Esau Sells His Birthright

I have often had conversations with individuals, either with individual families or with individual how should we say, individuals with just different opinions who ask questions about what we do here and raise objections or cautions about what we do here. And the objections and cautions that people raise about what we do here all seem to center around this idea that if you pay too much attention to what families are supposed to be and what they're supposed to do, then somehow you are painfully close to making an idol of the family, or that some how you are painfully close to excluding people who don't have perfect families or come from perfect families. And always when I hear those objections, I tell people that I now know two things about you. Number one, you have not been to GFBC, and two you think way too highly of us. I've run into families who said, yeah, I heard about your church, but you know, we haven't come to visit your church, and I have to just admit that right there, my heart just kind of goes, yes, thank you. You need to get rid of some of the folks who are coming to visit. No, I'm really that's no, he said, You know I thought about church if I haven't come to visit your church, and they'll say something that, you know, because our family, our kids, they're just not there. Because the rest of you, all the rest of us, are kids. They've arrived. And it's almost as though people have come to think, or assume or believe that what this is about is ultimately just getting families squared away, getting families properly organized, getting families polished up on the outside, and that somehow that's what this is all about. As a result, one of the things you'll read, you know, Pastor Paul wrote a section in this book on approaches to family ministry that'll be out next month. And as a result, what you will find is even among individuals who are considered to be thoughtful, and they raise some of the same objections. You know, that stuff that you guys are talking about, and what families are called to do and to be. That's great if you have and here's what they say, that's great if you have families who are all highly educated, all very wealthy, and all from pristine family backgrounds. Congratulations, to which Fast Paul just gently responded, you've never been to our church, obviously, because that's just not the case. But having said that, if we're not careful, we'll begin to think that somehow that's what it's all about. Somehow we'll begin to measure ourselves by how well squared away we are on the outside, as if somehow that makes God more able to use us, or as if somehow that is something within the confines or context of our own abilities to accomplish. And nothing could be further from the truth. We are called to live in accordance with what the scriptures teach as it relates to our individual lives and as it relates to our families. There is no question about that. However, if we get to the place to where we begin to believe that there is somehow a formula that will guarantee success, we have left Bible country and we are on our way to the land of disappointment. There is no formula, There is no paint by numbers kit, and there are no guarantees. But here's the good news. Your family being squared away is also not a prerequisite for God using you. If it were, there would be no Jacob, there would be no Isaac, and there would have been no Abraham. If the prerequisite is we have to have all of our eyes dotted and our teas crossed in order to be worth anything in the kingdom. There would have been no seth because Adam and Eve proved their unworthiness with canaan Abel Amen. So where do we strike that balance between being people who understand that we are called, that we are commanded to live in accordance with what the scriptures teach as it relates to our families, the way that we govern ourselves, and the way that we live, and at the same time recognizing that God is the one who calls, God is the one who saves, God is the one who transforms, and we are utterly dependent upon him for the results. However do we strike that balance. I'm glad you asked open your bibs with bibles with me to Genesis chapter twenty five, and we'll see if there's something found here in the life of Isaac crossing over with the life of Jacob that will help us answer these questions and strike this balance. Genesis chapter twenty five. And I want you to recognize that in Genesis chapter twenty five, what we're learning is this God uses messed up families that should have been a whole bunch of folks shouting Amen. Right there. Okay, let let me try that again. What we learn in Genesis twenty five is God uses messed up families. Amen. Okay. Beginning of verse nineteen, these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham fathered Isaac. He's already got problems. If we've been tracking along, we realize Isaac already has difficulty right there, because Abraham is the one who fathered him. And just previously, we've read about Abraham's fathering record and it's not at all pretty. So right here, Isaac has issues. And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramien of Padan Aram the sister of Laban the Aramien, to be his wife. Now we read about Laban that he's now related to, and we see a whole other