WEBVTT 00:00:02.890 --> 00:00:07.269 Okay, let's see. This is, I think, down here. 00:00:07.429 --> 00:00:10.330 All right, are you guys ready? Here we go. We'll 00:00:10.330 --> 00:00:12.609 say good evening. Tonight we're going to be turning 00:00:12.609 --> 00:00:15.849 in Genesis chapter 25. We'll also be looking 00:00:15.849 --> 00:00:18.350 at 27 here in a bit. And if you've been with 00:00:18.350 --> 00:00:21.530 us, you can remember that last time we embarked 00:00:21.530 --> 00:00:23.710 on a study of this Old Testament character, the 00:00:23.710 --> 00:00:26.870 character of Jacob from the Bible. And just remember 00:00:26.870 --> 00:00:31.600 for us. Where he's at in all of this stuff. We've 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:34.979 got Abraham, who's the father of our faith. He 00:00:34.979 --> 00:00:39.200 has a son named Isaac. Isaac has twin sons, Esau 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:43.240 and Jacob, who ends up becoming Israel. He has 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:47.439 12 sons who become the 12 tribes of him, Israel, 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:51.780 becoming the Israelites. The people of God, the 00:00:51.780 --> 00:00:55.159 Israelites. So this guy that we're talking about, 00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:58.500 this is the guy who really is the head. Of all 00:00:58.500 --> 00:01:02.460 of the 12 families. Okay? So that's this character. 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:05.859 But one of the things that we found as we started 00:01:05.859 --> 00:01:09.640 to look last week, and we started to look under 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:11.859 this title of this series that we're calling 00:01:11.859 --> 00:01:14.900 the Jacob Enigma. And if you don't remember what 00:01:14.900 --> 00:01:17.799 that word enigma means, enigma means a puzzle 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:22.420 or a mystery. So we really looked at how Jacob 00:01:22.420 --> 00:01:25.810 is a puzzle, right? And one of the reasons that 00:01:25.810 --> 00:01:29.230 we figured out, sometimes Jacob is just really 00:01:29.230 --> 00:01:31.650 hard to figure out, rather, is one of the reasons 00:01:31.650 --> 00:01:34.810 is it's clear he has godly ambition for his life. 00:01:35.189 --> 00:01:40.750 He wants the blessing of God upon him, and yet 00:01:40.750 --> 00:01:48.909 the way he goes about it is most ungodly. And 00:01:48.909 --> 00:01:52.170 the way he goes about it is scheming in the flesh. 00:01:54.099 --> 00:01:57.420 Downright deceit and twistedness as he grasped 00:01:57.420 --> 00:02:01.879 for. Right. Remember that name, Jacob grasping 00:02:01.879 --> 00:02:05.500 of the heel that bit as he grasps for the blessings 00:02:05.500 --> 00:02:09.300 that can only come by grace through faith. We 00:02:09.300 --> 00:02:12.759 saw this puzzle. We saw this enigma. And one 00:02:12.759 --> 00:02:16.080 of the other things that we saw about the enigma 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:20.439 of Jacob is we see ourselves or we should in 00:02:20.439 --> 00:02:24.750 Jacob as well. We too are people who recognize 00:02:24.750 --> 00:02:28.669 and desire the blessings of God for us, but our 00:02:28.669 --> 00:02:32.189 lives are puzzles as well. Because the way we 00:02:32.189 --> 00:02:37.229 go about trying to gain that godly life is often 00:02:37.229 --> 00:02:41.889 through our striving, through our conniving in 00:02:41.889 --> 00:02:46.889 the flesh. And the truth of the matter is that 00:02:46.889 --> 00:02:52.400 as we try to work and become Christians, It allows 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:56.599 us, causes us rather, to forget a very important 00:02:56.599 --> 00:03:00.780 truth that we must never forget. That the biggest 00:03:00.780 --> 00:03:05.439 enigma with the way he went about things is the 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:08.979 fact, remember last week, it's not just his character, 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:11.159 but it's the fact that God loves him to begin 00:03:11.159 --> 00:03:14.639 with. Because the way this guy goes about trying 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:17.099 to do the business of God is everything but. 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:21.939 God still loves Jacob, which is good news. If 00:03:21.939 --> 00:03:23.979 we find ourselves, as we look in the mirror, 00:03:24.020 --> 00:03:27.539 and find ourselves being Jacobs, because despite 00:03:27.539 --> 00:03:31.280 all of his faults, if God can still love Jacob, 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:37.300 good news, he can still love me. Right? So tonight 00:03:37.300 --> 00:03:40.280 we're going to look again at Jacob, and tonight 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:44.370 we're going to look at the flesh. Right? And 00:03:44.370 --> 00:03:46.889 tonight's title is called How Flesh Sells Out 00:03:46.889 --> 00:03:51.610 and Caves In. Flesh Sells Out and Caves In. We're 00:03:51.610 --> 00:03:53.810 going to look at flesh in a deeper way, how it 00:03:53.810 --> 00:03:56.389 does these things. And we're going to first begin 00:03:56.389 --> 00:04:00.090 reading in chapter 25. Let's see, beginning with 00:04:00.090 --> 00:04:04.990 verse 29. Chapter 25 in Genesis, beginning with 00:04:04.990 --> 00:04:09.150 29. Okay, so I'll just read. You can listen, 00:04:09.229 --> 00:04:12.349 follow along if you're reading. Once when Jacob 00:04:12.349 --> 00:04:15.319 was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the 00:04:15.319 --> 00:04:17.879 open country famished. He said to Jacob, quick, 00:04:18.060 --> 00:04:20.899 let me have some of that red stew. I'm famished, 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:25.160 in parentheses. That is why he's called Edom. 00:04:25.500 --> 00:04:27.860 Jacob replied, first sell me your birthright. 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:31.040 Look, I'm about to die, Esau said. What good 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:34.500 is the birthright to me? Jacob said, swear to 00:04:34.500 --> 00:04:37.040 me first. So he swore an oath to him, selling 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:40.399 his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:44.379 some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank 00:04:44.379 --> 00:04:47.839 and then got up and left. So, the verse concludes, 00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:51.639 Esau despised his birthright. Okay, now I'm going 00:04:51.639 --> 00:04:54.259 to skip chapter 26 and go to 27. But before we 00:04:54.259 --> 00:04:56.420 do that, we're going to take a break. Why don't 00:04:56.420 --> 00:04:58.439 you guys grab something to eat and come back 00:04:58.439 --> 00:05:01.339 and I'll get started. With the next, with 27. 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:05.120 Beginning with verse 1. And actually, we're going 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:06.819 to read quite a bit. We're going to read 1 through 00:05:06.819 --> 00:05:09.199 43. Oh, let me go ahead and Heavenly Father, 00:05:09.220 --> 00:05:11.120 pray with me. Heavenly Father, we thank you for 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:14.899 this day in our lives. recognize we have come 00:05:14.899 --> 00:05:19.060 here to join closer to you that we might learn 00:05:19.060 --> 00:05:21.759 your ways, that your ways might be our ways, 00:05:21.779 --> 00:05:24.379 that we might truly submit our wills to your 00:05:24.379 --> 00:05:27.000 wills. May this time that we spend with one another 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:29.620 nourish our souls. May this food nourish our 00:05:29.620 --> 00:05:32.379 bodies. May we leave this place better than when 00:05:32.379 --> 00:05:34.560 we came in. These are all the things that we 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:43.389 pray in your loving name. Amen. Amen. But I'm 00:05:43.389 --> 00:05:44.970 not going to just sit here for five minutes. 00:05:45.050 --> 00:05:46.949 I'm going to pick back up here in just a second. 00:05:47.810 --> 00:06:01.449 I know. Yeah, no, I love it. I really do. I love 00:06:01.449 --> 00:06:43.290 it. Yeah, right. Cool. No, he didn't. He stayed 00:06:43.290 --> 00:06:49.459 at home. I think so. No, his friend couldn't 00:06:49.459 --> 00:06:51.139 come over today. I think he just stayed home. 00:06:55.759 --> 00:07:00.899 His friend's grandma? Gigi. Yeah, lives down 00:07:00.899 --> 00:07:10.819 the block. So I'm going to go ahead and continue. 00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:13.300 You just listen to me, okay? Because I've got 00:07:13.300 --> 00:07:15.879 43 verses to get through here. So we'll just 00:07:15.879 --> 00:07:20.240 read through it. You listen. Chapter 27, verse 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:24.399 1 through 43, 27 and 1. When Isaac was old and 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:27.060 his eyes were so weak that he could no longer 00:07:27.060 --> 00:07:30.279 see, he called for Esau, his older son, and said 00:07:30.279 --> 00:07:34.439 to him, My son, here I am, he answered. That's 00:07:34.439 --> 00:07:38.519 Esau. Isaac said, I am now an old man and don't 00:07:38.519 --> 00:07:41.420 know the day of my death. Now then, get your 00:07:41.420 --> 00:07:45.259 equipment, your quiver and your bow and go out 00:07:45.259 --> 00:07:47.600 to the open country to hunt some wild game for 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:50.759 me. Prepare for me the kind of tasty food I like 00:07:50.759 --> 00:07:53.000 and bring it to me to eat so that I might give 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:58.839 you my blessing before I die. Now, Rebecca, that's 00:07:58.839 --> 00:08:02.379 his wife, Isaac's wife. Now, Rebecca was listening 00:08:02.379 --> 00:08:06.699 as Isaac spoke to his son, her son as well, Esau. 00:08:07.259 --> 00:08:09.939 When Esau left for the open country to hunt game 00:08:09.939 --> 00:08:12.620 and bring it back, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:16.339 Look, I overheard your father say to your brother 00:08:16.339 --> 00:08:19.100 Esau, Bring me some game and prepare me some 00:08:19.100 --> 00:08:21.079 tasty food to eat so that I might give you my 00:08:21.079 --> 00:08:23.500 blessing in the presence of the Lord before I 00:08:23.500 --> 00:08:26.579 die. Now, my son, listen carefully and do what 00:08:26.579 --> 00:08:29.579 I tell you. This is Rebekah now talking to Jacob. 