No Longer Jacob

Good morning.

I would ask you, if you will, to open your Bibles to the book of Genesis chapter 35.

Genesis 35 · chapter mention

! We pick up with Genesis this morning.

We pick up with this story about Jacob and his family.

So we'll read 35, we'll read down through verse 8 in chapter 36.

So, if you're able, I would ask in honor of the Word of God, if you would stand as we

read together, as I read, and you'll join me in reading silently.

Is that fair?

If we all try to read at the same time, that might be tough.

All right, so verse 1, chapter 35.

God said to Jacob, arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there.

Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.

So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, put away the foreign gods that

are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.

Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers

me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.

So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had and the rings that were in their

ears.

Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them so that

they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

And Jacob came to Luz, that is Bethel, which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people

who were with him.

And there he built an altar and called the place El Bethel, because there God had revealed

himself to him when he fled from his brother.

And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died.

And she was buried under an oak below Bethel.

So he called its name Elan Bakuth.

God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Padan Aram and blessed him.

And God said to him, your name is Jacob.

No longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.

So he called his name Israel.

And God said to him, I am God Almighty, be fruitful and multiply.

A nation and a company of nations shall come from you and kings shall come from your own

body.

The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you and I will give the land

to your offspring after you.

Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him.

And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone.

He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it.

So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel.

Then they journeyed from Bethel when they were still some distance from Ephra.

Rachel went into labor and she had hard labor.

And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, do not fear for you have

another son.

And as her soul was departing for she was dying, she called his name Ben-oni, but his

father called him Benjamin.

So Rachel died and she was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is Bethlehem.

And Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb.

It is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day.

Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

While Israel lived in the land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine,

and Israel heard of it.

Now the sons of Jacob were 12.

The sons of Leah, Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

The sons of Rachel, Joseph, and Benjamin.

The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant, Dan, and Naphtali.

The sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant, Gad, and Asher.

These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan-Aram.

And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, in Kiriath-Arba, that's Hebron, where Abraham

and Isaac had sojourned.

Now the days of Isaac were 180 years, and Isaac breathed his last, and he died, and was gathered

to his people, old and full of days.

And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

These are the generations of Esau, that is, Edom.

Esau took his wives from the Canaanites.

Ada, the daughter of Elan, the Hittite.

Olahabah, the daughter of Anna, the daughter of Zebion, the Hivite.

And Basmath, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nabiath.

And Adar bore him Esau, Eliphaz.

Basmath bore Raul, and Olahabama bore Jash, Jalem, and Korah.

These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his livestock,

all his beasts, all his property that he acquired in the land of Canaan.

He went into a land away from his brother Jacob, for their possessions were too great for them to dwell together.

The land of their sojournings could not support them because of their livestock.

So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir.

Esau is Edom.

Let's pray.

Father, would you cause your word to come alive in our hearts this morning?

God, would you show us the truths that you mean for us to see

in this story of Jacob and his family and Esau?

God, we ask you to bless this morning in Christ's name.

Amen.

Y'all can have a seat.

Y'all did notice I spared you all the difficulty of reading the rest of those names.

So on your bulletin, you'll see chapters 35 and 36.

I will speak towards that, but I think I would have jumbled them up pretty badly.

Y'all remember chapter 34?

We just read 35 and part of 36.

Do you remember 34 two weeks ago?

Let me ask this question.

How did Jacob get there?

How did he get to the place in 34 where all of that mess took place in their family,

where his daughter was taken, sexually abused, humiliated,

and the people that did it seemed to have no remorse at all?

And he said, don't make a big deal about it.

I'm afraid if you make a big deal about it,

we'll be stench in the nostrils of the people of the land,

and we'll be in trouble.

They will destroy us and our family.

It's as if he didn't want to come to the honor of his daughter.

And then in 34, we saw that never once was a name God mentioned.

This place, Shechem.

And so we go from 34 and we step into 35,

and we see God says this.

God says to Jacob, arise.

Go to Bethel and dwell there.

Make an altar to the God who appeared to you

when you fled from your brother Esau.

