All right, please take your Bibles once again and turn to Genesis 27, Genesis 27.
So it's a rather long chapter.
And I've decided to call, I mean if you read this chapter, it's a really sad story.
It's really about the family of Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Esau and just how deceptive they
were to one another.
It's such a sad story.
You know, this is supposed to be a godly family.
It is a godly family.
It is the family by which God has passed down the promises of Abraham.
The great promise of Jesus Christ coming into this world would come through their loins,
would come through their lineage.
And we see, you know, this is why the Bible is not written by men.
All right.
I mean if men were writing stories about themselves and they're not going to give you the bad
news.
They're not going to tell you how wicked and how deceptive they were, right.
I mean this is, the Bible is the word of God.
You know the Bible shows us the wickedness of man.
It shows us the failure of man and then it just confirms for us the faithfulness of God.
That God is merciful, that is long suffering, you know, that is willing to give us time,
that is willing to work with us even though we have a sinful nature.
And as I read about these stories of the patriarchs in the past, yes they had great successes
but they also had great failings.
You know I'm just reminded about the great God that I serve and I'm thankful for that
because I know I make a lot of mistakes.
If you're honest you make a lot of mistakes, if you're honest you fail a lot of times but
thank God you've got the same God of the Bible, you've got the same God of Isaac who's willing
to be merciful with you, who's willing to still work with you even when there is deception
in the family, deception.
And so I decided to call the title for this morning, deception, deception.
Let's start with verse number one there, Genesis 27 verse one.
And it came to pass that when Isaac was old his eyes were dim so that he could not see.
He called Esau his eldest son and said unto him my son and he said unto him behold here
am I.
Now you may recall in the previous chapter the Bible tells us that, oh sorry the previous
two chapters that Esau was the favoured son of Isaac and his twin brother Jacob was the
favoured son of his mother Rebekah.
And I told you how favouritism is going to cause a lot of problems in your family.
You start favouring one child over another, fathers maybe one child, mothers another child,
you know it's going to cause problems and we start seeing this deception here in this
family okay.
And the story goes that basically Jacob feels like he's going to pass away, in fact he lives
many more years after this but he believes he's going to pass away so he wants to pass
on the blessing, the promises of God unto the eldest Esau okay.
And so that's why he calls Esau in this story.
The Bible tells us here that his eyes were dim, he could barely see.
In fact it says that he could not see there in verse number one.
And so Isaac is in a position to be deceived by his family okay.
You see he will be deceived by his family.
He gets deceived by his son Isaac, he gets deceived by his wife Rebekah in this story.
But the first thing I want you to notice is I want to just cover this topic of deception
okay.
And we need to make sure that we're not people that are striving to deceive, we'll look at
this later on.
But we also need to make sure that we're a people, we're a church that's not being deceived
by others.
That we're aware that this world is full of people that are trying to deceive us.
There could be people that desire to stand behind the pulpit and deceive you with false
doctrine okay.
And the first thing I want you to realize here in verse number one, the reason why it's
easy to be deceived is because your eyes can be dim.
You might be in a position where your eyes are blinded.
In order for you not to be deceived the first thing you need to understand is I need to
make sure that I can see clearly.
And here in this story Isaac was blinded, he could not see properly.
Please keep your finger there and go to Mark chapter 8.
Keep your finger there in Genesis 27 and go to Mark chapter 8.
And just for the sake of our visitor, just so you're aware on Sunday mornings we go chapter
by chapter through the Bible.
We've been going through the book of Genesis, we're now up to Genesis chapter 27, Genesis
27.
While you're turning to Mark 8 I'm going to read to you from Revelation chapter 3 verse
17.
Again we've gone through the seven churches in the book of Revelation but to the church
of the lay of the sins God says in verse 17, because thou sayest I am rich and increased
with goods and have no need of nothing and not thou are wretched and miserable and poor
and blind, the Bible says, Jesus says to the lay of the sin church that they are blind
and naked.
Then he says in verse number 18, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire that
thou mayest be rich and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed and that the shame
of thy nakedness do not appear and anoint thine eyes with eye soles that thou mayest
see.
So you see the church of the lay of the sins got to a point, hey they were a great church,
they were a candlestick shining for Jesus Christ but they got to a point as a church
where Jesus says they are blind, they cannot see and we need to be careful as a church
that we don't become like the lay of the sins, that we don't become like Isaac where our
eyes are dim, where we start becoming blind you know and that we go to Jesus Christ and
we ask him for the solution, we ask him for the eye stove so we can see, so we can see
clearly and say what is that solution, it is the word of God, you know the more you
know the word of God the more you will see, you know Jesus Christ come into, he made many
of the blind to see didn't he, well that's what he wants to do for us, you know salvation
can be seen in this light where you're once blind to the gospel, once you know the gospel,
once you believe on Jesus Christ now you can see but it's also applicable to our Christian
life, it's also applicable to our Christian life.
