WEBVTT 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:05.419 Well, good morning. Let me add my welcome to that of Graham's. My name's Archie. I'm the 00:00:05.419 --> 00:00:11.720 pastor in training here, and it's my joy to be opening God's Word for us this morning. 00:00:11.820 --> 00:00:16.620 We're going to be in Genesis chapter 33. In a few minutes' time, Simona is going to come 00:00:16.620 --> 00:00:19.679 and read that for us, but it's worth having it open in front of you, so do get it open 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:27.560 now, page 36 in the Pew Bibles, Genesis 33. But before Simona reads, and I guess by way 00:00:27.559 --> 00:00:32.379 of introduction, to get us to what I think is the heart of this passage, I want to just 00:00:32.379 --> 00:00:37.100 begin with this story. You might have heard it before. I wonder if you've heard of Florence 00:00:37.100 --> 00:00:45.560 Chadwick. Sixty years ago, Florence set out to swim to Catalina Island. It's an island 26 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:50.659 miles off the California coast. 26 miles is a very long way to run. It's a ridiculously 00:00:50.659 --> 00:00:56.480 long way to swim. And the waters off the coast of California, they're shark-infested waters. 00:00:56.479 --> 00:01:02.239 The weather is temperamental. This journey that she had embarked on is monumental. 00:01:03.959 --> 00:01:09.039 As she sets off, you can maybe picture her, she's surrounded by a fleet of small boats for 00:01:09.039 --> 00:01:13.280 support. Imagine how you'd begin to feel. For me, it would probably be less than a mile 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:21.579 in. But imagine you're swimming 10, 12, 15 miles, exhausted. You're repetitively pulling 00:01:21.579 --> 00:01:26.640 yourself through the increasingly choppy water. Your legs are kicking like mad. And you're 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:33.840 terrified because every unusual wave looks like the inevitable shark's fin. For Florence, 00:01:34.259 --> 00:01:41.319 it was 15 hours into her swim, and this thick fog descended all around her. Apparently, she 00:01:41.319 --> 00:01:45.299 said in that moment to her mum, her mum was on one of the support boats. Apparently, she said 00:01:45.299 --> 00:01:51.459 as the fog came down, she said she just didn't think she was going to make it. With a little 00:01:51.459 --> 00:01:58.179 bit of encouragement, she swam for another hour. But then 16 hours in, with the fog still bearing 00:01:58.179 --> 00:02:04.560 down on her, she couldn't hack it anymore, and she quit. 16 hours in, she gave up on this 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:10.680 epic journey. She was pulled into her support boat. She lay there on the deck. And then the 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:17.860 heartbreaking news, because just one mile later, they arrived at Catalina Island. Just a mile 00:02:17.860 --> 00:02:24.680 from finishing. Heartbreaking. If only she'd known how close she was. If only she had been 00:02:24.680 --> 00:02:32.280 able to fix her mind on that destination. Maybe life can feel a bit like that for you. Like 00:02:32.280 --> 00:02:40.580 you're battling through shark-infested waters. Exhausted. Anxious. On this terrible 00:02:40.580 --> 00:02:46.440 journey through life. No idea where you're going or how long it's going to take to get there. 00:02:48.060 --> 00:02:53.720 And listen, if you're a Christian in the room, you know, you need to know the wonderful promise 00:02:53.720 --> 00:03:01.200 of an eternal destination. You know that, don't you? But it can be ridiculously hard to see it. 00:03:01.980 --> 00:03:08.860 And when the fog descends and the sharks are scary and the swim is exhausting, you have got to remember 00:03:08.860 --> 00:03:15.120 that promise. And if you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, this is what is on offer. 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:21.760 This is the promise of the gospel. Though the journey through life is hard yet, has moments of 00:03:21.760 --> 00:03:26.780 pleasure and of breakthrough, of course it does. But it is, isn't it? Life is hard, marked by trials 00:03:26.780 --> 00:03:32.640 and suffering and challenges and setbacks. And in the midst of all of that, this is what Christianity 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:39.000 has to offer you this morning. Because of what Jesus has done, there is an eternal destination, 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:46.639 a life beyond this life. An island, if you like, where the shark-infested waters are behind you, 00:03:47.359 --> 00:03:52.639 where the frantic swim of life is over and the fog has lifted. 00:03:54.279 --> 00:03:58.139 See, for the first readers of this text that we're coming to together this morning, 00:03:58.139 --> 00:04:04.319 God has just rescued them out of slavery in Egypt and they're on this journey in the wilderness to 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:11.219 the promised land, to Canaan. And for them, they needed to know that despite all of the challenges 00:04:11.219 --> 00:04:15.879 that they had faced and that they were facing in the wilderness, they needed to know that God's 00:04:15.879 --> 00:04:23.120 promise to bring them into that promised land, God's promise to bring them home was sure. 00:04:24.500 --> 00:04:27.819 If you've got chapter 33 in front of you, I know we've not read it yet, 00:04:27.819 --> 00:04:32.180 but just have a look at verse 18 with me before we do, because I think this will help us understand 00:04:32.180 --> 00:04:35.719 it when we come to read it. Verse 18, key verse. 