WEBVTT

00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:03.160
This is your first time joining us here at Hosanna,

00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:05.019
here in our sanctuary, or if you're watching

00:00:05.019 --> 00:00:07.379
online for the first time, we want to say welcome

00:00:07.379 --> 00:00:09.179
to all of you. We're so glad you're here to worship

00:00:09.179 --> 00:00:12.460
with us today. I am Pastor Nathan, and today

00:00:12.460 --> 00:00:15.460
we are starting a brand new era in the book of

00:00:15.460 --> 00:00:18.100
Genesis. We're going to be starting the story

00:00:18.100 --> 00:00:22.219
of Isaac, the son of the promise, and his family

00:00:22.219 --> 00:00:24.980
tree. You know, Genesis, if you remember from

00:00:24.980 --> 00:00:27.120
way back a thousand years ago when we started

00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:29.940
studying this book, I had mentioned that this

00:00:29.940 --> 00:00:33.659
whole book is divided into ten sections. The

00:00:33.659 --> 00:00:37.560
Hebrew, they call them toledots. These 10 sections

00:00:37.560 --> 00:00:39.600
of the book are broken up, and they're all started

00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:42.159
with a phrase that says, these are the family

00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:45.659
records of, or these are the generations of.

00:00:45.820 --> 00:00:48.100
And that's how you could tell the divisions through

00:00:48.100 --> 00:00:51.420
Genesis. The first five of these divisions were

00:00:51.420 --> 00:00:54.340
primeval history, and then the second five, and

00:00:54.340 --> 00:00:56.100
through the rest of the book, are patriarchal

00:00:56.100 --> 00:00:59.020
history, which record the Genesis, if you will,

00:00:59.079 --> 00:01:00.960
the beginning of the nation of Israel and the

00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:05.260
Jewish people. Now, Isaac... himself, his story

00:01:05.260 --> 00:01:08.700
is largely dominated by that of his son Jacob.

00:01:08.980 --> 00:01:11.340
And the reason being is because Isaac is just

00:01:11.340 --> 00:01:13.459
kind of like a chill guy. There's not a whole

00:01:13.459 --> 00:01:17.299
lot of events and things that take place during

00:01:17.299 --> 00:01:20.519
his life, but his son Jacob is definitely a huge

00:01:20.519 --> 00:01:22.299
character. And so what we're looking at here

00:01:22.299 --> 00:01:25.879
in Genesis 25 today is really the summary of

00:01:25.879 --> 00:01:28.340
Isaac's family tree, the beginning of his family,

00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:30.659
if you will, not the whole family tree. But then

00:01:30.659 --> 00:01:32.780
we're going to get into the epic trailer of the

00:01:32.780 --> 00:01:35.879
movie. to come about Jacob and his struggle with

00:01:35.879 --> 00:01:39.569
himself. And the reason it jumps into this right

00:01:39.569 --> 00:01:42.510
away, I think, is most of us know and study scripture

00:01:42.510 --> 00:01:46.129
to see the examples of what to do, right? God's

00:01:46.129 --> 00:01:48.189
teaching us through his word how we should live,

00:01:48.290 --> 00:01:51.230
how we should behave. And he does that through

00:01:51.230 --> 00:01:54.129
so many different stories. Abraham is an example,

00:01:54.310 --> 00:01:56.189
right? Not that he's a perfect man, but much

00:01:56.189 --> 00:01:58.750
of Abraham's story as we studied through it were

00:01:58.750 --> 00:02:01.150
wonderful examples to follow and things to do.

00:02:01.269 --> 00:02:03.909
And there's just a smattering of what not to

00:02:03.909 --> 00:02:05.870
do in there. But then there's other examples

00:02:05.870 --> 00:02:09.569
in scripture like, Jacob and his brother Esau,

00:02:09.590 --> 00:02:13.490
which teach moral lessons through what not to

00:02:13.490 --> 00:02:16.310
do primarily, all right, with a smattering of

00:02:16.310 --> 00:02:18.030
good things to follow. And so we're going to

00:02:18.030 --> 00:02:20.210
be seeing that in the beginning of this story

00:02:20.210 --> 00:02:22.569
here. But the point of this beginning section

00:02:22.569 --> 00:02:25.689
of Isaac's life and his son Jacob is to keep

00:02:25.689 --> 00:02:29.830
showing us that God's grace is not subject to

00:02:29.830 --> 00:02:33.789
our expectations. It's not subject to our cultural

00:02:33.789 --> 00:02:37.810
conventions. God's grace doesn't work. It's not

00:02:37.810 --> 00:02:41.530
given out to people based upon our standards,

00:02:41.729 --> 00:02:44.650
our definitions, and oftentimes God's grace goes

00:02:44.650 --> 00:02:47.189
out to people where we simply can't understand

00:02:47.189 --> 00:02:50.509
how that could possibly be. But that is the wonderful

00:02:50.509 --> 00:02:53.969
truth about God's grace, that God is sovereign.

00:02:54.729 --> 00:02:57.009
Sovereign means he doesn't answer to anybody,

00:02:57.110 --> 00:02:59.509
including us, if you can imagine that, right?

00:03:00.330 --> 00:03:03.110
Like, he is perfect and holy in all things, he's

00:03:03.110 --> 00:03:05.669
righteous in all things, and his grace cannot

00:03:05.669 --> 00:03:09.169
be restricted. Now, there are times when his

00:03:09.169 --> 00:03:11.889
grace goes out to people, and we might find ourselves

00:03:11.889 --> 00:03:14.789
disagreeing with how his grace is being handed

00:03:14.789 --> 00:03:17.949
out, or, you know, to who he's lavishing his

00:03:17.949 --> 00:03:20.830
grace on. But those questions are not for us.

00:03:21.650 --> 00:03:23.930
God gets to choose where his grace goes. God

00:03:23.930 --> 00:03:26.969
gets to choose who his grace goes on. We're the

00:03:26.969 --> 00:03:30.210
ones to simply trust him and to follow his teaching

00:03:30.210 --> 00:03:32.949
and his word and his example. Now, for those

00:03:32.949 --> 00:03:35.210
of us that have experienced God's grace in our

00:03:35.210 --> 00:03:37.930
lives and have received that salvation, I think

00:03:37.930 --> 00:03:39.949
we are collectively, I could speak for all of

00:03:39.949 --> 00:03:43.530
us, we are so glad that he is the one who makes

00:03:43.530 --> 00:03:47.129
a decision unto whom and how his grace is meted

00:03:47.129 --> 00:03:49.789
out. Because to be completely honest, if grace

00:03:49.789 --> 00:03:52.750
was granted to people based upon our own standards,

00:03:53.069 --> 00:03:56.250
I think we would disqualify ourselves fairly

00:03:56.250 --> 00:03:59.330
immediately because we change our standards constantly

00:03:59.330 --> 00:04:01.750
to make ourselves feel better about our error

00:04:01.750 --> 00:04:05.569
and our bad qualities. And so today, we're gonna

00:04:05.569 --> 00:04:08.990
see God continuing to saturate his people with

00:04:08.990 --> 00:04:12.030
his grace in ways that both make sense to us

00:04:12.030 --> 00:04:14.949
and ways that don't make sense to us. And we're

00:04:14.949 --> 00:04:17.930
gonna learn again to trust his sovereign grace

00:04:17.930 --> 00:04:23.209
because he is God. He is perfect. Even when he

00:04:23.209 --> 00:04:25.569
gives grace to someone that doesn't make any

00:04:25.569 --> 00:04:29.790
sense to us, it's right because he did it. Amen?

00:04:30.269 --> 00:04:33.310
Let's pray. Father, we're so grateful to you,

00:04:33.350 --> 00:04:36.350
God, and Lord, as your people, we are so grateful

00:04:36.350 --> 00:04:39.350
that you chose to give us your grace because,

00:04:39.410 --> 00:04:41.889
Lord, we know that we don't deserve it. And so,

00:04:41.910 --> 00:04:43.850
God, as we read this story today at the beginning

00:04:43.850 --> 00:04:47.509
of Isaac's family and his sons, Jacob and Esau,

00:04:47.509 --> 00:04:51.870
Lord, May we be reminded that we are all sinners,

00:04:52.110 --> 00:04:55.850
that we are all deserving of judgment, and yet,

00:04:55.870 --> 00:04:59.589
Lord, you chose through your love to grant grace

00:04:59.589 --> 00:05:02.449
to all of us. to all who would call upon the

00:05:02.449 --> 00:05:04.990
name of Jesus Christ. And so, God, we pray that

00:05:04.990 --> 00:05:06.889
you would just speak to us and encourage us,

00:05:06.990 --> 00:05:09.189
Lord. God, if any of us are carrying attitudes,

00:05:09.610 --> 00:05:13.449
Lord, where we might look upon a certain people

00:05:13.449 --> 00:05:16.209
or people who do certain things and go, they

00:05:16.209 --> 00:05:18.750
can't possibly be saved, Lord, may you just deal

00:05:18.750 --> 00:05:21.189
with that in our hearts, God, so that we would

00:05:21.189 --> 00:05:24.069
be people not trying to do your job, but people

00:05:24.069 --> 00:05:25.850
doing the job you've given to us, and that is

00:05:25.850 --> 00:05:29.990
to pray, to trust, and to follow. Lord, we love

00:05:29.990 --> 00:05:31.990
you so much. We pray that you would bless today,

00:05:32.209 --> 00:05:34.490
God. We pray that you would bless us. And Lord,

00:05:34.550 --> 00:05:36.529
we pray that you would be blessed because you

00:05:36.529 --> 00:05:39.689
are so worthy of all of it. We trust you. We

00:05:39.689 --> 00:05:42.790
love you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

00:05:43.610 --> 00:05:47.430
All right, we are in Genesis chapter 25. We're

00:05:47.430 --> 00:05:49.430
going to be looking at verses 19 through the

00:05:49.430 --> 00:05:52.189
end of the chapter today. And as I said, this

00:05:52.189 --> 00:05:54.990
is the beginning of the story of Isaac's life.

00:05:55.250 --> 00:05:57.990
This is what's taking place after the passing

00:05:57.990 --> 00:06:00.389
of his father. And the whole story of his life

00:06:00.389 --> 00:06:03.170
simply just starts with kind of a focus and summary

00:06:03.170 --> 00:06:06.110
on some of the stuff we've already read. But

00:06:06.110 --> 00:06:09.810
read with me in verse 19 of Genesis 25. It says,

00:06:09.850 --> 00:06:13.250
these are the family records of Isaac, son of

00:06:13.250 --> 00:06:16.970
Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac. Isaac was 40

00:06:16.970 --> 00:06:19.430
years old when he took his wife, Rebecca, daughter

00:06:19.430 --> 00:06:22.629
of Bethuel, the Aramean, from Paddan Aram, and

00:06:22.629 --> 00:06:26.870
sister of Laban, the Aramean. The record of the

00:06:26.870 --> 00:06:29.930
ongoing promise of God. That is what we have

00:06:29.930 --> 00:06:32.889
all the way from Genesis to the birth of Jesus

00:06:32.889 --> 00:06:36.810
Christ and so on. This is the lineage here that

00:06:36.810 --> 00:06:39.069
we're being reminded of. Isaac's lineage that

00:06:39.069 --> 00:06:41.730
he was birthed from Abraham just to remind us

00:06:41.730 --> 00:06:45.149
that he is the son of the promise. And then his

00:06:45.149 --> 00:06:47.430
marriage. We already looked at him meeting his

00:06:47.430 --> 00:06:49.790
wife and marrying her. But as the genealogies

00:06:49.790 --> 00:06:52.610
are written, that would be the moment when you

00:06:52.610 --> 00:06:54.709
would start having the family, right? So at the

00:06:54.709 --> 00:06:57.120
point of marriage here. We're reminded all of

00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:00.480
that, that she came from Bethuel. Rebecca came

00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:02.800
from Abraham's family. Now, when it calls them

00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:06.379
Arameans or Arameans, it's simply referring to

00:07:06.379 --> 00:07:08.560
the area of the time that they were from, Paddan

00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:11.339
Aram. That was people from this area were considered

00:07:11.339 --> 00:07:15.459
Arameans or Arameans. And so these are just reminders

00:07:15.459 --> 00:07:18.259
of what we've already closed in Abraham's life.

