Verse 1. Not unto us, O Lord,
not unto us, but unto thy name give glory. The gospel of God's
free grace in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ is the
only message of salvation in the whole world that gives to
God all the glory. Every other message of redemption
or salvation splits that glory with man. Not unto us, not unto
us, O Lord, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and
for thy truth's sake. Pray the Lord will be pleased
to open our hearts to the truth tonight. Let's stand together
Tom's gonna come lead us in number three in the hymns of grace the
little blue handout I think they're most of them are blue number
three tedious and tasteless Psalm 115 verse 2 Wherefore should the heathen
say, where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens. Notice the verb tense in this
phrase. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Everything that's done in time
has actually already been done in eternity. He's already done
it. He's ordained it to be. He hath
done whatsoever he hath pleased. Their idols are silver and gold,
the works of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak
not. Eyes have they, but they see
not. They have ears, but they hear not. Noses have they, but
they smell not. They have hands, but they handle
not. Feet have they, but they walk not. Neither speak they
through their throat. They that make them are like
unto them. So is everyone that trusteth
in them." You want to know what a person believes about themselves,
find out what they believe about their God. It goes hand in hand. Oh Israel, here's the church. the prince. Trust thou in the
Lord. He is their help and their shield.
O house of Aaron, he has made us to be priests. O house of
Aaron, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield.
Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their help
and their shield. The Lord hath been mindful of
us. There's our hope. There's our
hope that he would be mindful of us. As often as we lose thought
of him, he remains mindful of us. He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel.
He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless them that fear
the Lord, both small and great. Whether you be great fear or
little fear, great faith or little faith, he blesses his children. The Lord shall increase you more
and more, you and your children. He will see to it that we grow
in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. You
are blessed of the Lord, which made heaven and earth. The heaven,
even the heavens, are the Lord's, but the earth he hath given to
the children of men. The dead praise not the Lord,
neither any that go down into silence. The spiritually dead
don't praise him. But we will bless the Lord from
this time forth and forever, forevermore, for eternity. Praise the Lord. I want us to remember Terry. Somebody was asking me what room
she's in. She's in room 409. And the rehab
center where she is is right around the corner of University
and Rouse Road, if you're familiar with that area of town. It's
right on Rouse Road at that intersection, if you'd like to go see her.
She's very, very frail. I haven't been able to do any
real rehab with her since her surgery. with something else. Friday we're
going to Sarasota. If anybody would like to go,
we're going to leave my house at four o'clock. But if you could
let me know that you're coming in case everybody gets there
and we want to leave a few minutes early or whatever. So let me
know tonight if you want to go to Sarasota on Friday. All right, let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, what a great joy it is to know
that thou art holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts. That truly
all of heaven and all of earth is filled with thy glory. Lord, you're not like the idols
that are fashioned in the imagination of men's minds. You are the living,
true Creator God who has revealed himself in the person of your
dear Son and through the light of Scripture. We ask, Father, that you would
enable us to set our affections on Christ tonight. We take great
comfort in knowing that thou art always mindful of us. Lord,
we pray now that you would make us to be mindful of thee. We ask for your spirit to enlighten
the eyes of our understanding. We ask that truly it would be,
Lord, not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy glory. To thy name
be glory. that Christ would be exalted
and that we would experience the fulfillment of your promise
Lord that where he's lifted up that men will be drawn to thee. Our Heavenly Father we do pray
for Terry and we ask that you be merciful. We Pray Lord for the services
in Sarasota. We thank you for the desire that
you have placed in the brethren's heart there to have a witness,
a gospel witness. We pray that you would establish
it on the rock and that there would be light for your people
in that part of our state. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Let's all stand. Will you turn with me in your
Bibles to Genesis chapter 27. Genesis chapter 27. What great comfort God's people
have in knowing and believing that He is sovereign. truly what we just read is is
of such great comfort to our hearts to know that he hath done
whatsoever he is pleased to do we know we know that all things
all things work together for good for them who love God and
those that are the called according to his purpose we know that his
purpose cannot be thwarted It cannot be changed. Our God is
a God of purpose. And even our disobedience, even
our unbelief, even when we lose sight of Him, it never changes
His divine purpose. He always accomplishes His end. Through every detail, not just
the big end, but every detail in the process of that end. And
we see a little bit of that in our text, in Genesis chapter
27. I've read several commentaries on this passage of scripture,
and it seems that without exception, the commentators like to take
notice of, I'm so sorry. Yes, yes. I was looking at the
wrong passage of scripture. The commentators like to take
notice of Rebecca and Jacob's deceitfulness in this chapter
and accuse them of wrongdoing. Truth is that the Lord had already
revealed to Rebecca and to Isaac that of the two sons that struggled
in her womb in Genesis chapter 25 turn back with me to Genesis
chapter 25 before we before we look at that before we look at
27 look at Genesis chapter 25 at verse At verse 20, and Isaac was 40
years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel,
the Syrian, of Padana-Aram, the sister of Laban, the Syrian.
