Book of Genesis - Ch. 28, Vs. 1-5 (03/27/2016) | NOTE: Audio malfunction

Resurrection Sunday, the Road to Emmaus, and the Risen Christ

Okay, I know that this is a very special Sunday. It's the day we set aside because it's on this day that our Lord arose from the dead and resumed his glorified life. I also know because I checked my emails that Brother David is going to spend two weeks talking about this particular season and its celebration.

So I'm not going to mess with that. He's going to unpack some lessons that the Lord has for us on this topic. And I am eager to hear it. My plan is a little bit different. I'm going to read two passages.

I'm going to ask one question and then provided we have time, which we didn't have last time, we're going to resume our study of Genesis. I think it's 28, but basically we've got Jacob on his way to turn that around.

But first let's pray. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for this very special morning. And thank you for the very special blessing that you've given us. A blessing first promised to Eve, passed through Adam and Isaac and Jacob, delivered by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And thank you for giving us this very special place that we may come to and study your special word. Give to each of us the very special lesson that we need to hear. Continue your blessing through this service and through the ones to follow.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You don't need to turn here, but I'm going to read something that Jesus said once upon a time. Just after he had cured the lame man at the Pool of Theta on Sunday and was being criticized by the Pharisees for it.

And in the midst of his rebuke of the Pharisees, he said this, search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. Now I do want you to go to Luke 24.

Brother David, I think I've gone far enough into the chapter that I'll miss what you're doing today, unless I'm mis-estimated. The resurrection has occurred. The disciples have run to the tomb and found him missing.

And they have, some of them stayed, but two of them have left and gone to Emmaus. And we'll pick it up at verse 13 of chapter 24. And behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about three or four furlongs.

I'll look that up. It's about seven and a half miles. So it's a nice leisurely walk. And they talked together as of all of these things which had happened. And it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself grew near and went with them.

But their eyes were holding so that they should not know him. Now, I don't know what holding means, but I do know they didn't know who it was. And he said to them, what manner of communication are these that you have one with another as you walk and are sad?

You know, sometimes you read and you think, Jesus and God, they have a really interesting sense of humor. So he says to them, what manner of communications are these that you have one with another as you walk and are sad?

And one of them, whose name was Theopas, answered saying and said unto him, art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem and has not known the things which are come to pass in these days? And he said unto them, what things?

You think he didn't know what things? And they said unto him concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty indeed and were before God and all the people. And how the chief priest and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and to have crucified him, but we trusted that he had been, which should have redeemed Israel.

And besides all this, today is the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at his sepulcher. And when they found not his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels which said he was lying.

And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulcher and found it even so as the women had said, but him they saw not. Then he said unto them, all fools and slow of heart, to believe all the prophets have spoken, ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scripture the things concerning himself. Now my question, if you were tasked with the job of describing or expounding, describing Jesus from only the Old Testament, which is all Jesus had to work with here, what would you say, where would you go?

Could you do that? Could you restrict yourself to the Old Testament and read things to a Jewish believer and convince him that Jesus was the Messiah?

Or was the Messiah was predicted to be born in Bethlehem?

He was predicted to be born in Bethlehem and his name would be Emmanuel. There's a lot of places we could go, but as a matter of fact, you can go anywhere. You can go anywhere. And as they drew nigh unto the village where they went, and he made it so he would have gone further, but they constrained him saying, abide with us, for it is toward evening and the day is far spent.

And he went in to tarry with them. And he came to pass that as he sat at the mill with them, he took bread and blessed it and break it and gave it them and their eyes were opened and they knew him. And he vanished out of their sight.

And they said one to another, did not our heart within us burn? While he talked with us by the way and while he opened the scripture to us. That would be our task. Can we open the scripture to a person who understood the scripture?

It was open to them. And they rose the same hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the 11 gathered there. And then that were with them saying, the Lord is risen indeed and hath appeared to Simon. And they told him what things were done in the way and how he was known in the breaking of the bread.

And as they spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said unto him, peace be unto you. But they were terrified and afraid. And they supposed that they had seen his spirit. And he said unto them, why are you troubled?

And why do thoughts rise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Heav 'nly and sea. For his spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet.

