WEBVTT 00:13:56.320 --> 00:13:57.919 We're preparing our hearts. 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:03.120 There's a couple special needs we want to make mention of. 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:05.759 Remember Brother Elton Fletcher. 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:10.720 And is uh of course he's out, he'll be back I think tomorrow. 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:12.399 Tonight, thank you. 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:20.000 But he is uh facing a serious health condition, but we know the grace of God is more than sufficient. 00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:23.440 Also, let's remember those that are traveling quite a bit. 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:29.519 Uh Brother LJ and sister Fabi, and those two kids, of course, they're young ladies now. 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:39.919 Um, and then also let's remember Brother uh Ram and Hajanita and those two kids. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:41.759 Young ladies now. 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:46.080 Uh also remember Brother Shelby, Sister Shaman. 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:47.840 Um let's keep them in our prayer. 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:49.039 I'm gonna give somebody out. 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:53.759 Brother Sean and his good wife, let's keep them in prayer. 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:58.080 Also we have we can uh next weekend sister. 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:11.840 Vanessa she loves her lodger as an uncle but it's a surrogate father. 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:15.519 He actually father wasn't in her life since she was eleven. 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:23.519 She moved here from uh Haiti and he's the one who actually got her, her mother, and her sister here, and actually been their father. 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:30.080 And uh unfortunately he passed last week and it's been pretty devastating on the household. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:33.200 Which is I talked to her several times. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:36.080 I don't know if the Lord is gonna talk about it again. 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:42.879 How you view death makes a big difference when you lose a loved one and how you respond. 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:48.799 And we're gonna l we're always gonna lose someone and you're gonna miss their absence. 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:51.200 But we can't be selfish people. 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:57.759 You don't want to keep someone here because you don't want to lose them when it's best for them if it's their desire to depart. 00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:00.320 Even if it means that's another subject. 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:07.679 Even if I die without a hope of a resurrection, uh I'm gonna mean somebody I can always have that. 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:11.120 But the grave is not the worst thing can happen to you. 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:24.399 You know one of the curses uh of the uh down through the thousand years, one of the curses is that man is gonna seek death and can't find it. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:27.600 You know what it's like to be trapped in your body? 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:29.519 You ever stop and try to imagine that? 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:32.159 You rack with pain, you can't get out. 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:36.399 I'm always praying God will be done in every situation. 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:39.759 Because He's always gonna do the most merciful route. 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:48.240 And so let's pray that that family and their hour bereavement will look at it from a perspective that's more than just personal, more than just how we feel. 00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:51.679 So let's please keep them impressed very serious and them devastating. 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:55.600 Uh I read this when I was in religion. 00:16:55.759 --> 00:16:58.080 Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:04.880 Uh and especially before we pray. 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:07.279 No special. 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:08.559 Good to see everyone. 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:10.160 I do appreciate your dedication. 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:12.240 I appreciate your spirituality. 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:14.240 I appreciate your commitment. 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:17.839 And in about two and a half weeks, we'll find out how committed we really are. 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:26.079 Have we ascended or have we just whacked? 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:30.000 Uh two ways to explain, isn't it? 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:33.839 Okay, let's pray for the remainder of this meeting. 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:35.119 It is good to look at you all. 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:37.119 I hadn't seen you on a Friday night in a moment. 