Let's open our Bibles to Obadiah. Obadiah. I've titled this message, The Annihilation of Esau. The Annihilation of Esau. Something's annihilated. It no longer exists. It's eradicated. It's blotted out. It's gone.

Esau, Edom, Adam, the earth, the red pottage, the man of sin, our old nature, the firstborn, The one who, by his nature, denied his birthright, sold it for a bowl of soup. It wasn't important to him. Later, when he sought the blessing, he could find no place for repentance. The only place repentance can be found is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith and repentance are always found in him. And without the birthright, there can be no blessing, there can be no salvation.

Edom, Esau, our fallen, sinful man of flesh. Flesh and blood, there's the red, cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven. That which is of the flesh is flesh, and the flesh profiteth nothing. Nothing. You and I, born of the spirit, have a new nature. That new nature lives in a body of flesh. we carry about this old Esau. All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is found in Esau. What grief Esau causes us.

In our text tonight, we have the promise of God that Esau will one day exist no more. He will be annihilated. He will no longer be. One of the great comforts that the believer has in anticipating their eternal home is to not have Esau with them. Two things that are going to make heaven heaven. See him as he is. We look through a glass dimly now. We see glimpses of him, but oh, to see him in the splendor of his glory. And the second thing is to be made like him. Now, I understand that is to be without sin, without sin. We're not going to be. We're not gonna be the fullness of the Godhead bodily as the Lord Jesus is. We're gonna be worshiping him, but we're gonna be without sin. Esau will be left behind. He will be no more.

The first nine verses of the book of Obadiah is the acknowledgement of Esau, Edom, the hatred that Esau has for God and his people have for him. The daily spiritually putting to death of that old Esau. Look at verse two just to go back Consider this again. Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen, and thou art greatly despised. There we are. Child of God loathes himself. He really does. The unbeliever can't understand that. He says, what's wrong with y'all? Got some kind of low self-esteem or something? No, we see that old man for who he is. When we see the Lord, when we see the Lord, I saw the Lord high and lifted up what was me. Isn't that what Isaiah said? And when the Lord revealed himself to Job, the first words out of Job's mouth were, behold, I am vile. I am vile. I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eyes have seen thee, and I loathe myself, is what Job said. I loathe myself, and I repent. in dust and ashes.

Ezekiel speaks of that. Turn back with me to Ezekiel chapter 20. Look at verse 42. Ezekiel 20, verse 42. And you shall know that I am the Lord when I shall bring you into the land of Israel. That's our salvation when he brings us into the land of Israel. Ezekiel chapter 20, verse 42. Into the country for which I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers. And there, when we're in the land, we understand this spiritually right now. This is not just the descendants of Abraham coming into the promised land. This is the true children of Abraham coming into Christ. And there shall you remember your ways and all your doings wherein you have been defiled, and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed. Daniel, when he saw the Lord, He said, my comeliness, my strength, my beauty, those things that I prided myself in was turned in me into corruption. He understood that his righteousnesses were as filthy rags.

The Lord Jesus said, if any man come after me and hate not his own life. He cannot be my disciple. What a glorious thing it is to to be able to understand by the revelation of Scripture and by the power of the Holy Spirit something about ourselves and to lose any hope to lose any hope of saving ourselves by our own righteousness or by our own will or by our own wisdom.

There's another verse in chapter one, verse six. Look at verse six. How are the things of Esau searched out? How are his hidden things sought up? Oh, David said in Psalm 139, he said, search me, oh God, and know me. The Lord searches us out and he brings up, he shows us. And this is the glorious thing because it's the only way that we will ever find our salvation in Christ is if we lose any hope of being able to save ourselves.

Believers rejoice and be reminded that they're sinners and that they have nothing outside of Christ, that Christ is everything to them. This is a faithful saying. This is worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. People who can do nothing but sin left to themselves.