And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was
barren. And the Lord was entreated of
him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. Verse 22, and the children struggled
together within her. Jacob and Esau. She's bearing
twins in her womb, and she feels the conflict already inside of
her. And she said, If it be so, why
am I thus? And she went to inquire of the
Lord, and the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb,
and two manners of people shall be separated from thy bowels. And the one people shall be stronger
than the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger. The Lord had already made it
clear that Esau was going to be in servitude to Jacob. That
Jacob was going to be the one to receive the inheritance, the
blessing of God. that it was going to be through
the lineage of Jacob that the Messiah would come. And Isaac
seems to have forgotten that. One of the things that I'm comforted
and concerned with is that as much opposition and conflict
there is in standing for the gospel, oftentimes good men good
men who have been faithful to the gospel all their lives lose
the strength to fight the good fight. They become sentimental,
they become weak, and they don't fight for the gospel like they
ought to right up to the end. I've seen it happen. And I say
to you that if you see it happen with me, that you ask me to step
down. I'm not above that. It happened
to Isaac. Isaac's an old man. He's become
sentimental. He has a favored son. He has
forgotten the promises of God and he's determined that he's
going to give the blessing to Esau. And the Lord wouldn't allow
it to happen. God had already purposed That
the lineage of salvation was not going to come through Esau.
It was going to come through Jacob. And though Isaac lost
sight of that, the Lord still accomplished his purpose through
Rebekah and through Jacob. You have your Bibles open to
Genesis chapter 27. And it came to pass that when Isaac was old
and his eyes were dim so that he could not see. This is not
just a physical malady that he's experiencing in his old age,
it's a spiritual problem that he has as well. He's becoming
dim in sight toward the promises of God. And I'm not suggesting
in any way he's becoming apostate. I'm just saying that his flesh
is weak as it is for all of us. And that the Lord is not going
to allow his unbelief or his unfaithfulness to thwart God's
purpose. If there's anyone to be blamed
in this story, it's not Rebecca and Jacob, it's Isaac. And he called Esau, his eldest
son, and said unto him, My son? And he said unto him, Here am
I. And he said, Behold, now I am
old. I know not the day of my death. Now therefore take, I pray thee,
thy weapon, thy quiver, and thy bow, and go out to the field,
and take some venison, and make me savory meat such as I love,
and bring it to me that I may eat, and that my soul may bless
thee before I die. Isaac was determined to give
the blessing of the birthright to Esau. Now the birthright blessing
was designed to show preeminence and authority. It was passed
on from the father to the eldest son. The double portion of inheritance
was given to the eldest son as a symbol of his authority and
as a symbol of his preeminence in the family. That was the birthright
and that's what Isaac now was about to do for Esau even though
he knew better. That order that God had designed
to be the natural order of things was oftentimes overruled in the
scriptures by God in order to show that God's purpose was not
according to man's lineage. There were many examples of that.
