Let me give you a little background
for the text that we're about to look at, Genesis chapter 33. You will recall that when Isaac
was about to die, he called his oldest son Esau and said for
him to go out and kill a deer and make some of his favorite
stew. And when he came back, he promised that he would bless
him with the patriarchal blessing, and that patriarchal blessing
contained within it the blessing of God's covenant. But Esau had
already sold his birthright to his brother Jacob. Now, Esau
and Jacob were twins who were born to Isaac and Rebekah, but
they were not much like twins. They didn't look much alike,
they didn't act much alike. Esau was what every father would want
his son to be. He was a man's man. He was a
hunter. He was a man. He was every bit
a man. Jacob was a conniving stinker. He was mama's boy. And Rebekah
loved her mama's boy. And when she heard what Isaac
had promised to Esau, she sent for Jacob and said to Jacob,
you go out and you get some skins and we'll put them on your arm,
and you make some stew. I'll prepare the stew and you
take it in to your father and pretend to be Esau so that your
father may bless you instead of your brother.' And so Jacob,
conniving with his brother, went in and pretended to be Esau,
and Isaac, being an old man and nearly blind, thought that he
was indeed Esau, and Isaac blessed Jacob unwittingly. When Esau
came back, Isaac had already given the blessing to Jacob and
Esau was furious. He was furious. He swore that
he would kill Jacob as soon as his father died. As soon as the
old man's dead, you'll be dead. That'll be the end of you. And
so Jacob ran away. His mother told him, said, you
go down to my brother Laban and take refuge there. And Jacob
went down to Rebekah's brother Laban and took refuge with Laban
for fourteen years. Now, of all the human beings
on the earth, probably the only man more conniving, more scheming
than Jacob was his uncle Laban. And he stayed there with Laban
for fourteen years, and wasn't there very long until he saw
Rebekah, not Rebekah, but he saw Rachel, and she must have
been something else. I mean, she must have been something
else to look at. He said, I want her for my wife.
Laban said, all right. I'll tell you what, you work
for me for seven years and I'll give it to you. He worked for
her for seven years and they threw a party. I don't know what
kind of party it was, but when Jacob woke up the next morning,
he's laying in bed with Rachel's sister Leah and she was homely
as a mud fence. So he still wanted Rebecca. Laban
said, all right, work for me seven more years, you can have
her. 14 years he labored with that
man in his scheming, conniving ways. And he said when he got
done, it was just like a day because of the love he had for
Rachel. But he couldn't stand living
with Laban any longer. After 14 years, he said, I've
had enough of this. He said, I'm going back to my
land, back to my home, back to my kindred. And he packed up
and left. Always the schemer, he began
making plans as to how he was going to deal with Esau. How
am I going to turn away Esau's wrath? How am I going to keep
Esau from fulfilling his pledge to kill men? Now that brings
us to Genesis chapter 33 verse 1. Let's read together. Jacob
is now about to meet Esau and he is flat scared to death. Jacob lifted up his eyes and
looked and behold Esau came with him, came and with him 400 Jacob divided the children to
Leah and Rachel and to the two handmaids, and put the handmaidens
and their children in the foremost, and Leah and her children after,
and Rachel and Joseph in the hindermost. And he passed over
before them, and he bowed himself to the ground seven times. He
comes to Esau just bowing and scraping and bowing and scraping. He bowed to the ground seven
times as he approached his brother, and he came near to his brother.
And Esau ran to meet and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and
kissed him, and they wed." What a changed man. Esau had somehow
gotten over his anger, he'd gotten over the terrible fury he had
against his brother, and now behaves in a magnanimous manner.
