Bless, thank you for that song.
Wonderful song, wonderful savior. One verse said, let's go to a
world that is dying and tell them of his wonderful grace.
They're looking for satisfaction in everything in this world.
And it's just gonna leave him empty, full of despair. But when you can see him with
the eye of faith, nothing else doesn't matter. Nothing else
doesn't matter. Open your Bible to Romans chapter
nine. Romans chapter nine. We're reading verses one through
13. Paul said, I say the truth in
Christ, I lie not. My conscience also bearing me
witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual
sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself
were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according
to the flesh. who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth
the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving
of the law, and the service of God, and the promises, whose
are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ
came, who is overall God-blessed forever, amen. Not as though
the word of God hath taken none effect, for they are not all
Israel, which are of Israel, Neither because they are the
seed of Abraham are they all the children. But in Isaac shall
thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh. Now notice that. They which are
the children of the flesh. These are not the children of
God. But the children of the promise
are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise.
At this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this, but when Rebecca
also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, for the
children being not yet 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." That's the title of
the message. The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Here in these verses, our Lord
sets forth in such clear terms his sovereign electing grace. And he illustrates it in these
two boys, Jacob and Esau. We see it many times in the scriptures,
Jacob and Esau. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. The one was born first, the younger
Jacob. He represents that new nature
which is born of God. Jacob and Esau were twins, but
they were totally opposites. They were twins, but they were
totally opposites. One was chosen. One was rejected,
one was loved, and one was hated. As soon as Rebekah conceived,
in Genesis 25, this struggle between these two boys began. This struggle. Listen, in Genesis
25, verse 21, if you wanna turn there, And Isaac entreated the
Lord for his wife because she was barren. And the Lord was
entreated of him, and Rebekah, his wife, conceived. And the
children struggled together within her. Can you imagine what's going
on in her mind? This struggle begins. And she
said, if it be so, why am I this way? And she went to inquire of the
Lord. I can see her, this drove her
to him. Why am I this way? He told her
now, he said, before they were ever born, the elder's gonna
serve the younger. And she went to inquire the Lord, and the
Lord said unto her, he give her an answer. There are two nations
in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from
thy bowels. And the one people shall be stronger
than the other. And the elder shall serve the
younger. And when her days would be delivered,
were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. And the
first came out red all over like a hairy garment. And they called
his name Esau. Who determined which one would
be born first? God did. He's born first. And after him came out his brother,
and after that came his brother out, and his hand, Jacob's hand,
took hold of Esau's heel. I think, and I don't understand
all this, but I think something that he knew that he needed and
he was grasping the birthright. And he took hold of Esau's heel. And so his name was called Jacob. and Isaac was three score years
old when she bare them, the elder and the younger. Esau was the
oldest because he was born first. What that pictures and sets forth,
who was born first? Your old, depraved, sinful nature. That's what you inherited from
your parents. You was born first. You come
into this world a sinner. David said, in sin did my mother
conceive me. He's been around a long time.
And that which, all through this book, that which is born first
is always rejected. Remember Cain and Abel? Cain
brought the works of his hands. Abel brought a sacrifice, a blood
sacrifice. God rejected Cain and he received
Abel. And Cain couldn't stand it because
Cain thought he should be accepted based upon his works. That which
is born of the flesh. Now listen to me, that which
is born of the flesh is flesh, and it will never be anything
else but flesh. It's not improving flesh, it's
not getting better flesh, it is flesh. Flesh. Religion tells you your flesh
is getting better. If you'll just do certain things,
then you can be holier. I picked up a little tract the
other day, it's a so-called tract, I don't even know if I'd call
it that. And I can't remember who it was written by, and it
was When Salt Becomes Unsavory. And as I began to read it, all
he was talking about was is if you could keep the law, and the
law is our rule of life, well then you won't lose your savor. This legalism and, oh, you know
what that is? That's nothing but flesh. Nothing
but flesh. You think about this. When Samuel
goes to Jesse's house to anoint a king, that first boy walks
in, Samuel says, this must be the one God's chose. and they march him, then the
other one, and they march all seven of them through. They don't
even invite David. And he says, it's none of these.
And he says to Jesse, is there not any more sons? Well, yeah,
there's David. Which one did God choose? He
passed over all the others. You know what that is? That which
is born of the flesh is flesh. But this one is a man after God's
own heart. And the only difference, he's
a man after God's own heart. That's God's grace. That's the
new birth. Flesh will never change. It's
not improving, it's not getting better. Like Esau, God just leaves
it alone. And that's what it end. It's
just like what you read, Rex, that man, he died. That rich
man died. He died in the flesh. And when
this man's in hell, and it's not this, in all these torments,
it's not changed his flesh, he still thinks if God will send
somebody back from the dead, and he even argues with him.
