Turn to Genesis 32. I may have to do this one in
two parts. I was debating on reading this
whole chapter this morning, and I've decided to do that. I may
make a few comments as I go, and if I do, it's going to probably
be too long. So if I make it into two, this
is part one. Wrestling with God. That's the
title of it. Wrestling with God. Now let's
read. I'm going to read this whole
chapter and we'll see where we get. And Jacob went on his way
and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said,
this is God's host. And he called the name of that
place Maenaeum, that means two hosts. And Jacob sent messengers
before him to Esau, his brother, unto the land of Seir, the country
of Edom. And he commanded them, saying,
Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau. Thy servant Jacob saith
thus. That's a problem. God, it just
struck me this morning, all the times I've read this, the Lord
said, be ye not the servants of men. And Jacob here, a servant
of God, is lowering himself to Esau, who hates God, and he's
calling himself Esau's servant. You tell him thy servant, Jacob,
saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban and stayed there until
now. And I have oxen and asses, flocks
and men's servants, women's servants, and I have sent to tell my Lord
that I may find grace in thy sight." Whose grace and whose
sight do you want to find grace? God's sight. If I find favor
with God, I don't have to worry about men, do I? I don't have
to worry about the prison. I don't have to worry about hell.
I don't have to worry about any of that. I know what Jacob's
doing here, but Jacob is scheming again. This is the supplanter. You know, he's scheming, he's
figuring out how to appease Esau for what he did. He's trying
to appease for his sins. We can't do that, can we? We
can't appease for our sins. Only Christ can do that. But
he says, that I might find grace in thy sight. And the messengers
returned to Jacob saying, we came to thy brother Esau. And
also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
I don't believe Esau was excited about seeing Jacob. When Esau
heard that Jacob was coming, he got four hundred men, and
I do believe when he started out, his heart was evil toward
Jacob. remember the heart of the king
is in the hand of the lord like the rivers of water he turns
it withers whoever he will if you'll read the chapter before
this laban was coming after jacob he caught up with him but you
know what happened before that god met laban and he said don't
you say one thing to jacob good or bad Laban was going to, he
was going to, he meant evil against Jacob because Jacob left, took
his daughters, took his men, took some servants and took all
these possessions that he had gained over those many years.
And Laban was going to, he was going to hammer him. And God
met him. He said, you don't say one word
to him, good or bad. Laban told Jacob about that.
He told him about what God said to him. But Jacob forgets this. Jacob met. He met two host of
angels. God sent them messengers. And yet here he is groveling,
wallowing on the ground in fear of Esau. His fear is misplaced,
is completely misplaced. He here, you know, Esau, here
comes Esau with 400 men. But now God changes Esau's heart
before he gets there. He changes his heart. God, the
heart of every human being is in God's hands. You know why
people in this world get along with us? Their heart's in God's
hands. He makes them get along with
us, or they wouldn't. They wouldn't. The real evil
would come out that's in there, but God keeps it in check. Then
Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. Fear not men, fear
not them which can kill the body, but can't kill the soul. Christ
said, I tell you who to fear, fear him who can cast both body
and soul into hell. That's who you fear. But Jacob
was greatly afraid and distressed, and he divided the people that
was with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels
into two bands. And said, if Esau come to the
one company and smite it, then the other company which is left
shall escape. Well, he has no confidence in
God at all here, does he? I mean, we don't read anything
here. And this is what the wrestling match is going to be. It says,
you know, it says there, and I'm going to get ahead of myself,
but it says there, wrestled a man with Jacob. It doesn't say Jacob
wrestled with a man. God came, the Lord Jesus Christ
came, and he wrestled with Jacob. He's going to break Jacob. Jacob's
going to know that his real strength lies in God, not in his conniving. He's always going to take that
conniving out of him. Not completely. Self-righteousness is never taken
completely out of us. Just let us do something good.
