It sounds nice.
That's cool man.
That's cool.
That's nice.
Welcome to Faith Ward Baptist Church.
Can you please open up our hymnals to song number 68.
We can also be in church by singing the song number 68.
We'll be gathering in heaven in that song number 68.
Should I up in heaven remember the heart,
all the pain and the loss, all the shame and the loss,
all the pain and the loss, all the pain and the loss,
Jesus, what made my ransom big?
I'm bound for heaven by blood.
He can bring me in and in.
Should I in the glory remember a loved one
who walked by my side, but is lost and outside?
If I never begged him to trust in the Savior,
then I'd sit down and cry.
Jesus, what made my ransom big?
I'm bound for heaven by blood.
He can bring me in and in.
Jesus, what made my ransom big?
I'm bound for heaven by blood.
Jesus, what made my ransom big?
I'm bound for heaven by blood.
Jesus, what made my ransom big?
I'm bound for heaven by blood.
He can bring me in and in.
We'll sing a song for Jesus.
Can you sing a song?
Can you sing one more song?
I hear the Savior sing with my strength,
and He is small.
John the Queen is watching gray.
I believe I ought to come.
Jesus made it all, all to Him I owe.
Sin had left the prison safe.
He washed it white as snow.
For now we need I find.
I'm bound and not alone.
In chains of love response,
in hell the heart is torn.
Jesus made it all, all to Him I owe.
Sin had left the prison safe.
He washed it white as snow.
For now we need I find.
Whereby thy grace is plain,
I'll wash thy garments dry,
in the blood of God respect.
Jesus made it all, all to Him I owe.
Sin had left the prison safe.
He washed it white as snow last.
And then before the throne,
I stand in need of faith.
Jesus died, my soul to save.
My sins shall still be paid.
Jesus made it all, all to Him I owe.
Sin had left the prison safe.
He washed it white as snow.
Genesis will be chapter 31 this week.
I will be wrapping up tonight.
The last half of Genesis 38.
We didn't really get through it all last week.
But I do want to touch on a couple things there.
Tonight's will be Genesis 30 tonight part 2.
And then we have the salvation of the baptism.
And of course the quick welcome as a reminder.
The men's bathroom, the key is in the way as they say.
So we're just going to make use of the one bathroom for now.
Until we figure out what it is we're going to be going forward.
Let's go ahead and count up the salvation going back to Friday.
Anyone have been in the report for Friday?
Two there.
Anyone else for Friday?
And we have two on Saturday.
Three?
Yes, sir.
Did you get another one?
Oh, that's right.
Yeah, I think that's good.
We'll figure it out.
Can you keep track of the line today?
Okay.
Four.
All right.
Keep up the great work.
Slow winning, everybody.
Let's go ahead and sing one more song before we get into reaching the next.
All right.
Could you please open up your hymnals to song number 113.
One, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one
one, one, one, one
one, one, one
one, one, one, one
one, one, one
one, one, one, one
Then that is Genesis chapter number three.
Genesis thirty, Complete at verse one.
And to wake the Psalmist,
Sheamation,EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Rachel, anguished her and said unto Jacob,
Give me children or else I die.
Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel.
And he said, my God said,
But the fowl do not come from me,
the fruit of thealiation.
She said, Behold, I made a deal.
Go in unto her, and she shall bear
upon my knees, that I may also have
children by her.
And she gave unto her,
Her hand made to wife, and Jacob went in unto her.
And Beelah deceived and bared Jacob a son.
And Rachel said, God had judged me,
and had also heard my voice, and had given me a son.
Therefore, I called his name down.
And Beelah of Rachel's name, deceived again,
and bared Jacob a second son.
And Rachel said, with great blessings
have I wrestled with my sister, Nycadale.
And she called his name Naphtar.
When Leah saw that she had left Bering,
she took Zilpah from me and gave her Jacob to wife.
And Zilpah, Leah's mate, bared Jacob a son.
And Leah said, a truth cometh, and she called his name Gath.
And Zilpah, Leah's mate, bared Jacob a second son.
And Leah said, happy am I, for the daughters
will call me blessed.
And she called his name Asher.
And Reuben went into the days of wheat harvest
and dalmatrix in the field, and brought them
unto his mother Leah.
And Rachel said to Leah, give me, I pray thee,
of thy son, Asher.
And she said unto her, is it a small matter
that thou hast taken my husband, and wouldest thou
take away my son's matrix also?
And Rachel said, therefore, he shall lie with you tonight,
for thy son's matrix.
And Jacob came out of the field in the evening,
and Leah went out to meet him, and said,
thou must come in unto me, for surely I
have hired thee with thy son's matrix,
where my son's matrix.
And he laid with her that eye.
And God hearkened unto Leah, and she
conceived, and bared Jacob a fifth son.
And Leah said, thou had given me
thy wife, because I had given my maiden to my husband,
and she called his name Isacah.
And Leah perceived again, and bared Jacob a sixth son.
And Leah said, thou had a dude with me, with a good dowry,
and thou and my husband brought with me,
because I had borne him six sons,
and she called his name Sarah.
And afterward, she bared a daughter,
and called her name Dinah.
And God remembered Rachel, and God
hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
And she conceived, and bared a son, and said,
thou had taken away my reproach.
And she called his name Joseph.
The Lord shall add to me another son.
And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph,
that Jacob said unto Laban, send me away,
that I may go into my own place, own place,
into my country.
Give me my wives and my children,
for whom I have served thee, and let me go,
for thou knowest my service, which I have done thee.
And Laban said unto him, I pray thee,
if I found favor in thine eyes, tarry,
for I have learned by experience that the Lord had
blessed me for thy sake.
And he said, appoint me thy wages, and I will give thee.
And he said unto him, thou knowest how I served thee,
and how thy cattle was with me, for it was little
which thou hast before I came.
And it is now increased unto a multitude,
and the Lord had blessed thee since my coming.
And now when shall I provide in my own house also?
And he said, what shall I give you?
