I will not be burdened no more. And all the world will remember
me, Forever, forever, forevermore. Alright, open your Bibles to
Psalm 146. Psalm 146. Good to have Juanita back with
us tonight. We're thankful. Good to be here,
isn't it? It's nothing like the live, warm
bodies and the live reading and hearing of the word gathered
with God's people. You can't replace it. The Lord said that he would be
present when his people gathered. Look at verse 5, Psalm 146. This
is the verse that so very clearly came to my mind. in studying
Jacob. Happy is he that hath the God
of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God,
Jacob, whose hope is in Jacob's God. Happy. Happy is he that
hath the God of Jacob for his help. This should be a message of great
comfort to sons of Jacob. And we need to look at Jacob.
We need to understand who Jacob is in order to understand Jacob's
God. And we need to feel like we're
a Jacob in order to be happy that Jacob's God is our God.
So we're going to look at Jacob first and then Jacob's God. All right, turn with me to Genesis. 25, Genesis 25, where the story starts,
Jacob. And we'll be looking, I told
Brother Nybert, I was talking to him on the phone, that this
is just not the way I normally preach. I take a text and then
go all over. I just don't feel comfortable
doing that, but that's what we're going to do tonight. But we're
going to devote our time between Genesis and Isaiah. We're going
to look at those two books, so if you want to mark those two
books, we'll leave. And a few others here and there.
All right, who is Jacob? Who is Jacob? Who is Jacob? Chapter 25, look at verses 24
through 28. Isaac's wife, Rebecca, her days
were delivered. She was fulfilled. There were
twins in her womb. First came out red all over like
a hairy garment. They called his name Esau. After
that came out his brother. His hand took hold on Esau's
heel and his name was called Jacob. Isaac was three score years old,
sixty when His wife buried them, and the boys grew, and Esau was
a cunning hunter, a man of the field, and Jacob was just a plain
man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau because
he did eat of his venison. He supplied his dad with good
meat, but Rebekah loved Jacob. All right, who is Jacob? It says
there he's just a plain man. And that word plain means just
an ordinary man, just a common Man, nothing really special,
well, intense. Nothing remarkable about him. His mother loved him. You know,
that could be said about every boy, that mother loves him. And
we're going to see this is a man that only a mother could love.
But look at Malachi. Malachi, you need to look at
this. This needs to be a passage you
need to mark in your Bible or memorize it. In the book of Malachi,
I tell you, somebody else would love Jacob. And this is why Jacob became
who he was and what all happened to Jacob. God loves him. Now,
there are two sons, weren't there? Two sons, Jacob and Esau. Same
father and mother. Same father and mother. One seemed
to be more appealing in the flesh, Esau. To the, certainly to our
generation, Esau would have been, you know, this world would have
chosen Esau. He's an outgoing, robust, outdoors
one. He'd been on the, on that Survivor
program with us. A hero. Now Jacob, he's a plain
man, well-intentioned, his mother loved him. That doesn't mean
I've, we've wrongly got the picture of Jacob. Oh, he's not, he's
not sissy, not wimp, not a, you know. Nevertheless, they were
two sons, both of them from identical parents. One, the older one seemed
to be more appealing. The other one quite ordinary.
But Jacob was loved and chosen by God. Look at Malachi. 1 verses 1 through 3, the burden
of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. Malachi 1. This is
the word of the Lord to Israel. Who's Israel? That's Jacob. That's his name. God changed. I have loved you, saith the Lord,
yet you say, oh, how? Wherein hath you loved us? Well,
was not Esau Jacob's brother, saith the Lord, yet I loved Jacob
and I hated Now, when did God set his love
on Jacob? When did God choose Jacob? Romans 9, Romans 9, 11 says that
the children, before they were, when they were not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of
God, according to election, might stand, it was said unto her,
the elder shall serve the younger. I mean, yeah, the elder shall
serve the younger. Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. So before the children were born,
before they'd done any good or evil, before they were in the
distinguishing marks in it, God said, I chose Jacob. He elected Jacob. And Paul went
on to say, what shall we say to these things? Huh? Hath not
the potter power over the cloth to make one vessel of And this
and that and the other, huh? Sure. So Jacob, and Jacob sure
glad God chose him. He was chosen and loved by God. And he, so that made him, that
made him an object of God's love and God's purpose. That made
him in God's purpose, that the purpose of God according to election,
that it would stand. God said, I've chosen some. I've chosen some. And Exodus,
he said, I will be merciful to whom I will. None deserve it. And we're going to see that whoever
is in this saving purpose of God is in it forever. So the
word chosen is a wonderful word. Loved. God set his love on Jacob. Purpose is a wonderful word.
