The notices for the coming week
are, God willing, as follows. Mr. Paul Tyler will reach here
next Lord's Day at 10.30 and 2 o'clock. The pastor will preach
here on Thursday evening at 7 o'clock. And there will be a prayer meeting
on Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock. Let us commence our services
today by singing together Hymn 109 to the tune Lydia, 177. Awake my heart, arise my tongue,
prepare a tuneful voice. In God the life of all my joys,
aloud will I rejoice. Hymn 109, tune Lydia, 177. O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? ? Of the life of all my joys ?
? How now will I rejoice ? ? How now will I rejoice ? Adorn thy naked soul, and make
salvation mine. Now on a coconut tree He makes
his gracious shine He makes his gracious shine And this fresh breath from all
the stars Till the morning star we found He took that brook, the sacred
brook, and cast it full of brook, and cast it full of brook. Thou, Father, heav'nly Lord,
exceeds all time in riches well. Be told, heavens, how bright
they shine, How white their garments shine, How white their garments
shine. O Holy Spirit, Lord, I need Thee
every hour and hour and every age. Love Jesus, send his light to
dwell The robe of righteousness The robe of righteousness Change me, my soul, from power
afraid. I'm a great sacred dream. In sweetest harmony awake, Let
all thy chast'ning ring, Let all thy Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the book of Genesis and chapter 32. Genesis chapter 32. 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, into the land of Seir, the country
of Eden. And he commanded them, saying, thus shall you speak
unto my lord Esau. Thy servant Jacob saith thus. I have sojourned with Laban.
and stayed there until now. And I have oxen, and asses, and
flocks, and men's servants, and women's 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 and he divided the people that was with him
and the flocks and herds and the camels into two bands and
said if he saw come to the one company and smite it, then the
other company which is left shall escape. And Jacob said, O God
of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord
which said unto 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 saidst, 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 hand, a present for Esau,
his brother, 200 she-goats and 20 he-goats, 200 ewes and 20
rams, 30 milk camels with their colts, 40 kine and 10 bulls,
and 20 she-asses and 10 foals. And he delivered them into the
hand of his servants. Every drove by themselves. and
said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space
betwixt drove and drove. And he commanded thee, foremost
saying, When he saw my brother meeteth 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 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 droves, saying on this manner,
shall you speak unto Esau when ye find him? And say ye moreover,
behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will
appease him, with the present that go before me. And afterward
I will see his face, peradventure 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 11 sons
and passed over the Ford 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. And when he saw that he
prevailed not against him, he tucked 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, my life is preserved. As he passed over
Peniel 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. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Gracious, merciful, and eternal
God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, we bow before thy glorious majesty. Thou art he which is, and which
was, and which is to come, the Almighty. and we desire that
they always give to us this day the spirit of truth, the spirit
of true worship, the spirit of power and give us wisdom and
understanding in thy word and grant that the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ and the love of God our Father and the sacred
fellowship of the Holy Spirit may rest and abide on us. We're very conscious, O Lord,
as we bow before thy glorious majesty that we're sinners, that we all have sinned, young
and old, and come short of the glory of God. We've broken thy holy law and
therefore we come under its solemn curse. As thou hast said, curse
it is every man. that doeth not all things that
is written in the book of the law to do them. Gracious God,
we pray that thou wouldst lead us this day by thy blessed spirit
unto Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and that we may worship thee
in spirit and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship him We pray that thou wouldst grant us true, real,
humble worship. We come as poor sinners, we humble
ourselves before thee. Shame and confusion of face belongs
unto us at this day, for we all have sinned. We come and seek and hope to
find a portion for our souls. We hope to find those riches
of grace in Jesus Christ, the King of Glory. We do pray, most gracious Lord,
that we may hear Thy voice, and that we may see Thy countenance,
and that we may worship in Thy holy hill of Zion, unworthy as
we are of the least of Thy tender mercies. Most gracious Lord, and pray
to be washed in the precious sin-atoning blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and to be clothed upon with that glorious everlasting
robe of Thy righteousness that we've sung of, O Lord, in our
opening hymn. We pray that we may lay hold
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and lay hold of His precious blood
by faith, and lay hold of His glorious everlasting righteousness,
and that we may be clothed with it and washed in that precious
blood and fitted and prepared to stand in thy presence. Hear
us, Lord, grant that we may know that we are complete in him,
that we are accepted in the beloved. Remember us as a church and as
a congregation, and work mightily, powerfully and effectually among
us. O thou great God, that precious souls may be brought to living
faith in Jesus Christ and become true followers of thee and of
those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Lord, do
bless us with precious faith without which no man can see
the Lord without that precious gift of faith. We pray that thou
wouldst grant it this day. Faith in thee, bleeding lamb.