And Jacob said, thou shalt not give me anything
if thou would do this thing for me,
if I would again feed and keep thy flock.
I will pass through all thy flock today,
removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle,
and all the brown cattle among the sheep,
and the spotted and speckled among the goats,
but and of such shall be my hire.
So shall my righteousness answer for me in the time
to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face.
Everyone that is not speckled and spotted among the goats,
and brown among the sheep, that
shall be counted stolen with me.
And Laban said, behold it, I would it
might be according to thy word.
And he removed that day the he-goats
that were ring-straight and spotted,
and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted,
and every one that had some white in them,
and all the brown among the sheep,
and gave them to the hand of the sons.
And he set three days' journey between himself and Jacob.
And Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.
And Jacob took in rods of a green papa
and of a hazel and chestnut tree,
and peeled white straits in them,
and made the white appear which was in the rods.
And he set the rods which he had peeled
before the flocks and the butters and the watering trolls,
when the flocks came to drink,
that they should deceive when they came to drink.
And the flocks conceived before the rods,
and brought forth cattle ring-straight, speckled and spotted.
And Jacob did separate the lambs,
and set the faces of the flocks toward the ring-straight,
and all the brown in the flock of Laban.
And he put his own flocks by themselves,
and put them not on Laban's cattle.
And it came to pass when whosoever,
whensoever the stronger cattle did deceive,
that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle
and the butters, that they might deceive among the rods.
For when the cattle were feeble,
he put them not in.
So the feeble were lateness, and the strongest, Jacob's.
But a man increased exceedingly on how much cattle
may serve his and may serve his,
and count his, and ask his.
Well, let us pray.
Dear Lord, thank you for this church, Lord.
Thank you.
All right, Genesis chapter 30, of course, last Thursday,
we looked at the first half there,
just dealing with the different children that were born to Jacob's wives.
And then, of course, in the story,
Jacob is requesting of his father-in-law, Laban,
that he would be let go so he could go back to his own people.
And it says there, verse 25,
And it came to pass when Rachel had borne Joseph,
that Jacob said unto Laban,
Send me away, that I might go into my own place and to my country,
and give me my wives and my children,
for whom I have served thee, and let me go,
for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.
And Laban said unto him,
I pray thee, if I have found favor in thine eyes,
tarry, for I have learned by experience
that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake.
And I touched on this a little bit on Thursday night,
just how, you know, if we want to be people
that our employers don't want to lose.
That was like the immediate application there that I made.
And, of course, we could talk about that again,
but we've already heard that.
So let's take a different angle on this.
And really what I want to talk about is
the residual blessings that people can experience.
We want to, you know, you see that in the story
that Laban is saying that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake.
It wasn't because Laban necessarily was this upright guy,
this godly man.
In fact, later, if you don't know the story,
spoiler alert, chapter 31, you know,
he ends up coming and looking for the idols
which Rachel took out of his house.
So he's not necessarily, you know, a believer here.
It's hard to say even necessarily that he's a saved man.
Definitely acknowledges the Lord, obviously,
but he does acknowledge the fact that
he has been blessed because of the fact that God has blessed Jacob.
He's saying, hey, the Lord, I've learned by experience
over these years that you've been with me.
I've seen it take place that because you're here,
the Lord has blessed me for thy sake.
So he's part of this residual blessing
that him and others around him are getting
just by the mere fact that Jacob is there
and that Jacob is being blessed of God
because of that, there's, as they said, you know,
back in the day, the trickle-down effect, right?
It's kind of what's taking place here.
And he said, appoint me thy wages and I will give it.
He's saying, tell me what I got to pay you to keep you.
What do I have to pay you to get you to stay?
And they, you know, they work out this deal.
Verse 29, he said it to him,
thou knowest that I have served thee,
and how thy cattle was with me,
for it was little which thou hast before I came,
and it is now increased unto a multitude.
The Lord hath blessed me,
excuse me, the Lord hath blessed thee since my coming,
and now when shall I provide for mine own house also?
So, you know, Jacob, you know,
isn't being too bashful about it here.
He's not necessarily flattered by what Laban's saying.
He's saying, yeah, you're right, basically.
It was little when I got here,
and now it's increased under this great flock,
and it is because the Lord has blessed thee since my coming.
You're right, Laban, you got it right.
You figured it out.
The blessing that you have is because I'm here,
because of the work that I've done.
So he's saying you are a part of this residual blessing, right?
And the lesson we can learn from this is that, you know,
we benefit from previous generations, okay?
We benefit from previous generations.
In fact, if you would,
go over to 1 Peter, chapter number two,
1 Peter, chapter number two, 1 Peter, chapter number two.
You know, there's people in our lives sometimes
that are benefiting, you know, that are blessed by God,
not necessarily because of anything that they've done.
They're being blessed because of what others have done before them,
or, you know, what others are doing currently,
you know, like Laban's instance, right?
He's being blessed in the here and now
because of the person that is there present with him in Jacob, okay?
And one of the first, you know, applicable situations
that we might think about in that regard
is how children often benefit from parents, right?
And not just in terms of the fact that parents
are doing what they're supposed to be doing
and providing for them, teaching them, guiding them,
disciplining them, all of that,
but more specifically in the fact that
children who are growing up in a Christian home,
not a perfect home, but a Christian home,
that are being taught the Bible,
that have parents that love the Lord, are serving God,
that are taking the church, you know,
whether they want to be there or not,
what they have to at least recognize
is that they're being blessed as a result.
God is giving them opportunity to learn about him.
He's giving them, they've been giving a chance
and opportunity to know about the things of God,
to learn about the things of God,
and to put those things to work in their life.
That's something that not everybody
gets, right?
You know, the kids tonight, you know,
hopefully every young person that's here,
you know, wants to be here,
wants to hear from the word of God,
wants to learn something tonight.
But, you know, it very well could be
that a lot of children are here,
a lot of young people are here,
because the parents are here
and they're not about to leave them at home alone, right?