And so the first nine verses that we've already looked at expose Esau for who he is and gives the believer no hope in that old man. And then in verse 10, The Lord's gonna tell us that Esau is one day going to be completely cut off. Look at verse 10. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob. Jacob, there's the new man. Jacob, I've loved. Esau, I've hated. That old man has fought against me. He has been a weight. and a struggle, the flesh warring against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And because of the violence that you have had against your brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee and thou shalt be cut off forever.

One day he's going to be annihilated, cut off forever. Oh, what a hopeful thing that is. the child of God to know that it does not yet, it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall see him as he is and be made like him.

Verse 11, in the day that thou stoodest on the other side, that's where he's at, Esau's on the other side, In the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. You took sides with my enemies, Esau, Edom, the man of sin, He's always taking sides with the things of this world. He's always taking sides with that which gratifies the flesh. And the Lord's saying now, because you did that, because you did that.

Look at verse 12. but thou should have not, you should not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger, neither shouldest thou rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction, neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in his day of distress. And you know, I understand as we're applying Esau to ourselves, and to that old fallen nature. The Lord's saying to us, you shouldn't act that way. You shouldn't have done that. Lord, and the believer's response is, Lord, restrain Esau. Restrain him. The nature of sin is the same in all of us. The only difference between Man is how much that sin is restrained.

Look at verse 13. Verse 20, verse 12 says, you failed to sympathize with me. And verse 13 says, thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. Yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance. And that word substance is the word strength, their forces. You shouldn't have laid hands upon them. You should not have. in the day of their calamity.

Esau, you should not have plundered the strength and the possessions of Jacob. He has Christ, and he has the power of God, and you're always You're always trying to take from your brother Jacob that which he has.

Verse 14, neither shouldst thou have stood in the crossway to cut off those of his that did escape. You took advantage of me when I was weak. Esau? Jacob had his weaknesses and you plundered him, you took advantage of him, you cut off, you attacked the weaklings at the back of the tribe. It's just the way Esau is, that's his nature.

Neither should hast thou delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. You listened to the accuser of the brethren. You were drawn to wander in the wilderness of this world.

Verse 15, for the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen. As thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee. Thy reward shall return upon thine own head. You're going to get your due, Esau. What is your due? For as you have drunk upon my holy mountain.

Now we are here to worship God. And we pray and we seek the Lord. We ask him to speak to our hearts. We have the Holy Spirit. We have the promise of his presence. We have his word. And yet every one of us are here. in a body of flesh. And when we try to drink of the water of life on the mountain of God's holy hill, how easily Esau distracts us from the most important thing that we do in our life. How easy it is for us to lose sight of what we're even here for. How easy it is for our minds to be distracted. How easy it is for us to have evil thoughts or for us to have selfish thoughts.

Esau, you drank with Jacob on his holy mountain. So shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink and they shall swallow down. They're gonna drink the bitterness of God's wrath. And they shall be as though they had never been. They shall be as though they had never been.

Oh, the idea that men have of people in heaven continuing on in their friendships and in their relationships that they had here on this earth. Or the idea that someone in heaven is looking down and, oh no, heaven would not be heaven if Esau was not as if he had never been, never been. No memory, no thought of this life whatsoever. No see. What a glorious hope. Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard, nor is it entered in to the imagination of man what he's prepared for us. How can it be? Esau will be cut off forever. He will be as if he had never, ever been.

Now, verse 10 begins with the violence of Esau against Jacob. And that's a reference back to Genesis chapter 27 when Jacob received the blessing of Isaac, his father, and Esau came in a few minutes later and Isaac said, I've already given the blessing to Jacob. And the scripture says that he, of course, he wept and begged his father for the blessing and could find no place for repentance. The blessing had already been given to Jacob. Esau couldn't have it. But the scripture says in Genesis chapter 27 that Esau determined in his heart that he would kill his brother as soon as the time of mourning for Isaac was over. Isaac was on his deathbed. Isaac would die. And when the time of his mourning was over, Esau was going to kill Jacob. That's, of course, when Rebecca came and sent Jacob to Laban's house. And Jacob stayed there for the next 20 years.