Faith in his precious blood. Do hear us, Lord, and remember
us as a church and as a congregation. Remember our brethren, the deacons.
Graciously bless them with wisdom and understanding, and undertake
for us. Remember our brother at Tunbridge
Wells this morning. help him in the conducting of
the service. We do humbly pray thee. And remember
each one of our brethren and sisters in church fellowship.
And we read in thy word that thou was added unto the church
daily, such as should be saved. And we pray that it may be so
with us, that we may see an ingathering, that we may see a building up,
that we may see a reviving, a renewing, a replenishing. that we may see
the prodigal's return and thy mighty grace in this, we do humbly
beseech of thee, and that the glory, light, and power of gospel
truth may shine into this village and the surrounding villages
and hamlets. We think of thy wonderful promises
concerning thy church. I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with
bread. Arise, arise, O God of grace. Into thy rest descend thou and
the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests be clothed with
salvation. Let us see thy work and thy power
and thy glory as thou usest to be in the sanctuary. Bring our
sons from far and our daughters from the ends of the earth. O
Lord, we do beseech thee. Remember the little ones and
the children. richly bless them in their young
and tender years. Remember the young friends and
bring them to living faith in Jesus Christ and make them true
followers of thee and of those who through faith and patience
inherit the promises. Lord do work as promised in thy
word, I will work and who shall let it? Let thy work appear unto
thy servants and thy glory are unto their children, O Lord,
we beseech Thee. Fulfill Thy ancient promise,
instead of Thy fathers shall be Thy children, who now mayest
make princes in all the earth. O do hear us, Lord, and revive
us, we beseech Thee, and grant that renewing in the hearts of
Thy people, and that freshness of the blessing. Deliver us from
the temptations and the allurements of Satan, Whether he comes as
an angel of light to deceive, or whether he comes as a roaring
lion to devour, we pray that when the enemy comes in like
a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against
him. We do humbly beseech them. Deliver us from every wrong path,
from every sinful path. We do humbly beseech them. And
grant us that discernment. to discern thy word, thy truth,
thy way, we do humbly beseech thee. Lord, we pray that thou
in thy precious mercy would bless parents, give wisdom and grace
to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of
the Lord. Bless all in the midst of the journey of life and be
gracious unto them. Bring them to living faith in
Jesus Christ, Stretch out thy almighty arm, O Lord, we do beseech
thee, and arise in thy great power in the gospel. We do pray
that thou wouldst remember all thy servants as they labour in
word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion. Set them free, set them
at liberty, send out thy light and thy truth, O Lord, we beseech
thee, and return to Jerusalem with mercies. that we may see
signs following the preaching of the word. We live, Lord, in
a day of great declension and a great falling away, and we
pray that thou wouldst hear the cries of thy little remnant,
that sigh and cry for the abominations under the land, give wisdom to
our leaders and guidance and direction, bring to nought the
counsels of the ungodly, put a stop to war, O Lord, we do
pray Thee, and heal us in heaven, Thy holy dwelling place. Remember
Thy Zion and the little causes of truth up and down the land.
Return, O Lord, how long, and let it repent Thee concerning
Thy servants. And, O Lord, we do pray that
Thou in Thy great mercy would remember those of us that are
now in the evening time of life's journey and prepare us for that
great change which must come when we shall soar through tracks
unknown and see Thee on Thy judgment throne. Lord, we pray that Thou
wilt remember our King and give wisdom, guidance, direction. Remember the royal household
and grant Thy rich blessing to rest upon them there even the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember those that labour in
word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion and in the nations of
the earth. Especially Lord, we remember
those that go forth from among us a group of churches and pray
that thou wouldst graciously supply all their needs. We think
of the Mombasa mission and thy servants there. Bless them, Lord. We think of Ian Sadler and that
great work that he does in so many different places on earth.
