Sunday Morning Worship Service

praise the lord everyone we greet you today in that wonderful all-powerful magnificent name of jesus we want to give honor to the head of this great church the lord jesus christ and i want to give honor to our pastoral staff and what a job pastor whitley did preaching the father's day service i enjoyed it so very much as a matter of fact we may just call this part two preached about abraham and i'm going to be preaching about abraham's son grandson and maybe great-grandchildren so we'll just call this part two and again we welcome each and every one of you honor to pastor mark mccool give honor to pastor whitley of honor to pastor anthony they've all well they all stay busy preaching all over the count all over the world as far as that's concerned and that's the price we pay for having great men of god who are blessed and talented that has so much to offer and we have to share them with others around the world the topic of my message today will be found in uh my scripture let me read you my scripture first of all and we'll give you my topic genesis 43 26 and 27 and when joseph came home they brought him the present which was in their hand and into the house and bowed themselves to him to the earth and he asked them of their welfare and said is your father well the old man of whom you spake is he yet alive my topic is the old man of whom you spake is he yet alive in 1985 there was a mother-daughter country singing duo emerging on the music scene they appeared on the tonight show which starred johnny carson wynonna and naomi judd they're seeing the singing brought a thunderous applause from the audience and the comment from the host three times he said that's marvelous that's marvelous the song they're saying was grandpa tell me about the good old days the song spoke of some things dear that has been lost from yesteryear grandpa tell me about the good old days sometimes it feels like this world's gone crazy and grandpa take me back to yesterday when the line between right and wrong didn't seem so hazy did lovers really fall in love to stay stand beside each other come what may was a promise really something people kept not just something they would say and then forget did families really bow their heads to pray did daddies really never go away whoa grandpa tell me about the good old days grandpa everything is changing fast and we call it progress but i just don't know and grandpa let's wander back into the past then paint me the picture of long ago the old man of whom we speak his birth name was jacob which meant one who follows on another's heels supplanter to supersede another especially by force and treachery few of earth's inhabitants have been so thoroughly and minutely examined even before he was born first we find he was the second born of twins born in the day when being the firstborn had enormous benefits it was called the birthright the birthright the word denotes the special privilege an advantage belonging to the firstborn son among the jews he became the priest of the family the firstborn inherited the judicial authority of his father whatever it might be the jews attached a sacred importance to the rank of firstborn and the first begotten word is the most fascinating book ever written it reveals god's miraculous way of dealing with man [Music] jacob is cast as a supplanter and somewhat of a scoundrel who cheated his brother out of his birthright but wait a minute let's look at the scripture before jacob was born rebecca his mother experienced a tumult within her womb so uncomfortable she inquired of god what was going on and the lord said to her two nations are in thy womb and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels and the one people shall be stronger than the other and the elder shall serve the younger now let us remember it was not jacob's idea or his mother rebecca's idea for him to rule over his older twin it was god's plan and his peculiar way of bringing to pass and may i say to you today that god chose sarah rebecca and rachel the three most prominent women in the plan for multiplying god's people and all three of them were barren all three gave birth by miraculous means as an answer to sincere prayer i believe that tells us that the mother church gives birth only by miraculous means and the answer to sincere prayer we found out many years ago that when they took a shortcut to save the mother from being sick at the time of pregnancy they gave the the expected mothers a drug called thalidomide yes it did relieve the mother of morning sickness but little babies were born without arms or or or without legs and terribly deformed because it wasn't god's way of bringing babies into this world the bible said that the woman will be saved by childbirth if she continued in the faith let us quickly scan over the eventful life of jacob he was born holding the heel of his brother esau now that's rather unusual for an unborn baby to have any realization but yet god has unusual ways of proving his point to mankind this was illustrating the plan of god the importance of valuing the birthright and the folly of failing to appreciate it god used this example to show how important it was for you and me to value our position and our birthright in god and it shows the folly of not valuing our position with the lord while esau was enjoying the excitement and the call of the wild ensnaring and killing wild animals jacob was waiting god's opportunity for him to gain the unappreciated birthright which he saw according to scripture despised now in a fair and square deal jacob traded a bowl of soup for the birthright one day esau went out to hunt and and he had bad luck he didn't kill anything and he came in so faint and so hungry and so famished and when he came in jacob had a great big bowl of red stew of lentils and beans and it looked and smelled so great and then it was indicative of esau's attitude toward heavenly and earthly things he forgot all about heavenly things he forgot all about birthright and he said give me a bowl of that red stew that you're cooking there you know the devil has a way of showing us something that looks good smells good and gives you the idea that it's going to be great