Grateful. We had a small turnout because we had some last-minute cancellations, but again, we had our Foundations class again this morning.

So if you want to know about the life of our church and how we do covenant relationship, we don't do church membership, but a covenant membership, make sure we do it quarterly, Foundations coming up again.

But it was really awesome. The family that was there this morning was really sweet because I could hear Caroline down the hall.

She was absolutely losing her mind screaming because she didn't want to be in that room. She knew I was in the room teaching in there.

And so I went in and got her, and I was able to hold her, and they were very kind to let me hold her as we finished doing our little teaching session or whatever.

But we finished wrapping up, and I said, Caroline, would you like to close us out in prayer?

And she's like, okay. So I have a little moleskin that I keep my journal of some thoughts and notes, and I take notes and stuff.

So she grabbed my moleskin. It was upside down. She turned it and had it upside down, and she opens it up to a page.

And we were all sitting there, so she started walking around the room, and she goes,

She did circle it twice.

I was unable to interpret the tongues, but I knew the heart.

I tried. I tried.

From the mouth of babes, you know, may we all have that kind of faith, you know.

Sometimes we lose that. Sometimes we get so cerebral, we get so grown up, we get so this, we get so busy, we get so that.

We lose sight of just the child-like faith.

Today, eavesdropping, one-on-one.

Eavesdropping, one-on-one. We're in Genesis, chapter 27.

Appreciate Foster filling in last week and taking a Sunday.

Grateful for the word that the Lord had given him as well, too.

When last we finished chapter 26, if you remember, Isaac has moved.

The king of Bimelech has come up and said,

You're too big, you're too powerful, you're too wealthy, you've got to get out of here.

You've got to leave.

And so Isaac moves, and then that's not far enough.

He needs to move again.

That's not far enough. He needs to move again.

And finally he gets to a place where Bimelech doesn't give him a hard time,

so he digs a well, and they get water.

That in itself is a blessing.

You can dig hundreds of holes in the desert and not get water.

But they dig a well. They get water.

So he has that, but he moves again to Beersheba.

He doesn't give that well up because he's going to need that for his livestock.

He's going to need it for agriculture.

But they go up to Beersheba, and eventually they dig another well up there.

God's hand of favor continues to be on Isaac and his family.

And so they finally get up to this place,

and we end with just a crazy, crazy sad statement at the end of 26

that says we see that Esau ends up getting married as well, too.

And Esau marries not one, but two women, okay,

and they are both Hittite women.

Remember, Abraham told his servant,

go get Isaac's wife.

Don't get it from these Hittite women.

Go back to the people of Mesopotamia and get him a woman.

Well, what if the woman won't come?

Don't take him back there.

Don't take him back.

That's your job, okay?

But so Esau, again, marries not one, but two Hittite women,

again, affirming what God has already said,

that the covenant of blessing cannot come through Esau,

will not come through Esau,

and now cannot come through Esau, right?

Because Esau's just, he's just ruined that whole thing in there.

But it ends with that statement right there in the last verse of chapter 26.

It says,

And they made, this is Esau and his wives,

made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.

And you need to remember that Esau is Isaac's favorite.

He favors him.

How sad is it?

We see that in today's time too,

where a son or a daughter who is loved by their parents,

not everything's always hunky-dory,

but a son or a daughter make life miserable for those parents.

That's tough.

That's tough.

But we get to chapter 27.

Eavesdropping 101 is the title of today's message.

But it's a very difficult,

it's a sad story about four people.

It's a family.

Isaac is married to his beautiful wife, Rebekah.

And by this time, we know they have two sons.

We found out about them in chapter 25.

They have Jacob and Esau, the two boys, these twins,

who are the main characters of these stories.

But these four people, as you go through this story,

there's one glaring truth in there.

And that is, no one in this family trusts one another.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

of the oldest, and that the oldest is going to serve the younger. But in this chapter, we see Isaac is going to dig his heels in, and he's going to say, you know what? There's no way I'm going to let this happen. I'm not going to let this happen. I'm not going to, I'm going to bless my oldest son before she even knows about it. I'm going to bless my oldest son, and I'm not even going to tell Jacob about it, okay? I'm not going to tell anyone. But then you also, in the story, you're going to have Rebekah, and Rebekah is listening in. She's

eavesdropping. Anybody ever eavesdrop before? If you don't raise your hand, your pants are on fire, right? You know, Rebekah's eavesdropping in on a conversation that dad is having with number one son here, and she's listening, and as she's listening, she already starts to scheme. She starts manipulating. She starts working out a plan, okay? Figuring out a way to overturn her husband's wishes. She's at work, okay? And then you have Esau, who's always lived for himself.