Jacob was a sinner. Look at chapter 25, Genesis 25. Jacob was a sinner. That's what
his name means. His name means a usurper, a supplanter. Remember, we just read where
it says he reached a hole and grabbed a hold of his brother's
heel as if to say, no, I want out first. That's what happened
there. Esau was being born, and Jacob,
the next one, grabbed ahold of his heel. Come back here. Me first. And we're going to
say that's what he was like from that day forward. He resented
his older brother and wanted what he had coming to him. He
was a sinner. Look at verses 29 through 34. He deceived his brother. Verse
29, Jacob sawed pottage. He was a cook. Esau came from
the field, and he was faint. Jacob was making some soup. Esau
had been out hunting however long, and Esau said to Jacob
when he came in, feed me, I pray thee. With that red soup, pottage,
I'm faint. His name was called Edom, red. That is Esau. And Jacob said,
in other words, Esau was just really tired and hungry and had
been gone a long time, said, I'm about I'm dying of hunger. You ever said that? I'm dying
of hunger. Give me some of that soup, younger
brother. And Jacob said... Now this didn't just pop. This
just wasn't just off the top of his head. He'd been looking
for an opportunity to swindle his brother out of the birthright. Now the birthright was the rights
of the oldest son to the inheritance of the father. The birthright
was the place of promise, the place of leadership, the spiritual
leader, and just everything that went with the birthright. And
spiritually speaking, the birthright was a person's God-given position
in the family, to lead the family spiritually. And Jacob wanted
that, you know, for evil purposes. He wanted that position. So this
wasn't just, Nancy, this wasn't off the top of his head. He'd
been thinking about it a long time. He said it awfully quick. Give
me your birthright. Esau thought, what? Sell me your
birthright, he said. Verse 32, Esau said, I'm dying
of hunger. Birthright? What? What good's
a birth? Take the birthright. Now, they were both... Esau,
this is why God said he hated Esau. There's no problem in understanding
why God hated Esau. Esau said, I don't care anything
about that birthright. Take it. I just want something
to eat. So Jacob was a sinner and Esau was too. But Jacob said,
swear to me now, swear to me, verse 33. And Esau swore to him. He sold him his birthright. Jacob
gave Esau something to eat. Esau despised, thus Esau despised
his birthright. So he deceived his brother, didn't
he? Now Esau was a rotten, no good sinner for despising his
birthright. Uh oh, I didn't start that. Jacob was a rotten, no-good sinner
for cheating him out of his birthright. So see, neither one of them were
worth anything. Jacob. But one of them was a
chosen sinner. They were both sinners, no-good
sinners, rotten. God should have had nothing to
do with either one of them, but God chose Jacob. But Jacob was
chosen, loved by God. Jacob was in God's saving purpose. Jacob was a no-good sinner. Just
a sinner. He couldn't add anything or do
anything for God. Alright? Jacob deceived his father. He not only... How bad was Jacob? He not only deceived his brother,
he deceived his father, Brother Henry. Doesn't he have a conscience? His poor, blind father. In his
dying day, he deceived him. You remember the story, don't
you? Why did that happen? Well, so we'd have Genesis 27,
didn't we? So we'd have such a picture of
Christ. Nevertheless, Jacob, can you imagine what a rotten
son he was then? To save his brother and his father? Is this who God loves? Yeah. And God's going to do something
with this one. Yes, He is. And you know, when
Jacob was saved, when was Jacob saved? I believe it was chapter
28. Turn over there, chapter 28.
I believe is when the Lord regenerated Jacob. I may be wrong,
I don't know. Nevertheless, everything in Jacob's
life, I talked about Jacob being a man in God's purpose. Everything in Jacob's life, if
you're in God's saving purpose, everything in your life works
together. To bring a desired end, to bring God's purpose, works together for good. And
we will see that everything in the life of Jacob, even his sins. Now, God's not the author of
sin, God's not the cause of Jacob's sin, never the later. Even the
sins of Jacob, God allowed that to fulfill his purpose, to fulfill
his purpose. And now listen to this, listen
to this statement. Though our sins separate us from
God, Though our sins separate us from God, yet they drive us
to Christ. They drive us to Christ. They
do. Jacob, we're going to see, he's
on the run. He gets in a mess. His family
is nothing but just torn all to pieces. All of his sons and
his one daughter just give him nothing but heartache. But it
all drives him to his God. Happy is he that the God of Jacob
for his help. Jacob will tell you about that.
