I am reading from Psalm 146. Psalm 146. I want to read one verse of Scripture
which will serve as our text this morning. Psalm 146. I read
verse 5. Happy is he that hath the God
of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God. Happy is he that hath the God
of Jacob for his help. Now, this is a name which God
Almighty refers to himself as more than any other name. Did
you know that? The God of Jacob. He refers to
himself by that more than any other title. The God of Jacob. Now, you need to know something
about Jacob. in order to understand Jacob's
God. You need to know something about
Jacob. You need to be a Jacob. You need to be like Jacob or
have the same salvation that Jacob had in order to understand
and to be happy that Jacob's God is your God. Back in Genesis
25, I'm reading Genesis 25. You may not have time to turn
to these with me, but if you'd like to try, I urge you to do
so. Genesis 25, verse 27 and 28,
speaking of Jacob and Esau, his brother, his twin brother. It
says, The boys grew, and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of
the field. And Jacob was a plain man, dwelling
in tents. And Isaac loved Esau because
he did eat of his venison, but Rebecca loved Jacob. Who was Jacob? Well, Jacob was
a very plain, ordinary man. That's what it says, a plain
man, dwelling in tents. There's nothing remarkable about
Jacob, nothing extraordinary about Jacob, a very plain, ordinary,
average, common, man or human being. But this is what distinguished
Jacob from Esau. This is the distinguishing mark
of Jacob. The extraordinary thing about
Jacob was God Almighty said in Malachi 1, He said, Jacob have
I loved. And that's quoted in Romans chapter
9 also by the Apostle Paul. Jacob have I loved and he went
on to say Esau. but Esau have I hated." Jacob
have I loved. God Almighty set His love, His
sovereign love upon this old, ordinary, common, plain man named Jacob. Not Esau, but
Jacob. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. And hated does not mean loveless. God cannot love anyone less than
another. His love is perfect. Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. So Jacob was a man who was loved
and chosen by God Almighty. And so it is with all of God's
elect, all of God's beloved. They're called the beloved of
God. They're not extraordinary in themselves. They're not nothing
lovely in themselves, as we're going to see about Jacob in a
moment. But they're plain, common sons of Adam. All the sons of
Jacob, which God calls His people by the name, sons of Jacob. All the sons of Jacob were but
common, ordinary sons of Adam. But they are chosen and loved
by God Almighty. That's what distinguishes them
from the rest. So Jacob is a common, ordinary,
man just like his brother, but God loved him. God chose him. Jacob is a sinner. Jacob's a
sinner. If you know the story of Jacob,
you know how he deceived his, tricked his brother into selling
him the birthright. By the way, Esau sold the birthright,
which was typical of the blessings of God and all the things of
God as spiritual things of the people of God, he willingly rejected
and sold that birthright for a morsel of meat, the Scripture
said. To get his belly full for a pot
of lentils or beans, he said, I don't care about God, I don't
care about the things of God. He sold them to Jacob. But Jacob
deceived his brother. And then later on, Jacob deceived
his own father in Genesis chapter 27. And after he deceived his
own father, his brother Esau came in and in verse 36 of chapter
27, Esau says this about Jacob. Is not he rightly named Jacob? The name Jacob means supplanter,
means cheat, means usurper, a deceiver. He says, is he not rightly named
Jacob? And you know the name which we're
called by in Scripture? It's sinners. We're called sinners
by God Almighty. Not sweet, lovely, kind, righteous
people. No, but sinners. Are we not rightly
named? Are we not rightly named? That's
what we are by choice, by practice, by birth. Sinners. All right,
Jacob was a sinner. A common, ordinary sinner. But God chose him. God loved
him. And Jacob was chosen by God in
chapter 28. Chosen to know, to believe, to
walk with God. Chosen to be saved by God. Genesis 28. Jacob was on his
way out into the world to look for a wife. He left his parents'
home and he was going out into the world to make a way for himself.
