Oh my soul, oh my soul, worship His holy name. Sing like never before, oh my soul, I worship Your holy name. The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning. It's time to sing Your song again. Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me, Let me be singing when the evening comes.

Bless the Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul, worship His holy name. Sing like never before, oh my soul, I worship Your holy name. We're rich in love, we're rich in love, and we're slow to anger. Your name is great and Your heart is kind. For all Your goodness I will keep on singing.

Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find. Oh bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul, worship His holy name. Sing like never before, oh my soul, I worship Your holy name. And on that day, and on that day when my strength is failing, The end draws near and my time has come.

Still my soul will sing Your praise unending. Two thousand years and then forevermore. Oh bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul, worship His holy name. Sing like never before, oh my soul, I worship Your holy name. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul, worship His holy name.

Sing like never before, oh my soul, I worship Your holy name. I will worship Your holy name. Again, welcome to Berean Community Church, those of you who are here and online. We have a few announcements before we get started. First of all, our members meeting is happening today at 2.30pm.

So those of you who are members and those of you who are going to be introduced to membership today, please be prompt at 2.30. So if you didn't get a Zoom address to come in, Pastor Mark Lim is going to give that to you. So if you can't find it, please contact him ASAP.

And if you can't make it, please let him know also. Today is the beginning of the year where we re-signed the covenant. So you should have gotten an email asking you to go through and to evaluate the covenant and to sign it and turn it in. So if you haven't done so, we ask you to do that, hopefully, before you come to the meeting.

And so that, again, at 2.30 sharp, we're going to be able to do that and expect to be in the room for about an hour. Starting from this week, we said that watch and pray is going to be the theme of this year. And so that's why we're implementing morning prayer to come a little bit early and take some time to pray before the worship starts.

Starting from this Wednesday, the church is going to be open from 7.30 to 8.30 a.m. So those of you who want to physically be here to participate in time of prayer, the sanctuary is going to be open, and you can come and take some time to pray, pray with other brothers and sisters.

So that's going to happen on Wednesdays. And then there will be other prayer meetings that are going on. The Tuesday prayer meeting for the college students will also continue to go on. And so please watch out for that. There's going to be more opportunities for us to get together to take some time to pray.

So we don't want this to just be the theme that we have in the background, but we want to actively pursue to build a church that really seeks God in prayer. So please keep that in mind in your prayer. Along with that, on January 29th at 7.30 p.m., we are having a praise and prayer night.

Again, it will be indoor and outdoor in order to kind of distance ourselves. And if you are planning to come, just go to the app and just kind of say that you're coming so that we can know how many people are coming for that. And then our second round, or for second Thessalonians Bible study, it's going to be starting the first week of February.

And so people have been asking if we're going to be able to get together live. And, again, considering all that's going on, we're going to probably just keep a status quo for now. So if we look at the numbers and see what's going on around us and what the government is saying, if it looks like we're able to, we may change that going forward.

But at least for the opening part of it, we're letting you know that we'll most likely continue what's going on. We will be having it on Zoom and online, unless your small group is making specific accommodations for that group. Okay, so just keep that in mind. And I think that's it for the announcements for today.

All right, so we'll give a few minutes for us to take some time for our offering. And then, again, if you have a physical offering, it will be in the back box over there. Okay, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for just watching over us, persevering with us.

Things that we are aware of and things that we are not aware of. Lord, you are our God, and we want to worship you. We want to worship you in spirit and in truth. Lord, search us and know us and see if there's any hurtful ways in us. If we've brought into this worship, Lord, anything that distracts us, any entanglement that causes us, Lord God, to drift from you, help us through this service to be reminded of who you are, that our eyes may be opened again, that our hearts, Lord, may be softened again, that we will continue to follow you and honor you with all our hearts.

So we pray that even in our giving, help us to give cheerfully, joyfully, abundantly, Lord, and may it be multiplied for your use. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Church family, let's all rise together as we sing before God. The truth and light, the fire. The truth and light, the fire of a thousand burning suns blazing in the heavens.

There is only one, He is our God. Who commands the nations, who commands the nations building up and tearing down, silence in His right hand. There is only one, He is our God. Let's sing. He is our God. Holy, you alone are holy. Last to sin your glory. Holy God.

