Good morning. Let's open this
morning's service with hymn number 355, From Every Stormy Wind That
Blows, and let's all stand together. From every stormy wind that blows,
from every swelling tide that flows, there is a calm, a sure
retreat. It's found beneath the murky
sea. where Jesus sheds the oil of
gladness on our heads a place that all beside more sweet it
is the ? There is a plain where spirits
blend ? ? Where friend holds fellowship with friend ? ? Though
sundered far by faith they meet ? ? Around one common mercy seat
? for aid when tempted, desolate,
dismayed, or how the hosts of hell decree that suffering saints
no mercy see. Please be seated. I'm so happy to see everybody.
Glad to be here and thankful for you all. Greg and Trish are
doing pretty well, so they say. But I don't think they've been
affected by it as bad as it could have been. But wish they were
here. Hi, Greg and Trish. Would you turn with me to Genesis
chapter 27? I want us to consider, and I
would say I would entitle this, how can a sinner approach God? Now, some definitions of terms. What do I mean by a sinner? I
don't mean a generic sinner. I don't mean an ex-sinner. I grow weary of being around
X sinners, but a real sinner. Someone who all they do is sin. Someone who cannot not sin. Someone who has no one to blame
but themselves for their sin. Their sin is all their fault. A sinner can't set in judgment
on anybody, on any level, with regard to anything. And a sinner
has no claim on God, none whatsoever. How can somebody like that approach
the living God? In Genesis chapter 27, we have
one of those bizarre stories, a story of deceit, the story
of fraud, and there are no heroes in this story. We have Isaac
going against what God said, seeking for his favorite Esau
to have the blessing, even when he was instructed that by God
that Jacob would have the blessing. We have Rebecca who could not
trust that Jacob was going to have the blessing, even though
God said he would. And so she tries to manipulate
the situation. She uses lies, deceit, and fraud
in order to get her way. We have Esau as the one who didn't think anything more of
the birthright that he sold it for a bowl of soup. The birthright. Now, that means if he would have
had his rightful birthright, the Christ would have come through
him. The promised seed, but he despised that. It was not of
any value to him. And he sold the birthright for
a bowl of soup. Then we have Jacob, what deceit
and lies he uses in order to steal his brother's blessing. There are no heroes in this story,
as far as these individuals go, that came out of this highly
dysfunctional family. But what is glorious about this
is God always brings good out of evil. He's the only one who
can do this. And the great demonstration of
this is the cross. What is the most evil thing to
ever take place? When men nailed the son of God
to a cross, what is the most glorious thing to ever take place? The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's pick up in verse one. And it came to pass when Isaac
was old and his eyes were dimmed so that he could not see. He
called Esau, his eldest son, and said unto him, my son. And he said unto him, behold,
here am I. And he said, behold, now I'm
old. I know not the day of my death. Now, therefore, take,
I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out
to the field. and take me some venison and
make me savory meat such as I love and bring it to me that I may
eat that my soul may bless thee before I die." And Rebecca heard
when Isaac spake to Esau's son. Now remember, Jacob was Rebecca's
favorite. Esau was Isaac's favorite. And you can see some interesting
dynamics that would arise out of that. And Rebecca heard when
Isaac expected Esau his son, and Esau went to the field to
hunt for venison and to bring it. And Rebekah said unto Jacob
her son, behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother
saying, bring me venison and make me savory meat that I may
eat and bless thee before the Lord before my death. Now therefore
my son obey my voice according to that which I command thee.
Go now to the flock and fetch me from Vince two kids of the
goats and I will make them savory meat for thy father, such as
he loveth. And thou shalt bring it to thy
father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before
his death.' And Jacob said to Rebekah his
mother, behold, Esau, my brother, is a hairy man, and I'm a smooth
man. My father peradventure will feel
me and I shall seem to him as a deceiver and I shall bring
a curse upon me and not a blessing. You can see how this frightened
him, the thought of it. And his mother said unto him,
upon me be thy curse, my son. Only obey my voice and go fetch
me then. And he went and fetched and he
brought them to his mother and his mother made savory meat such
as his father loved. She knew what would please his
father. And Rebecca took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau,
no doubt the best robe he had, which were with her in the house
and put them upon Jacob, her younger son. And she put the
skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands and upon the smooth
of his neck. And she gave the savory meat
and bread, which she had prepared into the hand of her son, Jacob.