He's always lived for the flesh. And then we're going to see Jacob, who's going to go along with his mom on this plan, and already proved in the past, he proves that he dislikes his brother, and here he's going to seek to steal the blessing. He's already taken the birthright, and we've said that it's really important to understand that most evangelical Christians think that once he, once Jacob takes the birthright, that's it. No, there's a difference between the birthright and the blessing. Remember what we said the last time?

The birthright was what? The property, the money, the finance, all the goods, okay? The blessing was what? That's who's going to carry on the family name, who gets all the authority, who's going to run things. The lineage is going to come through. So there's two separate things here going on.

And again, we talk a lot, and as we go through Genesis, about a lot of foreshadowing. There's foreshadowing of Christ in here. It's the foreshadowing of the sacrifice, foreshadowing of the Holy Spirit. A lot of foreshadowing. Again, this is a foreshadowing.

See the foreshadowing, because in this, God gives Jesus the birthright and the blessing. He has the birthright. He has all the resources of heaven, okay? And yet also he has the blessing because he says,

The Father has given all authority to who? To me. So in this foreshadowing, Jesus receives the birthright and the blessing as well, too.

Again, this is a foreshadowing of things to come.

But so we have these four people in the family, and it's really a messed up family. They don't trust each other, and it's a very dysfunctional family.

But the greater truth behind chapter 27 is that though this is a very dysfunctional family, it's a very functional God.

God is going to function in the midst of their dysfunction.

God does that in my life all the time. I do some very dysfunctional things at a time, and God still blesses me in spite of myself, you know?

And so, you know, God's going to override all of their weirdness. God's going to override all of their little superstitions, and he's going to override, we're going to use the S word, all their stupidity, okay?

And he's going to get his will done. He's going to get his will done.

On one hand, it's a really sad story, but on the other hand, it's a wonderful story how God uses messed up people.

And right there is when revival should break out in the church this morning.

I be one. I be one. Yes. You be one. I be one, too.

God uses messed up people, and he uses the foolish things of the world, the weak things of the world, you know?

And we all should raise our hands on that. We're going to see that in chapter 27.

We're not going to get all the way through this chapter. I was going to try to do it, but I'm not going to race through this.

But as we look at this, it really shouldn't surprise us, because this is an ongoing saga of Abraham's family, okay?

Isaac was Abraham's son, and again, like father, like son.

You know, Abraham lied about his wife being his sister on two occasions.

Isaac lies about his wife being his sister.

Abraham takes off and runs to Egypt.

Isaac wants to take off and run to Egypt, but God stops him before he can get there.

And we shouldn't be surprised that Jacob and his mom are tied together, kind of trying to...

But you're going to see a lot more by the time we get to the end of this chapter. I think it was Shakespeare that wrote that said, you know, oh, what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive. You know, there's so much biblical truth in that. Listen, be careful how you represent truth. Be careful how you represent truth. There are some people that have no problem with what we call

little white lies. Little white lies. Little white lies. I need you to know that a little white lie is still a lie. Okay? I don't care what color you call it. Okay? You know, C.S. Lewis used to say,

it's a little lie is like a little pregnancy. That's what Lewis said. He said, you might not notice it at first, but after the months go by,

it gets very apparent that there is a pregnancy there. All right? And so as the years go by,

a little lie gets more and more apparent. Does it not? We've seen it. We've seen it around us and maybe

even in our own lives. But in chapter 27, I'm going to call this like round three of the fight that goes

on between Esau and Jacob. Round one was while they were still in the womb. Okay? While they were womb mates.

All right? There was a fighting going on there. Okay? So they were twins. You know, Rebecca's pregnant and

she's having difficulty in the pregnancy. She's asking the Lord, what's going on here? And God says

there's a wrestling match going inside because there's two nations in your womb. There are two

young men. They're going to represent two nations that are struggling in there. And when the date of

birth comes, Esau comes out first and then Jacob comes and he's grabbing his heel. Okay? Grab it as if

to try to pull him back or to trip him up. And so he was given the name Yakov, Jacob, supplanter,

heel grabber, one who trips up another. And so their characters both are revealed at birth.

And so one is going to trip up the other all the way through his life. That's round one.

