of scripture and really two very
short phrases in these two verses of scripture. Verse number nine,
Esau speaks and he says to Jacob, I have enough. And he says, I don't want your
gifts. I don't want your presents. I
have enough." That's unusual for a man of the world to say,
I have enough. He's saying, I'm contented with
all that I've got. That's very unusual. But Jacob
urges him to take the gifts that he has sent to him. And Jacob says in verse 11, I
have enough. I have enough. So that's the
title of the message. I have enough. The Lord had dealt graciously
with Jacob, gave him a name change. God changed his name to Israel
and yet he kept his old name, Jacob. Oftentimes in Scripture
you'll read him, you'll read of him, and he's identified as
being Jacob, and then at other times he's identified as being
Israel. Jacob means one who's crooked,
a deceiver, whereas Israel means a prince with God, one who has
power with God and with men. And I very much think that's
the way it is with all of the sons of Jacob. We're both Jacob
and Israel at the same time. We're children of God, we're
princes of the Lord, and yet we're Jacob, we're still deceivers,
we're still sinful. We're sinners by nature, saints
by grace. And we're that at the same time.
Those of you who are here, those who are watching, are saved by
the grace of God, brought to believe the Lord Jesus, to rest
in Him for all of your hope of glory. Indeed, you are a saint. You're not going to be a saint.
You are a saint. You're sanctified in Christ Jesus. You have his righteousness. That's
imputed to you. You're made the righteousness
of God in Christ Jesus through his substitutionary death. He's
your perfection. But you're also still a sinner. And you know that, and I know
that. We know each of it ourselves. We know within. We just examine
a little bit of our thoughts and our motives, and it doesn't
take long for us to come to the conclusion that though I am indeed
saved by the grace of God and forgiven by the bloody death
of the Lord Jesus, yet I'm still a sinful person. We recognize
that. We're at the same time sons of
Jacob and sons of God. sons of Israel. We're vile in ourselves, but
we're righteous in the Lord Jesus. And Jacob, in the 32nd chapter,
he's had an encounter with the Lord. The Lord initiated something
with Jacob, a wrestling match. This is not something Jacob sought. This is not Jacob himself coming
up with the idea to wrestle with the Lord for blessings. This
is the Lord coming to Jacob and dealing with him in mercy and
in grace. And it says the Lord wrestled
with him to the breaking of the day. And I'll tell you, God is working
on each of us. And if I may use the words of
this scripture, wrestling with us all the way up to the breaking
of the day, that is, until eternity. It's a continual work, isn't
it? It's not a work that's finished in a day or a week or a month
or a year. all through our lifetime up to
the dawning of a new day, the dawning of an everlasting day.
God is working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. And He's bringing us to see our
weakness, and that our weakness is real, and that we have no spiritual
ability or strength except that which he gives. And he teaches
us this, and this is what the apostle learned in 2 Corinthians
12, the secret, the secret of having spiritual power and strength
is in a recognition of our spiritual weakness. Hold your place there. Look over at 2 Corinthians 12. Let's see if that isn't what
Paul, this is the conclusion Paul drew in 2 Corinthians 12. You know, he had been called
up to the third heaven. He had been called up to paradise.
He saw and he heard things that they were too wonderful and too
marvelous for him to even to begin to commence to get started
to describe him. And he wouldn't and he couldn't
speak of them. Which, by the way, if I may just
kind of insert this, don't pay any attention to these books
and these so-called testimonies of people who say they've died
and they've gone to heaven and they've seen all these things
and then they come back and they tell us all about them. Here's
an inspired apostle. He went to the third heaven. And he saw and he heard things
glorious, marvelous, wonderful. He saw the glory of the Lamb
of God. He saw the Son of God seated
on His throne of glory. But He wasn't allowed to speak
of the wonder of it and the majesty of it at all. And He is an inspired
apostle. And if He couldn't speak of these
things, don't believe anybody else who tries to speak of them. Lest he boast of these experiences
and brag on them, God gave him a thorn in the flesh. Now, it's said to be a messenger
of Satan, but God's the one who gave it to him. Because you see,
Satan is God's servant, and the Lord uses him to accomplish his
purpose. We don't know what this thorn
in the flesh was for the apostle, but this is what he says. Look
at verse seven, chapter 12. And lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was
given to me a thorn in the flesh that was given to me. Who gave
it? God gave it because God's first cause of all things. And
he calls it the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should
be exalted above measure. For this thing, I besought the
Lord three times that it might depart from you." Whatever this
messenger from Satan was, whatever this thorn in the flesh was,
and people say, well, it could be this or that or something
else, the scripture is silent. It doesn't say. Well, here's
what it does say. Paul prayed about it. And he
prayed earnestly about it that God would take it away from him.