You come to save us. You come to save us when we turn to Him as love. Offer us with kindness. There is only one, He is our God. Sing it out, He is our God. He is our God. Holy, you alone are holy. Last to sin your glory. No one is like you.

You alone are worthy. We adore you, Holy, Holy God. Now to the King on the throne, who was and is to come, and to the Lamb who was slain, glory. Now to the King on the throne, who was and is to come, and to the Lamb who was slain, glory.

Now to the King on the throne, who was and is to come, and to the Lamb who was slain, glory. Holy, you alone are holy. Last to sin your glory. No one is like you. You alone are worthy. We adore you, Holy, Holy God. Come from a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, who is laid for your faith in His excellent Word.

What more can He say than to you He has said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled. Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed, for I am thy God and will still be thee. I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand on a path by my right.

Chaste, omnipotent Lord. When through the deep waters I call thee to go, the rivers of song will shall not overflow, for I will be with thee. Thy troubles to be seen, and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress. When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, my grace of salvation shall be thy supply.

The flame shall not hurt thee, I only desire that I trust to conceive and thy goal to revive. The soul that on Jesus has laid for reproof, I will not, I will not desert you, it's true. That soul, though not pure, should endeavor to shoot. I'll never, no never, no never be slow.

That soul, though hollow, should endeavor to shoot. I'll never, no never, no never be slow. Amen. What gift of grace is Jesus my Redeemer? There is no more for heaven now to give. He is my joy, my righteousness and freedom, my steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace. To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus, for my life is wholly bound to His.

Oh, how strange and divine, like in sin all is mine, yet not I, but through Christ in heaven. The night is dark, but I am not forsaken, for by my side the Savior here will stay. I'll labor on in weakness and rejoice, for in my name His power is displayed.

To this I hold, my shepherd will defend me, through the deepest valley He will lead. Oh, that my heart's been won and I shall overcome, yet not I, but through Christ in heaven. No fate, no fate I dread, I know I am forgiven. The future's sure, the price it has been paid, for Jesus bled and suffered for my heart.

And He was raised to overthrow the demons. To this I hold, my sin has been defeated, Jesus now and ever is mine. Oh, the chains I release, but you see, I am free, yet not I, but through Christ in heaven. With every breath, with every breath, I long to follow Jesus, for He has said that He will bring me home.

And day by day, I know He will renew me, for I still I stand with joy for His love. To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus, all the glory ever was to me. When the beast is beaten, his divine face shall be me, yet not I, but through Christ in heaven.

To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus, all the glory ever was to me. When the beast is come, his divine face shall be me, yet not I, but through Christ in heaven. When the beast is come, his divine face shall be me, yet not I, but through Christ in heaven.

Yet not I, but through Christ in heaven. Yet not I, but through Christ in heaven. Amen. If you can turn your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 11. We're continuing on the series on the heroes of faith in Hebrews chapter 11. I'm going to be reading from verse 20 through 22.

But my main text, we're just going to be on one verse today. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 20 through 22. Reading out of the NASB. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come. By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshipped, leaning on the top of his staff.

By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave orders concerning his bones. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray for your grace. We pray for your guidance. We pray for your Holy Spirit to continue to speak to us. Lord, we know that the exposition of your word, Lord, will only allow us, Lord, to understand mentally if your Holy Spirit doesn't illumine us.

So search us, Lord God. Search our hearts, our thoughts, our motives. May it be surrendered to your word this morning. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, so when I started the sermon, I was planning to cover the three verses. My goal is not to go one verse a week.

But the three verses that we're looking at covers the history in Genesis, almost 40 chapters. And so I could just kind of skim over and say, this is what faith looks like, and these are some examples of that. Or I can just kind of dive in and review over what's going on in Genesis.

Obviously I've chosen to do the latter. And I think it's beneficial for us to understand the historical context in which this is going on. And so the text that we're looking at, it really is covering over about two and a half chapters. And then the other two men that are mentioned, Jacob and Joseph, they're going to be covering about 12 to 13 chapters each.

But I think it would be beneficial for us to know what's going on in Genesis. So when he says, "By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau," regarding things to come, that's what he's talking about, right? So instead of just assuming you know the story, I think it would be good for us to review it, and it'll help us to understand better why he says what he says.

