Well, it's good to see you tonight,
and I pray that the Lord has given you a good day. I'd like for us to look tonight at
a couple of verses in Genesis chapter 48. Turn with me. Genesis 48. I'd like to look
at verses 3 and 4. Genesis 48. I'd like to speak on the subject
tonight of God Almighty. God Almighty. I've gotten that
title out of the scripture. Let's read verses 3 and 4 of
Genesis 48. Verse 3, and Jacob said unto
Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of
Canaan. and blessed me, and said unto
me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful and multiply thee, and
I will make of thee a multitude of people, and will give this
land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession." In our last study, we found that
Jacob Joseph's daddy is sick. And Joseph, his son, has been
told that his dad is sick. And Joseph takes his two sons,
Manasseh and Ephraim, and he goes to see his weakening father. Very possibly, I'm sure in his
mind, he thinks this may be the last time I see my dad. And I
want to go and see him. And while Joseph is preparing
to take his journey, Jacob is also informed of his son's coming
and hearing that his son Jacob was coming. The scripture
says that he strengthened himself. That's what verse 2 said. One
told Jacob and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee. And Israel strengthened himself
and sat upon his bed. What happened was when Jacob
heard that his son was coming to visit him. He was inwardly
enlivened. He was thankful. He was encouraged. He was coming. And we looked at this last time.
And we looked at this as a picture of when the believer, the Jacobs,
all of them like me and you, when they heard that Joseph,
picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, was coming. He was encouraged. He was sick, weakened, but he
heard again that Joseph was coming, and it thrilled his heart. You
that know him, you got a few years on you. Isn't there something
about hearing? The Lord's coming back. The Lord's
coming back. And that's an encouragement.
That's an enlivening of the heart. Well, Jacob hears Joseph's coming. And now tonight, I want us to
look at the next couple of verses that the Lord has blessed us
to hear and look at the words that Almighty God has given Jacob,
the daddy. Now remember, look, he's sick,
he's old, and he's getting ready to die, and he knows it. And the first thing that is recorded,
it comes out of his mouth when Joseph gets there. Joseph gets
to where his daddy is, and scripture He says nothing about any other
part of their conversation. If they had anything to say,
the Spirit of God was pleased to not record it. Obviously,
it wasn't necessary. But that which the Spirit of
God was pleased to record was necessary. And I want us to look
at these words right here, especially in verse 3. Whenever Jacob saw
Joseph. Verse 3, and Jacob said unto
Joseph. And I looked at these next two
words, God Almighty. What a blessing when a believer
is brought toward the end of his life. And the only thing
that matters is that which is in the abundance of his heart."
Out of the abundance of a man's heart, his mouth speaks. And Jacob said unto his son, God Almighty. I thought about the respect that
was given in those two words, God Almighty. Don't you love
it when you hear somebody speak respectfully of the Lord? And how it grieves your heart,
the heart of a believer, when someone makes a statement that
is so disrespectful to the Lord. I've told you before, just tell
me anything you want to tell me. There's not a whole lot I
hadn't heard, believe me. But whatever you do, when you
speak of the Lord, you speak with respect. Speak concerning
Him with some honor and some thankfulness. Hear what Jacob
said. He said, God Almighty appeared
unto me at Luz. I know you think it's Luz. I
did too. I looked it up, it's Luz, that's how it's pronounced. He appeared unto me at Luz in
the land of Canaan and he blessed me. God Almighty, just for a
few minutes, we're just going to be here for a few minutes,
just looking at these words. It was God Almighty. that appeared unto Jacob's grandfather
first, years ago, Abraham. When Abraham, turn with me to
Genesis 17, one to four. Genesis 17, we're gonna turn
to a few verses in Genesis. Genesis 17. Genesis 17, verses
one to four. When Abram was 90 years old and
nine, The Lord. Now look with me again. I know you've seen this before,
but it's always good. It's always fresh. Capital L,
capital O, capital R, capital T. The Lord, Jehovah. Father, Son, Spirit. Try unity of God. God Almighty
appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the Almighty God. Walk before me and be thou perfect. Oh, what a high order. Only in Christ is a man found
perfect. Only in Christ, robed in his
righteousness, clothed in his beauty, be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between
me and thee, and I will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell
on his face, and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold,
my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many
nations. That was Jacob's granddaddy. That was his grandfather. God
Almighty appeared to Abraham, then turned with me to Genesis,
Chapter 26, Genesis 26. Genesis 26, verse 1 to 5. Genesis 26, verse 1, there was
a famine in the land besides the first famine that was in
the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech,
king of Philistines, unto Gerah and the Lord. And Jehovah appeared
