I

00:47:29.010 --> 00:47:32.769
can do is cling to you, Lord. You are the only

00:47:32.769 --> 00:47:37.269
way. And so when he says, I will not let you

00:47:37.269 --> 00:47:40.849
go unless you bless me, it wasn't from... domination.

00:47:40.849 --> 00:47:44.989
It was a crying, pleading desperation. It was

00:47:44.989 --> 00:47:47.989
Jacob saying, look, I've had it. I'm destroyed.

00:47:48.070 --> 00:47:54.230
I'm done. I can't run. I have no way out. I have

00:47:54.230 --> 00:47:56.590
no confidence in my plan. That's why I wanted

00:47:56.590 --> 00:47:59.090
a way out. And you took that away, God. I can't

00:47:59.090 --> 00:48:03.340
do anything without you. There is no way I could

00:48:03.340 --> 00:48:06.019
win. There is no way I could find favor. There

00:48:06.019 --> 00:48:08.519
is no way I could be blessed. There is no way

00:48:08.519 --> 00:48:14.460
unless you bless me. So he's crying. He's weeping.

00:48:14.480 --> 00:48:19.260
He's pleading. God, it's not my plans that are

00:48:19.260 --> 00:48:21.079
going to save me. It's not my own way that's

00:48:21.079 --> 00:48:23.519
going to save me. I can't earn it. I can't figure

00:48:23.519 --> 00:48:26.199
out a way to get it. I'm spent. I'm done. Please,

00:48:26.420 --> 00:48:29.659
God, finally, I'm clinging to you for everything.

00:48:30.829 --> 00:48:36.949
I cannot be blessed unless you bless me. And

00:48:36.949 --> 00:48:39.010
then in verse 27, God responds, what is your

00:48:39.010 --> 00:48:43.570
name, the man asked. Jacob, he replied. Your

00:48:43.570 --> 00:48:45.489
name will no longer be Jacob, he said. It will

00:48:45.489 --> 00:48:47.650
be Israel because you have struggled with God

00:48:47.650 --> 00:48:50.969
and with men and have prevailed. So this question

00:48:50.969 --> 00:48:55.389
from God was the moment of confession. Jacob,

00:48:55.469 --> 00:49:00.170
who are you? And Jacob says, I'm heel catcher.

00:49:01.039 --> 00:49:07.280
I'm supplanter. I'm deceiver. I do rely on myself

00:49:07.280 --> 00:49:09.780
and my own plans more than you, Lord. I am everything

00:49:09.780 --> 00:49:16.199
my name implies. It's a confession. I am a sinner.

00:49:19.539 --> 00:49:24.679
But bless me, please. And God says, well, you

00:49:24.679 --> 00:49:28.460
finally surrendered and yielded to me. And because

00:49:28.460 --> 00:49:30.760
you've done so, You have a different name. And

00:49:30.760 --> 00:49:34.099
in these times, names were intrinsically tied

00:49:34.099 --> 00:49:36.519
to the nature, the character of somebody, right?

00:49:37.420 --> 00:49:39.679
So what God is saying is, great, because you

00:49:39.679 --> 00:49:41.579
finally surrendered and yielded everything to

00:49:41.579 --> 00:49:43.159
me. You're clinging to me the way I've always

00:49:43.159 --> 00:49:45.940
wanted you to. Even though I had to cripple you

00:49:45.940 --> 00:49:50.500
to do it, your nature is now different. And he

00:49:50.500 --> 00:49:53.599
names him Israel. The word Israel, it can mean

00:49:53.599 --> 00:49:57.039
God fights. It could mean God strives. It could

00:49:57.039 --> 00:50:00.420
mean God rules. This is why we often hear it

00:50:00.420 --> 00:50:05.559
as Israel means governed by God. But you dig

00:50:05.559 --> 00:50:07.820
down into the roots of the name, there's even

00:50:07.820 --> 00:50:11.139
a deeper meaning because the name Israel is Yisrael

00:50:11.139 --> 00:50:16.420
or Yisrael in Hebrew. Yisrael means to prevail.