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:33.360 Listen and do carefully what I tell you. Go out 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:36.259 to the flock. Bring me two choice young goats 00:08:36.259 --> 00:08:38.700 so I can prepare some tasty food for your father 00:08:38.700 --> 00:08:41.259 just the way that he likes it. Then take it to 00:08:41.259 --> 00:08:44.480 your father to eat so that he may give you his 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:48.980 blessing before he dies. Jacob said to Rebekah, 00:08:49.019 --> 00:08:52.659 his mother, but my brother Esau is a hairy man. 00:08:52.919 --> 00:08:57.000 While I have smooth skin, what if my father touches 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:00.200 me? I would appear to be tricking him and would 00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:03.059 bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing. 00:09:03.690 --> 00:09:06.769 His mother said, My son, let the curse fall on 00:09:06.769 --> 00:09:10.149 me. Just do what I say. Go and get them for me. 00:09:10.190 --> 00:09:13.110 So he went and got them and brought them to his 00:09:13.110 --> 00:09:15.730 mother, and she prepared some tasty food just 00:09:15.730 --> 00:09:18.830 the way the father likes it. Then Rebekah took 00:09:18.830 --> 00:09:21.649 the best clothes of Esau, her oldest son, which 00:09:21.649 --> 00:09:23.730 she had in the house, and she put them on her 00:09:23.730 --> 00:09:27.389 younger son, Jacob. And she covered Jacob's hands 00:09:27.389 --> 00:09:30.610 and the smooth part of his neck with the goat 00:09:30.610 --> 00:09:33.940 skins. Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty 00:09:33.940 --> 00:09:36.120 food and the bread she had made. He went to his 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:40.139 father and said, My father. Yes, my son, he answered. 00:09:40.220 --> 00:09:45.080 Who is it? Jacob said to his father, I'm Esau, 00:09:45.139 --> 00:09:48.059 your firstborn. I've done as you've told me. 00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:50.779 Please set up and eat some of my game so that 00:09:50.779 --> 00:09:54.259 you may give me your blessing. Isaac asked his 00:09:54.259 --> 00:09:56.440 son, How did you find it so quickly, my son? 00:09:57.059 --> 00:09:59.519 The Lord your God gave me success, he replied. 00:10:00.940 --> 00:10:03.299 Then Isaac said to Jacob, Come near so I could 00:10:03.299 --> 00:10:05.080 touch you, my son, to know whether you really 00:10:05.080 --> 00:10:08.679 are my son Esau or not. Jacob went close to his 00:10:08.679 --> 00:10:12.799 father Isaac, who touched him and said, The voice 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:15.559 is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the 00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:18.519 hands of Esau. He didn't recognize him, for his 00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:20.600 hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau. 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:24.519 So he proceeded to bless him. Are you really 00:10:24.519 --> 00:10:29.820 my son Esau, he asked. Jacob, very untruthfully, 00:10:30.409 --> 00:10:34.129 The answer is, I am. Then he said, my son, bring 00:10:34.129 --> 00:10:35.990 me some of your game to eat so that I might give 00:10:35.990 --> 00:10:38.429 you my blessing. Jacob brought it to him and 00:10:38.429 --> 00:10:40.210 he ate and he brought some wine and he drank. 00:10:40.370 --> 00:10:42.690 Then his father Isaac said to him, come here, 00:10:42.750 --> 00:10:45.269 my son, and kiss me. So he went and kissed him. 00:10:45.309 --> 00:10:47.049 And when Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, 00:10:47.269 --> 00:10:50.129 he blessed him and said, ah, the smell of my 00:10:50.129 --> 00:10:52.330 son is like the smell of a field that the Lord 00:10:52.330 --> 00:10:56.149 has blessed. May God give your heavens due and 00:10:56.149 --> 00:10:58.990 earth's richness an abundance of grain and new 00:10:58.990 --> 00:11:02.019 wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down 00:11:02.019 --> 00:11:03.980 to you. Be Lord over your brothers and may the 00:11:03.980 --> 00:11:06.559 sons of your mother bow down to you. May those 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:09.220 who curse you be cursed and those who bless you 00:11:09.220 --> 00:11:12.240 be blessed. After Isaac had finished blessing 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:15.299 him and Jacob had scarcely left his father's 00:11:15.299 --> 00:11:19.720 presence, his brother Esau comes in from hunting. 00:11:19.940 --> 00:11:22.600 He too prepared some tasty food and brought it 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:25.250 to his father. Then he says, My father, please 00:11:25.250 --> 00:11:28.190 set up and eat some of my game so that you may 00:11:28.190 --> 00:11:30.789 give me your blessing. His father Isaac asked 00:11:30.789 --> 00:11:34.389 him, who are you? I am your son, your firstborn 00:11:34.389 --> 00:11:38.149 Esau. Isaac trembled violently and said, who 00:11:38.149 --> 00:11:40.850 was it then that hunted game and brought it to 00:11:40.850 --> 00:11:43.649 me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed 00:11:43.649 --> 00:11:48.450 him. And indeed, he will be blessed. When Esau 00:11:48.450 --> 00:11:50.649 heard his father's words, he burst out with a 00:11:50.649 --> 00:11:53.980 loud and bitter cry. said to his father, Bless 00:11:53.980 --> 00:11:58.960 me, me too, my father. But he said, Your brother 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:02.659 came deceitfully and took your blessing. Esau 00:12:02.659 --> 00:12:06.559 said, Isn't he rightly named Jacob? This is the 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:09.360 second time he has taken advantage of me. He 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:12.200 took my birthright, and now he's taken my blessing. 00:12:12.679 --> 00:12:16.779 And then he asks his father, Esau does, Haven't 00:12:16.779 --> 00:12:21.860 you reserved any blessing for me? Isaac answered 00:12:21.860 --> 00:12:24.639 Esau, I have made him lord over you, and have 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:29.080 made all of his relatives his servants, and I 00:12:29.080 --> 00:12:31.299 have sustained him with grain and new wine. So 00:12:31.299 --> 00:12:35.399 what can I possibly do for you, my son? Esau 00:12:35.399 --> 00:12:38.120 said to his father, Do you only have one blessing, 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:42.220 my father? Bless me too. Then Esau wept aloud. 00:12:43.700 --> 00:12:47.639 His father Isaac answers him, and he says, Your 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:50.080 dwelling will be away from the earth's richness, 00:12:50.100 --> 00:12:53.940 away from the dew of the heaven above. You will 00:12:53.940 --> 00:12:56.299 live by the sword, and you will serve your brother. 00:12:56.919 --> 00:12:59.059 But when you grow restless, you will throw his 00:12:59.059 --> 00:13:04.200 yoke from off your neck. Esau held a grudge against 00:13:04.200 --> 00:13:06.000 Jacob because of the blessing his father had 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:08.580 given him. He said to himself, The days of mourning 00:13:08.580 --> 00:13:11.559 for my father are near, then I will kill my brother 00:13:11.559 --> 00:13:16.879 Jacob. Verse 42. When Rebecca was told what her 00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:19.179 older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger 00:13:19.179 --> 00:13:22.179 son Jacob and said, Your brother Esau is planning 00:13:22.179 --> 00:13:24.539 to avenge himself by killing you. Now then, my 00:13:24.539 --> 00:13:28.360 son, do what I say. Flee at once to my brother 00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:32.320 Laban in Haran. And we'll end our reading there. 00:13:33.820 --> 00:13:35.779 I mentioned to you last time, and I believe it 00:13:35.779 --> 00:13:38.039 with good authority, that Jacob is a picture 00:13:38.039 --> 00:13:42.419 of... Our sinful nature, what we use, the word 00:13:42.419 --> 00:13:47.799 that we use, flesh. Not just sin, but flesh. 00:13:48.299 --> 00:13:53.320 The fleshliness of us. The human part of us. 