host of problems that Isaac has in his life that he's not even aware of yet. Amen. We're going to hear about Lei even in just a little while, as it relates to Jacob. And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because she was barren, and the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebecca his wife conceived, and everything was fine. After that, No, the children struggled together within her, and she said, if it is thus, why is this happening to me? So she went to inquire of the Lord, and the Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided. The one shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger. When her days to give birth were completed, behold there were twins in her womb. The first came out red all his body, like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. Afterward, his brother came out with his hand holding Esau's heel, so his name was called Jacob, or heel Grammer. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling intense. Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebecca loved Jacob. Once, when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field and he was exhausted, and Esau said to Jacob, let me eat some of that red stew for I am exhausted. Therefore his name was called eatom. This refers to his redness. Okay, so he's got His names are based on number one, the fact that he's harry, and the other the fact that he's read. Amen. Hello, I'm a harry red guy. Nice to meet you. Jacob said, sit down, brother, you're hungry, I'll feed you. Not quite, Jacob said, sell me your birthright now. Esau said, I'm about to die of what uses a birthright to me? Jacob said, swear to me now. So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and savored the meal since it had cost him his birthright. And he hovered over the food, enjoying every tender. No, he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. God uses messed up families. In fact, he has no other choice, Amen, because from the first family on there have been messed up families, and nothing but messed up families. There are some families that have reached a sort of mythological you know, status, But those families are just that they are myth. Every family is a messed up family. The only question is in what area are you messed up? It is a myth that there are somehow families that aren't messed up. It is a myth that somehow, if you just did two or three things different, then your family would no longer be messed up. All your family may be better off than it is now, but trust me, you will still have a messed up family. You were born to a messed up family, You established a messed up family. You will leave a messed up family when you die, and your children will establish messed up families just like you. Amen. Hallelujah, Praise the Lord. Let's just get that out there so we can all take a deep breath. There is no curriculum that will make your family not be messed up. There is no teacher whom you can follow that will make your family not be messed up. There is no system of parenting that will make your kids not be messed up. There is no amount of beating, talking, or begging that will make your children not be messed up? Can I get an amen somewhere? All of those things are very important, but hear me on this to believe that any of those things have the ability to negate the realities of the fall is idolatry. To believe that what's wrong with your children is that you didn't use the right method or mechanism is idolatry because you just said all they needed was me being more effective. Not all they need is Christ and his Cross. That's idolatry, pure and simple. It's idolatry. By the good news, of course, is God uses messed up families. How's this family messed up? Well, in the number of ways? Number one, this family's messed up because they come from messed up stock. Amen, we see that in the first part. We're back in verse nineteen. Where's Isaac's problem come from? These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son. There you go right there. And by the way, we're going to see this later on, because Isaac is going to sin in some ways that he learned from his father. This hole, she's not really my life gain that a Abraham played on a number of occasions. His son Isaac learned how to play that very same game he did. So he's messed up. They're messed up. Their families messed up because of what they come from. Listen, your family's messed up because of what you come from. My family's messed up because of what we come from. We start off messed up because of what we come from. And I mean that in at least two ways. Here's the first way. The first way is that there are things in our family that we have seen, that we have learned, that we have developed appetites for, that are sinful, that are displeasing to God, every last one of us, all of us. There are things that were messed up in our family, that are messed up in us. Even some of those things we fight against tooth and nail because of what we have seen and what we have had passed down to us. So that's the first reason that they come from messed up stock, or the first way in which they come from messed up stock. All the things that were present in Abraham, all the sins that were present in Abraham, all of those things that Isaac saw that he