Brothers!

I had the opportunity of going to Lafayette yesterday and I was able to go to Josh's graduation yesterday and it was really a good time of celebration. There were probably about 20 guys who graduated in his class with the Master of Divinity. And what was interesting is one of the guys who graduated had just gotten married five weeks ago. And so everybody was really rejoicing about that.

But two weeks ago, this young man and his wife found out that she had MS. And so they spent time praying for her. I've never been in a commencement where that has been the case. And so it was a sweet time as well. It was a difficult time. It was a time when, you know, a guy who's starting out in ministry is starting out. having to rely greatly on the grace of God.

But it was a good time. And it was good to see Josh finish up and now devote himself entirely to the ministry that God has given him. So you pray for him and you pray for them as they continue to work and to build. It's not easy. And so we need to continue to pray for them. Let's take our Bibles and turn to Genesis chapter 35 today.

Genesis 35. And we're going to be reading verses 16 through 29. From verse 16 to the end of the chapter. Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor. And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, Do not fear, for you have another son.

And as her soul was departing, for she was dying, she called his name Benoni. But his father called him Benjamin. So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is Bethlehem. And Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day. Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Edir.

While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine. And Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. The sons of Leah, Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. The sons of Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin. the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant, Dan, and Naphtali, the sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant, Gad, and Asher.

These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan Aram. And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath Arba, that is, Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. And Isaac breathed his last, and he died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Let's pray. Father, we ask now that you would open up this text of scripture to us, that we might see the treasures that you have for us. Help us, we pray, for your glory and our good. help us so that your name will be glorified in us as we grow as we change as we understand the ways of our God help us now Lord to that end in Jesus name amen this text brings us to the end of the book of Jacob you remember that Genesis is composed of 10 books, 10 Toledotes.

Toledote meaning generations. You remember that every book begins with the generations of and then continues to tell us the story of the descendants of that person. And so now we come to this end of this book, the book of Jacob. It ends right before the short book of Esau, which will be in the next chapter, and right before we see the beginning of the book of Joseph's adventures.

And so we come to the end then of this book. We find here first of all, well first of all let's just say this. This has really been the story of God's relentless grace pursuing this man Jacob. It's the story of God's grace that will not let a man alone. It's the story of the grace of God that takes a crooked schemer and changes him into a man of faith.

And so as we look at this we see this is Jacob at the end of a life in which God has pursued him by grace A grace that treated him not as he deserved but then a grace that also changed him So God pursuing him and changing him Why Because he made a covenant with Abraham and he made that covenant with Isaac, and he made that covenant with Jacob, and God is going to remain faithful to his promises no matter what. No matter how Jacob responded, God is going to remain faithful to his promises. Jacob deserved none of it, but God's grace pursued him and changed him.

So the question that comes to my mind then is this. What should we be looking for when we see the grace of God working? What is true in Jacob's life as we come to the end? What is true here as we come to this end of his book? What do we see here about grace? Now the end of the book starts almost like it begins.

You see here that the whole narrative ends with a story of Jacob and Esau. The very end is Jacob and Esau. The very beginning is Jacob and Esau. You also see this. Two brothers. Two brothers.

The story began with an understanding of two brothers, Jacob and Esau. Now we have here what? Two other brothers, Benjamin and Reuben. And not only that, but we have a list of 12 brothers. in the midst of this. All of this about brothers, but not so much about them as the relentless grace of God. Now, what should we be looking for if God's grace is operating?

Where God's grace operates, we ought to be able to see some things. What are they? Let's look at them. The first thing you ought to see is the first thing you ought to look for is hope. When God's grace operates, you should look for hope. When God's grace pursues and conquers, look for hope.

Verses 16 through 21 through 20. Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor and she had hard labor. And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, do not fear for you have another son. And as her soul was departing, for she was dying, she called his name Benoni. But his father called him Benjamin.

So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is Bethlehem. And Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day. Now Jacob is headed to Hebron. He's almost to the end of his pilgrimage home, almost to Isaac. And they're on their way, and Rachel, of course, is pregnant.

