Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the throne of God. Hey, Facebook family, sermon audio friends. We'd love for you to be here with us tonight. You're going to hear a message tonight that is about the journey to Passover. First song we're going to sing is surely the presence of the Lord is in this place. Let's all stand as we offer it up. I can't believe how much I love you I can feel his mighty power. I can hear the rush of angels' voices, I see glory on each face. Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place. The Lord is in this place I can feel his mighty power and his praise I can hear the brush of angels' wings. I see glory on each face. Surely the presence of the Lord is in this day. Come this way, please. There you go. Good evening. God bless you all. It is good to be gathered. in the house of God with believers of like mind, knowing that Jesus is Lord. He is the one who will keep us and he will come to get us someday. I'm excited about that. I am excited about that. Romans 12 verse 12. And it begins, it says, Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. and be constant in prayer. Tonight I was thinking, I am excited to think that we would start prayer time at five o'clock because we'd have so many people that would cry out to God for the things that needs to be done in our community, in our families, in our church. Father God, let us gather together and cry to you, Father, because you are the one that makes things happen. We need you every bit of every day in our lives. And so, Lord, I pray that people will have it upon their heart to gather together. And we would cry out to you in prayer. We would worship you, Father, that we would start at five o'clock How about five o'clock? And we would carry through till the Spirit of God is through moving in the body of Christ. In Jesus' name, thank you. Five o'clock, brother. Did y'all hear that? The challenge has gone out to start coming in for prayer at five o'clock. The next song is gonna be Standing on the Solid Rock. Let's all stand as we offer up this song. Through my disappointment, strife and discontentment, I've passed my every care on the Lord. No matter what obsession, pain or deep depression, I'm standing on my solid ground. I'm standing on the Rock of Ages, saved from all the storm that plagues this bridge. But not from Satan's wages, I'm standing on the solid rock. Even though he's gone now, I don't feel alone now. With comfort came the Spirit of my Lord. Now with His Word to guide me, from their patience I flee, I'm standing on my song. I'm standing on the rock of ages, safe from all the storm and rages, even now from Satan's wages, I'm standing on my solid rock. Now I'm pressing onward, each step leading upward. I'm trusting in my Savior day by day. And close is our relation, firm is its foundation. So on my southwest rock I'll stay. But not from Satan's way. Or is it enough that I'm standing on a solid rock? I'm standing on my rock of hate, as you say, from all the storm that came. Can't sway this red staining of my soul Yeah, now that's a good song, a really good one. Reach Out to Jesus is the next one. It's in both that little, it's in that little blue-black book there. I think it's on page 303. I'm not really sure. We'll do this one, though. As you bear it all up in the sparkle of it all. Reach out to Jesus, give Him His thank you call. He is always there, hearing every prayer, faithful and true. Reach out to Jesus, He's reaching out to you. Is the life you're living filled with sorrow and despair? Does your future flesh you with its burden? Are you tired and friendless? Have you almost lost your way? Jesus will help you, just come to Him today. He is always there, hearing every prayer, faithful and true. Walking by my side, in His love I hide all the danger. When I give this courage, just believe, We're going to sing one more song, Holy, Holy. If you want to stand up, that's fine. I'm not telling you whether you have to stand up. Lord God Almighty. As we lift our hearts before you as a token of our love. Holy, holy. Holy, holy. Precious Mother of God. We're so blessed to be your children, gracious Father. As we lift our head before you as a token of our love. Gracious Father, Gracious Father, Precious Jesus, Precious Jesus, I'm so glad that you redeemed me, Precious Jesus, that we lived Our hands before you as a token of our love. Precious Jesus. Precious Jesus. Now to the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit. our hearts anew. Holy Spirit, as we lift our voice before you as you do, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit. Now just hallelujah without the music. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Oh, hallelujah. And we lift our hearts before you as a token of our love. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Lord. Hallelujah, Lord. Hallelujah. A week from tonight will be our next Wednesday night Lord's Supper slash Blood Covenant. We're on a journey to the Passover and that will be whenever we'll be gathering together just before the Passover. Will be held this year I believe that when Jesus was on the cross and you can come by and ask me about that that it was after sundown on Wednesday Whenever he went to whenever he was at the Passover began He was on the cross on Wednesday, and you can say how did why do you believe that well? I can show you in the scriptures, but what next Wednesday will be when we are looking at the blood covenant and the Lord's Supper not invite everybody, please If you're concerned about the blessings that they don't seem to have, invite them. Call them up and tell them you'll drive them. Then call him up and tell him that Phil said he'll pay for it. If you want to go out and get something to eat, Phil will pay for it after you get finished. Because we need to get people in here. And if you tell me that you got 35 people and that you took them all out to eat, I'm going to say, tell me how much that is. I'll be glad to take care of that. Because we need for people to come so they can make a claim in what the blood covenant is for them. Please get a hold of people, invite them to come whenever we do that. That's good practice for you, by the way. Because I'm asking you also to remember May the first and that's going to be our Sunday when we do a unique Sunday morning service that Sunday morning and a unique Sunday evening service You'll be Facebook family and sermon audio friends. You'll be seeing it on Facebook and You'll be seeing it in the paper, and so I don't have a lot of time to go into that, but invite people to come on that morning, people that are part of Liberty that have not been here in a long time. The COVID slowed us down, way, way down, and people are still not coming back to be able to enjoy making their claim in the body of Christ. There are things that happen only when the body is gathered together. It doesn't have to be very many, two or three, but we've got a lot of people who are not enjoying that 2 or 3 or 20 or 30 or however many it is to be able to come together. So invite them to do that. One more announcement. This Saturday morning, Burt, is going to be the men's prayer breakfast. And men, you need to come together. Have you noticed how in our services, some of you have been here on Sunday mornings, and you've noticed how that the women are coming down and praying for us. You'll say, well, why are they praying for us? Are they trying to tell us what to do? No. They want God to tell us what to do. Amen? There's a difference. And they're wanting God to tell us that we were meant to be men of power and men of purpose. And that we should be looking for God's power and God's purpose in our lives. Women, y'all love to see that happen, wouldn't you? Whenever the men around this place suddenly become aware of God's power and God's purpose in them, say amen, women, if that's what you want. then come down and pray when we're getting ready to have our invitation tonight so that the men will see that you're praying for us to know that we've got power and purpose and that we need to be looking after and following after what that power and purpose wants to do in us. I think basically that's most of the announcements that we want to make. Let's see, this coming today is the 6th, so a week from this Friday will be whenever Passover would be. And a week from this Sunday will be whenever we will celebrate what they call Easter. I don't like the fact that Easter is the word there because it comes from something that refers to something that really had nothing to do with the Bible until it got called by that name. But we will be celebrating the resurrection a week from this Sunday. And if you are here tonight and you are, if you're on Facebook friends or sermon audio friends and you don't know that the resurrection is at work in you right now, you need to be here on Resurrection Sunday. We celebrate the resurrection every Sunday, but especially on a week from this coming Sunday when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb. Are you all not glad that Jesus rose up to bring that power into us? Amen, I am too. So invite people to come to church. Invite them especially to come this next Wednesday night when we have the Blood Covenant and the Lord's Supper. Now in case you're wondering, men, some of y'all have not ever been to the men's prayer breakfast. And this Saturday, it won't be in this building, but it will be in the building that is west of us, just north of the gymnasium. and we'll be gathering in there. And I know that's a little throw you off because you say well I know how to get into this building. Well if I come down there where am I going to go? Well you'll see other cars parked around down there. And you'll see men that are going in and out and you'll know that that's where it's supposed to be. But if we kept everything in this building it would make it somewhat more comfortable for you. But we've decided to kind of move around and do things a little bit different from time to time. You know, the scriptures say don't let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. That fits the Liberty Baptist Church. Amen? Alright, so now then we want to get back to praise and worship. And let me have a little bit of Baptist White Lightning. That's good stuff. We're going to sing standing on holy ground and if you do that you'll have to stand up. Here we go. there are angels all around. Let us pray. Jesus, now