O'er the ramparts we watched
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still
there. All right, go back with me again
to Genesis 32. We have looked at this several
times together, and you've heard other men preach from it. Knowing I was going to deal with
this, I read it many weeks ago, for the longest time could not
get past the first verse there, verse 24. Look at it. Genesis 32, 24, And Jacob was
left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the sun
came up. He was left alone. And you know, I am like that
Ethiopian eunuch who said to Philip, how can I understand
this except some man tell me? I listened to men preach. It
was such a blessing for me, you don't know, to sit there like
you do for a change and just be a face in the crowd and be
blessed. Not open my big mouth. What a
blessing. But I listened to old brother
Scott preach from this. And I learned something. He didn't
get past this verse. Or whether Scott used to take
a nail, do you remember, and hammer it, and hammer it, and
hammer it, and hammer it, and take a nail set and drive it
deep. Until when you left there, you
understood what he was trying to say. Jacob was left alone. There are some things that we
must learn, and we will only learn them when we are alone
with God. Jacob was left alone, and the
Lord came to him and laid hold of him. And he learned some things
about himself, things we can only learn when we are alone
before God who knows us. and sees us. No pretense then,
is it? And things we learn about Him,
it doesn't take much for Him to show us. Things only learn
when we're alone. It couldn't be a more needful message
in a day where few people can stand to be alone and quiet. You know it's something. Few
do as David said. David told us in Psalm 4, 4.
Commune with thine heart upon thy bed. Turn everything off. Stop all the voices. Stop all
the talking. Shut your mouth and commune with
thine heart. Commune with thy Lord. It's hard
for us to pray without ceasing. if we're talking and texting
without ceasing. This is not funny. It is epidemic. It's serious. Few people can stand to be alone. And there's only some things
we'll learn when we're alone with God. If a person doesn't know the
Lord yet, it's because they never have got along with Him and called
on Him. Never have. If a person, if we,
even professing believers, if we're full of doubts, and fears
and worries and depressed and have to take this or take that
or do this to keep our minds occupied, to keep from being
alone. We're not getting alone with
the Lord because He gives peace. When Jacob left this meeting,
he was changed. He was changed. If we're full of anger, if we're
full of wrath, if we have malice in us, if we have envy, jealousy,
bitterness toward anyone or anything, we're not alone with the Lord. Because you can't have that when
God speaks to you. You can't have that in you. You
won't have that in you when the Lord finishes with you. You'll
come away just grateful to be alive. You'll come away thankful that
the Lord didn't kill you. Preserved your life, Jacob. That's what this is all about.
This is what Brother Scott and pounding and pounding and being
alone with the Lord. Some things we learn about ourselves.
Some things we learn about the Lord only are known. And you can be in a crowded room
like this, a crowd of people, and be alone with the Lord. Yes,
sir. The Lord speaks to you. You can
feel that. And this is the way it is. He's
speaking to me alone. The Lord did that often. The Lord took that deaf man by
the hand, the man who had ears to hear, but he couldn't hear.
And what he had to do was take him apart from the multitude.
It was just the Lord and that deaf man. He put his finger,
remember? Something from his mouth. And stopped his ears. So he couldn't
hear anything. And now he heard. He heard his
voice. And the Lord took that blind
man apart from the multitude. Couldn't see. Couldn't see himself.
Couldn't see Christ. Saw no beauty in him. Took him
apart from the multitude, alone. The Lord and this blind man. Touched his eye. Now do you see? What do you see? I see you. That's what he's got to do. It
only happens. when He takes you apart alone. Alone. We've got to find out
the truth about ourselves. We've got to admit it to the
Lord. We've got to find out the truth
about God like Jacob. And we'll only find this out
when we're alone in darkness. He said it was dark when He sent
His family away. And only when we are sitting
in darkness And the Lord speaks to us with a daybreak. And it will suddenly dawn on
us what we are, what we deserve at the hands of this great God,
our utter sinfulness, and His great mercy for sparing the likes
of me. That's how Jacob ended it. He
woke up in his life. He said, my life is preserved. Well, let me keep driving this
nail like old Brother Scott. He said he was alone. Verse 24,
he was alone. A man wrestled with him. A man?
