All right, brethren, if you will,
let's turn back to Genesis. Genesis 25. Brother Thomas couldn't be with
us. He's down on his back pretty
bad and has been. Hopefully, he goes back for some
more, another visit tomorrow. Hopefully, that'll get him walking.
I told him not to come out of bed all weekend. That sounds
real good for that first day. stir crazy after that. So remember
him as you can. Mike and Karen's made it fine
to Texas and should be going to the conference there in Louisville,
Arkansas where the Darwin Pruitt is pastor. And I know John Chapman
and Paul Mahan's scheduled to preach there. I think they've
got four other ones. Six people preach. And I hope
they'll be a blessing to that congregation and it'll be a blessing
for them. I'm thankful for that. I haven't
heard from Brother Mark and Gwen. If anybody gets word, shoot me
a text, let me know. I'll pray for them. Genesis 25 verse 19. And these
are the generations of Isaac. Genesis 25 verse 19. And these are the generations
of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham begat Isaac. And Isaac
was 40 years old. when he took Rebekah to wife,
the daughter of Bethul, the Syrian, of Padnaram, 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. He heard him. And Rebekah, his
wife, conceived. We don't know when Isaac began
praying for Rebekah. Likely, it was every day. From
the moment he saw her coming down off of her camel, when Eleazar
brought her to him, from that moment on, he said, that's her. And he prayed for her. The Lord
put life in her. The Lord put life in her. The
Lord put life in her. But they were married about 19
years before Rebekah conceived. Oh, to wait on the Lord. Oh, to wait on the Lord. I don't.
I'm impatient. I've said it before, I don't
like waiting at stop signs. Oh, if I could wait on Him. Consistently
pray for life and those I love for decades instead of expecting
something and being frustrated when it don't happen. I want some of you to live and
foolishly I get frustrated that you don't. It's God's time and
if He's so He's pleased to give you life. I hope He makes you
live. I wish I could wait on Him. What
a wonderful example. But a picture of Christ. Isaac
was in this portion entreating the Lord for his bride because
she was barren. She can't have life to herself. He gave life. Verse 22 says,
And the children struggled within her, And she said, if it be so,
if this is life, nobody ever seen twins before. Maybe this
is two demons fighting in her. Nobody ever seen twins before.
Maybe this is cancer that's growing so fast it's moving. No one knows.
You didn't have ultrasound. And there wasn't these brilliant
midwives that know everything about birth and children. Ain't been
that many children on earth. I'll come with a warning. She said,
if it be so, if it be so, if I have life in me, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the
Lord. I've been believing on God for
25 years. I'm His. I believe the truth. I say sometimes,
I say sometimes, most of the day, my experience
and the children of God that I speak with, most of the day,
I say if I have life in me, if I'm His preacher, if I'm His
child, If I'm one of God's elect, I don't see how I could because
there's just war going on. It's fighting and struggling
24-7. Why am I this way? If the Lord's put away my sin,
all I see is my sin. And she went and inquired of
the Lord because that's where you go. Because she knew Him.
And he answered. Isaac inquired of the Lord and
the Lord was entreated of him. Rebekah asked the Lord, why am
I thus? If I am, if I got life in me,
why am I thus? And he answered. Verse 23, the
Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner
of people shall be separated from thy bowels. The one people
shall be stronger than the other people, and the elder shall serve
the younger. Now she's going to remember that.
When God teaches His children, remember. If I teach, you'll
forget it. I pray God teaches. When He teaches,
you'll remember. She's going to remember that.
Can you set that down? I'm sorry. I hate to do that. Can you please
put the paper down? It's going to have to stop. Isaac, who all
of the Father's blessings were given to. Abraham gave all to
Him. All was given to the Son. He
patiently waited forty years for a bride. Forty years. You men, you think somewhere
in forty years you might want a bride? You would, wouldn't
you? He didn't gripe, he didn't complain,
he waited patiently for 40 years for his bride to be given. Patiently
expecting life to be put in Rebecca for 19 years. He's 59 years old,
this whole time waiting, praying the Lord and treating the Lord.
Our Lord waits patiently now for his bride to be gathered.
Do you know that? Right now our Lord waits patiently in treating
the Father for his bride that doesn't have life in her yet.