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:41.759 But it's good to see that you stand faithful, you stand zealous, you stand on the job. 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:45.599 Thank God for good, faithful people, dedicated people. 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:47.440 Uh let's go before this. 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:49.920 He's just a wonderful God. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:53.920 I don't want to make I don't even want to boast, but my soul can't help but make a boast in the Lord. 00:17:54.400 --> 00:18:02.400 He's such a wise God, he's such a righteous God, such a merciful God, such a long suffering God. 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:04.480 God, I thank you. 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:08.160 I just want to thank God for being who He is. 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:14.559 His attributes are past finding out, his ways are unsearchable. 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:17.680 The wisdom of God is incomprehensible. 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:19.920 But thank God, I'm glad I got a glance. 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:22.720 I can see him through the lattice, and I'm glad for what I can see. 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:23.680 Let's go before him. 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:26.079 Thank you, Lord, for his grace and mercy, Lord. 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:26.480 We thank you. 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:28.079 Thank you for your great kindness, Lord. 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:31.039 Your mercy and your faith shown to the sons of men. 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:32.480 Meet us in the night, Lord. 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:33.680 Meet the knees of your people. 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:35.039 Remember those that are believed. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:37.440 Oh, God, oh God, oh God. 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:40.160 We thank you, Lord, we thank you, Lord, we thank you, Lord. 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:42.559 Oh God, thank you for your grace. 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:43.599 Remember all these things. 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:50.079 Oh, God, thank you, Lord. 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:50.880 Thank you, Lord. 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:53.920 Blessed be your name, Lord. 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:55.119 Blessed be your name. 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:10.720 I'm sorry, I did leave two people out unintentional. 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:12.480 Let's remember Brother Elton Harris. 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:15.519 Good to see you stand faithful, even in your affliction. 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:19.839 And let's remember Brother Frankie with that sonic nerve. 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:23.039 If you ever had one to flare up on you, you know what it's like. 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:24.720 Uh but let's keep those two. 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:26.720 Uh admitted those unintentional. 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:28.640 Oh, also Brother Gene. 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:30.640 Brother Gene lost his aunt. 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:34.559 Uh his last aunt on his father's side. 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:37.119 Uh I think she passed yesterday. 00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:38.640 Last night. 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:41.440 So let's keep that family in prayer. 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:46.720 Uh there's always gonna be there's always gonna be people transitioning. 00:19:47.200 --> 00:19:49.359 There's gonna always be death. 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:51.680 Uh as you know it naturally. 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:54.960 And the Bible is very plain, but I don't think we believe it. 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:57.359 We quote it, we we say it. 00:19:57.599 --> 00:20:01.599 And uh Paul put it like this, he had a different perspective on death. 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:04.720 Uh he said, I will not let you saw it. 00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:06.720 He said not at all. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:10.079 He said, even as others which have no hope. 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:12.559 And so we believe the righteous die in hope. 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:19.359 We believe that if you die stride, that the Lord is not unrighteous, forget your work and leave of love which you've shown toward his name. 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:20.640 We believe that. 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:23.519 And so we should look at life a little bit different. 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:29.599 Uh look at uh demising a little bit different, look at our transition a little bit different. 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:42.480 I like to think by the grace of God, I don't want to talk too much, but I like to think that when my time comes, if the church is not restored and I'm not reaping, it doesn't look like that's gonna transpire, but God can do all things. 