Jacob at first thought it was a man. As do all people think,
it's just a man that I'm hearing. Just a man. Yes. Yeah, I know that. But it's the
way God speaks. It's the way God speaks. And
if He speaks with you, He's going to wrestle with you through a
man. It's going to be Him. It's going to be Him, the man.
Who was it? Verse 30, Jacob, after his over,
said, I've seen God, the God-man. That's who this is, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And you know, every sinner, listen
to me now, Scott used to say that all the
time. Listen to me now. It means he's preaching not to hear
his own voice, but that people might hear him. Listen to me
now. Every sinner is going to have to deal with the Lord Jesus
Christ. Every single sinner on the face
of God's earth, every knee, is going to battle. Every tongue
is going to confess that he's Lord. And for many, it's too
late. It's too late. That's why today
is a day of salvation. Oh Lord, would you lay hold of
This person or that person wrestle with them? Would you reveal themselves?
Would you reveal themselves to themselves? Would you teach them
who they are and what they are and their need of you, Lord?
Would you show them yourself? Lord, would you please wrestle
with them? That's our prayer. But you know, while I'm praying
for them, I'm praying, Lord, I know better than I was the
day you found me. Would you lay hold of me again?
Again? Would you please? I've heard this message before.
I've tried to preach this message before. I need to hear it. And that just struck me. Jacob
was left alone. And that's when this man wrestled
with him. That's what he wrestled with. Every sinner is going to
deal with the Lord Jesus Christ. But today is a day of salvation,
a need to lay hold of Him and be laid hold of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Come to grips with, so to speak.
We're going to have to come to grips with who this is, whose
hands we're in. Now, I know, listen to me, I
know, we know that the Lord wrestled with Jacob, didn't He? The Lord
laid hold of Jacob. We know that, don't we? Who wrestled
with who? Who initiated this wrestling
match? The Lord did. Nobody's going to call. Nobody's
going to repent. Nobody's going to come. Nobody's
going to seek the Lord unless... We read that, didn't we, in Isaiah
65, didn't we? Brother Norman's text. I am found
of them that sought me not. Why do they finally seek Him?
He sought them. All right? We know that. But
now, hold on. If we don't seek Him, He won't
be found. If we don't call, we won't be saved. This is what
the Lord said. If we don't call, if we don't
get alone, get in our closet. Our Lord said this. If we don't
get in our closet before the Lord and call on Him today, you
may not be found again. I didn't say that. The Lord did. We need to get alone with the
Lord. Call on Him. while he may be
found. Doesn't it say that? Seek the
Lord while he may be found, while the gospel is being preached.
Call on him right now, where you're sitting. Call on the Lord. Everybody. What's your name? Senator? Call right now. Right now. The Lord saved me,
or I perish. Or I perish. Today is the day.
Our Lord said this. Listen. Our Lord said, Strive
to enter into the straight gate. Jesus Christ said, Strive to
enter into the straight gate. Or He said, Many will seek to
enter. Well, it's too late. Many will seek to enter. He said,
We won't be able to. But now, He says, Come! Come! Come. Wedding's furnished. Wedding's prepared. Come. And
if we don't come, it's our fault. If we don't call, the Lord's
going to hold us accountable for being a rebel. You would
not come. You would not call on that. You
would not. I would, He said. Didn't He say
this? I would. But you would not. Oh, Jerusalem,
Jerusalem. We're not preaching free will.
We're preaching the Word. Preaching what Christ said. Oh,
Jerusalem, Jerusalem. How oft would I, but you would
not. If anybody's damned, it's their
fault. If anybody's saved, it's His glory. His glory. I know no man can
come, but Christ said you will not come unto Him. Verse 25,
this was a test, you see. The Lord laid hold of Jacob and
began to wrestle with him. The Lord Jesus Christ, Spirit
of Christ, lays hold of men today. You remember when it said right
before the flood, my spirit will not always strive with men. You
remember that? I won't always strive with men.