Isaac himself was chosen over Abraham's eldest son, Ishmael. And now Jacob, the younger, is
chosen over Esau. Joseph, later, will be chosen
by God over Jacob's eldest son, Reuben. And David will be chosen
by God over his older brothers. Solomon, David's son, will be
chosen to carry on the inheritance over Abinagi. David's oldest. So God oftentimes short-circuits
this birthright that he had designed in the law to show that it's
not of physical birth that the promise is made. Now the birthright
was designed not just in order to establish preeminence in the
family and give to the eldest son a double portion of the inheritance,
but the more important thing about the birthright was that
it declared God's blessing upon that individual to be in the
lineage of the Messiah. In other words, God was saying
through the birthright, this will be the one through whom
the Messiah will come. Now that's what Esau sold for
a bowl of soup. That's how little concern he
had for whatever God might purpose in the Messiah. Esau had already
sold that. And now Isaac is old and the
Lord is purposed to make sure that his plan is fulfilled. Turn with me to Romans chapter
9. Look at verse 7 in Romans chapter
9. Neither because they are the
seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall
thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. The promise of God
is where the inheritance is going to come. Verse 9, For this is
the word of promise, at this time will I come, and Sarah shall
have a son. And not only this, but when Rebecca
also conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, for the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God, according to election, might stand. That's
what it's all about. The purpose of God according
to election will always stand. Nothing that you and I will be
able to do. No design that Isaac even had will be able to thwart
or change the purpose of God according to election. Not of works. but of him that
calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. The Lord made that clear in Genesis
chapter 25. Esau is going to serve Jacob. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? Is God being unfair? Oh, God
forbid. There's nothing unfair about
God. God's purpose is right. You know,
you and I have to, we make choices during the day and we have to
evaluate right from wrong oftentimes, don't we? And hopefully we choose
the right thing after having weighed the consequences of decisions. God never makes decisions that
way. Whatever God does is right. It's
just right because He does it. He doesn't have to evaluate right
from wrong. He just acts according to His own sovereign nature and
whatever He does is right. And that's true in your life.
That's true in the small things. That's true in the big things.
That's our God. He's a God of purpose and He's
holy. He's just. Look at verse 15. For he saith to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
It is not by physical birth. It is by the design and purpose
of God. for the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose. For this same purpose have I
raised thee up. God raised up Pharaoh for a purpose.
He was a vessel fitted for destruction. What was the purpose? That I
might show my power in thee and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Pharaoh, I have a purpose for
you and my purpose is the same for the reprobate and for the
elect. God's purpose is the same. What
is his purpose? that his name might be glorified
throughout all the earth the glory of God is the chief end
of all things you know the philosophers struggle the religious people
struggle all men wonder what's life really all about what's
the purpose of it it's it's that simple the glory of God is the
purpose of all things and he will accomplish that end and
everything will serve in the end to his glory. He's gonna
see to it. Therefore, verse 18, hath he
mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Thou wilt say then unto me, why doth he yet find fault? For who
has resisted his will? If what you're saying is true,
then God can't hold me responsible he can hold maybe if he's if
he's that sovereign if he's that much in control if he's ordering
and ordaining all the events of life then I'm relieved of
all responsibility you know there are those who have come to that
conclusion I know a man right now that at one time we thought
was preaching the gospel and he's moved into the primitive
Baptist camp of of of hyper-Calvinism and antinomianism he's come to
this conclusion God's sovereign so we'll just sit back and we'll
just we don't have any don't have any any responsibility God
can't accuse me of wrongdoing nay don't talk like that don't
think that way Nay, but, O man, who art thou that replyest against
God? You're going to accuse God of
your sin? Let no man say when he sins that
God made me do it. James makes that clear. We don't
accuse God of our sin. God's sovereign. He's going to
work through our sins. He's going to accomplish His
purpose, which is His glory in all things. But it doesn't relieve
us of the responsibility of our sin. shall the thing form say to him
that formed it why hast thou made me thus hath not the potter
power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel with
honor and another with dishonor he can he does that doesn't he
he'll make a beautiful vase and a bedpan out of the same lump
of clay that's that's a vessel of honor and a vessel of dishonor
that's what he's talking about here Now what if God, willing to show
his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much long
sufferings a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction, that he
might make known the riches of his glory? There's his whole
purpose. He raises up Pharaoh. He raised
up Esau and Jacob for the same purpose, to show forth his glory on the vessels of mercy. His
glory will never be seen on the vessels fitted for destruction.
They'll never see it. He'll use it for His glory, but
they'll never acknowledge it. Only those who have been chosen
in the covenant of grace will acknowledge His glory and see
that His wrath towards the vessels of destruction were for His glory. That's what he's saying here.
The riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had
before ordained or prepared unto glory, even us whom he hath called,
not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. So the birthright, which Esau had no concern for,
Hebrews chapter 12 calls Esau a profane person who for one
morsel of meat sold his birthright. He had no concern for a need
for the Messiah. Why? Because God had left him
to himself. God had left him to himself.
