Romans chapter 8. Now the purpose
of God according to election. You know what election is? It's
God choosing. He is for loving, for ordaining
whom He will, passing by whom He will. And there is a purpose
for God in choosing whom He will. Not only could we not save ourselves,
not only would a sinner conceived in sin and come forth speaking
lies, not only would we not be willing to come to God, but if
we came to God, we'd boast in it. But even beyond that, the
purpose of God, according to election, is to glorify his son. It's that His Son might be the
firstborn among many brethren. That's the privilege that we
see in the Old Testament, speaks of the birthright, the firstborn. Christ is the firstborn. Look
here at Romans 28. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to His purpose. Salvation's not of him that willeth,
not of him that runneth, but of God that calleth. It's God
who chooses and causes whom he will to approach under his throne
of grace. And everything is according to
his purpose, for whom he did foreknow, chose, elect, predestinated,
forelove, foreordain. He also did predestinate, conformed
to the image of his Son, that Here's the purpose, that his
son might be the firstborn among many brethren. This is for the
glory of his son. He chose his son, and he chose
a people in his son. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. And whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He's done
everything, and He's done it all in the person of His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He spared not His own Son, but
delivered Him up for us all. How shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? He's gonna give all things to
all those He gave to His Son, for whom He gave His Son. And
who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Who's
going to charge anyone God chose and put in Christ? Why can't
we charge anybody God chose and put in Christ, any of God's elect?
Because it's God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. Yea, rather that's risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh the intercession
for us. The doctrine of election, we
love it. The believer loves it because
it declares salvation's not of our works, not only because we
could do none to satisfy God, but that all the glory for all
the work would go to Christ Jesus, the Son of God, the firstborn,
that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. All right,
now, let's turn to Genesis chapter 27. If you come to God, you're going to have to come
to God the Father with Christ the bread. The only meat, the
only satisfying satisfaction to God the Father is His Son.
If we come to God the Father, we're going to have to come robed
in the garments of Christ Jesus the firstborn. If we come to God, we're going
to have to come smelling of the sweetness of Christ, the only
begotten Son of God. We're going to have to come in
the name of His Son, as declaring none other but Christ's name.
How do you come? I come with only one name, and
that's Christ. We're not coming by our works.
We're coming in His Son, so that His Son receives all the glory. And all the blessing that God
gives to His firstborn Son, the blessing, the right, the privilege
of the firstborn Son, He makes those He's put in Christ, who've
been redeemed by Christ, who've been called by His grace and
brought to faith in Christ, He makes us joint heirs with His
Son. Sons of God and joint heirs with
Christ, the firstborn Son. Now in our text, the Lord had
told Rebekah, Rebekah's the mother, Isaac is the father. They had
twins, conceived at the same time in Rebekah's womb, Esau
and Jacob. The Lord had told Rebekah, it
was said unto her, it was said unto Rebekah, the elder, Esau,
would serve the younger, Jacob. So in Jacob, we have a picture
of one of God's elect children, whom God called. But Isaac, to
Isaac the father, Esau was the firstborn. He was literally the
one born first. He came out of the womb first.
And so Isaac loved Esau. He loved the meat that Esau brought
him, the venison he brought him. And he was determined as he was
dying to give the blessing that went to the firstborn to Esau,
his son. But Rebecca knows it's God's
will, God's purpose, that that blessing go to Jacob. Christ,
the promised salvation of Jacob, is gonna come through Jacob to
Jerusalem. That by his person and his work,
he might bring Jacob to heavenly Jerusalem, to God. And Rebecca
knows that. Verse one. It came to pass that
when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not
see, he called Esau his eldest son. This to Isaac is the firstborn. And he said unto him, My son.
And he said unto him, Behold, 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 weapons, thy quiver, and thy bow, and
go out to the field, and take me some venison. 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." That was what he was
about to do, bestow the blessing of the firstborn on Esau. And
Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son and Esau went
to the field to hunt for venison and to bring it. Now Esau, I
mean Isaac is dying, He can't see, and calls Esau near, tells
him to bring him the savory venison he loves, that he may eat, that
my soul may bless thee before I die. Verse 6. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob
her son. This is the younger son. This
is the one that is a picture of a chosen child, chosen of
God. He's chosen of God. She said,
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. Now, what
we're gonna see here is sin and deception on Rebekah and Jacob's
part. Isaac's blind, he can't see.
And what they're going to do is sinful and deceptive on one
hand. And we see that's the case with
every sinner God saved. He's a sinner. He's a deceiver.
He's a supplanter like Jacob. Nothing excuses that. But God's
able to show us His blessings of grace even in the midst of
the sin of people. And what we're going to see here
in Jacob is how you And I, the only way we can come to the Father
and receive the blessing of the Father, the only way you can
come to God is to come in the name of the beloved firstborn
Son of God. It's the only way God's going
to receive you. You're going to have to come robed in His
righteousness. You're going to have to come
robed in the merits of Christ alone to be received of the Father.