I believe it's a reference to the spiritual warfare that you and I experience. how it is that we are delivered from this violence. What is the purpose of war? Is it not subjugation? Is that not the purpose of war? To make the enemy subject to you. When is war won? When the enemy becomes subject to the conqueror. When the enemy realizes that becoming subject to the conqueror is better than the alternative, which is death. That's when war ceases.

Isaiah chapter 40. Let's let's look there a moment. Very familiar with this passage quoted often. Let's read it together. Comfort ye Isaiah 40 verse one, comfort ye my people, saith your God. The Lord is speaking to the prophet Isaiah and he's telling the prophet Isaiah to speak words of comfort to the people of God. Speak ye comfortably from the heart to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished and that her iniquity is pardoned for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for her sins."

So this conflict that we have with Esau and the promise that we just read in Obadiah that Esau will be no more, that he'll be annihilated, that he'll be completely without existence in glory, tells us something about how this violence between Esau and his brother Jacob is quieted, how it's quieted.

We don't fight sin with the with weapons of the flesh. What do you mean by that? Well, 2 Corinthians chapter 10 says, the weapons of our, though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They're not carnal. What are carnal weapons that men use to fight Esau? They're the same carnal weapons that men use to save themselves. The same carnal weapons. What are those? Will and works and wisdom, human wisdom. will and works and human wisdom. Those are the carnal weapons that men use to save themselves. And they are the same carnal weapons that we are tempted to use to fight Esau with.

Well, I'll just dedicate myself more. I'll be more determined. I'll step up my religious activity. I'll do this and I'll do that, or I'll learn some things that I can use as tools to fight this battle. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Let's look at that passage a moment. We'll come back to Isaiah 40, so hold your finger there.

2 Corinthians chapter 10. There's something we've looked at several times over the years in this verse that is so glorious that the Lord enables us to understand it. We're in this conflict, Jacob and Esau. Yes, the spirit wars against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit, so we cannot be what we would. But here's the promise. Esau's going to be annihilated, he's going to be eradicated, completely without existence in glory. And now the Lord says, comfort ye my people, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and tell them their warfare is accomplished. It is accomplished. How is it that we fight this spiritual battle? Verse four of 2 Corinthians chapter 10, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations. And that word in the margin of my Bible says reasonings, reasonings. We try to reason ourself through things. We try to manipulate our thoughts so that we can figure out a way out. try to control things, casting down your reasonings and your imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought until you come to obey Christ.

Is that what it says? No. Bringing down every thought to the obedience of Christ. We flee to Christ. We don't We don't fight Esau by thinking, well, I'm gonna become more obedient. I'm gonna become, we ought to be obedient. That's like we read in Obadiah. Esau, you shouldn't have done that. You shouldn't have been that way. And we shouldn't be that way. But we're not gonna conquer Esau with the determination and the works and the efforts of fleshly things. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They're not carnal.

Here's the weapon of our warfare, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. I look in faith to the obedience of Christ. He's the one that fulfilled the law for me. He's the one that conquered Esau. He's the one that conquered death. He's the one that's going to annihilate Esau in the end.

Isaiah chapter 40, look at verse six. The voice said, the Lord said to Isaiah, now you cry, you tell them this from your heart, from your own experience, you tell them this. And Isaiah said, well, what shall I cry? Isaiah is saying, where do I begin? Where do I begin this message of hope? This message of this struggle between Esau and Jacob and the hope that God's people have of the hatred they have for Esau and the hope that they have that one day he's going to be annihilated.

Tell them they're grass. Tell them they're grass. What can grass do? Nothing. Tell them they have nobility, no power, no will, no works, no effort on their part that's going to deliver them. Tell them that the battle's not theirs, it's the Lord's. Tell them to look to Christ. Tell them to give up on their own strength.

