When I read that passage from
Romans 9 regarding God's electing grace and his hatred of Esau
and his love of Jacob, we know that that has something to do
with the absolute sovereignty of God and salvation. But I hope
that through this message we'll learn a little bit more about
what God meant when he said, Jacob have I loved and Esau have
I hated, and I pray that we will leave this place saying ourselves
with God, Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. What all does that mean? I have entitled this message,
If It Be So, Why am I thus? I took that from Genesis 25 when
Rebecca had life put within her, and we read in verse 22, and
the children struggled. There was a fight going on within
her. And the children struggled together
within her. And she said, if it be so, if
I have life in me, why am I thus? Why am I like this? Why is there this struggle? And I asked myself the same question. If there really is life in me,
if God has done something in me and given me spiritual life
so that I actually have the life of God in my soul, I've been
born of God and have spiritual life. If I do, why this struggle? Why does sin have such a hold
on me? If I really do have life, if
God really has done something for me, why does sin have such
a hold on me? I feel like a walking contradiction. I believe, I really do believe
the gospel. I believe, I really do love the
Lord Jesus Christ, and yet I feel so very evil. That's my experience. The very sins I attempt to confess
before God, deep down, I fear I'm going to commit those same
sins tomorrow. Why does sin have such a stronghold
on me? If it be so, why am I thus? Why do I struggle like this? Now the word struggle is also
translated to break, to bruise, to crush, to discourage, to oppress. It made her miserable. If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the
Lord. Now, Jacob have I loved and Esau
have I hated is more than a declaration of God's absolute sovereignty
of God and salvation, although it is. But it teaches us something
about what's going on on the inside of us. Jacob and Esau, as we will see,
represent the two separate natures dwelling within a believer. Now, Genesis chapter 24, the
chapter preceding this, is a beautiful chapter about Abraham sending
his servant back to his home country to find a bride for his
promised son Isaac. He didn't want him to marry one
of the Canaanites, so he sends his servant back, and he says,
you find her a bride from among my people. And the servant promises
to do just that. Now, we have a beautiful picture
of the gospel there. God the Father is represented
by Abraham, and Isaac represents God the Son, and the father is
going to have a bride for his son. So he sends his servant. That servant represents the preaching
of the gospel. And he says, you find a bride
for my son. Now, look in Genesis chapter
24, beginning in verse 34. This is the speech of the servant.
And he said, I am Abraham's servant. And the Lord hath blessed my
master greatly, and he has become great, and he hath given him
flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and
maidservants, and camels, and asses. And Sarah, my master's
wife, bears son to my master when she was old, and unto him
hath he given all that he hath." Isn't that a beautiful picture
of Christ? He, the Father's given Christ. everything, all glory,
all dominion, all power goes to the Son. And my master made
me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of
the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I dwell, but thou
shalt go unto my father's house and to my kindred and take a
wife unto my son. So the servant goes there, and
you might remember the story, he prayed, whoever comes and
says, I'll give you water, and I'll give your camels water as
well. That's the one. And as soon as
he appeared, Rebecca appears. And she says, let me give you
water, and let me give you your camels water as well, without
even asking. And the servant was so thankful
that God had prospered his time there. And I love thinking about
this. When he was talking to Rebecca about Isaac, and talking
about Isaac's greatness, and he made her fall in love with
somebody she'd never seen. Isn't that beautiful? You know,
I'm in love with somebody that I've never seen. And that's what
happens when we hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
let's pick up reading 20 years later. Rebecca's still barren. They've been married 20 years
at this time. and she is still barren. Now
the promised seed was to come through her, but it hadn't happened
yet. So let's pick up reading in verse 19 of Genesis chapter
25. And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son, Abraham
begat Isaac. And Isaac was 40 years old when
he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel, the Syrian
of Badanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. And Isaac entreated
the Lord for his wife because she was barren. Now that's what
the Lord's wife is in and of herself. She's barren. She cannot produce life. True spiritual life cannot come
from her. Well, there's a lot of barren
people in the Bible, wasn't there? Barren. And that represents you
and I. Verse 21, and Isaac entreated
the Lord for his wife. Christ's intercession. He entreats
the Lord for his wife. Aren't you glad that the Lord
prayed for you? I must have him praying for me. And Isaac entreated
the Lord for his wife because she was barren, and the Lord
was entreated of him, and Rebekah, his wife, conceived. She was given life that was not
there before. Verse 22, and the children, struggled
together within her. Now she didn't have this struggle
when she didn't have any life. But when she was given life,
all of a sudden there was a tremendous struggle, a fight going on within
her. And she didn't understand it.