He did it three times. And here's the answer he got,
verse nine. And he said unto me, my grace
is sufficient for you. And they said, for my strength
is made perfect in weakness. This, whatever this thorn in
the flesh was, it made him weak. But in his weakness, he would
be made very strong because then he realized his strength is not
in himself, But in the Lord. The Lord said, for my strength
is made perfect in weakness, and therefore Paul said, most
gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that
the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take, what
an unusual word, I take pleasure. I take pleasure in infirmities,
in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses,
for Christ's sake, for when I am weak. Get this. Here's when we're strong. It's when we understand and realize
in reality we're weak. Once you think you're mighty,
you're strong, you're capable of, I can handle this, you're
gonna find out, no, you can't. No, you can't. And the Lord often
sends things to His servants, to His people. And He does remind
us, you're weak. You're weak physically, It doesn't
take much to bring us down. A little virus. It'll knock you out of business. A little bacteria. And not only bring us down physically,
but there are things that can bring us down spiritually. To
make us realize, I can't do this. And when we are brought to the
realization we have no abilities of our own, that's when we're
strong. The secret to spiritual strength
is a realization of spiritual weakness. And over here in Genesis chapter
32, Jacob is brought to realize his weakness. He's wrestling
with the Lord. The Lord initiated and Jacob
is wrestling with Him. Then the Lord just touches the
hollow of his thigh and all of a sudden his thigh is out of
joint and he has no power. And all he can do is just hang
on. Hang on. We need to understand in this
In this life that we live as the children of God, if we're
to have any power at all, it's got to come from the Lord. Power
to withstand the temptations of Satan. Power to endure the
trials that God sends us. We've got to realize, I can't
do it. You see, here's what the flesh
does. The flesh says, I can handle this. I can handle it. Lord, send what you will. Simon
Peter, he thought he could handle anything. He said, Lord, though all men
forsake you, I won't. My faith won't fail. I'll never
leave you. Though all these other men are
offended because of you, and they forsake you, you can count
on Me." Oh, how strong he thought he
was. Well, you know what's got to
happen. The Lord's got to show him he doesn't have any strength
at all. And a little maiden, She accuses him of being a follower
of Jesus of Nazareth. I don't even know him, he said. I'm telling you, it doesn't take
too much for us to show that we're still sinful people. And
here's what the Lord did to Simon Peter. He brought him down. He
brought him down. Take some of that boast out of
him. Take some of that arrogance out of him. Take some of that
self-reliance out of him. And then the Lord gave him strength
to preach the gospel on the day of Pentecost. I'll tell you a good thing for
us to pray for is not, Lord, take the afflictions
away. Nobody enjoys afflictions. Nobody enjoys sickness. But I'll
tell you what, here's a good thing to pray for. Lord, don't
give me, don't give me those things that I think I need. Give me that which you know I
need. See, He knows our needs far better
than we do. We don't know what's best for
us. We don't know what's best for the glory of God. We don't
know what's good for the kingdom of grace. We think we do, but
we don't. We're first of all interested
in self, and that's true of every child of God, just like it is
true of the world. We're selfish people. I have
my rights. I do what I want. Don't tell me what to do. We're very independent still. It's about our comfort. I want
to be comfortable. It's what I want. And the Lord has to remind us,
and we need to pray about this, it's not about what I want. It's about that which is honoring
to God. It's about that which is for
the glory of the Lord and for the kingdom of grace, for the
good of the kingdom of grace, for the good of the church. See, the natural man, he thinks
he's an island. You know that old saying, no
man is an island. And that's especially true in
the kingdom of God. This is not about any one person
here. It's certainly not about me.