Round two is, as we go through the chapter, we saw that Esau, he was hungry. He's hungry and he comes

to Jacob. He says, I am on the verge of dying. No, you're really not going to die. Okay? But I'm so

hungry. I'm going to starve to death. Give me some of that really good red stew, that chili stew you

make. Okay? And Jacob says, I'll give you a bowl of that, but I want your birthright. I want you a

birthright. You know, you're the firstborn. I want to assume the privilege of being the firstborn. And

I want a Snickers. You know, give me something. No, I want something in my mouth. I'm hungry.

And it says, the scripture says that Esau despised his birthright. Terribly sad statement. And so

Jacob knew the power of the spiritual blessing behind the birthright. So he says, it's a deal.

I'll make you a bowl of that stew. And so that was round two. The round three of the battle is

is in chapter 27. And Jacob is going to connive and steal the blessing from his brother.

And there's something else that we need to remember as we work our way through this chapter.

And that is both Isaac and Rebecca had their favorite child in the family. Okay? And that's

really bad. It divided the family. The kids picked up on it too. They picked up on it. And so,

and I'm telling you, if kids pick up on it, they will use it. They're smart.

They will figure it out. They will use it. You know, um, Isaac for Isaac, his favorite son was

Esau. You know, he's an outdoorsman. He's a man's man. He loved the field. He loved the hunt. He had a

gun rack in the back of his pickup. His dad loved him. You know, he was, he was the man's man. Jacob,

on the other hand, he was, the scripture is going to say smooth skinned. Okay. We'll talk more about

that a little bit, but he loved to cook. He watched Martha Stewart every day. Didn't learn how to make

that souffle. Okay. And made mom really happy. And it said that Jacob dwelled in the tents and Rebecca

preferred him. Okay. And so they each had their, their, their favorite of the two boys. And it tells

us that at the, towards the end of the chapter 25, uh, 25, verse 28, that Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his

was going to serve the younger, was going to serve the younger, and, uh, the younger Jacob is going to get the blessing. God's going to reverse the whole traditional law, that whole primogeniture law we talked about. He's going to bring about a reversal. He's, and so there is, there's a real lesson also for us in watching out for first impressions that we might have. Our first impressions can be misleading.

As we go through this, this thing called life. Our first impressions can be, if we, if we are, if we, uh, are going to judge by image, our impression, it can be very misleading. If we, if we judge by feelings, it's going to be very misleading. We tend to judge by appearance. You know, uh, you know, uh, we want, we even, sometimes, sometimes we even vote by appearance.

We want somebody who looks good and looks like they're decisive. Oh, that person looks decisive. I'm voting for them. They, they look like they, they dress so sharp or they, or she looks so amazing. So I, that's what, that's, that's what I'm going to, that's how I'm going to choose.

And so, um, you know, it, be careful of your, your first impressions and that first impression might not be the right choice. You know, things changed in America in the fifties and sixties for our political environment. You know how and why?

The pundits say that everything changed at the first presidential debate between, between Richard Milhouse Nixon and John Fitzgerald Kennedy. It's the first presidential debate that was ever televised. And they said that everything changed. Then, uh, Milhouse Nixon, Nixon was the, was the favorite on that. But in that televised interview, Nixon had been sick.

And so he was sweating a lot. He had a lot of sweat coming from his brow. He looked a little pale. He looked a little peaked and he didn't really dress that great. His, his outfit was kind of made him look even more faded and everything.

Well, John F. Kennedy, he, um, he had a dark suit on and he just came off vacation. He was well tanned and people looked at him and said, Oh, he's amazing. Look how handsome he is. He looks sharp. He, and he ends up winning the election.

And the pundits give that to him. And they say, ever since then, the American people began to vote differently. Isn't that amazing?

We tend to judge by appearance. And so, you know, uh, that's going to happen in this household. Dad is all about image. I cannot bless Jacob. We, I got to bless Esau. We can't have this wimpy little souffle making kid leading my family.

I need a man's man with a four wheel drive and a gun rack back there. I would, and it's spit and chew with me. Come on now. That's who needs to lead this family.

So the years are going to go by. Okay. And, and what we just read years go by from what we just read in chapter 25, that, that one verse right there. And we're going into chapter 27, 37 years between chapter 26 and 27.

