Participants:
Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000168S
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00:05 #S089 - A Limp Is The First Step In A Leap (Part 1)
00:20 I'd like to remain standing as we go in our Bibles to 00:22 Genesis chapter 32, 00:26 Genesis Chapter 32. 00:29 And we're going to begin our reading together in verse 00:32 22, Genesis, chapter 32. 00:37 And we're going to look together at verse 22. 00:40 I just have one question How many of us 00:42 want God to save us by any means necessary? 00:46 I just need to know who the word is for today. 00:50 Like, you don't need God to do it one way 00:52 or just your way, but you just want to be saved. 00:55 Whatever way. 00:56 God, choose Genesis 32. 00:59 In verse 22, when you get there, you say, Pastor, there. 01:04 This is the story of Jacob. 01:05 He has been fleeing from the face of his Uncle Laban 01:10 from Esau, and now God has him painted in a corner. 01:15 And this is where a text picks up, the Bible says. 01:18 And he arose that night 01:20 and took his two wives, his two female servants 01:24 and his 11 sons, and crossed over the forward of Joburg. 01:29 And he took them and sent them over the brook 01:32 and sent over what he had. 01:34 Then Jacob was left what 01:38 he was left alone. 01:40 And the Bible says, and a man wrestled with him 01:45 until the breaking of the day. 01:49 Now, when he saw that he did not prevail against him, 01:52 he touched the socket of his hip. 01:56 And the socket of Jacob's hip 01:59 was out of joint as he wrestled with him 02:03 and he said, let me go 02:06 for the day breaks. 02:08 But this is what Jacob said. 02:10 It is what all of us need to be saying today. 02:14 I will not let you go 02:18 until you bless me. 02:22 So he said to him, What is your name? 02:25 And he said, Jacob. 02:28 And he said, Your name shall no longer be called Jacob. 02:31 But Israel, for you have struggled with God 02:36 and with me, and you have prevailed today. 02:40 Saints for just a little while 02:41 I want to talk to you under the subject. 02:43 A lamp is the first step in a leap. 02:47 A lamp 02:48 is the first step in a leap that is prayed together. 02:52 Father, 02:55 would you 02:57 give me strength 02:58 to preach your word? 03:02 But, Lord, more than that, would you give the body strength 03:07 to act on and live the word? 03:11 I'm praying that faith 03:13 would be multiplied exponentially, as we hear. 03:17 Would you please hide me in the shadows of the cross that 03:21 Jesus alone might be seen, that Christ alone might be heard? 03:26 And at the end of our time together, let Jesus alone 03:28 be praised. Bless us. 03:30 To this end, 03:31 we ask in the mighty name of Jesus, 03:33 let those who love the Lord say together, amen. 03:36 And they may, you may be seated in the House of the Lord 03:39 today, again, talking to you under the subject. 03:43 A lamp is the first step in a leap. 03:50 You know, friends, 03:53 one of the themes of a leap year 03:57 revolves around the idea 03:59 of being changed. 04:03 And it's appropriate 04:04 because the motif of the gospel is radical transformation. 04:10 It is why Paul, in 04:12 his second epistle to the church at Corinth, says, 04:16 If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. 04:21 All things have passed away. 04:23 Behold, all things have become made new. 04:27 It is why he admonishes the church at Rome 04:30 to be not conformed unto the patterns of this world, 04:34 but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 04:38 It is why the apostle John says it does 04:41 not yet appear what we shall be. 04:45 But we know that when he shall appear, 04:47 we shall be like him. 04:49 So that one of the claims of the Gospel is that 04:53 if you are in Christ, your life 04:56 no longer looks the same. 04:59 But my contention today 05:02 is that there is too big a chasm 05:06 between the change, the life that is promised 05:09 and the change life we are living. 05:12 In fact, the reason that the world does 05:14 not believe the claims of the Gospel 05:17 is because 05:19 when they look at our lives and they look at their lives, 05:23 they can't tell the difference between the two. 05:27 In fact, one Christian opponent writes this. 05:30 He says that most Christian change is surface 05:34 so that they walk different, 05:37 they dress different and they talk different. 05:41 But he notes that the divorce rate in the church 05:44 is the same as it is in the world, he says. 05:47 You pay all that money to send your kids to church school 05:51 while your kids are in the same 05:53 jail cells as the kids that go to public school. 