It's not about you. The only person it's really about
is the Lord God of glory. We seek His will. We seek His
glory. And we say, Lord, whatever You
do with us, magnify Your name. We are honest. Lord, I want to
be comfortable. I don't like pain. I don't like
suffering any more than this great Apostle
Paul, any more than he enjoyed the
persecutions and whatever trouble he had. But God brought him down
and made him to see. That which is best for you, Paul,
is what God gives. And that's the way it is for
each of you. That's the way it is for me. You say, well, I don't
know why this had to happen to me. I don't know why this had
to happen to this person. Because God willed it. Because
it's a fulfillment of God's eternal purpose. God has never lost a sense of
or a track of what He has set out to do. Everything is following
that which He has purposed from old eternity. And it may be that
what He does regarding you and me and all of us doesn't fit
into our plans, but it's His purpose. That's all that's important. What has God purpose to do? He's
purpose to exalt His Son. He's purpose to save His people.
He's purpose to conform us to the image of Christ Jesus. He's
purpose to build a church on this earth, not a denomination,
but a true spiritual church of people. conformed in the image
of Christ Jesus, washed in His blood, enrobed in the garments
of His salvation. That's what God is purposed to
do. And He's using everybody and everything to bring to fulfillment
that which He's ordained to do. Jacob, you're not gonna like
this, but I'm gonna touch your thigh. And you're gonna limp
the rest of the days of your life. And I say, Lord, if that's what
it takes to bring us to the end of ourselves, touch all our thighs. Just put it out of joint. So
I'll limp my way through this life, leaning on my Savior. That's the best cane of all,
isn't it? We have people that use canes. Oh, I tell you, there's
no cane, there's no support quite like our darling Savior. Lean on Him. Lean on Him. Jacob, you see in chapter 32,
he's fearful of Esau. Oh, he needs strength. I got
to face it. He saw I need strength. No, what you need, Jacob, is
an awareness, a knowledge of your weakness. That's what you
need. And the Lord taught him he's
weak. So as Genesis chapter 32 closes,
Jacob slash Israel. He goes his way with his hip
out of joint, a reminder that the Lord had humbled him. Is he going to need more humbling? Do you need more humbling? We
go through life's experiences and the Lord, He's always humbling
us because we tend to think too much of ourselves. So he heads out to meet Esau,
and they meet, and it's a very sweet, brotherly exchange. They embrace one another and
kiss one another. And I noticed this, and I read
this passage of Scripture several times, kind of get it in my mind
and get it in my heart. Here are these two brothers.
You know how long they've been at odds with one another? sits
as in their mother's womb. That's a long time for a fuss
between brothers, isn't it? But here they are, grown men
with families, both of them wealthy, and they hug one another and
they kiss one another. And get this, here's what struck
me. Neither one of them spoke about
the differences that they had. in past years. I like that. Don't speak of that. Neither
one of, not Esau. And Esau, he's a profane person. Hebrews tells us that. He's a
wicked ungodly man, but he didn't bring it up and neither does
Jacob. They just hug one another and go on. I've actually, I'm knowledgeable
of A couple of cases were brothers, real brothers, and I'm not talking
spiritual brothers, I'm talking about physical brothers, have
such differences that they won't even speak to one another. That's
an awful thing, isn't it? An awful thing. And there are some who I believe
are spiritual brothers and they won't speak to each other either.
