Weary one, the world is rest,
God will take care of you. God will take care of you, through
every day, for all the way. All right, open your Bibles now
to Hebrews 11. Hebrews chapter 11, we continue this series of messages
from each of these persons mentioned. Hebrews 11, I believe that this
message will be very profitable to you, very enlightening, very
interesting as well. I think it's very relevant to
what is going on at this time over in the Middle East and so
forth. And above all, though, I hope it will be glorifying
to God and glorify His sovereign grace and power. But this is
going to require your undivided attention. It's a difficult thing to deal
with, and it requires your undivided attention. Hebrews 11, verse
20. By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob
and Esau concerning things to come. By faith, Isaac blessed
Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. Now, I almost just skipped
over this because of the difficulty of it, but studied it. And there's much here, much to
be seen here. These were prophecies which Isaac
made concerning his two sons, Jacob and Esau, prophecies of
a natural or national people, Israelites and another national
people. But there's also a spiritual
picture here, a spiritual story of God's people as opposed to
unbelievers of the world. All right. These, all of these
stories though, are real stories of real people who lived by faith. That's why God put these here. That's why they're written. Real
stories of real people like you and I, who lived by faith. The just shall live by faith. They lived by faith in an unseen
God. Faith which is based completely
on God's Word, God's promise, God's person, sovereign person,
and God's Son. People who live by faith, people
who died by faith. As we read there in Hebrews 11,
these all died in faith. Isaac did. But this is, as I
said, this is a prophetic story. There's a reason why God put
this here. He puts Isaac here, the story
of Isaac blessing his two sons, right up there with Moses, right
up there with Abraham, right up there with Enoch walking with
God, didn't he? So it deserves our time and attention,
this one birth by faith, Isaac. All right, go back now to Genesis
chapter 16. Before we look at Isaac, we have
to start where the whole story starts. Genesis 16. Genesis 16. Let's start with
Abraham. Abraham is Isaac's father. Abraham had two sons. Two sons. Do you know who they are? Sure
you do. Ishmael was a son, the first
son, an illegitimate son. Ishmael was the son of the handmaid
Hagar. You know the story. Ishmael was
a son which Abraham and Hagar produced. A son which was born
by the will of, so to speak, the will of man. And I'm not
going to go into that so much because we have too much else
to deal with. But Ishmael The Ishmaelites,
let's look at this. I didn't turn there. I need to
turn when I tell you. Genesis 16, it says in verses
11 and 12, here is the prophecy of the Ishmaelites. Genesis 16,
the angel of the Lord, verse 11, said unto her, that is Hagar,
Behold thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call
his name Ishmael. Because the Lord hath heard thy
affliction. Now here's a description of this
psalm. Mark this down if you want to
know what's going on right now. Mark this verse down. Verse 12. Ishmaelite. He will be a wild
man. His hand will be against every
man. And every man's hand against
him. and he shall dwell in the presence
of all his brethren." Ishmael and his descendants, the Ishmaelites,
are the Arabic world. The Arabic people come from Ishmael. They make no bones about it.
They claim him. You've read it. They claim to
be the sons of Abraham, but not from Isaac. but from Ishmael. They say Ishmael was God's chosen
son. And they're Ishmaelite. Well,
right there, God's Word describes those people. Arabic. His hand
shall be against every man. They don't like anybody. And
everybody's against them. And they dwell in the midst of
their kinfolk. They're all related over there
in the East. All right? So God had two sons. The first
was Ishmael, a son that he produced, but God rejected him. And I'm
getting ahead of myself. The next son was Isaac. All right? Isaac. Isaac was the son of promise. Isaac was a miracle child. Isaac
was the son whom God promised to produce by his sovereign power. The son whom he chose. The son
of God's choosing. The blessed son, the chosen one,
not Ishmael, Isaac. By the power of God, Isaac was
born, right? What a picture of Christ he is.
And what a picture he is of every regenerated child of God. Son
of promise, according to God's sovereign power, born of God's
power. Chosen son. Over and over throughout
the scriptures, listen to this, this is very telling. God over and over throughout
the scriptures says, I'm the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He makes it clear who the true
God is. Now there's an argument, the
whole world is arguing, is talking about their God, aren't they?