00:50:17.639 --> 00:50:22.679
El is God, right? So if you break Israel into

00:50:22.679 --> 00:50:28.289
its root words, what it means is God wins. God

00:50:28.289 --> 00:50:32.989
wins. Your name, Jacob, is no longer supplanter.

00:50:33.090 --> 00:50:36.230
Your nature is no longer that. Your name, your

00:50:36.230 --> 00:50:40.789
nature now is God wins. You've struggled with

00:50:40.789 --> 00:50:42.550
God. You've struggled with man. And he says,

00:50:42.590 --> 00:50:46.070
you won. You're going, wait a second. How did

00:50:46.070 --> 00:50:55.650
Jacob win when he lost? He won through surrender.

00:50:58.380 --> 00:51:00.119
God says, I want to bless you. I want to give

00:51:00.119 --> 00:51:04.699
you favor. I want to just use your life. And

00:51:04.699 --> 00:51:06.860
this is at the moment of salvation struggle,

00:51:07.019 --> 00:51:08.820
and it's a struggle we go through in our entire

00:51:08.820 --> 00:51:13.239
life. When Jacob finally surrendered all of his

00:51:13.239 --> 00:51:15.199
struggles and all of his plans and all of his

00:51:15.199 --> 00:51:20.420
self -reliance, he won. He got the blessing.

00:51:20.480 --> 00:51:22.820
He got the favor. He got everything he'd been

00:51:22.820 --> 00:51:24.539
searching for his whole life because it's all

00:51:24.539 --> 00:51:30.840
found in Christ. It's all found in God. And he

00:51:30.840 --> 00:51:34.420
got it by giving up on his self -reliance, his

00:51:34.420 --> 00:51:37.300
own plans, his ways, his stubbornness, his pride.

00:51:39.579 --> 00:51:41.840
Jesus said, lay down your life and you will find

00:51:41.840 --> 00:51:43.760
it, but try and hang on to it and you'll lose

00:51:43.760 --> 00:51:50.119
it. That's what Jesus said. Jacob went from a

00:51:50.119 --> 00:51:54.880
man who is self -ruled to a guy who is now God

00:51:54.880 --> 00:51:57.400
-ruled. And that's one of the meanings of Israel,

00:51:57.619 --> 00:52:01.519
God rules. His victory was found in submission

00:52:01.519 --> 00:52:04.179
to God, to doing it God's way, to fully trusting

00:52:04.179 --> 00:52:06.199
in him and him alone, saying, I'm crippled. I

00:52:06.199 --> 00:52:08.119
could do nothing. I just have to cling to you,

00:52:08.159 --> 00:52:13.159
and this is the only way I will be blessed. How

00:52:13.159 --> 00:52:18.579
would you like your name to be God wins? You're

00:52:18.579 --> 00:52:20.519
still hanging on to your addictions. You're still

00:52:20.519 --> 00:52:23.099
hanging on to past sins. You're still hanging

00:52:23.099 --> 00:52:25.519
on to pride or stubbornness or self -reliance.

00:52:25.539 --> 00:52:27.739
You're still hanging on to whatever it is. And

00:52:27.739 --> 00:52:30.239
you're saved. You've confessed faith in God.

00:52:30.320 --> 00:52:32.960
And God said, it's based on your faith that I

00:52:32.960 --> 00:52:34.579
consider you righteous. And you're like, woohoo,

00:52:34.599 --> 00:52:36.920
I'm saved. I'm going to heaven. I'm good. But

00:52:36.920 --> 00:52:38.659
there's still some aspect of your life where

00:52:38.659 --> 00:52:40.760
you're saying, God, this is mine. I will have

00:52:40.760 --> 00:52:46.019
control of this. You keep trying and it keeps

00:52:46.019 --> 00:52:48.019
failing and you keep trying and it keeps failing.

