One of the blessings I cherish
most dearly is the friendship that God has given me with your
pastor and his wife. And Tricia and I love them and
we're thankful for them. Appreciate you all taking such
good care of us. Betty, you're top list. We're so, so very grateful and
thankful for you. We're going to be looking at
a verse of Scripture in Genesis chapter 27, if you would like
to turn with me there in your Bibles. Genesis chapter 27. Let's bow for a moment and ask
the Lord His blessings on His Word. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
how desperate we are in need of having the Lord Jesus Christ
to intercede to you on our behalf. For we do know that your blessings
are for his namesake. And we ask Lord that that you
would be pleased now to enable us in the power of your spirit
to enter into worship. We pray that. That your Holy
Spirit would cause your precious son to be lifted up in our hearts.
and that we would find him to be all and in all in our salvation,
in our lives, in our hope, in our churches. We ask it in his name. Amen. I've titled this message, My
Hands Are His. My hands are His. And my text comes from verse
22 in Genesis chapter 27 where Jacob went near unto Isaac his
father and he felt him and said, now this is Isaac speaking to
Jacob, the voice is Jacob's voice but the hands are the hands of
Esau. As we saw last night God's Word
is infinite. It's alive, it's sharper than
any two-edged sword, it divides asunder the soul from the spirit
and exposes the intents of our hearts, and most importantly,
it reveals the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we think about
Jacob and Esau, we can't avoid considering Romans chapter 9,
it speaks of Jacob and Esau as representative men. They represent
all men. Either Jacob represents you,
or Esau represents you. Jacob, a picture of all God's
elect, where the Lord said, Jacob, I have loved, and Esau, I have
hated. Esau representing all the reprobate. All those vessels, as the scripture
describes them, fitted for destruction. That passage starts out by saying,
and when Rebecca conceived, before the children were yet born, not
having done any good or evil, he's talking about Jacob and
Esau in the womb of Rebecca, never having done any good or
evil, never having had a conscious thought in this world that the
purpose of God in election might stand It was said unto her, the
elder shall serve the younger. Esau shall serve Jacob, for Jacob
I have loved, and Esau I have hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid, God forbid, for I
will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
upon whom I will have compassion. It is not therefore by him who
wills or by him who runs, but by God who showeth mercy. He's
the potter and we're the clay and he has the sovereign right
according to his own will and purpose, to make of the same
lump of clay, that's all of humanity, some vessels of honor and some
of dishonor. No man can stay his hand and
no man can say unto him, what doest thou? It's his right. And man will hear that and say,
well, that's not fair. That's not fair. Man naturally
thinks that God's obligated. God's obligated to save, God's
obligated to have mercy upon everybody. God's not obligated
to do anything. He acts according to His own
will and purpose. And only when we're shut up to
the grace of God, knowing that it's up to Him, it's completely
up to Him, whether we end up being the sons of Jacob or whether
we end up being the children of Esau, the father of the Edomites,
the enemies of Israel. That's God's choice. And Jacob
and Esau represent that choice that God has made in salvation
among his creatures. In another place, in Genesis
chapter 25, Isaac prayed for Rebekah because she was barren
and the Lord blessed her and gave her these two boys in her
womb. And the scripture says that the
children struggled together in her womb. Now, I looked up that
word struggled, it means that they crushed one another. I can't
imagine what that would be like. Can't imagine, ladies, what it
would be like to have a living person in your womb, but to have
two in there fighting against one another. And in distress,
she went before the Lord and she said, Lord, why am I thus? Why am I this way? And the Lord
told her, he said, because there's two nations in your womb. There's
two manner of people which shall be separated from your womb. And it's been determined that
one will be stronger than the other. And the younger will lead
the older. The older will serve the younger.
