The title of this could be Savory
Meat Let the Father Loveth. It says that four or five times. There's a reason for that. Or
it could be How a Sinner Can Approach a Holy God. Or it could
be How to Come to God and Be Sure to Be Blessed. Or it could
be And I like this one, the smell of the sun. The smell of the sun. Or the
hands of the sun. Accepted because of the hands
of the sun. I've just told you the gospel. Again, there's an actual or literal
story here, and then there's a gospel story within it. Today
I'm going to first look at the literal story, because everything
is written for our learning. This is a story of four sinful
people. Isaac, an old blind man. He's in a bad way. You know,
he lived for 40 years after the blind. He didn't have much understanding
of it. Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Esau, all of them sinning,
all of them deceiving, conniving, scheming, loving, preferring one over another,
just a bunch of sinners in it. This family is a bunch of sinners,
aren't they? Now, here's a wonderful lesson.
that where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Everything
everybody did here was a sin. But God brought through all of
this, His purpose was brought about. How can all this sin bring
about the purpose of God? You just watch and see. How can
anything good come out of all this? They've all sinned, a bunch
of sinners. And whoever was saved, this is
much as sure. Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, they're
saved by the sovereign mercy and discriminating, electing
grace of God. That's why they're saved. And
despite themselves. Isaac, as I said, sinner. He
loved venison. He loved deer meat. That's what
was on his mind. Before I die, I've got to have
some of that deer meat. Rebecca loved her youngest son
so much, she schemed and deceived her blind husband. What's wrong
with her? God already told her. And here's
the story. We don't have to take matters
in our hands. Like Sarah, like Rebecca. God told me this, and so I'm
going to... No, if you'd have just waited,
God would have done this without you sinning. The sin of man,
the wrath of man doesn't work the righteousness of God. She
did. Sinner that she was, Rebecca. And both of them were chastened
because of it. Think about this. God, whom he
loves, he chastens. And he loved Isaac. He loved
Isaac. We know that. Isaac was his chosen. He revealed himself to him. And
Isaac, after he meant to bless Esau, bless Jacob, says he trembled
exceedingly. He knew what he'd done. And the
Lord overruled his... He heard that Jacob was to be
the one, and he wasn't going to do it, because he loved his
son. And God had him do it. And he
trembled. Trembled. Rebecca loved Jacob
so much, but you know, and she went about these ways, scheming,
conniving. She never saw him again. Never saw him again. But the Lord had mercy on her
and him. Esau sold his birthright. He lied
down here, didn't he? He said, Jacob, he stole this
from him. No, he didn't, Esau. You sold
it to him. That's what God said. Let God
be true and every man a liar. No, you didn't. He didn't steal
it from you, Esau. You sold it. Remember that story?
Esau, the birthright. The birthright is the things
of God. The birthright is the rights
of the firstborn. The double portion. Not only
material, but spiritual. Especially spiritual blessings.
The favor of God. The spiritual leader. The blessings
of God. And Esau was a profane man, Hebrews
said. Profane man. Which means? That
the things, the sacred things, you treat them irreverently.
You don't care about them. God is your belly. He said, give
me some of that, whatever it is, that red, whatever that red
stuff is, you're cooking. I called him Edom. His God was
his belly. How many people are like that?
And God hated Esau. Why? Esau hated God. He said, I'd rather have a bowl
of beans. And how many people today would rather do anything
than sit for 30 minutes and give God the thanks? It doesn't amaze me that God
hates people as you. They hate Him. What is amazing? Here's the amazing grace of God
that God loved Jacob. Jacob have I loved, set my love
on him." Jacob, born of same parents. He came forth from the
womb speaking lies. In sin did his mother conceive
him. He's born not one bit better than Esau. But for the grace of God, he'd
have sold the birthright. But by the grace of God, he had
an interest in the birthright. He needed the birthright. He
wanted the birthright, the things of God, by the grace of God.