Well, Jacob was chosen to know God here in Chapter 28. Oh, my,
this is wonderful. Look at verse 28, verse 11. Jacob lighted upon a certain
place. He just happened to light. That's
an old country saying. He just lighted and he just lighted
on a certain place. That is, he came to a certain
place, a place where God was going to meet him. And he tarried
there all night because the sun was set, and he took stones to
that place and put them for his pillows and lay down in that
place to sleep. Now, Jacob is running from his brother Esau. He's a no-good brother deceiver,
father deceiver. He's feeling pretty rotten. He's
running. He's scared, running from his brother. He's out in
the wilderness. He lies down, makes his stones
his pillow, and that's written on paper. But here he is, this
poor, pitiful, no good Jacob, lying on the side of a hill,
running from his brother, his life had been nothing but an
absolute mess up to this point. Now this is who God chose, and
here's where he meets him. In verse 12, he dreamed and behold
a ladder set up on the earth. top of the ladder reached to
heaven. Behold the angels of God descending and descending
on it. What's that? You know what that ladder is?
That's Christ. Jacob's ladder is Jacob's Christ. That's the way to God. God who
descended to this earth. God who ascended back to heaven.
The way to heaven. That's Christ himself is that
ladder. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, What
Lord? Who's the Lord here talking?
The only one that ever spoke to any human being was the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's who that is. And said,
I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, the God of Isaac,
the land whereon thou lies. Now here he makes a promise to
him. I'm going to give you the land and to thy seed. And thy
seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread
abroad to the west, to the east, to the north, to the south, and
thee, and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be
blessed. Behold, I am with thee, will keep thee in all places
whither thou goest, will bring thee again unto this land. I
will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken
to thee of." And Jacob awaked out of his sleep and said, I've
just met the Lord. Surely the Lord was in this place
and I didn't know. I've heard dad talking about
the Lord. Dad pronounced all these blessings, you know, the
prophecies to Jacob. And I don't believe he knew the
Lord up to that point. But now he says I've heard of
him with a hearing of the ear and now I've seen him. I've heard
from him myself. And so does every son of Jacob
going to have to Lord might appear to him or her personally. And
he noticed that the Lord didn't ask Jacob, like Rebecca, like
Rachel. The Lord didn't ask Jacob anything
then. Later on, he asked him one thing.
What's your name? But he didn't ask him anything
here then. He didn't say, will you, will you, will you, will
you accept me? How did the Lord regenerate this
man? Just by telling him who he was,
who God was, and what God had done and promised it was going
to do for him. Right? So Jacob was chosen to
know God. Listen to this passage of Scripture.
Isaiah 43. Listen. You're my witnesses,
saith the Lord, and my servant, whom I have chosen, that ye might
know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Who? He who chose you. You see, that's the true and
living God, and all those who know him know that he chose them.
That's one of the first things they learn. I'm the Lord that
chose you to know me that chose you. All right. Now, that ladder,
that's Christ. We've already looked at that.
Well, look at chapter 32. This is where the Lord came and No, I love this. Jacob was chosen, was by God,
and Jacob was laid hold on by God. This is salvation. When God lays hold on us, apprehends
us. Paul said, I've been apprehended. Apprehended. Laid hold on. And we lay hold on Him. Like
Jacob did. Look at this, verse 24, chapter
32. Jacob was left alone. And you
know, what a message. That man is not a soul winner
who keeps hounding people. He's a true soul winner who leaves
them alone with his God. Barnard used to
just absolutely say things to just people, you just didn't
understand why he said and did some of the things he would say
and do. Like a young man one time said,
Brother Barnard, he said, I want to serve the Lord. And whatever
Barnard was doing, he just kept on doing and ignored him. And
the young man said, Brother Barnard, I want to serve the Lord. Barnard
looked up from what he was doing and said, well, do it. And went
back to doing what he was doing. That's all he said to me. A man
was riding along with Brother Barnard in the car one time.