Now in that we have a picture, not of God's sovereign choice
in election, choosing whom he will save, but we have a picture
of the two natures of the believer. Have you not found your flesh
warring against your spirit and your spirit against your flesh
so that you cannot be what you would be? And you go before the
Lord and you say, why am I thus? Why am I this way? These two
natures seem to be crushing one another within me. And I didn't
know anything about these two natures until the new man came. And the miracle of the new birth,
the miracle of salvation is that the new man, the man created
in Christ Jesus is infinitely older than the old man. We were found in Christ in the
covenant of grace before the world ever began. He's the, he's
the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. There's never been
a time when God didn't love his people and didn't see them in
his son. And so, and so the new man, our
experience of receiving the new birth and, and, and discovering,
if you will, the new man, that new man is actually older than
the old man who was born according to the flesh and yet When the
new man comes, when the new birth is experienced, we find this
struggle within us, very similar to the struggle that Rebecca
had with these two boys crushing one another in her womb. And
here's the hope. The Lord said, the older, that's
the old man, that's the man of flesh, will serve the younger. That's the new man. That's the
new man created in Christ Jesus. What's your experience? Do you
not find your sin driving you to Christ? Isn't that our experience? The
old man serves the new man. The old man is there in this
struggle that we have between the spirit and the flesh. The
old man serves the new man in that he is our constant reminder
of our need for Christ. He's our constant reminder of
our need for grace. He's the one who drives us to
the throne of grace and causes us to plead for mercy. And the Lord said, one nation
will be stronger than the other nation. Now, if you read the
history of the Edomites, who Esau was the father of, and the
Israelites, you'll find that in the beginning that the Edomites
were stronger. They were stronger. They won
the battles and they defeated Israel on several occasions.
But in time, God gave Israel victory over the Edomites. Isn't
that our experience? You know, the old man, he's stronger
than the new man. But as we grow in grace and in
the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, that old man keeps driving
us to Christ. And we find him to be sweeter
and more sufficient than ever before. And we understand what
the Lord meant when he said, my grace is sufficient for you. So Jacob and Esau, these two
characters, they represent the two types of men that there are
in the world. They represent the two natures
that the child of God experiences. But in our text, in our text,
I want you to see this. Isaac is a picture of God the
Father. Jacob represents the child of
God. And Esau is a picture of Christ. He's a picture of Christ. And
here's what, here's what the scripture says. Jacob went near
unto Isaac, his father, as the child of God, praying to the
father and he felt him. Isaac felt the hands of Jacob. You remember the story. Rebecca
had been told before the children were born that the blessing was
going to go to Jacob. And so now she's manipulating
the circumstances in order to bring about that end. And nothing
to justify her deceit and her sin, and yet God was pleased
to use it. We serve a God who's much bigger
than our sin. James tells us, he says, let
no man say when he's tempted that I'm tempted of God. For
God can tempt no man to evil, neither is he tempted unto evil.
But we're tempted when we're drawn away of our own lust. And
when lust is conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin bringeth forth
death. God's saying, your sin is your
responsibility. You bear full responsibility
for it. There's no excuse for it. There's no changing the circumstances
or shifting the blame to anyone else. Your sin is your sin. Yet we have a God. We have a
God who takes the evil of our sin and uses it for His glory
and for His good. That's my everyday experience.
It's my old man. It's that old Esau in my womb
that causes me to see my need for Christ. And God is constantly
using my sin in order to drive me to the throne of grace. How
oftentimes the Lord has done that. Think about the life of
Joseph. You meant it for evil. Isn't that what Joseph said to
his brothers? And everything they did was evil, but God meant
it for good in order that I might bring salvation to my family. Jacob and his sons and daughters
and grandchildren were all saved as a result of that evil thing
that Joseph's brothers did. The best example The best example
in the history of the human race of God using sin in order to
bring about His glory and our good is the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We, by our wicked hands, crucified
the Lord Jesus Christ. What more evil thing has ever
taken place in the history of the human race? God made Himself
vulnerable to us and we killed Him. We killed Him. Hung Him
on a cross. And yet it was the most evil
act that man has ever perpetrated that God used to bring about
the most glorious work of salvation for all of God's elect. Our God
is bigger than our sin, and He's able to use everything, and He
will. As we saw last night, the wrath
of man shall praise Him. The wrath of man shall praise
Him. and the remainder he will restrain. In other words, what
he can't use for his glory, he'll not let happen. He'll not let
happen. What a glorious God we have.