We read that in Hebrews 10. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God from henceforth expecting, from henceforth expecting, knowing
the Holy Spirit's going to call out his people. He's just waiting
patiently, expecting his bride to come till his enemies be made
his footstool, till this world's over. till this death is done,
till this sin is completely abolished, till that last one's called home.
He's just expecting. Oh, if I could expect. I have
high expectations most times. I ought to have high expectations
all the time. The Lord's going to do it. And if He don't, it
wasn't meant to be done. I should expect that not to happen.
He didn't do it. Verse 24 says, And when her days
to be delivered were fulfilled. Behold, there were twins in her
womb, and the first came out red." What's Adam's name? Red Earth? First one came out
red, all over like a hairy garment. They called his name Esau. What
this signifies, many of the writers have wrote about, he looked like
he's full grown when he come out. He looked like a grown man.
He's hairy all over. Shoulders are hairy and he's
red. and look like he just come in from the cold. He's a strapping
young fella, he's an athlete his whole life. Strong, hard
working man. When he come into this world
looking like a man. Hairy, full grown looking. Not
the size, but his body. What's that mean? We come into
this world speaking lies. Full grown in Adam, in our redness,
don't we? Nobody taught us how to lie.
Nobody taught us how to cheat. Nobody taught us how to take
somebody else's toys. Little babies, if they could hold a
knife, they'd cut your throat. That's who we are. We come forth into
this world full grown in sin. And that's the first one we come
in, this old man. And boy, it gets stronger by
the day, don't it? And after that, verse 26, came
his brother out, and his hand took hold of Esau's heel. And
his name was called Jacob. And Isaac was three score years
old when she buried him. He was 60 years old. And the
boys grew. And Esau was a cunning hunter. There's two men in Scriptures
that are called a hunter. It's important. Two men in Scriptures
are called a hunter. Nimrod and Esau. I know a bunch of hunters. I've
hunted quite a bit. Does that mean I'm bad? Oh, that
means I'm plenty bad, yes. But they're described as hunters.
That's what they're called. A man of the field. You know,
to be a hunter, you have to deceive. I thought that was the first
thing I thought. I wrote that down a couple weeks
ago. You have to deceive to be a hunter. You have to go out
and you have to hide, or you have to camouflage up or look
like you're another animal. You have to do something. Get
up in a tree, be real quiet, make sure whatever you're shooting
is real quiet. It takes a lot of effort, a lot of planning
to be that deceitful. We don't look at it that way,
do we? Most of the people here, the interpretation of hunter
is one that made it for sport. It wasn't just that Esau was
going out and had to get some venison because they had to eat.
He liked it. He liked the deception. He liked
killing. He liked taking a life. He enjoyed
the shedding of blood. But he was a hunter, man of the
field, and Jacob was plain. He was a plain man, well and
intense. That means a righteous man. He
was one of the Lord's. He dwelt in tents. This wasn't
his passion on this earth. This world was not his home.
He was traveling through just like Abraham. Wealthy, wealthy
man. Increased greatly by the Lord
temporarily. He lived in a tent. I wish I could live in a tent.
Haggai had something to say about that, didn't he? And Isaac loved
Esau. because he didn't eat of his
venison, but Rebecca loved Jacob. She loved Jacob. Why do you think
so? Because she believed God. And God said, The elder is going
to serve the younger. And she said, That's it. He's the younger.
That's God's man. He said so. That's who I'm clinging
to. She believed God. She entreated the Lord. Why was
she thus? Didn't she? She was a child of God. And God
said, That's my child. And she clove to him. Sheep are
a herd animal. They've got to be together. They
flock together, don't they? She loved Jacob. Why did Isaac
love Esau? I thought I said that Isaac was
a picture of Christ. Well, he was. But Isaac's just
a man, isn't he? Christ was the only perfect picture
of Christ. We need to learn that. Abraham's
been a picture of Christ throughout the Genesis. We've been looking
over and over and over again. And there's a whole lot of times
he's an antitype. He's a type of Christ and he's an antitype.