Now how do you figure that one out? Somebody says, how in the world
are we going to get along in glory? We can't even get along
on earth. Pretty good question. Thank God
we'll be glorified in heaven. And that's when the Apostle Paul
and the John Marks will get along with one another. But I love the fact that the
past is in the past. You can't undo what's happened. The birthright, the blessing,
the deception by Jacob. Actually, Esau, as you look at
their life, the things that they did, Esau comes out looking like
the better fellow. And he seems to have been a moral
man and a hard-working man, but morality is not righteousness. Well, he's a good man. Not before
God, he's not. Well, I had Jacob, he's a real
scoundrel. He's a deceptive fellow. Yes,
he is. But he's an heir of God. and
a child of grace. And his Redeemer's going to come
and purchase his soul, pay the ransom price for him. But he's
such an ungodly man! That's who Christ died for. And Jacob, you see, he's going
to have a real righteousness. It's not a pasted-on morality. the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. So Esau, he looks and he says,
who are all these people with you? And I like the way Jacob answers. And you can see that one is a
spiritual man and one is a carnal man. Jacob says, look at verse
five, Esau lifted up his eyes, he saw the women and the children,
he said, who are those with thee? And Jacob said, these are the
children which God hath, watch it, graciously given thy servant. God's been gracious to him. See
Jacob, even though he's a sinner, but he's a sinner saved by grace
and he recognizes the fact that it's the grace of God that he's
in this position. And then of course, his family
comes in and they bow before Esau. And then Esau says in verse eight,
what do you mean by all this drove, all these animals that,
Jacob had sent. And if you want to read about
that, you can go back in chapter 32 and read about the present
that Jacob sent. This was to kind of buy Esau's
favor. He's bribing him. That's what
he's doing. And Jacob was honest. He said,
define grace in your sight. I don't want you to be mad at
me. And Esau said, now watch this,
he says in verse nine, I have enough, my brother, I have enough. Now here's a man of the world,
here's a lost man, an ungodly man, and yet he has a measure
of contentment with that which he had. It's an unusual attitude
for a man of the world. Most want more. Esau says, I have enough. Do
I have to give all these cattle and sheep and camels? Man, you
don't have to give me all these things. I have enough. I'm a
wealthy man myself. I have enough. He's got a good
attitude. But in reality, now listen, Esau
had nothing. Because everything he had, all
of his possessions, in the moment that he breathed his last breath,
then it would be proven. In reality, he's the poorest
of the poor. He had no righteousness. He had no forgiveness. He had
no Savior. He had no one to represent Him
before God. He was without God, without Christ,
having no hope in this world. He had nothing beyond this life. That's a bad state to be in. No wonder we read, Seek ye the
Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He's near. Seek righteousness in Christ. Remember, our Lord said, except
your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and the Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom
of heaven. Scribes. He's talking to the
multitudes and he brings up the scribes. You know what they did?
They copied the scriptures. That was their job. And they
taught the scriptures. But as they copied the scriptures,
they'd get their quill and their parchment, you know, and here
they are copying the scriptures. But when they came to the name
of God, they stopped. You know what they did? Went and took a bath. because they revered the name
of God to such a degree that they didn't feel like they were
worthy to even write the name of God without taking a bath. Say, well, that's pretty holy
right there. You got to have more holiness
than that. And the Pharisees, well, Pharisees,
you know what that means? Separatists. They're the separated. They're separate from all the
poor old sinners. The Lord said, you've got to
have a righteousness better than they've got. Where can I find such a righteousness
in one person? The Lord Jesus Christ. Here's a man of the world And
before him is a massive herd of cattle and flocks of sheep. And he says, I don't need these
things, I have enough. Now look at Jacob's response
real quick. Jacob says in verse 11, I have
enough. I always love word studies. And if you'll take your concordance,
buy one in the book room if you don't have one. But look up the
word enough, and here's what you'll find. The word Esau used
and the word Jacob used are totally different. The word Esau used was, I got
lots. But the word that Jacob used,
look over in the margin, in the margin of my Bible, where Jacob
said, I have enough. In the margin it says, verse
11, enough. In the Hebrew, I have all things. I have all things. I tell you, there's a big difference
between I got lots of stuff and having all things. Jacob says, I have all things,
but watch again. He attributes this to the fact
that God has dealt graciously with me. Jacob is speaking in
a spiritual way. Esau, he's a profane, wicked
man. He can only speak on the level
of carnality, the level of the world, the level of the flesh. I got lots. I got much. I got enough. I got so much stuff. I don't need any of your stuff,
Jacob. Jacob says, well, the Lord has dealt graciously with
me. And I have all things. I have
all things. He had all things because God
had dealt graciously with him. John Gill, in his commentary,
says that Jacob's words here mean, quote, I have a sufficiency
of all good things. or I have all things, all kind
of good things, everything necessary for me to have, everything that God
can give a poor sinner, I have all things. You see, we do have all things
in Christ Jesus. If we have Christ, we have all. You can't have more than Him. You see, my brother, my sister,
whatever your outward condition or circumstances may be, I want
you to understand that Jacob's condition, Jacob's lot is your
condition. It's your lot in Christ Jesus. You have all. You have all. You have all you
need for this life. and you have all you need for
eternity. You have righteousness. You have
the Savior. You have God for your father.