Right off the bat, we're looking at verse 20, "By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau," even regarding things to come. That verse, if you just skim through it and you didn't ask any questions, that's enough, because it's consistent with everything else he's saying in chapter 11. But if you've ever read through the history of what's going on behind this verse, it causes us to take a step back and question.

Isaac was involved in probably one of the greatest highlights in the redemptive history, where the sacrifice and then saving him from that was a type of what Christ was going to do. And we saw the Father's heart through Abraham and the things that he was going through, and all of that to point to us, to strike in us about what God himself was going to do with his own son.

And Isaac was the recipient of that. He was not a young child. Most people think he could be as young as 14 or 15 or as old as 20. So he wasn't a little kid where he didn't understand what was going on. And that same guy, you would expect that after that great event, his life would be kind of, he takes the baton, and then his faith grows even further than that, and then he's able to do even greater things than Abraham because he had the benefit of a godly father who went through all that he went through, and then just passed it on to his son.

Instead, it causes us to look at Isaac plus Jacob. If you know anything behind that story, it's like, "What?" All of redemptive history happened like that? And again, we'll review what is happening here, but I think it's important for us to uncover that we don't look at something, especially in the Bible, that we don't fully understand and we say, "Well, you know, we trust God." That's good.

We should trust God. Right? But why did God allow this to happen? Why does something so important as a line in which redemptive history was going to come down, come through trickery, lying, deception? Maybe even we might say it was unjust to take that away from Esau. Why did God allow that?

And why is that event described in this verse that, "By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob"? What did faith have to do with that? You know, we could say, "By trickery, Isaac blessed Jacob." Right? Isaac was deceived to bless Jacob. Through Jacob's lying and conniving, he received a blessing. Through a simple mistake of Esau, he forsook his blessing.

But by faith? What does faith have to do with any of this? Right? So we want to examine this morning what this actually means and try to uncover that. And so I'm just going to tell you ahead of time. We're going to spend our time in chapter 25-27 just going over the narrative so that we can better understand the story behind this statement.

And then my main point is going to be at the end. I'm going to try to summarize what's going on and why this is stated in verse 20 at the tail end of the message. Okay? So first part of it, we want to go over what's going on. As I said, Isaac was just involved.

Right? At least in Genesis. He was just involved in probably the greatest redemptive point where it's so clear what God was doing through him. And then he survives that, Jehovah-Jireh, saying that God the Father is going to provide. So again, you would think that the next event that we hear is Isaac with his great faith continue to grow even further than Abraham.

Instead, Isaac is described to us very plainly. Right? I mean, it doesn't say he was Kenobi. It doesn't say anything, but he was just like his dad when he was young. You know, he meets his wife and then he's sojourning in foreign lands and he runs into a greater nation, the Philistines, and he's afraid just like his dad.

And when he meets King Abed-Millah, he said, "Tell them that you're my sister instead of my wife." Same thing that his dad did. Because if they find out, because you're so pretty, that they're going to come and kill me to get you. So again, he does the same thing.

Again, the same problem that his dad had when he was young. But really, the whole story of Isaac really centers on his blessing on Jacob. There's not a whole lot written about him. And in the redemptive history, that's his highlight at the end of his life. So at the tail end of Abraham's life, he has great faith, sacrificing his only son, believing that God can raise him from the dead.

But here's Isaac at the end of his life, he's being tricked. In humans' point of view, he's blessing the wrong person. So let's take a closer look. In Genesis 25, 27-34, this is how this is introduced to us. When the boys grew up, the twins Jacob and Esau, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field.

But Jacob was a peaceful man, a man of great intention. Now, let's first see who these guys are. These guys are twins. And the older brother, Esau, he's the manly man. He's the guy who hunts. He's the skillful hunter. Jacob was peaceful. And that word "peaceful" is very important because that's how Jacob is described to us, this man of faith.

The word "peaceful" is one of those Hebrew words that you can't translate with one word into English. So if you look at the NIV, it's translated, NIV and the ESV translates that word as "quiet." Right? So kind of related. New King James translates that word "mild." Which is a little bit different, nuanced.