Now, let's see that. Verse 9. Go now to 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 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 am a smooth man. My father peradventure will fill
me and I shall seem to him as a deceiver and I shall bring
a curse upon me and not a blessing. When the gospel comes to us at
first, it comes to us in much the same way as it came to Jacob
here. This word came to Jacob here.
We think, I can't come to the father. I'm nothing like the
elder. brother. I'm nothing like his
firstborn son. I'm nothing like him. Christ
Jesus, the Lord is righteous. I'm not righteous. He's holy. I'm unclean. He's just. I'm unjust. There's nothing about
me that would allow me to come to God. If I come to him, he's
going to perceive I'm a deceiver. You tell me to come by faith
in the son of God, come to God, trusting Christ married as my
own. Are you sure God won't consider me a deceiver? Verse 13, And his mother said
unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son. Only obey my voice and
go fetch them. Whenever Christ the Lord became
surety before the foundation of the world for those the Father
gave Him, Christ said to the Father, Upon me, be the curse
of these people. That's what a surety is. He agreed
before the world began to die, pay the wages of sin for every
child whom God the Father gave him. And when Christ speaks,
you remember when He first called them out, if you look this word
up, obey my voice, obey my voice. When He delivered Israel out
of Egypt, you find all through Exodus and Leviticus and Numbers,
God saying, obey my voice, obey my voice. And what we see in
the fact that hosts and hosts that were in Israel, who had
been delivered out of Egypt, wouldn't obey His voice. We see
that apart from the grace, the irresistible sovereign grace
of God speaking into the heart and saying, obey my voice, we
won't obey him. And we know this now that Christ
has come when he says, obey my voice. Christ said, they shall
hear my voice. My sheep shall hear my voice.
And I know them and they follow me. He knows them in the intimate
sense of entering in and making himself one with them and them
one with him. And they follow his voice. And
this is what he says, only obey my voice, my son. But all your
trust and all your confidence and all your hope in me, I have
borne the curse on your behalf." That's what he'll speak into
the heart of his children. And they'll follow him. What's
the result of it? When he says, only obey my voice,
verse 14, Jacob went and fetched and brought them to his mother,
and his mother made savory meat such as his father loved. We're
going to have to come to God the Father with only the bread,
only Christ, that savory meat, satisfaction to God, that which
is well-pleasing to God. And when Christ speaks, when
the Spirit of God speaks in the heart, we'll come. When He says
to us, He was made a curse for us, it's written, cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. When He speaks and says, I was
made a curse for you to redeem you from the curse of the law.
You'll come. You'll fetch that which pleases
God. You'll lay hold of Christ and
come in Christ. Verse 15, And Rebekah 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 hands, upon the smooth of his
neck." These goats had hair much like silk, and it felt like a
man's hair, and she put that on him. So now he's robed in
the garments of the eldest son. He has the smell of the eldest
son, the feel of the eldest son. He's completely robed in the
garment of the eldest son. That's how you're going to have
to come to the father. This is to receive a blessing
from the father. We have to come in the eldest
son as one with him. This is what Isaiah said, I will
greatly rejoice in the Lord, for my soul shall be joyful in
my God, for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation.
He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness. Verse 17, And
she gave the savory meat and the bread which she had prepared
into the hand of her son Jacob. You know, Jacob didn't prepare
anything. Everything that the sinner needs,
God provides. Everything that God requires,
God provides. And she did everything and put
it into the hand of Jacob. And so it is that God's done
everything in His Son, and He comes and He puts it in our hand.
What do you have? Paul asked the Corinthians, what
do you have that you didn't receive, that wasn't freely given to you
as a free gift of God, that your empty hand just received? He
said, why then boast as if you didn't receive it? Everything
was done prepared for you. What about my faith? Well, I
believed. Yes, you believe. The true faith
God gives boasts in this, by grace I'm saved through faith
and that not of myself, it's the gift of God. He gave that
to me. Verse 18, and he came unto his
father and he said, my father, And Isaac said, here am I. Who
art thou, my son? And Jacob said unto his father,
I am Esau, thy firstborn. I've done according as thou badest
me. Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat
of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. Who are you? He said, I'm Esau, thy firstborn. When we come to God the Father,
we're going to come not in our own name. When he says, who are
you? Our only plea is, I'm Christ. I've come to you in His name. This is what the Lord said to
the church at Pergamos. Thou holdest fast my name and
hast not denied my faith. When you come to the court or
you come to the registrar or you come to the to the county clerk's office
or anything like that. Lynn, when you come, who do you
tell them? When I say, who are you? You say, I'm Mrs. Sheppis. You come in his name. And everything that belongs to
him belongs to you. We come in his name. And everything that
belongs to him is ours in his name. He's a chosen vessel unto
me, the Lord said, speaking of Paul, to bear my name. put my name on it. Whatsoever
you shall ask the Father, the Lord said, in my name, he'll
give it to you. When we come to the Father, we
do pray, Father, in the name, we come to you in the name of
the Son of God, in the name of your only begotten Son, in the
name of the King of kings and Lord of lords. But coming to
Him is more than just tacking that name onto a prayer. It's
coming to Him by faith in Him, trusting wholly, completely that
God will receive us because we wear that name. That name's been
given us freely. We come in that name. Who are
you? I'm coming in the name of Christ.