Jacob I've loved, Esau have I hated. These two nations that struggled
in Rebecca's womb represent the two peoples of the world, don't
they? God's elect and all the reprobate that he's fitted for
destruction. Turn back with me to our text
in verse six of Genesis chapter 27. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob
her son, saying, 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. So she heard what Isaac had said. And blame her for being deceitful. She's going to make sure that
the promise of God, or she's going to be used of God to bring
about that fulfillment of that promise, isn't she? Now, therefore,
my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.
Go now to the flock. Esau was told to take his weapons
and go out into the field and hunt for himself some venison.
Kind of reminds us of the fruit of the field and the fruit of
the flock, doesn't it? It's a matter of works or grace. And so Esau has gone out to fulfill
his work and his duty and to produce his means and Rebekah
tells Isaac to go into the flock and fetch me from thence two
good kids of the goats and I will make them savory meat for thy
father such as he loveth and thou shall bring it to thy father
that he may eat and that he may bless thee before his death.
God's already made it clear. that the blessing of the inheritance,
the promise, the birthright is going to you, Jacob. And here's
what we're going to do. We're going to go into the flock.
We're going to slay a lamb. We're going to prepare him for
your father. And you're going to go into your father's presence,
and he'll bless you instead of Esau. And Jacob. said unto Rebekah his mother
behold Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth man my
father peradventure will feel me and shall seem to me to him
as a deceiver and shall bring a curse upon me and not a blessing
if I go in like I am Isaac's gonna know the difference And
he's not going to, if I go in there and tell him that I'm Esau,
he's not gonna confer a blessing on me, he's gonna curse me. And
his mother said unto him, upon me be thy curse, my son, only
obey my voice and go fetch me them. and he went and fetched
and brought them to his mother and his mother made savory meat
such as his father loved and Rebecca now here's what I want
you to see David said in Psalm 119 verse 98 thy commandment you know in psalm 119 the Lord
uses 10 different words to as synonyms for the scripture and
one of those words is the word commandment and David said in
psalm 119 verse 98 thy commandment is exceeding broad in other words
the word of God the scriptures are are as infinite as is God
himself That's why we can go back to the same passage of scripture
time and time again, and see new light, and it'd be fresh,
and living, and alive, and dynamic, and God's Word's just that way. It's not only sharper than any
two-edged sword, but it's the living Word of God. And so there
are so many different depths of meaning to these pictures,
isn't there? One of them is what we've already
seen, that God's purpose is going to be accomplished. What I want
you to see here is that Jacob represents us going before God. And getting from the firstborn
the birthright. Esau was the firstborn, wasn't
he? And Jacob's going to get the
birthright. How is Jacob going to get the birthright? He's going
to go before Isaac pretending to be Esau. How is it that you and I get
the birthright from God? How is it? We don't come pretending
to be like our firstborn, but we do come into his presence
with his smell on us, with his cloak on us. Look what he says. verse 15 and Rebecca took goodly
raiment of her eldest son Esau which were with her in the house
and put them upon Jacob her younger son. How do we come into the
presence of God? Here's the exceeding broad nature
of God's Word. So many types and shadows of
salvation. God's purpose is going to be
accomplished. What is the purpose of God? It's to save a people
for His glory. And He's going to use the Esau's
of this world to accomplish that end. And now what do we see?
We see a picture of how it is the Jacobs come before God and
get the birthright from the firstborn, the inheritance. How do we do
it? Well, we've got to be sent in
the goodly raiment of our elder brother. We've got to have the
robe of righteousness on us, don't we? We've got to be clothed
in the righteousness of Christ if we're going to find acceptance
before God. Look at verse 16. And she put the skins of the
kids of the goats upon his hand and upon the smooth of his neck.
And she gave the savory meat and the bread which she had prepared
into the hand of her son Jacob. So here comes Jacob. He's got
Esau's clothes on. He's got hair on his hands to
represent the hands of his elder brother. How do we come before
God? With clean hands and a pure heart.