Do graciously gird with all sufficient grace. Remember the Savannah
Education Trust and that great work they've been able to do
in Ghana. Lord, we pray that thou was abundantly
blessed their endeavours. and that it may redound to the
great glory of thy holy name. We thank thee for every mercy.
We thank thee for every favor. We bless thee for the incarnation
of the Son of God. We would seek that we might be
given that spirit of thanksgiving and adoration of the glory of
his person, the eternal word that was made flesh. and dwelt
among us. May we this day behold His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. We thank Thee for the holy life
He lived as a man here upon earth, Jesus the Son of God. We thank
Thee for the holy law He fulfilled and everlasting righteousness
brought in. We thank Thee for that sacred
sacrifice that sin-atoning sacrifice on Calvary, where the Lamb was
slain, where sin was put away, where God and sinners are reconciled
and peace is made between God and man. We thank Thee for the
precious blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses from all sin. We
thank Thee that He rose again for our justification and has
bodily ascended into heaven. Oh, we would Seek to adoringly
bow before thy glorious person, Lord Jesus. Through thee we know
the love of our heavenly Father, and through thee we receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost, and we desire this day to worship thee. Do come, Lord, and touch one's
lips with the live coal from off the heavenly altar. Come
and open thy word to our heart and to our understanding. Grant
that some poor sinner may hear the word of life for the first
time this day. We ask with the forgiveness of
all our sins, for Jesus Christ's sake, amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 245. The tune is Boston 305. We travel through a barren land,
with dangers thick on every hand. But Jesus guides us through the
veil. The Christian's hope can never
fail. 245, tune Boston, 305. With angels sing o'er heav'n
and earth ? But Jesus died, the Spirit the
Lamb ? ? The Christian child shall never fail ? Which soars with thousands below,
And ne'er will stay alone at last. Abide in love, Lord God, prevail. A Christian's hope shall never
fail. God finds it easy to be a slave. But he doesn't make others to
be his friend. God in heaven's love has called
us here The Christians of Israel, they have heard ? He was the hope and the saviour
of all ? ? He of them all is risen today ? ? Evermore ? ? Christ take me through
eternity ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the prophecy
of Hosea, chapter 12, and we'll read verses 3, 4 and 5. The prophecy of Hosea chapter
12 verses 3, 4 and 5. This is speaking of Jacob. He took
his brother by the heel in the womb and by his strength he had
power with God Yea, 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. Even the Lord God of hosts, the
Lord is his memorial. We notice here in the previous
verse Verse two, the Lord hath also a controversy with Judah
and will punish Jacob according to his ways, according to his
doings will he recompense him. At this time, when Hosea was
prophesying, it was after the time of Rehoboam, Solomon's son,
when the children of Israel separated Judah and Benjamin were part
of what was known as Judah and essentially Judah was the Jews
and then the ten tribes separated away were called Israel. So you had Judah and Israel and
quite often in Holy Scripture those ten tribes are called Jacob. and we find it here and you find
it throughout holy scripture how that they were called Jacob. You know there is a tendency part of our fallen nature to
go to extremes and some would say well Judah was right and
they were the Lord's people And Christ came through the tribe
of Judah and the ten tribes, they're nothing. They're nothing. But you know,
my beloved friends, the Lord's people were among Judah and Israel. We have this tendency to go into
what you could call a party spirit and say, well, they're no good,
but these are all right. And we need to be very careful
of that. But here the Lord said he hath
a controversy with Judah and will punish Jacob according to
his ways. According to his doings will
he recompense him. And he's speaking there of the
ten tribes of Israel that separated away. And of course we've read
together how the Lord changed the name of Jacob, thou shalt
no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for as a prince hast
thou prevailed with God. As a prince hast thou prevailed
with God. But here it refers to Jacob's
birth and in that we see the sovereignty
of God. It says He took his brother by
the heel in the womb. This is all recorded in the book
of Genesis. He took hold of Esau's foot in
the womb. His hand came out. He took his brother by the heel
in the womb and by his strength he had power with God. Connecting the two, yes. he had power over the angel.