was raised in the midst of that he developed appetites for, and you and me the same way. There are things that we saw, There are things that we learned to tolerate. There are things that we developed appetites for that are sinful, that are sinful. Now there is some degree to which you know. You come to faith in Christ, and all of a sudden your eyes are opened and you see things in your past. You see these things in your family that were handed down to you, and you realize that they were wrong and they are warped, and by God's grace, you begin to run in the other direction. But you know as well as I do, that there are other things in your family's history that you lived with for a long time as a believer before you realize that they were a problem. Amen, there were some things that even went beyond that. You didn't just realize there were a problem, but you made excuses for them. The unsubmissive wife who blames the color of her hair or her ethnicity. You can't say amen. You want to say, house, I know I'm unsubmissive. I know I shouldn't talk to my husband like that. But you know I'm a hot blooded fill in the blank whatever. You know. I come from this ethnic background, that ethnic background. I have these people in my family. And by the way, here's what's ironic about that. It doesn't matter what ethnic background you come from. Everybody uses it as an excuse. Whether it's Irish or Italian or Hispanic or black or whatever. Everybody finds something in their background ethically and they go, yeah, this group of people is known for being loud, or known for being argumentative, or known for being expressive, or known for being whatever. And as a result of me being one of those people, I have an excuse. Yes it's sinful, but this particular sin is to be overlooked by all because of the family that I happen to be born to help you, And what you learn after a while is there is no ethnicity that doesn't have an excuse for some kind of simple behavior. Amen. So we all just kind of find one figure one out. You know, some people make up excuses for ethnicities they don't even belong to. Amen. Well, you know that it's that scotch Irish blood in me. I don't know if you know this or not, but you black, you don't have none of that Scotch Irish blood, and you know, or whatever the case, man, we just make stuff up. You know. Here's the second way that they come from bad stock. We talked before about this whole thing of these generational curses. You know, as though somehow the blood of Jesus is just not powerful enough to deal with generational sin. And people talk about all these generational curses or whatever. There is one generational curse that is real, and that's the curse that we all inherit from Adam. So number one, by virtue of being Abraham's kid, he's got baggage in his background that messes him up. And number two, by virtus of being the descendant of his federal head, Adam, he's got baggage in his background that makes him messed up. And you and I the exact same way. The earthly family that you came from messed you up. But don't get mad at him, because it doesn't matter which earthly family you came from, you'd have just been messed up in a different way. Amen. And secondly, being born in Adam, as every man is, you're messed up. So's there's the first problem with his family and all families the stock that they come from. How does this manifest itself? Well, manifest itself in a number of way. Here's problem Number two. Mom and dad are not on the same page. Mom and Dad are not on the same page. That's a problem. There is no unity with mom and Dad, look with me if you will look at verse twenty seven. When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man dwelling in tents. Isaac loved Esau. And that next phrase is absolutely telling. Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game. We'll get to that momentarily. But Rebecca loved Jacob. So here's mom and dad. One's heart is pointed toward this child, the other's heart is pointed toward that child. We have a problem. Number one, they come from baggage. Secondly, mom and dad are not on the same page. This is a messed up family. When mom and dad are not on the same page. When mom and dad are not moving in the same direction, when mom and dad do not have the same marching orders, there is a problem within the context of that family. It doesn't work that way. There's nothing but conflict and hardship and heartache when it doesn't work. And we will see this later on in this very same family. We will see a replay of this scene of the birthright and the conflict between the two brothers, and the conflict between mom and dad manifesting itself again as it relates to the birthright. But this family has a problem because mom and dad are on different pages. Mom and dad are not walking in unity. Newsflash, your family has the same problem. How do I know that? Because you are not too identical entities, you are too separate sinful entities. And because you two separate sinful entities got married. I don't care how well the two of you have learned how to get along with one another. You are not always on the same page, whether you admit it or not, you're not, by the way. That's why God commands submission from a wife. Do you ever wonder about that? That's why commands husbands to live