How gracious is God?

Do we remember some of the things that Esau has experienced?

If we look back on the truths in the book of Genesis about Esau,

what do we see?

We see that...

Jacob, sorry, did I say Esau?

Jacob.

In the life of Jacob, what do we see?

We see a man that has a sin problem, don't we?

Do you all remember how he tricked his brother to get the birthright?

Do you remember how he planned with his mother to deceive his father?

You remember how...

Do you remember how...

He boldly lied to his father over and over.

Are you really Esau?

Yes.

Yes, I'm really Esau.

Come here.

Let me touch your arm.

He had put goat's hair on his arm.

He shows poor, if any, leadership to his family.

Let me ask this question.

How is it that this man Jacob, who experienced the presence of God at Bethel...

You remember when he was leaving, after all this went down with his family, he's really

running from Esau because Esau was planning to kill him.

And his mom was able to work out a story with his dad and said, you need to send him back

to get a wife in our homeland, not here among the Canaanite people.

And so he goes and on the way...

You remember that God met him on the way?

And as he's laying down at this place, you remember the name of the place?

This place that he called the house of God, Bethel, as he's fleeing from Edom and he lays

his head on a rock and he dreams that night and what does he see?

The stairway to heaven.

And he said, this is awesome.

This is the doorway to heaven.

How is it that a man who experienced that, not only that, but when he goes to the land of

his mother's family to Laban, he sees God bless over and over again such that he becomes rich.

All the livestock and the animals that God put in his hands as he spent 21 years or 20 years

serving Laban in that land.

He sees the hand of God in his life.

And yet here he is in this place, this place where it's worldly.

This is Shechem.

Again, verse 1, God said to Jacob, arise and go to Bethel.

What is he...

When he says arise and go, we have to understand that that means arise and leave.

Leave where you are and I want you to go to this place.

What place, God?

This place where I met you.

This place where you made vows.

This place called Bethel.

This place that you remember, right?

This place you experienced me.

Let me ask this question.

Why do you think that he didn't go to Bethel when he was called to go back to the land of his

relatives?

Why didn't he go to Bethel?

Why did he choose to go to Shechem?

This place of worldliness.

How is it that this guy whose name means trickster, a guy who's got a huge sin issue, a guy who's met God,

how is it that he finds himself in this place of sin and idolatry and worldliness and fear?

How is it?

You know, I would pause for a second.

Do you sometimes find yourself in a place just like that?

a place in Jacob's situation where their family,

at least at that moment, was defined by worldliness

and idolatry and sin and fear.

This was the chosen of God.

We hear in the scriptures, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And yet he finds himself there.

Let me share this this morning.

And how gracious is God that he would say to Jacob,

the one who has found himself in this sinful place,

he would say, Jacob, do you hear me?

Jacob, I want you to arise and I want you to go to Bethel.

Here's the main point I believe in the passage this morning is this,

is that God patiently and graciously refines his chosen people.

God graciously and faithfully calls his chosen people

to a life of faithfulness and worship.

So I see the refining this morning.

If you like to take notes,

there's three ways that I see here that God refines his people

as we look at the text this morning.

God graciously and faithfully refines his chosen people.

And we see it in the life of Jacob here as we look.

Look with me in verse one again.

He says to Jacob,

Jacob, I want you to leave this place

that's characterized by worldliness,

that is Shechem.

And I want you to go to this place

that's characterized as my house,

the place where I met you before

and I will meet you again.

And I want you to make an altar there to me.

Isn't it interesting that how he says this?

Instead he said,

I want you to make an altar to me.

Look what he says.

I want you to make an altar to the God who appeared to you.

Do you remember him?

Jacob, do you remember that event?

Do you remember the God that appeared to you?

Do you remember the powerful moment?

Do you remember the blessing?

Hey, do you remember what you promised?

Do you remember that you anointed that pillar

with a promise?

We can see it.

Chapter 28, it says this.

Behold, I am with you.

This is when he is in Bethel the first time,

when he's fleeing from Esau.

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go

and will bring you back to this land

for I will not leave you

until I have done what I promised you.

