All right, if you don't have a sheet, raise your hand and we'll get one to you. Everyone's all set? Oh, no. We've got some over here. We're going to finish up. If you have your sheet, you see somewhat of a miracle. You're looking right at me like something's wrong. Nothing's wrong. You see chapter 32, chapter 33, and chapter 34. And 33 is short, although I just didn't include a lot of the verses. That doesn't mean anything, you know that. But at the same time, I would like to get through it all and we could. But we're going to review just a little bit in chapter 32 about the angels because we didn't finish that subject. I did an institute class called angelology years ago. I think it was one of the first classes we ever did. So it's probably 10 years ago and I haven't taught it since. I always think about the things I've taught in the past and I'm like, well, I don't want to say that again. Then I realized, I look at the date of when I did it, it was like 10 years ago. But I think, you know, I interweave that stuff throughout anyway. But we did a whole lesson on an institute class on angelology. And angels are a pretty interesting subject in the Bible. We can't begin to know everything about angels. I mean, the Bible just, you know, one of the things about the Bible is it assumes a lot of things. We're to assume a lot of things. So, like, for instance, God, the existence of God. It's just assumed. You go to the first chapter of Genesis, what do you read? In the beginning, God. It doesn't try to justify who He is or explain how He got there or explain how He can be eternal and has no ending and no beginning. It just assumes it. And it also assumes about angels. But there are some things along the way that you can read. And some of the things you can read, and I'm not going to give it to you this morning, but I'll say it. We could look at the verses, but we won't. Is that angels are quite capable individuals. When it comes to human beings and angels, we're no match. You know how Samson who took the jawbone of an ass and just killed, I forget how many he killed with that. And he had the spirit of God on him. The angels can do miraculous things. I mean, you're talking about, I think one of the numbers that come to my mind, like 185,000 people that one angel killed. You have all kinds of things that the powers of angels and how they minister to us. You know the Bible says that angels are ministering spirits. And so, and the Bible talks about little children and their angels and their face always beholds the Lord's face. We talked about that in one either institute or Sunday school class before. But Jacob wrestles with an angel in verse 24. Go back to Genesis 32 and look at verse 24. And we mentioned it last week. In fact, you might want to, well, don't go there. Genesis 32, 24, Jacob was left alone and there wrestled with a man. And we were talking about how angels appear as men. He wrestled with a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of Si, that meaning the angel didn't prevail against Jacob. Now that should cause you to think a little bit. How is it that an angel can kill 185,000 men just like that? Or the death angel can come through and wipe out all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, right? And no problem at all. But he can't prevail against Jacob. So I'm going to give you some thoughts on that in a minute. So, looking back at your sheet, Of course, Jacob later on in the chapter describes that he saw the face of God and he says that that was God. Now, I don't know that that was God. Again, we could park here for a while and show you all the verses in the Bible where the angel of the Lord appears. And sometimes it's an angel of the Lord, meaning it's a real angel of the Lord, and sometimes it's the Lord. Sometimes he appears, but always as a man, by the way. And I'll tell you why that's important in a minute. But always as a man, and there's no discerning a lot of times who this is. Go to Judges, chapter 13. Of course, the Bible says that some have entertained angels unaware. And I've talked to a pastor a few times about situations, and he's always telling me, I think I've encountered an angel unaware. And he may have. And I may have at times. And there are sometimes where we might never know. And they come anonymously. And in this chapter, even though he's wrestling, and Jacob saw that vision of the angels already, and he saw the host of the Lord, and we talked about that, that the Lord has the host, and he's about to make Jacob a country. He's no longer dealing with Abraham, then Isaac, then Jacob. Jacob has the twelve sons, and the twelve tribes come out of those sons, and he's about to deal with a nation. He changes his name in this passage to Israel for that reason. He's going to deal with them. So that host, and we looked at it last week, that host that God brings, that angelic host that Elijah saw, is behind the nation of Israel. The Lord fights their battles. But anyway, Judges chapter 13, let's look at verse 6. This is when Samson is going to be born, and it says in verse 6, The woman came and told her husband, saying, A man came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God. That's what Jacob saw. He said, I saw God face to face. But maybe, perhaps, based on this verse, he just saw an angel, and it was what she said, the countenance of an angel of God. Very terrible. But I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name." Now when Jacob asked the angel in this chapter 32 of Genesis, he says, wherefore dost thou ask my name? And so you look down, look at, say in Judge 13, look at verse 17 and 18. It says, And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, What is thy name? And when thy sayings come to pass, that we may do the honor. Now you're not supposed to worship angels, by the way, this angel knew the difference. He said, no, no, you're not supposed to, you don't even need to