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:56.480 The flesh is not something that's particular 00:13:56.480 --> 00:14:02.320 to this guy Jacob in our story. But rather, flesh 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:04.860 is the result that comes to us from the forefather 00:14:04.860 --> 00:14:07.659 of us all, Adam, way back in the Garden of Eden. 00:14:08.429 --> 00:14:11.090 Through his sin, the flesh nature has come into 00:14:11.090 --> 00:14:14.649 humankind, and so all of us are affected. Indeed, 00:14:14.889 --> 00:14:18.110 we could say infected by the disorder of the 00:14:18.110 --> 00:14:20.210 flesh. Now, last time I quoted from Jeremiah 00:14:20.210 --> 00:14:23.909 17 and 9, which says the heart is deceitful above 00:14:23.909 --> 00:14:26.769 all things and desperately wicked. And when we 00:14:26.769 --> 00:14:29.950 talked about that verse last time, I told you 00:14:29.950 --> 00:14:34.929 that the Hebrew word for that, sorry, the Hebrew 00:14:34.929 --> 00:14:38.370 root for that word. Deceitful in the original 00:14:38.370 --> 00:14:42.190 language is actually Jacob, the original root 00:14:42.190 --> 00:14:45.330 of the name Jacob. So that verse from Jeremiah, 00:14:45.350 --> 00:14:48.529 you could actually read the heart is Jacobed 00:14:48.529 --> 00:14:53.330 and desperately sick. So Jacob equals deceitfulness, 00:14:53.450 --> 00:14:57.649 a twisted nature. The name Jacob is the same 00:14:57.649 --> 00:15:00.289 word to describe our fallen human hearts. In 00:15:00.289 --> 00:15:03.549 fact, to be more specific, the name Jacob means 00:15:03.549 --> 00:15:07.940 to grasp at. To supplant, to try to smash and 00:15:07.940 --> 00:15:10.940 grab. The reason it was given, right? Because 00:15:10.940 --> 00:15:12.740 of Jacob and Esau when they're coming out of 00:15:12.740 --> 00:15:16.659 the womb. Esau comes first. And Jacob reached 00:15:16.659 --> 00:15:18.740 out his little fist and grabbed Esau's heel. 00:15:18.899 --> 00:15:21.679 That's where we get that. As if to pull him back 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:24.740 into the womb so that Jacob may take over and 00:15:24.740 --> 00:15:27.200 be the firstborn son. This is Jacob's nature. 00:15:27.980 --> 00:15:30.720 But as we look at the enigma of Jacob and the 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:33.879 enigma of ourselves, we also have to admit that 00:15:33.879 --> 00:15:38.139 this is the nature in all of us. That we are 00:15:38.139 --> 00:15:42.600 all always grasping, aren't we? We're snatching 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:44.639 for things of significance, for satisfaction, 00:15:45.080 --> 00:15:47.899 for a sense of meaning in our lives. And so often 00:15:47.899 --> 00:15:50.779 the things that we are snatching for are things 00:15:50.779 --> 00:15:54.620 that are actually apart from God. Yes, we have 00:15:54.620 --> 00:15:58.159 already said that Jacob... did desire spiritual 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:02.440 blessings. Jacob did recognize the power of God 00:16:02.440 --> 00:16:06.080 and God's blessing. Jacob did desire those things, 00:16:06.200 --> 00:16:09.519 right? But we started looking at it last week 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:12.480 and it continues now where we see Jacob trying 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:17.659 to get those things by fleshly means. And that 00:16:17.659 --> 00:16:21.679 can't happen. God's blessings must always be 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:25.620 gained in God's way. Now, we're not dealing with 00:16:25.620 --> 00:16:28.620 chapter 26 tonight. You might notice I skipped 00:16:28.620 --> 00:16:31.779 that out, but in chapter 26, Isaac, Father Isaac, 00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:38.720 right here, he follows in the family of deceit, 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:41.559 right? Which is also the sin of his father, Abraham, 00:16:41.779 --> 00:16:46.159 if you remember, right? Again, chapter 26, we're 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:47.620 not looking at this story tonight, but Isaac 00:16:47.620 --> 00:16:52.470 goes to the Philistine country of Gerar. And 00:16:52.470 --> 00:16:56.210 he lies to the leader there, Abimelech, Abimelech, 00:16:56.210 --> 00:17:00.169 the Philistine king over his wife, Rebekah, right? 00:17:00.250 --> 00:17:03.529 And he, like his father, says, she's not my wife, 00:17:03.549 --> 00:17:07.130 she's my sister. And that was the same sin, like 00:17:07.130 --> 00:17:09.769 I just mentioned, that his father Abraham committed 00:17:09.769 --> 00:17:12.910 in chapter 12 of Genesis when he goes down to 00:17:12.910 --> 00:17:16.329 Egypt and lied and said that his wife Sarai was 00:17:16.329 --> 00:17:18.829 his sister. But in a way, it was only half a 00:17:18.829 --> 00:17:22.630 lie because in the convoluted way of how these 00:17:22.630 --> 00:17:24.849 things happened back thousands and thousands 00:17:24.849 --> 00:17:27.930 of years ago, not only was she his wife, but 00:17:27.930 --> 00:17:31.670 in a roundabout way was his half sister. So was 00:17:31.670 --> 00:17:34.819 it a complete lie? But nevertheless, what I want 00:17:34.819 --> 00:17:38.000 us all to see tonight is that Isaac is following 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:42.500 suit in a lineage of deceit that's running through 00:17:42.500 --> 00:17:45.619 his family back to his father. And we're going 00:17:45.619 --> 00:17:49.839 to see how that flesh works right through here 00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:54.519 to Jacob and his whole network. But this isn't 00:17:54.519 --> 00:17:56.579 just something that was inherited into Jacob's 00:17:56.579 --> 00:17:59.660 life, but it was also something that was learned 00:17:59.660 --> 00:18:03.069 by example. And here's where we get into this 00:18:03.069 --> 00:18:05.630 conversation. You may have heard about these 00:18:05.630 --> 00:18:10.789 psychological terms, nature and nurture. Psychologists 00:18:10.789 --> 00:18:13.529 and psychiatrists and sociologists, they debate 00:18:13.529 --> 00:18:17.390 whether we are who we are because of how we've 00:18:17.390 --> 00:18:20.210 learned certain tendencies or whether we have 00:18:20.210 --> 00:18:22.869 inherited those tendencies and they've just been 00:18:22.869 --> 00:18:25.690 simply passed down to us. Now, I'm not one of 00:18:25.690 --> 00:18:30.400 any of those aforementioned professions. I have 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:33.960 no qualification along those lines. But I'll 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:35.700 put my penny's worth in to say that I believe 00:18:35.700 --> 00:18:38.619 that the Bible teaches actually that it's both. 00:18:39.180 --> 00:18:43.059 Because we are both nature and nurture. I feel 00:18:43.059 --> 00:18:45.160 like that, unfortunately, would probably save 00:18:45.160 --> 00:18:47.539 a lot of money on a lot of worthless degrees 00:18:47.539 --> 00:18:50.480 if we would just make it that simple and believe 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:53.839 in the Bible. We're both. We inherit certain 00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:58.220 things. We also learn certain things. As kids 00:18:58.220 --> 00:19:00.859 observe, right, how their parents or their guardians 00:19:00.859 --> 00:19:04.019 or other significant authority figures, how we 00:19:04.019 --> 00:19:06.960 react, how we deal in certain circumstances with 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:10.259 issues, right? And then we learn things as well. 00:19:10.440 --> 00:19:13.900 Jacob's the same way. I believe he has inherited 00:19:13.900 --> 00:19:17.759 much of his flesh, but he has also learned by 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:21.160 example from his parents and from his brother, 00:19:21.240 --> 00:19:26.230 maybe even from his old granddad, Abraham. Now, 00:19:26.230 --> 00:19:28.769 we might recognize the flesh in Jacob's family 00:19:28.769 --> 00:19:32.509 portrait, but what I want to ask is, do you recognize 00:19:32.509 --> 00:19:37.670 the flesh in you, in your own inheritance? Now, 00:19:37.670 --> 00:19:40.990 we're not focused on failure. We're not focused 00:19:40.990 --> 00:19:45.470 on sin, right? But I believe that by the end 00:19:45.470 --> 00:19:48.329 of the message, I hope to convince you to get 00:19:48.329 --> 00:19:53.369 your eyes onto Christ, onto the answer. rather 00:19:53.369 --> 00:19:55.849 than continue to be in denial about how much 00:19:55.849 --> 00:19:57.809 we're allowing the flesh to control our lives. 00:19:58.009 --> 00:20:00.069 Because the fact of the matter is, if we're not 00:20:00.069 --> 00:20:02.670 being real with the issues that are issues in 00:20:02.670 --> 00:20:05.289 our lives, whether it's the world or flesh or 00:20:05.289 --> 00:20:09.069 sin, we are not going to experience spiritual 00:20:09.069 --> 00:20:14.470 victories. We will never overcome if our denial... 00:20:15.140 --> 00:20:17.920 creates barriers and obstacles to the blessings 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:22.079 that God has put into our lives. We must seek 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:25.559 honesty and transparency regarding those problems. 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:29.880 And then, and only then, can we be helped. To 00:20:29.880 --> 00:20:33.240 do so, we must understand what it is is our enemy. 00:20:33.960 --> 00:20:35.819 So we're going to look at this in depth tonight. 00:20:35.900 --> 00:20:38.119 We're going to look at two lessons concerning 00:20:38.119 --> 00:20:40.819 the flesh. We're going to look at how the flesh 00:20:40.819 --> 00:20:44.369 seems to always sell out. and how the flesh always 00:20:44.369 --> 00:20:50.109 seems to cave in. And then hopefully we'll be 00:20:50.109 --> 00:20:52.950 able to get to the answer to this puzzle, this 00:20:52.950 --> 00:20:56.970 mystery of the enigma of the flesh. What is the 00:20:56.970 --> 00:21:00.650 answer to how all of this works? Let's understand 00:21:00.650 --> 00:21:04.509 it first. Going to Genesis 25 here, this is the 00:21:04.509 --> 00:21:06.529 selling of Esau's birthright. If you look at 00:21:06.529 --> 00:21:09.690 verse 29, first of all, once when Jacob was... 00:21:10.990 --> 00:21:13.170 Cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open 00:21:13.170 --> 00:21:16.269 country famished. Now, that's very instructive 00:21:16.269 --> 00:21:19.190 because both of these brothers, if you follow 00:21:19.190 --> 00:21:21.309 in the story, will find that they were actually 00:21:21.309 --> 00:21:24.009 both working out their own natural inclinations. 