146th Psalm, verse 5, we read,
Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose
hope is in the Lord his God. You know the name that God goes
by more than any other name in the Bible. is the God of Jacob. Something very special about
that. In our text in Genesis chapter
22 or 32 verse 24, and Jacob was left alone. It's a good place to be. Away from creature help. And there wrestled a man with
him into the breaking of the day. And notice it doesn't say
Jacob wrestled with a man. It says the man wrestled with
Jacob. Jacob didn't initiate this. The
man did. And we know that that man was
the God man. Look in verse 30 of the same
chapter. And Jacob called the name of
the place Peniel. For I have seen God face to face
and my life is spared. The God of Jacob. And during the course of this
wrestling match, the Lord touched his thigh and it was brought
out of joint. He hit him in the place of his
strength. And after that, we read in verse
26, where he had lost all strength. Verse 26, he said, let me go
for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee
go except thou bless me. Let me tell you two things about
Jacob. Number one, he was a very evil, deceptive, manipulative
man. You read the history of this
man and he was a deceiver. Everything he got, he got by
deception. He was a manipulator. He couldn't
trust the Lord. He'd pray and then he'd go do
his thing. He never, he was just a deceptive, deceptive man. But the next thing I'd like to
say about him is God loved him. Remember that scripture, Jacob
have I loved. He saw if I hated, that was his
brother, but Jacob have I loved. Now the love of God is toward
his people. If you make his love universal,
he loves all men the same, you make his love meaningless. It
means absolutely nothing. He loved Jacob, this deceitful,
This wicked man, this man who had so much going against him.
I mean, his daddy preferred his brother over him. The scripture
says he was a mighty hunter, his brother. He was a man's man.
Jacob was a mama's boy. Jacob was always in some kind
of trouble. But God said regarding this man, I love him. Now his name means heal. or supplanter. One who gets what he has by defraud
and deception. And that's exactly what he was.
He was one who got what he had by fraud and deception. Let's
look at his birth. Genesis 25. And Isaac entreated the Lord for
his wife because she was barren. Verse 21 of Genesis 25. And Isaac entreated the Lord
for his wife because she was barren and the Lord was entreated
of him. And Rebekah his wife conceived, and the children struggled
together within her. And she said, if it be so, why
am I thus? 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.
And the one people shall be stronger than the other, and the elder
shall serve the younger. And when her days to be delivered
were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her room, and the
first came out red, all over like an hairy garment, and they
called his name Esau. And after that came his brother
out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel, and his name was
called Jacob. And Isaac was three score years
old when she bared them." That's interesting. Right at his birth,
he's holding on to his brother, having his brother pull him out.
Look in verse 29 of this same chapter. It says, when they were
older, he was a wheeler dealer and Jacob sawed pottage, he was
a cook. He was cooking some good soup.
And Jacob sawed pottage and Esau came from the field and he was
faint. And Esau said to Jacob, feed me I pray thee with that
same red pottage for I'm faint. Therefore was his name called
Edom. And Jacob said, sell me this day thy birthright. Now
it wasn't his by right. He shouldn't have it, but he
wanted. He said, sell it to me. And you know, Esau didn't have
any more desire for that birthright. He was hungry at the time. And
he said, what good will it do me? If I'm hungry, I'll starve
to death. And he sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. I understand
why the scripture says Esau have I hated. He had absolutely no
regard for his brother. He had no regard for the birthright.
