Establishing Jacob’s Faith
Genesis 28:1-22
November 2, 2014

As you know we are working through Genesis.
It is the “The Gospel According to Moses”

By this point it should be obvious to you
That Moses is preaching quite a sermon to the children of Israel,
Whom he is leading through the wilderness.

It is important that Israel understand
• Who their God is, and who they are in His sight.
• What it means to be the chosen of God, heirs of the promise,
• What it means to be vessels of mercy, recipients of grace.
• The necessity of responding to God the right way.

And in order to teach these priceless truths to his congregation,
Moses is telling the redemptive story of God from the beginning.

• Lest the children of Israel think sin is a minor thing
Moses taught them about Adam.
• Lest the children of Israel think judgment is a myth
Moses taught them about Noah.
• Lest the children of Israel think faith is insignificant
Moses taught them about Abraham
• And lest the children of Israel think God doesn’t desire them
Moses teaches them about Jacob

It is Moses’ gospel
That God saves unworthy sinners from their sin as an act of grace,
Requiring only that those sinners love and trust Him.

And that message has been absolutely unmistakable thus far in our study.

Well this morning we continue on with our study of this marvelous book.
And you are familiar where we currently are in our story.

God is now at work on the third Patriarch
• We’ve seen God select, save, and sanctify Abraham
• We’ve seen God select, save, and sanctify Isaac
• Now God is at work on Jacob

God clearly selected Jacob, even when Jacob was in his mother’s womb.
And now God is in the process of saving and sanctifying him.
In short, God is now in the process of molding Jacob
Into the man God desires him to be.

And thus far in the story, we have come to realize that
Jacob is in need of a little work.
And the main reason is because
Jacob is a man who lacks the faith that God requires.

Hebrews 11:1-2 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.”

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

And we saw this last week.
We saw the incident by which Jacob pretended to be Esau
And went in and received Isaac’s blessing.

That story was about Esau and Isaac trying to steal Jacob’s blessing,
But God intervened.

God caused an otherwise ridiculous plan to work to perfection
In order to secure His prophetic word to Rebekah.

Now the problem in the story was that instead of just trusting God to protect His promise, Rebekah and Jacob instead took matters into their own hands and chose a plan of deception.

In short, Jacob still lacks the faith that God requires.
• He is chosen
• He is blessed
• But he is far from a finished product

And Jacob is about to go on a journey where God will mold Jacob
Into a man of faith and into the patriarch of a nation.
It is all a story of God’s grace

AND THIS MORNING GOD’S GRACE IS SEEN IN THE FACT
THAT HE BEGINS TO ESTABLISH JACOB’S FAITH.

It is nothing short of grace
That God doesn’t start out requiring flawless faith from us.
Instead God is patient, granting us faith, growing our faith,
Grooming our faith.

He is patient with us.
Psalms 103:14 “For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.”

God first gives us faith and then He grows it.

And that is what we see taking place in our text here this morning.
We are seeing Jacob’s faith established
And we are learning about the necessity of faith.

There are four points that we can gain from Moses this morning.
#1 ISAAC’S REMINDER
Genesis 28:1-5

The chapter picks up right where the previous chapter ended.
After deceiving Isaac and obtaining the blessing that Esau wanted,
Esau planned to kill Jacob.

Rebekah’s counter plan was to send Jacob away.
And the opportunity Rebekah used to do this was that
Jacob shouldn’t marry a Canaanite woman.

Genesis 27:46 “Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

And so, the answer of Isaac is in fact to send Jacob away.

(1-2) “So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said to him, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. “Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.”

Now that may not seem like a big deal to you,
But I want you to understand that this is a MAJOR DILEMMA!

Previously God had called Abram out of that land and into Canaan.
And even when Abram ventured out of the land to Egypt,
God quickly brought him back to Canaan and established him there.

Abraham learned that THIS was his land and he should not leave it.

In fact, when it came time to find a wife for Isaac,
Abraham was just as convinced that Isaac didn’t need a Canaanite wife,
But if you will remember Isaac was not to leave the land.

Genesis 24:5-8 “The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?” Then Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there! “The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there. “But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this my oath; only do not take my son back there.”

It has been understood from the beginning that
THIS was the land of promise and the plan was not to leave it.

And now that is exactly what is happening.
Jacob is walking away from the entire inheritance he had sought.
Jacob is leaving the birthright he had fought to obtain.
Yes Jacob received the birthright
Yes Jacob received the blessing
But all of that must have seemed like a fragile reality
In light of the fact that he was now having to leave
And not return until Esau’s anger subsides.

I’m sure this is NOT how Jacob imagined it all playing out.

And because of the uncertainty of the moment,
Isaac has a very important reminder for Jacob.
(3-4) “May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. “May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.”

I have to think that this must have been
A very important moment for Jacob.

Yes it is true that Isaac had already blessed him,
But it is also true that Isaac thought Jacob was Esau when he did it.

Now, Isaac is blessing Jacob on purpose.
That had to feel good to Jacob.

But this is more than just a feel good moment between a father and a son.
In this moment Isaac is seeking to encourage Jacob to have faith.

Unlike the previous blessing
Isaac is very careful to recall the fact that God had blessed Abraham.

He is asking Jacob to remember what God did for Abraham.

Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

God made that promise to Abraham, and if you will remember,
God kept that promise.

• God kept that promise despite the threat of Lot
• God kept that promise despite the threat of Pharaoh
• God kept that promise despite the threat of Abimelech
• God kept that promise despite Abraham’s ignorance with Haggar
• God kept that promise despite the seemingly impossibilities of it

No doubt Jacob had heard many times from Abraham
About how God had fulfilled His promise.
And Isaac is reminding Jacob of God’s faithfulness here.
In short Isaac is asking Jacob to remember who God is
And how He keeps His promises.

“May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.”

And with that promise, “Isaac sent Jacob away”

Isaac certainly had his flaws
As with all the patriarchs, there are things we wish Isaac would have done differently.

However, it is clear Isaac did understand one very important truth,
That the blessings of God are only obtained through faith in God.

So Isaac’s encouragement to Jacob
Isn’t about what Jacob should do, but rather what God would do.

Isaac is reminding Jacob to trust God.

Isaac’s Reminder
#2 ESAU’S RELIGION
Genesis 28:6-9

I realize this story is just sort of stuck in the middle
Of an otherwise clear narrative.
(Trust me when I tell you that I wrestled with its purpose for quite some time)

For here we have a story of Esau yet again completely missing the point.

Esau recognized that Isaac sent Jacob away
Because he didn’t want him marrying a Canaanite.
(You’ll remember that Esau had already married two)

Esau sees that Canaanite wives displeased Isaac, so what does Esau do?
He runs out and gets himself a non-Canaanite wife.

He runs to Ishmael and marries one of his daughters to get a wife from the line of Abraham (ironically, from the unchosen child of Abraham)

And it seems apparent that Moses is using this story
To make a very important contrast.

Whereas Jacob is encouraged to receive the blessing by faith.
Esau is here trying to obtain the blessing by works.

But the blessing of God is not obtained by works of the flesh.
Esau’s religion is all wrong.

Galatians 3:6-9 “Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.”

You don’t earn God’s favor by fulfilling some list of outer requirements.

We read it all the time.
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Esau is here just giving and outward attempt
To obtain a spiritual blessing.

That is just like those who adopt some religious routine today
Simply because they think God will honor it.

It’s no different than the children of Israel thinking they could live in sin
So long as they continued to do some religious ordinance that God liked.

And is that not Esau?
He saw that Canaanite women displeased his father so he added a non-Canaanite wife…but did he get rid of those who were displeasing? No.

He tried to add favorable works to unacceptable sin
In an attempt to obtain a blessing.

But blessings are not obtained like that.
This would have been a strong point for Israel to learn.

If you want the blessing, have faith in God,
But don’t expect to earn it through some work of the flesh.

Isaac’s Reminder is a good one
Esau’s Religion should be avoided
#3 GOD’S REVELATION
Genesis 28:10-15

And this is the most significant builder of Jacob’s faith in the entire chapter.

One thing I know about faith is that it is not genetic.
You can learn a great deal about faith from your parents,
But you cannot exercise your parent’s faith.

Your faith has to be your own
Your walk with God has to be your own

• Abraham had his encounter with God
• Isaac had his encounter with God
• Now it’s Jacob’s turn

Jacob comes to a certain place, puts a rock under his head, and goes to sleep.

(12) “He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.”

This is certainly an interesting event.

If you will remember, Jesus referenced this very event in His ministry.
John 1:49-51 “Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Jesus’ point to Nathanael was that
You are about to see heaven at work on earth.

If you think me seeing you while you were under the fig tree was impressive, just wait until you see all that God is doing to do through Me.

And that is the same point to Jacob.
Heaven is at work on earth.

In short, God is at work in your situation.
(What could we call that but grace?)