It's not an overnight thing. 37 years have passed by. That's the gap between, uh, between chapters 26 and 27. And in chapter 27, verse one, Isaac is now 137 years old. His eyesight has failed him and he thinks he's about to die. All right. He thinks he's going to, he's going to die.

When Isaac was old, when Isaac was old, verse one, his eyes were, were dim so that he could not see. He saw, he called Esau his, his older son and said to him, my son, he answered, here I am. And he said, behold, I am old. I do not know the day of my death.

Now then take your weapons, your quiver and your bow and go out to the field and hunt game for me. He says, behold, I am old. I like the fact that he doesn't cover it up. He doesn't. I'm old. I'm an old codger. I don't, I don't have much time.

And it's just go out and hunt game. The King James version says venison. Go get me some venison. I want some meat. I want some meat. I, I, you know what? I'm getting old. I can't see. This is a great, I need to, I want to bless my favorite son. This is a great excuse for me to get one of my favorite meals. I want you to go.

A handful. So see, if my wife was in here, she wouldn't raise her hand, but she'd have to raise her hand, because she would say, I would never, it's so nasty.

There was one time, I was cooking up some backstrap, and I had backstrap off to the side, and I had a big salad made for us at the house, but I had some backstrap I was going to cook, cook, you know, cooked up and was going to cut up and put on my salad.

But she went in there, and ahead of time, she's like, oh, oh, there she is now I'm talking about her. So anyway, so anyway, so anyway, she comes in, and she goes, oh, that steak is so yummy.

And so then she comes back out, and I said, well, that was for my salad. I wasn't doing that. That is venison. You just ate venison.

I don't feel well. That stuff has upset my, no, no, psychological. You love the venison, woman, okay? But she will never eat it ever since.

But that's what, that's what Isaac wants. I want me some venison. I want me some venison.

And by the way, just to throw a wrench in our whole view of this blessing chapter, we have this Sunday school view of Isaac being on his deathbed, blessing his younger sons who may be 20 years old or something like that.

Both of these guys are 77 years old at this time. They're not little kids. You know, we have this vision like, you know, the young boys and dad's coming, and he's giving them this blessing, okay?

The whole Sunday school view of this, the blessing, we can throw it out.

Isaac's 137, and they're 77 still living at home. Somebody got to give them the boot.

Come on. That's crazy. But, you know, I find it interesting. He's 137. That's old. I give you that.

And he thinks he's going to die. I'm going to die. I'm about to die. But you know what really happens?

He lives for another 43 years. See, we don't think about that either. He lives another 43 years. So I'm thinking this guy is kind of a hypochondriac.

He's the guy that has some sort of symptoms and gets on Google and goes on web.com. You know, I got it all. I got days to live. I only have days to live.

I got every symptom under the world. Some of you are guilty of that, right? What do I got?

Oh, my gosh. I got the Asian bug for whatever. I'm going to die. It came over here from China. You know, whatever.

So I'm going to die. But he's not going to die for another 43 years. So why did he think he was going to die, though?

Don't my guess. This is Curtis's guess, not the gospel. But listen, he's 137 years old.

Well, his half-brother Ishmael kicked the bucket at 137. So he thinks, Ishmael died at 137. My eyesight's gone. I'm failing.

I can't see. I can't this or that. So you know what? Ishmael kicked the bucket. I must have days to live.

I've got to get this blessing thing sewn up. I've got to take care of this blessing thing.

All right. Now you see why we're not going to get through the whole chapter here.

And so he says, Go hunt game for me and prepare for me, verse 4, delicious food such as I love and bring it to me so I may eat that my soul may bless you before I die.

Now Rebecca was listening. Boom. She's eavesdropping. She wasn't invited in on this conversation.

They didn't ask her to participate in this, but she's eavesdropping. She's close enough to overhear it, and she does.

Now Rebecca was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau.

So when Esau went out to the field to hunt for game and to bring it, Rebecca said to her son Jacob,

I heard your father speak to your brother Esau.

Bring me game and prepare me delicious food that I may eat and bless you before the Lord before I die.

Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you.

You know, listen, if you're ever wondering where Jacob got his conniving characteristic from, man, you've got to look no further than mama.

Right there. Influence right there.

His mom, she was clever. She was a master. Taught him the roads. He learned from the best.

Verse 9, go to the flock and bring me two young goats so that I may prepare them delicious food from them, delicious food for your father, such as he loves.

And you shall bring it to your father to eat so that he may bless you before he dies.

Man, this is classic.

Here's a human being trying to help out poor God.

