Before we go to Genesis 32, look
at Psalm 146 first. Psalm 146. This is a blessed
verse and many of you know it. We've looked at it, preached
from it, heard it many times. I hope you'll know the meaning
of this after this message. In Psalm 146, look at verse 5. Do you have it? Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob
for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his
God. Happy, happy, happy. Blessed is he that hath the God
of Jacob for his help. Now, David wrote that. David
read God's Word and he loved God's Word. He said it was sweeter
than honey to him. And David probably only had the
five books of Moses to read. Maybe the book of Joshua, I don't
know. But he didn't have much to read. But he read the account
of Jacob over and over again. He loved to read. It was sweet
to him, the story of Jacob, God's salvation of a sinner. Sinner
saved by grace. That's what David loved to read
and David loved to hear. Maybe Nathan preached from that.
I'm quite sure he did. But he loved that, don't you?
The story of Jacob. God said in Malachi, at the end
of Malachi, I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. destroyed, whereas Esau and others
will be. He said, I'm the God of Jacob. You know, God called himself
by that more than any other term. I'm the God of Jacob, over 25
times. It's significant. Jacob have I loved. Jacob. Every
child of God, like Jacob, is called, chosen, loved of God. And what are they? Sinners. sinners, saved by sovereign grace. God is the God of Jacob. He saved sinners. Christ came
into this world to save sinners. Christ came to meet this one
man. That was the man that wrestled with Jacob, the God-man, the
Lord Jesus Christ. You notice, Mike, that Jacob
said, I've seen God. There's another, Mike and I were
talking about all the scriptures that speak of the deity of our
Lord Jesus Christ. He's God, while the world is
denying that name. God is the God of sovereign election. Sovereign election. You've read
these scriptures with me and I'll just read them for you again
and again and again. I don't tire of reading them,
and you don't tire of hearing them, I hope. But listen to Isaiah
41, verse 8. Thou Israel art my servant, Jacob,
whom I have chosen. All of God's people, the sons
of Jacob, saved sinners, know who chose who. He said, I have
taken you from the ends of the earth and called thee. Thou art
my servant, I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. It's
a God of sovereign election. Romans 9. Don't you love Romans
9? Sons of Jacob do. The elect do.
The children have not yet been born, either
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. It was said unto her, The elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, and Esau have I hated. That's what God said about his
people. Now marvel at the thought, at the truth, that God loved
Jacob. God of sovereign love. Jacob
have I loved. Listen to Isaiah 43. Listen to
this. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, he that formed thee, fear not, I have
redeemed thee. I have called thee by name, thou
art mine. He said, Thou was precious in
my sight. Thou hast been honorable. I have
loved thee. He said, I gave the whole world
for you. Egypt, Ethiopia, Sabaphira. Fear not. I kept telling Jacob,
fear not, fear not. Jacob was afraid. So are God's
people. He's the God of sovereign mercy
and sovereign grace. God says in Exodus 33, I will
be gracious to whom I will be gracious. I will show mercy to
whom I will show mercy. So then it is not of him that
willeth or him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
You know that, don't you? If you know that, if you love
that, is that true? If you believe that? If you believe
that God has chosen you and called you by his grace and revealed
to you the truth of his sovereign love and sovereign grace and
sovereign mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ, you're a son of Jacob.
No, you're Israel. Child of God, precious to the
Lord. He's redeemed you. He's revealed the truth to you.
You're not worthy of it. In case I don't get to that verse,
that's what made me want to preach on it. Jacob said, I'm not worthy
of the least of all the mercies that you've shown me, or the
truth that you've shown me, the covenant, the gospel that you've
shown me. He's the God of sovereign mercy
and grace, the God of sovereign, eternal, everlasting covenant
ordered in all things and sure. Maybe you didn't hear that. He's
the God of a sovereign covenant, eternal covenant, ordered in
all things and sure that He made with Christ, the Son of David,
for all of the sons of Jacob, for His people, His chosen people.