At times it may feel as though God is distant, far removed, sitting way away up in heaven and uninvolved in the affairs of man.
I don’t know if that is what Jacob thought, but that certainly isn’t true.

Jacob just saw that God is very busy at work on earth.
He sees a ladder and God sending His angels
Scampering up and down that ladder.

And of course you notice who is in charge of the entire process:
(13) “And behold, the LORD stood above it”

WHAT IS GOD DOING?
(13-15) “And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. “Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

If we simply want to state the obvious we can easily say that:
GOD IS WORKING ON BEHALF OF JACOB

God begins by saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac;”

And that is such an important introduction.
God is in the process of establishing faith in Jacob
And it is very important that Jacob know who God is.

He is not only the sovereign LORD of the universe,
But He is also the God with a track record of faithfulness.

This God who does what He pleases
Did not fail Abraham and He did not fail Isaac.

And that is important
Because God has some very important promises in store for Jacob.

(13) “the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.”
And that is such a huge promise,
Namely because Jacob was presently leaving the land.

“You may be leaving, but that doesn’t change the fact that this land is yours.”

(14) “Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”

Not only will I give you this land, but I will also multiply your descendants
(good news to a man on a journey for a wife)

And you and your descendants will be a blessing to the rest of the earth.
Jacob had never been anything but a contention.
He came out grabbing Esau’s heal and was named “Jacob”

But now God is going to make him a blessing.

And then perhaps the greatest part of God’s message:

(15) “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Now friends that is a great statement!

• You are leaving this land, but it is yours
• You have been a contention, but you’ll be a blessing
• You will face hardship, but I won’t let My promise to you fail

Look, Jacob has no idea what is about to be in store for him.
He’s about to endure some pretty serious molding and shaping.

Last week I told you he is about to go do the University of Laban
Laban has forgotten more about double dealing than Jacob ever knew

And at the end of his adventure here is what Jacob will have to say.
Genesis 31:38-41 “These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flocks. “That which was torn of beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it myself. You required it of my hand whether stolen by day or stolen by night. “Thus I was: by day the heat consumed me and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. “These twenty years I have been in your house; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you changed my wages ten times.”

And at this point in the story that is what Jacob is about to walk through.
• Twenty Years it will take to prepare this man
• Compensating for losses that were not his fault
• Enduring the elements, heat and cold
• Serving 7 years for the wrong daughter then another 7 for the right one
• Serving 6 more years for a flock
• Enduring 10 wage changes

If Jacob knew ahead of time what was waiting for him with Laban,
I’m not sure he would have gone.

It is about to get very difficult for Jacob,
But God is promising at the outset,
No matter the hardship you need to know that
I will be with you and I will not let you fail.

I just can’t stress enough the security aspect here.
I literally hate the doctrine that so many hold to
That man can be saved one day and then lose that salvation the next.

That is so contrary to both the nature and the plan of God.

I suppose if you could prove:
It is man who chooses God and it is man who sanctifies himself,
Then perhaps you could prove that man can fail at his attempt.

But we have clearly seen:
It is not man who chooses God, it is God who chooses man
It is not man who sanctifies himself, it is God who sanctifies man
And it is not man who secures the promise, it is God who does it
God is promising Jacob, “I have a plan for you, and I will be with you so that you do not fail.”

“I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

The God who promised blessing to you will not let you fall short of it.

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

And this is also God’s promise to Jacob
This is God’s revelation to Jacob

God is establishing Jacob’s faith.
He is simply telling Jacob that despite what you are about to face,
Just trust Me, I’m going to do for you what I promised.

I think you can see why Moses would have wanted
The children of Israel to know this story.

Here they were, fresh out of Egypt, headed to the Promised Land
About to face foreign armies
About to face men who looked like Giants
About to cross a wilderness with no means of sustenance

Their only hope was Jacob’s only hope
That God was for them and that He would be with them
And would not let His promise fail.

YOU ALSO MUST SEE
That God has now removed every possible crutch from Jacob’s life.
Jacob is headed to a foreign land and the only tool he has at his disposal is faith.

Jacob’s only hope of ever returning to this land and possessing it
WAS GOD
Faith is the only tool Jacob is taking – and that’s good,
Because it is the only tool God wants him to have.

Isaac’s Reminder, Esau’s Religion, God’s Revelation
#4 JACOB’S RESPONSE
Genesis 28:16-22

I really like verse 16, especially as it reinforces a point we often make
About those who are spiritually dead.

(16) “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.”

How many times have I told you that those who are spiritually dead
Have no capacity to recognize God?

God can move and they won’t see, God can speak and they won’t hear.
UNLESS God grants them the ability to hear and see.

Jacob is certainly proof of that.
Here he was at the foot of heaven’s ladder and didn’t even know it.

But now God has revealed Himself to Jacob
And he knows this place is awesome.

And notice how Jacob responds to God’s message.

(18-22) “So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top. He called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God. “This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

Jacob gets up early and builds a one stone altar to God.
And Jacob makes a great statement.

“If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God.”

Not only that but “I will surely give a tenth to You.”

Jacob understood a foundational truth.
God has promised to bless me
God has promised to multiply me
God has promised to care for me and return me to my land
God has chosen to do great and mighty things for me
GRACE LIKE THAT DESERVES WORSHIP

• If God is in fact a God who has chosen me
• If God is in fact a God who has predestined me
• If God is in fact a God who won’t leave me
• If God is in fact a God who has secured my blessing

Then a God like that most certainly deserves
All of my worship and all of my allegiance.

DO YOU AGREE?
You should.

Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

If God really has chosen us and predestined us and blessed us and secured us, then certainly we ought to bless Him!

Certainly we ought to worship Him!

Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

Jacob understood this.
Up until now he had heard many stories about God and what He could do.

But now, as Jacob is starting a brand new chapter of his life,
He has met God for Himself and has determined to give faith a try.

He is going to try trusting God.

Can I ask you to try the same?
Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

• I don’t know what you are facing in life at the moment.
• I don’t know where you’re headed
• I don’t know what God is asking you to do
• I don’t know what you are currently walking away from
• I don’t know the hardships that potentially lay before you

But I must tell you to try trusting God.
He is at work in this world, and He never fails in His plans for us.

And when God proves Himself faithful – and He will
Give Him the worship He deserves.

Playing Favorites
James 2:1-7
October 26, 2014

We’ve been receiving our series of faith tests from James.
His main purpose, and goal is to help us examine ourselves
And to determine if the faith we have
Is indeed the faith God is looking for.

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?”

That is exactly what James has been helping us do.
We need to be able to recognize that Jesus Christ is in us.

We need to be able to look at our lives and see some area
Where it is obvious that we are following Jesus.

We need to be able to look at our lives and see
Where we are seeking to be more like Jesus.

Paul said it like this:
Philippians 3:10-14 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

It is not as though we must all be able to say,
That we are 100% like Jesus.
But we ought to be a lot like Him,
And getting more and more every day.

And so that is what James is trying to help us do.
He is helping us look at ourselves,
And telling us what we will look like if Jesus Christ is in us.

If He is in us, we will look at trials differently.
If He is in us, we will trust God at His word.
If He is in us, we will persevere.
If He is in us, we will obey God’s word.

And the reason we know this,
Is because that is what Jesus would’ve done.

We are trying to determine if we really have saving faith,

Tonight, we continue with the examination process.
We will look to see how we treat others.

#1 PROCLAMATION AGAINST FAVORITISM
James 2:1

“My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.”

I love the way James starts this topic.

He is talking about “your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ”

I like that James refers to Jesus in this way here.
James is about to draw your attention to how Jesus mingled with the lowly and the meek and the poor.

And yet James reminds you from the outset that He is “glorious”

He didn’t become “glorious” by holding Himself aloof
He proved He was “glorious” by serving the least.

James’ point to you is that you not dishonor Him or insult Him
By claiming to follow Him with any other attitude.

James is warning us against favoritism.

One thing we have come to know about God
And as we study His word is that He is a holy God. He is perfectly just.

Everyone knows this about Him.
Justice has an exact opposite, and that is favoritism.
That being the case, if God is just, then He cannot be partial.
Indeed this is taught all throughout Scripture.

Deuteronomy 10:17 “For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.”

2 Chronicles 19:7 “Now then let the fear of the LORD be upon you; be very careful what you do, for the LORD our God will have no part in unrighteousness or partiality or the taking of a bribe.”

Romans 2:9-11 “There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.”

We know that God is perfectly just, without partiality, or favoritism.
It doesn’t matter if you are Jew or Greek, male or female, rich or poor.
God’s judgment is perfectly just. He looks at all without favoritism or partiality.

And this is also what Jesus taught in the New Testament.
John 7:24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

We know that Jesus was like this as well.
He not only said not to judge by appearance, He lived that way.

Think of some instances that reveal He did “not judge according to appearance but…with righteous judgment.”