God needs our help, you know.

God had said to Rebecca, two nations are in your way.

If God said it, God will carry it out with you or without you, through you or not through you.

If God said it, God will do it.

You don't have to manipulate or connive or help God out.

I realize it gets hard sometimes waiting on the Lord, but there is a blessing waiting on the Lord.

There is growth waiting on the Lord.

There is strength renewed waiting on the Lord.

There is a deepening of a relationship when you learn to wait on the Lord.

Now, that's the trap that a lot of us fall into.

And here's the trap.

Knowing the word of God, doing the will of God, but not doing it in the way of God.

You hear me on that?

Not doing it in the way of God.

That's the trap.

The trap is, well, the end will justify the means.

That's what God wanted.

So it doesn't matter how we got there, as long as we got there, right?

It doesn't matter how.

It all worked out.

It all worked out.

It doesn't matter.

You know, God said it was going to happen.

I'll help God get there.

I'll help him.

He needs my help.

Knowing the will of God or knowing the word of God and doing the will of God, but not doing it God's way.

Does that really matter?

I mean, does it really?

Just ask Moses.

Ask Moses.

God says, you're going to be the deliverer of the children of Israel.

And Moses was all excited.

Well, he was nervous at first, but he eventually gets really, really excited.

And he's still working in the courts of Egypt, and one day he sees an Egyptian mistreating a Hebrew.

So he thinks, man, I've got to do something about this, because I'm the deliverer.

God says, I'm going to be the deliverer.

And so he goes and he rebukes this Egyptian for mistreating this Hebrew, because he's a Hebrew, and the Egyptian doesn't want to hear about it.

So Moses kills him.

Moses kills him, and he thinks that the Hebrews are going to make him a hero, because he's killed one of their enemies.

Well, they don't make him a hero.

They don't make him a hero.

In fact, they didn't trust him after that.

And they end up pointing their finger at him, and they say, you're the guy that murdered the Egyptian.

And once he's found out, and he realizes he's found out, Moses fled for 40 years into the Midian Desert.

He goes into the desert.

I mean, 40 long, lonely years.

He'll be back.

He'll be back.

But it'll take 40 years for God to teach him the lesson so that God can use him.

It was a wasted time.

He could have waited on the Lord.

But in those years, God is molding him and shaping him, shaping his character, because he felt like, I need to help God out.

I've got to help him out.

He didn't have to help God out, you know.

You just have to do what God wants you to do, and he'll do it through you.

I mean, how many of you have, how many of you are like me, and you realize that in your life?

You come to a place, and you realize, I have spent all this time, this energy, trying to help God out.

And all it is really done is it has delayed the hand of God to work in my life.

And we wonder, why is God so slow?

No, it has to do with Y-O-U.

That's why.

Why is God not answering me?

I need to speed this thing.

God needs a microwave.

That's what he needs.

Does it really matter?

Ask David.

Ask David if that's pertinent to his.

He'll tell you, you know the story about David brings the Ark of the Covenant out of the Philistine country because they had captured it.

And he knows that they need to get it back to Jerusalem.

So one day he arranges this big parade.

20,000 people, they line this parade up.

They're going to bring this, the Ark of the Covenant back into Jerusalem.

Knows it needs to get there.

And they put it on a cart.

They put it on a cart.

Two people.

Ahoy on the front and Uzzah on the back.

All right.

And they're marching this thing into Jerusalem.

The road gets a little rocky, gets a little rocky, and it hits a little bump.

And Uzzah thinks, you know what?

I need to keep God from being embarrassed.

I've got to make sure that the Ark doesn't tip over.

So all he does is he just reaches his hand up there to stop it from tipping over.

That's not a bad thing, is it?

You know, he has the right heart.

He's just trying to steady it and everything.

He touches.