King James version, which is almost just straight plain, it just tells you what it is, and it's translated "plain." Jacob was just plain. That's a little bit different than "peaceful." "Peaceful" sounds pretty good. That he's not a man of war. But King James says, "He's just plain." Right? So all of these words are very specifically nuanced words because you can't translate it with one word.

In fact, the literal understanding of that word means "complete." You can kind of see where that word comes from. "Complete" meaning that you're not striving for anything. You're just kind of content. So I think the best way to summarize all these words is he was just a content man.

He wasn't out there striving. He just lived in this tent, did what his mommy told him to do. He was just content. That's how he's described. This great man of faith, he was just peaceful, mild, plain, content. Where Esau was a man of the field. He was a hunter.

So keep that in the back of your mind as we continue to go on this narrative. Verse 28, "Now Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob." Obviously Rebekah would love Jacob because Jacob's the one always by her side. Right? And you could tell why Isaac would love Esau because Esau's a manly man.

He's out there getting animals to come back and feed his family. He's doing manly things. Verse 29, "When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished. And Esau said to Jacob, 'Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.' Therefore his name is called Edom." But look at this.

The older brother comes in. He's hungry because he was hunting. He said, "I'm hungry. Can you give me that stew?" And Jacob says, "Give me your birthright." You talk about an unfair exchange. How can you possibly think that that's fair? "Give me your birthright. I'll give you a little bit of stew.

Give me your birthright." I mean, he's not somebody that we would look at, at least from the narrative, looking at it. It's like, "Well, Jacob's not the type of guy that you'd want to be friends with." You know what I mean? He's conniving to take away his birthright. And then Esau, you know, he's just being a man of the field, he doesn't really think through.

He said, "Behold, I am about to die." So what use then is the birthright to me? He's a little dramatic. He's hungry. He's not going to die. He's like, "A little bit of stew." Jacob said, "First swear to me." So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.

"What good is it? I'm going to die. I'll give you my birthright. What good is that to me? Give me a little bit of stew." Now, you have to understand what happens here in that text, as silly as that is, determines Esau's fate. Not only him, but all his descendants.

And if you remember the history of Israel, Edomites keep coming up in the prophets saying how Edomites are judged because they gloated over the judgment of Israel. They were always a stumbling block to the nation of Israel. Where did all that start? It started right here. Because he was hungry, and he was overdramatic.

He said, "What good is the birthright?" And he sold it for a pot of stew. Jacob, on the other hand, he becomes--his name gets changed to Israel, one who wrestles with God. And God's redemptive plan comes through this line. Well, how did he get it? He tricked his brother.

Instead of being generous and saying, "Man, you must be famished, and you brought all this game for us to eat." He said, "Well, if you want that, give me your birthright." Maybe knowing his weakness, took advantage of his brother. And that's how--that's how redemptive history-- the redemptive nation of Israel is named after this guy because he does this.

We look at that and say, "I don't get this." Why is God allowing this? Why would such an important thing happen in this way and is allowed? Well, you have to understand that the birthright here is much more than an average family's birthright. In verse 34, Jacob gave Esau the bread and lentil, and he ate and drank and rose and went on his way.

He's like, "I'm satisfied. I gave my birthright." It didn't cost him anything, at least not immediately. But it says, "Thus Esau despised his birthright." Now, typically, when a father passes away at that particular time, the firstborn would get the double portion of whatever the other children would get. But the birthright here, the blessing here, is not simply talking about financial gain.

That because he's the firstborn, he said, "What good is it to me? I should have gotten $10,000. I'm going to get $5,000." That's not what he's referring to. When he says he despised his birthright, this is no ordinary birthright. Remember, Isaac was the sacrifice that Abraham was supposed to give.

So Isaac, in redemptive history, represented the type of Christ. His possible death and resurrection, coming back from the dead, God delivering him, was given through Isaac. So Isaac, I can almost guarantee, knew full well why his father was doing that. His father, he probably asked him, "What did you do that for?" And I can guarantee, right, if Abraham left Ur of the Chaldeans, he was already a pretty wealthy man when he left, and he's wandering into desert or in areas where he's not safe.

Any human being would say, "Well, if we want to live a nice and comfortable life, just go back to Ur of the Chaldeans. Why are we doing this?" The only reason why he did it is because God said to go. He promised him. This covenant promise was the only reason why they did what they did, because what Abraham did didn't make any sense.