He had no regard for God. Esau have I hated. Now look in chapter 27, you'll
remember how he swindled his brother's birthright by deceiving
his father, taking advantage of his blindness and pretending
to be his brother Esau. And then in verse 30, we read,
and it came to pass Genesis 27, verse 30. 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 his father, that
Esau his brother came in from his hunting. This is after Jacob
had swindled him. And he also had made savory meat
and brought it into his father and said unto his father, let
my father arise and eat of my son's venison, that thy soul
may bless me. And Isaac his father said unto
him, who art thou? And he said, I'm 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? And 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 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. Here's Jacob, this is what his
name means. And he hath taken away thy blessing. And he said, is he not rightly
named Jacob, a supplanter? For he hath supplanted me these
two times. He took away my birthright. And
behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. Now that's the kind
of man Jacob was. He was a deceitful man who did
whatever it took to get what he wanted. Now, Looking, Jacob goes on. You remember after this time,
Esau says, I'm going to kill him. Esau says, I'm going to
kill him. So his mom said, leave. Go to Paddanaran. meet Laban,
my brother, and get a wife of her. And he did that, and he
was gone for 20 years. And we don't read where the Lord
ever spoke to him that entire 20-year period. He told him to
leave, but after that, the Lord stopped communication with Jacob. He didn't hear from the Lord
for 20 years. You know, it's amazing the way
the Lord works, isn't it? Interesting. Well, I sure don't
want to go 20 years without hearing from him. I want to hear from
him now, don't you? I want him to speak to me. So
he's going back after he swindles Laban. Now, I think it's interesting.
What comes around, goes around. What goes around, comes around.
He'd been a swindler. He goes to Laban, and Laban swindles
him. Remember, he says, I'll work
for seven years for your daughter, Rachel. And he worked for seven
years, and he got swindled and ended up with Leah. And then
he worked another seven years and he got Rachel. So he worked and he ended up
swindling Laban and got everything Laban had. Let's look at this.
This is the kind of man he was. Look in chapter 30 verse 41. And it came to pass, whensoever
the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before
the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive
among the rods. But when the cattle were feeble,
he put them not in. So the feebler were Laban's and
the stronger Jacob's." You see, he swindled him. And the man
increased exceedingly and had much cattle and maidservants
and menservants and camels and asses. So now he's going back
home. Laban is angry with him. And
there's one problem, Esau. Now, look at the way he tries
to set this up. Look in chapter 32, verse 3. And Jacob sent messengers before
him to Esau, his brother, into the land of Seir, the country
of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, Thus say you speak unto
my lord Esau. Look at the way he talks. I mean,
that's flattery. Thus say you speak unto my lord
Esau. Thy servant Jacob saith thus.
He calls himself Esau's servant. Thy servant Jacob saith thus.
I have sojourned with Laban and stayed there until now. And I
have oxen and asses and flocks and men servants and women servants.
And I've sent to tell my Lord that I might find grace in thy
sight. He's trying to set himself up
and manage this situation. And the messengers return in
verse six. 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,
as far as he knew this was an army, and he was going to be
killed. He was greatly distressed, and he divided the people that
was with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels
into two bands. And he said, If Esau come to the one company
and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.
You see, he managed out everything. Maybe this part will get protected,
that part will get protected. He wasn't looking to the Lord.
He was just managing the situation, trying to make things better
for himself. Now look in verse nine. Here
we have the first recorded prayer in the scripture. And I think
this is very interesting. And Jacob said, Oh God of my
father, Abraham, and God of my father, Isaac, the Lord would
said unto me, return into thy country, into thy kindred, and
I'll do well with thee. I'm not worthy. of the least
of all thy mercies and of all the truth which thou hast showed
unto thy servant. For with my staff I passed over
this Jordan, now I'm 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'll 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." Now that's a great prayer, isn't it? Great prayer.
But as soon as the prayer's over, he goes back to his carnal policies,
trying to split things up and trying to bribe Esau with gifts. And all he demonstrated by that
was his actions and his prayers contradicted one another. Now,
verse 24, he's finally left alone. Genesis 32, verse 24. And Jacob was left alone. And there wrestled a man with
him until the breaking of the day. Now, how many people have
used this to show that Jacob was a mighty man of prayer, that
he wrestled with the Lord and he would not let the Lord go
until the Lord blessed him. And we should show the same faith
that Jacob have, wrestling with the Lord in prayer. But it doesn't
say Jacob wrestled with the Lord. says the Lord wrestled with Jacob. And his purpose was to bring
him down. Jacob would never be the same
after this wrestling match in which he was defeated and yet
won his greatest victory, the changing of his name. Let's go
on reading verse 25. And when he saw this man that
was wrestling with him, that he prevailed not against him.
