I'd like to ask you this morning
if you would join me in your Bibles in the book of Genesis
chapter 26. I've often pondered this truth in our Lord's Word. God loves some, and hates others. What a powerful thing to consider. In Malachi 1, the end of verse 2
and the beginning of verse 3 we read, sayeth the Lord, yet I loved Jacob and I hated
Esau. Now I know we refer to this very
Scripture when we consider how the world teaches and preaches
that God loves everybody. But we sit and consider those
very words, they're much more deeper than pointing our finger
at what the world is doing out there. Yet I love Jacob. and I hated
Esau." The Apostle Paul, in writing to the Romans, was referring
to this very scripture in Malachi, when he was addressing the Romans
in chapter 9, where we read, for this is the word of promise.
At this time will I come and Sarah will have a son. And not
only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by
our father Isaac, for the children being not yet born. Don't miss that, folks. The children being yet not born. They hadn't even taken a breath
of life yet. And God had set his affection
on one and left the other to himself. I don't think I can be expressive
enough to cover that. That's how deep that is. 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. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. That's some pretty deep stuff. What amazes me most And I've
heard Pastor Gene, I've heard Don Fortner, I've heard Milton
Howard, I've heard Donny Bell, I've heard a lot of preachers
say this very same thing. It's not that he would hate Esau.
I understand God Almighty hating sin and not being able to look
at it. I mean, not fully. But from what
I can see in Scriptures, the God of all creation is so holy
so perfect that he cannot even look upon imperfection. I understand that, I think. I also understand that we, all
who have ever walked this earth, are as imperfect as imperfect
can be. Our very nature is to sin against
our God. What amazes me most is not that
he would hate Esau, but that he would love Jacob. What in
the world does the God of all creation see in Jacob? That was a trick question. There's nothing in this world
that he sees in Jacob. But he does look upon Jacob Because
Jacob's name was written in a book before the world was ever created.
Just as all of God's children's names were written down in this
book. It's the book of love. True love. A love that God has
for a people. That He had chosen from before
the world was, that He was going to redeem those people and bring
them unto Himself. He says, I will be their God. and they will be my people." It doesn't say maybe, it doesn't
say might, it says they will be my people. The same thing
he says in the New Testament where he says, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. It bears repeating over and over
again, folks, there will be no empty seats in heaven. God has
chosen a people unto Himself and He will have them. And that's
a rock that His people can stand on. That's a solid rock we can stand
on. Our Creator has promised it and it shall be so. How often have I told you I love
the gospel of election. Because I know that in my heart,
what little I know of it, the wickedness that I see in my heart,
that if God continued to allow John Reeves to walk this earth
the way I was at the age of 40, I would continue right on in
that very same thing that I did. I could continue right on walking
the same way, not having a care for my Lord, not caring about
Him in any way, but yet God loved John Reeves. Jacob was wicked from his mother's
womb. He even wrestled with his brother
in the womb, it says. Are you with me in Genesis chapter
26? Join me in reading verse 21 through
26, please. And they digged another well, No, I'm sorry. I said the wrong
chapter. Chapter 25. I did it once again. I look at the top and see the
26, and that's what I'm thinking of. Chapter 25, verse 21. And Isaac entreated the Lord
for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord was entreated
of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled
together within 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 manner of people. Don't miss that. Two manner 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. And when her days to be delivered
were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red all
over like a hairy garment, and they called his name Esau. And after that came his brother
out, and his hand took hold of Esau's heel, and his name was
called Jacob. And Isaac was three-square years
old when she bared them. This one who God loves, who is
so loved with the same love that He has for all of His elect,
was wicked from the get-go. Right out of the gate. Read on
in verse 27. And the boys grew, and Esau was
a cunning hunter and a man of the field, and Jacob was a plain
man dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau because
he did eat of his venison, but Rebekah loved Jacob. And Jacob
sawed pottage, and Esau came from the field, and he was faint.
And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same
red pottage, for I am faint. Therefore was his name called
Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And
Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die. What profit shall
this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this
day. And he swore unto him. And he
sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and
pottage of lentils. And he did eat and drink and
rose up and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright."
Scripture goes on to tell us that Jacob took the blessing
from the firstborn. But he took it by deceiving his
father in his old age and blindness. Jacob was a natural man. He was
looking out for his own interests, living according to his own little
world, wasn't he? Sound like anyone you might know? Sounds just like me. Folks, I'll tell you this, the
fruit of this one Jacob did not fall far from the tree that it
came from. Look over chapter 37 of this
very same book. Jacob had gone on to grow, and
he wrestled with God, it says, a few pages back. He wrestled
with the holiness of God. He wrestled with the sin that
dwells in all who walk this earth. He wrestled with his own unrighteousness
before a thrice holy God, and he prevailed. Scripture tells
us he prevailed. How could Jacob prevail wrestling
against these things? He did it the same way all who
wrestle with sin do. We prevail in our Savior, Christ
Jesus the Lord. Our Lord took our sins upon His
own body when He went to that tree. He fought the fight for
us and prevailed. Not only did He die on that tree
for our sakes, He took those sins into the grave and He left
them there buried and was raised again. He now sits at the right
hand of the Father on high, ruling over everything. And that, my
friends, is proof that He prevailed for us. How can you and I wrestle
with the sin that is in our life? First question is, do you know
that sin is in your life? We spoke of this in Bible study.
