Thru the Bible - Sunday Sermon on Oneplace.com - The Struggle

0:00How firm a foundation is, of the Lord is, lay for your faith in His excellent Word. Have you ever wondered why the Christian life can feel like such a battle? You've trusted Christ, but the struggles don't disappear. Maybe they're even intensified. Welcome to the Sunday sermon on through the Bible. In His message, the struggle, Dr. J. Vernon McGee takes us to the story of Jacob, a man who spent much of his life wrestling with God, with others, and even with himself. Through Jacob's story, we're going to discover a truth that every believer eventually learns. The victory of the Christian life doesn't come through striving harder, but through surrendering more completely to God. If you've ever felt discouraged by your own weaknesses, maybe frustrated by repeated failures, or weary from the ongoing battle between the flesh and the spirit,

1:00this message is for you. It's time to hop aboard the Bible bus and find your seat. And as you do that, here are a couple of letters that we're going to listen to from our fellow passengers, the first is from Randy in the U.S. Years ago, I hopped on the Bible bus and completed the five-year trip. I got off for a few years, and a few months ago, I got back on. I'm so glad to be riding the bus again. I go to the website and listen to the daily lessons during lunch. I so appreciate that Dr. McGee goes through the entire Bible. I think that's so important. With many false teachings going around, it's important to know what the Bible actually says. I'm grateful Dr. McGee teaches in a way I can easily understand. It feels like he's not talking at me, but talking to me right where I live. The Word of God never grows old, so please keep the bus coming to my neighborhood so I can get on board. Thank you and God bless. It's great to hear from you, Randy. I'll keep your seats saved. And from India, Ramelio writes, I have been a Christian for 22 years. And although I cannot read or write,

2:01I'm grateful that I can listen to the Word of God. After joining the radio home group, I began listening to the Scriptures in my own language, Masha Pahari, which brings me great joy and strengthens my faith. Through this, it has become easier for me to learn and understand God's Word systematically. I pray that God will continue to help me grow and understand His Word more and more. I am a married woman, but after more than 15 years of marriage, I have no children. Because of this, my husband abandoned me and married another woman. At times, I feel lonely and discouraged as if no one stands with me. But when I listen to the Word of God and meet with the members of the home group, I receive encouragement and comfort. Now I believe that God will fill my life with joy and give me strength to move forward. It's so hard to hear stories of abandonment and suffering like this, isn't it? But you know, thank God that He never leaves us to face life's hardships alone. Even in the most painful circumstances, He's at work through His Word and through the love of His people.

3:02Now as you've listened, maybe God has placed a burden or praise in your heart for people like Randy and Ramelia and millions of others around the world who have yet to hear the Bible taught in their own language. Well, if that's the case, you know we'd love to welcome you to the world prayer team. Together, we're going to pray that people in more than 250 languages will hear the whole Word of God on through the Bible. You can sign up right in our app or at ttb.org or call 1-865-Bible to learn more. Let's pray. Father, thank you that you never abandoned your children in the struggle. Thank you for your grace and your power at work within us. Teach us, Lord, what it means to trust you more fully and to yield our lives to your spirit. Help us to see the victory that's ours through Jesus Christ. In His name we pray, amen. Now here's the Sunday sermon with Dr. J. Vernon McGee on through the Bible. Our subject this morning is the struggle. And we do not have a text,

4:04what we would like to begin with Genesis 25 verse 22. And the children struggle together within her. And she said, if it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the Lord. Life is a struggle. That definition to life is given by both the philosopher and the poet. By the prince and the peasant. And in our contemporary society it's given by both capital and labor. In the crucible of life there is constant reaction. The elements of experience rubbing against each other with tremendous friction causing heat and disturbance. Good against the bad.

5:06Light against the darkness. The high against the low. There is constantly a striving against each other in every realm, the physical realm. And in the realm of society today. In the realm of government in business today. And in the church the Christian does not escape. It was Paul who wrote, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. We wrestle as written the Christians. And whether you like it or not, you're going to the mat. Life today is so constituted that none can escape. Each believer today is a test tube. Into which is poured the acid of the new nature on the base of the old nature.

6:13Into this test tube in which we have the flesh, God puts life, the spirit. And these two my beloved react against each other. The reaction is violent. Paul gains speaks of that. He says for the flesh lusteth. That is not a very good word. It should be war if. For the flesh war if against the spirit. And the spirit war if against the flesh. And these are contrary to one to the other. So that he cannot do the things that he would. And that struggle that goes on in the heart of a believer is misunderstood today. And therefore it's disturbing to a great many Christians.

