We read once again in Acts chapter
seven, where Abraham begat Isaac, circumcised him the eighth day
and Isaac begat Jacob. I've entitled this message, Jacob. Now he begat Esau as well, but
Esau is not mentioned, only Jacob. Yes, Isaac begat Jacob. Jacob
and Esau, but Jacob is the one mentioned in our text. I didn't
know this before preparing this message, but Jacob is mentioned
twice more than Abraham is in the scripture. You would usually
think as far as men that Abraham is the chief character in the
scriptures as far as men goes, but Jacob is actually mentioned
twice more. And if you go by his name Israel,
you remember when God changed his name to Israel, he's mentioned
at least 10 times more than Abraham. I love the way God is called
the God of Jacob. He's called that more than he's
called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God of Jacob. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Now quite often, In the same
verse, God is speaking to his people and he calls them by both
names, Jacob and Israel. Particularly in the book of Isaiah,
he refers to Jacob and Israel. Fear not thou worm Jacob and
ye men of Israel. Jacob's name means supplanter,
heel catcher. He was a Deceiver. And if you look throughout his
history, how much deceiving did he do? Israel means a prince
with God. Power with God. So he's called
by both of those names, Jacob and Israel. And I feel that Jacob
represents the old man. And Israel represents the new
man. Now let's read about him in Genesis
25. Verse 19. And these are the generations of
Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham did get Isaac, and Isaac
was 40 years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter
of Bethuel, the Syrian of Paddan Aram, the sister to Laban the
Syrian. And Isaac entreated the Lord
for his wife because she was barren. She had no life in her. And the Lord was entreated of
him, and Rebekah, his wife, conceived. You know, that's an encouragement. He prayed about this. The Lord
could have said no, but he didn't. He gave Rebecca what she was
asking for. Verse 22, now this is before
she knew that she had twins in her womb and the children struggled
together within her. Now, that word struggle is literally
they crushed one another. There was a battle going on. This is not just some kind of
touching each other, but the word is literally crushed, broke,
bruised, oppressed. I think it's interesting that
everything was fine before she had life. But now that she has
life, she has this war going on within her. And she said,
if it be so, why am I thus? What is wrong with me? And she
went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said unto her, two
nations are in thy womb. And two manner of people should
be separated from thy bowels. Now, this is literal. Two nations
were in her. And this is also typical. In
every believer, there's two manner of men. There's Jacob and there's
Israel. There's that which is old, the
old man, the sinful man, and there is the new man in Christ
Jesus. So within her womb at this time,
this battle was going on. It was troubling her. And the
Lord says, two manner of men are in you. And that's true of
every believer. An unbeliever only has one kind
of man, the natural man. The believer has the new man. Hence this struggle. And look
what it says next. The one people shall be stronger
than the other people. And the elder shall serve the
younger. Now, the younger is stronger
than the old. And as we go on reading about
these men, we see why that is true physically. Esau was a man's
man and Jacob was a plain man dwelling in tents. Esau was a
hunter. He was a mighty man of valor.
That could not be used to describe Jacob. But yet God says the younger
Jacob is gonna be stronger than the older. Now, what that lets
us know is that the new man is stronger than the old man. Greater
is he that's in you than he that's in the world. The new man is
that which is born of God, given in the new birth. and he is stronger
than the old man. And I love the way it says the
elder shall serve. The old man is going to serve
the new man. Now, listen to this. I hope I
can say this the way it ought to be said. Regarding sin, it's an infinite evil And you
and I ought not ever commit another sin. Sin's an evil thing. It's a wicked thing. It's a devilish
thing. It's a God-hating thing. Sin
is evil. But you know, the Lord even takes
your sin and uses it to serve the new man. You see, it's your
sin that keeps you from looking anywhere but Christ, isn't it?
You know, when we were singing that
song, when Sarah was singing that song, and I was thinking,
you know, nothing in my hands I bring. I don't have anything
to bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. Now, what is it that
makes me feel that way? My sin. my sin that's ever before
me. So even in this sense, the elder,
the old man, is going to be a servant to the new. Thus God brings good
out of evil. He does what only he can do. And my old man is nothing but
a slave to my new man. And he's making me to where I
have nowhere to look but Christ. And that's a good place to be,
isn't it? to look to Christ only and what comfort there is, what
assurance there is in Christ. There's none in me, but oh, what
a glorious savior and complete savior he is. Now let's go on
reading verse 24. And when her days to be delivered
were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. And the
first, Esau, came out red, all over like a hairy garment. And
they called his name Esau. And after that, came his brother
out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel. While they were
coming out, he grabbed his heel, trying to get the advantage over
him, and that is where his name comes from. His name was called
Jacob, and Isaac was three score years old when she bared him.