So I don't think it's a stretch to think that Abraham took every opportunity to tell Isaac about the covenant blessing. We're no ordinary family. And I can guarantee that Isaac told Jacob and Esau about this blessing, about what happened to him. The greatest event that happened in Isaac's life was what happened at Mount Moriah, explaining to them what God was going to do.

So when Esau said, "Well, what good is my birthright when I'm hungry?" He wasn't simply rejecting the double portion. He was rejecting the promise. "What good is all of that when I'm hungry and I'm about to die?" And that's why it says he despised his birthright. In Genesis 26, 3-4, God reminds Isaac of this covenant.

This is what it says. Does that sound familiar? Does what he says sound familiar? Yes. This is exactly, almost verbatim, repeated in Genesis 12, 1, 2, and 3. This is the covenant that God made with Abraham and his descendants. And it's reminding Isaac, and again, I don't think it's a stretch to think that Jacob and Esau knew this very well.

And Esau just kind of, like, "What good is that? What good is the future? What good is the blessing? What good is the covenant promise if I'm hungry and I'm going to die?" You see, Esau would have been the better leader. In fact, the Scripture says Isaac loved Esau.

Not only was, by law, was he obligated to bless his older son, he wanted to bless his older son because that's the one that would make sense. He's the firstborn, and he's a manly man. If you were to choose a leader for the covenant promise to lead the nation of Israel, whenever God establishes that, whose line would you choose?

The hunter who knows how to fight? He knows how to use his weapons? He's a man of the field. Or Jacob, smooth, plain, content, quiet, mama's boy, right? I mean, he doesn't fit. If you were to put on paper who should lead, where the covenant should go to fulfill this great promise, Jacob does not fit the mold.

And he said, on top of that, Esau was very hairy, which is going to come out later. Everything that you would think about a testosterone-driven, manly man who's going to lead this nation to conquer their enemies, Esau fit that description. And Jacob did not. And yet, Rebekah hears about the plan that Isaac is about to bless his son, and she schemes.

And look what she does. She suggests to Jacob, your father at his old age, he doesn't see well, so I have a plan. Instead of having Esau be blessed, I want you to be blessed, right? And so he said, well, look how it's described in verse 11. "Jacob answered his mother and said, 'Behold, Esau, my brother, is hairy man, and I am a smooth man.'" Right?

You know, the thing that pops out at me is Jacob doesn't say, that don't sound right. He said, I'm going to trick my dad. He doesn't say that. He's not worried about is it right or wrong. He doesn't worry about, like, that's my older brother, I can't do that to him.

He doesn't say that. He said, do you think it'll work? That's what he's asking. "Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing." So he's not worried about his dad. He's not worried about his brother.

He's worried about, what if this backfires? Do you think this will really work? Verse 13, "But his mother said to him, 'Your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice and go get them for me.'" So this guy didn't even have enough courage. What if this backfires, doesn't work, he's hairy and I'm not, you know?

And I know he's old and he's blind, but it's just too obvious. He said, "Don't worry, any consequence, I'll take it. You just do what I say." So he did what his mommy told him to do, right? That's what it says, verse 14. "So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food such as his father loved.

Then 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 put the skin 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." Doesn't this sound like a comedy skit?

This is redemptive history. This is the formation of Israel where Jesus is going to come through that line. And the way that he gets the blessing is he puts on goat skin so that he can pretend like his brother. And the first thing I think of is just how hairy was Esau that he was going to touch the goat's fur and think this is Esau.

He must have been really hairy, right? Because it works. Look what it says. In verse 21, "Then Isaac said to Jacob, 'Please come close that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.' So Jacob came close to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, 'The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.'" Just how hairy was this guy?

He was literally touching goat skin. He said, "Oh, that sounds, you know, it sounds like Jacob, but it feels like Esau." Understand what's going on. God's covenant blessing is coming down through this, through this. You know, there's a lot of strange things in the Bible that sometimes we read and we're just kind of like, oh, it's hard to understand.

So, you know, a lot of times we treat Leviticus like that, right? We come through Leviticus and it's like, what? Blood where? How many animals? Women can't sit where? And you go through all that and say, oh, I don't understand. I trust God. There's something important going on, but you just kind of move up, right?