And she asked this question. If it be so, and I really do
have life in me, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the
Lord. You're the only one who can really
answer us, is the Lord himself. any true truth that we get is
going to come from him. She went to inquire of the Lord. Now look at the Lord's answer
to her in 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 in that same person, after
life was given, were two separate people, Jacob and Esau, two nations,
two manner of people. And I have no doubt that Jacob
and Esau represent the two natures that dwell within the believer.
Galatians 5.17 says concerning our spirit, the flesh, what we're
born with. It's not talking about this stuff.
This is talking about our evil nature that we're born with.
The flesh lusts against the spirit. And the spirit lusts against
the flesh. And these two are contrary one
to the other. They're at odds. They fight.
There's no peace. So that you cannot do the things
that you would, you would never sin again. You do though, don't you? The things that you would do
scare even you. You would be as bad as Satan
himself, but you're prevented. You're
prevented. The flesh lusts against the spirit. The spirit lusts against the
flesh. These two are contrary one to another so that you can't
do the things you would. Now, look at verse 24. And when
her days to 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.
And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on
Esau's heel, and his name was called Jacob. And Isaac was three
score years old when she buried him. Remember, they were married
when he was 40, and now he's 60 years old when this takes
place. Now Esau was the firstborn, and
the scripture says he came out red. You know what red means? Adam. He came out with Adam's
nature. And notice the scripture points
out how hairy he was. He was overall hairy like a garment. That doesn't just mean he looked
like a caveman. That's what we usually think of when we think
of that. But he'd been real hairy and everything. But notice he
had a garment already. He had a covering already. It
was a human covering, not the divine covering, not the righteousness
of Jesus Christ, but it was this hairy garment that covered him. Verse 27, And the boys grew,
and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field, a man's man. and Jacob was a plain man dwelling
in tents. Now the scripture points out
regarding Esau that he was a cunning hunter, and the only other hunter
named in the scriptures was Memrod, the descendant of Ham, who was
the first king of Babel, that kingdom that tried to build a
tower to God. representing salvation by works. And I know this about a hunter.
I don't hunt. And there's nothing wrong with
hunting. I know some people love to hunt. And the Lord did say
to Peter, rise, Peter, kill and eat. You know, there's nothing
wrong. We wouldn't get any meat if there wasn't any hunting.
So I'm all for hunting, although I don't hunt. I sure like the fruit of
hunting. I like animals that are killed
and I get to eat the meat. I'm a meat eater from the word
go. But I know this, to be a hunter, you have to get what you have
by deception, don't you? The only way you'll be a cunning
hunter is if you can deceive your prey and make them not realize
what it is you're doing in order for you to kill that prey and
get it. A cunning hunter, one who is able to deceive. And that would represent Esau. Look in verse 28. And Isaac loved Esau because
he did eat of his venison. But Rebekah loved Jacob. And
Jacob sawed pottage. He made a bowl of beans. And
Esau came from the field, and he was faint. And Esau said to
Jacob, feed me, I pray thee, with some of that red pottage,
for I am faint. Therefore was his name called
Edom. And Jacob said, sell me this day thy birthright. The honor of the firstborn, your
relationship with God and all the blessings of being the firstborn,
being especially belonging to the Lord. Oh, there was such
blessing in being the firstborn. And Esau says, give me some of
that food. And he says, you sell me your
birthright. And he sold his birthright. That's how valueless it was to
him. He sold his birthright for a bowl of beans. He was hungry,
he wanted to take care of that right now, and he was willing
to sell his birthright for a bowl of beans. Hebrews 12, 16 speaks
of Esau as that profane person who for one morsel of meat sold
his birthright. And that word profane, it doesn't
mean just using cursing language and bad language and so on. The
word means, by definition, he was accessible. He could be bought. That's what Esau was. He was
someone who could be bought. If the price was right, he could
be bought. What about Jacob? Esau represents the old nature.