He's both. He's a man. But Isaac loved Esau. He loved the athlete. It was
the strong one. He carried the most firewood
and capable. He caught the fish first cast
and got the venison. First time he went out, he brought
meat home every day. I like that boy. He's probably kind and wise
and showed up on time, made his bed. He's a good boy. Isaac loved
him, but Rebecca, she loved Jacob. It says in verse 29, Jacob sawed
pottage. Bowl of beans, didn't he? And
Esau came in from the field and he was faint. And Esau said to
Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, that same red pottage, for I
am faint. Therefore was his name called Edom. Every time we come
in from this world, this field, we're faint. And Jacob said, Sell me this
day thy birthright. You hungry? Give me your birthright. You serve me. And Esau said,
Behold, I'm at the point to die, and what profit shall this birthright
do to me? He saw the death of this world.
That was a doctrinal fact, wasn't it? But he wanted the temporal
blessings of this world. We're all going to die. Sane
humans know that. We have an end. And he said,
You know what? I don't care about this birthright
stuff. I just want a bowl of beans. I'm hungry. I'm going
to die if I don't eat the beans. I need it. No, he didn't. Jacob said, verse 33, Swear to
me this day. And he swore to 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. Thank you. That was good. I'm
refreshed. I can walk plenty now. I'm going
to go my way. He went his way. To man, it seems right. The end's
destruction, isn't it? He went his way, colon, thus
Esau despised his birthright. The birthright is what God set
forth. It's important. We don't think
so, do we? We consider very little of a
birthright. The one that came forth from
the womb first, it's important. And we think so little of it.
And I wondered too. I was driving the other day and I thought,
man, you think 30, 35 years, you see a pillar leading Israel
by night through the desert. How long do you have to walk
behind that 40 years before you say, oh, that's the pillar. That's
miraculous. That's a sign of almighty God
in the heavens leading his people through this barren wasteland.
How many days would it take for me to get complacent? Like, oh
yeah, I see that. Isaac was a faithful man. Rebecca
was a faithful mother. Esau had been taught of his birthright
and what that meant. And he despised it. He despised
it. Turn over to Exodus 13. The Lord's mentioned it. I just
picked out a few verses and it's kind of hard to narrow them down,
but I want you to get the picture up and to see it. The Lord's
throughout the scriptures consistent on this and mentions it often. Exodus 13 verse 2. Sanctify unto me, set apart unto
me, return unto me. Like Hannah did Samuel. Sanctify unto me all the firstborn.
Whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both
of man and of beast, it is mine." Now who is the firstborn? It's
the Lord, isn't it? Exodus 22. A few pages there. Exodus 22, verse 29. The Lord said, "...of the children
of Israel and of the beasts of the fields, it's mine." Exodus
22 verse 29, Thou shalt not delay, you do it quickly, to offer the
first of thy ripe fruits and of thy liquors. The firstborn
of thy sons shalt thou give unto me. Likewise shalt thou do with
thine oxen and with thy sheep. Seven days it shall be with the
dame. On the eighth day thou shalt give it to me. It's going
to be mine. Is that literally the firstborns
that come out of the Lord's? and them alone. Well, we all
are His possession, aren't we? The children and men. Everything
the Lord owns. So yes and no. But He's no respecter of persons,
is He? Are my children going to be saved because one was born
first than the other one? Is that what it is? No, He's
not a respecter of persons. But the firstborn shall be His. because He's greatly honored
the firstborn. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
firstborn among many brethren, isn't He? And His sheep are united
with Him. Firstborn is important. It typifies
and shows Christ the firstborn. And not just Him, not just this
is fact and this is just a good story, that's His people. Turn
back to Exodus chapter 4. I thought of Nicodemus when the
Lord said, you must be born again. Well, in this body, the new life
that's in me, it's the first new life that's been in me. I'm
the first born, ain't I? And the Lord said unto Moses,
When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those
wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thy hand. But I
will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.
And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is
my son, my firstborn." Well, is he talking about Jacob? No, he's talking about Israel,
his people, that physical people that was there, the 2 million,
3 million, 4 million, however many people there was. He said,
you go tell Pharaoh, you see that whole mess of people? That's
my son, the girls and the boys and the men. That's my son, that's
my firstborn. Let him go. Pharaoh's gonna scratch
his head, but you say it. That's what he told Moses. And I say unto thee, let my son
go, verse 23, that he may serve me. And if they all refuse to
let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn. If the Lord don't put a new man
in us, his firstborn in us, that new creation, that holy Israel
that serves Him, that firstborn in this body that's the old man,
it's going to die. It's going to be cast into damnation forever.