Amazing grace. Jacob have I loved, that's how
you know he's interested in the birthright. Jacob have I loved,
have I chosen, that's how you know. And everyone he loves, God loves,
and everyone he chose, he's going to save them. He's going to reveal
to them how they're saved. He's going to reveal to them,
every son of Jacob is going to be taught of God. They shall
all be taught of God, the Spirit of God. He's going to tell them
all how to come to a holy God who ought to kick you out, who
finds you out. who feels you, smells you, knows
you better than you know yourself. How are you going to come to
this holy, holy, holy God and get a blessing from Him when
all you deserve is a curse? How? Now, I'm going to tell you the
gospel. Now I'm going to tell you. See,
salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is by the sovereign
electing choice of God. Why do we always say this? Because
it's so. Jacob wouldn't have loved God
if God hadn't loved Jacob. Jacob wouldn't have loved a birthright
if God hadn't chosen Jacob. Jacob wouldn't want to come to
God if God hadn't said, come. Yes, by grace, you say. It's
all a gift. Salvation is by the sovereign
mercy and grace of God who makes us to differ from Esau. Salvation
is by the grace of God whereby God gives to his people the righteousness
of his Son and gives to his Son their punishment
and their hell and their death. substitution. Puts their sins
on Christ and puts His righteousness on them. That's salvation. If
you're saved, you know that. The Spirit of God told you that.
The Holy Spirit takes the things of Christ and shows them unto
His people. And that's what God does. Alright? Here's the Gospel. Here's
the story here. represents God the Father. And
as my pastor always said and taught us, no type can walk on
four legs. You cannot make any picture or
type perfectly represent God who is perfect. Man is imperfect. God is perfect. You can't make
it. That's why there's so many thousands of types. All right. But Isaac represents God the
Father. Isaac was an old man. Our God
is eternal. Esau represents Christ. Yes, Christ is all and in all. Not in character, oh no, oh no. But in God's purpose. Esau was
beloved of his father. He's the firstborn. He is the
heir. He's the one the father loves,
loves everything about him, his smell, everything he does. He loves his son. He represents Christ. Rebecca,
the wife who's one with the husband, the father, equal. Rebecca is
the Holy Spirit of God. Rebecca is the Holy Spirit of
God who hears this covenant between the Father and the Son, and takes
this younger that really has no part or lot and teaches it. How to come to the Father. That
the youngest sons got to look like, smell like, feel like. and have in his hands that savory
meat that the Father knew. All right. Verses 1 through 4.
It came to pass Isaac was old, his eyes were dim. He called
Esau, his eldest son, and said unto him, My son? He said, Behold,
here am I. Doesn't Proverbs 8 say, I was
ever with him in the beginning? Christ was with the Father. I
was daily his delight. loved of the Father, my beloved,
only begotten, well-beloved Son, in whom I well plead. Take delight."
He said, Here am I. He was always with the Father
with me. He said, Behold, now I am old,
and I know not the day of my death. Take, I pray thee, thy
weapons, thy quiver, and thy bow, and go out to the field,
and take me some venison. Make me savory meat. Kill an
animal and bring me that savory meat such as I love, and bring
it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless thee before
I die." The Lord God, God the Father
and God the Son entered into a covenant before the world began. Before this world was in existence,
God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit entered into
covenant with each other. And they purposed for Jesus Christ
to come to this field, planet Earth. To come to Earth and to
make Him savory meat. Do you notice how many times
He said that? Savory meat such as I love? What
is meat? What is meat? Flesh. Flesh. You know what God says
about flesh? You know what God says about
human flesh? Stinking. God says about human flesh, the
Lord looked down in Genesis 6 on the earth and says, Behold, all
flesh had corrupted his way. He looked down to see if there
were any. He said, They all together become stinking, rotten, sinful,
putrid from the sole of their feet to the top of their head.
No soundness in them, nothing but wounds and bruises and putrefying
sores. Flesh. That which is flesh to
God is flesh. But you know what? God was manifest
in the flesh. A body has to have preparedness. Flesh. And you know what? It was sweet smelling flesh. His cheeks, Solomon said, were
like a bed of spices. His eyes like dove's eyes, fitly
set in milk. His teeth, his smile, his face. In him is no sin. The smell of my son. Ah, altogether lovely, down to
the way he smells. You know what makes us corrupt?
You can brush your teeth. Let me just get real plain with
you. You can brush your teeth, and
about ten minutes later, go up and talk to yourself in the mirror.
Talk to yourself. And you're already starting to
stink again. Why? Why is that? You can take
a bath and just a few minutes later already start to get oily
and greasy and dirty. Why is that? Sin. In Christ was no sin. No corruption. He didn't smell
bad. He smelled wonderful. Everything
he did, everything he said, Every gesture on his face, every step
he took, every deed he did, his hands, grace poured from his
lips, good works, nothing but good works, nothing but good
works. Who shall enter into the holy
hill of God? He that hath clean hands. I ain't going to lift mine up. I'm way ahead of
myself now. But Jacob's going to be blessed because of his
brother's hands. Meat. Make me that savory meat.
