Our home for years to come. He's our guide, the life, our
plan, and our eternal home. Now go with me to Genesis chapter
32. We've been looking at Jacob, the life of Jacob,
and we'll continue to do so for some time now. What a blessing.
I quote this psalm all the time. Oh, how happy, blessed is she
that hath the God of Jacob for their help, I hope. We'll see that today, how blessed
we are, sons of Jacob. Have you ever thought about this?
David, the king, David, he read the book of Genesis. That's about
all he had. Do you know that? And all he
had was the books of Moses. And he read it. He read the life
of Jacob over and over again. And this is what David was talking
about when he said, Oh, how sweet are thy words unto my taste.
They're sweeter than honey to my mouth. He said, They're better
unto me than thousands of silver and gold. Because David felt
himself to be a son. He was a son of Jacob, literally. And he was so glad for the God
of Jacob was his God, for a covenant God, a keeping God, a saving
God, an electing God. He was so glad. Oh, the story
of Jacob. This is what he's talking about.
It was sweet to my taste. can't get enough of reading about
Jacob, because that's me. Verse 1, we're only going to
look at two verses because there's glory here. I hope we see angels. I hope the angels meet us. Verses
1 and 2, Genesis 32, that Jacob went on his way and the angels
of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said,
This is God's host. And he called the name of that
place Mayonnaise. And this well deserves us to
stop right there. It's an amazing thing here. Matthew Henry did it. I looked
at the commentators. They'll print the scripture verse
and then stop and then make long comments. Well, he stopped after
these two verses. And there was much to say. Jacob was on his way. He and
his whole family were on their way. On the way, Jacob's sons,
sons of Jacob, Jacob and his sons were on their way. Where
are they headed? Oh, my. They'd gone away from Bethel,
away from their father. Jacob was running, and he ran
away from the father, like the prodigal son. He ran away. And he was down among the heathen
in Paddan Aram. He was down among the godless.
He was living with a bunch of faithless, godless heathens. And he had nothing but trouble
there. And now, by the grace of God, through the sovereign
providence of God, through God speaking to him, calling him,
Jacob, he's coming back home. He's going back to the Father.
And as we read, God did this by turning everyone against him. Jacob, you haven't heard no continuance.
You don't belong in this heathen land. You're coming out, Jacob.
You're coming home. Come home, son. Come home. Oh, the way that Jacob had been. The way he had acted. We saw
that, didn't we, back in chapter 31 or 30? Chapter 30. Remember that? No mention of
God. All he's doing is making money. getting married and having
wives and children and making money and having nothing but
trouble because of it all. Accumulating stuff. He's got
great treasure, but all he's got trouble there with it. And
there's no mention of God there. No mention of God, but God. And here's Jacob's hope. Here's
our hope. God loved Jacob. God chose Jacob. And whoever he loved and whoever
he chose, he's going to bring them back. He's going to bring
them to the Father. He's going to bring them home. And until he does, Spurgeon had
a message one time on the great shepherd. It says he went searching
for his sheep. And he went searching and he
looked until he found them. Until he found them. He kept
looking until he found them. And Spurgeon brought out what
all the sheep did and places it was until he
found it. Jacob. He had nothing but sorrow and
shame and guilt and troubles, didn't he, in the world, out
there in the world. But God, Jacob, I love you, called
him. He's bringing him back. He's bringing him back to Bethel,
to the house of God. God's people, they were in the
way, another way, weren't they? The way of the transgressor. He was in the world, Jacob was,
among the heathen, among the children of disobedience. And
we had our conversation in time past among them also, among whom
also we had our conversation. fulfilling the lusts of our flesh
and desires of our mind. We are by nature children of
wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy
for His great love, whom He loved, Jacob, have I learned, quickened
us, spoke to us when we were dead in sin, and draws back,
draws to Himself cords of man, cords of love. is he that hath
the God of Jacob. No matter which way he goes,
the angel of the Lord is with him, watching over him, guarding
him, guiding him. The angel of his presence. I
didn't write that down. I think that's, oh, it's Isaiah
