to the book of Malachi. Malachi
chapter one. Malachi chapter one, and we'd
like to say a few things about the subject of the lines are
drawn. The lines are drawn. In Malachi
chapter one, verses two and three, it says, God saying, I have loved
you, saith the Lord. Yet you say, wherein hast thou
loved us? was not Esau Jacob's brother,
saith the Lord, yet I love Jacob. And I hated Esau, and laid his
mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
Since the fall of Adam, there have been two lines drawn among
humanity. We have Cain. We have Abel. We have Ishmael. We have Isaac. We have Esau, we have, excuse
me, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob. And if we get further
down the line, we find there's a left-hand thief and the right-hand
thief. We have the goats, we have the
sheep, we have works and law, and we have grace. Every person
in all the world that has ever lived has fallen under one of
those two lines. Every person is depending upon
either works for righteousness or Christ for righteousness. There is no middle ground on
this subject. We're either trusting Christ
or we're trusting Christ and some of our works or all of our
works. So the lines are drawn. They've been exposed through
the scriptures. And we see this great division
when we read these two verses here in the book of Malachi chapter
one about Jacob and about Esau. We must be reminded that with
God, nothing is arbitrary, though. And by arbitrary, that means
by chance, whim, or just an impulse. With God, nothing is arbitrary. We find with God, and we read
this so many times in the scriptures, that everything He does, He does
on purpose. Now, I was amazed when I started
reading the different verses of scripture in the Old Testament
as well as the New Testament, where that particular word is
used, purpose. We often go over to Romans 8,
28. All things work together for the good of them that love
God, And that's where Henry Mahan stopped until Roth Barnard said,
isn't there more to that verse? And Henry had to look in his
Bible and stood up again and says, and we know that all things work
together for the good of them that love God, those who are
the called according to his purpose. And Brother Rob Barnard told
Brother Henry Mahan, or Henry Mahan at the time, he said, once
you get a hold of the word purpose, it will change your life. And
when Henry saw the gospel, it changed his life. And it does
the same for us today. When we get a hold of God, doing
it on purpose. Now there's a really interesting
verse of scripture, and I'd like to read a number of places in
the Old Testament, as well as in the New Testament, that use
this word on purpose. And one of them is an illustration.
Boaz is a wonderful type of Christ, and Ruth is a wonderful type
of the church. Boaz is going to do something
on purpose. He is going to command his harvesters. Now, here in our area, it is
nothing to go out and see three or four or five combines working
in tandem, harvesting a field. Even one with a sickle bar of
30 feet can cut a lot of grain in a day. In the day that we're
reading about here in the book of Ruth, would you turn with
me back to the book of Ruth? In the book of Ruth, chapter
2, they're doing it by hand, a handsickle, and they're out
there by the hundreds harvesting the grain. And in Ruth, chapter
2, Boaz, a type of Christ, Ruth, a type of the church, Boaz gives
these instructions. to do something on purpose. Now,
it is nothing to drop something by accident. I have a terrible
time with my keys and I've just come to the conclusion it is
God's way of making me bend down and rise up. Exercise the knees. We do things, we call it an accident. Carpenter drops nails. And a
builder drops a board and a roofer drops shingles and all these
things go on we drop it But according to this passage of scripture
we find that Boaz is going to ask his harvesters to do something
on purpose that's found here in Ruth chapter 2 and verse 16
and Let fall also some of the hands full of purpose For her
and leave them Don't pick them up Do some on purpose. You know, you could see these
harvesters, these people working by hand. If they happen to miss
a couple of these heads of grain, they'd reach down and put them
back in their hands and put them in the bundle. But he says, you
drop it on purpose and you leave it there. Because I have a lady
that's going to go through that needs this grain, that she may
glean them and rebuke her not. And we find out she got a whole
lot more than most people would do gleaning because Boaz got
involved. Now this is a wonderful picture
of God doing a lot of things on purpose for the church. So
let us read a few verses here in the Old as well as the New
Testament. And the next place we'd like to go is in the book
of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes. I'm not sure that
if most people understood where that song that was popular during
the 70s, if they actually knew where that song came from, if
they'd ever listened to it. But it is a direct quotation
out of the book of Ecclesiastes. And here in Ecclesiastes chapter
3 and verse 1, we find that the Lord, through his writer, through
his secretary, that put this down for us to read. It says
in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse 1, To everything there
is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. There's a time for every purpose. God has a purpose for everything. He doesn't do things, and particularly
when we get to looking at Jacob and Esau, Jacob is not chosen
on a whim. He's not chosen as God looked
ahead and saw him going to turn out to be a pretty nice guy.