But one day, as they're traveling along the road, her labor pains begin, and so they stop so she can give birth to this child. However, there are problems. I'm indebted to Enola Jones at this point because she said to me, how in the world did the midwife know that this was a boy? while she was in labor? Good question. Look at verse 17. And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, do not fear, for you have another son.

Enola said to me, it must have been a breech birth. That's how the midwife knew it was a boy. I think she's right. But they didn't have the technology that we have today. Breech births usually meant death. And that's what happened with Rachel.

Rachel gave birth to this boy and in her dying breath she names him Benoni. Benoni, which means son of my sorrow. You know, one thing we have to see in the grace of God is this. The grace of God does not eliminate pain and sorrow in our lives. I was thinking about this yesterday. Wouldn't it be great if the Christian life just didn't have any troubles at all?

Right? Wouldn't that be great? Wouldn't it be easy? Wouldn't that be wonderful? It doesn't happen that way. We're in a fallen world, and the grace of God does not get rid of hardship and death and these things now.

It helps us through them. so here is Jacob he's just erected a pillar in joy to the faithfulness of God at Bethel now he erects a pillar of sorrow because he has lost his wife but Jacob because of the grace of God because God has treated him not as he deserved because God is faithful to his covenant Jacob still has hope, doesn't he? He still has hope. He takes that son named son of my sorrow and he names him Benjamin, which means son of the right hand, Benjamin.

The right hand is the place of honor. The right hand is the place of glory. The right hand is the place of, if I can put it this way, good fortune. And so he looks at this son, not as one of sorrow, but one of my right hand, one that is of glory and honor and good fortune. There's hope for him in the midst of all of this sorrow because of the grace of God.

Where the grace of God operates, look for hope. Now that ought to be true of you too. It's just not true of Jacob, it ought to be true of you as well. If God's grace is working in your life, you ought to be living a life of hope. Even in the midst of sorrow, you must have hope. You must have hope. you know why you can have hope because grace tells us this god is always for you and never against you to me that sums up how is it that grace works in our lives How is it that grace has this power in our lives It has this power when we constantly thinking by grace I know this thing God is always for me and never, listen to me, never against me.

He is always for me. He always loves me and no matter what comes into my life, no matter what the sorrow, no matter what the difficulty, no matter what the hardship, I need to remember this. God is not against me in this. God is for me in this. He is always for me in this. You see, because God is for you always, you can have hope no matter what the situation is.

And that's what Jacob exhibits here. He exhibits hope in the midst of sorrow. Why? Because he knows. He has seen the faithfulness of God in keeping all his promises. He knows God is for him and not against him.

It reminds me of what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans chapter 8. If you want to turn there, Romans chapter 8. look at verse 31 what then shall we say to these things if god is for us who can be against us he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all how will he not also with him graciously give us all things. Now don't lose the import of those words.

If God gave up His Son, if God crushed His own Son on your benefit, do you think He's going to abandon you now? Do you think if this One who gave His Son for sinners is going to keep you from all that's good for you now? No. He's going to graciously do all things for you. You see, I was reading this last week, this story of a gal by the name of Martha Koning.

Martha's the daughter of a friend of ours from college. She's the daughter of Becky Seldon. Becky used to stand right next to me on my right when we sang in corollaires together. She had a daughter. And I'm... Becky married Gary Kuhn, so their last name was Kuhn.

But anyway, I think that my kids played soccer with her. Not with Becky, but with Martha. She was at our house one time when the Kuhns were here. But she wrote this story recently. They were having their third little boy, and while he was still in the womb, Noah Scott, they had named him, some things started looking not quite right, and he had some kidney problems, and the little boy died.

He died, and they lost him. And she remembered the grace of God in the Psalms that God is with you and he has your days in his hand and he will walk with you. Well, two years, two or three years later, she was pregnant again with a little girl. I mean, this time they started seeing some fluid building up in her abdomen. 13 weeks into the pregnancy, 14 weeks later, the heart of that little child stopped because it was overwhelmed by the pressure that that was producing.