And it's ordered and sure, and as David said, this is all my
salvation. No matter what. This was Jacob's
salvation. No matter what he did, past,
present, or future, God promised and made this covenant concerning
Jacob. And God says, I change not. Listen. Psalm 89. Listen to this. He said, I've made a covenant
with my chosen. Christ is the elect. and whom
we're chosen, right? That's Isaiah 42. I've sworn
unto David my servant. Well, David's writing this. Is
he writing about himself? No. He's writing about the one
who had come from him, the son of David. I made a covenant with
him. It says in verse 28 of Psalm
89, listen, My mercy will I keep for him forever. My covenant
shall stand fast with him. Verse 34, My covenant will I
not break. I will not alter the thing that's
gone out of my lips. Therefore, you sons of Jacob.
What's your name? What's your name? We call our children Jacob because
it's a good biblical name. You know what it means? Cheat. It means supplanter. It means
a person that's out for themselves. Only out for themselves. Only
care about themselves. Isn't that every single son of
Adam? Isn't that you? Wasn't that you? Wasn't it? Did
you come forth from the womb like Jacob? Mine. Me. What about me? Oh, that so
describes mankind. And such were some of you. And
God changed his name. Changed his walk. Changed what
he thought about himself. Well, look at our text now. Look
at the story. Here's the story. Here's our story. This is my
story. The story of every son of Jacob. Verse 1, Jacob went
on his way. Where is he headed? Well, this was all of God. God
ordered his steps. But there's a way which seemeth
right to man, and the end, how's it end? If the Lord lets you
go your way, your will, how will it end with you? Destruction. That's what the Scripture said. Oh, the way of the transgressor
is hard. Why? Because there's no peace
for the wicked. Those are all out for themselves.
They don't give God a thought and don't really care about anybody
else. There's a way that seems right,
ends bad, but God. Scripture says the steps of a
good man, the steps of his people whom he calls righteous, are
ordered by the Lord. Every step you've ever taken.
Please stay with me. This will bless you. You've got
to ask the Lord to speak to you. You know that? I can't keep your
interest. The steps of a good man, God's
people, sons of Jacob, Israel, his church, his people, his believers,
are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. Oh, don't you delight in looking
back on the steps and the way the Lord has ordered everything
in your life? Don't you look back? Oh, happy is he that hath
the God of Jacob. Jacob looked back on his life
and he said, Oh my, if God hadn't been with me, if God hadn't brought
me By grace I'm brought thus far completely. Saved by grace. Happy to know it's all ordered,
all predestined by our God, the God of Jacob. Listen to Psalm 25. It says,
All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, such as keepeth
God. Even our sinful past was God's
mercy to bring us to Christ. Bring us to Christ. Hmm. Where's Jacob headed now? Well, he left home. Okay? Looking for a wife. That's why
he left. You remember he cheated his brother
out of the blessing, and cheated his father. He's cheat. He's out for himself. He doesn't
know God yet. He left home. He's looking for
a wife. He's looking to make a way in the world. That's the
way he's headed. That's where he's going. But
God brought him to Bethel. That's the house of God. And
then he left there, and we're going to look at that in a minute.
He left the house of God, and all sorts of trouble happened. Pedanaram, the town where he
got married, and he married the wrong woman, and he got married
again, and had all these children, and had all this trouble. He
got all this stuff, and all these things. His life was consumed
with marriage, and family, and making money, and building up
a farm with sheep, and all that. And very little mention of God
in the life of Jacob in the chapters before this. You know that? Very
little mission. He's just, he's just, he's out,
he's in the world, he's of the world. He's making it, that's
his way in the world. But God is bringing him back. Jacob's on his way back. He's
on his way back to Bethel, to the house of God, the people
of God, where he left. Is that you? Is that you? I know it's you. Yeah, I'm pointing
to you. I know it's you. That's me. That's you. That's me. Oh, my. Jacob's on his way back to Bethel,
the house of God, where he first met the Lord. But he'd gotten
caught up in the world, and the Lord's bringing him back, just
like the prodigal. We all play the prodigal to some degree.
You know that? We all get caught up in the world with children
and grandchildren and all that, and we give God very little thought. Is it so with you? farms and
homes and family and children and your careers and all. Is
that so with you? Be honest. What's your name? If you are a son of Jacob, if
you're a child of God, if you're chosen of God, He's going to
bring you back. He's going to bring you back. And you're going to thank Him.
You're going to say, I'm not worthy of the least of all the mercies. When all thy mercies, O my God,
my rising soul surveyed, I am lost in wonder and pray." He's on his way back, and verse
1 says, the angels of God met him. The angels of God met him. Now
the angels of God had been keeping him all this time. And he didn't
know it. And you don't know it either.