00:07:18.740 --> 00:07:21.120
Now, when it tells us about Abraham fathering

00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:24.189
Isaac, it's just meant to remind us again. This

00:07:24.189 --> 00:07:27.149
is the promised son. This is the one whom the

00:07:27.149 --> 00:07:29.310
blessing is going to come down through. This

00:07:29.310 --> 00:07:32.129
is the one through God's intention and all of

00:07:32.129 --> 00:07:34.389
that is going to happen. And so we remember,

00:07:34.430 --> 00:07:36.889
you know, when he was born, right? How he was

00:07:36.889 --> 00:07:40.790
born from miraculous circumstances. God waited

00:07:40.790 --> 00:07:43.829
until the point where it was literally biologically

00:07:43.829 --> 00:07:47.790
impossible for Sarah to have kids, for her and

00:07:47.790 --> 00:07:50.189
Abraham to have children together. And yet God

00:07:50.189 --> 00:07:53.389
did it. The miracle birth. And if you remember

00:07:53.389 --> 00:07:55.529
when they were questioning, or at least when

00:07:55.529 --> 00:07:57.529
Sarah was questioning God in this moment, he

00:07:57.529 --> 00:07:58.790
said, not only are you going to have a kid, but

00:07:58.790 --> 00:08:01.230
you're going to name him Isaac, which means laughter.

00:08:02.250 --> 00:08:05.370
And of course, when they gave birth to him, I

00:08:05.370 --> 00:08:08.149
imagine there was great joy and there was great

00:08:08.149 --> 00:08:10.649
laughter. And you know that laughter we get sometimes

00:08:10.649 --> 00:08:12.850
when we're like, I can't believe this happened.

00:08:13.009 --> 00:08:14.990
And we're just like tears in our eyes, right?

00:08:15.329 --> 00:08:17.610
And God knew that was going to happen. And so

00:08:17.610 --> 00:08:20.290
they were commanded to name him Isaac. They followed

00:08:20.290 --> 00:08:24.149
that command from God there. And so we have the

00:08:24.149 --> 00:08:27.339
son of the promise. Up to this point in Genesis,

00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:30.160
other than the fact that he's the son of the

00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:33.460
promise, the most noteworthy thing we have about

00:08:33.460 --> 00:08:36.440
Isaac's life experience is that he was willing

00:08:36.440 --> 00:08:40.159
to be obedient to death on Mount Moriah. You

00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:42.519
remember the story when God said, Abraham, I

00:08:42.519 --> 00:08:44.759
want you to take your son and I want you to offer

00:08:44.759 --> 00:08:46.820
him as a sacrifice up on the mountain. And Abraham

00:08:46.820 --> 00:08:49.779
went and Isaac went with him. And then we remember

00:08:49.779 --> 00:08:51.940
the point of the story as Abraham told all the

00:08:51.940 --> 00:08:54.320
servants, wait here, me and my son are going

00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:56.679
to go up the mountain. And Isaac was the one

00:08:56.679 --> 00:08:59.340
carrying the wood for the fire, right? And you

00:08:59.340 --> 00:09:02.519
remember when Isaac was like, hey, dad, we got

00:09:02.519 --> 00:09:07.629
the wood. We got the fire. But where's the lamb?

00:09:08.669 --> 00:09:11.870
Where's the offering? And then Abraham said that

00:09:11.870 --> 00:09:15.730
God will provide for himself an offering. And

00:09:15.730 --> 00:09:18.289
as that story went through, we remember how Isaac

00:09:18.289 --> 00:09:21.350
went up the mountain, continued. Abraham built

00:09:21.350 --> 00:09:24.409
the altar. Isaac willingly laid down on the altar.

00:09:24.490 --> 00:09:26.950
I mean, what amazing obedience and trust in his

00:09:26.950 --> 00:09:30.090
father and the example for us in trusting our

00:09:30.090 --> 00:09:34.480
father in heaven. And so, That was the most noteworthy

00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:36.519
thing that has happened in his life so far. And

00:09:36.519 --> 00:09:39.700
then the rest of Isaac's story, it really generally

00:09:39.700 --> 00:09:43.620
characterizes him as a really kind of laid -back

00:09:43.620 --> 00:09:45.820
kind of guy, a go -with -the -flow kind of guy,

00:09:45.860 --> 00:09:48.460
don't rock the boat, you know. He's just kind

00:09:48.460 --> 00:09:50.440
of reserved. And it's really interesting because

00:09:50.440 --> 00:09:53.080
when you look at the genealogies, you have Abraham,

00:09:53.340 --> 00:09:55.480
all these wonderful things that happened in his

00:09:55.480 --> 00:09:59.220
life, and wow, and then Isaac. He was born. And

00:09:59.220 --> 00:10:01.179
then we get to Jacob and all these wonderful

00:10:01.179 --> 00:10:04.279
things happen in Jacob's life. But all of it

00:10:04.279 --> 00:10:07.039
is God's plan, God's ordained plan. And that's

00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:08.799
really what the beginning of his story is going

00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:11.740
to tell us all about. Now, in contrast to Isaac,

00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:15.000
who is this kind of laid back guy, we have his

00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:18.240
wife, Rebecca, who wasn't shy at all. As a matter

00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:20.320
of fact, she was willing to step out, willing

00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:22.860
to go the extra mile, willing to just get involved

00:10:22.860 --> 00:10:25.340
because we remember the story when the servant

00:10:25.340 --> 00:10:27.870
went to find her. He didn't know it was her,

00:10:27.990 --> 00:10:30.289
but he had said this prayer that whoever comes

00:10:30.289 --> 00:10:33.429
out and gets water at the well and also wants

00:10:33.429 --> 00:10:36.509
to water my 10 camels, let her be the one. And

00:10:36.509 --> 00:10:39.070
so this beautiful woman, Rebecca, came out and

00:10:39.070 --> 00:10:42.409
she said, hey, can I water your camels too? And

00:10:42.409 --> 00:10:45.070
we remember that there was 80 to 100 trips up

00:10:45.070 --> 00:10:48.610
and down from that well carrying this amazing

00:10:48.610 --> 00:10:52.590
amount of water, 250 gallons of water at three

00:10:52.590 --> 00:10:55.450
gallons a trip. to make sure all of these camels

00:10:55.450 --> 00:10:58.169
were fully watered. What an amazing woman. And

00:10:58.169 --> 00:11:01.690
so when she was asked, do you want to leave with

00:11:01.690 --> 00:11:04.169
a stranger and go marry this guy, Isaac, who

00:11:04.169 --> 00:11:06.769
you know nothing about? Now, this was common

00:11:06.769 --> 00:11:09.129
convention of the day. She said, yes, I will.

00:11:10.059 --> 00:11:12.419
So we can imagine when she finally met Isaac

00:11:12.419 --> 00:11:14.940
and they consummated their marriage that Isaac

00:11:14.940 --> 00:11:17.139
had told her about the promises that applied

00:11:17.139 --> 00:11:19.620
to him and his family, had told her about the

00:11:19.620 --> 00:11:22.120
stories of his father and told him about what

00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:24.940
God had said and the times that God had ministered

00:11:24.940 --> 00:11:27.100
to him and said, hey, guess what? Your offspring

00:11:27.100 --> 00:11:29.120
is going to be more than the stars in the sky.

00:11:29.720 --> 00:11:31.899
And Rebecca might have got wide -eyed at that

00:11:31.899 --> 00:11:35.500
point and went, whoa, that's a lot of kids. So

00:11:35.500 --> 00:11:37.200
they were probably like, we should get started.

00:11:38.009 --> 00:11:40.049
Which would be the natural thing to do right

00:11:40.049 --> 00:11:42.570
in this time because raising the family was just

00:11:42.570 --> 00:11:45.570
so important and having the family line continue

00:11:45.570 --> 00:11:48.309
on. And, you know, after all, Ishmael, Isaac's

00:11:48.309 --> 00:11:50.169
brother, man, that guy was popping out kids like

00:11:50.169 --> 00:11:53.950
crazy, right? 12 sons of 12 tribes. But Isaac

00:11:53.950 --> 00:11:56.850
was the one of the promise. Surely God's promise

00:11:56.850 --> 00:11:58.570
was going to apply in his life, right? Surely

00:11:58.570 --> 00:12:00.409
it was going to come to pass as things had come

00:12:00.409 --> 00:12:03.110
to pass for his father. Surely it should have

00:12:03.110 --> 00:12:07.379
been easy. Let's just... start making a family.

00:12:08.419 --> 00:12:12.539
But it wasn't. Because just like Isaac's mother,

00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:17.580
Sarah, Rebecca was barren. She was infertile,

00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:20.320
and she couldn't have children. Now, you might

00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:24.779
wonder, why is this happening again, right? It's

00:12:24.779 --> 00:12:26.500
kind of like, you know, this is the sequel to

00:12:26.500 --> 00:12:28.379
Abraham's story, right? This is God getting started

00:12:28.379 --> 00:12:31.539
part two. And like, we saw the barrenness thing,

00:12:31.639 --> 00:12:35.179
right? What's the new story here in part two?

00:12:35.240 --> 00:12:38.350
But It's the same story. The barrenness, the

00:12:38.350 --> 00:12:40.529
impossibility of having children. And I believe

00:12:40.529 --> 00:12:43.990
what God is teaching his people here in the early

00:12:43.990 --> 00:12:47.070
days of their existence is reminding them and

00:12:47.070 --> 00:12:48.850
teaching them over and over that the promises

00:12:48.850 --> 00:12:53.049
of God will not come by human effort. And they

00:12:53.049 --> 00:12:57.139
never come by human effort. Now, God may call

00:12:57.139 --> 00:12:59.879
us and speak to us and have us be involved in

00:12:59.879 --> 00:13:02.299
what he's doing, but it's still his calling and

00:13:02.299 --> 00:13:04.960
his prompting. And in many cases, when we try

00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:08.379
to get involved, we mess it all up anyways. And

00:13:08.379 --> 00:13:10.500
so God's like, thanks for helping, but like,

00:13:10.580 --> 00:13:12.960
have you ever had one of those people? I mean,

00:13:12.980 --> 00:13:15.440
the greatest heart, right? I want to help. I

00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:17.000
want to help. But you know, if they help, it's

00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:19.750
going to be. twice as long, three times as long.

00:13:19.990 --> 00:13:22.450
And so you're like, hey, thanks so much. Hey,

00:13:22.450 --> 00:13:24.190
I need you to hold that wall up over there while

00:13:24.190 --> 00:13:29.590
I finish the project. Right? And so God is getting

00:13:29.590 --> 00:13:31.669
involved here to teach his people continually

00:13:31.669 --> 00:13:34.549
that it's going to be by his work. It was the

00:13:34.549 --> 00:13:37.370
same for Sarah. It was a miracle birth. It's

00:13:37.370 --> 00:13:39.509
the same for Rebecca, who's barren as well. It's

00:13:39.509 --> 00:13:41.470
going to be a miracle birth. It's the same for

00:13:41.470 --> 00:13:43.409
her daughters -in -law, Rachel and Leah, both

00:13:43.409 --> 00:13:46.049
barren. It's a miracle birth. It's the same for

00:13:46.049 --> 00:13:48.629
the mother of Samson. She was barren, miracle

00:13:48.629 --> 00:13:51.409
birth. Hannah, the mother of Samuel, she was

00:13:51.409 --> 00:13:54.190
barren, miracle birth. And then we come all the

00:13:54.190 --> 00:13:56.110
way down to Elizabeth, who was the mother of

00:13:56.110 --> 00:13:58.190
John the Baptist. She struggled with barrenness,

00:13:58.309 --> 00:14:03.519
miracle birth. And then we get to Mary. Now,

00:14:03.539 --> 00:14:05.639
Mary wasn't barren, but there was a significant

00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:08.919
detail in her situation that was different but

00:14:08.919 --> 00:14:12.860
equally as amazing. See, the other ones got pregnant

00:14:12.860 --> 00:14:15.360
through the natural course of being with their

00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:18.539
husbands, and God then blessed that union. Mary,

00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:22.059
she conceived by the Holy Spirit. She didn't

00:14:22.059 --> 00:14:23.820
even do the thing you need to do to get pregnant,

00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:27.799
and she got pregnant. Miracle of God. And so

00:14:27.799 --> 00:14:29.620
this is how God works. And the extraordinary

00:14:29.620 --> 00:14:31.919
nature of these birds that we see throughout

00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:33.519
scripture, they go all the way back to Isaac,

00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:35.659
the son of the promise. And so here in verse

00:14:35.659 --> 00:14:39.580
21, we kind of jump right into his story. Isaac

00:14:39.580 --> 00:14:41.720
prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because

00:14:41.720 --> 00:14:43.720
she was childless. And that means infertile.

00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:46.200
The Lord was receptive to his prayer and his

00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:50.059
wife, Rebecca, conceived. And so you can imagine,

00:14:50.100 --> 00:14:53.019
you know, Isaac singing that song, hello, barrenness,

00:14:53.019 --> 00:14:55.870
my old friend, right? Because here it's going

00:14:55.870 --> 00:14:59.029
on again, right? I've heard this story my whole

00:14:59.029 --> 00:15:02.090
life, you know, that I'm the promised son, right?