00:52:51.780 --> 00:52:54.360
How would you like God to step in and say, you

00:52:54.360 --> 00:52:57.360
know that old nature? You finally yielded it

00:52:57.360 --> 00:52:59.019
to me. You finally surrender it. So guess what?

00:52:59.860 --> 00:53:02.500
Your name is God wins. You've let me win in your

00:53:02.500 --> 00:53:06.519
life. I have prevailed in your life. I am the

00:53:06.519 --> 00:53:08.239
one that you finally are seeing. You're everything.

00:53:08.380 --> 00:53:10.360
You're not just part of my life. You are my life,

00:53:10.440 --> 00:53:16.300
Jesus. Jacob found that when he fully surrendered

00:53:16.300 --> 00:53:20.519
for the Lord, he found that it indeed was God

00:53:20.519 --> 00:53:25.079
who fought for him and won the battles. Especially

00:53:25.079 --> 00:53:27.139
the battles with himself and his own nature.

00:53:27.239 --> 00:53:30.300
And because of that, God ruled. That's all the

00:53:30.300 --> 00:53:33.199
meanings of that name. God fights, God strives,

00:53:33.219 --> 00:53:38.199
God rules. But ultimately all that means is that

00:53:38.199 --> 00:53:43.699
God wins. I want my life to be God wins. That's

00:53:43.699 --> 00:53:45.380
what I want people to see when they see my life.

00:53:45.440 --> 00:53:48.739
God wins. In my own life, in my own struggles,

00:53:48.760 --> 00:53:54.440
with my own nature, I want to be God wins. It

00:53:54.440 --> 00:53:56.539
was in weakness that Jacob found victory. It

00:53:56.539 --> 00:54:01.820
was in surrender he found success. Yisrael. What

00:54:01.820 --> 00:54:04.880
a beautiful word, right? Verse 29, that Jacob

00:54:04.880 --> 00:54:08.559
asked him, please tell me your name. But he answered,

00:54:08.659 --> 00:54:11.000
why do you ask my name? And he blessed him there.

00:54:11.989 --> 00:54:14.090
Jacob then named the place Peniel, for I have

00:54:14.090 --> 00:54:16.670
seen God face to face, he said, yet my life has

00:54:16.670 --> 00:54:19.730
been spared. The sun shone on him as he passed

00:54:19.730 --> 00:54:23.269
by Penuel, another name for the same place, limping

00:54:23.269 --> 00:54:26.309
because of his hip. That is why still today the

00:54:26.309 --> 00:54:28.250
Israelites don't eat the thigh muscle that is

00:54:28.250 --> 00:54:31.050
at the hip socket, because he struck Jacob's

00:54:31.050 --> 00:54:35.949
hip socket at the thigh muscle. What's your name,

00:54:35.989 --> 00:54:42.039
Jacob? I'm a sinner. That's who I am. Okay. But

00:54:42.039 --> 00:54:43.760
because you're yielding to me and you trust me,

00:54:43.840 --> 00:54:46.139
I'm going to give you a new nature. Your new

00:54:46.139 --> 00:54:49.980
nature is God wins, God rules, God fights. You

00:54:49.980 --> 00:54:51.800
trust me for the battles. You trust me for the

00:54:51.800 --> 00:54:53.760
plans. You trust me for the way. That is who

00:54:53.760 --> 00:54:56.340
I want you to be because I'm going to do great

00:54:56.340 --> 00:55:00.679
things in your life. And then Jacob goes, yeah,

00:55:00.699 --> 00:55:02.340
what's your name? And God's like, come on, dude.

00:55:03.699 --> 00:55:08.289
You know who I am. Stop doubting, Jacob. Stop

00:55:08.289 --> 00:55:12.449
finding a reason to rely on yourself. Stop trying

00:55:12.449 --> 00:55:14.829
to find a crack in the plan so that you can truly

00:55:14.829 --> 00:55:17.329
go back to trusting yourself more than God. You

00:55:17.329 --> 00:55:20.269
know who I am. I'm not going to tell you. And

00:55:20.269 --> 00:55:23.349
he blessed him there. Jacob named the place Peniel.