Jacob represents the new nature. Look back in verse 27. And the boys grew these twins. Esau was a cunning hunter, a
man of the field, a man's man. And Jacob was a plain man dwelling
in tents. Now the word plain is translated
by four other words in the Old Testament, and this gives us
some idea of what this means of him being a plain man. First, this word is translated
twice in the book of Exodus, coupled together. Coupled together. Jacob was a new man, and he was
also coupled with an old man. coupled together. But the word
is also translated just, perfect, undefiled, and upright. That is how Jacob is described. Perfect. It was said unto Noah
about Noah, he was a just man. and perfect. It was said of Job
that he was perfect and upright, one that feared God and eschewed
evil. And this describes every believer
in God's sight. Perfect. Somebody says, I'm not
perfect. I know you're not. I know you're
not. You didn't have to tell me that.
And if I say I'm not perfect, you'll say that's pretty obvious.
But every believer in Christ Jesus is perfect. When God looks at you, He sees
someone who is undefiled, without sin, perfect, and upright. That's God's testimony of every
believer. Oh, would to God that that's
the way we would always view our brethren and sisters in Christ.
perfect in Christ Jesus. You see, by one offering, Hebrews
10 14 says, He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. And every believer in God's sight
is holy, unblameable, and unreprovable. And that's in God's sight. I've
said this several times in the last few months. How God sees
things is the way they really are. Jacob was a plain man. I love the way the Lord describes his spouse
in the Song of Solomon. Two times he uses this word and
he says, my spouse, the Shulamite, is undefiled. Undefiled. That's Jacob. Undefiled. But when the Shulamite describes
herself in the Song of Solomon, she makes this confession. What
will you see in the Shulamite? As it were, the company of two
armies. The Shulamite knew of this struggle
within two separate armies on the inside. And when she described
herself, although the Lord said regarding her, you've ravished
me with one of your eyes, you're undefiled. When she describes
herself, she says, I'm black, but comely. I'm altogether filled
with sin, and yet I am beautiful. Christ I am beautiful." That
is the Shulamites confession of herself. Now Jacob speaks
of the holy nature within every believer. What John called he
that's born of God doth not commit sin. And I've heard so many Religious
preachers say, well, that means he doesn't practice sin as a
habit. And I want to thank you. You
better hope that's not what it means, because if it is, you
won't be saved, and neither will I. I mean, anytime you sin, you're
practicing sin. And anytime you do it more than
once, it's a habit. What he's speaking of is a new
nature that does not commit sin. He that's born of God is perfect. It's described several ways in
the scripture. It's called the pure heart, blessed
are the pure in heart, the honest and good heart that the Lord
talks about, that the good ground received. It's called in Peter
the hidden man of the heart, which is not corruptible. Now,
somebody may think, how can you speak of Jacob like this when
he was such a deceitful man? And he was! His name means deceiver,
and everything he got, he got by deception. You read his history.
He's not somebody you'd want your children to follow his pattern. Not at all. I mean, everything
he got, he got by deception. When he got the birthright, he
got it by deception. When he got the blessing, you
remember how he posed as Esau to get the blessing? He had to
smell like Esau. He had to feel like Esau. He
put something on his arm so when his father felt it, he felt a
bunch of hair. He even answered Esau's name.
Isaac said, Art thou my son Esau? And he said, I am. I am. Now, regarding this deceit, It can't be justified. It was
wrong. He deceived Laban. He deceived
everybody that was around him. But thank God, God brings good
out of evil. He's the only one who can do
it. But you know, even in his deceit, we see the gospel. For him to have the blessing,
he had to smell like Esau. He had to feel like Esau. He had to be Esau! for me to
have God's blessing. I've got to smell like Jesus
Christ. I've got to feel just like Jesus
Christ. I have to be Jesus Christ. And in Christ, I feel like Him,
I smell like Him, I answer to His name. This is the name wherewith
she shall be called, Jehovah Tzadkinu, the Lord our righteousness. I think of the outstanding characteristic
of Jacob is he had to have the birthright, and he had to have
the blessing. When he was wrestling with the
angel, The angel put him down and it was the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he made it until he limped the rest of his life. But he
would not let him go. And he said, I will not let thee
go except thou bless me. I must have his blessing. I must
have his free favor. It's over for me if he doesn't
bless me. I'm not going to let him go.