Verse 27, and the boys grew. And Esau was a cunning hunter,
a man of the field. He was a man's man. Everybody
admired him. And Jacob was a plain man. real sure why the translators
use this word plain. This word is used 13 times in
the Old Testament and nine of those times it's translated perfect. Perfect. It was used of Job when
God said, have you seen anybody like Job when he was speaking
to Satan? Behold, a perfect man, one who fears God and escheweth
evil. Jacob is called a perfect man,
but yet look at his name. Look what he does as soon as
he comes out of the womb. And we're going to see so much
of his deception that lasted throughout his life. Yet Jacob is called perfect. The other ways this word is translated
is complete and undefiled. Now, perhaps you know that Jacob
is the illustration of electing grace. Turn to Romans chapter
nine. Romans chapter nine. Verse 9, and this is the word
of promise. At this time, I will come and Sarah shall have a son.
And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even
by her father, Isaac, talking about the twins, same religious
rearing, same womb, same mom, same dad for the children. Verse
11, for the children, Jacob and Esau being not yet born, neither
having done any good or evil. Now, don't believe that. There was nothing good to recommend
him. And there's no evil that he did
that could disqualify him. This all happened before they
were even born. The children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of
God according to election might stand. Election is God's choice
of his people before time began. Now this is God's purpose, that
God's purpose according to election might stand not of works. That's God's purpose. That salvation
might not be of works. That's God's purpose. Is that
good news? It's good news if you don't have
any works to recommend you. Not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. We've already read that from
Genesis 25. As it's written, he goes on to
take it even further. This is God speaking. As it's
written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. And that's God's testimony. Somebody
says, well, doesn't God love everybody? Well, he didn't love
Jacob, did he? I mean, he didn't love Esau,
did he? He said he didn't. He said, I hate Esau. I've heard
people say, well, that means you loved him less. No, it doesn't. God can't love less in the first
place. I mean, his love is an altogether
glorious love. He couldn't love someone less
on a lower degree. And Esau could care less about
God. Esau had no love for God. Not
a drop. He didn't have any regard for
God. He didn't have any respect for God. He proved that. Go back
into Genesis chapter 25 for a moment. Now, God's hatred, let me remind
you, God's hatred is not like human hatred. It's not like me
hating somebody or you hating somebody. And you know, you've
been hated by people before where they just couldn't stand you.
And it was unjust, perhaps. You made them feel that way,
but maybe you didn't. And when someone hates you, it's
evil, it's vindicative, it's ugly, it's sinful. But God's
hatred is not like that. Psalm 5.5 says, Thou hatest all
workers of iniquity. And that's who God hates. All. That's a big demographic, isn't
it? All workers of iniquity. That's who he hates. Now, go
back to Genesis 25 for a moment. God's hatred is a righteous,
holy hatred. And he hated Esau. Let's read
a little bit more about Esau. Genesis 25, beginning in verse 28. And Isaac loved Esau because
he did eat of his venison, but Rebekah loved Jacob. And Jacob
sawed pottage. He was cooking some soup. And
Esau came from the field, and he was faint. He was hungry. He'd had a long day. And Esau
said to Jacob, feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage,
for I'm faint. Therefore was his name called
Eden. And Jacob said, sell me this day thy birthright. Now
this is the birthright of the firstborn. All of the promises
of God's blessing goes to the firstborn, not to the secondborn,
to the firstborn. Now he says, sell me your birthright. And Esau said, behold, I'm at
the point to die. And what profit shall this birthright
do me? And Jacob said, swear to me this
day. And he's swearing to him, and he sold his birthright unto
Jacob for a bowl of soup. Now I've been hungry before and
I can wait to the next meal. I mean, but he couldn't, he was
willing. I mean, he was without one meal
and he was willing to sell the birthright, the position he had
with God being the firstborn to just get rid of it for a bowl
of soup. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 12. Look what the writer says about this. Verse 15, looking diligently,
lest any fail of the grace of God. Hebrews 12, 15. Looking
diligently, lest any fail of the grace of God, lest any root
of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled,
lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau. Now, you know what profane means?