00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:47.279 I like to think when I come to the end of my days, I would like to embrace it. 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:50.559 I would like to think that it's a better life ahead of me. 00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:54.559 And Paul can make the statement, he said, Well, he's an overcomer, well, I'm striving to it. 00:20:54.880 --> 00:21:04.720 And Paul said, uh, I'm caught between stuff, having a desire to depart, which means for a better or to abide for you, which is more needful. 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:06.640 But he was embracing it. 00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:12.079 I wasn't he wasn't aggrieved already, he wasn't resisting it, he was embracing it. 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:16.480 And even Peter, when he writes, and second Peter make the same declaration. 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:22.960 He said, The Lord has shown me I must soon take off this my tabernacle, which means he don't believe he's gonna fall on sleep. 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:24.400 Look how he phrased that. 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:30.000 Take off this, come on his body, this tabernacle, which means he believed that his soul would continue. 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:31.599 No doubt, I believe it with it. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:35.920 And so those men looked at death a little differently. 00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:44.480 I think because of the period of time of the church being in a in a downward spiral, I think we've lost our vision. 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:49.359 I think we'll when I say we are talking about the church world as a whole. 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:54.880 And I I understand the scripture is a duality in it. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:10.799 And I believe that's talking about dying out to sin, the first death, but I believe it's just as precious when a saint leaves this earth, even if they don't get reaped. 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:13.279 Because you wouldn't know whether you were reaped or not. 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:14.559 You ever thought about death? 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:19.519 If the Lord wakes you up after a thousand years, you would not know that it was more than a second. 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:20.720 You think you blink your eyes. 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:22.000 Did you know that? 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:24.559 You couldn't measure it. 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:27.920 You would know that you was unconscious for a long span. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:29.920 There's no way of telling it. 00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:34.160 And so it's like you blink your eyes and you're in another dispensational world. 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:37.279 And so death is not to be feared. 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:41.359 We lose the loved one, we lose, lose their activity. 00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:55.039 But if you're living an upright and a righteous life, if you're living a dedicated, a committed life, if you're living a holy life, if you're striving, you can die in faith. 00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:59.359 And you can contribute that to your loved ones. 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:00.559 I know people I've never met. 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:05.440 I just listened to their testimonies when people are talking about them, and I don't think it's all fluff. 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:11.759 I never met your mother, Brother, Brother Vincent. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:14.559 But too many people said too many things. 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:21.519 And some of these people I knew who was testifying to her life, you can't affect that many people that being committed. 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:27.119 And I've been to many, many funerals, no doubt we'll go to many more. 00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:37.599 But some people, you know, you've never known them, the life they live and the people it affected and the way it affected them, that's a testimony to who they are. 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:44.880 And if the living can remember the good things that a person did where God is concerned, you think God is unrighteous to forget? 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:47.440 I dare to tell you, absolutely not. 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:51.119 And so I learned to cast my lot with the righteous. 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:58.640 And uh whether I get reaped or whether I get a final resurrection, I really wouldn't know the difference. 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:00.000 Neither will you. 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:04.640 I'm not telling you to go out and commit suicide. 00:24:05.039 --> 00:24:07.039 But look at look at life. 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:13.359 And then look at the transition of death is just an entrance to a better world, a better life. 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:15.200 Do you see it that way? 