Have a look at Mark chapter 8 please, Mark chapter 8 verse 22, Mark chapter 8 verse 22
speaking of Jesus Christ here it says and he cometh to Bethsaida and they bring him
a blind man unto him and besought him to touch him.
Now before I keep reading, when we read about Jesus Christ healing the blind men in the
Bible many times he heals them completely, as soon as he touches them, as soon as he
speaks to them whatever they can see but in this story there's actually a process, look
at verse number 23 and he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town and
when he had spit on his eyes and put his hands upon him he asked him if he saw ought and
he looked up and said I see men as trees walking.
So here we have the blind man, Jesus makes an attempt to heal him, he asks him can you
see and he can't see very well, he goes I see men but they look like trees walking,
you know he hasn't received a full healing of his eyes, he still can't see clearly just
yet so what does Jesus do?
Verse number 25, after that he put his hand again upon his eyes and made him look up and
he was restored and saw every man clearly.
I'm glad we have this story in the Bible, I'm glad we have this story, you see in order
for us to see clearly it can take time, it could be a process, now I'm not talking about
salvation as a process, once you understand, you believe the gospel, once you put your
full faith on Christ you're born again into the family, you know you're saved okay but
what can happen and this happens a lot right, new believers they know the gospel, they've
learnt many spiritual truths maybe, they start learning the Bible, they think they can see
clearly, they think now they can correct everybody, they think now they can become pastors, they
think now they can just preach and they know all the truths, many times all they can see
is men walking as trees, you see growing as a Christian, maturing, knowing the Bible requires
work, requires a process, requires you to study, read, memorize, meditate on the word
of God, that's what's required from you, the Bible says in Psalm 119 verse 105, thy word
is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, how do we see clearly as we mature as
Christians, we need the word of God, we need the lamp of God unto our feet so we can work
clearly alright, don't expect and I'm sure you can probably think of people, I certainly
can, don't expect you know you've been saved a year, you've been saved for two years, oh
I know all the Bible now, I've got all the doctrines worked out, look you can't see clearly,
you need the word of God to continue shining for you okay, I mean this is why you need
to be careful of not being deceived, you need the word of God, you need to test everything
you hear behind the pulpit by every preacher in accordance to God's word, now with the
Laodicean church they once could see, they once were a great church but they had gotten
to a point where they became blinded right and as they became blinded Jesus says look
I want you to fix this up because they're going to be deceived, now they're already
deceived you know but that continued down the deception and not see clearly and so while
a good church can become blind the reverse is also true when you don't know much about
the Bible, when you're a baby in Christ you start kind of not being able to see, you can
see somewhat, it starts to clarify for you but you don't have the complete truth and
you need to go from being blind to being able to see, so I'm really thankful that Jesus
Christ has given us this story in Mark chapter 8, if you've ever wondered why did this man
get healed completely, it's so we can take a spiritual truth from it and understand it
takes time to be able to see clearly, it takes time and effort to know the word of God, to
be able to you know be effective for him and not to be deceived, the Bible says in first
Timothy 3 6 speaking about the qualifications of a pastor or even just any teacher, any
preacher not a novice less being filled up with pride he fall into the condemnation
of the devil, that's the problem with the novice, that's the problem with the guy that
can't see properly is that it's easy for them to be filled up with pride, filled up with
oh look how much knowledge I have, look at me you know I can correct everybody's life,
I can correct everybody around me, they become filled with pride and they fall into the condemnation,
the same damnation of the devil, the devil is filled up with pride and he brought him
low, Christians can be filled up with pride and it will bring you low as well, the same
condemnation that fell upon the devil could fall upon you, you know being taken down by
God because you're filled up with pride, because he can't see, because you're deceived, okay
and you know we need to be careful of false prophets, I mentioned that, be careful of
false prophets, I'll just read to you from Romans 16 17, the Bible says I beseech you
brethren mark them which cause division and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you
have learned and avoid them, look how are you going to mark people that cause divisions
and that are bringing in contrary doctrines, how are you going to mark them and avoid them
if you can't see, you know how are you going to do that, well here's what you do, you pick
up the Bible, every doctrine you believe you should have a passage of scripture that teaches
that black and white, crystal clear, you know when you learn doctrines once you learn it
you got to nail that doctrine in, you've got to then I've got this doctrine, I understand
it and you start building but you've got to have clear scripture, you can't say well the
Bible somewhere says this or I heard this preacher say that or somewhere in the Bible
it says no it's not good enough, you learn doctrine, you learn where it is, you write
it down, you put it on your phone, you do whatever you need to do to know hey if I ever
get any challenges I don't know about this doctrine, you go back to those verses, refresh
your memory, nail in those doctrines otherwise you will be deceived like Isaac was deceived,
the Bible keeps going it says in verse number 18 for they that are such, those that we need
to mark and avoid serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly and by good words
of fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. If you've not read your Bible cover
to cover you're a simple person okay, you're still simple minded, you might feel you know
a lot about the Bible, you may feel you know a lot of doctrine, if you've not read it cover