He was looking for a wife. He didn't know God, wasn't looking
for God, seeking God. Jacob is a lost man here. Jacob's
lost at this time, like all sons of Jacob, until in God's good
time, God who chose him, God who set his love upon him, God
Almighty comes to find Jacob. He's lost. What does it mean
to be lost? It means you can't find your way. It means you're
not even looking. But God Almighty, salvation is for God to find
us, for Christ, who is that shepherd, to find his lost sheep. Well,
Jacob, here in chapter 28, says, went out of Beersheba and went
toward Haran. He lighted upon a certain place,
tarried there all night because the sun was set. He took the
stones of that place and put them for his pillows lay down
in that place to sleep. Now, Jacob is on his way out
into the world, as I said. He doesn't have anything. He
doesn't have much. He's camping out one night under
the stars, and it says he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set
up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And
behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold,
the Lord stood above that ladder. and said, I am the Lord God of
Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac, the land whereon
thou liest, to thee will I give it, to thy seed, and thy seed
shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad
to the west, the east, the north, and the south, and in thee and
in thy seed shall all families of the earth be blessed. And
behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither
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." Old Jacob, plain old ordinary
Jacob, not seeking God, didn't know God. He's lost. He lays
down one night. to sleep, and God Almighty comes
to him, appears to him, and tells him who he is, tells Jacob that
he is his God, the God of his father, Abraham and Isaac, reveals
to him who the living and true God is, reveals to Jacob what
all he has purpose to do for old Jacob. He says, I'm with
you, I'll keep you wherever you go, bring you again, I will not
leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee
of. And every son of Jacob chosen, loved by God, this is what they
hear when God Almighty comes to them in the preaching of the
gospel. They hear who God is and what
God has purposed to do concerning them. How God has chosen them. God has loved them. They have
chosen them in Christ to do with them according to His purpose
and will in saving them. What is this ladder? What is
this ladder? Every son of Jacob hears about
this ladder. Every son of Jacob sees this
ladder. What is this ladder? Do you know?
It is a ladder set up on the earth, the top of which reached
to heaven, the angels of God ascending and descending upon
it. What is that? You've heard the term used. You've
heard people talk about Jacob's ladder. They've even named movies
after that. Jacob's ladder and what every
what Jacob saw and what every son of Jacob saw is none other
than the Lord Jesus Christ. Jacob's ladder. That ladder is
Jesus Christ, a ladder which set on earth, reaching to heaven. That's the God-man, Jesus Christ. God and man joined together. God, which bridged the gap between
heaven and earth. God-man. Christ, who became a
man. It's a ladder from earth to heaven. Christ, the way to God. The only
way to God. The ladder reached from earth
to heaven and the angels of God ascending and descending upon
it. That means that all the blessings which come down to man come through
Christ. Yes, all the blessings of God
for the sons of Jacob are in and through and because of Jesus
Christ, his merits, his blood, his righteousness. and everything
which comes from us to God must go through the Lord Jesus Christ,
the only mediator between God and men, the man of the ladder,
Jesus Christ." So Jacob, after seeing the ladder, which is Christ,
and hearing of the true and living God and what his purpose to do
concerned him, Jacob, and it says in verse 16, awaked out
of his sleep. And every son of Jacob has been
awakened out of a sleep of death, awakened, yea, quickened from
being dead in trespasses and sin, that they might know the
living God. Jacob says, listen to what Jacob
said, verse 16, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew
it not. all the sons of Jacob until God Almighty reveals Himself
to them and reveals Christ to them. They don't know God. They
don't know where they're going. They don't know what they're
doing. They don't know that they're dead until God reveals Himself
to them. And Jacob was afraid, it says,
verse 17. He was afraid. He said, how dreadful
is this play. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. That's what God creates in every
son of Jacob. Well, Jacob was greatly blessed
by God. He went on to be greatly blessed. God showered him with gifts,
gave him a wife and material things. Oh, Jacob was so blessed
by God. So is every son of Jacob. Jacob
met a host of angels over in chapter 32, and so do God's chosen,
God's elect. Every son of Jacob is united
with the church of God, which is as the angels of God, as salt
of the earth, of whom the world is not worthy. Jacob was tried
by God. He went through trial and tribulation,
plagued by his past, haunted by his sin, persecuted by his
family. But all of this drove him to
God and caused him to look to his God and lean upon his God. And Jacob was wrestled with by
the angel of the Lord, which is none other, again, none other
than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who lays hold upon every one
of his children. All the sons of Jacob are apprehended
by Christ Himself. And Jacob from that day forward
limped. He walked with a limp for the
remainder of his days, and so it is with every son of Jacob.
They are changed. They are new creatures in Christ.
Oh, happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, the
sovereign, electing, loving God. choosing God, the covenant-making,
covenant-keeping God, the merciful, gracious, long-suffering, and
in Malachi 3.6 it says this, God says this, I am the Lord,
I change not. The unchanging God will not change
His mind, change His covenant, change His purpose, and therefore
it says in Malachi 3.6, you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Though they deserve to be consumed
by God's wrath, which Esau and all the people of the world will
be, but not the sons of Jacob, because God loved them and chose
them. Oh, happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help. Is this your God? I hope so. And maybe you're one of those
blessed sons of Jacob. Amen.