That means he takes the gospel away. The gospel strives. The
gospel keeps warning like to Noah and his family, get in the
ark, get in the ark. The gospel keeps convicting, convincing,
and finally removes that. I won't strive with them anymore.
I'll leave them alone. I'm not going to wrestle with
them. I'm just going to leave them to themselves. But this
was a test on old Jacob. Verse 25, when Christ the Lord
saw that he prevailed not against him, he saw Jacob's not going
to quit. He's not going to give up. He's
serious. Have you ever wrestled with someone?
I don't know if you ladies ever have, but guys, that's what boys
do, you know. They're just getting wrestling
matches, don't they? And Paul said this, he went, strive for
the mastery. You're trying to pin down the
one you're striving against. Maybe he had something. My oldest
brother, my middle brother, well, he was mean to me. And he would
often take something from me. You know how boys and girls can
be so mean, mean as snakes. That's why they call him that
day. Snakes and snails, the way he was. He took something from
me. You've seen him do it. Holding
it from me. And I dove into him. Give me that. Give me that. Quick,
tell Mom. Give me that. Give me that. I
wrestled with him. Give me that back. I wanted what
he had. I've got to have that. The kingdom of heaven suffered
violence. Our Lord said this. Listen to
me now. There is a kingdom. You can't
see it, but it's more real than this. All that separates us from
eternity is a thin... It's over. And all this stuff
is gone. The reality sets in. The God in whose
hands our... That quick, there's a picture
down there on the bulletin board. I hope you saw it. Kids, it's
got Lauren, you're in it, and Elizabeth, you're in it, and
several, a bunch of kids. Did you see it? And I put over
top of that, that article, talk to your children while there's
hope. Many of them, most of them are
gone. Don't care about Christ. Don't
care. Gone. Could care less. It's that quick. It's that quick. A breath, just a breath away. I need to call on the Lord. Jacob wouldn't quit. He wouldn't
quit. He wouldn't let go. Our Lord said to strive to enter
in. He said the Lord looked down to see if there were any that
did seek God. Listen to this. Isaiah 64. He said there's none
that call upon my name that striveth to take hold of me. Isaiah 64. To take hold of me. But bless God, Jacob did. Jacob did. Why? Jacob have I
loved. Jacob have I chosen. Jacob have
I... Bless the Lord, O my soul, if
you can say, if you have laid hold on the Lord Jesus Christ
and still wrestling, if you're still here, if you're still seeking,
still calling, here's what old Jacob found out. about himself
and about God. Verse 25, when he saw, the angel
saw, Jacob's not going to quit. He's serious. He wants something
from me. It doesn't mean that the Lord
couldn't have. You know, this false God, people
say, is trying to save you and he won't let you. No, no. Watch
what he does. It says he saw that Jacob wasn't
going to quit. Not that he couldn't put him
down, but he wants something from him. He's got to have. So
he just touched him. Just touched the
hope he's got. With his little finger. And crippled him. You know, a
man's legs, a woman, anyone, legs are the strength. Legs are
your foundation. No legs, no strength. You can't
bear any burdens. You can't walk. The legs are
the strength of the person. It's all there. If you don't
have that, you have no real strength to do anything. The Lord, that's
the first thing He's going to show us. First thing. You're
going to find that out alone. When we're without, you know,
who finds out who God is and who Christ came for? It's those
who are without strength. Without strength. We find out that the Lord just
has to touch me. Just has to touch anything that
belongs to me. And it's gone. It's withered.
