God said, Jacob have I loved.
And when the Lord finally revealed that to Jacob, Jacob surely thought,
how can it be? How can this be? Psalm 146 again. This is our text. This is the verse. Psalm 146. It prompted this message. I've been reading through Genesis
for my own profit and pleasure. And the Psalms again. I just happened to come across
this Psalm as I was reading about Jacob. Verse 5 says, Happy is he that hath the God
of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his
God. God is the God of Jacob. He says
that many times. You know, he calls himself by
that the God of Jacob more than any other. He's the God of Abraham,
Isaac, the God of Jacob over and over and over again. He says
that. I'm the God of Jacob. If you know this God, He's the
living and true God. He's the only God. If you know
this God, the God of Jacob, and you believe that you're just
like Jacob, you're blessed. And I hope you leave this place
happy, okay? Because you have the God of Jacob
for your health. Two points, two simple points. The God of Jacob. and the Jacob
of God. The God of Jacob. This is a living
and true God. Who is He? Well, what is He like? He's sovereign. God is sovereign. Listen. This is what God says
about Himself. See now, that I, even I am He. There is no God with me. Little
G, little ruler. Nobody rules, controls anything,
God says, but me. My dad used to say that. See
now, and buddy, I sat up and listened. Now see here, son,
it says, I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. There's none that can deliver
out of My hand and everything and everyone, are you listening
to me, is in God's hands. Not figuratively, but literally. Not hopefully, but actually in
His hands. The God in whose hands our breath
is. And Psalm 106.5, I believe it
is, he says, he taketh away their breath and they die. Because
he said, I kill. I make a life. He created life. He sustains life. He's God over
all. He's sovereign. Listen to this.
You know these Scriptures. Don't we love them? I am the
Lord. There is none else. There's no
God beside me. I girded thee. I clothed you,
though you didn't know me, that they might know. I'm telling
you this, he says, that they might know from the rising of
the sun from the east to the west. There's none beside me.
I am the Lord. There's none else. I form the
light. I create darkness. I make peace. I create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. This is God. This is the true
God. Living and true God. Meaning,
God's not a part of our life. We're a part of His. Anybody
that says that, God's a part of my life, doesn't know God. In Him we live and move and have
our being. He's God. Not a want to be, not
hopes to be, not if you let Him be. He said, I am that I am. What? Everything. God. He's sovereign. He's holy. This is the God of the Bible.
This is the God who is God. This is the God of the universe.
Holy. The angels. Isaiah saw Him. In
chapter 6, he said, I saw the Lord. I lifted up. The train
filled the temple. The whole earth is full of His
glory. It says the chair of His seraphims cried out His chief
attribute. This is what they said of the
God who is God, the Lord who is Lord, King of kings, Lord
of lords. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. And everything
trembled at His holiness. And Isaiah, when he saw that
Lord, he feared the Lord. And he said, woe is me, I'm undone,
I'm an unclean man, and everybody around me is too. What are we
going to do? God is holy. God is just. In Isaiah 45, same chapter, it
says, I'm a just God. First thing. Holy, just, righteous. The righteous Lord loveth righteousness. Psalm 99 says His name is holy,
His throne is holy, His kingdom is holy. Holy, holy, holy is
the Lord God. The righteous Lord loveth righteousness. And this holy, just, and righteous
God will punish sin. He does punish sin. Every sin
will receive a just recompense, a reward, because God is just.
It means everything that's done wrong will be punished. Right? He said, I will by no
means, in Exodus 33, by no means clear the guilty. Isn't it? This is the God of the Bible,
who is to be feared, the head in reverence of all them that
are about Him, that we repent toward. The God is sovereign. He has you and everything about
you and everyone around you and everything in His hands, always
has, always will. He's holding. He's just. He's righteous. He will punish
sins. He will not clear the guilty.
