She will be turning to Genesis
29. This is three years ago today. We woke up in San Diego County.
We drove on, got here New Year's Eve. in quite the three years. Give you all an update too. I'd
sent out the email early yesterday about speaking with John and
Kathy to inform everybody. And they're doing well. The water's
subsided. And Lord willing, they're having
services this morning. And as we have been working on
this message for a long time, it's been laying on my heart.
And I told John, I said, just Here's part of it, you'll see.
I said, y'all come down and stay with us if you can drive or we'll
put you up to something. It was getting bad. Got the pictures
of it and I don't get concerned much. It was looking good. If it got worse, they said we'll
be all right. He said I canceled services yet.
I said I didn't figure but I had to I had to offer anyway. Hopefully
we'll see it in a minute. Ain't one to back down. Genesis
29, verse 1. And Jacob went on his journey
and came into the land of the people of the east. And he looked,
and behold, a well in the field. And lo, there were three flocks
of sheep lying by it. For out of that well they watered
the flocks, and a great stone, a great stone was upon the whale's
mouth. And there were all the flocks
gathered, and they rolled the stone from the whale's mouth
and watered the sheep and put the stone again upon the mouth
of this place. That's what happened. He shows
up, there's a well there, great stones on this well, and he tells
us, This is how they did it. Everybody would show up, the
stone would be moved, the sheep would be watered, and then they'd
put the stone back. Verse 4 says, And Jacob said unto them, My
brethren, whence be ye? Where are you from? And they
said, Of Haran are we. And he said unto them, Know ye
Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him. Yeah,
that's who he's coming to find, remember? His mother said, Esau's
gonna kill you. You need to get out of here.
Go to my brother." And she went and told Isaac. And she said,
I don't want him marrying a girl from East Canaanites, which is
right, and that's good. Sometimes we say good, right
things to get our way, don't we? Ought not do that. But she
told Isaac that. And so he sent him away. He said, go get you a bride,
son. And this is where he landed. And they said, you know him?
He said, you know them? I just happened on this whale out in
the middle of nowhere. And you know the guy I'm looking
for? What are the chances?" That ain't what he said, was it? No,
he knows better than that. And they said, we're up here.
And he said, you know him? He said, yeah. And verse 6 said of them, is he well? Is he doing well? Is he alive?
And they said, oh, he's well. And you know what? Behold, Rachel,
his daughter, she's coming with the sheep. She comes here every
day, too. You're going to meet her in a
minute. And he said, lo. It's yet high day. This man all
of a sudden met these strangers in a strange place in a strange
land he's not from. And he said to them, it's high
day. It's high noon. Neither is it
time that the cattle should be gathered together. What are y'all
doing here? It's hot. Water ye the sheep and go feed
them. What's wrong with you? Why are y'all sitting here lounging
around and talking and not doing nothing? Water these sheep and
go feed them. Go put them out to pasture. What's
wrong with you? He had authority, didn't he? We ought not show up to strangers
and tell them stuff. Y'all need to be doing this and
you need to do that. We ought not do that. Jacob shows
up in this strange land and says, what are y'all doing? Feed these
sheep, water these sheep, get after it. You're shepherds, do
your job. And they said, we cannot. Until
all the flocks be gathered together. Until they, you ever heard of
they? Who's they? They's who we blame everything
on. They's who we watch the news about. Well, these people say,
we can't do that. Everybody's got to be here, and
they have to roll the stone from the whale's mouth. Then, once
all that's done, then we'll water the sheep." And while he yet
spake with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for
she kept them. And it came to pass when Jacob saw Rachel, the
daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban,
his mother's brother, that Jacob went near and rolled the stone
from the whale's mouth. He rolled that great stone. and
watered the flock of Laban, his mother's brother. And Jacob kissed
Rachel. Kind of bold, isn't it? He kissed
Rachel and lifted up his voice and wept. He wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he
was her father's brother. and that he was Rebecca's son,
and she ran, she ran and told her father. I want to make two
applications here, two short lessons. Two short lessons are
taught here in this passage of scripture, and then I want us
to see a picture. That's why. That's why we have
these lists. I have to give lessons. Old Brother
Henry, normally he kept Wednesday nights for family time. Wednesday
night services whenever he'd give us good instruction. But
sometimes we come across it in text and you all hear now, so
I'm going to give it. We're going to see some two quick lessons
and then the picture. First, to the believer. I won't
have you turn any of these, but on the picture I will. To the
believer. It says in verse 1, Jacob went
on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the
east." Jacob went. If you've got a reference, a
marginal reference there, it says he lifted up his feet. Wasn't
that just that he goes, like, I went to the store? He lifted
up his feet. He had some pep in his step.
