Last Friday I was driving by a Roman Catholic church and I saw that it was packed in the middle of the afternoon, presumably for their Good Friday service. Did you know that the Catholic teaching says that if you skip church on a holy day, and you don’t have some reason such as being disabled or something like that, then you are guilty of a mortal sin? That’s a sin unto damnation, as opposed to a venial sin, which isn’t so bad. The Catholic Church has established that the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday is a holy week. And so they have mandatory church services that are on what they call Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and of course, Easter Sunday.
Of course, the New Testament church observed the Lord’s Day on Sunday, the first day of the week, in commemoration of the resurrection. So we celebrate the resurrection every Sunday. But there is some basis for the belief that the Emperor Constantine, when he designated Christianity as the state religion of the empire, established many so called holy days to replace existing pagan holidays by changing the deity celebrated, and simply calling it by a Christian name. Thus Easter replaced a pagan Spring deity celebration called “Eostre”, which celebrated a fertility goddess. Perhaps the correlation of Easter with eggs comes from that association, but another tradition claims it has to do with the prohibition of eating eggs during Lent. But of course, there is no mention of the word Easter in the Bible, nor any symbolism of an egg used in the Bible to illustrate the trinity or the resurrection, or anything at all about Lent for that matter. But unfortunately, the evangelical church in America has retained a lot of the holy days and ceremonial practices of the Catholic Church in their attempt to be considered orthodox or liturgical.
But as Paul said to the foolish Galatians who wanted to go back to certain ceremonial laws again, he said, Gal 4:9 “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.”
The sad thing is though as I saw this great crowd of people arriving for the Catholic service I was struck by the fact that by and large, the vast majority of those attending those services were probably not saved. Now you might be horrified to hear me say that. And to tell you the truth, we all should be horrified to hear that. Some of you sitting here this morning were saved out of the Catholic Church, and I suppose you could add some credibility to that statement.
But how can I say that these sincere, God believing, religious people are not saved? The answer is because they are guilty of the same mistake that the Jews were guilty of. Paul says in Romans 9:30-32 “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at [that] law. Why? Because [they did] not [pursue it] by faith, but as though [it were] by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.”
The Catholic Church teaches that you are saved by works. The first work is baptism, which is usually done in infancy. They teach that baptism imparts a certain measure of righteousness to one’s account, and then subsequent practices or works that you do in life add or accrue righteousness to your account. At the age of 12 you have confirmation. Then you must attend mass regularly, in fact, on every holy day. You must go to catechism classes. You must take the eucharist often, since by that they teach that you ingest the righteousness of Jesus Christ. You must go to confession, say endlessly repetitive prayers to the virgin Mary who intercedes for you. But not one of these things alone do they say will save you. But they do believe that all of those things, if done religiously, will accrue righteousness to your account so that your righteousness outweighs your sinfulness, and thus you have a pretty good chance of entering into the kingdom of heaven. Or at least, get far enough along in Purgatory that you won’t have to spend too much time there.
So the point is that a person can know all the facts about the Passion of Christ, go through the stations of the cross, celebrate the resurrection, take communion every week, and yet still come short of salvation. You can observe various so called Christian rituals and ceremonies conjured up by the church, , go to mass on all the so called holy days, and still fall short of the kingdom of God. In fact, Isaiah 64:6 says all of our righteousness is as filthy rags before God. You can even know all the details about the life of Jesus Christ; that He is the Son of God, that He died on the cross and rose from the dead and still not be saved. So it is horrific that millions of people are sincerely attending church services today commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, hearing the story of the resurrection and yet they are not saved.
In fact, I am horrified by thoughts that keep me up at night, that there might be some of you sitting here today, who may be considered sincere, respectable God fearing Christians, yet you have not been saved. And that’s possible because many so called Christians have never realized that they are lost, that they are a sinner condemned to death. You cannot be saved until you first recognize that you are a sinner, lost and without hope.
What constitutes salvation then? What must we do to be saved? First, you must recognize that you are a sinner, and that you are hopelessly lost. That’s one of the dangers of being baptized as an infant. There is a degree to which many people think that they have become a Christian at birth by being baptized, even though they had no choice in the matter. That’s the danger of joining a church and giving intellectual assent to the teachings of the church and yet never being born again. So recognizing that you are a sinner and then repenting of your sin is fundamental. Then believing that by the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ He can forgive you for your sins, because He has paid the penalty for your sins by dying on the cross. And by trusting in Him as your Lord and Savior, God transfers your sin to Him, and HIs righteousness to you, so that you are considered righteous in the sight of God.[1Pe 2:24 says, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” That’s what it means to be saved, to have new life in Christ. Dying to the sinful flesh, and living in the Spirit.
One of the best illustrations of salvation, being born again is found in the thief on the cross. He was being put to death for his sins. But he recognized that though he had done things deserving of death, Jesus had not. He recognized that Jesus was Messiah the Lord and that He would rise again from the dead. All of that theology was wrapped up in the simple statement he made to Christ, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus answered him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” This man died on the cross as a sinner, but He lived in the Spirit by faith in Jesus Christ.