But, or and, God is merciful. Full of mercy. Delights to show
mercy. God is gracious. God of all graces. Giveth, giveth, giveth more grace. God is giving, or gracious and
giving. God is forgiving. Pardoneth iniquity. But he said, I'll pardon whom
I will. It's sovereign mercy. It's sovereign
grace. It's sovereign forgiveness. It's
sovereign love. He said, I will have mercy. I
will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. I will show mercy
to whom I will show mercy. Right? This is the God of the
Bible, the God who is God. Turn to Psalm 85 with me. Psalm 85, and you'll want to
mark this. You'll want to read it again
and again and again the next time. But Psalm 85, look at this. It says, now we're going to look
at Jacob here in a minute. Oh, happy is he that hath the
God of Jacob, it says. Now this is the God of Jacob.
Sovereign, holy, just, righteous, who will punish sin, will not
clear the guilty. He's merciful. He delights to
show mercy. Psalm 85, verse 1, Lord, thou
hast been favorable unto thy land. Thou hast brought back
the captivity of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity
of thy people. Thou hast covered all their sin. See, stop and think about that. There's a lot of sin to cover,
John. And he goes on to say, Turn us,
O God. Verse 7, Show us thy mercy, O
Lord. Grant us thy salvation. Verse
8, he says, I'll hear what God the Lord will speak. He'll speak
peace to his people. He's saying, Let him not turn
again to father. Surely his salvation is nigh
them that fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Here it
is. Here it is. And this is what Jacob says. We're going to look at it. Mercy
and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace kiss
each other. Truth springs out of the earth.
Righteousness looks down from heaven. Yes, the Lord is going
to save us. Has saved us. We get saved. This is the God of Jacob who
is merciful, gracious, forgiving. Psalm 86, look at verse 15. Thou, O Lord, art a God full
of compassion, gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth."
Mercy and truth, mercy and truth, mercy and truth. And there's
no greater object of God's mercy and grace and love than Jacob. Yes, the God of Jacob is a God
of mercy, grace, forgiveness, pardon, and love. God is love. It's sovereign love. Right? Malachi 1, Jacob have
I loved. Jacob didn't love God for a long
time until he found out God loved him first. Jacob have I loved. And we're
going to see there's nothing about Jacob for God to love. You wouldn't love him. You wouldn't
love Him. And if you feel like Jacob, you
say the same thing. How can it be? But Jacob have I loved, God said.
Listen to this. Jeremiah 31. You won't want to
turn there. You'll definitely want to read
this with me. I think Brother Chapman preached from there.
Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31. Look at this. Now he's talking to his people
and he's talking to Jeremiah the prophet. He's not talking
to everybody in the world, is he? This is not written to everybody
in the world. This is written to his people
and his prophet, right? And you see this everywhere. You see it on the back of semi-trucks.
You see it on signs of people that are against abortion. No,
this is for God's people. Verse 1, At that time, saith
the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel. They shall be my people, my chosen
people, my elect. Thus saith the Lord, the people
left of the sword found grace in the wilderness, grace in God's
eyes, like Noah, like Enoch, like Lot, like me. And I have
caused him to rest. The Lord hath appeared of old
unto me, saying, Yea, yea, Say this, say it with me. Yay! That's a shout of victory. Yay! I have loved thee with an
everlasting love. Meaning that whoever God loves,
He loves them forever. And whoever God loves, He saves.
Love cannot fail. His love, perfect love. Therefore, With loving kindness
have I drawn thee. How does God draw his people?
How is he going to draw Jacob to himself? A man. Chords of
a man. Chords of love, of mercy, and
grace. Yes, Malachi 1 says, Jacob have
I loved. And they say, wherein hast thou
loved me? He said, was not Jacob Esau's brother? Was not Jacob just like Esau? Worse. But Jacob have I loved. Are you
hearing me? Patrick, we're Jacob. Now let's look at the Jacob of
God. That's the God of Jacob. Oh, happy, blessed is he that
hath the God of Jacob. Sovereign God, holy, just and
righteous. God's justice, listen to me.
We trust in His justice. We're grateful for His justice.