00:55:23.849 --> 00:55:25.869
For I have seen God face to face. Guess what

00:55:25.869 --> 00:55:33.269
Peniel means? Face of God. Very fitting, right?

00:55:33.329 --> 00:55:35.289
The second major turning point in God's life.

00:55:36.329 --> 00:55:39.469
The first time he goes to Bethel. He meets God.

00:55:40.010 --> 00:55:42.769
God is with you. I'm here. My presence is with

00:55:42.769 --> 00:55:44.869
you. It'll never leave. The next time, Peniel.

00:55:45.610 --> 00:55:49.070
I've seen God face to face. I've wrestled with

00:55:49.070 --> 00:55:51.070
him. I've struggled. And it's interesting. God

00:55:51.070 --> 00:55:53.050
says, I'm going to name you God wins because

00:55:53.050 --> 00:55:56.449
you struggled with God and men and won. And you

00:55:56.449 --> 00:55:57.750
go, what? We already talked about that, right?

00:55:57.789 --> 00:56:01.050
How does that mean he won? The word actually

00:56:01.050 --> 00:56:02.789
in the CSB here is you've struggled with God

00:56:02.789 --> 00:56:05.590
and man and have prevailed. That word prevailed

00:56:05.590 --> 00:56:07.969
in the original language means to continue to

00:56:07.969 --> 00:56:11.409
exist. I'm going to name you God wins because

00:56:11.409 --> 00:56:13.090
you've struggled with God and man and you're

00:56:13.090 --> 00:56:17.889
still alive. What? How does me being alive mean

00:56:17.889 --> 00:56:21.989
God wins? Jacob understood the magnitude of his

00:56:21.989 --> 00:56:24.110
encounter with God, being the sinner that he

00:56:24.110 --> 00:56:28.579
was, having stood before God. because he yielded

00:56:28.579 --> 00:56:30.019
and he said, God, you are everything. I trust

00:56:30.019 --> 00:56:32.219
you. I'm done. I can't. You even crippled me

00:56:32.219 --> 00:56:35.039
and I have to cling to you. That's all I can

00:56:35.039 --> 00:56:38.000
do. God finally said, you're going to receive

00:56:38.000 --> 00:56:41.019
the greatest blessing of all. You're going to

00:56:41.019 --> 00:56:43.300
receive God's ultimate grace, the ultimate fulfillment

00:56:43.300 --> 00:56:45.099
of God's promises. You're going to receive life

00:56:45.099 --> 00:56:48.739
and life eternal. Your name is God wins because

00:56:48.739 --> 00:56:50.380
you struggle with God and men and you're still

00:56:50.380 --> 00:56:52.119
alive. Why are you still alive? Because you trust

00:56:52.119 --> 00:56:57.460
me. Me and me alone. And so at the dawn, it's

00:56:57.460 --> 00:56:59.960
kind of like the end of a movie, right? This

00:56:59.960 --> 00:57:02.679
limping man comes limping over the hill with

00:57:02.679 --> 00:57:05.980
the sun behind him. But he's a man now touched

00:57:05.980 --> 00:57:09.719
by crippling grace, changed forever. See, absolute

00:57:09.719 --> 00:57:12.380
surrender is not a passive thing. It's an intentional,

00:57:12.559 --> 00:57:16.199
yielded dependence. It's something necessary

00:57:16.199 --> 00:57:18.239
to come to the Lord, and then it's necessary

00:57:18.239 --> 00:57:21.739
for the rest of our lives. Paul learned this

00:57:21.739 --> 00:57:24.420
in 2 Corinthians 12, where he said, God taught

00:57:24.420 --> 00:57:26.440
me that his grace is sufficient for me, that

00:57:26.440 --> 00:57:29.420
it's in weakness that God's power is made perfect.