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:18.079 Or you don't, I need to help you because you should. 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:22.319 And if you think that death is for older people, you're greatly deceived. 00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:25.680 It doesn't discriminate. 00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:33.039 Wealthy, poverty-stricken, nationality, financial status, it doesn't. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:34.960 It doesn't discriminate. 00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:41.599 Just like Jesus Christ Himself told the disciples when they told him you should go up to Jerusalem. 00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:44.079 He said, Your time is always. 00:24:44.400 --> 00:24:45.680 He had an appointed time. 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:49.200 He said, My time is not yet, but your time is always. 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:51.519 That's a good nugget you want to remember that. 00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:55.599 And so we should all consider living as if this is our last day. 00:24:55.839 --> 00:24:57.519 This is my last week. 00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:00.960 And when it's time to depart, thank God. 00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:03.200 Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. 00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:04.480 They say the Spirit. 00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:05.839 And they work shall what? 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:08.799 Whatever you have obtained, that's going to follow you. 00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:12.640 So when you resurrect, you have to go back and overcome the same things again. 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:15.519 Whatever you've already overcame, that's going to follow you. 00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:20.799 So I don't know why I'm talking about this so much, but I guess because I made mention and I know how people perceive it. 00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:21.680 Yes, Sister. 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:25.200 I didn't want to let you all put it on Sister Grace. 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:27.200 Oh, um, thank you so very much. 00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:27.920 I appreciate that. 00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:31.839 Remember, Sister Grace is at home with uh Miss Dora. 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:36.640 Um she's with us and strong lady. 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:39.599 Um that's another testimony to me. 00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:44.240 I've known her for some 50 years now, and I've only known her to be one way. 00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:46.400 I've never seen her flip and flop. 00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:49.680 I've known her to be one person all the time. 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:51.119 That's the way. 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:54.160 That's the way I want to live my life. 00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:59.119 And when the end of my days come, I like to be able to embrace it. 00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:00.640 Now there's a passage of scripture. 00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:01.759 I don't know why I'm talking on this. 00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:02.559 I really don't. 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:03.759 It's hard to stop. 00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:06.400 But uh, we want to open up to meeting. 00:26:06.640 --> 00:26:08.640 Uh this is in Genesis. 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:18.559 To me, it's one of the most, to me, it's one of the most fascinating passages of scriptures in the Bible when it comes to the end of life. 00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:20.559 And this is talking about Jacob. 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:22.799 He came to the end of his days. 00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:26.480 He didn't toil, he didn't whine, he didn't cry. 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:33.359 The Bible says, brother, he put his foot in the bed, pulled the cover over, and went to sleep. 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:34.799 Let's pull that up and look at it. 00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:37.039 That's just the way I want to go. 00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:44.000 And by the way, his life when went before Pharaoh, Pharaoh asked him, he said, How old are you? 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:47.279 He says, I haven't obtained to the years of my father. 00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:51.680 And few and evil means a lot of affliction has been the days of my sojourn. 00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:53.519 Few and evil. 00:26:53.759 --> 00:27:01.839 And so when it comes time to the end of life, he wasn't whining and crying because he actually believed that this is going to be a better way for him. 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:03.039 How I know that? 00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:13.920 How I know that is because he told his sons, he made them swear to him they would not leave his bones in Egypt. 