Because it says the soul that sinneth must surely die. But
now, if Christ died for me, and I trust Him, God says I cannot
die. He will not punish me. You hear
me? His justice has been satisfied. His justice declares that, turn
him loose, a ransom has been found. You see, God's justice
that will by no means clear the guilty. If somebody is found
in Christ, if Christ, who shall lay anything, the charge of God's
elect is God to justify. Who is He that condemneth? What? Christ died. That's the justice of God. He
cannot damn a sinner for whom Christ died. Smile. See, justice that is fearful
as yet is wonderful. All right, let's look at the
Jacob of God, the one that God loved. The one that God loves
and shows mercy to and truth, salvation. Who is Jacob? Who
is Jacob? Go back to Genesis 25. Genesis
25. Who is Jacob? I'll tell you who
Jacob is. He's a sinner. That's all he is. That's all
he was when God found him. And that's what he was all the
days of his life. Genesis 25. Look at verse 26.
Rebecca, his mother, They had twins, twins, both of
them, just alike. Well, they looked a little different,
but they're the same. In sin did their mother conceive
them. Alright? And the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, they're both going
to do plenty of that evil. It was said unto her, Jacob I
loved, and Esau have I hated. Well, they came out, verse 26,
if they came out, Esau came out first, and verse 26, and after
that came his brother out. This is Jacob. And his hand took
hold on Esau's heels. No, no! Jacob's in the womb, and Esau
goes out first, and Jacob says, No, me! I want to be first! And his mother named him. Now
Jacob is not a noble name. It means supplanter. What kind
of mother would name her child Jacob? Hope. A mother who has hope for
Jacob. We're all a bunch of Jacobs,
supplanters. We come out of the womb. Me. Mine. Huh? It's all about me. Somebody pay attention to me.
I want that for me. It doesn't belong to you. You
don't deserve it. But I want it. I'll take it. Supplanter, meaning one that
wants to go first. Isn't that all of us? Our kids
come forth from the womb. My, my, me, my. You know, I told
you this, but it shocked me when I first saw it. I knew my daughter
was a sinner. You know, we were around her
all the time. Our granddaughter, first one, I thought, she's a
pretty good girl. But one day, and she was fine
until her sibling came along. All right? There's some rivalry
there. And they were sitting on the couch one day, Isabella,
sweet, little kind, Isabella, you got that pretty little smile,
still does. She's a sinner. But she's sitting
there and Sophie's sitting there playing with something, Isabella,
and she didn't know I saw it. She just went, grabbed it. Just
grabbed it away from Sophie. And I thought, I can't believe
what I just saw. She is a sinner, caring only
about herself. It doesn't matter who I hurt,
who I walk over to get it. I want it. I'm going to go get
it. It's mine. No, you don't deserve anything. You know what mercy means? Not
getting what you deserve. You know what grace means? Getting
what you don't deserve. This is the truth. Everything we have comes from
God and it's by His grace. And we don't deserve any of it. False religion says everybody
deserves a chance to be saved. No, everybody deserves to be
damned. And salvation is of the Lord. And He doesn't give it
to those that deserve it. He doesn't give it to those that
are worthy of it. He gives it to those who, like Jacob, says, unworthy! Mercy! But he came out of the
womb saying, My! Thankfully God heard him say,
You're a wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, and you
don't deserve anything from my hand. But I've loved you, and
I've bought you, and will save you. And God came to him and
just told him everything he's going to do for him. Everything
he had done, everything he is doing, everything he will do.
And nothing and no one can stop it. I'm on my way to the end of my
story. I had to tell the end from the
beginning. This is the Jacob of God. He's a sinner. Well,
he's sent away in chapter 28. Go over to chapter 28. Well, it's 27. I want to show
you this. Chapter 27. You remember he cheated. He supplanted
his brother coming out of the womb. And then Isaac, Esau came
in one day from hunting and Jacob was a mama's boy. He's like 40
years old living at home. And Esau, you would have chosen
Esau. He was like Esau better than Jacob. He was a provider. He went out hunting. He was an
outdoors man. He wasn't weak. He was strong. He was a provider
and he came in and he provided his dad. He hunted deer for his
dad, brought it in. His dad loved his son. Loved
him best. And Rebecca, his mother, he was
a mama's boy. He stayed at home, dwelling in
tents. Well, Esau, you know the story.