no i ain't no no no you know and david david's totally bummed out he's bummed out why good why

would god ever do it and he spends months and months doing what pouting there's a spiritual

trait for you right there pouting and so finally he wakes up one day and he says i think i need to

just read the word of god and he starts to read the bible and he discovers you know what

there's a prescribed way god has a prescribed way of moving the ark of the covenant you don't pull it

with a wagon you don't put it on your pickup truck you don't do anything it's to be carried on the

shoulders of the priest there are two staves on each side and there's supposed to be a priest on

two priests in the front two priests in the back it gets covered and and that's how that's god's

prescribed way to carry it knowing the word of god doing the will of god but doing the will of god

not not doing the not doing it god's way is not good you can know all the right things and and

know what god's the end game that god's getting to but if you don't do it god's way you find yourself

repeating things over and over and over and when you discover the right way to do it guess what the

right way was they had to go six miles to jerusalem so what do you do you have the priest line up everyone

six steps stop sacrifice build an altar sacrifice an animal six steps we got to go six miles like this

six miles that was god's prescribed way that the average person in the world they would say

that is not efficient that is not efficient the the ark on the cart that is very very efficient

you're right it's not efficient but it's you know what it is it's very effective it's very effective

you know did the ark get to jerusalem yes it took a long time but it eventually got there on the cart

did the did the did the ark make it to jerusalem no it did not so what is considered to be effective by

the world may not what is i'm sorry considered to be efficient by the world may not be effective in

god's standards and you need to keep that in mind we are to wait on god we are to seek god's will we

are to read the word of god but you're to have the right motivation the right heart behind it but you

are to do it god's way the ark on the cart was the philistine way that's the way they transported it

and you know what let me say this what at that point in time what's a what's a cart made out of

back in those days bunch of boards and big wheels right that's it and many christian organizations

today that is their mindset let's put a board together and let's get some big wheels and we'll

get this thing moving that's what's really going to move this ministry that's what's really going to

move the heart of people and they don't seek the will of god and they wonder why they have all this

operation stuff and they don't have the power of god behind them to validate the ministry to bless the

ministry boards and big wheels don't make it happen the hand of god is what makes it happen doing it

god's way god's prescribed way god says my ways are higher than your ways he spells it out for us

even a group of christians can go astray at times have the best heart but we're gonna do it our way

and god says good luck i'll talk to you in about six months when you guys come to your senses and

come back to me in a time of prayer all right i want to get through verse 17 i think we can do this

here we go verse 11 um but jacob said to rebecca's mother behold my brother esau is a hairy man

and i am a smooth man i'm a smoothie um maybe your version i think in the king james it says smooth

skin and that word skin is probably in italics because it's not in the original hebrew um

jacob jacob jacob's just a smooth operator shade wrote a song about him he's just a smooth operator

okay that's that's who he is verse 12 perhaps my father will will

you

but isn't it interesting that what that what he's worried about isn't the fact that he's a liar or a deceiver but he that he'll be found out is to be one I just don't want to be thought of one I don't want to be thought of one he you know a lot of people are more concerned about what they seem to be than what they really are what people with what people will think of me honestly you know we had this discussion on Wednesday night service

you know who cares who cares who cares what people really think of you know who you really are that's what counts I wish I'd have had that when I was in high school in middle school in college and I didn't find spend so much time chasing my tail trying to make other people happier like me how about known being known as a man or woman of integrity first and foremost and let God work everything else out

I mean seriously we spend so much there is a big difference between again your reputation and your character a big difference your reputation is what other people think you are your character is what you know you are what you know you are you know you look at it you go to the grocery store they have like a basket of apples and they're trying to sell the apples the reputation are the apples that are on top oh they look good I'll buy the whole

basket the character the characters those apples underneath those are the ones with all the little spots in it where the little kids have picked it up and throwing you know we got to put those in the bottom because we got to sell those things right the cereal you look at the cereal box of cereal on the front that's the reputation the character is what's inside that's what's inside that that that that that's what the cereal really is okay your character is who you are when no one is looking your character is what you do in that

in that hotel room when no one else is around except for you in that hotel room when no one else is around except for you and God your character is your characters are the words that you speak to other people when people don't know you go to church

that's a reflection of your character just like Foster said last week your character is what's on your screen when no one is looking at your screen

but wait I might be seen as a deceiver mom dude you're way past that you are deceiver numero uno

you know he's all he's all worried about it and he says you know I then I'm gonna get a curse instead of a blessing and verse 13

his mother said to him let your curse be on me

my son only obey my voice and go and bring them to me I mean can you imagine that I'll take your curse

if a curse comes you just get right out of the way let it let it let it fall on me