You have the Son of God for your mediator. You have the Holy Spirit
for your constant comforter and guide through life. He's always
with you. You have all. He can't give you
any more than He's given you in Christ. And don't we read in Ephesians
chapter 1, we're blessed with all spiritual blessings and heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. Old Jacob and Esau. These men
are totally different. But they were brought up by the
same mom and dad. Had the same grandfather. Abraham. They were both taught how to
worship God by means of sacrifice. Both of them were taught the
gospel. But there was a difference, a
big difference, a difference that God made. And God set it forth. God said,
Jacob, have I loved? Esau, I hate him. I'll have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy. I'll have mercy on Jacob. But
he's such a scoundrel. He's such a crook. He's such
a deceiver. Yes, he is. But God says, he's
mine. I love him. What about Esau? Pass him by. Pass him by. God revealed Himself to Jacob.
I'll tell you something, Esau, he didn't have a Bethel experience. He never saw a ladder from earth
to heaven. He never saw the glories of Christ
Jesus. But Jacob did. And the Lord never wrestled with
Esau and knocked his hip out of joint. No, sir. He said, I
got enough. Look at me. My brother, what's
the matter with your hip? Why are you dragging that hip
like that? You're dragging your leg. Why are you limping? Lord,
look at me! I've got enough. Jacob said,
well, I may limp, but I've got it all. I've got it all. And I'll tell you what the Lord
told Jacob, I'm with you throughout your life. He said, I'll lead you in the
way that you should go. He said, I'm with you and I'll
keep you in every place that thou goest. Let me give you one more scripture.
Book of Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4. Like Jacob,
every child of God can truthfully say, I have all things in Christ. The Lord is my portion, saith
my soul. Jeremiah said that in Lamentations. Don't say what you don't have. Say like Jacob, I have it all. Look what God has given me. Look
what God has given you. He's given you His Son. Can't give you any more than
Christ? I have all. Well, you got this problem, you
got that problem. Well, yeah. Everybody does. But the Lord gives us those things
to remind us of how weak we are and then to depend upon Him. Our sufficiency is found in God. So therefore, let us be content.
And this is what Paul talks about here in Philippians chapter 4. He says in verse 10, but I rejoiced
in the Lord greatly, Philippians 4 verse 10, that now at the last
your care of me has flourished again, wherein you were also
careful, but you lacked the opportunity, not that I speak in respect of
want or need, for I have learned in whatever state I am therewith
to be content, You know what the word content means? Sufficient. I'm in a sufficient place. I'm
in a good place. I'm where I need to be. And he
says, I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound everywhere
and in all things. I am instructed both to be full
and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do
all things through Christ which strengthens me. And I'll give
you one other reference. Turn to 1 Corinthians 3. 1 Corinthians 3. Jacob said, I have all. I have
all. Chapter 3, 1 Corinthians verse
21. Therefore, let no man glory in
me." And don't glory in the preachers of the gospel. Well, this is
my favorite preacher. That's my favorite preacher.
He's better than the... No. For all things are yours,
whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or life or death or things present
or things to come. All are yours. You have all.
And you're Christ's. And Christ is God's. God's given you all. We have enough, don't we? We
have enough. We have all things in Christ
Jesus because He's dealt graciously
with us. And it's all to be attributed
to the grace of God given to us in Christ. Lord, bless the
Word that's gone forth this evening, and we thank You for the greatness of God our Savior, Christ Jesus. And in Him, having Him, we have
all.