Canaanite Woman – Matt. 15:21-28 Thief on the cross – Luke 23:43
Roman Centurion – Matthew 8:10 Alabaster Vile – Luke 7:39-48
Woman at the Well – John 4:7-26

The point to that is this:
If that is what Jesus was like, then if Jesus is indeed in us,
what will we be like?

Faith that shows favoritism is not Christ-centered faith.

“do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism” for we know He was nothing like that.

Remember what Paul taught?
Philippians 2:1-4 “Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

If you’ll remember Paul goes on to remind
THAT IS EXACTLY HOW JESUS LIVED.
And James here commands us to be like Him.

First a proclamation against favoritism.
#2 A PICTURE OF FAVORITISM
James 2:2-4

As is common with James,
Here we see an illustration that is quite easy to understand.

He explains to us exactly what he is talking about
When he says not to show favoritism.

To show favoritism is to do exactly opposite of what Jesus commanded
Jesus said, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

But to do this is to “judge according to appearance, and not with righteous judgment.”

The only thing the people here did was look at the appearance.
This man could have had “kill Jesus” tattooed on his chest,

This man could have been a lustful man
Who only wanted to scout out the women.
This man could have been a member of the Jewish council
Who only sought to get information against them to persecute them.

This man could have been anything,
But because he came in with a gold ring, and wearing fine clothes,
He was immediately honored.

Of course the flip side to the story is the poor man.
This could have been Jesus Himself, one of the least of these.
He may have greater faith than anyone in the church.

But because he wasn’t successful in the world,
He wasn’t honored, he was cast aside.

And you and I both know we do this in churches today.

GO DRESS POOR AND ATTEND ANOTHER CHURCH.

We don’t actually say
“go stand over there” or “sit down by my footstool”,
But it’s obvious we cater to those who are more successful looking.

And the simple fact is, Jesus never did those things.
He did exactly the opposite.

When you read the gospels,
You never find Him missing an opportunity to make the outcast feel special.
You never find Him missing an opportunity to put the Pharisees in their place.

Jesus taught openly about who pleased Him.
Luke 6:20-26 “And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. “Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. “Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. “But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. “Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.”

Jesus standard was not the world’s standard.
His standard was the same as His Father’s.

1 Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

It is favoritism to look at the appearance,
And to let that be a determining factor as to how we view someone.

When we do that we are doing three things.

1) WE ARE PLACING A STANDARD
Vs. 4a, “have you not made distinctions among yourselves,”

Notice the “have you not”
That is James’ way of daring you to argue with him.

You know this is true.
When you show favoritism to the rich you are making “distinction among yourselves”

When we treat different people differently, we reveal that we have set some sort of standard over people. We reveal that in addition to God’s standard of faith, we have added our own.

God’s standard is simple. He wants a person of faith
Who reveals that faith through obedience and perseverance.

When people fail to do that,
He even commands that they be put out of the fellowship.

However, to impose any other standard
In which we determine if a person is pleasing is not of God.
We can find several times in Scripture
When people placed their own standards.

JAMES HERE MENTIONS MONEY.

Galatians 2:11-13 “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.”

WHAT STANDARD WAS PETER USING? – Race

1 Corinthians 1:10-13 “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”

WHAT STANDARD WERE THE CORINTHIANS USING? – Ability

John 1:45-46 “Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

WHAT STANDARD WAS NATHANIEL USING? – Geography

Ephesians 6:9 “And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.”

WHAT STANDARD DID PAUL WARN THE EPHESIANS AGAINST? – Status

Do we not show the same standards?
Can we honestly say a person’s job, or their race, or their church,
Or their neighborhood plays no part in how we view them?

It didn’t matter to Jesus.
He helped Jews, Greeks, Samaritans alike.
He helped the rich, the poor.
He helped men, and women.
He helped the healthy, and the sick.
He had placed no standard over people.

Galatians 3:26-29 “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.”

James shows us here that if we are showing favoritism,
It is because we have placed a standard, and Jesus never did this.

2) WE ARE PASSING A SENTENCE
Vs. 4b, “and become judges”

Now when I say that,
Immediately a certain verse will probably come to mind.

Matthew 7:1-2 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.”

WHAT DOES A JUDGE DO?
A judge passes the sentence. A judge gives the final decision.
And when a judge speaks, it is final.

When we treat the rich differently than the poor, or the weak differently than the powerful, we have done more than place a standard, we are passing judgment. We are treating them in the way we think they deserve to be treated.

Jesus said not to do that.
He said, don’t poor out condemnation on a person,
For you better watch out or your standard will be used against you.

When we show favoritism we are placing a standard, we are passing judgment.
3) WE ARE PROVING SELFISHNESS”
Vs. 4c, “with evil motives?”

James even goes far enough to say here why we do that.
WHY DO WE SHOW FAVORTISM?

We do it because we want prestige, or power, or money.
Why else would we treat a rich person differently than a poor person?

The reason Jesus never showed favoritism
Is because Jesus didn’t have a selfish bone in His body.
He was not doing what He did for His benefit.
He was doing it for the benefit of others.

If we show favoritism, we reveal a carnal heart that is doing what it does for the benefit of self, and not others.

James gives us a picture of favoritism,

And when we do it,
• We have placed a standard that is not of God,
• We have passed a sentence when we have no right,
• We have proved the selfishness that drives us.

First a proclamation against favoritism, second a picture of favoritism.
#3 THE PROBLEM WITH FAVORITISM
James 4:5-7

The problems James lists here are easy to see.
When we show favoritism.

1) WE ARE REJECTING THE ONE WHO ACCEPTS GOD
Vs. 5-6a, “did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man.”

One thing that becomes clear throughout Scripture
Is that more times than not, God’s people are the poor.

There are exceptions, but throughout history
The poor has been who God has chosen.

Take Israel:
Deuteronomy 7:7 “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples,”

Take the Disciples
Matthew 10:2-4 “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.”

Ordinary men, who then were asked to leave everything.

Take the Church
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.”

The point is that God routinely chose the poor man.

He chose them “to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom”
And yet James says, “But you have dishonored the poor man.”

That is to say, you are rejecting the one whom God has accepted.
You are pushing aside the one God wants.

At the very least it reveals a heart that is NOT in tune with God’s.

2) WE ARE ACCEPTING THE ONE WHO REJECTS GOD.
Vs. 6b-7, “Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?”
The rich are those who have rejected God.

They are the ones who have learned
To trust in their own abilities and money for salvation.

They are the worldly
They are the self-centered
All they desire is to gain more of this place.

And Jesus spent a large amount of time warning these people.
Matthew 6:19-24 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

And that is the rich.
They can’t serve God and their wealth,
So obviously they are serving their wealth.

THEY HAVE REJECTED GOD
Matthew 19:23-24 “And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

And when we accept those who have rejected God…that is a problem.

James said we have dishonored the poor man.
And here he implies that we have “honored the rich man”

So James is saying that you are honoring those who reject God
And dishonoring those that trust Him.

You are honoring those whom God wishes to rebuke
And dishonoring those whom God wishes to accept.

DO YOU SEE THE OBVIOUS PROBLEM?

It is not hard to tell then
How churches have gotten in so much trouble in America today.

When the worldly successful
Receive the most honor and authority in the church,
Yet have rejected God, the church is headed down hill fast.

We are literally promoting a type of person
Who is of no benefit to the church.
It is a problem when we show favoritism, for favoritism is a lack of Godly perspective.

And without Godly perspective
How can we ever think we will be on the right track to do His work?

Favoritism is a lack of Godly perspective,
And it reveals we are serving self, and not God.

JESUS DID NOT DO THIS
Jesus was a Physician seeking the sick
Not a Politician seeking votes

We are called to BE LIKE CHRIST

And James is infuriated with a church
Who could be so far from the heart of Jesus.

He watched his brother day in and day out play with the rejected kid,
And now wonders why the church hasn’t followed His lead.

It is a good test for us to see just how much like Christ we really are.

Jacob’s Blessing
Genesis 26:34 – 27:46
October 26, 2014

Well this morning we again move on
To another major player in Moses’ Genesis account.

Moses is not only giving the origins of creation,
Moses is also giving the origins of Israel,
And certainly that involves the man named Jacob.

Jacob is the man of whom God would change his name to Israel.
Jacob is the man who would have 12 sons
Who would each become the 12 tribes of Israel.

And through Jacob Moses is reminding Israel of
The tremendous grace and favor that God has bestowed on them.

We already saw that Jacob was chosen over Esau back in chapter 25.
Now it’s time to begin to see that grace manifested in Jacob’s life.

And we start with a familiar story.

I don’t mind telling you that I wrestled with this one for quite some time. (Sometimes familiar stories are the hardest)

The difficulty for me came because of all the times
That I heard this story really MISREPRESENTED.

As a child, and many times since, I’ve heard this story
And the emphasis was placed on Jacob as a liar.