Someone who would finally do the right thing. He does not
do that. He does everything on purpose
and whenever he chose Jacob, the same time he chose everybody
else that would ever be saved, it was an old eternity. And God
is going to really stress the fact that it was not because
they had done any good or evil. It was before they were born.
It was an eternity past. It is up to His prerogative and
to His purpose that He does all of this. So it's not on a whim.
It is on purpose that He does this. Turn with me to the book
of Isaiah. And there's three or four in
the book of Isaiah. The first two are found in Isaiah chapter
14. Isaiah chapter 14 and verse 24 we have these wonderful verses
We just can take great solace in comfort in that God works
on purpose Isaiah chapter 14 and verse 24 the scriptures share
this the Lord of hosts has sworn That is he's made a promise He
has sworn saying surely as I have thought I Now God does not change his thought. He doesn't change his mind. And
as he thought, in eternity, I've just fallen in love with that
term that old preacher said, in old eternity, before the foundation
of the world, surely as I have thought, so shall it come to
pass. Nothing is left to chance. It's
not a whim of God that things are happening. And as I have
purpose, so shall it stand. So we get to looking at God's
sovereignty and God's choosing of people, people's names written
down in the Lamb's Book of Life. This is not on a whim that they're
gonna be good eventually. It is because he is God and he
has a purpose and he did this work on purpose. In that same
chapter, chapter 14, verse 27, for the Lord of hosts hath purposed,
and who shall disannul it? Not all of the false preachers
in the world can disannul it. All of them can say, I don't
believe it, I don't believe it, I don't believe it. It's not going to disannul
it. God has a purpose and shall not be disannulled, and his hand
is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? If God reaches
for one of his lost sheep, nobody can turn it back. And if he leaves
a goat alone, Nobody can do anything about it. It is God is doing
it on purpose in the book of Isaiah chapter 46 now Isaiah
46 and verse 11 we have this thought and this ravenous bird
in here people talk about that and you mix it up with eschatology
and everything else this ravenous bird is just a group of people
that God's going to use that make a make a country look like a skeleton
that's been picked clean. That's what it means. All right,
Isaiah 46 and verse 11. Thus, Isaiah 46 and verse 11,
calling the ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth
my counsel. Now a ravenous bird came down
and took Judah and Benjamin into Babylonian captivity and from
the east. And they executed my counsel
from a far country. Yea, I've spoken it. I will also
bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also
do it. So he purposed that Babylon come
down into Benjamin and Judah, the two tribes that were left
that settled around Jerusalem, and said, I have purposed that
these Babylonians come down here and carry these people over to
Babylon. And then we get to read in the
book of Malachi, they're coming back. And he purposed that too,
70 years later. In the book of Jeremiah, Follow
through. Next book after Isaiah, Jeremiah
chapter 4. God has purposed all things,
and he has purposed people, he has purposed countries, he's
purposed the salvation of his people, he has purposed where
they'll be, he's purposed their blood type, everything God does
is on purpose. Here in the book of Jeremiah
chapter four and verse 28, the word of God says, for this shall
the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black, because I have
spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither
will I turn back from it." When God spoke, He's not going to
change His mind. He's not going to be altered.
He'll not be connived into. He'll not be bartered out of.
That's why it's so foolish for us to try to barter with God. God is not in the business of
bartering with anybody. He is pleased that we pray, God's
people, to pray. And just to settle this issue
again, our most important and most valuable prayer is not out
there. Our most valuable prayer, our
most intimate prayer, is in our closet. And I have said a number
of times that sometimes my best closet is at the steering wheel.
