Let's pick up our reading now
in Genesis 32, verse 24. And Jacob was left alone and
there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the
hollow of his thigh and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint
as he wrestled with him. And he said, let me go for the
day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee
go except thou bless me. And he said unto him, what is
thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said,
thy name should be called no more Jacob, but Israel. For as
a prince hast thou power with God and with men and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him and said,
tell me, I pray thee thy name. And he said, wherefore is it
that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And
Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, for I've seen God
face to face and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Peniel,
the sun rose upon him and he halted upon his thigh. Therefore,
the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which
is upon the hollow of the thigh into this day, because he touched
the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank." Thank
God for his word. Let's bow together in prayer. Our great God and our heavenly
Father, for we come into thy courts this evening seeking a
blessing from your storehouses of grace. Oh, how I pray that
as we look into your word this evening, that you would be our
teacher, that you would be the preacher and you would speak
to each heart here this evening, that you'd speak to us of our
Lord Jesus Christ and that you'd cause us to with ears of faith
truly hear and a heart of faith believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And as our brother Jacob of old
calls us to cling to thee and refuse to let you go, calls us
to refuse to trust our souls to anything, anyone except Christ
and Christ alone. Father, how we thank you for
such a savior who loved us while we were yet in our sin, who loved
us while we were unlovable, would love us so much that he would
assume our nature, that he would obey the law for us, and he would
sacrifice himself in that awful, bloody sacrifice to put away
the sin of your people. Father, how we thank you. And
I pray, Father, that this evening you would enable me by thy spirit
to preach him, to preach Christ and him crucified. Enable us
to believe. Father, we thank you for the
many blessings of this life, how richly that you've blessed
us. You've blessed us with every spiritual blessing. You've freely
given us everything that you require. And on top of that,
you've blessed us so richly in this life. Father, we're thankful.
Father, we pray that you'd be with your people, even though
you've blessed us so richly. You brought some into the valley
of trouble and trial. And Father, we pray you'd be
with them, Comfort their heart that you'd heal, that you'd deliver.
We pray a special blessing for our brother Dan at this time
of loss and sorrow that you'd be with him and his family. Pray
you continue to be with Earl, heal and touch his body. Restore
him to health and bring him back to worship with us again soon.
Father, all these things we ask and we give thanks in that name
which is above every name. In the name of Christ our Savior. I've titled the message this
evening, Let's Go to Peniel. When Jacob was at Bethel, I titled
that message, Let's Go to Bethel. So I thought, well, tonight,
let's go to Peniel. Jacob named this place Peniel,
and it means the face of God. Jacob named this place where
he wrestled with God, where he camped that night, he named it
Peniel because he saw God face to face. Now I want us to ask
ourselves this question, Have I seen God face-to-face? Have
I seen God face-to-face? And tonight, it's my prayer that
you and I go to Pentium, and maybe we'll see God face-to-face
in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, you remember what's
happened leading up to this. The Lord had told Jacob, you've
been here long enough. You've been in Laban's house
long enough. It's time to return home. Jacob's gathered his belongings,
his wives, his children, and he's on his way back home But
now he's afraid what's gonna happen when he meets Esau. Jacob
assumes Esau is still gonna want revenge on Jacob. You know, Jacob
has the birthright and the blessing and the way Esau sees it, Jacob
stole it from him. And you can't deny Jacob got
that by dishonest means. He deceived his father and all
the things that went on there. But now before those boys were
born, God said Jacob's gonna have the birthright. Jacob's
gonna have the blessing, but Esau sees it as Jacob stole it
from him. So who could blame Esau, right? If he still wants revenge, Jacob
just assumes that he will. So Jacob sends his servants and
his wives and his children, everything that he has ahead of him, in
several different groups, each group bearing different gifts
of cattle and sheep and camels and donkeys and goats and all
these things, you know, in just a space between each group. Each
group comes gives Esau another big presence, you know, and what
Jacob's hoping is Esau's going to get softened up by all these
presents coming to him, you know, and they'll be at peace. He'll
accept Jacob's peace offering. Well, Jacob sent everybody on,
and now here he is alone, camping out alone that night. And you
know, it had to be that way, didn't it? Had to be. Because
Jacob can't meet God face to face until he's alone. And I
see five things in our text that will be the experience of everyone
who sees God face-to-face. You know, Jacob saw the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ. This one wrestling with Jacob,
I'll show you this in a moment, is a pre-incarnate appearance
of Christ himself. That's who came and wrestled
with Jacob. Jacob saw him face-to-face before he was ever born in Bethlehem.