Many Bibles even title this section something like:
“Jacob’s Deception”

People have zeroed in on Esau’s statement.
Genesis 27:36 “Then he said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.”

People read that and side with Esau and say, “That old stinking liar Jacob! He lied to his father, he wronged his brother, he is a real deceiver.”

And then it is followed with some sermon on deception or truth telling or at the very least some practical lesson on the hardships of a dysfunctional family.

And that is what makes a study of this chapter difficult.
None of those points are even remotely close
To the reason Moses included this story.
Let me stress it again
CONTEXT – CONTEXT – CONTEXT

If this story existed on an island
Then you could make your practical applications about lying and such.

But this story is part of the Genesis narrative
This story is part of the covenant story
This story is part of Moses’ sermons on grace

This story has to fit the theme.

So with that in mind I’m going to give you this story
With perhaps a different perspective
Than maybe you’ve heard it previously.

In case this story has been misrepresented to you over the course of time, Let me set the record straight and show you Moses’ point to the story.

FIRST off, let me encourage you NOT to listen to Esau.
That is where many travel off course.

If you listen to Esau’s claim about
First having his birthright stolen and now having his blessing stolen,
You already venturing down the wrong path.

WHY?
Because neither the birthright nor the blessing were ever Esau’s.

Genesis 25:23 “The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.”

God already chose who was first
God already settled who the birthright and the blessing belonged to.
The birthright and the blessing belong to Jacob.

This is NOT a story about how Jacob stole Esau’s blessing.
This is a story about how Esau tried to steal Jacob’s blessing,
But God intervened.

Let me remind you that Esau was a “godless and immoral” person.
Esau willingly turned his back on his birthright for pea soup
Esau didn’t even regret his decision

When given opportunity to choose God or the flesh,
Esau willingly chose the flesh.

And if you will notice the last two verses of chapter 26,
You’ll see that nothing in Esau’s life insinuates that this has changed.

(34-35) “When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.”

That is information Moses gives you that you will need later in the story,
But at the very least it is a reminder that
Esau was unconcerned about his heritage or his blessing.
He was not a man of God.

Now in fairness we admit that Jacob wasn’t either.
The only difference was that God had chosen Jacob to be,
And that literally makes all the difference.

So, when you read this chapter,
• Don’t read it like Rebekah and Jacob schemed together to steal Esau’s
blessing.
• No, Isaac and Esau schemed to steal Jacob’s blessing, but God would not
allow it.

• This is a story of security
• This is a story of God’s sovereign control to protect what He promised
• This is a story that should encourage you regarding your own inheritance which the thief would gladly steal if he could.

So let’s work our way through this familiar story.
3 main points this morning.

#1 THE PLAN ENDANGERED
Genesis 27:1-4

Now in order to see that the plan is endangered
You have to remember what the plan was.

We’re referring to God’s plan, which was to bless Jacob.
“the older shall serve the younger”

That was the plan.
A plan made with no regard to attitude, actions, or abilities.
It was God’s sovereign prerogative

Romans 9:10-13 “And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.” Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.”

God’s plan was that Jacob gets the birthright and the blessing

And now that plan is under attack
It is ultimately under attack by Satan,
But the men he is using are Isaac and Esau.

Incidentally, if you’ve been following along you will see that
God’s sovereign plan has been under attack, even since Abraham.

When God chose Abraham there was one who threatened the plan – Lot
When God chose Isaac there was one who threatened the plan – Ishmael

Well, now Jacob faces his own threat.
That threat is Isaac and Esau

Granted it is surprising that Isaac would go against the plan of God
Since he had benefited so greatly from it himself.
But if you read this text, it’s not hard to see why Isaac was off the mark.

(1-4) “Now it came about, when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” Isaac said, “Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death. “Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me; and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.”

• Isaac doesn’t mention the will of God
• Isaac doesn’t mention the covenant of God
• Isaac doesn’t mention the promise of God

All Isaac talks about is the gratification of his flesh.
“prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat,”

Isaac is walking in the flesh, and his flesh loved Esau.
And without even realizing it, by walking according to the flesh,
Isaac is actually working against the sovereign plan of God.

Let that be a warning to us as well.
When we walk by the flesh, we can actually be working against the plan of God without even intending to do so.

Isaac and Esau are now being used of the enemy
To try and steal Jacob’s blessing.

It is helpful for you to understand exactly what the blessing was.

You understand the birthright.
The firstborn received a “double portion” of the other sons, that was his birthright.

THE BLESSING was the transfer of that inheritance –
It was the probation of the inheritance.

I find it interesting that in the Bible they did this before the benefactor actually died – and there is much value in this which we can talk about later.

And so Esau is here trying to craftily get back
What he already signed away to Jacob.

This is Isaac’s and Esau’s plan of stealing from Jacob
Not only what God had promised him,
But what Esau had already sworn to him as well.

God’s plan is in danger
God’s covenant is threatened
Esau is threatening to wreck the whole thing

The Plan Endangered
#2 THE PLAN EXECUTED
Genesis 27:5-30

What we find here is the absolute providence of God
To protect His sovereign plan and to execute it.

Isaac and Esau are scheming,
But God will not allow His sovereign selection to be thwarted.
He told Rebekah that “the older will serve the younger”
And far be it from anyone to thwart His plan.

Isaiah 14:27 “For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”

God is about to secure His promise.

And easily the first area of God’s providence is seen
In the fact that God allowed THE PLAN TO BE EXPOSED.

(5-7) “Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying, ‘Bring me some game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.’

That’s not the first eve’s dripping woman we’ve run across in Genesis.
But here it is absolutely a good thing that she overheard.

She is about to enact a plan
I want you to see that it is the worst plan you’ve ever heard of,
And yet God still causes it to work.
Now honestly, if you’ve ever read this story, aren’t just a little surprised this plan worked?

Let me show you some of the major hurdles that had to be overcome,
And why it is nothing short of Divine intervention that this plan worked.

So first let’s read the plan.
(8-10) “Now therefore, my son, listen to me as I command you. “Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves. “Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”

Now that may seem like it could work.
You go in and pretend to be Esau and get the blessing.

But notice, even Jacob thinks that is a weak plan.
(11-12) “Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth man. “Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.”

Rebekah gives the plan, but Jacob isn’t sold.
“I don’t think this will work, it has BACKFIRE written all over it to me.”

But Rebekah is desperate and she convinces Jacob to give it a go.

(13-17) “But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.” So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made savory food such as his father loved. Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. She also gave the savory food and the bread, which she had made, to her son Jacob.”

Ok, now stop right there and let’s analyze the situation.

Isaac is expecting Esau to return with wild game and to get the blessing.

Here before us stands Jacob
With goat skins tied on his neck and arms holding goat meat.
Is this really supposed to work?

Let me show you all the inherent problems in this plan of Rebekah’s.
1) THE VOICE (18-19)

When a person loses one of their senses,
It is true that the other senses often times compensate.

If Isaac’s eyesight is dim, it only stands to reason that his hearing
(and later smell) would be more alert.

And when Jacob talks, Isaac instantly recognizes a problem.
Isaac calls him on it,
But somehow Jacob manages to convince him that he is Esau.

2) THE QUICKNESS (20)

Isaac obviously has red flags.
Not only the voice, but also the quick manner in which Esau has returned.

Esau might have been a mighty hunter, but this is quick.
Something just smells funny

3) THE HAIR (21-23)
You can still see that Isaac isn’t fully buying it.
Now he wants to feel of the boy.

STOP RIGHT THERE
Are we really to assume that Rebekah did such a good job of applying goat hair to Jacob that Isaac couldn’t tell it wasn’t real.

Does this seem a little far-fetched to anyone else?
Now maybe if you had a ton of time you could really do this right,
But they were working frantically tying on skins and Isaac couldn’t tell?

I’m baffled that this is working

4) THE MEAT (24-25)

Do you remember what Isaac said to Esau about the food?
“prepare a savory dish for me such as I love”

Isaac loved to eat wild game.
He knew the flavor, he loved the flavor
Now, he’s just supposed to eat goat meat and not know the difference?

How many people love Heinz ketchup?
You can’t tell when they put Hunts on the table?

I mean, come one, this shouldn’t be working.

5) THE SMELL (26-27)

What is Jacob wearing? Goat skins
One thing I know about goats – they stink!

But Isaac smells the garments and doesn’t pick up on it?
6) THE TIMING (30)

Admit it, when you read this, you have just a little bit of anxiety
That Esau is going to walk in any minute, but he doesn’t.

And all I really want you to see is that THIS WAS NOT A GOOD PLAN
This should not have worked.

In fact, this may be as bad a scheme as I’ve ever seen concocted,
And yet, despite all its flaws, IT WORKED

(28-29) “Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And an abundance of grain and new wine; May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; Be master of your brothers, And may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you.”