with their wives in an understanding manner. Why do you have to command that? If all we need is love and to follow our hearts, and if we're just overwhelmed by love, then we gaze longingly into one another's eyes and we feel so deeply and so please that in a few bucks and get you a couple of coffee, cup of coffee. All right, But that's not real. That's not real. That's the movies, that's TV. That's not real. That's not where we live. It's not real. Not My favorite quote on this whole thank it was from none other than Ruth. Graham was talking about her and Billy and their marriage lasted all those years, and they were talking about they brought up the issue of compatibility and how compatible the two of them were, and Ruth said basically that they weren't very compatible, but that was okay, because if the two of them were the same, one of them would be unnecessary. Amen. Two people getting married to sinful people enter into a covenant with one another, and God commands husbands to live with their wives and understanding manner. Because it's not our natural bent. We don't do it naturally. We must not only learn to do it, we must be commanded to do it. She should be a whole lot of deep base. Amen's out there right now. Okay, we just don't. Wives submit yourselves to your own husbands as unto the Lord. Not submit yourself to your husband when he's worthy of it, because he never will be that he was worthy of it. You wouldn't have to be commanded to submit to him. Women walking around complaining because they don't feel like submitting to their husband. Why would you feel like submitting to your husband? Why would you expect to feel like submitting to your husband. You were commanded to do it. God doesn't go around commanding you to do the stuff that you feel like doing. No doe. God never commands you to love yourself. Never, But he says love your neighbor as yourself. He doesn't say, love your neighbor and also love yourself. No, God says, I already know you love you. Your sin makes you love you. So take that loving of you that you have always have had and always will have, amen, and turn it towards your neighbor. If you want to see how to treat your neighbor, see how you treat yourself that you absolutely love you love yourself? Well, No, actually I have no self esteem, liar, The Bible says, no man hates his own flesh. You don't have low self esteem. You know what your problem is. Your problem is that other people don't think this highly about you as you do, and that makes you feel bad. So you get two sinful people who get married to one another, two people with different bents and different desires, and they get married to one another, And Isaac and Rebecca are married to one another. One's heart is pointed in this direction. The other's heart is pointed in that direction as it relates to their children. They're not like the rest of us who don't have any favorites among our children at any period of time. This is a messed up family. Thirdly, this is a messed up family because they're sibling rivalry from the womb. From the womb, their sibling rivalry. She has to go to God and ask God, what's going on on the inside of me? Because this is not right. From the womb. There's rivalry between Jacob and Esau, and that's not good. This is a messed up family. But this is not the first family to have sibling rivalry. In fact, the first family to have sibling rivalry was the first family. The first set of brothers ever to walk the face of the earth in the most pristine and perfect condition that the world has ever seen, became the foundation for the first murder that ever occurred, as Cain killed his brother Abel, the first two people ever to be brothers that we know of, and one of them kills the other. And you think all you need to do is tweak your parenting a little bit and you won't have sibling rivalry in your house. Who do you think you are. Let me, honestly, who do we think we are? It's just a matter of a little tweaking. It's just a matter of being better parents than Adam and Eve were. We could just be better parents than Adam and Eve were. We can just get rid of this whole sibling rivalry thing, and our family wouldn't be messed up in this way. In the words of that theologian doctor Phil, how's that working for you, m Does this mean that we don't teach our children and train our children as it relates to the way they interact with one another, as to the way that it relates to them loving one another and treating one another's No, No, it doesn't mean that at all. In fact, this is the reason we have to do that. See well, we'll get to that in a moment. But that's what all of this is pointing to. This is the reason that we have to deal with these things. Not only is this family messed up just sort of corporately and in theory, but this family's messed up individually. Rebecca has a problem. What's her problem? Her problem is she's infertile. That's a problem. It's a problem. In general. Infertility is a problem. In general, Families that wrestle with infertility are often torn apart. It is one of the most difficult things for a couple to walk through together. It's infertility, but not only is she infertile, but her infertility is compounded. Why well, Number one, because she's married to a man who came from a couple that was infertile