63. It says the angel of his presence. Let me find that and read it
to you real quickly. was with him always. Isaiah 63 it is,
I believe. That's not it. I thought it was
it. Well, it says it somewhere. The angel of his presence saved
him. And who is the angel of God's
presence? If any man be without him, then
none of his. It's the Spirit of God, the Spirit
of Christ, the Holy Spirit. As many as are the sons of God,
they're led by the Spirit of God. Which is Christ, they're
the same. Christ said, I'll not leave you
comfortless. I'll come unto you. But it's the Holy Spirit. It's
the same. He's terrible. And the angel of his presence
was always with Jacob, though Jacob was not. Though Jacob was
down there. God had never left him. He said,
I'll never leave you. Then he started this out and
said, Jacob, I've chose you. I've loved you. I've promised
you. I've given you the land. You're mine. I've made a covenant
with your father concerning you and your father's father and
Abraham and Isaac and you're mine and I'll not leave you or
forsake you. You're going to leave me. You're
going to go. You're going to be in a bad way. Jacob, be happy
because I'm your God. God of Jacob. And therefore,
you, sons of Jacob, will not be consumed. You're not going
to be consumed in that heathen land. I'm going to bring you
back. You know, God's people backslide. Now, listen to me, OK? I know some preachers, and I
understand what they mean by this, that they don't deal with
backsliding much because they're afraid people will use that as
an excuse. And you know, somebody's acting
like a total unbeliever. Don't presume that they're saved.
Just presume they're lost. Don't presume they're saved.
Oh, no. Just hope that God calls them.
If they made a profession and they're not now and they're out
in the world, don't presume they're saved. Just hope, though, that
God calls them back. And you'll know that they are.
to come back if they repent. It's like the prodigal son. He
was his son when he left, and he was his son in the hog pen,
but you wouldn't have known it until he came back. He didn't
know it until he came back until the Father accepted him, fell
on his neck and kissed him, and he repented. Repentance. The fruit of repentance reveals.
So don't presume upon that. But now, the Scriptures does
say that God's people are prone to a perpetual Backsliding. Perpetual. Like Jacob. And all
the Scripture by this day is full of that, isn't it? Jacob.
Psalm 105. All right, you get to the next Psalm. And the next
Psalm, 106 and 107, it talks in Chapter 105 about what all
God had did for them. No mention of their sins. But
now in 106 and 107, all it talks about is their sins. How ungrateful
they are, how unworthy they are, how prone to backsliding, how
stiff-necked and hard-hearted and sinful and ready to halt
and ready to quit. Sorry, sons of Jacob, all of
them, every one of them. But throughout those psalms,
106 and 107, it says, nevertheless, He saved them. For His name's
sake. What's His name? The God of Jacob. All right, here's this old boy,
Jacob. He ain't worth saving. He really
isn't. He wasn't worth choosing. He's not worth saving still after
all this time. He's an old man now. He's an
old man. You know, he was Jacob when God
called him. He's still Jacob. But God left him. God chose him. You cannot lie. I said, I'm going
to save you, Jacob, in spite of yourself, and bring you home
to me. All right? He's coming back now by the grace
of God, by the mercy of God, by the call of God. The same
call that called him in the beginning keeps calling him. He's going
to come. He's going to come home. He's
going to come back to Bethel with his tail tucked between
his legs, with his head hanging low. He's a sinner and he knows
that all he's reaped for himself by the flesh's sin and trouble,
sorrows and shame. That's all he's done. All he's
done for himself and to his family is sin. Sin against God. But God sent a host of angels. Here's this old prodigal coming
back. And the Lord of hosts says, go
meet Him. Welcome Him home. Tell Him how glad we are to see
Him. That's what this is about. That
just struck me, I tell you. If you'd have seen me, maybe,
I don't know, I guess, I thought, I was like Moses when the man
of my faith was shining. When I sat in that little cubicle
down there looking at this, I saw Shekinah glory. Angels of God
met him. God's hosts met him. Angels, ministering spirits. Oh my, bless God after all. all our sins, He's so merciful,
so gracious, so loving, so kind, so gracious, He welcomes His
people back with open arms and sends a host of angels to meet
them. These angels of God represent
many things. Ministers, ministering spirits.