In other words, Jacob found out, Rick, God was not in his hands
to do with, as he pleased, that Jacob was in his almighty hands. That all I have to do to you,
Jacob, is touch you. That's what Job found out, didn't
it? Satan said it. You've hedged
him about everything Job has. You've protected him. But if
you just touch him, if you just touch his family, they're gone. If you just touch his home, it's
gone. Everything. What we're going
to find out, and we only find this out alone, we're going to
find out we're in His hand. Everything's of the Lord. It's
all of God. Everything's in His hand. And
I'm in His hand. When Saul of Tarsus, that proud
Pharisee, thought, this is what I will do. I will do this. I
will go here. I will go there. And the Lord
put him in the dust, came and just pinned him down in the dust. And now, what will you do? And it changed him, didn't it,
Brother John? And now, Saul of Tarsus, he doesn't
believe in free will anymore. He didn't believe in poor Jesus
anymore. He believed in a Lord Jesus. And now he's saying, what will
you do with me? What are you going to do with
them? That's what every sinner has got to come to realize. My
life, my breath, my soul, my all, my everything, my family,
my home, my job, my everything is in His hands. Eli said, it's
the Lord. Let Him do what seemed good to
Him. Job said, the Lord gave it. And buddy, He took it away. That's what we're going to find
out. And here's what old Jacob found
out. I'm nothing. I'm nothing. I'm weak. I'm helpless. I'm a nobody. I'm
a nothing. I can do nothing. Do nothing. Now, look, he said he cried to
the Lord Jesus Christ and in verse 26, The angel said, Let
me go, the day breaketh. And Jacob said, I will not let
thee go, except thou bless me. Bless me. Please bless me. Just bless me. Don't leave unless
you bless me. Oh, man, oh, man, oh, man, oh,
man. Oh, how I wish somebody would
say that this morning. I wish I'd say it. I hope I'm
saying it. Bless me, Lord. Don't leave. Don't leave unless
you bless me. Don't let me go out of here without
a blessing. Don't let me go out of here limping. Pin me down. Don't leave me to myself. Put me in the dust. Listen to
this, Lamentations 3. We go over there, Lamentations
3. I told myself I was going to
get worked up, I get mad at myself, folks. I
get mad at myself. I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at
myself. It's all our problem. I'm Jacob.
I'm Jacob. And all my problem is I don't
spend enough time alone with the Lord. That's my problem. That's the point Brother Scott
kept hammering. All these problems, all this
malice, all this self, everything is because you're not You're not with the Lord because
you're not going to live there thinking like that. Verse 27,
right after we hear that the Lord's mercies were not consumed.
Jacob found out, didn't he, that he wasn't consumed after this.
And verse 26, it's good that a man, woman, boy, girl, anybody
should both hope and quietly wait for the Lord. They're strengthened
to sit still. is their strength. Salvation
waits. It's good for a man, verse 27,
to bear the yoke in his youth while you're young before the
evil days come nigh. Verse 28, if he does and he's
going to sit, he's going to sit alone. This is where the Lord
deals with us in the beginning and from now on. Alone. And keep silence. Keep silence
before me, the Lord said, because he hath borne it upon He puts
his mouth in the dust and makes that sinner say, boy, I sure
hope there's hope. Is there hope for me? This is
what we're going to find out along with the Lord. You know,
Jacob said, bless me. And he doesn't know it really,
but the Lord is blessing you. If he's wrestling, if he's calling,
if you're calling, seeking, the Lord is blessing you. And here's
the way the Lord blesses us. This is the blessing of blessing.
You know what the blessing of blessings is for the Lord? When
the Lord takes away our strength. When the Lord cuts our legs out
from under us. When the Lord makes us like Mephibosheth. All the time. Because we will
not come unless He brings us. Make us like Jacob. The Lord
did bless Jacob. He took away his strength. Before
this, he was a strong and self-sufficient man. And the Lord just touched
him, and he found out, I'm a nobody. I'm a nothing. I can't do anything. I'm in his hands. I'm weak. I'm
helpless. Now, this is for those without
strength, the gospel is. Those without any goodness, you
see. This is for those without any goodness. He said, What's
your name? See, the Lord asked all the questions.