We have to fight self-righteousness. We do. but he said then here in verse
nine and jacob said oh god of my father abraham now he's doing
the right thing he's doing the right thing when in trouble call
upon the lord call upon the lord when you're not in trouble but
especially when you're in trouble and jacob said oh god of my father
abraham and god of my father isaac the Lord which said unto
me return unto thy country and to thy kindred and I will deal
well with thee I'm doing what you said Lord I'm doing what
you said to do remember the disciples he told him to get in the boat
go to the other side and he ran into a storm they did they were
doing what the Lord said that doesn't mean that doing what
he said we're not gonna find trouble we're gonna find trouble And he says here, I'm not worthy.
And over my margin, it says, I am less than all. I am, well,
didn't Paul say that? I am the least of the saints.
I'm the least of the, are you really the least? Are you the
least one in this room? If you are, it's by grace. Because
we would never say that except by the grace of God. I'm not
worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth
that you've made known to me, which thou hast showed unto thy
servant. You've revealed the truth to
me, and your mercies to me are innumerable, and I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy. I tell you what,
if you were worthy, you wouldn't be mercy, would it? Mercy is
getting what you don't deserve. If you and I think we deserve
anything, It's not mercy. It's merit. I am not worthy of the least
of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast shown
unto thy servant. For with my staff I passed over
this Jordan. My staff, that's all I got. And
now I'm become two bands. I'm separated, divided. Deliver
me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother. from the hand
of Esau. You know, he's having to face
it right here. Jacob's really having to face his sin, his deception,
his craftiness, his wretched nature. He's having to face this. He knows that he knows in his
own heart Esau has a right to kill him. He knows that because
he got it by deception. deliver me I pray thee from the
hand of my brother from the hand of Esau for I fear him lest he
will come and smite me and the mother with the children and
I love what he does here in verse 12 and we need to learn to pray
like this thou saddest taking God's promise to him that's the
best way to pray And thou saidest, I will surely do thee good, and
make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered
for multitude. Lord, you said, you said that
he that comes to me I will not cast out, and no wise cast out.
Lord, you said, whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved. Wouldn't it have been something if those who said
to the Lord, we preached in your name, we've cast out devils in
your name, we've done many mighty works in your name, and he says
to them, depart from me, I never knew you. Wouldn't it have been
something if just one of them had said, Lord, did you not die
for me? Did you not shed your blood for me? Did you not say,
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved? Did
you not say, he that comes to me, I will in no wise cast out?
They never use one promise, not one. They said, look what we
did and you're going to cast us out. But Jacob, he just he's he's
got some wisdom here, not a lot yet, but he got some. You said,
Lord, I will surely do thee good and make thy seed as a sand of
the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. So if he kills
me, this can't be, this can't be what your promise will be
broken. And he lodged there that night and took of that which
came to his hand a present for Esau, his brother. 200 she goats, he's bribing him what
he's doing. He's bribing him. 200 she-goats, 20 he-goats, 200 ewes,
and 20 lambs, 30 milk cows or camels with their colts, 40 kine
and 10 bulls, 20 she-ashes and 10 foals. And he delivered them
into the hand of his servants. And every drove by themselves
and said unto his servants, pass over before me and put a space
betwixt drove and drove. Here he is flooding him with
presents, trying to appease his wrath. There's nothing we can
do to appease for our sins. Only Jesus Christ can do that.
Only our Lord can satisfy divine justice. We can send all the
presents we want. It's not going to help. You can
weep and cry all you want. It's not going to save you. Repentance
doesn't save me. Christ saves me. Repentance is
the evidence of salvation. It's not the cause of it. And he commanded the foremost,
verse 17, 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, They be thy servant Jacob's. It is a present sent unto my
Lord Esau, and behold, also he's behind us. And so commanded he the second
and the third and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner
shall you speak unto Esau when you find him. And say ye moreover,
Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. He should have been
in front. What a coward. Seriously, what
a coward. That's the nature of Jacob. He's
been a coward. He should have not put his servants out there
and all his possessions. He should have went out there
by himself. He should have manned up. David said, against thee
and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. I was trying to think. It was
Reuben. It was Reuben who said, I'll be surety for Benjamin.