We usually think of profane cursing and swearing. But what the word
actually means is accessible. You can be bought. That's what
it means. You can be bought. Esau could
be bought. And for one morsel of meat, he
sold his birthright. Now you can't buy a believer. By grace, you don't have anything
that you have that can cause them to leave Christ. If they
leave Christ, it's because they never were with Him in the first
place. There's nothing you can sell a believer that they would
sell their interest in Christ. If it was the whole world, they
wouldn't do it. Now they know it's only by grace
and they know how sinful they will be apart from grace. But
you can't buy a believer. But you can buy an unbeliever.
And that's exactly what Esau did. He sold his birthright for
a bowl of soup. And you know, I think of Jacob.
Jacob was very dishonorable in the way he conducted this. He
wasn't right for him to do this, to try to gain his brother's
birthright through getting a bowl of soup. Once again, this was
an act of deception, but he had plenty of those. Now, God's hatred
toward Esau is not hard to understand. And here's why it's not hard
to understand to me. I can see why God would hate
me. I have no problem with that. God's righteous, God's holy,
I can completely understand why his hatred would be toward me. You know, people say we need
to tell people God loves them. No, you don't. You need to tell
people that they're God's enemies, and that they need Christ to
do something for them, and they'll find mercy if they come to Christ.
But as far as just telling people God loves you, no, you need to
find out God hates you, and He's righteous and just in hating
you. Just and holy and righteous is
His name. Now, like I said, I have no problem. Wouldn't matter if I did. But
I have no problem with God hating Esau. Here's what I'm amazed
by. God's love for Jacob. You read the history of this
man. He was a very deceptive and deceitful man. Just a chapter
over, two chapters over, is when he swindles the blessing. You remember the story. is in the kitchen, his mom's
in there and she hears Isaac say to Esau, go get me some venison
such as my soul loves and bring it back to me and fix me this
venison and I'll give you my choice blessing. Rachel hears it. or I mean, it's
a Rebecca, I always get the, Rebecca, whichever one it was,
his mom hears it. And remember, Jacob was her favorite. Esau was Isaac's favorite. Jacob
was her favorite. She says, now here's what I want
you to do. Listen to me carefully. I want you to do this exactly
as I say. You go get two kids of goats.
We'll kill them, make some stuff that tastes just like the venison
your dad loves. And I'm gonna take, one of Esau's
garments, I'm gonna put it on you. I'm gonna take the wool,
the skin of that goat, put it on the back of your neck and
your hands, and you're gonna smell like Esau, you're gonna
feel like Esau, and you're gonna trick your father. Now let's
pick up breathing. Turn with me to Genesis 27. Verse 11, And Jacob said to Rebekah,
after she gave him this information, Behold, Esau, my brother, is
a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. My father, peradventure,
will fill me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver. And I shall
bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. And his mother said
unto him, upon me be thy curse, my son. Only obey my voice and
go fetch them. And he went and fetched them
and brought them to his mother. And his mother made savory meat
such as his father loved. And Rebekah took goodly raiment
of her eldest son Esau, which was with her in the house, and
put them upon Jacob, her younger son. And she put the skins of
the kids of the goats upon his hands, upon the smooth of his
neck. And she gave the savory meat and bread. And when she
had prepared it into the hand of her son Jacob, and he came
unto his father and said, my father, And he said, here I am,
who art thou, my son? And Jacob said unto his father,
I am Esau, thy firstborn. What a lie, what deception. I've done according as thou hast
badest me arise, and I pray thee, sit in the heat of my venison,
that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said unto his son,
How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he
said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me. Wow, what irreverence. He's using the Lord in his deception,
using his name. And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come
near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou
art my very son Esau or not. And Jacob went near unto Isaac
his father, and he felt him, and he said, The voice of Jacob's
voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he discerned
him not, because his hands were hairy, and his brother Esau's
hands, so he blessed him. And he said, Art thou my very
son Esau? And he said, I am. And he said,
bring it near to me, and I'll eat of my son's venison, that
my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him,
and he did eat, and he brought him wine, and he drank. And his
father Isaac said unto him, come now and kiss me, my son. And
he came near and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of his
raiment. Remember, it was Esau's raiment. And he blessed him and
said, see the smell of my son is as the smell of the field
which the Lord has blessed. Therefore God give thee the dew
of heaven and the fatness of the earth and plenty of corn
and wine. Let people serve thee and nations bow down to thee.
