Alright, we just read our text
there in Genesis 27, but if you will, turn to Romans chapter
8. Romans chapter 8. My message is blessed or cursed. Blessed or cursed. I pray that we can one more time
today, The Lord will be pleased one more time to let us see how
a sinner can be made just before a holy God. I want to hear that
every day. You don't grow past that. That
don't become old hat if you're a sinner. That don't become old
hat. That doesn't get like, well,
we got that down pat now. If you know that there's a holy
God you're going to approach. He'll be with us today. I want
to see one more time, plainly, as plain as it can be shown,
how sinners made righteous, made holy before a holy God, and can
enter into His presence and be blessed by Him, be accepted of
Him. Throughout the Scriptures, there's
something we need to understand first. There are types of Christ
in the Old Testament. Many types, isn't there? the
lambs, the firstborns, the brazen serpent, the ark, the passover,
so many types of Christ. But there's also anti-types of
Christ, isn't there? When Adam fell, people say Adam
ate of the fruit. Well, that's the action. What'd
he do? He listened to his bride and
he blamed God for it. He submitted to his wife and
he blamed God for it. That's an anti-type. Christ is
Lord. Our King rules and reigns. Our
great husband does not bow to the submit and is usurped by
his bride. He rules and reigns. He's all-wise. He's all-knowing. He ought to.
We ain't got no business telling him what to do anyway. Natural
man has his flip-flops, don't we? Twist God's arm, make him
do what we want him to. No, you ain't. So in that way,
Adam's an anti-type. As the first, as the seminal
and federal head of his people, he is a type of Christ. So there's
types and anti-types sometimes in the same people. We're going to look at a type
of Christ briefly this morning. And in most of the Old Testament
Scriptures and most of your lives, you've seen this as an anti-type
of Christ. So let's put our learning caps
on. A friend of mine preached it. I don't make titles to get
hits on Sermon Audio and on YouTube. Boy, I sure could. Esau is a
type of Christ. Boy, he would get some people
ready to cut his tires out in the parking lot before he left
that day. It's so. He's a firstborn, wasn't he?
That's what we're going to look at today, a part of it. We don't
know what we don't know. We think we do. We think we know
so much. Christ told those Pharisees,
we read earlier this morning there in John 7, Christ had healed
the man at the Pool of Bethesda on a Sabbath. And he said, take
up, he made him whole, plumb whole. Inside, he talked about
circumcision of the heart. That was complete salvation.
Take up your bed, rise, take up your bed and walk. You serve
me now. You're going to follow me. And
that man said, yes sir. And he got up immediately. Took
up his bed out of that place, that house of ill repute, false
religion, and he walked. And those Pharisees got so mad. They said, what do you think
you're doing carrying a bed on a Sabbath day? And he said, you
know Moses gave you all circumcision. You can circumcise on the Sabbath,
can't you? Well, of course we can. That's right. That's holy. And he said, I just
made him plumb whole. Talk about that circumcision
of the heart is what he read English in black and white. That's
what he told Moses. This is the circumcision of the
heart, but on the outward side, just as a sign and a type, you're
going to have physical circumcision. And the Lord told those Pharisees,
I just made that man whole on the inside and out. And you're
going to accuse me? He said, you judge. Don't you
look at the outward appearance. You judge righteous judgment.
Do we know what that is? We'll stick our nose up in the
air so high we'd drown if it rains. Thinkin' we do, don't
we? What did James tell us? He said, you see then how that
by works man is justified and not by faith alone. Poor James.