After Jacob asked him, he said, Why are you asking me? Who art
thou that replies against God? I do all the question asking
here. And he said, What is thy name? You think Jacob said that with
pride? You know what his name means,
don't you? I heard recently somebody naming
their son. Joab. Sounds like a good name, isn't
it? He's a bad man. Ishmael. Same thing. Jacob didn't say this with pride.
Now, we're proud of ourselves, aren't we? What's your name?
Paul, I bear the name of the apostle. Jacob. Jacob means chief. Jacob means
a supplanter. Jacob means a deceiver. That's
what his brother Esau said. That's his name and that's what
he is. Jacob tried to take something that didn't belong to him. That's
the reason his mother named him that. His brother was going out
ahead of him and Jacob said, no, not you, me first. He was born that way. Born with
this me and this my, this self in him. Anybody? Boring with
that, isn't it? Me, mine. It's all about me. No, me, mine. Our children do
that, don't they? And what makes us more angry
than anything else? When our children do that. Mine.
I saw Isabella take something from Sophie one time. The first
time I ever got angry at her. My buddy, she just grabbed it
away from her. Boy, I withered her. Didn't spank
her, but I'd whithered her a little. Mine, me, mine. Jacob tried to
take what he had no right to. You know, men and women say,
I've got my rights. I know my rights. They're offending
me. I've got my, oh, oh, what rights
do you have? What rights do we have? You know,
the only person that lived on this planet that had any rights,
righteousness, was the Lord Jesus Christ. And bless His holy name,
He gave us His righteousness and took what we deserve, what
we earn, damnation. I've got my rights. Barnard used
to say, anything this side of hell is mercy. Mercy. Jacob learned this. And when
he left this place, he had many needs. But when he left this
place, what he learned was it's of the Lord's mercies that I'm
not dead. It's of the Lord. He preserved
my life. I'm a Jacob. That's all I ever have been.
That's what I am right now. But the Lord came and pinned
me down and showed me who He was and showed me what I am and
still am. I'm no better than I was the
day He found me. I'm just Jacob. And it's of the
Lord's mercy that He just doesn't kill me and hate me like He shall. I'm no better than my brother
Esau. No better. Only when we're along
with the Lord. The Lord who searches the heart.
Tell me, how is it you talk to the Lord when you're alone? What
do you plead? Himself. The Lord's not going to hear
us if we do. Why, Lord, you know what they're doing to me? Lord, I'm innocent. The Lord looks on the heart now.
Hold on, Jacob. The Lord looks on the heart.
He tries the heart, searches the hearts. We can stand around
men and impress them, defend ourselves. Job did. Job did. Job didn't sin the first two
chapters when the Lord took everything away from him and just laid in
the dust with his hand on his mouth and said, It's the Lord.
And he sent a nod with his lips. But then chapter 3, his friends
came. And he started cursing today.
Who's he cursing? God. And he opened his mouth. Brother
Scott said as his first mistake, he opened his mouth and he began
to talk. for 37 chapters, 30 some chapters. He talked and he talked and he
talked. And his friends accused him and
he got angry and he got upset and he said, you're offending
me. And he was offended because he's not yet alone with the Lord. Listen to that. Listen to that.
He's not yet alone with the Lord. OK, and he's talking. He's defended
himself. He's defended himself. I have
done this and they've done this to me until finally the Lord
in chapter 38 said, Alone with Job. Got Job alone and said,
Who is this? He's talking. And Job said, I am vile. Alone with the Lord. Job didn't
say, look what they've done to me. He said, I am vile. You know what vile means? Despicable. Not worthy of notice. ought to
be put out like a snake. Vow. Job said, alone with the
Lord. This is what he learned. I vow. It's not them. It's me. What's your name? Jacob. Jacob. Job said, I've talked
too much. Once I've spoken, that's too
many times. Twice, I should have kept my
mouth shut. How many times have you spoken
and thought, I wish I'd have kept my mouth shut? He said, I've spoken things too
wonderful for me. And now, he said, I've heard
of you, and now I see you. Like Jacob, he sees who God is,
that he's in his hand, and he sees himself. I heard of you,
now I see you, the holiness of God, the justice of God, only
alone, the righteousness of God, the God who sees me when I'm
alone, who sees my heart, who sees every thought. Who would
like for their thoughts just today to be put on screen up
here, everybody see? Today, not yesterday, not last
week. Have your thoughts been pure?