Islam has its God, Hinduism has its God, and so on and so forth. Throughout the Scriptures, God
continually says, I'm the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That's what the book of Romans,
Romans 9, deals with. Turn to Genesis 25 now. Isaac is the chosen son. Isaac,
the chosen son, he's the chosen son out of two sons. He's the chosen son of a chosen
man. All God's people are chosen,
are elect according to the foreknowledge of God. All right. Isaac now
is the chosen son. Genesis 25. Isaac had two sons. Isaac had two sons. Okay. Jacob
and Esau. Let's look at them. 19, let's
read verses 19 through 23. These are the generations
of Isaac, Abraham's son, Abraham's son. Abraham begat Isaac, and
Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah to Watt, the daughter
of Bethuel, the Syrian of Padanaim, sister to Laban the Syrian. Isaac
entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren. And the
Lord was entreated of him, and Rebecca, his wife, conceived.
And the children struggled within her. And she said, if it be so,
why am I thus? She's saying, why is this struggle
within me? Why is this going on? What a
picture this is, and I don't have time to dwell on this, but
what a picture this is of every believer who has a struggle within
him. Two natures. Two natures, an
old man and a new man struggling with him. Why am I this way?
Job said, Why am I thus? Well, let's go on. But the two
sons in her. Verse 23, And the Lord said unto
her, Two nations are in thy womb, two manner of people. Two different
people. Two manner of people shall be
separated from thy bowels. The one people shall be stronger
than the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger."
All right, you remember that. God said that to Rebecca, Isaac's
wife. Isaac heard that. Did he not?
Before they were born, before the children were yet born, either
having done any good or evil, it was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Malachi 1,
Jacob have I loved. But Esau have I hated. That's what it said. Doesn't
it? That's what it said. All right. Isaac heard that. Did he not? He heard that. Concerning
these two unborn sons. The elder shall serve the younger.
Verse 28. But it says, Isaac loved Esau. He loved Esau. as he should,
he would be without natural affection. Did he not love both of his sons,
right? He loved Esau. It says he loved
him because he ate his venison. Pretty sorry reason to love a
fellow, isn't it? But when I was a kid, I was about four years
old, somebody asked me, do you love your mother? I said, well,
yes. They tell me, I said, And they said, why do you love your
mother? I said, because she washes my socks. Well, he loved him because he
ate his medicine. Well, he loved him. But Rebecca
loved Jacob. But he loved his son Esau. Esau
was, verse 27 says, a hunter, a cunning hunter, a man of the
field. Jacob was a plain fellow, ordinary fellow, nothing remarkable
about Jacob, but Esau apparently was a very robust, strong, outdoorsy
type. Tan and fit and, you know, a
fellow that could do anything probably. He was a man's man,
Esau was. Rugged, robust, manly looking,
able to do manly things, and Isaac loved him. Loved him. Showed favoritism. But Isaac
knew him. Isaac's a believer. Isaac's one
of God's chosen. He knows him. Love is not completely
blind. Love loves the unlovely, but
it's not completely blind. Isaac knew Esau. Here's a few
things about Esau. He's about 30 or 35 years old
at this time. Verses 29 and following is the
story of Esau selling his birthright. Jacob, sod pottage, Esau came
from the field and he was faint. Esau said to Jacob, feed me,
I pray thee, with this, that red soup you have. I'm faint. His name was called Edom. Remember
that, Edom, red, Edom. Okay. Jacob said, Jacob said, sorry, what a sorry
brother he is. He's going to take advantage
of Esau's faint condition. Esau came in from hunting, he's
tired, he's hungry, he's thirsty, he wants something to eat, and
there Jacob's making this red soup, red beans and cornbread,
you know, with onions in it. And oh, he's dying of hunger. Give me some of that. And Jacob
saw his opportunity, and Jacob said, sell me this day your birthright. Now that was a sorry thing to
do, wasn't it? Conniving, scheming, sinful,
sorry thing for Jacob to do. What a wicked fellow Jacob was
to do something like that, huh? But what Esau did was worse.
In other words, Jacob tempted him for a morsel of bread. 32 said, Behold, I am at a point
to die. I am going to starve to death. What profit shall this
birthright do me? Jacob said, Swear to me. Esau
swore to him. He sold his birthright. And Jacob
gave him something to eat. What's the birthright? Birthright
back then was all the rights of the eldest son. All the rights. The eldest son was heir of all
that the father. had. He had all the privileges.