If I don't bring him back, you can kill my two sons. You can
kill your grandson. Yeah, right. That would just
appease him, wouldn't it? That's who we are by nature. That's who we are. And say ye
moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us, for he said,
I will appease him with the present that goes before me. This is
how I'll take care of my sin. I'll just appease him with my
presence. with the things I've merited and things I've earned
and things I've gained. I'll use them to appease him. And afterward, I'll see his face.
For adventure he will accept of me, or he'll accept my face. So went the present over before
him. I thought that's an interesting statement. So went the present
over before him. And himself lodged that night
in the company. And he rose up that night. and
took his two wives. He couldn't sleep. His sleep
went from him. He was so distraught. He took
his two wives and his two women servants and his eleven sons
and passed over the four Jebuch. And he took them and sent them
over the brook and sent over all that he had. He put everything
away from him, put him in a place where he felt was safe, and Jacob
was left alone. He's right where God wants him
to be. Jacob's left alone. And I have
no doubt Jacob put everybody from him so that he might pray
again. And Jacob was left alone, and
there wrestled a man with him. I never really thought of it
in that order. I always thought of Jacob wrestling
with the man. The man is wrestling with Jacob.
And this is a real struggle going on here. It's a real struggle. And I think I'm gonna have to
deal with this in part two. But Jacob was left alone, and there
wrestled a man with him, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is the pre-incarnation of Christ. Until the breaking, or the ascending
of the morning, the breaking of the day, when he saw that
he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his
thigh. When he saw, that is, this man, the Lord Jesus Christ,
when he prevailed not against Now you and I know that the Lord
with the Word could have broke him. The Lord's letting Jacob
wrestle with him. He's enabling Jacob. Jacob doesn't
know this, and you don't know this. When you are wrestling
with God in prayer, that happens. That's happened a few times in
my life. That's happened a few times. And it's happened for some of
you a few times. You really wrestle with God and you're not gonna
let go. You're not gonna let go until he answers you. It's life or death, isn't it?
It's life or death. And he wouldn't let go. And when he saw that he prevailed
not against him, verse 25, he touched the hollow of his thigh
And the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled
with him. He's still wrestling on with
him. He's still wrestling on. He ain't gonna let go. It's a
matter of life and death. It's a matter of life and death.
Has salvation really, truly, with me and you, has it ever
really been a matter of life and death? Give me Christ or
else I die. I've always asked Mike Bartram
to sing that song so many times over the years because it fits
me. Give me Christ or else I die.
There's no other hope. And he said, let me go for the
day breaketh. It's time to get on with business.
It's time for Jacob now to get on with business. The wrestling
is the purpose that the wrestling match was for has been accomplished. And he said, I'll not let thee
go except thou bless me. I'm not going to do it. Where
am I going to go? Isn't that what that Syrophoenician woman?
He said, it's not right to give the children's bread to the dog.
She goes, you're right. Truth Lord, you're right. But I'm your dog. You're the
only hope I have. Jacob knew that if God Almighty
didn't save him, Esau was going to kill him. Rightfully so. rightfully so I'll not let thee
go except thou bless me and he said unto him what is thy name
and he said Jacob you know what he's doing here he's making him
own up to who he is he's making him own up before he realized
before he changes his name he makes him realize that his name
by birth is just this supplanter you stinking cheat that's what
you are And that's what you'll always be by nature. You know, when God saves us,
he makes us to know we are sinners and we're sinners all the way,
all the way to the grave, aren't we? Sinners saved by grace. I made a profession when I was
about 20 years old and I believe James said, you know, you're
a sinner saved by grace. I said, no, I used to be a sinner,
I'm not no more. And then God saved me three years later, and
I've been a sinner ever since. It takes God to save you for
you to become a sinner. A biblical sinner, not what the
false religion out there promotes, but I mean a sinner according
to the word of God. You know what that is? None good,
no not one. And even me, even me, I'm no
good. That's very unpopular in our
day. The psychiatrist, if they put you in a psychiatrist's office,
they'd say, no wonder you got problems. He told them the truth.
