Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Genesis

Genesis 32-33 11/10/02

Introduction: I have heard many of you give public and private testimony of what God has done in your life through the ministry of the church. Those who have visited with us, pastors and missionaries have remarked how God's Word is central to our worship service and how God's presence was experienced in a powerful way. CC4W has commented time and time again how blessed they are because of our willingness to exhibit true kingdom values in allowing them to use our/God's building. God is touching your hearts in many ways..He is even reaching out to your most sacred place...your wallets. We have made budget each of the past 6 years.  Look around. There is much that is new and beautiful and our new parking lot is on the way! This is not the same building it was even 3 yrs ago. Two weeks ago we had the largest attendance of any service for the year..inc Easter...94 people!

 I have two comments concerning what I just said.

1. I believe God is to be honored because of what He has done in this place with you His people. I want to thank Him and give
    Him praise for His continual presence and blessing of this, His ministry, we call CBC.

2. I hope that none of us will remember what I have said.

 You heard me right. I hope none of us will remember a word I just said. Because nothing can be more devastating to a church than to be swallowed up by a false sense of pride, complacency or security.

 Pride: It would be too easy for us to believe that we have done a good job building this church. Oh we know God helped but
           after all we are the ones doing the work, leading the ministries, giving the money.
             -But Jesus said, 'I will build my church'.

 Complacency: It would be too easy for us to rest on our laurels and give up trying to press on toward greater growth and
                         maturity in Christ. It would be too easy for us to take a breather, to say the church is pretty good, I'm gonna
                         take a break. We're OK.
              -Yet Paul says 'Forgetting the past, I strive,   I press on toward the goal to win the prize    which is Jesus Christ.'

 Security: It would be too easy for us to believe that because we are saved and have our fire insurance, we can  live however
                 we want. Purity, faithfulness, truthfulness, love, and forgiveness are great but not essential when I am wearing my
                 'righteousness of Christ'. And a false sense of spiritual security can hinder our  evangelistic fervor as well. There is
                 no urgency to tell people about the forgiveness found in Christ when you are feeling pretty good.
             -Yet, Paul again reminds us to 'examine    ourselves to see if we are in the faith' and commands us to 'Preach the
               gospel'.

    By now it should be no surprise that this is exactly what Jacob does. It seems whenever things were going well for him, he forgot God. Instead of staying the course, he strayed off course. And the same is true for many Christian today. In the midst of pride, complacency and perceived security, we begin to live carelessly and find ourselves experiencing spiritual defeat.

Trans: Let's learn from Jacob's mistakes so that we can stay the course, instead of straying off course.

Read: Genesis 32:1-2
     The appearance of the angelic army sets the tone for the whole passage. They should have been a reminder to Jacob that God was in control.

Read: Genesis 32:3-8
     Jacob felt compelled to contact his brother Esau. He wanted to bring about reconciliation. At the very least, he wanted some form of peace with him. But, when he was told Esau was coming to meet him with 400 men, Jacob was struck with fear. What happened? Jacob saw the angelic army surrounding him. There should have been no reason to be afraid.  It was in this fear that Jacob acted...he thought of a plan that would keep at least part of his family safe should Esau attack. It is not that this was a bad plan, it was that it was HIS plan, God had nothing to do with it as we will see.

Read: Genesis 32:9-12
 There are a few things to notice about this prayer.

1. It was a good prayer.
    -It was a prayer recognizing God's promises.
    -It was a prayer of thanksgiving.
    -It was a prayer in which Jacob pronounced his unworthiness.
 All the makings of a heart felt, sincere prayer. But...

2. It was an incomplete prayer.
    -No where does Jacob acknowledge God as HIS God.
    -No where does Jacob ask for God's advice on how to handle his current situation. Jacob already had a plan, he just
     wanted God's  protection.

     Jacob prayed with one hand reaching out to God and the other holding on to his plan. Jacob put the cart before the horse. He came up with a plan and then asked God to bless it.  Ever been there? True heartfelt, passionate prayer is one where both hands are empty and reach out to God.

Read: Genesis 32:13-21
     What does Jacob do after he prays? He puts his plan into action. It is as if he completely forgot about the heavenly army of angels and the prayer he just prayed. Rather than trust in God and His angelic army, he trusts in his ability to purchase Esau's affection, trust and forgiveness.
     By using words like 'your servant' and 'my lord', Jacob was back to groveling. He ignored the fact that God had promised to make him lord over his brother.
     Now, before we get too critical of Jacob we need to ask ourselves, have we ever prayed our heart out to God and then went about our business as if we never spoke to the Lord? Jacob's real problem wasn't Esau...it was Jacob.