7:15Because the popular notion is that the minute that you become a child of God, you feel the battle is over. I have news for you. The battle is just beginning then. You may have thought it was warfare before, but it's real warfare when you become a child of God. We wrestle. We wrestle. It is said that Robert Lewis Stevenson wrote his book, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, to illustrate the two natures of the believer. But God anticipated Robert Lewis Stevenson when he gave to us in the Old Testament, the story of Jacob and Esau. For in these two men we have the picture of these two natures. And that's exactly again what the writer to the Romans told us for whatsoever things were written a four time,

8:20were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. And so this morning I'd like to turn you to this man, Jacob, in particular in these twins, in order that you might see a picture of the struggle that's going on today in the heart and the life of every believer. And this struggle began with the birth of Jacob. Jacob had actually began before birth. And we have this verse with which I began, let me repeat it, and the children's struggle together within her. And she said, if it be so, why am I thus? She went to inquire of the Lord. Even before they aborn, there was the struggle of Esau and Jacob. That struggle never ended.

9:22We find that when they were born, that Jacob, who was the last to be born, he was given that name that means you, Serpheus, because the little folly even then had a hole to the heel of his brother, trying to push him aside and get ahead of him. And then we see it in the life of this man, and that comes to a tremendous mighty crescendo over in the 32nd chapter of the book of Genesis, the 24th verse, and Jacob was left alone and that wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And we have him engaged in a wrestling match. You would think the death might end the wrestling for this man, but he went down wrestling. And we see the struggle in this man's life right to his last breath.

10:23And I turn now for his death to Genesis 49 and 33. Will you listen to this? And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed and yielded up the ghost, which gathered unto his people. It's said of him and in our Lord that he yielded up the ghost. A struggle right to the very end if you please. And so this morning, will you note with me rather briefly the birth, the life and the death of Jacob, and note the struggle that went on from birth to death? This man was one of Twins. And he and his brother, E saw, are not what you call identical Twins. In fact, I do not believe that any two men were ever born that was much unlike

11:29as these two men really were. And actually at the very beginning, it was difficult to distinguish the difference between them that is there was a danger of picking the wrong one as being the spiritual man and of picking Jacob as being the man of the flesh. That's a real danger. You have to have spiritual discernment to see that there's a difference between these two boys because at first there's no manifestation at all. If you'll notice this man, E saw, after they were born, we are told here. The first came out red all over like a harry garment. They called his name, E saw. Earthy, he's the man of the earth, the man of the flesh. And then it said of Jacob after that came his brother out and his hand

12:30to cold on E saw's eel. His name was called Jacob. Those were the two boys when they were born twins, but very much, very much unlike each other. One red and half. And the other, I think a little anemone. If you please. And you follow these two boys, you find that this man, E saw, was the rugged outdoor type. The boy is grew. And E saw was the cunning hunter, a man of the field. And Jacob was a plain man dwelling in tents. Now, honestly, here at the beginning, I must confess to you that E saw as much more attractive. E saw was a man that was outdoor, a rugged type of hunter.

13:34He had all those physical attributes that man like. This man would have been popular and a crowd. E saw would have been popular. He had those things that make a man popular. He had all those physical attributes. But this man was absolutely devoid of anything spiritual. He had no spiritual qualifications whatsoever. And when you look at Jacob, he's very unattractive. He's very disappointing. Back to the matter is, he's despicable as you look at him at first. To begin with, we are told he was a plain man dwelling in tents. He stayed in the house. He never got out very much. And then we're told this remarkable thing about him.

14:34Isaac loved E saw because he did eat of his venison. But Rebecca loved Jacob. And this boy Jacob was his mama's pet. He was mama's boy. If there was a man tied to his mama's apron string, it was Jacob. He's very unattractive here at the beginning. Stayed in doves. Learned cook. Never got outside. And his brother E saw the rugged hunter type went outside and father loved him because he was all Isaac loved the venison. He brought home. But Rebecca loved Jacob. Now, this young man Jacob, he's resourceful and energetic young man. He's confident at the beginning and conceited.