We've got to have the hands of Christ, don't we? Jacob now is
going before Isaac with the hands of his elder brother. That's
the only way you and I can be saved. The only way purpose of
God can be accomplished is for us to come before God with the
hands of our elder brother. And for us to bring the savory
meat, of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the lamb that was slain
before the foundations of the world let the Esau's take their
weapons let the Esau's go out into the world and try to and
try to slay venison in order to get the blessing from God
that's not how we come that's not how the purpose of God is
accomplished we come with with the meat from the flock dressed
in the clothes of our elder brother And he came unto his father and
said, My father. And he said, Here am I. Who art
thou, my son? And Jacob said unto his father,
I am Esau, thy firstborn. Yes, Jacob was a deceiver. That's
what his name means. Yes, there's things about this
story that are that are just wrong on Jacob's
part, but there's so much more to it than that, isn't there?
There's a gospel picture here. How do we come before God? What
do we say? If He asks us, what do we say? We say, we're Christ. We belong
to Him. We're coming to you in His name. As He is, so are we in this world.
Lord, we have no other claim to come into thy presence except
for the name of our elder brother, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
our only right into thy presence. Jacob said unto his father, I
am Esau. I am Esau. You know, turn with me to Isaiah
chapter 42. The practical, I guess, application
of Isaac being old and weak and poor of sight and tired and unfaithful
can be seen in our own earthly experience that I've already
brought out. But there's also a picture of Isaac here representing
the Lord. Look at Isaiah chapter 42 at verse 18. Hear ye deaf. What? Hear ye deaf? Lord, I am deaf. I don't have
the ability to hear your voice unless you enable me to hear.
You've got to unstop my ears. Remember when the Pharisees said,
are we blind? And the Lord said, if you were,
then you'd be able to see. But the fact that you think you
can see, your sins remain. And so it is. Lord, I am deaf. By nature, I'm deaf. By nature,
I can't hear the voice of God. I had a man ask me Monday night.
He said, does God talk to you? I said, yes, he does. He said,
in my age, he said, God's never talked to me before. never talked
to me my whole life I've never heard God speak to me I felt
sorry for him but you know God does speak I've heard his voice
it's not an audible voice but it's the voice of God he's caused
me to hear what he has said from his word and to believe it hear ye deaf And look, ye blind, Lord, I am blind. If you don't
give light to my understanding, I won't see, I won't hear, I
won't believe, I won't understand. That you may see. Now look at verse 19. Who is
blind but my servant? Now when Isaiah is talking about
the servant of God, he's talking about Christ. Now Isaiah is saying that the
Lord Jesus Christ is blind. That's what he's saying. What? Read on. Who is blind but my
servant, or deaf as my messenger that I sent? Who is blind as
he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord's servant? Now look
at the next verse. See many things, but thou observeth
not, opening the ears, but he heareth not. Now that's what
I need. I need a God that is blind to
my sin. I need a God that will separate
my sin from me as far as the east is from the west and be
able to remember it no more. Who is blind as my servant? He's
talking about our sin being put under the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ so that God takes no notice of it. So look at seeing many
things, but thou observest not opening the ears. He's the one
that opens the ears, but he hears not. I need a God who doesn't hear
all the foolish things that come out of my mouth and all the foolish
thoughts that go through my mind. I need a God that's blind and
deaf to my sin. And here we have Isaac. unable
to see, conferring the blessing of the firstborn upon Jacob,
who's coming in the likeness of his elder brother, dressed
in his clothes, the smell of the field upon him, hair upon
his hands, and saying to his father, I am Esau. That's how we're going to come,
isn't it? That's how the Lord's going to save us. We're going
to have to come with the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
righteousness that he worked out as our substitute. We have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one. And if he asks us, who art
thou? What are we going to say? What
are we going to say? Lord for Christ's sake I have
no name but that the Lord gave us his name did he not Isaiah
Jeremiah chapter 33 says and she speaking of the church shall
be called the Lord our righteousness is it wrong for us to stand before
God dressed in the clothes of our elder brother and say to
him I'm Christ The only way I'm gonna be accepted
by you. Go back with me to our text. And Jacob, verse 19, Jacob said
unto his father, I am Esau, thy firstborn. I have done according
as thou badest me. Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat
my venison, that thy soul may bless me. Oh, Jacob knew that
he was in need of God to bless him. He wanted to be a part of
that lineage of the Messiah. That was the hope of his salvation.