You know, the devil has angels. Angels are real. We can't see
them. The Scripture says, that we're
to entertain. Be careful to entertain strangers.
For some, entertain angels unaware. And the Scripture speaks much
of angels. He gives his angels watch over
us and ministering spirits. Children, our Lord said, their
angels do behold the Father's faith. Angels, angels of God,
ministering spirit. You know, the devil has his angels. Angel means a spirit, means a
messenger. That's what it means. And there
are evil spirits, or angels. The devil has his angels, which
Paul said in 2 Corinthians, that the devil has transformed himself
into an angel of light, a minister of righteousness. And all of
his ministers are transformed into angels of light. And you
know, many people are under the spell of these, or under the
captivity of these devils. They are. This world, my, my. This Babylon, Babylonian religion,
and this dark world, its principalities and power, rulers of the darkness
of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places, has hold of this
country. and others in this world. They really are held captive
by Him at His will. That's Scripture. That's what
Scripture says. But God sends His angels for His people. And though this world, Martin
Luther said, though this world with devils filled should threaten
to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed. His truth
to triumph to us. God sends a host of angels. You
know that they that are with us are more than they will be
against us? You want to see that story again?
Okay. 2 Kings chapter 6. 2 Kings chapter
6. How often did the Lord tell Jacob
to fear not? 2 Kings chapter 6. How often? How many scriptures throughout?
God's Word, say, Fear not, thou word, Jacob. Fear not, old Jacob,
I have chosen you. Fear not, fear not, fear not. The Lord sent angels to meet
Jacob on his way back to the Father, back to Bethel, on his
way back to the house of God. How many hosts Jacob saw? Yes, he did. And he said, hosts,
as when, you know, our Lord, at his birth, didn't he say that?
And a multitude of heavenly hosts crying out, glory to God in the
highest, peace on earth, goodwill. Those same angels. The hosts,
many. 2 Kings 6, 2 Kings chapter 6, The Syrian king, who always in
Scripture represents Satan, always evil, wicked, godless Syrian
king, verse 8, the king of Syria warred against Israel. And the
man of God, verse 9, it was Elisha who it was, he was angry at him
and them and he sent an army, his army. Down in verse, let's
see, let's read on. The king of Israel, verse 13. He said, Go and spy
where he is. I'll send and fetch him, it is
told. And he sent, verse 14, horses and chariots and a great
host of men and chariots. And this greatest king on earth,
the Syrian king, was after One man, Elisha, one man, who's a
picture of Christ in him. Satan and all the devils out
to, if they can defeat this one man, if they can silence this
one man, if they can get rid of that prophet, he'll destroy
all of Israel. All right? Elisha's servant,
the servant of Elisha, verse 15, he arose early. A good thing
to do. And he went forth to hold a host,
encompass the city with horses and chariots, all these people
against them. Army, flesh, swords, weapons
against them. He said, Alas, my master, how
shall we do? What are we going to do? We're
no match for the whole world's against us. The leader of the land's against
us. And Elisha answered, Fear not. For they that be with us
are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed. And Elisha is
such a picture of Christ, isn't he? Christ always was saying,
Be of good cheer. Fear not. It wasn't to His disciples. Everybody wanted Him and them
dead. They couldn't touch Him. You
couldn't touch them. Now, the Lord always went out
before them, and he prayed, didn't he? He didn't pray for the world.
He prayed for his servants, and the Lord prayed for his people.
Open their eyes. Open his eyes, verse 17. Open
the eyes of the young man that he may see. And he saw, and behold,
the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about
Elisha, one man. And when they came down to him,
Elisha prayed unto the Lord and said, smite this people, I pray
thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness
according to the word of Elijah. One little word fell them all. And our Lord is
that prophet. Our Lord is our leader, our captain
of our salvation. And we're in Him. We're safe
in Him. Our salvation is sure because of Him. And our Lord
said that. He went out before the enemies
and said, If you seek me, you let them go. And He gave Himself
into their hands. But before He did, one little
word, He said, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus. I am. And they hit the ground. Smote them with blinders. True story. You see, they that
be for us are more than they that be against us. That's right. A multitude of heavenly hosts.