but you better keep your eye on the future rather than on the moment of the present as we as parents fathers and mothers we need to keep our eye on the prize i press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of glory in christ jesus when his father isaac was now when when esau asked for the bowl of soup jacob said all right will you sell me your birthright i'll give you a bowl of stew if you'll give me your birthright and he thought it over for just a second and he said what good is a birthright if i die of hunger the devil will make you think that for the moment you've got to have what you desire it is so urgent and so so important that you have what you want right now young girls young boys the devil will tell you that right now you must satisfy the lusts of the flesh but there is an afterward that is more important than the pleasure of the present so he weighed it all out and he said what good is my birthright if i die of hunger well he wasn't about to die of hunger for missing one day of eating but he made the trade and the deal was made when their father was 160 years old blind and at the point of death and proceeded to impart the blessing due to the firstborn the most fascinating and intriguing event began to unfold isaac said son to esau you go out there in the field and kill me a deer and come back and fix me the venison that i love and i'm going to impart to you the blessing that goes with the birthright and rebecca heard that now rebecca was the one that talked to god before jacob before jacob and esau were born and she knew that something that had taken place inside of her and when she asked god what was going on god said there's two nations within your womb and i've got my hand on one of them that's going to be my people let me tell you something god's got his eye on some people that's going to be his and it may be against all normal and natural expectations god has got a people that he bought with a prize well she called jacob in and said uh your dad's fixing to give the the the blessing of the birthright to esau he's gone hunting said go out and kill me a goat and bring it in and i'm gonna fix it and she fixed a nice meal and he said but mom my brother's got hair all over him and daddy don't know the difference she said i'll take care of that she took the goat skin and put it on his arms and he went in he gave his daddy the the so-called uh proposed or a venison which was a kid a baby goat and he said well your voice is the voice of jacob but but you you smell lucky so let me feel your arms and they went through with this situation and he gave jacob the blessing in just a little while here comes esau and he went to his father and said dad here's the venison he said wait a minute i have already given that blessing what's happened and then he revealed the the scam that had taken place and esau bowed in his heart that day he said i will kill my brother and his uh the mother rebecca said to jacob jacob you take your flight go down to the land of my father go to your uncle laban's house and said their stay until your brother's anger has subsided the result left jacob on the run for his life but while fleeing from the angry brother on the run to his uncle laban an intervention by god took place he was lonely in the middle of the night tired and weary he laid down laid some stones and laid his head on that stone now remember god had said to rebecca the two nations that are in your womb and the the the older is going to serve the younger the younger is going to be the ruler i have got my hand on a plan god has got his hand on a plan he had a people that could have been his he came to his own but his own rejected him but he turned to another people that was not a people and made them a people and i am one of them well let me go on when he laid down his head on that stone that night he had a great dream and in that dream there was a ladder that reached from earth to heaven and at the top of that letter it was heaven and god was and the angels of god was ascending and descending on it behold the lord stood above it and said i am the lord god of abraham thy father and the god of isaac the land we're on thou lies to thee will i give it and to thy seed we fathers and parents we need to keep the dry the dream alive you see we need to keep the dream alive about a ladder which reaches not from childhood sports to major league baseball and football and basketball which too often leads to disappointment and disaster but we need to be having a dream to our children say there's a way from earth to glory and it's not through the nba it's not through soccer it's not through sports it's a ladder that reaches from earth to glory that's the kind of father i want to be i can't help but think many years ago there was a young basketball player out of out of a college he was getting a a a big contract he went pro his name was lynn bias and he got so excited they had a big party the night before he was to be abducted the night before he was to get his contract but that night they celebrated and he overdosed with drugs and died the night before he was to get the great prize ladies and gentlemen let me say to you do not lead your children the way of thinking that baseball and basketball and sports is going to be the way to their success according to statistics only two percent of the boys that make it in college and and and the high level sports will ever make it in professional ball and those who make it in the professional ball and making millions of dollars many of them wind up on drugs and many of them wind up on skid row and many of them wind up with broken homes and broken hearts let's tell them the latter to success is the next morning jacob arose and he looked at those stones and took oil and he poured on those stones and he said surely the lord was in this place and i knew it not this is none other than the house of god and this is the gate to heaven ladies and gentlemen fathers let me tell you something we need to be teaching our children that the gate to heaven is the church this is the house of god and this is the gate to heaven [Applause] and he called the name of the place bethel and the name bethel means the house of god and then in