Oh, my. The Holy Spirit of God was with
the Father and Son in this covenant. And He takes the things of Christ,
as our Lord said in John 14 and 16. He takes the things of Christ
and shows them to all of his elect. All of them, mind you.
They all know. They shall all be taught of God,
Christ said in John 6, 45. And every man that hath heard
and learned of the Father, of the Holy Spirit, comes to God
by name. Oh no, there's no, they all know
Christ is all. I'm going to be blessed by the
Father. This is what the Holy Spirit teaches all of them. If
I'm going to be blessed by God, if I'm going to be accepted by
God, it's going to be in thee. So Rebekah took these things.
Verse 6, Rebekah said, I heard your father tell the son to bring
me venison. And you know, listen to this,
you'll love this, in Lamentations 3, when Isaac told Esau, Take
your bow and your quiver and go out and kill an animal and
bring me that name. And Lamentations 3 is that chapter,
I am the man. Christ said, I'm the one that
the Father told this. Listen, he, Lamentations 3, 12,
he hath bent his bow and set me for the mark, and the arrow
God's justice, He hath caused the arrow of His quiver to enter
my veins. Our Lord came here and shot,
as it were, Himself. Or the Father did. He pleased
the Father to bruise Him. Isn't that amazing? Not only
amazing grace, but amazing. It's so clear. Oh, we know that,
don't we? Now no one took his life, he
laid it down. But Rebecca told Jacob this,
all of this, and said, son, verse 8, obey my voice according to
that which I command thee. Go to the flock, fetch me two
goats. A scapegoat, five goats, sacrifice. I'll make this savory
meat for thy father such as he loveth, and you'll bring it to
the father, and he will bless you. Isn't that what the Lord tells
us all? The Holy Spirit tells us all? He tells all of us. He takes the things of Christ
and tells us about the love of the Father for the Son, the holiness
of God and the holiness of the Son, and the eternal covenant
of God the Father with His Son, and the savory death of His Son. And the only way to approach
God is with this savory sacrifice that Christ made. Nothing you
do. It's not savory to Him. What Christ did is savory to
Him, and it's enough. God will see the travail of His
soul's Son, and He'll be satisfied, and He'll bless you. Yes? Will
you obey Me? Obey Me. Believe. And you'll be blessed. Is that
it? Yes. That's it. I'm going to do it
all. I'm going to do it all. And I'm
going to give it all to you. And all you've got to do is go
to the Father and say, here it is. Where'd you get it? The Lord gave it to me. And He'll bless you. But, but,
but, but, but. Look at Jacob. And this is something
all of God's people know. Verse 11, Jacob said to his mother,
Esau, my brother, is a hairy man. I'm a smooth man. Father's going to feel me. I'm
going to seem as a deceiver. He'll curse me. God's holy. Christ is holy. I'm sinful. He's
lovely. I'm unlovely. He's the firstborn. He deserves it. He's worthy.
I'm unworthy. I'm not worthy, Jacob said later
on. I'm not worthy of the least of
His mercies and His favor. He's the Father's favorite, and
well, he deserves it. But I'm Jacob. I'm a deceiver. I'm a sinner. God's going to see right through
me." And his mother said, verse 13,
"'Upon me be thy curse. My son, obey my voice. You do
what I say. And you'll be blessed. Is it true that if we just believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ we'll be saved? Is it true? In my hands no price
I bring, simply to the work of Christ I claim. Is it true that
we Don't plead anything but the blood of Jesus Christ, the righteousness
of truth. Is it true? Is it true that God
will accept the worst chief sinner on earth on behalf of what someone
else did for him, on behalf of what Jesus Christ did for them? Is that true? You better believe it's true.
You better believe. Don't come to him any other way,
but if you do. And all of God's people know
this, they know it, and yet they still tremble. You think Jacob was trembling
when he approached his father? He was shaking in his knees. He thought, he's still going
to find me out, in spite of what she said, in spite of all this
covering. I'm going to be cursed. No, you're
not, Jacob. No, you're not. No, you're not. God wrote this. God did this. Oh, my, upon me. Just believe. So she made, verse 14, he went
and fetched and brought them to his mother, and his mother
made the savory meat, such as the Father loved. Holy Spirit
takes the things of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the one that
applies this. The Holy Spirit is the one that
regenerates. The Holy Spirit is the one that
gives repentance. The Holy Spirit is the one that convinces us
of our sin. The Holy Spirit is the one that shows us the things
of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the one that gives a new heart
and a new creature. The Holy Spirit. And look at
verse 16. Verse 15, she took goodly raiment
of her eldest son Esau. Esau's clothes that were with
her. They were hers to bestow. And it says she put them on Jacob. She didn't offer them to Jacob.