00:04:37.180 --> 00:04:45.039 After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped 00:04:45.039 --> 00:04:50.839 within sight of the city. We'll come back to it, but for the ancient Israelite, like I say, 00:04:50.899 --> 00:04:57.279 on their way into the promised land, that verse, because despite all the challenges that Jacob had faced, 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:03.339 if you've been here over the last few weeks and months, despite 20 years of what was essentially 00:05:03.339 --> 00:05:10.959 slavery in Paddan Aram, the Lord has brought him safely to Canaan, Canaan the promised land. 00:05:11.739 --> 00:05:17.879 Jacob hasn't done what Florence did. He hasn't quit and the Lord has brought him through. That is a 00:05:17.879 --> 00:05:24.279 wonderful encouragement to the first readers of this book. And in the shark infested waters of our own 00:05:24.279 --> 00:05:29.059 exhausting journeys. I hope that this will be a wonderful encouragement to us too. 00:05:30.599 --> 00:05:35.000 That's where we're going. I think that's the big move of this passage this morning. But just quickly, 00:05:35.459 --> 00:05:40.279 where have we been? To set the scene for our passage, I think it's worth thinking about just 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:46.779 the last couple of weeks. We've been in chapter 32. In the first half of chapter 32, within two weeks 00:05:46.779 --> 00:05:53.259 ago, we saw that Jacob is preparing to meet Esau. If you remember right back at the start of this 00:05:53.259 --> 00:06:00.779 Jacob story, Jacob stole Esau's birthright, the blessing that was due to Esau as the firstborn son. 00:06:01.339 --> 00:06:07.839 And then Esau is murderously angry. And so Jacob flees to Paddan Aram, where he'd spent 20 years working 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:13.759 for his relative Laban. He's acquired two wives and 11 children and lots and lots of animals. 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:20.180 And then he begins this journey. And he's preparing to meet his brother Esau. He's terrified. 00:06:20.939 --> 00:06:28.519 In chapter 32, he prays, save me from the hand of my brother Esau. And then we saw last week with 00:06:28.519 --> 00:06:35.360 Graham that as he prepares to meet his brother, Jacob encounters God. He wrestles with God. And God 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:42.139 gives him this new name, Israel, the overcomer. There's obviously lots more in chapter 32. You can 00:06:42.139 --> 00:06:47.439 catch up with all of that on our website, but just notice what has happened. Jacob has encountered 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:53.579 God. He has been transformed by grace. That's what this given name shows us. He has been transformed 00:06:53.579 --> 00:06:59.319 by grace. And so we've got to be asking, what is that going to do? What is the proof of that 00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:04.759 transformation? And I think that begins to be worked out in our chapter this morning. So let's 00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:08.339 read it together. Simona, if you want to come up and read for us. 00:07:12.259 --> 00:07:17.779 And thanks so much, Simona. Guys, do, as ever, keep your Bibles open and you'll find it helpful 00:07:17.779 --> 00:07:23.539 as we go through the text to have that open in front of you. And forgive me, I want to tell another 00:07:23.539 --> 00:07:29.959 story. And I read this story. I can't remember where I read it. I have a feeling it was in C.S. Lewis, 00:07:29.959 --> 00:07:34.159 but I can't seem to find it. It might have been somewhere else. I might have made it up. If you've 00:07:34.159 --> 00:07:38.719 heard it before, please come and tell me where you found it, because I've no idea where it's from. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:42.599 I'm bound to get some of the details wrong, but it goes something like this. It's kind of Downton 00:07:42.599 --> 00:07:49.199 Abbey era, if you can imagine. You know, you've got like, either you live in the big house or you work 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:54.799 for the big house. And you've got the daughter of the Lord and the lady who own the house. She looks 00:07:54.800 --> 00:08:00.259 every bit the kind of upstanding moral character. She goes to church every Sunday. She never smokes, 00:08:00.360 --> 00:08:05.060 never drinks, never swears. And then you have the staff of the house, and they're a bit more rough 00:08:05.060 --> 00:08:10.580 around the edges, more likely to smoke and drink and gamble and swear. And one of those members of 00:08:10.580 --> 00:08:16.040 staff, he's the driver, and he's the worst of all of them. You can picture him not only a smoker and a 00:08:16.040 --> 00:08:21.699 drinker and a gambler and every second word a swear, but he's also a liar and a cheat and a thief. 