And while they yet believed not for joy and wonder, he said unto them, have not you any meat? And they gave him a piece of boiled fish and honeycomb and he took it and ate. And he said unto them, these are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses and the prophet and in the Psalms concerning me.

Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures. And he said unto them, thus it is written, and thus it is proved to Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day.

And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations beginning in Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. And behold, I sing the promise of the Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high.

And he led them out as far as Bethany and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass that while he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and they were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God, amen.

Fear, Witness, and the Temple After the Resurrection

Now, there's a couple of things I'd like to point out before I go on. Number one, where were they before Jesus came to them? Okay, I didn't clarify the then. The then walking down the road on the way back to Emmaus, Jesus appeared to them, that's right, and walked with them, talked with them, and so inspired them that they turned around and went right back, and went back to the room and where Jesus appeared to them.

Where were they when Jesus appeared to them? Was it near Jerusalem? Is that what you want, near Jerusalem? In the room.

In the room. Where were they worshiping? They were worshiping where they had the last supper. In the room. In the room. Why were they in the room?

Because they were afraid. Because they were afraid. Were they told they were there? They were told to remain in Jerusalem. Okay. They were in the room because they were afraid.

They knew they were all marked men.

They knew they were all marked men. They knew they were identified with Christ and Christ had just suffered this gruesome death, and they were afraid, and we would all be afraid, too.

There is one thing I'd like to point out. When Jesus appeared to them in the room, he said, does the spirit have a body of flesh and bone? He didn't say flesh and blood, for he left all the blood on the cross.

There was no blood in his body because it was all left on the cross.

Okay, I'm going to accept that. I had never thought about that, but he did say flesh and bone, didn't he? Didn't say flesh and blood. That's worthy of some thought. Well, now, they went out to Bethany with him.

He left their presence, and where did they go? Back to Jerusalem, that's right, but did they go back to their own? To the temple. To the temple. Who do you think they run into at the temple? The people that had been trying to kill him, the people that, in a sense, tried to kill Christ.

I say tried to kill Christ. They actually did kill him. They just didn't keep him killed. Why do you think they were continually in the temple praising and blessing God?

Why do you think they were there then? Because they were in chorus, and they knew.

And they were no longer afraid. Okay, that's my, whoops. I thought I got through it, brother David. That's my Resurrection Sunday message. Anything that you guys would like to add?

Perfect love we have for Dr. Peter.

Fear those things. Destroy your next life. Don't fear those things, destroy this one. Did any of those people wind up being, being killed by the priest? That's not recorded. Oh, yeah, lots of them were killed.

Peter was killed. Oh, later on. Later on, not necessarily that day, but a lot of them met persecution. They still met persecution. They were punished, but they weren't afraid. They weren't afraid because they knew that they should not fear the things of this world.

They should fear the things of the next world. Yes? One interesting thing I noticed,.

They went back to the temple, and they didn't stay there. They couldn't stay there long because that temple was nothing but an institution at that point. It was no longer a genuine place of worship. Exactly, so they came out from there and started the Church of Jerusalem, and I don't think it tells us where the building was or if it was in houses, but it wasn't in this temple much longer.

And that's something that I think new believers need to understand is often when they get saved they find the church they grew up in is nothing but an institution and the property you need and go somewhere else.

I think that is often the case. If I were to move back to North Carolina, I don't think I could attend the church that I attended when I was a youth. Agreed. I might not be able to find a place, but I know I wouldn't find it there because it's an empty shell.

Jacob’s First Blessing, Isaac’s Trembling, and the Doctrine of Election

Okay, let's go to Genesis 28. And the reason I feel comfortable going here is because this passage is gonna be a passage about what? It's gonna be a passage about the description of the Lord Jesus Christ as everything is.

Everything in the Bible is a description, a picture of a message about the Christ. Let's see if we can find it in here amongst other things. And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him saying, thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

Now we talked about this passage, about this blessing a couple of weeks ago, but I think we need to be reminded that this is not the first blessing. This is his second blessing. The first blessing Jacob obtained was obtained by trickery.

And it was obtained with Jacob concerned that his father might find out and change the blessing to a curse. He discussed it with his mom and his mom said, don't worry son, I'll take the blame. Go ahead and do it anyhow.

