No More Hot Dogs

There was a minister Who went to the Alps for a time of refreshing from the Lord My friends we must all like Jacob have our Bethels where we meet our God and this man was eager to see Mont Blanc Which means white mountain It's the highest mountain in the Alps and for the first two days The Great Mountain was hidden by thick mist which almost refused to leave Each time this man came out of his room and went down to the lobby and looked out the window of the hotel He was disappointed But finally the next morning as the Sun shone brightly Outside he had his first glimpse of that Magnificent monarch of a white mountain as every vestige of mist had now parted and in all its regalia There stood Mont Blanc Majestically from its base to its snow-clad peak Now if I may so speak That's what God Intends for each of us who are his children That Christ should shine through clearly in our everyday lives That the mist of the veil of our self-life Must fall away to reveal Christ in all his regalia as the monarch of our life like the Apostle Paul declared in Galatians 1 16 To reveal his son and me You know friends a filet mignon Tastes pretty good when you've been living on hot dogs Have you been living on hot dogs friend in your spiritual life? You may even be the pastor of a church and you long for your people to see Jesus Shine through your life and ministry But some clouds some myths have been blocking that sighting every Sunday you get up there with your carefully prepared message and Afterwards folks grab your hand and smile and tell you how much they enjoyed it But inside you were dying because you didn't want them to enjoy the message, but to be transformed by it or rather transformed by the Christ in the message Somehow Christ has failed by the mist of something in your life. That's keeping him hidden I believe it's a pretty fair assumption to make that many believers today When it comes to our spiritual life are more accustomed to living on hot dogs than steak If you are honest with yourself Your walk with God is more up and down than you'd like in your intimacy with God lacks the Consistency which you desire Christ is there, but he is failed by that mist which holds which holds you back from experiencing the joy of Victorious living and that's the subject of my message today friends. My message is entitled No more hot dogs and my text can be found in the book of Genesis You can turn in your Bibles there now friends.

We will be in chapter 32 to reveal his son and me from Galatians 1 16 Brings to my mind my homiletical mentor. Dr. Stephen Olford for he was a man Who was a living example of that text allow me to explain friends Stephen Olford was invited to Go preach in a Dallas church and the pastor of the church had just asked his seminary intern To go to the airport to pick up. Dr. Olford the young intern asked the pastor if he had a photo of Stephen Olford So he would recognize him the pastor replied no need for that Just go to the airport terminal where the plane from Memphis is and as the people come down the terminal Just look for a man who has God all over him The young man did as he was told and Sure enough as the people came off the flight.

He easily picked out Stephen Olford from the crowd Dr. Olford was a man like Zacchaeus little in stature, but he stood out like a great mountain Because of Jesus in him That's why he had such authority in the pulpit and power in his preaching because Christ shined through the man brilliantly So listen to me dear friend if you're sick and tired of living on hot dogs Pay attention to this message, which I believe if you do what is required it can transform your life forever Chapter 32 we find a man whose life was transformed forever Jacob is in the crisis of his life his brother. He saw us riding with 400 men to come get his vengeance upon him a crooked Jacob who wrangled the birthright from him Stephen Olford aptly said of Jacob he was so crooked he could hide behind a corkscrew and it's true Jacob was a conniver a liar and a cheat His up-and-down walk with God is a marvel to behold No other Bible character Represents more foley the conflict between the lower and higher nature than does that of Jacob But we see here in chapter 32 The transforming power of an encounter with God in a man's life that forever alters him I stand amazed at the life of Duncan Campbell So mightily used of God in the Lewis revival in Scotland in 1949 it was said at that time that the presence of God Saturated the island people be drawn out of their homes to the meeting by power greater than them Many could be found laying on a hillside at 3 a.m Like soldiers wounded in a battle crying out. What must I do to be saved? Well, I knew a minister from Scotland who knew Duncan Campbell and one time I asked this man to Describe this remarkable person Duncan Campbell to me who was so powerfully used in that revival And this is what he told me.

He said Duncan Campbell was an ordinary man who had had an extraordinary experience of God Now that's what happened to Jacob here in our passage from Genesis 32, let's look at verses 22 to 24 And he rose up that night and took his two wives and his two women servants and his eleven sons and passed over the four Jabbok and he took them and sent them over the brook and sent over that he had and Jacob was left alone Let me pause here friends to say Jacob is in a trial so severe it unnerves him. He fears for the life of his family He parts with them ports with his herds all his servants all he has When he first left his father's house, he left with only a staff, but now he is two bands He previously declares to God, but he has to get alone There comes a time in each of our lives when we are ready for a change in our walk with God And we come to a crisis We must get alone We must get alone with our God and do business with him or we know we are done for So here Jacob in his crisis is alone What happens and there wrestled a man with him until the break-in of the day? Artex says There is Jacob the conniver the cheat finally cornered in life and now shut up with God and prayer Have we ever come here? Have you ever been here? Have you friend ever been here? finally cornered in life admitting your shortfalls to the Almighty and seeking him for a Transformation have you been here at your own brook Jabbik? Something that J. Sidlow Baxter wrote struck me like a ton of bricks It describes this process of the self life going the way the cross To where we give God all of us a complete surrender to take the Christ life for the self life So Jesus can be revealed more clearly through us Sidlow Baxter wrote Oh what I give to him he takes What he takes he cleanses what he cleanses he fills and what he fills he uses Jacob had come to the end of himself here at pineal the angel asked him in verse 27 Oh, what is that name? Well God knew his name was Jacob But he wanted this man to come clean with him and admit he was a conniver That's what his name meant supplanter look at verse 28 and he said That name should be called no more Jacob But Israel for as a prince has thou power with God and with men and has prevailed For years I preached out of this passage from Genesis 32 and I preached many sermons for the last 20 years about Jacob wrestling with God that night and prevailing But I always overlooked something and that something was central to the text his name has changed Yes, we see that But old friends what transpires in the life of Jacob from his wrestling with God and prayer is an end of his self-life God is now the center and what occurs as a prince has thou power with God and with men That describes Stephen Alford That sums up Duncan Campbell and that can be yours friend for the taking it can transform your entire Ministry from this point forward People will notice the difference because the myths have been drawn back to reveal his son and me power with God and men the Christ life for the self-life Transformation Look at the other result as well as seen in verse 31 and as he passed over The sun rose upon him and he halted upon his thigh His change left a mark on him from that point on Every time he took a step he'd wince in pain from the memory of that night of desperate prayer What cost counts and what counts costs have you been here? Have you been here? The sun rose upon him or text declares Yes and when you Have your personal crisis at your personal Jabbok and you give God all you are and all you have To gain the pearl of great price in such a way that he shines forth through you Then the Sun the SON will rise upon you and people When they look at you won't see what they've previously seen which blocked out that Sun but the myths have Dissipated and Christ shines forth like the monarchy is in all power Majesty and authority if you haven't come here friend if you've talked about it, but held back Now it's the time to do business with God Aren't you tired of living on hot dogs? Go get along with God this evening and make it a night to remember Get with God and get across your Rubicon Let us pray