Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Welcome to Sure Foundation Baptist Church.
Thank you for coming to our Sunday evening service.
Please find a seat and open a green hymnal to page 288.
Find your seats and open a green hymnal up to page 288.
I am resolved.
Green hymnals page 288.
I am resolved.
Sing it out loud on the first.
I am resolved no longer.
To linger.
Trapped by the
world's delight.
Things that are higher.
Things that
are nobler.
These have the Lord
my God.
I will come to Thee on the second I am resolved to go to the Savior, leaving
my cynics right He is the true one, He is the just one
He hath the work of life I will make sin to Him, make sin so bad and free
Jesus, greatest, highest I will come to Thee on the last
I am resolved to follow the Savior, faithful and true each day
Heed what He said, do what He willeth He is the living way
I will make sin to Him, make sin so bad and free
Jesus, greatest, highest I will come to Thee
Amen. Brother Eli. 25. Page 25, Wounded for Me. Christmas songs are okay at this point
so don't be ashamed. Just sing. So if you'd like Christmas songs go ahead.
Wounded for Me, page 25 on the verse.
Wounded for Me, wounded for Me
There on the cross He was wounded for me
God my transgressions and now I am free
Oh, because Jesus was wounded for me
Kyle. Kyle. Kyle. 27. The old rugged cross.
Page 27 on the first.
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross
The emblem of suffering and shame
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged cross
And exchange it someday for a crown
Liberty. Page 422.
Page 422. Thou didst leave Thy throne
Thou didst leave Thy throne in Thy kingly crown
When Thou cameest to earth for me
But in Bethlehem's womb was there found no room
For Thy holy nativity
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus
There is room in my heart for Thee
How's the good one? You almost got me. Brother Steven?
Page 129. 129 on the second.
Rock of Ages, page 129 on the second.
Could my tears forever flow
Could my zeal no languor know
These for sin could not atone
Thou must save in Thou alone
In my hand no price I bring
Simply to Thy cross I cling
Leilani? 423.
It's going back to Christmas. 423.
Joy to the World. Page 423 on the first.
Joy to the World. The Lord is come
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven, heaven, nature sing
Sherry? 140. 140.
We have an anchor. Page 140.
On the first.
Will your anchor hold in the storms of life?
When the clouds unfold their wings of strife
When the strong tides lift in the cable stream
Will your anchor tread or firm remain?
We have an anchor that keeps the soul
Steadfast and sure while the billows roll
Fasten to the rock which cannot move
Grounded firm and deep in the Savior's love
Bobby? 249.
Page 249.
I don't know. Sorry.
I think the orchestra is looking at me a little weird too.
We'll practice it. You have another one?
No. Okay. Think of another one. I'll come back to you.
Kyle? 437. 437.
Battle Hymn of the Republic. Page 437.
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored
He hath loosed the faithful lightning of His terrible smith sword
His truth is marching on
Glory, glory, hallelujah
His truth is marching on
Bobby? I was thinking of 247 in the red book.
Yeah, it is the same book.
Did I get it wrong? 247.
Okay, there you go.
Yeah, we were on 249.
247. Let's do it. Save screen. On the first.
I found a friend who is all to me
His love is ever true
I love to tell how He lifted me
And what His grace can do for you
Saved by His power divine
Two new lives abide
White now is sweet and my joy is complete
For I'm saved, saved, saved
Amen. Last one. Brother Bill.
If we're allowed in Christmas music, 429.
Amen. Page 429.
Hark the herald angels sing.
Page 429 on the first.
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled
Joyful all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
When angelic hosts proclaim
Christ is born in Bethlehem
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
All right, good afternoon.
How's your turkey comas doing?
You all right?
If you start falling asleep in the sermon,
I'm just going to come right after you.
I'm just going to come preach right in your face.
No, I'm just kidding. I won't.
Anyway, welcome back to Church Foundation Baptist Church
for the evening service.
Let's take our bulletins and go through them.
If you need a bulletin, would you lift up your hand
and Brother Ramona, bring you a bulletin if you need one.
All right. On our front cover,
we have our verse of the week.
And it says to the end that my glory may seem praise to thee
and not be silent.
Oh, Lord, my God, I will give thanks unto thee forever.
Psalm chapter 30, verse number 12.
On our inside page, left side page,
we have our service times,
Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m.
and our Sunday evening service 3 30 p.m.
We're in Genesis chapter 32 tonight.
Our Thursday Bible study is at 6 30 p.m.
Remember this week, there was somebody
who wasn't listening this morning.
It's Tuesday.
Our midweek service is Tuesday.
T for Tuesday, okay?
So Tuesday is our midweek service this week.
If you show up here on Thursday,
nobody is going to be here,
except for the other person that wasn't listening.
Okay?
So, anyway, so our so many times we listened below,
we had so many.
Did anybody have a salvation today?
It's kind of a not great.
We didn't have a lot of time,
so I'll just chalk it up to that.
But we got into some conversations,
so we have found the saved person,
so a saved couple,
and then I think somebody else
ran into three saved people.
So that's good.
So at least we know there's some people
that are actually saved in this town.
Amen.
All right, so let's see, our praise report.
You can see the salvations, baptisms,
attendance totals there on the bottom.
And we do have two baptisms tonight,
so right after the service,
guys, you already know,
I've already instructed the gentlemen,
and it's not super warm.
So it's not super warm.
Are you guys going to be all right?
It's like lukewarm,
kind of like your Christian relationships.
You guys have them?
I'm just teasing.
Just teasing.
But they're going to get baptized today,
and so it's good to see young people
getting baptized.
Amen?
Amen.
So we appreciate those boys.
And so that'll be right after the service.
Guys, just go get ready.
As soon as I start praying,
just head to the place to get changed
and then come on out.
Let's see, some upcoming events today.
We had Lord Jason preaching for us
in the AM service.
It was a blessing to have him here.
And our potluck, we already had that.
We had some wonderful food,
and everybody that had turkey
is probably fighting their sleep right now.
But we'll try to fight through it, right?
And the kids' Christmas choir practice
is right after the service.
So if you're in the choir,
if you're in that,
you need to come see Rylan.
Is Rylan here?
He's running away.
Oh, okay.
Is he actually running,
or is he walking?
I'm just kidding.
So okay, so there is still practice tonight,
and that's right after the baptism, okay?
So I'll make it quick.
I'll dunk him real fast.
And we'll do the choir practice.
So anyway, again,
the Tuesday midweek service,
this week it's going to be Tuesday, all right?
So I want to make sure I,
if somebody calls me on Thursday,
the sermon will be about you on Sunday.
So why you should listen when you're at church
is the title of the sermon.
December 11th is the Ladies' Cookie Exchange
White Elephant Game at 1 p.m.
at the Bender Home.
Please bring three dozen cookies, treats,
and, or treats,
and a container for the goodies.
December 16th,
we have the kids cooking an ornament,
decorating here at the church building at 2 p.m.
And the 19th,
we have the Christmas service,
Children's Choir Prime Rib Dinner.
And that'll be after the morning service.
So candlelight service is going to be on December 23rd.
On Thursday, December 31st,
we're going to pray the New Year in
and have a game night.
And all the other stuff,
everybody already knows,
so I'm going to skip through it.
We already sang Happy Birthday
to everybody.
And all right.
And just a real quick reminder
to congratulate the Alcorta family
on the birth of Lydia Lynn Alcorta.
We'll get a picture in there next week.
I forgot to say that's why Ryland
almost didn't make it to his next birthday.
So anyway,
but we'll have,
we'll give him some grace.
All right.
I'm picking on him today.
