Alrighty, turn with me again
tonight to Genesis chapter 32. We can find great comfort in
the verses before us. We certainly have a subject that
should be of interest to every child of God. As long as we live
in this body, in this flesh, in this world, we'll wrestle
with this inherited desire that we have to do something in this
flesh that might appease and satisfy God for our sin. Instilled
within the hearts of fallen sinners, there's a desire that first manifested
itself immediately after sin entered into the world. Within
Adam and his wife, fallen and ruined as they were, there was
a desire found within them to cover themselves by a work of
their own hands. Genesis 3-7 says, And the eyes
of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.
And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. And
ever since, man has attempted to cover himself with fig leaf
righteousness in order to appease a thrice holy God. When man fell
into sin, his first desire was to cover himself, hide from God,
and blame God for his disobedience. Boy, that's a picture of us,
isn't it? That is us, not a picture of
us, that's what we are. Natural man, fallen and dead
in sin, still, still, manifests his spiritual condition today
in these same ways. And men are gonna strive and
wrestle within themselves to do a work of righteousness that
they think that can appease God and cause Him to accept and forgive
them of their sins. That's a beautiful picture of
what we see in our story tonight of Jacob trying to appease Esau. We wrestle with ourselves concerning
this matter until God intervenes and initiates a wrestling with
us. And last time we looked at that
humble prayer that Jacob made when he discovered that Esau
was coming towards him with 400 men. Fear is a great motivator
to seek God oftentimes. And in times of great trouble,
believers will seek the Lord for mercy and help. And I think
of that passage where Paul tells us to come boldly into the throne
of grace. Why do we come boldly into the
throne of grace? To obtain mercy. and find grace
to help. That's why. That's what the verse
says. When do we come boldly into the
throne of grace? In time of need. Time of need. Jacob seeks God for help, deliverance,
mercy, and grace for him and his family. And notice in verse
10, he cries, I'm not worthy of the least of thy mercies.
Boy, that's a good way to approach God. He says, I'm not worthy
of the revelation of thy truth. I'm not worthy of your word. In verse 11, he begs, deliver
me from the hand of my brother. You see, only God can deliver
his people from their enemies. Only God, our biggest enemy,
sin. Probably our second biggest enemy, self. And God only can
deliver us from these things. In verse 12, he pleads to God
according to the word of God himself. You see, God had promised
to do him good. And Jacob said, Lord, you promised
to do me good. We can approach the Lord on that
same petition. Lord, you've promised to do your
people good. God had promised to multiply
his seed. And Jacob here shows great concern
for the namesake and glory of God. You see, God's promise concerning
Jacob's seed gave great assurance that God would save him in this
time of trouble. Why, if he hadn't, how could
his seed have been as the sand of the sea if God allowed him
to perish at the hand of his brother Esau? Is God a liar? No. Had God changed His mind? Absolutely not. Will God change
His mind? No. Because He says, I am the
Lord and I change not. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. And that's my assurance, that's
my confidence. That God has promised to do me
good. And He's promised to do you good.
God through divine revelation and providence was teaching Jacob
that man has control over nothing. Nothing. Have you figured that
out? We don't have control over anything.
God was revealing to Jacob that he alone rules and reigns and
controls all things according to his own will and purpose.
Has God taught you that? Are we beginning to learn these
things? And as we read these verses,
matter of fact, we've studied for a good while now the life
of Jacob. Had conniving, scheming, deceitful,
supplanting Jacob finally learned his lesson? He had just fleed
from Laban, his uncle, in fear of his life. And he no sooner
gets out and away from him, and he finds out that his brother
who sought to kill him, the reason he left home to begin with, was
now coming after him with 400 men. And he prays, Lord, help
me, deliver me. Even after that prayer, Jacob
had not yet arrived. And I'm learning, but I also
have not yet arrived. And I never will, and you never
will fully attain, while in this flesh, that confidence that we
should have. You know, I was thinking this
morning about the tempting words that Satan used to beguile Eve. Remember in Genesis chapter 3,
Satan deceitfully asked, he said, yea? God has said you shall not
eat of every tree of the garden? And Eve replied, well, we may
eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but of the fruit
of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said,
you shall not eat of it. If you touch it, you shall die.