Have you come in here worshiping God with all your heart, with
the bottom of your heart, thankful? He's had your undivided attention,
your mind heading wrong. Not no thoughts of lust, surely
not. Hate, no malice, no envy, no
jealousy, no bitterness, no anger, no wrath. Just put them up here. When you're alone with God, that's
how you feel. That's how you feel. Our Lord said this so plainly. If we would judge ourselves,
we won't be judged. What's your name? Jacob. Jacob. We would judge ourselves if we
won't be judged. He said, with the merciful, I'll
show myself merciful. He said things like this. Now
listen to this. Our Lord Jesus Christ got alone with God, didn't
He? Listen to me now. Listen to me
now. Our Lord Jesus Christ got alone with God. He told His disciples,
you stay here. You watch with me. You pray with
me. Pray for me. But I've got to go be alone with
the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ needed
to be alone with God. You know what He was doing when
He was alone with the Lord? He's not saying, Lord, did you
kill all these people? They rejected me. They despised
me. They've done this to me. He's
praying for them. He's sweating blood for their
forgiveness. Did you get a hold of this? He came back and his disciples
were sleeping. They don't care about his agony and his sweat.
They're asleep, like some in here this morning, asleep. The
Lord came back in mercy and grace. They said, sleep on. I understand.
I understand you're praying and all that. He's sweating blood.
He's asking forgiveness. They're hanging on the cross.
What do you do when you watch the Son of God hang on the cross?
When you sit at the foot of the cross, how can you come away
anyway but broken? Huh? He's hanging there saying
to the father, praying to the father, look what they've done
to me. No! He's saying, forgive them! Forgive
them! And he's not going to hear us
if we come before him and say, did you kill them? David, before Bathsheba, before Uriah,
before he found out what he was capable of, when the Lord just
left him alone for a minute on his roof, just a minute, just
okay. Just watch what you're going
to do if you're capable of. Before that, there was a fellow
named Nabal, a fool, who offended David. David thought, doesn't
he know who I am? And David said, kill him. David said, kill everything that
pinches against the wall. Now listen to him. After Bathsheba,
after Uriah, when he killed his best friend, he writes Psalm
51. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned. Have mercy on me, O God. Don't
kill me. Psalm 38. It's not their bad
people. My loins are filled with the
loathsome disease. After Bathsheba and Uriah, David
comes across a fellow named Shimei who's cussing him, who's kicking
dirt on him, throwing stones at him. And his one who loved
him said, let me take his head off. And he said, no. David said,
no. The Lord sent him. Because I
deserve that. David says, I deserve that. He
ought to stone me. He ought to reject me. He ought
to kill me, David said. He needs to cuss me. God ought
to cuss me. He found that out alone with
the Lord when he cried, I have mercy on me. I'm the sinner. God be merciful to me. To only
the worst, the chief sinner on this earth. Would you please,
what's your name? Sinner. That's a blessing. That's a blessing. That's a great blessing. Only
then will you be changed. Only then will you be brought
low. Got to be brought low. Got to
be humbled. Those that walk in pride of any
kind. And that's our besetting sin, isn't it? Self. Scott just
kept hammering this. Self's got to die. Self's got
to die. Scott said this, he said, why
is it that we can see all the faults in other people and can't
see our own? Why do we don't see this log in our eye and we
see toothpicks? Why is it that we can be offensive
to others? We can't stand to be offended.