Now remember, this man was omnipotent. This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He could have whipped him easy, but he has wise and holy purposes
in causing this wrestling match to go all night. 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. Now, I want you to
think about how painful that must have been. I mean, his thigh got knocked
out of the hip socket and all power was gone. He lost everything
at this time. Can you imagine the pain and
the inability at this time? But he kept on going. He didn't know what was going
to happen, but what the Lord did is he brought him to this
place. He brought him to this place by touching the hollow
of the thigh. All he could do was cling. And he said, I will
not let thee go, except you bless me. I'm going
to hold on. You can kick against me. But
I will, I got nothing else. All my strength is taken away.
I will not let thee go except thou bless me. He was bringing
him to the place where he would be just like that Syrophoenician
woman. He's at the last place. I, this is my last option. I
have no other options. I will not let you go. I must
have your blessing. I must have your mercy. I must
have you do something for me. If you don't do something for
me, it's over for me. I'll be killed. I won't let you
go. Except you bless me. That makes
me think of the Syrophoenician woman. Don't you love the way
when the Lord answered and not her words, scripture says she
kept, she kept, had mercy on me. And he said, It's not right
to take the children's bread and to cast it to the dogs. And
she said, that's the truth, Lord, but I still need your mercy.
I still need your help. Help me. Jacob was in the same place.
Remember that importunate widow who kept coming to the unjust
judge. And he said, I'm going to go
ahead and give her water. She wants less by her continual coming. She weary me. He touched the
hollow of his thigh. and made it out of joint, the
seed of his strength, the foundation of his strength was taken by
a touch. And this is actually the healing
touch of Christ. You know, when Christ heals you,
you're weakened. And that's the best place to
be, to be weakened. When I'm weak, Paul said, then
am I strong. Now look what Jacob said in verse
26. And he, the Lord Jesus said, let me go. For the day breaketh,
and he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. All of my efforts of managing
my affairs are an exercise in futility. I must have your blessing. He couldn't fight it this time.
The wrestling match was over, but he was clinging. I won't
let you go. I want to be Jacob right here,
don't you? I want to hold on to the Lord's
feet. I won't let you go, except you bless me. I can't let you
go. It's over for me. I will not
let you go. You know, it's only when you
have no strength, that you'll seek his strength. It's only when you're 100% guilty
and it's all your fault. Jacob saw that he had got everything
that he had by lying and deception. It was all falling apart now.
And he knew that he was guilty and it was all his fault. And
it's only when I'm 100% guilty and all my sin is all my fault. that I cry for mercy. I will not let you go, except
you bless me." Now at this time, sovereign grace is a necessity.
I love that song you sang in, sovereign grace or sin abounding.
Sovereign grace isn't a doctrine. Sovereign grace is the only hope
any sinner has. It's the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I will not let you go except
you bless me. Now look in verse 27, here's
the blessing. And he said unto him, the Lord Jesus said unto
him, what's your name? Now Lord knew what his name was,
didn't he? He'd known this man from the foundation of the world.