A Hebrew writer told us, he said, to the general assembly in the
church of the firstborn, which are written in the heavens. So
after Revelations, we're called the firstborn. Christ is firstborn
and His church, His body is the firstborn because we're one with
Him. Who's the head of this church? Esau was physically the firstborn,
which is a picture of the... that firstborn is a picture of
the church. Well, if you got something, there's going to be
a head to it. Our Lord came, His mom and dad, but Mary brought
Him for the days of purification were over with her. And they
brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord. He opened the
womb. As it's written in the law of
the Lord, every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to
the Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to that which was said
in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves and two young
pigeons." This one that's required all throughout these laws, these
Mosaic laws. Christ was born first as the God-man. And when
He came into this earth, they went and offered sacrifices.
They returned Him to the Lord, took Him to the temple. In those
days, the purification was over. And He's the firstborn among
many brethren. That's what Paul told us in Romans 8. For whom
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren." And that firstborn is important because it receives
double. We read in Deuteronomy 21, "...he shall acknowledge
the Son of the hated of the firstborn by giving him a double portion
of all that he hath." For He is the beginning of His strength.
The right of the firstborn is His. Who's the right of the firstborn?
The one that was born first. Who has preeminence in all things?
Christ does. He's the firstborn among many
brethren. Those that are made one with
Him, that church, that spiritual Israel that He says is His firstborn,
well, because He's our head, He receives double, we receive
double. Do you know that? That's good
news. That's all good news. I'm laboring
this firstborn thing, but I'm telling you, there's good news
with this. If we're in Him, speak comfortably to Jerusalem and
cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned, and she has received of the Lord's hand double for
all her sins. Firstborn has to receive double.
You're the firstborn. If you're in Him, you're one
with Him. I'm backing our text here in
Genesis 25. Genesis 25 verse 32, And Esau
said, Behold, I am at the point to die, and what profit shall
this birthright do to me? What good is this going to do
me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day. And he did swear
unto him, and 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. and eating it and drinking it
and rising up and going his way. Thus, Esau despised his birthright. Well, this is just a dispute
between brothers, isn't it? I'd imagine somewhere in a Skiffington
household, one time, two brothers got into it. Once or twice, huh? I think in the Thacker household,
there might have been one or two scuffles or disagreements or words that
were said that weren't really meant. A word you might have
said you didn't know would be hurtful or wrong. That's just
the brothers disagreeing. They're just in there in the
kitchen talking, wasn't it? God says He despised His birthright. Well, it don't seem like He's
despised. Mankind, if they're not bowing to Christ's feet,
they're at war with Him. Well, now, they don't hate God.
Yes, they do. God says so. I did. I hated God when I was sitting
in a pew listening to the same gospel you were listening to.
I thought I was right. I had my doctrines all sorted
out. I argued them tooth and toenail
with anybody that school would let me. And God saved me. He saw what a glory thief I was,
and what a wretch, and I had no understanding. He revealed
Christ in me. Oh, what a day that was. Esau despised his birthright.