I didn't know it. I was unaware. Listen to this,
what the Lord says about his people. No evil shall befall
thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. He shall
give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up. They're
carrying you the whole time. in their hands. He's given charge
to His angels over you. To keep you in all your ways,
lest you dash, even keep you from stomping your toe. Keep
walking. Tread upon the lion, the adder,
so many dangers, so many troubles and trials and dangers in your
life, but somebody's keeping you. How many? A host. A host means a multitude. One
man? The Lord sent a multitude of
angels for one man? Have you ever read that? Second
King. Want to go there? If you don't,
go there. Go back there. Second Kings 6. This is a wonderful story, those
of you who know it. And people, this is all of God's
people. The story of Elisha. Elisha surrounded this king of
Syria who represents the God of this world, Satan. Our Lord
said of Peter, Satan has desired to sift you like wheat. Satan
desired Job, didn't he? He desires every one of God's
people. That's what Peter finally said. He said, Satan's like a
roaring lion, seeketh whom he may devour. And the ones he wants
to devour more than any others are God's people. Well, Elisha was one man, a man
of God. And look at it. The servant of
the man of God rose up and went outside to get some firewood
or something, and a host compassed. The enemies were everywhere,
horses and chariots, and his servant ran into Elisha and said,
Oh, my master, what are we going to do? What are we going to do? We're in trouble. We're going
to die. There's lions out there. There's plagues. There's sicknesses. China. Russia. What are we going
to do? Nothing. You're going to listen. Elisha prayed, Lord, I pray Thee,
open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes
of the young man. He saw, behold, the mountain was full of horses
and chariots of fire round about Elisha. Verse 16, He said, Fear not,
they that be with us are more than they that be with them. Not just Elisha, not just Jacob,
all the sons of Jacob. Would you get this through your
head? Would I get this? Would the Lord please let this
sink down deep in my ears? That we have nothing and no one
to be afraid of. That everything about us down
to the hairs of our head are numbered. Our steps. You won't
even stump your toe unless God says so. That's our God. They're God. Things happen. He doesn't want
it to happen. He has nothing to do about it. That's not our
God. That's not the God of Jacob.
He sent His angels to charge over you. And they met Him. And He saw them. Go back to our
text. He saw them. God sent a heavenly
host of angels to meet this one sinner. Does that sound familiar? Listen. Listen to this. I'll read it to you. Luke 15.
Luke 15. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, there's
joy in the presence of the angels over God over one sinner that
repented. I said I wasn't going to holler.
This needs to be hollered. One sinner. that asks God for
mercy and needs saving and calls on the Lord and repents and believes
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven erupts! And I barely believe that every
time that sinner lays his head down, that believer in Christ
lays his head down on that deathbed, a multitude of heavenly hosts
are sent to bring him home. I know it's so. Right here it
is. Jacob, why would God send a multitude
of angels to meet this one rotten fellow? Why? Because he belongs
to God. What if your son or daughter,
your wayward son or daughter, is walking through that door
right now, by the grace of God, in repentance, in humility, bowing,
believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, asking for mercy. What would
you do? What would we do as a church?
Let's sing a song. Ain't none of them worth saving.
I wasn't worth saving. But God, rich in mercy, delights
to show mercy. He will show mercy to one sinner
who asks Him for it. Would you be merciful? I already
have been. That's why you're asking. Jacob saw him. He saw him. He
hadn't seen him before. He sees him now. He sees him now. Now, angels,
I don't want you leaving here thinking about angels. You hear
me? Don't ask me any questions about
angels. You who like to analyze God's Word, don't do it. I want
to hear what you were blessed by me preaching to you this morning.
Don't ask me any questions. I'm going to answer something
about angels, okay? And that's it. We're not to worship angels. John did one time on the Isle
of Patmos. He said, I'm just like, I'm one of your brethren.
Who was he? We don't know. That's not important.
We're not to worship angels. They're no better than us. They're
just saved. They're there. Some are men. It's strange. It's seraphs and cherubs. It's
strange. There are evil spirits called
angels, Satan's ministers. Demons are angelic creatures,
principles of spirit, power of the air, and principalities in
high places. There are evil demons which have
the rule over the people of this world. Satan sends his ministers dressed
in sheep's clothing. that control the people of this
world were not God's people. And some of the angels were men,
like John said, and so on, and Al Patmos, and Moses, and Elijah
appeared. And you know, the Scripture says
we're going to be like the angel. You know that? You read that?