His birthday was yesterday's.
But anyway,
so she was born on the 18th.
She's weighing in at eight pounds,
two ounces,
and 19 and a half inches long.
So she's a real cutie.
And make sure you congratulate them.
We have the food train rolling,
so they should be taken care of in that way.
I think that's all I have for announcements.
Let's sing another song.
Page 321 in her green hymnals,
where he leads a follow.
Page 321.
Where he leads a follow.
Sing it out loud on the first.
Sweet are the promises,
kind is the word,
dear, far than any message
been ever heard.
Here was the mind of Christ,
endless I see.
He the great example
is impattered for me.
Where he leads a follow.
Follow all the way.
Where he leads a follow.
Follow Jesus every day
on the second.
Sweet is the tender love,
Jesus,
sweet is the tender love,
Jesus has shown.
Sweet are far than any love
that mortals have known.
Kind to the erring one,
faithful is he.
He the great example
is impattered for me.
Where he leads a follow.
Follow all the way.
Where he leads a follow.
Follow Jesus every day
on the last.
List to his loving words,
come unto me.
Weary, heavy, laden,
there is sweet rest for thee.
Trust in his promises,
his faithful and short.
Lean upon the Savior
in thy soul is secure.
Where he leads a follow.
Follow all the way.
Where he leads a follow.
Follow Jesus every day.
Amen.
Good evening!
Would you turn with me in your Bibles this evening to the book of Genesis chapter thirty-two?
As is our custom, we will read the entire chapter.
will read the entire chapter and kids I'd encourage you this is action-packed
listen up everyone listen up and follow along silently as I read chapter 32 in
the book of Genesis starting in verse 1
Genesis 32 the Bible reads and Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met
him and when Jacob saw them he said this is God's host and he called the name of
that place Mahanaim and Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his
brother unto the land of Seir the country of Edom and he commanded them
saying thus shall you speak unto my Lord Esau thy servant Jacob saith us I
have sojourned with Laban and stayed there until now and I have oxen and
asses flocks and men servants and women servants and I have sent to tell my Lord
that I may find grace in thy sight and the messengers returned to Jacob saying
we came to thy brother Esau and also he cometh to meet thee and 400 men with him
then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed that he divided the people
that was with him and the flocks and herds and the camels into two bands and
said if Esau come to the one company and smite it then the other company which
is left shall escape and Jacob said Oh God of my father Abraham and God of my
father Isaac the Lord which sets done to me return unto thy country and to thy
kindred and I will deal well with thee I am not worthy of the least of all the
mercies and of all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant for with my
staff I passed over this Jordan and now I am become two bands deliver me I pray
thee from the hand of my brother from the hand of Esau for I fear him lest he
will come and smite me and the mother with the children and thou sets I will
surely do thee good and make thy seed as the sand of the sea which cannot be
numbered for multitude and he lodged there that same night and took of that
which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother 200 she goats and 20 he
goats 200 ewes and 20 rams 30 milk camels in their colts 40 kine and 10
bulls 20 she asses and 10 foals and he delivered them into the hand of his
servants every drove by themselves and set up unto his servants Passover before
me and put a space betwixt drove and drove and he commanded the foremost
saying when Esau my brother meet at thee and ask at thee saying whose art thou
and whither goest thou and whose are these before thee then thou shalt say
they be thy servant Jacob's it is a present sent unto my Lord Esau and
behold also he is behind us and so commanded he the second and the third
and all that followed the drove saying on this manner shall you speak unto
Esau when you find him and say ye moreover behold thy servant Jacob is
behind us for he said I will appease him with the present that goeth before me
and afterward I will see his face per adventure he will accept of me so went
the present over before him and himself lodged that night in the company and he
rose up that night and took his two wives and his two women servants and his
eleven sons and passed over the four Jabouk and he took them and sent them
over the brook and sent over that he had and Jacob was left alone and there
wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day and when he saw that
he prevailed not against him he touched the hollow of his thigh and the hollow
of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him and he said let me go
for the day breaketh and he said I will not let thee go except thou bless me and
he said unto him what is thy name and he said Jacob and he said thy name
shall be called no more Jacob but Israel for as a prince hast thou power with God
and with men and hast prevailed and Jacob asked him and said tell me I pray
thee thy name and he said wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name and
he blessed him there and Jacob called the name of the place Peniel for I have
seen God face to face and my life is preserved and as he passed over Penuel
the Sun rose upon him and he halted upon his thigh therefore the children of
Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank which is upon the hollow of the thigh
unto this day because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew
that shrank brother bill would you pray for us
you
ad but remember Layvin caught up with him and they had some choice words with
each other and they basically parted not as enemies so basically he was able
to end up kind of working things out to a certain extent but Jacob did give his
father-in-law a piece of his mind and he kind of had that common dead name so
here we are in Genesis 32 and so remember God told Jacob to leave and he
told Jacob the plan basically for the last six years or seven years that he
was how to build his cattle empire and so Jacob was able to do that and so he
left with you know he was pretty he's pretty rich in cattle and so there's
different types of ways you can be rich and obviously you can be rich with
blessings you know we cannot we're rich everybody in this room is rich you don't
know it yet but up in heaven we're rich we're gonna be walking on streets of
gold and there's gates of pearl and you know we have everlasting life we get all
eternity to enjoy the things that God has set up for us and so there's also
different ways of being rich monetarily here on this earth now some people you
know most people in this room probably make some sort of cash or you know
electronic money that goes into your bank or however you know most people I
don't think that anybody in here is a cattle baron are they someone that has
multiple cattle I think brother Joe do you keep cattle cattle of some sort now
just to eat so that's that's a good that's a good reason though brother so
grass-fed organic beef amen so but you know and cattle are expensive brother
Joe I didn't research this but how much is a does a cow cost do you 500 to a
thousand bucks and I don't know if that's like the choice the choice there's
probably more expensive kinds in that kind right so five hundred to a thousand
dollars I'm sure it goes up for the kind of like if you get the Angus you know
do you have an is it an Angus one okay okay so and then of course Buffalo or
kind of a type of cattle I think that costs more there's just all different
types of cattle and Jacob is rich in cattle and we'll see that as the story
goes here but you can be rich in different areas and and people that farm
you know their money is in the crops that they produce people to keep cattle
and the cattle that they produce and obviously that's what Jacob is kind he's
like a cowboy I mean he really kind of is a cowboy so but he keeps mainly sheep
and things but yeah you'll see the list of all the things he has but God said go
back to the place of your nativity where you're from and I'll be with you I'll
bless you and I'll take care of you so 20 years have passed since he left home
and remember when he left home his brother wanted to murder him do you
remember that do you remember that story because Jacob not only stole the
inheritance well he he he did he didn't steal the inheritance I mean he traded
it for beans chili with beans in it or whatever some kind of soup with beans so
but you know I mean that's he saw kind of got the raw end of the deal but you
know what he saw didn't really care he was like he said I'm about ready to die
he probably was being you know a little dramatic about that but maybe he was I
mean I don't know but anyway Jacob got the the inheritance and also the
blessing he actually did steal the blessing from his brother he pretended
and I put the goats fur on his arms and the back of his neck and his dad was
blind and was trying to pet him to see if he was really Esau his son because
apparently it was that hairy but anyway so 20 years have passed since then he
left they sent him to go get a wife he meets Rachel he falls in love
instantaneously with her ends up getting tricked himself into marrying Leah and
so he served seven years and they end up getting Leah as a wife and then he
served another seven years for Rachel and then it says you know he's he says
these 20 years I think he probably served him six years and some odd you
know I don't know how long but anyway that's kind of where we're at in the
story Jacob's going back to where he's from but he's got a pass through the
place that now Esau controls so in this 20 years apparently Esau has taken over
some territory he has a bunch of people that work for him he has I think a few
wives and he probably has children at this point but things didn't end very