You and I don't see him that way, do we, in a bodily figure.
But we see him by faith. And you know what? Our view is
better than Jacob's. It really is. Jacob saw the face,
a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. By faith, we see Christ
in his glory, in his finished work of redemption for his people.
And that's better. That's better than Jacob's view.
Jacob longed to see clearly what you and I see by faith, the finished
work of Christ. Even though it won't be bodily
like Jacob, though, if we see God face to face, this will be
our experience. Number one, if we see the face
of God, we're gonna have to be alone. Verse 24 says, and Jacob
was left alone. Jacob has been left all alone
with God. And you know, that could be pretty
lonely. I would imagine there in that place, a wide open desert
or whatever the place was, I guess it wasn't a desert, there's a
brook there, To be left all alone in that place at night, that
could be pretty scary. But you know, that's the best
place for Jacob to be. That's the best place for any
of us to be, is alone with God. You know, I make it my business
to preach Christ to you and then leave you alone. Just leave you
alone with God. That doesn't mean I don't care
about you. That don't mean I don't care whether or not you believe
on Christ or not. No, I care a great deal. It's
my heart's prayer and desire every day that everyone here,
I mean, I call you by name that we know Christ. That's my heart's
desire every day. But you'll not catch me, Lord
willing, unless I start losing my mind. You're not gonna catch
me putting pressure on you to do something now. You're just
not gonna do it. We're just gonna wait and see
what God's pleased to do. If God's pleased to do something
for you, I'm not going to have to beg you to do anything. We'll
just leave you alone with God. If Lord's ever going to do anything
for you, you're going to have to be alone with God. Like Jacob
was here. Because that's how God deals
with sinners. One on one. Individually. Heart by heart.
You can be alone with God even in the midst of the public worship
service. I think nearly every believer will tell you At least
once I've been in a service and thought, how does that preacher
know what's been going on with me this week? How does he know
what I've been thinking? How does he know what I'm saying?
How does he know what I'm going through? That's a message from
God to me. I mean, all these other people
had to hear it, but now I know it. That was a message from God
to me. That's God dealing one-on-one
with his people. Even in the midst of public worship,
God deals with his people individually. He shows mercy to them on purpose,
not indiscriminately, not like waving pixie dust in the air
to see who it falls on. God deals in mercy with his people
individually, one at a time, like you're the only one he came
to show mercy to. And our cry is a cry to God individually. Every one of God's people cry,
God be merciful to me, the sinner. Like I'm the only sinner you
came to save. I know you came to save a number no man can number.
But God be merciful to me this evening. If God's gonna save
me, he's gonna show me Christ dying for me. For my sins. Like I was the only one he came
to suffer and die for. If I would be saved, the Holy
Spirit's gonna show me Christ as my savior. He's my prophet,
my priest, my king. He's my all. He's my wisdom,
my righteousness, my sanctification, my redemption. If I see the face
of God, this is what I'm going to see in the gospel. The glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. What Christ accomplished, the
God's glory is in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And I'm going to see him as my
all. That's seeing the face of God.
All right, number two, this is no easy matter. Brother Henry,
he used to talk, when I was a little boy, I didn't understand what
he was talking about, but he talked about easy believism. You ever
hear him say easy believism? Well, this thing of being saved,
coming to know Christ, there's no easy believism about this
thing. There's gonna be some wrestling going on. If we see
the face of God, God's gonna come and wrestle with us. Verse
24, Jacob was left alone, And there wrestled a man with him
until the breaking of day. They wrestled all night long.