00:21:24.490 --> 00:21:26.950 Once when Jacob was eating some stew, Esau came 00:21:26.950 --> 00:21:29.329 in from the open country famished. And if you 00:21:29.329 --> 00:21:33.210 look back at verse 27, we read, or maybe we read 00:21:33.210 --> 00:21:36.569 the last time the boys grew, and Esau was a skilled 00:21:36.569 --> 00:21:40.680 hunter, an outdoor man. a man of the field, but 00:21:40.680 --> 00:21:44.420 Jacob was a mild man dwelling in the tents. He 00:21:44.420 --> 00:21:48.680 was a house builder. Jacob was a homemaker. So 00:21:48.680 --> 00:21:51.799 in verse 29, Jacob's cooking the stew, Esau's 00:21:51.799 --> 00:21:55.500 out in the field, and he's weary. So in this 00:21:55.500 --> 00:21:58.140 story tonight, they are living out their natural 00:21:58.140 --> 00:22:01.819 inclinations, their natural characteristics of 00:22:01.819 --> 00:22:04.099 the people they are, but they're very different 00:22:04.099 --> 00:22:07.720 individuals, aren't they? We all have flesh. 00:22:08.940 --> 00:22:13.420 But however our flesh displays itself, we cannot 00:22:13.420 --> 00:22:17.420 forget that we all have it. You are not immune 00:22:17.420 --> 00:22:21.880 to the sinful nature of the flesh. So you stay 00:22:21.880 --> 00:22:23.779 right there. But let me explain this in the New 00:22:23.779 --> 00:22:26.180 Testament perspective. Let me flip very quickly 00:22:26.180 --> 00:22:28.819 to Philippians in chapter 3. This is Paul here. 00:22:28.940 --> 00:22:32.200 Paul writing to the Philippians. And Paul is 00:22:32.200 --> 00:22:36.759 giving kind of a personal testimony to the people 00:22:36.759 --> 00:22:39.180 in the church right here. He's talking about 00:22:39.180 --> 00:22:41.559 himself. This is very much as this is like you 00:22:41.559 --> 00:22:45.099 guys. This is a testimony. Right. At verse four, 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:48.259 Paul writes to the church. He says, even though 00:22:48.259 --> 00:22:52.299 I, too, have reason to have confidence in the 00:22:52.299 --> 00:22:55.819 flesh, he's naming it for what it is right away. 00:22:56.500 --> 00:22:59.259 He says, if anybody has reason to be confident 00:22:59.259 --> 00:23:05.019 in the flesh, I have more. I was circumcised 00:23:05.019 --> 00:23:07.890 on the eighth day. A member of the people of 00:23:07.890 --> 00:23:12.569 Israel. I am of the tribe of Benjamin. I am a 00:23:12.569 --> 00:23:17.089 Hebrew born of Hebrews. As to the law, he says, 00:23:17.329 --> 00:23:22.589 I'm a Pharisee. As to zeal, don't forget you 00:23:22.589 --> 00:23:27.390 dudes, I persecuted the early church. As to righteousness 00:23:27.390 --> 00:23:33.789 under Torah, under righteousness under law. I, 00:23:33.789 --> 00:23:38.589 Paul says, I was blameless. Yet whatever gains 00:23:38.589 --> 00:23:43.549 I had, these I have come to regard as a loss 00:23:43.549 --> 00:23:49.210 because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything 00:23:49.210 --> 00:23:53.849 as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing 00:23:53.849 --> 00:23:58.569 Christ Jesus my Lord. It's for His sake that 00:23:58.569 --> 00:24:01.940 I have suffered the loss of all things. And I 00:24:01.940 --> 00:24:06.019 regard them, all of the things I could in my 00:24:06.019 --> 00:24:13.579 flesh brag about. He says, I think of all of 00:24:13.579 --> 00:24:18.039 that stuff as rubbish. It's all a bunch of junk. 00:24:19.259 --> 00:24:22.200 In order that I might gain Christ and be found 00:24:22.200 --> 00:24:25.440 in Him. Not having a righteousness of my own 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:29.579 that comes from the law, but one that comes through 00:24:29.579 --> 00:24:33.079 faith in Christ. The righteousness from God based 00:24:33.079 --> 00:24:36.940 on faith. I want to know Christ and the power 00:24:36.940 --> 00:24:40.279 of the resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings 00:24:40.279 --> 00:24:46.779 by becoming like him in death. Not only in death 00:24:46.779 --> 00:24:50.019 like when I die, resurrection in death, but in 00:24:50.019 --> 00:24:53.769 the way that Jesus was able to. Completely put 00:24:53.769 --> 00:24:58.650 to death his sinful human nature. Never did Jesus 00:24:58.650 --> 00:25:03.670 allow that nature to ever control him. So Paul 00:25:03.670 --> 00:25:06.130 is saying, I'm not talking about just resurrection. 00:25:06.150 --> 00:25:10.009 I'm talking about I need to participate in killing 00:25:10.009 --> 00:25:14.910 this flesh. Putting it to the side. Making it 00:25:14.910 --> 00:25:20.109 less effective is not the answer. You must die. 00:25:20.220 --> 00:25:25.920 to that old part of you. You can't keep that 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:29.779 old part of you around as a transformed person 00:25:29.779 --> 00:25:32.940 because you might not think it's a problem, but 00:25:32.940 --> 00:25:37.839 that flesh is always there. And it's always looking 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:42.700 to sell you out or cave you in all of the time. 00:25:42.740 --> 00:25:44.579 And we're going to see that in our story tonight. 00:25:45.579 --> 00:25:49.569 Paul is saying, Through Judaism, I excelled in 00:25:49.569 --> 00:25:53.509 the flesh, right? Now here's the thing. The things 00:25:53.509 --> 00:25:57.170 that Paul is boasting about, these aren't bad 00:25:57.170 --> 00:26:00.349 things. When I'm talking about the old sinful 00:26:00.349 --> 00:26:05.730 self, you're probably thinking bad relationships 00:26:05.730 --> 00:26:12.509 or maybe less discreet in my relationships. Habits 00:26:12.509 --> 00:26:15.049 that keep me from being the person God needs 00:26:15.049 --> 00:26:19.730 me to be. You know, bad stuff. Paul is actually 00:26:19.730 --> 00:26:22.769 making the argument of how bad and how sinful 00:26:22.769 --> 00:26:26.849 his self is by illustrating to us not the bad 00:26:26.849 --> 00:26:29.710 stuff he did, but things that you guys normally 00:26:29.710 --> 00:26:33.609 think is great. But I did all of those things, 00:26:33.670 --> 00:26:36.609 not so that I could share God with the world, 00:26:36.690 --> 00:26:41.650 but I could show how cool I am. And anytime we're 00:26:41.650 --> 00:26:45.430 putting the spotlight on us instead of God. That's 00:26:45.430 --> 00:26:52.329 flesh. That's how that works. Okay? Now, Esau's 00:26:52.329 --> 00:26:58.049 manifestation of the flesh, despising his birthright. 00:26:58.130 --> 00:27:03.529 Back to 25, chapter 25. He despised the blessing 00:27:03.529 --> 00:27:08.549 of God in his life that is coming down from this 00:27:08.549 --> 00:27:12.970 family line from Abraham. But Jacob's flesh wasn't 00:27:12.970 --> 00:27:16.789 manifest in despising this birthright. In fact, 00:27:16.789 --> 00:27:21.410 he wanted, he desired this birthright. But his 00:27:21.410 --> 00:27:25.650 flesh was manifest rather than looking at what 00:27:25.650 --> 00:27:28.349 God has to offer you and saying, I don't want 00:27:28.349 --> 00:27:31.690 it, it's not important enough to me. That's Esau 00:27:31.690 --> 00:27:35.930 despising his birthright, his blessing from God. 00:27:38.420 --> 00:27:42.640 Jacob wants this stuff. Yay, that's good. The 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:45.740 problem is that Jacob is going to scheme and 00:27:45.740 --> 00:27:49.599 connive and try to steal and lie his way to get 00:27:49.599 --> 00:27:54.819 that stuff. Oh, no, boo, that's bad. Right? That's 00:27:54.819 --> 00:27:59.000 the flesh. They both got it here. Esau, different 00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:03.700 dude than Jacob. Same problem. Same problem. 00:28:03.859 --> 00:28:08.190 All the way down the family line. Neither of 00:28:08.190 --> 00:28:10.250 these guys are right, right? Though Esau seems 00:28:10.250 --> 00:28:12.869 to have been particularly, in my personal opinion, 00:28:12.930 --> 00:28:16.150 depraved because he didn't place any value on 00:28:16.150 --> 00:28:19.130 spiritual blessings, right? I mean, you got to 00:28:19.130 --> 00:28:20.390 understand, you guys have to understand when 00:28:20.390 --> 00:28:22.849 I talk about these two things together, you know, 00:28:22.849 --> 00:28:24.890 I put this out like, when he's talking about 00:28:24.890 --> 00:28:26.589 birthright, he is talking about land and possessions 00:28:26.589 --> 00:28:29.329 and head of family. But it's not just the birthright 00:28:29.329 --> 00:28:31.690 that's given, but the blessing as well. Okay, 00:28:31.690 --> 00:28:34.309 these two things that you really want to desire, 00:28:34.509 --> 00:28:37.259 this is yes. You get the father's land, you get 00:28:37.259 --> 00:28:39.440 the possessions, you get the servants, whatever. 00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:42.579 You get to be the head of the family, right? 00:28:43.259 --> 00:28:46.859 But more importantly, you get the blessing that 00:28:46.859 --> 00:28:52.579 was promised to this dude, Abraham. That blessing 00:28:52.579 --> 00:28:59.019 comes to you, right? So this birthrighting thing, 00:28:59.079 --> 00:29:02.619 this isn't just about inheritance. But this is 00:29:02.619 --> 00:29:05.839 actually... The blessing that God has placed 00:29:05.839 --> 00:29:09.220 upon the people of Israel. The people that will 00:29:09.220 --> 00:29:13.059 eventually be known as the Jews. Eventually will 00:29:13.059 --> 00:29:15.599 also be involved in the new covenant with the 00:29:15.599 --> 00:29:19.539 Messiah. Right? Through your line comes the Savior 00:29:19.539 --> 00:29:23.599 of the world. And Esau could not have cared less. 00:29:24.940 --> 00:29:27.980 And that's the way most flesh is displayed in 00:29:27.980 --> 00:29:30.640 our world today. People who just simply totally 00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:34.079 disregard the things of God, who do not value 00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:38.259 spiritual wealth whatsoever. It's reflected in 00:29:38.259 --> 00:29:41.980 the statement that Esau makes to Jacob in verse 00:29:41.980 --> 00:29:49.059 32. He says, I am about to die, Esau says. Now 00:29:49.059 --> 00:29:50.859 what's interesting about this statement, Esau 00:29:50.859 --> 00:29:56.950 says, I'm about to die. Is that, I think as far 00:29:56.950 --> 00:29:59.109 as I'm aware, most of the times that portion 00:29:59.109 --> 00:30:02.450 of scripture gets interpreted, right? That Esau 00:30:02.450 --> 00:30:06.390 was overworked and he was parched of drink. He 00:30:06.390 --> 00:30:08.750 was starving for food. In other words, maybe 00:30:08.750 --> 00:30:12.289 he had heat stroke and he was dehydrated, right? 