well between them so number one tonight I want to show you how Jacob calls on
God to deliver him from Esau I preached a sermon about being delivered from your
enemies when pastor Jimenez was here and this is one of the this is the first
time you see where someone's asked to be delivered from something so now and
deliver can mean save right deliver is like a save is a synonym of deliver so
when the rapture comes we're gonna be delivered from the Antichrist and from
the forces of the the beasts and all that stuff but we also let's talk about
all flesh being saved you know all flesh would you know there wouldn't be any
flesh alive if the Great Tribulation lasted longer than was supposed to so
anyway let's look at verse number one the Bible says and Jacob went on his way
and the angels of God met him this is really interesting you know I mean have
you guys been walking around one time and all sudden some angels are just
hanging out there now I believe this is talking about the heavenly heavenly host
type angels here and so they met him and when Jacob saw them he said this is
God's host and he called the name of that place Mahanim and so Jacob sees
angels have you ever seen an angel before I I haven't personally seen one
so this is something that's rare and obviously Jacob is a prophet and he's
and God allows him to see this host of angel and he says it's God's host now
angels are ministering spirits and they appear to people when when they're
proclaiming something about God or his word or they're gonna come and tell you
about something that's a that's going to happen but also they come and minister
to people when they're going through something hard like Jesus was
ministered to by the angels after he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights he was
tempted of the devil and then the angels came and ministered unto him after that
remember so and then so right here you have Jacob knows that he's gonna have to
go through some problems but God knows that also and he sends these angels and
Jacob is able to see them now there's parts and scriptures repeat where men do
see angels but they live we can't see them normally with our regular site
unless God allows us to see those things just like we can't see Devils unless God
allowed us to see those things and Devils are basically fallen angels that
rebelled with Satan many many years ago so now it says and Jacob sent messengers
before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir the country of Edom and he
commanded them saying thus shall you speak unto my Lord Esau I want you to
catch that real quick because didn't didn't Jacob get the blessing didn't
Jacob get the inheritance so technically he is Esau's Lord but how
does Jacob see that Jacob that's just this just shows that Jacob is very
humble and that he has a very humble attitude when he's going to his brother
I think things would have turned out a little bit differently had Jacob acted
differently with Esau and I think if he would have just been real brash and
arrogant like I'm your Lord now and you know you're the one that should be
paying me homage and I'm the one that got the blessing from father and you
know and people you know siblings fight siblings have issues sometimes but
Jacob's very humble here and you know if you want grace you should be willing to
be humble so when you're asking for someone for grace even if you're
fighting with someone maybe you don't feel like you're in the wrong or
whatever you know sometimes we don't see things how the other person see things
when we offend somebody we don't see it from their side necessarily we only want
to see our side of things but Jacob says thy servant Jacob saith us I have sojourned
with Laban and stayed there until now and I have oxen and asses flocks and men
servants and women servants and have sent to tell my Lord that I may find
grace in thy sight see how he's calling him my Lord go to my Lord Esau and so
Jacob's attitude here is like yeah I kind of I kind of messed him over but
I'm gonna call him Lord you know it's his older brother by like what seconds
you know because he's a they're twins and remember when Jacob was born he was
latched on to Esau's heel so like the baby comes out the hands coming out on
top of the heel so so he really wanted that first position but he just it
wasn't his so you know Esau's around they're pretty much the same age but
Esau was just born a few seconds before so but it says I have sent to tell my
that I may find grace in thy sight and the messengers return to Jacob saying we
came to thy brother Esau and also he cometh to meet thee and 400 men with him
so notice it doesn't say 400 women and 400 men just 400 men so I mean that's
enough to scare you and I don't know about you but if you're bringing 400 men
to just meet up with your brother who you haven't seen for a long time you're
trying to say something there aren't you I mean I'm reading into that a little
bit but it's not too hard to read into it he didn't say well he came with his
family to meet his family it was no he came with 400 men so it's a bit it's a
different there then Jacob was greatly afraid and rightly so right and it says
and distressed and he divided the people that was with him and the flocks and the
herds and the camels into two bands so immediately he splits his company into
two companies and it says and said if Esau come to the one company and smite
it then the other company which is left shall escape so he's trying to be smart
in the way that he he's dividing up the group so if what if he falls upon one
band of people they're gonna die but not necessarily the other one so and it says
in and Jacob said Oh God of my father Abraham that's this is a good thing to
do if you're in a distressed situation you're greatly afraid you know God is
the one that you should go to first amen says and Jacob said Oh God of my
father Abraham and God of my father Isaac the Lord has said unto me return
unto thy country and to thy kindred and I will deal well with thee so he's going
back and he's saying hey remember God that you promised me these things but
see we as we as human beings sometimes we see things coming and we forget that
God's already promised us certain things but I don't believe us it's wrong to put
those things into God it's not like God forgot but sometimes he wants you to
acknowledge that you realize that those things were promised to you and and I
wouldn't say throwing it back into God's face but it's kind of like hey God
remember you said that you were gonna do this for me well will you you know I
don't understand why this stuff's happening to me I understand why I'm in
this situation but you said you were never gonna leave me nor forsake me
didn't doesn't the Bible say I will never leave thee nor forsake thee and
then sometimes we feel left sometimes we feel forsaken but I don't think there's
anything wrong with saying hey God remember when he said he would never
leave me nor forsake me so there's nothing wrong with letting reminding God
of these things it's not he I don't think he's being disrespectful here I
think he's just reminding and saying hey remember he said you're gonna take care
of me and now also my brother's coming at me with 400 men I'm afraid so it says
I'm not worthy of the least of all thy mercies all excuse me all the mercies
and of all the truth which thou has showed unto thy servant for with my
staff I passed over this Jordan and now I'm become two bands deliver me I pray
thee from the hand of my brother and from the hand of Esau for I fear him
lest he will come and smite me and the mother with the children so this is
again the first time ever in the Bible or is talking or someone asked to be
delivered from something I'm not saying it's the first time someone ever asked
I'm just saying it's first time it's ever said in the Bible okay so and it's
Jacob afraid and isn't he kind of in an impossible situation here like he really
can't fight back if Esau decides to kill him and slaughter his whole family what
can he do about it he can't do anything and so when we're in situations where we
can't do anything and nobody else can help us well you've exhausted all your
resources then that's you know that's a good time to call out to God and ask him
hey God will you deliver me you said you would do these things will you please
deliver me you know what God wants us to put him to the test sometimes sometimes
we just go through life just and we forget but you know God is you know real
and we should treat him that way we should treat him we should pray to him
and and and like talk with him like he's real because he is right so he says
deliver me unless you know he's afraid and rightly so because you know if my
brother had 400 guys he was coming over to visit me with I'd probably like
wonder like what's what's my brother trying to do here obviously he's trying
to intimidate him but the way that Jacob deals with his brother is the wise way
to do it it's the smart way to do it and again it's a legit fear so but all
you can do is go to God and ask him to deliver him look at verse 12 and that
says I will surely do thee good and make thy seed as the sand of the sea which
cannot be numbered for multitude so he's bringing once again the promise of God
back to God and just saying hey you know it's gonna be hard for me to be
multiplied as the sands of the sea if I'm dead you know so he's just basically
bringing this to God back to him and said hey remember this what you promised
me so this is the blessing of Abraham in Jacob this is what he's talking about
because Abraham was told the same thing and then his son Isaac was told the same
thing and now Jacob is the one that's getting the blessing of Abraham so so
number two this evening is Jacob's plan of preparation so he goes to God number
one and asked for him to deliver him number two Jacob has a plan so there's
nothing wrong with being prepared and having a plan for something because if
you just never do anything if you're not a person of activity and you just like