to cover, God's book, people have died for that book so you can have in your hands and
you haven't read it, give me a break, you know you're still simple, now look that's
fine, that's fine but get to a point where you've read it cover to cover and I'm not
saying that you know we all start somewhere we haven't read the Bible cover to cover then
get to the point where you've read it cover to cover and once you've read it once guess
what you do next time, you read it again, you get through it two times, you get it through
three times, you know so on and so forth, you know you need to know what the word of
God says so you're not deceived by the false teachers, I haven't got time to go through
this but if you want to do some study during the week 2 Peter chapter 2, 2 Peter chapter
2 in the book of Jude will tell you what false prophets are like so you're not deceived,
those two chapters are the main chapters that tell us all about the nature of the false
prophet, now the Bible tells us it has many other places that teaches these things but
those are the two key passages you need to look at and you need to do this because you
know you might not always be at New Life Baptist Church, you might be in different churches,
you may have different preachers and you need to measure up those preachers, you need to
measure up those passes with the list of the false prophets so you can point out when you've
got a false prophet behind the pulpit okay, now I believe, go check it out, I believe
strongly that I do not measure up to a false prophet at all alright, I don't believe I
have any of those qualities in me and I'm sure you wouldn't be in this church for two
years if you thought that okay, nevertheless I'm not a false prophet but does that mean
I can't make mistakes behind the pulpit, even unintentionally think about that, I want you
to be careful as a church alright, we've been here for two years, I appreciate you guys,
I'm sure you appreciate me, I know you appreciate me and I appreciate you guys but you can't
get comfortable, you can't just sit behind the pulpit, well Pastor Kevin's proven himself
for the last two years, you know we can see that you know, he's doctrinally sound and
I'm just going to lay back now in church and I'll just take in whatever's being taught
there behind the pulpit, wrong attitude, wrong attitude, you know you've got to test everything
with the word of God, I might not be a false prophet but this is what I am, you know this
is what I am, I'm a human being okay, I can make mistakes, I can, now I'm not trying to,
I don't purposely get behind this pulpit trying to make an error, trying to deceive you but
it can happen, I could make a mistake and you could walk away from church saying being
deceived by some false teaching okay, there are good men behind pulpits, there are good
pastors out there but that doesn't stop them from having false teaching, I would say to
you every pastor, every pastor, every good pastor has false teaching somewhere in their
list of doctrines okay and again it's not intentional, it's just that we're human beings,
we're looking at this chapter, godly people, godly family, God is using his family, they
make some major mistakes and they get deceived as well okay, if the patriarchs that God is
using mightily can be deceived, we all can be deceived okay but this is the warning,
this is what we need to be ready for, prepare ourselves, you know reduce the amount of deception
that might come into our lives, anyway let's go back to Genesis 27 verse number 2, Genesis
27 verse 2, and he said, this is Isaac, behold I am old, I know not the day of my death,
now therefore take I pray thee thy weapons, now remember Esau was a hunter okay, so take
thy weapons thy quiver and thy bow and go out to the field and make me some venison
and that's venison is, I said it's deer, hunting deer, I had a quick fact check and it usually
is, it's usually the first definition of it but it can be other wild game out there okay,
so he wants Esau to go out and hunt him some fresh meat, verse number 4, and make me savoury
meat such as I love and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless thee before
I die, now Rebecca is the wife of Isaac, remember this verse number 5, and Rebecca
heard when Isaac spake unto Esau his son and Esau went to the field to hunt for venison
and to bring it and Rebecca spake unto Jacob his son, now remember Jacob is the favoured
son of Rebecca okay, Isaac's just finished telling Esau that he wants to bless Esau,
he wants to pass down the promises that have come to him from Abraham to Esau and Rebecca
she wants to make sure the blessing falls on her favoured son, so now she steps in and
deceives her own husband okay, verse number 6, and Rebecca spake unto Jacob her son saying
behold I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother saying bring me venison and make
me savoury meat that I may eat and bless thee before the Lord before my death, now therefore
my son obey my voice according to that which I command thee, now think about this, she's
asking her son obey my voice, she's about to teach Jacob how to deceive his father,
think about this now guys, should he be listening to his mother here, no, she wants to deceive
her husband, Jacob still said no mum, that's not the right thing to do okay, but he goes
along with it, he goes along with the deception, verse number 9, go now to the flock and fetch
me from thence two good kids of the goats and I will make them savoury meat for thy
father such as he loveth and thou shall bring it to thy father that he may eat and that
he may bless thee before his death and Jacob said to Rebecca his mother behold Esau my
brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth man, my brother's like that, my brother's a hairy
man and I'm the smooth man in the family, anyway we have this in the bible, verse number
my father peradventure will fill me and I shall seem to him as a deceiver and I shall
bring a curse upon me, not a blessing, so you can see here that Jacob is concerned about
the deception that's going to be made but at the end of the day he goes along with it,
now what I want you to do is please keep your finger there and go to first John chapter
four, first John chapter four, we're talking about being deceived and over making sure
that we prepare ourselves as best we can with the word of God to make sure we're not deceived
but first John chapter four gives us some more information about deceivers and first
John chapter four verse one, the bible says here beloved, beloved, you know John is saying
to the believers I love you, when he says beloved he cares for the believers, he cares