And Satan challenged God's word and he said, you shall not surely
die. That's not what God meant. For God doth know that in the
day you eat thereof, then your eyes will be opened, and you
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." And you know, I thought
about that. You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. When Adam
and his wife sinned and died spiritually, and that's what
they did, they died spiritually. God said, in the day you eat
thereof, you shall surely die. And yet Adam lived 920 or 930
years. But he died spiritually. And when they sinned and died
spiritually, their curse and ours is the idea that men and
women can play the role of God and somehow, in some way, make
atonement for their sin in and of themselves through a work
of their own doing. And you can't because you're
dead. Trying to do so is nothing less
than depraved man's attempt to be as God. Do you see that? It's a futile attempt. There's
no work we can do, no matter how good it is. Just ask Cain. Oh, he brought forth the fruit
of his garden. He was so proud of it, and God
rejected it. You know why? Because blood must
be shed. Sacrifice must be made. A covering
of righteousness has got to be provided by God for us before
any sinner can be redeemed. And that's the gospel. God providing
us with that righteous covering. How plain is God's work when
it says, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy He saved us. Is there anything about that
verse of Scripture we don't understand? Plain and simple. God doesn't
pull punches. And again, we find Jacob relying
upon the character and activity of his flesh. Jacob again devises
and schemes to work out his own deliverance. Look at verse 13.
And he, being Jacob, lodged there that same night, and took of
that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother, two hundred
she-goats. and 20 he goats, 200 ewes and
20 rams, 30 milch or milk camels is what that's talking about
with their coats, 40 kine, that means heifers, and 10 bulls,
20 she asses and 10 foes, foes being load bearing asses. donkeys
that had been trained to carry a load, and not buck and throw
a fit. 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 the foremost, saying, When Esau 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, Why,
they be thy servant Jacob's. It's 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 drove, saying, On this manner
shall you speak unto Esau when you find him. Now what we have
here in plain English is an impressive parade of pride. The Holy Spirit
again lays bare the heart of Jacob for us. And he does so
that we be better acquainted with our own deceitful and wicked
hearts. And how many times have we seen
in our studies of Genesis especially, in the Old Testament especially,
the fact that God doesn't hide the sins of his people. but He
openly exposes them. And what an encouragement that
is to us. I mean, in the sense that we're
the same way, and yet God delights to show us mercy in spite of
us. What a God! We see that Jacob's
motives here were calculated to appease the anger and wrath
of Esau. In other words, Jacob devises
a bribe. That's what this is. It's just
a bribe to impress his brother. A bribe that displayed his own
worth and his own work and his own value. A bribe Jacob thought
would impress Esau. And he divides this gift into
three different parts as to magnify it in some way. He splits all
these things that I've read up, these gifts, into three parts.
And he has the first group go in. And Esau says, who do these
belong to? Your servant Jacob. That's who
they belong to. Your servant Jacob. He said to give them to
his Lord, Esau. And no sooner than he received
that, here comes another group. Same thing. And then another
group. I'm telling you this was planned out, this was schemed.