00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:16.079 So he had a hope. 00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:18.000 He died in a hope of a resurrection. 00:27:18.079 --> 00:27:21.440 So when it came to the end of his life, he was okay with that. 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:22.480 Did you get that? 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:23.759 Get it for me, Brother Mike. 00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:27.119 I don't want to turn this to a Bible study, but I feel pressed. 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:30.079 I think it's around the 48th chapter. 00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:31.359 49th. 00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:32.400 Pull it up. 00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:36.079 4933. 00:27:36.240 --> 00:27:37.039 Thank you. 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:43.839 Listen, we're not just anybody on this planet. 00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:46.240 We be the dear people of God. 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:55.839 If we get a revelation of what that means, if you can embrace what that really means, our days on this earth is not in vain, it's not in vanity. 00:27:56.240 --> 00:28:00.720 We have a hope of a life beyond beyond the grave. 00:28:01.759 --> 00:28:03.200 And I I love this. 00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:07.279 You ought to put it up under your fifth rib. 00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:08.960 I think on this frequently. 00:28:33.119 --> 00:28:33.759 Pronounce it again? 00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:34.960 Sirplant. 00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:36.079 That's what I was trying to get. 00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:37.599 A surplanter. 00:28:37.920 --> 00:28:39.200 He was crafty. 00:28:39.440 --> 00:28:40.319 He was tricky. 00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:41.599 He was a deceiver. 00:28:41.839 --> 00:28:46.160 But nevertheless, he found favor in the eyes of God. 00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:49.039 And because of that, God worked on him. 00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:52.559 He put him through a lot of toils, a lot of fire. 00:28:52.799 --> 00:28:56.160 It wasn't to destroy him, it was to save him from himself. 00:28:56.319 --> 00:28:59.680 That very nature that he was born with, that he came out of the womb. 00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:02.160 I'll tell you this: he didn't die that way. 00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:05.119 He didn't die a trickster. 00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:07.039 He didn't die a surplanter. 00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:08.960 He didn't die crafty. 00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:10.720 He didn't die deceitful. 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:12.720 That's the way he was born. 00:29:13.440 --> 00:29:21.359 But because God chose him, and he chose God, God worked on him. 00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:24.079 Put him in situations. 00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:25.759 God did. 00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:35.440 Put him in situations where his behavior got him in severe trouble when he tricked his brother out of his birthright and his blessings. 00:29:35.759 --> 00:29:39.440 Put him in severe trouble because Esau was not about to repenting. 00:29:39.599 --> 00:29:41.200 Esau wanted to kill him. 00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:44.559 And so he had to flee for his life down to Egypt. 00:29:47.839 --> 00:29:49.519 Not to Egypt, I'm sorry. 00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:53.119 To his uncle. 00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:57.200 And by the way, Jacob was a trickster, but he met the real trickster. 00:29:57.279 --> 00:29:58.960 Laban had experience on him. 00:29:59.119 --> 00:30:00.960 He showed him what trick it really was. 00:30:01.119 --> 00:30:03.200 Changed his wages, what was it, ten times? 00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:05.440 Ten times he changed his wages. 00:30:06.799 --> 00:30:08.640 But he didn't know that was God using. 00:30:08.720 --> 00:30:10.000 God has a right hand and a left. 00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:11.279 Don't you have a left hand? 00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:14.240 He used his left hand for dishonorable purposes. 00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:16.799 He uses his right hand for righteous purposes. 00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:17.759 And you need both. 00:30:17.920 --> 00:30:19.839 You need the positive and the negative. 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:26.720 And so if you read the story, Laban was God's, he was God's man. 00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:29.279 He wasn't a man of God, but he was God's man. 00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:31.359 He worked on, he worked on Jacob. 00:30:31.519 --> 00:30:33.440 He worked on him righteously. 00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:36.240 He tricked him because he reaped what he sold. 00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:38.799 He sold to the wind and he reaped the whirlwind. 00:30:38.880 --> 00:30:40.400 But that was God that was in it. 00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:43.440 So much so that he had no choice. 00:30:43.599 --> 00:30:49.839 He could even tell Laban, look, I'm taking my two wives for whom I've served you for 20 years, and I'm going to leave. 