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and he said,

Surely the Lord is in this place

and I did not know it.

How awesome is this place?

There is none other.

This is none other than the house of God.

And then again, God graciously,

in 31, chapter 31,

Then the angel of God said to me in the dream,

Jacob, and I said, here I am.

And he said, I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.

I am the God of Bethel,

where you anointed a pillar

and you made a vow to me.

Now arise, go out from this land

and return to the land of your kindred.

Tell me why Jacob didn't go to Bethel.

Tell me why Jacob ended up in Shechem.

It's as if in chapter 31,

God is saying, I want you to rise

and I want you to leave

and I want you to go back to this land

where your relatives are

and I want you to go to Bethel,

the place where I am,

the place that you've called the house of God,

the place that I met you

and you powerfully made a vow to me.

And yet what does he do?

He takes his family to Shechem.

How gracious is God

that God would allow all this stuff

to go on in his life,

all this disobedience.

We do see, right,

that his family is full of idolatry.

They've got idols.

They've got earrings in their ear

that in some way are part of worshiping another God.

Their family is a mess.

And yet God says,

Jacob, Jacob, I want you to go.

You know, I see three aspects of this call.

He speaks to us.

God, point number one,

God refines in this way,

point number one.

He speaks to us

and calls us to faithfulness and worship.

Have you heard it personally?

Have you heard the call of God in your life

to walk faithfully

and to live a life of worship?

You know,

there's a chance that many of us,

if not all of us Christians,

have found ourselves at times in our life

in a place where we didn't hear God,

we didn't sense God,

we had sin that we'd allowed in our life,

we were in somewhat of a wreck

as far as our life.

Have you been there?

Have you been to a place

where you feel far away from God?

How gracious is God to call us back?

You know, the phrase that I see

over and over in scriptures,

this phrase, return to me.

He says it to his children,

return to me.

What is he saying when he says,

return to me?

Turn away and leave.

Turn your back on this worldly living,

this sinful living,

this reliance on self,

this pursuit of your own selfish dreams.

Turn your back on that

and turn to me and come to me.

His call for us as Christians

is to live a faithful life of worship

and that's what he's calling Jacob to.

He's saying to him,

Jacob, return to me.

Do you see him saying that?

He doesn't use these words in the text,

but isn't that exactly what he's saying?

Arise, leave Shechem,

come to Bethel.

What is Bethel?

It's a place where I met with you.

Return to me.

Live for me.

Establish an altar there.

Make an altar.

What is he saying?

What does that mean symbolically

to make an altar?

You know what an altar represents?

It represents worship.

You know what he's calling him to?

He says, turn away from worldliness

and turn to me and worship me.

Come to me.

Walk in my ways.

Worship me.

And what does Jacob do?

I want you to see three aspects of this call.

Number one is,

he has a decision to make, doesn't he?

He has a decision to make.

When God calls us to faithfulness,

we have a decision to make.

Have you been there?

Maybe some of us are there this morning.

Maybe we're at a place

where God has revealed sin in our life.

Maybe God's revealed to us

we're not in the middle of his will right now.

We've wandered off to this place

that we've created on our own.

We're chasing something that's not of God,

that's all of us.

And we find ourselves there right now.

And I want you to hear the truth

of this passage to you and me

is that God is calling us to faithfulness

and calling us to worship.

Is your life right now,

is my life right now

defined by faithfulness and worship?

We have a decision to make.

Are we going to turn away from sinful living

and are we going to turn and face

and walk to God and say,

God, I desire to give my life away

in service of your kingdom.

God, I desire to worship you

not only with my mouth as I say,

but with my heart.

I desire to give my life away

as a ransom for your kingdom,

to give my life away in service to your kingdom

so that you could use me for your glory.

Are we there?

What did Jacob do?

How did he make this decision?

What decision did he make?

Here's what he did.

Verse two,

so Jacob said to his household

and to all who were there with him,

put away the foreign gods that are among you

and purify yourselves

and change your garments.

What is he saying?