A young man. Barnard was driving. And a young
man, you know, wanted to have a conversation with Brother Barnard
on prayer. And he said, Brother Barnard, Brother Barnard, he
said, What was his prayer? Barnabas kept driving, didn't
answer him. Didn't answer him. And Brother Barnard, he said,
after about five, ten minutes of silence, what's his prayer?
And Brother Barnard said finally, it has something to do with the
will of God. That's it. Leave him alone. We're talkers,
aren't we? Explainers. And like I said,
that's a whole message by itself. Jacob was left alone. He's going
to meet who he needs to meet. That's why our Lord said, when
you pray, don't go down front here where all these people are
making their, you know, so that that soul winner can notch his
belt and pray. You pray the center of prayer.
Don't do that. The center of prayer is like
Jacob. You go home. Get alone with God. Jacob was
left alone, and there wrestled a man with him. Look at it, verse
24. Who was wrestling with who? A man was wrestling with Jacob. Jacob didn't know the Lord. Jacob
wasn't seeking the Lord. Jacob was left alone, OK? And the Lord came to him and
laid hold on him. It's like he's sleeping there,
and the Lord grabbed hold of him and said, Listen to me. Shook him, wrestled with him.
Get up, why don't you shake us now, old slugger? I got something
to say to you. I want to say something. Sit
up here and wrestle with him, Henry. We need it, don't we? And the
Lord, that's what we need. The Lord first reveals himself
to us. We need a good shaking up. Until the breaking of the
day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him. Now
he's speaking in the terms of a man. What he's saying there
is that Jacob was wrestling with him too. Jacob realized that
somebody's got hold of me and it's not a mere man. That this is somebody special
here. Because of the way he was being
dealt with. He knew when he was being dealt
with by the Lord. 25 said he touched the hollow of
Jacob's thigh and it was out of joint and as he wrestled with
him and he said, let me go, angel, my daybreaker. He's going to
try his persistence, Jacob's persistence. Jacob said, I will
not let thee go until you bless me, except you bless me. See,
Jacob knows this is the Lord. This is what it means to seek
the Lord. This is what it means to be wrestled with. and to be
and to wrestle with the Lord. So and so seeking the Lord, is
he? Well, then he will find him. And that's what Jacob said, I
will not let thee go, except you bless me. What's your name?
The one and only question God asked
the sons of Jacob. What's your name? He knew what
his name was. He came to wrestle with him. He's telling Jacob to confess,
fess up what you are. Jacob means cheap. Jacob means
supplant. Jacob means no good. Jacob means
sinner. What's your name? He said, Jacob. And that's when he changed his
name to Israel, which means prince. Yeah, you're Jacob. That's right.
But I'm going to change you into a prince because I've chosen
you and I came to lay hold on you, came to reveal myself to
you. That's what every son of Jacob has happened to him. And
from that day forward now, Jacob began to walk with his God and
seek his God and call on his God. Chapter 29, back in chapter
29, God spoke to him. Back in chapter 29, what we looked
at, he went where God told him to go. Where his father, his
father told, or God told his father, you know, don't, what
God told, you know, God told not to be married to unbelievers. You go to my people. So what,
Esau didn't. Esau went and married the woman
of the world because she was good looking. And a couple of
and you remember. We saw mother Rebecca said these
girls will be definitely killing me. These these daughters of
Esau. They're killing me. I'm going
to die. And she said if Jacob doesn't
marry a believer, I don't know what I'm going to do. And Jacob
did what the Lord told him to. And buddy, he got a good wife,
Rachel. And boy, he had a good son, too. He's Joseph. But he
went where God told him to go after that. Go find a daughter
of my people. And he did. And he did. And God
said, I will bless you. And he did. And he did. Rachel
had one son for a long time. You wouldn't need another boy
if you had a Joseph. But God was so good later on,
she got a Benjamin too. Rachel. Well, so he went where
God told him to go, where his father and mother told him to
go in search of a wife. He served, listen to this man,
from that day forward. He served, men. He served, he
wanted this girl so bad, Rachel. He was so in love with her. And
Rachel's father said, you can have her. She can be your wife
seven years from now. You're going to have to go work
on my farm for seven years if you want this girl. And you know
it said that he worked seven years and it seemed like just
a few days. That's what it said. Jacob loved Rachel so much. She
was worth waiting seven years for. And when he got her, he had a
wife. But now, you remember what happened. Laban was his name. His father-in-law
was a no good bum. And he deceived Jacob. Jacob
somehow ended up with Leah, remember? And it was bad. Why did that
happen? Jacob knew why that happened. So he was tried and chastened.