And he lifted up his eyes and saw the women and the children
and said, who are those with thee? And Jacob said, the children
which God hath graciously given to thy And the handmaidens came
near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. And
Leah also with her children came near and bowed themselves. And
after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves. And
he said, walk meanest thou by all the droves which I met. In
preparation, Jacob had sent droves of cattle and sheep and camels. He sent guests, one on the heels
of another, to Esau, hoping to turn away his wrath. And this
is what Jacob says, he said, these, these are to find grace
in the sight of my Lord. And Esau said, I have enough. Now underscore that. I have enough. That's the title of my message
this morning. I have enough, my brother. Keep that thou hast
unto thyself. And Jacob said, nay, I pray thee,
if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present
at my hand. for therefore have I seen thy
face as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased
with me. Take, I pray thee, my blessing
that is brought to thee, because God hath dealt graciously with
me, and because I have enough." Underscore that. Esau said, I
have enough. Jacob did too. He said, I have
enough. And he urges them, and he took I call your attention
to this fact that both Esau and Jacob declare themselves content
with what they possessed. What a rare sight that is. Very
few people I've met in this world are content with that which they
hold. Most are always seeking more,
seeking greater things to gratify themselves. Seldom in my life
have I met with anyone who was content. A few As a matter of
fact, I guess the only people I've ever met with outside the
kingdom of God who were content with what they had were people
who were just so lazy they didn't want any more, they didn't want
to do any more, they were content with nothing. But these two men
were content with those things which they had. Not only do we
have two men here, content, but two men who are brothers, and
brothers who are totally opposites of one another. Matter of fact,
the only thing Jacob and Esau seem to have in common, except
their mother and father, is the fact that they were both content
with what they possessed. In every other way, they seem
to be totally opposites. Esau said, I have enough, and
Jacob said, I have enough. Now this morning I want to show
you that there is a contentment to be desired and a contentment
to be despised, dreaded, and contend. There is a contentment
of damnation and a contentment of faith. Let's look first at
Esau. Esau was a lost, reprobate man,
but a content man. Did you get it? Esau was a lost,
reprobate man, but content. He had a lot of faults, but greed
was not one of them. Esau was content. When Jacob
brought all the droves and gifts to appease his anger and turn
away his wrath, Esau said, you keep all those things, I have
enough. There are some important lessons
to be learned here. First, understand this. Moral
excellence and spiritual grace are not the same thing. Esau
was a very moral man. In many ways, he was far, far
more moral in his behavior than his brother Jacob. That's sometimes
the case. It often happens that men and
women who do not know God are very moral, very respectable,
and very impressive in all their outward behavior. I don't suggest
that's usually the case. We are living in a world today,
in this society, that's striving with all its might to redefine
morality. These days, if you listen to
the news media, fornication, adultery, homosexuality are considered
matters of individual preference. We're hearing from the news media
every day that it's all right to commit adultery as long as
you don't lie about it. I hear that and I just, what?
What do you think adultery is if it ain't lying and deceit?
These days folks try to reinvent things to accommodate their own
notions and their own ideas and their own lives. And yet it does
sometimes happen that lost unregenerate men and women are very moral
in their behavior when that is the case. Morality is a commendable
thing and it ought to be commended. Morality promotes charity, philanthropy,
and works of compassion for the sick, and the needy, and the
impoverished, without question. Without question, this Teresa
in Calcutta was a very, very moral person, full of compassion
for the needy, the impoverished, the poor, and the sick, and that
kind of morality is to be honored. Morality helps to preserve society,
It is a sense of moral responsibility that keeps men and women from
abusing and misusing one another continually. And yet morality
has its evil side. I have known some very good men
and women whose morality was a positively abominable thing,
because their morality brought them to utter self-righteousness.
They presumed that since they were morally upright, then they
were indeed good. Now if you're in that position,
you're sadly mistaken. Don't be so foolish. The Lord
looks on the heart. You, my friends who are very
moral outwardly, are yet as corrupt within as all the rest of us.
Your heart is full of iniquity. Your heart, like mine and like
these other men and women here, is deceitful above all things
and desperately wicked. I'm here to tell you there is
absolutely no goodness in you. None. No goodness that will commend
you to God. No goodness that will recommend
you to his favor. No goodness that will cause God
to look on you and have compassion upon you and embrace you. The
sooner you learn that you have no goodness in you, the better
off you will be. He saw and learned many things
which made him a man of exemplary moral character. He learned contentment. He learned to forgive the injuries
that were done to him. He learned to be a man of magnanimous
spirit. He not only forgave Jacob, he
did everything he possibly could to embrace Jacob and to welcome
him home. You read the rest of this chapter
and you'll see that Esau was indeed a man of magnanimous character
in his outward behavior. And yet, this man did not know
the Lord. He was lost. unregenerate, a
reprobate man, a man whom God had left to himself. He was content. But Bobbie, he was content without
Christ. Oh, what a sad state to be in.
