If you'll take your Bibles now
and turn back to Genesis 25, I want to talk to you a little
while about Jacob and Esau and the receiving of the birthright. I preached this message all the
way over here to William half the night last night. I finally
arrived at this title He is, but never his. The Scriptures say very little
about the early years of Jacob and Esau. It doesn't tell you
a whole lot about them. It says that Esau was a cunning
hunter, and that Jacob was a plain man dwelling in tents. And the
Holy Ghost pretty much sums up their young lives in those two
sentences, as it often does. come along and take a great man
like Abraham and spend twelve chapters talking about the last
part of his life and say absolutely nothing about the beginning of
it. And so it is. But I see here
two important things that the Holy Spirit speaks of, and He
speaks of what He had to say before they were born, and then
He speaks of something that happened after they were born and reached
the maturity. reach the purpose for which they
were put on this earth. He calls our attention to it.
And throughout the scriptures, he continues to refer back to
it. So this is a very important matter.
I want you to get this picture in your mind. Their mother, Rebecca,
was barren, just like her mother-in-law, Sarah, before her. She was barren. Yet she was persuaded that the
heavenly promise of God, that through her she would have a
son somewhere in the succession of this promised Redeemer that
was to come. This is why she left where she
was at. Abraham sent his servant down
to look for a bride for his son Isaac, picture of Christ, his
bride. And he sends his servant down
and he sends him down with only a testimony. And he said, well,
what if she takes one look at me and says, well, I don't want
to go. I don't trust you and I don't believe what you're saying.
He said, can I come back now and get Isaac and take Isaac
down and introduce Isaac to her? He said, absolutely not. Absolutely
not. This bride, if she be a worthy
bride for my son Isaac, who is the son of promise, going to
receive your testimony. Now, we're not talking about
five miles away. We're talking about a journey,
a journey. This woman was to hear the testimony
of this man alone, pack up her belongings, leave her parents,
lead the only way of life she ever knew, commit herself into
this servant's care based on his testimony alone. and commit
herself to his care, and he would carry her all the way back to her husband, Isaac. And she
did that by the power of God. Now, Abraham looked at his worried
servant, Eliezer, and he said, This thing is not all to gather
up to you, because I'm going to send the angel of God before
thee. He's talking about the Holy Spirit
going to go before you. And so he did, and so this bride
committed herself to it. But this mother, Rebecca, she
was barren, yet persuaded of the heavenly promise. And she
waited patiently and prayerfully, and she listened to her mother-in-law.
She didn't get engaged with trying to produce a son through the
flesh the way Sarah did. But she waited and entreated
the Lord for twenty years. When they were married, Isaac
was 40 years old. He was 60 years old when she
conceived and had a child. Prayerfully, faithfully, she
knows their son is going to be born because God said he was
going to be born. Are you with me? Alright, here's
the picture. And then, after 20 years, in
God's own time, he came and she conceived. But rather than a
son, She had two sons. She had two sons. And to say
the least, Rebecca was upset, confused, anxious to know what
this is all about. She was confused. Now she understood
the promises. That's why she committed herself
to Abraham's servant. She understood the part her husband
Isaac had in the fulfillment of the promises. She understood
that. And this is the main reason why she gave herself to Isaac
to start with. This servant went down and said,
listen, Isaac's not just a man. This is the son of the promise. This young man is not just heir
to Abraham's fortune. This young man, his inheritance
has to do with all the promises of God. It has to do with eternal
life and redemption and justification and all these things. She understood
this. She understood the part her husband
Isaac had in the fulfillment of the promises. And that's why
she gave herself to Isaac to be his bride. But this conception
of twins in her womb caused her to question things that she thought
she understood. Have you ever been there? These two sons, it said, struggled
within the mother. And Rebecca struggled with the
struggling. She didn't understand. She didn't
understand. And so she sought the Lord. And
she says down in verse 22, if it be so, if what I've been told,
if what I believe, if what I've been praying for for twenty years,
if it be so, why am I thus? What's going on? What's going
on? Verse 23, And the Lord said unto
her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall
be separated from thy bowels. And the one people shall be stronger
than the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger."