This man who came and wrestled with Jacob is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. I know
that so because only God can bless somebody. When this man
leaves, when Christ leaves Jacob alone again, he blesses him.
Only God can do that. Only God can change his name.
He changed his name from Jacob to Israel. Only God can do that.
This is a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. And there was a physical
wrestling match going on here. I mean, the Lord Jesus came and
he physically laid hold on Jacob. And Jacob physically laid hold
on the Lord, and they had a physical wrestling match, trying to turn
one another and pin one another and throw one another down on
the ground. I mean, can you get a vision of this in your mind's
eye? Here's this man just camping out all alone. Another man comes
and just starts wrestling with him. kicking up dust and wrestling
all around, turning every which way. But there's a whole lot
going, more going on here than meets the eye. This is not just,
now it was a physical wrestling match, it was, but it was more
than that. It's a spiritual wrestling match. That's what's going on.
And if you look over at the book of Hosea, I'll show you this.
Hosea is right after the book of Daniel. Hosea 12. Verse two. The Lord hath also a controversy
with Judah, and he'll punish Jacob according to his ways.
According to his doings will he recompense him. He took his
brother by the heel and the wound, and by his strength he had power
with God. Yea, he had power over the angel
and prevailed. He wept and made much supplication
unto him. He found him in Bethel and there
he spake with us. Even the Lord God of hosts, the
Lord is his memorial. Now it says here that Jacob prevailed
by his power. There is absolutely no way Jacob
could prevail with the Lord of glory. There's no way in this
world Jacob could physically pin the Lord of glory against
his will. No way whatsoever. Jacob and
no man before since has ever been a match for our Lord. You
know, here's the way that Jacob prevailed with the Lord. Hosea
tells us, it's with weeping and supplication. Jacob's only wrestling
match, the only weapons he had in wrestling with the Lord were
tears and begging. The only way he could get out
of this wrestling match is begging the Lord to let him go. That's
the only way. It's weeping and supplication.
Jacob prevailed with the Lord because when the Lord heard Jacob's
begging, he was mercy. That's how Jacob prevailed. You
know, if you're like me, when we hear this story, we think
about Jacob wrestling with the Lord, but you notice that's not
the way Moses wrote this. Moses writes, the man wrestled
with Jacob. The Lord Jesus came and he laid
hold on Jacob. And physically speaking, Jacob
did put up much of a fight. He just, he wasn't, he couldn't
be a match for the Lord. You know, when two people wrestle,
you grab a hold of the other one and you try to pin them against
their will. They're doing everything they
can do to stop you from pinning them and you're doing everything
you can to pin them against their will. Well, the Lord came and
the Lord wrestled with Jacob. Jacob didn't do much wrestling
here. The Lord wrestled with Jacob. And I just bet you very,
very quickly, the Lord pinned Jacob. I mean, he just pinned
him real quick. I mean, how could Jacob, you
know, how could it take all night for
the Lord to pin Jacob? It's just not possible. The weeping
and begging took all night, but the Lord pinned Jacob quickly.
And you know, I've wrestled, like when I was in high school,
we all, every year there was a thing, we had to wrestle, you
know, in gym class. Getting pinned is no fun whatsoever. I mean, nobody likes that, getting
pinned. But the Lord pinned Jacob. I
mean, he pinned him for his own good. When the Lord pinned Jacob,
you know what Jacob learned? I'm utterly defenseless. I'm
powerless. I am helpless before the Lord. That's what he learned when the
Lord pinned him. And Jacob had to be pinned. He had to be brought
to the end of his abilities. He had to be brought to the place
where he saw, I am completely and utterly helpless before he
was shut up to Christ. Jacob didn't start weeping and
begging until the Lord pinned him. He had to be helpless before
he started begging for mercy, didn't he? When the Lord came
to wrestle with Jacob, he conquered Jacob. He conquered him. He put
him down. That's important because before
anything else can be done, Jacob's got to be subdued. He's got to
be subdued. He's got to see how needy he
is. He's got to see how dependent he is on the Lord. So when the
Lord pinned Jacob, he made Jacob God's willing bond slave. That's
what he did for him. See, once Jacob is pinned, what's left? What's left for
him to do? The only thing he can do is beg
for mercy, hang on to Christ, just hang on for dear life. And that's just what Jacob did.
