I didn't pick that song deliberately,
but we sing, Jesus led me all the way. The title of the message
tonight is Jacob on His Way, from Genesis 32. We'll read the first several verses of the chapter,
and then just try to see a few truths, a few lessons from this
passage of scripture. That's what we do, isn't it? We learn a little bit at a time. I'm constantly aware and more
and more aware of how little I know and how long it takes
me to learn. Just a few verses at a time is
all we can We can look at it and it's more than we can, even
that's more than we can deal with. We have to think and think
on it. If the Lord's pleased though,
he teaches us this way. Line upon line, precept upon
precept. A little here, a little there,
a little. A little bit from the Lord is
a lot though. And Jacob went on his way. That's why I titled this. You
see, Jacob's way is our way. We're going on our way right
now, aren't we? That's what we're doing. We're
going on our way. And the angels of God met him. The angels of God. And when Jacob saw them, he said,
this is God's host. It's God's army. And he called the name of that
place, Mayanaim. How many times in our lives have
we been ministered unto by God's angels? We don't know, do we? We don't
know for sure how many times, but God's angels are ministering
spirits. Our Lord Jesus Christ was ministered
unto by the angels in Gethsemane. We read that, don't we? That
they came and they strengthened him. When his soul was exceeding
sorrowful, even unto death, the angels of the Lord came and ministered
unto him. And he didn't get any preferential
treatment. He came down here and lived like I live. He walked
in the same dirt I walk in. If the angels ministered unto
Him while He was here, they ministered unto me too. In Psalm 91.9, it's speaking
of the Lord, but this is also David talking to the believer.
Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the
most high, thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee. Didn't our Lord Jesus Christ
pray in his great high priestly prayer in John 17, keep them
from the evil? If he did, then no evil shall
befall thee. No evil shall befall thee, neither
shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. God said a thousand
will fall at your left hand and 10,000 will fall at your right
hand, but it won't come near you. The plague won't come near
you. For he shall give his angels
charge over you to keep thee in all thy ways. Jacob went on
his way in all thy ways. As you go on your way, he gives
his angels charge over you. They shall bear thee up in their
hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Satan used that
passage of scripture, didn't he, in Matthew 4 to tempt the
Lord Jesus Christ. He said, why don't you throw
yourself off this mountain? Your father said he wouldn't
let your foot be dashed against a stone. He'd give his angels
charge over you. And the Lord said, thou shalt not tempt the
Lord thy God. This tells us this first verse
here, Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him. That
tells us something about Jacob, doesn't it? We already know,
but it's good to see it again, isn't it? Tells us who Jacob is. Hebrews
1.13, but to which of the angels said God at any time? sit on
my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool." He ain't
never said that to an angel. He said that only to his son,
who is high above all principalities and powers. But here's what angels
are. Verse 14 of Hebrews 1, are they
not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who
shall be heirs of salvation? That's the only ones God sends
his angels to minister for. And so that tells us something
about Jacob, doesn't it? He's one of the heirs of God's
salvation. All of God's covenant people
are heirs of his salvation. In that, we are joint heirs with
Jesus Christ. What he inherits, we inherit.
I like that thought. Everything that's his is ours.
By sonship, by family relation, by the will of the father. Joint heirs with God's only begotten
son. Oh, Jacob on his way in the angel's
name. How God blessed Jacob. All through
his life, God blessed Jacob. In spite of Jacob, God blessed
Jacob. Before Jacob was ever born, before
he was ever born, God said to his mama, his brother will serve him. The
elder shall serve the younger. Jacob was a younger one. And before Jacob had ever done
any good or any evil, God said, Jacob have I loved. Jacob in this beautiful prayer
here that he prays in these following verses. Let's read it together. He acknowledges
the blessing of God upon him. In verse three, it says he sent
messengers before him to Esau, his brother, unto the land of
Seir, the country of Edom, And he commanded them, saying, Thus
shall you speak unto my lord Esau. Thy servant Jacob saith
thus. I have sojourned with Laban and
stayed there until now. And I have oxen and asses, flocks
and men's servants and women's servants. And I have sent to
tell my lord that I may find grace in thy sight. And the messengers
returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and
also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed, and he divided
the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the herds,
and the camels, into two bands, and said, If Esau come to the
one company and smite it, then the other company which is left
shall escape. And Jacob said, Oh, God of my
father, Abraham, and God of my father, Isaac, the Lord, which
said unto me, Return unto thy country and to thy kindred, and
I will deal well with you. I am not worthy of the least
of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou has shown
unto thy servant. For with my staff, I passed over
this Jordan. And now I am become two bands.
Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from
the hand of Esau. For I fear him, lest he will
come and smite me and the mother with the children. And thou saidst,
I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of
the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude." In this prayer,
Jacob acknowledged there in verse 10 God's blessing We're talking
right now about how God had blessed Jacob met him with angels on
his way And all through his life he had been Dealing with Jacob
that way he said there in verse 10. He said I crossed this same
way 20 years ago with nothing but a stick in my hand. I Came
here with my staff in my hand this way. I And now I'm coming
back this way with two bands. With all these goods and animals
and blessings that you've bestowed upon me, this great family that
you've blessed me with. Didn't have anything but a stick
in my hand and look at me now. Is your life like that? Can you
look back and see how God has blessed you through the years? Jacob on his way. This is the
life of every believer. Filled with tokens and evidence
of God's manifest blessing. A life of disappointment. He
was deeply disappointed when he worked seven years and didn't
get Rachel. He fell in love with Rachel when
he first saw her. And worked seven years for her
and his heart was broken. After those seven years and he
didn't have her. Can you imagine? Have you had disappointments
in your life? A life filled with betrayal. Laban treated him like dirt,
used him, manipulated him, took advantage of him. Is your
life like that? Can you think of examples of
that? A life of hard labor. He worked hard, didn't he? God
said, by the sweat of your brow, you'll eat bread. Sure enough,
it's that way, isn't it? It's just that way. And a laugh of fear, like hearing
our text, he said, I'm afraid. I think Esau will probably kill
me. I know he wants to. He did when I left. I imagine he's been thinking
about it for 20 years, how I'm going to kill him and how good
it's going to feel. And he was scared of him. I would have been
too. But also a life of prayer. He called upon his God. He said,
oh God, oh God. and a life full of the proving
of God's favor. God said, I'm going to bless
you. He told his father Abraham, I'm going to bless you and your
son and your grandson and all their sons, in the sea, all of
the nations of the earth will be blessed. A life charmed by the very angels of
God. It's a great blessing here to
see that in verse one, the angels met him on his way. And in verse
nine, what does Jacob begin to pray for? He begins to pray that God would
bless him, that God would protect him from his brother. He said,
you promised you'd bless me. You told me to go home and you
said, I'll bless you on your way. And he prayed, Lord, do
even as you said you would bless me on my way. And God has already
put his angels in place to do that very thing before he ever
prayed. Why do you think those angels were there? Why did Psalm
91, 10 through 11, we just read, why did it say that he gives
his angels? He shall give his angels charge
over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. And what did Jacob pray for?
Keep me. The angels are already with you
before you ever prayed it. Is that your God? Oh, how worthy he is of our praise. If we had any idea who it is
that loves us, He's the one who sitteth upon
the circle of the earth, and all the inhabitants thereof are
his grasshoppers. He's the one who speaks, and
it's done. He's the one who has a heavenly
host that does his every bidding, and he sends them and gives them
charge to keep watch over us. And we can't even stub our toe
on a rock without him, without him allowing it. and using it
for our good. He's hedged us about with his
sovereign, invincible love as we go on our way. Is it thus
with you? I see evidence of it every step
along the way, don't you? I see his hedge about me. I see
his love upon me. Every one of us are just like
Jacob in a lot of ways. We all have to sing that song
in our hearts, don't we, all the way He leads me. It's just
the truth. We're called sons of Jacob in
Malachi 3.6. God said, I am the Lord, I change
not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Sons of Jacob are going to be
okay because our unchangeable God has purposed it. and has
loved us with an everlasting love, and with loving kindness
has drawn us to himself. Chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world, loved before we were ever born, Jacob have I
loved. It's the same with us, all of his elect. Children of
the promise, Paul said in Galatians 3 29, just like Jacob. Do you
believe on Christ? Do you know Him? Do you trust
Him? Is He your Savior, your Lord and your God, as Thomas
said? Then you are an heir like Jacob according to the promise.
That's what Paul taught. Jacob was blessed at Bethel. The name of the place was Bethel.
It means house of God. How about you? Where did God
bless you? The house of God. God met Jacob
with his angels on his way, and he gives his angels charge over
all of his children. Jacob said to Rachel and Leah
in Genesis 31, 7, your father hath deceived me and changed
my wages ten times, but God suffered him not to hurt me, as he dealt
that way with you in your life. Jacob said in verse 9 of that
same chapter, God took away the cattle of your father and gave
them to me. He takes from our enemies and
gives it to us. David said he prepared a table
before me in the presence of my enemies. Has he been that
way for you? And God wrestled with Jacob. We'll see that next week, Lord
willing. And he wrestled with me too.