for the brethren, he says believe not every spirit, brethren do you believe anyone that
calls themselves Christians, do you believe anyone that puts on a nice jacket and a nice
tie, gets behind the pulpit, believe not every spirit the bible says but try the spirits,
test the spirits whether they are of God because why, because many false prophets have gone
out into the world, you say there's probably just a few false prophets out there, many,
many false prophets have gone into the world, man you read the Old Testament usually the
false prophets are outnumbering the men of God, many times the false prophets are just
outnumbering them you know compared to the true prophets of God, verse number two, he
by know ye the spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is of God and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh is not of God and this is the spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that
it should come and even now already it is in the world. Now sometimes we preach about
the tribulation, the end times, we speak about the beast and the antichrist, there is already
a spirit of antichrist in this world, the false prophets are not people of God, they
have another spirit, the spirit of the devil, the spirit of the antichrist, now here in
these days, here and look even today, you know we have those that deny that Jesus is
the Christ or that he came in the flesh, the Messiah came in the flesh and immediately
our thoughts will turn to Judaism, right, they believe in a Messiah, they believe in
a Christ but they don't believe that Christ has yet come in the flesh, you know, they
deny Christ as the Messiah, deny Christ as Jesus as the Christ, okay, that is, that religion
is the spirit of antichrist but that's not the only one, keep reading verse number four,
ye are of God little children and have overcome then because greater is he that is in you
than he that is in the world, now look at verse number five, they are of the world,
speaking about the false prophets, therefore speak they of the world and the world heareth
them, this is how, another way you spot the false prophet, they are of the world, right,
they are of the world, therefore speak they of the world, listen, the false prophet will
come and preach you the prosperity gospel, they preach about the world, how much you
can attain in this world, you know, making the riches, you know, making the name for
yourself in this world, they bring in the world's music into the church, they bring
in the world's entertainment into the church, they bring in the world's programs into the
church, they are all about this world, they are about the temporary life, they are about
making money, that's how you spot a false prophet as well, okay, they are not focused
on eternal life, they are not focused on that because they are not even saved, they
are false prophets, you say man, but there are so many people in those churches, the
rock bands, the dancing, you know, the whatever, the acting, the performances that go on, those
churches are full of people, how many of us are here, 35 maybe, alright, but those churches
have thousands of people, well what did it say in the verse number five, at the end of
it, and the world heareth them, listen, their church is not made up of believers, it's made
up of the world, okay, there's very few believers, there's very few that have trusted Jesus Christ
as saviour, most of those people, I'm not saying all, but most of those people in those
churches that make up those thousands are not even saved, they are of the world, and
the reason they are there is because they hear those that preach of the world, that's
how you make a big church, and unfortunately, because Christians can be deceived, there
are believers in those churches, there are true sons and daughters of God in those churches,
I've met many of them, okay, that are in those churches, and they're there because they see
the big church, they say well God must be blessed in this church because it's big, they
can't see, they've been blinded, like Isaac, they're being deceived, you know, they look
at the big church and think wow, God is blessed, no, it is a church made of the world, it is
a church for the world, that's how you make sure, you know, you don't get deceived by
certain preachers if they're focused on this world, let's keep reading verse number six,
we are of God, he that knoweth God heareth us, he that is not of God heareth not us,
he by know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error, think about this, when we
have people come to our church, again, they're not always in lock step with what we believe,
right, how do I as a pastor make a decision whether this is a deceiver, this is someone
that's coming to try to hurt our church, or is it just someone that's learning, that's
growing, well, verse number five gives us the answer, oh sorry, verse number six, we
are of God, he that knoweth God heareth us, he that is not of God heareth not us, if someone
comes with contrary doctrine, and I can share my faith, I can share our doctrine, the things
we stand on, and they hear us, praise God, they're listening, they're trying to learn,
they're trying to grow, they're not a deceiver, even if they're not in lock step with us,
but if they hear us not, if we stand on our doctrine, we explain the doctrine, they refuse
it, they're against it, then they're not of God, they've come to hurt our church, they've
come to be a deceiver to our church, that's how we measure it, okay, it's not just like
someone walks in, they believe differently, oh it must be a wicked person, no, okay, it's
not at all, you know, if they're willing to listen, willing to grow, praise God, you know,
allow them in the church, but if they come in to fight the doctrines, trying to be contrary,
trying to cause problems, that's a false teacher, that's someone that's coming to hurt us, the
Bible says in Jeremiah 14, 14, then the Lord said unto me, the prophets prophesy lies in
my name, I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them, they
prophesy unto you a false vision and divination of a thing of naught and the deceit of their
hearts, there are many prophets, many people that name themselves Christians, that name
Christ, that are out there prophesying lies, they've not been sent by God, he says, how
do you know, again, the measure is God's word, how do we know, they lie to you, they
preach falsehoods, they preach false doctrines contrary to this book, they're a false prophet,
get out of that church, if that's what's happening, get out of that church.