00:15:02.169 --> 00:15:03.889
And mom couldn't have kids, and now it's happening

00:15:03.889 --> 00:15:07.149
to his wife. But often what happens in our lives

00:15:07.149 --> 00:15:10.029
is as we go through our own lives and then generations

00:15:10.029 --> 00:15:12.309
come after us, that there's familiar challenges

00:15:12.309 --> 00:15:14.850
that are going to be met with God's continued

00:15:14.850 --> 00:15:17.610
grace. And that is kind of the point of the opening

00:15:17.610 --> 00:15:20.570
of the story here. So barrenness is there, but

00:15:20.570 --> 00:15:23.690
apparently Isaac had learned something from his

00:15:23.690 --> 00:15:27.750
father. The maid servant is not the solution.

00:15:29.509 --> 00:15:31.509
Don't go after the maid servant. What he does

00:15:31.509 --> 00:15:33.409
instead is what his father should have done in

00:15:33.409 --> 00:15:36.610
the first place. He prayed. He had learned to

00:15:36.610 --> 00:15:39.350
go to God first, talk to God first, to bring

00:15:39.350 --> 00:15:41.549
it to him, bring it to the one who could solve

00:15:41.549 --> 00:15:44.070
any problem. And so he goes and prays. And when

00:15:44.070 --> 00:15:47.450
it says prayed there, it means intense supplication.

00:15:48.730 --> 00:15:52.909
Like this is almost the idea of pleading or begging,

00:15:53.129 --> 00:15:55.110
if you will, but it's not begging as in the,

00:15:55.129 --> 00:15:57.509
oh, please, I hope. But it was like, God, I'm

00:15:57.509 --> 00:16:01.090
praying passionately for this thing because I'm

00:16:01.090 --> 00:16:04.850
supposed to be the son of the promise. And, well,

00:16:04.929 --> 00:16:06.289
if I'm the son of the promise who's supposed

00:16:06.289 --> 00:16:08.330
to have offspring the way my father was promised

00:16:08.330 --> 00:16:11.129
to have offspring, I can't do it with a barren

00:16:11.129 --> 00:16:14.779
wife going through the same. issues and the same

00:16:14.779 --> 00:16:17.659
struggles that his father went through, but getting

00:16:17.659 --> 00:16:20.259
the opportunity to do it differently than his

00:16:20.259 --> 00:16:22.440
dad did. Now, you might ask the question, how

00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:25.519
long had he prayed? Right? Did he pray immediately?

00:16:25.740 --> 00:16:29.500
Was this right after or what? Now, down in verse

00:16:29.500 --> 00:16:31.559
26, we're going to read that when his children

00:16:31.559 --> 00:16:34.720
were born, he was 60 years old. And so earlier

00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:36.879
we read that when he met his wife, Rebecca, he

00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:40.860
was 40. So that means 20 years of barrenness.

00:16:41.329 --> 00:16:44.590
20 years of trying to have kids. And at some

00:16:44.590 --> 00:16:47.509
point, it doesn't tell us exactly when, maybe

00:16:47.509 --> 00:16:49.490
it was right in the beginning, which I think

00:16:49.490 --> 00:16:52.230
it was, but it could have been later, Isaac started

00:16:52.230 --> 00:16:56.289
praying for his wife. Praying passionately, intensely,

00:16:56.610 --> 00:16:59.809
pleading with God that he would allow her to

00:16:59.809 --> 00:17:01.950
conceive children so that the promise could continue

00:17:01.950 --> 00:17:03.750
and then, of course, have that blessing in their

00:17:03.750 --> 00:17:09.049
family. And it says the Lord was receptive to

00:17:09.049 --> 00:17:12.500
his prayer. That word receptive means willing.

00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:15.779
He was willing to answer it or he was moved to

00:17:15.779 --> 00:17:19.700
answer it, right? And you say, well, if God was

00:17:19.700 --> 00:17:23.220
so receptive, so willing, so moved to answer

00:17:23.220 --> 00:17:25.079
the prayer, why did it take 20 years for him

00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:27.559
to answer the prayer? Have any of you ever asked

00:17:27.559 --> 00:17:29.019
that question of your life? Not specifically

00:17:29.019 --> 00:17:32.430
this one, but... God, I believe you're willing.

00:17:32.549 --> 00:17:34.690
I believe you hear me. I believe it's your will

00:17:34.690 --> 00:17:37.549
because you've shown it to me in many ways. But

00:17:37.549 --> 00:17:39.829
God, why are you waiting so long? Why are you

00:17:39.829 --> 00:17:43.549
taking so long to answer my prayer? I don't understand.

00:17:44.250 --> 00:17:47.150
Well, here's the lesson. God's timing is always

00:17:47.150 --> 00:17:51.509
the right timing. Period. End of story. It doesn't

00:17:51.509 --> 00:17:53.990
matter how long it takes for when it happens,

00:17:54.109 --> 00:17:57.329
it's exactly the right time for it to happen.

00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:01.240
Is God obligated to tell us why he's taken his

00:18:01.240 --> 00:18:06.539
time? No. He's God. We're his creation, right?

00:18:07.180 --> 00:18:11.339
He's sovereign. We aren't told here anything

00:18:11.339 --> 00:18:14.920
about why it took so long and whatnot, but does

00:18:14.920 --> 00:18:18.039
that mean that the Lord was any less receptive,

00:18:18.220 --> 00:18:21.299
any less willing to answer prayer? Of course

00:18:21.299 --> 00:18:25.779
not. See, it's easy for us to conclude these

00:18:25.779 --> 00:18:27.720
types of things when we look at things from our

00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:30.559
perspective. Because, yeah, we all have a ticking

00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:34.299
clock, right? We have a life clock. We have a

00:18:34.299 --> 00:18:36.880
ticking biological clock. There's all kinds of

00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:38.940
clocks going on, right? And our whole life is

00:18:38.940 --> 00:18:41.480
just this linear path towards one day it's all

00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:44.569
going to end. God gives us a promise and we're

00:18:44.569 --> 00:18:46.369
like, of course, God, I want to experience that

00:18:46.369 --> 00:18:48.390
blessing for as long as I can. I want to live

00:18:48.390 --> 00:18:51.029
in that blessing for as long as I can. Or God,

00:18:51.049 --> 00:18:52.730
it's going to make things so much easier. And

00:18:52.730 --> 00:18:54.210
so we're praying and we're praying and we're

00:18:54.210 --> 00:18:59.529
praying. And why aren't you answering, God? But

00:18:59.529 --> 00:19:04.049
his timing is perfect. That's a part of us understanding

00:19:04.049 --> 00:19:07.829
that he is sovereign. We may not understand why

00:19:07.829 --> 00:19:11.200
it's taking time. But we have to be able to step

00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:13.740
back and start with this understanding that God's

00:19:13.740 --> 00:19:17.660
timing is perfect. Because he is sovereign. He

00:19:17.660 --> 00:19:19.640
is the only one that can see the future. He sees

00:19:19.640 --> 00:19:21.019
the past, present, and the future simultaneously.

00:19:21.180 --> 00:19:24.619
He's outside of all the natural constraints that

00:19:24.619 --> 00:19:26.960
we have as humans living within this creation

00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:30.920
and within time. God's outside of that. He's

00:19:30.920 --> 00:19:32.799
the only one that sees every thread and can just

00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:34.660
instantaneously know how every thread, every

00:19:34.660 --> 00:19:37.240
possibility pans out and says, this is my will.

00:19:38.089 --> 00:19:39.930
And this is what's going to happen. He's the

00:19:39.930 --> 00:19:42.869
only one that could do that. Now, what is clear

00:19:42.869 --> 00:19:45.690
here in Isaac's story is that God finally answered.

00:19:46.789 --> 00:19:49.390
And what's also clear is that when he answered,

00:19:49.509 --> 00:19:53.990
we're going to see that they understood the miracle

00:19:53.990 --> 00:19:57.609
of this. That it was... God's divine miracle

00:19:57.609 --> 00:20:01.470
that cured her infertility. And so thus, the

00:20:01.470 --> 00:20:04.049
child she would bear would indeed be the continued

00:20:04.049 --> 00:20:07.230
blessing of the promise. And so here we are at

00:20:07.230 --> 00:20:09.450
this new beginning. God's eternal sovereignty

00:20:09.450 --> 00:20:12.150
is just rising above Isaac's life as it has been

00:20:12.150 --> 00:20:14.650
through the whole story. It's rising over the

00:20:14.650 --> 00:20:17.289
story of Israel's beginning and God's plan. And

00:20:17.289 --> 00:20:20.150
so again, we can imagine their joy, right? She

00:20:20.150 --> 00:20:22.390
conceived. She got pregnant. It tells us in verse

00:20:22.390 --> 00:20:26.490
22. Or no, it tells us here. Yep. Tells us here.

00:20:26.690 --> 00:20:30.650
She conceived. Laughter, joy, happiness, celebration.

00:20:31.190 --> 00:20:33.809
This is so awesome. 20 years we've been waiting.

00:20:33.849 --> 00:20:38.190
20 years we've been trying. We're pregnant. And

00:20:38.190 --> 00:20:41.890
then things got tough. Verse 22. But the children

00:20:41.890 --> 00:20:45.390
inside of her struggled with each other. And

00:20:45.390 --> 00:20:48.869
she said, why is this happening to me? So she

00:20:48.869 --> 00:20:51.019
went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said

00:20:51.019 --> 00:20:53.640
to her, two nations are in your womb. Two peoples

00:20:53.640 --> 00:20:57.000
will come for you and be separated. One people

00:20:57.000 --> 00:20:59.259
will be stronger than the other, and the older

00:20:59.259 --> 00:21:04.259
will serve the younger. Now, just to give a greater

00:21:04.259 --> 00:21:07.319
picture of what's going on here, when it says

00:21:07.319 --> 00:21:10.180
the children inside her struggled with each other,

00:21:10.359 --> 00:21:13.559
the Hebrew reads this way. The children smashed

00:21:13.559 --> 00:21:17.000
themselves together inside of her. Different

00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:20.279
picture, right? It wasn't these two kids in here

00:21:20.279 --> 00:21:23.359
going, it's kind of cramped. They were fighting.

00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:28.059
They're boxing. They're kicking, right? A lot

00:21:28.059 --> 00:21:29.920
of you have seen it. I'm seeing it lately is

00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:33.359
my assistant, Irene. She's pregnant. She'll be

00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:36.599
sitting there. Whoa. And it's like, what happened?

00:21:36.660 --> 00:21:40.160
She kicked me. Imagine two of them in there boxing.

00:21:40.819 --> 00:21:43.200
I mean, it would just be nuts, right? And so

00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:46.319
she prays what she would normally pray. Why is

00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:49.839
this happening to me? Right? The joy of this

00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:53.019
pregnancy is now concern. Why? It's almost like

00:21:53.019 --> 00:21:55.519
she's saying, why did I even want to get pregnant?

00:21:55.779 --> 00:21:59.420
This is miserable. This is not what I was expecting.

00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:03.299
And hey, guess what? It's easy for us to fall

00:22:03.299 --> 00:22:06.480
to doubt or questioning when God answers prayer,

00:22:06.779 --> 00:22:09.980
but not in the way we were expecting. Right?

00:22:11.180 --> 00:22:13.859
Like, oh God, you answered my prayer, but that's

00:22:13.859 --> 00:22:17.119
not how it was. supposed to turn out. That's

00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:19.019
not how I thought it was going to turn out. God,

00:22:19.059 --> 00:22:23.740
didn't you get my suggestion memo? And why didn't

00:22:23.740 --> 00:22:28.500
you? And so we start asking, what's going on?

00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:33.019
Or we turn blame back on God, which might be

00:22:33.019 --> 00:22:34.980
what she's doing here. God, thank you for the

00:22:34.980 --> 00:22:36.779
answered prayer, but why is it happening this

00:22:36.779 --> 00:22:42.680
way? This isn't what I was expecting. And so

00:22:42.680 --> 00:22:45.960
what did she do? She followed her husband's example,

00:22:46.099 --> 00:22:47.960
which is just a beautiful picture here. She turned

00:22:47.960 --> 00:22:50.900
to God. She went to prayer. It tells us that

00:22:50.900 --> 00:22:52.579
she went to inquire of the Lord. And this is

00:22:52.579 --> 00:22:55.160
just simply, guys, listen up, a great picture.

00:22:55.539 --> 00:22:59.119
This is the beautiful result of a godly husband

00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:03.210
leading in his home the way he should. When a

00:23:03.210 --> 00:23:06.589
man of God in his home leads by example, not

00:23:06.589 --> 00:23:08.269
by just telling you should do this, you should

00:23:08.269 --> 00:23:11.329
do this, but he does this. He's going to the

00:23:11.329 --> 00:23:13.509
God in prayer for going to the God, going to

00:23:13.509 --> 00:23:16.250
God first in prayer. He's reading the word. He's

00:23:16.250 --> 00:23:18.750
worshiping God. He's doing all this stuff. You're

00:23:18.750 --> 00:23:21.529
setting the example as the spiritual leader in

00:23:21.529 --> 00:23:24.839
your home that God has called you to be. And

00:23:24.839 --> 00:23:26.980
when you set that example, you're setting the

00:23:26.980 --> 00:23:29.519
stage for your wife and your children to follow

00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:32.380
that example. And so we see Rebecca doing this.