Why would somebody look for God if they don't think they need
Him? The self-righteous Pharisees of Israel. They thought they
were righteous of everything. See all the good stuff that I
do? I made a decision to follow the God. I made this. I did this.
I dress right. I go to church on Sundays. I
do this. I do this. I, I, I, I, I. They didn't know that they needed
a Savior. They thought they were righteous in their own works. Do you wrestle? with sin in your
life, there's one who has conquered
it for you. If you belong to Him and if He has shown you what
you truly are, He'll show you He's the Savior. I came to save sinners, our Lord
said. And that's exactly what He's
going to do. Save His sinners. Jacob wrestled with God in this
very thing, and he prevailed. He prevailed the same way all
do in our Savior Jesus Christ the Lord, who fought the battle
for us and is victor over sin and death. Folks, people who
believe that they have done something to be accepted. If they believe
they have made a decision to be accepted. If they believe
that they have walked the aisle to be accepted. If they believe
that they got baptized to be accepted. If they believe that
they worship on Saturday to be accepted. Whatever you want to put in there. If you believe you have done
something to be accepted, those who believe their works
are what makes the salvation of God effectual, they do not
wrestle with their sin. They do not wrestle with the
filthy rags of their own righteousness. That's what God calls the righteousness
of men. You know that, right? That's
what God's Word is. Our righteousness is that of
filthy rags. And I'm not talking about a washcloth
that fell off out here in the dirt and got a little dirt on
it. We're talking about soap. We're talking about a woman who
had an issue of blood. The vilest, filthiest thing you
can think of, that's what God sees in the flesh of men. If you believe that you have a righteousness
that holds you up before God, then you do not wrestle with
your depravity. You are still under the bondage
of sin that declares there is some good in you. And folks,
we are all in that very same boat, and we have been there
at one time or another. In Ephesians 2.1, our Lord says
this, He says, Through Paul and you hath He quickened, given
life to, raised from the dead, who were dead in trespasses and
sin. where in times past ye walked according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among
whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lust of
our flesh. fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath,
even as others." That's God's Word about you and I at one time. But He doesn't stop there. You
see, from the time that Jacob wrestled with his own unrighteousness,
and he prevailed over his own depravity, he walked with a limp
afterwards. He walked a different life. He
walked in faith of God. And to prove that, God gave him
a limp from that time on. In Ephesians 2 verse 4 we read
this, But God, who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith
He loved us. Jacob, have I loved? bursting with thankfulness that
God has loved somebody? And didn't leave us to ourselves
as He has others? As He has Esau? I'm going to ask our brother Mike,
and I haven't done this yet, so I guess I'm doing it right
now, brother Mike. I'd like you to read that poem about Esau for the conference.
Would you mind considering that for us? Appreciate it. But God, who is rich in mercy
for His great love, wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
ye are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us to
sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Jacob have I
loved, saith the Lord. I can understand the Lord's hatred
for Esau. God hates all iniquity. He cannot
look upon sin. I said a moment ago, the fruit
does not fall far from the tree. Jacob was blessed with 12 sons,
come to be known later as the 12 tribes of Israel. And God
gave victory to Jacob. After God gave victory to Jacob,
the Lord changed His name to Israel. So let's read about the
sons of Jacob. Are you with me in the chapter
37 of Genesis? Look at verse 1. And Jacob dwelt
in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of
Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen
years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren, and the lad
was with the sons of Bala, and with the sons of Zilpah. his
father's wives, and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report,
speaking of his brothers. Now Israel loved Joseph more
than all his children, because he was the son of his old age,
and he made him a coat of many colors. And when his brothers
saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, their
hatred, they hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him. Now after that, our Lord tells
us that Joseph had dreams, which only riled up his brothers against
him even more. And we see Joseph going out to
meet his brothers in the field, feeding the flock. Look at verse
18. And when they saw him afar off,
even before he came near unto them, they conspired against
him to slay him. And they said one another, Behold,
this dreamer cometh. Come now, therefore, and let
us slay him and cast him into some pit. And we'll say some
evil beast hath devoured him, and we shall see what will become
of his dreams. And Reuben heard it, and delivered
him out of their hands, and said, Let us not kill him. And Reuben
said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that
is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him, that he might
rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. And it came to pass, when Joseph
was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph out of his
coat, his coat of many colors that was on him. And they took
him and cast him into a pit, and the pit was empty, and there
was no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread,
and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a company
