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Okay, so we're up to Genesis chapter 33 now. We're continuing the story of Jacob, and there's quite a few chapters, if you've noticed, dedicated to Jacob, and for good reason really. We're going to talk about that briefly in a minute, but he was understandably so, if you remember, very shaken up having sent word to his brother Esau back in the chapter before, that he was on his way through. And remember, he's coming with droves and droves of animals, and men's servants, maid servants, his family. It wasn't that he could just kind of sneak his way through. And remember, he hadn't seen him since Esau was planning to kill him, so this was obviously, look, this was a big deal, okay? And to then be told that Esau is on his way with 400 men, you can understand he was pretty shaken up. They clearly weren't planning a reunion picnic, were they? It was going to be a bit more than that. We saw Jacob praying to God. He was humbled, didn't he? He gave all of the credit for his substance to God, he didn't think that he was owed God's protection. But he asked for it, and the next thing you know, he was sending drove after drove of cattle as a gift to his brother, who he had wronged those many years before, if you remember. He'd basically at least extorted him, you could say, out of his birthright, and then eventually he dressed up and sneaked his blessing from him as well. Well, soon after Jacob, right after this praying, he's then wrestling with a man, with him saying that he had seen God face to face, and it's because he was wrestling with the Son of God. And we looked at how firstly he wrestled with God, and what an amazing thing that was. But it did obviously show, we talked about this briefly, that Jesus isn't the sort of pacifist hippie that many want to paint him to be, literally paint him to be, and make out that he is. I mean, Jesus Christ was wrestling with Jacob all night, so he obviously was up for a bit of a wrestle sometimes. But also, it wasn't a life or death struggle, it was wrestling, and really it was picturing drawing close to and wrestling with the Word of God, to receive the blessings that are there for us in life. And specifically here wanting that blessing before facing Esau. Jacob prevailed but was left with an injury and was told that his name would be changed to Israel. It said in verse 28, and he said, Thy name should be called no more Jacob but Israel, for as a prince has our power with God and with men and has 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 Peniel, the sun rose upon him and he halts 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. And then we go into chapter 33 in verse one, begins with this. And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, Esau came and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah and unto Rachel unto the two handmaids. I'm going to pray and then we'll get started. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you well for the many lessons we can get out of this chapter, Lord. And just help me to preach those clearly now, Lord, and accurately and boldly to the church here. Help me to preach what they need to hear and not what they don't. And Lord, just help me to just preach, preach some, you know, these things just clearly, Lord, and everyone to be full of your spirit. In Jesus' name, pray all this. Amen. Okay, so he sees them coming towards him. It's said that he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold Esau came with him four hundred men. And he then separates the children to each of their mums. It said he divided the children unto Leah and unto Rachel unto the two handmaids. It said and he put the handmaids, their children foremost and Leah and her children after Rachel and Joseph hinder most. And it does seem to be a bit of favouritism there, doesn't it? With Rachel and Joseph having more of a chance to escape, you could argue if needed. However, just to give him a little get out here, you could also add that Rachel and Leah had the youngest children, by the way, as well. Joseph being the youngest, followed by Dina, Zebulun and Issachar of Leah. So I'm giving him a little get out here as well. Maybe it was based on that more than the fact that they were his absolute favourites. But we'll see. Regardless, Jacob, Jacob, though, after that, he puts them forward and then we see something else. So because I'm liking Jacob right now. So you can look at that and go, what on earth is he doing there? Well, I think maybe there is that reason, because then after that, he didn't hide behind his wife's skirt so, did he? So after that, it says, and he passed over before them. So he put them in this order. He didn't then hang around in the back going, well, maybe we can get away if everyone starts getting slaughtered. No, instead, he passed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times till he came near to his brother. So like I said, remember that we're on the back of 20 years ago, Esau said, I'm going to kill him. OK, he hasn't heard from him or anyone since. His mother told him that she would come and fetch him once Esau's like kind of got over it. Well, that never happened. And now he's returning. He sends someone ahead to say, just by the way, I'm coming through. And Esau, next thing you know, mounts up with 400 men and rides towards him. OK, he's thinking, right, I'm about to get killed here. But he goes in front. OK, he goes to the front. He doesn't hide behind his wives. And I say that because there are a lot of men out there who would have let their wives take over in this situation. They really are. I mean, how many do you bump into on the door? You're trying to preach them the gospel and then they have to ask their wives permission to hear something or even worse, their wives just come over and go, he's not interested and slam the door in your face. You're like, what? You look at the guy going, really? You're really going to let that happen? And they do, don't they? I mean, it's terrible. Sometimes you think, you know, who knows what's going to happen once that door shutters? Well, you think they're going to get spanking or something. I mean, it's bizarre, isn't it? Absolutely bizarre. They're just all these guys who are just so scared of their wives or at least would hide behind their wives and let their wives deal with situations. And I've seen that. I've seen that many times. I've seen it amongst, you know, people that claim to be believers as well. And they just let their wives deal with everything. It's their wives questioning you and their wives are complaining and their wives are, and it's like, what on earth? Like, deal with it yourself, man, you know? Like, man up and deal with the situation yourself. But there are a lot of men out there that do that, don't they? Who as well would send their wives into the danger zone to save their own skin. The ones that do that as well. When there's a problem, there's an issue, I'll let my wife go and deal with that. Oh, there's a problem with the neighbour next door? Oh, she could go and deal with that while they're kind of quaking, you know, looking behind the curtain at home. And that's all over, isn't it? I mean, how pathetic is that, right? It really is. And so many of these men, they complain about the feminist women. And don't get me wrong, there's a big problem with feminist women. Do you know what a big part of that problem is? Is it feminine men? Is it feminine men and the women a lot of