But some of the greatest treasures in the Bible are hidden in these things, right? I mean, I remember the time when I was preaching through the Old Testament and I got through Judges. And I came to Judges, and Judges is a constant cycle of Israel. You know, everyone did what was right in their own eyes because they didn't have a king, and they would continually fall into sin, and then they would cry out to God when they're oppressed, and then God raises up a judge.

And there's a couple stories in there that just -- I had such a hard time preaching because I didn't know what the point was. There's a guy named Eglon. Some of you guys may know him. And he said that Eglon was a guy who was a ruler oppressing Israel, and God raises up a Benjamite, and he goes and kills him, but the guy is so obese that he sticks the knife in him, and he can't pull it back out because he gets stuck, right?

And the Bible describes this. It doesn't end there. He gets stuck, and then he's able to escape because his guards don't come in. And the reason why they don't come in is because they thought he was relieving himself for a long time, that he was in the bathroom and he wasn't coming out.

And Israel is delivered. That's in Judges. So I remember studying through that. I was like, "What am I going to preach on this? I'm going to preach on God teaching us through this couldn't pull the knife out, therefore trust God." Like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's the point here?" And I remember very specifically what I preached there, which I would not preach again, but I remember preaching that when you are not right with God, that even people like Eglon can defeat you.

Like, that was my point. Then we talk about Samson. This man of faith. This guy was a drunken womanizer. So when I took a close look at him, he was like, "This is the judge that God raised to deliver Israel?" There's a lot of stories in the Bible where it just doesn't fit.

Well, this is one of them. This is one of those things where it's like, "What? He did what?" And think about Esau. Think about Isaac. It says, "By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob." But when you read the redemptive history, what does faith have to do with this? Think about it.

He's about to bless his son. Everything that Abraham did, everything that he went through, is all coming down to the next generation. And the way it happened was, like, "You sound like Jacob, but you feel like Esau. All right, I'll bless you." That's how it happened. And then it says, "By faith." How do we reconcile this?

Why did God allow this in redemptive history? Why through this line? Why in this way? In fact, if you look at Jesus' genealogy, this is Jesus, the Son of God. There's prostitutes, adulterers, and murderers in Jesus' genealogy. Right? And God orchestrated this, and yet we see people in there, it's like, "What?

That person's in Jesus' genealogy?" Why did God not nullify this blessing? Why wasn't Jacob punished for his lying and scheming? Why did Esau lose his covenant birthright? Because of his youthful mistake. What does this have to do with faith? Again, I told you that the main point is at the end, so we're at the end.

You look at Esau, it's like, "Wow, that's unfair for Esau." How many of us have made dumb decisions when we were young? And because of that, his whole heritage, all his descendants, started going down the wrong path. What happened? Why was he--? In fact, in Hebrews 12, the chapter we're going to get to pretty soon, in verse 16 and 17, describes Esau this way, "That there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.

For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessings, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears." And in Genesis itself, in 25-34, it says, "And Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate it and drank and rose and went on his way.

Thus Esau despised his birthright." We may look at this particular event and say, "Well, he made a mistake. He was hungry, and he wasn't thinking properly, and there was a mental lapse for a minute, and that's what led to this. And because of that, he's called immoral and godless, who despised his birthright?" You have to understand that the rejection of his birthright was not simply a rejection of twofold.

It was a rejection of all the promise that God made to him and to all the descendants. God was planning to bring about the salvation of mankind through the nation of Israel. And so when he rejected, when he despised it, it may seem like a small act, but from God's perspective, it was immoral.

From God's perspective, it was godless. There was no God in his decision. And he says, "It was despised." You know the word for glory in the Bible literally simply means "weighty." Something serious. That's what the word "glory" means. There's something weighty. So when it says that he simply despised it, he considered it as nothing.

He compared his birthright, the promise of God, the covenant promise, and he compared it with his hunger, and his hunger was more important. And he simply despised it. What we may look at as a simple mistake, a useful indiscretion, God says, "No, you rejected." In fact, in Mark 3.28, it says, "Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven, the sons of man.