of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery
and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. And Judah
said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother
and conceal his blood? Come! Let us sell him to the
Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him. For he is our
brother in our flesh, and his brethren were content. Then there
passed by Midianites, merchantmen, and they drew and lifted up Joseph
out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces
of silver, and they brought Joseph into Egypt." What a picture we have. What a picture we have of those
who are to be known as the 12 tribes of Israel. Those who will
be blessed of God to carry his oracles. What a picture we have of natural
men. They sold their brother into slavery. They sold your brother into slavery
for no other reason than the father loved him. You might say this cannot be
a picture of me. I would not do that. Then you
call God a liar. I know those are strong words
for me to say to you. Folks, you don't have to actually do
something to commit the sin. You realize that the anger you
may have in your heart for someone, for whatever reason, you may
have a just reason to be angry for it. is the same as killing
them. You may think, I know it's not
mine, but I sure want that. That's the same as stealing it. You may look at another person
and say, I know I can't be with that
person, but I sure would like to be with that person. That's
the same as committing the sin. It doesn't matter what your sin
is, for all sin has the same cost. Death. You ever hear of a white lie? There's no such thing as a white
lie. A lie, the cost of a lie is death. Our Lord says this, the heart
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Well, not mine. Not my heart. My heart's fine. I don't think
of any of those things about anybody like that. My heart's
in great fine. You call God a liar. This is God's Word. A heart is
desperately wicked. Who can know it? He also says
in 1 John, if we say that we have not sinned, we make Him
a liar and His Word is not in us. That's God's Word. That's not mine. That's God's
Word. He also says that all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. The punishment for any sin is
the same. Hebrews 9 verse 22 it says this,
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood. And
without shedding of blood is no remission. That means it all costs the same
thing, doesn't it? No matter what your sin is, it's still
the same cost. In Ephesians 1, 3 we read this,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places,
in Christ. In Christ. the very One who gives us the
victor over our sin. According as He hath chosen us,
He the Father hath chosen us, in Him the Son, before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him. In love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the pleasure of His will, to the praise of His glory, of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in
whom we have redemption through His blood." Redeemed. Oh, how I love to proclaim
it. Yes. I stand before you as sinner. The worst of all. And I can say that because I
can't look into your hearts and see what sins you have. But I
can look into mine and I see what I have. Redeemed. What a wonderful thing
to proclaim to those in the world. The price is paid. Remission
for the sins of John Reeves. Because of my Savior, my Lord,
who shed his blood for me. And that's the same thing each
and every one of God's elect can say. Yes, I'm a sinner. But I'm redeemed by the Lord
Jesus Christ. In Malachi 3.6 it says this, For I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. If it wasn't for the providential
hand of my God, I hate to think of what I could
be. I could be going to the church
of the Seventh-day Adventist where they believe that we show
up on Saturday and therefore we are saved. I could be the vile one who walks
into a building and kills a bunch of people worshiping. Who makes us to differ? Who makes you or I any different
from those who walk out on the world? It is the love of God,
shined in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what makes you
and I to differ. The love that He has for us is
the same love that He had for Jacob. It's the same love that
He has for all of His people. All the Old Testament saints
saw ahead to a Savior that would come and lay down His life and
shed His own blood for their sakes. All the Old Testament
saints stood on the promises of God. My Lord has promised it. It will
be. That's the same thing you and
I believe, isn't it? Our Lord has promised it. All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. He has promised that
My sheep hear My voice. He has promised I shall never
leave you nor forsake you, no matter what storms are coming
up around us. Oh, those fools in the ship!
And slow to believe. That fool in the ship, John Reeve,
slow to believe. Peace be still, he says to the
sea. And it becomes peace. It becomes still. For I am the Lord, I change not,
therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. His eternal love, a love that
was set upon His people before the world ever was, our Lord
and Savior predestinated us to be the children by adoption to
Himself. to the praise of the glory of
His grace wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved."
Turn to the book of Luke, if you would, please. Chapter 24. Folks, you and I,
just like Jacob, just like the sons of Jacob, walked proud in
our own selves. Straight. Look at John, he's
not that bad of a guy. Yeah, he stole a car or two here
and there, but he never killed anybody. Yeah, he did this, but
he never did that. John's not such a bad guy, is
he? We walk straight in our own self-righteousness, but now we've
been transformed. Reborn. Turned from what we once
thought of ourselves, and now we walk differently. We walk by faith, not by sight. By faith in our
Lord and Savior. You know what faith means? Believe.
