I wanted to dive right into it. Genesis 27. We've been going through the
book of Genesis, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There are particular
chapters, though, that are particular blessings to me. There have been
some new ones that I had never considered quite like we've seen
them, and they've been a new and special blessing and revelation
to me. Chapter 22, Abraham taking Isaac
up on the mountain. I just couldn't wait to get to
that. Chapter 24 of Abraham sending
his servant down to get a bride for Isaac. I just was anxious
to get to that. And chapter 27 here, which I
preached in 1989 here, I couldn't wait to get to this.
Now, here we are. Here we are. The Lord said concerning
the Old Testament, He said, They are they which testify of me. I'd like to have heard Him preach
this. The story before us is a clear picture of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, a clear picture, as clear as it gets,
of how an old sinner is accepted with a holy and righteous God. Now, there was a man named Isaac.
You read the story. He was old. He was dying. He
had two sons named Jacob, or Esau was the oldest, and Jacob. Isaac the father is setting things
in order before he dies, and he's about to leave the business
of things with his oldest son, preparing to bless his oldest
son, Esau. And Isaac begins to talk to his
son, Esau, and tells him the order of things and how he will
receive the blessing by shooting some venison, preparing it just
right, and offering it up to his father, and then his father
will bless him. And Isaac's wife overheard this
conversation between the father and the son. And Isaac's wife
tells the youngest son. She tells him the story. Now,
there are four principal characters in our story. Isaac, who is going
to represent God the Father. who represents the Holy Spirit
of God. Esau, the oldest son, will represent
Christ. And then Jacob will represent
the sinner. Four principal characters. And we're going to see how the
youngest son is accepted in the oldest. And like Jacob in this
story, We may be seeking to be blessed or saved by God, blessed
by God, but we need to realize that the only one the Father
is going to bless, the only one with the rights to the blessing,
is the Oldest Son, the Oldest Son, the only begotten, well-beloved,
firstborn Son of God that Jesus Christ alone merits the blessing. deserve, has the right to, the
blessing. And somehow, if we're going to
get the blessing, somehow or another, we're going to have
to be, or appear to be, just like Jesus Christ. Or the Father's not going to
bless us. All right? And the only one who can prepare
us, the only one who can teach us this, the only one can teach
us how to approach the Holy God is the Holy Spirit, who heard
the conversation before the world began. And he tells us, he teaches
us how to come to God to get the blessing. All right, read
again with me the first five verses of Genesis 27. It came
to pass when Isaac was old, his eyes were dim. He could not see.
He called Esau, his eldest son, and said unto him, My son, and
he said unto him, 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." Two things that he took, and that immediately,
something new came to me when I was reading that Christ took
his weapons, whereby he was made that sacrifice
for us, his blood and his righteousness, his weapons to put away sin.
Go out in the field, Christ came to this earth, take me some venison,
become a bloody sacrifice, 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. And Rebekah heard. Rebekah was
eavesdropping. Rebecca heard Isaac speak to
Esau his son, and Esau went to the field to hunt for venison
and to bring it." Now, Jacob wants the blessing. Jacob, the
young boy, wants the blessing, but he doesn't know how to get
it. He doesn't know how. He knows his father well, and
his father is a man of God. And his father thinks and acts
in strict accordance with God's holy law, he's going to bless
the oldest son. He knows that. He knows his father
is going to bless the oldest son. Only. But Rebecca, the mother, she
instructs him. She knows a way. The only way. His only hope. How he can approach
his father and be accepted. So she instructs him, and she
prepares him, and she brings him. All right? Stay with me. Come on. Get a hold of yourself.
Now, this is to get a hold of you. I'm a sinner. I want to be saved. I'm seeking
God's favor, God's blessing, seeking salvation. Now, I know
this. God is just. God is righteous.