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:16.420 In fact, I don't think that that's what it actually 00:30:16.420 --> 00:30:19.420 means. I think it's a literal sense, like it's 00:30:19.420 --> 00:30:22.059 the literal sense of him saying, I'm going to 00:30:22.059 --> 00:30:26.039 eventually die one day, so what good is my birthright 00:30:26.039 --> 00:30:29.539 or the blessing now? Who cares? I can't take 00:30:29.539 --> 00:30:34.500 it with me when I die, and I'm hungry now. So 00:30:34.500 --> 00:30:36.960 you want the whatever, you want that fairytale 00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:40.480 stuff, great. I want some of that stew, right? 00:30:42.269 --> 00:30:46.569 Even if it means getting what I desire and getting 00:30:46.569 --> 00:30:50.730 it now is still worth it, even if it means trading 00:30:50.730 --> 00:30:56.509 in on eternal oblivion. That's how Esau's flesh 00:30:56.509 --> 00:30:59.890 is displayed in this story. Now let me turn, 00:30:59.930 --> 00:31:02.390 you stay at 25, 27, let me turn to Hebrews chapter 00:31:02.390 --> 00:31:05.289 12. Hebrews chapter 12 actually gives a comment 00:31:05.289 --> 00:31:09.809 on this New Testament letter to the Hebrew church 00:31:09.809 --> 00:31:14.259 in Rome. So whenever Christianity had spread 00:31:14.259 --> 00:31:17.460 to Rome, there was a church, a particular church. 00:31:17.559 --> 00:31:19.779 There was more than one. But a particular church 00:31:19.779 --> 00:31:22.380 that was filled with former Jews who had converted 00:31:22.380 --> 00:31:26.480 to Christianity. Their pastor, whom we don't 00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:29.579 know who wrote this, is away from his congregation. 00:31:29.579 --> 00:31:33.779 And he hears that his Jewish convert congregation 00:31:33.779 --> 00:31:37.000 is beginning to experience some strife with their 00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:38.920 family members and with other Jews that are in 00:31:38.920 --> 00:31:41.160 their community. Because they're not converts. 00:31:41.740 --> 00:31:43.680 And some of the Christians are becoming discouraged 00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:46.500 because they're getting slammed all the time. 00:31:46.519 --> 00:31:48.299 They're getting shade thrown on them all the 00:31:48.299 --> 00:31:51.400 time from their family members. So the guy writes 00:31:51.400 --> 00:31:54.599 back to his church in Rome and he writes a letter 00:31:54.599 --> 00:31:56.460 of encouragement. That's what the letter to Hebrews 00:31:56.460 --> 00:31:58.980 is. Let's look at that letter, chapter 12. I'm 00:31:58.980 --> 00:32:01.539 going to begin at 15. The writer says, looking 00:32:01.539 --> 00:32:04.400 carefully, lest anyone fall short of the grace 00:32:04.400 --> 00:32:08.640 of God, you live short of what God wants for 00:32:08.640 --> 00:32:12.500 you in grace. See to it that no one fails to 00:32:12.500 --> 00:32:16.799 obtain the grace of God, that no root of bitterness 00:32:16.799 --> 00:32:21.000 springs up, causes trouble, and through it may 00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:26.220 become defiled. Verse 16. See to it, the writer 00:32:26.220 --> 00:32:29.839 says, see to it that no one becomes like Esau, 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:36.259 an immoral and ungodly person. This is how the 00:32:36.259 --> 00:32:39.700 Holy Spirit is in the New Testament. How he comments 00:32:39.700 --> 00:32:44.700 on the character of Esau. He's immoral. He's 00:32:44.700 --> 00:32:49.420 godless. Right? That's how Esau's flesh is displayed 00:32:49.420 --> 00:32:51.839 in the story. It seems unthinkable that we as 00:32:51.839 --> 00:32:54.299 Christians could sell out our birthright. But 00:32:54.299 --> 00:32:56.720 that's exactly what we do when we indulge in 00:32:56.720 --> 00:32:59.940 the flesh. When we live in the sensual materialistic 00:32:59.940 --> 00:33:03.299 existence without any real spiritual significance 00:33:03.299 --> 00:33:06.599 or authenticity. Right? You've heard that saying 00:33:06.599 --> 00:33:10.690 before. Everyone has a price. Well, guess what, 00:33:10.750 --> 00:33:15.390 friends? That's true. What was Esau's price? 00:33:16.049 --> 00:33:20.809 A bowl of soup? What was Judas' price? 30 pieces 00:33:20.809 --> 00:33:24.130 of silver? The price of a slave? The question 00:33:24.130 --> 00:33:27.329 placed before you, friends, tonight is, what's 00:33:27.329 --> 00:33:30.730 your price? What will you sell your birthright 00:33:30.730 --> 00:33:38.210 for? And what is our inheritance? All of the 00:33:38.210 --> 00:33:44.029 blessings of God are yes and amen through Jesus 00:33:44.029 --> 00:33:50.869 Christ. We get everything in Jesus. The marvelous 00:33:50.869 --> 00:33:53.490 thing is, and this is a whole other subject, 00:33:53.690 --> 00:34:00.309 we are adopted into God's family now. Whatever 00:34:00.309 --> 00:34:05.740 God willed for Jesus, He has promised. to we 00:34:05.740 --> 00:34:11.280 believers in faith as well. The irony is, Jacob 00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:14.119 had it too. He didn't despise the birthright. 00:34:14.239 --> 00:34:18.340 He wanted Esau's birthright. But he was scheming 00:34:18.340 --> 00:34:22.659 in the flesh rather than relying on God's will 00:34:22.659 --> 00:34:27.619 to get it. The absolute irony about Jacob, he's 00:34:27.619 --> 00:34:33.139 scheming to get the flesh and what he already 00:34:33.139 --> 00:34:37.590 had. You say, well, hold on a minute. I thought 00:34:37.590 --> 00:34:40.250 we just said that the birthright was Esau's, 00:34:40.369 --> 00:34:43.829 right? And all that stuff, right? And that's 00:34:43.829 --> 00:34:46.670 true. But if you go back to where we were last 00:34:46.670 --> 00:34:50.969 week in verse 23, at the end of chapter 25, in 00:34:50.969 --> 00:34:54.210 verse 23, we find this prophecy, this promise 00:34:54.210 --> 00:34:57.929 that was given to the mother, Rebecca, right? 00:34:58.090 --> 00:35:01.989 That the elder would serve the younger. We talked 00:35:01.989 --> 00:35:04.670 about how they simply should have just waited 00:35:04.670 --> 00:35:08.409 for God to fulfill this. This is what I want 00:35:08.409 --> 00:35:15.110 us to see. Jacob is now scheming to work through 00:35:15.110 --> 00:35:19.250 his own flesh to gain something he was already 00:35:19.250 --> 00:35:24.250 given by God. And so often that's what we Christians 00:35:24.250 --> 00:35:28.340 do as well. We're living the Christian life, 00:35:28.440 --> 00:35:31.079 but we're living it in the power of our own steam. 00:35:31.739 --> 00:35:35.139 We're trying to gain things that we already have 00:35:35.139 --> 00:35:40.440 in Jesus. Jacob was buying something. How ridiculous. 00:35:41.219 --> 00:35:45.739 That he already had, had he just waited. You 00:35:45.739 --> 00:35:49.019 see, the blessing of Abraham, right? The blessing 00:35:49.019 --> 00:35:54.440 of Abraham is to all who believe. Not just those 00:35:54.440 --> 00:36:00.869 who strive. If Esau, if he was a hedonist, right? 00:36:00.949 --> 00:36:02.989 He was just interested in pleasuring himself 00:36:02.989 --> 00:36:05.710 at the moment. Shouldn't have probably said that. 00:36:06.429 --> 00:36:11.210 Jacob was an opportunist. Hey, thousands of words 00:36:11.210 --> 00:36:12.889 come out of my mouth in an hour and I regret 00:36:12.889 --> 00:36:20.530 maybe a half dozen. That's a good day. Jacob, 00:36:20.909 --> 00:36:24.070 right? Esau was this hedonist. Jacob was an opportunist. 00:36:24.309 --> 00:36:30.480 Remember, snatch and grab. He used Esau's fleshly 00:36:30.480 --> 00:36:36.019 weakness, that sensuality, to flex the cunningness 00:36:36.019 --> 00:36:38.800 of his own flesh. We're going to see how, again 00:36:38.800 --> 00:36:42.420 here, verse 27, sorry, chapter 27, right? The 00:36:42.420 --> 00:36:45.719 flesh not only sells out, now I want you to see 00:36:45.719 --> 00:36:48.000 how it caves in. Let's look at the first four 00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:51.920 verses of chapter 27. First fleshly character 00:36:51.920 --> 00:36:57.480 we see here isn't Esau, but it's Jacob. I'm sorry. 00:36:57.719 --> 00:37:01.980 It's not Esau and it's not Jacob, but it's Isaac. 00:37:02.119 --> 00:37:07.400 And here's why. Isaac's old, right? Okay. You 00:37:07.400 --> 00:37:11.119 have in first verse one, it says his eyes were 00:37:11.119 --> 00:37:15.760 dim. All right. He thought he was dying, right? 00:37:17.099 --> 00:37:20.360 And many of you have read the passage of scripture. 00:37:20.460 --> 00:37:22.380 Maybe you believe that he was ready to keel over 00:37:22.380 --> 00:37:25.530 real quickly. Anybody heard this story before 00:37:25.530 --> 00:37:28.110 about how he tricks him with putting the clothes 00:37:28.110 --> 00:37:30.429 on that smell like his brother and mom cooks 00:37:30.429 --> 00:37:33.929 the food? Have you heard this story? Yeah? Were 00:37:33.929 --> 00:37:36.449 you made to believe, did you understand it, that 00:37:36.449 --> 00:37:43.530 Esau was literally on his deathbed? Sorry, Isaac. 00:37:44.750 --> 00:37:49.170 Blind, couldn't necessarily tell one son, right? 