He was to be next in line to reign in the family. He had all
the responsibilities of the firstborn. He had the responsibilities of
the spiritual leadership of his home. The birthright, and went
so much deeper than that, had to do with the things of God.
The birthright. God's the one that instituted
the birthright. The elder son being the heir
and And he'll take up the leadership of the family and teach and instruct
his people in the things of God. He'll walk with God. He'll follow
God. And he'll cause his children,
his family, his brethren, all of them to walk with God. Esau
said, I'm not interested in that, but I sure am hungry. Esau, what he said, in other
words, was he was more interested in hunting and sporting than
being a father. and a husband, and the things
of God. More interested in hunting and
sporting and getting his belly full and worship than the things
of God and leading his home, his family. Does that sound familiar? As Esau is all over the place.
And what it says over there in Romans 9, it says he was, or
Hebrews I mean, Hebrews 12, it talks about Esau as a profane
man. who for one morsel of bread sold
his birthright and then later on realized what he lost and
tried to repent of it and cried with strong cries and tears too
late. Why did God hate Esau? Because Esau wasn't interested
in God. People find fault when God says he hated Esau. Well,
there's nothing lovely about Esau. when given a choice by
his brother Jacob. Want to fill your belly? Want
the things of this world? Or do you want to follow God? Want to be one of God's sons?
He said, I'll take soup. I've said it before. There's
a world full of people who would trade, sell their soul. Our Lord
said that. What would a man give in exchange
for his soul? People give a trip, they take
a ticket to the Daytona 500, a six pound bass, a twelve point
buck. Huh? They do it all the time.
People do it all the time. Why shouldn't God hate Esau?
Huh? It's not unfair for God to hate
Esau. There's nothing lovely about
him. The remarkable thing, though,
is The amazing thing, though, is I don't find any problem with
God hating Esau. Do you? In light of that? Here's
the amazing thing. He said he loved Jacob. Jacob
have I loved. And I want to get on into that
a little bit more. And Jacob represents all of God's
people. But what I want to show you here. is that Esau represents the people. All right? No, naturally speaking, Esau may have been a fine-looking
fellow, a manly fellow, a robust fellow. God doesn't look on the
outward countenance. And he was hated by God. He was
a reprimand. Just as John 3, 18 says, the world knows John
3, 16, But they don't know John 3, 18, which says, He that believeth
not is condemned already. Not under the love of God, but
under the condemnation of God. The last verse there in John
3 says, The wrath of God abideth on them. He that believeth not. Unbelievers. God doesn't love
everybody. God does not love all human beings.
He hates some people. That's not unfair. That's what
Paul said in Romans 9. Is there unrighteousness with
God? Oh, no. People aren't interested in God. They're not interested in God.
All right. But our subject here is, by faith, Isaac blessed.
OK, that's our subject. By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob
and Esau. Isaac heard about Esau selling
the birthright, didn't he? Isaac heard that. He heard about
Esau selling the birthright. And he surely remembered that
God said the elder shall serve the younger. Are some of you
with me? He heard before they were born
that the elder shall serve the younger. How's that, Lord? I
don't understand, because the elder has all the rights. Well,
here he heard through this scheming, conniving, and all this wickedness
on the part of both sons, the birthright sold. And now the
younger has the rights in God's providence. And so much more
can be said about Esau, down in verse 30, chapter 26. Turn over there real quickly.
I've got to lay some foundation here. I told you this requires
your attention. I spend a lot of time on this.
Give me 20 more minutes, all right, to develop it. Chapter
26, verse 34, Esau was 40 years old. All right, he's 40 years
old now. A man ought to know something by the time he's 40,
shouldn't he? I think it takes about that long before he starts
learning. Don't you, Brother Marvin? At least he ought to
be a husband and a father. Esau was 40 years old. He took
to wife, Judith, the daughter of Berei, the Hittite, the Bashemoth. The daughter of Elon, the Hittite,
which were of grief of mine unto Isaac and to Rebekah." Two wives.
He took two wives. God never said. God never in
scriptures ordained two wives. Never. Men just did it out of
their own lust and desire. Took two wives. And both of them
were unbelieving wives, heathen women, who gave Rebekah and Isaac
nothing but grief. They didn't love Isaac's and
Rebekah's God. Neither did Esau. So who did
he marry? Huh? Somebody just like him.