It's not some place we crawl into and pull covers over the
top of us. It's a place where we, and we
could have a thousand people around us, but where we can be
and talk and speak with our God and close our prayer, nevertheless,
not my will be done, but thy will be done. If people who attend this church
don't come in here and pray silently during the service, beginning
to end, then we're missing a big point. I hope you're praying
for Brother Mike during Brother Mike's teaching. And we don't
have to have a loud outburst about it. And I pray that you're
praying for me when I'm speaking. And you're praying for this mic
when he leads the singing. And we pray for each other as
we close. So prayer is so valuable, but we're not going to change
God's mind, a wit. Not one wit. He has a purpose
and he's going to carry it out. Jeremiah chapter 51. Jeremiah chapter 51. This has
to do with Babylon. Babylon is used by the Lord to
carry the two tribes into captivity. Now read this with me after it's
done. Jeremiah chapter 51. That's why
we read about Cyrus and the Persians. This is exactly what God did
with Babylon using Cyrus and the Persians. In the book of
Jeremiah chapter 51 and verse 29, call together the, let me
get to 51, chapter 51 and verse 29. And the land shall tremble and
sorrow, for every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against
Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without
an inhabitant." We say, Will God use Babylon to carry the
two tribes into captivity and then he punished them for doing
it? Absolutely. Absolutely. He purposed that
they take those two tribes into captivity. And when the 70 years
were done, in fact, it appears that very night that that Belteshazzar
saw those writing on the wall, that very night the Babylonian
empire was finished. And he purposed that. Don't trifle
with my people. He did the same thing with Judas.
The Lord said it would be better that he was not born, but He's
going to do it on purpose. Excuse me. Turn with me to the
book of Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. We know this
verse. We just tried to quote it a few moments ago. You've
heard it. You've read it. But let's look
at it again. Romans chapter 8 verse 28. We
read here, for we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. They are called, why? Because
their names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. They are
called because God wrote their names in the Lamb's Book of Life.
It was not on a whim. He didn't look down through time
and say, Oh, oh, oh, Mike there, he's gonna be one of mine, he's
gonna turn out okay, I'll choose him. Nope. God chose people because
he knew they would not choose him. Nobody has ever been chosen
on foreseen faith. Everybody that has ever been
chosen by God, he did it because he saw foreseen unbelief. They
would not believe, so therefore he must get involved, and he
wrote their names down on the Lamb's Book of Life, and he was
not impressed on anything they would ever do, anything they
would ever say, any preaching they'd ever do in their entire
life. He did it simply because he is God. And for no other reason. In the book of Romans 9, verse
11, for the children being not yet born, neither having done
any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. Now God has a purpose in this
election, and he's going to make it stand. And it wasn't because
they had done any good or evil. It was before they were born.
You know, when we get to looking at them, they have the same family.
Abraham is related just as much to this boy Esau as he is to
this boy Jacob. The father of the faithful is
the grandfather of these. They're both related to Isaac. They're both related to Rebecca.
They both lay in the same womb. They're nurtured by the same
mama. And yet God says, there are two
nations wrestling in you. She's having a real tough time
handling what's going on. And even before they're born,
the animosity of one to the other is so demonstrated. Just as the
animosity of that first son ever born, Cain, against his brother. And his brother only did what
he believed and God taught him that. blood sacrifice only. And it wasn't because Lamb's
blood was good, it was a picture of the need of a substitute. And Abel demonstrated, I need
a substitute. I can't do it on my own, and
that's the truth. So, before they were even born,
God according to election might stand, not of works, but to him
that calleth. Now I want to jump ahead, there's
a couple more right here, but would you jump ahead with me
to the book of 2nd Timothy. 2nd Timothy, then we're going
to come back to the book of Romans, but in 2nd Timothy, chapter one,
This scripture is so much like the one we just read, only it's
dealing with you and I. It's dealing with folks today.
2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 9. Who hath saved us? And called us with a holy calling.