Isaac blessed Jacob with prosperity and preeminence.
• This was God’s sovereign will
• This was God’s sovereign plan

And despite Isaac’s willingness to try and thwart it,
God saw His will done perfectly.

God said Jacob would be first and now he is.
He has the birthright and he has the blessing.
God’s will was done.

Now, I can hear some of the nay-sayers:
So does this make God an accomplice to lying and deception?

NO
Just because God allows wickedness to prosper
Does not mean that He endorses it.

He also allowed Judas to betray Jesus
He allowed Caiaphas to spew lies about Jesus
All to see His plan of the cross accomplished.

God does allow sinful men to do sinful things – and yet He still accomplishes His perfect will even through them.

Rest assured however that Jacob and Rebekah are going to pay for their deceptive sins. They will not get off scot free.

THE POINT IS THAT
God didn’t let Isaac and Esau get away with their scheme,
And even as bad as Rebekah’s plan was,
God still used it to see His perfect will done.
He uses imperfect people with imperfect plans
To accomplish His perfect will.
(That should encourage you as you serve Him)

The Plan Endangered The Plan Executed
#3 THE PLAN ENDORSED
Genesis 27:31-46

This is why we know that God was at work here with Rebekah and Jacob.

Do you see what happens when Isaac finally realizes what happened?

Esau returns:
(31-33) “Then he also made savory food, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.” Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.”

Isaac’s response is the key here to understanding what is going on.

Put yourself in Isaac’s shoes.
• You just promised to bless Esau
• Esau goes and does as you have told him.
• In the meantime Jacob comes in lying to you
• And you actually bless him, thinking it is Esau

• Now the lies (which you wondered about) are exposed

What is YOUR emotional response? Anger
What was Isaac’s? Fear

What do you do about the blessing? You Reverse It
What did Isaac do? He upheld it

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?
Isaac just came to his senses

Isaac was afraid because he realized that
He was working in opposition to the plan of God.

You want me to give you another story that closely resembles this one?

Balaam and Barak
In Numbers 22-24 Barak wanted to hire Balaam
To come and curse the children of Israel.

If you will remember, Balaam was willing to do it,
But God was going to kill him and the donkey saved his life.

2 Peter 2:16 “but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.”

Peter said that Balaam was “mad”, he was out of his mind
That is a good way to describe Isaac.

And when Balaam did finally speak, all three times Balaam blessed Israel instead of cursing them.

Do you remember why?
It’s because of what God said:

Numbers 22:12 “God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”

Israel was blessed, whether Balak and Balaam liked it or not.
God had decided to bless Israel
And there was nothing anyone else could do about it.

And if you were going to curse those whom God had blessed,
All you would do is gain hurt for yourself,
Which is why God was going to kill Balaam.

And that is why Isaac is trembling.
He is terrified, because he was about to go against the plan of God.

He is now acknowledging that Jacob is the blessed of God,
And there is nothing he nor Esau can do about it.
Isaac said, “Yes, and he shall be blessed”

GOD’S BLESSING CAN’T BE REVOKED

Notice also that:
GOD’S BLESSING CAN’T BE REVERSED
(34-37) “When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” And he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.” Then he said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” But Isaac replied to Esau, “Behold, I have made him your master, and all his relatives I have given to him as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?”

Did you hear what Isaac said?
“what can I do, my son?”

If God has decreed it, what do you expect me to do about it?
It’s a done deal.

I can’t repeal it, I can’t reverse it – God is choosing to bless Jacob.

And also, GOD’S BLESSING CAN’T BE REPLICATED

(38-40) “Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” So Esau lifted his voice and wept. Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, “Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, And away from the dew of heaven from above. “By your sword you shall live, And your brother you shall serve; But it shall come about when you become restless, That you will break his yoke from your neck.”

Esau’s blessing is opposite to Jacob’s in every way.
• Jacob is promised prosperity, Esau is promised a struggle
• Jacob is promised preeminence, Esau is promised service

Well why couldn’t Isaac just give Esau a great blessing too?
(That’s what Esau wanted)

Because Isaac is not the author of blessing
GOD IS!

We hear this a lot today with this word of faith movement
Speak blessing or Speak life
(To them it’s more than just being encouraging)
People hold to this notion of you speaking things into being

Can I tell you why this is a bunch of bunk?
BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT GOD
AND DIVINE BLESSING ISN’T A MATTER OF YOUR WILL

You can say “God bless you” to someone living in sin all you want,
But that won’t make them blessed.

Isaac couldn’t give a blessing to Esau because Esau wasn’t blessed.
He could say it all day long, but that wouldn’t make it so.

God’s blessing can’t be revoked
God’s blessing can’t be reversed
God’s blessing can’t be replicated

God was blessing Jacob
And there was nothing Isaac or Esau could do about it.
So what you clearly see in this story is God protecting Jacob’s blessing.
God had determined to bless Jacob
And there was nothing anyone else could do about it.

How does that relate to you and me?
We call that security.

TURN TO: ROMANS 8:28-39

Nothing can undo what God has determined to do!
There is security in the sovereign decree of God.

If God has determined to bless us, no one can undo it.

Take even Israel as an example.
Yes, because of their rejection of Christ,
They have been temporarily broken off,
BUT GOD HAS DETERMINED TO BLESS THEM.

Romans 11:25-29 “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery — so that you will not be wise in your own estimation — that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.” “THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

God is going to do it!
Nothing can stop that.

FRIEND – REJOICE IN THAT
God has chosen you and nothing can thwart that plan.

Luke 12:32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.”

• Lot can’t mess it up
• Ishmael can’t mess it up
• Esau can’t mess it up
• God protects His plan

NOW, LET ME ENCOURAGE YOU TO TRUST HIM.

This is one thing Rebekah and Jacob didn’t do.
When Rebekah overheard Isaac’s plan she should have trusted God
And reassured Jacob that God would intervene.

Instead she chose a plan of deception,
And I want you to see the CONSEQUENCES of that plan.
(41-46) “So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, ” The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, “Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you. “Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee to Haran, to my brother Laban! “Stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury subsides, until your brother’s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?” Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

That is why Moses included that little tidbit at the end of chapter 26
About Esau’s two wives that grieved Isaac and Rebekah.
Rebekah used them as an excuse to get Jacob out of town.

And so Rebekah is sending Jacob away to live with Laban.
This is the consequence of the little stunt they pulled.

Jacob is headed to Laban and he’s about to meet his match in regard to deceivers.

Laban has forgotten more about deception and double dealing
Than Jacob has ever known,
And Laban will prove to be 20 years of discipline for Jacob.

Because Jacob is a deceiver,
God is about to put that lump of clay through quite a ringer
In order to form him into the man of God he is supposed to be.

It would have been much easier if he had trusted God from the start.

And as for Rebekah’s punishment? She will never see Jacob again.
This little stunt cost her the son that she loved.

She will never meet his children
She will never again fellowship with her boy

God did allow their stunt to work to fulfill His predetermined plan,
But He will bring consequences for their sin.

So the point of the chapter is simple.
GOD PROTECTS HIS PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE
AND YOU SHOULD TRUST HIM TO DO THAT

Taking matters into your own hands
Will not cause Him to abandon His plan,
But it might cause you some added grief along the way.

But above all know that if God has promised it to you, you will receive it!

Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”

Examining My Religion
James 1:26-27
October 19, 2014

Having been studying the book of James,
He gets right to the point about the difference
Between fake faith, and saving faith.

In tonight’s text James will get even more to the point.

I know I told you once that it is very easy to tell
The difference between Christianity and every other world religion.

People say there are many differences, but really there are only two.
1) False religion says Jesus isn’t God.
2) False religion says I must help myself to get to heaven.

Of course both of those are just the opposite of true Christianity.

However, what happens so much of the time,
Is that people still develop a false religion
In the middle of Christianity

Now, they won’t say Jesus isn’t God,
But their action reveals they don’t really believe.

They don’t say they are trying to earn their way into heaven,
But their action reveals that is what they are doing.

They may be committed to “Christian Claims” but that’s as far as it goes
What they actually do is take the focus off of Jesus
And place it on themselves.

They love the religion
They love the routine
They love the liturgy
But it is skin deep and void of the life changing knowledge of Christ.

That has been the main thing James has been working on.
• A person of faith glorifies God in the midst of difficulty.
• A person of faith trusts God will do what He says.
• A person of faith perseveres under difficulty.
• A person of faith is content in whatever circumstances.
• A person of faith doesn’t blame sin on God.
• A person of faith Hears the word of God and obey sit.

However one who is only religion:
• Pouts under trial, because they only want comfort.
• Doesn’t trust God to do anything, but tries to do it themselves.
• Quits when it is too tough, because they seek personal comfort.
• Isn’t content unless they are receiving the best things.
• Must blame others for their problems.
• Either won’t receive the word, or won’t obey it

A person of faith seeks to please God, and put others first.
A person of religion seeks to please self, and put himself first.