know my name. This is what he's going to say. And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, what is thy name that we may, uh, that when these things come to pass, when we do the honor, verse 18, and the angel of the Lord said unto him, why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret. So back to Genesis 32, I'm just using that as an example. That passage, by the way, is on your sheet. There's others, Genesis 19, 5, Judges 13, where we just were, Luke 24, Revelation 21, all give you references that angels appear as men. They don't appear ever as a woman. And we looked at Zechariah 5.11 last week. Do you remember that? Where we talked about the woman with the wings. like the wings of a stork. And it was a woman, and she was carrying an ephod, and that ephod was going to go to Babylon. Well, God is far from Babylon. That's what's going to happen in Revelation. That's what's going to happen in the end times. And you're going to see demonic activity increasing, just like in the Lord's day. That's one of the things you will notice about when the Lord came. All of a sudden when you read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and we'll touch on it a little bit in this institute on Tuesday night about demonic activity and our health and all the things that were going on in the Gospels during the Gospels during Jesus' ministry, it's interesting that the demonic activity increased when Jesus showed up. and Jesus is about to show up again. He's about to take his church out of here and then he's about to have what we call the second advent where he takes us out first and seven years later he comes back and touches down on this earth and destroys people and that's where the demonic activity starts to get really hot again. And so I don't know, I've had this discussion with some of you guys here, I don't know why the sons of God were able to access the earth back in Genesis 6 as much as they did. But they haven't in a long time. But when Jesus showed up, here comes more of them. A lot of demonic activity going on and possessing people. Then that takes a break for the last 2,000 years and we get to the end and we're going to see a lot more. And those ladies show up in Zechariah 5 and they've got wings and they're ladies and they're not the angels of the Lord. The Bible says that the devil and his angels, the devil has angels and we talked last week a little bit, I'm just reviewing, we talked last week a little bit about the metamorphosis that might have taken place. You know the Bible, go to Romans chapter 12 real quick. My mind is roaming right now, but go to Romans chapter 12. You say, where do the devils come from? Well, I've been researching that for quite a while. And I still don't have a solid answer for you on that. But I will say, the best I can come up with right now, just as a synopsis, is they're a transformation of what they used to be. They are spirits without a place to inhabit, and they want to inhabit something. And they want to get inside. And I believe they have transformed into something they weren't before. And I believe that when you get this idea... Now, women, you know, there's nothing wrong with women. God said man needs a help. He made Eve out of Adam's rib, right? Why did He do that? Why in the world, if he made Adam and he made all the animals and he and Adam had God, why did God need Adam to have a woman? Right. Well, one of the reasons was and I know I'm jumping all over in my mind. You're like, where is he going? One of the things God wanted is the propagation of mankind. He said, you need a woman for that. And I'm going to give you a woman and you're going to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. You're going to do it. I'm not going to create a bunch of men like I did the sons of God prior to you. bunch of angels. I want something in my own image. And you're going to be the creator. You're going to create babies. And you're going to have children. And so he made a woman. There's nothing against women in the Bible, but God is not a woman. That's where I'm headed to her. God is not a woman, angels are not women. The Pharisees came to Jesus and said, is it lawful to... Well, two things they said. They said, one thing they said, is it lawful to put away your wife for any cause? And Jesus gave them the answer and he said, well, then it's good for a man not to be married. And then another time they said, well, what this guy married, uh, this woman had a husband and, and, and that husband had seven brothers and one after one, they died. You remember that you remember reading that and one after one, they died. And so the custom was that the brother takes the wife. That's a bad custom, by the way. And the, the, the, the husband takes the wife and takes on the name and keeps the name. And they said, so whose husband will she have in heaven? And the bad news, ladies, maybe it's bad news, maybe it's good news for you, and men, is that Jesus said, you don't even know what you're talking about. He said, have you never read? You'll be like the angels in heaven. They neither marry nor are given in marriage. There's no marriage in heaven. You know why? Because they're all men. And you know what that leads us to believe, ladies? That leads us to believe, and I could show you other scriptures, but it leads us to believe that when you get to heaven, you won't be a woman anymore. you'll be like the angels. And that's not a bad thing, so don't get upset about that. Maybe you don't, maybe you're looking forward to that, but anyway, that's what I believe the Bible teaches. That's maybe a little theory of mine, but where did I have you at? Romans? Romans chapter 12, it says in verse one, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Now look at this next verse. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Do you know what the Bible says happened to you when you got saved? It said you were a new creature in Christ, right? That's true. You became a son of God. Before that, you were a child of hell. That's what the Bible says. You were a child of hell and your father was Satan. the less of your father ye will do, right? But now you become a new creature in Christ. You're a son of God. And you know what the commandment is here in Romans 12, 2? That we're supposed to be transformed. You know the movie, right? Transformers. You seen the toys? You're supposed to be transformed. What does that mean? You're supposed to change. So it's not a stretch for me to believe that if I'm supposed to change, and that I'm going to change, and I'm going to be as the angels, and I'm going to have all the power that they have, and beyond, because I'll actually be part of the Godhead, that's an amazing thought. When you're a part of His body, you are part of God. Now, not right now. Right now, we're a mess. But one of these days, we're going to be actually part of Him. That's something the angels have no part in. And that's what's going to make you so special. I want to turn you somewhere else, but I'm going to hold myself off and we'll see where it goes. But we're supposed to transform. We're supposed to change. So my point is that when you hear about this God being feminine, and when you hear about God being a woman, and especially the Holy Spirit is what all Christians now are going towards this idea that the Holy Spirit is feminine, the Holy Spirit is a woman, and that God has two parts to Him. He's male, female. And we touched on this a long time ago when we were in Genesis about Adam. That Adam was created as male-female. And that's how they say it. He had both in him. And so, man, you're supposed to get in touch with your feminine side, right? Hopefully you don't have a feminine side. Because you're a male. You're a mankind. And a woman is a womankind. But these angels, I believe what happens is, God gives you what you want. Give me a second. Psalm 70 maybe? Go to Psalm 81. Psalm 81 Look at the start in verse 10. Look, no, don't start in verse 10. Start in verse nine, it says there shall there shall no strange God be in thee. Now, just hold on. That's I'm getting the context for you. We start off last week, we were talking about idolatry when we got into this and the devils that are associated with idolatry. And that idolatry is the work of the flesh. And what happens when you get involved in idolatry is these devils get in you. They get around you and you bring them in, you invite them in. All right. And so he says in verse nine, there shall no strange God be in thee, neither shalt thou worship any strange God. I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt. Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it. But my people would not hearken to my voice and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up. Let's look at what God says. So I gave them up. That sounds like Romans one. So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lusts. You say, would God do that? He'll give you what you want. You know, the preachers I've heard all through the years, they say, God is a gentleman. He'll give you what you ask for. He'll give you what you want. If you don't want God, He won't force Himself on you. That's why we don't believe in Calvinism. God doesn't say, you're going to heaven and you're going to hell. He doesn't force Himself. He created you with a free will. It's all through the Bible, and this is another place of it. So I gave them up under their own lust. Isn't that what you want? You lusted after it. You want it. You want it so bad. You can have it. So he said, I gave them up under their own lust, and they walked in their own counsels. Oh, that my people would have hearkened unto me. And Israel had walked in my ways. I should soon have subdued their enemies and turned my hand against their adversaries. The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him, but their time should have endured forever. He should have fed them with the finest of wheat and with the honey out of the rock, should I have satisfied thee. So you're giving up a lot when you go after your own lust. But the point is, God gives you what you want. So you have a choice to either be transformed or to just take whatever else you want. God will give you what you want. And so what I believe is happening just to get back to the sheet, because I got to get back on track, is that these angels, my my best guess is that these angels that have sinned, God took away their status. They became a lot of them. I don't know the difference between them all, but a lot of them became devils and they want to inhabit things. That's why they ran into those swine. They said, if we can't stay in this band, where can we go? And he said, can we can we go in the swine? And the Lord says, sure, go right ahead. And so they go into this because they need to be in something because they don't have a body of their own. But others, I believe, got transformed feminine. And they become women because God didn't make any women. The first woman he ever made, according to what I know, is Eve. He never made anything feminine before. But they became that, and there's something about sodomy connected with that. And when God gave them up in Psalm 81, He said, So I gave them up. You read those same words in Romans chapter 1 when He gives people up, and they become what? Sodomites, homosexuals, right? And so what happens on, and we've mentioned it here before, and I don't have the information in front of me, and I will move on, because I am going to get through, is they talk about the Shekinah glory of God, and the Shekinah glory of God is a female deity. part of God, which is a lie. It's not. There is no Shekinah. There might be, but it's not anything to do with God. It has to do with Zechariah 5 and the transformation of these wicked beings. And people get all into that, and then they start