All of this stuff,

these idols,

all anything that has anything to do

with these other religions,

now is the time, family,

put it away.

I want you to get rid of every single ounce of it.

Matter of fact,

I want you to get rid of the clothing

that's stained with the stuff.

I want you to take your garments off

and I want you to put fresh garments on

as a way of saying,

God, we're now heading to you

to serve and honor you.

We don't want anything to do

with this worldly lifestyle

that we've been living.

And what did they do?

This might have been,

at least in my estimation,

one of the first times

that Jacob actually stood up

and started to lead his family.

He's been so passive

and we saw that

when we saw his character

years ago

as we've read through Genesis

that he by nature is timid.

He by nature wants to hang out

in the tent.

He is not a confrontational guy.

He's a subtle, slippery guy

who's willing to lie

and trick, cheat, steal.

But God's doing a work in his life.

Do you see it?

Do you see him stand up

and say,

all right, enough's enough.

This is it.

I want you to give me

every idol,

every ring,

anything that has anything

to do with this worldly life

and these other gods.

We're getting rid of him right now.

What did the family do?

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

And they brought him.

And what did he do?

He took every single one of them.

He put it in a place of worldliness.

He dug a hole and said,

we're done.

I'm burying it.

This is it.

He puts it in the hole

and they all together do what?

They all head to Bethel.

And what did they do

when they get to Bethel?

Keep reading with me.

He said to them,

let us arise

and let us go to Bethel

so that I may make there

an altar to God

who answers me

in the day of distress,

who's been with me

wherever I've gone.

Boy, what a good memory.

He must not have remembered it

in Shechem,

but boy,

he remembers it now, right?

God has graciously reminded him

that I've been with you all along.

Have you not seen it?

Christian, let me ask you,

do you believe,

do you recognize,

do you understand

that God will never leave you

or forsake you

if you're his?

And even when we run

headlong after sin,

even when we turn our back

on what God's calling us to do

and we go a different direction,

you know what God does?

He graciously

and faithfully comes

and draws us back to him.

That's what he does

for all his children.

Now, we might be kicking

and screaming

and it might be very,

very painful

because we don't want to honor,

we don't want to return

for some reason,

but he won't ever leave us

or forsake us.

The graciousness of God

is he's refining us.

So you see

the second aspect.

Number one,

he's this aspect

of this call of God

that says return to me

is one,

we've got to make a decision.

Secondly,

we need to come clean.

His family came clean

and they buried all that stuff

and then thirdly,

do you see it?

What do we have to do

in addition?

We have to turn to him

with a life of worship.

Is that what they did

as a family?

Yeah, so verse five,

read with me.

And they journeyed,

as they journeyed,

picture this,

they just left Shechem, right?

You remember

what they did in Shechem?

You remember what the sons did?

They took a sword, right?

Or several swords.

They got,

they caused them all

to be circumcised

and what did they do

with the sword?

They went and slaughtered them all.

Do you think that all the people

of the surrounding land

are happy with them right now?

Do you think that they want to say,

we need to,

man,

who knows where this dude's going next

and his family,

we need to take this dude down now.

We need to go ahead

and,

and do you think he's afraid

that'll happen?

Sure,

if we look in 34,

Zach was afraid of.

And yet,

here we,

here we go.

He finally turns

and he heads the direction

that God's called him to go

and look what God's doing.

God's protecting him along the way.

You know,

there's a principle in scripture

that said that we're in God's hand

and there's not a single power on earth

that can take us out of his hand.

Do you think he's protecting us

as his children?

You better believe he is.

And I see this protection

in the life of Jacob

and his family.

As they turn

and started going

to the place

where God has called them to go,

there's a protection

that God gives them.

As they journey,

a terror of God

fell on the cities

that were around them

and they did not pursue

the sons of Jacob.

And as a result,

Jacob came to Bethel

and there he did what?

He built an altar.

You know what that altar represents?

I've said it before.

It represents worship.

So these three aspects

of this call,

we need to make a decision

we need to come clean

and we need to live our life

in worship to God.

And that's what he did.

I want you to see

point number two.