Now notice this. Not according to our works. That's the same thing God said
about Jacob. Not according to my works. Now I have visited. I've been
around five point tulips people. And they say they believe in God's
sovereignty and in God's purpose and yet feel, they give you the
impression that they deserve to be saved because they're so
good. They deserve this. They just
say with one side of their mouth, I believe God's sovereignty and
turn around and leave you the impression, I deserve to be saved. Well, not one person who has
really ever been saved will ever say, I deserve this. We know
what we do deserve. Absolutely, we know it. but by
grace, so it goes on here, it's not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. Boy, that verse, there's
some messages there, isn't there? We've been saved and called with
a holy calling, but not according to our works. God did not let
works enter into this one wit. Not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. So this wonderful passage
of scripture talks about God's purpose, but puts us in the right
position. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. All right, let's go up here to back to Romans chapter
9 and verse 17. Romans chapter 9 and verse 17.
This could be written about anybody in all the world that's ever
lived. This verse of scripture. But Pharaoh is the one that is
pointed to here. This is Pharaoh is pointed to.
Very prominent individual in Old Testament history. Very prominent
in Israeli history. Very prominent with Moses and
Aaron and 12 tribes. But it says right there in Romans
chapter nine and verse 17, for the scripture saith unto Pharaoh,
even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. You know he
could say Esau right there? Or Ishmael right there? Or Cain? Or Judas? For this purpose have I raised
thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name
might be declared throughout all the earth. My purpose, my
purpose. Having made known unto us the
mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he
hath purposed in himself." No counselor. When God purposed
something, there was no counselor around. He didn't have to take
advice from anyone. He didn't listen to the polls. He says, my purpose, my purpose. I'll carry it out to the end.
And there in Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 11. Ephesians
chapter 1 and verse 11. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse
11. We read these words. This whole
chapter, I like what Mike has to say about it when he gets
here. There's nowhere to start. You just need to start at the
beginning. And you need to read the whole chapter, but we're
not. We're going to read verse 11. And I've noticed recently,
he hasn't been reading the whole chapter either. We just have
to get in and pull out what we can. In whom also we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him,
that would be well if it was a capital H, of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. What a statement,
but that covers the whole passages, all the passages of scripture,
all the purpose of God are summed up in this verse of scripture.
Now in those two verses, in Malachi chapter one, verses two and three,
where it talks about, and Paul's gonna quote them, Would you go
back there and read with me Malachi chapter 1 verses 2 and 3. Those
two verses we have in one verse, verse 2, we have a verb that's
been translated love. Malachi chapter 1 verse 2, I
have loved you saith the Lord, yet you say wherein have I loved?
Hast thou loved us? Not Esau, Jacob's brother, saith
the Lord, yet I loved Jacob. And in the next verse, and I
hated Esau. It's amazing how many commentators
want to say, well, God really loved less Esau. There is no way that that word
can be translated that way. Here, no explanation is given as to the
reasons which determine the action of God. God doesn't have to give
an explanation. God does not have to give an
explanation. That's what he said. And he says,
I loved Jacob and I hated Esau. And Paul brings this over and
quotes it in the New Testament, the book of Romans. We read part
of that passage of scripture in the book of Romans. He brings
that up because there's people then that disagreed with God
just like they disagreed with God back here in the book of
Malachi. 400 years, 500 years before the book of Romans was
written, there are people disagreeing with this. People disagreeing
with God not giving an explanation of why he did something. That's
not fair. Well, it's not fair that God
should save anybody. It's grace. That's what it is. It's grace. Jacob and Esau were
brothers. They had the same father, the
same mother. Isaac and Rebekah. It just goes
down, down, down. There is no reason, there is
no reason, there is no reason that God would deal with anyone,
either one. What is said is in the heart
of God towards them, which shows that the love of God to his people
is free, sovereign, and distinguishing. That's what it proves. We don't influence God. We don't
influence people, make every effort, and I remember being
right in the middle of that, of trying to influence God with
my good works. Trying to influence Him with
my righteousness. Trying to keep the law. Making
my wife and kids wear dresses Why? It wasn't comfortable for
them. It was comfortable for me. It
was my righteousness I was trying to establish. And that same thing
just goes on and on and on today. People want to follow the law.