He knew exactly what his name was. But what he was doing was
getting Jacob to confess who he was. What's your name? Jacob. Deceiver. Supplanter. A fraud. A manipulator. A sinner. One with no strength. A heel. Have I ever stood before God
and confessed what I am? not just what I've done, but
what I am. What's your name? Jacob. Now here's the blessing, verse
28. And he said, thy name shall be
called no more Jacob, but Israel. For as a prince, Hast thou power
with God and with men, and hast prevailed. I'm going to give
you a new name. And the reason he gave him a
new name is because he gave him a new person. It's not just a
name hooked onto the same person. It's a new person. Your new name
is Israel, which means a prince with God. As a prince, he says
to Jacob, this man who was a deceiver, this man who was deceptive, this
man who was so weak and so contradictory, God said to him, I'm giving you
a new name. You're a prince with God. You
have power with God and hast prevailed. Now this deceiver
is called a prince with God and there's only one way that can
be. God said it. And if God says, I'm a prince,
I'm a prince. If God says, I have power with
himself, I have power with himself. God gave him a new name. Now. You're a prince, not a deceiver,
a prince. You have power with God. Men love the idea of power. So they can get some kind of
vantage over their fellow creatures. That's why they love this idea
of power. We want power over others and
we fear others having power over us. And even thinking that way
demonstrates a complete ignorance of what power is. Power belongeth
unto the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ said, all
power is given to me. Do you know the Lord has a monopoly
on power? He's got all power. You know
how much you and I have? None. None. I still get to thinking about
that. A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to the radio
and it talked about the five most powerful men in the world. And
I thought, that's the biggest, no man has any power. Power belongeth
unto the Lord. But yet he says to Jacob, as a Prince, thou hast power
with God and with men and you've prevailed. Now, what kind of
power does Jacob have? God says he has power. And if
I'm a Jacob, I have power with God. If you're a Jacob, you have
power with God. That means he hears you. That
means he responds to what you cry. If you're a Jacob, you have
power with God. Now, what is this thing of having
power with God? What kind of power does Jacob
have? Does it mean he can force his will on God? Well, you know
it doesn't. Does it mean he has meritorious power that makes
God respond to him because he's such a good person? You know
it doesn't mean that. Does it mean he has mental power
to get his way? Doesn't mean that. And this power
is found in the character of God. Let me say a couple of things
about this. First, this power comes to every
believer by virtue of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Does Christ
have power with God? Oh, the Father hears him pray,
his dear anointed one. He cannot turn away the prayer
of his son. And Christ Jesus has power with
God. Everything he says, the Father
hears and the Father is pleased with and the Father accepts because
of who he is. I love to think of him saying,
Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Now
that wasn't some kind of generic prayer. Everybody he prayed for,
the Father forgave. because He always hears His Son,
because the Son has power with God. And if I'm united to Him,
if I'm in Him, that means I have power with God. Here's what else it means. Have you ever seen somebody in
such a plight that it drew out your strong sympathy toward them? They just seem so miserable,
and helpless and hopeless and it just drew your sympathy out
toward them. You wanted to help them. They
had a kind of power over you. They had a power over you that
you had to help them. You had to do something for them.
Now our power in coming as sinners in need is not what we are. but what he is. That's the power. You see, the
Lord delights in mercy. Now, if I come knocking on heaven's
door, open to me. I'm a good, righteous man. The
door will not be opened. If I come knocking, open to me.
I'm a believer. I have believed the right truth.
I am Orthodox. The door will not open to me.
If I come knocking while I'm a preacher, I preach the truth. I told the truth. People have
been converted through my preaching. Open up to me. The door will
remain closed. But if I come. This is. Todd. The chief of sinners. right up because that has power
with God. Psalm 25 verse 11, we just heard
it read, pardon my iniquity, oh Lord. Not, it's not all that
bad, but it's great. It's great. That has power with
God. Don't plead anything but your
badness. That's the only way you can come
into his presence. Verse 29. And Jacob asked him. After he
made this announcement to him. That his name had been changed. He was no longer Jacob, but Israel. Jacob asked him and said, tell
me, I pray thee, thy name. And I think it's interesting,
the Lord wouldn't do it. He wouldn't do it. I can't say that I know why,
but I've got some thoughts about it. Maybe Jacob was being a little
bit too presumptuous and familiar. Perhaps he was not showing the
proper respect he should have, or perhaps he thought if I know
his name, I've got something on somebody else. That's the
way he would think. I mean, I would like to think
the Lord knows my name in this special way. And I know his name
in ways that somebody else doesn't. And you know, the Lord would
not do that for him. It's interesting. He wouldn't
tell him his name like that. Wherefore is it that you ask,
just ask after my name? But that didn't stop him and
he blessed him there. Now there is a place of God's
blessing. He blessed him there. There's
a place of God's blessing. And that place is Christ. The only way God's going to bless
me. is as I am in the Lord Jesus Christ and in Christ I have all
of God's blessing. Now let me show you this. Turn
to Ephesians chapter 1. You're familiar with this. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us. Doesn't say
he will bless us. It says he hath blessed us with
all, all, all spiritual blessings. in heavenly places in Christ. Every blessing God has to give,
every believer possesses right now. And the reason they have
it is because they're in the place that God blesses. Where is the place that God blesses?