Be Lord over thy brethren and let thy mother's sons bow down
to thee. Cursed be everyone that cursed thee and blessed be he
that blessed thee. And it came to pass, as soon
as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce
gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that he saw
his brother came in from his hunting. And he also had made
savory meat, brought it into his father, and said unto his
father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison,
that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac his father said unto
him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy
firstborn Esau. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly
and said, Who? Where is he that hath taken venison
and brought it to me? I have eaten all before thou
camest, and have blessed him, yea, and he shall be blessed.
And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with
a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father,
Bless me, even me also, O my father. And he said, Thy brother
came with subtlety, with deceit, and hath taken away thy blessing.
And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? For he hath supplanted
me these two times, he took away my birthright, and behold, now
he hath taken away my blessing. He was a very deceitful man. Now we saw, but that's a beautiful
picture though, of how a sinner approaches Christ. Can you take
something evil like that and use it as an illustration for
how a sinner approaches Christ? Yeah, easy. In order for me to
come into God's presence, I'm going to have to smell like Christ.
I'm going to have to be where the Father cannot discern the
difference between me and Christ. I'm to have His raiment, His
clothing, and I'm to answer to His name only. That's the only
way I can come into God's presence. That being said, this was still
an act of deceit. What a deceitful man he was.
You go on reading. What about how he ripped Laban
off. He stole all of his camels and
his cattle and his goats. He stole everything. He made
a way to deceive Laban where Laban lost everything he had
to this man. He was a treacherous, deceitful
man. Nobody's going to argue against
that. Yet God's testimony is this, an undefiled, perfect,
upright man. That's God's testimony. And God's
testimony is how things really are. And this demonstrates to
us the reality of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with
me for a moment to Psalm 24. Psalm 24. I wonder if there's anybody in
here that's not looking at a King James version. Because I read
in a lot of different versions of the King James. It says this
is the generation of them that seek thy face, that seek thy
face, O God of Jacob. And actually, that is what my
marginal reasoning says. But in the original, that's not
there. Read Psalm 24, verse six. This is the generation of them
that seek him, that seek thy face, Jacob. Now God, the Lord Jesus Christ,
is called Jacob. They weren't seeking Jacob, the
sinful man's face. They were seeking the face of
the Lord God, and he identifies himself so much with Jacob. It doesn't say the God of Jacob.
It says Jacob. That's how real, that's how close
this union is. The Lord Jesus Christ took my sin and made it his own. Thus he became by his own testimony
a worm and no man. Not even fit to be called a man. That's how truly my sin became
his sin. And this is what this thing of
union is. And just as truly as my sin became His sin, His perfect
righteousness, His glorious obedience is mine. I love Revelation 19.8. This is fine linen, clean and
white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.
I've heard people say, well, that's talking about their righteous
deeds. Do you have any righteous deeds? You got anything about
you that you've ever done that you would say, yeah, that'd make
it as righteous? No, the righteousness of Jesus Christ the Lord is the
righteousness of the saints. And that's how real this union
is. That's how real justification
is. Justification is not just some kind of cover up for my
sin, but I'm, no, I'm clean all the way through. The God of Jacob. What a union. Now, what that means is when
God loves Jacob, it's not, people talk about unconditional love.
I hate that term. The more I hear it, the more
I hate it. There's no such thing as unconditional love. In Christ
Jesus, every believer is lovely to God. altogether deserving of the love
of God. Does Jesus Christ deserve the
love of the Father? Well, you know he does. Well,
so does every believer. He says, Behold, thou art all
fair, my love. There's no spot in me. And that's
how God saw Jacob. perfect, undefiled, spotless. And the reason he saw Him that
way is that's the way He was. That's the glory of the gospel.