And here, Rebecca's evil. Jacob's evil. Everything they
were doing was deceptive. And yet, God's using it. God's
using it. He's going to accomplish his
purpose through it. What a great God we have. He's
never discouraged. He's never defeated. He's never
distracted. Every single thing that's happening
in time has already happened in eternity. God has ordained
it all according to His purpose and His will. What a glorious
God we serve. You can't derail his purpose.
You can't change his will. And so, Rebecca's sin now is going to
be used. By the way, I looked up Esau's
name. And most of the dictionaries
will translate his name Harry. But I found out that the root
of his name actually means to do, it means wrought, it means
work, or it means to perform. That's what his name means. And
you know, I was talking to somebody that came to our fellowship recently,
and they were trying to understand the difference. And I was trying
to make it as simple as I could in conversation with them. And
I said, you know, it's just as simple as the difference between
do and done. Every religion of the world is
based on something you do. You've got to do something. You've
got to put your hand to it in order to earn favor with God.
The gospel of God's sovereign grace in the finished work of
the Lord Jesus Christ is the only message of salvation I've
ever heard. It's done. It's finished. Everything necessary for me to
have acceptance in the presence of a holy God has already been
accomplished. through the successful work wrought
out, done, performed by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so Esau's name
here even points us to Christ. Jacob presents himself before
Isaac in the name of his brother Esau. Back up with me to verse 18 of
chapter 27. And he came unto his father and
said, my father. And he said, here am I. Who art thou, son? Who art thou? What did Jacob say? I am Esau. I'm Esau. When you go before God, don't
go in your name. You won't be accepted if you
go in your name. There's only one hope of acceptance
before a holy God, and that's to come in the name of your elder
brother. You're Esau in this regard. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the one who gives us acceptance before
God. Speak His name. When we conclude our prayers
and we say, in Jesus' name we pray, we're not just announcing
to folks that the prayer is coming to an end. We're saying, Father,
the only way that we have any hope of this petition being acceptable
in thy sight is that you would bless it for Christ's sake. We
saw that last night, didn't we? If I have found favor in thy
sight, tarry, Lord, for I have learned by experience that all
the blessings of God have come my way for your sake. And so
Jacob is presenting himself before his father as Isaac, as Esau,
I'm sorry, Isaac being his father. He has blessed us. with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the yea and the amen. He's
the alpha and the omega. He's the beginning and the end.
All the blessings of God are for his sake. So here's the picture. Here's the picture. You know,
there were years I would have preached from a passage like
this and done nothing but draw out some moralistic lessons for
people to learn. You know, don't be a deceiver.
But this is a spiritual book. It's a spiritual book. And it's
all to be understood in light of the gospel. God has given
us the mystery of the gospel hidden in types and shadows and
allegories all throughout the scripture. What a beautiful picture
we have here of you and I going before a holy God and he says,
who are you? Who are you? What are you going
to say? What are you going to say? I'm coming in Jesus name. I'm coming based on the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm coming with all my hope in
His successful work of redemption on Calvary's cross. I'm coming
in His blood, claiming His merit and His glory. And the only hope
that I have for acceptance before you is that you would see me
as Esau. Look at verse 27, and he came near and kissed him and
he smelled the smell of his raiment. Now this is Isaac smelling Jacob,
but Rebecca, you remember, had put Esau's clothes on Jacob. So Esau's going before Isaac
in, in, in, pretending to be his brother and Isaac smells
him and he smells the smell of Esau and blessed him and said,
see, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field, which the
Lord hath blessed. Now, all throughout the scripture,
this matter of, of, of, of smoke going up and smell entering into
the nostrils of God is a picture of our prayers. And even in Revelation,
the Scripture talks of the prayers of the saints being bottled up
and being brought into the presence of God and having a sweet aroma
in His presence. What is it that makes our prayers
acceptable to Him? When Peter was told by our Lord
that before the cock crowed he would deny Him three times, the
Lord said to Peter, be of good cheer. I've prayed for you. I've prayed for you. What made
the difference between Peter and Judas? Did they not both
do the same thing that night? They both did the same thing.