They're going to say,
no, you're going to come to church tonight, right?
You're going to come to church.
This is what we do.
And whether the kids want to be here,
and whether the kids want to be here or not,
you know, they are a part of a residual blessing.
They are the recipients of the parent,
of the blessing that is being put,
bestowed upon the parents.
You know, a lot of children,
a lot of kids today,
they don't have what a lot of kids have in this room.
And that's important to remember,
because, you know,
it's something that we see in the scripture, too,
is that from one generation to the next,
people can forget the Lord.
You know, the parents, they get, you know,
they're first generation Christians,
and I'm not saying this is always the case, obviously,
but there is a tendency,
and there's certainly a possibility of this,
that you have the first generation parents
who come up hard, you know,
who maybe get saved later in life,
that they know what it's like, you know,
to live a worldly, ungodly life
as an unsaved person.
They are familiar with what's going on
in the world, they know the reality of that,
and they get saved, they start a family,
and they're determined to spare their children
from the things that they've experienced,
to spare them from the effects of sin,
and try to shelter them.
And I get it that we don't, you know,
eventually our kids are gonna,
it's a big, bad world,
they're all gonna have to be,
take their place in it,
but let's not, you know,
throw them to the wolves immediately, right?
Let's not just, let's, you know,
let's be reasonable about it,
and let's let them know how the world really is,
let's let them find that out, you know,
but let them do it in a smart, intelligent way.
The point I'm making, however,
is that, you know, parents that come up,
they raise their kids,
the children that come up in those homes,
sometimes they just can be very naive
and just take for granted the blessing that they have.
You know, at least Laban in the story,
as kind of a shady character as he is,
at least acknowledges the fact
that he's blessed because of Jacob.
You know, wouldn't it God that young people
that are being raised in a godly home
that have God-fearing parents would,
at the very least, acknowledge the fact
that they have been given an advantage,
that they have been blessed
as a result of their parents' walk with God
and not take that for granted.
You know, so that's one way we could apply this,
but also we have to think about the fact
that, you know, there's been,
we all are benefiting to a large degree
from previous generations,
those that have come on, that have gone on before us,
that have laid the foundations of our faith
and have allowed us to be blessed, okay?
And I think, you know,
that's something we should endeavor to do in our lives.
We should want to leave something for the next generation.
We should want to, you know,
continue on in the faith as others have before us
so that others can benefit from the faith
that we have lived, the life that we have lived,
if that makes sense.
If you look there in Psalms chapter number 16,
look at verse 6, it says,
the lines are fallen unto,
well, you're in 1 Peter, I'll just read to you,
the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places,
yea, I have a goodly heritage.
You know, David is acknowledging that.
He has a goodly heritage.
The Bible says in Proverbs 13, verse 22,
a good man leaveth an inheritance
to his children's children, to his grandchildren.
You know, we should leave something
behind and not just necessarily,
you know, the physical things of this world,
although I don't believe there's anything wrong with that.
Now, that might be because I'm not going to
probably have a whole lot to leave behind, right?
I've heard and I know there's other people out there
that are, you know,
who have made a great deal of wealth in their life,
you know, they're millionaires, billionaires,
and they don't want to just leave that to their children
because they know it'll ruin them in a lot of ways,
that if something is just handed them freely,
they're likely to mess it up, right?
Easy come, easy go, as they say.
But, you know, the Bible does say that a good man
leaves an inheritance to his children's children.
He leaves something behind to be a blessing
to his children and yea, even his grandchildren.
The Bible says the wealth of the sinner
is laid up for the just.
Now, while we might not have physical wealth
to pass on to generations,
and again, I don't think that that's,
there's anything wrong.
It doesn't have to be some great fortune,
you know, but I don't think there's anything wrong
with a father working hard,
you know, but a sweat of his brow,
building himself up, you know,
lifting himself up by his own bootstraps,
working hard, you know, advancing himself,
being upwardly mobile through life,
and getting to a place where he's then
enjoying the fruits of his labor
and is able to even, in fact,
leave something behind so that his children
don't have to go through maybe
as much of a struggle as he did.
You know, maybe there's a home
or, you know, a small portion of money
that allows people to kind of
get off on the right foot in life.
You know, there's nothing wrong with that.
You know, some people get so afraid
that they're going to spoil their children,
they go to the other extreme, right?
But the Bible's very clear.
You know, we leave an inheritance
to our children's children.
That's what a good man does.
If it's possible, you say,
well, you know, I don't know
that I'm going to be able to leave,
you know, a whole bunch of money
behind for my kids.
Well, you know, what about
a spiritual wealth?
What kind of spiritual heritage
are your children going to inherit from you?
What is it that they're going to get from you
that they're going to benefit from
for years to come, spiritually speaking?
You know, hopefully we're all
living our lives in a way that our children
are going to be able to benefit
for years to come into their adult years,
the rest of their lives,
because of the things that they saw us both do
and the things that they've heard and seen us do,
just the way we've lived.
Hopefully that's going to be a blessing to them.
I was going to have you go to 1 Peter 2,
but go to Ephesians chapter 2.
I've kind of already blown by that point,
so I'm not going to backtrack to make that point.
Go over to Ephesians chapter 2.
You know, we want to leave
a spiritual inheritance at the very least,
and again, nothing wrong with leaving
a physical inheritance.
It might even be a wise thing.
It might be something that's appreciated.
Honestly, that's not something I had,
and I can look back and say,
you know, a cool million
would have taken the edge off, right?
I'm joking, okay?
But, you know, something would have been helpful, right?
The Bible says houses and riches
are the inheritance of fathers,
so there's nothing wrong with leaving
maybe some kind of estate,
some kind of physical wealth to some degree
to your children.
That's not something I think we need to fear.
But more importantly is that
we leave a spiritual inheritance.
That's what we need to be leaving behind for people,
and that's what's going to benefit them the most, okay?
Cars, houses, lands, these things
are all eventually going to take flight and go away.
They're all going to burn.