And God sends His angels, His angel Christ who came, the angel
of His mercy and His covenants to do that great work on Calvary's
tree. And those whom Christ came to
live for and made righteous and died and shed His blood for and
the blood that Jesus Christ, God's Son, is on their soul and
has put away their sin, the angel of death cannot come near them. It cannot touch them. Oh, the
Egyptians in great danger. They're not in Christ. If you weren't in Jacob's little...
Jacob was afraid before, and he's going to be afraid again.
He's run and scared his whole life. He shouldn't have been,
should he? When God came to him that first
time, when he made his pillar, and promised all these things,
why didn't he believe God? God can't lie. He did, briefly. But then it didn't take much
to scare him. He was afraid, and he went running.
He ran from Esau, and then he ran from Laban. He's afraid. God kept coming
back, kept coming back and telling him, the Lord Jesus Christ, as
he was talking to him, said, be not afraid, Jacob, I'm with
thee. Oh, be not dismayed, I am thy
God, I'll still give thee aid. The flame shall not hurt thee,
I know only desire, thy draws to consume, thy goals are refined.
Fear not, when you pass through the fire, smell a smoke If God
be for us, who can be against Him? He has spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all. How shall He not with
Him also freely give us all things? Who shall separate us from the
love of God? Anybody. Angels? Devils? No. Can't do
it. Our sins? No. He has separated our sins
from us. The blood is before the Lord.
What more can He say to us than He has said? To you who for refuge
to the Lord Jesus have but fear not, but..." He's Jacob. He's going to be afraid till
the day he dies. Just right after this, right
after this, he's scared to death. He sees Esau coming with 400
men. Right after this. But bless God. And you know,
Jacob, the Lord, this is about halfway through his life, okay? And he's an old man now. He's
an old man. And God sent these angels to
meet him on his way home, and perhaps he thought, he was overjoyed,
and he called, Mayday of the Lord's host! God's with me! He
had no fear. At that moment in time, he had
no fear. He thought, he's true to everything
he said. Why didn't I remember that? What
was I afraid of? Why didn't I believe him? Why
didn't I trust him? Huh? Why didn't I believe this?
He can't lie and he promised to, if he promised to me, I'm
a liar, I'm a cheat, but God's not. See, my faith is not in
me. Don't look to yourself ever.
Don't look in here for anything to give you any assurance or
any hope that you're a child of God. Don't do it. You'll be
like John Newton who said, I look within and all is vain and dark
and wild. Can I be myself a child? So that's why God said, look
unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God. You're anything
but. You're Jacob. I am the Lord,
the God of Jacob. I change not. You go through
all kinds of changes. Up and down, hot and cold, sinful
and righteous, unbelieving and believing, scared to death, strong
as a lion. You're Jacob, that's your name. That's in the same chapter, when
the Lord wrestles him down to the ground. What's your name? It's a good time to be sitting
here. The story of Jacob. I'm the God of Jacob. Jacob saw
these angels. It says he saw them. It doesn't
say his family saw them. It says Jacob saw them. It appears
that nobody else saw them but Jacob. Isn't that fitting? Rachel's
still got idols, but she's going to put them away. Oh my, oh, we're all here. We
need an hour. We need a year. Jacob saw them. His family didn't. They were blind to him. And do
you not see, you sons of Jacob, those whom God has called? Do
you not see? Hast thou not seen how thy desires
there have been granted in what he ordained? Do you not see his
hand? Have you not seen his angel of
mercy and guiding you. I went to Roanoke for dinner
Friday night, and on the way, some of you have to pass by it
every day nearly, or every worship. One of those so-called churches
has on the sign what it says, let God in your life. Let God in your life. Now, I'm
telling you from Scripture, well, turn to Isaiah 43, okay? Turn
to Isaiah 43. I'm not telling you this, God
is. That anybody that says, let God, doesn't know God. They don't have a God. Their
God's an idol, the work of their hands. Isaiah 44 talks about
a God that men make, and He's helpless. Isaiah 43, and now
on that one sign on that so-called church building, it says, let
God in your life. You and I know, don't we, Stephen,
in Him we live and move and have our breath.