05:57 And he notes that though you have the message of health, 06:00 we have the same diabetes and blood pressures and cancers 06:06 as those that what not in the ways of God. 06:09 And my contention is not that the gospel is untrue. 06:13 My belief is that we not 06:14 lay claim to the gospel power as we should. 06:19 You see, the truth is, most of us don't want change. 06:22 We want improvement, 06:25 we don't 06:26 want change, we want adjustment. 06:30 Some of us don't want to be made over. 06:32 We just want modification. 06:35 The truth is, we don't want to be like Jesus. 06:38 We just want to be better than them. 06:41 And for many of us, we would rather go to it 06:43 and hide it than to do sit ups and transform it. 06:48 And the truth is, we don't want change 06:51 in my life because change is painful. 06:54 Change is uncomfortable, 06:57 change is inconvenient. 07:00 And some of us would rather function broken 07:03 than to be changed by Jesus Christ. 07:07 In fact, let me say it this way. 07:08 I remember about seven years ago, my wife and I 07:12 bought a trampoline for our kids in the backyard. 07:16 And I remember Christmas Day. 07:17 It was as cold as it is now, as I went out to put it together 07:21 for our little wins. 07:23 And so I got the base together in just the right spot. 07:26 But when it was time to but the bouncy mat in place, 07:31 I didn't realize that each spring has 07:33 to be matched to a very specific home. 07:37 And because my count was of the springs were off 07:40 the adjustment just a little. 07:42 And the funny thing is that each hole is aligned 07:46 with the protective mat that goes on the top. 07:49 And it's amazing that because it was misaligned 07:52 and the foundation, once the safety springs were 07:56 put on the top, I noticed that my trampoline had a lean to it. 08:02 Now the crazy thing, it was functional. 08:03 You could bounce on it, 08:05 but because it was misaligned, it had a lean to it. 08:09 Now, I need you to be clear. 08:10 Since I've been outside for 6 hours in the car 08:15 on the YouTube video, it took them 5 minutes, 08:17 but it took me 6 hours. 08:19 And I need you to know, I was tempted to let it 08:21 lean like it was because it seemed to pose no hazard. 08:26 But my wife came out with affirmation 08:29 and she says, I know you worked hard to get it up, 08:32 but she says, We can't let it function broken 08:36 because we pay too much to get it out in here today. 08:39 And see, the problem is that many of us would rather function 08:43 broken tend to have to start over from the beginning. 08:48 But I've come to let you know that Jesus paid 08:51 too much to let you function broken. 08:54 The reason He won't give up on you 08:57 is he's paid too much for your redemption. 09:00 And the reason he bears long is because you've not been bought 09:04 with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Jesus 09:08 and so he's 09:09 going to keep working on you until that lead is removed 09:14 and you stand tall and Jesus Christ, are you with me today? 09:16 Saints. 09:18 And so, friends, as we unpack the story of Jacob, 09:21 there are some immense principles for us to digest. 09:26 You see, the story of Jacob is relevant on all levels, 09:31 but the first thing it teaches us is that divine 09:33 covenants are based upon grace and not merit. 09:38 Let me say it again that divine covenants 09:41 are based upon grace and not merit. 09:45 In other words, friends, when you look at the story of Jacob, 09:49 did you notice that Jacob has no redeeming qualities 09:55 that would qualify him to be a better assessor of the Messiah? 09:59 In other words, Jacob has a hustle to him. 10:02 He's got a grit. 10:04 He's got an intellect that is as sharp as a razor. 10:08 But notice that up until this point, Jacob has no major 10:12 spiritual moment to suggest that this is why God chose him. 10:19 In fact, when you look at most people in Scripture, 10:22 all folk about Jesus have a bad moment, 10:25 but at least they have a seminal moment 10:28 that says This is why God chose them. 10:31 In other words, Abraham told a bunch of lies, 10:35 but at least he left his father's house 10:38 not knowing where God was going to send him 10:40 that David laid down with Bathsheba. 10:44 But at least he had the courage to fight Goliath. 10:47 Peter denied the Lord, but at least he left. 10:50 Oh, to follow him. 10:52 But when you look 10:53 at the story of Jacob, there is nothing to suggest 10:58 that he is the one that God would choose. 11:01 And friends, this is a very dynamic idea 11:05 that sometimes God ahead of time 11:08 chooses broken people and assigns 11:11 divine covenants to their life and to their journey. 11:16 Isn't it amazing that God takes a broken man like Jacob 11:20 and He sends Jesus through His lineage, 11:23 that God reveals Jesus 11:26 through the broken lineage of Jacob and friends? 