They're only as useful as the people that own them, okay?
They can even become things that perhaps ruin people.
There is always that danger.
But leaving behind a spiritual inheritance,
you know, that can't do any harm.
That can only benefit people.
And whether we realize it or not,
we are kind of like Laban.
We know we've benefited from the blessings
that have been bestowed upon other people.
We are people who have inherited spiritually from,
maybe if it's not our parents,
we've inherited from other saints,
those down through the ages.
If you look at Ephesians chapter 2,
let's look at verse 19.
It says,
Now, therefore, you are no more strangers and foreigners,
but fellow citizens with the saints
and of the household of God.
And notice in verse 20,
and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, right?
We're built upon the apostles and prophets.
You know, the doctrine that we have,
the scripture that we have,
the Bible that we have,
the faith that we've inherited
in large part is owed to the apostles.
I mean, we're reading,
we're constantly reading the words of the apostle Paul, right?
John, Peter, others.
You know, we are still benefiting it
from their actions to this day.
We are built upon that spiritual inheritance.
You know, one has been left.
You know, imagine if those same people
said it wasn't important to them,
decided that what's the point
in trying to leave behind
any kind of a spiritual legacy
for those there to come after me.
What if they'd had that attitude?
And I get it.
We're not going to pen scripture, okay?
We're not going to do some of the things that they did,
but, you know, we can be a testimony for Christ
for generations to come.
I mean, you'll hear people talk about this.
You'll hear individuals over the years,
if you're paying attention,
people who will speak fondly of, you know,
their parents, their grandparents, and others,
their great grandparents, in fact, sometimes,
and about the faith that they had.
And they'll tell their stories
and talk about their lives
and the things that they did for Christ,
you know, in a very endeared way.
They're endeared to those people.
You know, we should at least want that for our children.
You know, we should want
the generations that come after us
to speak fondly of us
and be able to say good things
about our Christian testimony
and about our walk.
Not that we were perfect,
because nobody is,
but, you know, it could be the opposite.
There's plenty of people out there
that have probably not very many nice things to say
about those that came before them.
Maybe they don't have a lot to say about their parents.
Maybe they don't have a lot to say
about how great their grandparents were.
You know, maybe they have
a lot of negative things to say.
You know, it could be that.
But, you know, wouldn't it God
that we would leave behind a spiritual inheritance
just as one has been left us
through the apostles, through the prophets,
through even Christ himself?
If you want to go back to the story,
keep something there in the New Testament.
We're going to look at some passages here
in 1 Timothy in a little bit,
but go back to where we were.
So the first point I'm making tonight
that we can get out of the story is that,
you know, Laban is somebody
that's recognizing the fact
that he has profited from the blessing
that has been bestowed upon Jacob,
not himself directly, right?
God's not pouring out a blessing on Laban,
and Laban recognizes this,
and Jacob confirms it and says,
that's right, you were little,
there wasn't much here when I showed up,
but because of the Lord,
you know, you have grown,
you've increased,
and no wonder Laban doesn't want him to go.
So, you know, that's the lesson
that we should take from this tonight,
is that one,
you might be somebody,
in fact, we all are,
if you think about it,
somebody that has benefited
from the blessings of other people,
that we are the recipients
of the blessings from others,
that we've been blessed by those
that have come before us.
You're growing up in a Christian home,
you know, maybe you don't like the rules,
maybe you don't like the things
that mom and dad do,
but whether you realize it or not,
it's actually a blessing.
It's a blessing to be kept from sin.
It's a blessing to be corrected.
It's a blessing to be instructed.
It's a blessing to receive education.
It's a blessing to not just be thrown
to the wolves as a child.
To not just be sent out into the world
to figure it out on your own.
That's a blessing,
to have that in your life.
And it's so strange to me,
and really it just shows an ungrateful heart
and a bad attitude
when you have kids that grow up
in homes like that
that just disdain what their parents provided.
They take it for granted.
It's shameful.
And it's something I've seen
many, many times over the years.
Just Christian kids who,
I mean, spiritually speaking,
it's just been handed to them on a platter.
I mean, they've got the Bible,
they've got salvation,
they've got parents that love God,
and they scoff at it,
they mock it,
they don't want anything to do with it.
And I just think to myself,
you're an idiot.
And I just think of all the different times
I've seen that over the years
in my Christian life.
All the kids that just,
they just ran out in the world
while I'm trying to get out of it.
I was sitting there going,
I would have loved to have
parents that believed like yours,
that cared like yours,
that prayed like yours,
that had standards and rules
and boundaries like yours.
It would have spared people a lot of heartache.
So that's one way we can apply this.
Be like Laban,
at least in one respect,
that he recognizes the fact that
he's being blessed for the sake of others.
That because of the actions
that other people have taken,
he is being blessed.
You're a Christian kid here today,
you're growing up in a godly home,
whether you realize it or not,
whether you like it or not,
you're being blessed as a result of your parents
and their relationship with God,
like it or not.
And hopefully you're smart enough to see that
and to do something with it
and to not squander that
and to make yourself into a bad testimony.
So he's, again,
they're trying to kind of broker this deal here.
They're working this out.
Jacob wants to go.
Laban wants him to stay
for obvious reasons.
And it says in verse 31,
and he said,
What shall I give thee?
And Jacob said,
Thou shalt not give me anything.
If thou wilt do this thing for me,
I will again feed and keep thy flock.
He's saying,
My wages, you're going to pay me,
it's not going to be a flat rate.
I'll end up with a third wife,
knowing you, Laban.
You're not going to give me anything.
We're going to do peace work.
At the end of it,
we're going to look at whose flocks grew
and I'm going to take these sheep
and you're going to get these sheep.
And they work out this deal in verse 32.
And he says,
I will pass through all the flock today,
removing from fence all the speckled and spotted,
and all the brown cattle from among the sheep,
and the spotted and speckled from among the goats,
and of such shall be my hire.
So those that are not pure,
just one coat,
those that have these spots,
these speckles,
the brown,
they're going to be removed.