Like he knows better than God, well, if you'll send somebody
back from the dead, well, then they will believe. He said, no,
they won't. But what I want you to see, even when he dies, it's
not changed his flesh. Even the torments of hell have
not changed his idea of God and how a man's accepted. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh. The scriptures say, Jeremiah
630, reprobate silver shall men call them because the Lord hath
rejected them. You know what makes men mad?
When they hear that God rejects their flesh. He rejects it. He rejects it. Jacob was the younger. He was
born after Esau. Jacob pictures the new nature,
that which is born of God, that which the new birth, the divine
nature, the one that is loved, the one that is accepted, the
one that's not rejected, the one that is always received. What made the difference in these
two boys? I'll tell you exactly what made the difference. Grace
made the difference. You can't get any closer than
they have the same parents, conceived at the same time, developed in
the same womb, and God hates one and loves the other. There's many examples of this
in the scriptures. You remember Ishmael and Isaac?
Ishmael was born first, born after the flesh. Everything was
okay. Everything was fine in Abraham's
house. I think Ishmael was about 14 years old before Isaac was
born. But here's what happens. Everything's okay in Abraham
and Sarah's house as long as Ishmael's the only one in the
house. But then Sarah conceives and Isaac's born. And he that's
born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit. He rejected Ishmael. He's not
of the promise, but it's Isaac. It says in Galatians 4.28, now
we brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But
as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that
was born after the spirit, even so is it now. Why is it you have
so much trouble in here? Why is it, as a believer, you
have so much trouble? And if you don't have any trouble
in here, there's something wrong. If there's no trouble, there's
only one ruling. But when God in his grace comes in and indwells
a person's heart, now there's a conflict. He that was born after the Spirit,
even so is it now, he that was born after the flesh persecuted
them. Nevertheless, what saith the Scriptures, cast out the
bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not
be heir with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, we
are not the children of the bondwoman, we're of the free. One is a servant,
one is free. Ishmael's mother was a servant,
and that's all she would ever be. Isaac was free. He's the child. I promise. I'll give you another one. You
remember the prodigal son? Was he the oldest or the youngest?
He was the youngest. The prodigal, the father gave
him what he wanted and he left and he went into the far country
and wasted his substance on riotous living. God brought him to himself,
awakened his heart and his mind, and he came back to the Father,
and the Father received him. But what about the elder brother? That whole story, that whole
chapter is about God dealing with Himself righteous Pharisees.
And then he comes right around, he comes full circle, and he
comes to that elder brother, and you know what the elder brother
said? I've never forsaken you. I've served you my whole life. I've always kept the law. I've
worked in the field. I've got blisters on my hands.
Does that not amount to nothing? You see the elder brother? That's
the elder brother. That's the one God rejects. He
comes back from the field and he goes, what's that I hear? Why are they playing music up
there at the house? Why is everybody so happy? And
I can see somebody run out and said, ain't you heard? The brother,
the younger brother, he's come back home. The father's killed
the fatted calf. He's put the best robe on him
and the ring on his finger. And we're celebrating. Really?
I ain't going in there. Does that not describe our old
nature? I won't go in, but Brad, look what all I've done. Look what all I've done. Our nature that we are born with,
that old man, I'm making a poem. It might take me a little while
to get there, but just bear with me. That nature is totally corrupt,
and it's totally wicked. We are children of disobedience.
We are by nature the children of wrath, even as others. From
the sole of our foot to the top of our head, there's no soundness
in it. The whole head is sick. When we are born, we're all born
depraved and without God. Everything we do, everything
we touch, we defile it. We cannot have one good thought. Listen to Romans chapter eight,
for they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh.
but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For
to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded
is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God, for it's not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot, cannot please God. Where does this enmity come from? God said, in the garden I will
put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and
her seed it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his
heel. The older son is always resentful
of the younger son. He thinks he's more wise, more
strong, and he thinks that he ought to be rewarded based on
who he is. A person who is born of God who
is a new creature in Christ now has a divine nature which is
created in righteousness and true holiness. This new man is
born of God, brought into being in time by the will and purpose
of God. And every believer And every
child of God resides two totally opposite natures. That's why Paul would say, Oh, wretched man that I am. The one born of the flesh, the
elder, the born of the spirit, the younger. And as long as we're in this
world, we're gonna deal with it. We're gonna deal with it. Whatsoever is born of God does
not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot
sin because he's born of God. And the old man, that old man,
he can do nothing but sin. You think about that. He can
do nothing but sin. These two natures, they are so
opposed to each other. They never become friends. Joe Terrell wrote an article
one time and he wrote it so plain and it just blessed my heart.