Esau came home one day from hunting, and he was tired and he was hungry,
and he said to Jacob, give me some of those red beans and rice,
those pinto beans and rice. Give me a bowl of that, I'm starving.
And Jacob said, what kind of brother would do this? His brother's hungry. His brother's
faint. He needs something. And Jacob said, sell me a birthright.
I'll give this to you, sell me something." What? Are you hearing
me? Now listen, Esau, you know, was
hated by God because he didn't care about God, didn't care about
the birthright, all of that. But this is not about Esau, this
is about Jacob. Jacob sold food to his brother. What kind of person would do
that? I'll give you something to eat if you give me something. Give me that birthright. And
we know this was of the Lord. But what kind of sorry person
would do something like that? All right? A little while later,
remember, his dad, his old dad, is about blind and deaf like
my old dad was. And Jacob came in and deceived
his father and lied to his father. His father said, are you Esau?
He said, I am. You got that venison? How did
you get it? The Lord gave it to me. He's a liar. He's a cheat. He's
a deceiver. He's a supplanter. He's no good. But that's another wonderful
type of Christ. You've heard that, haven't you?
How Rebekah made Him appear to be who He was not, smell like,
and bring the meat. His Father loved the savory sacrifice. That's all a picture of Christ.
Esau. But we're looking at Jacob. He's no good. He's out for Himself. Anybody? Anybody live like Him? He's in his forties. He's never
given God a thought. What's He want the birthright
for? It's where the advantages are. People turn Christian for
advantage, you know that? People get saved and turn Christian
for advantage, don't they? People put fish on their business
signs to get business. Don't know the Lord. He didn't
know the Lord. He wanted the advantage. It came with it. Sorry, fella. And his brother said concerning
him, look at chapter 27, when he came in, verse 36, Esau said, Is not he rightly
named Jacob? Look what he's done to me twice
now. And verse 41, Esau hated Jacob. And you know, humanly speaking,
you would too. Somebody treated me so bad like this. My brother! And he says, I'm going to kill
him. One of these days, when my father's gone, when dad's
dead, Esau says, I'm going to kill him. And he was determined to kill
this no good sinner, brother of his. A brother? A friend? Sorry. When dad's gone, I'm going
to kill him. Ironically, in the sovereign
irony of God, all the sons of Jacob thought after Jacob died,
Joseph's going to kill us. He's going to kill us now. Oh
no, he's not like you. The Lord is going to change Esau,
and Esau here is going to represent our Lord Himself. Alright? His mind, his heart, has changed
toward Jacob. They became reconciled. How? God. Sovereignty of God. So he
sent away, chapter 28, verse, look at this. Chapter 28, I've
got to hurry. Old Jacob is sent away and his
parents, his father, called on the Lord for him. Verse 3, he
doesn't know God. He's lost. Jacob's lost. He's
going out into the world. And his father Isaac called Jacob,
verse 3, and says, God Almighty bless thee, son, make thee fruitful
and multiply thee. Verse 4, give thee the blessing
of Abraham, to thee of thy seed after thee, that you may inherit
the land. Son, I hope and pray that God will spare you and have
mercy upon you and God will save your soul and bring you back
home someday to dwell with your people. And isn't that the prayer
of every child of God for their children? His father, his mother
prayed. Esau was married. Esau didn't
know God, didn't love God. His wives, he was married to
two heathen women. And it says they were a constant
grief to Isaac and Rebekah. The unbelieving son Esau and
his unbelieving wives were a constant grief to Esau. And they prayed,
Jacob, son, oh, I hope God will make you to differ. I hope God
will bring you home someday to us. And you'll marry one of God's
people. That's what they said. Is that
your hope? Is that your prayer, brother?