00:37:49.250 --> 00:37:56.309 Okay. His eyes were dim. There was talk of his 00:37:56.309 --> 00:38:00.449 death. He said he was about to die. Thank you. 00:38:00.929 --> 00:38:04.570 Right? Do you guys know, as I did my research 00:38:04.570 --> 00:38:08.010 for tonight, did you guys know that... Anybody 00:38:08.010 --> 00:38:10.010 want to take a guess how many years Isaac lived 00:38:10.010 --> 00:38:13.889 after this event? Dang it. Did you look this 00:38:13.889 --> 00:38:15.650 up? No, I didn't. I just guessed. Does anybody 00:38:15.650 --> 00:38:18.269 else want to take a guess? Why don't you say, 00:38:18.309 --> 00:38:23.519 Joyce? No. Someone just give me a... 43. Interesting, 00:38:23.699 --> 00:38:30.840 40, 25. Isaac lived 43 years after this event. 00:38:32.519 --> 00:38:35.059 About when he's going to die, kids see it, he's 00:38:35.059 --> 00:38:40.219 been tricked. He's got four more decades. Right? 00:38:43.199 --> 00:38:52.469 43 more years. Right? Maybe he just had a man 00:38:52.469 --> 00:38:56.530 flu or something, but he thinks he's dying. And 00:38:56.530 --> 00:39:00.050 so he panics. Right? He panics. It's his flesh 00:39:00.050 --> 00:39:03.489 trying to sort things out before God can sort 00:39:03.489 --> 00:39:16.730 things out. Right? To be sure. To be sure. A 00:39:16.730 --> 00:39:20.500 man who thinks he's on his way out, Feels a desire 00:39:20.500 --> 00:39:23.019 to secure his future. He has to secure his future 00:39:23.019 --> 00:39:25.760 for his family, for his business, maybe even 00:39:25.760 --> 00:39:28.880 the church, right? And you probably, like I have, 00:39:28.880 --> 00:39:30.980 I've seen people who are obsessed to try to control 00:39:30.980 --> 00:39:33.380 or manipulate situations on the brink of the 00:39:33.380 --> 00:39:37.519 grave, right? To try to keep all of the power 00:39:37.519 --> 00:39:39.579 and end up just leaving the fallout for others 00:39:39.579 --> 00:39:43.539 to grapple with after they've gone. Pride of 00:39:43.539 --> 00:39:45.780 the flesh. That's what we're talking about. Here 00:39:45.780 --> 00:39:48.579 in verse 4. If you look at verse four, he says 00:39:48.579 --> 00:39:51.679 to Esau, then prepare me savory food such as 00:39:51.679 --> 00:39:53.820 I like and bring it to eat so that I may bless 00:39:53.820 --> 00:39:56.460 you before I die. Now, there's so many questions 00:39:56.460 --> 00:39:58.239 in the story of Jacob. It's incredible, right? 00:39:58.340 --> 00:40:00.239 That's why it's such a puzzle. That's why he's 00:40:00.239 --> 00:40:03.920 such an enigma. One of the things that I think 00:40:03.920 --> 00:40:06.739 is an obvious question to focus on is why was 00:40:06.739 --> 00:40:15.230 Isaac going to bless Esau? Right. But does he 00:40:15.230 --> 00:40:17.809 not know that God promised in chapter 25 to his 00:40:17.809 --> 00:40:21.250 wife through prophetic promise that the elder 00:40:21.250 --> 00:40:23.230 would serve the younger? Does that seem like 00:40:23.230 --> 00:40:26.650 that would even be possible? So why is he not 00:40:26.650 --> 00:40:28.829 going along with God's promise and God's will? 00:40:28.989 --> 00:40:33.570 Well, obviously, he favored Esau. So we're seeing 00:40:33.570 --> 00:40:36.710 Esau, I'm sorry, we're seeing Isaac, but are 00:40:36.710 --> 00:40:40.409 we seeing a spiritual man? Right? No, we're seeing 00:40:40.409 --> 00:40:43.940 a fleshly man. At least at this point in the 00:40:43.940 --> 00:40:48.639 story, why does he favor Esau? Is the further 00:40:48.639 --> 00:40:52.480 question. Okay, now my hunch is that it was simply 00:40:52.480 --> 00:40:53.940 because of his lifestyle. It's because of his 00:40:53.940 --> 00:40:57.619 way of life. He preferred Esau's hard man sort 00:40:57.619 --> 00:41:00.039 of attitude. His work in the field as a farmer. 00:41:00.260 --> 00:41:02.980 He definitely liked his food, right? That's mentioned 00:41:02.980 --> 00:41:06.539 several times. But we actually see that that 00:41:06.539 --> 00:41:09.139 was all a smokescreen. Because Rebecca could 00:41:09.139 --> 00:41:11.800 rustle up the same sort of meal. that Esau would, 00:41:11.920 --> 00:41:15.539 and duped Isaac into believing that it was cooked 00:41:15.539 --> 00:41:19.519 by Esau. So it wasn't his cooking so much, but 00:41:19.519 --> 00:41:22.300 it was the idea of this red -headed, rugged, 00:41:22.420 --> 00:41:26.400 hairy man going out, hunting game, being out 00:41:26.400 --> 00:41:32.500 there, a man's man. This is what I believe Esau's 00:41:32.500 --> 00:41:36.280 fleshliness. It's a false masculinity that I 00:41:36.280 --> 00:41:39.710 believe we even see today. We see his... Flesh 00:41:39.710 --> 00:41:41.590 displayed. Not only for the enjoyment of food. 00:41:41.949 --> 00:41:44.889 I mean, Philippians talk about people whose God 00:41:44.889 --> 00:41:49.289 is their belly. Right? They're sensual people 00:41:49.289 --> 00:41:54.389 who live for their appetites. The tastes and 00:41:54.389 --> 00:41:57.789 the senses. So as we're reading the story, you 00:41:57.789 --> 00:42:00.750 could write all over this book of Jacob, right? 00:42:00.969 --> 00:42:04.030 Flesh, flesh, flesh. Everywhere you turn. Fleshly 00:42:04.030 --> 00:42:08.050 nature. Fleshly nature. Here Isaac's going to 00:42:08.050 --> 00:42:12.510 give the blessing. To the wrong boy. Why? Because 00:42:12.510 --> 00:42:16.429 he prefers him. Right? Esau's more of a manly 00:42:16.429 --> 00:42:22.489 man. And, ironically, he loves his cucking. Now, 00:42:22.530 --> 00:42:25.130 if Isaac had waited on God, and how do we know 00:42:25.130 --> 00:42:27.070 he didn't wait on God? Well, he didn't wait on 00:42:27.070 --> 00:42:31.110 God because, again, there's another 43 years 00:42:31.110 --> 00:42:36.030 in Isaac's life. Right? So there was some additional 00:42:36.030 --> 00:42:41.519 time. To bless his sons and get it right. If 00:42:41.519 --> 00:42:44.019 he had waited on God in God's time, whatever 00:42:44.019 --> 00:42:47.019 reservations he might have had about Jacob, they 00:42:47.019 --> 00:42:50.320 would have been resolved. Right? I have to believe 00:42:50.320 --> 00:42:52.739 that because I believe in God's promises. Not 00:42:52.739 --> 00:42:55.340 just some of them. God's just not got a really 00:42:55.340 --> 00:42:58.179 good batting average. God never gets it wrong. 00:42:59.019 --> 00:43:01.639 Right? I feel like, from my own personal faith, 00:43:01.739 --> 00:43:05.599 I have to. But what is Isaac trying to do? He's 00:43:05.599 --> 00:43:08.739 trying to attempt to go around God's will so 00:43:08.739 --> 00:43:11.760 that he can get his own fleshly way. And how 00:43:11.760 --> 00:43:14.500 do we know that this is what he's doing? Because 00:43:14.500 --> 00:43:18.880 he's doing all of this in secret. Right? You 00:43:18.880 --> 00:43:21.119 can read the story here. He knows what he was 00:43:21.119 --> 00:43:27.880 doing was wrong. Isaac. The flesh of Isaac. Then 00:43:27.880 --> 00:43:32.099 verses 5 to 10. Right now we see the mother, 00:43:32.159 --> 00:43:35.119 the fleshly mother, Rebecca. Verse eight. Now, 00:43:35.139 --> 00:43:37.559 therefore, my son, obey my word as I command 00:43:37.559 --> 00:43:40.519 you. Now, she had been eavesdropping and she 00:43:40.519 --> 00:43:43.019 heard the whole plan that had been hatched between 00:43:43.019 --> 00:43:46.480 Isaac and Esau. Now she brings Jacob in on this 00:43:46.480 --> 00:43:49.280 plan instead of trusting in God to fulfill the 00:43:49.280 --> 00:43:55.260 promise in Jacob. Right. She herself heard the 00:43:55.260 --> 00:43:58.780 promise from God. What does she do? She tries 00:43:58.780 --> 00:44:02.500 to manipulate the situation. And many a mother 00:44:02.500 --> 00:44:08.300 have tried to do that. Well, Rebecca was a manipulative 00:44:08.300 --> 00:44:13.239 mother. This is quite a family. Fleshly father, 00:44:13.480 --> 00:44:17.019 hedonistic brother, manipulative brother, brother 00:44:17.019 --> 00:44:20.300 I mean, manipulative mother, and Jacob is this 00:44:20.300 --> 00:44:24.260 total opportunist. Their entire family is about 00:44:24.260 --> 00:44:28.440 the flesh. Right? What in the world is going 00:44:28.440 --> 00:44:30.880 on in this great book, the Bible? It's because 00:44:30.880 --> 00:44:33.480 the truth, or let me just be honest, what are 00:44:33.480 --> 00:44:38.480 families like today? How different are they today? 00:44:39.480 --> 00:44:42.619 Right? In the same way, today's family is broken, 00:44:42.739 --> 00:44:46.239 it's shattered, it's fragmented. The letter of 00:44:46.239 --> 00:44:48.880 James in chapter 3 comes to mind very readily. 00:44:48.920 --> 00:44:52.039 Verse 16, 3 and 16 in James, which says, For 00:44:52.039 --> 00:44:56.500 where envy and self -seeking exist, Confusion 00:44:56.500 --> 00:45:00.360 and every evil thing are there. And that's what 00:45:00.360 --> 00:45:01.940 we find, unfortunately, today in the family. 00:45:02.039 --> 00:45:04.679 The whole modern family is a mess. In fact, the 00:45:04.679 --> 00:45:07.320 whole family of the human race is affected by 00:45:07.320 --> 00:45:09.679 this sin and fleshliness we're talking about 00:45:09.679 --> 00:45:13.179 tonight. You see yourself in Jacob, I hope. I 00:45:13.179 --> 00:45:15.940 hope that you can see yourself in Esau. You see 00:45:15.940 --> 00:45:19.960 yourself in the parents, Isaac and Rebekah. It's 00:45:19.960 --> 00:45:23.820 both inherited and it's learned. The twistedness 00:45:23.820 --> 00:45:27.940 of the family. Of course, the situation is exacerbated 00:45:27.940 --> 00:45:30.280 and I don't have time to go into it tonight with 00:45:30.280 --> 00:45:33.219 this story, but it's a convoluted plan. How Rebecca 00:45:33.219 --> 00:45:36.380 gets Jacob to get this blessing from the father, 00:45:36.440 --> 00:45:40.219 Isaac, instead of going to Esau. Look at verse 00:45:40.219 --> 00:45:43.280 12. Jacob actually objects to the plan. Jacob 00:45:43.280 --> 00:45:47.500 says, perhaps my father will feel me. If I put 00:45:47.500 --> 00:45:50.599 all this fur skin on me, perhaps he'll feel me. 00:45:51.119 --> 00:45:56.699 And I, I shall seem like. A deceiver to him. 00:45:58.059 --> 00:46:02.019 Jacob, you are a deceiver. What do you think 00:46:02.019 --> 00:46:04.039 you're doing? What do you think this is? I will 00:46:04.039 --> 00:46:07.639 seem like a liar to my father. Jacob, you are 00:46:07.639 --> 00:46:10.559 lying to your father. You're dressing up and 00:46:10.559 --> 00:46:13.420 smelling like your brother. You are deceiving 00:46:13.420 --> 00:46:17.280 dad. But you're still a part of it. There is 00:46:17.280 --> 00:46:21.000 a semblance of morality here with Jacob, right? 