Why? Why did he have pep in his step?
Because of chapter 28. That's what just happened, wasn't it?
He says there in chapter 28, verse 15, And behold, the Lord
spoke to him, behold, I'm with thee. He said, your seeds are
going to be like the sands of the sea. Your seed is going to
be like the stars of the sky. And he says, behold, I'm with
thee, and will keep thee in all places where thou goest, and
will bring thee again into this land, for I will not leave thee
until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And
Jacob woke up out of his sleep. That'll wake you up. He was asleep. A lot of people are sleeping,
ain't they? Waking up out of his sleep, and he said, surely
the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. Oh, he'd met the
Lord. Lord come to him in a dream,
revealed himself to Jacob, woke him up. Woke him up, and he had
a little pep in his step. He lifted his feet. There was
a new creation in Jacob. That's a marvelous thing, and
it ought to give us pep in our step. We have a sister here that's
going to be baptized soon. Whoo, that's wonderful. That's
amazing. That'll make us happy. Y'all
remember Martha Cooper? Greg and Martha come visit with
us last year? Martha's gonna be baptized here soon. She asked
Clay to baptize her. That's wonderful. That's great
news, isn't it? That put pep in your step. Well,
I get it. No, that's great. Lord ain't out of business. He
proves it to us, don't he? That's good. Lord's saving his people.
He's calling them out. They're obeying him. His sheep
hear his voice and they follow him. That's so. He's proving
that to us, isn't he? We ought to lift our feet too.
Well, it says Jacob went on his journey. It's hard to find what
to leave in, what to leave out. There's a whole lot here. He
went on his journey. Believers, we're on a providential
journey and we ought to have great joy. and great merriness,
we ought to be happy, and went, we ought to lift our feet up
on this journey we are. David said, the steps of a good
man are ordered by the Lord. He delighteth in his way, though
he fall. That journey we're on, Jacob's
about to fall a whole lot, you're gonna fall, I fell, I'm gonna
fall more. Though he fall, he shall not
be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.
He guides our steps, he holds us up. Why? Because that covenant
of grace he's made, that the Lord made to us, that the Lord
made to Jacob, didn't he? David had that same one. He said,
although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me
an everlasting covenant ordered. How's this journey going to pan
out? It's ordered. Ordered in all things. And it's sure. It's
sure. For this is all my salvation.
This is all my desire. Although we make it not to grow.
Concerning that journey that we're on, we have so much fear
and fretting and worrying because we're sinners. That's our flesh.
Our flesh does that. Our flesh worries. Our flesh
is frightful. Isn't it? Psalm 31 says, My times are in
thy hand. Old brother Drew Deets wrote
this, he said, do we really believe that verse? My times are in thy
hands. Do we believe it in sick times,
in well times, grieving times, political times, morning, evening,
all times? This will give the believer much
peace and rest in the most uncertain of times. Our times are in his
hands, his journeys in his, and we're on a journey. We have it. Where did the Lord's providence
lead Jacob? Look here in verse two. And he
looked, and behold, behold, a whale in a field. And lo, there were
three flocks of sheep lying about it. For out of that whale, is
it out of any whale? Out of that whale, they watered
the flocks, and a great stone was upon the whale's mouth. This
is 400 and some miles away from where he left. his family to
where Heron was. You think he just happened to
luck on that well? Same well where his mother was found when
Eleazar came down there? They didn't give him a map. He
didn't have GPS, did he? The Lord brought him there, and
he had to behold the well. The Lord puts wells all around
this world as he sees fit. He puts his water in that well.