And can you imagine how nervous he must've been at this time?
He knew he was deceiving. He knew he was pretending to
be what he was not. I feel quite sure Jacob felt
like a pretender. He knew that this was wrong,
but he did it anyway. Sound like anybody else you know? He came into his father and said,
my father. And he said, here am I, who art
thou my son? Now, I have no doubt that Isaac
smelled a rat at this time. He knew something was wrong.
The voice did not sound right, but he was blind. He couldn't
see. Who are you, my son? And Jacob said unto his father,
I am Esau, thy firstborn. What a lie. I have done according
as thou badest me. Another lie. Arise, I pray thee,
sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said unto his son,
How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he
even implicates the Lord in his lie. Because the Lord thy God
brought it to me. Now this is some brazen lying
going on. This is some remarkable deceit
going on. And you know as well as I do
that there's nothing right about this. And Isaac said unto Jacob, come
near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee my son, whether thou
be my very son Esau or not. He obviously had his doubts as
to whether or not he really was. But you'll remember what Rebekah
took the skins of the goats and put them on the back of his neck
and his hands, so he would feel to be this hairy man. Verse 22,
and Jacob went near unto Isaac, his father, and he felt him and
said, the voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of
Esau. And he discerned him not. Because his hands were hairy.
as his brother Esau's hand, so he blessed him. And he said, he asked the question
again, art thou my very son Esau? And he said, and I'm sure he
was nervous at this time, because there is no question he knew
his father was feeling suspicious. But how did he answer? I am. And he said, verse 25, bring
it near to me and I will eat of my son's venison that my soul
may bless thee. And he brought it near to him
and he did eat and he brought him wine and he drank. And his
father, Isaac said unto him, come near now and kiss me my
son. And he came near and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his
raiment and blessed him and said, see the smell of my son is as
the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed. Therefore,
now here's the blessing. Therefore, God give thee of the
dew of heaven. and the fatness of the earth,
and plenty of corn and wine. Let people serve thee, and nations
bow down to thee. Be Lord over thy brethren, and
let thy mother's sons bow down to thee. Cursed be everyone that
curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee." Now you'll
remember it was already determined the elders are gonna serve the
younger. God had determined that Jacob would have the blessing
before time began. And here we have it happening
just as God said. Does that excuse the deceit?
Does that excuse the sinful action? No, it doesn't. Not in any way.
But God is completely sovereign over the free and uncoerced actions
of men. And he controls every event.
Aren't you thankful that he controls every event? I love it that way. I wouldn't
want it to be any other way. Verse 30, and it came to pass
as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob. Look at
this as maybe just a couple of minutes later, right when Jacob
walked out the door, in walks Isaac. And it came to pass as
soon as, or in walks Esau. And it came to pass as soon as
Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce
gone out from the presence of Isaac, his father, that Esau,
his brother, came in from his hunting. And he also had made
savory meat, brought it into his father and said unto his
father, let my father arise and eat of his son's venison, that
thy soul may bless me. And Isaac, his father said unto
him, who are you? And he said, I'm thy son, thy
firstborn Esau. And Isaac trembled. very exceedingly
and said, who, where is he that has taken venison and brought
it to me? And I've eaten all before thou camest and thou has
blessed him. Yea, and he shall be blessed.