Told them the gospel you believe. They'd say, well, no wonder you
have problems. You think you're no good. You think you deserve
to go to hell. I'd have problems too if I thought
like that. But that's the truth. That's the honest truth. And
thank God you know the truth. because he said the truth will
make you free. A lie is not going to make you free. Somebody lied
to those fellows and said, if you preach in his name, if you
do many mighty works in his name, you'll go to heaven. Well, they didn't, they went
to hell. And he said in verse 28, thy name shall be called
no more Jacob, but Israel. Every last one of you who believe,
those in this world believe they are Israel. You are the Israel
of God. You are God's elect. You're Israel. For as a prince hast thou power
with God and with men, and hast prevailed. If you and I could
ever realize, we'd probably, I'm sure we would, pray much
more than we do. if we realize the power we have
with God in Christ, power, divine power, God power. He said, as
a prince, his name's Israel, for as a prince hast thou power
with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him
and said, tell me, I pray thee, thy name. It wasn't time for
Jacob to know that. Because he would have said, Jesus
Christ. He would have said, Jesus Christ,
that's my name. The Lord Jesus Christ, that's my name. Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, that's my
name. Or he could have went and named all those names of God,
Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Shaddai. I mean, he could have went through
all that, that's my name. But he revealed to Jacob just
what Jacob needed to know at that time. And he said, wherefore
is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. He blessed him there. And Jacob
called the name of the place Peniel, where I have seen God
face to face, and my life is preserved. You know, God said,
briefest to Moses, no man shall see my face and live. Jacob said, I have seen God's
face. I've seen him face to face. And
I am preserved, I'm alive. You know, the scriptures tell
us that we can see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ
over in Corinthians. And those who do see that live. John said, we have looked upon
him. We've handled him. Over in first John chapter one,
we've handled the word of life. We've looked upon the word of
life. We've looked upon God. and live. You can look upon God
in Christ and live. Outside of that, you're going
to perish. You'll perish. Because no man can look into
God's face as he is, without a mediator, without a days man
between, and live. But boy, if you have Christ between
you, you can look into the face of God, because that is the face
of God. He is the image of the invisible God. And as he passed over Peniel,
the sun rose upon him and he halted upon his thigh. There's
no way you're gonna do business with God and there not be a difference. No, no way, no way. A drunk's
not gonna stay a drunk. A whoremonger's not gonna stay
a whoremonger. A violent man's not gonna stay
a violent man. A mean person's not gonna stay mean. You cannot do business with God
and not know that you've done business with God. And here comes
Jacob limping. What's wrong, Jacob? You reckon
when he saw his wife again and his servants, his sons, 11 sons,
and he's limping. He's limping. What's wrong? You
wouldn't understand. You wouldn't understand. I wrestled
with God last night. And everyone whom God saves will
wrestle with God. Everyone. Therefore the children
of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the
hollow of the thigh unto this day, because he touched the hollow
of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank. Well, I'm not going
to try to even get into the outline that I've made. This is part
one. Wrestling with God. Wrestling
with God. And there comes a time, there
comes a time, if God's gonna save a sinner, that sinner's
gonna wrestle with God. God's gonna wrestle with that
sinner. There's gonna be a real confrontation that's gonna happen.
You see, the first time God revealed to Jacob, when he stood above
the ladder, And that ladder, you know, is Christ. But when
he stood above that ladder, he revealed what he was going to
do for Jacob. You know, there comes a time when you hear the
gospel, you understand the gospel, you say, I see. And then there
comes a time when God Almighty himself is going to take you
on. And you're going to know by experience
what you are and who he is. And we'll deal with that next
week.