And there's a well here. It's all from the same aquifer,
isn't it? It's the same water, all of it. There's a well here
in Hummel, there's a well up in Rescue, a couple wells on
this coast, a well down in Australia, wells all over the east, and
well in Papua New Guinea. The Lord has his wells around
his place, don't he? That's where he gathers his people.
We drank the same water from that well. And that's a good
place to be. That's where the sheep are watered. That's where the flocks are watered.
You young people, listen to me. This is where Jacob met his bride,
isn't it? That's good. If the Lord saves
young people or he saves unmarried older people, however he sees
there's a lot of people getting married lately, ain't there?
You go looking for your spouse by that well of Christ. You heed
me. And if you're listening in 50
years, you heed me. You go looking for your spouse by that well
of Christ. Not any old well. Not Christian
Mingle. Is that plain? That's not a good
whale. You go to where his whale is,
and you find somebody that's been drinking from that whale
before you showed up. That's good advice. That's good
advice. You find somebody that loved
the Lord before they loved you, and that's good advice. I'm telling
you right. And to whomever is saved, you've
already been there, and you already got your bride. You remove all
the stones that's in the way. Every stone you can get out of
the way so people can drink, so your bride can drink or your
husband can drink. Scriptures are plain on that.
If you got an unbelieving husband or wife, you'd be appealing to
them. You get all them stones out of
the way. What kind of stones are in the way of that well? Pride,
disagreements, position, whatever. The list goes on, doesn't it?
Bend over backwards and kiss your heels. That way, we can
come to the water. We can come to the water, come
to that well. That's to the believers. Second, to the preacher. The
Lord has preachers in there. Someone may be here used to preach
one day in the providence of the Lord. That may be a part
of the journey. He brings them on and holds their hand. Might be
used to water the Lord's sheep. Look here in verse three. And
thither were all the flocks gathered, and they rolled the stone from
the whale's mouth and watered the sheep and then put the stone
again upon the whale's mouth in his place. There was something
in the way for the sheep to drink, isn't it? For the Lord's preachers,
there's something in the way, and these sheep can't drink.
It's hot. Sheep's thirsty. We're in a desert. They're gonna
die if they don't get a drink, and something's in the way. You
know what they were instructed to do? You ever heard of City
of Refuge? We've heard about that, ain't we? We've looked
at those. It says in Deuteronomy 19, 3, thou shalt prepare thee
a way. You gonna make a road. And there
was crews that went on that road, and they kept the roads clean.
A tree fell on it, they cut the tree up, moved it. We got that
in our day. We get that, don't we? We may not understand how
sheep work and the flocks and all these things, because we
don't live it, but we live on roads. I've dodged a whole bunch of
rocks getting here today. Somebody's gonna go around, they're gonna
clean those rocks out of the way. And they're gonna move those things,
and there are gonna be signs put up at every intersection. That way
is the city refuge. Remove any obstacle, clear the
trees, and make a path plain to the city of refuge. Get the
rocks out the way, people can drink. They'll accuse you of
taking things away. They'll accuse you of being an
austere man. You just get them rocks out the
way. You hear me? The Lord makes you preach, you
get the rocks out the way. That's what his people were told to
do. That's what the voice does, isn't it? Isaiah 40 says, the
voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, speaking of John
the Baptist, and every other voice that just say what he says,
prepare you the way of the Lord. That ain't the sheep's job, is
it? No, that's the shepherd's job. Prepare ye the way of the
Lord. Make straight in the desert a
highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted,
every mountain and hill shall be made low, and all the crooked
ways shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. Get
all them stones out the way so people can get to the water.
Why? Why? And the glory of the Lord shall
be revealed. His glory and His alone. And
all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it." Because He said, do it that way. That's what's
going to happen. It won't return to Him void.