Content. Content with the world. Content
with the things of the world. Content with this life. contempt without Christ. Now,
I said all that to say these two things. First, it is absolutely
impossible for any man to know the heart and spiritual condition
of another man. There is a terrible, horrible
tendency in all of us to presume that we are smarter than Our
Lord has told us plainly that we look on the outward appearance,
hasn't he? Over and over and over again, man seeth not as
God seeth. The Lord looks on the heart.
You can't see anything but what these eyes see. I can't see anything
but what I observe with my natural senses. No man, no man has the
ability to discern the spiritual condition and character of another
man. We don't have that ability. Why
stress that, pastor? Because we all continually seem
to think we have the ability to distinguish between wheat
and tares, between sheep and goats, but we can't do so, and
we ought to quit trying. We just ought to quit trying.
Our Lord told us plainly, let the tares grow together with
the wheat. How come? Because just as soon as you take
your hoe and your pickaxe in the garden, you're going to chop
up the wheat and leave the tares. You'll do it every time. Just
as soon as you go out into the field and you try to separate
the goats from the sheep, I'll tell you what you'll do, you'll
run off the sheep and hang on to the goats. Because those things
that appeal to your outward senses are the things by which you judge.
And if you looked at Jacob and Esau, which one would you choose? Merle, if you were looking at
these two boys, just the records you have in Scripture, and you
said, now show me the one who behaves like a man who knows
God, and the one who doesn't know God, show me Esau. Wouldn't
you? I would. I don't see a single magnanimous
thing that Jacob did. Jacob was a schemer. Even after
God saved him, he was a schemer. A timid, timid schemer. That's the way he lived. But Jacob was loved of the Lord. We need to quit trying to determine
who's saved and who isn't. And simply deal with men and
women like everybody's going to hell right now. Somebody asked
me one time, said, when do you preach to lost folks? I said,
all the time. I try my best to preach to you like we're all
going to hell now, right now. When do you preach to God's saints? All the time. I try my best to
make you understand that you've got to have the Savior and look
to the Savior and put away all notions of self-righteousness
all the time. I want you to understand this
as well. You and I will have to have something
better. than morality and our own righteousness
to find acceptance with the immaculately infinitely holy Lord God. Turn to Matthew 5 for a second. Excuse me, Matthew chapter 5
verse 20. I'm sure as often as I have cited
this text of scripture in this pulpit, you've got it marked
well in your Bible, you won't have trouble finding it. Our
Lord Jesus says, I say unto you that except your righteousness
shall exceed, exceed, now that's important, not be as good as,
but exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,
you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now you
understand the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees.
The scribes were those men who devoted their lives to the study
of Scripture and transcribing Scripture. They were men who
gave themselves relentlessly to this business of studying,
understanding, and transcribing Scripture. They devoted themselves
to it. The pharisees, oh what fine men they were. They were
spectacles of godliness. They carried Now, I put it in
modern language. Some time ago, I wrote an article
on Sabbath keeping and talked about midnight to midnight, and
I've been getting letters ever since. A fellow said, that's
not the way Jews reckon time. I know, but it's the way Bobby
Estes reckons time. Now, we put it in modern language. The Pharisees
were fellows who, they carried a big family Bible under their
arm everywhere they went. Well, these days they carry a
New Testament in their pocket. They sat down at the table, and
they'd start to have a meal in the restaurant, and let's pray. And they'd pray so they might
see Him. They prayed three times every day. Every day. Morning,
noon, and night. They gave tithes of everything
they had. They didn't just pay tithes on
the groceries, they paid tithes on the meal. They didn't just
pay tithes on their money, they paid tithes on their chicken
and their wheat. They paid tithes on everything. The Pharisees
fasted twice every week. Anybody here measure up? I mean, this fellow, if you look
at Pharisees, if anybody gets to heaven, they will. Our Lord
says here, except your righteousness shall exceed that righteousness. You can't enter the kingdom of
heaven You and I can never be accepted of God until we are
made to have a better righteousness than what we possess. Something
more than morality. Something more than outward goodness.