Now, I'm giving you this as an introduction. I'm just briefly
touching on these messages that I've been going through in Genesis.
So just bear with me. Just receive this whole thing
as an introduction. There are four events in which
this truth came to be. The first was in the two sons.
Jacob was the younger. Esau was the elder. Esau had
the birthright. It was his. It was his. And you
can say what you want about Esau's life, but in the end, he was
the means by which Jacob received the birthright. He was his servant. God made him a servant to Jacob. Secondly, this prophet was fulfilled
in the people generated by these two sons, natural Israel, and
all of these alien nations that surrounded them, which Esau's
offspring went out and become a part of and settled that land
of Canaan and become prominent in that land. And there's another
thing for you to look at in your studies of the Old Testament,
what he said here about the one people being stronger than the
other. Cain was prolific. These ungodly men seemed like
they just flourished. Their wives had all kinds of
children while the patriarchs, theirs was barren, would have
one or two. And these other men went out,
and they were the philosophers, and they were the doctors, and
the establishers of kingdoms, and governors, and all of this
stuff. They were very important people. They seemed to be stronger,
but they weren't. They weren't in the end. And so these nations wound up
being a servant to Israel. They established this land, and
kept this land, planted this land and built cities in this
land and then God took it away from him and gave it to Israel. So you see that passage fulfilled
in natural Israel and the rest of the nations. And then thirdly,
this prophecy is true of natural Israel and spiritual Israel.
He did the same thing to natural Israel that he did with the nations. Come up for the time of Christ
and the revelation of true spiritual Israel and natural Israel become
the servant to spiritual Israel. Through the types and the patterns
and the pictures and the priesthood and the tabernacle and all these
things, they become the servant. It was like a schoolmaster. It
just brought them to Christ. Brought them to Christ. We had
very little understanding of the gospel apart from these Old
Testament pictures. Now turn with me to Romans chapter
9. And here's the fourth thing. This blessed prophecy is fulfilled
in the hearts of believers as the old man is taken down from
his place of authority and his birthright taken away from him
and given to the new man within him. Now, I hope that you have
this picture fixed in your mind. Rebecca is the mother of Jacob
whom God later on calls Israel. Through Israel's 12 sons, God
eventually forms what we call now the nation of Israel, natural
Israel. And it's his sons that will turn
to this nation. But from a spiritual standpoint,
here's what I want you to see. Rebecca stands as a picture of
the church. She stands as a picture of the
church. So like Sarah before her, She'll bear children. These children
will be the children of the promise. But out of the womb of the church
will be born two manner of people. Two manner of people. And the
one is going to be stronger than the other. Now watch this. Paul begins here in Romans 9
with the first mother, Sarah. See it up there in verse 9? God
saying to her, at this time I'll come and you're going to have
son. You're going to have son. Now that's the way of grace. I'm telling you, you just spin
in your wheels until the hand of God comes. He said, at this
time, and He proves it. He shows it. Here's the picture.
They're over there scratching their head. I'm kind of getting
old. And nothing's happening. What do you suppose God really
meant? Surely He didn't mean that I was going to have the
child. You know how these things are. Sometimes we get them twisted
around. I think maybe what we need to
do is get my hand made. And so they begin to finagle
and to do. The way of grace is established
right here. At this time, He told them twice,
The second time, Sarah left in her tent's door, and God called
her down for it, and he came to Abraham, and he said, I'm
going to tell you again. At this time, I'm going to come,
and she's going to have a child. That's how it is. That's how
children of God are born into the church of the living God.
He demonstrates it right here in their spiritual mother, Rebecca,
or Sarah. And listen to this. Here's what
James said. James and these men understood
these things. These apostles understood these things. And
we need to understand. James said, Of his own will begat
he us with the word of truth. In his time, in his way, in his
power, and by his hand he begat he us. And he did it with the
word of truth. Now watch this. Verse 10. Not
only this, Paul said. Now, what Paul has proven here
in Romans 9 is that all these promises concerning Israel that
date all the way back to Abraham, that go all the way back to Abel
and Cain, come down through Noah, all these promises are not natural
promises. They are spiritual promises.