He can kick me off and I'll hold on again. I must have his blessing. That is the great characteristic
of Jacob. He had to have the blessing. Now let me tell you some things
about Esau and let me tell you some things about Jacob. Esau,
the flesh, it can't rise above its source. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh and it will never be anything but that. It never improves. Paul said, I know that in me
that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. That's all it ever is. And the
flesh profits absolutely nothing in salvation. The Lord tells
us that. He said it's the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth
nothing. In salvation, in divine quickening,
the flesh profiteth nothing. People talk about free will,
that's the most ridiculous thing there ever was. The flesh profiteth
nothing in this thing of salvation. And Paul said in Romans chapter
8, 6, that the flesh is enmity with God. The carnal mind is
enmity, not just it's at enmity, it's the thing itself. It's enmity
with God. And Paul tells us that in Romans
8, 7, it's not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can
be. So then, they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. That's all the, and you know,
Paul told us in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, flesh and blood shall
not inherit the kingdom of heaven. It's not going to happen. And
the scripture also tells us that he that was born of the flesh
persecuted him that was born of the spirit. And it was that
way then, and it's that way now. And Paul tells us in Philippians
3.3 that we're to have no confidence in the flesh. We are the circumcision
which worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
have no confidence in the flesh. And you know, I don't have any
confidence in the flesh. I don't have any confidence in my flesh.
I don't have any confidence in your flesh. No confidence in the flesh. Now Jacob, that's Esau. But Jacob, he's different. Jacob
is that which is born of the Spirit. Jacob is the new man,
the inner man. He's the one who really does
worship God. He's the one who has the spirit
of adoption. He has that spirit that knows
what is freely given to him of God. He's the spirit not of fear
but of power and of love and of sound mind. This is the spirit
that does not commit sin. Now let's read about these two
men in Romans chapter 7. Would you turn with me there?
Hold your finger there in Genesis 25. We'll come back there. But
I want us to read Romans chapter 7. I preached out of Romans chapter
7 back in the summer because we're preaching through Romans,
and I never will forget someone saying to me, we need to get
out of Romans 7 and into Romans chapter 8. Well, that's the biggest
bunch of foolishness there ever was. You're always in Romans
chapter 7 and you're always in Romans chapter 8. This is the
experience of the believer. And this Romans chapter 7 man
is the only truly holy man there is. It's the only truly credible
man there is. This is the only man you can
trust. Anybody that makes any claim other than this, they're
liars. They're deceivers. They're not
even being honest. Don't listen to anything they say. Here is
the holy man. Here is the true man. Here's
the man that God has done something for. Romans chapter 7, beginning
in verse 14. For we know that the law is spiritual. You know, we know that, don't
we? God's holy law. We love the Ten
Commandments. Reflecting God's holy character. Spiritual. We know that the law
is spiritual, but I am carnal. sold under sin. That means a slave to sin. Now the only way you can recognize
this is if you've got a holy nature, a new nature. If you
don't have an old nature, you don't understand that you're
a slave to sin. You think that's ridiculous. I don't believe that.
But if you have a holy nature, you understand something of being
sold under sin. Verse 15. For that which I do,
I allow not. I do it and I don't approve of
it. It's wrong. For what I would, I would never
sin again. I would be holy. That do I not. But what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that is good. When God's law condemns
me for doing it, it's good. But now then, it's no more I
that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. It's not me, it's him. It's that old man. It's not the
new man doing this. It's the old man. Somebody says,
well, you're looking for an excuse for sin. I am not, but this is
certainly an explanation for it, isn't it? It's the old man.
People say, well, this was Paul before he was saved. Well, all
you prove in saying something like that is you're not saved.
If you were saved, you'd know better than that. This would
be your experience. Look what he says in verse 18.
For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good
thing. For to will is present with me. I would never sin again. I would be perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ. I would always be gracious. I
would never lose my temper. I would never be self-righteous.