until they were nearly one hundred, so he is acutely aware of the problem. Here's number two. There's this little issue of a promise that was made to Abraham that is going to flow through Isaac, who gets married at forty and then doesn't have a baby till sixty. Rebecca's infertility is a problem. That's a problem. You know what I hadn't thought about until the last couple of weeks. Sarah's she's dyed, she's gone for Abraham's alive. All the way up to the birth of Jacob, Abraham's infertile. He goes and he sins because he didn't know how to deal with his infertility. God gives him this promise, and all of a sudden he comes around. Yes, I'm gonna send these other sons off, but this one I'm going to give everything, because this is the one through whom the promise is going to come. Now, I wanna make sure that my son marries. Well, here, I'm gonna make these arrangements, make sure that he marries. Well, fine, I've got my son married. Well, I'm getting old. I'm not gonna be here much longer. They're married. Okay, Now, Isaac Rebecca go and Abraham has to watch for twenty years. Anybody think you got a corner on the waiting for grand babies market. He watches, and he waits and he agonizes for twenty years. How do you think that made Rebecca feel? Do you think Abraham had to say a word to her. He's been talking about this promise. We've got the first fruits of the promise. We've got the Promised Land, even though it's just just a little smidgeon of the Promised Land. But it's here. We've got Isaac. God is fulfilling the promise. It's here, this is us. And they probably got tired of hearing Abraham talk about the promise, the promise, the promise, and twenty years go by and nothing. You ain't on a baby today somehow thinking maybe maybe I just made God mad? Maybe there are two or three things that I should have twist in my life. And then somehow God would have lacked me enough to give me a baby, or give me another baby, or whatever the case may be. How come I don't have as many babies as so and so has. And again this is for those people out there that you know of. I'm sure no one in this room has ever struggle with any of this. I'm sure there's no one in this room who's ever beating themselves up because they cut off the blessing of children. Sure, no, no one, no one here. Absolutely we're messed up. And there's no program, there's no tweaking of just a couple of things. We're messed up. Not only is Rebecca messed up, Isaac is messed up. Look at Isaac. Think about this. Isaac is the son of Promise. He has this older brother who despises him because the older brother is not the son of Promise. The older brother's mad. They're sitting me and my mother into the desert to die. And yet this word comes to Rebecca and one would assume is translated to Isaac. Jacob's the one Isaac not esau. Isaac's response, I don't care. This one brings me venison, and that's all it takes to be my favorite. I like the red hairy one who brings me game because my appetite is what rules me. So he's my favorite because of what I like to taste, because of what I like to eat, because of what I like to consume. It is not about the promise. It is about my flesh and my desires. Isaac is a messed up man. He is ruined in some ways, even worse than his father. His father eventually came around. Abraham eventually says, no, Isaac, I'm giving it all to you. You are the son of promise. Abraham says that about Isaac. Isaac does and do the right thing, except for the fact that he's tricked by his wife and his son. He never comes around. Isaac is a messed up father, and so am I, and so are you. And we don't even have to look hard, do we, man, We don't have to look hard at all. And it's not a matter of tweaking. It's not just you know, because you know, my father didn't do this. My father didn't do that. I wasn't raised in the right environment. Oh yeah, that's all it would have taken for you to be just fine. No, your father could have been the first man on the face of the planet, born and complete and utter innocence and perfection, and you still could have killed your brother. Not only is Isaac messed up, Esau is first born. It's messed up. Esau is a man like his father, driven by his appetite. I'm hungry. Give me some of that redgs too. Give me your birthright? His response, what's a birthright to me? I'm hungry. I want that rench too. You want my birthright, it's yours. I want my appetite to be satisfied. That's what I want. I have no long term vision, Jacob, I'm not living for anything beyond the here and the now. That doesn't matter to me. I'm hungry, Thank you very much, give me that. What do you want? You want my birthright? Whatever? You get a double portion, blessing have what's fine? You take two to my one? Whatever? I want to stew. Jacob's messed up too. What's his name? He'll grab her schemer caniver? What's he doing? Heal grabbing? Mom's whispered in his ear. You're the one son that's not enough for him. It's not enough for me to God says, I'm the one. I gotta take it. I have to manipulate it. I have to make it happen here and now, and I'll take advantage of my brother at his weakest moment in order to do it. Folks, this is a messed up family. But follow me on this, because here's where we can make the mistake. This is a messed up family. And so this is just