to say, oh yeah, well then God must have this. And then people go all the way off into left field with all that kind of thinking about God. And there is no such thing. The Shekinah glory is a Jewish fable. It comes out of Jewish Judaism. And you read Paul and you pay attention, and I'm done here. You read Paul and you pay attention to how many times he tells Timothy and Titus and others, don't pay attention to Jewish fables. Because the Jews have really perverted the ways of God and they perverted the things of God. And they are the people of God, but they have done more to contribute to all the false religions of the world than just about anybody. And that Shekinah comes out of them and all that stuff and the tree of life and reincarnation and we won't get into it. So it's interesting the angel did not prevail against Jacob even though he could have easily beat him physically as seen in verse 25. Go back to Genesis 32. and I'll try to park there and stay there. Genesis 32, I'm in Exodus, and verse 25, and we read it, and when he saw that he prevailed not against him, now look at this, he saw that he prevailed not against him, so what did he do? So he hurt him. Well, he touched the hollow of his thigh and it was out of joint. What is that? I don't know. There's all these commentators that talk about it and I don't know what it really is. Maybe he broke his leg. Maybe he shrunk, you know, it talks about the sinew and that the Jews don't eat of the sinew to this day. I don't fully, it doesn't really matter. All that matters is he did that and he hurt him. So how is it that he could just, anytime he wanted, touch the hollow of his thigh and hurt Jacob, but he couldn't prevail against him? Well, it's another interesting study, and we'll get into just a tiny bit. This was a spiritual battle. Look at your sheet. This was a spiritual battle. It wasn't a physical battle, even though they were locked, arm and arm, probably legs and legs. They were probably in a wrestling match, you know, tight. But it was a spiritual battle. The reason why the angel couldn't go is because of what Jacob said. He said, I will not let thee go in verse 26. I will not let thee go except thou bless me. So he has a prayer. He's having a prayer. And we talked about Jacob's prayer last week, how it was biblical, how it was right. Jacob, if Jacob figured one thing out in this world, he figured out how to pray. And so here he is with encountering this angel of the Lord and he's praying, I won't let you go until you bless me. I want you to bless me. I want you to bless me. And it's the same thing about prayer. When we want to get God's attention, we talked about vain repetitions last week, but that's to do with the amount of words that you say, and that's to do with the type of words that you use, and the language that you might use, and recite this 10 times and God will take care of you, or say it exactly like this and God will save you. And that's a problem when we lead people to the Lord. A lot of times they say, well, I don't know how to pray, or I don't know what to say. And so you don't feel bad, though, when you help them out. You let them know, hey, well, just pray like I prayed. Now I'm pausing. How did you pray? I know that's a side subject right now, but how did you pray when you got saved? You should be able to tell someone else how you prayed when you got saved because it's your prayer that will save you. Now it's your heart, God sees your heart, but he also says to confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. So you should be able to tell, well I prayed just like this, this is what you ought to pray, something in your own words. But he's praying to this angel and he said, and the Bible says in Hosea 12.4, find Hosea 12.4, I'll try to find it. Daniel, Hosea. Hosea 12.4 is talking about Jacob in this chapter. It says in verse 2 actually, the Lord had also a controversy with Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways. That's talking about the great tribulation, the time of Jacob's trouble. According to his doings will he recompense him, verse 3, Hosea 12, 3. He took his brother by the heel and the womb and by his strength he had power with God. Yea, he had power over the angel and prevailed. He wept and made supplication unto him. He found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us. Even the Lord of hosts, the Lord, is his memorial." So, the Bible is telling you in Hosea that he had power over that angel because he wept and made supplication. It wasn't because he was stronger than the angel. It wasn't because that he had super strength. It was because he was making a prayer. Now, let's look at some others. If you're in Hosea, go back a book to Daniel, Daniel chapter 10. Daniel chapter 10, look at verse 11. And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I shall speak. This is an angel that just came to Daniel. A man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright. He was down on his hands and knees. For unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. Then he said unto me in verse 12, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and chastened thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days. But lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there with the kings of Persia." Now, these are not kings on the earth. These are kings in heavenly places. This is a title of someone that I think lived before Adam, that possessed this world and was a king. and still holds that title, just like Michael holds his title, the great prince. But he was withstood because Daniel was chastening himself, Daniel was praying, Daniel was seeking God, and so what did it do? It caused an angel to be sent to him. And that was the idea that I'm getting to in Genesis 32. Why is this angel, why is he not prevailing against a man like Jacob? Because Jacob is intently asking for God's blessing just as Daniel did. And