00:57:31.400 --> 00:57:35.940
So Jacob's life, it's one long story of the relentless

00:57:35.940 --> 00:57:39.059
and tenacious and contending and intrusive and

00:57:39.059 --> 00:57:44.440
renovating grace of God. It's a grace that wouldn't

00:57:44.440 --> 00:57:46.559
let Jacob go even though he had all these rough

00:57:46.559 --> 00:57:48.420
edges and even though Jacob was still trying

00:57:48.420 --> 00:57:52.829
to do his own plans, God never let him go. It

00:57:52.829 --> 00:57:55.130
was also a grace that would lovingly break him

00:57:55.130 --> 00:58:00.570
so that he could reform him. That's the scary

00:58:00.570 --> 00:58:04.349
part, but that's the greatest part. If you're

00:58:04.349 --> 00:58:07.610
God's child, God will cripple you if he has to,

00:58:07.650 --> 00:58:10.090
to break you free of those things that you're

00:58:10.090 --> 00:58:15.389
holding before him. Now, the preference is give

00:58:15.389 --> 00:58:19.440
it up before he has to. But God loves you enough

00:58:19.440 --> 00:58:21.400
and he will never give up on you. He will keep

00:58:21.400 --> 00:58:23.179
going and he will even cripple you if he has

00:58:23.179 --> 00:58:27.900
to. To knock that dependency out of your life.

00:58:28.320 --> 00:58:30.280
It was when Jacob came to the end of himself,

00:58:30.420 --> 00:58:33.980
realized he can't do anything without God. That

00:58:33.980 --> 00:58:39.059
end was actually his new beginning. Have you

00:58:39.059 --> 00:58:42.940
ever come to the end of yourself? Maybe you're

00:58:42.940 --> 00:58:44.460
here this morning or watching online. You've

00:58:44.460 --> 00:58:46.849
never come to the place of salvation. You're

00:58:46.849 --> 00:58:48.429
like, I'm thinking about God and this and that,

00:58:48.489 --> 00:58:50.789
but you've never come to the end of yourself.

00:58:51.070 --> 00:58:54.309
Maybe God has closed every escape route. Maybe

00:58:54.309 --> 00:58:56.210
that's why you're here today or watching today

00:58:56.210 --> 00:58:59.989
because God has done something where there's

00:58:59.989 --> 00:59:02.429
no escape anymore. There's no alternative. There's

00:59:02.429 --> 00:59:05.389
no option. Every out has been taken away that

00:59:05.389 --> 00:59:07.190
you're at that place of like, my only option

00:59:07.190 --> 00:59:12.219
is absolute total reliance on God. Or maybe you're

00:59:12.219 --> 00:59:13.940
here saved today, and you've been walking with

00:59:13.940 --> 00:59:15.480
the Lord for a while, but there's something in

00:59:15.480 --> 00:59:19.780
your life, something in your life that you keep

00:59:19.780 --> 00:59:23.079
going, yeah, well, God, I'm going to trust me

00:59:23.079 --> 00:59:27.719
with this before I trust you. You've tried every

00:59:27.719 --> 00:59:29.980
possible plan you could think of. You have even

00:59:29.980 --> 00:59:34.079
been praying, God bless my plan. God bless my

00:59:34.079 --> 00:59:38.150
method. Are you tired of struggling? Are you

00:59:38.150 --> 00:59:39.750
tired of the fight? Are you tired of struggling

00:59:39.750 --> 00:59:41.610
with this world? Are you tired of struggling

00:59:41.610 --> 00:59:47.690
with your own sin nature? Then surrender and

00:59:47.690 --> 00:59:52.469
you will find victory. Maybe God's asking you

00:59:52.469 --> 00:59:55.530
this morning right now. He's going, who are you?

00:59:55.829 --> 01:00:03.090
What's your name? What's your nature? Is your

01:00:03.090 --> 01:00:05.309
nature a deceiver, supplanter? Is your nature

01:00:05.309 --> 01:00:09.469
a... angry man, angry woman, is your nature liar?