unto him, and said, Go not down to Egypt. Dwell in the land which
I shall tell thee of. Sojourn in this land, and I will
be with thee, and will bless thee. For unto thy seed I will
give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which
I swear unto Abraham thy father. And I will make thy seed to multiply. as the stars of heaven, I'll
give unto thee thy seed of these countries, and in thy seed shall
all the nations of the earth be blessed, because that Abraham
obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes,
and my laws." God appeared unto Abraham, and then God appeared
secondly to Abraham's son to Isaac. What a wonderful, glorious surety
filled now Jacob's heart as he contemplates, considers, God
appeared unto my grandfather. God appeared unto my dad. These words were so beautifully
set forth to me. Then Jacob says in verse 3 of
Genesis 48, Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me. He appeared unto me in Luz in
the land of Canaan and he blessed That which was revealed about
Jacob. Now you think about who said
those words. That was Jacob. Just as a refresher
to all of us. You remember who Jacob was? Jacob,
the supplanter. Jacob, the cheat, the huckster,
the heel catcher. One who according to God's will
and purpose bargained with his brother that he might obtain,
according to God's will, purpose. But he was doing it. Esau was
doing exactly what Esau wanted to do, and so was Jacob. And
Jacob bargained with Esau for the blessing of their father. And Jacob, when he came in to
get the blessing, his mama had put this robe on him. Herrick, he was a smooth man.
She put this robe on him, and he felt, Daddy felt him. Isaac
felt him, and he said, are you my son? He said, yes, I am. He
said, truly, are you my son? Yes, I am. He got down there
and smelled him. He said, you feel like, you know,
you feel like Jacob. You smell like Isaac. And he
blessed him. Now this, that man, That supplanter,
that liar, that cheat, that huckster. He came to his dead. He lied
to him. He got the blessing. And he had
to flee from his house, escape his brother Esau's wrath. That
Jacob, that Jacob. And that Jacob, I'm sure here
he is. He's coming at the end of his
life. He's getting old. And again, I hate to, you know,
I hate to have to keep bringing this up, but I mean, there's
something that's so sweet and just encouraging about this.
Get a little age on us. Start feeling the frailty of
this life. And you start reflecting back
on yourself. Think about things that you've
done and wish you hadn't. Things that you said and you
wished you hadn't. And then you start thinking about the The
goodness of Almighty God. I'm sure that. Jacob could say
I. Humanly speaking. I could see
where God showed mercy to my granddaddy. Abraham actually
worried show mercy to my dad, Isaac. But God Almighty showed
mercy to me. He showed mercy to me. He know. I just reflect upon
these things in myself with embarrassment, but he knows. Jacob, a fit picture,
type of every person born in Adam. Oh, but a beautiful picture
of all those to whom God shows mercy. Christ Jesus came into
this world to save what? Sinners. Paul the apostle said,
of whom I'm chief." You say, Paul, the apostle, chief of sinners? That's what the Spirit of God
moved Paul to say. And I guarantee you, Paul had
no argument with that. He said, I persecuted the church.
I treated God's people, God's elect, God's bride, with disrespect. Jacob said, God Almighty, who
rules in heaven and earth God Almighty, who is sovereign, sovereign
in creation, sovereign in providence, sovereign in salvation, he who
shows mercy and compassion to whosoever he will, the one who
will in no wise clear the guilty, to think that God Almighty would move according to his will
and purpose to take my guilt, my sin, and make it to be his
own in the person of his son, the substitute, the mediator,
the advocate. He hath made him sin. He made him sin who knew no sin.
That we might be made the righteousness of God in him. God Almighty,
the one before whom every person born in Adam must appear. the day of judgment. Oh, how sweet those words come
back to me of that thief on the cross. Lord, when you enter into
your kingdom, would you remember me? He did not. He didn't. He claimed
nothing. He claimed nothing. He claimed
no right to be remembered. He just ask him. Lord, Remember
me. And that's the amazing thing
to Jacob. As he's contemplating, he's talking
to his son, he's talking to Joseph, and he starts off. And that's
what he said, verse three. Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty
appeared unto me. Appeared unto me at Luz. Is that not the attitude that
all of us have seeing ourselves for what we are in Adam? Those that know him in truth,
does it not amaze you that God would appear to you? I look around, I see people every
day, you do too. You go to work with them, they're
neighbors to you. And you think, why would I have
a heart to want to hear and hear and re-hear and re-hear and re-hear
this message again? When I read these words a few
days ago when I started looking at this, two verses. And that
which jumped out at me, Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty
appeared unto me. He made himself known unto me. That's what Paul said. Oh, that
I might know him. Not know about him. I told you
before. I know, I know something about
George Washington. I've given you that illustration,
but I know something about him. I can read. I read history, but I didn't
know him. I didn't know him personally.
