In the darkness of the night .,, part 2

Notes from a sermon on 6 March 2011
Genesis 32 verses 24 – 32

We want to turn back to Genesis 32 looking at this incident in the life of Jacob. Here we find Jacob sitting by the brook Penuel. As he sat there here was a man led by the Lord to this place. He knew the leading of the Lord in his life. Doesn't matter whether normal person working in everyday life or an evangelist we need to know the leading of the Lord. We need to know when to change places as the Lord leads us. Jacob knew something of the Lord speaking to him to bring him to the place where he was. He knew the leading of the Lord. He had a load upon his mind. The cares of this world bearing down on him. He had left home 20 years previously. He had went to the land of his uncle, there he met his wife and had a family of his own. When the Lord came again to him and asked him to return to the place of his birth he had to make a big decision. When he had left home before he had deceived his father, lied against his brother, his brother had told him he would kill him the next time he saw him. He had a load on his mind. As a child of God you can have a load on your mind too.

In this passage we see the loneliness of the night. He has taken his wife and family beyond the brook to a safe place but made his journey back again. Now sitting in this place everything is going through his mind. You can be led of God, know his leading but have a load on your mind too. You can be in the loneliest of places. That is where Jacob was. There was no one here to share his pain or responsibility. He knew he had that decision to make. He was going to meet his brother, the one he had deceived and lied against the very next day. He didn't know what to expect. Here he sat, such a lonely man. Sometimes we get to that state but we are lonely. Verse 24 “and Jacob was left alone”. There was one set of eyes on him that maybe he just wasn't focusing on. The eyes of his God saw exactly where he was, what he was doing and what he was thinking. There is nothing hid from the eyes of him with whom we have to do. His eyes of purity that he cannot stand iniquity. The eyes of God look down today and just because we are not sitting in a congregation of 10 or 15,000 people it doesn't mean the Lord doesn't look at you and know your condition and what you are thinking about.(2 Chronicles 16 verse 9) There is one that “sticketh closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18 verse 24) Peter said “cast every care upon him for he careth for you.”(1 Peter 5 verse 7) Isn't it amazing to know the Lord cares for us? The Lord cares for us. There are some lonely figures in the word of God. Hagar, the handmaid in Genesis 16 is one. Abraham had been promised a son. Time went on and there was no sign of this happening. Both he and his wife were past the age of bearing children. Sarah his wife comes up with an idea – why not take Hagar my handmaid and let her bear you a son. That is exactly what happened. When she conceived then Sarah her mistress despised her, hated her, turned her back on her, ignored Hagar. Hagar leaves the home place and goes out into the wilderness. God saw her out in the wilderness just beside a fountain. A lonely figure. The God of heaven sees her. She hasn't gone far enough away that God couldn't see her. There is not one of us can run away from God. She was here because Abraham and Sarah tried to do God's work in their own abilities. You cannot do that. They thought this was the answer. Sometimes that is what takes us into a lonely place, forgetting about what God says. Turn our backs on what God says. Abraham was not a backslider at this stage but he thought he would give God a helping hand. Sometimes we feel God had given a promise and we can help God out by fulfilling that promise but that is not the way God works. We are there because we have stepped out of line with God. It is very dangerous to step out of line with God. Abraham and Sarah stepped out of line with God. There was a young man by the name of Henry Martin who was awarded the highest honour Cambridge University could ever bestow on someone for achievements in mathematics. He was 20 years of age, at the top of the social ladder, had achieved so much but admitted he was the most loneliest man in the world. At the age of 24 he broke down before God of heaven. “Lord let me burn out for you” he cried. God took him out to India. He only lived until he was 31 years of age. In that short time from 24 years of age until 31 he translated the word of God into 7 different languages. He was getting into the place where God could use him. Think of David the King of Israel. He came to Ziglag and fought against the Philistines. His own army told him they didn't want him in this battle and he was sent home. On top of a hill he could see the smoke ascending. The enemy had come in and destroyed the village, taken men captive. Why? Just because David was out of step with God. He should have been there to defend it. He was in the wrong place. The men who had loved David turned against him. He must have been the loneliest person in the whole world but what do we read - “David encouraged himself in the Lord.”(1 Samuel 30 verse 6) Need to come to the Lord, let him take that load away from us. Stephen in Acts 7 was an elder in Jerusalem. He was doing a mighty work for God. The religious leaders didn't like that. They took him out and stoned him to death. As they began to stone him Stephen looked up into the heavens. Must have been the loneliest place to be. As he looked up he saw heavens door opening up and Stephen saw Christ waiting to receive his soul. God knew all about him. God knows all about us today.