Is that your hope and prayer for your children? And he left. Jacob left. He had no God. He's 40-some years
old. He's headed out in the world,
Ricky. What's he going to do? He's going to get rich. He's going to get rich. He's
going to marry twice. He's going to have concubines.
He's going to have a messed up life. And all his signs are going
to bring him heartache. Are you with me? Is this not
a familiar story? Is there anybody in here like
this, man? But God, the God of Jacob, is
not going to leave him alone. Like, he's not going to give
him up. He's sent out. He's heading out.
He's wandering, and God found him in a waste, howling wilderness. In chapter 28, it says, verse
11, he lighted upon a certain place. You did too, brother. I did too. A certain place. What's it called?
When it's all over, Jacob said, this is the house of God, and
I didn't know it. And he heard about God. This
is Jacob's ladder, you know. It all speaks of Christ. Well,
what's happening here is Jacob is now an awakened sinner. The
Lord loved him. The Lord chose him. The Lord
purposed to save him. The Lord was going to show mercy
to him, going to show him his truth, his salvation. And it
begins by awakening him. He's sleeping in the sleep of
death. He's dead and trespassing the sin. He's wandering. Far
from home. The God of Jacob is bringing
him to Himself. God of Jacob is bringing Jacob
to see Himself. The God of Jacob is bringing
Jacob to see Him, His God, His salvation, His mercy. And He came to him in this dream. And Jacob, verse 16, awaked out
of his sleep. You know this awakening? This
awakening of a sinner. You know, are there different
kinds of sinners? I thought sinners were sinners. Yeah, they are.
There's sinners who are sinners. But there's awakened sinners.
There's quickened sinners. There's forgiven sinners, pardoned
sinners, justified sinners, calling sinners, kept sinners. Yeah,
he's still a sinner. But he's been awakened now. There's seeking sinners. The
Lord begins to cause Jacob to seek. He must seek. In chapter 29-31, Pedanaram,
you know that story? You remember it with me? It's
just a mess. Everybody. His family. Again, he cheated his father-in-law.
Yes, he did. Didn't he? For himself. To get more cattle. Oh, this was of the Lord. And
what it is, the Lord made him miserable. You hear that? The Lord made him miserable. And that's what the Lord's going
to do to every sinner that He loves and He's chosen. They're
going to be in this world, out for themselves, and God's going
to make them miserable. Bring them to themselves. And
cause them to start seeking the Lord. Seeking mercy. Alright,
now look at chapter 32. Here we go. Here we go. Boy,
it's getting good now. Stay with me. Chapter 32. Oh my. This is my story. This
is my psalm. Praising my Savior all the day
long. Verse 1. Jacob went on his way And the angels of God met him. And they met me one day. One
of them named Henry. Another one named Scott. Another
one named Jack. Another one named Maurice. Met me. One named Rolf. And on and on it goes. Angels.
Messengers. Gospel preachers met him. Oh, lots of angels. You know
that? Lots of angels have kept me. You know, the angels of the
Lord. I'm like that servant of Elijah in 2 Kings 6. You know that? The Lord finally
opened my eyes one day to see that the hills around me were
full of angels. I finally realized I'd been kept
from destroying myself all these days and I didn't know it. God, the Lord that keepeth Israel
preserved me all these years. Should have killed me. Could
have killed me. All these things. Jacob's life. Angels met him. I particularly
like this because my name is in there. Jacob saw them. He
said, this is God's hope. He called the name of that place
Mayhem. Mayhem. That's me. That's me. Jacob,
that's me. Angels of God met me through the preaching of the
gospel one day. I'm looking at angels right now. I'm meeting
right now with angels. You know that? I'm looking in
the face of angels. That loved man. Amazing. Wasn't
it amazing that God sent an angel? Like those spies sent to Rahab.