We must have the perfect righteousness of the Son of God or we'll perish
forever. We must be made righteous. Made
righteous by God's grace. Made righteous through the satisfaction
of Christ in His blood atonement. Made righteous by Christ's righteousness
being imputed to us by God Almighty. Made righteous by the Spirit
of God giving us a righteous nature which we would not otherwise
have. Made righteous in utter glorification when we're raised
up in that adoption to wit the redemption of our bodies that
Lindsay was talking about a little bit ago. Secondly, look at Jacob. Jacob was a believing man who
was content. With all his thoughts, Jacob
was a man content before God. As we'll see in just a moment,
Jacob's contentment was altogether different from Esau's. But before
I get to that, let me remind you that Jacob represents all
of God's elect. In fact, believers are frequently
called the sons of Jacob. Let me give you some scriptures.
You don't have to look these up. But in Psalm 77 15, we are the sons of Jacob, we're
told, who are the redeemed of the Lord. We're the sons of Jacob. We've been redeemed. Elijah said
in 1 Kings 18 that we are the sons of Jacob to whom the word
of the Lord has been sent. Has Christ redeemed you? Has
God sent his word to you? You're the sons of Jacob. Then
in Malachi 3.6, we are the sons of Jacob who are kept and preserved
in grace and life and faith in Christ by the power and grace
of our unchanging God. I love that text. I am the Lord. I change not, therefore you sons
of Jacob are not consumed." Now the word that Jacob used when
he said, I have enough, and the word that Esau used when he said,
I have enough, are two distinct, totally different words. They're
both accurately translated, I have enough, but they're two different
words. When Jacob said, I have enough, he was referring to something
much more than his cattle. and his sheep, and his wives,
and his sons, and daughters, and servants. As a matter of
fact, those things, Merle, were not even in consideration. They
weren't even in consideration. If you have a center column reference
in your Bible, notice the marginal translation of Jacob's words.
Jacob said what Esau could never say. He said what every true
believer can and should say. But it was something that no
one believer can ever say. Jacob said, I have all things.
Do you see that? I have all things. Truly, that
person who has all things has enough. If I have all things, what are
you going to give me? If I have all things, what do I need to
want? Jacob said, I have enough. But the enough he's talking about John Gill, in his commentary
on this text, says, Jacob's words here mean, I have a sufficiency
of all good things, or I have all things, all kind of good
things, everything that was necessary for him. The expression is much
stronger than Esau's. Indeed, Jacob had besides a large
share of temporal mercies, all spiritual ones. God was his covenant
God and Father. Christ was his Redeemer. The
Spirit his Sanctifier. He had all grace bestowed upon
him and was the heir of all glory. Truly, when Jacob says, I have
enough, he means I have enough. You'll notice that when Jacob
pressed Esau, Jacob, Esau said, I have enough, I don't want anything
else. Esau, Jacob said, no, take it, take it up, I have all things. Esau said, all right, I'll take
it. After all, I really don't have
enough. I need that too, I'll take that
too. Jacob said, I have all things, and took nothing from Esau. And
my brother, my sister, whatever your outward circumstances may
be, Whatever your present condition is, I want you to understand
that Jacob's lot is your lot, and a good lot it is. I have all things, do you? All
things. Oh, may God be pleased to seal
these two things to your heart, these two things. All things are of God. All things. All things. Turn to Proverbs 16 for a second.
Proverbs chapter 16. Of him, through him, to him are
all things, to whom be glory forever. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love I'm telling you, all things
are of God. Now, that's the language of Scripture.
You'll find it in 2 Corinthians 5, 18. Here in Proverbs 16, 4,
the Lord hath made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked
for the day of evil. He's even made the wicked for
the day of judgment for himself. The lot is cast into the lap. These days, in this part of the
world, we don't cast lots, we roll dice. Same thing. The lot's
cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. You play a game of Monopoly and
you roll the dice, and whatever number comes up, God did it.
