Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ. Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church, located in Kernersville, North Carolina. I'd like you to go right to the first book of the Bible, Genesis 32. And if God will let you, would you stand to your feet for the reading of God's word, physically capable and feeling like it?
Genesis 32. How many are you thankful tonight for the Bible? Could have been an amen. God's holy word. Aren't you glad I'm not coming here tonight to give you my opinion?
Amen. And I'm not even coming here tonight to talk politics.
Somebody say amen to that. Churches getting to be places we talk more politics than we preach Bible. Amen. This is not a political stump. This is not a town hall.
Amen. We have church tonight. Amen. Where no wood is, the fire goeth out. Thank God for the wood of the word.
Amen. And may God give us some wood in our fire tonight. Genesis 32, if you would, in your Bible, and we'll pick up in verse number 24. And Jacob was left. Alone.
And there rested 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 his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, and he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name?
And he said, Jacob, And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel. For as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
Jacob called the name of the place Pineo. For I've seen God face to face. And my life is preserved. And as he passed over Piniel, 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 in the sinew. That shrank. Let the church say amen. Our Father, we pray that you add thy blessing to the reading of your word.
Cleanse me of sin, empty me of self, and fill me with your spirit. Help me to be a blessing. Father God, I understand that the arm of flesh will fail me, but Jesus never will. I've lost count of how many times I've opened this book and preached it. And if not careful, We will do something so long that we think we're doing it.
And so God, as if this were the very first time I preached as a nine-year-old boy. I need you tonight. From the depths of my soul, I plead. And she would cleanse me of sin. He emptied me himself.
and fill me with your spirit. It's do what you do.
Now, Father, in different places tonight, would you watch over our family while we're gone? Would you protect them? From where we are and where they are, Father. in a way that I could not if I were with them. And then while I'm here.
Would you do in this service what I cannot do? And because you do it. We'll give you the glory for it. In Jesus' name. Amen.
You may be seated. Thank you so much for standing. Jacob from conception was a trickster. Grabbing the heel of his twin brother Esau at birth, if you would. Seeking to get an advantage on him.
It is not long into the life of Jacob that we watch him scheming as he would do. He's the one that Convinces Esau, his brother, to to sell the birthright. You must understand that birthright was a big deal. It was his future, it was his inheritance, it was his livelihood. It was all that was due to him.
It wasn't something he could go pick up and replace down the road at the market store. It wasn't something he could trade with one of his friends to get back because he had done something with his brother. No, no, no. When Esau sold the birthright to Jacob, listen to me now, he could never get it back again. He was basically relinquishing.
The New Testament says he hated or despised his birthright. It literally means he belittled it, he devalued it, he viewed it less than what it was worth. And, ladies and gentlemen, I would say to you: in giving up his birthright, he really didn't realize just how valuable it was. Just for a little bit of food, he sold the birthright. And Jacob is the trickster that talks him into it.
This is not the message tonight, but could I tell you, as a man, Woman, boy, or girl, blood washed and redeemed, heaven-bound with God as your Father, Jesus as your Savior, the Holy Ghost as your comforter, and the Word of God as your guide. With heaven as your home, could I tell you you've got a birthright in Jesus? Amen. And by the way, it's not just going to be good when we see Jesus. I want to tell you, it's good right now.
And I tell you, I'm watching Christians every single day sell the birthright. Married people sell the birthright and throw their marriage away. Teenagers sell the birthright and throw their purity away. Young adults sell the birthright and marry the wrong person. Christians sell the birthright and embrace a lifestyle outside of the will of God.
Those who've known the Lord for many years sell the birthright and devalue the significance of what we have in Christ. Nothing the devil offers you, nothing the world illustrates before you. Nothing your flesh can present before you can be greater than what God has for you. And I come to you on a Monday night in Jesus' name to tell you, don't sell the birthright. Yeah.
Yeah he does. And Jacob is the one that talks him into it. It gets worse. Not only now has he sold the birthright, but he's eventually now Jacob going to steal the blessing. The blessing that is due the elder one.
The birthright was due the elder one. He sold that to Jacob because Jacob is cunning and conniving, and now he's going to steal the blessing. With a scheme concocted by His mother, they get together. lace his arms with hair that feel like Esau's. goes into his father whose eyesight is waning.
