Essence of the King: Persevering in the Promise

Matthew 24:9–14 ESV

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Pray for the ability to persevere against our flesh nature as we wait for the fulfillment of the promise

Not about the tribulation or end times while it can be stated we are closer today than ever before.

Re-align a truth that has been misrepresented…

Sinners prayer and your life will be better.

Hyper-grace everything goes

Hyper-legalistic nothing goes

if its too hard its not God… its only the God if it is easy

Jesus declares especially about the end-times

oppression, affliction, distress… subjected to trouble and suffering

we are to persevere or endure to the end…

(john 6:12) put to death… put out of the synagogue (church) and think they are doing God a service

we are to persevere or endure to the very end…

hated by all nations for His name’s sake

we are to persevere or endure to the very end…

great falling away

we are to persevere or endure to the very end…

lawlessness will be increased and the love of many will grow cold

we are to persevere or endure to the very end…

We are children of promise… how could such wrath besiege us?

Remember there are two essences inside of each of us

one that belongs to the flesh and behaves accordingly

the other which is that of the King which lives in the promise of the King and thrives in the promises even in the midst of the storm

We are designed to thrive in the essence of the King, even in the face of adversity

Essence of the Flesh

Jacob gives us great insight

born second… does not have a birth-right

emblematic he is born holding onto Esau’s heel

Esau is more loved than he is

Jacob is not a hunter he is more a home body (mamas boy)

Isaac favored Esau because of the benefit

something that is a bit more telling is Gen 25 tells us that from his mother’s womb his wrestling with others for supremacy had begun.

what had been ministered to him in the womb?

v. 34 Esau trades away his birthright for soup and bread…

He despised his brith right

did not value what he was born into and for so he traded it away

Gen 27 Jacob puts on another identity and now takes Esau’s blessing

The birth right was the entitlement

The Lord will bless you… the Lord will multiply you… the Lord will give you the land… and the nations will be blessed through you

The Blessing was as follows; Gen 27:27-29

Genesis 27:27–29 ESV

So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed! May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”

we may be tempted to think “not bad… you weaseled your way into the birthright and blessing”

now your on the run

the essence of the flesh will set you on the run

Esau wants him dead.

Called out of the Flesh

Jacob is on the run… and there the Lord gets a Hold of him

Speaks the promise over his life

Promise of the Land

Promise of abundance

most important is the following promise

Genesis 28:15 ESV

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

what could be better… but we will see that moving from here to the promise will come with moments of persevering through the torrents of life

If you hold onto any hope it should be the hope of this promise… we should do nothing or move in any direction unless we know that God goes with us

Wrestling in the Flesh

Jacob goes from hearing this amazing promise from the Lord to returning to some of the Old ways

there is a caution to contend against it

Gen 29 Laban offers to pay Jacob for the work he was doing (“He wants to be fair to him”)

Jacob wants Rachel is given Leah instead

14 years later he is finally able to get what he wanted

Running into Favor, Anointing leeches

Jacob wants to leave and Laban refuses… (lose the golden goose)

Genesis 30:27–28 ESV

But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you. Name your wages, and I will give it.”

Sure he will deal fairly with him this time…

Jacob asks for livestock and laban again tricks him..

Jacob would work for another 6 years to finally get what he wanted

they didn't use the Spirit of the Lord instead they were told by divination you are worth something and should at all costs keep you

Led to a life bitterness

Genesis 31:40–41 ESV

There I was: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.

the result of wrestling with the flesh is a life of bitterness, exhaustion…misery

Indelibly Marked by the Essence of the King

Gen 32:22-32 Jacob on the run for his life wrestles with the Lord this will leave him marked for the remainder of His life

He his hip having been dislocated he will forever walk with a limp

what is your limp?

This limp causes Esau to relent and no longer want to kill Jacob

Jacob is given a new name Israel for he has wrestled with God and man and now has prevailed.

Now twice anointed and promised Jacob’s life didnt suddenly get better

His daughter is violated

His son takes revenge into his own hands

His wife dies

His eldest son tries to take position

but in the midst of all the suffering… in the midst of the chaos…in the midst of the tempest the Lord Speaks again:

Genesis 35:9–12 ESV

God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.”

Jacob will from this day forth be a carried of the inheritance. This promise is one that remains for us this day. You are being called to no longer strive with man but to wrestle with God as He makes you not just saved… not just a part of… but an heir of the inheritance.