00:08:21.699 --> 00:08:27.339 And then one day, the driver, he's in town. He's just dropped off the youngest daughter of the 00:08:27.339 --> 00:08:31.439 house at the milliner's shop, the hat shop. And while he waits, knowing that she's going to be 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:37.360 a while, he pops off to the Goat and Tricycle for a pint. While there, a strange man sits next to him 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:42.460 at the bar, and they get chatting. And long story short, the strange man tells our driver about Jesus, 00:08:42.679 --> 00:08:48.340 just very simply shares the gospel with him. The driver is convinced that he has a problem, 00:08:48.340 --> 00:08:54.220 that he desperately needs to be reconciled to the God who created him, and that Jesus is the answer. 00:08:55.180 --> 00:09:00.800 And so he, this smoking, drinking, gambling, swearing, lying, cheating thief, this driver 00:09:00.800 --> 00:09:08.540 gradually just very slowly begins to change. On this journey of life, he starts to see the effects 00:09:08.540 --> 00:09:15.920 of grace. And I want to ask the Christian in the room this morning, do you see the effects of grace 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:24.120 in your life? On your way to that destination that we started with, maybe you were never a smoking, 00:09:24.319 --> 00:09:29.439 drinking, gambling, swearing, cheating, lying thief. I don't know, maybe you were, and maybe some of that 00:09:29.439 --> 00:09:38.759 you still are. But is the grace of God at work in your life? Are you growing? Because we'll see in our 00:09:38.759 --> 00:09:43.719 passage today that this is the mark of God's people as they journey towards that wonderful eternal 00:09:43.720 --> 00:09:52.180 destination. We encounter God, we experience that wonderful forgiveness, and he transforms our hearts. 00:09:53.100 --> 00:09:59.700 But transformed hearts, by grace, produce lives that are being transformed. 00:10:01.420 --> 00:10:05.240 And so as we approach this text together this morning, just be prepared to ask yourself 00:10:05.240 --> 00:10:12.040 that question. Do I see the effects of grace in my life? Am I being transformed and shaped by him 00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:20.919 into someone who looks more like him? Am I growing as a Christian? Because we'll see that for Jacob, 00:10:21.259 --> 00:10:26.439 as we walk through this chapter together, we'll see that the transformed heart that we read about 00:10:26.439 --> 00:10:34.459 in chapter 32 is leading to a life that is starting to be transformed. Five proofs. I think we'll see five 00:10:34.459 --> 00:10:40.980 proofs that Jacob is growing in that sort of direction on his journey. Before we get to that first proof, 00:10:40.980 --> 00:10:46.940 just notice with me in verse one. Notice the name that Moses, the author, uses here. 00:10:47.899 --> 00:10:52.980 Just before this in chapter 32, he's been renamed Israel. That's a sign of his transformation. 00:10:53.759 --> 00:11:00.800 And then here in verse one, it's Jacob again. I think Moses is trying to say that this man, see, 00:11:00.860 --> 00:11:07.120 he isn't immediately fingers clicked encounter with God, and then immediately made a perfect man. He's not 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:15.500 yet Israel. He's still Jacob. This man transformed by grace has a life that needs to continue being 00:11:15.500 --> 00:11:21.240 transformed. It's a journey of growth. And we get that growth all the way through this passage. He's 00:11:21.240 --> 00:11:30.399 growing. And here's the first proof as he grows in courage. Still in verse one, I think Moses is 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:36.299 building tension for us in the text. Esau is coming with 400 men. That doesn't sound like that many, but 00:11:36.299 --> 00:11:42.620 that's a terrifying military force compared to the women and children and animals with Jacob. And then 00:11:42.620 --> 00:11:48.860 in verse two, it looks like Jacob is sending his people out in front of him again, just like he'd done 00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:54.899 in chapter 32, like lambs to the slaughter. And there's obvious favoritism. Remember, this is Jacob, 00:11:54.899 --> 00:12:01.860 not Israel. And if you remember, he loved Rachel most, and she goes at the back. She's most protected. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:09.179 And we expect him to be with her. But then in verse three, we begin to see how he's growing in courage. 00:12:09.939 --> 00:12:15.740 For this time, he doesn't just send them out ahead of him. No, look at verse three. He himself went on 00:12:15.740 --> 00:12:22.779 ahead. And the tension, it continues to build in the narrative as we read that. How's this meeting going 00:12:22.779 --> 00:12:30.639 to go? What are the 400 men going to do to Jacob, even as he grows in courage? Skip down to verse 10 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:37.019 with me. I think verse 10 helps Moses make his point. The second half of verse 10, Jacob says to Esau, 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:45.299 for to see your face is to see the face of God. That is quite a puzzling thing to say. I think at least 00:12:45.299 --> 00:12:51.240 I found that puzzling. But I think what it's doing is it's a reference to what Jacob was expecting to 00:12:51.240 --> 00:12:58.259 encounter with Esau. What happens when someone sees the face of God? In the story of the Old 00:12:58.259 --> 00:13:08.240 Testament, unholy people meeting a holy God is a death sentence. And in chapter 32, we've just seen 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:14.560 Jacob wrestles with God. He overcomes. He faces God and doesn't die. And I think that gives him the 00:13:14.560 --> 00:13:21.139 courage to face Esau in the same way. He expected it to be a death sentence. And he's growing in 00:13:21.139 --> 00:13:28.220 courage. Just think about the first readers of this text again. As they think about returning to 00:13:28.220 --> 00:13:33.159 Canaan in the promised land, they know that to get there, they're going to have to face their enemies. 