verse 20 jacob vowed a vow saying if god will be with me and well now this is he just runs from his angry brother that had vowed to kill him and is now alone in a lonely wilderness place in the darkness and he anoints the stone and then here's what he says jacob vowed about saying if god will be with me and keep me in his this way that i go and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on so that i come again to my father's house in peace then shall the lord be my god and this storm which i have set for a pillar shall be god's house and of all that thou shalt give me i will surely give the tenth unto him i ask is the old man yet alive who teaches his children that the house of god is the way to heaven is the old man yet alive that teaches the children that the house of god is the way to heaven i suggest to you there are some people in this church that's teaching their children that the way to heaven is through the house of god is the old man yet alive who teaches his children that giving god a tenth of all that god gives them is their wisest investment oh if you haven't taught your children to pay tithe you are cheating your children of the greatest secret to success bring ye all the tithe into the storehouse and prove me who will set the lord if i will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing there shall not be room enough to receive girls if you're going with a boy that don't believe in tithe you better run you'll be keeping him up because god's going to bless him you bring your tithe into the storehouse and the bible said he'll open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive well jacob finally finds his uncle laban well he finds his daughter she was bringing sheep to the well to water them and there was a big stone up over on the the mouth of the well and he moved that stone and watered the sheep and then said who said do you know a member old lady yes that's my daddy well then you're my you're my cousin you're what are you and she took him home with and he fell in love with rachel and he says to laban i'm gonna what can i give you for this girl i love so much and they agreed that he would work for seven years for rachel to be his his bride now on the wedding night his uncle laban tricked him gave him the older daughter liam instead of rachel but when he came to his senses and to realize what had happened he said laban said well it's all right so i'll give you the younger one also if you work another seven years even the day when polygamy was permitted jacob stayed true to his first love and was willing to work an additional seven years for her is that old man yet alive who teaches his children the sacredness the blessing and the beauty of holy matrimony and that keeping marriage vows is for a lifetime and that is still god's plan not until strange flesh comes along not until somebody comes along with a flirtatious and a a a a shapely body to get you out no it's a vow that you make that you're going to be with that woman till she dies or you die or by that man till he dies or till you die now i know it gets quiet when you preach about things like that but you see god's plan is still for one man for one woman and if you've made that mistake ask god to forgive you and say god i'm going to be true from what you're on the rest of my life after 20 years of laboring with his conniving uncle and father-in-law and he'd become very wealthy god had blessed laban because of him but finally he'd had all he could take and he said i am going to i'm going to take my wives and he had many sheep and cattle he had many servants he'd become a very wealthy man but he said i'm not going to stay with my conniving uncle any longer my conniving father-in-law so he called for liam and rachel to meet him out in the field and told them what he was fixing to do and so they gathered all their possessions together and said i'm going back to my father's land i'm going back where my people are let me tell you something you may wonder here and there in yonder but there comes a time you better say i've got to get back to mama's god i'm going to get back to daddy's god i'm going to get back to the house of god where i left it all like the prodigal son i'm going to say to myself my father has servants that's hired that has more than i have and i'm perishing with hunger i'm going to go back to the house of god but on his way home back to his father's land he had some important business to attend to he had a score to settle with his brother esau and on his way he sent a caravan or said he sent a representative ahead to find esau now you see in traveling with thousands of animals servants it's a very slow travel that's why they took days and days but then he sent those heads said now then you go and said take all these cattle and all these sheep and he gave a huge crowd of cattle and sheep and said when you find esau tell him this is a present from your brother jacob so they went ahead and and they found esau and he said what's all this and said that's from your your brother esau well when they got back they said jacob your brother esau is coming to meet you and he's got 400 armed men with him and this frightened jacob because he knew that there was a possible bloodletting just ahead so on his way to meet esau even though he had presence to give he had some decisions to make he had some priorities he had to set first of all he said take all the cattle and all the sheep take them ahead take the servants ahead and said i'm gonna take leah and rachel i'm gonna take joseph and benjamin and we're gonna be now you see god allows us to set some priorities at one time in your life you may think making money is the most important thing in your life one time in your life you may think getting a a high paying contract in basketball or what have you is important but there comes a time when you have to reevaluate these priorities and realize that the bank account's not nearly as important as your family that success in business is not nearly as important as your family so in his priorities he set the priorities he is joseph and benjamin and rachel and leah here they are back here and all the rest goes ahead let me tell you father something on this a week