Jacob, would you like to have these? She put them on him. She covered him. What about the
story of the prodigal? When the prodigal came home,
what did the father say? First time. What did he say?
Bring forth the best robe and put it on him. Cover him. What
did he have to do first? Strip him. Strip him. He had rags on him. He had pickles
on him. He's standing there naked. And he says, put that robe on
him. Kill the batty calves. Save her
indeed. Put that robe. So she put these
clothes of Esau on, which represent the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Oh, that work, that righteousness
that He wrought Himself. She put them on her youngest
son. And verse 16, put the skins, the covering, covered all his
flesh upon his hands that were defiled. On the smooth of his
neck, that neck that was stiff and hard and would bend. You
reckon old Jacob went to his father with his head held high?
No, no. He's trembling. And he's got
this burden on his neck. And he's got his head held down.
And his voice is soft. She gave that savory meat to
him that she had prepared into the hand of his son Jacob. Jacob
is standing there. He's passive. He's a receiver.
He's not doing anything. He's receiving. He's receiving. Not of flesh. No. Not of blood. Not of the will
of the man, the will of flesh. But born of God. Born of God. Man can receive nothing except
to be given it. All this we have received at
God's gracious hand. So He came, verse 18. I know
the heat's got you tired and sleepy. So Esau, Jacob King. How did he approach the Father? He doesn't have a right to be
there. He has no rights to be there. He knows he's a deceiver. He
knows Esau is the only one the Father loves. He's nothing like Esau. He wants
it missing. How is he approaching the Father? How do we approach God? This
reveals whether or not somebody knows God or not. How they approach
Him. How they approach God in worship. How they sing the psalm. What they think about themselves.
Whether or not they think they have a right to God's mercy and
God's love. Whether or not God should love
them or not. That's how you know if they're a son of Jacob or
a son of Esau. That's how you know. All the sons of Jacob know. We're here. If we're accepted,
it'll be in the blood then. If God accepts us, it'll be because
of Jesus Christ. 100% because of Jesus Christ. Rebecca did not tell Jacob. She did not say, please tell
him you're Jacob, tell him the truth, tell him you're Jacob,
but you're sincere. You really do want the blessing
and you don't want to get it by wrong means, but you really
are sincere and you're trying the best you can and you're sincere
and you No, no, no, no, no, no. Don't plead yourself. Don't plead
your sincerity. Don't plead anything. When you
go to the Father, don't even call your name. When He asks
you who you are, when you go to Him, your only hope is in
one name. Neither is there salvation in
any other, for there is only one name given under heaven among
men whereby we must be saved. Don't call anybody's name. Don't
plead your sincerity. Don't plead your works. Bring
in that savory meat that I prepared and gave it to you. And if you
do this, don't speak your name. Speak Esau's name. And so he did. The Father said,
He said, Who are you? He said, verse 19, I am Esau,
thy firstborn. I've done, according to salvation,
I've done what you require. Here's the venison. Here's the
savory meat. And that's how we come to God. By Christ. Did not our Lord say,
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me? Didn't he say,
all that cometh unto the Father by me? I don't know why this
guy said that. Didn't he say, if you ask anything
of the Father in my name? Didn't he? Yes, he did. Come that way. Yes. In spite
of who you are. Come that way. With all your
guilt, with all your sin. And if the Lord, if he asked
you like Isaac asked Jacob, how'd you get this? Where'd you get
this? This savory meat. Here's what
you say. Say it fast. The Lord did this. The Lord gave it to me. Where'd
you get this? You decide? Did you come up with
this? Did you go get it? Oh, no. The
Lord gave it to me. Want to be blessed? Isaac said
to Jacob, verse 21, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel
thee, whether or not you are my son or not." Oh, listen, listen
people, listen to them. Would you listen to them? Listen
to them. Listen to this. We have not a
high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmity,
or is in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let
us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we
may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Listen
to this. Listen to this. Hebrews 10. Now, where remission
of sins is, there's no more offering for sin. You don't need anything
else. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiness,
the holy place of God, by the blood of Jesus Christ, by a new
and living way wherein He hath consecrated for us within the
veil. That is to say, His flesh. Having a high priest over the
house of God. Let us draw near. with a full assurance of faith. Our hearts sprinkled from an
evil that is works conscious by the blood. Come near, my son. Come near. Holy God, come close. It used to be you couldn't even
get near Sinai. But since Christ ripped that
veil in two, the Holy of Holies, there was only one man, stand,
there was only one man that could go in the Holy of Holies. And
since he did that, ripped the veil in two. Now come one, come
all, right into the Holy of Holies. Come right up into the Holy of
Holies, right up into the presence of God, and look into the ark. God killed thousands of people
for touching it. He said, you come, put your hands
on the mercy seat, and I'm going to open it up and let you see
the holy things, because I've now made you a priest with me. Come near, my son, come near.