all about Isaac just tweaking a couple of things in the way that he fathers his family. And if Isaac had just tweaked a couple of things in the way that he fathered his family, then Jacob and Esau would have been better sons. And if Isaac had just tweaked a couple of things and the way that he was a husband to Rebecca, then Rebecca would have been a better wife because Isaac would have Do you hear me? What are we saying? In essence, we're into the same trap that this family fell into. How's this family gonna be useful in the hands of God? The answer at every point is the same God's call, God's promise, Isaac, how are you gonna be useful? In the hands of God. God's saying to Isaac, it's me, son, It's not you. You're the son of promise. Yes, yes, I'm the son of Promise, and here we go. No, you don't. No, you don't, because there will be no next generation unless God speaks forth life in the womb of your wife. You are not the answer, Isaac. God is the answer, and God shows him this at point one, just like he showed Abraham. Okay, God, I got Ishmael. Let's go. No, sir, Ishmael is the son of your flesh, the son of promise. You did not obey me, you did not trust me. He's not the answer. God did not say. Oh, if you had just tweaked three or four principles, been sure. No, it's not tweaking three or four more principles. It's God invading our lives. That's what we are in desperate need of. Oh, if Rebecca had only been a more submissive wife. No, it's true Rebecca should have been a more submissive wife. But Rebecca's problem was not her outward submission to her husband. Rebecca's problem is the same as all wives problems. Why have submit yourself to your own husband as to the Lord. A submission problem for a husband is merely a symptom of a submission problem to God. He didn't need to just go to a conference and learn two or three more principles. She needed her life invaded by Almighty God. And what we see is fruit of an unregenerate heart. That's the problem. Or if they had just beat on Jacob and Esau just a little bit more, if they just whipped him a few hundred more times. Now, granted, these boys probably needed a few more whoopings than they got, but there's not a whoopan in the world that would change who Jacob was on the inside. In fact, it's not till God whips him and breaks his hip that he's no longer Jacob. Now he's Israel. Do we battle? Do we battle? Yes? We battle, Absolutely we battle. But here's the problem. If I believe that all my children need is me battling against their sin, that's idolatry. Know what my children desperately need is the Gospel. So even when I am battling against their sin, I must make sure that they know that I'm not battling against flesh and blood. Yes, this is a flesh and blood moment. Yes, you and I are dealing with this flesh and blood. Yes, as your father, I am executing an exacting punishment and judgment on the sin that I see. But know that I'm only doing this out of obedience to God and in hopes that God will use this moment to call you to himself. Because what you need is God. What you need is the Gospel. What you need is to be born again. That's what you need. Don't you dare begin to believe anything other than that? You dare begin to believe that just by going to this church, somehow your family's gonna be transformed. Don't you dare believe that just by picking up one or two of those books in the back, your family's gonna be all right. Don't you dare believe that's just by bucking one of those little rods in the back, everything's gonna be fine with your kids. You will have white loshed sepulchers who know not God but fool you into thinking that you're somehow a good parent. Don't you dare by that lie you stay on your face before God. You keep preaching the Gospel to your kids. The only answer for Jacob, the only answer for Esaus the Gospel. The only answer is for God to invade the life of these young men, and eventually God does. God invades the life of Jacob. And the problem is that so many of us pray, God, make my words effective for this ch I talk and I talk and I talk. They don't seem to listen. Make my words affective. God, make my discipline effective for this child. When our prayer ought to be God break his hip. God breaker hip. Call them to yourself, call them to yourself. Because if that doesn't happen, the rest is useless. The rest is worthless, the rest is meaningless. If that doesn't happen, it's polishing the brass on the Titanic. Unless God build the house they labor in vain? Who build it? So why spaint my kids? Because God told me to? And I'm believing that He uses every means, just like the Gospel is a means. I believe that only God can save my kid. Yes, I believe that only God can save my kid. But God uses the Gospel. So I'm a priest the Gospel to my kid again and again and again and again. I believe God also uses formative and corrective discipline from parents So I'm going to apply that again and again and again and again, not just so that I can get outward conformity, but because I'm participating with God, just like sharing the gospel, and by the way, sharing the gospel even in those moments, that God might be merciful and save that soul. So I live with my wife in an understanding manner, absolutely, but not to manipulate her and make her a clone of myself with