He will by no means clear the guilty. He won't do it. He acts
in strict accordance with his holy law. Only those who keep
his law perfectly in thought and word and deed will be accepted
by him. Surely Jesus Christ is the only
one who is going to get this blessing, not me. Surely he is
the only one who has ever done this. Surely the only man approved
of God will be approved by God, but the Holy Spirit of God says, the only way. I know the only
way. You see, the Holy Spirit was
there in the council halls of eternity before time began, and
heard the Father speak to the Son and tell him that he was
going to go down and become a sacrifice. And the Holy Spirit reveals that
to every sinner and instructs He knows the way, the only way
that a sinner can approach a holy God and be accepted to be saved,
and he instructs us, and he prepares us, and he tells us how God can
be just and justify an old sinner. Four things are needed, all right,
if you're taking notes. Four things are needed, all right? Look at verse 3 and 4. Four things. Now, Isaac says, 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, such as
I love, and bring it to me. I've got to have it before I
bless. I will not bless without this
bloody meat. I won't do it. I'm going to bless
somebody, but I ain't going to do it without the blood being
shed. Savory meat. Venison. Venison, as some of you hunters
know, deer, venison is about as red as red meat gets. It's
so red it's sticky, isn't it? It's red, wild meat. Red meat. At least all of us
might have said, well, Dad, how about a little, something a little
easier to get? You know, you've got some pigs
penned up. No. Go out into the field. and work and get that medicine. Hunt. Well, Dad, what about some
fried chicken? It won't do. Red meat. None of that white meat. Red meat. Well, I've got some
venison left over from last year. No. That's not savory. I've got to have something new
right this morning. Something fresh. Something fresh. Fresh venison. So venison here
represents, venison represents what God provides. Domestic meat
is what man provides, isn't it? Pigs, chickens, cows. No, venison's
out in the wild. That's what God provides. About
like old Cain and Abel, isn't it? Abel brought what God had
provided. And God the Father the holy,
just, and righteous Father who will by no means clear the guilty.
He tells the Son, like Isaac told Esau. He told the Son in
a covenant before the world began, without the shedding of blood
there's no remission of sin. It's the blood that's going to
make atonement for these souls. I have loved the people, loved
them freely, chosen them, given them to you. You're going to
have to die. Take your bow and your quiver. Take your righteousness. Take your blood. Shed it. Prepare
me that sacrifice. That's what we need, first thing.
We need a sacrifice. That savory meat that I love. Go prepare that I may bless these
people. That I may bless these people.
Well, surely God can just forgive without Christ having to die?
Without shedding blood, there's no remission. Well, surely God
will accept my repentance and just forgive me my sin? No. Blood's
got to be shed. Well, surely if I turn over a
new leaf and live right, he'll forget it all? No. Blood's got
to be shed. How about if I just blame on
Jesus and live good? No. I've got to have blood. That's it. Blood. So Rebecca tells this to Jacob,
and the Holy Spirit tells it to every sinner. Without blood,
you're not going to be blessed. Not your works, not anything
about you, only the blood of Christ shed for your sin. All right, read verses six through
eight now. And Rebecca spake unto her son,
unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard your father speaking
unto Esau your brother, saying, bring me venison, make me savory
meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my
death. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that
which I command thee." She heard what the father demanded, and
she told the son about it, told Jacob about it, and said, Now
you better listen to me. You better be a hearer, and you
better be a doer. Listen to my words and do my
words. Fetch two goats from the flock. Go down to the flock, verse 9.
Fetch me, fence, two goats, two good kids of the goats, and I,
not us, I will make them savory meat for thy father, such as
he loveth. I will prepare them for thy father. Did she do it? Did she do a good
job? Did she cook it just right? Verse
14. And he went and fetched and bought
them. And his mother, she made savory meat, just like his daddy
loved it. She did it. Even so, the Holy
Spirit speaks to us through this Word. The Holy Spirit, who was
with the Father and the Son in the beginning, he knows what
the Father demands. And the Holy Spirit, in mercy
and grace, the Holy Spirit comes through his word, the preaching
of his word, and he says, now, you believe me. Will you listen?
Believe this and be saved. Bow to God's Son. Look to the
Lamb of God. You must come to God with a chain
of blood. There's no other way. Now fetch
two kids. Fetch two kids from the flock
and come, and I'll make them acceptable to the Father. Two
kids. What do these two kids represent?