the time need to put on the trousers? Because these guys ain't doing it themselves. They need to man up. And here he mans up, okay? He goes straight in front of them. And when it comes to conflict, not just physical, the truth is a lot of issues, a lot could be avoided if men just dealt with it. And I mean that, look, I'm not trying to knock women. The reality is that women are generally more emotional than us. They are more led by their emotions. That could be great in many situations. It could be great when they're looking after children and other things like that. Not so good when it's conflict resolution. It really isn't. Because a lot of the times when, you know, if I have a problem with the next door neighbour, I don't want to send my wife out there because she might just kind of really give them a piece of her mind and make things worse and everything else, it's much easier if I go out there and deal with it usually in a slightly calm way. Because men should be able to have a check on their emotions a little bit more. And if you don't, well, you kind of need to man up a little bit and maybe cut out the soil or something, you know? Seriously. Because we should. We're built for that, aren't we? And we're made to be able to deal with conflict because we should be a little bit calmer under pressure, a little bit able to deal with things and not fly off the handle and things like that. And that's just kind of the way it is. The thing is, is that with conflict as well, it's not just about going in guns blazing. Now, sometimes you do need to go in guns blazing, don't you? Sometimes you need to go in and show, no, look, you know, we've got a problem here. But here, he doesn't do that. Jacob did the opposite. It says, and he passed over before them, verse three, and bowed himself to the ground seven times until he came near to his brother. So to make it clear, OK, he didn't fall on his face, but he did bow down regularly on his way towards him. OK, why? Well, he was showing his subjection to him, wasn't he? He was showing that he was submitting to the brother that he'd wronged. He's passing through his land. He's seeking forgiveness. That's what he's doing. And Jacob is humble enough to do that. And I say that because a lot of people just find that very difficult, wouldn't they? Not just bowing their heads towards someone seven times, but in front of his wife and his kids. A lot of people would find that hard, wouldn't they? You'd find it hard to be that submissive to someone else in front of your wife and children. Now, I think perhaps that thigh injury helped it, don't you think? Remember, he's just ended up being kind of semi crippled in his wrestling match with Jesus. He's limping. He halted upon his thigh. And I think that helps as well. And I say that because, I don't know, like any of you guys here, you know, if you've ever felt a bit more, you've had times that you felt a bit more full of yourself. I remember like when I was kind of in the height of my, you know, days of sport, not that, you know, I was ever reached the major heights, but I thought I was quite, you know, quite a good kind of tieboxer and stuff. And when I had an injury, I kind of felt like I didn't feel right. I felt a bit, had to be a little bit kind of quiet around people, a bit more humble if I was hobbling around. I just didn't feel the same. You just don't feel the same, do you? You know, you don't feel as confident if you're putting some sort of faith and trust in your alleged physical abilities, what you think are. And I think regardless, even if you don't have that, you feel even less confident when you have some sort of injury, don't you? When you feel a bit infirm in one way or another. Well, remember, he's just had that injury and he's going into this situation. And he's our ultra humble here, isn't he? He's ultra humble, he's bang his head on the way in. And like we said many times, you know, God's strength is made perfect in our weakness. And I think a lot of that is because we're able to be humble when we accept our weaknesses, when we accept that we have issues, that we have problems, we accept our weaknesses in life, we're more likely to be humble, aren't we? And that's what we see here with Jacob. He says, and he passed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, and he came near to his brother, and Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. And that must have been a relief. Wow, you can imagine why he's crying. He's just like, I thought I was about to get butchered in my whole family. I bet Jacob never imagined that it would go like this, did he? But it did go like that, and I think that was really on the back of his response to what was happening when he heard that they were coming. He prayed, didn't he? And then on the back of that, he decided to send gift after gift after gift of cattle. On the back of the praying, he drew close to God, he wrestled for a blessing. He put effort into being blessed by God, basically. He put effort into being blessed by God. He responded, having prayed, to doing what ended up being a very wise move for me. I believe that he was coming to kill him. I believe he was coming with 400 men for a reason. He didn't just get 400 men to come for a laugh. I believe that, and I believe that things changed because of what Jacob did, because of the fact that he was sending all these gifts and everything else. I think it softened his heart. I think the humbling softened his heart, and I think then it got to the point where he's like, what am I doing? Look, this is my brother humbling himself before me. That's what I believe, and you can't be dogmatic with that. But he was humbled even more, I think, on the back of prevailing with God. Now that sounds ironic, doesn't it? So he wrestled, he got close to God, he wrestled with God, and we were looking at that bigger picture of maybe wrestling with the Word of God, for the blessings of God, etc. And on the back of prevailing, so he achieved, he basically, you know, there he kind of won the wrestling to some degree, at least he didn't get beaten. He then grew in humility. It does sound ironic, doesn't it? He prevailed, so he was more humble. But that is the result of growing in faith, isn't it? That should be the result of growing in faith, of successfully wrestling with the Word. We should then grow in humility, shouldn't we? First Corinthians, you don't have to turn to 34, tells us of that end result charity, which is also called, I think in Colossians, a bond of perfectness, and it says, charity suffereth long and is kind, charity envieth not, charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. And charity is kind of, that's like the end goal, isn't it, really? That's where we're trying to get to that point, where we can be described as that. That's kind of, you know, what we're trying to add, we're trying to keep adding to our faith, add to our faith and get to that point of real charity, right? Beyond brotherly kindness, to get to that charity, and charity vaunteth not itself is not puffed up. And I say that because it is one of the glaring differences with the fakes, isn't it? Often, one of the glaring differences with, by the way, the worst types, their name being the proud, they're known as the proud, or throughout the book of Psalms, you see David talk about the proud of Adam and I, the proud of laid a net for me, the proud of surrounding me. That's what they're called, the proud, yeah? And these people, it is one of the