Now that angel, and we've just read it together in Genesis,
it's often said that, and it's true in a sense, but there's
an emphasis that it is wrong, the angel wrestled with Jacob. That's what it says in scripture.
It's often said that Jacob wrestled with the angel, more or less
that he instigated the wrestling, but it wasn't. And the angel
is none other than the angel of the everlasting covenant,
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. That is who was wrestling with
Jacob. Jacob was a man, his name means
supplanter, deceiver. And he lived up to that, didn't
he? Sadly. He stole his mother's birthright.
We know there's an overruling province here but it's only excuse
the deception of Rebecca deceiving their father Isaac and we know
it was all in the hand of God and it was said the elder shall
serve the younger. The elder shall serve the younger
and that turned out to be so. Jacob was eternally blessed of
God and that was eternally purposed by God. I think the Apostle Paul,
he touches on this in the Epistle to the Romans where he speaks
there of these things and he speaks of Israel, how he had
great heaviness and continuous sorrow in Romans 9. I have great heaviness and continual
sorrow in my heart, for I could wish that myself were a curse
from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the
flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption,
and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and
the service of God, and the promises whose are the fathers, and of
whom as concern in the flesh Christ came, who is over all
God blessed forever, Amen. God over all, blessed forever,
Amen. Not as though, he explains here,
not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they
are not all Israel which are of Israel. That means not all
the Israelites are truly spiritual people. It's like We would look
at it today, not all people that come to chapel are the Lord's
people. Just because you come to chapel,
it doesn't make you one of the Lord's people. You must be born
again. You must be brought to live in
faith in Jesus Christ. There must be a change wrought
by the Holy Ghost in your heart. You see, it says here, neither
verse 7 Romans 9 neither because they are the seed of Abraham
are they all children but in Isaac not Ishmael Jacob Abraham
had two sons one was Ishmael the father of
the Arabs and the other was Isaac he was
the child of promise neither because they are the seed of
Abraham are they all children but in Isaac shall thy seed be
called that is they which are the children of the flesh that's
Ishmael these are not the children of God but the children of promise
are counted for the seed for this is the word of promise at
this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son And not only
this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our
father Isaac, for the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said
unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. That's before they
were born. Jacob would receive the blessing
Esau This is here in verse 13 as it is written Jacob have I
loved but Esau have I hated What shall we say then is there
unrighteousness with God God forbid For he said to Moses I
will have mercy on whom I will have mercy And I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy,
but of God that showeth mercy, that the purposes according to
election might stand. Something, you know, my beloved
friends, that has always rankled with human nature, the doctrine
of divine election. It's always rankled with human
nature. It's something that poor sinful man finds very difficult
to accept. But if we look at it in this
light, God would have been just to have damned the whole world to eternal perdition, to everlasting
damnation. God would have been absolutely
just. It would have been to the glory
of his justice. But, to show forth the wonderful
glory of that divine attribute of mercy, he chose a people from
every nation, every kindred, every time. Every tribe. There is a people
chosen by God. and ordained to eternal life
and that people will be quickened by the Holy Ghost. Not of him that willeth nor of
him that runneth but God that showeth mercy. That's something that in Ezekiel's
day they said the way of God is not equal And it's no different
today, is it? Saying the way of God is not
equal. He should give us the opportunity. Or this or that. God's ways are just. His counsels
wise. They are eternally just. Eternally wise. He took his brother
by the heel in the womb and by his strength. That's the strength
of faith. And as we're instructed in the
epistle to the Ephesians, faith is the gift of God. Let's ever
remember that. Faith is the gift of God. Not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God. Salvation
is of the Lord. Absolutely and entirely. The word of God is clear that
the church, the children of God were chosen before the foundation
of the world. Before the world was here. Christ, we speak to him in Proverbs
8 and it says there I was set up from everlasting before the
earth was and he says my delight were with the sons of men. That
is in eternity past his heart, his desire was on the salvation,
the eternal salvation of his people. And it was decreed and
purposed by the father that the son would come, the eternal son
of God would come to this world. and would redeem this people
that the father has given him all that the father giveth me
shall come to me and him that cometh unto me I will in no wise
cast out all that the father giveth me you see and we see this with
Jacob as far as we can tell he didn't know the Lord until he
came to Bethel. It's recorded in Genesis chapter
28. He said he found him in Bethel,
it says here in our text, verse 4. And there he spake with us,
for the Lord God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial. And notice
what it says, he found him. The Lord found him. I love that
beautiful word that we have in Deuteronomy chapter 32. Again it's speaking of Jacob
and how the Lord found him. It's very pointed in the way
that the Lord puts this. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 32. And we read from verse 7, remember
the days of old, consider the years of many generations, ask
thy father and he will show thee and thy elders and they will
tell thee. When the Most High, this is important
to remember this, where it says here the children of Israel,
it means the whole election of grace. When the Most High divided
to the nations their inheritance, When he separated the sons of
Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number
of the children of Israel. And in both the epistle to the
Romans and in the epistle to the Galatians, the apostle makes
it very clear that the Christian believer, the true Christian
believer, is of the seed of Abraham by faith. in Jesus Christ. We're all the children of God.