Paul even got the fancy and churchy words out of the way, didn't
he? All of our religious sayings that we just say, because that's
what everybody else always said. And we can put it in our own
words. If the Lord saved us, we can
put it in our words, can't we? It's our good news. It's our
gospel. He said, I brethren, when I came to you, came not
with excellency of speech or wisdom. Boy, I got some crafty
points for you today. I'm going to, no, an eloquency,
a great orator. No, he said, I didn't come to
you with those things, declaring you the testimony of God. I just
came and told you plainly. For I determined not to know
anything among you. I didn't want any stones in the
way, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. The Lord's under shepherds. They're not respecters of persons
either. It says in verse eight, and they
said, we can't, these are the shepherds, until all the flocks
be gathered together. Well, now we can't water nobody
until all the important people get here. Slim picking this morning,
eh? Small crowd. Everybody's here,
the Lord's gathered. What would Jacob do? Water them. Don't care who's here. Here to
count sheep, here to water sheep. What's wrong with you? That's
our job. We can't have service to so-and-so's
here. I can't preach this because it might offend that sheep and
that sheep's here now. No, move the stone and water. It ain't hard. That's the job.
And it says at the end of verse eight, and they can't water the
flocks that everybody's gathered until they roll the stone away
from the well's mouth. Then we'll water the sheep until
they do it. Somebody else has got to do it.
My brother John Chapman had a wonderful thing on this, and he said, all
those people sitting around, it's high noon, underneath the
shade tree, just talking and being lazy. That's what they
was doing, wasn't it? Well, that's a great stone, that's
a heavy stone, that's hard work. Wait till somebody else comes
to do it. Wait till somebody else shows up and do it for us.
The prophets of old, the apostles, and God's preachers in our day,
they're not lazy. They're not lazy. If there's
something put in their hand to do, they're going to get after
it. Like our brother up north. The officer says, why don't you
come down here? He said, Lord may be pleased to make that water
go down. I got preached tomorrow. His job is to move stones. Well,
that stone happened to be water and mud. He's out there shoveling
at 4 AM. They're not lazy people. If old Phillip was sent to that
eunuch, the angel of the Lord came to him and said, Phillip,
arise. You go down there. And Philip went. And know what
Jacob did? He went. He got after it. He went. And he said, and he
got to that Ethiopian eunuch. He said, you know what you're
reading? You understand that? And he said, how can I accept
a man should guide me? And he desired that Philip, he
would come and sit with him. I can't move this rock. There's
stones in the way. And Philip opened his mouth and
beginning at the same scripture and preached unto him, Jesus.
He didn't give him, well, let me tell you my pedigree. I've
been studying J.C. Ryle for 75 years, and I went
to this seminary, and I did this, and I did that. No, he just cut
straight to the cross, didn't he? Move over, I'll tell you. They're given the strength to
handle this heavy burden. The Lord's prophets of old, his
apostles, his preachers down. They have backbones of steel
and hide like a crocodile, our friend used to say, didn't he?
And they're harmless as doves. They're tender and gentle as
doves. End of verse two says, a great stone was upon the whale's
mouth. Heavy stone, isn't it? That's
hard work. We read about Moses. He was 120
years old when he died. That's old, isn't it? That's of years. And his eyes was not dim, nor
his natural force abated. He was strengthened, had his
strength to the end, didn't he? We know several of those now,
too. Our brother just come preach to us a couple weeks ago. Flew
all the way across the country, got here late at night, got up
early next morning, sleeping in a bed that wasn't his, eating
food that he ain't used to eating, and got up and preached. Our
brothers of the past, medical conditions, they can't walk from
here to the door. And if God enables them, they get up and
they preach. Don't they? That's His doing. Why? That all the glory is His, and
they'll tell you about it. That's what they'll get up and tell
you. Jacob rolled away that big old heavy stone all by himself.