Oh, people abuse him. That man, the Lord taught him
some things and he told it plainly and the Lord used it as a stumbling
block. But you talk about somebody that had a handle on what the
gospel was and how that affects the lives of men and women that
God saves, not people that think they're saved or people that
think others are saved. But when God saves somebody,
James said, just here's what happened. He said, you see then
how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only. Likewise
also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received
the messengers and had sent them out another way? For as the body
without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Oh, that sounds so wonderful, doesn't it? That was a lying
prostitute. Let that soak in. What righteous works, she said. She's lied. Y'all go out that
way. I don't know where they went. I think, I'm gonna close
the gates up. Y'all head down that way. I think
they went that way. She lied. Is that a righteous? Is that
righteous? Do you think it is? What's your first instinct? Don't
say it out loud. No, it ain't. Right's right and
wrong's wrong. That's true, but it's God's right
and God's wrong. What He does is right. He said
that was an act of faith. You gonna say something different
about it? You ain't disagreeing with me. You ain't disagreeing
with Rahab. You judge righteous judgment. Judge righteous judgment. God said Rahab's mine. Oh, she's
perfect. Because she's in Christ. She
serves His people. Was she out by herself just in
the woods alone talking to a squirrel? No, she was serving God's people.
The Lord said, that's faith. That's right there is perfect.
My good and faithful servant. Turn over to Romans chapter 8
verse 16. I tell you all so often we must
be drawn to the Lord. We must be made to see our sin. We must see God's holiness and
we must be made one with Christ. to be in God's presence. We must
be clothed in His righteousness. We must smell like Him. We must
be shut up to sin and ask of Him when we pray and respond
to Him only in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, only in His
name. It's not just something we tack
on at the end that we say. It's in Him, in His name. How do you want to be found?
People asked that a whole bunch when I was growing up. Where
do you want to be when Jesus comes? When the Lord returns, how do
you want to be found? What does your wicked old nature
think? I want to be found reading my
Bible. You hear me? I chose my words
carefully. You want to be found reading
your Bible when Christ comes? What did Paul say in verse 9? You
read from 8 to 10. I know exactly why you did that.
Paul said, I want to be found in Him. You'll be found out feeding the
homeless, feeding the poor in a soup kitchen? I want to be
found in Christ. I want to be in Him when He comes.
That's where we need to be. Look here, Romans 8, verse 16.
The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the
children of God, that we are in Him. And if children, then
heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If so be that
we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. Who
are these joint heirs? Joint heirs. Who is that? Look here in verse 28. And we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are be called according to His purpose. For whom He did
foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of His Son, that He, Christ, might be the firstborn among
many brothers. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. And whom he called, he also justified.
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 that spared not his own son,
which sums up the firstborn son. He that spared not his firstborn,
but delivered him up for us all, How shall you not with Him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. I don't
think that's right. How could God punish His own
Son? You gonna lay anything to the charge of it? God did it.
It pleased Him. He's the one that justified it.
That's righteous judgment. He justified it. I wouldn't talk
against Him. I wouldn't take sides against
the Lord. You wouldn't want to not come out with Him. How can
you and I be joint heirs with the firstborn? What's the history
of the firstborn? Throughout time, we've had a
whole lot of things change in this nation and other nations, but the firstborn
was declared of God. The Lord said, everything that
opens the womb is mine. Firstborn child, they received
double shares. They had the birthright. It was
their right and they received the blessing of the father. If
you have three children and you're going to leave your inheritance
to them, that one got half and these other two got a quarter.
They got a double portion, a double share. We're going to see that
in a minute. That's what the firstborn got. Someone has to
physically be born first, don't they? Boy, what a stumbling stone. I mean, what a bone for the armchair
theologian to chew on. Jacob and Esau, I don't give
you my opinion often, but that's the first set of twins. They
were twins. Who's the firstborn? Well, they
were born a day before everybody else. What if they were born
the same day? How confusing. The one physically came first,
didn't it? Jacob was holding on to his ankle. That's where
we get to planter, planter fasciata. He's a subplanter. Below, underfoot. He was holding on to him. Esau
was born first. That doesn't make them joint
heirs, does it? Twins. In the same belly. Warring in
Rebekah's womb. Together. Born at the same time. Conceived the same time. Doesn't
make them joint heirs, does it? One was a firstborn. One what?