So the three ways

that God refines,

one is that he speaks to us

and calls us to faithfulness

and worship.

Number two,

he gives us a new name

and blesses us.

Number two,

he gives us a new name

and blesses us.

Where do I see that?

Verse nine.

Look with me at verse nine.

It says this,

God appeared to Jacob again

when he came from Paddan Aram

and blessed him

and God said to him,

your name is Jacob.

No longer.

Why did God do this

a second time?

Hadn't we already visited

this once before?

Hasn't God already met him

and already said,

you're no longer Jacob,

your name's Israel?

Why is he having to do it again?

Let me just say,

he wasn't living like Israel,

was he?

He was living an awful lot

like Jacob.

It's as if God has to remind him,

graciously remind him again.

Jacob,

do you remember?

Your name is Israel.

You're not Jacob.

You're not the cheater anymore.

You're the one

that wrestles with God

and you desire a blessing.

So he shares this with him again

as a way to draw him to himself.

Your name is Jacob.

No longer shall you become,

excuse me,

your name is now Israel.

So he called his name Israel

and God said to him,

I am God Almighty.

Be fruitful and multiply.

A nation and a company of nations

shall come from you.

What do you hear here?

As we read this,

a nation shall come from you.

Verse 12,

the land,

I will give it to you.

Does that ring in your ears

if it was a promise

that was promised to Abraham

and then a promise

that was promised to Isaac

and now here it is,

a promise that's also given to Jacob?

Do you see this truth

that God always follows through

on his promises always

and God is promising him

this covenant promise

has been extended to Jacob

that I'm going to bless you

and I'm going to multiply your seed?

You're going to have so many kids

that if you were to look up

and try to count all the stars,

you'll not be able to number them?

The blessings of God

are going to pour upon you

in ways you can't imagine.

There are kings in your loins.

Your children will be,

some of your children will be kings

that will be on the throne.

Who is he talking about ultimately?

Let's just take a step aside

from the story for a second

and let's just look at the truth

that's being pointed to here.

Do you see the truth?

It's Jesus.

Out of you is going to come a son

who's going to be seated on the throne,

the throne,

that is the throne of God Almighty,

the throne of heaven

and it's through that son

that the world is going to be blessed

and through that son

there's going to be so many children

you can't even count.

Was Jesus married?

You know Jesus didn't marry?

How is it then that Jesus can have sons?

How is it that Jesus can have offspring?

He has offspring

because it's talking about

the spiritual children

that would be born

because of their faith in Jesus

as the Messiah.

You know that is me

and for all of us

who are in the kingdom

or Christians in this room,

it's you,

that we're spiritual descendants of Jesus.

Apart from Jesus,

we're not sons of God.

That's what he was ultimately talking about,

this blessing that he says,

I'm going to give you a new name.

You're going to be different.

Let me ask this question.

Is that true for you?

Have you been given a new name?

Do you act different?

You know all of us as Christians

have been given a new name,

haven't we?

It's a defining name

and it has a life-offering change

that takes place in our life.

What is a new name?

Christian.

And you'll know they're Christians

by their love,

by their love.

You'll know they're Christians

by their love.

You know what God does?

He takes the heart of stone,

this heart that's focused on self,

that wants to satisfy self,

and you know what he does?

He takes it,

in a sense,

he takes it out

and he puts in a new heart.

And you know what that new heart is?

That new heart is a heart of love.

It's a heart of flesh

as we see it in the Old Testament.

He changes our heart.

He creates in us a new heart.

And that new heart desires what?

The honor of God.

The new heart desires to worship God

and serve God.

That's the effect

of what God does

in the lives of his chosen people.

He did this to Jacob.

Isn't it amazing

how long it takes

for this thing

to seat itself in his heart?

Do you see that Jacob

keeps returning

to this sinful life?

It's like,

Jacob, come on, man.

Look what you've seen.

Look at the blessings

you've been given.

How is it you still

live in this way, man?

Why don't you live for God

and serve him?

But you know,

the question's true

for you and me too.

Are we Christian

at a place

where we genuinely

have given our life

over to God

for his kingdom

and his glory?