00:46:21.440 --> 00:46:25.820 He doesn't want to be what he is. He doesn't 00:46:25.820 --> 00:46:29.760 want to be what he's doing. Who of us wants to 00:46:29.760 --> 00:46:34.539 be that our way, right? That way. None of us 00:46:34.539 --> 00:46:39.699 want to be twisted and fleshly, right? He continues. 00:46:39.760 --> 00:46:42.739 He says, if I'm found out and I shall bring a 00:46:42.739 --> 00:46:47.679 curse on myself and not a blessing. See, this 00:46:47.679 --> 00:46:52.829 is what will always happen. Proverbs. Says a 00:46:52.829 --> 00:46:56.110 curse without a cost shall not alight. Comes 00:46:56.110 --> 00:46:59.210 because we live in the flesh. And every single 00:46:59.210 --> 00:47:01.989 one of us attempt to grab at God's blessings 00:47:01.989 --> 00:47:06.110 in the flesh. Jacob knew what he was doing wrong. 00:47:06.230 --> 00:47:13.929 He objects to this being wrong. Right? Or maybe 00:47:13.929 --> 00:47:15.989 it was just the fear of the possibility of getting 00:47:15.989 --> 00:47:20.670 caught. Either way, he capitulates. Right? He 00:47:20.670 --> 00:47:24.090 caves in and does it anyway, right? Because the 00:47:24.090 --> 00:47:27.769 flesh always caves in. It always sells out and 00:47:27.769 --> 00:47:31.170 it always caves in. If you operate in the flesh, 00:47:31.250 --> 00:47:34.329 even if you are seeking after the blessings of 00:47:34.329 --> 00:47:37.610 God in the flesh, you will always capitulate 00:47:37.610 --> 00:47:42.769 to the flesh, right? It cannot produce spirit. 00:47:43.530 --> 00:47:51.090 The flesh only produces death in this life. For 00:47:51.090 --> 00:47:56.070 whom? Joel. Joel. Joel Alstee? That's for a different 00:47:56.070 --> 00:47:59.190 night. Let's fast forward a little bit. Look 00:47:59.190 --> 00:48:02.090 at verse 33. The whole plan's been blown. And 00:48:02.090 --> 00:48:04.050 in verse 33, it's realized now that the wrong 00:48:04.050 --> 00:48:06.829 guy's got the blessing, according to Isaac, anyway. 00:48:07.670 --> 00:48:11.690 Then Isaac, verse 33, then Isaac trembled violently. 00:48:11.789 --> 00:48:14.030 When he heard what happened, he had trembled. 00:48:14.030 --> 00:48:17.869 Why? Because he realized you cannot defeat God. 00:48:18.730 --> 00:48:23.429 You can't work a sly move on God. You just simply 00:48:23.429 --> 00:48:26.590 can't do it. Because what happens is when we 00:48:26.590 --> 00:48:29.269 operate in the flesh, right? And we're going 00:48:29.269 --> 00:48:31.730 to see this a little bit later in Jacob's story, 00:48:31.889 --> 00:48:35.849 right? He will meet himself, his deceivedness, 00:48:36.030 --> 00:48:41.190 his opportunity, his opportunistness. He's going 00:48:41.190 --> 00:48:45.710 to see his match, fleshly match in his uncle 00:48:45.710 --> 00:48:47.969 Laban. We're going to get to that story next 00:48:47.969 --> 00:48:51.949 week, right? It's interesting how God always 00:48:51.949 --> 00:48:56.530 kind of does that. God will always lead us into 00:48:56.530 --> 00:49:00.929 a cul -de -sac experience to remind us that we 00:49:00.929 --> 00:49:04.269 cannot defeat him. When he hears the words in 00:49:04.269 --> 00:49:08.389 verse 34, and then it dawns on Esau what's happened. 00:49:09.150 --> 00:49:11.190 When he hears the words of his father, when Esau 00:49:11.190 --> 00:49:13.449 heard his father's words, he cried out with an 00:49:13.449 --> 00:49:17.360 exceedingly great and bitter cry. Right. A real 00:49:17.360 --> 00:49:21.280 wrenching whale. All of a sudden, Esau's tune 00:49:21.280 --> 00:49:24.719 has changed. Right. He had been Laodicea fair 00:49:24.719 --> 00:49:27.500 up to that. He'd been disinterested in all of 00:49:27.500 --> 00:49:29.719 this stuff, this blessing. I'm going to die one 00:49:29.719 --> 00:49:33.480 day. And then what good will whatever this earthly 00:49:33.480 --> 00:49:36.079 blessing be to me anyway? Eternal blessings and 00:49:36.079 --> 00:49:39.800 all rather, I would have it here and now. Right. 00:49:39.900 --> 00:49:42.699 I want the things that are to come to me and 00:49:42.699 --> 00:49:46.039 I want them now. But now, all of a sudden, he's 00:49:46.039 --> 00:49:48.840 become interested in the blessing. But unfortunately 00:49:48.840 --> 00:49:52.880 for him, it's too late. How much of an epitaph 00:49:52.880 --> 00:49:57.000 will that be on our whole human race? Right? 00:49:57.019 --> 00:50:00.340 When our society finally falls. But back to 12 00:50:00.340 --> 00:50:03.219 of Hebrews. There was a verse earlier when I 00:50:03.219 --> 00:50:05.340 read from Hebrews chapter 12 that I didn't read. 00:50:05.679 --> 00:50:09.599 Where it says in verse 12 and 17, after the verse 00:50:09.599 --> 00:50:13.650 that says Esau... was profane, unholy, godless, 00:50:13.670 --> 00:50:17.110 all that stuff, right? The writer says that he 00:50:17.110 --> 00:50:19.849 sold his birthright for a single meal. Hebrews 00:50:19.849 --> 00:50:24.449 chapter 12 and 17 says, you know that later when 00:50:24.449 --> 00:50:26.969 he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. 00:50:27.630 --> 00:50:31.489 He found no chance to repent. There was no ability 00:50:31.489 --> 00:50:34.769 for him to say sorry to his father, even though 00:50:34.769 --> 00:50:39.469 he sought that blessing with his tears. His heart 00:50:39.469 --> 00:50:44.260 is breaking now. He wants the blessing now. But 00:50:44.260 --> 00:50:46.699 what's happening here with Esau is not true repentance. 00:50:47.360 --> 00:50:51.739 It's not godly repentance. It's frustrated, selfish 00:50:51.739 --> 00:50:55.940 ambition. It's flesh that has been thwarted, 00:50:55.940 --> 00:51:01.099 beaten by God. Checkmate. I think he was crying 00:51:01.099 --> 00:51:05.099 out in the fleshly competition because his brother 00:51:05.099 --> 00:51:08.039 had gotten one over on him. Again, listen to 00:51:08.039 --> 00:51:11.909 the words that he says in 36. Esau says, is he 00:51:11.909 --> 00:51:16.650 not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted 00:51:16.650 --> 00:51:20.050 me two times. He took away my birthright, and 00:51:20.050 --> 00:51:24.929 now look, he's taken away my blessing. But you 00:51:24.929 --> 00:51:28.929 really can't say that, can you, Esau? Verse 36, 00:51:29.230 --> 00:51:32.530 he took away my birthright. But Esau, is that 00:51:32.530 --> 00:51:36.570 what happened? Isn't it interesting how our sinful 00:51:36.570 --> 00:51:40.099 nature, our fleshly parts of us, That old part 00:51:40.099 --> 00:51:44.400 of us can rewrite our history. Did Jacob take 00:51:44.400 --> 00:51:49.340 away his birthright? No. Esau, you sold your 00:51:49.340 --> 00:51:52.940 birthright. Done deal. You despised your birthright 00:51:52.940 --> 00:51:57.599 and you sold it for a pot of stew. The sign of 00:51:57.599 --> 00:52:01.219 the flesh is often that we blame others for our 00:52:01.219 --> 00:52:05.340 mistakes. Look at where all this fleshly jealousy 00:52:05.340 --> 00:52:11.139 leads. Verse 41. Now Esau hated Jacob because 00:52:11.139 --> 00:52:13.400 of the blessing with which his father had blessed 00:52:13.400 --> 00:52:16.960 him. He hates his brother now. Esau said to himself, 00:52:17.300 --> 00:52:19.639 the days of mourning for my father are approaching. 00:52:20.079 --> 00:52:23.619 Then I will kill my brother Jacob. Now what's 00:52:23.619 --> 00:52:26.860 very interesting there is Esau says the days 00:52:26.860 --> 00:52:31.340 of mourning for my father are approaching. He 00:52:31.340 --> 00:52:34.599 doesn't die for another 43 years. Just saying. 00:52:34.760 --> 00:52:38.039 It's in there. It's very strange. But it doesn't 00:52:38.039 --> 00:52:41.949 matter. Flesh always ends in death. And you might 00:52:41.949 --> 00:52:44.510 say, ooh, that's a little strong Christian language, 00:52:44.710 --> 00:52:51.230 right? Even good flesh? Even good flesh. The 00:52:51.230 --> 00:52:56.010 old human part of you must die. So what's happening 00:52:56.010 --> 00:52:59.050 is, it's like a tug of war in our bodies, right? 00:52:59.170 --> 00:53:01.929 It's a battle between the flesh and the spirit 00:53:01.929 --> 00:53:07.539 in you, right? And acknowledging that reality, 00:53:07.699 --> 00:53:13.559 we must also acknowledge a number of truths if 00:53:13.559 --> 00:53:17.320 we want to overcome the flesh, if we want the 00:53:17.320 --> 00:53:28.019 spirit to win. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. In the sense 00:53:28.019 --> 00:53:31.880 of, yes, I am talking about there is an eternal 00:53:31.880 --> 00:53:35.500 in you. That will not be extinguished as a believer 00:53:35.500 --> 00:53:38.380 in faith. That will return and have eternal life. 00:53:38.500 --> 00:53:41.340 And in that way, your fleshly body will die. 00:53:41.880 --> 00:53:45.900 But I'm also talking about there are three components 00:53:45.900 --> 00:53:51.679 to this. There is you. There is you. I'm sorry. 00:53:51.840 --> 00:53:55.460 There's you as the desiring Christian believer. 