That God sent to Jacob of all people. Angels. God said, go
angels. Arrest that man. Stop that man. Tell him, I've loved him. I've
chosen him. I'm going to save him. Tell him
what all I'm going to do for him. Stop him. And they did. They met with him. A sinner?
Will angels meet with a sinner? It's the only kind they will. The only kind they will. Well, Jacob is convicted of his
sin. Jacob is troubled and he wants
to go home. And he sends a message. Okay,
now he's a seeking sinner. He's a calling sinner. Look at verse 3. Jacob sent messengers
before him to Esau, his brother, the land of Seir, the country
of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall you speak
unto my lord Esau, thy servant Jacob. I'm your servant. He was
his supplanter. And that was us, wasn't it? Sin
against God, against thee and thee only have I sinned and done
this evil in thy sight. And when God shows us ourselves
our need of mercy and grace, we become His servant, don't
we? We become a seeker. We become a beggar for mercy.
He said, I'm your servant. And He said in verse 5, I have
oxen and asses and flocks and maidservants and menservants
and womenservants, and I've sent to tell my Lord, I want to find
grace in your sight. I've sinned against you. I want
to find grace in your sight. I want to come home. I want to
be reconciled to you. Would you show me grace and mercy? Forgive me? That's the message
he sent to his brother. What did he hear? The messengers
came back. Verse 6, I told your brother
Esau and he's coming to meet you with 400 men. It's going to kill him. You know, when you first hear
the Gospel, tell me, wasn't it so, you found out what a sinner
you were against God? And you were seeking mercy, and
you needed mercy. But you thought, there's no way
He's going to have mercy on me. I am too sinful. And nobody done what I've done. You just don't know. You know,
all the sons of Jacob. He said, I am the Lord. God said,
I am the Lord. I change not. All you sons of Jacob will not be consumed. Because
I change not. My covenant doesn't change. My
purpose doesn't change. My love doesn't change. My promises
don't change. I don't change my mind. My heart
doesn't change. If I set my love on you, if I
set my mind on you, if I've promised you, I will save you. And nothing
and no one will stop that. Aren't you happy? that you have
the God of Jacob. The world hates sovereign love.
I love it. The world hates sovereign mercy. I love it. Because I didn't
want it. I didn't seek it. I didn't ask
for it. But God sent it. God said it. That settles it. Long before I believed it. Right? Oh, bless God. He made that covenant. "...Ordered in all things, ensured."
David said, that ought to be not so with my house. God has
made with me, and everlasting covenant. Me, the chief of sinners.
Now Jacob's a guilty-seeking sinner. You see, there's a different
kind of sinner. He's a praying sinner. Verse 9, Jacob said,
O God, he thought Esau was coming to kill him. He thought the Son
was coming to kill him. He thought the beloved son of
the Father is going to come kill him. He's coming. Scripture says,
Behold, he cometh. Doesn't it? Christ cometh. And
there are some people he's going to kill. And Jacob thought, I'm
one of them. And here's his prayer to God.
O God, who my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the
Lord that sent you sent unto me, return to your country. Here
I am. I'm coming back. He brought me back. He told me
to come. Here I am. I'm coming. He said
that you will deal well with me. I am not worthy of the least
of all the mercies that you've shown me. You've been merciful to me all
my life. I didn't know it. I'm just now realizing. You know
how old Jacob is now? Sixty-five years old. And he says, I'm not worthy of
the least of thy mercies. He had been merciful to me all
my days. And notice what else he said,
and the truth that you've shown me. You keep telling me the truth
of your oath, your covenant, your promise to me, but I can't
believe it. I can't believe that you would
do such a thing for me. I'm not worthy, but I sure am
glad. And here I am. Oh God, please
spare me. When the Son comes, my elder
brother, don't let Him kill me. I know He's coming. And I deserve
to die because of what I've done to Him. Don't let Him kill me. What happens? Go to chapter 33. Prepare to leap your pew. Verse 1, Jacob lifted up his
eyes and looked. Behold, he's coming. With a host
with him, Janette, thousands times tens of thousands and thousands
of thousands, the Son of God is coming. And you know, for once, Jacob
plays the man. He finally plays the man here.