That's the glory of justification. I really am. I'm perfect in Christ
Jesus. I have no sin. God sees nothing
but that which is pleasing to Him. And that's how Jacob, this
deceitful man, that's what he was in himself. Jacob. supplanter,
deceiver. You saw his brother's testimony
of him. He came and did this by subtlety
and that was his mode of operation. He was a deceitful man. Yet he is without sin in God's sight. Turn
with me to Numbers 23. Let me read you some scriptures. Beginning in verse 7, Numbers
23. And he took up his parable and
said, Beleth, the king of Moab, hath brought me from Aram out
of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me, Jacob,
and come, defy Israel. How shall I curse whom God hath
not cursed? Or how shall I defy whom the
Lord hath not defied? For from the tops of the rocks
I see him, and from the hills I behold him. Lo, the people
shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth
part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let
my last end be as his. Verse 17 of the same chapter,
or verse 18. And he took up his parable and
said, rise up, Balak, and hear, hearken unto me, thou son Zippor. God is not a man that he should
lie, neither the son of man that he should repent. Hath he said,
and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall
he not make it good? Behold, I've received commandment
to bless, and he hath blessed. I can't reverse it. He hath not
beheld iniquity in Jacob. Neither hath he seen perverseness
in Israel. The Lord his God is with him,
and the shout of the king is among them. Look in chapter 24,
verse 17. I shall see him, but not now,
I shall behold him, but not nigh, and there shall come a star out
of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel, and it shall
smite the corners of Moab, and destroy the children of Seth.
Now this is how God sees Jacob. Don't you want to be Jacob? I
want to be Jacob. God is the God of Jacob. Turn with me to Genesis 32. Now, this is when Jacob is returning
from He'd been gone 20 years. He fled for his life because
he was afraid his brother was going to kill him. And that's
why he left. And now he's coming back. And
the Lord has blessed him. He's got a big family. He's got
all kinds of cattle. And he starts dividing up the
cattle. These people go here with a present
to give him, and these people come after that with another
present. He had all of his ducks in a row to make sure if he smotched
the one, the others will get away. He didn't seem to have
any faith at this time. He was just scheming, trying
to figure out how to make things better for himself. But look
in verse 24 of Genesis 32. And Jacob was left alone after
he'd done all of his scheming and planned out how he could
best protect himself. And Jacob was left alone. And
there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
Now we know from verse 30 that that man was God himself, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Look what it says in verse 30.
And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, for I have
seen God face to face and my life is preserved. He knew that
this one who was wrestling with him was the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord is the one who initiated
this. And he did it for this one purpose,
to bring him down. Let's go on reading. This wrestling match lasted into
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. Can you imagine how painful that
was? And he said, the Lord Jesus said, let me go for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee
go except thou bless me. Now here's Jacob. His thigh has
been knocked out. As a matter of fact, after this
confrontation, he's going to walk with a limp for the rest
of his life. The Lord brought him down to
this place. Verse 27, he said unto him, what's
thy name? Now he knew what his name was.
But this is, as much as anything else, a confession. What's your
name? Jacob. Cheat. Deceiver. Liar. One who can't be trusted. Verse 28, he said, thy name should
be called no more Jacob, but Israel. Here's the first mention
we have of Israel. You're not going to be called
Jacob anymore, but Israel for as a prince has stopped power
with God and with men and has prevailed. Now, what happened
in this meeting? Jacob was brought down to where
all he could do is say, I can't let you go except you bless me. You're going to have to kill
me. You're going to have to kill me. I've got to have your blessing. I'm
nothing but a Jacob, but a deceiver, but a cheat. You're not Jacob
anymore. You're Israel. As a prince, you
have power with God and prevailed. Psalm 135 verse 4 says, The Lord
hath chosen Jacob for himself, Israel for his peculiar treasure. And let me tell you something
about God being the God of Jacob. Everything God does, he does
for Jacob. That's because Jacob's united to Christ. And everything
God does, he does for Christ, but everything God does, he does
for Jacob. Let me show you a couple of passages
of scripture. Turn to Isaiah 43. Verse 1, Isaiah 43, But now thus
saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee,
O Israel. Don't you think it's interesting
how throughout the scripture he's called Jacob and Israel
in the same verse? I'm always, until I put down
this flesh and die, I'll be Jacob and Israel. But once Jacob dies,
all I'll be is Israel. And that's what he's saying.