Back to Genesis 26 verse 13, Genesis 26 verse 13, better hurry up, and his mother said unto
him, upon me be thy curse, remember Jacob was concerned that he'd be cursed because
he's trying to deceive his father, the mother says, let that curse be upon me my son, only
obey my voice and go fetch me them, and he went and fetched and brought them to his mother
and his mother made savoury meats such as his father loved, and Rebekah took goodly
raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were in her, sorry, which were with her in the
house and put them upon Jacob, her younger son.
So Jacob puts on what, Esau's clothing, okay, to deceive his father.
And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands and upon the smooth of
his neck, and she gave the savoury meat of the bread which she had prepared into the
hand of her son Jacob, and he came to his father, so it's not just Esau's clothing,
but she gets the hair of the animals and puts them on Jacob's arms and his hands, so when
the father touches him he sees that he's a hairy man, I mean what a deception, what does
this remind you of, remember now, look, Jacob is a godly man you say, okay, but of course
we take the spiritual essence here, what does this remind you of, it really reminds
me of the wolves in sheep's clothing, okay, what do they put on, hey, they look wonderful
on the outside, okay, they look like righteous ministers of God on the outside, sometimes
it takes time to realise that man is a false prophet, that man is a wolf, because the wolf,
the false prophet, will at the beginning look like a sheep, and this is what we see here,
Jacob wants to look like Esau, so he can receive the blessing from his father, Isaac, deceive
his father, I mean they're doing wrong, don't read this and think they're doing right, they're
doing wrong as a family, very deceptive, and Jacob, sorry, verse number 18, and he came
to his father and said my father, and he said here am I, who art thou my son, and Jacob
said unto his father, I am Esau, thy firstborn, just bold face line, I have done according
as thou betest me, arise I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless
me, and let me stop there for a moment, because Jacob listened to the advice of his mother,
okay, and children, there can be times, I'm not saying there will be times, I'm saying
that it can happen, especially if you grow up in an ungodly, unfaithful, non-Christian
family, okay, that your parents may ask you to do deceptive things, they might ask you
to lie and do untruths, they might ask you to sin, employees, your employer might ask
you to do deceptive things, might ask you to lie, to do sinful things, okay, our government,
you know, might ask us to lie, to be deceptive, to do ungodly things, to do sins, what do
we do when we've been asked by those in authority to do wrong things, do we listen to them,
the Bible says in Acts 5 29, then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought
to obey God rather than man, who do we obey guys, we obey God rather than man, alright,
you put God's commandments first, regardless of the pressures that have been put upon you,
okay, now Jacob thinks he's going to miss out on the blessing, that's why they've been
deceptive, alright, you might be forced to lie or just, or feel you need to lie or commit
some sin because you feel like you're going to miss out on something, don't worry about
it, you obey God, you do what's right, God knows what's going on, God is saying what's
going on, he'll settle things, he'll make sure things are right, Psalm 27 says, some
trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our
God, there are many nations today that trust in their armies, that trust in their firepower,
you know, their gunships and their airplanes, their armies, their navy, you know, they trust
in their power, they think they're a powerhouse, I'd rather remember the name of the Lord our
God because God can wipe them out in an instant, in fact God will, Jesus Christ when he comes
back will wipe out these armies of the Antichrist just by speaking the two-edged sword that
comes out of his mouth, I mean, you know, no fire power on this earth can match the
power of God, Psalm 118 verse 8 says, it is better to trust in the Lord than to put
confidence in man, it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes,
even people in authority, even in power of money, it's still better to trust God than
those people that have power and authority on this earth and Romans 13 verse 1 says,
let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God,
the powers that be are ordained of God, so look, if you're under the authority, yes,
obey them but you need to be subject to the higher powers, what's higher than the government,
what's higher than your parents, what's higher than your employers, what's higher than your
church pastor, God, you put God first, you be subject to him, you make sure that you
do what he's commanded to you, even if that means you have to go against the authorities
that are under God, you be subject to the higher powers, Rebecca and Jacob should have
been subject to the higher power, the Lord God, verse number 20 and Isaac said unto his
son, how is it that thou has found it so quickly my son and he said because the Lord thy God
brought it to me, oh what a lie, I mean not only have they been deceptive, this is what
deceivers do, oh God told me, God told me, you know I have a situation in Sydney, one
man full of flattery, oh God's using this church, you know God's using you, this is
going to be a massive church full of flattery, God's working you guys, now he's been kicked
out of church for being a railer, okay, hey I thought God told you to love this church,
I thought God wanted you in this church and now you're turning the hearts of people against
one another in the church, that's what deceivers do, that's how they are, they say talk about
God, God's done this, God told me this, God told me to be in this church, next week they're
out of church, man you know that's what's going on here with Jacob, you know you say
this is God's decision, no it's the weakness of your own heart, oh man you bring God into