Look down here at verse 25, back in Genesis 32. And when
he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow
of his thigh and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint
as he wrestled with him. And he said, let me go for the
day breaketh. And he, Jacob said, I will not let thee go except
thou bless me. It's the only thing Jacob could
do. All he could do is hang on for dear life and say, I will
not let you go except you bless me. I am so needy. I won't let
go. You got me pinned, but I won't
let go. If Lord ever saves you and me,
that's exactly what he's going to do with you and me. Now there's
no shortcut to this matter of being made dependent on Christ.
There's no shortcut of having all of our strength taken away
from us, all our options taken away from us. So the only thing
that's left for us to do is hang on to Christ. He's got to take
away everything else that we would hang on to. Then and only
then will we hang on to Christ and refuse to let him go. We've
got to be brought to the place where I see I am so desperate. I need Christ so much. I'm so
needy. I can't let go of him. I just
refuse to let go because I will not trust my soul to anyone but
him. Now God's got to pin us for what
that will happen. He's got to come and lay hold
on us and wrestle with us and pin us till we see I'm utterly
helpless. The only place I have any hope
is in Christ alone. If God ever shows you Christ,
if He shows you Him by faith, I'll tell you what, you'll submit.
You'll be glad to be conquered. You'll submit. You'll submit
to the will of God. You'll submit to the way of God.
You'll submit to the righteousness of Christ. That was the Apostle
Paul's complaint with his kinsmen. He said, oh, they're religious.
They're religious, but they don't know God. They refuse to submit
themselves to the righteousness They refuse to submit and give
up their works and trust Christ alone. They refuse to do it.
If God ever shows you Christ, you'll gladly let go of your
works and you'll trust Christ alone. You'll submit to his righteousness.
So I tell you, don't be afraid to lay hold on Christ and refuse
to let go. Just refuse to let go. That's
what you'll do if you ever see the face of God. you just refuse
to trust anything but Christ. All right, thirdly, if we're gonna
see the face of God, something else very difficult for this
flesh is gonna have to happen. We're gonna have to admit who
and what we are. See, before the Lord ever acts
in mercy, there's got to be a confession of our sins. Verse 27, and he
said unto him, what is thy name? He said, Jacob. Now, you know,
the Lord never asked questions for his own information. He knew
what Jacob's name was. He knew what Jacob's name would
be before Rebecca and Isaac knew what it would be. The Lord had
loved Jacob from all of eternity. He knew Jacob's name. He knew
what Jacob was. He knew what he'd done and what
he was. But before the Lord's gonna reveal himself in mercy
to Jacob, Jacob is gonna have to admit what he is. There's
got to be a confession of what I am. I'm the sinner. The sinner. Not a sinner. Not
a sinner in a mass of sinners. I am the sinner. The worst one. The only one. I'm the sinner. I commit sin. See, what I've
done is not really the issue. I commit sin because of what
I am. because I am a sinner. I was
shaped in iniquity. So the only thing I can produce
is iniquity. Everything I do, everything I
say, everything I think, everything I want to do is sin because I
am a sinner. My nature is offensive to God
because I'm a sinner. And I deserve for God to damn
me because of what I am, because I'm a sinner, a rebel against
him who refuses to surrender to the righteousness of Christ.
I refuse to submit to him. This is what I am. I'm so full
of pride. I insist on continuing to insult
God by trying to bring my works to him rather than trust a sinner. That's what I am. See, what I
am, is worse than what I've done. What I am is worse. So what's
my name? He says, what's your name? He
said, my name's Jacob. When God asked you and me, what's your
name? What can we say? My name is sin. See, before we
can taste God's mercy, we've got to confess our need of mercy.