I didn't have any intimate dealings with him. I didn't talk to him
about battle strategy. Didn't know any of that. Paul said, oh, that I might know
him intimately, personally. Be found in him. The Lord Jacob said, God Almighty
appeared unto me. You that know him, is that not
a sweet note to your ear? God appeared to me. Before you knew him in power
and grace. Here again, those of you, I look
around, I think about those of you that came up in this church.
Children grew up in this church. For a long time, you could give
a good argument for the gospel. You knew five points of Calvinism.
That's not hard. I'd never even heard of five
points of Calvinism until I was in my late 20s. Never heard of
it. Knew nothing about it. Some of you grew up hearing that. But it was not until the Lord
appeared to you in power and grace and gave you understanding,
gave you a new heart to believe, to believe him, gave you new
eyes to see him, new ears to hear him, and a new heart to
trust him. Jacob told his son, God Almighty
appeared to me at Luz and blessed me. He blessed me. Turn to Genesis 28. Genesis 28. Genesis chapter 28. Here again, this is a familiar
passage of scripture. Genesis 28, verses 10 to 19. Jacob went out toward Haran,
and he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all
night, because the sun was set, and he took of the stones of
that place, put them for his pillows, laid down in that place
to sleep. I was reading over that again
today. And as I was reading in my mind's eye, I thought, now
here's this man, Jacob, and he goes out and he's You're going
to lay down. What you got to lay on? Have
you ever just, when you go to bed, have you ever just got your
pillow? I know you have. You get your
pillow. It's got to be in a certain position. You got to fluff it
up a little bit. You might want to roll it over
and get it higher so you can watch TV at night, but that pillow
Right there, that pillow's comfortable. You want to get it. I don't like
a real soft, soft pillow. I like a firm pillow that I can,
you know, hang in there with, and I like a pillow. Why? Because it feels good. Because
it's comfortable. And here's Jacob, and he's in
this place. It says he lighted upon a certain
place. He tarried there all night because
the sun were set, and He took the stones of that place and
put them where His pillars. This is where the Lord had brought
Him. This is where the Lord had put Him. This is where the providence
of God led Him. Somebody would say, you mean
that place where He put His head on a rock? Let me tell you this, if the
Lord brings us through the trials and adversities and troubles
of this life that that pillar right there represents. Jacob
laid down on that pillar and he went to sleep. The Lord's
grace is sufficient. You're going through some tough
times right now. Remember this, Romans 8, 28, and we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God. I
always amazed me about he laid down on a rock, on a stone, and
it was comfortable. These troubles, trials, and adversities
that we go through, these are blessings. These are blessings
to a believer. They're blessings. And God gives
him grace to go through. Verse 12, and he dreamed, and
behold, a ladder was set upon the earth, top of reach to heaven,
behold, the angel of God ascended and descended on it. And behold,
the Lord Jehovah stood above it and said, I am the Lord God
of Abraham, my father, the God of Isaac, land where on thou
liest to thee will I give it to thy seed and thy seed shall
it be. as the dust of the earth, and
thou shalt spread abroad, west to the east, to the north, to
the south, and in thee all thy seed shall be the families of
the earth, be blessed. Behold, I am with thee, and I'll
keep thee in all places where thou goest, while I bring thee
again to this land, and I will not leave thee until I have done
that which I have spoken of thee. awakened out of his sleep and
said, surely the Lord is in this place. And I knew it not. What a, what a blessing. God
blessed him. And then the scripture says,
Genesis chapter 32, verse 24, Genesis 32. Here's Jacob, that's the planter.