Huh? Two kids. Well, we must be justified,
and we must be sanctified. Right? And it's not our work. The Spirit of God justifies us.
By giving us faith, the Spirit of God sanctifies us. Sets us
apart. We must be justified. We must
be sanctified. We need wisdom. We've got to
know Christ. We need righteousness. We've got to be saved by Christ.
The Holy Spirit gives us that. to know him, righteousness to
be redeemed by him. We need sanctification and redemption.
We need his body and his blood. We need Christ's body and his
blood. We need all of these things which these two kids can represent,
so many other things. And by faith we come, we believe,
we lay hold on the person and the work, person, two kids, person
and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Holy Spirit applies
the blood to us and makes us acceptable in the Father's sight
to meet for the Master's use. So, you've got to have a sacrifice. Like Jacob, we have to have the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the blood that maketh atonement
for the soul. You've got to have it. Second
thing, you've got to have a covering. Look at verse 11 and 12. You've
got to have a covering. Verse 11 and 12, Jacob said to
Rebekah, his mother, Behold, mama, Esau, my brother, is a
hairy man, and I'm a smooth man. Oh, my daddy's dad's going to
feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver, and I'm going
to be cursed, not blessed. That's going to feel me. Esau's
hairy. I'm smooth. He's big. I'm little.
He's strong. I'm weak. That's going to feel
me and search me. He'll know assuredly it's me.
He'll know me. And he'll cast me out. He'll
curse me forever. Rebecca says in verse 13, Son,
upon me be thy curse. Just obey my voice and go fetch
me then. Have faith, Son. I'll bear the
blame. Just believe and trust and rely on me to do the job.
Verse 15 and 16. He went, and she made the savory
meat. Verse 15, Rebekah took goodly
raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house,
and put them upon Jacob her younger son. And she put the skins of
the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the sleuth of
his So she took this covering and
covered old Jacob so that Jacob would appear to be like Esau. And she did that. She made him
not only a sacrifice to take that his father loved, but she
made him feel like the Son. To feel like the Son. And even
so, for me to come to God, I must be like Jesus Christ. I must
be just like Jesus Christ. just like him. He won't accept
anything less than the perfect life of Jesus Christ. But I say,
but Christ is holy. I'm sinful. Esau's hairy. I'm smooth. Christ is holy. I'm
sinful. He's spotless. I'm a leper. He's
love. I'm unlovely. He's able. I'm
unable. He's life. I'm dead. And then
I say, in doubt and fear, if I come to God, surely he's going
to closely examine me. He's going to search me and try
me and see. He's going to see it's me. If
I come to this holy and righteous God, a sinner, he's going to
see me. He's going to curse me. Surely
my sins are going to find me out. And she says, no, the blood's
going to cover you. Trust me. But he'll find me out. No, he's going to have covering. Trust me on this. It's going
to be all right. Trust me. I'll bear the blame
if you're not covered. If your sins are found, if you're
found out and exposed, I'll take the blame." And so God's Holy Spirit takes
the righteousness of Christ He is perfect obedience to the law
and applies it to my account, imputes it to me, covers me.
He robes me with the Christ's righteousness. And you know,
Stan, I thought about when Christ said you need two things to be
content. Remember what Christ said you
need to be content? Having food and rain. Be content. You can only be content
in salvation if you have this food and this rain. If you have
this blood, you have this righteousness. If you have this savory sacrifice
and this blessed covering, you'll be at peace. Peace. And Jacob was not at peace until
he found out, hey, that covering covers, and that meat's good. He likes it. Daddy likes it. And I'm blessed. And this is
all over. Henry, he thought, I'm blessed
because of two things, and two things only. Well, because Mama
told me about it, and two things, because I had a good sacrifice
that Mama prepared, and I had a covering that Mama prepared. And every sinner who's saved,
in the end, he knows, he knows, there's only two reasons why
he's saved, the blood and the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
And if it wasn't for the Holy Spirit, I'd never know. I'd never
know. And skins on the hand says you
put skins on his hand. That's Christ works. That's Christ
works on my hand. Skins on his neck, what's that?