00:13:33.379 --> 00:13:37.879 They know that their enemies are much, much stronger than them. And they're going to need to be 00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:45.620 courageous as they face probable death in the face. As we navigate this life on our way to that 00:13:45.620 --> 00:13:53.279 promised eternity. As our lives are being transformed by grace. I want to ask, are we growing in courage 00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:59.340 in this way? Now, we probably don't have enemies that are on their way to kill us. But we can still 00:13:59.340 --> 00:14:06.120 ask ourselves, are we growing in courage in the face of death? In the face of that cancer diagnosis? 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:12.519 That illness? That family member? Are we growing as Christians in the face of death? 00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:19.340 If you were here for our series in Philippians earlier this year, Paul writes there, chapter 1, 00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:28.059 verse 15, to live is Christ, to die is gain. That's courage in the face of death, to know 00:14:28.059 --> 00:14:36.659 that where you're going, your eternal destination really is gain. And it's also courage in life. 00:14:36.659 --> 00:14:44.699 For Paul says, to live is Christ. That is growing in the courage to obey God when it is much easier 00:14:44.699 --> 00:14:52.620 not to. Growing in the courage to swim against the cultural tide, knowing where we're swimming, 00:14:52.779 --> 00:14:59.219 knowing what our eternal destination is. Jacob is transformed by grace. And the first proof 00:14:59.220 --> 00:15:05.480 is that he is growing in courage. I've just seen the biggest spider I have ever seen walk across. 00:15:06.379 --> 00:15:12.180 We're all going to need lots of courage to face that. The second proof comes right after it in 00:15:12.180 --> 00:15:21.460 verse 3. It's humility. See, in verse 3, Jacob bows down before Esau. He's growing in humility. 00:15:21.460 --> 00:15:28.840 Seven times in verse 3. He lays himself flat on the ground. Can you imagine bowing to the ground, 00:15:28.980 --> 00:15:34.560 prostrating yourself to the ground and back up again? Seven times. It's like seven burpees. 00:15:35.560 --> 00:15:41.060 It's enough to humble any man. This is not a proud man anymore. And in the following verses, 00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:48.420 he calls himself Esau's servant five times. He calls Esau his lord four times. I've never called my 00:15:48.419 --> 00:15:55.339 brother, my lord, nor have I ever called myself his servant. Jacob had spent the early years of his 00:15:55.339 --> 00:16:02.099 life deceiving his brother, taking advantage of his brother. And now he comes to him humbly. Why? 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:10.439 Because God has shown him, he has shown Jacob that he needs grace. And that is the most humbling 00:16:10.439 --> 00:16:17.539 experience that a human being can face, I think. For Jacob, this is the second proof, growing humility. 00:16:17.539 --> 00:16:24.240 And before we think about humility for ourselves, and as the narrative continues to build that tension 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:30.959 for us, picture Jacob at the front of his household, Esau and these 400 men ready to meet him in battle, 00:16:31.079 --> 00:16:37.399 Jacob bows down and we're asking, how is Esau going to respond? And what are we expecting? 00:16:39.379 --> 00:16:44.159 I think verse 4 is supposed to be a massive surprise. See what Esau does in verse 4. 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:51.980 He ran to meet Jacob and embraced him. He threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. 00:16:53.179 --> 00:17:01.899 We surely expect Esau to run at him and attack him, but he embraces him. We surely expect him to 00:17:01.899 --> 00:17:08.940 throw his arms around his neck and throttle him, but he kisses him. Something remarkable, 00:17:08.940 --> 00:17:16.519 supernatural, has clearly happened in Esau's heart, even as God's grace has clearly been at work in 00:17:16.519 --> 00:17:23.660 Jacob. And so for both of them, and this is our third mark of a transformed heart, is growing 00:17:23.660 --> 00:17:31.140 forgiveness. As the murderous brother has become the merciful brother, and as the deceitful brother has 00:17:31.140 --> 00:17:35.799 become the deferential brother, and there is a wonderful reconciliation. 