He's going to separate.
And look, I don't know a lot about husbandry,
I don't know a lot about raising sheep and goats,
but I'm thinking in my mind
that Jacob's probably taking the lesser portion
by doing this,
if I had to guess.
And I think that's a pretty educated guess
because we all know what Laban's like
and we know what Laban's motives are
and Laban's not going to be the guy
that takes the smaller portion here.
He's not going to be like,
oh yeah, you take the vast,
you take the majority of the flock
and that's how this will work out.
So you can kind of already get a sense
that Jacob is going to prove to him
that God indeed is blessing him.
And so he's giving him, I believe,
probably the larger portion here
just because of what we know of Laban.
He says in verse 33,
So my righteousness,
so shall my righteousness answer
for me in time to come,
when it shall come
for my hire before thy face,
every one that is not speckled
and spotted among the goats
and brown among the sheep,
that shall be counted stolen with me.
He's saying, so any of them
that have these spots, these markings,
you know, if they're found in my flock,
then you could say I stole it.
Those are yours.
I'm going to have everything else.
And Laban said, behold,
I would it might be according to thy word.
He said, you got a deal.
Oh, I get all the sheep?
I get the vast majority of the goats and the sheep?
I like this deal.
And he removed that day
the he goats that were ring-streaked and spotted
and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted
and every one that had some white in it
and all the brown among the sheep
and gave them into the hands of his sons.
So Jacob, and in this story
it's kind of confusing sometimes.
I've read this so many times
and I've talked to other people about it
and tried to figure out exactly
what's taking place here.
And some people have even insinuated
that Jacob's doing something maybe underhanded.
But I personally,
and I can kind of see
where they're coming from
just simply because I don't know,
I've never raised these animals.
I'm not a shepherd,
you know, in that sense.
I'm pastoring, but it doesn't really translate to this.
But I really don't feel that that's the case, right?
Because Jacob is saying
my righteousness shall answer for me.
And they've both already acknowledged the fact
that God has blessed Jacob
and Laban has been blessed
as a result of Jacob's blessing.
So I think Jacob understands
that things are going to work out for me
because God is with me and not with Laban.
Because again, I remember Jacob
on his way all those years ago
when he was first coming
before he even got to Laban's house
when he was passing through that wilderness, right?
The Lord appeared unto him,
he built that pillar,
he poured the oil upon it, right?
So he knows that the Lord God is real.
He is being blessed, in fact, by the Lord.
He acknowledges this.
This isn't a mystery to him.
And I think really this is kind of an act of faith
that he's stepping out of faith
and saying, hey, you take the greater portion of the flocks
and I'll take the lesser
and we'll see in the end
who God is for
and my righteousness shall answer for me.
So I don't think anything that we're about to read
is him being tricky or underhanded or deceitful.
Because I just don't think that there was any need for it.
He's already blessed.
So he takes them, it says in verse 36
and he set three days journey
betwixt himself and Jacob
and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flock.
And Jacob took him rods of green poplar
and of the hazel and chestnut tree
and pilled white strikes in them
and he made the white appear
which was in the rods.
So he's basically, I think he's talking about
he's peeling the bark off of them.
It's fresh wood, it's living, it's live wood.
It's not, you know, dry fallen wood.
Really what he's describing here is he's creating a pen.
He's just corralling these animals.
And he's just kind of going about
his business just
as far as corralling and feeding these animals
and making sure they conceive at certain points.
He's just using the skill and the knowledge
he has as a husbandman
in order to make these things come to pass.
It's not like he's out there painting the sheep.
He finds the speckled, the brown
and the spotted and the gristled
and he's just painting them all white or something.
I don't know that you can even do that kind of a thing.
He's not genetically modifying these sheep somehow back then.
And it says,
And the flocks conceived before the rods
Well, look at verse 38.
And the rods which he had peeled
before the flocks and the gutters
He set the rods which he had peeled
before the rocks and the gutters
and the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink
that they should conceive when they came to drink
and the flocks conceived before the rods
and brought forth cattle
ring-strake, speckled and spotted.
So, you know, it's telling us that in fact
they did conceive and they brought forth
those that would be counted as Laban's flock.
There were instances, it wasn't like
they were all being born a certain way
and Jacob did separate the lambs
and set the faces of the flocks
towards the ring-strake
and all the brown on the flock of Laban
and he put his own flocks by themselves
and put them not unto Laban's cattle.
So he's abiding by the deal.
He's going along with what they agreed with.
And it came to pass,
when so ever the stronger cattle did conceive
that Jacob laid the rods before their eyes
of the cattle and the gutters
and that they might conceive among the rods.
Now, again, it's hard to understand
exactly what's going on in the story
simply because we're so far removed
as city slickers from any kind of husbandry
even knowing exactly what's being described here.
But basically what I get out of it,
he's just corralling certain animals at certain times
and he's separating them.
He's just doing what he's supposed to do.
Verse 41,
And it came to pass,
when so ever the stronger cattle did conceive
that Jacob laid the rods before their eyes
of the cattle and the gutters
and that they might conceive among the rods.
But when the cattle were feeble,
he put them not in,
so the feebler were Laban's and Jacob's
and the stronger Jacob's.
And that's just kind of how it worked out.
Now, Lewis, verse 43,
And the man increased exceedingly.
So what we're reading in the story
is actually, I believe, Jacob being upright.
Him doing things exactly as was described.
Him saying,
Hey, we're going to do,
this is the deal,
here's how it's going to work out.
And that's exactly what he did.
He has integrity.
And here's the thing,
if you have integrity,
you will succeed.
You don't have to be
some underhanded,
conniving,
you know, crooked,
crook to succeed in this world.
You know, you can do well for yourself,
you can succeed,
you can succeed and increase exceedingly
by doing things the right way,
by being straightforward,
by being a person who keeps their word.
You know, that's an important principle
to understand,
especially if you're somebody
who's going to be in the business world.