The Lord didn't pray for Judas. The Lord said in John chapter
17, Father, I pray not for the world. I pray for them which
thou hast given me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou
hast given them unto me. Father, I pray that you would
keep them. When the Lord Jesus, is it possible for the Lord Jesus
Christ to offer, we pray amiss oftentimes, don't we? That we
might consume it upon our own lust. We pray selfishly, we pray
ignorantly, and oftentimes God has to say to me, no. Never was
that the case with the Lord Jesus Christ. Every prayer He ever
offered to the Father was a perfect prayer according to the perfect
will of God and was answered perfectly by God Almighty. So
when he said, father, into thy hands, I commend my spirit. The
father heard that and received the offering that he made on
Calvary's cross for the sins of his people. And when he prayed,
father, I pray for them, which thou has given me, forgive them
father for they know not what they do. Did he pray? Did he,
did the father answer that prayer? Yes. He answered that prayer.
And what Isaac saying here is I smell the smell of Esau on
you. And I accept you because of the
aroma of your elder brother who has entered into my sanctuary
and offered up his prayers on your behalf and you are accepted
in him. Oh, how much hope of salvation
do we have? How much hope of salvation do
you have? If you think that your acceptance before God is based
on your prayers, How sincere are your prayers? How faithful
are you to pray? You pray always? Pray with all
your heart, all your soul, all your mind? No. No. Oh, my prayers are so feeble. Not his. Oh, Father, smell the
smell of my brother Esau on me and accept me. for his sake. His prayers are effectual. His
prayers are always answered. I'm so thankful that I've got
an advocate. I've got a substitute. I've got one who's standing in
the presence of God Almighty on my behalf. And he's mentioning
my name to God. And I'm having acceptance before
a holy God through him. What a picture. You say, well, in this story,
Isaac is blind. He is. He's blind. He's old in
age. He didn't have glasses back then.
He's as old as I am. If I didn't have glasses, I'd
be in trouble. I wouldn't be able to read a thing. But I can
just imagine now, Isaac is an old man, and he's completely
blind. How does that represent God?
Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 42. Isaiah 42. Notice how Isaiah chapter 42
begins. Behold, take notice of my servant. mine elect, the one whom I uphold. Now, what God's saying is, look
to Christ. Look at my son. This is my beloved
son in him. I'm well pleased. Hear ye him. I have put my spirit upon him
and he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not
cry nor lift up his voice nor be heard in the street. He doesn't
have to go around. Begging and manipulating men
to let him have his way. When he's ready, he'll make you
willing in the day of his power and you will be drawn irresistibly
to him. He doesn't go around begging
men and doing the kind of stuff we used to do in religion to
manipulate men and get people to pray a prayer and walk an
aisle and tug on their heart strings. No, we trust him and
we know that Look what he says. Look at verse 4. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. He's not in the heavens wringing
his hands, wishing that men would let him have his way. He gets
his way all the time. And a smoking flax he won't quench,
and a bruised reed he won't break. That's me. I'm a smoking flax. Oh Lord, don't put me out. and
I'm bruised by my own sin, don't discard me. Have mercy upon my
soul. So now Isaiah chapter 42 is talking
about Christ, that's clear. He's the servant, he's the elect
of God. Now look down with me to verse 18. Yeah, verse 18.