even the spiritual forces tried to keep this angel coming to Daniel. It says, now I came to make thee, in verse 14, now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days, for yet the vision is for many days. And he's talking about the time of the tribulation. So go over to Luke chapter 11. I'm making a point. Hopefully you're following me and then I'll make the point. I think it's actually going to be made for us right here in Luke chapter 11 and verse 7. Actually, I always do this. I don't know why I don't put the right references. Luke 11 and let's go to verse 5. And he said unto him, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves? For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him. Verse 7, And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as much as he needeth. Now get out of here. I gave you everything. Okay, now I'm going back to bed. Here's what you asked. Leave me alone. Go to Luke chapter 18. Luke chapter 18 and verse 1. And he speaks a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint. That's where we're headed here, about prayer. We pray, we take prayer requests almost every service. And the reason why we do that is because men ought always to pray and never to faint. And we, yes, we're not using vain repetitions, but we are praying for the same things over and over, like give me the loaves, give me the loaves, give me the loaves, give me, okay, okay. Verse 1, and he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint, saying, There was in a city a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that city, and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of my adversary. And he would not for a while. But afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith, and shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them. So the point I'm making here, and we can finish it off in 2 Corinthians, is that we are to be in prayer with God, and when we do, He is bound Himself to hear us. Now, I don't know what angels are listening to, because I tend to believe that we all have one. Or two or three, I don't know. But that's just speculation on my part. Because they're ministering spirits. Those who are heirs of salvation. And so if they're doing that, then maybe we do, and maybe they're paying attention. I know the Spirit of God pays attention, and I know the Spirit of God actually takes our prayers and interprets them to God. And the pastor brought it up the other day. The last service, what is it, Thursday? And he said that, you know, I trust the spirit of God to take what's in my heart. And sometimes you don't even pray. Sometimes you just sit and you're just so distraught and you just sit and you just are thinking, oh, God, what do I what do I do? What do I do? And the spirit knows and he prays for you. All I'm saying is when you pray like that, God is bound himself to hear. This angel was bound to Jacob and he said, let me go. Jacob says, I'm not going to let you go. And so you go to 2 Corinthians 10, verse 3. Now we'll just stop right there. You see, we don't war after the flesh, because what we do is we say, well, okay, I come up with an idea. Isn't that what Jacob was? I got an idea, let's split everybody into companies, and that way, if Esau goes after one of the companies, he won't get the other one. And then he brings droves, five droves of animals, over 500 animals, and he's one gift, one drove after another, and he's gifting his brother. And they're all to say these exact same words every time the new drove comes. You're supposed to say this exact thing, because I've got the whole thing planned out, and I know my brother, and he'll forgive if this goes on. And so instead of that, instead of that, Jacob is being taught a lesson. you're going to have to wrestle with God to get what you want. You're going to have to go into prayer to get what you want. You can scheme, and you can plan, and you can make your life the way you want it, and God will say, if that's what you want, I'll let you have it. Or, you could just wrestle with God in prayer, and know that the powers that be, because the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but are mighty through God, that we're supposed to pray and ask God, and trust Him. So we say, like I said last week, there's a slogan, and I'm not totally against it, but pray like it all depends on God, but work like it all depends on you. Well, once in a while, you might, and I'm preaching to me too, you might wanna say, well, I'm just gonna pray like it all depends on God, period. And I'm not gonna do whatever depends on me. I'm gonna leave this one up to God 100%. You know that's a good one to pray when you're looking to get married? I'm not looking to make this person want to have to marry me, or to want to have to like me, or to go after them, and to make them do everything I can to catch this man or this woman. I'm going to pray and leave it all up to God. And you know, He could bring somebody my way, yes, I don't know how that's going to happen, and I don't have to run around looking for, in all these places in the ends of the earth, for this mate. I'm just going to trust God that He can bring it to me. If he can write a Bible, if he can save my soul, if he can create the world, surely he can bring me the right person. There are some things, and that's just an example, there are some things in life, and Jacob is facing one of those, where he's gonna rely on the powers that be, as the world might say. That God has bound himself, and we need to trust, and God is pleased when we trust that. So back to our text, he's wrestling with this angel, and the angel couldn't, he could touch the hollow of his thigh, he could hurt Jacob, but he couldn't get released. until he blessed him. So you know what he did? He blessed him. And I believe that was the intention all along. But Jacob fulfilled his part by battling and having that prayer. Now