Tonight, in this faith test, James will outline two types of religion for us.
#1 WORTHLESS RELIGION
James 1:26

“If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.”

James here gives us the example of worthless religion,
And there are three characteristics we can draw from this verse
To help us understand it better.

1) WHO IT PLEASES (26a)

We know whom this person is trying to please
By who this person looks to, to determine if he is pleasing.

WHO DOES THIS PERSON CHECK WITH TO SEE IF HE IS PLEASING?
“If anyone thinks himself to be religious…”

We know this man is only checking with himself.
If he thinks he is worthy, then he must be.
He has made himself the final authority.

It is a gross miscalculation to assume that you can
Declare yourself acceptable in the sight of God.

You don’t get to stamp “approved” on your own deeds
Scripture is clear that we have an eternal judge for that.

1 Corinthians 4:1-5 “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy. But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.”

But James is referring to the man “who thinks himself to be religious”
He approved himself
He looked at his life and said, “Well done!”
This is not so different from the Pharisees
Who didn’t mind justifying themselves,
But also rewarding themselves with great honor.

Luke 16:15 “And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.”

Matthew 23:1-7 “Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. “They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. “But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.”

They thought themselves to be religious.
They thought themselves to be acceptable.
They thought themselves to be worthy of the award.

And this is still true today.
Anytime we make ourselves the final authority
We reveal who we are really concerned about pleasing

And this is the only purpose of worthless religion.

The purpose of worthless religion is to help a person feel better about themselves, and to ultimately get others to honor them as well.

It has nothing to do with becoming pleasing to God,
It has to do with soothing our conscience, and puffing ourselves up.

BUT RELIGION THAT ONLY PLEASES YOU AND NOT GOD
IS ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS RELIGION.

We consider all those passages in the Old Testament about the religion of Israel, and how utterly displeased God was with all of it.

Isaiah 58:3-8 “Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’ Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers. “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high. “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD? “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke? “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh? “Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.”

Malachi 1:10 “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from you.”

If you want to know if your religion has value,
Then ask yourself who it is pleasing.

Most of you have by now heard the Victoria Olsteen quote she recently gave:
“I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we’re not doing it for God—I mean, that’s one way to look at it—we’re doing it for ourselves, because God takes pleasure when we’re happy,” “That’s the thing that gives Him the greatest joy…””So, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy,” “When you come to church, when you worship Him, you’re not doing it for God really. You’re doing it for yourself, because that’s what makes God happy. Amen?”

Well that’s one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard,
But it is the absolute gospel for people with worthless religion.

They don’t do anything they do to please God,
They only do it to please themselves.
And that is WORTHLESS RELIGION!

• Do you do church to please yourself, or to please God?
• Do you sing to please yourself, or to please God?
• Do you give, pray, and fast to please yourself like the Pharisees, or to please God?

Who is your religion supposed to please?
2) HOW IT PROSPERS (26b)
“If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his own tongue”

We know how this game is played.
It is the same game played by every kid on the play ground at school.

IF YOU WANT TO MAKE YOURSELF LOOK BETTER THAN SOMEONE ELSE, WHAT DO YOU DO?

You run them down, by pointing out why you are better than them.

That is exactly what is happening here.
People with religion prosper that religion by criticizing others, and by commending themselves.

AGAIN THIS WAS THE PHARISEES
Luke 15:2 “Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
John 8:3-11 “The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. “Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”]

You will remember the other illustration Jesus used.
Luke 18:9-14 “And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

That is how a person with religion makes themselves feel better.
That is how they prosper their cause.
That is how they bring honor to themselves.

Worthless religion is like playing king of the mountain.
You stay on top by keeping others off the mound.

And sadly the main way we do this is with the tongue.

But listen:
Slandering other people’s sin won’t make you righteous,
It will only make you feel better about yourself.

God says that is worthless religion.

It is worthless because God is not asking you to be better than your brother, God is asking you to be like Him.
Being better than your brother won’t get you anywhere.

That is why Jesus was so hard on the judgmental Pharisees:
Matthew 7:1-2 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.”

Paul echoed it in Romans:
Romans 2:1-3 “Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?”

Do you really think pointing out other people’s faults is the method that will catapult you to the top?

No, all that does is reveal
That you know the difference between right and wrong.
Running off at the mouth is worthless religion.

So as we look at worthless religion, we see who it pleases and how it prospers.

3) WHAT IT PRODUCES (26c)
“If anyone thinks himself to religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.”

A worthless religion produces two things.
A worthless religion produces a deceived church goer, and a displeased God.

James said a person who seeks righteousness
By comparing themselves to others is a deceived person.

When a person thinks they are good enough because they are better than everyone else, they will be shocked some day.

All they reveal is their standard is too low,
And their judge is too lenient.

And the main point of James here is that this kind of religion that sets yourself up as judge and gains ground by running down others…

That is worthless religion
AND WORTHLESS RELIGION WILL NOT SAVE YOU FROM HELL!!

Isaiah 28:9-19 “To whom would He teach knowledge, And to whom would He interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast? “For He says, ‘Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there.’ ” Indeed, He will speak to this people Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue, He who said to them, “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,” And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen. So the word of the LORD to them will be, “Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there,” That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive. Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.” Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. “I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place. “Your covenant with death will be canceled, And your pact with Sheol will not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through, Then you become its trampling place. “As often as it passes through, it will seize you; For morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night, And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.”

You can clothe yourself in your own good deeds
You can convince yourself that you are pleasing
You can compile a list of people worse than you
BUT THAT RELIGION IS WORTHLESS IN THE JUDGMENT

Remember this guy?
Matthew 22:11-14 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Instead of being clothed in the righteousness of the groom,
One man determined to make his own garments to get in.
But they were filthy rags, not good enough, so he was thrown out.

That is where worthless religion will get us.
It does us no good to please ourselves, by slandering others.
For God will not be pleased.

That is worthless religion.
#2 WORTHWHILE RELIGION
James 1:27
“Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Just as James showed us three characteristics of worthless religion,
He will show us three characteristics of worthwhile religion.

1) WHO IT PLEASES (27a)
“Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father”

We are not here to try and please ourselves,
We are here to try and please God.
He is the impartial judge. He is the One with the righteous standard.

It does not matter how we feel about ourselves, or if we think we are ok. It only matters if He thinks we are ok.

Micah 6:6-8 “What God Requires of Man With what shall I come to the LORD And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”

Hebrews 13:15-16 “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

Worthwhile religion isn’t satisfied pleasing self, it seeks only to become pleasing to God.

After Paul was converted, we can see this in him so clearly.
• Before he was saved, when he was a Pharisee, he sought only his own goodness.
• But once he confronted Jesus, he quickly learned that there was someone else to please.

He became a model of a man
Who sought to please God’s standard, not his own.

Philippians. 3:7-11 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

There is the difference between worthless & worthwhile religion.
One tries to please self; the other tries to please God.

So we see who worthwhile religion pleases.
2) HOW IT PROSPERS (27b)
“to visit the orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Now, I don’t want us to get off thinking
That we become pleasing by doing those things.
That is not James’ point.

James’ point is that a person of true faith,
Who is truly trying to please God will do those things.

Two true marks of saving faith, or true religion, are to provide for others, and to purify self.
That is what James is showing us here.

The man of worthless religion sought
To degrade and destroy others to make himself look better.
The man of true religion humbles himself for the sake of others.

And that is what makes the least of these such a tremendous test
Of whether or not your religion is genuine.

Jeremiah 7:6 “if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin,”

Isaiah 1:16-17 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.”

Matthew 25:37-40 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’”

This is one of the reasons why Jesus said,
“You will always have the poor with you.”

There is no better test than this.
• Benevolence is messy
• Benevolence is inconvenient
• Benevolence is frustrating
• But one thing benevolence is not is “self-seeking”

If all our religion was about was pleasing self,
We would never take the time to listen, help, get involved,
And then do it all over again.

And that is James’ point.

1 John 3:10-11 “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;”

1 John 3:14 “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.”

1 John 3:17 “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?”

John reminded us of the attitude of a person with true faith.
They don’t seek to point out the problems of others.
They love others, and seek to help them get better as well.
When our righteousness doesn’t depend upon being better than others,
Then we will more willingly help others.

James said here, if we even want to pretend to have true religion,
We had better take care the “orphans and widows”.

Not only that, “and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

And this is so good.
Worthless religion is a system of rituals designed
To let a person stay in their sin and get away with it.

You know – live however you want, but say a few “Hail Mary’s” and you get a clean slate.

It is what Jeremiah referred to as a robber’s den.

But true religion isn’t looking for a means to sin without consequence, true religion is looking to be pure inside and out.

1 Peter 4:1-3 “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.”

So we see who worthwhile religion pleases and we see how it prospers

3) WHAT IT PRODUCES

Although it isn’t specifically mentioned here,
We learn that while worthless religion is displeasing to God,
Because it only seeks to honor self.