He put some time and effort and thought into this thing. You
know why? He was scared for his life. Are
you scared for yours? Have you seen that you have nothing
to offer God that He'll accept? Nothing. Only in the person and
work of the Lord Jesus Christ will God ever accept you. You know, flattering words and
phrases alike, like my Lord Esau and thy servant Jacob, clearly
show that Jacob was afraid of Esau. Our Lord said, fear not
them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul,
but rather fear him, speaking of God, which is able to destroy
both soul and body in hell, Matthew 10, 28. And this kind of flattery
to Esau clearly shows that Jacob was no longer exercising faith
and confidence in God. Jacob's motivation very clearly
seen in the next verse. Look at verse 20. And Jacob said,
and say ye moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us,
for he said, I will appease him. I'll appease Esau with the present
that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face. Peradventure,
he will accept me." That was his motivation. And instead of
trusting in the Lord to work out for him this reconciliation
with his brother, why, the Lord had already said, I'll be with
you. He should have known that the Lord would allow no harm
to come to him. And notice also that after all
this scheming and all this plotting, Jacob can still only say, peradventure,
maybe, possibly, perhaps, Esau will accept me. And so it is
with us. After all our fleshly efforts
are put forth, there's no confidence to be had, is there? None. The people of God are those which
worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus, having
no confidence in the flesh. Oh, don't put any confidence
in your flesh. And what you can do or what you
can offer or what you can present to God, He won't accept it. It's got to be perfect to be
accepted. With true faith, however, there's
a calm confidence and a firm assurance. And resting in the
divine promise, purpose, and power of God. That's where we can rest. And
what Christ has done for us. What Christ has provided for
us. He's provided for us everything that God requires perfectly. And it's got to be perfect to
be accepted. Look at verse 21. So went the
present over before him and himself lodged that night in the company.
And he rose up that night and he took his two wives and his
two women servants and his 11 sons. And he passed over the
Ford or river, I guess, Jaybok. And he took them and sent them
over the brook and sent over that he had. And notice verse
24. And Jacob was left alone. That's where God's gonna bring
all his people. That's where he's gonna bring
them. Every one of his, he's gonna bring them right here,
alone. They'll be made to see how they
alone would fare standing in the presence of a thrice holy
God. It's gonna be revealed to them that they have alone offended
God's law. That they have alone committed
serious offenses against God and God only. That's who all
our sins against, David said, against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. They're gonna see
that alone they're responsible to the wages of sin, which is
death. They're going to see that they alone cannot pay the wages
of sin. The elect of God are going to
see, they're going to believe, and they're going to know that
nothing or no one but Christ can save them. And they'll be made to trust
in Christ alone. In this life only, the scripture
says, we have hope in Christ. 1 Corinthians 15. Now, the gospel is Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The work that Jesus Christ did
for the sinner. That's our concern. That's the
gospel. The gospel asks these questions. What think ye of Christ? You
know why the gospel asks that question? Because Christ is the
only means of salvation. What think ye of Him? You're
going to have to put all your eggs in one basket here. All
of them. What think ye of Christ? Whose
Son is He? That's the issue. That's the
question. This is eternal life. That they
might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou
hast sent. And that verse of Scripture has
been on the front of our bulletin for I know at least 27 years
now. Larry and Maurice put it together. But do we know it? Life eternal, eternal life is
knowing God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. No salvation in
any other. Not how much you know. Not how
much you even know about Him. It's knowing Him personally. Who He is. Jesus Christ is God. What did He do? He laid down
His life on the cross. to put away his people's sin.
That's the issue of life. Salvation is knowing that no
man cometh to the Father except by Him. Better learn that. Sinners better
learn it. God separated Jacob from his
wives, from his sons, He had one daughter, she's not mentioned
here, but I'm sure her too. God separated him from all his
possessions, and he had a bunch. God separated him from his security. And he sits there on the shore
of that brook alone with God. Alone with God. Has God brought
you there? Have you sat there with God? There he set alone. Being left
alone with God is the only true way of arriving at a right knowledge
of ourselves and our fruitless ways. No matter how much devising
and scheming we do. No matter how much working and
giving we give. No matter how much bribing and
buying. We do. One day every sinner's
gonna stand before God alone and give an account of the things
done in their flesh. And most will be weighed in the
balances and found wanting. I don't wanna be one of those.