Skins on old Jacob's neck, what's that? Well, when the son came
in, he bowed down in submission and subjection to the father.
His father put his hand on his neck, on his head, as it were. And that's Christ's love and
submission that God makes man. And now I look and feel just
like Jesus Christ. There's something else you need.
Something else. Look at verse 4 again. He said,
Make me meat, but it's got to be savory meat, such as I love. And see, the Father knows the
difference between good meat and bad meat. He's eaten a lot
of meat. He knows the difference between
fresh meat and spoiled meat. He knows the difference between
venison and some weak substitute. He knows the difference between
red meat and turkey burgers. He knows the difference. The
smell is where it's at. It's got to be a sweet smell,
a sweet smelling savor. It's got to be perfect not only
to the looks, but it's got to smell perfect. about to so closely scrutinize
Jacob, so closely examine him, that he's going to smell him.
He's going to smell him. And he's
got a smell just like Esau. Oh, my. That's the reason Jacob
was trembling in his boots. Trembling. You see, Isaac was
partial to Esau. Isaac loved Esau. Oldest son. Esau was an outdoorsman. He liked
everything about him. Isaac loved everything about
Esau. Esau was an outdoorsman. Jacob was some skinny little
bookworm who sat inside. Isaac was a strong, courageous
hunter. Jacob, ah, mama's boy. Isaac
liked the way Esau did things. He liked his ways. Isaac liked
everything about Esau, even the way he smelled. That's you he
saw. It's me, Dad. Come on in. Got what I like? I've got it.
I always bring it. Just like you like it. So, God loves his oldest, only
begotten, well-beloved son. Loves everything about him. Me? Bah! Skinny little nothing. He loves his son, everything.
He loves everything about him. He's well pleased, the scripture
says, for his righteousness. He likes the way Christ lived.
He said, that's my boy from heaven. He loves the things of Christ.
He loves everything about him, even the way he smells. Is that
you, my son? Christ? Yes, it's me. That got what I want. I've always
pleased the heavenly Father. Come on in, son. Come on in. And we are altogether sinful,
stinking, the Scripture says, in God's sight. A foul smell
of sin to God from the soul of our feet. Have you ever smelled
putrefying flesh? Anybody smell the dead body?
There's no dead body on this planet that smells worse than
a human body decomposing. Not any animal. If you ever smelled
one, you know what I'm talking about. has the rottenness in
its bones and its flesh like humanity when it's dying. Why?
That's a picture of sin. And Isaiah 1 says, from the sole
of our feet to the top of our heads, there's no sound in the
center. Nothing but putrefying sores that should not have been
mollified or bound up. Open and running, so stinking.
And even our righteousness, as Isaiah 64, 6 says, are filthy,
stinking, rags, odious in God's sight. If we come before God
in and of ourselves, with anything we do, if he smells the slightest
odor, and he won't just smell some little, I smell something.
No, he'll smell it all. All of our rottenness. And if
he does, we're goners. But, wrapped in Christ's robe
of righteousness, his righteousness imputed to my soul, imparted
to my life. I'm a new creature in Christ,
and my life smells of Christ, a sweet-smelling Savior. Our
works hint of Christ's work, and we are unto God a sweet-smelling
Savior. And here's another thing you
need. Another thing you need. Not only do you need this sacrifice,
you need the covering, and it's got to be a sweet-smelling sacrifice.
A pure sacrifice, a perfect sacrifice, but it's got to be done in God's
time. In God's time, at the appointed
time. Not just any old time, at the
appointed time. Jacob couldn't just rush in and
just demand the blessing. He didn't deserve it. He couldn't
come too soon or too late, either. He'd have run in before the Spirit,
or before Rebecca taught him. He'd been too soon, he'd been
cursed. If he'd come in too late after Esau had risen up and gotten
the blessing, it's too late then, isn't it? He couldn't come at his own discretion.