The longing this man had - “and there wrestled a man with him until the break of the day” The angel came to Jacob while he was sitting alone. In the middle of this wrestling match Jacob said “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” There was one thing in his heart – a longing for the blessing of God to fall on him. Can we say that is our thought today? Can we really desire the blessing only God can give us. God knows all about you, sitting worrying about events that might never come to pass. Jacob's thoughts are heavenwards. An angel comes and begins to wrestle with him. As I draw nigh to God God will draw nigh to me. That is what happened in this place. Only way to achieve it is by applying our hearts to God. Jeremiah 29 verse 13 “ye shall seek me and find me when you search with all your heart.” These people were calling on God but their hearts were far from God. God was calling a nation back to himself. Jacob said “I will not let thee go except thou bless me.” Is that how we come today in the place of devotion with the Lord? Seeking for the blessing of God to fall upon us. W P Nicholson stayed in a home in Belfast during a mission. The following day the woman of the house went to make his bed. The sheets were twisted up into the centre of the bed in a ball – he had wrestled all night with God. Verse 25 not giving up. Jacob wrestled with this angel. Think of the pain Jacob was in as he wrestled. His thigh was out of joint yet he wouldn't give up. He was waiting for the blessing of God to fall. In this wrestling match Jacob's hip joint was knocked out of place. Instead of rolling back and crying out in pain he said “No I am holding on until I get the blessing of God.” That is serious prayer. Luke 18 the widow woman came to the unjust judge – she kept knocking on the judges door – she had perseverance Maybe that is the illustration Jesus was giving when he said “men ought always to pray and not to give up.” Persevering in the place of prayer. 2 Kings 4 the woman came to the prophet. She was troubled because her husband had died and she was left with a huge debt. She would probably have to sell her 2 sons to pay off the debt. The prophet asked what she had in her house. Only a cruise of oil was the reply. The prophet told her to pour the oil into every vessel available. The oil only ceased to flow when there wasn't one vessel left. Maybe that is what God meant. God pouring out of his blessing but we don't want it. Maybe that is what is lacking in our prayer lives. We are not enough in the place of prayer. Jacob says “I will not let you go until you bless me.” Haven't come with frame of mind we want to hold onto God until he blesses us. We want God to do it in our time but God doesn't do it that way. Verse 27 “and the angel said unto him what is thy name”. Jacob is looking for the blessing of God. That is what he longs for. The angel asks him what his name was. 20 years previously Jacob had been asked that same question by his father who was old and his eyes were dim. “who art thou my son”. Jacob replied “I am Esau”. In the darkest of night 20 years later God asks him again “what is your name”. Before the blessing came he would have to own up to his wrong doing. He had to take a backward step and come clean. Maybe God points to something in our lives and before blessing comes he says “sort something out”.

Jacob had something that lasted – verse 31. After the wresting match was over, the blessing had fallen and the angel had left it says “the sun rose upon him and he halted upon his thigh”. Jacob was left with a limp. He could be identified by his walk. It affects not only him – verse 32. Everything pointed back to this time when Jacob opened up his heart and life to get what he sought with his heart, soul and mind. The blessing of God pointed back to this night. Affected his walk and affected others. If we give our lives totally to God our lives will never be the same again. Those who we come into contact with will be affected too. Wouldn't that be a lovely thing if our loved ones see something in us and realise they need Christ too. We need to go through with God today. Someone once said “evangelism is not what we tell people unless what we tell others is totally consistent with what we have in our hearts and lives.”