Now look in, O Jacob, and he that form thee of Israel, fear
not, for I have redeemed thee. I've called thee by thy name,
thou art mine. When thou passest through the
waters, I'll be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire,
thou shall not be burned. Neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Sheba for thee. Since thou was precious in my
sight, thou has been honorable and I love thee. Therefore, will
I give men for thee and people for thy life. You see everything
he does in Providence, it's for Jacob. Look at Isaiah chapter
45. Now, the Lord is saying this
200 years before it takes place. This is a prophecy regarding
Cyrus. Thus saith the Lord to his anointed,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I've holden to subdue nations before
him, I'll loose the loins of kings to open before him the
two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut. I will go
before thee. I'll make the crooked places
straight. I will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut and
sunder the bars of iron. I'll give thee the treasures
of darkness and hidden riches of secret places. that thou may
knowest that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the
God of Israel. For Jacob, my servant's sake,
and Israel, mine elect, I've called thee by thy name. I've
surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me." I'm doing all
this for Jacob. I'm putting you in charge. I'm
letting you be the most powerful man in the world. You're going
to control everything for Jacob, my servant's sake. For Israel,
my elect's sake. Turn to Genesis 33. Now this is when Esau and Jacob
meet together. We read beginning in verse eight, and he said,
Genesis 33, 8, this is Esau speaking. What meanest thou by all this
drove, which I met? And he said, these are to find
grace in the sight of my Lord. And Esau said, I have enough,
my brother. Keep that thou hast unto thyself. I have enough. And Jacob said,
nay, I pray thee, if now I found grace in thy sight, then receive
my present in my hand, for therefore I have seen thy face as though
I had seen the face of God, and thou was pleased with me. Take,
I pray thee, my blessing, which is brought to thee, because God
hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. Now the word enough here in verse
11 is different than the one where Esau said, I have enough.
When Jacob says, I have enough, it's literally, I have all things. I have the whole. In Christ, I have the whole. I have all things. True story. There was a man who had a very large art. He had all kinds of paintings
worth millions of dollars. And the man died. And they were
going to auction off these paintings. And the first one that was put
up was a picture of a man nobody knew anything about. But there
was one man who knew who this man was. This was the owner of
this art collection. It was his son. And his son had
been killed in the service. And the man thought, I always liked him. He'd been dead
years, years, years. Nobody knew who it was. He said,
I always liked him. I'll go ahead and take that.
He gave his bid and nobody else gave a bid. Nobody wanted that
painting. It wasn't really worth that much. So he gave his bid. The man took it and said, auction
over. And there was a gasp. And here
was the agreement. Whoever has the son has everything. Whoever has Christ has everything. Because Christ is all. Let's close by looking at Jacob's
testimony at the end of his own life, Genesis 47. Verse eight. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob,
how old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh,
The days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years. Few and evil have the days of
the years of my life been and have not attained into the days
of the years of the life of my fathers and the days of their
pilgrimage. What was his summary of his own
life? few days and all of them have
been evil. If you asked any believer, give
me a summary of your life. Same thing as Jacob, but here's
my hope. Christ's life is my life. And I stand before God without
seeing. Now, when the angel announced
the birth of the Lord Jesus, he said his name shall be great
and he should be called the son of the highest. And the Lord
God shall give unto him the throne of his father, David, and he
shall reign over the house of Jacob. Jacob is every believer. Jacob is every elect sinner.
Jacob is everyone who looks to Christ only as everything in
their salvation. God is most especially the God
of Jacob. One more scripture and we'll
quit, Romans 11. Verse 26, and so all Israel shall be saved. Now if that's talking about national
Israel, Paul made a mistake. But that's not talking about
national Israel, all the weird beliefs that come out of thinking
God has two plans, one for Israel and one for the church. No. Israel
is every believer. And so all Israel should be saved
as it's written. There shall come out of Zion
the deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto
them when I shall take away their sins. What do I need? I need my sins
taken away. And that's what the Lord did
on Calvary's tree. He was manifested to take away
our sins. 1 John 3, 5. Did he do it? Did
he do it? is no sin. Aren't you thankful
that God is the God of Jacob? Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that you're
the God of Jacob. How we thank you for the gospel
of thy son. How we thank you that we can
approach you through your son and actually be holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in your sight. Thank you for the gospel. Lord,
I ask in Christ's name that you would speak to each heart here
and reveal yourself to each heart here according to your will as
we Look forward to this coming week. We ask that you would enable
us to walk with thy son. Lord, let us be as Enoch, walking
with you by faith. Lord, preserve us. Deliver us
from the evil one. Deliver us from temptation. We
ask that you would put a hedge about us for Christ's sake. In
his blessed name we pray, amen.