And she said at that point, we just laid hold of the promise of God in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9. my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness two years later she was pregnant again with a little girl and one week before that baby was to be born it died and she writes did we still believe did we still believe even after all this? And she said, yes, because of the grace of God. By His grace, we believe.

You see, no matter what it is, God is always for you, never against you, and therefore there's always reason for hope. No matter what it is. And some of you, as I'm looking at this congregation, I can see some of you had some really scary diagnoses this last year. And I can see others who've gone through very, very difficult times. And you know and you have hope.

Your sorrow has not gone away, but you have hope in the midst of that sorrow. Because you know the grace of God in that he is always for you and never against you. Well, what else should we look when grace is operating? You ought to look for righteousness. You ought to look for righteousness. Verse 21, Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the Tower of Edir.

While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went in and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now as we look here, we see that as he's headed toward Hebron, he stops. And for some time, he's camped in this area near the Tower of Edir. And what happens is is his firstborn son the son of Leah goes in and defiles his wife Bilhah Now you might think this is a story of unbridled lust and you would be wrong It is not.

It is about politics. It is about power. Turn over, if you will, to 2 Samuel for a moment. 2 Samuel, chapter 15. you recall that David has a son by the name of Absalom. And you recall that Absalom is seeking to grab the reins of power. He's mounting a coup d'etat against his father, the king, David.

And he catches David by surprise. And David now has to flee the capital city. in verse 13 of chapter 15 here's what we read and a messenger came to david saying the hearts of the men of israel have gone after absalom then david said to all his servants who are with him at jerusalem arise and let us flee or else there will be no escape for us from absalom go quickly lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword And the king's servants said to the king, Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides. So the king went out and all his household after him, and the king left ten concubines to keep the house.

And the king went out and all the people after him, and they halted at the last house. So David's on the run, but he leaves ten concubines behind. Now turn to chapter 16. Chapter 16. verse 20, Absalom now is in control of the capital city, goes to Ahithophel, who's been part of the, he's a court counselor. He's been one of David's counselors. And in verse 20 it says, Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, Give your counsel, what shall we do?

Ahithophel said to Absalom, Go in to your father's concubines, whom he has left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that you've made yourself a stench to your father and the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened. So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof and Absalom went into his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. Now what is this?

This unbridled lust? No. What he's doing is saying, I am the leader now. And I'm going to do this to my father's wives. This is power politics is what's going on. And that's what Reuben is doing.

Reuben is playing power politics in the clan. You see, Bilhah is Rachel's servant. And what Reuben wants to do is to make sure that Leah, his mom, is the chief wife. After the death of Rachel. You see? He's going to defile Bilhah.

So that she won't become the chief wife. Leah will. Power politics. That's what's happening here. An unrighteous, horrible thing to do. And by that, hopefully, cementing his leadership of the family.

He is the firstborn after all. now what's the point here where grace operates you look for righteousness you ought to look for righteousness see Ruben had been part of this household since the beginning right he has seen the grace of God in his family he has seen his father's failures but he's also seen God's faithfulness to his father over all these years. God kept his promises made at Bethel of prosperity and protection for Jacob. Reuben has witnessed all of this.

Reuben has witnessed the ups and downs of his father, but he's also witnessed the covenant faithfulness of God in keeping his promises to a father who is not perfect. He has seen grace year after year after year after year. You know what? That should change you. I'm reminded then of Romans chapter 2. If you'll turn there, Romans chapter 2.

You remember the Apostle Paul here is talking and he says in Romans chapter 2 verse 4 or do you presume on the riches of his kindness that is God's kindness and forbearance and patience not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance but because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. Here is Reuben. He has seen the grace and the forbearance and the kindness and the patience of God for year after year after year, and yet he does this unrighteous thing.

He has no excuse. In fact, we might look at 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and see that very often grace not only reaches some, but hardens the heart of others. 2 Corinthians 2, verse 14, But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the night. of him everywhere. So he's saying, we proclaim the gospel, it's the fragrance of God everywhere.

It's like this sweet perfume that goes out. But notice what he says, for we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death and to the other a fragrance from life to life. This This grace, this sweet perfume of the grace of God, is a perfume of life to those who are his and death to those who are not.