The God in whose hands our breath is and all our ways. It doesn't say anywhere in this
Bible, let God do anything. That's false religion. That's
their God. He's a God that cannot say. He
wants in. He can't get in. He's outside
the door. All right, you go down 220 a
little further, and the next building says, Let Jesus be your guide. This is what all of religion,
without exception, says. All false religion without exception.
Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Episcopalian, it doesn't matter
who it is. Every single denomination, every
single false preacher standing up today, every single religion
says, God wants to in a camp, God tries to in a camp without
you. Let God be your God. Let Him be Lord. Make Him Lord
of your life. Let Jesus, He's outside, He can't
come in. Let Him in. Let Him. Won't you
let Him? He wants to stave you so bad. If you'll just let Him. If that's God, I don't need Him. I need a God like the God of
Jacob. Let me read this, Isaiah 43,
verse 1. Now thus saith the Lord that
created thee. Did the Creator say to the Son,
Would you let me? Did the Creator say to the the
moon, the stars. Would you cooperate? Adam and
Eve, I sure would like to make. But saith he that created thee,
the Lord, O Jacob, he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not." Now
look at what all he says he has done. and will do. I have redeemed
thee. I have called thee by name. Thou
art mine. That is, he chose them. He loved
them. When you pass through the waters, I will be with thee.
Through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou
walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned. Neither
shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Saba for thee, since thou wast precious in my sight." Thou hast been honorable. I have
loved thee, therefore will I give men to thee, people for thy life.
Fear not, I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east. Gather them from... I'm not going
to ask them, I'm going to bring them. I will say to the north,
give up. Say to the south, keep not back.
Bring my sons from far, my daughters from the ends of the earth. People,
this sovereign election is the hope for your children. the hope
for your grandchildren. If it's up to me, it's up to
us to bring up the incoming. But if it's up to God, and God's
willed it, just wait on the Lord. Read on. Every one that is called
by my name, son of Jacob, sons of God, I have created him for
my glory. I have formed him, yea, I have
made him. Now go on down to verse 10. You
are my witnesses, saith the Lord, my servants. Who? Jacob, his
sons, his elect, his people, whom I have chosen, that you
may know and believe me and understand I am he. Before me there was
no God formed. There is not going to be one
after me. There is no other God. I am the Lord. Beside me there is no Savior.
How plain can the Lord be? He's not asking them to let Him
be Lord. He's telling them, I am the Lord. He's not asking them
to let God be God. He's telling them, I am God. Verse 10 and verse 12, bless
the Lord, He declares it to us. He declares it, I've declared
and I've done what? Saved! God wants to save you. Oh no! The God of the Bible saves! Call His name Jesus. Why? He
shall save! Who? His people. Brother Henry,
how many years have you heard this message? Isn't this your
hope? That if the Lord chose you, you're
saved. He's talking once in grace, always
in grace. That's exactly what I'm talking about. Once in Christ,
always in Christ. Once in His love, always love.
Once chosen by God, always chosen. Once a son of God, though you
play the prodigal, you're coming back. You're going home, Jacob. You're going home. I've declared, I've showed there's
no strange God among you. You're my witnesses, saith the
Lord, that I am God. Verse 13, Yea, before the day
was, I am He. There's nothing that can deliver
out of my hands. I will work, and who shall let
it? Let Jesus. It's another Jesus. Another Jesus. They can't save
him. Let God. You need to get rid of that God. Oh, my. Jacob saw him. Jacob. Oh, my. I've got to hurry. Jacob is out in the world. Oh,
he's got nothing but trouble. But God is bringing him back.
Back to Bethel. Back to the house of God. Home
to his father where he belongs. And coming home, the angels of
God met him. A host of heavenly hosts met
him. And I'll tell you what, if you're
out of the way, you'll run into devils. And I was. Not companions with
devils. I was a devil. That's who you'll meet, and that's
who you'll be with, and that's who will have hold of you. Devils.
and mercy and grace. He has chosen you, our sons and
daughters, our grandchildren. He put them in Christ's way.