I need mercy because of what I am. Jacob admitted what his
name My name is Jacob. Now we're getting down to brass
tacks. Because when he said, my name is Jacob, he had to admit,
there's nothing honorable about that name. Back there at my father's
house, I ruined my name. I was dishonest with my father,
dishonest with my brother. I went over here to Laban's,
I ruined my name again. The way I dealt dishonestly with people.
There's nothing honorable associated with my name. The only thing
associated with the name Jacob is shame. And that's what Jacob
admitted. The Lord's going to do something
for you and me. He's going to do the same thing. He's going
to make us confess who and what we are. The Lord has to pin us
so we confess, I need mercy. I need mercy because of what
my name is. My name is Adam. Just like my father, Adam. I
was in him when he did what he did, I am what he is. My first
name is sin and my last name is iniquity. I have done wickedly
because I am iniquity. I've committed sin because I
am sin and there's nothing honorable in what I've done. There's nothing
honorable in who I am. I'm worthless and I'm vile. And there's no reason on this
earth why God would not destroy me. No reason found in me for
God to be merciful to me and have anything to do with me.
Everything about me is shameful. I'm Jacob. That's tough to admit, isn't
it? I'm Jacob. I'm shameful. That's tough to
admit. But you know what? It's a good thing to be Jacob. If God's the ones taught you,
you're Jacob. You're not just saying it because that's a religious
thing to say. But if God's taught you that you're Jacob, and you
admit your shame, as painful as that is, you know that's a
good thing? Because you know who God saves? Jacob. I've heard this said, I've never
counted it up myself to see if it's true, but I've heard this
from very reliable sources. That in the Old Testament, God
identifies himself as the God of Jacob. More than any other
single name. The God of Jacob. The God who
saves Jacob. Or as it is to admit, I'm Jacob. It's a good thing, because God
saves Jacobs. And you know, I know everybody
by nature is a sinner, but by nature, everybody doesn't know
it, do they? No, everybody doesn't know it. You know why they don't
know it? Because the Lord leaves them
alone. The Lord didn't wrestle with Esau, did he? He left Esau
alone. But he wrestled with Jacob, and
he taught Jacob that he's dependent upon the Lord so that the Lord
would save him. And if the Lord humbles us and
makes us realize my name is Jacob, I am sin. When the Lord teaches
us that, I'm telling you, he's getting ready to bless us. He's
getting ready to bless us. The Lord is getting ready to
bless Jacob, and he's not gonna bless Jacob for who Jacob is
or what Jacob's done. He's gonna bless Jacob in spite
of Jacob. He's gonna bless Jacob because
God's because God made Jacob an object of his mercy. Well,
here's the fourth thing. If we see the face of God, we're
gonna receive a new nature. In verse 28, he said, thy name
should be called no more Jacob, but Israel. For as a prince hast
thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. Now
the Lord changed Jacob's name, and that's good, isn't it? Because
a new man, a new creature, needs a new name. A new holy nature
needs a name other than Jacob. That holy nature can't be named
Jacob. God says, your name's Israel, a prince with God. And I've looked this up. Israel
literally means God prevails. Jacob did not prevail with God
because Jacob was so strong. Jacob prevailed with God because
God prevails. Let me see if I can show you
what I mean by that. Jacob prevailed with God because God prevails.
God's people prevail in salvation. They obtain it. They prevail
in spiritual life. They have it. We have that because
God prevails, because God prevails in his power, the power of his
mercy, the power of his grace, the power of his love, the power
of the blood of Christ. That's why we prevail in salvation. It's because God prevails. God
the Father prevailed over Jacob in his power when he chose Jacob
to be his own in divine election. God the Son, in his power, prevailed
over Jacob when he put Jacob's sin away by the blood of his
cross. God the Holy Spirit prevailed over Jacob. He prevailed over
that sinful, deceitful, deceptive nature by giving Jacob a new
nature, a new birth. And God saves his people, that's
what he does for all. He prevails in his power. He
gives them a new name that matches the new nature that he gave them.
And you know what the name he gives his people is? It's the
name of his son. This is the name, Jeremiah said,
wherewith she shall be called. She. This is the name of Christ
our Savior, Jehovah Sidkenu. One place, Jeremiah said, this
is the name wherewith he shall be called, the coming Messiah
shall be called Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord, our righteousness.