Initially, the father doesn't think it's Esau, but he convinces him, and now he gets the blessing that was due to his brother. His brother comes back now to his father to get the blessing, and the blessing is already gone. And Esau is livid, he's hot, he's absolutely boiling because now the brother who talked him into selling the birthright is now the brother who has stolen the blessing. He wants to kill his brother, he wants to ruin his brother, he wants to end his brother. But out of respect for their dying father, he won't do anything till the father dies.
Mama knows with this scheme that a boy is going to get murdered by her other son, so she sends him away to her family. And Esau and Jacob are now separated, estranged, and Separated. While the way Jacob ends up at a place called Bethel. You ever heard of it? Yeah.
It's where God shows up. Aren't you glad God shows up even when you mess up? Come on, somebody say amen. Don't sit up in here like you don't never mess up. Aren't you glad he shows up even when you mess him?
And that bath over there, that staircase, that ladder that comes down from heaven, those angels come down to meet him and God reminds him: listen, I still got you. I'm still going to use you. I still have a plan for you. I'm still going to protect you. I'm still going to take you safely to where I told you to go.
Aren't you glad that even when we fail, God, he's still faithful to us? He ends up at a place called Padanoram. And there when he gets to Padana Rim, Jacob spots. Rachel. Hubba hubba.
All right. He likes what he sees. And that's the way God made it to be. Amen. And he wants to marry her.
And you know the deal? He's going to work for seven years to marry her because she just means that much to him. He works seven years and marries her only to find out it ain't her. It's her sister and she ain't nearly as cute. He eventually gets Rachel and They now have a marriage together, and he begins working for her father-in-law.
And even while there, he's running game and pulling schemes. He's keeping the good animals for himself, and he's putting the bad animals for his father-in-law. His father-in-law doesn't even know it until he goes away from him. And then he finds out, Oh my goodness, my son-in-law has schemed on me, he's tricked me out of the good stuff. And he begins to chase Jacob down to try to catch up to him, to scold him, and to get back even with him for stealing those animals from him.
They end up making a truce and getting their situation together, and Jacob. Presses on. Are you watching him? He's running game and getting away with it. He's running game and getting away with it.
He's scheming and getting by with it. He's tricking people and not getting caught. He's getting backed into a corner and weaseling his way out of it. Could I say to you, the more you get away with foolishness, the more emboldened you are to repeat it.
Now he's He's at a different place where he's met my angels. Genesis 13. And word comes to him that Your brother Esau is coming to see you. These estranged brothers are going to meet again. It's been a long time.
The last time he remembered to be with Esau, he remembered that he had stolen the blessing and he was just on the heels of talking him into selling the birthright. It did not end well when they went separate ways and now they're going to be reunited again. Can I say to you, Esau worked out in the fields and Jacob stayed in the house working in the kitchen. I'm not a betting man, but if a fight's going on and I was one, I'm betting on the dude in the fields and not the boy baking cookies in the house. And don't say I'm picking on Jacob.
I think he thinks the same thing. That's why he was scared. Amen. So what does he do? He starts sending gifts to his brother.
Let me cool him down. Let me send some peace offerings. Let me send some ambassadors to give him some of my animals and some of my goods, and let me try to tone him down. And the response to receiving those gifts is that Esau is coming to see you with a band of several hundred men. That wasn't the response Jacob was looking for.
He's got his family with him. He's got his riches with him. He's got all this he's amassed over the years with him. But at this point in time, none of that's going to do them any good. He's in a situation that He has no answer for.
He has run into a wall that he cannot leap over. He has backed himself into a corner that he cannot weasel out of. He finds himself separated from his family by choice and at a place called Pinnium. And the scripture tells us. There He meets God.
Listen, please. Face to face. Face to face. Face to face. Not daddy, not brother, not father-in-law, God.
Not friend, not boss, not peer, God. Not judge on a human level or person who's decently wise. No, God. There he's at piteous and he meets God face to face. See, he's come to the point where he can't weasel his way out of this one.
He's come to the point where he can't talk his way out of this one. He come to the point where he can't finagle his one. Matter of fact, he's even come to the place he can't impress his way out of this one. Listen to me. He can impress daddy-in-law.
He can impress daddy. He can impress brother. He can impress mama. But you can't impress the creator of the universe. You can't impress the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, immutable, and eternal God.