And whatever blasphemy they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin." He said all things can be forgiven except for those who reject his promise. And that's exactly what it says that Esau did. Esau considered the weightiness of what God was doing, and he took it flippantly.

How often do you and I look at simple indiscretions and not realizing what we are doing? Where we live, it's like, you know what? Of course God is important. I'm not saying that God is not important, but I've got to pay my bills. I've got to raise my children.

I've got to get married. I've got to do this, and I've got to do that. And so we don't look at it as a rejection of God. We just simply say, "I'm hungry now. I've got to take care of my needs first, and then I'll consider the big picture," not realizing that we may be rejecting, despising the promises of God.

The small things that sometimes seem so urgent in our lives in the context of eternity is so trivial. Whether we become millionaires, become famous, where our children grow up to become superstars and taken care of, and we live to 105 years old, all of that eternity is very, very trivial.

But the things that God says in His Word has eternal value. So His covenant promise, Esau's great sin was that he considered the covenant of God, not weightiness. Jacob's, he's a guy who's like, "Well, okay, now we see why Esau's sin was so great, but look at the way Jacob did what he did.

How can he be such a great man?" The Bible says that if you have a faith of a mustard seed-- I don't know if you've ever seen a mustard seed. Mustard seed looks like a lint. It's so tiny, but if you see that plant, and when it grows, it grows into this great tree.

He says if you have a seed, if you have faith of a mustard seed, you can move what? Mountains. So the point that Jesus was making is not that you're a great man, it's not your great achievements, but if you have faith in this great God, even if it's tiny like a mustard seed, even if it's hard to see, but it's there, even if you have that, you will see the power of God.

That's what he said. And that power isn't the man. His power is that tiny little connection to this power is where the power is. That's what Jesus was trying to teach them. Jacob is a perfect example of a man who had tiny faith, at least at this time, or at least what we see at this time in his life.

I think the best way for us to understand what Jacob did is this way. I don't know if you've ever been to a large conference, you have, you know, like celebrity pastors come and speak in great sermons, great music, and people are there lined up early. The doors open up.

They're like beating everybody to the front seat, and they get there, and then they save 50 seats. You know what I mean? All their friends and family and cousins who may come there, may not come there, but they're saving all the seats, and everybody else is ticked off. Right?

What are they doing? You know, this is a conference. This is like we came here to worship. And so people watching that may look at it and say, "What are they doing? They're so selfish." But the reason why they're doing that is because they want the great seats. They wanted to be in the front and have the best seats so that they can have the best blessing.

They can have the greatest views. They can see whoever is speaking, all the nuances and emotions on their face, so they want to have the best -- and the motive behind what they're doing is great. But the method in which they did it ticks off a lot of people.

I don't know if you've ever been to a big conference. You know, I've been to big conferences like that where it's just eager. It's like, you know, iPhone 18 is coming out, and they have to be the first ones to get it, and they run, and they're literally running against other people.

And they get there, and they spread out like, "Mine!" I look at what Jacob does here is similar to that. You know, you could see that tiny faith where he understood what he was getting, and he wanted it. Let me ask you, what does God want from us more than anything else?

More than anything else? To be Bible scholars? To plant many churches? To make disciples of the nations? Now, all of these things are commanded in Scripture. But what does he desire of us more than anything else? To love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.

To love him. To desire him. To want him. And that's what worship is. When we value something, when we desire something, worship comes from that. He didn't just say plant churches, and make disciples, and pray, and do all this, and be a good Christian, and get things done, bear a lot of fruit so that other people can...

He said, "All of these things are true, but the biggest, the most important thing..." In fact, he says, "All of that thing, all of those things that I desire can really be summed up in one thing. To love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength." Jacob, as foolish as he was, as questionable as the method was, he valued what God promised his family.

And he went and ran to the front seat. And that tiny little faith, that tiny little faith is what brought the blessing upon his life. In Jeremiah 29, 13, "You will seek me and find me when you search me with all your heart." With all your heart. And you see that repeated over, and over, and over again, all throughout Scripture.

You know, the challenge of being a Christian for a while, knowing things, studying the Bible, is we seek him, but not with all our heart. I think all of us can remember when we first became Christian, when Christ was everything. He was just not a good thing. He was everything.