Here's another thing about Jacob. Jacob was tried and chastened. He was a God-fearing, you know,
the Lord appeared to him and he became a God-fearing, God-seeking,
committed man. But that did not leave him without
chastening and being tried. Why? He deserved it. Go teach him. Henry, he got deceived
too. Why? Because he was a deceiver. All his life, from then on, he's
going to be reminded of who he is. God keeps calling Jacob,
Jacob, Jacob, Jacob, Jacob. Now, God changed his name. He's
Israel. But he kept reminding Jacob that
you're just Jacob. And he became, he was tried,
he was chastened, but he, you know, he submitted. He submitted
to God's You know, he worked 20 years in his father-in-law's
home, 20 years after it was all over. He worked seven and got
the wrong woman. Especially a rotten one like
Laban. Huh? That's what he was. War was all
over Jacob's head. Man, old man, he was tried, but
he was a broken man. But he submitted. He submitted
to them. And God was in him and everything,
with him and everything. God was with him and everything,
because he submitted to everything the Lord sent his way, because
he deserved everything he got. But he submitted patiently to
it, twenty years. And God was with him and everything,
and by the time he left there, he had an abundance. He had wives and children and
sheep and goats and just land. See, even all those trials worked
out for his abundance. And then look at chapter 31.
Jacob was hated, persecuted by everybody. Everybody hated him. Everybody persecuted him. Chapter
31, verse 1, Laban's sons, his brother-in-laws, his brother's-in-law,
they heard the words of Laban's... Jacob heard the word of Laban's
son saying, Jacob has taken away everything as our father. He's
taken away his glory. They hated Jacob. He's got it all. He's stolen
it all. No, he didn't. Laban wouldn't have anything
if Jacob hadn't been the industrious and ingenious farmer that he
was. Jacob devised a way, Brother Charlie, Jacob devised a way
to make cattle breed and produce real good cattle. This man was
sharp. Roy, this fellow was a farmer
now. He took no good worthless cattle
and made a good herd out of them. He knew what he was doing. And
he wasn't, and I've got this wrong before, he wasn't swindling
his father-in-law. His father-in-law was a no good
farmer and his sons weren't any good either. They didn't know
what to do. Jacob did. God's people aren't worthless
people. They're good hard workers and Lord bless us what they do.
They're industry. And it all turned into gold for
both Jacob and Lazarus. Jacob and Lach. Well, but they
hated him. They hated him. He was a good brother-in-law.
He was a good worker. He was God-fearing, but they
hated him. They persecuted him. Look at verses 22 through 23. Jacob was starting to leave with
his family. It was his ride. Man, he's about
60 years old by this time. Or 50, anyway. Time to leave
home, isn't it, Brother Henry? He said, I want to go. Give me
my wife. And Laban didn't want him to
leave because he'd get rich off Jacob. Well, he rose up and he
fled with all he had, verse 22. And it was told Laban that Jacob
was fled, and verse 23, took his brethren with him, pursued
after him seven days' journey, and overtook him. And man, Laban
lashed into him and said, who do you think you are? Everything
you've got is mine. That's what Laban said to him.
He said, those are my daughters. That's my cattle. Oh, no, it
wasn't. No, it wasn't. It's Jacob's.
And what a picture of Christ this is here. Jacob is in all
of this, isn't he? Hated by his brethren, and he's
the one Laban had everything he had because of Jacob. And
the sons of Adam that hate God, that hate Christ, have everything
they have because of him. And yet they say it's mine, it's
mine. No, it's not either. You have it because I gave it
to you. My goodness, my wisdom. Well, chapter 32, verses 9 through
12, is where his brother Esau was after him. Chapter 32, look at verse 6 and
7. A messenger returned to Jacob
saying, we've came to your brother Esau and he's coming to meet
you with 400 men. So he just escaped. labor and
all of those. No good scoundrel brother and
brother-in-law here. Hey, just escape all that. And here he is now going home. And here comes he saw 400 men.