In all of his deceitfulness and in all of his weakness and all
of his sin, he needed the blessing of God. And Isaac said unto his son,
How is it that thou had found it so quickly, my son? And Isaac
said, because the Lord thy God brought it to me. That's the only way I can be
here. The Lord thy God brought it to me. I didn't go out and
hunt it. I didn't take my weapons. I didn't
use my means. I didn't try to... The Lord gave
it to me. That's how we come, isn't it?
Dressed in the clothes of our elder brother, claiming to be
him, and saying to God, the Lord gave it to me. 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. And Jacob went near unto Isaac
his father, and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's,
but the hands are the hands of Esau. If a man believes in his heart,
and confesses with his mouth, Jesus as Lord he shall be saved
you know the truth is that there is a voice that comes out of
us that's our voice we we but the hands are Christ the righteousness
is his Lord we we cry we cry unto thee yes the voice is that
of of Jacob but the hands of those of Esau I say that because again there
are those and there's plenty of them around who will take
the sovereignty of God in salvation and make it so that sinners are
not required to cry out to God. There are a lot of them around.
And more and more that I'm hearing about. These hyper-Calvinists
who have taken the sovereignty of God in salvation, saying God's
elected a people, He's chosen them, they're all going to be
saved, there's no reason for us to preach the gospel, there's
no reason for us to encourage men to crawl out to God, God's
going to save His elect. And here, what does God say?
the voice is that of Jacob but the hands are those of Esau you
know that's how we're gonna come isn't it the Lord's gonna have
to hear our voice call out he's gonna he's gonna he's gonna make
us call he's gonna make us willing and we're gonna we're gonna call
but we're not gonna be saved apart from calling we're not
gonna be saved apart from believing verse 23 Isaac discerned him not. Isaac couldn't tell the difference
between Jacob and Esau. Now that's what I want. I want
a God who can't tell the difference between me and Christ. That's the only way we're going
to be saved. That's the only way we're going to be saved.
Is he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified be all of
one. if we be so united here's what Colossians chapter 2 for in him in Christ dwelleth
the fullness of the Godhead bodily Colossians chapter 2 verse 9
in him dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily and you
know what verse 10 says and you are complete in him." Isn't that
glorious? That just as Isaac was not able
to discern the difference between Jacob and Esau, so God is not
able to discern the difference between Christ and his elect?
He has so hid our sin under the blood of Christ. He has so separated
it from us that we are as righteous in the sight of God as is the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only way we're going
to get into his presence. That's the only way his glory is going
to be magnified. That's the only way his purpose
is going to be accomplished. What a glorious picture of our
salvation here. Verse 23, He discerned him not.
Why? Because his hands were hairy. Now you know that hands in the
scriptures are a picture of works. And Christ's works went before
him and recommended him to God. And he's the only one, whoever
went to God, hand first. The only one. And we come in Him. As his brother is Esau's hand,
so he blessed him. And he said, Art thou my very
son Esau? And he said, I am. I am. Are you resting in the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ? I am. Is what he accomplished through
his hands your work of salvation? I am. Lord, I am. For Christ's sake,
have mercy upon me. And he said, bring it near to
me, and I will eat 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 me, and kiss me, my son. Oh, kiss the son, lest
he be angry with thee. Just fall down at his feet. Beg him for his mercy and for
his blessing. And he came near and kissed him,
and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him. And
he said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of the field
which the Lord had blessed." Oh, he smelled just like Esau,
didn't he? That's the only way we're going
to get there. The sweet savor, the aroma of the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the scripture says, went up into the nostrils
of God and he was satisfied. God give thee of the dew of heaven,
and of the fatness of the earth, and the plenty of corn and wine.
Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee, and be Lord
over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee.
Cursed be everyone that cursed thee, and blessed be everyone
that blessed thee. That's the covenant promise. That's the birthright promise.
that's the messianic promise that's the promise of salvation
and that's what jacob got from isaac by coming to isaac in the
person of his elder brother let's pray our heavenly father
we're so very thankful for the pictures of salvation that you've
given us in your word We ask, Lord, that you would cause us,
even as Rebecca caused Jacob, to come before you in the name
of your dear son, that his hands would be our hands, and that
you would cause our voice to call out and to claim union with
Christ. For it's in his name we ask it.
Amen. All right. Number 78 in the Sopheak
Temple. Let's stand together.