So the point that I want to emphasize, is that salvation is “by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” Salvation is not accomplished by works, by attending religious ceremonies, by baptism, by catechism’s, by taking the eucharist, by knowing the facts about Jesus’ birth, or knowing about His death on the cross, or by rehearsing the details of His resurrection. Salvation is realizing that you are a sinner, hopelessly lost and condemned to eternal death, and that your only hope is through Jesus Christ, and trusting solely in Him and in HIs mercy to save you.
Now we are going to look at what I believe is the climax of the life of Jacob as an illustration of salvation by grace through faith. I’m skipping over a few chapters in the life of Jacob and we come to the point in chapter 32 where he has left Laban his father in law and taken his wives, children, and all his servants and his flocks and he is headed back to Canaan after a 20 year hiatus. This twenty years were marked by Jacob living according to the wisdom of the flesh, trying to out manipulate and out deceive his father, his twin brother, his father in law, and even God. But God has not been much on Jacob’s mind up to this point, until he starts to leave for Canaan.
However, God has never forgotten about Jacob. God has visited him on more than one occasion, and in fact, God had told him in chapter 31: 3 “Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.” So God has told Jacob to return, and He has promised to be with him. But we will see that does not allay Jacob’s fears. However, true to His word, even as Jacob travels, God gives evidence that He is with him. Chapter 32vs 1: “Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. Jacob said when he saw them, "This is God's camp." So he named that place Mahanaim. Which means two camps.
The Bible says that some have entertained angels unawares. I would suggest that happens sometimes even when we are unsaved. Heb 1:14 says, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?” But in this case, Jacob recognizes that they are angels. But seeing angels doesn’t save Jacob, and their presence doesn’t assure him of God’s protection, and so he comes up with a plan to protect himself.
Vs 3 Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. He also commanded them saying, "Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: 'Thus says your servant Jacob, "I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now; I have oxen and donkeys [and] flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight."'" The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him." Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two companies; for he said, "If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the company which is left will escape.”
Jacob’s chicken’s were coming home to roost. Or as the Bible says, “surely your sins will find you out.” He’s convinced that Esau still hates him and is planning on killing him. After all, with less than 400 men, Abraham had slaughtered 5 kings. Esau is a mighty hunter, and so Jacob assumes that this is an army coming to meet him with the intent of doing him harm. He doesn’t trust God to protect him, even though he has angels encamping around him. So he reverts to his same old tricks in hopes of somehow placating Esau.
But now, when he is in fear for his life, he finally prays to God. If I remember correctly, this is the first time Jacob prays to God in 20 years. He did respond to God 20 yrs earlier when he had the vision of the ladder, and he gave God a promise that if God took care of him, then God would be his God. But that was not really prayer. But now as the consequences of his sin seem to be coming back to haunt him, he realizes the need to call upon the Lord.
So Jacob prays in vs 9 "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, 'Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,' I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff [only] I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. "Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me [and] the mothers with the children. "For You said, 'I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.'"
When God spoke to Jacob twenty years before in Bethel, in the vision of the ladder to heaven, I said concerning that vision that it was a visual and verbal presentation of the gospel. The gospel means good news, because it is the promises of God given to man. I also said that the word blessing is really a term that indicates salvation in it’s fullness. But at that time, Jacob did not reciprocate with faith in God and honor Him as his Lord. He gave a conditional promise back to God, that basically allowed him to continue to serve his own interests until such a time as when he felt that God had sufficiently proven Himself to him.
But now in this time of crisis, with impending death just right around the corner, Jacob calls on the LORD and reminds Him of HIs promises which He had made to him. He quotes God’s promises back to Him. Secondly, he humbles himself and you might even make the argument that he shows repentance to some degree. “I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant.” He also seems to indicate that rather than when he first had the vision he considered God to be something like a totem, or a genie or good luck charm on his life, now he gets his theology right. He says he is God’s servant. Not God is his servant. But he is God’s servant. That indicates that he recognizes that God is the Lord, and he is the servant of the Lord.
And thirdly, he says “I am unworthy…” The attitude of one who is depending on their works or their righteousness is that they are worthy. God owes them salvation because they have earned it. But the penitent says that they are unworthy. I’ve done nothing to deserve your mercy. I can do nothing to earn it. I can only humble myself and plead for mercy.
Fourthly, he says, “deliver me I pray.” That has been translated in some versions as “save me I pray.” Jacob believes the consequences of his sins have come to attack him. So he pleads with God to deliver him from the wrath of Esau which would result in his death. Rom 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
But though he calls upon the Lord to save him, yet he is not willing to wait for the Lord, or trust in the Lord to save him. So he makes one final effort to save himself. Vs 13 “So he spent the night there. Then he selected from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau: two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. He delivered [them] into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass on before me, and put a space between droves." He commanded the one in front, saying, "When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, 'To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these [animals] in front of you belong?' then you shall say, '[These] belong to your servant Jacob; it is a present sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.'" Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the droves, saying, "After this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him; and you shall say, 'Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.'" For he said, "I will appease him with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me." So the present passed on before him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.