well I don't really care you know what does Jacob do he he makes plans to you
know just in case kind of plans right preparation plans there's a prepared
place for a prepared person there's always a prepared place there's always
blessings you can get out being prepared hey if you went out so one and you
weren't prepared to preach the gospel then you're not doing it right so we
need to be prepared but in this situation Jacob's just saying hey I'm
gonna do my best to whatever I can do to make this situation good and if God
blesses me and takes care of me and delivers me you know all the better but
it's his attitude you know if he would have went I don't care what you say Esau
I'm the Lord now you saw father give me the blessing you know that'd be that not
be humble wouldn't it so he's he wants grace he wants things to work out you
know so there's nothing wrong with asking God for help but there's also
nothing wrong with being prepared for the situation so look at Genesis 32 verse
13 it says and he lodged there the same night and took of that which came to his
hand a present for Esau his brother nothing wrong with that I mean hey let
me give you a present maybe it'll smooth things over you know I know I took the
inheritance from you so let me give you some cattle so look at verse 14 it says
200 she goats 20 and 20 he goats 200 ewes and 20 rams 30 milch camels with
their colts 40 kine and 10 bulls 20 she asses and 10 foals so you got horses and
camels and bulls and kine which are like cattle ewes or lambs all these different
kinds of things and brother remember brother Joe said they're five hundred to
a thousand dollars apiece so he's not this isn't just a small gift he's given
him he's given them you know in our modern equivalent thousands and
thousands of dollars worth of cattle so and it totals up to five hundred and
fifty of different types of these different types of cattle so that's a
lot I mean that's that would be expensive to buy modern day wouldn't it
if you went bought all those things right now be very expensive I don't
think anybody in this room could afford that so he's definitely rich in cattle
and says he delivered them into the hand of his servants every drove by
themselves and said unto the servants pass over before me and put a space
betwixt drove and drove and he commanded the foremost saying when Esau my brother
meet at thee and asketh thee saying whose art thou and whither goest thou
and whose are these before thee then thou shalt say they be thy servant
Jacobs it is a present sent unto my Lord Esau and behold also he is behind us and
so commanded he the second and the third and all that followed the drove saying
on this manner shall you speak unto Esau when you find him and say ye moreover
behold thy servant Jacob is behind us and he said I will appease him with the
present that goeth before me and afterward I will see his face
paired venture he will accept me so here's his plan like just in case you
know someone gets past him and then Jacob and then Esau comes there's
another like you know he comes upon another station of cattle that he's
already going to give them and so those ones can always come back but if the
whole process is driven past and he just comes upon Jacob and his family then he
doesn't get to see the presence so he's trying to appease him that's what it
says right so he's trying to appease him with the present and hopes that he will
be accepted as part of that process being given a present so I said there's
nothing wrong with being prepared Jacob has a plan Jacobs prepared and he does
further more divisions after this but turn to Proverbs chapter 21 verse 31
Proverbs chapter 21 verse 31 this is a very quoted scripture in our circles
and it's a good one but keep your finger in Genesis 32 verse or Genesis chapter
32 but look at Proverbs 21 31 it says the horse is prepared against the day of
battle but safety is of the Lord this is a very applicable scripture for this
situation so what is Jacob doing he's preparing in case the battle comes to
him right but he's also depending upon the safety of the Lord he's already put
that first so ultimately we can be as prepared you know and just think about
there's preppers nowadays that they go and hide in the mountains and stock up
all this stuff and you know you can prepare all these things but if God
isn't your Lord if God isn't if you don't haven't believed and trusted in
Christ you can prepare all you want but somehow some way you can still get
destroyed there could be an earthquake and it ruins your whole missile silo or
whatever it is you got you know dug out in the middle of nowhere but you know
what safety is of the Lord and so it is good to be prepared there's nothing
wrong with being prepared you know it's it's kind of like having a weapon owning
a gun you know safeties of the Lord but there's nothing wrong with being
prepared you know because obviously God's gonna give you the the knowledge
that someone's in your house or whatever whatever the situation is you know you
get the Kyle Rittenhouse situation he was prepared for the day of battle
wasn't he and you know safety was of the Lord apparently or he had he was a great
shot you know I don't know if God just wanted those guys dead or what but I'm
pretty sure he wanted the first guy dead right so that guy shouldn't have been
breathing air for as long as he was he was a pedophile and he was he was a
wicked person you know so I don't know if Kyle Rittenhouse is a Christian or
not but I hope he is I hope he gets saved if he's not so but there's not the
point is is that to be armed there's nothing wrong with being armed people
act like Christians are supposed to never be armed under any situation that's
just a weird interpretation Jesus said you know if you don't have a sword sell
your garment and buy one I mean why would he say that because he wants you
to be able to protect yourself so there's nothing wrong with defending
your family protecting your family protecting yourself and you know we saw
that the court systems actually do still work in certain places of this world I
was pretty happy about that I was pleasantly surprised but if that would
have been in Sacramento California that would have been in Seattle Washington
that would have been in Portland Oregon do you think that he would have gotten
away with that or not gotten away with it but he would not he would not have
won that case so I don't think there's 12 same jurors that would be able to be
on a jury in Portland so they all probably are some weird you know there
would have been green hair and dyed hair and all this other lip rings and he
would have known who was a man or a woman have been awful so but the point
is anyway so we need to be prepared there's nothing wrong with being
prepared like I said there's a prepared place for a prepared person and but you
know when it comes to your safety when the Bible talks about like you know
someone's gonna rob your house what are they gonna do they're gonna try to take
over they're gonna try to stop get the strong man first they're gonna try to
stop the man of the house they're not gonna go after the kids first they're
gonna try to get the person that could possibly fight them off and hurt them or
wound them or shoot them or kill them you know when people have burglaries
that happen and you see that their family was killed they always kill the
man first and that's just kind of you know how people do things but if you're
a strong man you should be in it put you should put yourself in a position where
you can defend your family and so I personally believe that you know if
you're if you're a man you should have some kind of a way to defend yourself
you know like I said my sermon last Wednesday you know these things are
lethal weapons right here so they're registered with the state of Washington
I just joke it if they're not they should be you know but anyway so you
know it's good to be prepared but just remember that safety is of the Lord God
is the one that protects us God's the one that watches over us and if you're
saved you know he he looks out for you every single person in God's kingdom is
important to him the very hit hairs on your head are numbered the Bible says he
knows how many hairs are on your head and when you're balding he knows then
too if you got a haircut whatever so if he knows the very numbers on your head
then he cares intimately about the individual person people want to say
that like oh you know we're not that important well apparently we're
important enough that he sent his son on to die on a cross and go through you
know the torture that he did in order to save mankind and like brother Jason was
talking about this morning he didn't just die for us and here he died for the
whole world the sins of the whole world look at verse number 21 it says back in
Genesis 32 it says so went the present over before him and himself lodged that
night in the company number three tonight Jacob wrestles with God and
prevails Jacob wrestles with God and prevails look at verse 22 it says and he
rose up that night and took his two wives and his two women servants and his
eleven sons and passed over the four Jabbok and he took them and sent them
over the brook and sent over that he had and Jacob was left alone and there
wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day now this kind of a
strange story isn't it so Jacobs left alone you know and the way I picture
that maybe Jacobs just kind of on a walk he's he's already fearful he's already
you know he's probably in a praying attitude he's he's you know he's
perplexed he's how you know sometimes it's good for it for man to just get out
and and think about things on their own not have to you know listen to anybody
else you know kind of like a you know a solitude type situation where you just
want to think but apparently Jacob is left alone so he's got all these things
all these cattle everybody probably just wants to you know go and think about