11:29 This all of a sudden makes sense to me. 11:32 The reason God sends Jesus through broken people 11:37 is because Jesus is to reach broken people. 11:41 In other 11:42 words, the reason God sends Jesus through broken 11:45 people is that the Gospel is for broken people. 11:50 And see, the reason that God chooses messed up 11:53 people is to teach us that salvation is not given by merit, 11:59 but salvation is received by faith 12:02 through the grace of Jesus Christ. 12:05 You see, Jacob teaches us that we are not saved by being good. 12:09 We are not saved by what we accomplish. 12:12 We are not saved by being righteous. 12:15 We are saved by the amazing grace of Jesus 12:19 and every sinner out of out a man in this room today. 12:23 And see the reason there are some 12:26 that get tense when I talk like this. 12:28 Because just saying, Pastor, 12:29 we don't have to be faithful in order to be saved. 12:33 How many of us know 12:34 that we are not saved because we are faithful? 12:37 Our faithfulness is 12:38 the evidence that we've been saved by Jesus. 12:42 In other words, I don't obey 12:45 in order to obey my way to salvation. 12:49 My obedience is a gratitude response to what Jesus 12:52 has already accomplished on my behalf, 12:56 so that when you obey according to the law, there is a lead. 13:01 But when you obey with gratitude, there is no limit 13:05 to what you will do for Jesus Christ. 13:07 And so my obedience is not to be saved. 13:11 It's because I'm already saved 13:14 and see friends I like Jacob, because what Jacob does for 13:17 some of us is he shows us what your ministry is. 13:22 You see, some of us have the Ministry 13:25 of Being praying for the Gospel 13:28 so that sometimes when folks saw Jacob after 13:31 he was converted, they couldn't believe that God chose him. 13:38 And when they saw Jacob, it would give evidence 13:41 that there was room in God's kingdom for them. 13:45 And how many of us know that some of us have been raised 13:47 by God to be the proof that God can save anybody? 13:52 Y'all, y'all brand new here today? 13:54 You see how many of us know that your testimony 13:58 can't be too clean or sterile? 14:00 Are y'all with me today? 14:01 Church If your testimony is only that I got 14:04 18 generations in the church and I ain't never lied 14:09 and ain't never doubted and I ain't never curse. 14:12 And I never did a wrong thing. 14:14 First of all, 14:16 they know that you're lying and the truth is not in you. 14:20 But the other thing is that when your testimony is to clean, 14:23 it says that I don't qualify 14:26 in order to receive the covenants of God. 14:29 But every now and then, God raises somebody like you 14:33 so that when they see where you were 14:36 and they see where you are, 14:39 they say, If God could do it for them, guess what? 14:43 There is room for me in the Kingdom of the Almighty God. 14:48 You are the proof that God can change anybody 14:52 and see the thing. 14:52 I need to just pause and say 14:53 to somebody today is I need you to know that 14:56 no matter how spiritual you are today, you 14:59 not even a fraction of who you go to in Jesus. 15:03 Okay. 15:04 Oh, it's going to get good in a minute. 15:06 I need you to know that no matter how far you've come, 15:11 you're not even close to being who God is going make. 15:13 You see? See, let me say this way. 15:16 I've shared it with you before that sometimes I struggle 15:20 in the morning. 15:21 I like to cook it, but I struggle to cook grits. 15:23 Y'all not with me today. 15:25 And I don't struggle to make grits, 15:28 but sometimes I struggle to make the right amount. 15:32 And the reason I struggle with the right amount 15:34 is that 15:35 when we are a family of five and I see one 15:38 cup in the pot, it looks like it's not going to be enough. 15:43 So I'm always tempted to add more than what we actually need. 15:48 But the reason I always add it too much 15:51 is because it seems like so little in the pot. 15:54 But I always forget that when you add water 15:58 and you begin to stir and you add heat, guess what? 16:01 The grits begin to multiply and the grits begin to expand. 16:07 So how it starts in the beginning doesn't 16:09 mirror nothing like where it lands in the end. And 16:12 I just need to know, do I have some Quaker great Christians 16:17 who, when you started, you didn't look like much, 16:21 but God stirred Jim added, The water of baptism, 16:26 supplied the heat of trial, and now you don't look nothing 16:30 like what you've been through 16:34 or where you started from, because the covenants 16:38 are covenants of grace and not merit. 