I don't wanna be found wanting when I'm weighed in the balance
of God's strict and holy and divine justice. Do you? Well,
I know this much. I'm not going to stand and plead
to God some righteousness that I think I have, some work that
I've done. No, sir. I'm going to plead the
blood of my Lord and Savior and say He paid the debt of sin for
me. That's the only hope that any
sinner has. Many will say unto me in that
day, our Lord said, they're going to say unto me, Lord, Lord, but
they're going to be found wanting, liking, Lacking a substitute. Lacking a perfect sacrifice for
sin. That one thing needful. Just one thing needful. Christ
is that one thing. But there are going to be some
sons of Jacob. There are going to be some conniving,
scheming, devising, deceiving as they are that will in mercy
and grace be caused by God to see their nothingness. their
worthlessness and their helplessness in this flesh. There are going
to be some. There are going to be some. And it's seen when they
are alone with God. Our nothingness can be discovered
only as God brings us alone with Him. Isn't that your experience,
child of God? Verse 24, And Jacob was left
alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of
the day." Now here in my notes I wrote important. We're not
told that Jacob wrestled with the man. We're told that the
man wrestled with him. I found that very interesting.
The wrestling between Jacob and this man who some say was an
angelic being in the likeness of a man. The Targum, which is
basically the Jewish commentary, history of the Jews, claim it
to be the Archangel Michael himself. Yet most believe, including me,
that this is Jesus Christ in human form. It just had to be,
as we'll see. Now listen, it's God the Son
who wrestles with His people to reveal to them the spiritual
work of being emptied out, in, and by, and through a man. And that man is Christ Jesus. There's one mediator between
God and man, the man, Christ Jesus. Isn't that what the Scriptures
say? If you and I are going to be reconciled to God, it's going
to have to be through a man. But not just any man. It's going
to have to be the God-man. The perfect man. That one mediator. The only one. Who can provide
for you and I what you and I can't provide. And this shows how our
Lord Jesus subdues the flesh and the believer. This wrestling
is a picture of how we wrestle with God. We wrestle with God,
insisting on doing something for God instead of resting in
what Christ has done for us. Some think that Jacob's wrestling
with God. Here's an illustration, an example
of a believer's power in prayer. I've said it many times and you
know it so, prayer doesn't change things, God changes things. Some
think this wrestling between Jacob and Christ was that Jacob
might receive a blessing. The Lord was wrestling with Jacob
to take his self-confidence and his self-sufficiency away from
him. Notice that this wrestling lasted
all night, in verse 24, until the breaking of day, we're told.
And in this we see something of the long suffering of the
grace of God. Long does Christ bear with our
fleshly struggling. That in the end that He might
bring us to God. Do you think it took all night
for Christ to convince Jacob of this? Christ wrestled with
him all night because he's patient and he's long-suffering. And
with great mercy and grace, he gently brings the sinner to himself. That's the kind of wrestling
that God does with His people. God could have snapped His finger
and snapped Jacob in two. He says, come now, let us reason
together. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. And God reasons, He wrestles. God wrestles to reveal to the
sons of Jacob our sins, though red like crimson shall be as
wool. Do you know what the word crimson
means in the original Hebrew language? I didn't know this.
It means a maggot. It means a crimson grub worm. Though your sins be like that
of a maggot, a worm, a repulsive thing. That's what sin makes
us. Yet, I'll make them whitest wool. God says, as I live, saith the
Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that
the wicked turn from his way and live. God says, turn ye,
turn ye. He's wrestling with the sinner.
Turn from your evil ways. Why will you die, O house of
Israel? God wrestles with us, but he
wrestles with us gently. He wrestles with us patiently,
graciously, mercifully. Lovingly, he convinces us that
we must decrease and that he must increase. Look at verse
25. And when he saw that he prevailed
not against him, when the Lord saw that he prevailed not against
Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow
of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him. This
shows us how quickly and how easily God could bring to an
end Jacob's resistance and immediately reduce him to helplessness when
it pleased him to do so. All the Lord had to do was but
to touch the hollow of his thigh. Jacob was brought to the end
of his own resources here. One swift touch, not a hard stroke,
not a vicious blow, just a touch from the divine hand of God and
Jacob was made powerless. I know something about that.