things and it says and they're wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the
day it's all sudden this man just you know it says the man a man rest yeah
they're wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day so I don't think
Jacob started this wrestling match I think that the other the man started
this wrestling match but this is the first wrestling match in the Bible that's
recorded so I'm sure people have wrestled before and you know what
wrestling is you're just kind of physically just you know you know
everybody has probably wrestled at one time or another but and it says and when
he saw that he prevailed not against him he touched the hollow of his thigh now
who's the one that prevailed not against him the man okay remember it says it's a
man right and prevailed not against him he touched the hollow of his thigh and
the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him so they're
wrestling and it says till the break of day so they're wrestling for a long time
I don't know how close to the breaking of the day it was when they first started
wrestling but it sounds like they're wrestling for a while and wrestling is
very exhausting if you wrestle with anybody before it can get pretty
exhausting you get tired both my sons have wrestled before and it's a hard
sport like the sport of wrestling and so it's been pretty good physical shape to
be a good wrestler you know they'll make you run around and wrestle people
don't give you a drink of water for long periods of time it's like man you're
making me look you're making me thirsty just watching you but wrestling is a
tough sport and it's not so you know it's a one-on-one sport and so it's just
you and that other person so if you're gonna get dominated you know you kind of
need to know what you're doing I've kind of told the story before where I was I
wrestled one match in my high school career and it was against the state
champion I was like a state champion like how tough could he really be he
smashed my face in the mat like several times bloodied my nose like I had blood
all over my face all over my shirt like you want to continue and I was like I'm
not good I'm not gonna just quit you know and what I'm gonna make it look
like I'm not quitting but I ultimately let the guy pin me because he couldn't
pin me but every time I couldn't pin me just smash my face at the mat again and
back then it was before like you know a AIDS protocols and stuff like that so I
was just I was a bloody mess and I finally just you know just like okay
just pin me dude I'll let him pin me but he smashed me so wrestling's a it's a
rough sport and so what happens here is also probably recorded the first MMA
match where you know a submission hold was put upon someone and pop their hip
out of socket right that'd be very painful I've had my hip put out of socket
before I know what that feels like it hurts and so the this man prevailed not
against Jacob but we know this man is also an angel of the Lord and also for
all take it even further this this this man is God so that's what I believe and
I'll show you why I think that but you know Jesus Christ was a man too was he
God okay so that's not really too far-fetched for us to think so I
believe that this man was a pre-incarnate Lord Jesus the Lord Jesus
Christ that's what I think you know he was a man he was also an angel but he's
also called God so what do we know about Jesus Christ well he's the son of God
right but we also at this church we believe in what's called the Trinity so
you're aware that we believe in the Trinity the Father the Son and the Holy
Ghost he's three or one so I'll get more into that here in a little bit but it's
just amazing that Jacob is able to wrestle and and you know he wasn't he
wasn't this this man this the Lord Jesus Christ is who I think it was was not
able to prevail against him but let me just say this you know when I was when I
was you know younger and when the kids were young I would let them wrestle with
me you know but do you think that I just smash them and pop their hips out of
socket and stuff I'll never let someone just beat me at a game you know I'll
never just roll over and let someone beat me at some video game or something
like that but I'm not gonna let him just totally you know but I'm not gonna
totally smash my own kids in a wrestling match okay I'm not gonna hurt them like
I could so could Jesus have killed Jacob at any moment of course he could
but sometimes you know we want to see how tough our kids are I know that Remy
I kind of trained him with some stuff and and he knew how to do some jujitsu
moves and things like that Remy got a hold of my neck one time and I was going
out but like he always would practice on me you know practice getting that that
chokehold from behind and he would sink his his legs in before he can't move you
know he was strong and one time he he caught me I was like you know I could I
knew I was going out he's like you know not even ten years old I don't think at
the time maybe he was but he was pretty young but you know I didn't smash him
for that you know so I what I think is going on here is God wants to see just
what Jacob is made of and sometimes as dads we want to see what our kids are
made of too and so we'll let them kind of you know get loose on us a little bit
obviously you shouldn't let your kids just punch you in the face and things
like that but of course I wouldn't allow that but I would let my kids kind of get
the best of me and stuff like that just this kind of see and that's what I
think's kind of going on here because obviously there's no way that Jacob
could really beat God you know he does prevail over him but I think that maybe
he limited himself to a certain degree I don't know but but he definitely does
the Bible does say he prevailed against him so he said when he touched the hall
of his thigh Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled them now if you've
ever had something out of joint before it hurts and the first thing you want to
do is get that thing back into joint but he still continued wrestling they said
let me go verse 26 for the day breaketh and he said I will not let thee go
except thou bless me and he said unto him what is thy name and he said Jacob
and he said thy name shall be called no more Jacob but Israel for as a prince
thou has power with God and with men and hast prevailed so what was he trying to
do he was trying to get the blessing wasn't he he's trying to get God to
bless him and so he was saying I'm not gonna let you go and tell you bless me
and you know and sometimes we need to as Christians we need to kind of be the
same way hey we need to show God that we care enough to work hard and and you
know sometimes we need to wrestle a little bit don't we in our lives and
sometimes that wrestling with God would not be a physical wrestling but like
maybe a wrestling like hey God would you bless me well you got God will you keep
the words that you said that you were gonna do will you keep your promises
with me and you know sometimes God wants to see us work hard at something and see
if we really want the things that we're asking for sometimes you might ask God
for something big but you don't really think he's gonna do it or you don't
really care you don't really try enough to to to show that you want to have
power with God because as a princess as a prince so has power with God and with
men and has prevailed he prevailed against the person he was wrestling with
but did he win the wrestling match I mean he popped his his leg out of socket
I mean I don't think you're gonna win ultimately and how and that fight you
know but here's the thing in Jacobs hard work remember he's a hard worker remember
he could move the stone off the mouth of the well by himself when usually it
took people to come and help they would gather together and then all lift it
together but Jacob was a strong guy and he was strong because he was a hard
worker and back then they didn't have free weights necessarily they didn't
have you know Bowflex gyms and they didn't have planet fitness for you to go
to Jacob sound like he was in pretty good shape though didn't he because he
was a cowboy he was a sheep you know he took care of sheep I'm sure he had to
lift those things and pick them up and you know he was in great shape great
enough shape where he could wrestle with someone till the breaking of day and you
know even with his hip popped out of socket still continued to wrestle he was
a man's man wasn't he he was manly and his hard work paid off in the fact that
he could wrestle you know wrestlers have a weird core strength that other
people don't have if you've never wrestled with someone that's an actual
wrestler you don't understand what that's like until they're on top of you
a state champion by the way and they're doing things to you and they don't look
bigger than you they don't look stronger than you they don't look like they're in
better shape than you but I'm telling you they have like chimpanzee strength
they have grips that you can't break loose like how are you this strong what's
your freak and that's what happens when you wrestle and you're just your body is
hard and your grip is hard and I mean when you're wrestling with someone it
makes it you know that that kinetic force it I don't know but people who
wrestle just look at them first of all you know you don't see a lot of fat
wrestlers I mean lesser in the WWE or whatever but even those guys you know
there there's a heavyweight division but these these small wrestler guys they're
strong and it's because they work hard you know if you've ever been in part of
a wrestling program who's actually wrestled before and like some kind of
yeah not very many people so you don't really know what I'm talking about just
watch some wrestlers sometime or just say I say well you know you see you meet
a wrestler just see if they'll wrestle you and then see what it feels like to
be turned into a pretzel by someone that has chimpanzee strength anyway so