It's Esau's birthright. He received the double portion
from his father. It was his right and he was blessed
by the Father. He blessed it upon him. Now how
can we be joint heirs with the firstborn? Christ is the firstborn. How can we be joint heirs with
Him? What's impossible with man is
possible with God, isn't it? If we are to be blessed, we must
be in the firstborn, made one with Him. Hebrews 1.6 says, and
again, He will bring, when He bringeth in the first begotten
into the world, He brought in the firstborn, Christ, He saith,
let all the angels of God worship Him. That firstborn is Christ.
So if we are going to be blessed of God, to be given eternal life,
a holy nature, and that cannot sin forevermore, holy forever, forever accepted by the God we
offended, the God we sinned against. We must be in Christ, our elder
brother, the firstborn. We must be made joint heirs with
Him. Paul wrote to us in Ephesians
1, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ. We must be in Him. We must be made one with the
first one. I labored that heavy. Now let's
turn to our text, Genesis 27. I'm sorry, turn to Romans 9 one
more time. Here's where I'm going to get at. Romans 9. You're in
Romans 8, turn to Romans 9. The Lord gave us this story to show
how we can be in Christ, how He reconciled sinners to Himself,
and how someone that sinned against the Holy God and Him alone were
able to approach Him in His presence. and to stay with him and receive
the blessing of the Lord forever. Every one of us have an end.
It's the day of the day. Individually. Ain't nobody gonna
be there with you. You care to hear how you can
come into the presence of a holy God? Romans 9 verse 10, And not only
this, but when Rebekah had also conceived by one, even our father
Isaac, for the children not yet being 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 a whole
gospel wrapped up in one sentence. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. Paul was quoting
Malachi 1, but I want us to see where this story came from. Let's
see the story. We read it this morning, but
let's look at the whole thing. Now we turn to Genesis 27. Genesis
27. Who was Jacob and who was Esau? Esau was born first. Esau was
a large man. If you would think, and that's
so common, outwardly we think, well, there's a child of God.
That must be. It squeaks a little bit every
time they smile. They're just so holy and outwardly and strong
and happy all the time. That must be a child of God.
That other one's weak and frail and sick. don't have no faith
or unbelief all the time, and they question, they don't know
much. That one couldn't be, couldn't be it. They ain't got no strength
to them. They ain't grown up. Esau was the firstborn. Big red-headed
fella. Hairy all over, strong, strapping,
funny, easy to get along with, hard-working, and his father
loved him. Back then, you had favorite children.
That was Isaac's favorite. I liked that one. Jacob come
out. Deceiver. You know in the 1700's
they didn't name children until they were like 2 or 3 years old
because of the infant mortality rate. They'd say this is our
visitor. And then once they was big enough, they'd name them.
Well, they would name them beforehand, but you got to know them a little
bit, so when they were given a name, it went with what they
were like in real life, you know. Jacob was subplanted. Deceiver.
Deceiver. Liar. Cheater. Stealer. And big
strong Esau. Strapping young man. Loyal. Hard-working. My favorite. That other one,
we feed him, but... That's Rebecca's son. You ever
said that? When the children do well, they're mine. If they
do something bad, I say, your child did this. Set the living
room on fire. Rebecca said, this is my son.
Because the Lord spoke to Rebecca. There was a war going on in her
belly. Boy, what a message. Preach about
two natures. There was a fight going on. It
wasn't like, ooh, they kicked a little bit. It was bad. Bad off. There was a war going on with
her, and the Lord sent a messenger to her and said, the elder is
going to serve the younger. Malachi clarified that for her
and said, I love Jacob. I hate Esau. That's strong words. That's the Lord's words. Take
it up with him. Hated Esau. What's even stronger and more
amazing to a sinner, he loved Jacob. Wasn't a firstborn. Wasn't strong. Wasn't strapping.