He calls them by His grace. He calls them by the Gospel.
He has given them to Christ as their Savior and sends the angel
of His mercy and His presence, the Holy Spirit, to the priests
of the Gospel to call them out of darkness into His marvelous
light, to call them out of death into life, to call them Back
to Bethel, the house of God brings them to hear the gospel. You
know what they'll find meeting them? Angels. Angels. One of the sisters was over at
our house the other night and we were talking about our children,
wayward children. And I reminded her, that was
me. But if you'd have seen me when
I was about 18, 19, you'd have thought, oh, he's out of the
way. I told you I looked like Charles
Manson. I did. I'm not going to show you those pictures. I
looked like Charles Manson. I looked like a devil. And like
the people whom the Lord struck with blindness, they couldn't
see themselves. I was blind. And now I see. But I didn't see
myself then. Like the prodigal. He was in
the hog pen. He's in the muck and the mire
and the slop. And all these so-called friends
of his, they're worthless, useless, no good people. They can't help
him. They can just take him from him until he has nothing. And he's in the hog pen. And
he doesn't know it. He can't smell himself. He can't
see himself. He's blind. He's filthy. He's
wretched, vile, miserable, poor and naked. He can't see it. But
God! You can't preach the gospel without
saying, but God! Brought him to himself. To smell
himself. To see himself. To look at his
old buddies. Devils! And that's me! Come home. The servants back
home had plenty. They're not dressed in rags. You don't have to live like that. Come home, son. And when he came
home, you remember that story? The Father was looking for him. The Father was waiting on him.
He was waiting to be gracious. He had already pardoned him before
he came. And the prodigal son had a little
speech made up. It was a good little prayer.
He practiced it all the time. He rehearsed his little prayer
all the time. It was a good prayer. It was doctrinally sound. But
before he got through speaking, like Daniel, because he was greatly
loved, because the father loved his son, before he got through
speaking, the father fell on his neck, ran to him, ready to
part, fell on his neck, kissed him. He shut his mouth. The potter didn't say anything
anymore. And the fathers kept saying,
kill the fatted calf. Bring the robe. Don't offer it
to him. Put it on him. Bring a ring, symbol of my eternal
love and covenant and agreement and vows concerning him. Put
it on his finger. Kill the fatted calf. This, my
son, was lost. He was dead, and I was alive.
And there was a great joy throughout the Father's house over one worthless
prodigal. And here comes Jacob. An angel
met him. And I was telling the sister
that the Lord was bringing me back, bringing me home. And the
Lord uses means, he does. Nobody comes back and sits in
the pew, our prodigal sons and daughters, whoever, spouses,
whoever. No one comes for the right reason.
Jacob's just running. He's going to go back where he
thinks it's safe. He's got a lot of troubles to go through. After
this, some of his worst troubles happened. His family, he has
family, nothing but trouble after this. His boys grow up. Oh, my. They broke his heart. All of
them. But his wife died. The nurse died. Troubles, sorrows. But he's going home. It's alright. It's alright. The angels of God met him. And
you know, when the Lord brought me back, I was ashamed. Like
that prodigal. I was ashamed. Like Jacob. Like
Ruth. Like Naomi. I was ashamed. Coming
home ashamed. And I thought, these people are
going to look down on me. These people. They're better than I am. And
you know what I found out? They're angels. The angels of
God met me. Angels of mercy. Now, you know
who most angels are? John. John saw things on the
Isle of Patmos and the Lord sent an angel to tell him about these
things. And John fell at his feet to worship that angel. So grateful for the Lord sending
this angel his way. And he fell at this angel's feet
and the angel said, See thou do it not. I'm of your brethren,
the prophets. I'm just a glorified man like
you. I'm just a sinner saved by grace
like you. I'm a son of Jacob like you. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. I was blind, now I see. I was unholy and unrighteous,
now I'm righteous. I was an old man like you, Jacob,
but now I'm new, created new, a new creature in Christ. I look
like an angel, but Jacob, I was just like you. Get up. Don't worship me. Worship Him.