glaring differences between them and what should be a spiritually mature man or woman or child of God. Because there is something amiss when you're around so-called mature Christians, free to thrive, Bible reading, soul winning, and they're just oozing pride. That is weird, isn't it? Now look, you're going to get that with babes in Christ, then look, we're all going to deal with the flesh and hand again, but when they're literally just full of it, just oozing pride, boasting, you're vaunting themselves up, puffed up, the lot, it's just weird, isn't it? You know, this is something that's amiss here. You're like claiming, you're coming to church a lot, you're reading your Bible, you're claiming to have been soul winning for years, doing all this stuff, and you're just so puffed up. That's weird, isn't it? It doesn't make sense. It doesn't, something doesn't add up. And of course, look, there will be mock humility from time to time as well, so it's not just a rule, isn't it? Well, if they're not prideful, they must be all right, because some will put the mock humility on. But when, for example, you see these prideful pastors, they're just a great example, who reckon that they've repented of all their sins, and add the little caveat of, oh, thanks to God, when God dealt with me, you know, when God dealt with my sin and I gave it all up, you know. It's just clear, isn't it? It doesn't add up. It's like, where's the humility? You're meant to be a pastor preaching, and you're meant to be in the things of God, you're meant to be full of the Spirit, and you're full of pride. That doesn't make sense, does it? Something that really struck me early, by the way, about our previous pastor, Pastor Thompson, was just his humility. That's a real humble guy, and it really struck me. Do you know why? Because I've just been surrounded by fakes. I've been surrounded by fakes with, sadly, our kind of previous soul-winning type group, and surrounded by fakes in the start of the church, and then our pastor comes, he's just this ultra humble guy, and you're talking to him, and you go, what do you think about this? He goes, well, I don't know, you could read it that way, that's what I think, but it could be this, and you're like, wait a second, because you're so used to just these fake Christians, just like, they know it all, they know everything, they just act like they've just got all the answer and everything else, and his humility was just so refreshing. But it shouldn't have been, it was just because we just had such a bad element around us, it was uncommon to see that, but that's how it should be. Well, Jacob's humility, a result of being close to God, in a headlock, close, and even prevailing against God, results in him surviving as well. So, look, the humility that we should have, the humility that you should have as a believer, as getting close to God and everything else, will then benefit you in life. Yeah, that's the goal, isn't it? And it can, and here we see that, just clear as day, it says, and Esau ran to meet him, in verse 4, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him, and they wept, and he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children, and said, who are those with thee? Mrs Esau saying it, and he said, that's Jacob, the children which God hath graciously given thy servant. He didn't say the children that God has blessed his servant with, did he? Notice the terminology there. The children which God hath graciously given thy servant. I knew a man once who, he'd say things like, something along the lines of, well, children are a blessing from God. Like, he had loads of children because he was just so blessed by God. I mean, the guy wasn't even saved in hindsight, right? But, that's how these people act, but that's not what Jacob was saying, was it? Jacob was saying, the children which God hath graciously given. Basically, they were unmerited, undeserved, but God in his grace has given me these children. That's a good attitude, isn't it? That's a great attitude to have, right? Gracious, like I said, unmerited, and I know about you, but for me, Jacob's a different man, isn't he? Isn't he a different man to the one that was extorting birthrights and dressing up still blessings? It was like putting on animal fur to pretend to be his brother and still things. I mean, this is like a completely different man now, isn't it? And there is a lesson here, isn't there? There's a lesson that no matter what you've done and how many mistakes you've made in life, draw nigh to God and he'll draw nigh to you, right? And get right with God and he can make you a great man, woman or child of God. If you get right, it doesn't matter what you've done, it doesn't matter what your past is, what you've done, how tricky, how sneaky, whatever, you can end up being a great man of God. Because you look at this, you see this guy, just like, this is a proper man of God, isn't it? He's got no qualms about banging his head on the way in, he was close to God, he wrestled with God, he prevailed with God, he's praying to God, he's guided by God to make all these decisions. And this was, I mean, early on when you first read Genesis, you just think, oh, Jacob's a bit of a scumbag. But when you start to really look at it, you think, no, Jacob was probably a bit funny, wasn't he? But look at him now. It is never too late. Think, Moses committed murder and ended up being one of the greatest men ever, didn't he? Rahab was in Harland and ended up being in the line to Jesus Christ. And David committed adultery and then murder, as a saved man. Because I'm going, oh, well that was like pre-salvation, maybe, or whatever. Well, David committed adultery and murder, as a saved man of God who'd been given so much. I mean, it doesn't get much worse, does it? Sneaky Jacob the usurper is a different man. And look, it doesn't matter, right? It doesn't matter what you've done. If you draw nigh to God, if you cleanse your hands, you purify your hearts, you get right with God. Look, he can use you, whatever you've done, right? So people do, they get like, because the devil does that, he wants to keep reminding you of stuff from the past, doesn't he? Oh, you did this, you did that, you were like this, you were like that. And it doesn't matter, like God can use you, right? And God here is clearly, look, this is a man of God here. It's said in verse 6, then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. And Leah also with her children came near and bowed themselves. And after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves. So by the way, he led by example, didn't he? Because his family are following his example there. And there's a lesson there as well, isn't there? Because this is a man, a humble guy going up and just banging his head, and his family are all doing the same. And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my Lord. And Esau said, I have enough, my brother, keep that thou hast unto thyself. And Jacob said, Oh, okay, thanks, breathed a huge sigh of relief that he didn't have to part with any of his wealth. He didn't say that. He said, And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand. For therefore I have seen thy face, as I had seen the face of God and now was pleased with me. Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it. Jacob's the opposite to greedy, isn't he? The complete opposite. He got the required result. He had achieved reconciliation. That was a goal, wasn't it? And was being told to keep his gift. And a lot of people would have just gone, Okay, yeah, no worries. Yeah, fair enough. You're not really interested. They would have made an excuse. However, he requested, he didn't force him, he requested Esau to take it, as it had resulted in him finding grace and seeing his face. He said, as though I had seen the face of God. And I think he's saying it's what an honour it was to see him, to be forgiven, to see him as friends, basically. He's just saying, it's as if I've seen the face of God, like, what an honour, what a blessing, you know, for him to have come and been happy to be reconciled. Now, he didn't say, I insist, did he? So notice the humility still. He didn't say, do as you're told. You know, like, I don't know if you've ever had people try and power play you with supposed favours before, where they'll kind of, you know, go, no, you know, they'll try and give you something and then when you try and say no, they'll like force you and everything, and it kind of gets uncomfortable, it gets awkward. He wasn't like that, he just said, look, I'm pleased. He's just saying, please, I pray you, please take it. You know, and he's, you like Jacob more and more as you read through this. He said, God has dealt graciously with me and because I have enough. And that's a generous person that doesn't covet more and more. He just said, I have enough. How many people in life just say I have enough? There's not many around, are there? Just say, no, I have enough. I don't need it. What do I need? I want to give it to you. God has dealt graciously with me. I want to give it to you. Turn to 1 Timothy 6, where Paul commands those with wealth to be like Jacob is here, really. And Jacob is a great example for many of us. This is a great, just real example of someone that's, his brother's literally saying, just take back all this wealth. I mean, it was hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of cattle with hundreds of cattle, with the right amount, with the bulls, with the males to breed with. And he's just like, God's dealt graciously with me. Please just have it. Please just take it. He's already reconciled. They've already had a cry and a cuddle and everything else. And he's still just like, no, no, just take it. I don't need it. What do I need it for? That's amazing. Honestly, there's very few people out there like that. And it's sad, isn't it? How bad it is now that there are people that are just so desperate for wealth. They're so greedy that they couldn't be like that. But look, some will say, some will say when you see this, yeah, well, I'm not rich. Because he's a great example for those with wealth. But the reality, like I've said before, is that by most of the world's standards, we probably all here are rich to some degree. By many standards out there, a lot of people don't have much, right? And we have a lot more than most. And some have a lot more and some don't. But he's a great example. In 1 Timothy 6, Paul said this in verse 17. He said, charge. Now charge here, he's not saying, drop your head and drive. He's saying, command. Okay, saying command them, basically. Charge is to give a command, to give a charge to someone. He said, charge them that are rich in this world. He said, command the rich people. And by the way, he's talking to Timothy. He's talking to Timothy, who's a pastor. He's saying, command the rich. Okay, so this is what he's saying that they should be commanded. He said, command or charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. So he's saying, don't get high-minded. Don't get full of yourself because you've got money. Okay, for starters. The people are like that, aren't they? Like we often say. You know, it's not so fun knocking rich areas, because usually they're so full of themselves, they've got no interest in salvation or anything else. But even those that are saved, if they got wealth a lot of the time, they could just be a bit more arrogant, can't they? A bit more full of it. People could just be like that. He said that they be not high-minded, nor trust in those riches, but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. So God gives us, he sings, and it says, he giveth us richly all things to enjoy. Now, does that mean spend, spend, spend? I remember an old, very old pastor at an evangelical church I was at trying to claim that, you know, God gives us all these things to enjoy. He gives us a beer to enjoy. He gives us, you know, whatever sin he was trying to justify, right? But no, you know, he's not saying spend, spend, spend. He's saying, he's not saying, for example, he's not saying go on some pleasure cruises. I don't think that's what he's saying. Now, look, if you've got so much money that you want to like do those things, they're not inherently sinful. It's not sinful to go and do stuff, to spend some money. There's nothing wrong with that. But he's, I don't think he's saying, I don't think he's saying like, look, tell them, you know, you know, don't trust in the riches in the living God, but God gives us all these things, so go and buy a fast car. Or, you know, anything else like that. I don't think that's really how a spirit-filled child of God would really enjoy wealth, though. Now, don't get me wrong. You can go too far with this, where people, you must be wicked, because you enjoy driving something fast, you enjoy going somewhere nice, you went on a lovely holiday, you went to a once-a-lifetime place. You can understand why people enjoy that stuff. That doesn't mean it's sinful. But I think he goes on in verse 18 to show us ways to enjoy riches, because he says that he gives us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate. It's great to know that you're benefiting others, doesn't it, that you're making a difference? I think that can be enjoyable, can't it? It can feel nice knowing if you've come into some money, or you come across some money, or you've got a bonus, you've done something, you do something nice, you do something good with it, it kind of feels good, doesn't it? Do you know what does it feel good is when money just gets whittled away on rubbish. What does it feel good even when it gets whittled away on things which are meant to be the world's enjoyment, and the things that you can buy and have this, and it's just something, it's just not that enjoyable, is it? People don't really get that much pleasure from all the, you know, the things that people spend money on. Like I said, yeah, we could go by our view and look at the mega rich, but even some of the stuff that many people in here will spend money on, did it really, you know, and who are rich compared with many standards, did you really pleasure from that? Now, he's not talking about here, when he said that they do good, they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, he's not talking about throwing your money at someone, anyone that registers as a charity, okay, that's not what he's saying. And we should use what we have for good though, okay, so for example, and I've given these ideas I think before, but you could use your 40-hour week as opposed to many people's around the world 72-hour week, which is a lot of people, or sometimes even more, right, working week that is, you could use your 40-hour working week to do more for God, couldn't you? That's someone who's using the riches that they have to do good, to be rich in good works, to be ready to distribute, willing to communicate. You could go, right, well I don't have to work 12 hours a day