This blessing cannot be reversed. It's set in stone. It can't be changed. And when Esau heard the words
of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter
cry. Remember in Hebrews 12, where
this is referred to, when he sought repentance with his father,
he sought a change of mind with his father, with tears, but his
father couldn't change his mind. You see what the blessing cannot
be reversed. And when Esau heard the words
of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter
cry and said to his father, bless me, even me also, oh my father,
And he said, thy brother came with subtlety, and hath taken
away thy blessing. And he said, is not he rightly
named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these
two times. He took away my birthright. Now,
wait a minute. He's lying there. Esau sold Jacob his birthright
for a bowl of soup. He said, I'm going to starve
to death. What good will happen if I don't
have something to eat? And he sold his birthright. It wasn't
taken. He sold his birthright. He took
away my birthright. Behold, now he has taken away
my blessing. And he said, has thou not reserved
a blessing for me? And Isaac answered and said unto
Esau, behold, I've made him thy Lord. And all his brethren have I given
to him for servants. And with corn and wine have I
sustained him. And what shall I do now unto
thee, my son? And Esau said unto his father,
Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also,
O my father. And Esau lift up his voice and
wept. And Isaac his father answered
and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be in the fatness
of the earth and of the dew of heaven. And by thy sword shalt
thou live, and thou shalt serve thy brother. And it shall come
to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt
break his yoke from off thy neck." And understandably, Esau hated
Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed
him. And Esau said in his heart, the days of mourning for my father
at hand, then will I slay my brother Jacob. And if you know
the rest of the story, that's when Rebecca had him sent off
to go look for another bride. He's gone for 20 years before
he comes back to meet Esau. Now, Moses wrote this story. And the Lord said to the Pharisees,
had you believed Moses, you would have believed me for he wrote
of me. And the only way to understand
any passage of scripture, and this all literally took place,
this is an actual historical event. But in this story of deceit
and fraud and sin and lies, which I wish I didn't have to say that,
but that summarizes life, doesn't it? summarizes the way human beings
interact. In this depressing story, we're
given the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we're given how a real sinner
can approach God. Now, there are four characters
in this story, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Esau. And in this story,
God does what only God can do. He brings good out of evil. Only God can do that. And God
always does that. Now, in this story, we see in
Jacob approaching his father, how a real sinner, a real sinner can approach the
living God. Isaac is a type of God the Father. Esau is a type of Christ. Rebecca, the role she plays,
the things she says could be looked upon as a type of the
Holy Spirit and how he uses the preaching of the gospel. Jacob is a type of the believer. Now, the first thing that I would
have us think about with regard to Jacob is that it had already
been determined by God that Jacob would have the blessing. That
was determined before Jacob was ever born. Romans 9, verse 11
says, for the children being not yet born, talking about Jacob
and Esau, for the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand not of works, but of him that calleth. This is where we have to begin
God's purpose. God is God. We make no apologies for that,
do we? We're thankful. And this story begins with the
eternal purpose of God, which must take place. I love to quote
Romans chapter nine, verse 11. The children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil that the purpose of God
according to election might stand. Election is God being God and
we love him as he is. Now, God made the difference between
these two boys and I think it's seen in this And this is the
difference between a believer and an unbeliever. Real, real
simply. An unbeliever can be bought. A believer can't. Now Jacob knew this. He had to
have the birthright. You see, the birthright represented
Christ being all. Christ coming through him. Remember,
if you had the birthright, everything goes. You'll remember when Abraham
went or Abraham sent his servant in Genesis 24 to find a bride
for his son. He said, the servant said, my
father is very rich and he's given everything to his son. He has all. Now that's what the birthright
represents. Christ is Are you willing to sell that?
Not if that's the only hope you have. Now, if you have some other
hope, you can sell it. Esau was able to sell it for
a bowl of soup. Jacob could not sell that. He had to have the birthright. He had to have Christ being all
in his salvation, for if he was not all, he had nothing. And
that's the difference between those two boys. Now, The story starts with Isaac's
blindness. I think that's interesting. Abraham
had good vision at his death. When Moses died, his eye was
not dim, nor his natural force abated. But Isaac is blind. That's all a part of God's purpose
to give us this story. We couldn't have this story without
Isaac's blindness. Now, Isaac wanted what he loved
before he would give that blessing to the firstborn. He had to have
what he loved. He said, you bring me that that
I love. and I will bless you. There is no blessing apart from
God having what he loves. There will be no blessing without
that first taking place. The father will always have what
he loves. Aren't you thankful for that?