Well, picture you. You surely don't mean that God
takes notice of those little things. Or if he doesn't control
absolutely the little things, Bill, there's no way to control
the big things. You can't control the huge troubles
and the huge cares and the huge matters of the world if you don't
control all the little matters. Understand that? The Lord our
God rules everywhere and always does exactly what he will. Exactly. Now here's the blessed,
blessed, blessed truth of Scripture. Look at your leisure at Revelation
chapters 4 and 5. You remember when John was called
up into heaven, and as he entered into the door in heaven in Revelation
4, first thing he saw was a throne. And I want to tell you this,
when a man meets God, first thing he sees is a throne. an absolute
sovereign. But as he looked on that throne,
he saw encircling the throne a rainbow. Now you know what
the rainbow represents. When God made his covenant with
Noah, Noah came off the boat and God said to Noah, he said,
I'll never again pour out the flood of my waters upon the earth
and destroy the world again with water. And Noah said, okay, that's
good enough for me. I don't go through this again.
A few days Cloud came up in the sky. Noah looked at that cloud. He'd seen one of those before.
And then it got dark. Started to sprinkle. And then
he got one of those gully washers. I mean, rain started coming down.
And I can imagine Noah biting his nails off. He's already used
that ark for firewood. That thing's burned up. It's
gone. And it's starting to rain again. And then in a little while,
it quit raining. Son came out. And God set a bow
in the sky. And also God forgave me. I forgot
your covenant. You promised. You promised and
I forgot it. I didn't believe you. Now listen
to me, children of God. That rainbow around the throne
means everything God does, everything God does, He does according to
His covenant. Then in chapter 5, you see a
book written on the inside and out, sealed with seven seals,
and no one's able to open the book, no one's worthy to open
the book, until the Lamb rises up in the midst of the throne
and He takes hold of the book. And then in chapter 10, you see
the Lamb with that book in His hand. One foot on the earth and
one on the sea, and He's opening the book. That's the Lord Jesus
Christ and God's providence. Everything that comes to pass,
is brought to pass from the throne of God through the covenant of
God's grace by the mediation of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah.
Then Lord do what you will. Do what you will. Be all right.
Be all right. God just help me keep my eyes
on that bow. Help me to believe your promise.
All things are of God. That's the first thing. Now get
the second thing. All things are yours. I'm talking to you who are God's,
to you who belong to Christ. All things are yours. All things. I started to say all things good
and bad, but ain't no bad things. All things are yours. That's
what the Proverbs says in Proverbs 12, 21. There shall no evil happen
to the just. Well, Preacher, you mean all
spiritual things, all heavenly things, all eternal things. Yeah,
but much more. I mean all capable things are yours. Turn to Psalm
57. Psalm 57. This is such a blessed,
blessed text. Psalm 57, verse 2. Are you there? Psalm 57, 2. I will cry unto God most high. Look at this. that performeth all things for
me. You mean, pastor, you're saying
that God performs everything and everything God performs,
he performs for me? That's exactly what the psalmist
said. That's exactly it. Boy, I sure wouldn't have done
things that way. I know it because all we can see is today. We can't
even see today, all we can see is this minute. We have no apprehension of what
shall come to pass tomorrow, or what's needed, or what's best,
but God on high performs all things for me. And with that
confidence the psalmist says, he shall send from heaven and
save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up? Selah. When I read the Psalms, I'm always
in the dilemma. I read the word Selah, and some of you pass by
it, I about always pass by it, because it's just, it's a written
out punctuation mark. It's like coming to the text
and it says period. And instead of having a dot there,
you got P-E-R-I-O-D. But the word Selah has much more
significance than that. This is a punctuation mark that
means stop now and consider what you read. Bob Pauls, every once
in a while, think about this. God on high performs all things
for you. He will send from heaven and
he will deliver man. You think about that now. You
think about that. God shall send forth his mercy
and his truth. All things temporal are yours,
and all things spiritual. In Ephesians 1, Paul tells us
that God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. And this is what he describes.