00:23:32.460 --> 00:23:35.180
You know, it's unfortunate that in far too many

00:23:35.180 --> 00:23:38.420
Christian homes in America today, the wife is

00:23:38.420 --> 00:23:41.559
often the one taking the spiritual role of spiritual

00:23:41.559 --> 00:23:44.700
leader. She's the one that's saying, hey, why

00:23:44.700 --> 00:23:46.700
don't we go pray about this? Hey, why don't we

00:23:46.700 --> 00:23:48.700
go to the word about this? Hey, why don't we

00:23:48.700 --> 00:23:51.619
handle this in the way that God tells us to?

00:23:51.740 --> 00:23:55.000
And it's unfortunate because the stress and the

00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.299
strain and the weight of that, God called the

00:23:59.299 --> 00:24:02.940
man to carry. And he called the wife to help

00:24:02.940 --> 00:24:06.299
in that regard. But to put all of that burden,

00:24:06.420 --> 00:24:09.779
man, if you're doing that to your wife, don't

00:24:09.779 --> 00:24:14.119
do that because it's cowardly. It's weak. And

00:24:14.119 --> 00:24:17.019
so we see Rebecca here responding, right, as

00:24:17.019 --> 00:24:19.400
her husband did, going to God in prayer. And

00:24:19.400 --> 00:24:21.599
God's answer to her prayer was very significant,

00:24:21.720 --> 00:24:25.119
right? He tells her that the warfare that's going

00:24:25.119 --> 00:24:29.180
on in her womb, right, it's not indigestion.

00:24:29.740 --> 00:24:32.599
Right? It's not a bellyache. The war that's going

00:24:32.599 --> 00:24:34.559
on, this is going to have far -reaching results.

00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:37.279
This goes far beyond your pregnancy. There's

00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:40.559
two nations, two peoples, and these two peoples

00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:43.680
will divide and they would oppose each other.

00:24:44.619 --> 00:24:47.559
And on top of that, what was the cultural norm

00:24:47.559 --> 00:24:50.579
of the right of the firstborn would be overturned

00:24:50.579 --> 00:24:54.200
and given to the secondborn. This is definitely

00:24:54.200 --> 00:24:58.000
not... The blissful motherhood that she was expecting

00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:00.900
to have after 20 years of waiting to get pregnant.

00:25:01.559 --> 00:25:03.440
Right? Yeah, it took 20 years to get pregnant.

00:25:03.940 --> 00:25:06.160
And now you're getting beat up inside your tummy.

00:25:06.740 --> 00:25:08.960
And then when your sons are born, they're just

00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:12.980
going to fight constantly. Now, what is the natural

00:25:12.980 --> 00:25:15.200
question all of us might ask if the Lord told

00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:21.720
us that? Why? Why, Lord? Where's the blessing

00:25:21.720 --> 00:25:26.660
in that? Where's the... Where's the good in that?

00:25:26.740 --> 00:25:29.440
I don't understand. Why is this happening? Why

00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:34.779
is it happening this way? Now, God's answer to

00:25:34.779 --> 00:25:36.599
her, she learned something very important, that

00:25:36.599 --> 00:25:39.200
the troubles she was having, the difficulty in

00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:41.099
her pregnant belly and all of that, it wasn't

00:25:41.099 --> 00:25:43.359
her and her husband's fault. That might have

00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:45.140
been one of the first things that she thought,

00:25:45.319 --> 00:25:50.319
because after all, the stories of grandpa or

00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:56.089
father -in -law Abraham, not grandpa. The stories

00:25:56.089 --> 00:25:58.990
of him and what he did to try and make things

00:25:58.990 --> 00:26:01.109
happen. So much of what happened in his life

00:26:01.109 --> 00:26:03.390
were kind of responses to his being disobedient,

00:26:03.390 --> 00:26:05.890
responses to him not doing things exactly the

00:26:05.890 --> 00:26:08.990
way God wanted, not fully trusting God or, you

00:26:08.990 --> 00:26:10.430
know, being concerned and all that. And she's

00:26:10.430 --> 00:26:13.710
like, but this isn't anything to do with any

00:26:13.710 --> 00:26:16.630
of that. He says, this is my plan. There's two

00:26:16.630 --> 00:26:19.210
peoples. There's two nations inside of you. What's

00:26:19.210 --> 00:26:21.250
taking place inside of you is according to my

00:26:21.250 --> 00:26:23.089
plan. It's a plan I'm working out for my own

00:26:23.089 --> 00:26:25.250
purposes. It's a plan I'm working out for my

00:26:25.250 --> 00:26:28.529
own glory. Griffith Thomas, a commentator, said

00:26:28.529 --> 00:26:30.869
the order of nature is not necessarily the order

00:26:30.869 --> 00:26:37.950
of grace. You see, we so often have these expectations

00:26:37.950 --> 00:26:41.970
of how things are supposed to pan out. And in

00:26:41.970 --> 00:26:44.789
many cases, it's just like that's how the natural

00:26:44.789 --> 00:26:49.609
world works, right? Cause and effect. You do

00:26:49.609 --> 00:26:53.130
this, this is the result. And so much in this

00:26:53.130 --> 00:26:57.569
natural world operates that way. But because

00:26:57.569 --> 00:27:00.490
of that, we could risk, come under risk at applying

00:27:00.490 --> 00:27:04.190
that to God and grace and how he wants to do

00:27:04.190 --> 00:27:07.069
things. God, you answered prayer. So when you

00:27:07.069 --> 00:27:08.569
answer prayer, that means I'm supposed to have

00:27:08.569 --> 00:27:09.990
a perfect pregnancy and I'm supposed to have

00:27:09.990 --> 00:27:11.930
these wonderful children who get along and serve

00:27:11.930 --> 00:27:14.769
me and call me mama and call dada and you know.

00:27:17.289 --> 00:27:19.150
But that's not at all how it's going to pan out,

00:27:19.190 --> 00:27:25.210
is it? God's saying, this is my will. This is

00:27:25.210 --> 00:27:29.650
what I'm doing through your life. And it may

00:27:29.650 --> 00:27:31.970
not follow the order of what you're expecting,

00:27:32.150 --> 00:27:38.650
but you don't get to dictate how I operate. You

00:27:38.650 --> 00:27:43.210
just trust me. I'm sovereign. I'm God. This whole

00:27:43.210 --> 00:27:46.170
idea of the natural order of things being upended

00:27:46.170 --> 00:27:48.569
by God and his grace, it's a theme that's repeated

00:27:48.569 --> 00:27:52.289
over and over in the book of Genesis. That grace

00:27:52.289 --> 00:27:56.269
is God's choice. Whom he extends grace to is

00:27:56.269 --> 00:27:59.769
God's choice. When he extends his grace and blessing,

00:27:59.829 --> 00:28:01.890
it's God's choice, right? You go back to the

00:28:01.890 --> 00:28:04.569
very beginning. The older brother Cain was rejected.

00:28:05.109 --> 00:28:08.720
The younger brother Abel was accepted. In Noah's

00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:10.660
time, you have Seth, who was the younger brother,

00:28:10.759 --> 00:28:13.119
was chosen from the line of Noah to be the one

00:28:13.119 --> 00:28:16.180
to carry the promise down. Instead of the older

00:28:16.180 --> 00:28:19.039
firstborn Ishmael, you have Isaac was chosen

00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:21.319
to carry the blessing and receive that grace.

00:28:21.940 --> 00:28:24.460
Jacob's youngest son, Joseph, is the one that

00:28:24.460 --> 00:28:27.460
is chosen over all the older brothers. Judah,

00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:30.700
who is the one whom the Messiah came from the

00:28:30.700 --> 00:28:33.140
line, he was brother number four. He wasn't the

00:28:33.140 --> 00:28:38.799
firstborn. David. So insignificant that when

00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:42.160
Samuel showed up to anoint a king, dad brought

00:28:42.160 --> 00:28:44.559
in everybody but David because he was such a

00:28:44.559 --> 00:28:46.819
nothing and a nobody. It's like, of course nobody

00:28:46.819 --> 00:28:49.980
would consider him to be king of Israel. And

00:28:49.980 --> 00:28:54.079
yet he was the one God picked. You see, how things

00:28:54.079 --> 00:28:56.920
normally go or how they should normally happen

00:28:56.920 --> 00:29:02.140
doesn't dictate how God's grace works. In your

00:29:02.140 --> 00:29:04.339
life, in my life, in the life of this church

00:29:04.339 --> 00:29:07.220
and every church. In the existence of this world.

00:29:08.900 --> 00:29:14.500
Neither does giftedness or reputation or talent,

00:29:14.680 --> 00:29:19.740
right? I am proud to be what God calls the foolish

00:29:19.740 --> 00:29:25.220
thing of this world. He uses the foolish things

00:29:25.220 --> 00:29:28.799
of this world to confound the wise. I am definitely

00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:33.809
not wise. But he has chosen to use me. And people

00:29:33.809 --> 00:29:36.890
go, why do you use that guy, right? The big joke

00:29:36.890 --> 00:29:38.609
of Calvary Chapel pastors, you look at their

00:29:38.609 --> 00:29:41.569
history, they're all drug addicts. They're all

00:29:41.569 --> 00:29:46.049
just done criminals and all kinds of stuff. And

00:29:46.049 --> 00:29:47.730
yet God said, yeah, those are the ones I'm going

00:29:47.730 --> 00:29:51.069
to raise up to be pastors and pastor my people,

00:29:51.130 --> 00:29:55.660
my flock. And it's hilarious sometimes. You know,

00:29:55.660 --> 00:29:56.920
and yeah, I was talking to somebody the other

00:29:56.920 --> 00:29:58.579
day and they're like, hey, what's your story?

00:29:58.619 --> 00:30:00.319
And I was telling them, they're like, did every

00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:02.279
single one of you guys in Calvary Chapel do drugs,

00:30:02.380 --> 00:30:05.319
sleep around, steal, you know, all these things?

00:30:05.460 --> 00:30:11.859
And you're like, we were in the world. We were

00:30:11.859 --> 00:30:13.740
the least that anybody would think could rise

00:30:13.740 --> 00:30:16.619
up to represent God. And yet God said, that's

00:30:16.619 --> 00:30:19.259
who I want. And so don't think you have to be

00:30:19.259 --> 00:30:21.640
this awesome, amazing thing in the world's eyes

00:30:21.640 --> 00:30:24.250
for God to use you. Now, I'm not saying go be

00:30:24.250 --> 00:30:25.849
as bad as you can because that's probably not

00:30:25.849 --> 00:30:29.829
going to work either. Just trust God. Trust his

00:30:29.829 --> 00:30:32.049
sovereignty. Trust who he chooses. Trust how

00:30:32.049 --> 00:30:36.410
he works in all things. God's grace goes to exactly

00:30:36.410 --> 00:30:39.240
whom he chooses to lavish it on. And it works

00:30:39.240 --> 00:30:42.039
exactly according to his wisdom, not our own.

00:30:42.119 --> 00:30:44.599
And so what we have here in this prophecy is

00:30:44.599 --> 00:30:46.519
that the older will serve the younger. We know

00:30:46.519 --> 00:30:49.079
that it's Esau who is the firstborn and Jacob

00:30:49.079 --> 00:30:51.200
who's the younger. And God is saying, look, they're

00:30:51.200 --> 00:30:53.519
going to fight from the very beginning. They're

00:30:53.519 --> 00:30:56.170
fighting before they're even born. And when they're

00:30:56.170 --> 00:30:58.710
born, it's going to be Esau's people. The people

00:30:58.710 --> 00:31:00.750
that come from him are going to serve Jacob.

00:31:00.890 --> 00:31:02.789
And so what we're going to see, though, through

00:31:02.789 --> 00:31:05.670
this life of Jacob and all that is he's definitely

00:31:05.670 --> 00:31:10.049
not the most moral of the two. Right? It's not

00:31:10.049 --> 00:31:12.269
like he's the good kid and Esau's the bad kid.

00:31:12.349 --> 00:31:15.990
They're both the bad kid. He's not the better

00:31:15.990 --> 00:31:19.289
choice in that sense. Why does God choose Jacob

00:31:19.289 --> 00:31:25.190
over Esau? Because God chose Jacob. over Esau?

00:31:26.170 --> 00:31:30.069
That's the answer. Now, we're going to see all

00:31:30.069 --> 00:31:32.589
of these things that God saw in Jacob later on,

00:31:32.609 --> 00:31:35.049
that as Jacob develops. But right here, when

00:31:35.049 --> 00:31:36.789
we read the story on the surface, it doesn't

00:31:36.789 --> 00:31:39.430
say, this is exactly why I chose Jacob. It just

00:31:39.430 --> 00:31:41.529
says he did it. And as we're going to get into

00:31:41.529 --> 00:31:42.990
the details of this, we're going to see that

00:31:42.990 --> 00:31:45.349
it's something that we might question. Like,

00:31:45.369 --> 00:31:47.329
God, did you really make the right choice here?