Just like he did with Jacob and with Saul of Tarsus. You remember
what he said to Saul? Is it hard for you to kick against
the goads? The Lord had been goading him
long before he put him in the dust. He changed Jacob's name too,
didn't he? Changed mine too. He said to him, your name shall
be no more Jacob. I like the sound of that, don't
you? No more Chris. That's what I want, no more Chris.
We have his name now. We bear his name. And Jacob's
behavior here is very instructive. Let's don't miss this lesson.
He does everything that God has given him good sense enough to
do about this situation, doesn't
he? And prays. Don't miss this. It's hypocritical
to neglect clear God-given means and then pray for God's blessing. It's hypocritical. Jacob displayed
good sense. He divided the company up into
two bands and said, if Esau attacks, if he's coming like I think he's
coming, then at least half of us will survive it. While he's
destroying one half, the other company can flee. He also, we
didn't read that far, but before Esau ever showed up, he sends
A gift. We read the words of peace that
he sent. He said, I'm sending this message
to you before that I might find grace in your sight. He let it
be known that he didn't have a problem. He didn't have a quarrel.
He didn't want contention. He wanted peace. And he let that
be known right up front. That's just smart, isn't it?
That's just good sense. And he was sincere about that. But also, He depended entirely
upon God to keep him. Both. Jacob's efforts here, the
emissary that he sent with the message of peace and the dividing
up of the bands and the great gift that he sent to Esau as
a peace offering, all of that, that's not cooperating with God.
The matter rests entirely upon God's will, whether He'll bless
or not bless. And He acknowledges that in His
prayer. We're going to talk about the prayer more in a minute.
But use of the means that God has blessed you with and put
in your hand, use of those means, is just as honoring to Him as
prayer is. It's just as honoring as prayer. Let me try to give us some examples,
some illustrations that we might be able to relate to in our own lives. If you need a job, all of us
at one time or another probably have looked for a job. If you
need a job, don't sit home watching TV, never filling out an application,
never knocking on our door, never making a phone call, and then
get on your knees and pray, God, give me a job. That's a farce,
isn't it? It's an insult to God to do that.
The use of the means that he's given you is just as honoring
unto him as the prayer. Do you see that? If you have a problem with another
person, like Jacob did here, and we've all been there, haven't
we? We've all been thinking he's going to kill me, or I'm going
to kill him, one. Do everything you can and everything
you know to be reconciled to them and pray, Lord give us peace. Do both. Of course, let me say
this, of course you and I as members of this church, as the
family of God, we ought to pray For the unity of the spirit,
are we not in the church? We ought to pray for that. God,
preserve the unity of the spirit among us. Don't let us, don't
leave us to our old nature to fight and to fuss and to have
hard feelings and argue and be bitter like we are. Don't let
us be that way. But I'll tell you this, Paul
said there's something else you need to do about the unity of
the spirit. You need to endeavor to keep it. I just wish everybody would get
along. Yeah, but what have you done about it? What have you
done about it? Or what have you not done about
it? Which is a lot of times what's needed is for things not to be
done that we just have to do, don't we? Endeavoring to keep
the unity and then get on your knees and say, God bless us with
peace. Do you see how hypocritical it
is to do otherwise? Do I see that? People pray all the time, Lord,
show me your will. Reveal your will to me. That's
a pretty good prayer. But have you read his word much? Are you faithful to the gospel
preaching? If not, you're a hypocrite. Your
words, your prayer shows an interest in God's will, but your actions
are saying you don't give two hoots. about God's will in your
life. You see what I'm saying? Jacob
was consistent. He showed that he desired what
he needed from God and he asked for it. That's such an important
lesson. And prayer wasn't a last resort
to Jacob either. He didn't try everything else
first. He didn't send the gift, you know, and then Esau comes
and he's still mad and he says, well, that didn't work. So I
think I guess I'll pray. All I can do is pray. You know,
we tend to, I've caught myself saying that all I can do is pray
like that's a last resort. That's our first resort. That's
our best resort. And if it's our only resort,
then thank God that we're able to bow before Him and ask the
one who can do abundantly above all that we can imagine or ever
ask or think and pray His mercy, His blessing, His power. What
a privilege. Everything else is secondary
to that. We must pray. We must. Before he knew whether any of
his efforts would prosper or not, he prayed. He didn't wait till everything
else failed first and then pray as some kind of a last resort.