Spiritual beings. The Holy Spirit's the angel of
His presence. You go to Exodus 23 and Exodus
63, the angel of his presence saved them. But he can't pardon
your sin. Don't sin against him. He won't
pardon your sin. That's the Holy Spirit. Can't
sin against the Holy Spirit. The angel of his presence. The
angel means a messenger. That's all it means. OK? Angel means a messenger. Pastors,
I'm an angel. I'm an angel. All of the angels
at the churches in the Revelation 2 and 3 are called angels. That
means messenger. That's all they are. These creatures,
these men, whoever they were, were sent as messengers to do
what? Deliver a message. And Jacob saw them. Finally,
he sees them, these angels sent by God to here to conduct me
on my way to Bethel, to the house of God. And God has sent angels
to us, hasn't He? I look back on my life and all
the preachers God sent to preach the gospel to me. I didn't know
it at the time, but I do now. And I value the one He sent to
me to give charge over me, to watch over my soul. I value Him
now more than ever. I wish He was still here. I wish
I was sitting there listening to him preach to me. But I'm
not. And now I am. Angels, I see now. These are messengers. Messengers
of mercy. Goodness of God. The great goodness
of God. His love, His mercy, His grace.
To send these hosts. The Lord gave the word and great
was the company that published it. Thank God. Thank God. To meet one sinner. What will
God do to save one sinner? He sent His Son, who in Malachi
3 is called the Messenger. He's the Angel of the Lord. He's
the Messenger of the Covenant sent by God for one sinner. Genesis 28, go back there. Let's see where this all began
with old Jacob. And this is where it began with
us. Genesis 28, go back there. Paul preached a long time one
time, all night long. He started in the garden and
he got on Jacob, Joseph. But look at Genesis 28. Now, Jacob's eyes were finally
opened to see the glory, the goodness, and the mercy and grace
of God, a worthless sinner God sent the angels to. But here's
where it began. Chapter 28, verse 11. Jacob went out of Beersheba,
verse 11, and he lighted upon a certain place. He's running.
He doesn't know where he's going. He doesn't know God. He doesn't
know Christ. He's headed somewhere and he's
looking for a wife or family and all that, but he doesn't
know where he's going. And he happened to light on a certain
place. Are you with me? I'm talking to you. There you
are. Jeanette, you with me? Ed? It was his hap. It just so happened that he lighted
on this certain place where a certain angel, a certain man was going
to come and lay hold of him. Revealed to him the truth. Now
that's chapter 32. The same thing. Same one. Look at it. Exodus. Genesis 28. He lied upon a certain
place, tarried there all night. He stayed. He didn't leave. The
sun was set. He took the stones of that place
and put them for his pillar and lay down in that place to sleep.
Why would he take stones to rest on? How could you sleep laying
on a stone? Melody, tell us. Because that
rock is Christ Jesus. But he doesn't know it. Jacob
doesn't know it yet. The Lord had him do that to show us that
our rest is Christ. The stone of stumbling, the rock
of it. And he dreamed, verse 12, and
behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, a ladder from earth
and reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God
ascended and descended on this ladder. What is that? Anybody know? Exactly! That's what Christ said. He said,
what are you going to do? He said this to Nathanael. Nathanael
said, you're the Son of God. He said, where do you see the
angels of God descending and ascending on me? See, this is the God-man. Set
up on earth, his head's in heaven. His feet on earth, his head's
in heaven, in the bosom of the Father. And all the blessings
of God, all the mercies of God, all the salvation of God, all
the goodness, all the grace, the truth, the love, everything
of God, the truth of God is in Christ, from above, in and through
Christ. The way to God, the way to God
is one way, Christ. The blessings of God ascending,
descending, ascending, descending through Christ on all the sons
of Jacob. Blessed you are to know that. And the Lord made this covenant
with Jacob, right there, verse 13. He said, Behold, the Lord
stood above it. See that? He said, I am the Lord
God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac. I am. He said
in verse 15, Behold, I am with thee. And he talked about his
seed. Does that ring a bell? Thy seed,
one, which is Christ. I am with thee, I will keep thee
in all places whither thou goest, I will bring thee again into
this land. I will not leave thee until I
have done that which I have spoken to thee of. I will finish the
work that I promised concerning you. Now who could that be but
Jesus Christ? Do you know that? What do you
think about that? Do you like that? David said, that's sweet to my
taste. And David found out that he's made a covenant with me.