Hear ye deaf and look ye blind that ye may see. They said, you remember when
our Lord told the Pharisees that they were blind? And he called
them blind guides leading the blind. And they were offended
by it. And they said, are you suggesting
that we're blind? And he said to them, if you were,
if you were blind, then you'd be able to see. But because you
say you can see, therefore your sins still remain. Every child
of God knows, Lord, if you don't open the eyes of my understanding,
I won't be able to see. If you don't teach me the gospel,
I can't figure it out. Lord, I'm blind. Completely dependent
upon you to show me the truth. There was a time, there was many
years in my life, I didn't think that to be true. I thought I
was like a Pharisee, I can see. I've studied the Bible. I've
figured this thing out. Nicodemus, you can't see the
kingdom of God unless you're born again. You've got to be
born from above. You've got to have a miracle
of grace to be able to understand and to believe the gospel. Verse 19. Who is blind but my
servant? Who's the servant? Christ is. He's talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ. 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 What is he talking about? How
can how can we speak of God being blind? When your sins are put onto the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He remembers them no more. You
can't see them. They're put away once and for
all. That's what that's what the Lord
Jesus Christ accomplished on Calvary's cross. He once and
for all put away all the sins of all God's elect of every generation. And God sees them no more. He that sanctify us, that's the
Lord Jesus Christ, and they that are sanctified are all as one. Wherefore? He's not ashamed to
call them his brethren. How can how can a holy God call
me brother? How can he call me friend only
if I'm as holy as he is? And for that to happen, God's
going to be blind to my sins. And the only way that's going
to happen. If I see the blood, when I see the blood, I'll pass
by you. Who is blind as my servant? Look
at verse 20. Seen many things, but thou observeth
not, opening the ears, but he heareth not. The Lord is well
pleased. For his righteousness sake, he
will magnify the law and make it honorable. God's saying, I'm blind to your
sin. through the sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is my servant, who honored the law. He kept the whole law all the
time. He's the end of the law for righteousness.
He's the only one that ever satisfied it. God said, based on his righteousness,
I'm blind to your sin. I'm like Isaac. Like Isaac. Jacob came in Esau's name. He didn't use his own name. He
said to his father, I'm Esau. And, uh, Isaac smelt him and
he smelt the smell of Esau and he blessed him. But notice in
verse 22, and Jacob went near into his
father, Isaac, and he felt him and what Rebecca took some some
animal skin and put it on Isaac's hands, Jacob's hands. And Isaac now
thinks that Jacob is Esau. He says the voice is the voice
of Jacob, but the hands, the hands are of Esau. You know, we go before the Lord,
we're crying out in our own voice But if we're to be accepted in
his presence. Our hands are filthy. Our hands
are defiled, everything we put our hands to are are are infected
with sin. There's a rule of first mention
in the Bible. Whenever something is mentioned
for the first time, the meaning that it's given in that context
is generally the meaning that's carried throughout scripture
to that thing. The first time hands are mentioned. is in Genesis chapter three.
And the Lord said, behold, the man has become as one of us to
know good and evil. And now lest he put forth his
hand also and take of the tree of life and die, we must cast
him out. God, God put Adam and Eve out
of the garden. Why? Because the very first act
of disobedience was committed with a hand of man. And lest
he take forth his hand and go and defile the tree of life.
You see, now his hands are defiled. He's eaten of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil that God said don't eat from. And
his hands are corrupted. And now if he goes and touches
the tree of life, which is a picture of Christ, that can't happen. That can't happen. So he's got
to be put out of the garden. God stations the seraphim at
the garden with a sword and protects the tree of life from these men
who now have defiled hands. The second mention of hands in
the scriptures has to do with Genesis chapter 4 with Cain and
Abel. When God confronts Cain and says
to him, thou art cursed from the earth, which have opened
her mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. So the first mention of man's
hands is when he took of the, of the forbidden fruit. And the
second mention of man's hands is when Cain slew his brother
Abel and spilled his blood on the earth. And that's, that's our hands,
isn't it? That's our hands, all the way through scripture, every
time man's hand is mentioned. You remember Uzzah? When David thought, David took
his lead from the Philistines by thinking, well, we'll put
the ark on a cart and it'll be more convenient. And the oxen
stumble and the ark begins to fall and Uzzah's standing next
to the ark. What does Uzzah do? He did what you would have done,
what I would have done. The ark is teetering. It's about to fall.
He reaches up, puts his hand on the ark to steady it so it
doesn't fall off the cart. Wasn't supposed to be on a cart
to begin with. But God killed Uzzah right there on the spot,
didn't he? Why? Because he defiled the ark by
putting his sinful hand to Christ. It's a picture of the gospel. You and I put our hands to the
finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. God will kill us for
it. Why? Because our hands are defiled.