Lied all the time. Deceit. That's me and you. What a picture. In this particular
part of the lives of Jacob, Esau, Isaac, and Rebekah, we see how
sinners are saved. How we are blessed. And here's
the types. Here's the parts. I want to tell you ahead of time
before we look at them. I want to go through them kind of quick. Isaac represents
God the Father in this. We read this, Isaac the Father
represents God the Father. Rebekah is the Holy Ghost. That's
God the Holy Spirit that works in the hearts of His people,
that reveals Christ to them, convinces them of sin, and convinces
them of righteous judgment. Esau here is a brief type of
Christ. If you want to throw rocks at
me, wait till after the service. He's a type of Christ, just as Peter
was when the Lord said, who do men say that I am? Who do you
say that I am? Peter, as a very brief type of
Christ, answered for the group and said, you are the Christ.
You're the living God. Esau hears a picture of Christ.
And you know who Jacob is? Who's the liar? Who's the one
that don't know nothing, that can't carry a sack of potatoes,
and just ain't good for nothing? Mama's boy. That's me. If you're God's people,
that's you. That's us, isn't it? Here in
verse 1 through 4 we see the covenant of a blessing made. This is that eternal covenant
of grace before time. This is what this typifies. Look
here in verse 1, Genesis 27, verse 1. And 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 and said to him, My son,
haught one I love, my favorite one. And Esau answered and said,
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 into
the field and take me some venison. You go kill me a deer. And 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." Now if you read
on, Isaac lived a few more years. But he thought this was it. He
thought the Lord gave him dying grace, and he said, I love the
way you make backstrap. He said, you go shoot me a doe,
young doe, you don't want a big buck. Young tender dough. Look
hard for it. Go shoot me a dough. Come back
and you make that backstrap stew you make that I love so much.
And boy, I love you so much anyway. Oh, I favor you so much. I'm
so proud of you. We'll eat this together and then
I'm going to bless you. It's your birthright. He already
sold his birthright. That's anti-type. I'm going to
bless you. I'm going to bless you with a
double portion of the inheritance. He's going to be head of household.
Did you know that? You're going to run this place. You're the
firstborn. That's how it's going to happen. You're going to be
the spiritual leader of this family, Esau. You'll take over when I
die. You've been around longest. You've
heard the gospel more than anybody else has in this house. You're
going to have to run this place. Lead the family. Receive that
double portion. In verse 5-10 we see the Holy Ghost speaking
to the heart of the sinner. Verse 5, And Rebekah heard when
Isaac spake to Esau his son, and Esau went to the field to
hunt for venison and to bring it. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob
her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy
brother, saying, She heard this covenant. There's a picture of
the Holy Ghost. Did He come speaking of Himself?
I told you that a couple of weeks ago. People are so wrapped up
in the Holy Ghost. Is the Holy Ghost there? The Holy Ghost ain't here.
The Holy Ghost don't speak of Himself. If you're looking for
Him, you ain't looking for the Lord. You ain't expecting Him.
He comes speaking of another, didn't He? Speaking of that covenant
of grace that the Father and the Son made before time was
in Christ. Putting His people in Him. It says in verse 7, 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,
Jacob, you listen to me. Obey my voice according to that
which I command thee. Now go 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. I know just
how to make it. And thou shalt bring it to thy
father that he may eat and that he may bless thee before his
death. I have heard of this covenant
and here's what you're going to do, Jacob. Obey my voice You'll
get two kids go get two baby goats out of the flock and his
will do the cooking I'm gonna cook it Cuz I know how he loves
it. Rebecca's his wife. She's cooked
for me a long time. He preferred her cooking She know exactly
how I want it You go get the goats and I'm gonna take care
of everything here in verse 11 through 12. We see the Holy Ghost
conviction of sin and The Lord said, when he comes, he's going
to convict us of sin. That's going to be the first thing, isn't it? In the heart of the believer,
the heart of the sinner, and he's going to convict us of God's
righteousness, of His holiness. Look here in verse 11. And Jacob
said to Rebekah, his mother, after hearing this, Behold, he
saw my brother as a hairy man. I am smooth. I ain't nothing
like him. Inside or out. If you know who Christ is, the
first thing you're going to see is I ain't nothing like Him.
I don't feel like Him. I don't look like Him. I can't
do what He does. I ain't like Him. My Father peradventure
will feel me. And I shall seem to Him as a
deceiver. And I shall bring a curse upon
me and not a blessing. If I approach God, I'm convicted
of sin now. I'm convinced that God's holy.