You know what that means? He despised the birthright of
promise, the birthright that's declared throughout the Word
of God. He despised that. He hated it. The birthright of
possession. God gave life to every man. They
don't like that. We do that. No, God gives life
to all people. God gives life to plants. You
ever tried to grow a tomato plant and it wouldn't grow and get
mad? God gives life. We despised the birthright. We
despised His way. The birthright, that was also
the spiritual blessing. The head of the house is who
the firstborn was. And before the Arianic priesthood
came about, before we had the Levitical law, the responsibility
of leading the house, the responsibility of spiritually leading the household,
it fell on the firstborn. That's who it was. When Isaac
died, it was all on his shoulders. And so you need to learn something
before you take over, son. You have to obey and pay attention,
take some notes. The Lord will have to teach you
some things before you can go running things. And he said, I don't care about
that. I hate it. Natural man hates what God establishes. Isn't that right? I thought about
in the home. We went through there in Ephesians
and Galatians. Paul gives us instructions. Wives, submit to
your own husbands as until you submit to the Lord. That's a
hard thing to do. Especially in this day and age,
that's a hard thing to do. But people harp on that, don't
they? Oh, yeah. Well, they forget half of it. Husbands, you lay
down your life for the bride. You give your life like Christ
gave His life for the church. That's hard. Nowadays, men want
a woman to work to support the household and a woman to govern
everything. That's hard, isn't it? And the church, that's in
the home. What about in the church? Paul
said, wives, submit to your own husbands. I've experienced this. God gave me a pastor. Me. I sat under him. I quit listening
to other ones, and I sat under him. And I was going to make
a decision one time, and I knew what he was going to say, and
I thought, I think that other one, it's a different area, different
culture kind of, they'd be supportive. If you want a yes, you'll find
one. You hear me? If you're looking for a yes,
you're going to find it. That's what you're going to do. You're
going to go in the scriptures and find some justification for whatever foolish thought
you have. You will find something that you might move some commas
around. You'll find a yes if you're looking for one. Paul
said, wives, submit to your own husbands. And he said, I'm not
talking about husbands and wives. I'm talking about Christ and
his church. Listen to the man God gave you. And those pastors,
me, I experienced that as a congregate. As a pastor, I got to lay down
my life for my bride. You that's been given to me,
lay down my wants, my desires, my feelings, and feed the sheep
that God gave me. He's put under my charge for
a little bit. That's hard. That's hard. It's hard for you
to just listen to me and do what I say. It's hard for me to lay
down my life for you. It's hard in the home, isn't
it? And the church throughout time, bow to the Lord. If I was preaching 2,000 years
ago, 6,000 years ago, or if I'm preaching 6,000 years from now,
or right now is today's day of salvation, you hear me. Bow to
the Lord. Trust Him in all things. Whatever's
happening is right. I'm sick as a dog right now.
Lord gave that. Thank you, Lord. That's good.
Amen. That's hard. Is it hard for you? It's hard for the Lord's people,
isn't it? Easy in planning, it's hard in
execution. Christ is our firstborn, our representative. He's the
rightful heir of the birthright. Come to Him. It's all been laid on His shoulders.
Just submit to Him. Surrender to Him. And everything's
going to be fine. He's not an evil firstborn, corrupt
firstborn like Esau and like that first Adam. This is the
second Adam. He's worthy. He's able. Bow to Him. He's the
firstborn. The Torah of Colossians chapter
1. This birthright means that they receive double.
The firstborn receives double. They receive the spiritual blessing,
they're in charge of that home. But it also represents redemption.
Redemption of sin. Esau and all of us, we're born
of Adam, we despise the sole redemption of the firstborn.
That if anybody's going to be redeemed, he's going to have
to do it. Nobody else. and being redeemed from death,
saved from the grave. He's going to have to do it.
He's going to have to go into it first. Christ was the Father's firstborn. He's
the God-Man. And He was the firstborn of Mary,
wasn't He? He broke the matrix. The Lord said in Numbers 18,
Everything that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring
unto the Lord, whether it's of men or beasts, shall be thine.
Nevertheless, the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem. Isn't that what we read this
morning in Psalm 26? The Lord redeemed me. The Lord
said, I shall, that firstborn shall be redeemed. And I was
attached to him. Here in Colossians 1 verse 14.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of every creature. For by him were all things created
that are in heaven that are in earth, visible, invisible, whether
they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by Him and for Him. He's the firstborn
and He is before all things and by Him all things consist. He is the head of the body. The
church that He's one with, Israel, His firstborn, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead. Well, He's the firstborn of every
creature. He's the firstborn among many brethren. But He's
the firstborn from the dead? Yes. Yes, He's risen. He's risen. His body has come
up out of the grave. All believers, to be absent from
this body is to be present with the Lord. Well, you're absent
from the body. You're going to die, and if He doesn't return,
Get your new body later. He's risen. Spirit and body. He's the firstborn from the dead. So what worries do I have to
have with that? I'll have questions, comments,
and concerns, I'm sure, as that day approaches. But the Lord's
done it. You that are close to dying,
the Lord's risen from the grave. He's risen from the dead. Don't
you worry about that. He's the firstborn. He'll take
care of it. That's your elder brother. that in all things He
might have the preeminence. Verse 19, For it pleased the
Father that in Him should all fullness dwell, and having made
peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all
things unto Himself, by Him I say whether they be things in earth
or things in heaven. And you that were sometimes alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, you that despised the
birthright, you that hated God, That's how you come into this
world, read like they saw full grown in line. You hated God. Now hath He reconciled. Now He's brought you back. And
the body of His flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. If you continue
in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the
hope of the gospel, which you've heard. and which was preached
to every creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made
a minister." All I've got to do is tell you what God said.