We get all bristled up and we get all mad at our brother. Why
is that? We don't see ourselves. And we'll only see ourselves,
he said, when we're alone with God. But he shows us. What's
your name now? Who do you think you are? And then He touches you. Those
legs, strength, manhood, you know. I can do something. He
knocks your legs out in front of you. He that walketh in pride,
he is able to obey. Oh my, the Lord needs to boast
Him. You know what you'll do if you're
alone with the Lord and come away? If He has mercy on you, He'll
say, boasting excluded, pride I base. You know what I am? Nothing. Jacob, only a sinner, saved by
grace. That's it. Jacob, verse 29, or
verse 30, Jacob called the name of that place Peniel. That place where he heard where
the Lord wrestled with him. This is the place of God. That's
what he said about Bethel, didn't he? Oh, we're thankful for this
place. Bethel, he kept coming back.
Oh, how he was thankful for Bethel, where God met him and God wrestled
with him. He said, I've seen God face to
face, and my life is preserved. He didn't kill me. Should have,
but he didn't. Why didn't he? Why doesn't God
kill us? Because he killed his son. That ought not to start the prayer
that I was doing. The only reason we're not in
hell right now, the only reason that our sins won't find us out,
that they're blotted out, sins today. The Kedonia. It's under the blood
that His own Son poured out His precious blood to cover our sins. That's amazing. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound. Brother
Milton uttered these words. He said to me, he was reading
a book and Milton said, Milton said, mercy is the sweetest
word a sinner could ever hear. Men, they looked at me with tears
in their eyes and said, why can't we, every time we hear a man
stand up and say the Lord is merciful, why don't we just shout? I'll tell you why. You know,
Brother Scott said, we're not alone with the Lord. We're too busy. We've got all
this stuff. All these voices. All this stuff
going on. We're not praying without ceasing.
We're not preparing our hearts. The Lord talked about the Israelites
not preparing their hearts. He said, prepare your heart to
come worship me. Prepare your heart. They didn't give up. Oh, Jacob. And he said in verse
31, he passed over Penuel, and the sun rose upon him. The sun
came up. He was in darkness, wrestling
with the Lord. The Lord changed his name. He
said, Your name is Jacob, but not anymore. Israel. Prince. Behold what manner of love the
Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called sons
of God. The sun will shine. If you find out that God's been
merciful to you, the Son of God dawns on you. It'll dawn on you. If He dawns on you, that God
has been merciful and spared your life. Oh boy. And you'll walk out of there
different. There's nothing more odious to
God than pride. Six things that the Lord hates,
Proverbs 16, verse 7, are an abomination to Him. The first
thing is a proud look. And that's the thing that men
have on their faces more than anything else. And young people. Pride. Pride. You'll see these
runway models strutting, strutting their stuff. God hates that. Hates it. All he's got to do. All he's
got to do. Touch your neck. Just touch it. Bring all their
beauty down, all their glory, all their pride. It's a blessing
of the Lord, Brother Mack, for Him to knock all our pride, or
most of it, knock it out from under us. After hearing the truth
of who He is and what we are, it ought to knock the pride.
Scott, you said, it won't knock all of it. But to reduce us to
limping out of here. Limping. Oh, I've been spared. I'm a nothing. I thought I was
something. Something to remind you. That's
something to remind him, wasn't it, for the rest of his life.
Who he was and who it was that had him in his hand. You're a strong man, get... Oh,
no. I'm nothing. Are you somebody? Uh-uh. Look
at me. Where'd you come from, Jacob?
Well, I'm supposed to be Abraham's son, but I act like a demon. What's your name? They call you
Israel. No. Jacob. That's my name. Simon. Son of Jonas. That's my name. God. But God said no. Son of
God. Son of God. All right. Only a
sinner saved by grace. That's what we're saying. What number, John, right now?
474, 474. Let's sing the first and last
verses. First and last verse. Stand,
please. And I don't even know what I
would do.