I'm a son of Jacob. Jacob was a son of Jacob. David
was a son of Jacob. Literally. Tribal Judah. He said, this is all my salvation.
This covenant God made with me. God came to David one day and
told him the same covenant did to John. And John the Lord sent
angels to you one day to tell you of that same covenant. John,
I've loved you with an everlasting love before you were born, giving
you to Christ Jesus, your Lord, to come finish this work for
you. I've made a covenant concerning you, and I will not rest until
it's done. That's what he said to Ruth.
That's what he said to Jacob. That's what he said to Sally
Miller. Has he said that to you? Are you liking this? I'm loving
this. This is wonderful. This is my story. This is my
song. Praising my Savior all the day
long. Go back to our text. Genesis 32. Look at this. And so Jacob saw them. And finally
his eyes are opened to see that everything God has done for him
is in Christ. He said, this is God's host,
and he called the name of that place Mayonaeum. I remember the
first time I read that, I thought, there's my name. Well, fine,
yeah, but my name's Jacob. It just happened to be, and maybe
that's so I could read this and preach from it. I don't know.
But it means two hosts, two hosts. What Jacob saw was the angels
of God behind him and before him. On his right hand and on his
left hand. Surrounded. He's surrounded. Two hosts. One that went before
him to face all his enemies. One behind him so they wouldn't
sneak up on him. Where do you read that? Psalm 139. David said,
Thou hast set me behind and before. Whither shall I flee from Thy
presence? Where are you running, Jacob? Where are you headed?
You can't run from me. Aren't you glad you can't? You
try to run and he'll fetch you. Aren't you glad? This is the
God of Jacob. Covenant God. Sovereign God. Higher God Sovereign. I'm behind them before, encompassed
about, hedged about. You men always say hedge him
about. Stephen, you always pray for me. Hedge him about. Well,
I am, and so are you. We're hedged about. If it wasn't so, I'd have been
a goner a long time ago. I would have killed myself a
long time ago. I tried to destroy myself a long
time ago. I must be a son of Jacob. Here
I am rejoicing in this same old message after all these years.
It's sweet to my taste, sweeter than honey. We're going home
right after this, and Minnie's going to fix us French toast
with real maple syrup from the highlands of Virginia. It ain't
as sweet as this. I'm telling you, that can wait.
But this can't wait. This is sweet. To a sinner. The Lord sent a multitude of
heavenly hosts to save this one sinner. How far will God go to
save one sinner? To the uttermost. How long will
He keep him? All his life. How does he keep
them? By the power of God. What's the
power of God? The Gospel. Christ. You keep telling him
about Jacob. You keep telling him about this
covenant. Do you need to hear this? He'll keep telling you
about your sovereign God. I'm the Lord. I change not. Who
is He? Who is the Lord? Hebrews 13a,
Jesus Christ. The same yesterday and day forever.
Jacob met Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ wrestled with him.
A man wrestled with him. And so he does with all of his
people. Yes, he does. Now here in our text, and I'm
going to quit, go down in verse... Now, Jacob's brother was after
him. And those who God loves are going
to find opposition. And a man's enemies will be who?
Those of his own household. He said, Christ said, I've come
to set a man at variance against his father, against his mother,
and mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter
against her mother, and on and on it goes. But what for? Why? Why is Esau against Jacob? Because Jacob believed in a sovereign
God of a covenant, and God said He loved Jacob. Like Cain. hated Abel, for the
truth's sake. Esau revealed that he hated God,
didn't he? Didn't he? Didn't he? What do you give me for this
worship of God and for the gospel of God? What do you give me?