00:17:35.799 --> 00:17:44.159 Maybe verse 4 is a familiar image to you. The wronged party running to embrace the estranged 00:17:44.159 --> 00:17:51.180 relative. It's Jesus's prodigal son, isn't it, if you know the story. The son takes his inheritance 00:17:51.180 --> 00:17:57.159 early. He disappears into a foreign land. He squanders it on fast living, and then he returns, 00:17:57.579 --> 00:18:02.740 worried about how his father will respond. And this is what Jesus says, 00:18:02.740 --> 00:18:09.180 While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him 00:18:09.180 --> 00:18:17.180 and kissed him. It's a wonderful picture of reconciliation. And Jesus uses that story, 00:18:17.339 --> 00:18:23.640 drawing on this Jacob story, as a picture of the reconciliation between God and man. 00:18:23.640 --> 00:18:30.220 Because as Graham has just read for us in 2 Corinthians, reconciliation is right at the heart of the 00:18:30.220 --> 00:18:37.580 gospel. It's the same here with Jacob and Esau, because every horizontal reconciliation like that, 00:18:37.640 --> 00:18:43.440 where God's grace has been at work, every horizontal reconciliation is a picture of the vertical 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:51.900 reconciliation between God and man. It is a proof of a heart transformed by grace, growing forgiveness. 00:18:51.900 --> 00:19:01.160 And do you see how that is inseparable from humility, the second proof? Because as we go on this journey 00:19:01.160 --> 00:19:07.420 and we realize just how deeply flawed we are, knowing that we have not lived according to his ways, 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:15.019 how thoroughly we need Jesus, that's humility. And yet as we enjoy the wonders of his mercy and 00:19:15.019 --> 00:19:20.779 forgiveness to us, we experience that vertical reconciliation, it's rooted in that humility. 00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:31.440 But that ought to then be expressed and enjoyed and proven by horizontal reconciliation, forgiveness amongst us. 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:35.299 Paul would say in Philippians chapter 2, 00:19:35.299 --> 00:19:39.680 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:44.059 Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves. 00:19:44.539 --> 00:19:48.419 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ. 00:19:49.419 --> 00:19:54.019 Christ, who is very nature God, humbled himself to the position of a servant, 00:19:54.740 --> 00:19:58.399 humbled himself even to a humiliating death on a cross. 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:02.680 If you see the lengths that Christ went to so that you might be forgiven, 00:20:03.660 --> 00:20:09.540 reconciled vertically to your maker, and so giving us all that we need to forgive, 00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:11.800 reconciled to one another horizontally. 00:20:13.080 --> 00:20:15.240 Let me acknowledge that this is really hard. 00:20:15.640 --> 00:20:20.019 If you've ever faced real relational breakdown, maybe with your family or your friends, 00:20:20.060 --> 00:20:21.600 that is incredibly painful. 00:20:22.500 --> 00:20:26.640 And taking steps towards reconciliation can feel impossible. 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:33.800 But with a heart transformed by grace, you can trust God, 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:36.560 and you can seek reconciliation. 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:39.420 For your part, you can grow in forgiveness. 00:20:40.620 --> 00:20:42.100 Would you pray in that direction? 00:20:43.640 --> 00:20:45.500 Because this is right at the heart of the gospel. 00:20:47.160 --> 00:20:53.040 For Jacob, the third proof of a transforming grace is a growing forgiveness. 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:53.440 Forgiveness. 00:20:54.639 --> 00:20:57.799 The fourth proof, a growing witness. 00:20:58.139 --> 00:20:59.559 Oh, that's a lovely picture of forgiveness. 00:20:59.819 --> 00:21:00.879 I should have put that on earlier, sorry. 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:03.480 Growing witness. 00:21:03.740 --> 00:21:04.700 See in verse 5, 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:10.019 Esau asks where all these people with Jacob have come from in verse 5. 00:21:10.059 --> 00:21:11.119 Who do they belong to, he says. 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:12.119 And Jacob's answer, 00:21:13.099 --> 00:21:16.200 These are the children that God has graciously given me. 00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:17.759 See what he's doing there? 00:21:17.819 --> 00:21:20.059 He's witnessing to God's goodness. 00:21:20.059 --> 00:21:24.460 Again, in verse 8, this time Esau asks a question, 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:27.819 this time about the animals that Jacob had sent ahead as a gift. 00:21:28.700 --> 00:21:31.679 Jacob's trying to persuade Esau to accept this gift. 00:21:31.960 --> 00:21:33.480 And what does he say in verse 11? 00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:37.339 Same thing, God has been gracious to me. 00:21:38.460 --> 00:21:40.019 And it's a growing witness. 00:21:41.099 --> 00:21:44.319 He's not afraid to speak of how God has blessed him. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:47.439 And not only to speak of it, but to share it. 00:21:47.779 --> 00:21:53.619 The generosity as Jacob actually wants to give God's gracious gifts to him, to Esau. 00:21:54.419 --> 00:21:57.740 That is a witness to what God has done for him. 00:21:58.819 --> 00:22:03.279 And from Moses, I think that is a reminder for the wilderness generation, remember them. 00:22:03.919 --> 00:22:06.960 That they are called to be a light to the nations. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:11.500 And so let me ask, are we growing in our witness? 00:22:12.860 --> 00:22:14.799 With hearts transformed by grace, 00:22:14.900 --> 00:22:20.200 are we increasingly able and willing to speak of what God has done for us? 00:22:20.600 --> 00:22:24.740 I was listening, sorry, to the Speak Life podcast earlier this week, 00:22:24.819 --> 00:22:26.160 a podcast with Glenn Scrivener. 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:27.279 Highly recommend it. 00:22:27.299 --> 00:22:28.100 It's a great listen. 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:32.539 But in it, Glenn Scrivener said something really helpful and really encouraging. 00:22:32.539 --> 00:22:37.159 He said this, just constantly be thinking, what do I love about Jesus? 00:22:38.659 --> 00:22:41.579 I couldn't have got through X without Jesus. 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:45.299 He said, you don't have to have great philosophical arguments. 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:48.480 This is how the church has grown over millennia. 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:52.839 It's always just been ordinary Christians talking about Jesus. 00:22:54.379 --> 00:22:56.139 I find that really helpful. 00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:02.119 The reminder that growing in my witness isn't primarily about having clever arguments. 00:23:02.539 --> 00:23:11.980 No, it's primarily about loving Jesus and sharing the ways that he's blessed me with those around me. 00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:15.420 There's our fourth proof, growing witness. 00:23:16.180 --> 00:23:21.859 And the fifth and final proof of a transformed heart by grace is growing worship. 00:23:23.240 --> 00:23:29.099 I see in verse 12, in verse 12, Esau wants Jacob to come back to see it with him. 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:30.539 A bit of geography. 00:23:30.539 --> 00:23:35.019 There is a map at the front of the church Bible, which might help a little bit here. 00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:38.819 Seir is sort of on the front cover. 00:23:38.980 --> 00:23:47.319 Seir is sort of down in the southeast and then southeast of the Fords of Jabbok, which aren't on that map, which is annoying. 00:23:48.099 --> 00:23:50.480 But that's where the action is taking place. 00:23:50.659 --> 00:23:52.279 Seir is sort of southeast of there. 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:53.960 That's where Esau lives. 00:23:53.960 --> 00:23:56.920 And he wants Jacob to come with him. 00:23:57.700 --> 00:24:02.600 But Jacob knows that the land that he's been promised is west of there. 00:24:03.140 --> 00:24:04.799 A land for all his descendants. 00:24:04.980 --> 00:24:08.039 Genesis 28, if you remember it, if you were here last month. 00:24:08.900 --> 00:24:10.940 This was the promise given in the land of Canaan. 00:24:11.019 --> 00:24:12.900 We'll come back to that map if it's helpful. 00:24:12.900 --> 00:24:14.920 But this was the promise in the land of Canaan. 00:24:16.380 --> 00:24:19.900 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. 00:24:20.320 --> 00:24:22.740 And I will bring you back to this land. 00:24:22.840 --> 00:24:24.000 That is back to Canaan. 00:24:24.120 --> 00:24:27.960 I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. 00:24:27.960 --> 00:24:38.160 But when Jacob says no to Esau in verse 13 of chapter 33, I think he's returning to his deceptive ways. 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:39.240 He's still Jacob. 00:24:39.360 --> 00:24:41.140 He's not yet truly Israel. 00:24:41.140 --> 00:24:47.720 Because he uses the weariness of his family and his flock as an excuse in verse 14. 00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:49.779 He knows where he's going. 00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:52.319 He knows that he's never following Esau to Seir. 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:54.700 That he wants to go to the promised land in the west. 00:24:54.700 --> 00:24:58.340 He refuses the offer of men from Esau. 00:24:58.440 --> 00:25:01.160 I guess that was probably a military protection kind of offer. 00:25:01.640 --> 00:25:06.420 He refuses that in verse 15 because he knows that he's never going to follow Esau to Seir. 00:25:06.799 --> 00:25:08.000 He knows where he's going. 00:25:08.740 --> 00:25:09.580 They part ways. 00:25:09.740 --> 00:25:11.380 Esau goes to Seir. 00:25:11.600 --> 00:25:13.100 And Jacob rests at Succoth. 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:17.900 Succoth is actually on those maps at the front if you want to find it, I think. 00:25:19.240 --> 00:25:21.840 But that's just a temporary stopping place on his way. 00:25:21.940 --> 00:25:24.500 Not back to Seir, as I said, but to verse 19. 00:25:25.319 --> 00:25:27.279 The great summary and key verse. 00:25:28.420 --> 00:25:29.480 The city of Shechem. 00:25:29.960 --> 00:25:30.360 Where? 