He has met his match. And could I say to you, it is on this day that that lying. Cheating, tricking Jacob. He had his life forever, ever transformed. It happened at a place called Pineel.
It did not happen because of who he was. It happened because of who he was with. Come on now. And I've come to tell you, he got to a spot he'd never been before, and he ended up a way he'd never been before. And he got to a place he would never, ever be the same.
Could I say to you tonight, I'm sick and tired of just revival meetings. I'm sick and tired of just conferences. I'm sick and tired of just services. I'm sick and tired of status quo, routine, mechanics, and doing what we do, singing all four stanzas, raising our hand at the same time, going to the altar and doing our thing, and going back home the same way we came before we left. God help us in these last days.
We need a transformation in our lives that only God can get. Can I tell you, you ain't gonna get it by looking at me, you ain't gonna get it by looking at each other, you ain't gonna get it by looking at the church members, you ain't gonna get it by looking at me. Looking at the online service, the only way to get what you need, you got to get face to face with God. Yeah. And tonight I'm inviting this congregation.
Take a trip with me to Pennell. Careful now. Careful now. You can pack your persona when you go to revival services, but you better not try that at Pentium. You can figure too you make it in some in some arenas, but you better not try that at Pennium.
Yeah. You can get away with impressing people in other places by what you wear and how you sound and who you are and how long you've been a Christian, but that won't fly at Penny O. Why'd you come tonight? Who'd you come looking for? Did you come to see a guest preacher?
Did you come to see another church member? Did you come to be seen? Or did you come to get in God's face tonight? Yeah. to face with God.
Follow me. We won't be long tonight, but in the text, would you follow me first of all? Through Jacob's condition. You say tonight, I want to go to Pennell. I don't want to leave here the same way I came.
I don't want to be who I've been. I don't want to do what I've been doing. I don't want to perpetuate what my Christian. I'm tired of staleness. I'm tired of mundane.
I'm tired of status. Could I say to you tonight, I don't care who else's Bible I sign. I don't care what other meeting I preach in. I could care less who's following me online. It really only matters who I am in God's face.
Yes. His condition, if you would. First of all, he's afraid. Look at verse number nine of Genesis 32. And Jacob said, Oh my God, of my father Abraham, oh God of my father Isaac, the Lord which said unto me, Return into thy country into thy kindred, I will deal with thee.
I'm not worthy of the least of all thy mercies and of all thy truth, which thou hast shown unto thy servant. For with my staff I have passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands. You know what he's saying? I had to separate my family from me so we wouldn't all get killed at once. Look, he says in verse number 11, Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.
Watch this down. For I fear him, lest he will come and smite me and the mother, and smite me, and the mother with the children. I fear him. He's afraid. He's afraid.
Why? He's in a situation where if something doesn't happen, he's a goner. If something doesn't happen, he's dead. His wives are dead. His kids are dead.
His life is over. He's come to a spot where he needs divine intervention. He needs a supernatural breakthrough. He can't get out of this alive unless God comes through. I wonder if there's some.
That's come to a revival tonight, different than all the other meetings, different than all the other times, different than your regular punch the clock and check the box church service. Maybe if you've come tonight to say, God, I didn't come here tonight so the preacher would see I was there. I didn't come here tonight so the brethren wouldn't call to see where I was. I didn't come here tonight just to sit in my regular seat to feel good about this week. I came here tonight because I'm convinced I'm terrified if I keep going through the Christian life the way I've been doing it, the way it's been, trying it the same way.
I'm done, I'm gone, I'm finished, I'm over. Is anybody in here tonight afraid to leave how you came? He was afraid. Notice, beloved, he was alone. 24 says Jacob was left alone.
No wife, no kids, no mom, no servants, no. No bodyguards. You can come to church with a friend. You can go to work with your coworkers. You can go door knocking.
with your group of soul winners. But when you come to Pennyham You got to come by yourself. You know what I found out, Pastor? Most Christians can't handle God alone. I said most Christians can't handle God alone.
I'm all for coming to church and praying together, but I'm not for Christians who can't pray unless somebody else is with them. And I'm gonna be honest with you, sometimes I go to the altar, I don't want five people praying with me. Because what I'm talking about, I don't want them to hear. Ain't none of their business. And they can't do nothing about it anyway.
You know what's wrong with some Christians? They got five people praying for them, but when all five of them leave and they talk to God, it's crickets.