By His grace, I know something about that. Oh, we sing, He touched
me. Oh, that's all it takes, just
a touch from the Master's hand. Just a touch from the potter's
hand to mold and shape and fashion that clay into a vessel of honor.
That's all it takes, isn't it? Child of God, do you remember
when God touched you? Do you remember when God laid
his hands on you and made you conscious of your great need?
Do you remember how God touched you and you were all out of joint? Oh my. When God showed me what
I was and what I deserved, I feared. I knew what I deserved. I didn't want God to give me
what I deserved. That's what grace and mercy is. God not giving
us what we deserve. You know what? Like Jacob, I
haven't walked the same way since. Look at verse 26. Verse 26, and
he, the Lord, said, let me go, for the day breaketh. And he,
Jacob, said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. No longer could Jacob wrestle.
All he could do was cling. He's all out of joint. He can't
wrestle anymore. He's finished. All he can do
is hold on and cling to this man. Here the man from God brought
Jacob to the point where he had to lean his entire weight on
Him. Sound familiar? Sinner, you're
going to have to cling to and lean on Christ alone to be brought
to God. You're going to have to be carried.
He's going to have to bring you to God. He died just for the
unjust to bring us to God. You're going to have to be carried.
That lost sheep, what does he do? Does he get behind that lost
sheep and go, come on now, come on, come on, go home, go home? No, he picked him up and put
him on his shoulders and he carried him home and he called all his
friends and he said, come and rejoice with me. My lost sheep's
found. That's the gospel, dear friends.
Oh, may God enable me to believe it. We've got to cast ourselves
completely on Christ. God's people are going to insist
on being blessed in Christ. Their resolve is, I will not
let you go. I'm not going to let you go. You're going to have to break
my hands. I'm not going to let you go, except thou bless me. Oh, we sing that song. Other
refuge have I none. Hangs my helpless soul on Thee. Verse 27. And he said unto him,
What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. Here's the blessing that God
gives us right here. Verse 28. 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. His name was no more Jacob, but
it was changed to Israel. His name was no more supplanter,
no more deceiver, but Israel. And here Jacob, his name Jacob
represents the natural man and his new name Israel pictures
the spiritual man. And the name Israel, you know
what it means? It means God commandeth. That's just amazing to me. What
an appropriate name. God commands sinners to look
to Christ and Christ alone. That's the commandment of God.
Look and live. God's commandment to His people
is this, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to
everyone that believeth. Do you believe on Christ? Then
look to Him. He is your righteousness. Other
refuge have I none. I've got to hang my helpless
soul on Christ. I've got to cling to Him. The
commandment of God. God wrestles and warns sinners
that it is not of Him that willeth, nor of Him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. The commandment of Christ is,
Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Why? Because, and learn
of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find
rest for your soul. Do you need rest? Are you heavy
laden with sin? The command has come to Christ. You know, it's not so much our
spiritual weakness that keeps us from growing in the grace
and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. It's our confidence in
our natural strength that does. Yet if God wrestles with you,
you'll be made to see your need of Him, your inability to come
to Him, Your helplessness, and I'm going to tell you what you'll
do if you're one of His, you'll cling to Him. Where else would we go? Thou
hast the words to eternal life. When we're made to take our place
as clay in the hands of the potter, the sovereign potter, we as Israel,
the spiritual nation and people of God, that's who Jacob here
pictures, We'll be happy for Him to command and order our
life force. And we'll find great comfort
in the fact that He does. Why? Because He does all things
well. He works all things for the good
of His people, those who love God, who are the called according
to His purpose.