your deception, how despicable, I lost my place, what am I up to guys, sorry 21, yeah
21, and Isaac said unto Jacob, come near I pray thee, that I may feel thee my son, whether
thou be my very son Esau or not, so you see Jacob has some questions, I'm not sure if
this is Esau, but he's blind, he's been blind and he can't see, verse number 22, Jacob went
near unto Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, the voice of Jacob, the voice is
Jacob's voice, but the hands of the hands of Esau, and he discerned him not, because
his hands were hairy and his brother Esau's hands, so he blessed him, and he said thou
art my very son Esau, and he said I am, and he said bring it near to me and I will eat
of my son's venison and my soul shall bless thee, and he brought it near to him and he
did eat and he brought him wine and he drank, and his father Isaac said unto him, come near
now and kiss me my son, and he came near and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of the
ramen and blessed him and said, so before I keep reading, verse number 27, he's got
questions, again, are you really my son, he says yep I am, he feels his hands, they're
hairy, he says come close so I can kiss you, and he does it so he can see, you know what
kind of clothing are you wearing, how do you smell, and because he's wearing Esau's clothes
he smells like Esau, you know like a wild hunter out there in the field, you know, and
there's instinct in Isaac, you can see some instincts there, some gut, a gut feeling,
things aren't right, sometimes you need to listen to your gut feeling, you need to listen
to your instincts, I'm not very good at this, I don't think men are very good at this, I
think women are generally pretty good at this, I mean there's plenty of times where my wife
has said you know that person's a bit odd, that person's a bit, I'm like honey come on,
you know, why do you have to be that way, next thing you find out yeah they are odd,
next thing you find out they're a deceiver, next thing you find out they're you know in
wickedness or whatever, it's happened many times, I'm sure there are husbands here that
can say the same thing, you know your wives have given you a tip off about something,
you've been like ah come on honey, and it's actually been true, alright, I think ladies
generally are sort of more in touch with the instincts in this area, okay, but it doesn't
mean men can't, you know obviously we see Isaac here, he has some instincts, and sometimes
you, at the end of the day he still is deceived, he gives in to the deception, he tries to
find out the truth, but he's deceived all the way through, again why, because he's blinded,
okay, and we need to be careful, okay, you know you might have the gut instincts, this
doesn't seem right, this person seems wrong, this pastor seems like I don't know about
this guy, you know, and you might just try things and at the end of the day you know
you've given it some effort, you know you need to listen to your instincts, you know
if you've got some concerns, maybe you need to bring it to other people, maybe you just
need to take it to God, you know, and find out the truth, and see, you know, if there
are other situations, you know, Isaac maybe could have done further research, but you
know he accepted what he had, what he smelled, what he felt, and was deceived, was deceived,
and that's how strong deception can be, you know once you've been deceived, it's actually
very hard for someone to admit they've been deceived, that's something else I've noticed,
you know when someone believes they false doctrine, and they've been teaching it for
years, and they get to a point where they even think this could be wrong, it's very
hard for them to let go of it, very hard, once you're deceived, it's hard, what's the
saying, it's easier to be deceived than to admit you've been deceived, something along
those lines, there is a saying like that, I believe that's very very true, let's keep
reading verse number 27, and at the end of it it says, see the smell of my son is the
smell of a field which the Lord has blessed him, verse 28, therefore God gives thee the
dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine, let people serve
thee, and nations bow down to thee, be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons
bow down to thee, cursed be everyone that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth
thee, so you can see it's the same promises, the same blessings that God gave to Abraham,
to Isaac, he has now given this to what he believes is Esau, but it's actually Jacob,
verse number 30, and it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made the end of blessing Jacob,
and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his
brother came in from the hunting.
Now the next point that I want to just bring up here before we keep reading, there is a
saying that says the ends does not justify the means, have you guys heard that one before,
the ends does not justify the means, what that means is you might have a goal, you might
have a set goal which is righteous, which is good, but you decide to take a wicked path
to get there, you know, you may decide to deceive people to get to that target quicker,
you know, give you one example that many of you are aware of, let's say somebody wants
to be ordained as a pastor, but they believe wicked heresy, okay, now the means is probably
good, being a pastor, it's a good work the Bible says, okay, but they hide these things,
they hide these false doctrines, they become deceptive about it, you know, they're trying
to reach the means, but you know, what's the saying again, the end, sorry, no, the end
is good, sorry, the end is good, but the mean by which they're trying to get to that
end, they're being deceptive about it, we need to be careful about that, because again,
the end might be good, you might say, well, I need to get there, that's a righteous thing,
but the way you go about it can be very ungodly, can be very wicked, and this is what we're
seeing here, because it is Jacob that was meant to be blessed by Isaac, okay, and mum
and son were concerned it's not going to happen, so let's deceive that and make sure it's going
to happen.