He said, God blessed you with election to change. And God blessed
you with adoption. He predestinated you to the adoption
of children. And God blessed you with His
love, in love, having chosen us, or having predestinated us
under the adoption of sons. And God blessed you with acceptance
in Christ. And God blessed you with redemption
through His blood. God blessed you with the forgiveness
of sins. God blessed you with the gift
of His Spirit and the gift of life and faith. And all eternal
things of yours, Lindsay took his text this morning from Romans
chapter 8, and verses 16 and 17, the Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit that we're the children of God, and
the children and heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified
together. The Lord is my portion, saith
my soul, therefore will I hope in him. Jacob said, I have all
things. All things. Listen to me now. I have all things. Everything. Life is mine. Death is mine. The world is mine. Eternity is mine. I have all
things. All things. Now thirdly, what was the difference between
Jacob and Esau? When you understand the difference
between Jacob and Esau, you'll understand the difference between
God's elect and the unbeliever in all ages, in all times, and
in all circumstances. Esau was a lost unregenerate,
reprobate man, a man who found everything he wanted in this
world. Now, I understand the teachings
of Holy Scripture regarding God's sovereign, eternal, unalterable
purpose, and I rejoice in those teachings. We read Romans 9 just
a little bit ago, but let me say this, and I want you to understand
Esau was a lost man, not because God would not save him, but because
he chose the world and the lust of his flesh rather than Christ.
And my friend, if you perish in your sins, if you die without
Christ, it will be your fault alone. Know what else is, you
will not blame God Almighty for your eternal ruin. You will not
say, I would have been saved, but God purposed to damn me.
If you're saying that will be God's fault and God's fault alone,
but if you are damned, that's your fault and your fault alone. Esau perished because he chose
this world. Turn back to Genesis 25 for a
second, verse 30. Esau despised Christ and the
gospel of his grace, the gospel of God's free and sovereign saving
grace in Christ. Because that's what was represented,
Rex, in this birthright. Back in Genesis 25 verse 30,
Esau had been out hunting and he was tired. He came in, he
smelled some of Jacob's red pottage. He comes in from the field out
in his pitch and he got a good whiff of that red beans and rice.
He could smell the okra and the sausage and the peppers and that
stuff. Oh, I'm so hungry, I'm about
to die. He said to Jacob, feed me, I pray thee, with that same
red pottage, for I'm faint. Therefore, his name was called
Edom. And Jacob said, sell me this day your birthright. He
saw my birthright? But Jacob, that's the blessing
of the firstborn. That's the covenant. That's the
promised seed. That's God's promised Savior. Sell the birthright? What's it
going to cost you if you want some of my red beans and rice? Esau said, well, shoot, I'm about
to die. It won't do me any good. What profit shall this birthright
be to me? And Jacob said, swear to me this
day. And he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.
Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils, and he did eat and
drink, and rose up and went his way. Thus Esau despised the Son
of God." Thus Esau despised his birthright. Therefore, God left Esau to himself. Because Esau despised God's birthright,
because he despised God's Son, because he counted Christ a common,
worthless thing, God left him to himself. Oh, may God never
leave you to yourself. If God leaves me to myself, I'm
left to the worst of all enemies I might have. If God leaves you
to yourself, You're as sure for hell as if you were already there.
Turn to one text over in Ecclesiastes. I ran across this a few years
ago for the first time I read it, and I was just, I was stunned. I was stunned by it. You ever wonder why it is that
some people, religious people, seem never to grasp the things
of God. Ever wonder why it is that people
can maintain a profession of religion and think themselves
the children of God, and yet all their pursuits, everything
that consumes their hearts, everything that consumes their minds, everything
that consumes their interests, everything that consumes their
thoughts, everything that consumes their conversation, is this world? You ever wonder why? Ecclesiastes 311 will tell you
why. He hath made everything beautiful
in its time, everything around you, everything beautiful in
its time. Also, he hath set the world in their heart, that no
man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning
to the end. happened he saw? Lindsay, God
set the world in his heart. And he couldn't see it. He set the world in his heart. Jacob, on the other hand, was
a man blessed of God. Blessed of God is the everlasting
object of his grace in Christ. I remind you that all the Scripture
says about Jacob as the object of God's grace is true of all
God's elect. We are the sons of Jacob. As
such, we gladly acknowledge that the only difference between us,