remember so Jacob you know he has power with God and with men because he
prevailed but his hard work paid off he's a hard worker that made him strong
that made him able to hang with this man and so like I said he was he was strong
he was used to being out in the weather and you know he was kind of had the
rocky for training program going on families I'm not trying to say go watch
rocky okay I'm just saying but if you've watched rocky before rocky for where he
fights the Russian he goes through it he goes you know he gets beat and then he
has to go back to the drawing board where he's like running through snow you
know he's going to the elements to get his training program going so he's
chopping wood he's you know he's doing stuff like Jacob probably would have
been doing when he was you know working back in so basically rocky had to go
back to the elements in order to beat the Russian or whatever right so he's
cutting wood he's doing sit-ups he's carrying big logs he's doing that kind
of stuff but that's that's kind of what would have made you in great shape in
those times or you know even times today you know if you work with your hands if
you're a construction worker I mean there's a lot of construction workers
are pretty strong because you know what they do they swing hammers all day they
cut things they you know carry things or they're you know men of activity so if
you're not a man of activity and you want to be in construction then maybe
you need to rethink your career because if you can't cut it you're gonna be
working at McDonald's or maybe you just need to make a career change be a you
know some customer service representative so but anyway he had
Jacob had power with God and what were Jacob's characteristics what were his
characteristic strengths that he had you know and I'm not talking about his
character as a you know hard work does is a character that he had but what are
some other good characteristics that Jacob had because we know he had
failures okay we know he had failures in his life and so does everybody else so
does everybody in this room but one thing he did is he respected and obeyed
his parents when they told him to go and find a wife and not pick one of those
wives that you know his brother picked what did he do he obeyed and respected
what his parents said he cared about the promises and blessings of God and he
wanted them what was his brother like his brother didn't care he sold his
birthright for a bowl of soup and his brother wanted those things so he cared
about the blessings of God he cared about his inheritance you know Jacob
despised those things he was a profane man he didn't care about those things
but Jacob did that's a good character strength and also you know like I said
he worked hard and he put God to the test isn't that what he's doing here
he's putting God to the test and he's like trying to he's trying to get God to
bless him and he's trying to get a blessing from this guy he won't let him
go a guy that could just snap his neck like pretty easily he pop he just
touched his thigh and it popped out of socket so the guy was probably pretty
skilled and the guy is Jesus right so that's what I think anyhow but let's
look at some of the things that God had promised him turn it back to Genesis
chapter 28 verse 20 Genesis chapter 28 verse 20 see God is gonna bless those
people I believe God blesses people like Jacob because even though we're he's
flawed everybody else is flawed but he had some key characteristics that God
did like why did God decide to bless Jacob over all the other people well
because Jacob had some things that God liked about him you know and if you're a
hard worker and you respect your parents and you care about the things of God you
know God likes that and he also likes that we put him to the test not in a
disrespectful way but he likes the fact that we put him to the test because you
know God wants to prove himself and show his power through us and so if we
never try to show you know if we never seek God and we never care about these
things then God how can God even use you or show you anything if you never want
to put him to the test in these ways look what he says in Genesis 28 20 says
and Jacob vowed a vow saying if God will be with me and keep me in this way that
I go I will give him or and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on he's
a simple guy he just wants food he just wants clothing doesn't the Bible say
something about that if you have food and raiment there with to be content
verse 21 so that I come again to my father's house and peace then shall the
Lord be my God and this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's
house and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee
so he's basically saying I God will be my God if he takes care of me and does
these things you know people make deals with God don't they I remember before I
was even saved I made a deal with God and I'm sure everybody has done that at
some point God if you just get me out of this situation then I'm gonna follow you
I'm gonna do this I'm gonna do that but I didn't keep my promise I'm sure a lot
of people don't keep their promises like that but doesn't mean God won't hold you
to those things eventually I follow God but I wasn't even saved then I just was
like you know God get me out of this bad situation I put myself into my promise
I'll be good from now on but what's he say he's like he said you do all this
for me and it says surely I'll give the tenth unto thee so he's even saying I'm
gonna tithe I'm gonna give some of the money that you gave me or some of the
cattle or whatever it was back to you a portion and people will use you know and
say well we don't have to tie the New Testament anymore well this was this
this was before the law this is before it was actually commanded through the
law so obviously it was something that was practiced before the law was put into
place so I believe tithing is taught throughout the whole Bible but the point
is that he's he's putting wants to put God to the test so what's the Bible
actually say about tithing tithing has a special blessing in it that if you tithe
then God you can prove God by tithing so turn to Malachi chapter 3 verse 8 and I'm
not trying to turn this into a tithing sermon but I just think it's really
interesting that Jacob says you know I'm gonna give the tenth and then God shows
that this is a way to test him you know if you give unto the Lord what he's
already given to you a portion back and even if it doesn't make sense even if
the bills don't add up you know it doesn't matter God will still keep his
promise test him prove him he wants you to so there's just one example so look
at Malachi chapter 3 verse 8 it says will a man rob God yet you have
robbed me but you say wherein have we robbed thee in tithes and offerings so
when you don't give the tenth which is a tithe that's what tithe means when you
don't give the tenth unto the Lord what's the Bible say that you're robbing
him so and when you rob God when you break God's commandments what's he do he
curses you doesn't he it says in verse 9 you're cursed with a curse for you have
robbed me even this whole nation so apparently the whole nation of Israel
has robbed God at this point and so he says you're cursed with a curse and he
says bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in
mine house and what's it say there prove me now here with here with what
with giving the tithe prove me now here with sayeth the Lord of hosts if I will
not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall
not be room enough to receive it that's a pretty big proof have you ever tried
that have you actually I mean if you I know the people here tithe but like did
you do it to put God to the test do you think he'd be mad if you put him to the
test by doing it absolutely not why would he be mad when he says hey prove
me with this can you prove that God will keep his promise yeah but you actually
have to tithe and sometimes people freak out about that sometimes you know their
wallet is actually attached there is a chain that's attached to their heart to
with their wallet and you know people are afraid to give unto the Lord they're
afraid to trust God with their finances but you should not be afraid because God
promised that he would open up the windows of heaven and pour you out a
blessing he's gonna he's gonna rebuke the devourer for your sake because what
happens if you don't give the tithe the alternative is that he curses you and
you're if you're not tithing you're already being cursed right now if your
car keeps breaking down if your shoes keep wearing out you know the shoe that
you buy one of them doesn't fit you right every single time you buy them or
you know whatever it is God finds ways to make that money get that money one
way or the other so and he's gonna do it by cursing you he's gonna do it by
making sure you don't have the very thing that you are afraid of is the
thing that he's gonna destroy you with you know the washing machine that's
lasted for 15 years and you don't know how it's still running you know the
children of Israel's shoes didn't wear off their feet for 40 years God can make
things last for you God can make the things that you have last for a long
time but I'll tell you what if you're robbing God and you're not proving him
then he's gonna curse you and it's like why are you talking about this well
because it pertains to the sermon it pertains to the fact that Jacob was you
know he wanted a blessing and what did he do well from the beginning when he
said that he would make God his God he's like God I want to I want to put
you to the test are you gonna take care of me are you gonna bless me are you
gonna keep there you make sure I have food and raiment and all stuff if you do
I will tithe and you'll be my God that's basically what he says and so now Jacob
in this chapter is proving God and he's saying you know he's like give me a
blessing he's wrestling for a blessing and he is is actually called God into