What a blessed man. God has appeared to him. He's
appeared to him. Again and again. Look at chapter
32, verse 24. Jacob was left alone. There wrestled a man with him
to the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed
not against him. You know the only reason that
Jacob prevailed not or the man that wrestled with Jacob prevailed
not because he was pleased to not allow Jacob to prevail over
him. This is God that Jacob's wrestling
with. Here's what it says, in Jacob
verse 24, Jacob was left alone and there wrestled a man with
him until the breaking of the day. And when he, that is the
man, the Lord Jesus Christ, saw that he prevailed not against
him, Jacob, You think God could have taken him out if he wanted
to? Almighty God allows his people
to wrestle, to struggle, to strive with him and blesses them by
not taking them out completely, destroying them. But he allows
us to go through these trials and trouble to teach us something
of our need of him. When he saw verse 25 that prevailed
not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the
hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with
him. And he said, let me go, for the day breaketh. And he
said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. Boy, sometimes these verses just
come back to me, and they become more and more precious. I thought
about this. If the Lord were to say to me
or to you that know him, let me go. Let me go. I believe he's
going to say just like Peter did, Lord. Where am I going to go? Will
you go away? Where am I going to go? Where am I going? This
world, this world fleeting, this world going away, this world
dying. Where are you going to go? What
are you going to do? Lord, you have the words of life.
Let me go. Verse 27, he said unto him, what
is thy name? Jacob said, I'm not gonna let
you go unless you bless me. I ain't gonna do it. Where'd
he get those words? Spirit of God gave them to him.
What is thy name? He said, Jacob. Well, isn't it
a blessing when God moves a man or woman to have to admit what
they are? What's your name, Marvin? Jacob. Liar, cheat, trickster. It's a snake in the grass. Ask
anybody that knew me and knows me now. Ask them. He said, thy name shall be called
no more Jacob, but Israel. As a prince, thou's power with
God and with men has prevailed. And Jacob asked him and said,
tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, wherefore is it
that thou ask after my name? And he blessed him there. Jacob
called the name of that place, Peniel. I've seen God face to
face, and my life is preserved. Oh, the blessing of those that
are allowed. Turn back to 48, Genesis 48,
and I'll wrap this up. Isn't it a blessing? Jacob told his son Joseph, again,
remember this, Jacob's dying. It's not long for this world He said unto Joseph, his son,
I want to leave you with these closing thoughts. That is what
Jacob was saying to Joseph, is what he's saying. I want to leave
you with these closing thoughts. God Almighty appeared to me. God Almighty blessed me. Oh, he blessed. He blessed Jacob. He blessed him, gave him some
understanding. Beloved, consider the true blessing
that is bestowed upon us who have been made to know Him, to
know His name. What's His name? He's God Almighty. He's God Almighty. He's God in
heaven and earth. He does as He will amongst the
inhabitants of the earth. Nobody stays His hand. That's
the God I serve. He blessed me. Jacob said to
him, God bless me. Verse four, and he said unto
me, behold, I will make thee fruitful. Oh, the blessing of
being the recipient. of the fruit of God's spirit,
love, love for God, love for each other, joy, joy in the Lord,
peace, peace with God brought through the blood of Christ,
long suffering, gentle, kind. He said to me, behold, I will
make thee fruitful and will multiply thee. I will make of thee a multitude
of people. I will give thee this land. to
thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession." The blessing of
what God would give to Jacob, spiritually speaking, is the
everlasting possession. Let me read one verse. Turn with
me to Ephesians chapter 1. This everlasting possession and
blessing. Ephesians 1 verse 3 to 12, blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places, Christ. Listen to this blessing. According
as he has chosen us in him for the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. What
a blessing. having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will. To the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved, in
whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom, prudence, having made known unto
us the mystery of his will. according to his good pleasure,
which he hath purposed it himself." Think of that blessing. That
he has made known unto us the mystery of his will. The mystery of God's will. That
his people might be where he is. That his people might be
with him eternally. He made known unto us. How would
we have known that? What a blessing. that in the
dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together
in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, both
which are on earth, even in him, all those that have gone before
us, our beloved, our beloved brethren, those that died in
the Lord. They're not dead. They're sleeping,
is what scripture says. They're just sleeping. They're
sleeping. And they know Him, they see Him. And He's gonna bring them and
we're gonna meet them in the air and forever be with the Lord. What a blessing. In whom we've
had, verse 11, we've obtained an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will, that we should be the praise
of His glory who first trusted in Christ. in whom ye also trusted
after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise. I pray that God be pleased to
bring back to our memories one more time. Jacob, he gonna tell
Joseph these words In his dying hours, in the next chapter he
dies, the last thing he wants to tell him, God Almighty appeared
unto me. I pray that God be pleased to
appear unto his people, unto us, that love him, know him,
he's chosen. I pray that he might appear unto
us fresh tonight for his glory and our good.