And if there's a curse, I'll be the curse. So Jacob, when he got the insurance from his mom, that she would take the punishment for it, said, okay, I'll do it. And he went through this trickery and he did deceive Isaac.

And Isaac, just like Jacob feared, did discover the deceit. Not before he delivered the blessing, but soon thereafter. Remember it said in 2733, and Isaac trembled very exceedingly and said, who, where is he that hath taken venison and brought it to me that I have eaten all of it for thou camest and have blessed him?

Yea, and he shall be blessed. So two questions here. Why did he tremble? Why did Isaac tremble? Because the prophecy came true. Okay, because the prophecy. What prophecy?

That the older will serve the younger.

That the older will serve the younger. I always thought, when I was a youth reading this, I thought that he trembled because he was mad. I thought he trembled because he was angry at Jacob and his mother for deceiving him.

That's what I would have been. I'd have been angry that my son and my wife deceived me.

But I would have thought that his initial thought would have been, oh no, what have I done? How was I tricked into giving what I wanted to give you to the other? And that would make me tremble with fear that I had given everything away to this child that I did not want to give it to.

I wanted to give it to my oldest child that I had. I had not thought about that.

My thought was, I guess that's kind of more about a guy-like thing. My thought would have been, I am so mad at my wife and my son for tricking me. And your wife is, I am so angry at myself because I gave what I wished to give to one to another.

But you know what? It wasn't either one of those two things.

Did he tremble before God? And did he tremble because he didn't know.

What he had done? He couldn't get it all in his mind.

I think he trembled before God because he didn't know what he had done. What had he done? He had tried to circumvent or thwart the plan of God. He knew from the beginning what the plan of God was. He knew from the beginning that the plan of God was for the younger, for the older to serve the younger.

And that that was upside down. And he had a reason for doing it that way. And he recognized that his actions had been to contradict or oppose God. And that's why, that's why he trembled. And we'll see kind of a follow-up on that in a minute.

This extra blessing, this is Dr. MacArthur. This extra blessing unveiled where Isaac now was in his thinking. He had come to understand the divine blessing would go through Jacob, to whom the Abrahamic covenant, promises of posterity and land also applied.

So there were some blessings that were passed. This divine blessing that he describes and the promise of many offspring and of much land. And this is quite the reversal of his prior wishes and understanding.

This also confirms to Jacob, this is back to me. This also confirms to Jacob that the blessing that he received was not really the result of the trickery he had forced upon Isaac. But it was freely given by God through Isaac.

In fact, nothing that Jacob and his mother conspired to do had any positive effect on this blessing. Nor did anything Isaac and Esau conspired to do have any negative impact. The choice had been made.

The blessing had been said when the two sons were still in their mother's womb. The passage about that is Malachi. If you want to go there, you can. It's Malachi 1 .1. And it's not really dealing with the same issue but it does bring up something I want to say.

The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet you say, wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother, saith the Lord? Yet I loved Jacob and I hated Esau and lay his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

While Esau was Jacob's brother and yet I loved Jacob and I hated Esau. For those people that say God doesn't hate anybody, right there we know he hates Esau and it's not the sins that Esau did. He didn't say I hated the sins that Esau did.

I hated the sins that Isaac did. I hated the sins that Jacob did. I hated the sins that Rebecca did. Is that the right one, Rebecca? Rebecca is Rebecca, right, not Rachel? I didn't hate the sins any of those did.

Some I loved and some I hated. Jacob I loved and Esau I hated. Now, it didn't say about Isaac, Isaac I loved and Rebecca I loved and Rachel. But he'd say about those two. Okay, now one more and I would like you to go here and this will remind you of a little of what Brother David did last week which I thought was ironic because this is what I intended to do last week.

Paul's Argument for Election in Romans 9

Romans nine verse one. Now having started here and having listened to David's sermon and while I was listening it said something really popped into my mind how many times, how many ways that Paul is gonna tell his audience in this letter, believe me, I'm gonna tell you the truth.