Two of them. Well, down in chapter 27, verse
8 and 9. 27, 8 and 9. I'm sorry, that's
not it. Down in chapter 28. Chapter 28. That wasn't enough. Esau, verse 8 and 9, Esau saw
that the daughters of Canaan, Jacob was sent to marry a believer,
one of God's chosen. Jacob's wife pleased Isaac, but
Esau, out of spite, saw the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac,
his father. Then went Esau unto Ishmael. and took a while. All right,
now are you with me? I told you who the Ishmaelites
were, didn't I? All right? Esau is Edom. Edom. Edomites joined with the Ishmaelites. They all hate Jacob. They all
do. All right? So Isaac, or Esau
I mean, was a wicked fellow. He looked good, but he was a
wicked fellow. Isaac was a believer. Isaac was
a believer. Isaac knew God, or rather was
known of God. Isaac heard God's Word concerning
his sons, the purpose of the covenant. Isaac knew his sons. He knew Jacob and he knew Esau. Isaac wondered for years
how this God's purpose was going to be worked out in Jacob and
Esau. Now he's an old man. Now we get to chapter 27 and
I read to you. Now he's an old man ready to
die. His eyes are dim. Alright, it's time to bless the
oldest son. It's time to bless the oldest
son. God never told him to bless Jacob. The rites. go to the oldest son,
so he's supposed to bless Esau. All right? You know the story,
don't you? I'd love to preach that whole story. You've heard
it two or three times here, though. Time to bless the oldest son.
He's got to bless Esau. He knows, he knows what God said
before they were ever born. How is God going to? I don't know. I'm ready to die.
I guess I won't see it. I want to see God's purpose fulfilled.
It's time to bless that God in His sovereign purpose and power
is going to use whatever means He will. You know that? God Almighty is sovereign and
He'll use the sinfulness of man. The wrath of man, the Scripture
says, shall praise Him. The sinfulness of man. Adam's
sin from the very beginning, even Adam's sin redounded under
God's greater glory and fulfilled His purpose. Everything does.
Proverbs 16.4 says that God ordained all things, even the wicked. If the average person would read
that verse and look at it, it would change their theology,
at least in their head. That God hath ordained all things,
ordered all things, made all things for himself according
to his purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil. Everything
is under God's sovereign direction. and sovereign purpose, fulfilling
his purpose. Everybody, the most evil king
to ever live is fulfilling his purpose. Scripture says that
the king's heart is in the hands of the Lord. As the rivers of
water, he turneth it whiversoever he will. From Adolf Hitler to
Saddam Hussein, there's nobody wriggling a finger that God Almighty
is not directing it. That's right. That's the God
of this book. God Almighty purposed or allowed, however you want
to say it. Sometimes I don't know how to say these things.
We're not making God the author of sin here. But somehow God
purposed or allowed Jacob to deceive his father. And through
that deceitfulness of Jacob, through that sin of Jacob, through
that despicable act of Jacob, fulfilled God's purpose. You know the story. Jacob disguised
himself as Esau. Came to Isaac to get the blessing.
Remember verse 24? It said, Are you my son Esau? That's Jacob dressed as Esau.
It's not Esau. Jacob dressed up like Esau. Disguised
as Esau. Covered with the skins of Esau.
Got the venison that Esau always gave to his father. I've got
to say something about this. I've got to preach it a little
bit. What a picture this is of all
us sons of Jacob. Sorry scoundrels though we be.
God Almighty accepts us, blesses us, shows us favor. We don't
deserve it. We're rotten, no good sinners
like Jacob was. In spite of our sin, in spite
of our iniquity though, He covers us in the righteousness of Jesus
Christ. And gives us, directed by the
Holy Spirit, who Rebecca represents. To bring that blood of Christ
by faith. And God accepts us. Not blindly,
knowing full well what He's doing. Accepted in the beloved. That's
our favorite verse, is it not? Ephesians 1, 6. He hath made
us accepted in the beloved. That's what this whole story
is about. Jacob disguised as Esau. And the Father smelled
him. Verse 27 says, He came near. Come unto me, God said. And he
came near and he kissed him and he smelled the smell of his raiment.