We're all the children of Israel by faith in Jesus Christ. And even today, the Lord controls
all things, everything in the world. You see, according to the number
of the children of Israel, for the Lord's portion is His people.
is the lot of his inheritance. Now it goes on to speak of Jacob. He found him. Has the Lord found you? It's a very vital question. Has
the Lord found you? Just like he found Jacob. He
found him in a desert land. And in the waste howling wilderness,
he led him about. He led Jacob about. He instructed
him. He kept him as the apple of his
eye in all his troubles, in all his trials, in all his perplexities.
And he had many of them. The Lord kept him as the apple
of his eye. When Joseph was taken by his
own brethren and Jacob said, all these things are against
me. But they weren't. It was through Joseph being in
Egypt and being made the ruler in the land of Egypt that the
children of Israel were preserved. He found him in a desert land,
in the waste howling wilderness. He led him, we read in Psalm
107, he led them forth by the right way unto a city of habitation. And we read in Romans chapter
8, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons
of God. To be led of the Divine Spirit. He found him in a desert land,
in the waste howling wilderness. He led him about. Are we being
led of the Spirit? Are we being guided by the Spirit? Are we brought continually to
look unto Jesus? cast all our care upon him. He found him in a desert land
and in the waste howling wilderness. He led him about. He instructed
him. He kept him as the apple of his
eye. And the Lord would do that for
every single one of his children. He will. Then we have this verse 11. as
an eagle stirreth up her nest, and fluttereth over her young,
and spreadeth aboard her wings, taketh them, beareth them on
her wings. So the Lord alone did lead him.
There was no strange God with him. You know, the eagle, she's
given that instinct that when she builds her nest, she builds
long thorns in the bottom of the nest. And then she covers
those thorns over with leaves and with moss, and so there's
a lovely soft bed for eggs to lay and for them to hatch. But
when it comes, because eagles always build in a high place,
and when the time comes for those little eagles to fly the nest, Because they're so high up, they're
frightened. Number one, they find the nest
comforting and soft bed. Number two, they're up high.
And when they go, they have to fly straight away. So what the eagle does when she
realizes that her little young ones, they need to leave the
nest, she stirs up the nest. She exposes, she gets rid of
the moss and the leaves and that soft bed. And there's these sharp thorns,
they can't rest. And in the end, they fly the
nest because they cannot find any rest in the nest. You know,
my beloved friends, that is what the Lord does with his people.
He does. As an eagle stirreth up a nest
so that we don't rest. We read in the Word of God, this,
that means this earth, this is not your rest. It is polluted. And the Lord will stir you up.