That burden was his. It says in verse 10, it came
to pass when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's
brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, that Jacob
went near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered
the flock of Laban, his mother's brother. The Lord enabled him
and the Lord made him willing. He didn't have to do it just
because, well, nobody else can do it. I guess I'll have to. Somebody's gotta do it, or well,
you know. It's just what the right thing to do is. I'll just
stand up and do it." Now, he was willing to do that out of
love when he saw Rachel, when he saw those sheep. So we're
reading Isaiah. He heard the voice of the Lord
saying, whom shall I send and whom will go forth? And he said,
here am I, send me. Here am I, send me. You see the
pattern in all these things, because it's the same, isn't
it? These are all just servants. That's all they are. They're
just that, servants. I've been talking to you about
what Jacob is here. and they're not above their master. Who does
all this point to? Every bit of this. This one that
comes in authority from his father's house into this heathen land
looking for a bride. He sees her and he sees these
sheep. He moves a stone by himself. He waters. Everybody else sit
around and they can't do it or won't do it. He willfully does
it out of love. That's where all of our instruction
comes from. For believers, when we preach Christ and Him crucified,
we are responsible for going into all this world and proclaiming
the gospel and baptizing those that believe and training them
up, teaching them, I got to teach you these things. And if He raises one
of you all up to preach one day, behave these things. But why?
Is that just good instruction? No, it's cause of Him, isn't
it? Because of him. Here's the picture. We read there
in Hebrews 1, who being the brightness of his glory, the express image
of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power,
when he had by himself purged our sins. Jacob by himself moved
that great heavy stone, didn't he? We had a heavy stone on us
and Christ moved it. all by himself so we could have
the waters of life and drink freely of them. That's what he
did. And he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high because
it's finished. It's finished. Mankind put moved
stones out of the way and then stones keep coming right back.
I'll go clean off that road on the way to the city. And by the
time I get the end of the road, it's already rocks and trees
fell at the beginning of it. Don't end. Our feet get dirty
in this world, don't they? Christ our head, he removed the
stones in the desert that we may freely drink and live. He
left his father's house in the promised land. Know what Jacob
did? To journey afar off in a dry and thirsty land in a desert,
in a wilderness where nothing is live. And nobody can do anything
about it. And he did all that to get to
his lovely bride, and he did it with joy. I want to turn to
a few things and then hopefully be quick with you. John chapter
four. John chapter four. I thought about doing a series
of women at the well. The Lord met a lot of women at
wells, didn't he? It might be much better to be
the one who's at the well. Who is the well, isn't it? John
4, verse 4. It says, and he must needs go
through Samaria. He must needs. Then they come
into the city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the parcel
of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well
was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied
with his journey. Where'd he go? He went somewhere.
He went to Samaria, because he must need to go through there.
Was he journeying? Jacob was on a journey, wasn't
he? Our Lord was wearied with his journey, sat thus on a whale
about the sixth hour, high noon. Why was he wearied? He was made
like we are, tempted in all points, just like us, yet without sin,
bearing our burdens, relatable to us. He got tired. Why? Because I get tired. Because
you get tired. And there cometh a woman of Samaria
to draw water, and Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. His
disciples were gone to the city to buy meat. And then saith the
woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, Being a Jew,
who's that? Well, she's speaking about the
physical offspring of Abraham. Who's Jacob? The physical offspring
of Abraham, isn't it? How is thou being a Jew? Ask
of me, ask drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria. For the
Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Why was Jacob in
Haran? I said, what are you doing here? Y'all left a long time
ago. We ain't got no dealings with
you. And Jesus answered and said unto
her, if thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith
to thee, give me drink thou wouldst have asked him, and he would
have given thee living water. What's the Lord doing? He's pouring
his words on her right now. It'll soak in in a few more verses,
but he's pouring out the words right now, that water of love.
And the woman said to him, sir, thou hast nothing to draw with.
The well's deep from whence, then hast thou had this living
water. Well, we can't move that stone. They are gonna have to
move stuff while they stand right in front of them. The one that
can, the one that's able. Art thou greater than our father
Jacob, which gave us this well and drank thereof himself and
his children and his cattle? And Jesus answered, Senator,
whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst,
but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of
water springing up into everlasting life. For us to drink something
big and heavy, it's got to be moved on it. And there's going
to be a well in us, and that's going to ever spring. It won't
be covered, but that rock's going to have to be moved. What stone
is moved? I'll come up with four of them.