between Jacob and Esau, between the believer and the unbeliever,
is the difference that grace has made. By the grace of God,
we are what we are. Here's the distinction. God loved
Jacob. And but if the Lord loves you,
that's the difference. Esau found everything he wanted
in this world because God passed him by. God gave no consideration
to him. God left him to himself. That's
what the word hate means. In Romans 9, we read it a little
earlier. Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. You find the
parallel to it. In the statement where our Lord
said, if you come after me, you've got to deny yourself. Take up
your cross and follow me. If any man hate not his father,
mother, brother, sister, yea, in his own life also he cannot
be my disciple. That doesn't mean to despise. It means give no consideration
to him. In other words, you cannot follow Christ. Rex Bartley, you
cannot follow Christ as his disciple. If you let your thoughts and
cares and concerns for Debbie, Jenny, and yourself interfere
with it, you can't do it. And God said he gave no consideration
to Esau. That's the Bible. He loved Jacob. Someone said to Spurgeon one
time, I can't understand how God could say he hated Esau And
Spurgeon said, I had no trouble with that. I don't understand
how God could love Jacob, but loving me dear, loving me dear. And the Lord chose Jacob. Look
in Psalm 135 verse four. The Lord had chosen Jacob to
himself and Israel for his peculiar treasure. We're bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has
from the beginning chosen you. I say, you said you haven't chosen
me, but I've chosen you. The Lord chose you as his peculiar
treasure. He chose you because he loved
you. And I want to tell you something. Those who are loved of God and
chosen of God, sooner or later going to meet God face to face.
Jacob ran away. Back in Genesis 28, I believe
it is, Jacob was running away from his family, running away
from his brother, fleeing for his life. Scoundrel, the rogue,
he's running away. And you know what he did while
he was running away? He ran smack into God. Ran smack into the arms of God's
almighty because God put himself in the way. Oh, thank you, my God, that you
put yourself in the way and caused me in my pursuit of hell to run
smack into your arm. Jacob met God at Bethel, the
house of God. And then in Genesis 32, Turn
back there, if you will, for a minute. Let me look at this
text really for a second. God, our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, wrestled with Jacob. When he did, he made him confess
who he was. He said, tell me your name. After Jacob confessed, my name's
Jacob, the Lord said, not anymore. I'll give you a new name. Your
name's Israel. Look here in Genesis 25, or Genesis 32 rather, verse
24. And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with
him until the breaking of day. Now, you hear preachers talk
about prayer and they say you wrestle with God like Jacob wrestled
with God. Jacob didn't wrestle with the Lord. This man wrestled
with Jacob. There's a big It was not Jacob
laying hold of God saying bless me, but it was God laying hold
of Jacob until Jacob cried bless me. There's a huge difference. Now I used to do a little wrestling,
and I'll tell you what the object of wrestling is. The object of
wrestling is to whip a fellow. That's the object. No point in
wrestling if you don't intend to whip him. The object of wrestling
is to put the fellow down on the mat for the three count with
both shoulders pinned to the mat. That's the object. the fella,
totally, completely. And the Lord God Almighty, Jesus
Christ our Savior, met Jacob in the way and wrestled with
him. He wrestled with him until Jacob
said, Bless me or I will not let you go. And Lord said, All
right, tell me your name. My name is Jacob, scoundrel,
rat, cheat, con artist, Jacob's my
name, tricky, deceit, sinners who I am." And the Lord said,
all right, that's all I wanted to hear. Your name now is Israel,
a prince of God. If we confess our sin, he's faithful
and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness
and to make us princes with God. And then the Lord led Jacob. Look in 28, Genesis 28 and verse
15. In the latter part of this verse
here, the Lord said to Jacob, I am
with thee and will keep thee in all places
whither thou goest. For I will not leave thee. I will not leave thee until I
have done that which I have spoken to thee of. Now Mark, this is what God says, faithful is he that calleth thee.
who also will do it. I'm confident of this very thing.
He which hath performed a good work in you, he will perform
it to the day of Jesus Christ. He will not leave you until he's
done all that he's spoken to you of. And Paul's conclusion to all
of this is this. He takes this promise that God
made to Jacob, I think it's given five times in scriptures He said,
let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content
with such things as you have. For he has said, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee. I have all things for you. I have enough. I have
enough for now and for tomorrow. For Christ is mine, and for all
things mine. Oh, may God be pleased to bless
His Word to your heart. For Christ said, Be Thine.