question and asked him are you gonna do what you said you were gonna do and when
when you ask God is he gonna do what he said he was gonna do why would he get
mad about that when you tell your kids hey it's okay to go out and play but
just don't get in the mud as if they go out and play and they don't get in the
mud they're not gonna get in trouble right as long as you're doing they're
doing what you asked but if they go in the mud that's when you're gonna get mad
but like why would you get mad about something that you told that your kids
to do and they're doing what you told them you wouldn't get mad you know if
you give them instruction and they do what what they're instructed to do but
maybe you said hey mom well let me get this is a better example if you do your
homework I'm gonna give you two chocolate chip cookies and you say you
know you get done with your homework you don't see the cookies anywhere and
you're like dad I thought you're gonna give me two cookies for getting my
homework done there you go son you know it's like you why would you get you know
why would it as a parent would you get mad about that why are you asking me for
cookies it's like because you said you give them to me like that doesn't you
know God's not gonna get mad about something he said he was gonna do right
turn to Hosea chapter 12 verse 3 now how do we know that Jacob you know wrestled
with an angel well because it said it was a man right at first but now look at
Hosea chapter 12 verse 3 it says he took his brother by the heel in the womb
verse 3 and by his strength he had power with God so what was the how did he have
power with God with his strength how do you get the strength working hard you
know and I believe it was more than just his physical strength that gave him
power with God it was the character that Jacob had you know and obviously
Jacob didn't start out very good but who does you know what you know he's a he's
a young man but as he goes along the way do you think he's more mature at this
point than he was when he left absolutely he's learned some lessons
hasn't he he's reaped what he's sown he got tricked into marrying someone that
he wasn't supposed to marry he's like I'm sure he learned that lesson so you
know so look what it says so in verse 4 says yay he had power over the angel and
prevailed he wept and made supplication unto him he found him in Bethel and
there he spake with us so in Hosea it's saying that Jacob's strength it gave him
power with God and then he had power over the angel and he prevailed so
that's what the Bible says it backs it up in Hosea chapter 12 verse 3 and it
says he you know it's the same God that he found in Bethel so it's an angel it
says as a man in Genesis chapter 32 and it's the same God you know even the Lord
of hosts verse 5 even Lord God of hosts the Lord of his is his memorial so
Jacob had this strength get and he gave him power with God or his excuse me his
strength gave him power with God his hard work and strength and good
character traits wins him this wrestling match with God and so if you never
attempt great things you're never gonna get you know you shouldn't expect great
things with God if you're not willing to go out and work for the Lord and do
great things for him then why would you expect great things from God but see
Jacob is doing great things for God and if you do great things for God you can
expect great things from him right so what are you doing for God that's my
question tonight are you have you have you slipped back into your old your old
ways you're just going through the motions or are you actually doing things
for God you know if you're not get on the program get on God's program and
start doing great things for God are you getting better as a Christian are you
getting worse are you growing or are you reversing back because as a Christian
it's possible to revert back to babyhood okay it's not possible for a human being
to go back and turn into a baby I know there's weirdos that think that they're
babies today and they like dress up like babies and have people feed them
and stuff they're in that's called crazy okay but in the Christian life it is
possible you know if you stop reading your Bible you stop following the Lord
you can revert back and not and forget all the scripture that you learn you
forget all the doctrine of God because if you don't use it you're gonna lose it
it's just a fact if you don't do math you've never done math since you were in
you know elementary school or something and you never do it you always use a
calculator for everything if you don't use it you're gonna lose it and so you
don't want to be like you know only knowing 2 plus 2 is 4 it's just an
example though of think like when it comes to the Christian life we don't
want to you got to keep going forward and and in doing great things for God
you can't you don't want to reverse back to where you used to be so maybe you
need to go back to Bethel and find God again maybe you need to go back to the
place where you're like hey God I remember when I promised I'd go soul in
every week you know you said that to God that's something I want to do or maybe
you just said it within yourself you're like ah you know I want to start doing
great things for God and then what happened you know you lost it you
stopped it but you know you can get back you know you can get back to Bethel
Jacob went back to Bethel didn't he but are you at a point where you need to go
back there and remember the things that you said that you were gonna do with God
or are you going forward and becoming a better Christian and getting better
that's the that's the key is for us to be perfected you know you want to be
perfected not go back to where you first started as a Christian because that when
I was first saved I walked you guys would have thought like who is this bozo
he's wearing a tank top blazer shirt you know a blazer jersey a pair of shorts
that probably didn't go past the knees smelled like cigarettes asking crazy
questions to the pastor like do you believe that people can you know
exercise demons and stuff like that that's what I that's how I showed up to
church the first time you know but should we you know I've learned a lot
since then obviously now I'm fully clothed you know but like you you know
we don't want to stay in that baby state we don't want to stay in the place where
we used to be we want to get better as we go through our life we want to get
more sanctified we want to get more holy we want to get better in our soul
learning presentations you know it if you're stuck and you're never learning
better techniques and soul winning then you're just kind of stuck and if you
have a great presentation that's good then stick with it but you can always
learn something from somebody else there's always tricks that you can learn
you know I say tricks but like you know better things that you can implement one
thing that I've implemented is when I asked the questions at the end I asked
them to tell me what they believe and I learned that from brother Corbin who
learned it from Pastor Anderson but I know it's not something they've always
done but when you incorporate that into your soul winning instead of you just
trying to check all the boxes at the very end then you I mean obviously you
want to check the boxes you want to ask the questions but the Bible says out of
the heart out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh and so you can
get them to repeat facts you can get them to say you know to pass the test
and how but how many people have we let pass the test that weren't really
necessarily saved I don't know but here's what I do know they're gonna
tell you what they believe they told you what they believe when you first got
there when you asked them they're gonna tell you what they believe at the end
regardless of getting the questions right and I've proved this and I've seen
it happen it's true I'll say you know what do you have to do to be saved just
believe and how long are you saved once you believe it's eternal life all right
well what do you personally believe it takes to be saved oh you just got to be
a good person I mean I've seen it happen I'm like so they're they want to repeat
what you told them when you're you're asking the question like you're a
teacher they're a teacher at school just because a teacher teaches you something
at school like think about this if you were in a classroom and and you know
what the teacher wants to hear you raise your hand and give them back the answer
that they want to hear but when your soul winning this is their soul yes so
if they don't fully understand the gospel then it's up to you to just say
hey you know what do you believe it takes to be saved and they will tell you
and that's when you can just pinpoint that doctrine and then again if they if
you if you fix what they believe is wrong then you ask them again what they
believe don't just say okay well I fixed it and now what are you gonna do to be
saved I just think personally people will tell you what they want to believe
and that's just something I learned and I've been so waiting for a long time but
that like revolutionized my soul winning it like really helps I would I would say
put that into practice and I know that that is really nothing to do with the
sermon but it is a point of we can always get better we can always learn
more things we can always know the Bible more and guess what when you read the
Bible on a continuous basis you're gonna learn more but if you just say I'm gonna
read the Bible one time Oh read it cover to cover I'm done for the rest of my
life that's not gonna you're gonna lose everything that you learned because it's
a continuous learning process with God it's something he wants to teach you
more things a little bit at a time he's not gonna teach you everything at once
doesn't work like that it's not a you know chip that you can put into your
brain that you just know everything about the Bible it's something you