In a sense, I've got the easiest job on earth. Thus saith the
Lord. Esau despised his birthright.
He hated the way God set things up. He didn't want it that way. He'd rather have a bowl of lentils.
Mankind hates the way the Lord has established His salvation
through His Son. And I say, salvation is of the
Son. Come to Him. and those that say amen, that's
the way the Lord reconciled you to him. He did the work and you
say that's right. Let's thank him. Let's praise
him. Give the sacrifice of our lips.
Turn over to Exodus chapter 12. I'll bring it to a close. Exodus
12. What's going to happen in Proverbs, for those that was in Esau and
Jacob's time, what's going to come about through the scriptures,
it's going to show how important this birthright is, how important
this firstborn is. This is proclaimed in the killing
of the firstborn in Egypt. Exodus 12, verse 12. The Lord
said, I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and
will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man
and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt will I execute
judgment. I am the Lord, and the blood
shall be to you for a token." A token. It's just a picture. The Passover is a token. He said
that when his children ask him, why are you doing this? Sit down,
son, I'm going to tell you. Here's what the Lord did for
his people. Here's what the firstborn, our elder brother, Christ, the
one who receives everything, the faithful son, here's what
he received, here's what he did. This is a token. When I see the
blood, and the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses
where you are. And when I see the blood, I'll
pass over you and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy
you when I smite the land of Egypt. Lord's dealing only with
the head, with the firstborn. You get that? He deals with the
representative of the family, the spiritual representative
of the family. That's the only one he deals with. He deals with
the firstborn. If you were second born, or you
was third born, or you was tenth born, go out in the street and
play. It ain't going to bother you
one bit in the world. The Lord ain't dealing with you.
He's dealing with the head. He's dealing with the firstborn,
the rightful heir. And when he dealt with those,
he said, I see the blood, I'll pass over you. The Egyptians
that believed, if the Lord gave life to an Egyptian, you know
they could have went to one of them homes. and their firstborns would
have lived. The Lord saw the blood, not the
nationality. You get that? Boy, if we could get into that.
The Lord saw the payment, not what it paid for. You get that? Christ came with His eye set
on His bride. The Father saw the payment and
was satisfied. All the sins have been blotted out. The Lord don't
look on that. How quick am I to look down my
nose and judge somebody else? I can't believe they would do
such a thing. I would never. Oh, yes, I would. And who am
I to condemn someone that's got a job? He's made them holy. Just
love them and go on. It's hard to do. Just like all
those other things the Lord's established, it's hard. It's hard for this
old man to do. The Egyptians, if they did go
in, you know what they're called? Israel. But you weren't born
to twelve tribes. No, they're Israel now, ain't
they? They're by their womb with their head. the one that died
for them, the one that represented them. Back in our text here in
Genesis 27. Verse 34 says, Just like in Egypt
when the Lord came through and smite all the firstborn, boy,
that was weeping and gnashing of teeth, wasn't it? There'll come
a day, I pray it's in this lifetime, there'll come a day when men
will desire things the way God determined them. There'll come a day those outside
the boat don't want to get in the boat. There'll come a day
when reality sets in, and I pray for every man, woman, and child
on this earth, that he'll be in this lifetime, not the next.
There'll come a day when those knees will bow. Genesis 27 verse
34, And when Esau heard the words of his father, Jacob put on that coat to feel
like Esau. I've missed a whole lot of my
notes here, I'm sorry. Jacob put on that coat to receive the
blessing of his father from Isaac. And he pretended Isaac couldn't
see, he's blind. And Esau was supposed to get
it, but he's out working. Jacob come in, he felt him, and
he blessed Jacob. And he said, now that I'm blessed,
I can't undo it. Esau pleaded with his father, and he said,
no, whenever I'm blessed, that's it. Now Isaac was deceived. Our father's not deceived. We're robed in Christ's righteousness
and it's ours, given to us. We're made His righteousness.