That pretty well happens at the same time. No, because that's
the opposite of what I am. I ain't the same as Him. If I
go to God as me, I'm going to die. There's only two outcomes.
There's a curse or a blessing. If I go to God in my own skin,
in my own accord, it's going to be a curse. It won't be a
blessing. That's the fear of the Lord. That's the beginning
of wisdom right there. There's a physical fear, and
that fear transitions as the Lord grows us in grace to an
honoring fear. Oh, a respecting fear. It's different,
isn't it? First, there's a fear, a physical
fear of God. Verse 13, here's the conviction
of judgment and the command with the power and the faith to obey
it, that obedient faith. Genesis 27, 13, And his mother
said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son. Only obey my voice
and go fetch them me." I can't approach a holy God.
I'm nothing but a curse. And the Holy Spirit, that triune
God, comes to us through the preaching of the gospel and says,
your curse, thy curse, you earned it. It's all you are, is on me. Christ bore our sin. He bore
our curse. He was made cursed. Cursed is
anyone that hangs on a tree. For us, He bore it. It's upon
Him. And what do we do? Obey my voice
and go fetch them goats. You go do what I told you. The
Lord said, they hear my voice. My sheep hear my voice. And what
do they do? Follow Him. They obey Him. Rebekah, this
picture of the Holy Ghost speaks to them, the heart of Jacob,
and says, that curse is Lord take care of it. God of salvation
will take care of that curse that you've earned. Put it on
Christ. Now, you just obey the voice and you go fetch them goats
I told you to go get. Verse 14 through 17, here's that
obedience of faith and the work of another. Verse 14, and he
went and fetched and brought them out to his mother, and his
mother made savory meat such as the father loved. Who did
the cooking? Wasn't Jacob. And Rebecca took goodly raiment
of her eldest son, the best robe that Esau had, which was in her
house." Where was this robe at? It wasn't in Jacob's house. It
wasn't in his closet. This is the Lord's robe. Christ's
robe of righteousness. The Holy Spirit comes and robes
us in. "...and put them upon Jacob her younger son." Who was
in possession of that robe? She was. Who did the putting
on? Put on the armor of God. Somebody else got to do it for
you, don't they? Holy Ghost does. Holy Spirit comes to them. And
she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon His hands and
upon the smooth of His neck. She cooked the meal. She put
the robe, a garment of righteousness that was hers to give, not Jacob's,
on him. And then she put the skins of
two goats on him. She took the hides of him and
put them on his hands so he's fuzzy, hairy like his brother, and put
it on the back of his neck. I've sat on that a long time.
You take one small goat, a kid, that's why I call my children
children. You take one small goat, that'd cover my, I got
big hands, that'd cover my hands and my neck easy. Why was there
two? There's only one other place in scripture that two goats are
mentioned. That day of atonement. There
was one goat they laid their hands on and took it out. A scapegoat.
It removed the sin. How was that sin removed? Because
the other one was slain. the blood. We do it. There has to
be an atonement made. Without blood, there's no remission
of sin and a coat of righteousness must be put on. There must be
a cleansing and a holiness given. God open our eyes. This ain't
a story about a boy stealing a blessing. I saw children's
books entitled, Jacob Stealing a Blessing. That was a heading
in my Bible. I'm probably going to scratch it out. Jacob's Stolen Blessing. It's so foolish. It's how God saves sinners. He
gives you the heart of sin. It's going to be His blood, His
righteousness, His savoriness, His work, His hands. Verse 17, "...And she gave the
savory meat and the bread which she had prepared into the hand
of her son Jacob." Now it's His. Here's salvation given to Him. He possesses it. This is the
gospel by which he's going to tell somebody else, too. How'd
you get that blessing, Jacob? He's going to tell you all about
it. I don't think it's going to be on his lips. She gave him
that savory meat prepared and that bread of life. The Lord
said, He said, My body's meat, isn't it? I'm the bread of life.