So you have to move on. You don't want to, you're very
reluctant to, but you have to. As an eagle stirreth up her nest,
fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh So when
that young bird flies from the nest, so nervous flying so high
up, the eagle, she goes underneath that young bird and she lifts
it up, you see. And he said, that's how the Lord
deals with his children. When that bird is probably terrified
when it first flies from the nest, so high up, But then the
mother bird comes underneath and lifts it up. And that's what
the Lord does with his people. I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. You see, the eternal God is thy
refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms. Just like the
eagle, she comes underneath and underneath and those everlasting
arms That promise was given to me in a time of great affliction. What a comfort it was. And what
happened was, I was dropping and dropping. In my feelings,
I was in such... I was very ill, I was in such
darkness in my mind, in my soul. And the Lord I remember we lived
in Cobra at the time. I remember sitting, going down
one afternoon and sitting reading and it was those words in Solomon's
Song that the Lord breathed into my heart, my beloved is as a
cluster of campfire in the vineyards of Enkidai. wonderful sacred sense I had
of the arms of the Lord Jesus surrounding me. And then that
promise followed in with such sweetness of power, the eternal
God is thy refuge and underneath. You know friends, I saw that
the believer can never fall beneath those everlasting arms. Those
everlasting arms are always there, but It's only when we come into
these deep, dark, trying, perplexing circumstances, as Jacob did continually,
that we then feel the support of those everlasting arms. As an eagle stirreth up her nest,
fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them,
beareth them on her wings, so the Lord alone did lead him. And there was no strange God
with him. The Lord alone did lead him. I was looking at one of the Puritans
on Jacob and he made this point that Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Isaac was the seed
of promise, Ishmael Isaac had two sons, Jacob and
Esau. Jacob was the seed of promise,
Esau was not. We just read, and you'll find
it in the prophet Malachi, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. And it's all divine grace. I've often felt that when you
read about Jacob and Esau, that actually Esau was of a nicer
character than what Jacob was. And yet Jacob was the chosen
vessel of mercy. You see, it's that the purpose
is according to election. Mindstand. They are. It's a solemn,
searching, separating thing, isn't it? Jacob have I loved. Twin brothers. Jacob have I loved. Esau have I hated. The Lord Jesus
speaks of that two shall be at the mill, one shall be taken,
the other lost. Two shall be in the field, one
shall be taken, the other lost. This is in the great day of judgment. And in the light of that, how
stands the case my soul with thee? For heaven are thy credentials
clear. Is Jesus' blood thine only plea? Is he thy great forerunner there? He took his brother by the heel,
in the womb, And by his strength, he had power with God. The power
of faith. We must never underestimate the
power of faith. It's like I've often mentioned
to you of Lady Lucy Smith of the Countess of Huntingdon Connection,
and she was a woman renowned for her faith. And being introduced to someone
one day, and he said to her, Oh, you're that woman of great
faith. Oh no, she said. I have a little faith in a great
God. What a difference that is, a
little faith in a great God. Yea, he had power over the angel
and prevailed. He wept and made supplication
unto him. We just read together of this
account And we read there in Genesis, and Jacob was left alone. And Jacob was left alone, completely. We read others of the Lord's
people that were brought into pathways like that. You think
of the Lord's servant Job. He lost the whole of his family
in one day. All his children were feasting,
and a storm came and the whole house collapsed and all his family
were killed. The Chaldeans came and they took
all his cattle and his camels and they came back, I only am
left alone. Literally, the dear man of God.
And then he was smitten with boils from the crown of his head
to the sole of his foot. That means he couldn't lay down,
he couldn't sit down, He couldn't stand without pain. Poor man. And then his wife said, curse
God and die. And his three friends accused
him of some great sin. Job was left alone. He was. In that great trial that he walked
in. But he lived by faith. We noticed
just recently We looked at Job, didn't we? And Job says, by the
skin of my teeth. By the skin of my teeth. That's
something that's come into the English language through the
authorised version, by the skin of my teeth. But when you look
at what the skin of his teeth were holding on to, just a few
verses afterwards, I know that my Redeemer live in. That's what
he was hanging on to, by the skin of his teeth. I know that
my Redeemer liveth, and that the latter day he shall stand
upon the earth, and that he would see him. With these eyes will
I behold him." That's what Job was cleaving to. He was cleaving
to Christ. He was cleaving to the mediator. He was cleaving to that one who'd
been revealed to him as the way, the truth, and the life. Years
back it's believed that Job would live somewhere during the time
of Abraham. And yet the same hope, the same
God, the same way, I know that my Redeemer liveth and the latter
day he shall stand upon the earth. I always feel there's a two-fold
way of looking at that. He saw the coming of Christ,
that at the latter day Christ would come and stand on the earth
and that he would live for his people and suffer and bleed and
die for his people. But there's also another way
of Christ coming the second time without sin unto salvation. At the latter day he shall stand
upon the earth and I shall behold him with these eyes. That was
Job's hope. The Christian's hope shall never
fail. We just sung it together. That was Job's hope and it didn't
fail. The Lord eventually delivered Job and he went on to have many
more children and many flocks and herds. In fact, he had an
abundance more than he had before. See, but the Lord deals with
his people. He humbles his people just as
he did the Lord's servant Jacob. Jacob, he deceived his father
and then he went in with Laban for 20 years and Laban deceived
him again and again and again and he changed his wages 10 times. As ye sow, so shall ye reap. That's what Jacob had to prove.