God smells that sweet-smelling savor of Christ that is imputed
to our account. And he blessed him and said,
this is my son. I like up there where he said,
what's your name? Are you Esau? And folks, all we do when we
come to the holy, righteous, all-seeing, God Almighty, all
we can plead is Christ, Christ, Christ. What's your hope? Christ. You're not Jacob, are you? Not
pleading? Be sure your sin will find you
out if you plead anything but Christ. Plead Christ and you'll be accepted.
Well, that's another story. Well, but He blessed him, alright? Alright, it came time for Isaac.
Isaac came in from the field. It says, Jacob had no sooner
left than Isaac came, verse 34. And Isaac came to be blessed, verse 33. I'm sorry, Esau came
to be blessed. Esau came in. And he said, Bless me. And Isaac
said, Who are you? He said, I'm Esau, your firstborn.
Verse 33, Isaac trembled exceedingly. He'd already blessed Jacob. He
put his hand on Jacob, blessed him, gave all the air, all the
rites, all the rites of the eldest son, the air, rain, the rule,
all of it, the blessings conferred upon the younger son. And it says when Esau came in
to be blessed, it says, Isaac trembled. Why was he trembling? Now I see. God's sovereign over all things.
God's in control. He's trembling at God's sovereign
providence. That's why he's trembling, eh?
Now I see. I couldn't see how it could take
place, but it has. It says, Esau cried with a great
crowd. It didn't matter. And verse 37,
I love this. Isaac answered and said to Esau,
Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brethren have
I given to him for servant, and with corn and wine have I sustained
him. What am I going to do to you?
Behold, I blessed him. Up there earlier he said, I blessed
him and he'll be blessed. What's done is done. The men
and I were talking in the study how things are done unwittingly by
human beings. Unwittingly. Fulfilling God Almighty's
sovereign power and purpose. That's right. You remember Pilate
writing over the head of Christ, the King of the Jews, and he
wrote it in every language it could be written. What a prophecy. He wrote the truth, and there's
no nation language tongue under heaven that couldn't read it
that there's one King. There's one King. It's written
in every language on purpose. Why did Pilate do that? Why does
he care? Because God told him to. And
he didn't know it. So every tongue will confess
there's one king, Jesus Christ. Remember Caiaphas? Well, the
people said, don't write that. He said, what I've written, I've
written. Remember Caiaphas, the high priest?
Made that prophecy concerning Christ? Says, pitying that one
man die for the people. He didn't know what he was saying.
Didn't know what he was saying. But God had him say it, didn't
He? And this happened to fulfill God Almighty's sovereign providence.
And Esau saw it fulfilled. I mean, Isaac saw it fulfilled.
You will forgive me for getting his name mixed up. You try it. Come up here and try it. He trembled
at God's sovereign, predestinating purpose and power and ordaining
all things. In spite of all things, he trembled. Those that fear the Lord tremble
at his word. Oh, all this came flooding to
him. Oh, he is God, is he not? So by faith, Isaac blessed. Why
couldn't he change it? He's a man, he couldn't be. He
couldn't. What men do, they can change,
right? Oh, no, he wasn't about to change it. By faith, Isaac
blessed Jacob. By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob
concerning things to come. Jacob's a picture of you and
me. By faith, Isaac, believing God's sovereign purpose and covenant
in spite of his natural – he loved Esau. He loved Esau. He
loved Esau. He wanted to bless Esau. He said,
that's my boy. But no, God's glory, God's purpose,
God's covenant was more important to him than that boy he loved.
Now here's a believer. Now listen to me from here on
out. Here's where the rubber meets the road. Who really believes
God? Who really loves God? He was more concerned about God's
purpose, God's truth, God's glory, God's covenant than his own love
for his own son. That'll put you to the test. It was the Lord's mother, so-called,
came to visit him one day. And brethren, he was speaking
to God's people, and they said, your mother's outside and wants
to talk to you. He said, who is my mother? Who are my brethren? Behold,
my brethren. By faith, by faith, Now here
it is. This is it. There are some parents
in here who are believers, right? You know God's will is going
to be done, don't you? You know what will be done. God's
elect is going to be saved. That both gives you hope. for your children, it also will
comfort you. Whatever happens, God's elect
will be saved, in spite of your natural affection. You love all
your children, don't you? Sure you do. You want them to
be saved, don't you? You want them to be one of God's
own, but they might not be. Is that all right? Is that all right? I'll tell you what Job said,
all right? And this may be why this story
is written. Job said, it may be that my sons
have sinned and cursed God. God killed them all. God killed
them all. And it says, in all of this,
Job did not sin or charge God foolishly, did he? Eli had two sons, Hopkins
and Phinehas. Eli, the believer, the priest
of Samuel said, that's going to kill both your sons because
they're wicked. They don't, they don't, they don't, they're wicked. They deserve to die. What did
Eli say? He loved those boys, didn't he?