Oh, the justice of God's salvation, perfection of God's salvation. He's going to have what he loves
or there will be no blessing. There's nothing underhanded about
this. He will have what he loves. And he loves this. He says, make
me savory meat, such as I love and bring it to me that I may
eat that my soul may bless thee. Now, Rebecca, she hears what's
being said. When Isaac spake to Esau his
son, and Esau went to the field to hunt for venison and bring
it, Rebekah spake, verse six. And Rebekah, now remember Rebekah
can, what roles she plays in this story, we can see gospel
preaching, we can see the gospel, the message the Holy Spirit brings. And Rebecca spake unto Jacob
her son saying, behold, I heard thy father speaking to Esau thy
brother saying, bring me venison and make me savory meat that
I may eat and bless thee before the Lord, before the Lord, before
my death. Now, therefore, my son obey my
voice according to that which I command thee. Now you're to obey this, even
if you don't understand it. You're to obey my voice, do exactly
as I say to do. Verse nine, now go to the flock
and fetch me thence two kids of the goats, and I will make
them savory meat for thy father such as he loveth. Why two kids? Well, what happened on the day
of atonement? Two goats. And through those
two goats, the sacrificial lamb, the scapegoat, we have what the
father loves. We have how God can be just and
justify the ungodly through what took place with those two sacrificial
animals, the one slain, the other, the sin symbolically transferred
to him, him being led away. You see, the gospel is so just.
It's so holy. There's nothing unclean about
it. He's made a way to be just, and this is what he loves. This
is such as the father loves. He's made a way to be just and
justify the ungodly, justify sinful people like Jacob and
me and you. Verse 10, and thou shall bring it to thy
father that he may eat and that he may bless thee before his
death. Now, Jacob said to Rebekah, his mother, behold, Esau, my
brother's a hairy man, and I'm a smooth man. My father peradventure
will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver, and I shall
bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. Now, I can clearly
see how Jacob felt this way, can't you? I can see where this
would have made him very nervous. I will be found out to be a fraud
and a deceiver. You know the greatest scandal
I know of? Me being saved. You want to talk about a scandal?
This is what he was afraid of. I'm going to be exposed. This
is scandalous. The offense of the cross, the
scandal of the cross. What a scandal that somebody
like me could actually be in that great heavenly choir amongst
the redeemed. I understand Jacob feeling this
way. Interesting fact, God is called the God of Jacob more
than any other title in the Bible. That's the most, the God of Jacob. And another interesting thing
about this is what is commendable about Jacob? Nothing. Yet God
is called the God of Jacob. As a matter of fact, if you go
on reading in this book, he's changed his name to Israel. You're
no longer Jacob, you're Israel. As a prince, you have power with
God and have prevailed. God loved Jacob. But at this time, Jacob is afraid
Now, can't you hear the gospel in this? Verse 13, and his mother
said unto him, upon me be thy curse, my son. Only obey my voice. In the gospel, the curse comes
upon Christ. Just obey the voice of the gospel. Trust him alone. Completely not. She's telling him, I know you're
nervous, but just obey what I'm saying. This is the only way
that you can approach your father. Verse 14, and he went and fetched
and brought them to his mother and his mother made savory meat
such as his father loved. And Rebecca took goodly raiment
of her eldest son Esau. Now you know what that represents.