I say the truth in Christ, I lie not. My conscious also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost. He's gonna tell them something he doesn't think they're gonna want to hear. He knows when he starts writing this letter or starts this chapter of this letter, he knows that what he's gonna say is not gonna be something that everybody's gonna rush out to latch on to.

That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren and my kinsmen according to the flesh. Now I certainly couldn't do that at this point.

The Lord gives us the grace to do the things we can do but I don't think that I could wish myself accursed. Do you know what that means? Do you know what it means to wish yourself accursed? To wish yourself separate from God?

To wish yourself to stay in hell forever? If doing that would assure that all of your brethren according to the flesh would be saved, that he would do that, fortunately he's not allowed to do that. Fortunately we're not allowed to do that.

One must bear his own responsibility. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh who are the Israelites to whom pertaineth the adoption. Now what about this adoption here?

This adoption, and we can tell that from the context, is not the adoption pertaining to salvation. We know that for every person born a Jew is not saved. Let me say it another way. Not every person that is born a Jew is saved.

That seems clear, isn't it? We know that this cannot be the adoption pertaining to salvation. If it were, every person born a Jew would be saved. So it clearly can't be that. But rather, you can tell from the context, it pertains to the sovereign selection of an entire nation to receive a special calling, covenant, and blessings, and to serve as his witness nation.

So that's the adoption he's talking about here. Verse four, who are the Israelites to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises?

Who's on the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all. God bless forever, amen. So there's an adoption. It's an adoption, according to the flesh, it's an adoption that gives them a special calling to be his special nation, a witness nation for him.

And it is through that witness nation, through that sovereign, specially elected nation, that Christ came. And then you go, it's like a flip. Not as though the word of God hath none effect, for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel.

What does that mean? Not every person born a Jew is born into the kingdom of God, it's not sacred. How does one become a member of, not this sovereign nation, that's already been done, this elect nation?

Well, we understand and know the difference.

All right, how do you think you become a member of this new, elect nation of God, the chosen of God? How do we become a chosen of God?

Because he just wanted to. Because he chose us.

How does a Jewish believer become a believer? He thought he could become a believer by following the law, but he couldn't. How did he become a follower, an elect? The same way we do, God chose him too.

And this whole lesson is about, why is it that Esau was not chosen and Jacob was chosen? Esau and Jacob and Isaac, Esau and Isaac would have said, it's because of the things we do. And we all grew up thinking that, we all grew up thinking it's because of the things we do.

Someone, sometimes someone must do something to ensure that they get in. It may be a big thing, the Roman Catholics have a list of big things. Their list is small compared to what the Jews had. The Jews had a huge list of things that you can do.

The Jews said, you can't even pick up your bed and carry it after you're cured on Sunday. And they said, why are you doing this? And he said, because the man that cured me told me to. And they said, well, who was this man?

He said, I don't know. So later on, Jesus runs into him and says, I'm the one that did it. And he said, he ran back and told the priest. It was Jesus that told me to. What did they do? They tried to kill him.

They thought they had a way. He told them in the beginning, you think you have a way. You study the scripture, you think in him you have salvation. You think in him you have eternal life. But what they're writing about is me.

The only way to salvation is through Jesus Christ. There is no other way. And the only way that you can approach Jesus Christ is for him to draw you to him, to make your life and draw him to you. Well, they are not all Israel, which are of Israel.

Now we're beginning to deal with election pertaining to the salvation.

Neither because they are the seeds of Abraham are they all children. But in Israel shall not seed be called. Isaac, thank you. In Isaac shall the seed be called. That is, they which are of the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God.

But the children of promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise. At this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this, but when Rebecca also hath conceived by one even by our father Isaac.

For these children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, highlight for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil. Why? That the purpose of God according to election might stand.

Not of works, but of him that calleth.

That proves, I mean, you would have to have help to misunderstand that.

You would have to have help to misunderstand that. And yet, and yet, this morning, if you went through all the churches in Corsica County, you will find at the end of the service today, they will have an altar call, and they'll say the only thing that's left for you to do is to walk up here and accept the gift that the Lord has given you.

Almost persuaded, almost, but lost.

I have heard ministers stand on the platform and say, because you are a Christian, your family is blessed even if they're not a Christian. And that shows the ignorance of this Christian that they're not a Christian.