He couldn't say, well, one of these days when I decide, I'll
come. No, today, this was the day of salvation, and the Holy
Spirit says, son, hurry, come on, quick, quick, while the sun's
gone. Quick. Hasten. Hurry. Get two kids. I'll cover you.
Get to the Father now. Quick. Father's son's gone. If he returns, too late. Christ is coming again. Now is
the day of salvation. Today is the day of salvation. Not tomorrow. Not when you get older. Not when
everything else is settled. Settle this first. Settle this
first. And he would have never known.
Oh, Esau would have, or Jacob would have never known that day,
that that day was a day of blessing, except for back at Revit. Would
he? Huh? He wouldn't have known.
He wouldn't have known. And we would never know. We would
have never known to come to Christ if the Spirit hadn't said that
today is the day of salvation. All right, let's look at this.
Hitch up your galluses, would you? Let's look at what happens
here. All right? Look at verse 18. And he came. He came unto the
spot. Here comes this sniveling little,
crooked little, miserable little, cheating little son of a little
sneaky snake named Jacob. That's what his brother Esau
said about him later on in this chapter. He says his name is
Jacob, and that's just what he is. He cheated me out of the
birthright, and now he's cheating me out of the blessing. Well,
here he comes to the Father. What right have you got? Mama
told me. Told me to come. He was worried. And he was shaking. And he comes. He comes. And look at what the daddy says,
verse 18. And he says, My father? Oh, what right have you got, this
miserable son? And the father says, Here am
I. Who is it? Coming into the father's
presence now. And he's got to be, to get the
blessing, he's got to be Esau. Who are you? What are you doing
here? What's your name? What name do
you come? To the Father. What's your name? What if you say, well it's me,
it's Jacob. What does he say? What does he
say? Jacob said unto his father, verse
19, I am your son, your firstborn, your altogether lovely only son,
your firstborn son, the one who has the right to the blessing,
the one who deserves it, the one who merited it. And I've
done according as you bade me, I am the obedient son. I've got to sacrifice I've got
to meet you as for, it's right here, bless me, I'm Esau." Isn't that great? Oh my, when
I come to the Lord Jesus Christ, you know what I've got to say?
When I come to the Holy Father, you know what I've got to say?
When he demands of me, who are you? What are you doing here? What right have you got to be
here? They asked that old John Jesper one day, what rights have
you got to go into the presence of a thrice-holy God. What right?
He said, I got no rights at all. I'm here on somebody else's rights.
What's your name? Well, I'm dead, Joe. All men
are dead. What's your name? Jesus Christ. I come in the name of Jesus Christ. I have got to sacrifice. I've
got the blood, made propitiation for myself, covered in the blood.
In the name of Christ, through the blood of Christ, bless me,
my Father. Bless me. Verse 20, Isaac said
of his son, Well, how'd you get it so quickly, my son? How'd
you go about getting this meat? How'd you get it? Where'd you
get it, what I like? Where'd you get it? He said,
The Lord brought it to me. And when we come to the Holy
Father, he says, How'd you get here? Huh? How'd you get here? Where'd you get this salvation?
What's your hope of salvation? What are you doing here? How'd
you get here? The Lord. Salvation's of the Lord. The
Lord Jesus Christ brought me here. That's how. He brought
me here. What he did. What he did. I want to feel you. I want to
feel you. I want to make sure now that
you're my very Son Esau. I want to feel you. Come here."