like many people do around the world to make ends meet, I don't have to take a second job because I've got a good enough job to provide for my family on one job, I'm not having to work, you know, like morning through till night, every single day of the week, so maybe I could do some good with that, maybe I could do more for God, maybe I could be in church more, maybe I could be soul-winning more, maybe I could be volunteering and trying to help out and do stuff more and do more things for the kingdom, maybe I could help out family, friends, neighbours, do nice things for people with that extra time I've got, that's a way that the rich, in comparison to others, could do good with their money as aside from just throwing it to whoever asks, right, maybe you can afford to give away things instead of selling them, for example, maybe, look, actually I'm doing alright, I don't need to sell this, this, all these things that we don't need anymore, the old baby stuff and all that, I could just give it to people, right, that's a way that you could distribute because you're able to do that, you have the wealth, you know, to do that, maybe you can afford to go on missions trips, for example, maybe yeah, I could go on a missions trip, I could go to a place where you can literally get like countless people saved each day and make the difference and get and come back after a week with a hundred salvations or something, I mean that's a good way of using some money, isn't it, that's a great way of using some money, maybe you could afford to go soul-willing more, to just grow more in the things of God, right, I don't actually, I don't have to do the 72, I don't have to do the 80 hour week, I don't have to do the 90 hour week, I could probably just spend more time reading my Bible, growing, learning, being in church and growing to the point where I'm able to serve God more and more, I'm able to be used by God more, right, there's many ways you could do that, right, communicate by the ways to impart, okay, to give, maybe you can afford to offer extra to a church or a genuine cause somewhere else, for example, a genuine missionary, I don't mean a missionary of no value, I mean there are some people there, you know, for example, there's Pastor Stucky out in the Philippines, I mean they're planting church after church, they're getting thousands of thousands of people saying, that's money well spent, right, you send a few quid out there and it's actually got, it's done something, you get some bang for your buck out there, okay, you send some money to some of the clown missionaries that old church stars have supported and you might as well just give it to one of the bums on the street here who just want to buy some more crack with it, really, and because there's differences, what you do, look, we're stewards of God's money, right, what are we going to do with it, just tell ourselves, give ourselves a pat on the back where we give it to a crackhead, or give it to some bum who's sitting out in somewhere tropical, still learning the language ten years later, being supported by a load of churches going, well, isn't it amazing because we don't have to go out soul winning because we just support missionaries, they're not even missionaries, they're just lazy, they're just lazy bums, but look, for example, Pastor Stucky, amazing, right, all the work being done out there, amazing, or you could just find some people, you know, find some random bloke and go, oh, I'll give you some money and, you know, it makes you feel good, but that's not what we should be doing, is it? Let's obviously want to be diligent with what we do, but all of that stuff, okay, whether you're, you know, whether you're doing stuff with the, whether, yeah, I don't have to do the extra, maybe I could cut down my hours a little bit and do more for God, or maybe, maybe, no, I can't cut down my hours, but maybe I've got more time, or maybe I've got more wealth and money that I could do, all these different things, you can use it for the good of Christ, or you could just spend it on rubbish, but when you do do that, and you do it, and you use your money for the cause of Christ, you use your wealth, you use your time, you use all that stuff, it doesn't just benefit the narrow, it benefits others and ourselves for eternity. Verse 19 says, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold in eternal life. So all of those good works result in laying up treasures in heaven, in us, in us really laying hold in eternal life. You could say, in us really focusing on eternity, thinking about the future instead of the now. Obviously not talking about salvation, because it's Jesus Christ that holds on to us, so if anyone's ever looked at that, or someone tried to use a verse like this, and go, oh see, you've got to like somehow cling on to eternal life or something, that's not what it's talking about, Jesus Christ holds us, we don't hold on to eternity, right? John 10 28 says, and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. So that's not to do with you holding on really tight, okay? He said, my father, which is greater than all, you know, he said, my father, I'm paraphrasing here, but he said, he said, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand, my father which gave them is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. Now, he's basically saying you're held, right? You can't be taken away. So, look, whether you're, whether, whether you're, whatever, whatever you want to, when you look at this verse to go, well what does that really mean? Really laying hold for me just means to basically just really just focus on the things of God. You're laying hold in eternal life, you're doing the things of God, you're laying up treasures in heaven, that's what we want to do, don't we? That's how we should want to live. And Jacob is an example of someone rich in this world who is ready to distribute, willing to communicate. And you go, okay, yeah, but he's trying to get out of things, yeah, but even after that it didn't matter. He'd already got out of getting killed. He'd already got out of the 400 men and he was still just saying, look, I'm giving it away. I'm going to bless Esau with this and make things better. And ultimately, what was the result that he was able to go off and carry on doing and serving God? And basically, he's the start of the building of Israel. He is Israel, right? Well, Genesis 33, it said in verse 10, and Jacob said, And he said, Let us take our journey and let us go, and I will go before thee. So this was Esau speaking, okay. Jacob then replies, And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me. And if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die. Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant, and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me, and the children be able to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir. So Esau with the 400 men are offering to lead the way. Jacob declines and requests that he be left to lead on softly. Why? Because he's got young children. His flocks and herds have young too, and he doesn't want to destroy them. He says, You go ahead, and I will go at the pace that the flock and the children are able to endure. And there's a great lesson for us here as leaders, okay. This is a great lesson, and this doesn't just include myself as a pastor or those leading in the workplace. This includes fathers. This includes husbands. This also includes mums as well. We're all in positions of leadership. Turn to Psalm 127. It includes all of the potential future leaders in this church. So it includes everyone here. If you're ever going to be in one of those positions, you think in the future, this includes all of you. The second that you're in any position of leadership, okay, you've got to understand this point. And you know what? You need to understand this early, okay. Early doors, you need to understand this. The second you're in any position of leadership, you're in a position of responsibility, okay. The second you're in leadership, you're now in a position of responsibility. Have you ever heard the saying, everything rises and falls on leadership? And it really is true. It really is. Ultimately, it's your responsibility as a leader, what happens underneath your leadership. And it's one thing in the workplace, but how we lead our children takes on even more importance. So when you're leading children, it's beyond what happens in your secular job. That should be, if you kind of had to go, well, I don't know which one I need to focus more time on, focus more time on your leading of your kids, on your leading of your family, because a secular job is nothing compared to that. Psalm 127 of verse 3 says, lo, children are an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. They're his reward. They're his heritage. They're his inheritance, is another word you could use for that. They're not ours. And that's, honestly, that's what that's saying there. He's saying children are an heritage of the Lord. They're an inheritance of the Lord. He didn't say that they're an inheritance given by the Lord, they're inheritance of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. They're his reward. God loves children. In fact, God loves children so much, he thinks so highly of them, that in Matthew 18, 6, Jesus Christ said it like this, but who so shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me? It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Now, we use that as a warning for all the wicked out there and all those harming children and everything else. But however, it is a warning for us as well, isn't it? It's a warning for every single person here who's leading children, and that's dads, mums. We're all leading children, right? And obviously as a pastor of a church as well. So when we lead them, we're leading them for God. Now, sometimes they need strong leadership, don't they? But sometimes they do need gentle leadership as well. Sometimes they need soft leadership. Your kids, for example, can't work 12-hour days like some of the men here can. They just can't really do it. Now, they can every blue moon or now and again, but that's not healthy for a child, is it? So you can't have your kids homeschooling from the crack of dawn and then chores, chores, chores and everything. They just can't do it. They can't get by on seven-hour sleep like you can. They just can't do it. That's not going to be good for them, is it? Your kids can't, I don't mind, they just stay up late every night and then they get up early in the morning and go, oh, my kids seem to be fine with it. They can't do all the house chores straight after school or homeschool, can they? They just can't, they're not built for that yet. They're kids, right? They're just not unable to do that. Your kids can't read the Bible as much as a spiritual leader of the house can. They just, that's not, they're not going to be able to do that on the long run, in the long term. And I'm going to explain to you why in a second, in case you think, well, actually, I don't mind reading exactly the same amount as I do, right? The spiritual leader of the house should be up there, right? They should be up there. And kids are unable to do that. Your kids, your kids can't avoid all forms of fun and entertainment because you as an adult can. Okay, you have to remember that, right? They can't just, oh, well, you know, my kids, they have the Bible. You know, why would they need a book? Why would they need a game or a toy? They've got, they've got their wooden cross. You know, what else are they going to play with? They can't soul win as much as you can. They can't. They can't soul win as much as you can. Week in, week out, month after month, year after year. They can't go through the year without being sick on some church days, like many adults can. They can't do that. It ain't going to happen. They're going to be sick. They can't go through the year without some quality time with their parents as well. They do need that, kids. And no, you don't have to spend a month each year in the Maldives, although I'm up for it if anyone wants to. But just some days when you spend quality time with your kids is important, isn't it? They need time. They need time from us as well, not just wherever, well, yeah, but we're at church, we're spending time at church. It's like, no, they need some quality time for you sometimes as well, right? They need some time. Turn to Ephesians 6, because some would say, well, my kids are surviving hard labour. You turn to Ephesians 6, they'll say they've been fine on seven hours' sleep once they finish their chores, yeah? My kids, they're surviving. Some out there are like that, yeah? At 5am when I shake the bell in their ears, you know, they spring up, they read 12 chapters of the Bible, they survive fine with no toys, yeah? They're doing all right, actually. All we have to do is pop the blisters and use some after sun, after soul-winning marathons in the summer, you know? What could be the problem? Pour some organic olive oil over them when they're sick on Sundays, and hey presto, they're fine to come in. They don't miss a church day, right? We holiday once a month on those soul-winning marathons. They're really excited about Dagenham, you know? What could go wrong? We have some quality time watching me knock doors, you know? There are people out there like that. You might think I'm joking, all right. Now, they're surviving, yeah? Yeah, the bags might be growing under the eyes or somewhere else, you know? They're surviving. But will they really endure, though? So will they really endure? Will they endure when you're no longer there to crack the whip? Do you think kids that are raised like that will still be serving God when they no longer have their parents cracking the whip over them? They're the ones who are doing the interviews on I Got Out Of The Cult. Honestly. They are. They're the ones who are going, my days in an independent fundamental Baptist church, they're finally over. But that is a risk, isn't it? Because those ones aren't enduring anymore. They're the ones who are then the opposite and they're kind of trying to destroy the thought and the image of biblical churches because of some crazy parents that have messed up. You can't put them off the things of God for life, can't you? And that's something we've got to make sure we don't do, because there is a balancing act, isn't there? We want to lead them into the things of God, but we don't want to get them to the point where they hate the things of God, where they're just counting down the days, where the way of truth is being evil spoken of, right? Where they'll look back and resent God and church because they think that he ruined their childhood, because they think that it was God and church and being in a fundamental church is what ruined their childhood. And we definitely don't want that, do we? That's not what we're looking for. When I was thinking about this, it