Somebody's got to get out of the cringe territory with God. We got to get out of this scene where it's awkward to talk with God all by ourselves. I tell you, it wouldn't be awkward if you'd practice doing it every morning.
Somebody help me preach. It wouldn't be awkward if you'd meet him before you went to bed. It wouldn't be awkward if he was your bearer. It wouldn't be awkward if you'd reached for him before you reached for your social media page. It wouldn't be awkward if you'd call him for approval instead of calling everybody who's who.
I'm simply telling you, you could graduate out of awkward if you'd get a routine of more than just pumping it in because you said so and actually talking to God like you need him. He's afraid he's alone. He's away. Away from what? Away from familiarity.
away from his comfort zone. The man's got money, that won't help him. The man's got a servant. They can't help him. The man's got more than one wife.
They can't help him either. Uh drinking. Could I tell you, could I, could I tell you, Pennial will flush you out of your comfort zone?
Somebody helped me preach tonight. I said, Penny, we'll flush you out of it.
Some of you are going through something you didn't plan on.
Some of you have lost a job that you thought you'd never lose.
Some of you have gotten news from the doctor you thought you'd never receive.
Some of you are praying for a prodigal you thought would never leave.
Some of you are facing marital crisis and you thought anybody else but you.
Some of you are walking down a valley that you didn't even see on your radar.
Some of you are looking to God for stuff you never thought you would lose. Could I tell you, instead of whining about being out of your comfort zone, maybe you need to wake up to the fact that until God gets me away from where I'm familiar, I may never turn my eyes to him. It's his condition. Notice secondly, his conflict. Verse 24 says, and they wrestled a man with him.
Jacob was left alone. They wrestled a man with him. There's a wrestling match. Anyone ever watch wrestling?
Okay. How about MMA? What else they got? What's that other stuff called? Craziness.
I mean they're just killing each other and people paying to watch it. But look at your Bible tonight. You're watching a fight. Yeah, you know. Two people fighting?
The Bible said there wrestled a man with him. Who's the him? Jacob, there wrestled a man with him. There's a fight. There's a conflict.
There's a conflict. Some of you looking in your Bible is going, why is there a conflict? I'll tell you why there's a conflict because God is holy. Can I get an amen? When I say holiness, I'm not talking about a denomination.
I'm talking about a foremost characteristic of God. I say God is holy. You know what it means? Marked off. It means distinct.
I'm glad we heard about a God who's distinct. He's different than Muhammad. He's different than Buddha. He's different than Mary. He's different than the Pope.
He's different than a priest. He's different than the president. He's different than a preacher. He's different than a cow that used to be your grandma. He's king of kings and he's lord of lords.
He's distinct. You know, there's a conflict.
Now because Jacobs. Jay, Jacobs, Jacobs. Not holy. The conflict is because God is holy, and the conflict is because God is holy, and Jacob's not holy. And let me tell you something: whenever you've got a holy God and an unholy person, you always gonna have a conflict.
Mm. And he's wrestling with him. Notice what the scripture says, verse 25, and when he saw, this is God now, when he saw that he prevailed not against him.
Now, the him is the Jacob. Please understand.
Now, God, God is evaluating. I'm fighting this guy, and he's not backing down. I'm fighting this guy, and he won't let me win. I'm fighting this guy, and he won't give in. I'm fighting this guy, and he won't submit.
I'm fighting this guy, and he keeps fighting back. I'm fighting this guy, and he's stubborn. I'm fighting this guy, and he's hard-headed. I'm fighting this guy, and he keeps resisting me. I'm fighting this guy, and he won't let up.
I'm fighting this guy, and he keeps fighting me back. And you're looking down like me on the pages of your scripture, and we're looking back in time, and we've been saved for a little while, and we got our little sanctified fingers looking down at Jacob, and we're screaming like a guy on the basketball court getting ready to shoot that you know cannot shoot. I've been a coach before, and he's winding up behind the three-point line, and he shouldn't even be in the game, but all the other players fouled out, so we have no choice. And he's winding up to shoot a three-point, and I'm screaming. No, no, no, no, you're terrible.
No, shit. And you're looking down at your Bible tonight and you're saying, no, Jacob, no, Jake. Come on now. Aren't we all in agreement that Jacob is fighting a battle he can't win if he's fighting God? Come on now.