Or in any of your dealings,
obviously, we always want to be
above board with people.
We want to be straight shooters.
And look, this world is full of people
that are crooked in their dealings.
You know, Laban's one of them.
Right?
That's what you read about next week
in the story.
Where he says,
You did change my wages ten times.
Laban's always conniving,
always trying to work out,
always tricking Jacob,
always trying to do something
to get a better deal for himself.
Right?
He's not fair in his business practices.
But in this story,
you learn about what the deal,
you're just told,
Here's the deal.
That deal,
where Jacob, how he went about it,
is described,
and it shows us that he did things
the right way,
and he increased exceedingly.
You know, we don't have to
be crooked people
in order to succeed in this world.
No good thing will he withhold
from them that walketh uprightly.
You know, if we're upright people,
and we walk with the Lord,
you know, we will be blessed.
It's a fact.
God will bless us.
He'll bless us in our business dealings,
He'll bless us in all manner,
in all the areas of our life.
But if we want to be
crooked and underhanded
and conniving,
you know,
that's theft.
That's sin.
You don't have to be a crook
or crooked in this world to succeed.
Now I get it,
a lot of crooked people,
succeed.
You know, and sometimes
that's just how business is done.
But you know, that's the heathen,
that's what the godless people
in this world do,
and they should know better.
And you know, I don't know
how some of them
lay their head down at night.
You know, be fair
in your business.
You know, one thing
I learned from a guy
was that, you know,
the best kind of business
is repeat customers.
You know, it's a lot harder
to get new customers
than to just keep old ones.
And I don't know about you,
but I don't go back to people
that rip me off.
I don't go back to people
that give me poor service.
I don't get back to people
that don't follow through
in what they're going to say.
I don't use those people.
You know, but if you find somebody
who's not trying to
just take your head off
the first time you do
in a business transaction
and is fair in their dealings,
I'm not saying cheap.
That's another thing
you ought to look out for.
You know, just cheap.
Sometimes, because you get
what you pay for sometimes, right?
But, you know, we've learned,
I was taught in business,
hey, if somebody, you know,
when they come in here,
just give them a good deal.
Give them a fair price.
Here's what we charge.
Don't charge more.
You know, we don't need
to increase our prices.
These people have been
coming to us for years
and they will continue to do so
because they know
when they come in here,
they're not going to get
taken to the cleaners
and we're not trying anything.
And those people that run
businesses like that,
they do well.
They succeed.
They increase exceedingly.
So there's some real practical
just business application
here tonight.
I mean, this is what
we're talking about.
This is a business transaction
that's taking place
and what you see is that
Jacob holds up his end of the deal
and he increases exceedingly
when you would think
that he wouldn't.
Because he's not starting out
with the majority of the flock.
But he knows he's smart
about his business.
He knows how to do things.
He's doing everything
just like he said he would
and it works out for him.
Jacob did his part
and he was blessed of God.
Now that's the other thing
I want to point out in the story
is that in the beginning
where we were reading
in verses 27 and onward
is that both Jacob and Laban
are agreeing that God
has blessed Jacob.
But we also notice in the story
is that Jacob did his part.
The blessing of God
doesn't just come on us
without us not having to do anything.
In our business
dealing with God so to speak
we have to uphold
our end of the bargain too.
We have to walk
in newness of life.
We have to do those things
which please him.
We needed to make sure
that we're living
an upright and godly life
and then God blesses us
as a result.
And God's blessing
does come through hard work.
God blesses those
that will work hard
and do things correctly
and do things upright.
If you would go over
to 1 Timothy chapter number 4.
Timothy didn't just
have the blessing of God
simply because of the fact
that he's Jacob.
Excuse me I said Timothy
but because he's Jacob
just because he's
the descendant of Abraham.
He also had to
keep up his end of the bargain.
He had to put in
the blood sweat and tears.
He had to do his part.
And the same is true
for us today.
If we'll do our part
God will bless us.
And you say
well I don't know
that I want to
work hard for God.
I don't know that
I want to
put any extra effort
into serving God.
I don't know if I want to
to do all that.
But here's the thing
I'll go back to the point
I made in the beginning.
We have inherited
a blessing from those
that have done just that.
There were others
that came before us
that worked hard for God
that served God
that sacrificed
that went through things
some things that
we'll never experience
in all likelihood.
So that you and I
could stand here today
and read from the
King James Bible
and preach the Bible
and understand the Bible
and preach the Gospel.
I mean good night.
We're saved.
That's the result of
people preaching the Gospel
down through the ages.
You know Jesus
isn't going to come
back down here
and preach the Gospel folks.
We have to do that.
We're ambassadors for Christ.
I know you're in
First Timothy
keep something there.
Go to First Corinthians
chapter number three.
So my point is
just as other
we have been blessed
we have experienced
the residual blessing
of those that have
labored for God
down through the years
that have done their part.
You know it's only right
that we should now do ours.
It's important that
we make sure we do our part.
Right well I don't want
I don't know if I want
to you know do anything for God.
Well that's not the
attitude that people had
that came before you
you know from whose labor
you're benefiting.
You know if everyone
had that attitude
then where would we be
spiritually?
Wouldn't be good.
You know if we'll do our part
and God will bless
we'll be blessed
but you know what
others around us
will be blessed.
Our families will be blessed
our children will be blessed
yea we may even leave
an inheritance for
our children's children.
You know sometimes
I think about that.
You know my grandchildren
you know I have
a Bible at home.
It's a you know
it's one of those
wide column Bibles.
When I first got it
I started writing in it
and I thought you know
I'm going to wait a decade
before I write anything
in this Bible.
You know I want to read more
and I want to study more
and I want to maybe write
in cheaper Bibles
for a little while
and kind of figure out
how to do it.
You say why do you
want to do that
because I want to put
in that Bible
that my children's children
will read perhaps one day.
I thought you know
how cool would it be
for you know
Corbin John Russell
I guess it would be
the fourth right
at that point
if my son decides
to pass on that name
how cool would it be
for him to pick up
you know his grandfather's
Bible.