01:00:10.969 --> 01:00:15.550
What is it? Just be honest with me. Because once

01:00:15.550 --> 01:00:17.369
you're honest with me, once that confession takes

01:00:17.369 --> 01:00:20.969
place, once that reality that, yeah, I am a sinner,

01:00:21.050 --> 01:00:23.469
I'm everything that your word says I am without

01:00:23.469 --> 01:00:29.269
you, that's when God says, great. I can work

01:00:29.269 --> 01:00:31.809
with that. Maybe you're a Christian, you've been

01:00:31.809 --> 01:00:33.590
walking with the Lord for a long time, and God's

01:00:33.590 --> 01:00:39.539
going, You're saved, but who are you? Wow, I'm

01:00:39.539 --> 01:00:45.519
doubter, Lord. I'm panicker. And God's going,

01:00:45.619 --> 01:00:54.519
if you surrender, I'll change that. And the promise

01:00:54.519 --> 01:00:56.460
is God for his children. If you're his child

01:00:56.460 --> 01:00:58.639
this morning, I believe God will even say, look,

01:00:58.900 --> 01:01:02.199
I will cripple something in your life if that's

01:01:02.199 --> 01:01:06.960
what it takes. I'll cripple that relationship.

01:01:07.539 --> 01:01:11.760
I'll cripple that business, that job. I'll cripple

01:01:11.760 --> 01:01:13.840
that hobby, that entertainment. I'll cripple

01:01:13.840 --> 01:01:19.500
that thing that you trust in more than me. Maybe

01:01:19.500 --> 01:01:24.099
God is asking you what it is. Maybe God has already

01:01:24.099 --> 01:01:25.920
knocked something out of socket in your life,

01:01:25.980 --> 01:01:28.079
crippled you in a way that is causing you this

01:01:28.079 --> 01:01:30.639
morning to finally fully surrender to him, his

01:01:30.639 --> 01:01:35.599
way, his control, and his will. And you've been

01:01:35.599 --> 01:01:37.820
mad at God because he crippled that part of your

01:01:37.820 --> 01:01:39.300
life, but God is trying to say to you today,

01:01:39.340 --> 01:01:45.860
I'm saving your life. Listen, yield. Because

01:01:45.860 --> 01:01:52.039
true victory, true freedom, true success, true

01:01:52.039 --> 01:01:55.159
peace, true joy, true favor and blessing comes

01:01:55.159 --> 01:01:58.840
when we stop wrestling against God and instead

01:01:58.840 --> 01:02:01.239
desperately cling to him with everything we have.

01:02:05.960 --> 01:02:08.199
God will never give up on you. He loves you that

01:02:08.199 --> 01:02:11.880
much. I believe he's calling you this morning.

01:02:12.639 --> 01:02:19.440
Let's pray. Father, we love you. We thank you

01:02:19.440 --> 01:02:21.739
that in your infinite grace you would look upon

01:02:21.739 --> 01:02:25.639
us. God, your word tells us that prior to salvation

01:02:25.639 --> 01:02:28.320
we were enemies with you. That we considered

01:02:28.320 --> 01:02:31.500
you an enemy and we lived in opposition and defiance

01:02:31.500 --> 01:02:36.469
to you. And yet, Lord, you sent your son to this

01:02:36.469 --> 01:02:40.690
earth to live and die a perfect life, to be brutally

01:02:40.690 --> 01:02:47.449
tortured and crucified for us. But then he rose

01:02:47.449 --> 01:02:49.769
on the third day, defeating the power of sin,

01:02:49.909 --> 01:02:52.989
defeating the power of death, the hold, the control.

01:02:53.070 --> 01:02:58.809
You gave us the opportunity to be set free. And

01:02:58.809 --> 01:03:00.510
Lord, I pray for those in this room that don't

01:03:00.510 --> 01:03:02.269
know you and they realize they need to be set

01:03:02.269 --> 01:03:04.760
free. That God, they've been wrestling against

01:03:04.760 --> 01:03:07.159
you and fighting against you. And Lord, you've

01:03:07.159 --> 01:03:09.219
been so graciously standing there and just saying,

01:03:09.300 --> 01:03:15.400
are you done? You can't hurt me. You can't make

01:03:15.400 --> 01:03:19.940
me not love you. And God, this morning, they're

01:03:19.940 --> 01:03:25.800
finally crippled from their pride and crippled

01:03:25.800 --> 01:03:30.460
in their self -reliance. Crippled in their unbelief.