It hardens hearts as well. I know that when I preach the gospel here, you ought to know when you share the gospel with people, it might have a hardening effect. You see? And for Reuben, that's just exactly what happened. But let's not absolve him of responsibility. He also hardened his heart in the face of grace.

He has no excuse. And he does this unrighteous thing. And you see, grace should lead us to belief and then the producing of righteous fruits. Titus chapter 2. Very familiar passage. Titus chapter 2.

Verse 11. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people. The grace of God has appeared in Jesus, bringing salvation for all people. What does that do? It trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. What does that?

Grace does that. How does grace do that? If I know God is always for me and never against me, why would I not want to obey Him? It ought to produce in us the fertile soil of the growth of righteousness, and it hasn't done that in this household with Reuben. where God's grace operates look for righteousness look for righteousness look for belief in righteousness a belief that leads us to obedience to God now what follows next seems a little strange it's the list of the 12 brothers now the sons of Jacob were 12 the sons of Leah Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

The sons of Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin. The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant, Dan and Naphtali. The sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant, Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan Aram. Now as we look at this, we say that seems strange because we know that Benjamin wasn't born in Paddan Aram. He was born on the way to Bethlehem or the way to Ephrath.

Why does the writer say this about all 12? I think he's presenting an idealized picture for us, if you will, of these people leaving what they're familiar with. Because remember, all these people have grown up in Paddan Aram. Only Jacob has been to the land of promise, right? So these folks are leaving what is comfortable, what they've grown up with, and by faith they leave and go to where God sends them.

It's an idealized picture of the people of God obeying and believing God and moving and going there. Now who are the first people to hear this? The twelve tribes as they're headed for the promised land. He wants them to see God's going to remain faithful to his purpose. God's going to remain faithful to his purpose. This is a foundational picture for what God does through the rest of Scripture.

You know, when people talk about the United States, they always talk about why do we exist? What's our purpose? And what do they do? They often point to our founding documents. You know what those founding documents are? Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.

They always talk about our founding documents. That defines us. That tells us our purpose. Well, this is a founding picture, if you will. This is a picture. This is the beginning of the picture of God accomplishing his purpose.

So the third point, look for God accomplishing his purpose wherever you find grace. Where God's grace is at work, you will see God accomplishing his purpose. These 12 become the picture of God doing what he wants to do for his people, accomplishing his gracious purpose for his people. That number 12 is very important. Consider this. When Jesus came in fulfillment of the promise to Abraham, which is what?

From you is going to come a blessing to all the nations, right? To me, that's the premier promise that God makes to Abraham. From your seed is going to come that which will bless all the nations. Well, Jesus is the fulfillment of that. He's the one who's come to bless all the nations. And what does he do to carry on that work of blessing to the nations?

Remember what he does? He chooses what? How many men? Twelve. He chooses twelve men. Now, it's not like there's this, oh, what an interesting coincidence.

There were 12 tribes, now there's 12 apostles. Wow, that's interesting. This is God, if you will, picturing, I'm going to accomplish my purpose. So much so that when you come to the ultimate fulfillment of the blessing to the nations, in Revelation 21 we heard it read to us today by Brian Revelation 21 please note Please let look at this again Verse 10 Wait a minute.

Verse 9. Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me saying, Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God having the glory of God its radiance like a most rare jewel like a jasper clear as crystal it had a great high wall with 12 gates and at the gates 12 angels and on the gates the names of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed on the east three gates on the north three gates on the south three gates on the west three gates and the wall of the city had 12 foundations and on them were the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the lamb what's going on here this this bride is us this is the glorified church this is the where we're headed to this place where we are going to be the new jerusalem the bride of the lamb absolutely glorified and the entry to the people of god are through the 12 tribes of Israel right we're here because God worked through the Jews right and the foundation of the people of God are the 12 apostles and so I would say to you that this is speaking to us as we look at at this and we think about why did the writer talk about these 12 sons because there were 12 tribes who read this because this is how God accomplishes his purpose.

Where grace operates, God accomplishes his purposes. All right? He will always accomplish his purposes. So what's going on in your life? If God is always for you and never against you, guess what? If that's true, and it is, if that's true, then God's accomplishing his purpose in you.