Listen, God already promised to Rebekah that Isaac would be the one, take your Bibles and
go to Genesis 25, keep your finger there in 27, but go to Genesis 25 verse 22, let's just
remind ourselves, Genesis 25 verse 22, we cannot commit theft, we cannot lie, we cannot
deceive for the cause of Christ, there's no such thing, you do things right according
to God's ways, Genesis 25, 22, and the children struggled together within her, this is within
Rebekah when she was pregnant, and she said if it be so, why am I thus?
And she went to inquire, to who?
Of the Lord, and the Lord said unto her, two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of
people shall be separated from thy bowels, and the one people shall be stronger than
the other people, look at this, and the elder shall serve the younger, God already said
Jacob will be the one in charge, Jacob will be the one where the promises are going to
be given, this was already promised by God, there's no need to be deceptive about it,
okay, even when you think it's not going to happen, God's going to step in, you either
allow God to step in and do what he says, or you try to step in and be deceptive about
it, they didn't wait, they could have been faithful, God would have sorted it out, Jacob
would have been blessed, no matter what, if they just trusted in the Lord, the Lord already
said what's going to happen, now we don't know what might have happened, we don't get
the story, because they became deceptive, they found some other method, I've heard people
preach, oh you know God was okay with their deception because it was Jacob that needed
to be blessed, no, that's not right, they were deceptive, they could have just waited
on the Lord, the Lord would have made sure it was going to happen, I'll read to you from
Romans 9 6, just quickly, I'll just read it to you, not as though the word of God have
taken none effect, for they are not all Israel which are of Israel, listen, the word of God
has an effect, we can't say that it has no effect, once he promises, it's going to happen,
alright, verse number 7, neither because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all
children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called, so we see Isaac, yeah, the blind father, that
is, verse number 8, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of
God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed, verse number 9, for this is
the word of promise, at this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son, God gives
a promise, once God promises, just rest in it, it's going to happen, alright, verse number
11, sorry, verse number 10, and not only this, but when Rebekah also had conceived by one,
even our father Isaac, verse number 11, for the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to the election might stand,
not of works, but of him that calleth, it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the
younger, Rebekah knew what God had said to her, Rebekah knew that Jacob would be the
one that would bring in that promise seed into this world, she was doing what she thought
was right, right, she saw the end and the end was Jacob needs to be blessed, but the
means by which she journeyed was deception, was wrong, she took it into her own hands,
listen to me, when God makes a promise, God's going to take care of it, if you have prayer
requests, you need God to step in your lives, you let God do it then, if you are unable
to do it, righteously, in the right way, you let God deal with it, otherwise you're going
to be tempted to do things ungodly, in ungodly ways, to do things contrary to his word, to
fulfil that request you need, listen, if you can't do it in a godly manner, leave it to
God to take care of, leave it to God, God would have taken care of this, I don't know
how, but God says he would have, because he made the promise, God would have taken care
of it, they went and became deceptive and found their own ways, let's go to verse number
31 please, in Genesis 27, verse 31, I'll try to speed up now guys, verse number 31,
and he that being Esau also made savoury meat and brought it to his father, and said unto
his father, let my father arise and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless
me, and Isaac his father said unto him, who art thou, and he said, I am thy son, thy first
born Esau, and Isaac trembled very exceedingly and said, who, where is he that have taken
venison, and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have
blessed him, yea, and he shall be blessed, and when Esau heard the words of his father,
he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, bless me even,
me also, oh my father, and he said, thy brother came in with subtlety, and have taken away
thy blessing, and he said, is not he rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these
two times, he took away my birthright, remember that, he says he took away my birthright,
he gave it away, he despised the birthright, the Bible says, alright, but anyway, and behold
now he hath taken away my blessing, and he said, listen, the blessing came with the birthright,
those things came together, alright, Esau gave it away, he also gave away the blessing,
this is why God through his eyes knew which of these sons wanted the blessing, which of
these sons wanted the birthright, which of these sons was caring about the promise of
God to bring Jesus into this world, it was Jacob, and so Jacob got the promise, okay,
it would have happened even without the deception, verse number 37, sorry, verse number 36, and
he said, is he not rightly named, oh sorry, I did read that, he's taken away my blessing,
and he said, hast thou not received a blessing for me, verse number 37, and Isaac answered
and said unto Esau, behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given
to him for servants, and with corn and wine have I sustained him, and what shall I do
now unto thee my son, he said, look, I've already blessed him, it's too late, verse