Read: Genesis 32:22-32 (Key passage)
     Before Jacob could enter the promised land, God wanted some one on  one time with him.  Jacob's family and servants, his herds were gone. He is all alone, like he was at Bethel.

 There are a few things we need to understand about this pivotal text.

1. Jacob did not initiate the wrestling match, the struggle with who we know to be the Angel of God, a pre-incarnate
    appearance of Jesus Christ. Jacob didn't start it, God did.

2. Jacob did not enter the fight to get something from God. God fought with Jacob to get something from him. His total
    submission and total dependence upon Him.

3.  All night long Jacob struggled, refusing to surrender his will to God.

4. Finally the Angel touched Jacobs hip and his ability to fight was over. Jacob now realizes this person was God and begs to
    be blessed by Him. He was very persistent.

There is so much to learn here.

1. When we allow time to be alone with God He can do wonderful things in and through us.

2. We, like Jacob struggle to hold on to our self sufficiency, to our sin. We refuse to give it up. It is amazing how persistent we
    can be with something we know to be offensive to God.

3. Sometimes God has to break us before He can build us up. Sometimes when we are in sin, God brings illness or some kind
    of loss or pain to bring us to the end of  ourselves and turn to God. Not every sickness or disappointment  comes from this
    but some do.
     -Perhaps, if you are suffering, you may  need to reevaluate your hurt. It may be God trying to get your attention..and
    submission.  Look hard. Is God wrestling with you about something in your life?

4. Jacob's limp just like Paul's thorn in the flesh are reminders that when we are weak, we are strong, when we place our trust
     and lives in God's hands. His strength is perfected in our weakness.

Read: Genesis 33:1-3
     Jacob just wrestled with God, the Angel left and Jacob saw Esau and his 400 men approaching. Jacob goes out to meet Esau...but instead of limping, he goes out bowing. Instead of submitting to God as represented in the limp, he tries to appease Esau by bowing. Here he goes again, back to his old way.

Read: Genesis 33:4
     But Esau has a new way! God had worked in Esau's heart...a heart that didn't acknowledge God as the Lord. Yet God was in control. Jacob's fears were unfounded. Haven't you ever found that to be true? When you think the worst, usually it is not the worst ? It is because God is in control.

Read: Genesis 33:5-11
     Jacob had many opportunities to give testimony to God's work in his life and he lets them pass.  He is back to his plan. Give Esau gifts so that it will assure his good favor. Jacob, open your eyes, God has changed Esau's heart. Give up your plan.

Read: Genesis 33:12-15
     Here Esau tries to help Jacob by offering to accompany him and his family back home. But Jacob apologetically refuses...by lying. What is he doing? Where is his faith? What happened to Israel? It seems Jacob has showed up again.

Read: Genesis 33:16-20 (Key Passage)
     Jacob lies again to his brother. He had no intentions of following him. In fact, when his brother's party had left, Jacob went in the opposite direction.

     He went to Succoth and then on to Shechem where Jacob bought property and settled down. Sensing the trouble to be over, Israel went back to being Jacob. He seemed to have lost his vision for God. He strayed off course. God told Jacob to go to Bethel, Jacob went to Shechem. And as we will see in Chapter 34, this decision was disastrous for Jacob and his family...especially for his daughter Dinah.

     While it is true that Jacob built an altar and worshipped before the pagans in Shechem, I don't think God was pleased. Why? Remember, God's will must be done in God's way. Shechem was not Bethel so this was not God's way.

Conclusion
     Our text teaches us that we are never in greater danger than when we feel the most secure. This is because when we feel secure ,we  often let our guard down..and we forget God. When things are going well in our lives we slack off in our fellowship with God and His people. Know anyone like this?

As a church we can go on maintenance mode.
 -Just keep things the way they are
 -no risk taking,
 -no stepping out in faith for God,
 -no looking to see what God holds in store for us tomorrow,
 -lets just keep things the way they are, it's    comfortable.

     Listen, I do want you to remember that God is working and blessing us. But don't stay there. Don't get so comfortable that you fail to stay the course...what course? Faith.

     Whenever anyone asks me 'what is the greatest thing God has done for you and your church?' I always answer 'what God will do tomorrow.'