Whosoever believeth in Me, our Lord and Savior says, whosoever
believeth in Me shall be saved." That's what that means. Believe
in Him. Believe His Word. We walk by faith. We walk differently. Jacob walked with a limp, and
he was humbled by God. He walked with that limp from
that moment on. to be reminded of that wrestle
that he had with God, the wrestling with his sin, and the victory
that he had in his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. With a new
understanding of who the Savior is, a newness of mind of whom
it is that rules all things, Our God reveals Himself to this
man in the same way He reveals Himself to all of His elect. He reveals Himself in the face
of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ the Lord. All the fullness
of the Godhead dwelleth in Him bodily. As spiritual sons and
daughters of Jacob, we are not consumed for that very same reason,
because of Christ. We once acted like them, we once
walked like them, but God, God who is rich in mercy, aren't
you glad for mercy? I know what I was before my Savior
called me. I was lost in my sins. Because
of His love, because of His mercy, because of His grace, I am not
consumed. being born again with a new heart
that believes on the Lord Jesus according to His Word, all of
His Word. I am a sinner saved by grace,
not of works, lest I should boast." Folks, Christ Jesus came to this
world to save sinners. And His sheep shall hear His
voice. Do you hear the voice of God
speaking from His Word? Do you hear Him speaking to your
heart? Does your heart burn to listen
to the preaching of His gospel? Our Lord does not change. He
was doing the same thing with His people then as He's doing
right now. Calling them. Because He has
loved them. Out of the darkness that we once
walked in, to walk in His light. In truth and in spirit. Look at verse 13 of Luke chapter
24, and I'll bring this to a close. And behold, two of them, speaking
of His disciples, went that same day to the village called Emmaus,
which was from Jerusalem about three score furlongs. And they
talked together of all these things which had happened. Our
Lord had just gone to the cross, had died and was buried. And
they were, wow, I thought He was going to be our King. Man,
what happened? I thought He was going to be
our ruler forever. I thought He was going to be
our Lord. I thought He was going to save us from the rule of the Romans.
What in the world happened? And it came to pass that while
they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near and He
went with them. But their eyes were holden that
they should not know Him. And He said unto them, What manner
of communications are these that ye have one to another as ye
walk and are sad? They were broken down. What happened to this guy that
we were just following around all over the country? He's dead! He couldn't even save himself!
And as we saw in the last message, aren't you glad for that? Aren't
you glad that he couldn't save himself? That he had to go to
that cross? Because of going to that cross, you and I are
saved. What happened to that man? And one of them, whose name was
Cleopas, answered, said unto him, Art thou only a stranger
in Jerusalem? Everybody saw and everybody was
there. Everybody was over at Golgotha
on Calvary, at that mount. Didn't you hear what was going
on? Art thou a stranger in Jerusalem,
and hast not known the things which are come to pass there
in these days? And he, our Lord, said, What
things? He who knows all, ask them. What things? Tell me. Tell me what happened. And they said unto him, Concerning
Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet, mighty in the deed
and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests
and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and
have crucified him, But we trusted that it had been He which should
have redeemed Israel. And besides all this, today is
the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women
also of our company made us astonished, which were earlier at the sepulcher,
and when they found not His body, somebody came along and stole
Him. And they came saying that they had also seen a vision of
angels, which said that He was alive. And certain of them which
were with us went to the sepulcher and found it even so that the
women had said, but him they saw not. And then he, our Lord,
said unto them, O fools and slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses
and all the prophets, our Lord, folks, has not changed. The Gospel
message throughout time has always been the same. Salvation is of
the Lord and of the Lord alone. Adam taught his boys about the
sacrifice of Christ. How else could Abel have known
the only sacrifice God would accept is a slaughtered animal?
The blood of an animal. A picture of the blood of our
Lord and Savior, the spotless Lamb of God. The Gospel has not
changed. In the beginning of Moses, all
the prophets he expounded unto them, all the Scriptures, the
things concerning himself. And they drew nigh unto the village
whither they went, and he made as though he went have gone no
further. But they constrained him, saying,
Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.
And he went in and tarried with them. And it came to pass, as
he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and he blessed it,
and brake it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened,
and they knew him. And he vanished out of their
sight." And here's what I want to close with. And they said one to another,
did not our heart burn within us? While he talked with us by
the way and while he opened us to scriptures. Does your heart burn within you
when you hear these words? I change not. Therefore, Ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. I praise my Lord for loving me.
I love my Lord for loving me because He first loved me. I love my Lord because He didn't
leave John Reeves to himself, but called me unto Him, casting
out Cutting away that old stony heart that said, I will not have
this one rule over me, and giving me a heart that gets down on
my knee. And thanks Him for ruling over
me. And praises Him for ruling over me. What mercy, what grace our God
has for the people He has loved. Amen.