However we understand that worthwhile religion
Will produce grateful people, and a glorified God.

2 Cor. 9:13-14 “Because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all, while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you.”

We know that the true aim of anyone with true faith
Is to bring glory and honor to God.

It is to make Him look good, not us.
It is to lead others to Him, not push others away.
True religion is all about God, and His work,
Not us and our own goodness.

Jesus taught this in a text that will adequately sum up all that we have been talking about.

Matthew 9:10-13 “Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. “But go and learn what this means: ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

WHAT DID JESUS MEAN HERE?
“I DESIRE COMPASSION AND NOT SACRIFICE”

Can you hear Jesus’ point?

What good is all the religion in the world,
If it only please you and not God?
What good is all the religion in the world,
If it only helps you and not others?

Don’t let your religion be worthless
Let it be worthwhile

Worthless religion commends self, and condemns others, while worthwhile religion humbles self, and helps others. Only the latter is pleasing to God.

Isaac’s Destiny
Genesis 26:1-33
October 19, 2014

Well there you have this story regarding Isaac.
I think we can say that it is “familiar” to say the least.

We read that whole chapter with this thought in the back of our mind saying, “Didn’t we already study this?”

Well the answer is “yes” and “no”.
While this is a new story & a new character, we’ve seen this story before.
In fact we have seen this story over and over and over.

And if you will allow me a little lead way this morning,
I don’t mind telling you that this is also your story, and my story.

God is up to something familiar here.

WHAT IS GOD UP TO?
He is determining Isaac’s destiny.

For the LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS
We’ve been throwing out that ever popular word “election”.
We’ve been talking about the elect, or the chosen.

God chose Isaac over Ishmael and God chose Jacob over Esau

This isn’t just my interpretation, Paul in the New Testament echoed that very point.

Romans 9:9-13 “For this is the word of promise: “AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.” And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.” Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.”

God chose Isaac, God chose Jacob
They were vessels of mercy
They were objects of grace

Now last week we did have a very important conversation about Esau
And how God did not do Esau wrong.

Esau was in fact a “godless” and “immoral person”
Who actually wanted nothing to do with the things of God.

The fact is that Esau didn’t want it, and neither do any other sinners.

The only reason anyone wants what God has to offer
Is because God first gives them the desire for it.
It is grace at work in our lives.
And thus far we have seen that grace through the concept of election.

It is grace that God chose us, even when unworthy, to be His sons and daughters and to inherit His kingdom.
• We didn’t deserve the right…
• We didn’t earn the right…
• We didn’t even petition for the right…

God elected, God chose, God did it all.

And as we have said a couple of times now,
He had every right to do that since He is the Potter and we are the clay.
He is sovereign.

SO WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT ELECTION.

But there is far more at work here than just election.
Grace is more than being chosen.

There is another word that I would like to give you this morning
That is equally controversial to many people.

That word is PREDESTINATION
Or Predestined

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
Very simply it is a word that means “to determine beforehand”

When you read this word in the New Testament
It is the Greek word PROORIZO

Acts 4:27-28 “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.”

God already had a plan, and God carried that plan out to perfection.

The amazing thing is that God perfectly carried out His plan
In spite of all the different human pieces independently at work.

• God let Judas do what he wanted to do…
• God let the Pharisees do what they wanted to do…
• God let Caiaphas do what he wanted to do…
• God let Pilot do what he wanted to do…

And yet they all end up doing exactly what God “predestined to occur.”

God determined beforehand, He “predestined”
GOD WAS IN TOTAL CONTROL THE ENTIRE TIME
Now again this is NOT A POPULAR notion among many today.
Many will take this word and throw it out just as quickly
As they throw out the word election.

And yet, you have to do some pretty fancy Bible dancing to get around it.

Psalms 139:13-16 “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”

Job 14:1-5 “Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil. “Like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain. “You also open Your eyes on him And bring him into judgment with Yourself. “Who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one! “Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass.”

Acts 17:24-26 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,”

You may not like the concept,
But again let me remind you who is God and who is not.

Many today would rather see God
As simply the One who set the word in motion,
And then backed off to let it play out however it might.

That simply is not true.
He is both Creator and Sustainer
He elects and He predestines

Paul said it like this:
Romans 8:28-30 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

Not only does God actually choose and elect,
But He also takes His elect and then predestines them.

Of course you also recognize that
He continues on to call them and justify them and glorify them.

And all of that is the work of grace.

Typically we don’t think of grace until we get to the “justified” part.

When a sinner gets saved we all say it was grace,
But the reality is that grace was at work
Long before justification every occurred.

• There was grace when the sinner was CHOSEN
• There was grace when the sinner was PREDESTINED
• There was grace when the sinner was CALLED

Ephesians 1:3-6 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”

There it is again.
“He chose us…”
“In love He predestined us to adoption as sons…”

And of course all of this was done “to the praise of the glory of His grace”

I hope you see the point I am trying to make.
Grace is more than God agreeing to forgive a sinner who asks for it.

Grace is at work to Choose that sinner, Predestine that sinner,
Call that sinner, and then Forgive him.

And we haven’t even talked about the work of grace to secure his glory.

I just want you to see the work of God’s grace in your life.
And that is why we are studying the lives of Isaac and Jacob.

• Adam taught us about sin
• Noah taught us about judgment
• Abraham taught us about salvation
• Now in Isaac and Jacob we learn about grace.

Well we’ve already seen that the boys were chosen, that they were elect.
This morning let me show you that next they were predestined.
Paul said that everyone who God foreknows He also predestines.

Well, let’s look at that in the life of Isaac.

And again let me remind you that this is a very familiar story.
(It’s like we’ve read it before)

Indeed we have.
We saw it in Abraham, we see it in Isaac,
And to a large degree we see it in our lives.
Predestination is the process
By which God dictates your journey from election to glory.

In your life grace begins with election
In your life grace ends with glory

So in a very real sense, you are a chosen sinner
Whom God has determined to take to glory.

The process by which God moves you from sin to glory is predestination.
He sets your destiny.
He makes sure you come to know Him

And that is done in the life of every redeemed individual,
And it is clearly seen in the life of Isaac.

There are five points to see here this morning.
#1 A FAMILIAR FAMINE
Genesis 26:1-5

Obviously this part of the story is familiar.
It is the exact same way Abraham’s story began.

Back in Genesis 12 we had God calling Abraham out of Ur and into Canaan,
But the no sooner did he arrive than did the first difficulty arise.

Genesis 12:10 “Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.”

And hopefully you’ll remember not just that Abram there said Sarai was his sister for the first time, but God also supernaturally intervened and kept Pharaoh from touching Sarai and ruining the plan.

God preserved Abram and sent him back to Canaan.

And yet here we have a very familiar scene.
Another famine.

Only here God does His protective work BEFORE everything goes south.

(2) “The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you.”

This time God gives Isaac clear instructions as to what to do.

AND THEN WE GET YET ANOTHER FAMILIAR PICTURE.
God actually tells Isaac what His plans are for the boy.

(3-5) “Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”

Does that sound familiar?

It is not much different than when God told Abram to leave Ur
And go to the land that He would show him.

In both cases we have God reaching out to the man He has chosen
And telling them that I have a great plan for you.

Just as God repeatedly told Abraham, God now reminds Isaac that:
• I will be with you
• I will bless you
• I will make a covenant with you
• I will multiply your descendants
• I will give you this land

It really is the same story only with a new character.

Previously God chose a sinful pagan named Abram
And then began to reveal His plan to him and to guide his life to fulfill that plan.

Now God is doing the same thing with Isaac.
(Incidentally it is the same thing He did with us)

Make sure you recognize who the catalyst is here.
This is not Isaac seeking out God to find out what the benefits are.
This is God seeking out Isaac revealing what great plans He has in store.

What else can you call that but predestination?
That is God “determining beforehand”

God elected Isaac
Now God is predestining Isaac
There is no other way to see that

Now again, just because we are talking about the sovereign hand of God,
Does not nullify the importance of faith, obedience or endurance.

God chose Abraham, but Abraham still had to obey
And that is true for Isaac

(5) “because Abraham obeyed me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”

Obedience is a crucial part of God’s sovereign plan.
But the point is we have here the second verse to the same old song.
God taking His chosen and laying out His great plan for them.

Obviously Moses would want to drive that point home to Israel.
God has chosen you and He has a great plan for you.
Do what He says.

A Familiar Famine
#2 A FAMILIAR FEAR
Genesis 26:6-11

Well the good news is that Isaac followed the Lord’s advice.
“So Isaac lived in Gerar”

This first step of obedience was akin to
Abram actually leaving Ur and heading to Canaan.

Abram wasn’t yet saved, but he was interested in the offer God had made
So he went to check it all out.

Isaac here did the very same.
“Ok God, I’m listening, what do You have for me?”