He said, it's like you've got these two neighbors living in
this one little complex. They have to live side by side
and here this one guy, all he wants to do all night long is
to play his music just wide open. Well, then he's out there in
the front yard. He throws this trash everywhere. He's got a
dog that's out there barking. And he's just always aggravating
you. Everything he does, he just does
it just that. He knows you don't like it. He's
just going to do it anyway. Does that sound familiar? You
try to come into the house of God and try to worship. And you
think, well, why was I thinking about that? Why was I worrying
about what's going to happen tomorrow? That doesn't matter.
Where does all that come from? That comes from that old nature. You ever notice when Abraham
died, Ishmael and Isaac both buried him. And I heard Henry
say one time, bless my heart, he said, as long as you're in
this world, there's always gonna be Isaac and Ishmael. And Ishmael's
always gonna be standing around the corner just mocking, just
mocking, just irritating you, just aggravating you. But what
I'm getting at, he may aggravate you, but the elder, The elder
does serve the younger. Even that old neighbor, after
throwing out the trash, he serves a purpose. He serves a purpose. The elder
shall serve the younger. Outwardly, it may seem like the
elder rules. but that older one serves the
younger. It may seem, we'll look at it,
when Jacob deceives his father and gets the birthright, who
has to leave? Jacob does. He's all gets to
stay at home. He's in favor with his daddy. Jacob has to go live in Laban's
house and he changes his wages 10 times. But when Jacob leaves
Laban's house, he's a different man. God even brings him to the
place before he comes back home. Who does he have to face? He
has to face the elder brother. And Esau's coming with 400 men. And you know what this causes
Jacob to do? He goes that night and God came
to him and wrestled with him and wrestled him down because
God wanted Jacob to wrestle with him. And he said, I will not
let you go unless you bless me. And he said, what's your name?
And he said, my name's Jacob. He said, I'm gonna change your
name from Jacob to Israel. So you see how even all this,
All this, everything that happened served Jacob. Everything. Everything. The older shall serve the younger.
It may seem like Esau is greater and Jacob the weaker. You look
there in Genesis when it gives the descendants of Esau, the
Edomites, It always says they're dukes. They're dukes. Oh, they're so prominent. Oh,
they're just so prestigious. Well, what about Jacob's children? Then the next chapter you see
it talks about and it gives the lineage of Joseph. Well, what
about Jacob's kids? Well, his brothers hate Joseph
and they're gonna sell him into Egypt. And then they've gotta
go live in Egypt for 400 years. You go, well it seems like the
elder or the younger serving the elder, well just wait a little
while. Eventually God's gonna bring him out of Egypt, God's
gonna bring him through the wilderness, he's gonna bring him into Canaan,
he's gonna bring him through the judges, and then one day
God's gonna raise him up a king. And listen, 2 Samuel chapter
eight. What about them Edomites? What
about them Edomites? And David put garrisons in Edom.
Throughout all of Edom put he garrisons. And all they of Edom
became David's servants. They became what? They became
David's servants. And the Lord preserved David
whosoever he went. And David reigned over all Israel.
And David executed judgment and justice unto all the people.
Our Lord reigns. You know what the word garrison
means? That means he put soldiers where
they were at to govern them. The people of Eden, Esau, became
David's servants. They served his purpose. You remember that. All this world. serves our God's purpose. The elder shall serve the younger. Here's what Mr. Hawker said,
listen, here we have a picture of what our great king does when
he subdues the corruption of our nature by the conquest of
his grace. The Holy Spirit garrisons our
souls with his divine presence and converts the very weapons,
and he says, our time and our talents, which in a state of
nature we used as artillery against heaven, he converts these very
weapons that were once used against him to serve his kingdom. He subdues it. He conquers it. And now it serves his purpose. Christ our Lord. Listen, we are
no match. We are no match for our old man. But he is. He subdues it. He subdues it. Have you ever asked the question,
when God saved me and God came to indwell my heart and God set
up his throne in my heart, why didn't he just totally eradicate
my sinful nature? Have you ever asked that question? Why didn't he just totally take
it away? Boy, I wished he had. I wished he had, but he didn't.