Well, they're not blessed in...

But I think that they have special dispensation, like people do dispensation because you're a Christian, your kids are higher than other people, or in God's sight.

Well, that certainly is not the case. You're not more likely, you're not, well, I don't even want to, that is a...

You can prove that through what we saw today. Exactly. All the sons are the same people. Exactly. Born at the same time, basically. And it's a part, yeah. Canaanite. Canaanite. Canaanite. Exactly. Perfect, perfect.

Again and again, it shows that that is not true.

But one thing we need to be concerned about, though, is this. Good things can happen to bad people. And good things can happen to bad people, and will happen more often to bad people who are more closely associated with good people.

There are some things that people get because they hang around good people, or whatever, as good as we can be. So there is that, but there is no doubt about the final, the only ultimate decision, who determines those that belong to God?

God. God, and that's all.

If it's not a word, so they can be called. They can be called. Mm-hmm. They are elected to be called.

They are elected to be called. They are, they were chosen even before. Very good. Yes. But that is, I think that's a, must be an italics in some people's minds. Not of works, but of him that calleth. To what purpose?

So that the purpose of election, the purpose of God according to election, might stand not of works, but of him that calleth. Who calleth. It was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger, as it is written.

Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What should we say then? Is there an unrighteousness with God? If I have no choice, if I have no choice in the decisions I make, how can I be punished for it?

Say it. That's what man says. That's what man says. But what does Paul say? God forbid. God forbid. Amen. For he said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

Now, Brother David mentioned this last week, and I thought it was so true. You would think as he went down through the letter, and he gave his extra examples, that he'd make things better. But he didn't.

He made it worse. Every different thing he added made it harder to accept. That's why he spent so much time in the very beginning saying, believe me, I tell you the truth. Have mercy on whom I will have mercy.

And I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So that it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth the mercy. Now, after this second blessing of Jacob, Isaac reinforces Rebecca's plan, and her plan was to send Jacob to Laban to get a wife, two purposes, to get the wife, three purposes, so that the wife wouldn't be of Cana, and thirdly, to get him out of the hand of Jacob.

And so Esau was planning to kill him, but she knows it. And so here's what Isaac says, and I'm gonna do his blessing, and then I'm gonna stop. Arise, go to Pendanaram, to the house of Bethuel, thy mother's brother, and take thee a wife from this, of the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother.

Now, he gave instructions, having given these instructions for procuring the wife, he now turns to detailing the specifics of his blessing. So here we go. And God Almighty bless thee. Now, I stopped here and said, notice, who is it that's giving Isaac his blessing?

I surely do. That's what I meant, but I did speak wrong. To whom is it that Isaac, to whom, from whom is Jacob getting the blessing? And God Almighty bless thee. It's God, not Isaac, that blesses Jacob.

And make thee fruitful and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people. Isaac is gonna mention two blessings. Blessing number one, a multitude of descendants. Be fruitful and multiply, and have thee a multitude of people.

And give thee the blessing of Abraham to thee, and to thy seeds with thee, that thou mayest inherit the land, for in thou art a stranger, which the God gave to Abraham. So the second, the second blessing is the land.

The land in which to dwell as a sojourner, but not as a possessor. The possessing, possessing of the land is for a later man, not for him. Now, there's a third blessing. Isaac doesn't mention it. There's a third blessing, a blessing Isaac failed to mention.

The most important blessing of all, the seed. The seed, the seed of the woman. The seed through which all the world will be blessed. And Isaac sent away Jacob, and he went to Pandanarum, unto Laban, the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob and Esau's mother.

So, Isaac is on his way. There's a little bit left with Esau which we'll pick up next week, and then we'll go on. We are low on time, but does anybody got a question or a comment?

This has been a very fruitful lesson. Thank you.

Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for all of our many blessings. Thank you especially for the blessing that you have promised us, even from me, that from the seed of the woman, all the world will be blessed.

Thank you for giving us this day, where we come together and give a special, give special attention to that wonderful blessing that you have given us, the blessing of eternal life that we get only through the actions.

Bless us and keep us, protect us, and go with the Spirit to the service. In Jesus' name, we pray.