we are saved. We are standing in His presence on holy ground one more time. Jesus now we are His presence on holy ground. Thank God for us being in His presence and on holy ground. Y'all may be seated. We're not going to do when I see the blood. We're not going to do there is a fountain. We're finished with the singing part tonight, Paul, because we're going to do oh the blood of Jesus whenever we do the invitation this evening, okay? Brothers and sisters, it's good to be gathered together in Jesus' name. The presence of the King of Kings is in this room tonight. The presence of the Redeemer, the one who could pay the awful cost. The one who could buy us so that he could bring such marvelous blessings and plans and promises into play for every one of us. He's here with us. The one who says, I will never, never leave you. And I will never, never, never forsake you. And I say, Lord, I feel like I don't know if I can keep on going on. He says, but I'm still with you. Lean on me. Trust in me. and so we want to be in the presence of him and we are because Jesus said where two are three are gathered in my midst In my name, there am I in the midst of them. And Jesus is here. He's here in this place tonight. Whatever your need is, let your heart's faith loose to reach out to the one who has an answer to every need. We've got people in this church who have great needs and we've got great hope. I went to see today Gail Bybee and Gail has really been shaken by some of the things that have happened to her recently. I know others that have been greatly shaken by things that have happened to them. We need to remember Willie in prayer and ask God to be with him. He's greatly shaken by some things that have happened to him. Roberta, we need to remember her, she's greatly shaken by some things that are happening to her. Nona, she's been under some great and impossible situations and she's greatly shaken. And just about everybody in this room and the times that we're living in, if you're not greatly shaken, you're going to be. And we need to know that Jesus is going to walk every step with us. That's why tonight the message is going to be about the road or the journey to Passover. And we need to think about that. Passover happened Quite a long time ago, 1,500 years ago, I think approximately in that range, when Moses was there in Egypt. But Passover is something every believer needs to participate in. I'll tell you that Abram, before he even knew Passover was coming, participated in it. How did he do that? Because he was in a blood covenant with Almighty God. And then whenever later on, and we're going to get into these scriptures, we're going to find out that Isaac was in a blood covenant with Almighty God and Jacob was in a blood covenant with Almighty God. And when the people who, when Joseph went down into Egypt, God's plan was for them to have to live through some things that would enable them to hang on to him even tighter. So whatever is happening in my life or your life, It's designed so that I will get a hold of him, whether it's just the thread off of his garment and say, I am not turning loose. I am not going to turn loose of God. And so he planned for them to go down in Egypt. He even told Abram, he said, whenever they go down there, they're going to become slaves. They're going to serve in that strange land that they're in. Now, I don't know whether, and I think that's probably part of the reason why Abram went into that deep sleep, that horror of sleep, was because he would say, well, if that's true, maybe it's better that I don't have any children. Because, you know, people think like that today, don't they? And if they think like that today, do you think there has ever been a time in history when they really haven't thought like that? You know, I mean, if they had the opportunity, because what Abram was doing in the 15th chapter of Genesis, he was saying, oh, Lord, where is the child that you promised to give to me? And so he caused a deep sleep to fall upon him. He said, now then, for 400 years, your descendants are going to be waiting didn't tell him what they would be waiting for, and during that time they will become slaves in a strange land. Now that's a wonderful thing for God to tell you, isn't it? No, it's not. You wouldn't want to know that there's going to be a long period of time that you're going to have to wait. Well, I kind of have an idea. Part of that is because Abraham didn't need to be doing any bargaining or saying, what is this all about? He needed to know that what God said he was going to bring to pass and he had promised such blessings. and of those promises he was going to keep. And we need to hang on to the blessings and the promises of God. So we got to the part last week where we talked about Abraham being required, his name had been changed and he was being called Abraham, being required by God whenever he was about 120 plus years old to take his son up on a mountaintop and offer him there on the mountaintop as a sacrifice that would mirror the blood sacrifice that we're all in. Now when they got to the top of the mountain, God wanted Abram to know that Abram believed in a God who kept the promises and the blessings and the plans