I would never be self-justified. I would never sin again. But how to perform that which
is good? Notice he doesn't say, I mess
up sometimes. I don't always succeed. He said,
I find not. I find not. For the good, verse 19, that
I would, I do not. But the evil, which I would not,
that's what I do. Now if I do that which I would
not, it's no more I that do it. He says it again. But the sin
that dwelleth in me, it wasn't me, it was him. I find there
a law, a principle, that when I would do good, evil is present
with me. For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man, that new man, but I see another law in
my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me
into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members.
That's an honest man. That's an honest man. Anybody
that says, well, that's not me, you're just not honest. Either
that or you don't have a new nature. Anybody that has a new
nature, this is their experience. Like I said, this is the truly
holy man. He says in verse 24, oh, wretched
man that I am. And that's so important. He doesn't
say, oh, wretched man that I used to be. He says, oh, wretched
man that I am right now as I speak. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? And you know that he's alluding
to a dead body chained to him that he could not get away from. And that's what happened with
the Roman prisoners. They would put a dead body, a
rotting carcass, and chain it to the people in prison. Here's
his answer, verse 25. I thank God through Jesus Christ,
our Lord, so that with my mind I myself serve the law of God,
but with the flesh the law of sin. Now let's go back to Genesis
chapter 25. Verse 23. And the Lord said unto her, two
nations are in thy womb, and two men of people shall be separated
from thy bowels. And the one people shall be stronger
than the other people. Now, who would you say is stronger? Esau, a man's man, a mighty cunning
hunter, a man of the field, a strong man. Jacob, a plain man, a mama's
boy, dwelling in tents. Who would you say is stronger?
I know who the world would say is stronger. Oh, Esau was the
stronger one. But who was really stronger?
Jacob, the new nature? Greater is he that's in you than
he that is in the world. You see, Jacob represents that
scripture Peter speaks of when he says in 2 Peter 1, 4, we're
partakers of the divine nature. That's what the new birth is.
Now, Jacob is so much stronger than Esau. You know what Esau
had a hold on you? You couldn't believe, didn't
even know what it meant. You didn't know anything of repentance.
You didn't know anything of love to God. You didn't know anything
of holiness. You are a stranger to these things.
But when Jacob came, all of a sudden you found yourself doing what
you formerly could not do. You believed the gospel. You
love God. Holiness is the breath that you
love. You've got a new nature. Greater
is he that's in you than he that's in the world. You see, Jacob
is stronger than Esau because God is stronger than the flesh. Look at this next statement in
verse 23. The last statement says the elder
shall serve the younger. The elder, Esau, he was the firstborn. He's the oldest. And as far as
our experience goes, our Esau, our old nature, is older than
the new nature. We experience first this old
nature before we experience the new nature. Now, I realize the
new nature is eternal in Christ Jesus as being united to Christ,
but as far as our experience goes, Esau is the older. And God tells us that the elder,
the evil nature, will serve the younger. It'll serve the younger. It will be a servant to the younger. It will do the younger's bidding. Now how can that be? Let me tell you what my old nature
teaches me and tells me even right now. The only righteousness
I have is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The old nature
is serving me in that sense. The old nature is teaching me
over and over again that for me, salvation must be all of
grace. It is serving me. You know what my sin does? It drives me to Jesus Christ.
It causes me to come to Him, save me from my sin. That's what
my old nature does. It drives me to the Lord Jesus
Christ. My old nature is serving me.
It causes me to keep hearing the gospel as gospel. Not something
I heard 25 years ago or 50 years ago or last year. I hear it as
what I need right now. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The old nature is serving the
new nature. You know, that old nature is
a constant reminder to me that I need to be compassionate toward
my fellow sinners saved by grace. They're just like me. And I'm
to be compassionate toward them, no matter what, no matter what. And you know, my old nature makes
me long for heaven when I'm not going to have to deal with him
anymore. David said, ask for me. I'll
behold thy face in righteousness. I'll be satisfied when I wake
with thy likeness. Now, God says, Jacob have I loved
and Esau have I hated. You know what? I can say that
too. Jacob have I loved. All that God does for the believer.
And Esau, me, have I hated. And I really do hate him. Do you know what title God goes
by more than any other title in the scriptures? the God of Jacob. May God bless his word to his
glory and our good. Let's pray together.