What did he say? I said, it's the Lord. Let him
do what seemeth good to him. God is sovereign. He ain't over
my family. But now, Jacob was saved, wasn't
he? Jacob was sorry. Jacob and Esau,
which one would you have chosen? Neither one of them were in account.
But God did choose one, didn't He? God did have mercy on one
of them, huh? Well, it's His prerogative. Isn't
it His sovereign right? It sure is. As long as there's
breath, as long as there's Gospels being preached, there's hope. Yeah, there is. It's hope for
the prodigal son, huh? If you looked at, though, you
know, outwardly, the two sons dwelling
at home, here the prodigal son took off, wasted his living. Wine, women, and song, you know,
laying in the pig pen. And here's the dutiful son at
home. Which one's God's son? So there's hope. There's hope
for that prodigal son, but now if God does not save him, is
it all right? It's all right. And it'll be
all right. That's a true test, though. You
see, that's a true test of faith. By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob
over Esau. But it was concerning things
to come. I've got to hurry. I've got very little time to
finish it. Esau represents, Esau is Edom. Edom, the Edomites, joined with
the Israelites. The Edomites were confined to
what is now Jordan. Jordania, Jordan. They're close
kin to Jacob, Israel, but they hate him anyway. Brethren, but they hate him anyway.
Does that sound familiar? Jordanians, even to this day,
they hate the Jew, but they tolerate him. They're right there close
by, but they tolerate him. Edomites. And for your information,
over in Numbers chapter 20, when the Israelites were leaving Egypt,
they wanted to pass through where the Edomites were. The Edomites
wouldn't let them. No. To hate them. Go around. God killed them. Slew a bunch of them. Alright,
here's the real story in the story, okay? Here's the real
story. I took too long to get to it.
Alright, God had purposed to make and made a covenant concerning
the sons of Jacob. Why did all this happen? Because
God is the God of Jacob. He's the God of the sons of Jacob. Jacob have I loved. He said,
I'm the God of Jacob. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not concerned. You sons of
Jacob. By faith we understand. Like
Isaac. By faith we understand that God
blesses the sons of Jacob. Is that all right? Jacob have
I loved, Esau have I hated? Of course it's all right. It's
God. It's the Lord. Let him do what
seemeth good. By faith we understand the blessings
of God are upon the sons of Jacob. Jacob is who? What's his name? What did he change his name to?
Israel. All Israel is going to be saved.
But now, he's not a Jew, which is one outwardly. Neither is
circumcision of the flesh. We just studied that. It's of
the heart. Jacob, though sinful, though
deceitful, though unworthy, no better than Esau. Yet he was
chosen of God, loved of God. Do you like that, John Davis?
Oh, happy. The psalm says, Happy is he that
hath the God of Jacob for his help. Jacob knew what he was. Read Jacob's story. God confronted
him. And I'm getting ahead of myself.
But not even Jacob's sin, not even Jacob's Wickedness can change
God's purpose. Does that make you happy? The blessing of God. Look at
it, the blessing upon Jacob. It said, verse 28, the dew of
heaven, the fatness of the earth. The dew of heaven, that's the
mercy, love, grace of God come down from heaven. Dew comes from
above, doesn't it? The dew of heaven is yours, you
sons of Jacob. and the fatness of the earth.
You know, this is what David said. He said, I am old. I said,
I've been young, and I'm now old. What did he say about God's people?
I've never seen God's seed forsaken, nor them righteous forsaken,
nor His seed begging There's never been a believer
on the top side of God's earth that goes hungry. The world is
starving. Huh? Not God's people. You go down into the jungles
of Mexico, right, Brother Marvin? You go down there and you visit.
And these people are living on dirt floors and grass huts. And
a hurricane comes through and wipes out their villages, wipes
out their livelihood, the places where they work. They don't have
roofs on them. They don't have water. Are they going to go hungry?
No, sir. Why? He's the God of Jacob. He's ordered all things concerned.