And these people were representative type people. They represented
something coming. They represented this promise.
They represented these spiritual things. Not only this, he said,
but when Rebekah also had conceived by one, even by her 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, as it is written.
Now it wasn't written in the same spot. This was written over
in Malachi. The first was written in Genesis
25. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now the church of the living
God from its first manifestation in Adam has always produced two
manner of people. Here is Adam and Eve fresh out
of the garden. They come out and they have these
two sons, Cain and Abel. Different as night and day. One
of them falls into submission to God. One of them rebels and
says, I'll do it my way. And that's the way it was. And
that's the way it's always been. Two manner of people. Two manner
of people. And he demonstrates it throughout
the Word of God. The natural and the spiritual.
If you go sometime over and study 1 Corinthians 15, Paul just hammers
on this all the way through. chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians. There's a natural and there's
a spiritual. There's a first Adam and there's
a second Adam. There's a natural Jew and a spiritual
Jew. There's a grain of corn that's
natural and it's got to go into the ground and it has to die
and it has to die to bring forth life. And he just goes all through
there talking about these things. They are ordained of God from
old eternity and predestinated to the adoption of children.
There's children. Children of the promise. Children
according to the election of God. And that's what Paul tells
them, these two children of Rebekah. This first child, he shows her
how sons are born into the kingdom of God. By these twins he shows
us that everyone that comes out of the womb is not elect. That's
what he specifically states that to her. Before they're ever born,
before they ever did any good, before they ever did any 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 elders
shall serve the younger. Serve the younger. There are
two manner of people that come forth from the vows of the church.
True heirs and those who despise the birthright. And there's two
things which I believe are absolutely true concerning these two sons
and all the sons which they represent. All the sons which they represent.
Now we're talking about folks who receive what you're receiving
this morning. Isaac and Rebekah brought those
two sons and sat them down and said, now listen. Are you listening? I'm going to tell you something.
Isaac's father, Abraham, when he lived in the land of Ur, and
she went through the story, and they told him the gospel promises
of God to Abraham, and how these things were fulfilled in Isaac,
and how they're going to be fulfilled, and so on. That there's going
to be a succession, that there is a coming Redeemer. All of
these things they told him. One of them received the birthright. The other one despised it. And there are two things which
I believe are absolutely true concerning these two sons and
all those sons which they represent. And the first of those two things
is this. Esau had the birthright. It was
his. It was his. There was nothing
for him to do except receive it. It didn't cost him anything. He had nothing to do with the
preparation of it. He wasn't seeking it out. This
thing was made by his father and his father's father before
either were ever born. This thing was established. Here
it is. It's his. All he has to do is take it.
All he has to do is rejoice in it. All he has to do is be thankful
for it. Here it is. Come and get it.
It's free. It's yours. He didn't want it. He didn't want it. To him this
birthright was just a bunch of spiritual mumbo-jumbo and the
superstitious stuff about a God, a universal God, an all-knowing
God, a God who promises this and promises that. Nothing visible
has ever been seen, no evidence, no nothing. It's just a lot of
spiritual superstition. I don't want any part of it.
And to him it was just something old people do when they get too
old to do anything else and start worrying about dying, they join
the church. It's like a young couple that gets married and
can't work nothing out or a drug addict who can't help himself
and so they go do this because they can't do anything else.
To him, that's what this was all about. It might have had
its place. He'll give it some little place
over here that it does some good. But to him, it was just a concept.
It was not a reality. It wasn't something you give
up and devote your life to. It's not something you sacrifice
everything you have to receive. He'd never seen God. He'd never
seen any of this stuff. He was a man's man. He'd decide
his own destiny. He'd make his own future. He'd
do it his way. His way. Nobody could tell him
anything. He was Esau. Esau leaned on the
flesh and trusted in the flesh and rested in his own strength.