16:41 You are hear me today, church 16:44 The second thing, beloved, that the story of Jacob teaches us. 16:46 Number two is that prayers can outlive the ones who break them. 16:52 Okay. 16:54 Oh, it's going to get good. 16:56 So I need you to know that the prayers of the righteous 17:00 can outlive the ones who pray them. 17:04 Now, the reason this is critical is I need somebody 17:07 to have clarity about how your life got 17:11 so blessed. 17:14 Okay. 17:15 Do you realize, saints, 17:17 that God has shown Jacob mega paper 17:23 throughout his raggedy, scheming life 17:27 not because he deserved it, but because God was honoring 17:32 a promise that he made to his granddaddy. 17:35 Abraham 17:37 Do you realize that when Abraham was alive 17:41 that he prayed for his posterity and those that would 17:44 go after him? 17:46 But do you realize that Abraham did not live long enough 17:51 to see his descendants become as the sand of the seashore? 17:56 But even though he prayed it before he died, 17:59 the prayer outlived the very man that prayed for it. 18:03 Oh, Lord, have mercy. 18:06 And in other words, his grandchildren and great 18:09 grandkids. 18:10 God bless because of a prayer. 18:13 He prayed 100 years before all of that. 18:18 And the reason I need somebody to understand this is 18:21 I need you to realize 18:23 that you don't just have generational cycles. 18:27 But how many of us know that we got generational favor 18:30 from the most high God? 18:33 In other words, don't stand here and act 18:36 like the only reason good things happen to you 18:39 was because you worked so hard and you prayed so diligently. 18:44 Do you realize that you got protected from some attacks 18:47 because great grandma prayed for you 18:51 and the prayers outlived her? 18:54 Do you realize that the reason doors is for you 18:58 and provision was made for you and favor came to you 19:03 was because the prayers of the righteous outlive 19:07 the ones who prayed for it. 19:10 I just need to know. 19:11 Do I have any money to have a prayer in mama in the house? 19:14 They had a praying grandmamma in the house 19:17 and they prayed that one day you would be saved. 19:20 But they didn't live long enough to see it happen. 19:23 But you're alive in Christ now 19:26 because the prayers are live. 19:29 The ones who prayed them. 19:32 Listen, I can tell the truth that 19:34 in a church I passed it right before I came here, 19:38 that when I got there, there was this wonderful old saint 19:41 that for whatever reason, 19:42 showed unusual kindness to my wife and myself. 19:46 And it was funny because at first 19:47 I was a little bit suspicious because what we did 19:52 did not really merit the type of kindness she showed. 19:55 She would be buying stuff for the babies and baking stuff 19:57 unsolicited and dropping off groceries at the house. 20:02 And after a while, we kind of wanted to understand 20:05 because in my mind these sermons are good, but they that good. 20:07 I hear what I'm saying and it's funny because after a while 20:11 we found out that my wife's grandfather, Mr. 20:15 Norman, who worked over in the Accounting Office, helped 20:19 her grandchildren get through school way back in the day. 20:24 And because Granddaddy bless somebody, 40 years ago, 20:28 the granddaughter was getting blessed 40 years later 20:31 and I got grafted in 20:33 through marriage because the favor that goes to 20:37 grandma still flows over to the grandkids. 20:41 Y'all hear me today? 20:43 I'm moving quickly today. 20:44 Go back with me in your Bible. 20:45 Verse number three. I need you to see some stuff. 20:49 I need you to see it as we unpack it, the Bible says. 20:51 Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau, his brother, 20:56 and the land of Caesar in the country of Edam. 20:59 And he commanded them saying, Speak thus to my Lord Esau, 21:02 thus your servant, Jacob says, 21:04 I have dwelt in the land of Laban and stayed here until now. 21:08 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male and female servants. 21:13 And I have sent to tell my Lord that I may find 21:16 favor in your sight. 21:19 You see, the third thing that Jacob teaches us today 21:22 is that you can't create your own fate. 21:26 Okay? 21:28 You realize that this what you just saw 21:31 is Jacob's problem. 21:34 See, what becomes clear when you read the whole thing is 21:37 that Esau cannot be negotiated with, 21:41 that Esau cannot be bought off. 21:45 And so what he does in frustration is he sends Esau 21:50 a bunch of gifts and kind words, the Bible says, 21:54 to appease or pacify them. 21:57 But what God does is He makes sure 22:00 that all of Jacob's charm is nullified 22:04 and his charisma is not able to give him an inch of favor. 22:08 And what he's trying to show, Jacob, 22:12 is that you can't create your own favor. 