Hope this will be easy for you. Four stones that the Lord's moved
for us. The first one's a stone of the law. Turn over Galatians
3. That law was written on stone, wasn't it? It wasn't on wood.
It wasn't on sheepskin. It was on stone because it was
unbendable and it was unchangeable. And it was heavy. Heavy. A great
stone. A mighty stone. Here in Galatians
3, verse 10 says, For as many as are of the works of the law
are under the curse of the law. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them." That's heavy, isn't it?
That's a heavy stone. How many is that? All. And you
got to agree with them and be thankful for it. But that no
man is justified by the law on the side of God, it's evident.
For the just shall live by faith. And the law is not a faith, but
the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law. That big heavy stone that was
on us, he's redeemed us from that, being made a curse for
us, bearing that, wasn't it? For it's written, cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree, that the blessings of Abraham might
come on the Gentiles. Why did Jacob move that stone?
So Rebecca and her sheep could drink. That's a blessing from
Abraham right then, wasn't it? Oh, what was that picture? Christ
moving that stone. all those promises and covenant
promises he's given to Abraham and every one of his children
after that might come to us Gentiles. Us in a faraway land, us that
ain't related, us that's foreign to them, isn't it? Through Jesus
Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith. Through faith. And Jacob's come to us, this
great one, to make us one with himself, like Rachel was. We read in Romans 9, 6, that
not all Israel, that are Israel, huh? All that, they're talking
about Israel. Not everybody that's in the physical
Israel is spiritual Israel. Jacob's gonna have his name changed
here in a couple chapters, isn't it? To Israel. And you know that's
so, I can't remember who it was or when it was, but somebody
smarter than me, they said, that's, that's speaking of Jacob, isn't
it? Not all Jacobs are Jacobs. Every one of us born of Adam,
we're all Jacobs. We're sinful deceivers and cheats and liars
and supplanters and every one of us, ain't we? But not all
of them are Jacobs. Not all of them know it. Do you
know that? Paul said to the church at Colossae,
he said, and you being dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision
of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven
you all trespasses and blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us. We couldn't get that water. Can't
get through that stone of the law, can we? Which was contrary
to us. And he took it out of the way,
fulfilling it fully and nailing it to his cross. That stone was
moved. We can't keep it. What's the
result of us not being able to keep that stone? Sin. That's
a second stone. Turn over Luke 17. The breaking
of that law. Well, which one? People, which
one did I break? Yes. Get out of the details and
just know your sin or the Lord's done you a favor. The breaking
of the law, the moral law, the civil law, the ceremonial law,
all of it. The whole kit and caboodle. I looked up caboodle. You know what that means? Totality.
We broke the law in totality. That's what we are. Luke 17 verse
1. He said unto his disciples, It
is impossible, but that offenses will come. That's going to happen.
You will have stones in your road, but woe unto him through
whom they come. I want to be one that removes
stones and trees and not one that throws one in the way. through
words, deeds, actions, facial expressions, whatever. I don't
want to be an offense to the gospel. I don't want to bring
reproach on the gospel. It were better for him that a
millstone were hanged around his neck and he cast in the sea
than he should offend one of these little ones. What's that? That stone of sin just sinks
us to the depths, doesn't it? What sins? He's talking about
offending little ones. That's what we was doing. I said it
over and over and over. Remember when you was at war
with God? Remember when you hated His people? Well, I never did
that. Well, He's going to show us what we are. We were at war
with the Lord. We were at war with His law.
Fighting and biting, doing anything. Well, what about this? What about
that? What do I have to do the minimum to keep? Well, let's
not talk about medium wealth stakes yet. We're talking about
this stuff because we know better. A man wants to keep a Sabbath
and keep the easiest one he can. That's at war with the law. Bow
to it. Agree with it. Keep it. We can't. Can't move
that very heavy stone, can we? And so that's sin. That's sin. And to do it to one of these
little ones, to do it to him. And when it came to Saul, he
said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? For the Lord revealed
Christ to me and moved that stone out of the way. I was at war
with him. I was at war with his law. I was at war with his people.