Your life got flipped upside down. Nothing else seemed to matter. And for the rest of our Christian life is to look back at that, and try to be that same person I was when I first met Christ. Because that's what God desires from us more than anything else. That's why Hebrews 11, 6, it says, "Without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and he is a rewarder of those who seek him." But that word "seek" isn't just passively seeking.

NIV says it is earnestly seeking. King James, in New King James, says, "He who diligently seek him with all his heart." In fact, Jacob, this slippery mama's boy, who used all of his trickery to get the blessing, he's the guy where his name gets changed to Israel, the one who contends with God.

And that's the name of Israel, the apple of his eye. He calls them people who wrestles with me, who wants me. That's the name he gives them. Because that's what he wants from all of us, to be people who are contending for God, who want him more than anything else, more than church, more than friendship, more than financial security.

I want him. And if there's anything that is highlighted in Jacob's life, is that through all of his trickery, he wanted God. He wrestled with God. And that's why he has a limp on his side, because he wrestled with God. He's like, "I'm not going to let you go until you bless me." That's why Jacob became Israel.

You look at Isaac. Why didn't he just reverse it? Why didn't he, when he realized that he was tricked, say, "Okay, forget it. I knew you didn't sound like my son Esau." You have to understand that at that time, for him to bestow a blessing, he wasn't simply doing it on his behalf.

He was doing it on God's behalf. That wasn't for him to give. That was God's to give. For him to reverse what he did would have not simply been reversing what he said, but to go on against God. Because in the oral tradition, basically declaring that would have been no different than signing a legal document saying, "I hand all this over to you." And it wasn't in his authority to simply just wipe that out.

So as small and tiny his faith may have been, it was still faith. The point of all of this is all of this is described in verse 20. "By faith Isaac blessed Jacob." You notice Jacob's name comes first here. Because he's a younger brother, but his name comes first here because he was the one who receives the covenant blessing.

Esau gets the other stuff. They're blessed, even regarding things to come. So the point of the story is not about Isaac. The point of the story is not about Jacob. It's not about Esau. Ultimately, it's about a faithful God who keeps his promise, even through all this mess. And if there's one thing that stands out of all of this, it's this tiny faith.

This tiny faith that connects them to this great God is why you and I are still here today. We could probably pinpoint a minimum of two to three dozen times in redemptive history where you and I should have been gone. I mean, think about a thousand years of the Catholics restricting God's people from his word.

And literally killing people for wanting to translate his word. Selling salvation through indulgences. We're not talking about a couple years. We're talking about generations. We don't have to go that far. Look at the chaos that you and I are in today. I mean, people say, like, "It's hard to find a church where the word of God is taught." I mean, as sad as that is, how many of you knew people that you thought were men of God at one point and were disappointed?

All of us. I'm pretty sure I've disappointed you. Pretty sure. And if I have it, it's because you're new. When we look at man, the end conclusion is always-- it's going to end in anxiety. We're going to be distraught. How can God allow this? If the only reason why you and I are still here is because Jesus said, "I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." It was small faith in a great God why you and I are here today.

So if there's anything that we learn from this, anchor in Christ. Anchor in Christ. Not your friendship, not your community, not your bank account, not other people. In Christ. Let me read a couple of verses for you before we end. 2 Corinthians 1:20, "For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes.

Therefore also through Him is our amen to the glory of God through us." 1 Peter 1:24, "For all flesh like grass and all its glory like the flowers of the grass. The grass withers and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word which was preached to you." Amen.

Let's pray. As our worship team comes up, why don't we take a few minutes to reflect and to pray. If our hearts had caused us to drift, put our confidence in things that we shouldn't have. Maybe there's people who have disappointed you in life, and you are drifting as a result of that.

I hope that this would serve as a reminder to us that our God is sovereign. There's times when we feel like our faith is even smaller than a mustard seed. And yet it is that tiny mustard seed that connects us to God, where we see God being faithful to His promise.

So wherever you are in your faith, let's take some time to pray and ask the Lord to open our eyes so that we may see the glory, the weightedness of who He is, and that we may not despise the things that God has called us to be. So let's take some time to pray as our worship team comes up.

Brothers and sisters, let's rise together for a closing praise. Out to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever.

Amen. ♪ You have won the big shot ♪