Angels. That's what you'll find when
the Lord brings you back to His church, His people. They're angels,
aren't they? They'll save you with open arms.
Yeah, call this church right here, call this place Mayonnaise. You know, this story has my name
written all over it. It really does. I don't think
that's my coincidence. For me, anyway. For me, it's
like if your name was Jacob. My, my. Joseph. Joseph, what
a good name. We're going to get on that story. My, my. Joseph. Two hosts. Hebrews 12, and I
quit. Go to Hebrews 12. He called it
mayonaise. Two hosts. Two hosts. Apparently,
two hosts were there. One on his right hand, one on
his left. Or maybe they saw angels before
him. In other words, if there's a
host over here, he can't turn to the right. He can't turn to the left. He's
got to go straight on. Or there's a host in front of
him, leading him, guiding him, and there's a host behind him,
keeping him from turning around. Two hosts. There's a reason for
that. Two hosts. Oh, if the Lord would
give us eyes to see, we'd see a multitude of heavenly hosts
all around us. Two camps. Jacob had pitched
his tent. He's living in tents here. And
he pitched his tent here in May and April. Wherever he pitched
his tent, they pitched their tent. You travel on down, Jacob
pitched his tent, they pitched their tent. Oh, yeah. God sent
them. They were there all along. He
just gave them Jacob's eyes to see. Oh, like I said, if the Lord
just give us a glimpse into heaven, just peel back this veil of flesh
and see that they that before us are more than they be against
us. There's nothing to be afraid of. The hosts of heaven are with
us. And if we could see in the glory
You know, if God would peel back right now this veil of tears,
this veil of flesh, this dark, we see through a glass darkly,
if He'd just make it clear to us, you know what we'd see? A
multitude of heavenly hope, a great crowd of witnesses. You see in
the heaven right now, our brethren, many of our brethren, Joe and
Ellen and Becky, and just on and on it goes, and Virgie and
Moses and Joseph and all of them, and Samuel and Abel, Rahab and
Mary Magdalene and the thief on the cross. Saul of Tarsus. Just keep naming them. Ruth.
We'd see them all. We'd see them all. A heavenly
host saying, fear not. Fear not. You're right on the
door. He's at the door. Fear not. We're with you. He's with us. He's coming home. He's coming home. Fear not. Can you see them? Look at Hebrews
12, verse 22. It says, You come unto Mount
Zion, the city of the living God, a heavenly Jerusalem, to
an innumerable company of angels. The General Assembly of the Church
of the Firstborn, they're waiting on us. I'm not dramatizing this. This is how they're waiting on
us. The marriage ceremony can't go on yet. till every one of God's elect
are home. That's why the door of the Ark is still open. We've
come to the General Assembly, the Church of the Firstborn,
written names written in heaven, to the God, the Judge of all,
and the spirits of just men, made perfect. Don't you like
that? They were all just men, but they're
made perfect. And to Jesus, the Mediator of
the New Covenants, The blood of sprinkling, blood before the
Lord, speaks better things than anger. I was going to show you, but
let me just read this to you. Over in the Song of Solomon,
let me read this to you, and I'll close. Here's what the bridegroom, the
beloved, says to his Shulamite maiden, his black but comely
wife. He says, Return, O Shulamite, return,
return, that we may look upon thee." What will you see in the
Shulamite as it were the company of two armies? And that word
is mayonim. Same work. What do you say to
companies, to hosts, hosts, church on earth, church in heaven, to
hosts, to separate by thin veil, thin veil of breath. And soon they're going to pass
over. They're going to pass over into Canaan, there in happy land,
where my possessions lie, where The Lord Jesus Christ awaits.
He says, fear not Jacob, I'm with thee, I'm with thee. And
I've sent a heavenly host of angels in heaven and angels on
earth to show you that heaven doesn't need prayer, to escort
you home, all the way home, through troubles, through trials, through
deep waters, through the fire, but it's not going to hurt you.
It's going to refine you. All right. Let's sing in closing. Number 11. Number 11. Let's stand
and sing a couple of verses. May all thy mercies, O my God,
my rising soul survey.