The Lord Jesus Christ. We have all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And he blessed him there. Now verse 30. of our text, Genesis
32. Now, here's something I think
is very interesting. It says in verse 30, And Jacob
called the name of the place Peniel, for I've seen God face
to face and my life is preserved. Now, God just changed his name.
He said, you're not Jacob anymore, you're Israel. So why doesn't
say Israel said, I've seen God face to face. Why didn't he say
that? Now, I think this is interesting. You know, when God changed Abram's
name to Abraham, he's never called Abram again. He's always called
Abraham. When God changed Sarah's name
to Sarah, she's never called Sarah again. It's always Sarah,
the Hebrew H, the breath of life. But you know, Jacob, He's called
Jacob and he's called Israel over and over again. In the same
verse, sometimes it'd be called Jacob and then it'd be called
Israel. The God of Israel, the God of Jacob. Aren't you thankful
that the Lord is the God of Jacob and not just Israel? Jacob. Now
Jacob, Jacob is Jacob. Jacob's the old man. Jacob's
the flesh. Israel's the new man in Christ
Jesus. Now, every believer is at the
same time a Jacob and an Israel. Can't you identify with Jacob?
I identify with that man so much. He's one of my heroes in the
scripture. One of my heroes. And I identify with him. Jacob. God said, Jacob have I loved.
And Jacob called the name of the place for he said, I've seen
God face to face and my life is preserved. And as he passed
over Penuel, the sun rose upon him. All of a sudden he could
see and he halted on his thigh. He had a limp. Do you know that he had a limp
the rest of his life? I've heard people describe it,
what would happen to you when your hip or whatever came out
of joint, your thigh came out of your hip and what it would
do to you and the limp. He had a limp the rest of his life. You know, I've never known anybody
who doesn't have a limp in their walk. Have you? I've never known a
soul who doesn't have a limp in their walk. But this is precisely
what caused Jacob to know he must have God's blessing. Now understand this. There is
never, ever an excuse for your sin against God or my sin against
God. I'm never to say, well, you know
nothing I can do about it. It's my nature and so on. There's
never an excuse for disobedience in any way. There's never an
excuse for sin against God. There's never an excuse for those
beams that come out of our eyes. There's no excuse. No excuse. Let me ask you this. What if you didn't have that
limp? I'm not excusing it, but what
if you didn't have that limp? This limp causes us to come to
Christ again and again and again. And I'm not trying to give anybody
any comfort in a limp. We ought not have a limp in our
walk. We ought not. But we do. Jacob did. You and
I aren't any different from him. But what a blessing that limp
is when it causes me to say, I, all strength is gone. I will not let thee go except
thou bless me. You know, this, this is the Lord's
saving touch to Jacob. This touched him that caused
him to lose all strength, but it caused him to cling. And that's,
that's what I hope every one of us do that. I hope this is,
this is us. We cling. I will not let you go. I can't wrestle with you. I can't
whip you, but I'm clinging. I got nothing else. Let's pray together. Lord, we tremble for fear in
what we're asking. But Lord, we ask that you would
wrestle with us. And that you would defeat us.
And that you would cause us to say from the very depths of our
hearts, I will not let thee go. Except thou bless me. Lord, bless
this message for your glory and for our good. In Christ's name
we pray, amen.