That's who was given to Him, Christ. Coming to the Father
in the name and the merit of the firstborn is what we see
in these next two verses. Verse 18. And He came unto His Father
and said, My Father, and He said, Who art thou, My son? And Jacob
said unto his father, I am Esau, thy firstborn. I have done according
as thou bates me. Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat
of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. We need to judge
righteous judgment, don't we? What we see is evil. What we
see is not right. Right is right and wrong is wrong.
Jacob stole that. That ain't right. The Lord said,
this is how I save sinners. We need to obey the Word of the
Lord. He's already declared that the elder shall serve the younger
while they were in the womb, didn't He? Rebecca knew this.
That's why she sinned. But He uses men and He uses means
to accomplish His will. Here's a declaration of a sinner
saved by grace, verse 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. How do you
have a sacrifice acceptable to God? How do you have meat sufficient
to please the Father? Where did you get that at? You
saved? How did you do it? The Lord gave it. The Lord gave
it. That's the first thing that's
clear. I'm Esau, the Lord gave it. That's where it comes from. We're told to draw near, verse
21. 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. You come close. There's going
to be an inspection. Some scrutiny is going to take
place. Now how do you think Jacob approached Isaac? Put yourself
in them shoes. Your son coming to your father you've known your
whole life. You know how he is. And you're wearing two baby goats
on you, and your brother's robe, and your mom cooked the meal.
I wonder if she put enough salt in it. Oh, is there still some
blood dripping off these skins? This is fresh. Maybe I got his
coat on crooked. How do you approach Isaac? With
fear and trembling. With fear and trembling. He trusted the
word of his mother. We trust the Holy Spirit. And
he said, come bold into that throne of grace. But he came
with fear and trembling, with honor, with reverence, didn't
he? But what God commands, God provides. Look here in verse 22, 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.
What do you do with your hands? You work with them. Auto-hands
are the devil's workshop, ain't they? Jacob's was soft. My hands
got soft last year and a half. And I forget. I go out and work,
shovel some stuff. What's in red dots? It starts
getting hot. That had never happened before.
The work he came with was the work of the firstborn. That's
what that's showing us. And he said, but the voice is
Jacob's. As long as we live in this body
of death, our voice will always be our voice on it. Our sacrifice,
our savory meal, it's another's. Our garments, that's our elder
brother's. The skin, we got the skin of him. But with this body,
our voice will always be our own. Oh, that we would be shut
up to sin. That right? Come in the Lord's presence,
quit telling everybody everything we know, and hush and listen. You think
of Jacob. He said, your voice, you sound
like Jacob. Do you think Jacob wanted to
say another word? You ever been a teenager? Zip them lips. I don't want to talk. Each will
catch on. I don't want to say anything. I
just want the father to taste the meal, not me. I want him
to smell the garment, not me. I want him to feel the hair,
not my hair. Don't have me say anything. And
he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, and his
brother Esau's hands, so he blessed him. He discerned him not, that
means there was absolutely no difference between Esau and Jacob.
This is how the Lord brings us to approach Him. That's how He
draws us near, how the Holy Ghost equips us to be in His presence.
God the Father will see us, and there's zero difference between
the firstborn and the supplant. That's a miracle of salvation
right there, isn't it? That's the work of God. That's what's
required to receive an eternal blessing of God's salvation is
to be one with Christ, undiscernable, to be made like Him, exactly
like Him, His body, His sacrifice, and His garments. Are you sure you didn't add anything
to that? We try, that's our nature, isn't
it? Bring something. But I, oh man, I did this. I
was baptized. I taught a Sunday school class.
I fed the poor. We will come, sinners saved by
God, will come to God declaring nothing but Christ. Look here
in verse 24. And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? You my firstborn? And he said,
I am. Do you know what that, oh, the
great I am. He declared the cross, didn't he? I did some things in this life
my flesh is proud of. I don't want to let it go. The
Lord whittles that stuff away from us, don't I? You have to
let go. The Lord will shed of you everything
you've ever done. I supported some ministries on
this earth, significantly at times. Are you Esau or are you
Jacob? Are you blessed or are you cursed?