00:31:47.430 --> 00:31:49.970
But as we go on, we're going to see that God

00:31:49.970 --> 00:31:52.950
offers no explanation to Rebekah as to why this

00:31:52.950 --> 00:31:55.819
is happening. Right? He doesn't say, let me tell

00:31:55.819 --> 00:31:58.019
you my plan, Rebecca. This is why you're having

00:31:58.019 --> 00:31:59.819
all these, you know, tummy problems with these

00:31:59.819 --> 00:32:02.400
babies in there. He doesn't say that at all.

00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:05.740
There's no apologies from God that all this discomfort

00:32:05.740 --> 00:32:08.119
and potential pain you're experiencing here,

00:32:08.220 --> 00:32:10.400
well, it's due to my will and I'm so sorry about

00:32:10.400 --> 00:32:14.799
that. No, none of that. He just simply says,

00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:19.349
this is what it is. This is what I'm doing. Now,

00:32:19.430 --> 00:32:21.089
his sovereign grace, we have to understand, it

00:32:21.089 --> 00:32:24.190
transcends all human wisdom. His love is beyond

00:32:24.190 --> 00:32:26.990
our understanding. None of it bows to human convention.

00:32:28.029 --> 00:32:30.109
And we have to be people of God that believe

00:32:30.109 --> 00:32:32.829
that and trust in that and hang on to that. Yes,

00:32:32.829 --> 00:32:35.349
it's awesome when God says, hey, let me, I'm

00:32:35.349 --> 00:32:37.069
going to let you know what's going on. I'm going

00:32:37.069 --> 00:32:38.569
to give you some of the details of why things

00:32:38.569 --> 00:32:40.269
are taking place the way they do. That's awesome,

00:32:40.369 --> 00:32:42.849
right? I ask that question all the time. God,

00:32:43.109 --> 00:32:48.059
what's up? And he almost never answers that question

00:32:48.059 --> 00:32:50.920
for me. Now, does that mean I could be like,

00:32:50.980 --> 00:32:54.599
well, then fine, I don't have to. No. God, you're

00:32:54.599 --> 00:32:57.359
still sovereign. God, your plan is still perfect.

00:32:57.680 --> 00:33:01.460
And I have to walk in that. So, this difficult

00:33:01.460 --> 00:33:04.359
pregnancy now becomes a very spectacle birth

00:33:04.359 --> 00:33:07.299
here, verse 24. It says, when her time came to

00:33:07.299 --> 00:33:11.109
give birth. There were indeed twins in her womb.

00:33:11.430 --> 00:33:14.089
That kind of gives us the picture that maybe

00:33:14.089 --> 00:33:17.329
they weren't sure it was twins, right? Like she's

00:33:17.329 --> 00:33:19.089
like, is there an alien in here trying to get

00:33:19.089 --> 00:33:22.289
out? What is this, right? Something's going on,

00:33:22.349 --> 00:33:24.569
and if it's one kid, this is definitely weird.

00:33:25.049 --> 00:33:27.970
But it was indeed twins. And so the first one

00:33:27.970 --> 00:33:30.130
came out red -looking, covered with hair like

00:33:30.130 --> 00:33:33.920
a fur coat, and they named him Esau. After this,

00:33:33.920 --> 00:33:36.079
his brother came out grasping Esau's heel with

00:33:36.079 --> 00:33:39.160
his hand. And so he was named Jacob. Isaac was

00:33:39.160 --> 00:33:43.019
60 years old when they were born. So the firstborn

00:33:43.019 --> 00:33:46.460
here out of these twins is Esau. Esau in the

00:33:46.460 --> 00:33:50.160
Hebrew means Sasquatch apparently. And no, it

00:33:50.160 --> 00:33:54.400
doesn't mean that. But it says covered with hair

00:33:54.400 --> 00:33:57.799
like a fur coat. We've all seen a fur coat, right?

00:33:58.900 --> 00:34:02.890
It's not splotchy. It's like hair, carpet. I

00:34:02.890 --> 00:34:05.609
mean, this guy was just covered in hair and he

00:34:05.609 --> 00:34:09.730
was red looking. Very interesting looking guy.

00:34:09.849 --> 00:34:12.130
But then the second son came out and it says

00:34:12.130 --> 00:34:14.230
they named him Jacob because he was grasping

00:34:14.230 --> 00:34:17.170
the heel of his brother, right? That word Jacob,

00:34:17.289 --> 00:34:20.530
the name means he grasps the heel, right? They're

00:34:20.530 --> 00:34:22.369
very clever in their naming here in the Hebrew

00:34:22.369 --> 00:34:26.369
time. But it also, it means heel catcher. But

00:34:26.369 --> 00:34:28.469
then it also carries some negative connotations

00:34:28.469 --> 00:34:32.889
like supplanter. Right? And all of this is in

00:34:32.889 --> 00:34:35.789
line with the prophecy that God had given Rebecca.

00:34:36.369 --> 00:34:38.190
Yeah, these two kids are going to be fighting.

00:34:39.349 --> 00:34:41.670
They're going to fight. They have been fighting

00:34:41.670 --> 00:34:43.610
in the womb. They're going to fight on the way

00:34:43.610 --> 00:34:46.329
out. Right? Jacob's like, no, come back. I'm

00:34:46.329 --> 00:34:49.570
first. And yet this is going to characterize

00:34:49.570 --> 00:34:52.550
their whole life. And then these particular meanings

00:34:52.550 --> 00:34:54.750
of the name Jacob, it's going to characterize

00:34:54.750 --> 00:34:58.690
his entire life, that he's a conniving, scheming.

00:34:59.590 --> 00:35:02.769
calculating individual. And so verse 27, when

00:35:02.769 --> 00:35:05.769
the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter,

00:35:05.949 --> 00:35:09.449
an outdoorsman. But Jacob was a quiet man who

00:35:09.449 --> 00:35:12.630
stayed at home. Isaac loved Esau because he had

00:35:12.630 --> 00:35:15.590
a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

00:35:16.070 --> 00:35:18.190
So these two boys, they couldn't have been more

00:35:18.190 --> 00:35:21.050
opposite, right? And then when you add on top

00:35:21.050 --> 00:35:23.210
of that their parents' conduct, you see the divide

00:35:23.210 --> 00:35:25.550
between them is huge, right? Now what I mean

00:35:25.550 --> 00:35:27.949
by parents' conduct is they're doing favoritism.

00:35:28.349 --> 00:35:31.449
Dad has a favorite. Mom has a favorite. And that

00:35:31.449 --> 00:35:34.269
didn't do anything to unite these boys together.

00:35:34.409 --> 00:35:37.030
It simply made that divide even worse. And so,

00:35:37.030 --> 00:35:39.250
you know, parents, just in general, be very careful

00:35:39.250 --> 00:35:43.789
about favoritism. In fact, don't do it at all,

00:35:43.909 --> 00:35:47.570
right? All of your kids are your favorite, right?

00:35:47.630 --> 00:35:49.230
That's what I've told people my whole life. You

00:35:49.230 --> 00:35:50.989
know, you're my favorite. That one's my favorite

00:35:50.989 --> 00:35:53.250
too, and they're my favorite. Everybody's my

00:35:53.250 --> 00:35:55.590
favorite, you know, because we are all God's

00:35:55.590 --> 00:36:00.389
favorite. Every single one of us. And God just

00:36:00.389 --> 00:36:02.989
lavishes his love equally. But here we see this

00:36:02.989 --> 00:36:06.590
unfortunate favoritism playing out. Now, it may

00:36:06.590 --> 00:36:10.869
be a case where you're not playing favorites

00:36:10.869 --> 00:36:14.829
or having favoritism happen, and that's fine.

00:36:14.909 --> 00:36:17.570
But you also have to be very careful about saying

00:36:17.570 --> 00:36:21.889
or doing things that may imply that. Because

00:36:21.889 --> 00:36:25.230
kids will often... They internalize that, not

00:36:25.230 --> 00:36:27.449
say anything about it, and they'll carry it with

00:36:27.449 --> 00:36:31.489
them for the rest of their life. And it'll, unfortunately,

00:36:31.769 --> 00:36:35.309
excuse me, color so many of their behaviors and

00:36:35.309 --> 00:36:37.610
their struggles and their traumas. And so just

00:36:37.610 --> 00:36:40.889
be very careful. Have you got multiple kids to

00:36:40.889 --> 00:36:44.889
lavish them equally with your love, even though

00:36:44.889 --> 00:36:47.849
they're completely different kids? But anyways,

00:36:47.929 --> 00:36:52.050
moving on from that, Isaac loved Esau. Why? Because

00:36:52.050 --> 00:36:55.369
he had a taste for wild game. What that means

00:36:55.369 --> 00:36:57.389
is Esau was the guy who would go out and he was

00:36:57.389 --> 00:37:00.309
an expert hunter. He would bring in these animals.

00:37:01.070 --> 00:37:03.269
He would like to eat the meat of these animals,

00:37:03.409 --> 00:37:06.230
right? Definitely not a vegetarian. He was just

00:37:06.230 --> 00:37:09.269
the outdoor guy. Later on, it's going to tell

00:37:09.269 --> 00:37:11.510
us that he even smelled like the field, right?

00:37:11.570 --> 00:37:14.949
He was just the quintessential outdoor man. If

00:37:14.949 --> 00:37:16.750
he was alive today, he would be like, I live

00:37:16.750 --> 00:37:22.150
off the grid and I live on the land. And I'm

00:37:22.150 --> 00:37:24.230
a youth pastor for Hosanna Christian Fellowship.

00:37:24.250 --> 00:37:27.250
For anybody that knows Pastor Rick, right? This

00:37:27.250 --> 00:37:29.690
is Pastor Rick. He loves the outdoors. He loves

00:37:29.690 --> 00:37:31.829
hiking. He loves camping, right? Every time we

00:37:31.829 --> 00:37:33.889
plan a family camp, he's like, can we go to a

00:37:33.889 --> 00:37:37.210
place where we actually camp? And I'm like, I'm

00:37:37.210 --> 00:37:39.449
parked in the dirt with an air conditioner. How

00:37:39.449 --> 00:37:41.489
much more camping can you get in that, you know?

00:37:41.989 --> 00:37:45.929
So, but then opposite to this, you have Rebecca

00:37:45.929 --> 00:37:48.429
loved Jacob. And it says he was a quiet man,

00:37:48.570 --> 00:37:52.420
right? This means peaceful. It means calm, but

00:37:52.420 --> 00:37:56.400
it also means controlled. And that word controlled

00:37:56.400 --> 00:37:58.920
has an ominous meaning to it because it's like

00:37:58.920 --> 00:38:02.820
the word I've already used, calculating, right?

00:38:02.880 --> 00:38:05.300
You know, the bad guy, the super villain, you

00:38:05.300 --> 00:38:06.579
know, kind of thing is always the one in the

00:38:06.579 --> 00:38:09.039
back who's not the strongest, not the burliest.

00:38:09.420 --> 00:38:11.679
You know, this is Esau, right? The big tough

00:38:11.679 --> 00:38:14.239
guy, you know, and maybe not the most intelligent.

00:38:14.260 --> 00:38:15.480
We're going to see something later that might

00:38:15.480 --> 00:38:18.400
indicate that. But Jacob, he's the one standing

00:38:18.400 --> 00:38:21.059
back in the corner saying, oh. You'll get what's

00:38:21.059 --> 00:38:25.039
coming to you. That kind of guy, right? And as

00:38:25.039 --> 00:38:26.500
we're going to see in the following verses, not

00:38:26.500 --> 00:38:29.139
only were the opposites in personality, not only

00:38:29.139 --> 00:38:31.360
were they kind of driven apart by the favoritism,

00:38:31.420 --> 00:38:33.579
but there's also differences within their family

00:38:33.579 --> 00:38:35.599
status that were a point of contention, at least

00:38:35.599 --> 00:38:39.199
for Jacob. So verse 29. Once when Jacob was cooking

00:38:39.199 --> 00:38:41.559
a stew, Esau came in from the field exhausted.

00:38:42.280 --> 00:38:44.679
He said to Jacob, let me eat some of that red

00:38:44.679 --> 00:38:48.059
stuff because I'm exhausted. That is why he was

00:38:48.059 --> 00:38:52.340
also named Edom. So the Edomites are the people

00:38:52.340 --> 00:38:55.099
that came from Esau's line and they were mainly

00:38:55.099 --> 00:38:58.159
populated, you know, south of the Dead Sea area,

00:38:58.239 --> 00:39:00.099
kind of in the mountains from the Dead Sea down

00:39:00.099 --> 00:39:02.539
to the tip of the, where the Red Sea outlet was

00:39:02.539 --> 00:39:04.820
there at. And so these were the people that came

00:39:04.820 --> 00:39:07.179
from him, right? And they were just very characterized

00:39:07.179 --> 00:39:10.440
as ready looking, reddish looking people. Verse

00:39:10.440 --> 00:39:13.360
31, Jacob replied, first sell me your birthright.