that come from the blood covenant. And he did, and God would not allow him to sacrifice his own son. And so we want to see now how it came upon Isaac that he's also in this blood covenant, because we're on the journey to the Passover. So if you'll open your Bibles now with me to Genesis 26, and we're going to start in verse, I'm not sure whether it's 1, 2, or 3, but we're going to be in Genesis 26 because we want to know. Was Isaac in a covenant with God also? And in Genesis 26, we find out that he indeed was. Because the question tonight is going to be on the journey, the journey to the Passover. Are you Am I, are we in a blood covenant with God? And so we want to read in the 26th chapter and it says, and there was a famine in the land beside that first famine that was in the days of Abraham. There's going to be another one because eventually Joseph is going to have to go down into Egypt, but not this time. Isaac doesn't do that. And Isaac went unto Abimelech, king of the Philistines, unto Gerar. And the Lord appeared unto him. And tonight the Lord wants to appear unto all of us, even upon the Facebook family and the sermon audio friends. Listen to these scriptures because we're moving towards the throne where Jesus is. And the Lord appeared unto him and said, go not down into Egypt, dwell in the land which I shall tell you of, sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee." Do you think that's a promise? Do you think that that promise might apply to you wherever you are? Is there a famine going on in your life? Don't look at me and say, because if you don't know it, there's a famine already going on in your life. All right? And I will be with you and I will bless you for unto you and unto your seed, I will give all these countries and I will perform the oath which I swear unto Abraham, your father. What was that oath? It was the blood covenant. Are you, am I, are we in a blood covenant with God? Answer me with amen. Amen. And so we see that they are in a covenant with, Isaac is in a covenant. Now we want to go from here to Genesis 28. and in Genesis 28 we want to see was Jacob in a covenant with God and in Genesis 28 we're going to Jacob and his brother Esau have our crossways now because Jacob thinks that he has worked his father and his brother and managed to get the birthright and the blessing. God's plan was that Jacob was going to have the birthright and the blessing all along. You realize that don't you? Is there anybody here that says, I didn't know that was God's plan. Well you need to realize it because when Rebecca, I think that's the name of the mother, when Rebecca had the babies in her womb, something was going on in her womb and she said, now I've seen lots of babies birth. I think y'all might remember a movie where there was someone that says, I don't know nothing about the birth of babies. Okay, but Rebecca said, I've seen a lot of babies birth and a lot of women that have carried babies and I've never seen or heard of anything going on in them like is going on in me. Y'all remember this? And so Isaac had prayed for her because it took a long time for her to become pregnant. And so the Lord told her, he said, well, there are two nations that are coming out of you. The stronger will serve the younger and the younger will be over the elder. And so we find out here that even from when they were in the womb, Rebecca knew, and I'm sure she told her husband, that the birthright and the blessing was going to go from Esau back down to Jacob because Jacob was the younger. Do you not think that's the truth? I do believe that that's the truth. So we need to be aware of that. So now then, but though whenever it happens, Esau is very angry because he feels like he's been cheated out of something. I want you to know something. It's a sad thing when believers believe that they've been cheated out of something. Because if God is God, whatever it seems as though has been taken away from me or somebody has robbed away from me, God has said, what the canker worm has eaten up, what the thief has broken through and taken, I will restore to you. Do you know that from Joel, the second chapter? I sure hope that you know that because we cannot be robbed from, though it seems like we have been robbed from, because if God is our God, his plans come forth into fullness for us at all times. So now then, Esau is very angry and Jacob is escaping from his brother. And while he's escaping from his brother, we're going to be starting in verse 16. Is that where I'm going to be? No, we're going to be looking at verse 10 and Jacob went out from Beersheba where his father and his mother and Esau were and headed towards Haran he's on a journey towards Passover because if you're going if you're in a blood covenant you're on a journey towards Passover and he lighted upon a certain place and tarried there all night because the sun was set and he took the stones of that place and he put them for his pillow and he lay down in that place and he dreamed Now then, whenever God came to Esau, he came to him and he told him, I mean to Isaac, he came to him and told him. Whenever he came to Abram and he told him he was going to be in a blood covenant with him, he came to him in a