Later on, he said, this is the name wherewith she shall be called
Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord, our righteousness. And you know why
that's your name? Because that's what God made
you to be. He just gives you a name that
fits what he's made you to be. And then here's the fifth thing.
We see the face of God. Our walk is going to be changed
forever. The Lord touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh and he
limped away that day. The next morning he limped across
the river to catch up with his family and he limped the rest
of his life. Jacob is still going to be Jacob. He will. He's still going to
be Jacob. We'll study through the rest of his life and see
he's still going to be Jacob. He's going to be Israel too.
And that's a picture of everybody. He's still Jacob, but he's also
Israel. Both are equally true. That is
the life story of a believer. Look at verse 31. As he passed
over Peniel, the sun rose upon him and he halted upon his thigh. Jacob limped on that leg the
rest of his life. But Israel walked with God. Jacob, Bless his heart. He's still Jacob,
but he's Israel. And that's you and me. The believer
is going to limp the rest of our lives. Our limp comes from
the nature of sin that's still in us. We're going to limp the
rest of our life. But the believer walks with God.
And I tell you what our limp reminds us of. Our limp reminds
us of our sin. It reminds us of our weakness.
It reminds us how dependent we are upon God, just like Jacob's
limp. It was a constant reminder of
this. Now, he didn't limp before this. He did every day of his
life after that. That limp was a constant reminder
of Peniel. It was a constant reminder of
the Lord coming and wrestling with him and touching his thigh,
making him limp the rest of his life and changing his name to
Israel. It was a constant reminder how the Lord pinned him. It showed
him how dependent he was on the Lord. Our limp reminds us, I'm a sinner. I'm ashamed of
myself. I'm a sinner. I ought to know
better. I've been taught the gospel.
I've been taught God's word. God's been merciful to me. He's
been gracious to me. He's showed me himself in his
word. He's given me faith in Christ. I ought to know better.
I keep limping. And you know what that limp reminds
me? Keep looking to Christ. I'm still
just as dependent on him as I ever was. And you know, after this
meeting, Jacob was never the same again. Like I said, he's
still Jacob. He's going to have ups and downs.
He's going to make mistakes, but he was never the same. Jacob was not consumed because
the Lord's mercy changes not. And when Jacob did die, Israel
is taken into glory. When Jacob died, Jacob quit limping
and Israel walked into the presence of God. See, when God changed Jacob's
name to Israel, that meant something very important. It meant Jacob
must be saved. It meant Jacob must be preserved
because what did the Lord say? All Israel shall be saved. When
he changed his name to Israel, the Lord had to save him. He
has to bring him safely through. He has to glorify him. And that's
what he did. And that's what the Lord does
for every one of his people. If God has saved you, if he's
revealed Christ to you, if he's given you faith in Christ, the
responsibility is on God to see you through and bring you to
glory. It's on him because all Israel shall be saved. Now there's
going to be a limp in our walk the rest of the way, isn't there?
But you know, we do walk. We do walk. We walk by faith,
not by sight. We walk following Christ. It's
a limp, but we walk following Christ. And like I said a minute
ago, every step, every limping step we take is going to remind
us I'm a sinner. I need Christ. Keep looking to
Christ. And we're going to keep limping along. until the Lord
calls us home. And when the Lord calls us home,
that old man's gonna quit limping. We're gonna put him in the ground,
and the new man's gonna walk right into glory. And there, we'll see God face
to face, won't we? Oh, I look forward to that. Oh,
I hope that'll be a blessing to you. Let's bow together. Our Father, how we thank you
for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, Your grace for your people. How we thank you what you've
done for your people and the work that you accomplish in your
people. Father, I pray that you'd cause
each of us here tonight to, as we limp away, to limp away trusting
and resting in Christ our Savior. Father, it's for his sake and
his glory we pray. If you would, if some of you
men would before you leave tonight, set up our tables out here in
the vestibule so we'll be prepared for our dinner for our graduates
on Sunday. All right, Sean.