15:38He's clever. He's cunning. He's conniving. Yes, he's crooked at the beginning. But down underneath all of the flesh, where he manifested the flesh as he saw dead. Down underneath the flesh, that was a spiritual nature. And he knew God. He loved God. And he honestly wanted to serve God. You follow these two boys and the very first incident. I tell you, Jacob doesn't come off too well, but he ought to come off better than he generally does because the impression is sometimes given that poor E saw comes home from the hunt, starved to death. And that Jacob takes advantage of him because he's starving. That's not it, my beloved. Do you believe that anyone in Abraham's home, even a servant, would have gone hungry?

16:39You may be sure. Nobody needed to go hungry. The fact of the matter is, this man he saw had been out hunting. He came home. He is hungry. But he liked that soup that Jacob was making. It's smell so good. He went over and took a good whimp, father. And he said, I'd like to have some of your soup. And Jacob always ready for a good bargain, never passed up an opportunity. He said, I tell you what I'll do. I'll be very happy to give you all this soup you want. If you let me have your birthright. Now that birthright had spiritual value. The man who had that birthright was the priest in the home. The man who had that birthright is the man who had access to God

17:39and shaped up wanted that in spite of the fact. Outlandly, he's the man of the flesh. E saw had no capacity for it. He didn't care for it. He didn't care about a birthright that was to lead to Jesus Christ. He didn't care about any spiritual office whatsoever. He didn't care about the spiritual art his relationship with God. And he said, why sure? For a bolder soup you can have it. It's of no value to me whatsoever. May I say today, my beloved damn multitudes of people, will sell a spiritual birthright for less than that. Jacob should not have bought it though. God had promised it to him. What you see, he's confident. He's cocky. He's conceded.

18:39He's not asking even God for anything that he can get with his own hands. And he's pretty smart. Oh, how many Christians today are living by their cleverness? Coniving and planning and plotting and arranging back of the church, back of the Doah, hurting and harming as they go along, living in the flesh today and not trusting God to work out the issues of life for them. That's Jacob. God had promised him, but he couldn't wait. He had to move ahead and he did move ahead. He got the birthright and then he stole the blessing from his father, his mother and instigator in that. They deceived the father and after it was discovered, Jacob had to leave home and he ran off and wandered 500 miles away to Uncle Laban.

19:44And let me tell you, he learned a lesson when he got with Uncle Laban. Well, Jacob was just a chip off of the old block. And Laban was the original block. And this boy, Jacob thought he was clever, but he had to learn a lesson and he learned it. Oh, he took a postgraduate course. And it was a hard course, 20 years. It's a long time to wait to graduate. 20 years, he went through the mail. 20 years, he learned a lesson that God's man can't get by with sin. He learned, be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soles, that's Shelley also read.

20:44This clever boy, when he got over here into the country of his uncle, he thought that he would go there and receive a bride in dignity. He refused submission at home, he had to learn submission in his uncle's home. He came to receive a bride in dignity and in less than a month his uncle had made him a servant and put him on a salver. And then Jacob complained finally and said, you've changed my wages ten times. And you can be sure that Uncle Laban never raised wages. Ten times you've changed my wages. And this man, Jacob had to learn that God respects the rights of the firstborn. He learned it. He made a deal with his uncle to get Rachel for a bride and he got the oldest one.

21:49He's deceived in the same manner in which he had deceived his own father. He pretended to be the firstborn when he was the young-lose. And now he's given the oldest when he thinks he's getting the young-lose. And he found out that this mercenary spirit that he had displayed in reference to the birthright was something that came home to him as chickens come home to Ruth's as Uncle Laban again and again dealt with him through him for a loss every time. Jacob had allowed his own mother to cover his hands with the skins of kids of goats. And little later on, he was deceived in the same manner when his sons took a goat and killed it and took that cotomantic callus of Joseph and brought it to Jacob and said, is this your son's coat? He learned what so ever a man sells.

22:53That's Shelley also reaped. And he got so sick and tired of it all with Uncle Laban that he ran away. He left to French leave, left overnight. Uncle Laban came after him and we find that Uncle Laban is back of him. And he finds that his brother Esau is ahead of him and the last time he saw Esau was looking for blood. And poor Jacob is in a very bad spot. And that brings us to this very second statement of his life that reveals a struggle. I'm turning again to Genesis 32 verse 24. Jacob was left alone and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

23:56And the last thing that this man wanted was to be left alone. It's interesting when men are in sin, they seek company. That's the reason that the bar rooms are always filled. Men in sin never like to be alone. They want to be with others. And this man and Jacob did not want to be alone. But God saw to it he was alone. Then it has been said that Jacob wrestled. Jacob never wrestled at all. We're told definitely they're wrestled a man with Jacob. You see with Uncle Laban back of you. And with brother Esau ahead of you, you're not looking for a third party to wrestle. Jacob's not looking for anybody else to take on. He has his hands filled now and his life is coming to a climax.