00:53:56.219 --> 00:53:59.480 And as a result, you've been given a gift. The 00:53:59.480 --> 00:54:02.900 Holy Spirit. Right? But because you're human, 00:54:02.980 --> 00:54:08.820 you can't shed a third component. Your old sinful 00:54:08.820 --> 00:54:15.659 flesh. Your old desires. Your prejudices. Your 00:54:15.659 --> 00:54:20.920 wants instead of needs. Right? And what happens 00:54:20.920 --> 00:54:25.179 is inside the you part, the spirit and the old 00:54:25.179 --> 00:54:29.219 self are at war with each other. And we must 00:54:29.219 --> 00:54:33.360 do everything we can to equip the spirit in that 00:54:33.360 --> 00:54:36.739 battle that might overcome that old self. And 00:54:36.739 --> 00:54:40.119 in that way, get us to a point, transcendentally 00:54:40.119 --> 00:54:44.300 here even on earth, where those desires, those 00:54:44.300 --> 00:54:50.280 prejudices, our own will kinds of things, no 00:54:50.280 --> 00:54:53.719 longer have an effect in our lives. They've died. 00:54:54.039 --> 00:54:56.969 They've withered on the vine. They no longer 00:54:56.969 --> 00:55:02.150 grow and get stronger in my life. To do that, 00:55:02.150 --> 00:55:06.929 I think the first things we need to do is acknowledge 00:55:06.929 --> 00:55:12.409 just three things. Two things that you can't 00:55:12.409 --> 00:55:14.769 do or shouldn't do and one thing that you should. 00:55:15.269 --> 00:55:20.050 Number one is to remember, to never forget you 00:55:20.050 --> 00:55:24.230 are not your sinful nature. You're not your flesh. 00:55:25.449 --> 00:55:28.090 Verse 17, for the lusts, I'm sorry, I think this 00:55:28.090 --> 00:55:31.550 is from Philippians. For the flesh lusts or strives 00:55:31.550 --> 00:55:35.250 against the spirit. You're a battleground, right? 00:55:35.389 --> 00:55:38.570 And the spirit against the flesh. And these are 00:55:38.570 --> 00:55:42.369 contrary to one another so that, right? Imagine 00:55:42.369 --> 00:55:44.530 these are personalities, boxers, if you will, 00:55:44.590 --> 00:55:47.409 to be spoken of. There's flesh and there's a 00:55:47.409 --> 00:55:51.630 spirit, then there's you, right? But then you 00:55:51.630 --> 00:55:59.449 do not do the things. The old you would do. Allowing 00:55:59.449 --> 00:56:05.250 the old you to die. Right? And in that way we're 00:56:05.250 --> 00:56:08.130 being distinguished. Paul is distinguishing us 00:56:08.130 --> 00:56:11.050 from the flesh. There's us and then there's our 00:56:11.050 --> 00:56:14.010 old sinful nature. But Paul is reckoning that 00:56:14.010 --> 00:56:18.309 you have in fact died in Jesus Christ. Right? 00:56:18.349 --> 00:56:22.070 And as a result, you're not to breathe new life. 00:56:22.730 --> 00:56:26.969 into your old life you're not to give it oxygen 00:56:26.969 --> 00:56:31.230 you to recognize it is dead but if you consider 00:56:31.230 --> 00:56:36.829 yourself as that sinful nature right what way 00:56:36.829 --> 00:56:40.269 are you going to live if you see yourself as 00:56:40.269 --> 00:56:42.789 your sinful nature you're always going to be 00:56:42.789 --> 00:56:46.559 in a mental state of woe is me My heart is always 00:56:46.559 --> 00:56:49.579 wicked. My heart is always deceitful. And so 00:56:49.579 --> 00:56:53.599 you never move into that new heart that God has 00:56:53.599 --> 00:56:57.719 given you. Taking away the old deceitful heart 00:56:57.719 --> 00:57:04.039 and giving the heart of flesh away. How are we 00:57:04.039 --> 00:57:07.599 going to move if we think of ourselves as trapped? 00:57:08.659 --> 00:57:12.780 Despite God's grace. Trapped in that old sinful 00:57:12.780 --> 00:57:16.139 nature. You see, our spiritual enemy has a lot 00:57:16.139 --> 00:57:19.280 of us on our back foot. As if we're still living 00:57:19.280 --> 00:57:23.119 in that old nature. We still have that old heart. 00:57:24.079 --> 00:57:26.800 But you've died, but you've been born again in 00:57:26.800 --> 00:57:30.139 a resurrected Jesus Christ. Now this is your 00:57:30.139 --> 00:57:32.579 first primary foundation here if we're going 00:57:32.579 --> 00:57:37.039 to let the spirit overcome the flesh. Remember, 00:57:37.059 --> 00:57:40.699 you are not your old sinful nature. Well, what 00:57:40.699 --> 00:57:45.190 am I then? You are that battleground on which 00:57:45.190 --> 00:57:47.489 the battle, the tug of war between the flesh 00:57:47.489 --> 00:57:51.090 and spirit is fought. And there is a great difference. 00:57:51.510 --> 00:57:53.929 This is not just semantics or hair splitting, 00:57:54.050 --> 00:57:56.750 right? And hopefully you'll see here in a second 00:57:56.750 --> 00:57:59.369 why it's not. You're not your old sinful nature. 00:57:59.690 --> 00:58:03.349 You're the one where the battle between the sinful 00:58:03.349 --> 00:58:06.889 nature that you had and the Holy Spirit's nature, 00:58:07.010 --> 00:58:11.900 which you've been gifted by grace, fights. But 00:58:11.900 --> 00:58:15.380 here's the second. Coming out of that, you must 00:58:15.380 --> 00:58:20.159 not fight with the flesh. You're the battleground. 00:58:20.699 --> 00:58:24.179 And yet here's what a lot of us do. We reckon 00:58:24.179 --> 00:58:28.039 ourselves, we relate ourselves to the sinful 00:58:28.039 --> 00:58:31.559 flesh. And we try to beat the sinful flesh into 00:58:31.559 --> 00:58:35.059 submission. But the sinful flesh is just far 00:58:35.059 --> 00:58:38.900 too strong for us. The flesh will always win 00:58:38.900 --> 00:58:44.679 out against us. You can't beat it up. Flesh is 00:58:44.679 --> 00:58:48.119 the flesh. You must not fight flesh. You must 00:58:48.119 --> 00:58:52.079 let the spirit. Now, I'm not saying there aren't 00:58:52.079 --> 00:58:55.159 things for you to do guided by the spirit, but 00:58:55.159 --> 00:58:59.019 it is the spirit's job to defeat your old sinful 00:58:59.019 --> 00:59:03.440 nature, not yours. You're just replacing one 00:59:03.440 --> 00:59:07.079 sinful nature with another sinful nature. So 00:59:07.079 --> 00:59:10.710 a third thing comes from that then. Right? One, 00:59:11.030 --> 00:59:13.590 you're not your old sinful nature. You're the 00:59:13.590 --> 00:59:17.289 battleground. Two, you must fight, not fight 00:59:17.289 --> 00:59:19.170 the flesh, but let the spirit fight the flesh. 00:59:19.269 --> 00:59:23.929 But three, you must give way to the spirit. You're 00:59:23.929 --> 00:59:28.329 not your old sinful nature. You can't fight flesh 00:59:28.329 --> 00:59:32.530 with flesh. And you must give way to the spirit. 00:59:33.130 --> 00:59:37.809 That's how this battle is won. It's not by struggling 00:59:37.809 --> 00:59:41.559 and striving. Again, I'm not saying there aren't 00:59:41.559 --> 00:59:45.539 things for us to do. Of course there are. But 00:59:45.539 --> 00:59:48.840 we must give way to the Spirit. A brilliant illustration 00:59:48.840 --> 00:59:52.619 of this is how to surf. I'm told. I don't know 00:59:52.619 --> 00:59:55.400 how to surf. I've never even tried to surf. I'm 00:59:55.400 --> 00:59:58.840 certain I would just sink. But I'm told by those 00:59:58.840 --> 01:00:04.260 who know how to surf is essentially what you 01:00:04.260 --> 01:00:07.599 do in your mind. You have to become one with 01:00:07.599 --> 01:00:10.750 the wave. One with the force of the wave. And 01:00:10.750 --> 01:00:13.269 just let the wave carry you. That's how to serve. 01:00:13.929 --> 01:00:16.469 And that's how to win the battle over the flesh. 01:00:17.269 --> 01:00:19.550 You're not your sinful flesh. You have sinful 01:00:19.550 --> 01:00:23.090 flesh. But it has been disempowered at the cross. 01:00:23.269 --> 01:00:26.070 You've now been given the new nature of Jesus 01:00:26.070 --> 01:00:29.230 Christ. And you must reckon your old natural 01:00:29.230 --> 01:00:33.929 self dead. And don't breathe new life into your 01:00:33.929 --> 01:00:38.940 old habits. You must see it as dead. But you 01:00:38.940 --> 01:00:41.840 must understand that the Holy Spirit's power 01:00:41.840 --> 01:00:45.820 must overcome the flesh. So you go with the flow. 01:00:46.679 --> 01:00:50.239 We as Christians are people who have to go with 01:00:50.239 --> 01:00:53.079 the flow of the Spirit and let the Spirit have 01:00:53.079 --> 01:00:57.460 its way. I want to finish by encouraging you 01:00:57.460 --> 01:01:00.500 with two verses. And I'm only going to read them 01:01:00.500 --> 01:01:05.980 to you. Isaiah chapter 41, 13 and 14. This is 01:01:05.980 --> 01:01:07.960 wonderful when you consider everything we've 01:01:07.960 --> 01:01:12.219 looked at these first two weeks as we've begun 01:01:12.219 --> 01:01:17.639 looking at this enigma of Jacob. Verse 13 of 01:01:17.639 --> 01:01:21.699 Isaiah 41, For I, the Lord your God, hold your 01:01:21.699 --> 01:01:26.559 right hand. It is I who say to you, do not fear, 01:01:26.739 --> 01:01:33.039 I will help you. God is saying to you, I want 01:01:33.039 --> 01:01:37.550 to take your hand. You might have sold out. You 01:01:37.550 --> 01:01:41.949 might have caved in. But God is still saying 01:01:41.949 --> 01:01:47.690 to you, fear not, I will help you. Let's look 01:01:47.690 --> 01:01:52.409 at verse 14. This is precious. Fear not, you 01:01:52.409 --> 01:01:57.269 worm, Jacob. I mean, you could say, hey, that 01:01:57.269 --> 01:02:00.789 doesn't apply to me, this verse. I mean, you 01:02:00.789 --> 01:02:03.320 don't know what I've been through. You don't 01:02:03.320 --> 01:02:06.039 know what I've been up to. You don't know how 01:02:06.039 --> 01:02:09.440 cheap my price has been, what I've actually been 01:02:09.440 --> 01:02:16.079 selling out for and caving into. I'm worse than 01:02:16.079 --> 01:02:18.820 Jacob. I'm worse than any of that dysfunctional 01:02:18.820 --> 01:02:23.340 family you showed us tonight. Look, Jacob was 01:02:23.340 --> 01:02:28.570 a worm like all of us. All of us, fear not, you 01:02:28.570 --> 01:02:32.929 worm of Jacob, you men and women of Israel, all 01:02:32.929 --> 01:02:36.889 of the descendants of Jacob, who are stiff -necked 01:02:36.889 --> 01:02:39.530 and rebellious people, listen to what God says. 01:02:40.469 --> 01:02:43.469 I will help you, says the Lord, your Redeemer, 01:02:43.590 --> 01:02:47.130 the one who will buy you back from the slave 01:02:47.130 --> 01:02:50.610 market of sin, the one who will store you and 01:02:50.610 --> 01:02:56.000 renew you. I am the Holy One of Israel. I am 01:02:56.000 --> 01:02:59.619 absolutely holy. And yet I'm going to do this 01:02:59.619 --> 01:03:04.860 for you because of what Jesus did. Thanks for 01:03:04.860 --> 01:03:05.119 listening.