after father's day and a week after the great message that pastor whitley preached to us there's some things that's so much more important than what you used to think was important oh i've got i've got to set my priorities well in setting these priorities he sent them across the river and he said i'm going to wait over here and in the middle of the night an angel appeared to him god give us fathers today that in the middle of the night's ready to meet an angel to make things right and there they they met and they wrestle all night long is the old man yet alive who puts god and family first and foremost in their life if required an all-night wrestling match with an angel and then jacob prevailed but with much pain and a lifelong limp they wrestled and noticed what happened and he said to him what is thy name the angel said to jacob and he said jacob and he said thy name shall be called no more jacob look at this closely we don't emphasize this enough in our study and in our preaching thy name shall be called no more jacob but israel for as a prince thou has power with god and with men and has prevailed we wrestle we train we strain we struggle to see our children be the best at sports we even have a term soccer moms and helicopter dads is that old man yet alive who teaches his children that it's worth the pain and the struggle to wrestle and prevail to change the name and nature of a scoundrel to a saint let's look at a few names mentioned in the bible watch it closely the name jehovah is mentioned four times in the bible the name david i thought surely that probably is the most mentioned name in the bible the name david is mentioned 1058 times in the bible the name jacob is mentioned 358 times in the bible however the name israel is mentioned 2565 times my limited research indicates that israel is possibly the most mentioned named in all the bible we know that god and lord of titles are not names is that old man yet alive who was born with the name supplanter and successfully had it changed to a prince of god well it can be if you're willing to pay the price of wrestling with the angel you can change your name as a pastor whitley said last week that if your father was a drunk you don't have to be if your family tree was one thing you he had a godly mother to guide him and i want to tell you something we have the opportunity of wrestling with god and changing the past no matter what i have been jesus told the woman called it the act of adultery neither do i condemn thee go and sin no more well a lot of things ensued after he reached the land of canaan they settled things between esau and jacob when esau saw jacob and all that cattle he said what whose are all these he said they're yours he said they're not i don't need these i've got enough jacobs that i've got enough and they settle their differences right there you see god makes a change instead of us having the attitude of counter-punching we have the attitude of praying for those that despitefully use you do good for evil speak no evil of any man this is the new way we've taken well you know the story of how joseph's brothers had so when when they got back to canaan with his father all the family and joseph went to see about his brothers they sold him he winds up a pit and then a servant and potter and potiphar's house he goes on to be a a falsely accused of of attacking his master's wife he winds up in a a dungeon in a prison but god is on the way of bringing him to be the prime minister the second ruler in all egypt ladies and gentle mom and dad let me tell you something if we can teach our children the right values we're going to see them they can come from the pit from the dungeon and they can come to the highest position well let me go on by and by there was a great famine in the land and isaac sends his uh we see that the the the great families covered the land jacob sends his sons down to egypt to buy corn and when they got there they didn't know who that strange man was he was only 17 years old when he was sold by his brothers and now then some 20 years has passed he's always about 40 years old they don't know who they're talking to but they're talking to their younger brother that had sold him and told the father that he'd been killed by a wild beast and now then they're buying corn he puts him through a rigorous uh situation of could have cost them their life and i'm going to bypass all the details but by and by when he finally reveals himself to them he said do you have any family at home is there any the old man of whom you spake is he yet alive and probably there was stillness his heart stood still is my daddy still alive jacob's still alive the old man and they said the old man of whom we speak our father is in good health and he is yet alive but wait a minute something had taken place to show the difference in the attitude and the nature of jacob before they reveal themselves before joseph revealed himself to them that goes back they had to leave reuben behind as a hostage before they he said and don't you come back unless you bring benjamin my your younger brother and when they went back and jacob said i can't do it until the hunger got so sore he said well i'm going to let you take benjamin but if you take benjamin and he he don't come back it'll kill me i'll die in sorrow but he said if you're going to go back i want you to take the man that he's still calling the man he don't know it's joseph his son said take the man a present and i want to close by talking about the present jacob the old man of whom you speak what he sent to joseph carried down the man a present a little bomb a little honey spices myrrh nuts and almonds take double money in your hands and your money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks carry it again in your hands prayer adventure it was an oversight take also your brother rise and go and he said if if i'm bereaved then i'm going to be bereaved and they took the man a present and this is what he sent bomb now bomb is a medical product which with healing properties we're talking about is the old man alive that knows how to settle oh jacob had learned how to settle differences instead of counter-punching and doing evil for evil knock