vision. So we see here that now then that Jacob is finding out being in a blood covenant. And he dreamed, this is verse 12, and behold, a ladder or a staircase which would be laid upon a large building that's going up, a staircase. And behold, the ladder set up, the staircase set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, now listen to this, if God is speaking to Jacob, and he was getting to know he was in a blood covenant, we need to hear God speaking what happens about the blood covenant. "'Behold, the Lord stood above it and said, "'I am the Lord God of Abraham, your father, "'and of thy father, and of the God of Isaac, "'the land where you lie. "'To you will I give it and to your seed, "'and your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, "'and you shall spread above towards the west, "'and to the east, and to the north, and to the south, "'and in thee and in your seed "'shall all the families of the earth be blessed.'" Now this is basically the same thing he promised to Abraham back in Genesis 12, if y'all are acquainted with it. And he's saying the same promises, he's giving the same blessings, he's bringing forth the same plans to Jacob here. Behold, I am with you. Here we hear this, I am with you. Does that mean we can take that and put it in the bank and say I believe that God's with me too? Somebody say something. Thank you, I am with you. and will keep you in all the places wherever you go." Now then Jacob didn't know but he was getting ready to go to a difficult place where he's going to be a slave for seven years and seven more and seven more besides that. For 20 plus years he was a slave in that place. Now this is important because the people eventually in Egypt are going to know that if God could bring Jacob out of slavery, that God can bring them out of slavery. And if you're in slavery to something here tonight, or your family's in slavery to something, and you're saying, how will we ever be able to make it through? You need to know God. He said, I'll be with you, and I will keep you in all the places wherever you go, and will bring you again out of that slavery that you're, because he was gonna get in slavery to his father-in-law. Because Jacob was going to find out that getting it by hook or by crook was not God's plan. Because that's what Jacob thought he had done. He thought he'd gotten the blessing and the birthright by hook or by crook. And God said, no, you may think you did it, but I had planned for you to have it all along and getting it by hook and by crook. That's not the way I work. And some of us here, they need to know that God has a plan and you don't have to work it out by hook or by crook. You just have to believe in what God wants to get done for you. And He says here, And I will not leave you until I have done that which I have spoken to you of. And the thing is, the Bible speaks to us about all the things that God is wanting to do things in our lives all the time. And He says, I will not leave you until I have done all that I have planned to do. And let me tell you something. God says, I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you. And they are thoughts and plans of good and not evil. What do you think about the plans that are going on right now? Well, Lord, I was hoping they were good, but I don't know what I'm going to do. And God is saying, it's not about what you do. It's about what I'm going to do. Are you willing to trust me? Are you willing to believe me? Then I'm going to bring you into that good place. And Jacob awakened out of his sleep and he said, surely the Lord is in this place. And I knew it not. And somebody needs to go away from here tonight saying, surely God was in this place and I didn't know it was going to happen for me. Because right now tonight you're hearing God speak to you as you're on the journey to Passover. You're on the journey to deliverance. We are intended for deliverance. And not only that, everybody that belongs to us is intended for deliverance too. Some of us have loved ones tonight who are having deep, deep problems in relationships, deep, deep problems in finances, deep, deep problems in other areas, and God says, I am your God. and I'll be with you and with your descendants." Jacob needed to know this. Why? Because he and his wives were going to be under bondage and his babies were all going to be under bondage too. And when he needed to come out of that, he needed to know that God said, I will be with you. I will not leave you. And he waked and he said, surely the Lord is in this place. And I knew it not. And so we see here that Abram was in a blood covenant, because you've got to be in a blood covenant to be able to make it to Passover. And Isaac was in a blood covenant. And Jacob was in a blood covenant. And eventually, when Joseph goes down into Egypt, all of Israel goes down into Egypt. And at first, they are the fair-haired people among the Egyptians because of Joseph. They said, you're part of Joseph's kin? We like you. Until there arose a Pharaoh that did not remember Joseph. And then there were so many of the Jews that the Egyptian leadership was afraid of the Jews and said, you know, we've got to figure out some way because really they're good for