continuously have to learn so Jacob had power with God he prevailed and because
he was you know trying to be the best he could be and Genesis 32 verse 29 so
back at our our text here real quick says Jacob asked him and said tell me I
pray thee thy name so he's back he's talking to this man this angel and he
said wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name and he blessed him there
he says something similar Manoah says something he asked a similar question
when Samson was the prophecy of Samson being born and he said you know where
for does thou ask my name seeing it is secret in the Old Testament the name of
Jesus was a secret in the New Testament it's not okay that's why I mean that's
one of the reasons that makes me think that it's him why would he hide the the
name of his name I mean what his name was you know for no reason if it was
Gabriel why not just say it was Gabriel if it was Michael wanted to say as
Michael says and Jacob called the name of the place Peniel for I have seen God
face to face and my life is preserved and so it's really important this this
parts really important because Peniel means face of God okay and so he saw God
face to face so you're saying well how do you know that he wrestled with God
because Jacob said he saw God face to face well could he be wrong about that
he could be wrong about that but I don't think he was wrong about that because
now obviously we can't see the face of God the Father and live we would die we
would just melt or whatever we'd catch on fire I don't know what happened
exactly but I'll tell you one thing we wouldn't live they would die and I'm
not gonna have you turn there but I'm just gonna read Exodus 33 verse 18 it
says this is Moses talking to the to God says and he said I beseech thee show me thy
glory Moses wants God to show him what he looks like and he said I will make
all my goodness pass before thee and I will proclaim the name of the Lord
before thee and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy
on whom I'll show mercy and he said thou canst not see my face for there
shall no man see me and live so God is telling him if you if I let you look at
my face you're gonna die so what did he do he let Moses see the hinder parts of
him and covered him with his hand he put Moses in the you know Moses was in the
cleft of a rock and he put his hand there and passed by and covered his face
so he couldn't see him and Moses face glowed for 40 days after he just saw the
hinder parts of God so God if you look at if you if you looked at God and all
of his glory you would die if you saw God the Father you would die so how do
you explain this how is this how does this work here well Jesus Christ is God
manifest in the flesh and when he came to earth did people see him did they see
God face to face okay yeah because he's the second person in the Trinity he's
God the Son now he was also the fullness of the God head bodily he was filled
with the Spirit he had the Father in him I'll prove that to you I know I I got to
end here I'm almost done turn to John chapter 14 verse 6 it'll be the last
verse I have returned to but I just want to show you this because it's important
because first I believe Jacob because first of all he's a prophet and I
understand I know that he understands that he saw God's face I have no reason
to believe that he would not be right about this but it did say he was a man
it did say he was an angel in Hosea right but then at the end of it he's
saying I saw God face to face and lived he named the place the face of God for a
reason now Jesus in John chapter 14 verse number 6 says in verse 6 Jesus
saith unto him I'm the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father
but by me if he had known me you would have known my father also and from hence
forth you know him and have seen him so what's Jesus saying you've seen the
father right isn't that what he's saying you've seen him but Jesus is his son and
a lot of times sons look like their fathers don't they they're like I can
see that that person looks like their dad like I saw Ethan's dad today and I
looked at him and I said he goes yeah I'm Ethan's dad I was like I can tell I
said you're like an older version of Ethan with a beard and glasses isn't
that what I said and how do I so Ethan's his son it's very easy to see you know
Ethan's dad in Ethan because he looks like him well Jesus Christ also looks
like God the Father because he's his son and you know we didn't they didn't see
the glorified Jesus Jesus has a glorified body now and if he shines in
all of his glory human beings fall as they're dead to the ground so but I just
wanted to show you this point that yes he did really see God face to face but
it was God the Son that's what I believe okay and you might dispute that with me
but I believe that Jacob was telling the truth and verse 8 says Philip saith unto
him Lord show us the father and it suffice at the suffice at us Jesus saith
unto him have I been so long with you and yet has thou not know me Philip he
has he that has seen me hath seen the father and how sayest thou then show us
the father so he's saying hey you if you've seen me you've seen the father
now is Jesus the father though no because that wouldn't make sense he's
the son he's the son of God but God is one God manifest into three persons the
father the word and all it goes and these three are one it says how how say
he said how sayest thou or hey how sayest thou then show us the father
believeth thou not that I am in the father and the father and me in the
words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself but the father that dwelleth
in me he doth doeth the works so God the father was in Jesus the Holy Spirit was
in Jesus when Jesus got baptized the fullness of the Spirit and dwelt him and
he had the fullness of the Spirit without measure so when we asked to be
filled with the Spirit that means that we're not always filled with the Spirit
doesn't that make sense if God commands us to be filled with the Spirit we're
not always filled but Jesus was always filled with the Spirit without measure
so and he was also God manifest in the flesh God was the Father was dwelling
within him and doing that isn't that what the Bible says but yet he was not
the father okay so I know people you know there's I don't have time to get
into the oneness stuff but you know people complicate things but it's not
really that complicated Jesus looked like the father and when Jacob saw him he
saw God face to face how did he know that well he just knew how do you know
that there are angels that he walked upon he knew there angels he said he
knew that they were the host of God so how would he not know this also I mean
I just tend to believe what Jacob is saying don't you I mean he wasn't wrong
before why would it be wrong here now Genesis 32 verse 31 this is the last
part we're almost done here and it says any Passover penuel the Sun rose up and
he halted upon his side so this thigh that was popped out of socket he halted
upon it and so what does that mean well he would had a limp after that so when
you do great things for God you know sometimes you might walk out you know
scathed a little bit when you're doing good great things for God you might get
a little bit injured I mean you see the persecution that people endure as
Christians and and I'm not saying that God was persecuted I'm just saying that
you know sometimes when you're in battles for God and trying to do great
things you're not gonna always come out without marks or without pain of some
sort says therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank
which is upon the hollow of the thigh unto this day because he touched the
hull of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank so point number one Jacob calls
on God to deliver him from Esau God puts us in hard spots sometimes because he
wants to deliver us from those things number two Jacobs plan of preparation you
know we need to prepare for the worst and hope for the best you ever heard
that saying before and that's what Jacob does in this chapter next chapter we'll
see how all this plays out but point number three Jacob wrestles with God and
prevails sometimes God wants to see us do something hard and give us and give
our maximum effort you know and when he sees us do that he's gonna bless us for
that you know if you if you expect you know do big things for God and you can
expect big things back all right let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you Lord
for Genesis chapter 32 and for the great spiritual lessons that it teaches us
prayer Lord you'd help us to be people that would want to prevail and have
power with you Lord I pray you'd help us to not backslide into areas that we
shouldn't backslide into and Lord that we'd always be a people that's going
forward and moving forward with tenacity and I pray that you just help
our church to continue to grow spiritually and we'll give you all the
praise and glory for that thank you so much for all the people here that pitch
in and do all the do all the work around here really appreciate them Lord and I
pray that you take everybody home safely Jesus name amen
let's turn to page 312 in your green hymnal sing our last song page 312 open
my eyes that I may say see page 312
open my eyes that I may see on the first open my eyes that I may see glimpses of
truth thou hast for me place in my hands the wonderful key that shall a clasp it
set me free silently now I wait for thee ready by God thy will to see open my
eyes and loom in me spirit divine open my ears that I may hear voices of truth
thou sinned is clear and while the wave notes fall on my everything fall shall
disappear silently now I wait for thee ready my God thy will to see open my
ears the loom in me spirit divine on the last open my mouth and let me bear
gladly the warm truth everywhere open my heart and let me prepare love with thy
children us to share silently now I wait for thee ready my God thy will to see
open my heart in loom in me spirit divine
you