Our hands are sinful. We got our hands from our father
Adam and everything we put our hands to. The Lord said, when
you make an altar, don't take stones and hew them with tools
in your hand. Why? Because as soon as you try
to fashion the altar in a way that's pleasing to your eyes,
you're going to be putting your hands to it and that's going
to defile it. Everything you and I put our
hands to. Jacob could not go before Isaac
with his own hands. And Isaac said, the voice is
the voice of Jacob, but the hands, are the hands of his elder brother
Esau and I'm gonna bless him because he's coming to me with
Esau's hands. You remember when Abraham sent
out Eleazar his servant to get a wife for Isaac and he commands
his servant to put his hand up under Abraham's thigh and makes
a covenant with Abraham by putting the hand of the servant under
the thigh of the master. And Joseph did the same thing
with, or Jacob did the same thing with Joseph in Egypt when he
made Jacob promise to not leave his bones in Egypt. And he made
Jacob put his hand under, Joseph put his hand under the thigh
of his father Jacob. And when you go to Revelation,
you see the Lord Jesus Christ coming, riding victoriously to
deliver his people. And on his thigh is written,
King of kings and Lord of lords, strongest God often uses the
anatomy of the human body to define himself or to describe
himself. God doesn't have eyes like we
have eyes, he doesn't have ears like we have ears, doesn't have
feet like we have feet, but he knows that the only way he can
describe himself to us is by using things that we're familiar
with. And so the Lord's got his name written upon his thigh.
The strongest muscle in your body is your thigh muscle. The
strongest bone in your body is your femur. I mean, that's your
strength. So this picture of putting the
hand of the servant under the thigh of the Master is saying,
I've got to hide my hands under the strength of the Lord Jesus
Christ in order to enter into this covenant relationship with
Him. It's His strength. My hands are defiled. All throughout the Scriptures,
We can't go to God. Man thinks that, you know, I
got to do something. I've got to produce something.
I've got to bring my faith. I've got to bring my works. I've
got to, I've got to, I've got to, you know, prove that I'm
a Christian and monitor myself and measure myself by the law.
He's got to put his hand to it. And God says, no, you hide your
hand under the thigh of Christ, because he's the King of kings,
and he's the Lord of lords. And your hand is defiled, and
his hands are the only ones that are accepted before God Almighty. The voice is the voice of Jacob,
but the hands, the hands, and the smell, and the confession,
I'm Esau. It's all all the blessings of
Jacob came. All the blessings of Isaac came
to Jacob for Esau's sake. Malachi chapter one, God accuses. man of bringing that which is
torn, that which is lame, and that which is sick as an offering. And God says, shall I accept
this at your hand? You see, everything our hands
bring before the Lord, it's lame, it's sick, it's torn, it's defiled. And God says, you think I'm going
to accept that offering at your hand? No, no, don't put your
hand to it. It's your elder brother's hands
and his hands are perfect. His hands have wrought a finished
work. His hands have satisfied the
demands of his father. His hands are perfect. He did
a perfect work. Come before God Almighty in the
hands of your brother. At thy right hand. The Lord Jesus
Christ is often referred to in the scriptures as the right hand
of God. And here's what the Lord Jesus
Christ said. No man can separate you from my father's can pluck
you from my father's hand. Why? Because if you're in Christ,
You're in Christ, you're in the Father's hand, and no man can
pluck you from his hand. You can't pluck yourself from
his hand. Oh, what a strong right hand he's got. It's a saving
hand. Thou savest by thy right hand
them which put their trust in thee. Thy salvation and thy right
hand hath holden me up. Now know I that the Lord saveth
his anointed. He will hear him from his holy
heaven and he will save them for his right hand's sake. The hand of God is the only hand
sufficient to save. When John saw the Lord Jesus
Christ revealed in all of his glory in Revelation chapter one,
he falls on his face as dead. And the Lord Jesus Christ, the
scripture says, speaks to him and says, John, fear not. And he reaches down with his
hand and lifts him up. What a gracious God we serve.
His hand is not short so that it cannot save, nor is His ear
deaf so that it cannot hear. The salvation of our souls is
completely determined and dependent upon the hand of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The voice is the voice of Jacob,
but the hand is that of Esau. Pastor.