He left it for a reason. It serves his purpose. The elder shall serve the younger. Listen to me. The very thing
that we think will destroy us, God will cause it to serve us.
to wean us from this world, and to force us to seek his face. You know, as I think about David,
you look at David. God chose him and raised him
up as king, and Saul is a picture of the flesh. He's the one we
chose as king. We set up his reign, and he hates
and despises David. And most of David's early life,
you know where he is? He's running from King Saul,
living in a cave. Didn't he? And David, one day,
he said, I'm only one step between now and death. One day he's going
to destroy me. No, he didn't. All that, Saul
chasing David, it served David. This world. serves God's church. That's right. We see the news,
we see all this is going on, and we go, man, it's awful. It's
awful. This world is in a, it's in a
bad place. Our nation's in a bad place.
We see the judgment of God. We see almost, and it terrifies
us to think, God, please don't pull your hand back. If you keep
pulling it back, we're in a bigger mess. But all this, now listen
to me, now get this, every bit of it serves his purpose and
it serves his church, every bit of it. This world and everything corrupt
in it now serves the Lord Jesus Christ. To the world, God's church
seems so insignificant. and the world seems to overcome
the church. It seems like the world rules. It may seem like the world is
in control, but this world, this religious, rejected, hated world,
you listen to me, it serves our Lord Jesus Christ. We quote this verse, and we should
quote it often. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. All things. All things. The king's heart is in the hands
of the Lord and he turns it whichever way he wants it to go. Let me
give you an illustration. The children of Israel are in
Egypt. God's blessed them. They live in the best land in
all Egypt. They live in Goshen. Joseph is known throughout all
the land. The only reason Egypt exists
is because of Joseph. One day Joseph dies, and all
that generation dies, and God raises up a Pharaoh who does
not know Joseph. And things change. He begins
to afflict them. He begins to raise up taskmasters. And then he begins, says, we're
going to kill every baby boy. We're going to wipe them out.
And you know what the scripture says? The more they afflicted
them, the more they grew. Did that serve God's purpose?
The elder. Pharaoh, you're gonna serve my
purpose. And he does, and he does. Listen in Revelations chapter
12, verse 12, listen. Therefore rejoice, you heavens,
and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the
earth and of the sea, for the devil has come down unto you
having great wrath, because he knows that he hath but a short
time. Even Satan serves God's purpose. You remember that. And when the
dragon saw that he was cast into the earth, he persecuted the
woman, which brought forth the man-child. He hates her. He despises
the church. He persecutes her. And the woman
were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into
the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for time
and times and half a time from the face of the serpent. And
the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood, a picture of
his false doctrine. He cast this out of his mouth
as a flood. He cast this flood after the
woman. He means, his intention is to
consume the woman. that he might cause her to be
carried away with the flood. I'll just destroy her. I'll do
away with her. And listen to this next statement.
And the earth helped the woman. It helped who? Helped the woman. And the earth opened her mouth.
this earth, this cursed earth, and swallowed up the flood which
the dragon cast out of his mouth." They just swallow it up. They know what this world does?
They just swallow up Satan's doctrine, just deceive you. You
go, what's the purpose? It serves God's church. And the dragon was wroth with
the woman, and he went to make war with the remnant of her seed,
which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of
Jesus Christ. The elder shall serve the younger. Corruption that old nature, he
still serves that new nature. Our old man, that elder, he still
strives to earn acceptance by something it can do. And all
that it can do is sin. It cannot see, it cannot understand,
it cannot do anything to please God. It's born of the flesh. And outwardly, many times, it
seems like the old man rules. Outwardly, it may look like the
men of the flesh outnumber those who are born to the Spirit, but
the elder does serve the younger. Everything in this world serves
the Lord Jesus Christ. You know what made those people
so mad on the day of Pentecost? God hath made that same Jesus
whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. He said, you took him, and by
wicked hands, you crucified him and you slayed him. You did exactly
what your wicked heart wanted to do, but in all the time, you
did exactly what God decreed to be done. Listen, Colossians 116, for by
him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in
earth, visible and invisible. Whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by him
and for him. And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. Why? That in all things, in all
things, he may have the preeminence. And he does. It all serves him. And when he sets up his reign,
It's going to serve His purpose. Sometimes, we may think it's gonna drive
us insane. But you know what it does? It
drives us to Him. And if it drives me to Him, that's
good. It serves Him, and it does. Amen.