Esau, to finish it up, Esau didn't get that blessing. Go to Hebrews chapter 12. Well, I guess we'll finish chapter 32. You see how we've been in the New Testament most of the time? The Old Testament is written for our own samples. We go to the New Testament and we get instruction about what the Old Testament is telling us. It doesn't matter if we're in Genesis or if we're in Hebrews or if we're in Romans, we're all over. Hebrews chapter 12 and look at verse 16. It says, lest there be any fornicator. Remember, that's who Esau was. Esau is going to look like a great guy here in the next few minutes because he's going to come and he's going to kiss his brother's neck. But this is what the Lord thinks of him. Lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For, you know, not for you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. So the thing about Esau was, how come Esau couldn't find repentance? He went ahead and had sorrow and tears and he did the same thing. Didn't he do what Jacob's doing here? Didn't he do what Daniel did and he was weeping and chastising himself and getting in front of his God? How come he did it for one and not the other? And then if you go to the book of Romans, I believe it's chapter nine, you're gonna be a Calvinist and you're gonna go, see, I chose Jacob and I didn't choose Esau and you're gonna think that God just did it. The point, if you read carefully in the verse, and you know what we talked about in the previous lessons was, in verse 16, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. He sold it. It's over. It's done. The deed is done. You cannot get it back, Esau. I don't care how many tears you shed, how many prayers you pray. It's done. Didn't we read Psalm 81 where God says, you can have at it. Have what you want. That's what your heart lusted after? I'll give it to you. It's too late for you. Go to Proverbs chapter 2. Go to Psalm chapter 2. I should say Psalm 2 because it doesn't have chapters. Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves against the rulers, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder and cast their cords from us. That's what the world's doing right now. That's what America's doing right now, right? He that sitteth in the heavens shall what? Have mercy? He that sitteth in the heavens shall weep on their behalf and lament that they're not choosing me? He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill. Hey, my plan's going to pass. My king's already set on the holy hill. You can just do it. You can try to overturn me if you want. Satan can come out of prison and he can come at the end of a thousand-year millennial reign and he can pull everybody who thinks they're going to have me, come against me, and I'll just... In less than a sentence, they're all gone. And so, and at the battle of Armageddon, but look, the point is, the Lord says, I'll have them in derision, I'll laugh at them, go to Proverbs chapter 1. Now the Lord is not willing that any should perish. But when you make a choice, you're going to be bound like Esau to your choice. And that's why you're going to go to hell. If you're going to go to hell. And that's why you're going to lose reward if you don't want rewards. God's not going to give you, He'll give you what you do want. Proverbs chapter 1, he says, verse 23, turning out my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you. I will make known my words unto you. That sounds like a good deal. Verse 24, because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded, but ye have said it not, all my counsel. And with none of my reproof I will also laugh. That's what he said before. I will also laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. I hesitate sometimes to pray. I'll do it. But I hesitate to pray sometimes with a little knowledge of the situation for people. I can show you a passage in scripture where the Lord told Israel, don't pray for them. I told you I'm laughing at their calamity. I'm mocking their fears come. They're getting what they asked for. And don't you even pray to me and tell me to lift my hand. But anyway, I will mock at your calamity. I will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you, then shall they call upon me. But what does it say? I won't even answer. They shall seek me early, Esau, but they shall not find me, for that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. Do you know why the devils can't believe in God and tremble but can't be saved? This is why. Because they sold their birthright. It's done. The deal is over. Their judgment is set. They cannot be redeemed. Now thankfully, thankfully mankind can be redeemed. And I don't know where your line is, or anyone's line is. And I would hope that just as a thief on the cross, that here he is being killed for his sin, and he recognizes his guilt, he still was able to be saved, and he went to paradise with the Lord that day, and he's been with Him ever since. I would hope to think that that's really the case, but the Lord will give you what you want, and we looked at it already in Psalm 81 and Romans 1, He will give you up. That's New Testament doctrine. He'll give you up. So, moving forward, Genesis 32, verse 27. Okay, verse 27-32, And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall no more be called Jacob, or no more Jacob, but Israel. For as a prince thou hast power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. You prevailed. Your prayer has been answered. Verse 29, And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. We already talked about that. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Penuel, for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And he passed over Penuel. The sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh unto this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh, and the sinew that shrank." So in response to Jacob's request of not letting me go, the angel asks for his name. Now, what a weird thing to do, right? I'm not going to let you go until you bless me. I'm not going to let you go until you bless me. Okay, what is your name? Kind of an interesting thing to ask, right, at that point? I mean, the angel could have just, and he'd have been free of him. Of course, we already talked about that. It was a spiritual battle going on, so he couldn't do that. I believe he couldn't do that. I believe that as long as Jacob was in that right frame of mind of prayer and seeking God and wrestling with God in prayer, that that angel could not go. But the angel says, OK, OK, OK, we're going to figure this out. I'm going to give you the blessing. What's your name? And he says, My name is Jacob. Now, Jacob knew what his name meant. His brother Esau knew what his name meant. We've got scripture for it in Genesis 27, 36. We don't have to turn to it. But Jacob says, isn't his name rightly Jacob? For he supplanted me these, I forget how it goes, these couple times or however it goes. But his name means supplanter. His name means trickster or deceiver or whatever other synonym you want to place to it. And so he's being asked, what is your name? You want to let me go? You want a blessing from me? You want me to get out of your face? You want me to touch your other thigh? What's your name?" Now Jacob could have said, well, you know my name. You know how I am. But he had to confess. This is my point. This is what he's asking Him for. I believe this. This is my theology. He had to confess who he was by his own very name. And so, upon confessing himself to be exactly who he is, he's given a new identity. It says, Thy name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel. For as a prince, thou hast power with God and with men and hast prevailed. So, this is Hosea 11.1. Go to Hosea 11.1 for the doctrinal aspect of it. And then we'll make a nice, really nice spiritual application for this. Hosea 11, verse 1. Remember, it's by Daniel, Joel, Amos. Hosea 11, verse 1, it says, And when Israel was a child, then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt. So, today, in the New Testament, the doctrine is that when you get saved, you have the power to become the sons of God. And so, individually, everyone in this room who is a Christian, is a born-again believer, is a son of God. But in the Old Testament, it was different. You couldn't be a son of God until Jesus rose from the dead. and sent the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. That was not possible. But in the Old Testament, you've got the nation says when Israel was a child, then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt. So what's happening is right now at this moment in time in Genesis 32, the angel is taking away. You're no longer going to be Jacob. OK, you're you're no longer the deceiver. Get it. You're no longer the deceiver. you admitted that to you are and so you're asking I trust not to look to no longer be that you want something better okay I'm gonna make I'm gonna give you the promise I gave your granddaddy Abraham and I'm gonna make of you you see those 12 boys I'm gonna make of you the great nation and every one of them is going to be a tribe of Israel And now that's not stated, but that's what's going on here. He's giving birth to a son, the nation of Israel. That's why he saw the angelic host. That's why he saw the latter. That's why he's wrestling with this angel. And so he gets the name and he is God's giving birth to a nation. This is a wonderful picture of being born again today. Individuals who call the name of the Lord in true repentance. What does that mean? We stress that a lot at this church. True repentance. Meaning that I have to confess my name before God. You mean your name, well your name is John. Yeah, but that's not what I mean. I have to confess who I am. Who is John? Who is John? Well, he's a wicked, vile, no good, corrupt, loser, sinner. And I could just keep going down and use my toes next. And everything about me, Lord, is wrong. Everything about me. Well, I grew up in a good home. I'm a good kid. I follow the 10 Commandments. Hey, sir, would you like to be? Can I tell you about Jesus Christ? Oh, no, I'm all set. You're all set. Can I ask you one question? Do you know if you die right now you'd go to heaven? Well, I'm pretty sure I would. Why is that? Well, because I'm a good person. I do right things. I've been to church and I try to follow the Ten Commandments. I love the good Lord. And surely if I love the good Lord, He shines His favor on me, right? Now this is how we think. That's how corrupt you are. That's not what the Bible says. That's not what God says to us. He says, Look, true repentance is confess who you are. Who are you? I'm a vile, no good, wicked, lowdown, rotten sinner, a zero with the ring rubbed out. I'm nothing without you. I can't even put a sentence together. I can't have a coherent thought if you weren't giving me life right now. And that's who I am. And so I bow on my knees before you and I ask, please, don't let me go. Don't let me go. Keep me, take me home to heaven. And that's what Jacob is a picture of, our salvation. And if you have never done that, if you came to God in pride, He knows it. If you came to God saying, well Lord, like the publican, I have never done this and I tithe on all my things and I do this and surely. But you come to Him like the publican and you beat your chest and you say, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. That's who I am. I'm a sinner. I don't deserve heaven. Well, I don't deserve hell. Well, you might want to meditate on that a little while and realize that you do deserve hell. Well, no, no, I don't. Well, then you've got some goodness about you that God needs to get out of you. God needs to see you. You need to see yourself before God as who you are. And then and only. And what did Jesus do for us? Jesus gave us his