00:39:14.260 --> 00:39:18.210
Look, said Esau, I'm about to die. So what good

00:39:18.210 --> 00:39:21.210
is a birthright to me? And Jacob said, swear

00:39:21.210 --> 00:39:24.289
to me first. So he swore to Jacob and sold his

00:39:24.289 --> 00:39:26.909
birthright to him. Then Jacob gave bread and

00:39:26.909 --> 00:39:30.829
lentils to Esau. He ate, drank, got up, and went

00:39:30.829 --> 00:39:35.469
away. So Esau despised his birthright. Now, the

00:39:35.469 --> 00:39:36.690
first thing you might notice here is neither

00:39:36.690 --> 00:39:38.670
one of these guys is really painted in a positive

00:39:38.670 --> 00:39:43.239
light, right? On the surface, however, A very

00:39:43.239 --> 00:39:46.340
surface cursory reading. You might look at Esau

00:39:46.340 --> 00:39:48.000
and you go, you know, his light shines a little

00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:50.239
brighter though, right? Because it looks like

00:39:50.239 --> 00:39:53.320
that Esau was the victim of a con job by his

00:39:53.320 --> 00:39:56.340
brother Jacob. And the details here kind of give

00:39:56.340 --> 00:39:58.699
the idea that Jacob planned this on purpose.

00:39:58.780 --> 00:40:01.659
As if Jacob knew when his brother would come

00:40:01.659 --> 00:40:03.840
in and he knew his brother would often come in

00:40:03.840 --> 00:40:07.000
very hungry and tired. And so he's like, okay,

00:40:07.059 --> 00:40:09.239
I'm going to make this very nice aromatic stew

00:40:09.239 --> 00:40:11.340
for when he walks in because I know he's going

00:40:11.340 --> 00:40:13.670
to be starving. And in this way, I'll be able

00:40:13.670 --> 00:40:16.210
to steal the birthright from him. That's kind

00:40:16.210 --> 00:40:18.389
of the picture that we're given here. And so

00:40:18.389 --> 00:40:21.230
it could be a spontaneous moment, but I don't

00:40:21.230 --> 00:40:24.170
think so. Now, this whole idea with the birthright

00:40:24.170 --> 00:40:26.929
comes from the fact of their family status. Esau

00:40:26.929 --> 00:40:29.690
was the firstborn, as we just read. What that

00:40:29.690 --> 00:40:32.909
meant is that he was the one due to inherit everything

00:40:32.909 --> 00:40:36.139
that the family had. He would inherit the wealth.

00:40:36.239 --> 00:40:39.059
He would inherit the estate. But also as the

00:40:39.059 --> 00:40:42.420
firstborn of Isaac, he was in line to inherit

00:40:42.420 --> 00:40:44.960
the promise, right? Because all of that went

00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:47.780
to the firstborn. And so from a conventional

00:40:47.780 --> 00:40:50.940
point of view, yeah, he's the firstborn. He's

00:40:50.940 --> 00:40:52.500
supposed to get everything. That's what this

00:40:52.500 --> 00:40:54.659
birthright thing is, right? These are the rights

00:40:54.659 --> 00:40:57.139
you have as the firstborn. And so Jacob's trying

00:40:57.139 --> 00:41:00.559
to steal it from him. And what we see here is

00:41:00.559 --> 00:41:03.059
that Esau apparently didn't value that birthright

00:41:03.059 --> 00:41:06.809
very much. Right? Because he does what, I think

00:41:06.809 --> 00:41:09.150
every male in this room has experienced, right?

00:41:09.369 --> 00:41:13.869
When we are hungry, we are about to die. Right?

00:41:14.309 --> 00:41:16.949
I'm hungry. He's going to be like, you just ate

00:41:16.949 --> 00:41:18.909
two hours ago. No, you don't understand. I'm

00:41:18.909 --> 00:41:21.949
perishing as we speak. I need to eat. Right?

00:41:22.550 --> 00:41:26.469
And so he goes, what good is a birthright to

00:41:26.469 --> 00:41:30.269
me? Now, Jacob apparently valued the birthright

00:41:30.269 --> 00:41:32.130
so much that he's going to try and figure out

00:41:32.130 --> 00:41:35.250
how to steal it. He sets this trap. The trap

00:41:35.250 --> 00:41:37.250
is sprung. Sell me your birthright. I'm about

00:41:37.250 --> 00:41:40.329
to die. What does it mean to me? Nope, that's

00:41:40.329 --> 00:41:42.690
not enough. Swear it to me. Oath it to me. Because

00:41:42.690 --> 00:41:45.090
that was like signing a contract in those times,

00:41:45.210 --> 00:41:48.650
right? Okay, fine, you could have it. So he gave

00:41:48.650 --> 00:41:51.650
him the food and all of that. But Esau's not

00:41:51.650 --> 00:41:53.429
a victim here. And this is what we get from the

00:41:53.429 --> 00:41:56.690
scriptures, right? What did Esau do that was

00:41:56.690 --> 00:41:59.829
wrong? It tells us right in the very end of the

00:41:59.829 --> 00:42:04.980
last verse. He despised his birthright. You see,

00:42:05.059 --> 00:42:07.579
Esau is not an innocent victim here. He's the

00:42:07.579 --> 00:42:10.679
bad kid because he despised that birthright.

00:42:10.739 --> 00:42:13.460
That word despise means to look down upon or

00:42:13.460 --> 00:42:17.760
to consider something worthless, right? So it

00:42:17.760 --> 00:42:20.219
wasn't just the estate and the stuff he would

00:42:20.219 --> 00:42:22.519
inherit. It was the promise that came along with

00:42:22.519 --> 00:42:24.880
that. And guess what that promise was? That promise

00:42:24.880 --> 00:42:28.989
was God's word. That promise was God's blessing.

00:42:29.190 --> 00:42:32.230
That's what God had said to the family. And so

00:42:32.230 --> 00:42:34.750
what Esau is essentially saying here is that

00:42:34.750 --> 00:42:38.769
God's word, what God wants, what God's plans

00:42:38.769 --> 00:42:42.710
are, mean nothing to me. What is important to

00:42:42.710 --> 00:42:47.030
me, I'm hungry. So you can have that stupid birthright.

00:42:48.030 --> 00:42:51.190
At the heart of this, it's Esau seems to have

00:42:51.190 --> 00:42:53.349
not really believed in God's promises anyways.

00:42:54.539 --> 00:42:58.320
Right? For Esau, that's what grandpa said. And

00:42:58.320 --> 00:43:00.099
we all have grandpas, and they say kind of crazy

00:43:00.099 --> 00:43:02.320
things sometimes, right? You know, and so it's

00:43:02.320 --> 00:43:04.579
like, you know, that was just grandpa. Sure,

00:43:04.780 --> 00:43:06.699
my dad had told me all about it, but, you know,

00:43:06.760 --> 00:43:09.340
whatever. It could be that. It could be that

00:43:09.340 --> 00:43:11.360
it was just something that was so intangible

00:43:11.360 --> 00:43:14.519
to him, so unreal to him. If he did believe in

00:43:14.519 --> 00:43:17.139
it, it was something that was so far off in the

00:43:17.139 --> 00:43:21.340
future to have no effect today. And so he sells

00:43:21.340 --> 00:43:25.769
his birthright. In this, what does matter to

00:43:25.769 --> 00:43:28.869
Esau? What do we see that he did have value on

00:43:28.869 --> 00:43:34.050
himself? He had value on only that which appealed

00:43:34.050 --> 00:43:37.110
to his immediate need, what he wants now, what

00:43:37.110 --> 00:43:40.650
he feels now, what his immediate desire was.

00:43:40.710 --> 00:43:43.210
It's a self -centered, only what I can see and

00:43:43.210 --> 00:43:48.170
feel attitude. Now, this is all an attitude of

00:43:48.170 --> 00:43:51.389
seeking self -pleasure, making myself feel good

00:43:51.389 --> 00:43:54.590
now, doing what I want first. And in the New

00:43:54.590 --> 00:43:56.630
Testament, it's linked to sexual immorality.

00:43:56.670 --> 00:43:59.510
It does this in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 14.

00:43:59.550 --> 00:44:01.550
It says, pursue peace with everyone in holiness.

00:44:02.349 --> 00:44:05.130
Without it, no one will see the Lord. Make sure

00:44:05.130 --> 00:44:07.090
that no one falls short of the grace of God and

00:44:07.090 --> 00:44:08.829
that no root of bitterness springs up causing

00:44:08.829 --> 00:44:11.469
trouble and defiling many. And make sure that

00:44:11.469 --> 00:44:13.510
there isn't any immoral or irreverent person

00:44:13.510 --> 00:44:16.329
like Esau who sold his birthright in exchange

00:44:16.329 --> 00:44:19.250
for a single meal. Now the word immortal in that

00:44:19.250 --> 00:44:22.269
verse is referring to sexual immorality. In the

00:44:22.269 --> 00:44:26.530
New Testament, that often characterizes those

00:44:26.530 --> 00:44:29.769
who just want to seek what feels good in the

00:44:29.769 --> 00:44:32.300
moment. They don't care about the future. They

00:44:32.300 --> 00:44:34.099
don't care about God's plan. They don't care

00:44:34.099 --> 00:44:36.239
about God's promises. It's just what makes me

00:44:36.239 --> 00:44:39.599
feel good right now. And then that word irreverent

00:44:39.599 --> 00:44:41.900
means dishonoring the sacred character of something.

00:44:42.380 --> 00:44:45.300
So essentially, when Esau sold his birthright,

00:44:45.480 --> 00:44:48.820
what he was communicating is my immediate physical

00:44:48.820 --> 00:44:53.719
needs and desires are way more valuable and important

00:44:53.719 --> 00:44:57.800
to me than God's word, God's way, God's promises.

00:44:59.369 --> 00:45:01.510
Or he's putting it this way, who God is and what

00:45:01.510 --> 00:45:04.329
he wants for my life is less important than what

00:45:04.329 --> 00:45:07.449
I want for me right now. Does that sound familiar?

00:45:09.070 --> 00:45:12.969
Have we ever made that decision verbally or non

00:45:12.969 --> 00:45:17.369
-verbally? Have we ever chosen to do the disobedient

00:45:17.369 --> 00:45:22.650
thing because I want what I want right now? And

00:45:22.650 --> 00:45:24.650
God, your promise, yeah, sure, I believe in it,

00:45:24.690 --> 00:45:28.880
but it's so far off. That it can't possibly affect

00:45:28.880 --> 00:45:33.099
how I live today. And so I'm going to choose

00:45:33.099 --> 00:45:35.420
to do things, and I know they're wrong, and I

00:45:35.420 --> 00:45:37.639
still choose to do them because right in this

00:45:37.639 --> 00:45:41.440
moment, I want what I want. And then for the

00:45:41.440 --> 00:45:43.199
believer who has the Holy Spirit inside them,

00:45:43.199 --> 00:45:44.800
immediately after, you're like, what did I do?

00:45:45.659 --> 00:45:48.619
Right? The guilt and the conviction come. And

00:45:48.619 --> 00:45:50.739
then we swear, next time, God make me stronger.

00:45:52.440 --> 00:45:54.360
And then the next time that temptation comes

00:45:54.360 --> 00:45:57.280
along, you're like, you know what? I deserve

00:45:57.280 --> 00:45:59.360
to feel good right now. So I'm going to do that

00:45:59.360 --> 00:46:02.539
thing or say that thing or whatever it is. That's

00:46:02.539 --> 00:46:05.179
a picture of what Esau is doing. That's a picture

00:46:05.179 --> 00:46:08.840
of what Esau did. He despised his birthright.

00:46:10.900 --> 00:46:14.320
He was a shallow person. He cared only about

00:46:14.320 --> 00:46:19.000
himself. He was led by his feelings. He was the

00:46:19.000 --> 00:46:22.900
person that says, you only live once. So I don't

00:46:22.900 --> 00:46:27.559
care what God says. But when we look at Jacob,

00:46:27.639 --> 00:46:29.239
we don't really see a whole lot of positives

00:46:29.239 --> 00:46:32.480
about him either, right? Here's our words you

00:46:32.480 --> 00:46:35.599
can use about Jacob. Opportunist, cheater, ambitious,

00:46:35.820 --> 00:46:38.159
self -seeking, grasping, scheming, heartless,

00:46:38.300 --> 00:46:41.980
exploitive, right? I mean, from the very beginning,

00:46:42.079 --> 00:46:44.199
he was fighting to take what belonged to his

00:46:44.199 --> 00:46:46.860
brother, right? Out of the womb, the first action,

00:46:47.059 --> 00:46:51.360
grab his heel. No, I'm first. This was who Jacob

00:46:51.360 --> 00:46:57.309
was. He was a conniving schemer. And it's something

00:46:57.309 --> 00:46:59.190
that's going to plague the rest of his life.