00:25:31.059 --> 00:25:31.740 In Canaan. 00:25:31.840 --> 00:25:33.860 And Shechem definitely is on that map. 00:25:33.940 --> 00:25:35.059 You can see it in the west. 00:25:36.100 --> 00:25:38.340 And what does Jacob do when he gets there? 00:25:39.360 --> 00:25:41.740 This is the final proof of a transformed heart. 00:25:41.840 --> 00:25:43.140 It's growing worship. 00:25:43.340 --> 00:25:44.519 He buys a plot of land. 00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:46.480 And what does he do in verse 20? 00:25:46.840 --> 00:25:50.900 He sets up an altar there and he called it El Elo Israel. 00:25:51.660 --> 00:25:53.019 You maybe have a footnote there. 00:25:53.019 --> 00:25:54.220 It means God. 00:25:54.480 --> 00:25:56.879 The mighty God of Israel. 00:25:57.879 --> 00:26:00.000 Now Jacob has worshipped God before. 00:26:00.379 --> 00:26:01.859 He's prayed to God before. 00:26:02.119 --> 00:26:05.339 But the name that he gives this altar is the key, I think. 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:10.299 For this mighty, powerful God here, he is the God of Israel. 00:26:10.299 --> 00:26:11.039 Not the nation. 00:26:11.139 --> 00:26:12.759 The nation of Israel doesn't exist yet. 00:26:12.759 --> 00:26:17.720 But this man, Jacob, now named Israel, this is his God. 00:26:17.819 --> 00:26:19.660 His personal God. 00:26:20.660 --> 00:26:22.940 And that is transformative worship. 00:26:23.460 --> 00:26:24.359 It's true today. 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:28.440 We're not called to worship some distant unknown God. 00:26:28.440 --> 00:26:34.799 But instead to enter a deeply personal relationship with the triune God of the universe. 00:26:35.460 --> 00:26:39.019 To know Jesus as our brother and our Lord. 00:26:39.400 --> 00:26:42.620 To know his perfect father as our father. 00:26:42.900 --> 00:26:47.059 To experience the power and presence of his Holy Spirit with us. 00:26:47.660 --> 00:26:49.240 This is our God. 00:26:49.240 --> 00:26:53.640 To worship him is to know him. 00:26:54.440 --> 00:26:56.599 And to know him is to worship him. 00:26:57.660 --> 00:27:03.299 A heart transformed by grace is a life growing in worship of him. 00:27:03.299 --> 00:27:08.559 Because a transformed heart leads to a life being transformed. 00:27:09.940 --> 00:27:16.059 And that is obviously, after everything that I've just said, going to be so different for each one of us. 00:27:17.539 --> 00:27:21.339 Let me remind you of that driver and the daughter of the Lord and Lady. 00:27:21.480 --> 00:27:24.099 As their story continues, they end up falling in love. 00:27:24.539 --> 00:27:25.839 That was a huge controversy. 00:27:26.440 --> 00:27:28.759 Of course, he's nowhere near good enough for her. 00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:31.919 Everyone thinks that she's the good Christian. 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:37.080 But the truth is, despite her moral looking life, she has no faith. 00:27:37.600 --> 00:27:41.120 She doesn't love Jesus and she isn't growing in any of these areas. 00:27:41.640 --> 00:27:45.600 In Christian courage or humility or witness or forgiveness or worship. 00:27:45.840 --> 00:27:49.440 When the door is closed, she does not live that Christian life. 00:27:51.539 --> 00:27:53.720 On Wednesday evening, we had a meeting. 00:27:53.880 --> 00:27:57.519 Our embassy leaders, those who volunteer here with the teenagers at church. 00:27:57.519 --> 00:28:00.840 And this friend of mine, Dougie, came down from Aberdeen. 00:28:00.839 --> 00:28:02.579 He's a youth pastor in Aberdeen. 00:28:02.639 --> 00:28:06.279 He came down to share some of his experience of what it's like working with young people. 00:28:06.959 --> 00:28:08.919 And he was just talking about his time at university. 00:28:09.379 --> 00:28:11.720 And there was this guy that he played football with at uni. 00:28:12.240 --> 00:28:14.000 I think he was the captain of his team. 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:16.119 And he'd grown up in a Christian home. 00:28:16.179 --> 00:28:19.379 And he was able to recite loads of Bible verses. 00:28:19.380 --> 00:28:24.260 But as Dougie put it, this guy just clearly had no living faith at all. 00:28:25.960 --> 00:28:29.560 And the proof was that his heart had not been transformed. 00:28:29.700 --> 00:28:32.780 The proof was that his life was not being transformed. 00:28:35.180 --> 00:28:43.440 The driver in our story, he encountered God's grace when he had the humility to realize that he had a problem and Jesus was the solution. 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:46.140 In that moment, his heart was transformed. 00:28:46.440 --> 00:28:48.660 But he didn't immediately become a perfect man. 00:28:50.019 --> 00:28:57.200 In fact, the lady that he fell in love with continued to look more Christian in the eyes of the world than he did. 00:28:58.180 --> 00:28:58.960 The difference? 00:28:59.820 --> 00:29:04.580 He was growing on his journey towards that promised eternal destination. 00:29:04.579 --> 00:29:10.399 And so ask yourself, maybe use this as an opportunity, a sort of spiritual MOT. 00:29:10.960 --> 00:29:12.539 Am I growing on this journey? 00:29:14.159 --> 00:29:18.539 And as you do that, just the most common and biggest mistake I think you could make, 00:29:18.919 --> 00:29:22.460 I just want you to forget about the person on your left. 00:29:23.000 --> 00:29:25.019 Forget about the person on your right. 