His brother was a sissy in his eyes. He was just a sister. He was stronger. He was more
powerful. Maybe Jacob might need a hope
like that, but Esau don't. You know, over in Malachi chapter
1, the Lord said, Jacob have I loved, but he said, you say
wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother?
Huh? Wherein hast thou loved us? And then he told them about Esau.
He said, here's what Esau said. I'm impoverished. I give it all
away. But I'll build it again. Read Malachi chapter 1. And here's
what the Lord said. You build it and I'll tear it
down. I'll lay everything that has to do with Esau, I'm going
to lay it in the dust. Lay it in the dust. Here's the
heart of the unbeliever. He sees no real and present value
in the promised Redeemer. How is believing on Christ going
to put food on my table? How is believing on Christ going
to fix my marriage? How is believing on Christ going
to cure my drug habit or my drinking? How is believing on Christ going
to strengthen my rebellious children and going to solve their What's
this have to do with that? Give me something to do. Give
me some advice. Give me some counseling. I get
called on occasion to go counsel. I was called this past week to
counsel somebody, and after I told them I would, I decided I wouldn't.
And here's why. It's not counseling that you
need. He's the counselor. You need
the counselor, who you need, not me. I'm just in here to tell
you about the counselor. Give me some direction. That's
what men want. Give me some counseling. Give
me some advice. Point me away. Esau came in from the field hungry
and he said in his heart, I'm ready to die. Now listen, what
profit shall this birthright do to me? What's that got to
do with my hunger? He saw no value in it. He saw
no glory attached to it. He saw no eternal purpose behind
it, no remedy for what he thought ailed him. And so he sold his
birthright for a morsel of meat, it says over in Hebrews chapter
12, and despised it, and for a bowl of red stew. And from
that day, God called him Edom. It means red. I was growing up,
my two older brothers were pretty, they were pretty rough, to say
the least. And my oldest brother had a friend that, the only thing
I've ever known him by my whole life was Big Red. Big Red. This man was about 6'8 or 6'10,
looked like Hulk Hogan, but he was mean. Had tattoos up his
arm. He was mean And they used to
carry me around, sometimes sneak me off to the bars and things
where they'd go, and I'd go down there and they'd get in a big
fight and get to rumbling around, and Big Red would wade through
them men and just throw them like so much tissue, just throw
them. I scared to death of him. That's
Esau. Red hollow, big red beard, hairy
man, rough as a cob. Probably looked like Hulk Hogan.
Rough. Jacob feared him. He feared Esau. So did everybody else. Big red. He didn't bow to anybody. He didn't step aside for anybody.
He had his way. That's Esau. That's the flesh. The flesh won't even bow to God. Won't do it. Won't submit. Bow down. Spiritually speaking, a natural
man rests in his own strength and cunning. He rests in his
own intellect and wisdom, and he rests in his own reasoning
and ability. And when he hears of the necessity
of Christ and of the free grace of God in him, he sets it aside. He just sets it aside in preference
to the flesh. Our Lord said, here is condemnation.
Light came into the world. and men love darkness rather
than light. That's the story of Esau. The
birthright was explained to him, declared to him, his for the
taking, but he found no beauty and no glory and no need and
no desire for it and sold it for a bold porch. The second thing I know that's
absolutely true about these two And all the people that they
represent is that Esau never had the birthright. He had it. It was his. But it wasn't his. It wasn't his. He never had the
birthright. Before these two were ever born,
having neither done good or evil, God said the elder is going to
serve the younger as it's written, Jacob have I loved and Esau have
I hated. Before they ever had a being,
God said to this of the church, before Adam ever fell, before
any human being had ever appeared on this earth, ever did any good
or evil, He said, I've got a people, and I'm going to save them for
the glory of my name. And I set my love on them, and
I set my will on them, and I set my strength on them, and my grace
on them, and my mercy on them, and I appoint for them a Savior.
And they're going to hear. They're all going to hear it.
Every last one of them. They're all going to submit.
They're all going to bow down. They're all going to believe.