righteousness. You see, that's how you get saved when you take his and you put all your righteousness aside. And we are talking an institute. The many will say unto me on that day, Lord, Lord, have I not done this and have I not done that? And I did it all in your name. And what's the response in Matthew 7 that he gives? Depart from me. I don't know you. Who are you again? You mean you don't know me, Lord? You don't know who I am? I mean, I was doing all those wonderful works. I mean, I knew these people and they knew me and I was associated with this organization. Who are you again? I never knew you. In fact, depart from me. Get away from me. Why get away from me, Lord? I never knew you. You're wicked. You're vile. You're not allowed up here. There's no place for you. In fact, there is a place for you. It's a place I prepared for the devil and his angels. You weren't supposed to go there, but that's what you chose and I gave you what you asked for. So, get out of my sight. And that's a scary, scary thought. So you know what you might want to do? You might want to, as Paul said, examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith. I'm not trying to make everyone doubt their salvation this morning. If you're saved, praise the Lord that you can know that the Bible says, these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life. You should know that without a doubt, but you should also know if you truly ask the Lord to save you. if you truly recognize who you are and what you are. And if you truly said, I can't do it on any single bit of my righteousness. And the Bible is very clear that the righteousness of God was manifest unto us in Romans chapter one. And so I need that righteousness. I need that man. And you know what we believe around here? We don't believe in the Baptist doctrine. We believe in a man, the man Christ Jesus. We worship a man. But that man was the Son of Man, that man was God, that man was Jesus. We take His atonement, we take His righteousness, we take His work on the cross, Him and Him alone. And so on Tuesday night at the Institute I said, so when I talk to Catholics I say, oh we believe in Jesus. Well fine then. Well, you know, look at all the things that they're telling you to do to receive Jesus. Do you think that's how you're supposed to receive Jesus? Yeah, but I believe in Jesus. Yeah, but how do you receive Jesus? The devils believe and tremble, I already said that, but their fate is sealed. You must believe in His righteousness, not your own. And the question to a Catholic or any other denomination, anybody who is stuck on that denomination is, would you be willing to renounce your denomination and claim the name of Jesus and Jesus alone? And you know, you ask people that question, they may give you a shocking answer. And that answer would be, well, no. No, I love the Mother Church. No, I can't walk away from, uh-huh. That's what it means by examining yourself, whether you be in the faith. When you're in the faith, it's just, as pastor said this morning before I started, it's just you and Jesus. It's you and, that's how you're getting there. It's you and Jesus, not you and anything else. And you might just want to think about that. But anyway, it's a picture of our salvation. I'm going to wrap it up and we'll do the rest next week. Today, individuals who call the name of the Lord in true repentance will become a son of God. Just like the nation was being born that day, you'll be born again, the son of God. They shed their old identity as Jacob shed his old identity. You're no longer Jacob. Guess what you are now? You're mine. I bought you. You're paid for with a price. You're a new creature in Christ. Here's what I want you to do from this day forward. And so you shed your old identity, you become a new creature in Christ, and it's just as quoted to him, Jacob, in this passage, now you have power with God, you're born again. You know what it means to be born again? That means your spirit was dead in trespasses and sins. Your spirit was not like it was in the day when Adam was created, that he communed with God and walked with Him in the cool of day. Your spirit died in the day that you eat thereof. And so what happens is we're all born in the likeness of Adam. We're all dead. But now that spirit is born again and we have the access to Jesus Christ. We have the access, I should say, to God through Jesus Christ. And when we pray and when we ask for things, we ought to trust that He is our Father, that He does hear us. And we have that access that we didn't have before. And we have power with God in that way, and with men, and hast prevailed. You know what you've prevailed over, right? You've prevailed over hell. You've prevailed over death and hell. Oh, death, where is thy sting? And, oh, grave, where is thy victory? Right? And a Christian doesn't even die. He just passes from this life to a better life. And so we've prevailed in Jesus Christ. So it's a wonder. Jacob's life at this point is a wonderful, wonderful picture of what happened to us and how we get saved. So we'll just stop because it's 1045. That's when I'm supposed to stop, by the way, if you didn't know 1045. So we'll stop right there and we'll pick up the rest next week. Lord, thank you for the truths that are contained in this chapter. Thank you, Lord, for what you've done for us. Or we could just not thank you. We cannot thank you enough. Lord, it's amazing to even comprehend that this world compared to where we're going. And just thank you, Lord, for who you are again, Lord, for being good and holy and right. And thank you, Lord, that we can have a part of it and that you've given yourself so that we could. And I pray for anyone, Lord, who might be in this church today or come into this church in a few minutes, who would be lost, that they would realize that they need to be saved. And Lord, we just thank you again and pray in Jesus name. Amen.