Why? So they can brag about it. Be Pharisees about it. I'm better
than you. So it's not going to work. God's not going to be caught
up in that. God proved his sovereignty and
distinction of the love of God in their election and salvation.
Considering Jacob, as he was given the temporal birthright
and blessings, is nothing compared to what God did for him before
the foundation of the world. He got Esau's blessing and birthright. And guess what? Esau went along
with it. He could have cared less. He
got upset afterwards, but he could have cared less for a mess
of pottage. He sold his birthright. It was
called primogeniture. The firstborn son got everything.
Guess what? He threw it away. He had no interest
in it. God choosing Jacob to everlasting
life is far superior to him getting the blessing or the birthright.
Bestowing his grace upon him is far superior to any of that,
and Jacob would agree with that. Revealing Christ to him, making
him partaker of eternal happiness, was far greater than any temporal
blessing that he got. He's just demonstrating some
of the spiritual blessings that God's going to give us. All elect,
redeemed, and called go by the name of Jacob or Israel in scripture. People get so confused in reading
the Old Testament and think they're going to reestablish Israel,
when most of the time it's talking about the Jacobs and the Israels,
which are the church. In the book of Genesis, chapter
25, this whole story is recorded there. Chapter 25, and I'd just
like to read a couple of verses. Genesis, chapter 25. This is
the struggle. This is Isaac. Isaac prayed that his wife would
have a baby. She's barren. Isaac didn't change God's mind,
it was in God's purpose to do it to begin with. But how it
is a blessing when God's people are inspired by God to pray for
what God is going to do. Genesis chapter 25 and verse
21. Genesis chapter 25 and verse
21. And when her days were to be
delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
And the first came out red. I want to back up to verse 23
first, I'm sorry. And the Lord said unto her, two
nations are in thy womb. And notice this next part, and
two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels. Two
manner of people, physically and spiritually. Everybody falls
under Esau or Jacob. Everybody is a Jacob or everybody
is an Esau. Everybody who is loved by God
before the foundation of the world or was hated by God from
the foundation of the world. And the one people shall be stronger
than the other and the elder shall serve the younger. And
guess what? That's still going on. I doubt very seriously if
the people who filled your car yesterday, tomorrow, or two weeks
ago, or a month from now, know the first thing about the gospel,
but God is using them. They are servants of Jacob's. They are still serving the younger. They are still serving Jacob's. People who have dairies. and sell milk, people who make
bread, people who make our automobiles, people who, people who, people
who. Most of them probably don't know the first thing about the
gospel, but they are servants of Jacob. They serve him. They are hewers of wood and drawers
of water. They're still serving the younger. And that will be the same way
it will be until the very end. They'll still be serving the
younger, pumping gas, making fishing lures, And her days were fulfilled,
and there were twins in a room, and the first came out red all
over like a hairy garment, and they called his name Esau. And
after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold of Esau's
heel, and his name was called Jacob. And Isaac was three square
years old when he was born, or 60 when she bare them. And the boys grew, and Esau was,
look at this description, was a cunning hunter, a man of the
field. And Jacob was a plain man dwelling
in tents. I think it was John Gill that
said, Esau, a man of the field, a man of the world, carnally
minded. But dwelling in tents, Jacob
describes a pilgrim, one who has here no continuing city. What a description that we have
there. There are many, I found, that
have been just like Esau's. believe in the sovereignty of
God. But I'm proud that I was able to accept Jesus. That's
not what happens. So we're going to stop here for
tonight and we'll pick this up. Lines are drawn. We're going
to look more at this and then we'll jump ahead into the New
Testament, what's said there. But we want to just reiterate,
God didn't have to give a reason for what he does. He didn't. He was able to tell
Israel, Jacob have I loved. And those rascals said, well,
when did you ever show love to us? And he said, Esau have I hated. Not love less, but I hated. And
in the very next verse over there in that passage in Malachi it
says, and everything was desolate for them.