So here's what Grandpa
said about this verse
here's what Grandpa
wrote about this passage.
You know I don't know
that my son
is going to be a preacher
I'm certainly not
expecting him to be
that's his choice.
I don't know that my
grandchild
if I have grandchildren
you know which I better
by the way
you know if you're
doing things right
are going to have
are going to any of them
are going to be preachers
any of my grandsons
if any of my granddaughters
are preachers
there's you know
I'm going to roll over
in my grave.
I mean just go on record
if any of my granddaughters
you know dig up this
sermon you know
go through the old
hard drives later
to hear what old
great-grandpa Corbin
thought about
you know
what he preached
let me just go on
the record right now
if you're my granddaughter
and you're a pastor
I'm ashamed of you.
Okay
for reasons you've
probably already heard
if you've listened
to the rest of my preaching
right
because of what the Bible
says okay
but you know
I thought about that
that would be an
something to leave
to my children
right
but how am I going
to have anything
to leave behind
you know spiritually
how am I going to
have anything of any worth
to write in that Bible
if I'm not holding up
my end of the bargain
with God
if I'm not studying
to show myself
a proven God
a workman
that needeth not
to be ashamed
you know how am I
going to leave
anything behind
for my kids
to look back
and think fondly
of their
you know predecessor
and feel grateful
that you know
they are
you know
related to me
that they
that I was
the one that brought
them to this place
that I was
someone who
blazed a trail
in the
Russell family
you know
that started a new
branch spiritually speaking
in that crooked tree
right
I'm going to have to
hold up my end
for to make that happen
you know that's why
I kind of shelved
that Bible and said
you know what
let's give it
another decade
maybe longer
maybe I'll write on it
write in it
when I'm an old man
and just
you know
maybe then I'll
really feel like
I have a lot of
good things to put in there
that they'll
pick up and read
one day and say
wow that's good
wow that's good here
there's plenty of things
I could write
that would be good
but
you know
that's kind of the idea there
if you want to
be a blessing
you know
why serve God
so that others
can be blessed
I mean
that's the whole point
of ministry folks
is people
why are we even
in this
you know
why are we even
doing this
to be recognized
to be noticed
to be somebody
no
what a vain
worthless
goal
you know
if that's the case
let's just pack it up
no we're in this
for people
we're in this
not for ourselves
we're in this
for the people
that we're going to
influence directly
you know
in our lifetime
but even beyond that
we can have
an impact
for generations to come
that's the truth
I mean there's
there's preachers
that have been
dead and gone
for decades
that still have
an impact today
they're few
and far between
but they're out there
maybe not even
necessarily
because people
are still listening
to their preaching
online or something
but just through
the lives that
they touched
in their time
the lives that
were changed
when they were
ministering
though they
you know
the people
that they
administered to
are still benefiting
from that ministry
today and
they're passing
even after
you know
we're dead and gone
and perhaps
the doors have
closed here
once for all
at Faithful Word Baptist
Church
there will be
people in this
town
yea in this
region and
in this world
that will be
benefiting from
this ministry
from this ministry
if
we hold up our
part
if we do our
part
God will bless us
why would we
want that
because sometimes
people just have
the blessing of God
I really don't need it
in my life
they have a take
it or leave it
kind of attitude
but what about
all the people
that could be
blessed through
you
that's the reason
that's
you know
you're robbing
those people
at that point
forget about
yourself
I mean I don't
know why you
wouldn't want
to be blessed
seems kind of
stupid
but what about
everybody else
that would be
blessed as a result
of you
having been in
your sphere
of influence
the labans of
this world
where do I have you go
1 Corinthians
chapter 3
look at verse 9
for we are laborers
together with God
he or God's husbandry
he or God's building
we're laborers
together with God
God doesn't do all the work
God's already done
quite a bit of
the heavy lifting
for us
hasn't he
that whole thing
about you know
dying for our sin
that was pretty big
that's a hurdle
we couldn't get over
building the church
establishing the church
giving us
the word of God
and in large part
you know
holy men of old
spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost
we are built upon
the apostles
and the prophets
you know even the
word of God we have
yes it's through the
inspiration of the Holy Ghost
but it's also
through the efforts of men
people that have
suffered and died
for this book
literally
we are the benefactors
of that sacrifice today
I gotta wrap up
let's go to 1 Timothy
I told you we were
gonna go there
1 Timothy chapter number 4
so what's the main
point tonight
work
don't be afraid
to roll up your sleeves
and do something for God
in this life
and if not for yourself
for the people around you
and for the people
that will come after you
people you might never know
I mean think about how
amazing that might be
if you could have
some kind of an impact
some kind of an influence
in this world for Christ
and then after you're
dead and gone
that influence continues on
for decades
who knows how long
for years
and then you've been
in heaven for a while
and then you know
a few decades
a century or two
goes by
people start showing up
and they come
and like oh man
I wanted to thank you
and you're like
well what did I do
well you started
that church
or you attended
that church
and you preached
you came to my grandpa's
my grandparents home
when they were young
and you knocked on
their door
and they preached it
to their parents
and they preached it
to me
and I'm saved here
as a result of your efforts
you know
that's not just
a great idea
that's a reality
I mean think about that
how could that not
be a possibility
that's very well within
the realm of possibility
you know Paul said
you're my crown of rejoicing
before the Lord Jesus Christ
you know we're gonna
I believe we're gonna
recognize one another
people are gonna
know things about
other people in heaven
you know we're gonna
realize who we're
connected to
I think to some degree
what an amazing thing
to be in heaven
and just have
total strangers
that you never met
that weren't even alive
when you were alive
that are there
because of your influence
it's a possibility folks
if we'll work
if we'll be like Jacob
and hold up our
end of the deal
you know God will bless us
we can increase exceedingly
maybe not in this world's goods
but you know we can
have a great harvest
of souls down through
the ages
I mean I think about this
with Pastor Anderson
that guy's getting
people saved in his sleep
it's true
especially when he had
his YouTube channel
I mean he's just
asleep at his bed
and just racking up rewards
because people are just
listening to his preaching
getting saved
watching documentaries
getting saved
and we could say that
probably about other men too
but why not me?