So basically Jacob tries to bribe his brother not to cause him harm. This was not an uncommon of a practice in those days when a marauding king came to a vulnerable town, the king of town may send a present to the other king as an attempt to avoid bloodshed. Give him the loot he’s looking for and maybe your lives will be spared. Obviously, Jacob is attempting something similar. But rather than trust in God, he is trusting in his gifts to placate Esau. Jacob was willing to surrender his sheep and goats, but not willing to surrender to the Lord to take care of him. I wonder if we are guilty of trying to bribe God in order to get His blessing. What attempts do we make to give up something, hoping to placate God?
Well as God promised, He never forsakes Jacob. When nightfall comes, and Jacob is left alone, the Lord comes to Jacob. Vs 22 Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had. Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
Jacob was left alone. Sometimes God has to get you alone, often in the dead of the night, in order to get your attention. The busyness of life often keeps us from facing our eternal destiny. But when we are alone, when it finally gets quiet, then the Lord is able to convict us of our need of salvation. I remember years ago being in California, and coming under the sense of despair, that I desperately needed to get right with God. I don’t know why but I walked a couple of miles to the beach and then walked the beach for hours struggling with my thoughts, and struggling with the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Finally, when it was dark, I went home and hid in my garage with the lights off, and there finally surrendered my life to the Lord.
God comes to Jacob in the dark, when he’s all alone. God comes in the form of a man, what we call a theophany. That man was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Jacob didn’t wrestle with the Man. Instead, the Man wrestled with him. God wanted to rid all of Jacob’s proud self-reliance and deceitful scheming, and He came to make Jacob surrender. (Johnny Cash, “when the man comes around.”)
You know, a man might rebel against God and seem to be able to hold his own - for a while. But at any time, God could break a man by just the touch of His finger. It’s the patience of God that waits, it’s the mercy of God that holds back His wrath while he lets man try to wiggle his way out of God’s grip.
I think that when it says, “And when He saw that He did not prevail against him…” I think that is God sees that Jacob is not giving up. He’s determined not to submit to the Lord. Perhaps at first, Jacob only sees a man coming at him in the dark. He doesn’t know it’s the Lord. But as the night wore on, and the struggle continues until the dawn starts to break, Jacob begins to understand that it must be the Lord he is fighting against. And yet, even as that reality sinks in, Jacob doesn’t give up. He is bound and determined to maintain his independence, even if he is found to be fighting against God Himself.
But the Lord merely touches the socket of his hip and Jacob’s hip is dislocated. God reveals that His strength is so much greater than man’s that all that is needed to subdue him is just a touch. Jacob is unable now to fight against the Lord - all he can do is hold onto the Lord. There is a major change in the dynamics of the wrestling match as the dawn starts to break.
At first, Jacob was wrestling trying to get the man to let him go or to get away from the Lord. But as the dawn nears he actually starts clinging to the man. Jacob won’t let Him go. The Lord said, ““Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” As I said, I think the word “bless” is actually a euphemism for salvation. Finally, rather than fight against God, Jacob clings to the Lord. And he desires salvation more than anything else.
Hosea 12:3 says that Jacob sought the blessing with tears. “In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And in his maturity he contended with God. Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed; He wept and sought His favor.”
When my children were little, and I had to cross a busy street, I would tell them to hold my hand. Of course, they wouldn’t want to and would often try to wiggle free. But I would hold tightly their hand. However, what I wanted to teach them was to hold tight to my hand. And sometimes, when they were scared, they would hold on tightly. God wants Jacob to hold on tightly to His hand. And after a long night of fighting against God,God wounds him and he finally does hold onto Him and won’t let Him go until he knows that God has saved him. What a perfect illustration of salvation. Not on our merits, but on the merits of Him we are saved. And faith is clinging to Jesus who is strong enough, and powerful enough to save us.
Vs 27, The Lord said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked him and said, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And he blessed him there.
Of course God knew his name was Jacob. He wanted Jacob to confess what he was, a supplanter, a deceiver, a manipulator. But the Lord changed his name. Revelation 2:17 says that to those who overcome, God will give them a new name. A new name is part of the blessing of salvation. Israel means “God rules.” Jacob had tried to rule over his own life, but now he recognizes the Lord must rule over him, if he is to have life.
Jacob prevailed by surrendering. And in surrendering God did bless him. God gave him a new name, a new inheritance, a new life, a new nature. No longer is he the supplanter, trying to overthrow God and man, but he is now dependent upon his God.
Vs 30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, {which means the face of God} for [he said,] "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved." Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip.
Jacob would walk from this day on leaning on his staff because of this dislocated hip that God had touched. Jacob needed a constant reminder that he was totally dependent upon the Lord and not upon his own merits, or wit, or works. And from this day on, when Jacob called on the Lord or talked about the Lord, he no longer referenced Him as the God of Abraham and Isaac, but he called him my God, the God of Israel.
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