When will it end? Take a thought. One thing after
another. I'm sure he thought, well, I'm
going home now and things will be a little bit better. Here
comes these 400 people. He thought, I'm getting what
I deserve. I'm getting what I deserve. Oh
my, hated. And Jacob was, Jacob was called
on and was dependent upon his God. Look at verses 9 through
12. Jacob said, Oh God, Where else
is he going to turn? Oh, happy is he that the God
of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord. Jacob said,
Oh, God, my father, Abraham, God of my father, Isaac, God
of my father, God of... He remembered. Stand. He's pleading with God. Abraham, stand. His grandfather,
Abraham. Oh, God of my father, grandfather
Abraham, who denied his wife and who was running scared. God
of my father, Isaac, who denied his wife, who was running scared. I'm scared. You who said unto me, return
unto your country, and that I can. Now you told me to do this. He's
pleading God's word, God's promises. Verse 10. What a verse. I am not worthy of the least
of all the mercies and all the truth. which thou hast shown
unto thy servants. People, that's the best verse
in all the Bible. Put a circle around that. That's
wonderful. This is the prayer of every son
of Jacob. I am not worthy of the least
of all your mercies, the greatest of which is all the truth. which
thou hast shown unto thy servant." He didn't show it to Esau. He
didn't show it to Lana. And with my staff I passed over
Jordan, and now I've become two bands. And deliver me, deliver
me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother. He's going to
smite me. Verse 12, Jacob is pleading God's Word,
God's promise. You said, this is what you said, Lord, I'm pleading
with you, your Word and your promise. You said, I will surely
do thee good. That's what you said to this
old Jacob. That's what you said to me when you found me, when
I was a no good scoundrel, and here I am again, a no good scoundrel. But this is what you said. I
will surely do thee good and make your seed as the sand of
the sea. Well, that's not much commendable. There's
some things, you know, but not much. Right. Chosen and loved
by God. Purpose of God and purpose of
God. Hated and persecuted. Just all these things chosen
to know God became a God fearing, seeking man yet. Well. Happy is he. that have the God
of Jacob or his help. Jacob's God. We've already said
this. Jacob's God. You turn back to
chapter 28 real quickly. Jacob's God, as we've already
said, and I love to say it again, I think myself happy to say this
again. Jacob's God is a sovereign, electing
God. Jacob God chose Jacob. Ask Jacob, Jacob, what do you
think about election? Oh, praise God for choosing me. I'd have been just like Esau.
I was worse than Esau. Oh, praise God for sovereign
electing grace. That's what Jacob would have
said. That's what old Jacob's son said. They love the God of
Jacob, electing God. Sovereign, loving God. Jacob,
what do you think about sovereign love? Jacob, do you think that
there's something good in you? Do you think that there's something
God ought to love about you? Do you think that God ought to
love you? Oh, Jacob said. Does it read that God loves me?
Does it say that? Yeah, it sure does. Jacob, have
I love. Praise God for sovereign love. There's nothing about me worth
loving, Jacob would have said. And so do every one of Jacob's
sons. Yes, happy as he that the God of Jacob to love him. Sovereign
love. God had to set his love and decide
to love Jacob. There's nothing lovely about
it. That's what every son of Jacob says. Those who don't aren't. Plain as that. What do you think
about sovereign love? Well, I think God ought to love
everybody. You sound like an Esau to me. Jacob's God is a covenant-making
and covenant-keeping God. That's what He is. The God of
Jacob is a covenant-making, covenant-keeping God. Look at this again. Chapter
28. In case you didn't see it the first time. I looked at it
seven times and didn't see it until the 7th. Verse 15, Behold,
look at all that God says to Jacob. I am with thee and will
keep thee in all places, whither it doesn't matter where you go
or what you go through or what you do. And I will bring thee again."
Look at this covenant making, promise making, covenant keeping.
I will. I am and I 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. Oh my, Jacob's hope was in a
God who said I am, I will, I will give, I will keep, I will bring,
I will do. As happy as he to have the God
of Jacob for his help. God did not ask Jacob anything
ever except what his name was. And every other time when God
spoke it was I will, I shall, I will give, I will keep, I will
bring, I will. That's because that's who I am.
You are who you are, yes, and I am that I am. You're God. Happy is he that the God of Jacob
for his help. Happy. You know what, Jacob?
Look at Jacob's reply, verse 16. Jacob awaked out of his sleep,
and the first word out of his mouth was, Surely. Surely. After he heard the I wills and
the I shalls, he said, well, surely. You see that? No doubt about his salvation.
No doubt about his gospel. Tell us your gospel in one word,
Jacob. Surely. You got that, didn't you, John?
First word out of his mouth, surely. How do his loins come to surety?