A bowl of beans? Anybody, anything, anywhere, anytime, give me anything
in this world, I don't need that gospel. That's the sons of Esau. That's the sons of Cain. What about you? What would you take for this
gospel? What's this gospel mean to you? Is it sweet to your taste? Would you take, even though your
son or your daughter or your grandchildren don't come and
don't want anything to do with this gospel, would you forsake
this gospel for them? Will you defend God's angel against
them? All the sons of Jacob did. And they're hated just for that,
for believing the truth. They're hated. And all they're saying is what
God said, that's it. Right? So his brother hated him. And
there's a whole other story. If you want to read it or hear
it, a message about why Esau was appeased by what Jacob sent
to him. I've preached the whole message
on that. It's a good message. But don't ask me about it afterwards. Now look and I'll close. Verse
9, So Jacob said, Jacob prayed, O God. Now Jacob had just seen the angels
of God. Just heard their voices. You know, they weren't silent.
They were praising God. And he just heard an angel reconfirm
the covenant to him of God's love and mercy and grace, keeping
him in all his way. The covenant he made with him,
ordered in all things, ensured it won't change. Nobody can do
anything about it. Nobody's going to separate you
from the love of God. Nobody. He heard an angel. That's
what you heard this morning. But the very next day, he's scared
to death. The very next day after all of
that, seeing all this host of angels, he's terrified. He's
distressed. He's full of distress. Anybody?
Is that anybody? Anybody? Are you a daughter of
Jacob? Yeah, yeah. That's all of us. So he prays. What's he going
to do? Pray. Oh God of my father Abraham,
God of my father Isaac, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The
God of the Bible. O God of the Bible. O Sovereign
God. O God who is God. The Lord, Jehovah,
which said, Stunned to me, return unto thy country, thy kindred,
I will deal well with thee. O Lord, you who have promised
all these things to me. You who taught me, bought me,
brought me, kept me, loved me, chose me, called me. You're God.
Here I am, coming back because you brought me. I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy
of the least of all thy mercies. Is that you? Our Lord said one time in the
Gospel, He said, go into the city, to His disciples, go into
the city, Matthew 10. Go into a city, and if you find
someone worthy, go in there and stay there, and the peace of
God be on their hands. Find somebody worthy. But there's nobody worthy. John looked in Revelation 5,
and the Lord had the book in His hand, and there's nobody
worthy. And he wept. There's nobody worthy. And one came who was
worthy. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.
And he took the book out of the hand of... He's the worthy one. Well, in Christ, Because Christ
died, God's people now are His people
and they're worthy. That's what He said to one of
the churches in Revelation. They're worthy. They're dressed
in white. They're mine. They're redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb. They follow Me. But what makes
them worthy is when God first reveals Himself to them, what
they say, everyone to a man, every son of Jacob, this is what
they say about themselves. Unworthy! I'm not worthy. If you save me, it will be by
sovereign mercy. Sovereign grace. If I'm kept,
you're going to have to keep me. This is what makes them worthy. God reveals to them they're unworthy. To a man. To a woman. To a person. You see, God's people
all think they're unworthy. Unworthy. And that's who Christ
died for. The people of the world think
they're worthy. Worthy. They don't need Christ's death
and righteousness. No, they've got one. That's fine.
And God ought to let them into heaven. Oh, no, no, no. Not the
sons of Jacob. Well, I'm not worthy of the least
of your mercy. Now look at this. And of all
the truth, you keep telling me the truth. God keeps telling
us the truth. Lord God, Jacob said, you keep
telling me the truth. And I ought to believe it by
now. But I get afraid, and I get distressed, and I'm full of unbelief.
Help my unbelief. I believe the truth as it is
in the Lord Jesus. I do. But sometimes I sure don't
act like it. Well, what's His hope? The truth. That the truth is that salvation's
in Christ. You're kept by the power of God.
That's the truth. I can't say any clearer than
that. You're kept. Oh, he said, you've showed this
unto your servant and like Manoah's wife. Anybody want to hear that?
She said, the Lord's not going to kill us. Manoah, if he was
going to kill us, he wouldn't have showed us these things.
He wouldn't have told us these things. He wouldn't have accepted to
sacrifice. And Jacob said, now here I am,
look at me. I passed over there. I came in
and there was a stick in my hand. I'm running from God and from
my family. I've cheated everybody around
me. I've made a mess of my life and I'm running and all I had
was a stave or a stick in my hand, not a dime to my name. Now look at me. I ain't done something. Why? Because God is the God of Jacob.
And Jacob have I done. And he's given the word to save. Old sons of Jacob. And he's not
going to let you go. Isn't that good news? All right. Brother John, you come lead us
in a closing hand, please.