Aren't you looking at it? Don't fight. No, no, no, Jacob. Don't kick God. No, no, no, no, Jake, Jake, Jake, Jake, Jake.
Jake, my man, tap out, my man. Tap out. Jake, Jake, Jake. I know, look, look, I know you won a lot of matches, but you are out of your league right now, my man. Ain't no use.
You're wasting your time. You ain't gonna be God. Nobody did it. Nobody can't. Could I remind you tonight before you put your Pharisaical, sanctimonious, judgmental hand on your page and tell Jacob stop fighting God?
What are you fighting him about? What have you been listening to in your car that you know God don't want you listening to? God. You can wave your hand to behold our God all you want to. But if you go back in your car and listen to music that defies your God, you ain't going to get revival.
Don't get cried on me. I'm still preaching. What you been clicking on that God can't stand? Sir, I hate to bust your bubble, but just because you get real spiritual when you come to church and you're real carnal in your relationship with your wife doesn't mean you're going to fool God. 1 Peter chapter 3, God in essence said: if you can't talk to her, don't talk to me.
That your prayers be not hindered. Are you fighting God tonight? In an area, how about prayer? How about giving? This is revival.
This is revival. I found out there are Christians that love to shout, but they don't like to give. You know, the same hand that you raise in praise to the Lord, the same hand you put something in an offering play with. And I tell a lot of people don't get nervous when I start talking about tithe and I haven't even started talking about your money yet. The tithe is the Lord's.
Amen. Make sure if your hand is holy enough to praise, it's holy enough to pay. Because tithing is not donating to God. It's paying what you owe God. What are you fighting about?
How about teenager? Don't tell me you love God and you're fighting your parents. Who are you fighting? What authority are you fighting in your life? He's bucking God's way.
And because he's bucking God's way, it forces God to break his will. In the text, please, he touched the hollow of his thigh, 25, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, and he wrestled with him. Let me tell you something. I think there are enough of us in here that will attest to the fact it is not fun to have something out of joint. And maybe you need to take your Thigh off the prayer list for being out of joint.
And maybe you just need to quit fighting God. I think sometimes we're trying to pray things back into our lives the way we want them to be, and the problem is not prayer, the problem is obedience. That's good. He touched him. Maybe God's touching you tonight.
God give me a job. Maybe he took it. because you're fighting him. God give me a better relationship. Maybe he split it up because you're fighting him.
God fixed this in my life. Maybe God sent it because you're fighting him. Maybe you want your kickback, but God says, I ain't going to give you your kickback if you're going to keep kicking me. I'm not gonna give you your swing back if you keep swinging at me. Buck God's way, God broke his will so God could begin to work.
Yeah. Wouldn't it be something if God broke some wheels today? Would you land him? What amazes me in the passage of scripture is that Jacob is fighting with everything in him to defeat God, but it only takes God's touch to stop him. Can I tell you something?
It's hard to fight God. It's not hard for God to break your will. That's Jacob's condition and Jacob's Consulate. Thirdly, if you would. Notice Jacob's cry.
In verse 26, the Bible says, And he said, This is God speaking to Jacob. Let me go. The daybreak at the sun is rising, man. I'm gone. I'm gone.
I'm done fighting with you. I'm done fooling with you. I'm done spending this time with you. I'm leaving. I'm leaving.
I'm leaving. I've been wrestling with you all night long. Let me go. I want you to notice in the text, Jacob's response, verse 26. And he said, This is Jacob, I will not let thee go.
I'll tell you, Jacob's cry in Genesis 32: it's a cry of determination. Listen, for once, he actually was saying the right thing. I will not let you go. Is there anybody in the building tonight so serious about God that you'll grab him and you won't let him go? Oh, I tell you, we're so passionate about so many things.
We're passionate about sports, about politics, about friendships, about weather, about cuisine, about clothing, about shopping, about taxes, about television. God, help us tonight to get passionate about God. Have you ever gotten to the point where you Said, I won't let you go. I'm too determined. You search the scripture for somebody more determined than you see, Jacob in Genesis 32.
I will not. God said, I'm leaving. God said, I'm listening to me. Service is going to be over a little bit, and what we had tonight can end as soon as the final amen happens. Thank you for listening today.
We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kerwin Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192. or via the web. at Kerwin Baptist Church.com.
Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin Broadcast today. God bless you.