made me think of some of the many talented kids I've seen in sports before. And one was in a couple of areas. So one I remember with the Thai boxing, combat sports stuff, you'd have these kids who are like five, six years old, their parents are trying to get their private lessons with you. And you're like, come on, man. And they're like, they're throwing all this money at them. And you see these kids on these YouTube videos doing the Mayweather combos, the boxing kids at like four years old. And it's like, everyone's like, wow. Do you know where all of them are now? Nowhere. They're never anywhere. And I'll tell you why, because they just get burned out. They're sick of it. Absolutely sick of their seven days a week or six days a week of Thai boxing, boxing kick, whatever, whatever it is, right? Any sport. We had the same way when I coached my son's football, is you had these kids who were like doing like five academy nights in the week. Academy here and the great, it will turn your kid into a pro into a pro. Do you know what happened to those kids when they got older? Sick of it. Hated it. They don't want to play football again. They're so sick of it because it just ruined their lives because it was just too much. And ultimately, they weren't being gently led in it, were they? They weren't being led the way they should have been. They weren't being softly led. Instead, they were just being just basically their fingers worked to the bone in whatever it is. And we've got to be really careful about that when we're raising kids in the things of God, right? It's very easy to do that, I think. We want our kids to adjourn to the end. And that requires gentle leading. And Ephesians 6 says this in verse one, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. So any kids here, it is your parents' decision, though, how they raise you. And you need to obey them unless they ask you to sin. So regardless of what I'm saying behind the pulpit here, if your parents have a different view, well, they're your parents, right? You do as your parents tell you to do, even if it feels like you're living in a Victorian workhouse. You just do it because your parents tell you to do it, because you'll be better off regardless if you just submit. You ain't going to be better off by trying to then go against them and trying to rebel. You're just going to be worse off, yeah? You're best just to do what your parents tell you to do. It says honour thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise. What's the promise? That it may be well with thee, that thou mayest live long on the earth. However, for us fathers here, now, there is a strong hand needed, but there's also a loving hand needed as well. So this is verse 4. And you fathers provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And the Lord nurtures and admonishes in the right way, with the right balance, doesn't he? He's a loving God, isn't he? Yeah, he's a loving God. He loves us so much that he gave his life for us, but would we do that for our kids? Now, people say, I'd do anything for my kids, but is that really true with so many people out there? I've seen the opposite with many people over the years. Would we even risk being seen as slightly less holy for our kids' sake? For example, there are people out there like that. We've had people in here before like that who... The risk of being seen as slightly less holy, even though my kids need to be at home, my kids need to not be there, my kids need just... You know, they're not going to be able to do that marathon, not be able to do that. Look, you need to consider that, right? Because you've got to be able to give that for your kids, even if it means that you won't look like maybe the image that you wanted to create. Would we nourish them? Would we give them what they need, or is it all about what we need? There are many people like that. Well, I need to be there, I need to be here, I need to be doing this. So my kids, they just follow along, they just kind of hold on to the coattails. But is that softly leading? Is that gently leading or is that dragging? It's dragging, right? However, it's not all cuddles. It's not all cuddles, presents and naughty steps when they're naughty. God also admonishes us. But it's for our own good. It's with us in mind. Turn to Isaiah 40. Now, this concept, okay, and the way the Bible teaches this and the word gives this, that nurture and admonition, the concept isn't just for young kids, okay? It's not just for children. The softly leading, the gentle leading applies to all leadership, and that therefore includes our wives as well. Not men, okay? It includes our wives or future husbands, you know, potential husbands in the future. They need gentle leading sometimes too, okay? They can't always shoulder the burdens, for example, that we can. That's something I have to remember sometimes as well because, you know, I need to share like, you know, there's a lot of kind of things that go on behind the doors with church, you know, and there's a lot of issues, a lot of problems, a lot of things, a lot of issues. And sometimes you think, look, maybe I don't need to share all of that with my wife because it's not, some of it, it's hard stuff sometimes. A spiritual battle can be hard, right? And they're not always able to shoulder all of that. In Isaiah 40, Isaiah prophesies of the second coming of Christ, and he says this, he said in verse 10 of Isaiah 40, Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arms shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him and his work before him. So, yep, he's got a strong hand, okay? And it's not any of that, like, guns for show sort of strength either, okay, in case anyone's wondering. Okay, it's real strength as he's going to be a legitimate ruler. However, with that strength, so I've always found it interesting, the contrast between verse 10 and 11 here, is with that strength, that strong arm, then you see the gentle leading. It says he shall feed his flock, in verse 11, like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. So he's got a strong hand, he's going to rule with a strong arm, however, he also uses that strong arm to carry, to gather the lambs with his arm, that's the young, to carry them in his bosom, and he shall gently lead those that are with young. And look, the young need carrying sometimes, don't they? They need support, and I don't just mean physically, they need sometimes supporting. They need sometimes emotionally supporting, don't they? And that's something that, as fathers, we should be there to do as well with the young, but we should also be there to do that with those with young. Who are those with young? That's the females of a flock, and that's whether they're pregnant or they've got young children, they need, sometimes they just need us to be able to emotionally support them in one way or another, don't we? We need to be able to be strong, we need to be able to help them, that's something sometimes we find hard, don't we? And that's something that we, that's the example from the Lord Jesus Christ from a strong man. A strong man saying, basically we see the example of the strongest man ever, and he's gathering the lands of his arm, carrying them in his bosom and gently leading those that are with young. And they need gentle leading, but don't miss something though. They need gentle leading, but it's still leading. It's gentle leading. It's not gently submitting. So you've got to get the balance right with