One of the things we ought to look for where grace is, must be God working out his purposes. Lastly, verse 27, And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath Arba, that is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. Now the days of Isaac were 180 years, and Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people old and full of days, and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Here's the last thing. Where grace operates, look for reconciliation. Where grace operates, look for reconciliation. Now you remember, as Jacob is coming home in response to the command of God, on his way to Bethel, he goes out of his way. You remember now, he goes out of his way to make things right with Esau. We don't have time to review all that.

But when you read the story of those two men meeting, you see him purposely doing things that are going to say to Esau, let's be reconciled, right? He gives him things as if to say, wow, I stole the birthright from you here. I'm going to give you all these things. I'm going to give you all these treasures. you saw that that um he he set up his family to go and he led them you recall that in all this jacob was making it right with esau and where god's grace operates there's going to be reconciliation well you might say to me oh sure of course they're they're of course they're acting like brothers their dad has died of course they're going to act like brothers let me tell you something as a pastor i have seen just the opposite many times just because a beloved father dies does not suddenly mean all the family rushes to one another and all their differences are reconciled in fact sometimes it's worse i've been in funerals or been involved in funerals where this brother is over here with this family and this sister is over here with her family and they are purposely, they will not look at each other across the room, they will not talk to each other, and they will certainly make sure that when that family is up at the casket, they're not going to be there.

Right? Have you seen that too? And this person's mad at that person because of something that was said years ago, and even though dad is dead, they're not going to talk to one another. Or one is claiming dad's possessions that the other one thinks should be hers. Right? And so they're at war.

And even a death does not reconcile them. We can't say that the death reconciled these brothers. What happened is the grace of God operating in Jacob's life. And what I want to say to you is this, that where grace operates, God's people are going to be a people of peace, of reconciliation. God's people ought to be known as peacemakers, those who will always reconcile, Those who will always seek to put the breach, to take the conflict and solve it.

It seems to me, as I look at the Bible, this is one of the incredible overriding themes in the Scripture. And that is, God's people are not warring people. They are peacemakers. They love unity. They strive for unity. They love one another.

They love their enemies. you see how can it be otherwise when we look at the grace of God in our lives how can we hate one another when God who rightfully should hate us in His grace rescues us and reconciles us to Himself How then can we continue as warring factions Not possible not necessary not allowed for the people of God. You know, I was thinking about this as I was meditating on this passage and thinking about this sermon. I said, now, okay, now, where do I find that in the Bible.

And so I started thinking of different passages. A whole plethora of passages started coming to my head. What was interesting is I could find four right off the top of my head in one chapter in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5. Look at that with me. Matthew, chapter 5. First one is found in Matthew, chapter 5, verse 9.

Blessed are the peacemakers. For they will be called the sons of God. Yeah. Hey, we're the peacemakers. You must be sons of God then. Right?

We are peacemakers. We strive for peace. Peace. Verse... See, I had these all written out before. verse 22. No, verse 23.

So if you're offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Do you hear what God says there? You know what he says? He says, don't bother to come and worship me. If you're at odds with your brother, Do you hear what he's saying here?

You say, but God, aren't we created to worship you? And he says, yes, but I will not accept your worship if you are not reconciled to your brother. Now hear this. God puts a priority of reconciliation over worship. Don't you dare come and worship God. You go and make it right with your brother.

That's what you must do. You have no options. And don't say this. Don't say this. Okay? Oh, I can't go and worship God.

I'm at odds with my brother. Like you're going to get extra points for that. God doesn't give you that choice. He says, first be reconciled and then come and worship. You've got to do both. Hear me now.

God's people are known as people of love and reconciliation and peace. We ought never to be warring factions. Let's continue. Okay? Verse 38. You've heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Now we've talked about this earlier, but let me remind you. Jesus isn't saying, if they slap you on one cheek, turn to the other so they can slap you again. That's not what he's saying. He's saying, when he slaps you on the cheek, turn the other cheek to him so that you give him an opportunity to kiss it.