And once He's blessed His people, there's no one doing it. You
get that? The blessed man we looked at there in the Psalms,
once He's blessed somebody, you don't feel like it. It don't
matter what you feel like. If He's pleased to bless you,
you're blessed. It can't be undone. But Esau pleads. And when Esau
heard the words of his father, verse 34, he cried with a great
and exceeding bitter cry and said unto his father, Bless me,
even me also, O my father. Lord, you bless me. Isaac said,
I can't. It's done. The work's finished. Our Hebrew writer told us of
Esau. He said, For you know how that
afterwards when he would have inherited the blessing, he was
rejected. For he found no place of repentance, though he sought
it carefully with tears." Boy, there was lots of waterworks
flowing out of them eyes. It was careful. It was intense.
He did an exceedingly bitter cry. But what was he looking
for? He wanted a temporal blessing.
You mean I ain't going to get twice the amount of land of him? He wanted a benefit. It was features
and benefits. That's common throughout man. Any person that's not just completely
insane doesn't want to go to hell. Do they? Everybody wants to go to heaven.
Everybody wants freed from the law. Well, I don't know about
all that. Yeah, get you a Porsche and you
want them to take all the speed limit signs down on I-5, won't
you? I don't want to get no tickets. Do you like getting tickets?
A fool wants to be freed from the law. A fool wants to go to
heaven. This fool Esau, he wanted the
double. Give me twice as much, please. You said he's going to
die and it didn't matter a little while ago, didn't you, Esau?
He cried bitterly, but he didn't want the person. He wanted the
benefits. Scripture says, seek him while
he may be found. Not seek heaven, not seek carnal
benefit, and not seek health and wealth and all that stuff.
Seek Christ while he may be found. Today is the day of salvation. I'm tickled to death. I've said
it to you a hundred times. I'm glad Fred did too. I thanked him for
it. Yesterday's mercy and grace and benefit ain't gonna do me
no good today. The Lord was gracious to me a long time ago. I need
grace today. I need to see His love for His
people today. I need to see the salvation accomplished
today. I need comfort in Him today. Today's the day of salvation.
And I may not live to tomorrow. Tomorrow ain't promised. Future
Kevin can worry about that. I'm only present Kevin right
now. I need mercy today. There'll come a time, just like
for Esau, there'll be gnashing of teeth. There was a time in
Noah's day They'll preach righteousness, get in the ark, and then the
Lord shut the ark up. But there's claw marks all over
the outside of that thing. Our Lord gave us a parable in Luke
13. He said, When once the master of the house has risen up and
has shut to the door, and ye began to stand without and knock
on the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. He said in that same
parable, We know you. We saw you in the street. We
saw you over here. We went to the right churches. We did everything. He shall answer and say unto
you, I know not whence ye are. I ought to be known of God. That's
what's important. I know the Lord now. The Lord
may take my mind from me. I know He's able. He may take
my mind that knows He's able. And I may not know my own name,
much less His, but it doesn't matter what I think, it matters
what He thinks. And if He knows me, what time I have the mind
He's given, it'll know Him too. It'll be hopscotch, just little
blips here and there, lots of valleys, few mountaintops, and
lots of waves and ups and downs, but I know him because he knew
me. And I love him because he first loved me. And I'll be in
him. This is the Lord's way. That's his design. He's the firstborn. All dealing's going to be by
him, or you're going to be left to your own. And there'll be
weeping and gnashing of teeth. The door's open. Bow to Christ,
our elder brother, the firstborn. He's the door. I'm the door. That's him. He's everything.
Bow to him and live. Live. That's my job. You know
that? I'm supposed to look at eternity
bound men and women. Look them dead in the eye. Just
like that prophet. Live. I can't make nothing live. I
can't make my own stand up and dance. I can probably do a little
bit of that. Give me some strings. God has breath in him. He's going
to do it. And as long as he sustains me,
I'm going to stand on my hind two legs. I'm going to scream live.
Look to our firstborn, our elder brother who we've been made one
with. He's worthy. Amen. All right. I was about
to go sit down. We got another song to sing,
don't we?