It wasn't just a way of hedging his bet. That's not what prayer
is. No, right up front, he cried,
oh God. Did you see how he began his
prayer? Oh God. Do we know who we pray to? Oh, God. When was the last time you cried
from your heart? Oh, God. Do you know what prayer is? It's many things, but it's this,
a cry for help. He said, Lord, deliver me. That
was at the end of it. We'll look at it in a minute
closer. You remember when Peter was walking on the water? You
remember what he prayed when he began to sink? Lord, save
me. Jacob said in verse seven, I'm
greatly afraid and distressed. That's when you pray your best
right there. I'm greatly afraid and distressed."
But he didn't run. He didn't say, let's hightail
it out of here. He got down on his knees and he said, oh God,
oh God. And he said, oh God, if my father
Abraham, it's not just a formality when he prays that way. When
we pray, for example, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
that's not just a formality. It's not just a ritual to say
in Jesus' name, amen. That means something. And when he says, oh God of my
father Abraham, he's saying, I'm praying to the one who's
shown himself to be merciful. I'm praying to the covenant God
of all grace. I'm praying to the one who has
shown himself merciful unto the undeserving and the one who has
promised his blessing upon his people. David said, God's covenant
that he made with me is all my salvation and all my desire. That's why we pray to the God
of Abraham, the covenant God. And we don't pray that way now
so much as we pray in Christ's name because he's the seed that
God promised to Abraham when he said in thy seed shall all
the nations of the earth be blessed and so we we call upon the covenant
God that way by saying in Christ's name because all blessings are
ours in Christ your favor is ours in Christ You look upon
us with love and favor and desire to bless us because of Christ.
That's why we pray in his name and for his sake, for his glory.
Whatever you do with me, let it redound to his glory. Now Jacob said to God, and let's
learn this. He said to God, did you notice
in the prayer? He said, you're the one that
told me to be where I am right now. I'm in trouble, but you're
the one that said, go home, go home. And I did. And you said
you'd bless me on my way. Oh, I like this. Can we pray like that? I'm where
you put me. I'm where you said to be. Now,
we don't presume to tell God how good we are. He's not saying,
look how obedient I am, you know, so I deserve your blessing. Remember
now, he also prayed what we're gonna say in a little bit, I'm
not worthy of the least of your mercy. He's not saying, look
how obedient I am doing what you said, now you should bless
me based on that. Oh no, all he's doing is claiming
God's promise. You said, you do this and I'll
bless you and I'm doing it. That's what he said. We don't
presume to tell God how obedient we are, no way. But dare we pray? Dare we pray like Jacob here?
Lord, we are where we are because you said go. I believe we can pray like that,
don't you? We're not worthy of your blessing, but we're asking
for it because you promised. You said go and preach. And he said, Lo, he said, Lo,
I'm with you always. I'll be with you. You go and
I'll be with you. Let's remind him of that. He
doesn't need to be reminded, but we need to remind him. We
need it. We're asking from the very place
that you sent us to. We're asking for the blessing
that you said you'd give when we went. Is that too presumptuous before
God? Genesis 31, 3, this is what he said to him. And the Lord
said unto Jacob, return unto the land of thy fathers and to
thy kindred. And he went on his way, it says
in the first one of our text. He went on his way. You know
what his way was? The way God said for him to go. That was
his way. When he healed some, I don't
remember the exact text right at the moment, But he would say
to those that he had healed in the New Testament, he'd say,
go your way, and they'd follow him. That's my way, isn't it? His way, that's my way. Return to the land of your fathers
and to your kindred, and I'll be with you. Should not God's
promises have something to do with our prayers? My children don't have any problem
at all reminding me what I've promised them. Anybody have children here? Is
that your experience too? In fact, sometimes I think they
know my memory's not that good and they just make things up.
Say, Daddy, you promised and I don't know about it. But when they were little, I
remember especially, Daddy, you said you'd read to me tonight
before I went to sleep. What's Daddy fixing today? If
they say that, what's he fixing today? Lord, you said ask, and you'll
receive. You said everyone that asketh,
receiveth. Isn't it good to be able to pray
that way? That's why He gave us those promises
for us to cash them in. He expects us to lean on Him,
doesn't He? He expects us to count on Him
being true to His Word. He delights in that. Lord, You said, that if we know
how to give good things to our children, how much more shall
our heavenly father give good things to those that ask him?
You said that. And I'm asking. I'm asking. Oh God. And Jacob said in verse 10, I'm
not worthy. I'm not worthy of the least of
your blessings, much less the great ones, much less, much less
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. I'm not worthy of the least. We may pray on the promises,
but not presumptuously. Not as though we deserve them.
We don't pray as though we're saying to God, now we've held
up our end of things, Lord, now we need you to do your part.
Oh no, oh no, oh no. Oh no. We hadn't held up anything,
had we? Not a thing. We hadn't done anything
to deserve his mercies. We're not worthy. Jacob said,
I'm not worthy. We're not even. You remember
that centurion in Matthew 8, verse 8, the next passage in
our study in Matthew. And he was a centurion, he was
somebody, he was an important man according to this world.