It'd have been better if all that stuff just drowned me in
the sea. Because outside of Christ, I was meeting a holy God that
I offended, who he's one with his people. But God. But God. Peter spoke of him. He said, he did no sin, neither
was guile found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, We were
the ones reviling him. He reviled not again. When he
suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him
that judges righteously. He just looked to the Father.
That's all he did. Who his own self bare our sins
in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should
live under righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed. He moved
that stone of sin. He fulfilled that, every jot
and tittle, that stone of the law, didn't he? For we were all
sheep grown stray, but now are returned to the shepherd and
bishops of your soul. If all the sheep's going to a
well, where are they gonna converge? They're gonna be shoulder to
shoulder, hooked up to that well, ain't it? They'll drink, they're
thirsty. Christ freed us from the law,
freed us from our sin, the power of sin, the guilt of sin, We're
still guilty. We know what we are. I know I
have sin in me, and we ought never condone sin. But he's freed
us from the power of it, doesn't reign over us. He freed us from
the guilt of it. He bore our guilt. That's impossible with
man. And someday, the presence of
sin Either he comes or I'll go to him, and we'll knock his stuff
off. We won't have to be around it
no more, because we'll be made like him. That'll be good, won't
it? What's the third stone? Death. Freed us from the law,
freed us from sin, move that out the way, and death. That's
what we have to go through to be made like him. Turn to Mark
16. Mark 16. Mark 16, verse 1. And when the
Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James
and Salome had bought sweet spices that they might come and anoint
him. And very early in the morning, on the first day of the week,
they came into the sepulcher at the rising of the sun. They
got up early, brought those very costly spices, didn't they? And
they said among themselves, who shall roll away The stone from
the door of the sepulcher. Who's going to move this stone?
We can't do it. It's a great stone. It's a heavy
stone. And when they had looked, they
saw that the stone was rolled away, for it was very great. They were going to anoint the
Lord's body. Well, death's in the way. Why would we anoint him? He stinks like everybody else
does, doesn't it? No. There's a big old stone. What
are we going to do? Now, that stone's great. It's moved away, isn't it? And
entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting
on the right side, clothed in a long white garment, and they
were frightened. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted.
Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified? He is risen. He's not here. Behold the place
where they laid him. The stone of death you're so
worried about is one that went before us. He's risen. He's risen. That stone's moved. Well, I can't
move it. No, you can't move it. They're
going to have to move it. Well, he did. He did, didn't
he? Paul said in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye at the last trump, for the trump shall sound
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. We shall be changed
for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal
must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption. And this mortal shall have put
on immortality. Then shall they be brought to
pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. Well,
that's already been took care of. That's what we looked at
before. What? And the strength of sin is the law. Well, that's
been took care of too. He fulfilled it. Thanks be to
God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain
in the Lord. Now my feet's picked up. You see that? On this journey. Is your feet
picked up on this journey? Don't that make you just want
to get after it? Let's clear the roads right now. That's all that's what's been
done. How are we going to find out about it? How are we going to know? One
more stone's got to be moved, isn't it? You can agree with
every bit of that and die and go to hell. Do you know that?
They won't be a new birth. You can say that's accurate.