You know,

that's what the word of God

calls us to, right?

Seek ye first

his kingdom

and his righteousness

is the call

to every Christian.

Live for God.

Give your life away

as a sacrifice.

You know,

this is not new

to scripture.

It's not like

this is the only place.

Listen at what Moses said

to the people

before he departed

as they are,

in the book of Deuteronomy

says this.

He's speaking

to the Israelites,

the nation.

And he says this

to the nation

before he departs

from them,

before he dies.

And if you faithfully

obey the voice

of the Lord your God

being careful

to do all his commandments

I command you today,

the Lord your God

will set you high

above all the nations

of the earth.

And all these blessings

shall come upon you

and overtake you

if you obey

the voice

of the Lord your God.

You know,

when we decide

to turn away

from worldliness

and we decide

to live a life

of worship,

you know what comes

with that?

It's this incredible blessing.

You know,

and that's not

the only place.

Deuteronomy 30,

he says it again.

Listen to this.

The Lord will again

take delight

in prospering you

as he took delight

in your fathers

when,

I emphasize the word

when,

when you obey

the voice

of the Lord your God

to keep his commandments

and his statutes

that are written

in the book of the law.

When you turn

to the Lord your God

with all your heart

and with all your soul.

You know what the result

of a worship-filled life is?

It's abundant blessing.

It's joy

that you can't imagine.

It's peace

that passes

all understanding.

It's the rest

that your soul desires.

It's intimate communion

and fellowship

with God himself.

There's a beautiful verse.

I don't have time

to share the context,

but I want you

to hear this powerful truth

out of 2 Chronicles.

It says this

in terms of

those who

are walking

toward the place

that God has called

them to go.

God says this,

for the eyes

of the Lord

run to and fro

throughout the whole earth

to give strong support

to those

whose heart

is blameless

toward him.

Boy,

don't I want

the Lord

to strongly support me

as I seek

after him.

It doesn't mean

our life

doesn't have difficulty.

Again,

three ways

that God

refines.

Number one,

he speaks to us

and calls us

to faithfulness

and worship.

Number two,

he gives us

a new name

and he blesses us.

And number three,

God uses

the broken world,

this broken world

as a means

of training

his people.

God uses

this broken world

as a means

of training

his people.

Do you notice

here

in 35

that there's

some difficulty?

So we see

in 16 and following,

we see Rachel's death.

She dies

in childbirth.

As she is giving birth

to Benjamin,

a son,

that labors

very hard

and she doesn't make it.

she dies

and the great sadness

that certainly

envelops Jacob

is real.

He sets up

a memorial

for her.

He puts stones

over her grave

so that

no one will forget

this is the woman

that he deeply loved

and the wound

is deep.

So there's still

loss for the Christian

that goes

a direction

that God

calls him to go.

Jacob turned,

he put away

the idols,

he turned

and he went

toward God

and he established

an altar

and he began

to worship

and the statement

was,

God,

no longer

do we want

to live that way.

We want to live

for you

from now on

and what happens?

Death

and sadness

and difficulty

and tragedy.

Do you know

that Christians

are not delivered

from that stuff?

Do you know

it's still real

for all of us

even if we're

following God,

even if we're

faithfully worshiping

with all of our

heart and all

of our life,

you know what

happens?

Death,

tragedy,

and difficulty,

and circumstances,

and pain.

We're not

delivered from that.

It is interesting

how God chooses

in his providence

to use these things

to change us,

to refine us,

to make us

into the image

of Christ.

Do you know

even Christ

wasn't delivered

from that?

Do you know

that Christ

suffered much

even though

he never

even sinned?

Even though

he was doing

exactly what

God called him

to do?

He suffered

much,

was crucified

on a cross.

The word of God

says as he was

young,

he learned

obedience

through the things

that he suffered.

You know

what the book

of James says?

I bet many

of you can

quote it.

It's just

a powerful,

difficult passage

for us to step

into,

but here's what

it says in

James.

Count it all

joy,

my brothers,

when you meet

various kinds

of trials.