And he said in verse 20, and I'll close with this. He discerned
him not. Verse 22, his voice, he said,
the voice is the voice of Jacob. Whosoever shall call, you're
going to have to call. Christ said, My sheep hear My
voice. And you know what? He hears theirs too. They shall
cry, He said. Every one of them shall cry.
Cry. Whosoever shall call. If you
don't call, you won't be saved. But whosoever, though it's the
voice of Jacob, you know what God says? It's the voice of the sinner
at mercy. God says, I will, for Christ's
sake. Bring in Mephibosheth. Let's
just get your attention. Bring in Mephibosheth. He deserves
to die. He's one of the rebel king's
sons. Bring him in. Catch him. Bring
him in. He didn't come of his own free will. He's lame. Bring
him in. He brought him in and sat him
before him. He said, Mephibosheth. I'm going to show mercy unto
you for Jonathan's sake, for Christ's sake. Not only going
to spare your life, not only going to not kill you, like I'm
going to do to all your brothers, but David said, you're going
to sit at my table as one of the king's sons. Amazing grace. Amazing grace. He said, Come near. So he went near, and the father
ate the sweet, savory meat that his soul loves, and God accepted
the sacrifice of Christ. And verse 27, this is what it
says, He came near, and he kissed him, and he smelled the smell
He smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed old Jacob, that supplanter,
and said, See, or behold, it's the smell of my son. The smell
of my son. Listen to this. Thanks be unto
God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and maketh
manifest the savor of His knowledge, Christ's blessed person and work
by us in every place all over this morning, the smelliness
savor. Thanks be unto God. Now we are
unto God a sweet savor of Christ and them that are saved. Those that want the birthright,
those that love the Father, those that know why Christ came and
come in His name, that sacrifice of Him is sweet to them, too. Saviour. And those that preach
it are, too. Sweet Saviour. The smell of my Son. And He blessed Him. The Lord
gives you the dew of heaven. You know what the dew is? That's
the Word of God. The dew of heaven. The fatness
of the earth. Plenty of corn, and everything
is going to serve you. All things work together for
our good. And I'm going to curse everyone that curses you, and
bless everyone that blesses you. And down in, look at, you've
got to see this, verse 35. Or verse 34. Esau cried with a great,
exceeding bitter cry. Do you remember when our Lord
was hanging on the tree? Have you ever thought about this?
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Think about that in light of
this. That old sinner have I loved, but I'm going to have to pour
out my wrath on my own son. And our Lord on that cross cried
with a great cry, My God, My God. That's not forsaken me. He had to. If this Jacob is going
to be bad. Is this the word of God or what? And is that amazing grace or
what? And do you know what he said?
Does it get any better? Yes, it does. Listen to this.
The Father said, I have blessed him, verse 33,
I have taken that savory meat from his hands, and I have blessed
him, and yea, he shall be blessed. I cannot, I will not take him
back. Couldn't that be gracious? Isn't
that something? And Esau hated him. And Rebecca told him, your brother
is going to be after you for the rest of your life. You're
going to be hated. Why? For my name's sake. And it's true. Jacob just did
what his mother told him to do. What Esau didn't want. And oh
my, what recipients of divine grace we have been. And what
objects of great mercy and distinguishing grace we have been accepted. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings and heavenly things in Christ, according as he hath
chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having
predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the love." There it is. Okay. Brother Ron, if you'll
come, we'll sing a closing hymn. Two hundred twenty two hundred
fifty something. Two fifty two. Two hundred fifty
two.