Well, this covenant was made concerning Jacob's salvation
before Jacob was born. Made concerning the seed. I noticed
some eyes light up when we read that. The seed. This God of Jacob,
chapter 35. Chapter 35 is a merciful, gracious,
compassionate God. Merciful, gracious, compassionate
God. He's a sovereign electing God, he's a sovereign loving
God, he's a covenant-making, keeping God, he's a merciful,
gracious, and compassionate God. Now, the Lord appeared to Jacob
when he was a cheat and a sinner, and he kept appearing to him.
He kept appearing to him. Look at chapter 35, verses 9
and 10. God appeared unto Jacob again,
and again, and again. And again, God kept appearing
to Jacob. Merciful, gracious, the vice
to show mercy. Jacob was getting a mess, and
God appeared to him again. Appeared to him again. Psalm
107. Psalm 107. Talks about Israel. Jacob. Sons of in the wilderness. And the messes they got in. They
called on him, and he came to them again. Answer them every
time. How happy is he to have the God
of Jacob for his heir? Merciful, gracious, compassionate.
He's the sovereign redeemer. Turn over to Isaiah and we'll
quit with a few verses in Isaiah. He's Jacob's sovereign redeemer.
And Brother Nybert pointed out to me that, you know, this is
the title that God refers to himself by more than any other.
God of Jacob. That's significant in it. Pharisees say, this man received
a son. Yes, the God of Jacob. That's who he is. He's on top
of the ladder. He's the one that Stephen looked
up and saw standing there. Same one Jacob did. All sons
of Jacob, see. He's Jacob's sovereign redeemer.
Chapter 43, verse 1. Now saith the Lord that created
thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not. I have
redeemed thee." Not I might, not I made a down payment, not
I made it possible. Ain't no son of Jacob ever said
God made salvation possible. What if you'd asked Jacob, Jacob,
did God make your salvation possible? No, He redeemed me. How foolish can you get? Thus
saith the Lord, I have redeemed thee, having obtained eternal redemption,
as Scripture says, doesn't it? John, John Jacob. I, why? Because I have called thee by
thy name. Thou art mine. You're not your own. You're what?
Bought, redeemed with a price. I love what Barnard said. It
doesn't say what it means, it says what it says. Well, it doesn't
mean that. What can it mean, huh? It says
what it says. Well, look at verse 3. I am the
Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. Who's this
talking here? Any doubt in your mind who God
is? Who the Redeemer is? What he did? Jesus Christ, isn't
it? Did Jacob know Christ? Were you
talking to him? Isaiah, I gave Egypt for your
ransom. Ethiopia and Steva, since you
were precious in my sight. You've been honorable, and I
love you. Oh, man. Sovereign Redeemer. He's Jacob's God. Oh, how happy
is he that it's God and Jacob. Jacob's God is the sovereign
provider. Chapter 44. Chapter 44. I got two minutes. You'll turn
quick. He's Jacob's sovereign provider.
Chapter 44, verses 1 and following. Hear this, O Jacob, my servant
Israel, whom I have chosen. Thus saith the Lord that made
thee and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee. Fear
not, O Jacob, my servant, and thou just Urim, with whom I have
chosen. I will pour water upon him that's
thirsty. floods on the dry ground, I'll
put my spirit upon thy seed, my blessing upon thine offspring.
They shall spring up as among the grass, as willows, as watercourses,
and I'm going to bless you, I'm going to provide for you. Jacob's
keeper, we read that in Isaiah 41 where he said, I'll keep you,
I'll help you, I'll uphold you. Isaiah 46 where he said, I'll
bury you, I'll carry you even to your old age. I'm he. I'll carry you. I'll make you.
I'll bury you. Even I will carry you and I will deliver you. Oh,
happy is he that the God of Jacob for his hand. Jacob, fear not.
I will carry you. You know, I have to walk one
step. You know, I have to do one thing. I've already done it all. Happy
is he that the God of Jacob for his hand. Happy is he, because
God hath said, and I'll quote this, you tell me where it's
found. Where he said, I'm the Lord and
I change not. I am the Lord and I change not. I don't change my mind. Whoever
I choose, they're chosen. They're chosen. Whoever I love,
they're loved with an everlasting love. Nobody can say anything
about it. Whomever I redeemed, they're
redeemed. I don't change my mind. I don't
take back the gifts of God without repentance. I don't take it back.