In other words, you make reconciliation easy for the other guy. All right? And then Matthew 5, 43 to 48. Matthew 5, 43 to 48. I won't read it all. But there God says, you know what?

I send the rain and the sunshine on everybody. I love everybody. But if you love only the people who love you, what credit do you get? Even sinners can love those who love them. No, you're supposed to be like your father in heaven. You love those who hate you.

Wow. Over and over and over again. In 2 Corinthians chapter 6, where these Christians are going to court and they're warring with each other. You know what the Apostle Paul says to them? Don't you dare take your differences before unbelieving justices. In fact, he goes so far as to say, bring it to the church.

Let the church decide. Don't you dare go to court. And then he makes this point. It's better to be defrauded to say, fine, take it all, than to let the world see you fighting with each other. Ephesians chapter 4. Make it your goal to strive for the unity of peace in the body of Christ.

And so we say sometimes, well, we just can't get together. we just can't get together. Our personalities are so much the same. So God made you so it's impossible to obey his command. Is that what you're telling me? Right? Stop with the excuses.

We're to be a people who love one another. Just one more. I could, obviously, you know, this is a big thing with me. I hope because it's with God as well. You know something? I'm convinced of this. we never have the right to break fellowship ever with another believer until the church has run through the whole process and makes an official declaration, treat him as an unbeliever.

Until that point, you have no right ever to break fellowship with another brother. Do you hear me now? where grace operates, there's going to be peace and reconciliation. There's not going to be war. All right the last passage and I think it one of the most telling is found in 1 John chapter 4 1 John chapter 4 verse 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins. Isn't that marvelous? That's the gospel, isn't it? But do you notice that John does not stop there? What does he go on to say then in verse 11? Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

God's grace is seen in the giving of his son to people who weren't loving him, but he loved them. What's the conclusion of that? That's the way you love one another. that is the way you love one another listen where God's grace operates there ought to be peace there ought to be reconciliation there ought to be love God's people ought to be known as those who in a relationship starts going sour they're going to do something about it they're going to work hard at it they're going to find means of solving the conflict and reconciling and they're going to see that we are peacemakers.

Where the grace of God operates, you will find peace, you will find the desire for reconciliation. Does grace always produce reconciliation? The answer is no. But grace does produce a people who will seek it, who will promote it, who will be peacemakers. so grace is not some unknowable vast mysterious thing that we can never get our hands on that is to say is grace mysterious? yes certainly it is I do not understand why God would love us but when God does love us when his grace is evident we should be able to find things right we ought to look for hope hope in the midst of sorrow hope in the midst of hardship hope in the midst of an election year that's driving us all crazy of all the people of this world the world around us ought to see hope and when they see hope we know when people see hope I know that the grace of God is operating.

Look for righteousness. Where the grace of God operates, there should be growing in righteousness, a greater desire to seek God and to obey Him, because He is for us and never against us. Right? You ought to look for... Tell me. What's the third thing you ought to look for?

What is it? Right, God working His purposes. God consciously working out His purposes. Where there is grace, God is at work accomplishing the things that He thinks are necessary. Right? Lastly, look for reconciliation.

Look for peace. Look for a desire to heal the conflicts. you know God's grace is operating in a congregation where people cannot stand to be at odds with someone else they must settle it they must be brought together again in love and harmony then you know the grace of God is at work some of you here today have seen the grace of God in members of your family for years. You have seen the grace of God in members of this congregation for years.

And you have hardened your heart in the light of that grace. I say to you today, why would you have God against you? Why would you want that? Would you not rather have God always for you and never against you. Because if you spurn His grace, He will be against you. Choose life.

Choose grace. Father, thank You for Your Word. Thank You for what it has taught us. We thank You for the life of Jacob. the life of Jacob, which tells us of a relentless grace that pursues its objects until it not only has captured them but changed them. Thank you, Father, for a marvelous story of change. Now, Father, help us not just to know the story of Jacob but our own stories as well. help us to look and look back and see your grace in our lives and Father above all help us to see that because you're faithful we can we should, we must obey we must change to that end we ask your help in the name of Jesus Amen