25:02And we find that God closed him with him that night. They're wrestled a man with him. You want to know who the man was? I think that we can be helpful here because the scripture makes it very clear. Over in the twelfth chapter of the prophecy of Hosea, I read language like this. Lord hath also a controversy with Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways. According to his doings will he recompense him? He took his brother by the heel in the womb and by his strength he had power with God. He had power over the angel and prevailed. He wept and made supplication unto him. He found him in Bethel and there he spake with us.

26:03We're told that it was an angel, the angel and the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament, my beloved, is none other than the pre-incarnate Christ. I personally believe that it was the Lord Jesus Christ that closed in with Jacob that night. God closed in with him for the very simple reason that this man who had been living in the flesh as God's man and God must stop that sort of thing. For down underneath all those fleshly works that are so unlobly, there was that spiritual nature, that nature, that went after God and God is to take away all the dross and the debris out of his life and untoward make real. This nature that's there, in order to do it, he wrestled with Jacob and Jacob had to learn how to get a victory.

27:11Will you notice it? When he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh. The hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him. Jacob was stubborn. Though this fella knew very little about wrestling, he was clever. He tried every hope that was in the book. And he could not overcome. Jacob actually was losing and the other one was not attempting apparently to make an end of it. He just kept on wrestling, Jacob, hoping this man would finally yield. All night long, they struggled. I believe it will you notice? And he said, let me go for the day breaketh.

28:11And he said, I will not let the go accept thou bless me. And he said, what's thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel, far as a print, has thou power with God and with man and has prevailed. Jacob won that night, but he learned a tremendous lesson that you never win by struggling. That when you win with God, you win by yielding. God crippled him that night. God broke his leg. God had the break his leg beginning. But he broke his leg. When this poor fella with a leg dragging and he couldn't do anything now, but just hold on.

29:16He held on. And he said, I want you to bless me. He learned that the blessing comes not by struggling, but the blessing comes by yielding. Another man learned that lesson. Paul the Apostle. When he met the Lord Jesus Christ on the Damascus road, he had been a proud Pharisee and he became a proud Christian. He thought he could live the Christian life. And how many Christians today think they can? You and I cannot live the Christian life. There's no power within us. There's nothing within us. That can live the Christian life. And the amazing thing is God never asks us to.

30:19You see, there's no good in this old nature we have and the new nature we get has no power whatsoever. And so when this proud young Pharisee began to grapple with the issues of life and attempted by his own strength, even to live on the plane of the mosaic law, he said the law slew me. Destroyed me. And I found that I'd made a butcher of my life. I had wrecked my life. I was not living for God. And I cried out, old wretched man, that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death. And then he found out I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

31:22Because says that old nature of mine is always bent to sin. But this new nature wants to serve God. And I have found that by my own strength and my own willing, I can't live for God, but I have found that there's a victory when I come to this one who wrestled with Jacob and crippled where that night Jacob held on. I found out by yielding to Jesus Christ. There was a victory for me. There is a new ism that's flourishing in the east. And this new ism teaches that you can come to a crisis in your life. And you can get rid of the old nature, canalism. I wish with all my heart that was true.

32:25May I say to you, as long as we're in the flesh, we never get rid of that old nature. But we can get to the place where we can walk by faith. We can get to the place where we yield Christ and not live but the power of the flesh but live but the power of the Spirit. Jacob in the land of Herod manifests the flesh. He comes to penile, down at the Brook Jabbaq. We find this man fighting and then we find him surrendering. Travel was won by surrender and then we see him going into the land of Egypt and he's walking by faith.

33:27But I'm not attempting to suggest to you today that he was perfect for he was not. The great deal of the flesh appears and Jacob after his experience at penile. But may I say this to you that he had some great moments in his life after this. After penile there are wonderful moments when he's living for God on the mountain top. We find those in reference to Joseph's sons. First of all he bless Faryl and then Joseph brought his two sons and you must remember that Jacob is a doting grandfather. And if there's anyone inclined to brag it's a grandfather. A grandfather's apt to boast to the grandchildren and if there was anyone that knew how to brag it was Jacob.