Whoever I redeemed, I don't give them back because they're worthless. They're mine. They're bought
with a price. Whoever I tell the truth to, they trust me and
believe that truth. Anybody that trusts me will never
be put to shame, never. I give unto them eternal life,
and they will never perish. I don't change. I do not change. I'm the Lord. I change not. Therefore, can
you quote the rest of it? You sons of Jacob are not consumed. Malachi 3.6. Learn that. Learn that. It'll be the best
version of the Bible to you. I'm the Lord. I changed nothing.
Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not concerned. God should
have been done with Jacob a long time ago. He shouldn't have chosen
him. And all that he went through, the mess he got in, he shouldn't
have said, that's enough. No. I'm the Lord. I changed nothing. I'm the God of Jacob. What do
you say? Happy is he that the God of Jacob,
for his health, whose trust is in the Lord his God. All right,
stand with me. Our Father, O God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, how blessed we are, though not worthy of
the least of your mercy, yet how blessed we are that you've
shown us all this truth and you made us glad. We know the joyful
sound. The joyful sound is Psalm 146,
verse 5. Happy. They see the happy God
of Jacob for his help. The joyful sound is Malachi 3,
6. You're the Lord that changed not. And so sons of Jacob, cheats,
sinners, no goods are not consumed. You're the covenant keeping,
merciful, gracious, kind, eternal redeemer of all sons of Jacob.
how we think, and all Israel will be saved. We plead just
as Jacob pled, your mercy, your grace, your kindness, all about
us, oppose us, we oppose ourselves, but when time we are afraid,
we'll call on thee, O God of Jacob, in Christ's name. Amen. Thank you very much. I'm going to go ahead and get
started. Okay. I'm going to go ahead and get
started. I don't know. Thank you very much. Thank you. It's probably a good thing that
we were able to do this after the school was over. We were
able to go back home and we were able to get out of this house
and we were able to spend a little bit of time with our kids. It was awesome. It was awesome.
I'm sorry, what was your name again? Alex. Alex. Alex. Alex. Alex. Alex. I couldn't watch, but it was
perfect, and I couldn't miss it. It was the best day of my
life. It was fun. I was winning, I
was successful, I was having a good time. You know, I said,
you know, we got to put an end to this. We're just going to
let it go. It's done. It's over. I'm happy.
I love you guys. I love you guys. I love you guys.
I love you guys. Thank you. So, I'm going to go
ahead and get started. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I'm going to give you an opportunity
to look at a few of my brothers and sisters that I met when I
was a child, and some of my great-grandsons, and some of my great-grandsons,
and some of my great-grandsons, and some of my great-grandsons,
and some of my great-grandsons, and some of my great-grandsons,
and some of my great-grandsons, and some of my great-grandsons,
and some of my great-grandsons, and some of my great-grandsons,
and some of my great-grandsons, and some of my great-grandsons,
and some of my great-grandsons, and some of my great-grandsons,
and some of my great-grandsons, and some of my great-grandsons,
and some of my great-grandsons, and some of my great-grandsons,
and some of my great-grandsons, and some of my great-grand Thank
you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We're over the sand dunes of
libraries. I'm not going to yell at you.
I'm not going to yell at you. I'm not going to yell at you.
I'm not going to yell at you. I'm not going to yell at you.
I'm not going to yell at you. I'm not going to yell at you.
I'm not going to yell at you. I'm not going to yell at you. I'm not
going to yell at you. I'm not going to yell at you.
I'm not going to yell at you. I'm not going to yell at you. I'm
not going to yell at you. I'm not going to yell at you.
I'm not going to yell at you. I'm not going to yell at you. I'm not
going to yell at you. I'm not going to yell at you. I'm not going
to yell at you. I'm not going to yell at you. I'm not going
to yell at you. I'm not going to yell at you. I'm not going
to yell at you. I'm not going to yell at you I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I'm going to leave this lady
in the song. And I'm going to leave you to
it. I'm going to leave you to it. I'm going to leave you to
it. I'm going to leave you to it. I'm going to leave you to
it. I'm going to leave you to it. I'm going to leave you to
it. I'm going to leave you to it. I'm going to leave you to
it. I'm going to leave you to it.
I'm going to leave you to it. I'm going to leave you to it.
Oh, I love my car, but it doesn't
move. Yeah, I love to sit in the seat
of a jeep. All I'm thinking about is making
it down the hill. I am here! I am here!