That's the righteousness and merits of Christ. That's the
best robe, the best robe. You take the goodly raiment,
the perfect raiment, the righteousness. Oh, his raiment is different
than any other raiment. You see any other raiment just
cover something, but it's still there. But when you have his
raiment on, it's not there anymore. It's gone. you actually stand
before God without sin. That's what this represents,
this raiment, this covering that's gonna make him just like his
brother. And his father is going to say,
this is Esau. And Rebekah, verse 15, took goodly
raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house,
and put them upon Jacob, her younger son. And she put the skins of the
kids of the goats upon his hand and upon the smooth of his neck.
You know, he's going to have to feel just like Esau to be
accepted. There can't be any difference.
He's going to have to feel just like him. And she gave the savory meat,
the bread, which she had prepared into the hands of her son, Jacob.
So I think this is interesting. This wasn't Jacob's idea, nor
did he provide anything in this. Don't you see that with you?
Wasn't your idea. And you don't provide a thing.
It was all provided. So now in verse 18, and you can
imagine how nervous he was as he comes into his father's presence. And he came into his father and
said, my father, I don't know how he tried to
disguise his voice. And he said, here am I who art
thou my son. He obviously didn't recognize
it as being Esau's voice. And Jacob said to his father,
I'm Esau, thou firstborn. Now, what would have happened
to him if he said, I'm Jacob? He got run out of there, wouldn't
he? This was the only answer he could give. And when my name
is called, who are you? My only hope is that I'm in Christ. I'm in Christ. Are you Christ? I'm in him. All I want the Father
to see is Christ Jesus, the Lord. I don't want him to, I don't
want to come in my own name. I don't want to come in my own
works. I don't want to come with anything that has anything to
do with me. Are ye solved? Yep. That's the
only answer I'll, name I'll answer to. And you know, when my name
is called on judgment day, I'm not gonna say Todd. No. Actually, I'm not gonna say anything.
He's gonna answer for me. But, and Jacob said unto his
father, I'm Esau, thy firstborn. I have done according as thou
badest me. Now listen to me. If I have that raiment on Christ's
righteousness as my personal righteousness before God, I have
kept God's law perfectly. I have done everything He told
me to do without exception. You know when people, and I've
defined it this way in the past and I was wrong, justification
is just as if I never sinned. Now the only problem with that
is I sinned. Justification is I've never sinned. I stand before God without fault. I've done all he bade me do. And I sure enough know that's
the righteousness of Jesus Christ as my personal righteousness
before God. Now that's the way this sinful
man comes. Not in his own name. He comes
in Esau's name. And he comes with Esau's obedience
with Christ's obedience. That's the only way I come. That
is my obedience before God. Verse 21. Oh no, let's, uh, verse 20. And
Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it
so quickly, my son? He said, because the Lord thy
God brought it to me. You see, my salvation is all
what he has done. Now with regard to this thing of sin, I have
to have him do something for me utterly. And he says, it's what God has
done in verse 21. And Isaac said unto Jacob, come
near, I pray thee that I may feel thee my son, whether thou
be my very son Esau or not. For me to be accepted by the
father, I'm going to have to feel exactly as Christ feels. I can't come any other way. That's
why I don't come pleading my own works, my own understanding,
my own anything. I want to simply be found feeling
just as Christ feels. Verse 22, And Jacob went near
unto Isaac his father, And he felt him and said, the voice
is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he
discerned him not. Now for me to be accepted by
the father, there can be no discernible difference between me and his
son, Jesus Christ. I must simply be found in him. To where when God sees me, there's
no difference between that and seeing his son because I'm in
him. He couldn't discern the difference. Verse 24, here we have the question
again. And he said, art thou my very
son Esau? And he said, I am. Now, how can
I actually say I am to his son's name? 1 John chapter 4, 17 says,
as he is. So are we in this world. As he is, can't take it too far. So are we in this world. Is he the Christ? I'm gonna plead
only his name, no other name. Verse 25, and he said, bring
it near to me and I will eat of my son's venison that my soul
may bless thee And he brought it near to him, and he did eat,
and he brought him wine, and he drank. And his father Isaac