And he said to the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm not worthy that thou
shouldest come under my roof. And he's right, he's right. And yet we pray, Lord, you said,
where two or three are gathered in your name. There am I. You said you'd be with us. The Lord said to that woman of
Canaan, it wouldn't be right for me to give the children's
bread to a dog. And she said, that's the truth.
And it's not just words, is it? Sometimes people say, Oh, I'm
not worthy of this award or something like that. And you can tell by
the way they say it, that it's bragging. You can say I'm not
worthy and be bragging when you say it. I've seen them do it.
I've done it. You have to. And not just words. We know in our hearts that if
God left us destitute, it would be the right thing to do. It'd
be right for him to do that. If he denied us our next breath,
it'd be fitting, wouldn't it? It'd be fitting. And look what Jacob said next
there in verse 10. And see if you can get in on
this. I'm not worthy of all the truth that you've shown me. Oh, you sons of Jacob, can you
relate to that? Can you get in on that? I'm not
worthy of all the truth that you've shown to me. Oh, how we
take for granted God's truth. He's shown us his truth. The
world lies in darkness and he's shined the light on it. He's
revealed his gospel to us. By his grace, we know who he
is. And this is life eternal that
we might know him. the only true God in Jesus Christ
whom he sent. He's given us an understanding.
He's opened our understanding that we might understand the
scripture. What a great blessing. And you see how he prayed before
Jacob ever asks for anything, and he's about to. But before
that, he said, oh, look what you've done for me. Look what
you've done for me. I'm not worthy of all the mercies
you've bestowed upon me, all the truth that you've shown unto
me. Oh, I'm not worthy. And then look at the petition
itself in verse 11. So far, he's just reminded God
of his promise. and spoken of his own unworthiness,
and talked about all of God's past blessings. I came here with
nothing but a staff, and look what you've given me now. And
I'm not worthy of any of it, of any of it, and especially
all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant. And
now he's gonna ask for something. Deliver me, I pray thee, from
the hand of my brother. from the hand of Esau, for I
fear him, lest he come and smite me and the mother with the children. And you said, he reminds him
again, doesn't he? You said, I'll surely do you
good and make your seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot
be numbered for multitude. Deliver me, I pray, Such a simple
and honest prayer. He wasn't ashamed to admit that
his brother might well come and tear him up if God allowed him
to. He didn't say let him come, I'll
show him. He said he's gonna come and kill
me. Can you admit that things are
too much for you? That's hard to do, isn't it?
You know why? One of the reasons why we don't
pray a whole lot? Because we think we got this. Isn't that right? We still have
resources. When you run out, you'll pray. And if we got good sense, we'll
see from the very start that we're out of our depth. And we'll cry, oh God, won't
we? He wasn't ashamed to admit it. He said, I'm done for unless
you help me. He simply said, Lord, save me.
He said the same thing. Peter, did that word deliver
there? It just means save me. Said the same thing. And here
he's talking about, Lord, save me from Esau. But this is a picture
of our spiritual condition. And I've never heard a better
prayer than that from a sinner. Of course, our Lord's prayer
is in a league all its own, isn't it? But a sinner can't much pray
better than that, I don't think. You reckon? Lord, save me. Lord, save me. My sins are too much for me. They're gonna destroy me. I can't overcome them. My problem
is infinitely bigger than I can do anything about. Save me. The disciples asked our Lord
one day. They heard him pray. And when
he was done, I don't know who the spokesman
was in that particular instance, but it says, they said to him,
Lord, teach us to pray. And that in itself is a prayer,
isn't it? Lord, teach us to pray. That's a good prayer, isn't it?
Teach us to pray. Teach us to quit leaning on the
arm of the flesh and to pray. Teach us to pray without ceasing. Teach us in all things to give
thanks unto thy name, to pray with thanksgiving unto thee.
Teach us to pray and then teach us how to pray. Teach me to pray with my heart and not
just say my prayers. Teach me what to pray for because
like Paul said in Romans that we don't know what to pray for
as we ought. Teach me my true needs. Teach
me to pray. And that's my prayer for us that
he would teach us to pray like Jacob did here. Oh God, deliver
me. You promised that you'd be with
us and that you'd bless us. And all my life unto this day
you've smothered me with your mercies, the least of which I
haven't been worthy of and never will be. But I have a need And you taught
me to ask, and I'm asking. Isn't that simple? Teach us to
pray. Let's bow. Brother Ken Melton, would you
ask the Lord to bless this to us, please?