01:03:31.259 --> 01:03:34.460
And they're ready to know you, God. To cling

01:03:34.460 --> 01:03:38.980
to you, Lord, and God, rightfully, to learn that

01:03:38.980 --> 01:03:40.699
you are the only source of blessing, the only

01:03:40.699 --> 01:03:42.579
source of life, the only source of salvation.

01:03:45.480 --> 01:03:47.639
And that, God, this morning, their faith in you,

01:03:47.800 --> 01:03:52.820
their trust in you, Lord, even praying out loud

01:03:52.820 --> 01:03:54.500
or in their own heart, just, God, I believe in

01:03:54.500 --> 01:04:02.760
you. Please save me. I trust you. I realize now

01:04:02.760 --> 01:04:04.960
that you are the only means of salvation, the

01:04:04.960 --> 01:04:06.880
only means of forgiveness, the only means of

01:04:06.880 --> 01:04:12.800
grace and mercy. And I know if I let you go,

01:04:12.840 --> 01:04:14.960
there is no blessing, and so I cling to you.

01:04:17.940 --> 01:04:20.320
God, for those in this room that know you, they

01:04:20.320 --> 01:04:22.380
are your children, and yet, God, they have something,

01:04:22.460 --> 01:04:26.539
some stubbornness, some pride, something that

01:04:26.539 --> 01:04:28.840
they keep turning to and relying on instead of

01:04:28.840 --> 01:04:34.260
you. God, it's not that we're not supposed to

01:04:34.260 --> 01:04:36.239
make plans. We're just not supposed to trust

01:04:36.239 --> 01:04:43.260
in our plans more than we trust in you. And so,

01:04:43.280 --> 01:04:45.059
God, if there's those that are here today, Lord,

01:04:45.260 --> 01:04:49.320
your children. But throughout this message today,

01:04:49.420 --> 01:04:51.280
God, you've been reminding them of that thing

01:04:51.280 --> 01:04:54.519
you've been speaking to them about. I pray, God,

01:04:54.539 --> 01:04:57.460
this morning that they would stop wrestling.

01:04:59.400 --> 01:05:01.460
That God, if they have not yet been crippled

01:05:01.460 --> 01:05:03.280
in this area, that they would surrender today.

01:05:05.679 --> 01:05:10.480
But Lord, I pray that of crippling them to get

01:05:10.480 --> 01:05:13.659
them to give this thing up, Lord, is the necessary

01:05:13.659 --> 01:05:16.139
grace that they would be free from its control

01:05:16.139 --> 01:05:20.699
and free to pursue and serve you. That God, you

01:05:20.699 --> 01:05:27.039
would do that. Because Lord, you are our life.

01:05:28.519 --> 01:05:32.900
Not part of it. You're all of it. We want your

01:05:32.900 --> 01:05:35.159
name to be glorified. We want you to be lifted

01:05:35.159 --> 01:05:39.099
up. We want you to truly be the Lord of our life.

01:05:41.219 --> 01:05:44.679
That God, we would live lives recognizing that

01:05:44.679 --> 01:05:49.579
if we dare let you go, if we dare stop clinging

01:05:49.579 --> 01:05:55.219
to you, we simply invite disaster into our lives.

01:05:57.779 --> 01:05:59.920
Let us not be like Peter on the water, Lord,

01:06:00.000 --> 01:06:03.659
before he clung to you. Let us be like Peter

01:06:03.659 --> 01:06:10.579
after. God, we thank you. We love you. It's in

01:06:10.579 --> 01:06:12.199
Jesus' name we pray. Amen.