He said, I've done according as thou badest me. Can you say
that? Can you say, I've done everything
the Lord required me to do. Through faith in Christ, we rest
in the work Christ has done. We work in the rest, in the rest
and the work of another. By faith we establish the law. Why? Christ established it. I
can come to God by faith in Christ and say, I have done all that
you bade me do. I'm not coming trying to brag
about something I did. I'm saying that, saying what
He did, I'm trusting I have done in Him. Paul said this in Philippians
3.9, he said, this is my desire. This is where I want to be found.
I want to be found in Christ, not having my own righteousness. which is of the law, which is
the work I've done, something I have done myself. I don't want
to come in that righteousness, but that which is through the
faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. I want that which God wrought,
God that justifies. I want that which Christ wrought,
it's Christ that died. That's how I want to be found.
Have you done what I bade you do? I heard your voice, and you
said, Believe on my Son. Father, I believe. I trust Him. By your grace, I trust Him. I've
done as you've commanded." Genesis 27, 20, And Isaac said unto his
son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son?
And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me. Have
you found Christ? How is it you found Him? How
is it you came robed in the garments of Christ's righteousness? How
is it that you entered in to this glorious good news and laid
hold of Christ? How is it you did it? Well, I
did it by my will. No. How did you do it? Well, I did a lot of running
here and there and searching and finding. No. How was it brought
to you? not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. He says,
I was found of them that sought me not. We love him because he
first loved us. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach unto thy throne. He called me
by his grace. He drew me near to him by his
irresistible power. I have nothing to boast in. The covenant Lord God wrote his
everlasting covenant in my heart, and said, your sin and your iniquities
I remember no more. And he said, now where remission
of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore,
brethren, boldness, liberty, being a son of God, we come to
God, having our bodies washed and our conscience purged with
the blood of Christ Jesus, and we come giving all glory to God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 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. 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. I want to be found. You sound like clay. but your
garments and your robe is my son's. That'd be fine with me. And he discerned him not, because
his hands were hairy as his brother Esau's hands, so he blessed him. And he said, Art thou my very
son Esau? And he said, I am. 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, See, the smell of my son
is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed. The psalmist
said, Thy throne, O God. This is God the Father speaking
to God the Son. Thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever, a scepter of kingdom. Thy kingdom is a right scepter.
Thy love is righteousness and hate is wickedness. Therefore,
God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above
thy fellows, above all your brethren. All thy garments smell of myrrh
and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces whereby they have
made thee glad. Christ also hath loved us and
given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a
sweet smelling savor. Let us be found by this all knowing,
all discerning, ever knowing God. of heaven and earth as one in
Christ, one with His Son. And it will be found one with
the Father, the very Son, His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So He blessed him. Look now,
all blessing is given of God the Father to Christ the Son.
It's the picture here, first of all. He's the firstborn. Therefore
God giveth thee of the dew of heaven and the fatness of the
earth and plenty of corn and wine. The Lord said, all things
belong to my son. Ask me what you will, I give
you the heathen for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth
for your possession. The Lord said, all power in heaven
and earth has been given to me. He was raised from the dead,
all victorious, God the Father manifesting his satisfaction
with his son and has blessed him with all the covenant blessings
He promised His Son before the world began. And He says, let
people serve Thee, verse 29, and nations bow down to Thee
and be Lord over Thy brethren. And every knee and every tongue
is going to bow to Christ and every tongue is going to confess
that He is King of kings and Lord of lords, that He rules
in heaven and earth among all the inhabitants of this earth. He is the King over all. And
He rules over His brethren. He is the Lord. The Lord. We don't have a Savior if He's
not Lord. He's sovereign in salvation. Sovereign in salvation. He's
Lord and Savior. And He says, And let thy mother's
sons bow down to thee. And all his children, he's the
firstborn among many brethren, all shall come and bow down before
him. And he said, cursed be everyone that cursed thee, and blessed
be he that blessed thee. And that's so. Those that come
to the Father and don't come blessing and praising Christ
alone, be cursed. The curse remains upon them.
all those who come praising the Son, satisfied with the Son even
as the Father is satisfied with the Son, resting in the Son even
as the Father has rested in His Son from before the foundation
of the world. They shall find blessings from
the Father. Look at Romans 8 now, back over
there. And those who have been made
sons of God by His electing grace who come robed in this garment They've been made joiners with
Christ. They're the many brethren, the sons whom God chose and put
in Christ, whom Christ redeemed and who've been brought, clothed
in that garment. And their sons, look at Romans
8, 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are
the sons of God. For ye have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit
of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And
if children, then heirs. Heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ. This is what we see pictured
here, coming in Christ as the elder firstborn son, robed in
him, one with him. The blessings that go to the
firstborn go to us Jacobs. Joint heirs with him. If so be
that we suffer with him, if we continue trusting him alone,
bearing his cross, the wrath that comes from men and those
that will despise and reject you because of this, that we
may also be glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. And this is how God's
children are blessed of the Father. Amen.