our economy. We need them in our economy. But we've got to find out, figure out a way to be able to control them. Huh. Do any of y'all think that that might be what's going on in the world today? There are those who want to keep us under their thumbs because we're good for what they want, but they're trying to figure out a way to control us. Guess what? We are not under their control. I don't care what they say and what people on radio and television are saying to you, because if we belong to God, we are under His control. Somebody say, Amen. So we want to see that, because on the road to that deliverance, we know who we belong to, amen? All right, so we see that this is what's going on here. From here, we're going to jump over to Genesis 31. And in Genesis 31, we want to see how that Jacob is finding out that God's gonna do exactly everything that he's promised to do. And we're wanting to look in verses 31, verse 24. And in verse 24, Laban is chasing. Jacob has finally gotten his wives together. He's got his children together. He's got his herds and his herdmen together. And he's trying to sneak away out of bondage. And truly, in some part of him, he believes, God told me he would be with me and he would bring me back to the land again. But he doesn't even know how that's going to happen. And so he's getting away, but then his father-in-law finds out, and he said, like the Egyptians are one day gonna say, I have prospered. I need Joseph. He belongs to me. I want him back underneath my thumb. And so he goes chasing after him, and in verse 24, God shows up. Now I want you to know something. I don't think Laban knew anything about the blood covenant. This is why we need to get people involved in the blood covenant. And Laban is going to get involved in the blood covenant, but it's going to change everything for him because he's not going to depend upon holding somebody else in slavery. He's going to depend upon God bringing him blessings that he doesn't deserve. And you're going to say, well, when does he get into that blood covenant? Oh, we're getting there, aren't we? So anyway, Jacob and his wives and his herdsmen and all of his herds and everybody that belongs to him is trying to sneak away. And Laban is riding along saying, they can't get away from me. I'm on my camel. And they're walking with their sheep. And he's catching up with them. And nighttime came and God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream, and that's his father-in-law, by the way, by night and said to him, you better be careful. And take heed that you speak nothing to Jacob, either good or bad. Because I know this about you, Laban, you can take good and you can twist it for evil. And you can take evil and you can make it look good. Do you think that we live in days like that? Do you think that maybe there's a God who's saying over our shoulders, You know weapon that's fashioned against you shall prosper? Because Laban was a weapon coming after Jacob. Are you with me? Are you thinking? So we need to know. That's from Isaiah 54, 17. If y'all wonder about no weapon that's fastened against you shall prosper. And so he said, do not do that. And then Laban overtook Jacob. We want to read through this. And Laban overtook Jacob and pitched his tent in the mountain. And Laban and his brethren pitched in Mount Gilead. And Laban said to Jacob, what are you doing? That you have stolen away unawares to me. I depend upon you. I need you. And you have carried my daughters away with you. So we see here that he's now he's dealing with them and trying to get them all to come back. And we're going to skip over to verse 43. And by this time, Jacob is aware of the fact that God has told Laban neither to speak good or evil. But something's gonna happen amazing, I believe, in these that we see here. And it says in verse 43, And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, and these grandchildren are my children, and these cattle are my cattle, and all that you see of it is mine. And what can I do this day, under these my daughters are under their children which they have borne? Now therefore, come thou, and let us make a covenant. Well, guess what? The only kind of covenant that Jacob can make is a blood covenant. And a blood covenant brings us on the journey towards Passover. It brings us from bondage to deliver us. And not only that, if he's going into this blood covenant with Laban, which is a covenant, Laban's called for it. He didn't know what he was doing. He's bringing Labanet, Laban into a blood covenant with God also. Do you see that? How even those that your enemies, you say, I don't want to have anything to do with that person. I'm sick of them. No, y'all have never said that. I do it about three times a day. I don't want anything to do with I'm sick of them. And God said, no, no, no, no. You need to deal with them. And if you can get them to come into a blood covenant with you, then I'm going to make it to where they have to be a blessing to you too. You have people that you've had to be a blessing to, and you just are sick of them. Then you know what Phil Thompson feels like. And God says, I don't want you to get sick of them. I want you to bring them into a blood covenant with