It was very painful, very distressing, very perplexing. You see, but
the thing is this, the Lord was with him. Now just as that time
that Jacob was at Bethel we read of that in the Genesis chapter
28 and it's the time that the Lord first met with Jacob and
he'd never been away from his home before so we read in Genesis
chapter 28 verse 10 and Jacob went out from Beersheba That's
where his father lived and went toward Haran. He lighted up on
a certain place and tarried there all night because the sun was
set. We just read in Deuteronomy,
he found him, the Lord found him. And he took up the stones
of that place and put them through his pillows and lay down in that
place to sleep. And he dreamed. This is where
the Lord revealed himself unto his servant Jacob. And he dreamed,
and behold, a ladder set up on the earth. And the top of it
reached to heaven. And behold, the angel of God
ascending and descending on it. That ladder is Christ. And that
is what was revealed there unto Jacob. Christ, who was to come
upon earth, live as a man, and suffer, bleed, and die for the
sins of his people, and then ascend up on high back to heaven. And this is what was revealed
unto the Lord's servant Jacob. The top of it reached to heaven,
and the angels of God, that's the messengers of God, ascending
and descending on it through the glorious person, of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And then we read this, and behold,
the Lord stood above it. This is what Jacob saw by faith. And the Lord, behold, the Lord
stood above it and said, see, the Lord speaks to him. I am
the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac,
the land whereon thou liest. To thee will I give it, and to
thy seed. and thy seed shall be as the
dust of the earth and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and
to the east and to the north and to the south and in thee
and in thy seed this is the promise of Christ and in thee and in
thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed and then
this beautiful promise and behold I am with thee and will keep
thee in all places whither thou goest and will bring thee again
into this land for I will not leave thee until I have done
that which I have spoken to thee of. I will not leave thee until
I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. You see, I
will never leave thee nor forsake thee. The Lord speaks that to
his children. He spoke it here to Jacob. And
he will never leave nor forsake his people in spite of all their
sins. In spite of all their wanderings,
in spite of all their backslidings, he would never leave his people.
He says twice in the Prophet Joel, my people shall never be
ashamed. And Jacob waked out of his sleep.
It is surely the Lord is in this place. And I knew it not. And he was afraid and said, how
dreadful is this place. He felt something of the holiness
and majesty of the Lord Jehovah. How dreadful is this place. This
is none other but the house of God and this is the gate of heaven. You see, Jacob rose up early
in the morning and took the stones that he had put for his pillows
and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon it and he called
the name of that place Bethel. But the name of that city was
called Luz at the first. You see, my beloved friends,
and the Lord promised him. He promised him. And the Lord
does give promises to his people. The Lord was with him. He promised
him that he would come back to his father's house and that he
would be with him. He would never leave him. He
would never forsake him. Now he had many trials and it
was over 20 years that he was there in the house of Laban.