34:38But you see he's been down to penile, he's been crippled, he's been walking with God. He's been limping by faith now listen to him. The angel which redeemed me from all evil bless the lads and let my name and let me be named on them, the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. Grandfather Jacob now says, may the angel that kept me from evil bless the lads. There was a time in my life when I could boast of what I had done. I put something over on my brother.

35:38I deceived my father but I found that's a hard road. My uncle's labelling brought home to my heart every one of those lessons. When I left there after twenty years I was a heart sick man walking in the flesh then that night of all night. When I was afraid with an enemy back up in the enemy ahead of me there were both closing in. God closed him with me, that wrestled with me the pre-incarnate tries. He wouldn't let me go all night long. All night long he wanted me to yield and I wouldn't yield. I'd been able to take care of myself.

36:40I'd been a pretty smart fellow. But toward the morning he broke my leg. I knew I was gone. I knew it was a. I took hold my health home and I said bless me. Bless me. And I found out that you don't get the victory by struggling with him. You get the victory by yielding and I've been limping all these years since then. And my life has been a checkered lie. There have times when I've failed him but there have been times when there's been victory in my life. And I can see the hand of God leading me and therefore may the angel that kept me from evil.

37:42May he be the one to bless these laths and watch over them. And I was a little Jacob. Came to his deathbed. And I always love this. When Jacob had made an end up commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, yielded up the ghosts, was gathered under the people. Up to the moment that he died he had his feet on the floor. The first thing he did was pull his feet in the bed. You know why he had his feet on the floor? Because he's going to keep on going. He had no notion of resigned. He had no notion of quitting. He intended to go on. He wanted to go on. He gathered up his feet, was struggled to the very end.

38:47He had learned to walk in the spirit. Brandness morning. Are you looking for a tremendous overwhelming experience some people are? That somehow another that God's going to make you overnight? The Christian life is a struggle we wrestle. They'll never come a day when the battle is all won. And you can say it's over until that day when you two pull your feet in the bed and give up the ghosts. Until that day it's a struggle. How are you going to win? Maybe you are clever. Maybe you have ability.

39:48You'll never win until you yield to him. Never win. And as you and I yield to him, he begins to work in our lives. I don't think it'll be done overnight. You know you can pour gel in a mold and it'll harden in a few minutes. But a diamond, it has to be worked that for a long time before you can shape it and mold it. And even after gel-o-moles it's still nervous. There are a lot of Christians today that have had that kind of an experience. Some great emotional upheaval. My friend this morning, God wants you to yield and I think yielding is a process.

40:57Continuing day by day, moment by moment of yielding to the Lord Jesus Christ. I was back in one on a lake with Dr. Frank Tali, who's a distant relative of Dr. Rubenay Tali, the first pastor of this church. And Dr. Tali has one of the outstanding missionary conferences in the country. And I was asking him about it. He was telling me an experience in one of the conferences of where a missionary who'd been on the field for 20 years, resigned and came home. Came to the conference, bitter and embedded. And one day before the conference was over, she came into his study. She says, this is an awful confession to have to make.

42:01But I've been on the field 20 years and I'm not a Christian. I'm not a Christian. How many today? Struggling. Battling. Striving. And they never yet have come to Christ. Never yet trusted him. It was John Newton. And he knew something about the struggle. He says, I'm not what I ought to be. I'm not what I hope to be in another world. But still, I'm not what I once used to be by the grace of God. I am what I am. This morning, Frank, how goes the battle?

43:01Are you losing the struggle? Have you really brought somebody to your side to help you? The Lord Jesus Christ is the one and the only one who can get the victory. Frank's beyond the God who give us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe you too find that life is a struggle and that your own strength isn't enough. Well, the good news is that Jesus Christ has already won the victory. If you'd like to know more about him, click on how to know God in our app or at ttb.org. You can also call 1-800-65-Bible. And then join us on the Bible bus this week as we finish our journey through Exodus and watch God's glory fill the tabernacle. After that, we'll turn the page and begin the action-packed gospel of Mark.

44:03Until then, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Jesus, take it all. All to Him by all. Sin and left the prince of Satan. He washed it quite as snow. Join us each weekday for our five-year daily study through the whole word of God. Check for times on the station or look for through the Bible in your favorite podcast store and always at ttb.org.