that as well, because you can then gently submit to your wife, gently submit to your kids. There's a lot of people out there that submit to their kids, aren't there? We ain't here to gently submit to our kids, we're here to gently lead them. There are those that gently compromise, don't they? Well, just gently compromise and just start... No, no, no, it's not about compromising. We're still leading, but we're just not maybe doing it at the pace that we would want to go at, right? We're not maybe doing it in the exact path that we would go at, and instead we're trying to guide them and lead them in a gentle way around some of the pitfalls, around some of the problems, and some of those is just by trying to just work them to the bone, right? And kids, they can't do everything that we can do, and neither can wives. A lot of the time wives need some gentle leading, especially when they got young as well. That's why it's gently lead, which is exactly what Jacob said he was going to do in Genesis 33. So if you go back to Genesis 33, it says in verse 13. Genesis 33, 13. And by the way, that can apply to destroying their spiritual lives, yeah? No, he didn't say that he would go backwards, did he? Just that he would lead on softly as they are able to endure. So Esau offered some of the men to help, but when it comes to leading your family, it comes to leading your flock, the best help comes from God, really, doesn't it? You don't need these people coming to help, and often other people do just interfere. Sometimes you think, oh, I need the help, I need the relatives to come and do this, to come and do that. And look, I'm not saying you've got to cut people off, don't do that. But sometimes they do interfere, they distract. The family members that are just giving you constant parenting advice. And again, look, advice is one of those things that you kind of need to be requested before you give advice. A lot of like just advice givers, aren't they? Just give you advice all the time when you're not asking for it, right? And people need to remember that sometimes, especially as you end up, as your kids grow older and you have kids. Something I want to try and remember to do is not just be constantly telling them what to do and advise them. And once they have their own families, they have their own homes, the advice is there when they want it, right? And a lot of people, and unless you see a real light where they desperately need it, and it's something that's really serious, a lot of the time you've got to let people ask for the advice. And you kind of get that a lot when you let other people get involved too much with your family, right? And there are those, sometimes it's not that, they're just constantly spoiling your kids. And we talked about this a while back, didn't we? The word spoil is there for a reason, right? It's not spoiling, spoiling's not good. Spoiling's a negative word, yeah? Spoiling ruins kids. And sometimes you kind of need to find a way of getting a lid on that with family members, because you could do a load of great parenting and then if it's too much time with the in-law, too much time with the parent, too much time with whoever it is, especially too much time at the school or any of that, they can undo so much work that you're putting in, can't they? And so you've got to get the balance right. Yeah, don't ban them, don't stop them. I'm not saying cut off from your family and friends, but you need to make sure that the vast majority of the time is with you. It's you parenting, isn't it? And here he's offering to leave these men to be involved, but he said no, you know. And again, he did it in a nice way, didn't he? But he said, look, there's no need for that, we'll be fine, right? And a lot of the time, look, people mean well, but like I said, the majority of leading needs to be done by you and your family, with your wife. Obviously, you don't want someone else leading your wife either. That's why sending your wife into the employment zone, into whatever sort of, that's not usually a good idea, is it? Because a lot of the time it's someone else then leading your wife however many hours a day. That's not a good thing. And I know for some people they're in hard situations, but where at all possible? You'd be better to work overtime and extra part-time jobs and everything else than sending your wife into the workplace. Because then suddenly you've got someone else leading your wife and you've got problems, right? It said in verse 16, So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir, and Jacob journeyed to Sukkoth and built him an house and made boobs for his cattle, therefore the name of the place is called Sukkoth. Now, I believe he didn't say when he would see Esau and Seir in verse 14, okay? So he did say he'd see him, but he didn't say when. And where he stopped is like 150 miles, sort of, north from Seir. So, I don't know, maybe he's planning to get there eventually, but he did say, oh, yeah, yeah, we'll just lead on slowly and end up here. But I don't know if he's being dishonest or maybe there's a reason. Maybe, look, maybe those softly leading comment, or that softly leading comment meant stopping, meant changing the plan as well, because it can mean that, can't it, sometimes? So when you're softly leading, sometimes you need to stop, you need to pause, you need to kind of maybe re-evaluate what you're doing, what your plan is, and that's what it seems he's done here, maybe. Sukkoth is on the east of the river, of the Jordan River. It's northeast of Jericho, if anyone's interested in that stuff. And the Booths, or Sukkoth means Booths, okay, which are sort of huts made from tree branches, they're like a form of shelter for the cattle. It said in verse 18, And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the hand of Canaan, when he came from Padanarim and pitched his tent before the city. Then he bought a parcel of a field where he had spread his tent at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of money, and he erected there an altar and called it Elalohi Israel, which means God, the God of Israel. So that's what he called it. And yeah, that was Genesis chapter 33, and although it's a short chapter, I don't know, there's a lot in there, you can go to a lot of places there, can't you? I hope that some of that stuff's been useful to you. That was Genesis chapter 33, and we're going to finish off in a word of prayer. Father, thank you for your word, thank you for the lessons that all of us here, whether we're in leadership, or if we potentially will be in the future, need to learn, Lord, especially about being able to gently lead when it's needed, being able to consider those that we're leading and understand what a responsibility we have as leaders, Lord, help us to take that responsibility seriously, to do things in the right way, every single one of us, Lord, to just lead in the way that you'd want us to lead our families, to just lead according to your will, Lord, and help us just to kind of take the other things in this chapter, the heart and the greed or lack of greed and covetousness, and help us to just be rich towards you, Lord, and rich towards the things of God, and help us to not just be hearers but doers of the word as well, help us to all get home safe and sound tonight and to return on Sunday for Christmas Eve and to be able to just have a great celebration and fellowship time with our brothers and sisters here, and in Jesus' name we pray all of this. Amen.