00:46:59.949 --> 00:47:01.989
But I want you to notice something very important.

00:47:02.150 --> 00:47:06.010
What this last verse does not say, thus Jacob

00:47:06.010 --> 00:47:09.090
took advantage of his brother and Esau despised

00:47:09.090 --> 00:47:13.070
his birthright. It doesn't say that. Does it

00:47:13.070 --> 00:47:16.309
even say anything condemning about Jacob here?

00:47:16.510 --> 00:47:19.570
Does it say anything negative about Jacob's actions

00:47:19.570 --> 00:47:23.369
here? Now, I'm not saying they're right. But

00:47:23.369 --> 00:47:26.030
all it does is tell us that Esau and Esau alone

00:47:26.030 --> 00:47:29.429
was guilty for his actions. He was the one who

00:47:29.429 --> 00:47:32.110
had the birthright. He was the one who despised

00:47:32.110 --> 00:47:35.570
it. That's all that's recorded here. And so really

00:47:35.570 --> 00:47:37.610
at this point in the story, all we know about

00:47:37.610 --> 00:47:43.110
Esau and Jacob is that Esau held no value in

00:47:43.110 --> 00:47:45.369
God's promises. He didn't care what God said.

00:47:45.469 --> 00:47:48.789
It was meaningless to him. And Jacob valued God's

00:47:48.789 --> 00:47:51.010
promises and believed in them so much that he

00:47:51.010 --> 00:47:55.119
was willing to steal them. to get them. Not a

00:47:55.119 --> 00:47:59.219
good thing either. And then ironically, throughout

00:47:59.219 --> 00:48:03.199
Jacob's life, all of his stumbles, the fight

00:48:03.199 --> 00:48:05.280
that he would have with himself for the rest

00:48:05.280 --> 00:48:07.800
of his life were simply because although he believed

00:48:07.800 --> 00:48:10.300
God's promises so wholeheartedly, he did not

00:48:10.300 --> 00:48:12.719
believe that he could possibly get them without

00:48:12.719 --> 00:48:14.900
some type of sinful manipulation of the situation.

00:48:16.599 --> 00:48:19.219
And that is going to be Jacob's story as we read

00:48:19.219 --> 00:48:22.519
through. That he couldn't just simply trust God's

00:48:22.519 --> 00:48:28.539
sovereignty and let God be God. So, we might

00:48:28.539 --> 00:48:30.719
read this story and, you know, it could be easy

00:48:30.719 --> 00:48:33.920
to get frustrated that God chose Jacob. Right?

00:48:33.980 --> 00:48:35.679
God's already established it's not about the

00:48:35.679 --> 00:48:39.519
firstborn. So, hey, pop out a third kid. Right?

00:48:39.559 --> 00:48:43.139
These two are just, they're punks. Have a third

00:48:43.139 --> 00:48:47.579
kid. That'll be the good one. But that's not

00:48:47.579 --> 00:48:50.280
what God did. That's not what he chose to do.

00:48:50.380 --> 00:48:53.659
What he chose to do was honor the birthright

00:48:53.659 --> 00:48:58.800
that Jacob stole. Neither one of them qualified

00:48:58.800 --> 00:49:01.800
to be godly men. Neither one of them were blameless

00:49:01.800 --> 00:49:04.480
or good representatives of God's character. But

00:49:04.480 --> 00:49:07.219
if you read this story and you think it's unfair

00:49:07.219 --> 00:49:10.480
that Jacob got the blessing, despite being as

00:49:10.480 --> 00:49:13.420
self -seeking as Esau, then you don't understand

00:49:13.420 --> 00:49:17.849
how sinful you are. You don't understand what

00:49:17.849 --> 00:49:20.150
the Bible says about the thorough sinfulness

00:49:20.150 --> 00:49:22.630
that you have, that I have, that every human

00:49:22.630 --> 00:49:25.670
has. See, in Romans chapter 3, it makes it very

00:49:25.670 --> 00:49:28.750
clear. This is the state of humanity in its fallen

00:49:28.750 --> 00:49:31.909
nature. Romans chapter 3, verse 10. As it is

00:49:31.909 --> 00:49:33.570
written, there is no one righteous, not even

00:49:33.570 --> 00:49:36.110
one. There is no one who understands. There is

00:49:36.110 --> 00:49:38.469
no one who seeks God. All have turned away. All

00:49:38.469 --> 00:49:41.050
alike have become worthless. There is no one

00:49:41.050 --> 00:49:45.159
who does what is good, not even one. That's talking

00:49:45.159 --> 00:49:47.639
about our mind and our intention and the things

00:49:47.639 --> 00:49:49.460
we choose to do and how we choose to do them.

00:49:49.519 --> 00:49:53.420
It says none are righteous. Verse 13 in Romans

00:49:53.420 --> 00:49:55.480
3, our speech, their throat is an open grave.

00:49:55.619 --> 00:49:57.599
They deceive with their tongues. Vipers venom

00:49:57.599 --> 00:49:59.860
is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing

00:49:59.860 --> 00:50:04.079
and bitterness. I still have a buddy today who's

00:50:04.079 --> 00:50:06.460
been walking with the Lord for years, and he

00:50:06.460 --> 00:50:09.619
just freely cusses. Every time I talk to him,

00:50:09.639 --> 00:50:12.780
I go, Colossians 3, and he laughs. Oh, yeah.

00:50:13.699 --> 00:50:15.599
Colossians 3 is the verse that says, let no vulgar

00:50:15.599 --> 00:50:19.400
language proceed from your mouth, right? Colossians

00:50:19.400 --> 00:50:22.239
3, bro. It's a good thing you're not saved because

00:50:22.239 --> 00:50:26.000
you cleaned up your language. But our throat

00:50:26.000 --> 00:50:29.019
is an open grave. We deceive. We're liars. We're

00:50:29.019 --> 00:50:33.099
connivers. We say things that hurt. They hurt

00:50:33.099 --> 00:50:36.280
people like poison and venom. We're full of cursing

00:50:36.280 --> 00:50:37.960
and bitterness, right? That's our speech. And

00:50:37.960 --> 00:50:41.059
then verse 15, our actions. It says, their feet

00:50:41.059 --> 00:50:44.969
are swift to shed blood. Ruin and wretchedness

00:50:44.969 --> 00:50:47.650
are in their paths, and the path of peace they

00:50:47.650 --> 00:50:52.409
have not known. And yet God gave you and me,

00:50:52.510 --> 00:50:57.730
as described here in Romans, the blessing through

00:50:57.730 --> 00:51:02.769
faith in Jesus Christ. This description here

00:51:02.769 --> 00:51:06.909
is Esau. This description is Jacob. This description

00:51:06.909 --> 00:51:11.050
is Isaac and Rebecca and Abraham. It's you. It's

00:51:11.050 --> 00:51:17.130
me without Christ. Without Christ, we are enemies

00:51:17.130 --> 00:51:20.030
of God, thoroughly sinful and spiritually dead.

00:51:22.150 --> 00:51:25.570
And so when we read a story about God choosing

00:51:25.570 --> 00:51:28.550
to extend his blessing and extend his grace on

00:51:28.550 --> 00:51:30.329
someone, we go, how could you do it for that

00:51:30.329 --> 00:51:34.920
person? Stop for a second. You go, how could

00:51:34.920 --> 00:51:39.139
he do it for me? If you read this story and you

00:51:39.139 --> 00:51:40.880
think it's unfair that Jacob got the blessing,

00:51:40.960 --> 00:51:43.219
even though he's just as self -seeking as Esau,

00:51:43.340 --> 00:51:47.340
then you don't understand God. He's king, not

00:51:47.340 --> 00:51:50.840
us. He's sovereign, not you and me. He does what

00:51:50.840 --> 00:51:53.400
he wants, when he wants, how he wants, and it's

00:51:53.400 --> 00:51:57.969
always perfectly right. Every single time. As

00:51:57.969 --> 00:52:00.030
we've said multiple times, our ways of doing

00:52:00.030 --> 00:52:02.610
things, our human connections, our expectations,

00:52:02.889 --> 00:52:06.489
our thoughts of who and how, none of that binds

00:52:06.489 --> 00:52:10.690
God at all. God is right. He is good. He is loving.

00:52:10.789 --> 00:52:13.849
He is righteous. He's just in everything He does.

00:52:15.150 --> 00:52:20.230
What does that mean? Well, God in Christ is the

00:52:20.230 --> 00:52:24.139
one who paid the price for sin. So he is the

00:52:24.139 --> 00:52:27.280
one that gets to extend continued grace how he

00:52:27.280 --> 00:52:31.519
pleases. And if we read this story and think

00:52:31.519 --> 00:52:33.699
it's unfair that Jacob got the blessing, even

00:52:33.699 --> 00:52:35.760
though he was just as self -seeking as Esau,

00:52:35.900 --> 00:52:40.380
then you don't understand grace. Because grace

00:52:40.380 --> 00:52:45.199
that is earned isn't grace at all. Grace, by

00:52:45.199 --> 00:52:48.260
definition, goes to the undeserving. Grace, by

00:52:48.260 --> 00:52:54.190
definition, goes to the unworthy. It doesn't

00:52:54.190 --> 00:52:57.489
go out according to our opinions. It doesn't

00:52:57.489 --> 00:53:00.210
go out to who we think should get it and who

00:53:00.210 --> 00:53:04.949
shouldn't get it. God is sovereign, not us. And

00:53:04.949 --> 00:53:07.130
grace is available to all of us. And it's available

00:53:07.130 --> 00:53:09.090
to you here in this room today or watching online

00:53:09.090 --> 00:53:14.210
if you don't know him. You might be hearing this

00:53:14.210 --> 00:53:16.150
message and going, no, you have no idea what

00:53:16.150 --> 00:53:19.510
I've done. God does. And he still died for you

00:53:19.510 --> 00:53:22.449
2 ,000 years ago and paid the price for everything

00:53:22.449 --> 00:53:24.250
you've done, even the stuff you haven't done

00:53:24.250 --> 00:53:32.010
yet. And he said a promise. If you confess with

00:53:32.010 --> 00:53:35.909
your mouth and believe in your heart that he

00:53:35.909 --> 00:53:42.570
is the Christ, you will be saved. And I'm sure

00:53:42.570 --> 00:53:46.409
as sure as I can be that there's somebody in

00:53:46.409 --> 00:53:49.820
your life. They will think it's unfair that God

00:53:49.820 --> 00:53:54.820
saved you. But he will. And he will save them.

00:53:55.480 --> 00:53:58.179
And he saved me. And he saved so many in this

00:53:58.179 --> 00:54:02.019
room. Now, yes, your sin is your responsibility,

00:54:02.280 --> 00:54:06.400
right? Esau wasn't off the hook for his sin because,

00:54:06.460 --> 00:54:10.119
oh, I was tricked. No, he was responsible for

00:54:10.119 --> 00:54:11.619
his sin. You can't blame your parents for your

00:54:11.619 --> 00:54:13.559
sin. You can't blame your upbringing for your

00:54:13.559 --> 00:54:18.090
sin. But it's not about the, what are you going

00:54:18.090 --> 00:54:20.449
to do to pay off the sin? It's about realizing

00:54:20.449 --> 00:54:25.570
you can't and receiving this undeserved, unearned

00:54:25.570 --> 00:54:31.590
grace that God has for you. Now, those of us

00:54:31.590 --> 00:54:34.750
that have already received God's grace, that

00:54:34.750 --> 00:54:37.190
know we have it, that know it's been given to

00:54:37.190 --> 00:54:39.230
us even though we don't deserve it, you know,

00:54:39.250 --> 00:54:43.550
remember that. Remember that because there's

00:54:43.550 --> 00:54:45.070
going to be times when you read a story like

00:54:45.070 --> 00:54:47.670
this. Or there's going to be times in this world

00:54:47.670 --> 00:54:49.829
where you hear about so -and -so gave their life

00:54:49.829 --> 00:54:53.769
to Jesus. And you're going to go, no, they didn't.

00:54:55.489 --> 00:54:58.789
God wouldn't save them. There's going to be people

00:54:58.789 --> 00:55:01.010
that you may have known or hear about who have

00:55:01.010 --> 00:55:03.650
done the most heinous crimes you can think of.

00:55:05.190 --> 00:55:07.630
And then one day they get saved and you're going

00:55:07.630 --> 00:55:12.679
to be like, that's not fair. And God's going

00:55:12.679 --> 00:55:14.139
to turn around and look at you in that moment.

00:55:14.159 --> 00:55:18.800
He goes, you're absolutely right. It is not fair

00:55:18.800 --> 00:55:24.380
that I saved you. But I did. Don't question God's

00:55:24.380 --> 00:55:29.440
sovereignty. Don't question His plan. Trust Him.