said unto him, come near now, and kiss me, my son. And he came
near and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and
blessed him, and said, the smell of my son is as the smell of
a field which the Lord God hath blessed. For me to get the blessing,
I'm going to have to smell just like the Lord Jesus Christ. There
can be no difference. Now, that's the only way Jacob
could come into his father's presence. For me to get the blessing,
I'm going to have to smell exactly like the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is a very clear type,
but types never tell the whole story. Never tell the whole story. Let
me tell you how. When my name is called on judgment
day, I'm not gonna answer at all. Christ will answer for me. Are you Christ? He'll say, yes,
I am, present and accounted for. I don't want anything but that,
do you? For Him to answer for me. And on Judgment Day, I won't
be... There's only one Son, we know
that, the Son of God by Himself. But all of His people really
are perfectly conformed to His image. You'll notice that Jacob said,
I can't reverse this. He, I blessed him. He's going
to be blessed. This can't be reversed. And I've, I've thought
about that. Well, if he was wrong, if it was deceit, why couldn't
he say, no, this didn't count? Because, uh, this blessing actually
is eternal. and that which is eternal cannot
be changed. You see, this is an eternal blessing
that never had a beginning and will never have an end. The children
being not yet born. Now, an eternal salvation is
the only salvation that will do me any good. I was saved in
eternity. I was saved when Christ bore
my sins and put them away. I was saved when by the grace
of God, I believe the gospel. But my dear friends, I was saved
in the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Not only was he
the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, he was the lamb
raised from the foundation of the world. And my complete salvation
was finished just like Jacob's was before time began and it
cannot be reversed. It is eternal. Oh, I love, don't
understand eternity, neither does anybody else, but I sure
love it. Now, turn with me to Numbers chapter 23 for a moment. My salvation is eternal. God's
purpose cannot be changed. And the salvation of every believer
is absolutely just. Look in verse 20. Behold, I have received commandment
to bless and he has blessed and I cannot reverse it. He hath not beheld iniquity in
Jacob. Now, do you hear what that's
saying? God can see real well. Perfect
vision. And he hath not seen iniquity
in Jacob. Why? Because there wasn't any
there. That's what the glorious work
of Christ on the cross accomplished for Jacob. He made it to there
was no iniquity there. And when God looks upon me and
every other believer, Oh, this salvation is so just. It's so
righteous. There's nothing unclean about
this. I really have no sin. It's been put away by the blood
of Christ. And I stand before God without
guilt. That is how he looks at every
believer. He hath not beheld iniquity in
Jacob. You know, the scripture says
in Colossians 1.22 that we are holy, and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. And how he sees is the way it
is. Me and you don't really see things
as they are. You see me and you don't see
what's really there. I see you. I don't see what's
really there. God does. He sees things as they
are. And he had not beheld iniquity
in Jacob. Now, Jacob, this sinful, deceitful,
I mean, I don't know of anything you could say that would recommend
his character on any level. Jacob. You know, his name means
heel, cheat, supplanter. He was a deceiver. He was a deceptive
man. I'm not justifying that, but
that's the facts given concerning his life, aren't they? I mean,
you look at this man, the way he conducted himself. Nothing
can be said that is praiseworthy about Jacob. But yet, this is
the way a sinner approaches God. He approaches God in the, dressed
in the righteousness of another, feeling just like Christ, smelling
like Christ, answering only to the name of Christ, bringing
that which the Father loves through the two goats, the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. So we see in a story like this,
like every story in the Old Testament is the gospel. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word.
We ask that we might be enabled to come into your presence just
as Jacob did. and that our Redeemer will answer
for us being clothed in him. We pray for your blessing on
the morning service as well. We pray for Greg and Trish, for
your healing hand to be upon them. And we thank you for this
place, this opportunity to meet. And we look for your blessing
in all things. We thank you for the forgiveness
of sins. We thank you that we can actually approach you through
the gospel and be accepted. and loved in Christ. In his name we pray, amen. Okay,
you're dismissed.