me. Amen? How do we do that? We bring them into a blood covenant with God by bringing them to Jesus. I'm going to guarantee you something. Some people may have a hard shell and be difficult to get through to them, but I'm going to tell you, you've got the power. You just keep on going back to them and saying, why don't you just come and go with me to church? I'm going to tell you something. There's something there that's going to change you. I couldn't tell you how that's going to change you. I don't know nothing about that, but it's going to be good. Just keep telling them that and sooner or later, they're going to have a weak moment. You say, well, I've given up on anybody having a weak moment because they just never have shown that God We'll work that out. All we have to do is get them involved. I don't even think that Jacob knew that he was going to be able to get his father-in-law in a blood covenant with God. Now, I do believe that the father-in-law believed in God, but I don't think he was in a blood covenant with God. And so it says here, and he says that, and now therefore come thou and let us make a covenant, I with thou, and let it be for a witness between me and thee. So we see that as Jacob is finding his deliverance and finding a God who keeps all of his promises, that he's bringing other people into a blood covenant with God also. Now from here, we want to skip to Genesis 32, 9 through 12. Genesis 32, 9 through 12. And in Genesis 32, we find out that Jacob is getting ready to see his brother, who he doesn't know how his brother feels now after these 20 plus years. because he's not been in contact with him. He didn't have a cell phone where he could text him every once in a while and say, Jacob could say, hey Esau, I'm a little bit sorry and hope that things are going well with you and mom and dad. You know, because you might be able to find something out. I guarantee you will never find anything out when you text with them other than just the facts. And if you're getting more on a text than just more than the facts, then you're needing to sit down and have a face-to-face and bring Jesus into it. So he didn't have the ability to do that. So let's find out what's going on here in Genesis 32, starting with verse 9. And Jacob said, now Jacob's talking to God. He is more confident now than he's ever been, but he doesn't know what's going on with his brother. And he said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, and the Lord which said unto me, Return to your country, and to your kindred, and I deal well with you. I am not worthy of the least of all these mercies. And until you know that you're not worthy, and yet God wants to do it anyway, you're in a sad position. because you'll keep thinking that something must have happened and it's not really working out so I still must be in a bad situation because it's not whether we're worthy or not, it's whether he's God or not. I'm not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which you have showed unto your servant. For with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and I am now become two bands. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother and from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he come and smite me and the mother with the children. And thou saidest, I will surely do you good. That's a blood covenant promise. I will surely do you good, and I will make your seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for a multitude." So we find that that's happening here. Now we're going to skip over to verse 22. I apologize for taking you through all this because I have to. We're on a journey to the Passover. We need to know how marvelous the Passover was in Egypt, and we need to know how marvelous the Passover is today for the church. Even though we don't do the Passover meal, and we don't teach all the things that they teach during that time of the Passover, because the Passover is very important for God to be the God of the blood covenant. Verse 22, and it says, and he rose up that night, and he took his two wives and his two women servants, his two concubines, and his 11 sons, and he passed over the ford. And he took them and sent them over the brook, and sent over the, Over that he had and Jacob was left alone and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of day here comes the most glorious thing When you feel like there's nothing left, there's no hope you better start wrestling with God and not give up I've been wrestling such a long time, I threw my back out. Well, I'm going to tell you something. You may have thrown your back out, but I guarantee you can go to the chiropractor and get that better. Jacob in his wrestling was never going to be the same, but he was going to know who God was. that God kept his promises. And so he wrestled with him until the break of the day, and when he, the man that's wrestling with him, saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his, Jacob's thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, and it was out of that joint for the rest of his life. I'm gonna tell you something, I'd rather limp for the rest of my life knowing that God is God. I'd rather have to put up with whatever