00:55:30.170 --> 00:55:33.289
Instead of being people who write people off

00:55:33.289 --> 00:55:35.849
or try to tell God, you know, who and who can't

00:55:35.849 --> 00:55:38.070
be saved according to, you know, what we think

00:55:38.070 --> 00:55:39.929
is right and wrong. Instead of being those people,

00:55:40.070 --> 00:55:44.889
be people who pray for everybody. That pray for

00:55:44.889 --> 00:55:48.530
everybody. That welcome all to Christ. Because

00:55:48.530 --> 00:55:50.809
all are welcome. Because he died for the whole

00:55:50.809 --> 00:55:54.659
world. There are people who are going to walk

00:55:54.659 --> 00:55:57.400
through the doors of our church living lifestyles

00:55:57.400 --> 00:55:59.460
that you may think, oh, that's abhorrent. I can't

00:55:59.460 --> 00:56:03.460
believe they live that way. God couldn't believe

00:56:03.460 --> 00:56:05.739
you lived the way you lived before he saved you.

00:56:06.199 --> 00:56:10.219
But you did. And yet he welcomed you into his

00:56:10.219 --> 00:56:11.880
family. He welcomed you to come to him and say,

00:56:11.940 --> 00:56:14.639
I recognize you're right. I'm wrong. I'm so sorry.

00:56:14.699 --> 00:56:19.719
Please forgive me. And so when you look around,

00:56:19.840 --> 00:56:21.619
when you're watching the news and stuff, pray.

00:56:22.730 --> 00:56:24.829
Wow, that person's really broken that they would

00:56:24.829 --> 00:56:27.750
do something so horrible. Pray, God, please,

00:56:28.030 --> 00:56:30.570
whatever it would take, heal them. And then as

00:56:30.570 --> 00:56:35.489
we do that, let God be God. Let God do what he

00:56:35.489 --> 00:56:39.969
does because he's good at it. Amen? Let's pray.

00:56:43.730 --> 00:56:48.449
Father, we're so grateful for you. And we're

00:56:48.449 --> 00:56:50.269
so grateful for your perfect sovereignty and

00:56:50.269 --> 00:56:55.320
your perfect plans and your perfect will. Because

00:56:55.320 --> 00:57:00.480
God, you made a choice to save us. And we have

00:57:00.480 --> 00:57:04.619
no business trying to tell you who to lavish

00:57:04.619 --> 00:57:08.000
your grace upon. Yes, Lord, there's people you

00:57:08.000 --> 00:57:10.219
lavish your grace upon that I simply don't understand

00:57:10.219 --> 00:57:13.480
why. But then, Lord, all I got to do is look

00:57:13.480 --> 00:57:17.880
at your word and now I understand. We have all

00:57:17.880 --> 00:57:22.320
sinned. We have all fallen short. There is none

00:57:22.320 --> 00:57:27.340
righteous, no, not even one. And before you,

00:57:27.420 --> 00:57:29.440
there is no difference between the person who

00:57:29.440 --> 00:57:32.000
murdered and the person who stole. They both

00:57:32.000 --> 00:57:34.420
have broken your law and they are guilty of judgment.

00:57:37.099 --> 00:57:39.599
So, Lord, let us not evaluate according to our

00:57:39.599 --> 00:57:43.940
standards. Things that we think are bad and things

00:57:43.940 --> 00:57:46.420
that we think aren't so bad, and Lord, it's your

00:57:46.420 --> 00:57:52.219
standard that matters. Help us, Lord, to understand

00:57:52.219 --> 00:57:54.519
that you see all things past, present, and future,

00:57:54.739 --> 00:57:58.599
Lord. And so we may see somebody who's done horrible

00:57:58.599 --> 00:58:01.019
things, but you see a person, Lord, that you

00:58:01.019 --> 00:58:05.179
created who has been bound by sin, who has done

00:58:05.179 --> 00:58:07.519
horrible things, God, because their fallen nature

00:58:07.519 --> 00:58:09.300
and their fallen heart, God, and you see that

00:58:09.300 --> 00:58:12.500
person that if they would just but call out to

00:58:12.500 --> 00:58:16.960
you, they would be transformed. And so, Lord,

00:58:16.980 --> 00:58:19.280
we ask that we would be people who are part of

00:58:19.280 --> 00:58:23.530
that work to pray. To let you choose what you

00:58:23.530 --> 00:58:25.670
choose when and how you choose to do it. Lord,

00:58:25.750 --> 00:58:27.550
that we would be people that even as we're praying

00:58:27.550 --> 00:58:29.730
for long times, we would trust in your sovereignty

00:58:29.730 --> 00:58:33.329
because you are king. As we pray for the salvation

00:58:33.329 --> 00:58:35.449
of friends and family, we would be patient and

00:58:35.449 --> 00:58:37.030
trust your sovereignty because you are king.

00:58:39.309 --> 00:58:41.710
As we lift up our own needs, we would just trust

00:58:41.710 --> 00:58:47.150
you for your timing because you are king. But

00:58:47.150 --> 00:58:48.869
Lord, I know there may be people here in this

00:58:48.869 --> 00:58:50.889
room today and watching online that have never

00:58:50.889 --> 00:58:56.349
come to know you as king in their life. Lord,

00:58:56.449 --> 00:58:58.269
that they maybe have come to church today or

00:58:58.269 --> 00:59:00.449
they're watching this message because, Lord,

00:59:00.489 --> 00:59:03.449
something is stirring in their heart. And they're

00:59:03.449 --> 00:59:06.389
not quite sure what it is, Lord, but it's you.

00:59:08.909 --> 00:59:12.610
That you are drawing them to yourself. That,

00:59:12.670 --> 00:59:14.909
Lord, you are revealing the wickedness of their

00:59:14.909 --> 00:59:18.119
hearts. and the hopeless condition that is God.

00:59:18.280 --> 00:59:20.860
And Lord, they're here today to hear that your

00:59:20.860 --> 00:59:25.519
grace is available to even them. And so while

00:59:25.519 --> 00:59:27.019
we're praying right now with heads bowed and

00:59:27.019 --> 00:59:28.900
eyes closed, I just want to give that invitation

00:59:28.900 --> 00:59:32.099
to anybody in this room. God has been speaking

00:59:32.099 --> 00:59:34.119
to you this morning. You want to receive the

00:59:34.119 --> 00:59:37.340
forgiveness that he has for you. You want to

00:59:37.340 --> 00:59:39.659
be a recipient of that grace, not because you

00:59:39.659 --> 00:59:43.079
earned it, not because you deserve it, but because

00:59:43.079 --> 00:59:46.650
he loves you so much. That he wants to forgive

00:59:46.650 --> 00:59:48.690
you of all of your sin. He wants to adopt you

00:59:48.690 --> 00:59:50.769
into his family. He wants to give you the promise

00:59:50.769 --> 00:59:55.429
and the blessings and the hope of heaven. If

00:59:55.429 --> 00:59:57.269
you want to receive that this morning where you're

00:59:57.269 --> 00:59:59.630
seated, I just want you to raise your hand. You

00:59:59.630 --> 01:00:01.449
don't need to stand up or come up. Just raise

01:00:01.449 --> 01:00:04.869
your hand and let me pray with you. I see you

01:00:04.869 --> 01:00:09.469
in the back. God bless you. God sees you this

01:00:09.469 --> 01:00:12.730
morning. Anybody else, God is speaking to you.

01:00:12.750 --> 01:00:16.929
I see you on the side as well. God hears the

01:00:16.929 --> 01:00:19.969
cry of your heart. Anybody else? God is speaking

01:00:19.969 --> 01:00:22.829
to your heart this morning to come to Him and

01:00:22.829 --> 01:00:25.090
to receive the greatest gift you will ever receive.

01:00:26.670 --> 01:00:29.949
If you're watching online and you want to know

01:00:29.949 --> 01:00:31.829
the Lord today, just pray this prayer with me.

01:00:32.250 --> 01:00:34.630
We would love to hear about your decision. You

01:00:34.630 --> 01:00:38.969
could email us or reach out to us, but what's

01:00:38.969 --> 01:00:42.469
important is at this moment you confess to Christ

01:00:42.469 --> 01:00:45.909
who you are. who He is, and believe in what He

01:00:45.909 --> 01:00:48.889
did for you. Anybody else in this room before

01:00:48.889 --> 01:00:53.190
we pray? All right. For those of you that raised

01:00:53.190 --> 01:00:55.769
your hand, if you're watching online and you

01:00:55.769 --> 01:00:57.309
want to receive the Lord, I just want you to

01:00:57.309 --> 01:00:59.889
pray this prayer with me. Repeat the words after

01:00:59.889 --> 01:01:03.369
me. There's no particular formula of the words.

01:01:03.429 --> 01:01:06.250
It's just a prayer of just honest confession.

01:01:06.570 --> 01:01:12.670
And so, say, Lord Jesus, I believe in who You

01:01:12.670 --> 01:01:18.920
are. I believe that You are God who came to this

01:01:18.920 --> 01:01:25.380
earth. I believe You lived a perfect life. I

01:01:25.380 --> 01:01:29.619
believe You never did anything wrong. And I believe

01:01:29.619 --> 01:01:35.239
You died for me on the cross. And Lord, I know

01:01:35.239 --> 01:01:41.820
that I don't deserve Your grace or Your mercy.

01:01:43.530 --> 01:01:50.030
or forgiveness. But God, I ask that You would

01:01:50.030 --> 01:01:56.110
grant it to me according to Your Word, according

01:01:56.110 --> 01:02:00.409
to Your faithfulness, according to Your sovereignty.

01:02:02.769 --> 01:02:07.409
Thank You for loving me so much that You would

01:02:07.409 --> 01:02:13.420
give me this free gift. I pray, Lord, that you

01:02:13.420 --> 01:02:17.179
changed my life, that I would be the different

01:02:17.179 --> 01:02:22.280
person you promised me to be. Help me to live

01:02:22.280 --> 01:02:27.900
for you. Help me to glorify you. Fill me with

01:02:27.900 --> 01:02:33.920
your Holy Spirit. I thank you. It's in Jesus'

01:02:34.019 --> 01:02:38.460
name I pray. Amen. All right, if you prayed that

01:02:38.460 --> 01:02:45.840
prayer today, congratulations. You are forgiven,

01:02:45.960 --> 01:02:48.199
and you may not even fully understand what that

01:02:48.199 --> 01:02:50.719
means, and that is okay. God has done a supernatural

01:02:50.719 --> 01:02:54.000
work in your heart. But what we do want to help

01:02:54.000 --> 01:02:57.800
you do at this moment is to help you learn to

01:02:57.800 --> 01:03:00.809
walk with Jesus. to get to know him and what

01:03:00.809 --> 01:03:02.650
that means. And so what we have for you guys

01:03:02.650 --> 01:03:05.130
is whether you come up front after and let us

01:03:05.130 --> 01:03:06.969
pray with you, or as you're leaving out the back

01:03:06.969 --> 01:03:09.329
today, we have these white envelopes that we

01:03:09.329 --> 01:03:11.829
call, you know, new believers packs, right? They

01:03:11.829 --> 01:03:14.369
say, welcome to God's family on the front. I

01:03:14.369 --> 01:03:16.090
just want to give you one of those as a gift.

01:03:16.170 --> 01:03:19.110
It's free and go through the information inside

01:03:19.110 --> 01:03:21.369
of it because it's all information built to help

01:03:21.369 --> 01:03:24.469
you start to have this relationship with the

01:03:24.469 --> 01:03:27.010
God of the universe who just saved your soul.

01:03:28.679 --> 01:03:31.119
And I encourage you to never forget the marvel,

01:03:31.300 --> 01:03:37.079
the marvel that he saved you. All of us need

01:03:37.079 --> 01:03:39.300
to never forget the marvel that he saved us.

01:03:40.820 --> 01:03:43.159
We are so deserving of his judgment, but his

01:03:43.159 --> 01:03:47.019
love is so infinitely more broad than that. And

01:03:47.019 --> 01:03:49.719
it's a life to just live celebrating that love,

01:03:49.980 --> 01:03:53.219
celebrating who he is, celebrating what he's

01:03:53.219 --> 01:03:55.699
done, and being so overwhelmed with the fact

01:03:55.699 --> 01:03:57.659
that he saved you, you can't help but to tell

01:03:57.659 --> 01:04:01.420
everybody else about it. So I pray that God would

01:04:01.420 --> 01:04:04.280
bless your lives, bless your week. I pray that

01:04:04.280 --> 01:04:06.400
God would give you great opportunity to share

01:04:06.400 --> 01:04:09.280
with others what he has done in your life, that

01:04:09.280 --> 01:04:11.500
they would have the hope, the opportunity to

01:04:11.500 --> 01:04:14.539
come to him as well. Amen? Well, God bless you

01:04:14.539 --> 01:04:15.719
guys. Let's close in worship.