keep my out and i'll knock your eye out knock my tooth out and i'll knock your teeth out he's now sending a medical remedy that produces healing the bomb of gilead was an aroma aromatic resin used as an incense and a medical ointment used for the healing of wounds and then he said take a little honey the word of god is referred to as a sweetened honey sweeter than honey we need some sweetener ladies and gentlemen psalms 119 103 says how sweet are thy words unto my taste yay sweeter than honey to my mouth do you know what we need to be teaching our children that the sweetest story ever told is found in the word of god that the sweetest book you'll ever hold in your hand is the word of god the the word of god is the most precious thing that you can give to your children psalms 119 104 says through thy precepts i get understanding therefore i hate every evil way psalms 119 105 says thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path ezekiel said son of man cause the belly to eat and fill thy bowels with this roll that i give thee then did i eat it and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness i remember brother brother reed making the statement his dad said if he had any mistakes they could correct when he was in bible college he wouldn't read so many of the la more books but he would read more of the word of god we need to to emphasize the importance to our children our sons and daughters the importance of reading the word of god daily it's going to be a sweetening to their life it's going to be sweetened and then it said spices sweet smelling vegetable substance used as incense holy anointing oil cosmetics and perfumes such spices which were used to prepare bodies for burial you see the queen of sheba gave spices to solomon the one thing the rich king did not have was the aroma of the queen of sheba and then it said myrrh myrrh was an extract from a stiff ranch tree with white flowers and plume-like fruit with myrrh was when myrrh was extracted from the wood it soon hardened and was valued as an article of trade it was an ingredient used in anointing oil psalms 45 and 8 and all my thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and casio out of the ivory palaces whereby they have made the glad now my point in this is jacob had learned better than being as a planter and a trickster he learned to send gifts to be willing to give instead of receive we don't need to be teaching our children uh be sure and get the best of whoever you're dealing with know show your love and be willing to forgive then it said almonds and it came to pass that on tomorrow moses went to the tabernacle of witnesses and behold the rod of aaron and the house of levi was butted and brought forth buds and bloomed blossoms and used in almonds you see age and wisdom teaches us that authority and the rod of correction must be with blossoms and beauty and will yield nourishing fruit beauty and nourishment the when when moses took the rod of aaron and the rod of those who were rebels and put them up in the house of god when they went back to check on the rods the next day aaron's rod had budded with blossoms and blooms and had almonds on them the real the correction in the house of god is not to punish but it is to improve one's behavior and when joseph came home they brought him the present which was in the hand which was in their hand and the house and they bowed themselves to the earth and then when they brought in benjamin the bible said that joseph sought a place to weep excuse me fellas he said and he went to his bedroom and began to cry he came out and when he came out he revealed himself to benjamin and they hugged each other and began to kiss and make up oh what a difference it makes when we have a relationship with that ladder that reached to heaven oh what a difference it makes when you have that all-night wrestling match with the angel of god and they said thy servant our father is in good health he's yet alive and they bowed their heads and made obeses let me say this to you we who are the spiritual israel have no right within ourselves to the inheritance of the birthright but by faith the church yet unborn took hold of the bruised heel of him who had just bruised the head of the serpent hanging on a cross and giving his blood that we so unworthy might be the recipients of the birthright and inheritance of the firstborn of any brethren he by coming a curse for us became a blessing to the true israel would you stand to your feet with me right now i want to proclaim in your ears today that the old man of whom we speak he's still alive the church that's still preaching holiness is still alive they all haven't gone the way of the world i want to tell you something there is a church that still preaches that jesus is the mighty god the everlasting father the prince of peace there's still a church that believes and preaches and teaches the apostolic doctrine would you gather with me around this altar right now and rededicate ourselves to the business of teaching our children and our families the greatness of being a godly father and a godly mother as the musicians come right now i want us to have a time of worship and dedication and rededication to god that that spirit of holiness is still alive that apostolic spirit is still alive let us raise our voices our hearts and hands to god right now as we give our hearts and our love to him [Music] would you worship the lord with us right now would you worship the lord with us right now would you worship the lord with us right now oh hallelujah [Music] yes yes yes yes yes praise god praise the lord praise the lord hallelujah holiness is what i long for a holy one is what i need [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] okay [Music] is [Music] is my heart [Music] to you [Applause] take my heart [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] lord i praise you for your direction lord i thank you for the voices that still speak into our lives and direct us in jesus lord i thank you for your word this day hallelujah in the name of jesus we pray amen amen i proclaim [Music] the old man is still alive the message of the old man is still alive and it's going to go and grow in all of us