22:15 And don't get me wrong, but love it. 22:17 I believe that we should have partnership. 22:19 I believe that 22:20 we ought to be loyal and we should be kind to others. 22:24 But how many of us know that when your kindness has a motive, 22:27 it's not compassion. 22:28 You're just trying to make somebody indebted. 22:32 In other words, you just scratching their back 22:34 because you want them to scratch yours. 22:37 You are doing something for them 22:38 because you want them to do something for you. 22:42 In other words, 22:43 I want to encourage you not to get indebted to somebody 22:46 by exchanging favors and going tit for tat. 22:50 In fact, the Bible says, Oh no man, anything except 22:53 the outstanding debt of love for one another. 22:59 In other words, 23:00 friends of mine, when you've been touched by God, 23:04 you ain't got to 23:05 try and pursue Faber with no group, 23:09 no person, no clique, 23:12 no entity, no boss, no job. 23:14 You are here. 23:15 What I'm saying today 23:16 is there anybody that still believes 23:18 that your gifts will make room for you? 23:21 I need you to know that you ain't got to kiss up. 23:24 You ain't got to suck up 23:25 You ain't got to scratch Where don't wait 23:29 You ain't got to laugh when it ain't funny 23:31 You ain't got a dance when they're a music 23:34 If you humble yourself before God, 23:36 He will exalt you and do season. 23:40 Y'all hear what I'm saying today? 23:42 See, the problem is, I don't necessarily 23:45 want to outsource my favor to people 23:48 because when people are the ones that help you, 23:51 then they can take credit for your leap. 23:54 But I don't want no boss, no friend, 23:58 no peer to be able to say what I have done for you. 24:02 I want to be able to say like the psalmist, 24:04 if it had not been for the Lord 24:07 who was on my side, are y'all hear me today? 24:12 And see, the reason I need somebody to get 24:13 this is because favor is spirit, so not social. 24:19 In other words, me a favor. 24:21 It's not about who you know down here. 24:25 It's about who you are connected with up there. 24:27 And God did not allow Esau 24:31 to receive any of his gifts because he's showing Jacob. 24:33 You can't create your own favor. 24:37 So the Bible says here in verse seven, a moving 24:40 We're going to get somewhere today, verse seven 24:42 When you get to them, you say, Man, this is what the word says. 24:44 The Bible says this, then the Bible say so. 24:47 Jacob was greatly afraid 24:49 and distress 24:50 because his gifts ain't getting him nowhere, 24:52 and he divided the people that were with him in the flocks 24:55 and the herds and the camels and the two companies. 24:59 And he said, if Esau comes the one company 25:02 and attacks it, then the other company 25:03 which is left will escape. 25:05 Then. 25:06 Jacob So he's getting it right, but watch it. 25:08 He says, Oh God, my father. 25:10 Abraham God of my father. 25:12 Isaac The Lord who said to me, Return to your country 25:17 and your family and I will dwell with you. 25:21 I am not worthy of the least of all these mercies. 25:23 All right. 25:24 Of all of the truth, 25:25 would you have shown your servant 25:26 for I cross over this, Jordan, with my staff, 25:29 and now I have become to companies deliver me. 25:32 I pray from the hand of my brother, 25:36 from the hand of Esau, for I fear him unless he come 25:39 and attack me and the mother of my children. 25:43 For you, Sam, I will surely treat you well 25:49 and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, 25:52 which cannot be numbered before the multitude, 25:56 for thing that Jacob teaches, is that every 25:58 one of us has to have a driving agent. 26:03 Now, I need somebody to get this 26:05 because Ellen White makes clear that the strength of Esau 26:10 is God's doing. 26:14 In other words, the presence of Esau 26:17 is actually essential to the salvation of Jacob. 26:21 And that's why he can't even pray 26:25 Esau away, because literally God 26:29 wants Him to feel the strength 26:32 and the nearness of Aesop. 26:35 Because what Esau does is Esau 26:39 drives him to his knees to seek 26:43 God that he would not under any other circumstance. 26:48 It is the pressure of Esau. 26:51 It is the inevitability of Esau. 26:55 It is the imminence of trouble that drives 26:58 Jacob into the secret place to meet with God. 27:03 Thank you for joining us for the Breath of Life 27:06 Television Ministries broadcast with Pastor Debleaire Snell. 27:10 We hope and pray 27:11 that you have been blessed by this powerful message. 27:16 Join us next week for part two of “A Limp 27:19 Is The First Step In A Leap” You don't want to 27:24 miss it. |
Revised 2025-04-17