You will come to God saying, Christ is all. That's it. I'm trying to whittle
this down. A walk-out razor blade. You're
either in Him, made one with Him, a joint heir. It's impossible
with man. Made like Him. Or you ain't.
You're coming bringing something of your own. But Isaac discerned
him not. It says in verse 25, 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, 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. Come
kiss me with a holy kiss. David wrote, Blessed is the man
whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee that he
may dwell in thy courts. We will be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house, even thy holy temple. That's how Jacob
was blessed. The Lord caused him. He chose
him and caused him to come to the Father, fully equipping him
to do so. It says in verse 27, He came
near and kissed him. While Jacob come and kissed him,
Isaac smelled the smell of his raiment and blessed him and said,
See, the smell of my son is as of
the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed. You smell
just like him. You feel like him. You brought the meat that he
made, only he can provide. You're only Him, nothing else.
And you smell like Him. For we are unto God a sweet-smelling
savor of Christ. That's what we're made. Paul
told us in Ephesians 5, Walk in love as Christ also hath loved
us and hath given Himself for us an offering. He is that offering. And a sacrifice to God for a
sweet-smelling savor. What's that sweet smelling savor? What's it smell like? It says,
the smell of the field that the Lord hath blessed. Do you know
the Lord's got a garden? That's what it smells like. Solomon told us, thy lips, O
my spouse, drop as the honeycomb. Honey and milk are under thy
tongue, and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of
Lebanon. A garden enclosed is my sister,
my spouse, a spring shut up, and a fountain sealed. He goes
on and said, spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all
the trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, and all the chief
spices, a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and
streams from Lebanon. That's a garden the Lord blessed.
Who increases a garden? The Lord increases a garden.
He said, you're going to smell just like my son, a son I blessed. I've made. It says in verse 28,
therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, here's the blessing,
and the fatness of the earth and plenty of corn and wine.
You get the gospel from above. Preaching of Christ and the fatness
of the earth. All the good things. Everything
we have is good, isn't it? throw you back out. That's good.
That's the fatness of the earth. That's the Lord's providence,
isn't it? And the corn and wine, the sustaining bread of Christ,
the unleavened bread of Christ and His blood. That's a blessing. That beats a fancy car any day
of the week, don't it? That beats a big bank account.
Verse 29, let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee,
be Lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's son bow down
to thee. Cursed be everyone that curseth thee, and blessed be
he that blesseth thee. This is the temple of the Lord,
isn't it? And he said, touch not mine anointed.
His church, individually His people, parts of His body, and
His body as a whole, and His body as a whole throughout time.
to His body. The Lord said, bless everyone
that blesses thee and curse everyone that curses thee. Being made
whole, the Holy Spirit clothed us in the sacrifice of Christ
our Elder Brother in His blood, putting that robe of righteousness
on us, putting on the bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.
Made one with our atonement. Atonement means at-one-ment.
That's a good way to remember it. You are atoned now, made
one, having His smell, the smell of that precious things that
the Lord of Hosts blessed, that He declared good. We'll see that
on day three in Genesis this evening, Lord willing. Having
His name, Lord our righteousness. We don't declare our own name,
do we? We declare His name. We are one with our prophet,
priest, and king. Our cross to our kinsman redeemer.
And in this work of the Lord in and for His people that He
performs, we are made joint heirs with Christ. That's how it happens. We ain't got a whole lot to do
with that, do we? Our sin was removed by the blood
of Christ and we were made His righteousness. That's the double
cure. Be of sin the double cure. Save
from wrath and make me pure. That's what Isaiah was told,
wasn't it? In Isaiah 40. Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem.
Cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand, who gave it? His hand, double for all her
sin. As joint heirs, we are given
that birthright, and as joint heirs, we are given the blessing
of the Father. And not one bit of it was to
our works, our doing. As of our trial, you and God
save and his people. I hope that's a blessing to you. Let's pray
together.