Look how this chapter ends. Look how this chapter ends. Verse 31, but they that wait, and I looked up that word wait. I've told you all this before. That word wait means to exchange. I'm sorry, it's not the word wait. It's the word renew, the next line. But they that wait upon the Lord, that word means to trust the Lord. It means to look to him. It means to have faith in Christ. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew. That word renew, it doesn't mean pull yourself up by your bootstraps, make new commitments, you know, take a deep breath, start over, get, no. The word is exchange or change. They that wait upon the Lord shall exchange their strength for his.

They shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Paul said, I will therefore glory in my weaknesses, knowing that when I'm weak, only then am I strong. When I'm grass, when I can't fight Esau, When I just long for that day when Esau's gonna be gone and there will be no memory of him left. The war will be over when the enemy's dead. That's when the war's over. When Absalom died, the conflict was over. When David killed Goliath, the conflict was over. I looked it up. I remember it, 1974. They found a Japanese soldier on some remote island in the Philippines 29 years after the end of World War II. And he was still wanting to fight. He still had his weapons. Matter of fact, they had to go back to Japan and get his commanding officer and bring him to him to convince him to lay down his weapon. 1974. I think there was another one on another island somewhere else the same year. They had made a pledge to never give up, never give up. But the war was over. The war was over. Lay down your weapon.

Turn with me to John chapter 6. I'm sorry, Romans chapter 6. Forgive me. Romans chapter 6. The Lord has just told us that where, in verse 20 of the previous chapter, where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. Where Esau rears his ugly head, grace will conquer him. And then he goes on to say in chapter 6, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid, how should we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized unto Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Esau's been dead, he's been put to death. Tell him the warfare's accomplished. Here's the hope that we have.

Therefore, we are buried with him, with Christ, by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. And if we've been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man, Esau, Adam, Edom, that old man of sin is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin for he that is dead is freed from sin now if we be dead with Christ we believe that we shall also live with him you see this

This struggle with Esau is not us fighting Esau. It's not in us stabbing Esau and putting him down every time he rears his ugly head. The elder Esau shall serve the younger Jacob. So when Esau rears his ugly head, what does he tell Jacob? Look to Christ. Don't fight Esau. Esau's dead. He's dead. That's why Paul goes on in the same chapter. Look at verse 11. Likewise, verse 10, in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise, you say, well, sin seems awfully alive to me. He's not, he's dead. One day he's gonna be annihilated. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Reckon it to be so. Reckon it to be so. This is a dead reckoning. This isn't, well, maybe it is or maybe it isn't. You know, we use that word reckon in the South to say, well, you know, could be, could not be. We don't know. Reckon so. No, this is a dead reckoning. This is when everything points to one thing and says, it is so. So reckon it to be so, because it is. It is. Esau's dead. He's dead.

Like Abraham, Hebrews chapter 11, and we'll close. Hebrews chapter 11. Verse 13. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them." What are the promise? That Esau's eradicated. He's annihilated. He's gone. There's no memory of him. There's no memory of him. He's dead. Sin's been put away. The grave's been conquered. Christ has done it all. These Old Testament believers all died in faith, not having received the promise, but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from which they'd come out, they would not have had the opportunity to return.

See, we go back, we start going back to resist the devil that he flee from you, yes. Seek the Lord. I'm just saying that everything the Lord is telling us here is that We set our affections on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God and on things of the earth.

We're not fighting this spiritual battle with carnal warfare. We're not fighting it with our will. We're not fighting it with our works. We're not fighting it with our wisdom. It's a walk of faith. We're looking to Christ.

Verse 16, but now they desire a better country that is a heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he hath prepared for them a city, a city. That new Jerusalem that we read about in Revelation 21 is coming down from heaven. Mm. That's what's going to make heaven heaven.

So many people imagine heaven as just being an improved version of what we have here. Oh, no. It does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall appear, we shall see him as he is. And Esau will be as if he had never been. He's already dead.

Our Heavenly Father, enable us by your Spirit to flee often to Christ to rest in him and to rejoice in his finished work in putting away our sin by the sacrifice of himself once and for all. We ask it in his name. Amen.

The Tom 44 number 44. Let's stand. Okay.