Why couldn't we have
a similar experience?
I realize we're not all
going to go viral
that that kind of
that day has kind of
come and gone
in terms of YouTube
the heyday is over
but let's not just
throw in the towel
let's say what's the point
like we could still
experience that to some degree
you could be
your body could be
you know just
in the grave
long deceased
just bones
and you could be
racking up rewards
because somebody
who you preach to
is preaching to somebody
else who's preaching
to somebody else
it's amazing
and it's real
1 Timothy 4 verse 10
but you say
oh I want that
well okay then let's
get to work
oh I want to
experience that
I want to increase greatly
well you know
Jacob was blessed by God
but he held up
his end of the deal
didn't he?
you know I
I have never
wrangled sheep
but I've
I've pushed some
cows around
and working with
livestock is not easy
you know
the romance of
the farm life
goes away after
about the first
hour or two
it goes away
real quick
the first time
you've got
to muck out a barn
or whatever
believe me
when the nitty gritty
stuff
shows up
it's
it's not
you know
no old McDonald
had a farm anymore
1 Timothy chapter
number 4
look at verse 10
for therefore
we labor
and suffer
approach
therefore we
labor
and suffer
approach
you know
Jacob labored
and he suffered
right
we'll read about it
next week
he describes
specifically what
he went through
working
for Laban
yeah he was
blessed and
Laban was
blessed as a result
in the night
in the day
dealing with wild
animals dealing with
these domesticated
animals and
everything comes
I mean he was
working hard
and yes God
blessed him
but he held up
his part of the deal
we want to increase
exceedingly
we want other
people to benefit
and be blessed
because of our
our efforts
then we have to
put in effort
you have to be
somebody who
will actually
labor
and maybe
even suffer
reproach
we labor
we suffer
reproach
why?
because we got
nothing better to do
because we're
gluttons for
punishment
because we're
a bunch of
masochists
because we're just
you know
we don't know
why
no because
he says here
because we trust
in the living God
who's the savior
of all men
especially those
that believe
he's saying we
go through this
we work
we suffer
because we have
the savior of
all men
especially those
that believe
that's why we
preach
that's why we
labor
that's why we
even suffer
reproach
if necessary
go over to
2 Timothy chapter
number two
I'll close there
so you know
that's why I
took the time
to finish this
chapter tonight
because I thought
that was a very
important truth
you know it's
not just a story
about how
you know
Jacob kept
and there's
application
we can make
out of it
you know
you want
to have an
increase
you want to
have a flock
you want to
create some
sheep
you want to
you know
you want to
get them
in the fold
in God's fold
you're gonna
have to
labor for that
and look
this isn't
a brow beating
sermon
I know we've
got people
that makes
you say
let's
let's keep
going
let's get
more
let's keep
doing the work
it works
you know
but that's
why is that
why do we
see that
increase in
numbers
because people
are rolling
up
they're doing
the work
because that's
there's no
other way
around it
there's no
easy way
let me read
chapter number
two
let's just
start in verse
one
I'm gonna
read a few
verses
thou therefore
my son
be strong
in the grace
that is in
Christ Jesus
it takes
strength
to serve
God
and the
things
which thou
has heard
of me
among many
witnesses
the same
commit thou
to faithful
men
who will
in turn
be able to
teach
others
also
I mean
Paul's
got the
same idea
the same
mentality
it's not
just Timothy
that he's
blessing
it's not
just Timothy
that he's
made an
impact on
it's the
people that
Timothy's
gonna have
an impact on
and the
people that
people are
gonna have
an impact on
I mean
this is how
Paul is
approaching it
this is his
perspective
this is how
he's looking
at things
his influence
is gonna reach
beyond
himself
but you know
how did he get
there
laboring
suffering
verse three
thou therefore
endure
hardness
as a good
soldier
of Jesus
Christ
you know the
Christian life
it's a battle
it's a struggle
it's a fight
and he's saying
you gotta
man up
you gotta
endure
some things
you know if
we're gonna
have the
impact that
we wanna have
if we're gonna
reach the
people that we
wanna reach
not just this
year but
in the years
to come
not just over
the course of
a decade but
over the course
of decades
you're gonna have
to be consistent
and that's
gonna take strength
you're gonna
have to be
strong and
as he goes on
and says
not being
tangled with
the affairs
of this life
not getting
taken over
by all the
cares and
the desires
and things
you know we're
gonna have to
sacrifice things
we're gonna have
to make
sacrifices to
make it work
but I'm just
saying it's
worth it
whatever that is
building the
corrals
the watering
traps
getting those
stupid animals
in there
knowing his
business
making it
happen
putting up with
Laban and
everything he's
doing
yeah he
increased but
a lot of it
was because
God blessed
him obviously
the Bible says
that Laban
recognized it
Jacob recognized
it and
yeah he
increased and
he's been
here for years to
get there that's
how it works
with God he'll
he'll keep his
end of the deal
if we'll keep
ours so let's do
that let's go
ahead close in
word of prayer
Lord again thank
you for the
opportunity we
have to serve
you in this life
Lord to earn
rewards in heaven
and Lord to be
blessed in the
here and now
and to increase
Lord
and not just
in ways that
are typical that
the world might
expect Lord but
you riches
Lord if we're
rich toward you if
we're rich toward
God and we set
our affection on
things which are
above Lord we know
that our treasure
will be there in
heaven waiting for us
Lord we'll have
that reward Lord
help us to labor
and if we suffer
Lord help us to
understand that it's
nothing you yourself
have not done we
ask these things in
Christ's name amen
all right we'll go
ahead and sing one
more song before we
are dismissed tonight
all right
he's up here
heaven knows the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song
number one hundred
and twenty nine
rock of angels
sing the song