and keep in mind again he's 77 years old and mommy says

you better listen and go bring me this stuff

so he went

and took them and brought them to his mother

and his mother prepared delicious food such as his father loved

and Rebecca took

the best garments of Esau

her older son which were with her in the house

and put them on Jacob her younger son

and the skins of the young goat

she put on his hands

and on the smooth part of his neck this is just like really weird okay

but she knew that that trickery was the only thing that was going to work okay

her eye her husband's eyes aren't functioning well

all right and but he still can smell

he still got keen sense of smell and he can still touch

and they need to deceive him

and Esau has his own BO obviously okay

he smells like outdoor

he smells like a gym locker

and and Jacob smells like Giorgio Armani

so we got to get some of Esau's stank on him

okay so that so dad will be a little bit confused

get some of that locker room ambiance

and so now we get so you know

we got to wear some of your brother's clothes

and we got to put some skins on you

give you some more hair

give you some more hair

give you some more hair

in the Old Testament all the way through up to the Roman times hair pieces have been used for generations so we're not you know we're not doing anything new I've ordered mine from Amazon should be in next week but they would take the long hair from camels and horses and goats and all that stuff and they they basically use it as supplements on their skin so you know to make a hair piece was not uncommon but you know to use the animal skins for the purpose of your hands and you know Esau had to be one hand

a hairy bandit you know seriously we got to put some hair all over him he should be thinking even though he had two Hittite wives he should be thinking he had a wife to be eating again with you know wow that's not in the scripture let's go back to the scripture verse 17 we'll end on this chat this verse and she puts she put the delicious food and bread which she prepared into the hand of her son Jacob

you know knowing that Jacob was chosen to be to receive the covenant blessing Rebecca still immediately takes matters into her own hands it's really sad make sure that her favorite son was going to get the things that God promised she doesn't really trust the Lord she doesn't really trust the Lord and maybe just maybe there's an outside possibility you don't know maybe this was part of God's plan

man maybe if Rebecca and Jacob would have waited until Esau went out to the field to hunt and they went in and sat down and talked to Isaac and just really maybe he would have relented and went along with him who knows we'll never really know how that how that pans out but instead Rebecca chose to control Jacob and to deceive her husband you know there's a there's a New Testament commentary on just

this very thing this very thing that I want us to look at real quickly on these heart issues that we're talking about James chapter 3 James 3 if you'll look with me the scripture says beginning in verse 13 who is wise and understanding among you by his good conduct let him show his works in meekness of in the meekness of wisdom but if you have bitterness jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts

do not boast and be false to the truth this is not the wisdom that comes down from above but is earthly unspiritual demonic

for where jealousy and selfish ambition exists there will be disorder and every vile practice I think we see this being being played out here in the scriptures in Genesis

25 26 27 but the wisdom from above is first pure and then peaceable gentle open to reason full of mercy and good fruits impartial and sincere and a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace

Isaac Isaac was depending on his own physical senses Rebecca is depending on the wisdom of the world

I mean listen to me the world's wisdom always leads to trouble

you hear me on that

the world I'll turn to somebody right next to you and tell them the world's wisdom always leads to trouble

all right since that person told you you turn to that person back and you say you to stop it

yeah the world's wisdom always leads to trouble and when I when we read this in Genesis 27 and we see how

quickly do you do you not see how quickly Rebecca came up with this plan outline this plan

this tells me she must have thought about this for a long time

she had schemed on this for a long time she knew that Esau was her husband's favorite son

she knew that her husband was not the spiritual man that he once was

you're not listening to God God's not listening to me so I'm gonna help God

she even had the girl

had to go there no I'm just kid kidding around come on somebody stop me listen Jacob wasn't concerned with what's right he wasn't concerned he was concerned he was concerned with will it be safe will it be safe he was worried he you know if I if I do this I don't want to curse on me I don't want to be seemed as a deceiver he was worried about the 11th commandment

thou shalt thou shalt not get caught that's where a lot of us place our trust in I just don't want to get caught this is not that bad of a thing please Lord let me not get caught because the ends justify the means don't they no God's way is the best way and you know what let your curse let the curse be on me

that's the words of encouragement that Rebecca gave her son that is just so harsh to me when I hear that because Jacob not long he's gonna leave for her on very soon and she says this to Jacob and guess what she will never ever see her favorite son again that's heartbreaking

that's okay let's do this thing you with me yeah let's do this thing man Isaac's philosophy was man if it feels good let's do it if it feels good it must be Esau