Every last one of them. And while their brothers sell
it out for a bowl of porridge, they're going to bow down and
take it. He made provision for them. He appointed for them a mediator. A high priest. made for him a covenant, ordered
in all things and sure, ever provision made. He appointed for him a high priest,
ordained for him a prophet, laid help upon one that was mighty.
He set aside for his elect to substitute, to stand in their
room He set aside a covenant head
to do all the will of God, which none were able to do. Listen to this. Psalm chapter
2, David cried, Why doth a heathen rage? Why do the people imagine a vain
thing? Why do the kings of the earth
set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against
the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let's break their bands
asunder. Let's cast away their cords from
us. He that sitteth in the heaven will laugh. He set these things sure. He laid help upon one that is
mighty. He first trusted in Christ. He took all the people and all
the love and all the mercy and all the grace, and He put it
in His hands and trusted it with Him. Oh, He said, I've set my King
on my holy hill in Zion. And heaven, earth, and hell ain't
going to prevail against it. I declare the decree, the Lord
said unto me, listen, thou art my son. This day, this eternal day, this
day before the foundation of the world, he said, I declare
the decree, this is my son, this is my begotten, This is my begotten. Thou art my son. This day have
I begotten thee. That's the first begotten. Christ
is the firstborn. He's the true heir. He's the
creator. And so the scripture said, the
firstborn of every creature. It's His. It's His. Without him was not anything
made that was made. He's the head of the body of
the church who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he might have the preeminent. He's the grand
design of eternal predestination of all God's sons. They'll all
be conformed to his image that he might be the firstborn among
many brothers. He's the firstborn. He's the only begotten son of
the Father. as Isaac was of Abraham and therefore heir without controversy
of all things. And the birthright set before
men as it was set before Jacob and Esau in the person of the
first begotten of the Father. You see what I'm saying? Here's
what's set before these two men. One of them realized it and one
of them didn't. One of them embraced it and one
of them didn't. And the thing about the firstborn
of the Father, the eternally begotten of the Father, He won't
give away the birthright. You see what I'm saying? Many
of you seeking assurance. I seek assurance. The assurance
is in Him. It's assurance that's going to
get in Christ. If He gave it to you, you'd give
it away. And so would I. But He gives it to Christ. He
gives it to Christ. Oh, this birthright is set before
men as it was set before Jacob and Esau in the person of the
only begotten of the Father, this coming Redeemer. And it's
set before men by God, Paul said, in the Old Testament over in
Romans 3.24, as the propitiation for our sins through faith in
His blood to declare the righteousness of God, that God might be just
and the justifier of all them that believe. He set him forth. Where did He set Him for? For
these sins that are past. Just go all the way back down.
Well, what about today? And at this time also. Isn't
that what He said? All the world despises Him. All
the world rejects Him. But God has intervened. And those
upon whom He has set His love, He draws to Christ. That's what
the Lord said to those Pharisees. They were murmuring, kicking.
What in the world is he talking about? He said, don't murmur. No man come unto me except my
Father draw him. He brings them by a sovereign
act of providence. I sat over there this morning
and I'm telling you when I think about the providence that led
me here just this day, this morning, it's like a jungle. It's like
a jungle. A little over two years ago I
was up there putting on roofs and putting on metal and just
going about my life. Now I'm standing here with a
room full of people telling you about the glory. Who can see through that jungle
of God's providence? He brings them there by a sovereign
act of providence. He brings them there by inward
struggles and desires. He brings trouble about in your
life. I can't even tell you all the
ways that God puts together to bring somebody here to here. And what he does to the preacher.
He tells you how you're going to hear without a preacher, but
how's he going to preach except he be sent? He don't know where
to go. He don't know what to say. You don't know what to listen
for and you don't know what to hear. God has to do it all. And in His providence He does.
Why does He do it? Because He set His love on us
before the foundation of the world. He said, I'm going to
have them. And He's going to have them. That birthright has been set
before you this morning in Christ the Lord. All the blessings of
God in him, all the riches of mercy and grace, all God's riches
of justice and holiness, even of God's own inheritance in the
saints, all this glory has been set before you. Are you thirsty?