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:51.440 He was afraid to do that. 00:30:51.599 --> 00:30:55.200 And if God hadn't intervened, I guess I am talking too much. 00:30:55.359 --> 00:30:56.640 Bear with me for a moment. 00:30:56.960 --> 00:31:14.880 And if this man can go through as many things as he went through in his life and could come to this end in God with that kind of confidence, with that type of hope, I would be remiss for the grace that God has shown me these 66 years and to die with any less hope. 00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:16.480 He had not the Holy Ghost. 00:31:16.799 --> 00:31:19.279 He'd never heard an overcoming message. 00:31:20.400 --> 00:31:23.599 He was not even under the law of Moses, was not yet given. 00:31:23.680 --> 00:31:24.720 Keep the scripture up. 00:31:24.880 --> 00:31:28.079 But that man had hope, but he knew that God was working on his case. 00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:31.440 And so, just a little backdrop so you can appreciate this. 00:31:34.880 --> 00:31:36.799 He stole all from Laban. 00:31:37.359 --> 00:31:40.799 By the way, he did play one last trick on her. 00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:43.440 All the cattle that was strong. 00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:49.039 All the cattle means livestock, whether it's a goat, whether it's a sheep, whether it's a camel. 00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:52.240 He took all the best. 00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:53.759 He marked them. 00:31:54.160 --> 00:31:56.880 By setting before them that which he wanted to produce. 00:31:57.039 --> 00:32:00.000 And he kept the best for himself by marking them. 00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:02.799 And that the weak ones, when they made it, well, he didn't want them. 00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:03.839 Let them do what they want. 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:05.519 That became Laban's. 00:32:05.839 --> 00:32:07.119 He did the last trick. 00:32:07.359 --> 00:32:15.759 And so he knew he had played a last trick, and he took his wives and he told them that was that was their that was their father. 00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:18.400 And so he looked what your father has done to me. 00:32:18.480 --> 00:32:20.000 He changed my wages. 00:32:20.640 --> 00:32:22.720 He's changed my wages ten times. 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:27.200 I worked seven years to get you, Rachel, because I love you. 00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:29.119 I fell in love when I saw you. 00:32:29.279 --> 00:32:30.559 But he gave me Leah. 00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:32.720 He gave me the oldest one. 00:32:35.680 --> 00:32:38.000 And the Bible called her tender eye. 00:32:38.559 --> 00:32:40.000 You know, tender eye? 00:32:41.839 --> 00:32:42.799 I didn't say that, sir. 00:32:43.039 --> 00:32:44.079 So you assume that. 00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:45.279 I was gonna say that. 00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:48.480 Well, less than something that's greatly desirable. 00:32:49.680 --> 00:32:53.519 But he could have got into a bad spirit, but he served another seven years. 00:32:53.680 --> 00:32:56.400 He only had two daughters for the younger one, Rachel. 00:32:56.480 --> 00:32:57.920 So he got them both. 00:32:58.640 --> 00:33:05.599 Then Laban contracted with him for a certain pay, but he kept changing it. 00:33:05.839 --> 00:33:11.519 Because everything he did to try to suppress Jacob, God kept blessing him. 00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:13.039 But it was through toil. 00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:14.559 It was too much toil. 00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:16.319 Let me fast forward. 00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:19.119 You think that was bad? 00:33:19.359 --> 00:33:24.079 When he stole off with his father's in-law's daughters and the grandkids. 00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:25.839 At this time he had 11 kids. 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:27.039 Well, he actually had 12. 00:33:27.119 --> 00:33:29.680 He had 11 sons and Donna, the daughter. 00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:31.839 And so now he's trying to get back home. 00:33:32.160 --> 00:33:35.039 He's trying to get away from this man and his cruelty. 00:33:37.599 --> 00:33:42.640 And God dealt with Laban because when Laban found out he sold off, Laban was coming. 00:33:42.799 --> 00:33:44.559 And he wouldn't come in for repentance. 00:33:44.799 --> 00:33:46.240 He was going to do him much harm. 00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:54.559 But God spoke to him in a dream and said, Don't you speak neither good nor evil toward Jacob because he's my servant. 00:33:54.799 --> 00:33:59.359 So when Laban caught up with him, he told him, It's in my power to do you harm. 00:33:59.680 --> 00:34:03.839 But God spoke to me and told me not to even speak to you where he broke that commandment. 00:34:05.359 --> 00:34:08.079 But I can see Jacob because he wasn't a fighter. 00:34:08.239 --> 00:34:09.920 He's a serpent planter. 00:34:10.159 --> 00:34:14.079 He was raised by his mother, influenced more than his father, and his father wasn't a fighter either. 00:34:14.239 --> 00:34:16.320 So I can see him shaking in his boots. 00:34:16.480 --> 00:34:18.880 But Laban wouldn't touch him because God intervened. 00:34:18.960 --> 00:34:20.800 And he knew that God saved him. 00:34:20.960 --> 00:34:22.400 But he had a bigger problem than that. 00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:24.400 He got away from Laban. 