number 38, and Esau said unto his father, hast thou but one blessing my father, bless
me, even me also, oh my father, and Esau lifted up his voice and wept, and Isaac his father
answered and said unto him, behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and the
dew of heaven from above, and by thy sword shalt thou live, and shall serve thy brother,
so again, remember, it's Eden, the descendants of Esau that would serve eventually Israel,
they would live on the land of Canaan under the Israelites, and they would pay taxes,
they would pay tribute in order for them to live on the land, and that's what the father
is prophesying up here, that thou shall serve thy brother, that's the nations that would
come out of these two, and shall come to pass when thou shall have the dominion that thou
shall break his yoke off, sorry, break his yoke from off thy neck, I believe I was looking
into this a little bit, if you're curious, you might want to write down 2 Kings 8.20,
2 Kings 8.20, we see that Edom has a, you know, stops paying taxes and they rebel against
Israel, so this might be the fulfilment of what is being spoken of here in verse number
40, anyway, verse number 41, and Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his
father blessed him, and this is what happens with deception, guys, you deceive your family,
you deceive people in church, what's going to happen? You're going to cause people to
hate you, you're going to cause your brethren to hate you because of your deception, it
doesn't end well, it never ends well being a deceiver. And Esau said in his heart, the
days of mourning for my father were at hand, then I will slay my brother Jacob, now thankfully
Jacob lives, sorry, Isaac lives for many, many more years, I think, I could be wrong,
but at least 20 years I think, I'll have to fact check that a little bit later, so he
says, look, once my father dies, I'm going to go and kill my brother, you know, it's
almost like that Cain attitude, you know, killing Abel there, and verse number 42, and
these words of Esau, her eldest son was told to Rebekah, so Rebekah hears about Esau wanting
to kill his brother, and again, remember Jacob is Rebekah's favourite, and she sent
and called Jacob, her younger son, and said unto him, behold thy brother Esau, as touching
thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee, now therefore my son, obey my voice
and arise, flee thou to Laban, my brother to Haran, and tarry with him a few days until
thy brother's fury turn away, until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, that he forget
that which thou hast done to him, and then I will send and fetch thee from thence, why
should I be deprived also of you both in one day, again, deception has consequences, Rebekah
realises the deception they've caused has angered Esau to the point of him making an
oath to kill his brother Jacob, to kill her favoured son, you know, and so she has to
send Jacob away, send him away to save his life, and now she can't be with her favoured
son, you know, now she's paying the penalty, she's paying the cost of deception, she can't
be with the son that she gets along with best, alright, yeah deception has its consequences,
let's keep reading verse number 46, verse number 46, now what's interesting about these
two chapters that we're reading now, 26 and also 25, they both end with a very similar
story, okay, if you guys just go back to, sorry guys, we're in Genesis 27 aren't we,
we're in Genesis 27, Genesis 27 ends in a very similar way to Genesis 26, alright, if
you guys just look back in Genesis 26, just the last verses there, verse number 34, Genesis
26, verse 34, it's talking about Esau here, it's that Esau was 40 years old when he took
to wife Judith the daughter of Veri, the Hittites, and Bashamath the daughter of Elon the Hittite,
which were a great grief of mine unto Isaac and to Rebekah, so we learnt about Esau taking
ungodly women from the land of Canaan to be his wife, to be their wives, and that this
was a burden, a grief to his parents, but look at verse number 46 in chapter 27, chapter
27, verse 46, the way this ends as well, it says, and Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary
of my life because of the daughters of Heph, if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heph,
such as these which are the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me, and that's
how it ends, okay, so we see, you know, even though time has progressed here, these wives
that Esau has taken is just a grief to Rebekah, I mean they're having bad mother-in-law, daughter-in-law
relations right now, okay, and she doesn't want Jacob to take the same women to be his
wife, she doesn't want the women of the land of Canaan to be a wife to Jacob, and so just
keep those two things in mind, the Bible ends these two chapters with a very similar story
because it keeps leading into the next chapter, the next chapter, so we'll get onto that next
week, so just in summary guys, just very quickly, thank you for your patience, it's been a long
chapter, number one, be careful about being deceived, the only way you're going to save
yourself from deception is to have, to be able to see clearly, to see clearly through the Word of
God, listen to your instincts as well, husbands, listen to your wives when they have instincts,
they're not always right, but very often they are right, okay, about their personal instincts,
listen to them as well, the second thing, the main key thing that I want to take away from this
guys is that you need to trust in the Lord, once the Lord has promised you something, God will make
sure he meets it, don't be deceptive with the way you live your lives, even if you have a righteous
end to it, you know, the end does not justify the means, we cannot be deceptive people, you start
deceiving people, you start deceiving people in this church, like Esau, they're going to hate you,
it's going to cause problems in this church, be careful of deception, let's pray.