Rebecca's philosophy was that the ends justify the means she couldn't trust the Lord to fulfill his own plan she had to help God out

listen to me there is there is no there is no listen please there is no place for deception in the life of a believer

no place there is no such thing as a little white lie there is no such thing as a half truth

because it contains the seed of deception there is no place for deception in the life in the heart of a believer

now

I think this is

fitting today we end this way

we're gonna celebrate communion this morning I'm gonna have the worship team come on up

and get in position

and have our our elders come up this morning I think

um is David still in the back

all right

I got Bobby Tom Foster

and Joe will you stand in with us please

and this is very fitting for us to end this way

as we uh as we celebrate

communion

in light of

the passage that we've just like looked at

in light of what we just read about

in in this story

I want to share a passage which with you

and I believe it has

it has everything to do with what we've just talked about

what we've what we've read

what we've seen

uh go down with this family of four

but it also has everything to do

with um

us celebrating communion as well too

and coming to the Lord's table with this

blessed is the one whose transaction is

is forgiven

whose sin is covered

blessed is the man against whom

the Lord counts no iniquity

and in whose spirit there is no deceit

now does it say in whose life

there's no

no we all

we all fall short

of the glory of God

but it says

in whose

spirit

there's no deceit

God it's my heart's desire

that I would not sin against you

and when I do sin

it is against you

God gave Isaac chances to repent God has given John and Janet and Curtis and Chris and Debbie chances to repent he still does today in whose spirit there's no no deceit and let me tell you what happens when we do not repent and we continue to walk and we continue to hold on this the psalmist goes on to say for when I kept silent my bones wasted

away through my groaning all day long for day and night your hand was heavy on me my strength dried up as as by the summer heat that's called conviction when we don't come to the Lord when we don't come to the Lord when we don't come to the Lord when we don't when we try to do things our own way and we go over and over God's hand is heavy on us our soul dries up

haven't you felt that in your life haven't you felt that in your life God why are you so far from me God has not moved your actions your decisions your choices have pushed the hand of God away

and then he comes to the psalmist comes to a place of repentance I acknowledge my sin to you and I did not cover my iniquity

I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin hallelujah hallelujah therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found surely

in the rush of grace in the rush of great waters just as Jill saying earlier they shall not reach him

you are a hiding place for me you preserve me from trouble you surround me with shouts of deliverance

deliverance

and then the Lord answers

I will instruct you

teach you

in the way that you should go

so you will not be without knowledge you will know you will know my way

I will not just give you my word and my will but I give you my way too

I will instruct you in my way

be not like a horse or a mule without an understanding which must be curbed with a bit and a bridle

or it will not stay near you

many are the sorrows of the wicked

but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord

be glad in the Lord and rejoice

O righteous

and shout for joy

all you upright in heart

in heart

that's where it starts

and so we gather together today

to celebrate

that Jesus Christ

gave of his body

so that each one of us

could come

in repentance

and in the breaking of his body

we have forgiveness

and we celebrate that today

as Jesus during the last supper

took the bread

and he broke it

and he said

this is my body

broken for each

and every one of you

take it

and likewise

during the meal

he takes the cup of redemption

and he stands up

and he says

this is the blood of a new covenant

my blood

which is shed for you

for the forgiveness

of your sins

and the scripture is very clear

there cannot be the forgiveness

of sins

without the shedding of blood

blood is the lifeline

for everything

take

drink

eat it

and so I ask you today

to serve the elders

we serve the worship team

before we get started

spend a few minutes

just you and the Lord

maybe you need to come

to a place of repentance

give you the Planning

the thyroid

and I say

that prays from the Dentist

and the Trinity

that prays from the Lord

heart of man continues to get him in trouble and trouble and trouble and in the life of Curtis Geary I can tell you that the self-centered heart of Curtis has got him in trouble over and over and over again and he is faithful and just to forgive. He knows our hearts. He knows our hearts. In a moment I'm going to give you an invitation to come and the invitation is all who are

believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are welcome at the table and you'll come down through the middle and you'll simply walk up to the first elder and hold your hands out and a piece of bread will be placed in your hands and a body of Christ which is broken for you. If you would rather tear your own piece off just hold your hand like this and it'll allow you to tear your own piece off and then you'll take the bread and you move over to the cup and you'll simply dip your bread into the cup the blood of the new covenant his blood which is

which was shed for me and you'll take it. Spend time in your seats. Spend time at the altar. The prayer room is open. Coach would you mind opening that door for me please? Thank you. The prayer room is open. If you would like to pray afterwards John and Jen and Pauline are always in the prayer room after service and we would like to have somebody just pray for you and lift up your family as well tonight.

Spend time at the altar. The prayer room is open. Please pray for me to worship and pray.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.