Let the whole, let everything be wiped out and not be baking
bread. Oh, no. God's people are not
bakers. Cattle on a thousand hills are
His. Fatness of the earth. And not
to mention the new earth that God has created for the sons
of Jacob. Huh? It says people will serve Thee.
Verse 29. Oh, I love this. I love this. Let people serve
Thee and nations bow down to Thee. That's what He said over
in Isaiah 43. I gave Egypt for Your ransom.
Ethiopia and Sabah for Thee because I loved You. This whole world
exists to serve God's... I remember back years ago when
steel, U.S. steel, began to plummet. The
whole, the nation over. Huge steel mills in Pittsburgh
were closing down. They'd been there for a hundred
years or more. Little old Armco Steel in Ashland,
Kentucky. Little old place there. Old,
you know, antiquated steel mill. There was about probably two
dozen men from 13th Street Baptist Church working at Armco Steel.
They just kept on producing steel. Never did shut down. Never has. But even if it did, I could give you story after story.
Story after story how God takes care of His own. Story after
story. Everything exists to serve God's
people. This whole world exists to take
care of God's people. That's right. The whole world. Well, how do you know whether you're
a son of Jacob? Are you interested? All the blessings of God are
for the sons of Jacob. How do you know you're a son
of Jacob? Well, Jacob knew he didn't deserve the blessing. Didn't he? He knew it. Jacob was called by God. God
called him. God spoke to him. Called him. Remember that? He was confronted
by God when God asked him, what's your name? He confessed, I'm Jacob. I'm a sorry, no good fellow.
I don't deserve the blessing. I'm a cheat. But he confessed his God right
after that. He said, if you have mercy on
me, you'll be my God. Didn't he? You'll be my God. He said, I've sinned. After he
met with God, he said, he feared, he trembled. in the presence
of God, said, I've seen God face-to-face. Oh, God has shined in your heart
to give you the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ. Has He? Has He? Do you fear God? Do you worship God in spirit,
rejoice in Christ Jesus, have no confidence in your flesh?
Do you confess to be what you are, son of Jacob? Sounds pretty
good to me. Jacob sought the peace of his
brother Esau. Esau didn't seek peace with Jacob.
He hated it. He wanted to kill him. Jacob
sought peace with Esau. Do you remember the story? He
sent presents. Brother, forgive me. Please,
please forgive me. Kept sending old pictures of
peace. Blessed are the peacemakers. Who are they? They're sons of
God. They're sons of God. sold his
birthright. He wasn't interested in the things
of God. Esau cried, unfair, unfair, I deserve a blessing. Esau took
wives and companions of unbelievers. He wasn't interested in what
God said, who to marry. He wasn't interested. Esau despised
and hated his brother. So which are you? So by faith,
he said, Bless Jacob and Esau and prophesy by faith Isaac,
understanding God's purpose, believing God's purpose, not
knowing how it's going to be fulfilled. And finally in the
end, now see, God even directs an old blind man. Now blind, yes, but now I see.
That's what Isaac said. And so it is with us. Everything
concerning us. God rules, reigns and rules. And all things work His purpose
at. Sons of Jacob are blessed. And
all this going on over in the Middle East right now, according
to God's purpose, fulfill His prophecies concerning these people.
The Israelites and Edomite. It's all about Israel. You know,
it's all about Israel and anybody that loves them. Anybody that
loves Israel. Anybody that prays for the peace
of Jerusalem. going to be hated by the rest of them. And it's
happening right before our eyes. To fulfill God. The whole world. Isn't it amazing? Don't you marvel
that the whole world is centered around this little, over there,
a little place in the desert. The whole world is concerned
with it. has a whole world interested in a little strip of desert land. It's the God, it's the God who
runs the world, whether men know it or like it or not, right?
All right, let's stand. Mrs. Marvin, would you, it's
good to have Marvin and Glenda with us. Would you dismiss us
in prayer? Our blessed Lord, how thankful
we are to be able to be here. We realize that it is by your
sovereign grace that you have given us this time. I'm thankful
for this place, for this oasis that you've raised up. Thank you for the message tonight. Thank you for teaching us. for
reminding us and keeping us faithful. We realize that He would not
be here except to draw us to His heart. Thank You for Your
mercy and grace. We pray that You would give us
what is valuable. I'm sorry, sir.