impossibility that this dust I have that I deal with has to give to me so that I can know that God is God. And he said, let me go, the ones that's wrestling with him. I'm going to tell you something. There'll be some times that even Jesus will say to you, let me go. Just to see if you're willing to give up, because I'm going to tell you something, brothers and sisters, if we're willing to give up, we don't deserve any of the blessings that the blood covenant brings. Okay, and he said, let me go for the day breaks. And he said, I will not let you go. Say those words with me. I will not let you go. Say it again. I will not let you go. One more time. I will not let you go except you bless me. So we see that's happening here. Now then from here, we're gonna jump all the way when we get the chance to come back again, because I've run out of my time limit this evening on the road towards the Passover. We're going to catch up to where when Moses instituted the Passover. The people were not expecting the Passover to come during those days. It was the last thing that God did to the Egypt to be able to get Egypt to let them go. You're not expecting God to do some of the things he's going to do either. I'm not expecting God to do some of the things he's going to do. I'm tired God I just feel like I want to eat woolly worms and I know y'all never heard anybody say that but my mama used to say it all the time. I just want to eat woolly worms and die. Well mama if I knew where those woolly worms were I'd go get you some. And God may be saying the same thing to you and me. Really? You want to eat woolly worms? Have you ever tasted one? What do you think that's going to be like? Because I'm God. And so we see here that whenever they were down in Egypt and they had finally become slaves down there, that God sent them, there were ten plagues that came, there were nine that came and went, and Pharaoh was not going to let them go. But then there was coming the death of the firstborn. The firstborn must die. Who is the firstborn? It's Jesus. He must die so that we can live. And if you have trusted in Him, you have the promise of life, And that more abundantly. All you have to do is trust in Him. Believe in Him. And then you're at the beginning of the Passover. Because the Passover was not even complete. And we will touch on that a little bit this next week. When we're actually having the Blood Covenant and the Lord's Supper. The Passover was not even complete. On that night, though the next morning they got up and the Egyptians came to them and they said, here's my rings. Here's my earrings. Here's all my jewelry. Get out of the country. And Pharaoh woke up and he called for Moses and Aaron. He said, get your people together and get out of here. The Passover, they had lived through that first Passover, but the fulfillment of Passover, the complete fulfillment of Passover, was yet to come. And we can have our part in the complete Passover every time we claim what the blood covenant has done for us. Amen? So tonight, if you're here and you're not a believer, then you want to come to be in a blood covenant with Almighty God. He's expecting you to. He's wanting you to. He'll give you the opportunity tonight to do it in the sweetness of time. And if he has to, he'll work you to where it is in the sourness of time. And you're saying, anything but the sourness. And he says, anything? Well, what about Jesus? And you'll say, yes, anything, I'll take Jesus. Thank God that he's not one of those people who says, well, you didn't the first time. That would be Phil Thompson. He's the one that says, at last. You've decided to become mine and be a part of the blood covenant. Let's all stand. We're going to offer up. Oh, the blood of Jesus. It's going to be an E flat down at the bottom of the page down there, Paul. I think that's easier than doing. Oh, the blood of Jesus. Here's the deal, people. You see the women coming down here, men? What are they praying for? that we'll begin to know that we have power and purpose because we belong to God. Not only that, they're praying for the same thing for themselves. Because there's a bunch of those women standing over there says, you know, I've always hoped I would have power and purpose. And I think maybe if the men begin to do it, I will too. Well, it's not about whether the men do. It's about whether you know you got it, and if you don't got it, I'll guarantee you God's gonna put you in the wine press, or He's gonna put you in the olive press, and He's gonna bring you to the place where you say, I want the purpose and the power of God to be in me, and God's gonna say, at last. Because it's one thing to know Jesus, It's another thing to be a man or a woman of purpose and power. You have your opportunity. Tammy not going to be here for a little bit praying. You can come down here if you want to be a part of that prayer or part of their prayer. And thank God you're part of a church where the women pray for everybody to have power, and purpose. Father, thank you for this evening and this opportunity to be together, and thank you for the fact we're on a journey that will end when we do our part in the Passover. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.