Many great trials, but eventually the Lord delivered him. The Lord brought him back. And then on his way back, here
comes Esau. One of the reasons for sending
him away from home was because Esau vowed to kill him. So he went to fetch a wife. That
was the hand of his mother in there. And it was, of course,
of the Lord. It was of divine purpose. He
took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength
he had power with God. Yea, he had power over the angel,
and prevailed. That's with Christ. We sing that
lovely hymn, don't we? Wrestling prayer. can wonders
do, bring relief in greatest strains. Prayer can force a passage
through iron bars and brazen gates. And the Lord Jesus says,
men are always to pray and not to faint. Has anyone come here
today and you're ready to faint, you're ready to give up, you're
ready to turn back? Men are always to pray. They
are coming to a king. That's King Jesus, the glorious
saviour of sinners. Come into a king, large petitions
with thee bring for his grace and power are such. None can
ever ask too much. Jesus said when he was about
to ascend on high, all power is given unto me in heaven and
in earth. None can ever ask too much. He's
the king of glory. He's the King of heaven and of
earth. With heaven and earth at His command, He waits to answer
prayer. He does. Oh, that the Lord would
give us this prevailing prayer, this wrestling prayer, that He
would pour it upon us. When Jacob had come to the end
of everything, he was left alone. He was. But the Lord poured upon him
the spirit of prayer. Yea, he had power over the angel
and prevailed. He said, I will not let thee
go except thou bless me. He wept and made supplication
unto him. He found him in Bethel. There
he spoke with us. Of course, the children of Israel
The literal children of Israel, his name was changed from Jacob
to Israel. Their names are all the names
of the tribes of the children of Israel. Jacob and Joseph had a double
portion. We do not read of a tribe of
Joseph, but he was given a double portion. His sons Ephraim and
Manasseh, the Lord blessed them. He was given a double portion
in and among the children of Israel. Yea, 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. Even the Lord God of hosts. See,
this is how we know that it was Christ that wrestled with him. even the Lord God of House. The
Lord is His memorial. The Lord is His memorial. And
it's the memorial of His people. You think of that wonderful ordinance
of the Lord's Supper. It's an ordinance of memorial.
It's an ordinance of remembrance. This do in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread
and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come.
It's a memorial to the suffering Saviour, to the person of our
Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's to the honour and glory.
As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show
the Lord's death till he come. even the Lord God of hosts the
Lord is his memorial you know friends there are only two ordinances
in the gospel church that we have in holy scripture in the
new testament one of course is the ordinance of believers baptism
okay and it's a memorial it's a remembrance i love the way faucet puts it
in his hymn he's speaking of the right of believers baptism
and of course the person is immersed under the water in the baptistry. We believe this is according
to scripture and uh Fawcett says in his hymn view the right that's
the right of baptism view the right with understanding Jesus
grave before they lie be interred at his commanding after his example
rise. So when the believer, taken by
the minister down into the water, they are being baptized into
the death of Christ. They are professing, my hope
is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And when they come up out of
the water, they are professing that they are risen with Christ. They are risen with Christ. Because
Christ is risen, they will rise again at the last day. And this
is all in the sacred ordinance of Believers' Baptism. In both
the ordinance of Believers' Baptism and in the Lord's Supper. It's the glorious person of Jesus
Christ and him crucified says in Romans chapter 6 verse 3 know
ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ
were baptized into his death therefore we are buried with
him by baptism into death and that like as Christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the father even so we also
should walk in newness of life For if we have been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection. The glorious resurrection. Because
I live, ye shall live also. You know, this experience of
Jacob at Peniel, when he wrestled with the Lord Jesus, and he touched
the hollow of his thigh, It was a defining experience. It changed
his whole life. Thou shalt no more be called
Jacob, but Israel, for as a prince hast thou prevailed with God. And the Lord's people experimentally
have these places in their life that are defining experiences. Bethel was a defining experience
for Jacob. And Peniel was another defining
experience to Jacob when he proved the covenant faithfulness and
love of his God in spite of all his failings. He took his brother
by the heel in the womb and by his strength he had power with
God. Yea, 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, even the Lord God of hosts. The Lord is his
memorial. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 261. and the tune is Eventide 140. It is the Lord, enthroned in light,
whose claims are all divine, who has an undisputed right to
govern me and mine. Hymn 261, tune Eventide 140. He is the Lord in whom we find,
Which saves the wounded blind. He loves us It is the Lord, should I be sought,
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let
us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, and must be righteous
still. It is the law in fantasy May
be the heav'nly throne From whom our sin shall die or take will trample holy earth. If this the law, will touch their
skin, And from afflictions raise That
our eternal unity to you With ever growing It is the law, thy covenant law,
Christ blest, and in his name To change the strong and still
we'll go, Forever be the same. His covenant well, my soul defend,
Should nature's selfish plan, ? And the ranges of old Westland
? ? In auld lang syne ? With hopes like these, this love
of mine. Thy gracious throne, Now may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, Rest and abide with us each. Amen.