However, just because God promised blessing
Doesn’t mean that God eliminated hardship.

Abraham had trouble with Lot’s herdsmen
Abraham dealt with Lot’s kidnapping
Likewise Isaac soon found himself in a difficult predicament.

He was living among sinful people and he had a beautiful wife and cultural experience told him that his life was in danger because of this fact.

Obviously we would like for Isaac to place this problem in the hands of God,
And for him to trust God to protect the wife He had given him.

But Isaac had learned another way to deal with this issue
(he learned it from his father)

(7) “When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is beautiful.”

Now at this point let me remind you that this threat was real.

If you will remember back to Genesis 20 when Abraham did the exact same thing with Abimelech, God did not reprimand Abraham.
God confronted Abimelech.

We studied that chapter and talked about how most people like to let Abimelech off the hook as an innocent victim, but that chapter never does that.
In that chapter God confronts Abimelech, threatens death and judgment,
And then tells Abimelech to get Abraham to pray for him.

In short, Abimelech was a scoundrel
Who would have killed Abraham and Abraham knew it.
That doesn’t mean God would’ve let it happen, but the threat was genuine

And it still was for Isaac.
This was a legitimate threat, and Isaac responded just like his dad had done years earlier.

He lies and tells them that Rebekah is his sister.
(8-11) “It came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, certainly she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die on account of her.'” Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” So Abimelech charged all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

Now this is interesting.

My version and the NIV say that Isaac was “caressing” Rebekah
The KJV says he was “sporting” with her.

And so naturally the translators took the approach that the two of them were making out and this tipped Abimelech off to the truth.
And perhaps that is true.

But the Hebrew word here for “caressing” is TSACHAQ (tsaw-khak)
It means “to laugh outright”, “to mock”, “to make sport”

It is a word you have seen before:
Genesis 21:9-10 “Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.”

That is where Ishmael was mocking Isaac (he wasn’t caressing him)
He was making fun of him

Listen, it is possible here that Isaac wasn’t caressing Rebekah,
But rather that he was mocking her.

As if to completely disdain all that God had given him.

And the only reason I point this out is because it paints an entirely different picture of Isaac, and one that I think is important.

Was Isaac afraid? Yes
But Isaac was also ungrateful for all that God had given him.

• God had specifically sent Abraham’s servant back to Mesopotamia to
find Isaac’s wife.

• And if you will remember God had handpicked Rebekah by having her
water the servant’s camels.

• And then God brought Rebekah back to Isaac as a precious gift to
comfort him after the death of his mother.

Rebekah was God’s gift to Isaac, and it is clear that
Isaac had not valued that gift as he should have.

At the very least endangering her by calling her his sister
At the very worst actually mocking her as unimportant

Now what is the point I want you to see from all of that?
Simply this: ISAAC WAS NO PRIZE
• He wasn’t noble
• He wasn’t brave
• He wasn’t smart (got caught)

If Isaac was ever going to fulfill the plans God had for him,
Then God was going to have work on him.

And that is what God is about to do.
God’s predestination of Isaac’s life is about to take shape.

Let me show you how God starts determining Isaac’s steps.

A Familiar Famine, A Familiar Fear
#3 A FAMILIAR FEUD
Genesis 26:12-22

Now again we see a very familiar occurrence.
Isaac is going to have water trouble just as Abraham had previously.

Genesis 21:25 “But Abraham complained to Abimelech because of the well of water which the servants of Abimelech had seized.”

But before we see the trouble
I first want you to see a very familiar blessing.

(12-14) “Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him, and the man became rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy; for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him.”

Regardless of the fact that Isaac was a bit of a thug,
God still chose to bless him immensely.

Was this not also what God did with Abraham?
(Even after his mistake in Egypt?)

Genesis 13:1-2 “So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him. Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold.”

So obviously God is working from the same script.
• God chose a less than noble person
• God revealed a great plan for this person
• God blessed him immensely even when he didn’t deserve it

Yet, there is a reason why God began with blessing.

Suppose you go home today and find a stray dog on your porch
And you do not want to keep this dog.

If you want the dog to leave, what is the worst thing you can do?
Feed it

Because if you feed it, it will instantly see you as a source of food,
And will identify you as a provider.

And once that dog identifies you as a provider
It will always have a propensity to return to you in times of trouble.

And that is precisely what God is doing here.
He is first setting Himself up as the provider.

He blesses Isaac.
And then He allows Isaac to undergo some turmoil.

Verses 15-21 reveal a series of events where Isaac has nothing but turmoil.

People are jealous of what he has and seek to take what is his, and Isaac lets them. (again, not necessarily a brave man)

It is a tough season of hardship for Isaac, until finally Isaac gets relief.

(22) “He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it Rehoboth, for he said, “At last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

So by the time Isaac finally gets a well that is uncontested, did you recognize who he gave the credit to?
“the LORD”
But earlier in the chapter Isaac was nothing but a person
Who was ungrateful for the things the Lord had given him.

He was like the spoiled little rich kid who had so much
He didn’t know how to be grateful for anything.

Funny how a season of hardship will make a person a little more grateful for God’s provision isn’t it?

Funny how when an old stray dog gets hungry it will return to the hand that once fed it…

God was the author of Isaac’s prosperity
God was the permitter of Isaac’s adversity

It was all part of God’s plan to teach Isaac to come to Him and be grateful.

See, before all of this adversity Isaac’s was all Abraham’s.
• Abraham had developed faith
• Abraham had believed God
• Abraham had passed the test

But Isaac couldn’t rest on Abraham’s faith,
Isaac had to have his own faith.
And God was teaching that to Isaac.

He blessed him, He oppressed him, and He delivered him

Can you see God directing the path?

A Familiar Famine, A Familiar Fear, A Familiar Feud
#4 FAMILIAR FAVOR
Genesis 26:23-25

Very interesting that Isaac now goes up to “Beersheba.”
If you will remember, this was the place where Abraham settled,
Even planted a tree.

In short, this is where Isaac was raised
This is where Abraham would have taught Isaac about God

And now Isaac is returning to his roots
He is in search of the God of his father

If you start the story here,
It looks like Isaac went searching for God and people then are prone to credit Isaac.

But look at the whole story
And see the grace of God at work long before Isaac ever started seeking.
Now, we read at the beginning from Romans 8
About how God foreknows and then He predestines.

And Paul says those He “predestined He also called”
God chooses, then God sets your destiny, and then God calls you.

Here is that call
(24) “The LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.”

Now that is not so different from what God told Isaac initially,
Only this time Isaac is more prone to listen
Because of what he has been through.
God is offering the covenant life to Isaac.

And those whom God called, Paul says, “He also justified”
Here is that justification
(25) “So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.”

And so there we have the salvation of Isaac.
• God chose Him
• God predestined Him
• God called Him
• God justified Him

And simply reading this chapter
Shows you who the author of all that was.
It was God.

He set Isaac’s destiny and then carried him to it.

Familiar Famine, Familiar Fear, Familiar Feud, Familiar Favor
#5 A FAMILIAR FINISH
Genesis 26:26-33

Paul said it best:
Romans 8:28-31 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”
Well, let me show you Isaac’s glory.

Just like God did with Abraham,
Abimelech recognized God’s favor on him and so it happens with Isaac.
(28-29) “They said, “We see plainly that the LORD has been with you; so we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.'”

There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that God was for Isaac.
Even Abimelech did not want to mess with Isaac
Because he could recognize God’s grace upon him.

“You are now the blessed of the LORD.”

God took Isaac to glory.

And that is the point.
It was grace at work in Isaac’s life.

Isaac was a spoiled little rich kid
Who wasn’t the least bit grateful
For all that God was doing in his life.

It would have been easy to completely write Isaac off.

However God had chosen Him
• And those whom God foreknows He predestines
• And those whom God predestines He calls
• And those whom God calls He justifies
• And those whom God justifies He glorifies

You see that in Isaac
You see that in Abraham
And hopefully you see that in your life

Moses certainly wanted the children of Israel to see it.
Because that is the gospel of God’s grace

Look at your life, see what you were.
• See how God has drawn you to Himself and revealed Himself to you.
• See even how the hard times where to cause you to run to Him.
• See the plans He has for you and the promises He has made

And understand that He will not let those plans fail
He wouldn’t let Abraham mess it up
He wouldn’t let Isaac mess it up

God had chosen them, God had predestined them,
And God would glorify them.

Now obviously that does not negate the importance of obedience or faith or endurance – they are the other side of the coin.

But it is apparent that Moses wants you first to see
God’s grace at work for you.

This morning RECOGNIZE that grace
This morning WORSHIP God for that grace
This morning RESPOND to that grace

Isaac was chosen but he still had to call on the name of the Lord,
And you do too.

• God has brought you to this point
• God has orchestrated the events
• God has prepared you to call on Him
So do it!

Romans 8:28-31 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”