If you know

that the testing

of your faith

produces steadfastness,

let me stop.

The testing

of your faith.

Christian,

you know

that faith

that is not

tested is not

faith?

It's just

a concept.

And God

chooses to use

the circumstances

of life

to test

that faith

and to refine

that faith

and to help

us to see

our own sin

and to turn

away from sin

and to help

us see our

own idolatry

and to take

the idols

and bury them

in the ground

and say,

no more,

I'm going

this way.

It's these

difficulties

in life,

these trials

that God

uses to refine

us into the

image of Jesus,

into the character

of Jesus.

It goes on to say,

and let steadfastness

have its full effect

that you may be

perfect and complete,

lacking in nothing.

There's a maturity

that has taken place

through the difficulties

of this life

and God's doing it.

And He's doing it

for our sake

that we might

enjoy Him.

You know how we

enjoy God?

It's when we begin

to feast on Him,

when we begin

to be absorbed

and totally

focused on Him,

when we surrender

our whole life

and yield ourselves

to God.

You know what

the result is?

It's joy

that you can't

contain.

And don't take

my word for it.

We can turn

to John 15.

You remember

what John 15

is about?

It's about

the vine and the branches.

He said,

here's what I want

you to do.

I want you to abide

in me.

Matter of fact,

I command it.

Abide in me.

He says,

apart from me,

you can do nothing,

meaning that there's

no spiritual benefit

of any at all

unless you abide

in me.

Because it's not

what you do for me,

it's what I do

in and through you.

And when I do

these things

in and through you,

when you abide in me,

you know what

the result is?

Verse 11 is the result.

John 15, 11,

you know what it says?

These things I've told you.

Why?

So that you might have joy

and have it to the full.

Overflowing joy.

You know where it comes from?

Abiding.

You know where it comes from?

Worship.

This life of worship

is where it comes from.

God chooses by His own providence

to use this broken world

as a means

to refine His people.

Do you see

how gracious God is

to love us enough

to put us through

trials and circumstances

so that we would be changed

into the image of Christ

and we would be able

to enjoy Him.

And He would do this work

in our character

to refine us

so that we look

a lot like Jesus.

We'll never look

exactly like Jesus.

We've had sin in our life

but you know what He's doing?

He's causing

the Holy Spirit

within us

to shine forth

in such a way

when people see us

it's like

something's different

about that guy.

What in the world

is so different?

They can't get over

the fact

there's something

uniquely different

about this guy.

I see a guy

who doesn't slap me

when I slap him.

I see a guy

who doesn't retaliate.

I see a guy

who loves

even when he's hurt.

Wait a minute.

People don't do that.

You know what's true

for you and me too?

In and of our own self

we would never love

in such a way

but when the Holy Spirit

is free to live

His life through us

you know what it looks like?

It looks like love,

joy, peace,

patience,

gentleness,

kindness.

It looks like

the fruit of the Spirit

and the Holy Spirit

is free to bless people

through our lives

when we will quit

chasing our own

idolatrous sinful things

and begin to say

God I'm yours

to do with

whatever you want

for the sake of your kingdom.

And that's what's going on here.

God is refining him.

But let me make this distinction.

So I haven't talked

about Esau at all

but you see

as we step into chapter 36

we see at the end of 35

and then 36

it talks about

the blessings to Esau.

But let me just say this.

God's special grace

and covenant promises

are not given to all people.

Let me say it again.

God's special grace

and covenant promises

are not given to all people.

Do you notice that

God's work of grace

is uniquely different

towards Jacob

compared to Esau?

Have y'all seen that

as y'all have read?

God's work of grace

is uniquely different

in the life of Jacob

than it is in Esau.

Look at Esau.

Did y'all read it

while I was praying maybe?

The rest of them?

I don't know if y'all read it

before we met today

but if you start reading all this

you know what you're going to see?

You're going to see

name after name after name

after name after name

after name.

It sounds like Esau

has been incredibly blessed

doesn't he?

You know what?

He has.

Isn't this a promise to Abraham

that your offspring

are going to be blessed?