And Hebrews 10, I believe, it says, we can come. We can come
boldly. Or we come fearing, I think it's
Hebrews 4, and we come fearing. We come trembling. But it says
we have access. Yes, Hebrews 4. It says that
we can come boldly to the throne of the Holy Father. Yeah, he's
going to feel of us. He's going to see whether or
not we are really trusting in Christ and Christ alone. Look
at verse 22 and verse 23, And Jacob went near unto his father,
and he felt him, and said, So the voice is Jacob's voice. But
the hands, the works, that's Esau. That's Esau. You know, I'm crying
unto God. It's me. I'm crying. God, be
merciful to me, the sinner. Why should he? Well, the works,
I do. Christ said, they bear witness
in me. The works, the works are the works of Christ. And he says
in verse twenty-three, he said, and it says that Isaac discerned
him not. because his hands were hairy
as his brother Esau's hands. So he blessed him. He wasn't
found out. His sins didn't find him out. He was covered. He was covered. And the Father says, well, if
he feels like Esau, must be Esau. And he blessed him. And we come
to Christ, we come to God the Father, and the Father says,
He's got Christ's works on him, he's got Christ's blood covering
him, and he finds no sin on us? He must be my son. Come on now. But wait a minute. Verse 24, he's asking me, no,
no, no, no. Who are you? What are you doing here? What
do you trust in? What's your name again? Esau,
Esau, Esau, Esau! That's what Jacob was saying.
Who are you? Esau. You're not Jacob. No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm Esau. What's your hope? Esau. What is it now you're trusting,
sir? Huh? Christ. Christ. What? You are? No, no, no, no, no. Christ. Christ. Everything. He's all, all, all,
all, you know. Everything, nothing else. All. OK. So make sure. Want to make sure. Want to make
sure. So bring that sacrifice, verse
25. Bring it near, and I'll eat it. I'll eat my son's venison, that
my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near him, and
he did eat. He did eat. He brought him wine,
something to drink, and he drank. And his father Isaac said, I'm
full, I'm satisfied. Come nearer, even nearer, nearer.
Come nearer, all the way up beside me, son. Come right here, let
me put my arm around you. I'm going to kiss you. You kiss
me. Let's kiss. That close, Dad? When you saw us, yes, yes. God the Holy Father says, come
near, sinner. Near? Yes, near, right here. Right here, near. Come on up
to the very presence of God. Come on up. How? How? You're
in Christ, aren't you? You trust in Christ? Yes, yes,
yes, yes. Come on, come on, come on. Now, kiss me. Now, right here. Kiss me there. He's too high. He's too low.
You kiss the feet. Kissed the feet, kissed the son,
lest he be angry. And he kissed him. Look at it. He came near, so near, verse
27, near enough to kiss him. And he kissed him. And Isaac smelled his raiment. That smells
good. Oh, he said, that smells good. And he said, See, I knew it,
I knew it, my son. The smell of my son is the smell
of the field which your Lord hath blessed. And he blessed
me. Oh, my. Oh, my. And we come, sinners though we
be, and God, we come near. Come near, we kiss him. Got to
come with a kiss from the heart. Genuine affection for the Son.
We kiss the feet, though, in humility. Christ asked Peter,
Peter, do you love me? He didn't ask him what he believed.
He asked him, do you love me? He asked him before, Stan, what
he believed, didn't he? Who do you say that I am? And
he said, you're the Christ. And later on, he said, now, do
you love me? Kiss me. Oh, Lord, you know I love you.
You know I love you." And he came and he kissed him. And we come to God, and God the
Father smells the sweet smell of Christ's righteousness covering
us, smells that savory meat, that sacrifice of Christ which
he loves so dearly. And we appear before the Holy
God as unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. And he blesses
us. We are made accepted in the Beloved,
in the Beloved. And he calls us sons. Behold,
that we should be called the sons of God. Why? Why? Why should we be called? Well,
because I know Esau, Esau, Esau. And Paul said, I want to be found
in Christ. Now, see if this verse of Scripture
doesn't mean more to you now, after hearing that. I want to
be found in Christ, not having my own righteousness, which is
of the law, but that righteousness which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God, the Holy Spirit, by
faith. which he, which the Holy Spirit,
convinced me. You can't get there any other
way. You can't get there any other way. Come, come, and the
Father will bless you. All right. Hope is one. There
was one. I was blessed. I was blessed. Brother Joe, you got a hymn picked
out? What number? 208. 208. Sing the
first and the last then. Are you washed in the blood? Are you in the blood of a man?
Are you in the blood of a man? in the blood of the lamb. Are you garments by the time
they dry as snow? Are you washed in the blood of
the lamb? Lay aside the garments that our
faith is seen, and be washed in the blood of the lamb.