That's accurate. I know that's the gospel because of this, this,
this, this, this. You ain't bound to it. That's a city refuge right
there. I count these blocks, and that one right there is brown,
and this is kind of off white. It's, no, there's three hinges
on the door. That ain't in it, is it? Lord's
got to move one more stone. Turn over Ezekiel 36. You know
what I'm talking about, don't you? You know exactly where we're
going. Ezekiel 36. All of this was done before we
ever showed up, wasn't it? Especially in our day. Every
bit of this took place before I was ever born. This was purposed
in a promised land between a father and a son, long before. Ezekiel 36, verse
22. Therefore say unto the house
of Israel, thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes,
O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have
profaned among the heathen wherever you went. And I will sanctify
my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have
profaned in the midst of them. And the heathen shall know that
I am the Lord, saith the Lord God. when I shall be sanctified
in you before their eyes. Oh, all this stuff that they've
just blasphemed, the man's blasphemed. The Lord's gonna make this effectual,
and they're gonna see his name's holy when I work in you. For
I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of
all the countries, and will bring you into your own land, and I
will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean from
all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse
you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I
put in you, and I will take away the stony heart. Now's when we're
getting to it. Well, the stone's the law, because
the law is unbendable. Yes, these are facts. It's true.
We have to know these things, don't we? If the Lord's going
to get to our hearts, it's going to go through our heads. But when we realize the biggest
stone I've got the problem of is this stony heart. That's the
problem with all of it. When I have a stony heart, reveals
that. He said, I will take away the
stony heart. I can't move my stony heart. You can't give yourself
life. You can't give your children
life. You can't give your mommy and daddy life and everybody
else. He has to do it. He said, I will take away the
stony heart out of your flesh and I'll give you a heart of
flesh and I'll put my spirit within you and cause you to walk
in my statutes and you shall keep my judgments and do them.
Why? Because of Christ dwelling in
us. And you shall dwell in the land that I give to your fathers.
Where's Jack going to take Rachel back to? Back where God promised
him. And you shall be my people, and
I will be your God. Oh, now all them other stones
make sense, don't they? Now we're going to jump for joy.
What's the result of all this? Buckinger text, Genesis 29. We'll
close. Genesis 29, verse 10. And it came to pass when Jacob
saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and the
sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, that Jacob went near.
He drew nigh to us, didn't he? Did we find God or did he find
us? He drew near. And he rolled the stone from
the well's mouth and watered the flock of Laban, his mother's
brother. And Jacob kissed Rachel. He kissed her. In our day, if
me and Kierma went on our first date, and she's sitting in that
little green car, and I know what she's wearing, and she'd
have rolled that window down, I just didn't say nothing. I
just walked up and watered Duncan and kissed you on the back of
her dog. What is, arrest that man. That's
forward for our generation, isn't it? That's a little bold. He kissed Rachel. He went, he
moved the stone, he watered her sheep, and he walked up and he
kissed her. He declared his love publicly. He made it known to
her, her provider was there. And he kissed her with a holy
kiss. You know what we're told to do?
Kiss each other with a holy kiss. Kiss the son, lest he be angry. Will you kiss him? Will you kiss
the son? Yeah, I sure will. Why? He first kissed you. You
love him? Of course you do. Why? He first
loved you. And we didn't know nothing about
it. All that work and all that walk and all that journeying
that he was doing until he rolled this stony hard way. Until he did it. And he lifted
up his voice. and wept. Our Lord lifted up
his voice. It's finished! Isn't it? With
a loud cry. And when he saw our death, when
he saw Lazarus, what did he say? Jesus wept. He wept. That one that was made like in
us. Tears of joy and tears of compassion. He wept. Jacob kissed Rachel and lifted
up his voice and wept. And Jacob told Rachel, That's
what he does. After everything's done, he tells
us about it. The Holy Spirit comes and informs us. Jacob told
Rachel that he was her father's brother and that he was Rebecca's
son. And she ran and told her father.
Excited. Excited, she ran. She went. That's
what Jacob was doing. Went. Her feet lifted up. She
went in slippers. She was flip-flopping. Getting
it. She run the race set before her,
doing what? Telling of her kinsman redeemer
that just showed up. Let me tell you about a man.
I met at a well. Did you drink from that well?
I couldn't. You ain't got nothing to draw
water out of this well. This one had a big stone on it.
That's impossible with me, isn't it? Who is the living waters? He gives the living waters, doesn't
he? Gives lives, this man. Well, I pray the Lord's with
us, blesses that to our hearts. If we'll, Brother Andre and Trevor,
if y'all would come hand out the elements.