And so God's common grace

has been abundantly

poured upon Esau

and what do you see?

What does that common grace

look like?

Well,

in this case

for Esau

he's so wealthy

he's got so many herds

that he can't even stay

in the same land as Jacob.

Both of them have been

tremendously blessed

with possessions.

And now he migrates to Seir

so God gives him a place

to call home.

You see children,

you see property,

you see possessions

but you know what you don't see

in the life of Esau?

The call of God.

Never do you see Esau

receive this draw,

this touch on his life

and his heart.

Never do you see

in Esau

this calling out of sin

and remorse.

You don't even see

he's interested

in spiritual things.

Have you noticed?

He never was interested

in spiritual things.

He gave away his birthright

which is a spiritual place

that he found himself

because he was first born.

He's never been interested.

He's only wanted things.

You know,

when he didn't receive

the blessing from his father,

Isaac,

what was his beef?

He said,

no,

don't you have something for me?

I want all the goods.

I mean,

you've got so much,

I want it all.

You know what,

did he get it?

He ended up getting it,

didn't he?

Why?

Because Jacob went

to another land.

He couldn't even keep it up.

The grace of God

is different

in the life of Jacob.

What is it?

Hey,

Jacob,

you're mine.

Has God said that to you?

Let me just say

that there might be some here

that are not a Christian.

And I get it.

There's a time

up until I was 22

I wasn't a Christian either.

and I didn't even understand.

But my question to you

if you're not a Christian,

have you heard the call of God?

Have you heard him say,

I want you to come

and follow me?

You know,

there's an invitation

to anyone today

who's not in the kingdom.

God would say to you,

come,

follow me.

And you know what I'll do?

If you'll follow me,

I will change your heart.

I will protect you

I will give you

a whole new life.

I will do a work

in your heart

you can't even imagine.

And you will be mine.

And you will be with me

one day where I am.

Now,

how is that possible?

You know how it's possible?

We talked earlier about Jesus.

You know,

all of this,

all of these promises,

these covenant promises

of God

that he's given

to Abraham,

Isaac,

and Jacob.

You know what

they were all pointing to?

Jesus.

They were all pointing

to a Messiah.

They were all pointing

to one who would

live in our place

and die in our place.

You know,

because we can't do it

without sin.

Ask Jacob

if he struggles with sin.

And yet,

God chose him.

And God graciously

worked on his life

to try to change

his heart,

to change him.

And he promised him

these incredible promises.

You know,

those promises

are for you and I,

for all of those

who turn their lives over,

who recognize their sin,

who recognize their rebellion,

who see that Jesus

was the promised Messiah,

who understand

that Jesus died

in our place.

Christian,

I hope you hear this call

from this passage

this morning.

Will you please,

please,

please,

I beg you,

take the idols

out of your life.

What is it

that you've allowed

in your life

that doesn't honor God?

What is it

that you've allowed

a place

that reside with you

and you carry it along

and it doesn't honor God?

He's calling to us

to turn aside

from all that stuff,

to leave it,

and to turn

and symbolically,

in a sense,

to make an altar

and say,

as of this day,

from now on,

I choose to worship you.

You know what worship

looks like?

Abiding.

That's what it looks like.

Let's pray.

Father,

we are humbled

that you would

so graciously

refine us.

God,

you would so graciously

show us our sin

and by your power,

you would put something

within us

that allows us

to turn away

from that sin.

God,

you said you've given us

everything we need

for life

and godliness

in this world.

everything we need

in the person

of the Holy Spirit

that we now

can choose

to live for you

and honor you

and worship you

fully.

God,

would you

continue to do

this work,

this maturing work,

this changing work

that's taken us

to this place

that looks a whole lot

like Jesus?

God,

where we don't choose

to let our selfish ways

rule our lives,

we choose

to let you

rule our lives.

God,

would you do

that work

and for those

that don't know you

as Lord and Savior,

God,

would you open

their eyes

to understand

what it means

to turn to you,

what it means

to give their life

to you

and I pray

in your name,

amen.

Amen.