00:29:25.279 --> 00:29:28.559 And the journeys that they are going on and have been on. 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:32.379 Because God's grace takes hold of all of us in different ways. 00:29:32.380 --> 00:29:36.380 And we will grow in different areas at different rates and at different times. 00:29:36.760 --> 00:29:42.060 God will take you and he will hold you in whatever way he needs to for his glory on your journey. 00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:43.720 Trust him for that. 00:29:43.840 --> 00:29:45.400 Cling to him for that. 00:29:46.320 --> 00:29:47.800 You might look more like the driver. 00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:50.360 They might look more like the lady. 00:29:51.320 --> 00:29:56.200 Don't compare yourself to one another, but grow on whatever journey you're on. 00:29:56.200 --> 00:30:02.380 And just as we finish, to tie the whole thing together, let me return to Florence Chadwick. 00:30:02.480 --> 00:30:03.220 Remember the swimmer? 00:30:03.580 --> 00:30:06.039 As she swam to Catalina Island, the fog descended. 00:30:06.160 --> 00:30:06.740 She gave up. 00:30:07.059 --> 00:30:11.039 Well, two months later, two months later, Florence gave her another crack. 00:30:11.580 --> 00:30:16.299 And again, about 15 hours into the swim, a thick fog descended. 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:19.860 The waters were still shark infested. 00:30:20.779 --> 00:30:22.779 That familiar tiredness set in. 00:30:22.779 --> 00:30:25.539 But this time she didn't give up. 00:30:26.500 --> 00:30:30.299 And when asked why, what had the difference been? 00:30:31.339 --> 00:30:32.680 Why didn't she give up? 00:30:34.440 --> 00:30:38.960 Well, it's because she held a picture of the island in her head the entire time. 00:30:39.539 --> 00:30:41.579 She says it's as though the fog wasn't even there. 00:30:42.539 --> 00:30:46.639 Because through the journey, she'd kept her mind focused on that destination. 00:30:46.640 --> 00:30:52.140 Jacob, in our passage this morning, we've seen him grow on this journey. 00:30:52.280 --> 00:30:53.720 But one thing is key. 00:30:53.840 --> 00:30:56.360 And if you remember anything from what I've said, remember this. 00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:01.020 He was journeying towards a destination, a promised land to Canaan. 00:31:02.200 --> 00:31:07.640 And as we journey through life, even as we face shark infested water, even as the fog descends, 00:31:07.640 --> 00:31:14.400 even as we ask ourselves if we're growing through that and look for proofs of a transformed heart 00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:18.520 and a life being transformed, even through all of that, on this journey, 00:31:18.600 --> 00:31:20.560 would we remember where it is that we're going? 00:31:22.620 --> 00:31:27.480 Again, in conversation with Dougie on Wednesday, his father-in-law died this summer. 00:31:27.480 --> 00:31:31.860 And when he was told that it was coming, when the doctor told him he was going to die, 00:31:31.960 --> 00:31:35.220 he said, apparently, in a very matter-of-fact way, he said to his family, 00:31:35.740 --> 00:31:41.019 Now, you're not to be sad, for my father's house has many rooms, 00:31:41.720 --> 00:31:44.360 and Jesus has gone to prepare a place for me there. 00:31:46.579 --> 00:31:50.920 Even when we can't see it, and it can be so difficult to see it, 00:31:50.920 --> 00:31:56.240 will we have our hearts and our minds fixed on that promise of God, 00:31:57.100 --> 00:31:59.580 made available to us in Jesus if we trust him, 00:32:00.860 --> 00:32:04.279 knowing that he has promised us that we will be where he is, 00:32:04.840 --> 00:32:07.360 in an eternal land prepared for us. 00:32:08.360 --> 00:32:10.759 That's where we're growing towards on this journey. 00:32:12.360 --> 00:32:13.120 Let me pray. 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:19.420 Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for Jesus. 00:32:20.920 --> 00:32:24.380 And Lord, we come before you humbly now, 00:32:24.800 --> 00:32:31.560 knowing that we could never reach that destination on our own, 00:32:33.060 --> 00:32:38.279 and knowing that he's done everything necessary that we might reach it anyway. 00:32:40.060 --> 00:32:44.600 Father, I pray that you would be at work in each of our hearts by your Holy Spirit, 00:32:45.700 --> 00:32:50.840 continuing to transform us and grow us to be more like your Son. 00:32:50.920 --> 00:32:58.160 Lord, would you help us to take the opportunity this morning to assess our own lives, 00:32:58.660 --> 00:33:02.640 to think about how you've been at work in them. 00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:08.900 And as we do that, Lord, I pray that you would help us to fix our eyes on where we're going. 00:33:10.259 --> 00:33:14.000 Help us to trust you for that eternal destination. 00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:17.339 In Jesus' name. Amen. 00:33:17.339 --> 00:33:17.420 Amen. 00:33:17.420 --> 00:33:17.460 Amen. 00:33:17.460 --> 00:33:17.500 Amen. 00:33:17.500 --> 00:33:17.519 Amen. 00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:17.539 Amen. 00:33:17.539 --> 00:33:17.559 Amen. 00:33:17.559 --> 00:33:18.059 Amen. 00:33:18.059 --> 00:33:18.559 Amen.