00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:28.320 But Esau, remember the one whose birthright you stole? 00:34:28.800 --> 00:34:30.239 Yeah, he's on his way. 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:34.079 And that's not enough, because he was a man of the field, man of war. 00:34:34.159 --> 00:34:36.159 He brings in 300 men with him. 00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:38.800 What you gonna do with 300 men to greet me? 00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:42.880 But you remember him, that's the one whose birthright and blessing you stole. 00:34:43.039 --> 00:34:45.760 That's the one who said, surely he was gonna kill you. 00:34:47.119 --> 00:34:48.880 And he's on his way. 00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:52.800 He couldn't trick his way out of that one. 00:34:53.519 --> 00:34:55.599 He couldn't receive his way out of that one. 00:34:56.239 --> 00:34:58.079 I'm convinced God did that. 00:34:58.639 --> 00:35:01.119 And so that caused him to go by brook. 00:35:01.280 --> 00:35:04.719 And in agony, he's crying, and in agony he's praying. 00:35:04.960 --> 00:35:07.280 And God dispersed an angel. 00:35:08.559 --> 00:35:10.400 That's the grace of God. 00:35:10.960 --> 00:35:14.639 And he realized that wasn't a normal man, though he seemed as a man. 00:35:14.719 --> 00:35:17.360 He had a physical body because he was able to wrestle with him. 00:35:17.599 --> 00:35:20.480 But he couldn't overtake him, but the angel couldn't get free. 00:35:20.639 --> 00:35:26.480 And every time the angel tried to get away, Jacob said, I'm not gonna let you go till you bless me. 00:35:27.199 --> 00:35:29.119 But he was gonna give up his nature. 00:35:29.360 --> 00:35:31.760 And so what the angel did, he touched the hollow of his thigh. 00:35:31.920 --> 00:35:32.800 You know what he did that for? 00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:37.519 Every time Jacob took a step for the rest of his life, he remembered that occurrence. 00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:40.159 What caused him to be in that condition? 00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:45.679 That was a constant reminder of your old life before you were converted. 00:35:45.840 --> 00:35:51.039 And that's where his name was changed from Jacob, which means supplanter, to Isaac, which means prince. 00:35:51.199 --> 00:35:52.480 I'm sorry, Israel. 00:35:52.719 --> 00:35:55.199 Israel, that's where the name Israel comes from. 00:35:55.360 --> 00:35:59.039 And all of his sons, they call them children, the word in the Bible, children. 00:35:59.119 --> 00:36:01.679 It's the same word that's translated sons. 00:36:02.079 --> 00:36:05.519 There was the sons of Israel, whose name really was Jacob. 00:36:05.599 --> 00:36:06.559 Are you following me? 00:36:06.719 --> 00:36:08.079 And he went through all this torment. 00:36:08.320 --> 00:36:09.280 That wasn't enough. 00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:14.800 See, you when you sow to the wind, expect, expect more than what you sow. 00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:17.440 How many ever planted corn? 00:36:18.719 --> 00:36:19.599 Tomatoes. 00:36:19.840 --> 00:36:22.079 You put three or two, two or three seeds. 00:36:23.760 --> 00:36:27.199 You can plant two or three, but you don't get two or three back. 00:36:27.440 --> 00:36:36.400 You get you get you get uh on one bean, you got all these ears of corn. 00:36:36.639 --> 00:36:39.760 You planted three and you get back hundreds and hundreds. 00:36:39.920 --> 00:36:41.280 It's that way in life. 00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:44.239 Whatever you sow is going to multiply back to you. 00:36:44.480 --> 00:36:45.920 Whatever you sow. 00:36:46.159 --> 00:36:49.679 And uh Paul put it like this be not deceived, God is not marked. 00:36:49.760 --> 00:36:52.159 What several man will sow it, that's what he reaped. 00:36:52.320 --> 00:36:55.679 If you sow to the flesh, just sow to the flesh, look for much trouble. 00:36:55.840 --> 00:36:58.239 And you can sow to the spirit, look for much favor. 00:36:58.559 --> 00:37:00.719 Whatever you sow is what you're going to reap. 00:37:01.519 --> 00:37:08.559 That's the law back all the way back to Genesis 9th and seed time and harvest, as long as the earth remained. 00:37:08.719 --> 00:37:11.360 And so it's going to be seed time, that's what you're sowing. 00:37:11.599 --> 00:37:13.440 That's going to be harvest, that's what you reap. 00:37:13.519 --> 00:37:15.920 Not just natural corn, but life itself. 00:37:16.239 --> 00:37:20.880 So Jacob raised those sons. 00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:26.320 And 11 of them was devils, just like he was. 00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:30.559 Eleven of those, I can't say much good about them. 00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:34.960 The first one, I don't talk about them too much, but Reuben. 00:37:35.119 --> 00:37:37.119 Read the 49th chapter of Genesis. 00:37:37.280 --> 00:37:42.719 It introduced Reuben was his firstborn, but he said, You're unstable as water because you went up to your father's couch. 00:37:42.800 --> 00:37:44.320 That's his concubine and defiler. 00:37:44.559 --> 00:37:46.639 So you rejected, you don't get the blessing. 00:37:46.800 --> 00:37:49.679 And the next one was Levi and Simeon, Simeon and Levi. 00:37:49.840 --> 00:38:02.639 But he said, Cruelty is in your habitation, because you deceive a whole nation by deceiving the king, as if if they would circumcise themselves, they could become part of you, and you become part of them just to murder them all. 00:38:03.599 --> 00:38:05.760 Cruelty is in your habitation. 00:38:06.079 --> 00:38:06.719 Wow. 00:38:07.360 --> 00:38:13.360