Come and drink. Nothing stands in your way. Nothing
stands in your way. Whosoever will, Let him take
of the water of life freely, or will you trade it all for
a bowl of porridge? That's the message. It is, but
it never was. What will you do with it? What
will you do with it? I'm telling you something. It's
not election that shuts men out of the kingdom of God. Election
is an open door. If it weren't for election, there'd
be no door. There'd be no door at all. We'd
all be Esau. Jacob would have been an Esau.
There'd be no open door apart from election. What shuts men
out of the kingdom of God is their despising of the birthright.
They love darkness. And if not for the sovereign
grace of God, there'd be no difference in men. He said, Who maketh thee
to differ? That's what Paul told those Corinthians.
They're talking about this preacher and that preacher and tracing
the roots back like the landmark Baptists do. Want to go back
and find out who this was and was he baptized? That's foolishness,
I'm telling you. Who maketh thee to differ, Paul
said. What have you gotten that you
haven't received? And if you received it, why do
you glory like you did? Listen to this, the preparation
is in the heart of man and the answer of the tongue is of the
Lord. Is there in your heart this morning,
do you have a struggling in there? Do you have a desire in there?
Is there something in there that's stirred? It's of God. It's of God. Every act of God's
providence brought you here this morning. Every contemplation
of your heart, every emotion of your soul, everything that's
stirred within you compels you to come to Christ. A thousand,
thousand souls stand in glory. Witnesses, so great a cloud of
witnesses stand before you and compels you to come to Christ.
And a man by the grace of God, by his own experiences, telling
you this morning, compelling you, come to Christ. He's the
heir, and outside of Him all things are going to be torn down
and destroyed. God purposed it. Outside of Him
is unsatisfied justice and judgment, and outside of Him is nothing
but the filthy rags of our righteousness. But in Him, listen, is all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in Him. In Him. Turn with me to John
1, and I'll wind this thing up. How on earth does a man know
if he's a Jacob or an Esau? How do I know if I'm an enemy
or an heir? How do I know? if God loves me
or hates me. How do I know if I'm a child
of promise or a child of wrath even as others? Listen to me. John, in chapter
1, sums up between, in these first 13 verses, he begins in
eternity. and brings us all the way up
to the coming of Christ. And He sums up the whole history. You know what history is? His
story. History. And He tells. He tells them. Now listen to
this. John 1, verse 10. He was in the world. When was He in the world? Well,
He made the world. That predates me. He made the
world. He created it. The day, the night,
the land from the water, the skies, the birds, all the creatures,
all the purposes, all the councils, the garden of God. He created
the world. He was in the world and the world
was made by Him and the world He made knew Him not. There was
a remnant. according to the election of
grace. That's what it says over in Romans chapter 11. A remnant
according to the election. There was Abel, knew him. Adam
knew him. Seth knew him. Enoch knew him. Methuselah knew him. Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. Lot was a righteous man. There
was a few. Just a remnant throughout the
whole antediluvian world had any knowledge of the coming Redeemer.
And then look here in verse 11, he came unto his own. Now we're
up here into the days of Moses. And his own received him not,
separated a people and privileged them above all others. Came to
him in sacrifice and types and pictures, came in allegories
of men's lives and shadows and priesthoods. He came in prophecy
and he came in promise and he came in person. but his own received him not. But, boy I love that word, as many as received him, that's why I'm here, as many
as received him, received him as he was set forth of God, that
propitiation through faith in his blood, Received him in the
light God set before him, whether it be by picture, type, priesthood
or in person, or through the preaching of the gospel. Received
him in the light God set him before. Received him as the true
heir, the birthright to all God's promises, the necessity of salvation. To as many as received him willingly,
Totally, without coercion, to them gave He the power, that
word means the right, the birthright, the privilege, to become the
sons of men. Even to them that believe on
His name who were born. Not of blood. Not of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Two things I'm persuaded of this
morning. The birthright is yours for the
taking. And if you, by the grace of God,
can take it and receive it, it's because God gave it to you and
determined for you to have it before you was ever born. That's
the gospel best I know how to preach.