You know that, brother? He finally plays the man before
he's hiding behind his children, hiding behind his wife, he's
hiding behind everybody, he's running. He doesn't care about
anybody but himself now. Aliyah and the children behind
it. He puts Rachel, his love, and Joseph, his beloved son,
all the way back in the back. And he goes out in front and
says, kill me first. Don't kill them, kill me. It's
not their fault. Before he's blaming everybody.
Now he says, it's my fault. All of this is my fault. All
the troubles that they've brought me is my fault. God be merciful to me, the sinner,
and I'm the reason for it all. Right? Here Esau comes. Here the Son
comes. And verse 3 says Jacob bowed
down seven times. Esau's a good ways away. And
Jacob sees him coming. And he bows. He bends the knee. He bows seven times. He goes
prostrate on his face before the Son who's coming. He bows
down. You know what Esau does? Verse 4, he runs to meet Jacob
and lays hold of him and hugs him. and falls on his neck and
kisses him and says, welcome home, my brother. He's not ashamed
to call him brother. This is my story. Is this your
story? Anybody? I see it on your faces. This
is the Jacob of God. Oh, isn't he blessed to have
the God of Jacob. And he, you know, like so many,
he says, before this, Jacob sent oxen and cattle and lambs and
all that to try to appease Esau. Try to appease the offended one.
He sends all this stuff to try to undo what he's done. To try
to pay for what he's done. To find grace. You don't earn
grace. You don't do anything to earn
grace. And he sent all this. Maybe Esau
will accept all this from my hand and I'll find grace in his
eye. No, no, no, no. That's not the way it's done.
You can't pay for it. You can't undo anything you've
done. He sins too great against your elder brother. You can't
do anything. Killed God's son. Well, what's it going to take?
His mercy. His sovereign mercy. His sovereign
grace. He's just going to forgive you.
For his sake. For Christ's sake. And look at
this, and I close. And Jacob said, verse 8, Esau said, what means this by
all this grove which I met? What's all this stuff you sent
to me? I kept meeting all this in the way. And Jacob said, this is to find grace
in the sight of my Lord. Esau said, I have enough, brother. I don't need that. Keep it for
yourself. You know what? Esau was satisfied. He didn't need what Jacob brought
him. He had everything he needed. You know what God says of Christ's
travail and his death and his blood and his righteousness and
everything Jesus Christ did for every sinner? You know what God
says? I'm satisfied. It's enough. I have enough. He's
done enough. And we find grace in God's sight
because of Jesus Christ. That's right. 100%. Well, Jacob still said,
oh, that's just too good to be true. But he said, here, I want
you to have it anyway. Esau said, I don't need it. You
keep it. And he gave back to him everything
he wanted to give back. Isn't that wonderful? Amen. And it says in verse 10, I close,
Now I pray, if I've found grace in your sight, receive this present.
Therefore, I've seen thy faith. I've seen your faith. Though
I'd seen the face of God, Jacob said, I've seen the face of my
elder brother, the one I offended, the one I hated and mistreated. I've seen him as the face of
God, and he's pleased with me. Imagine that. Do you see the salvation of God,
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ? Oh, your salvation. Who is Jacob? Who is Jacob's
God? He's sovereign. He's just. He's holy. He's merciful. He's loving. He's
gracious. He's kind. He will forgive. He
will pardon. Yes, He will. Who is Jacob? Well,
he's a sinner, loved and chosen. He's a sinner who's guilty, yet
pardoned. He's a sinner who's justified, yet he's still a sinner.
He's a sinner who's fearful and thankful. He's a sinner who was
sought, taught, bought, brought. He's a seeker. He's a caller.
He's a crawler. He's a bender. He's a bowler.
He's accepted. He's a saved sinner, that's what
he is. Because Jacob's God is Jacob's God. I bet you. All right. Let's sing a closing
hymn.