whom I never disagree. Not to dominate her. I do it because, by God's grace, there's a promise attached to it. What's the promise attached to it? That my prayers won't be hindered? Prayers are those they're in First Peter, chapter three and verse seven. Are those prayers that I'm offering for me and the stuff that I want. No, Jane says, I don't have what I ask for because I'm asking to spend on myself. No, those prayers are the prayers that we are praying corporately and my priestly function, Praying for my family, praying for my wife. That's what he's talking about. It's my wife to submit herself to me as her husband, as unto the Lord yes, absolutely, I thought you said it was of no avail. Folks, you do it out of obedience and out of an active worship to God, trusting that God will use it. And again in First Peter chapter three, if your wives has a husband who's disobedient to the word, you just nagging that'll get the job done. No, No, he'll be one without a word by the behavior of his wife as she does what obeys God and trusts God to use her obedience as it means to an end. Do you see this? It's all a matter of perspective. Here's a question you ask yourself. If there's a problem in my family, does it cause me to realize how desperate we all are for God's transforming work, or does it merely embarrass me because of my outward reputation. If the misbehavior of my children merely embarrasses me because of my outward reputation, I'm in sin because I'm worried about me and not their souls. If the unity in my marriage to my wife embarrasses me merely because of how it reflects on my outward reputation, instead of breaking my heart, because our marriage is a living, breathing example of the relationship between Christ and his church. And we are proclaiming a flawed gospel by not being in one accord, which bothers you more your reputation. Would people think about you? Or is this about something more? Is this about something deeper? To Isaac and Rebecca and Jacob and Esau desperately need all all of those things that God says families are to do and to be. Yes, they do, but not one of them would answer their greatest need. Their greatest need is the intervention of Almighty God. That's your greatest need. Because you're in a messed up family. You're in a messed up family. You come from a messed up family. Sir, you're a messed up father, and if that's news to you, you really messed up. Ma'am. You're a messed up wife and a messed up mother, and you got messed up kids. Boys, you're messed up sons. Girls, you're messed up daughters, every last one of you. I don't care how many times people come up to you in a restaurant and brag on how well behaved you are compared to all the other pagans who have no discipline. You're a messed up son, You're a messed up daughter and you need Jesus and your mom and your dad. They correct you, they train you, they discipline you again and again and again because they're being obedient to God and prayerfully, because they understand that it is a means of grace that God uses in your life, and their desire is for you to be saved. I know we all want to go crawl up under something, but here's the good news. God uses messed up families, And when I look at the end of Genesis chapter twenty five, here's what I hear. Hey, voting, you're messed up, but trust me, I've seen worse. I've used worse, which is good news in two ways. Because number one, vote as bad off as you think you are, you still think too much of yourself, and you're worse than you think you are. So it's good news to you that I've seen worse than you think, because you are worse than you think thumb one. Secondly, it's good news to you because that's evidence oh my grace, my mercy, my long suffering, and the plans that I have. If I believe that the only plans that God had for me was to give me outward obedient children and a outwardly attractive marriage. I'd find something else to do. But I'm believing God for souls. I'm believing gods God for souls in this generation. I'm believing God for souls in the next generation. I'm believing God for souls. I'm believing that God has called me to himself and given me the Gospel because he intends to use me to that end. I'm believing that God has sent children into my home because I understand the Gospel and he intends to use me to that end. And all the little pieces of progress that we see, they're wonderful. They are, they really are. And I thank God for every one of them. I do. I thank God for every act of obedience from one of our children. I thank God for every active submission from my wife. I thank God for every piece of understanding that he gives me as a husband, because I recognize that all of that is gravy and it's God smiling on me and nothing else. God's been good and he continues to be good. And it is my prayer that I will see Him be good to me, to my children and to my children's children, and should he tarry to my children's children's children, and that I would not dare stand up before my great great grandchildren and say, your great great grandfather Vodee learned a few parenting techniques, tweaked a few things generations ago, and as a direct result of that, you all have no you can have that. God saved me, God saved my life. God gifted me with her. God gifted us with children, and by his mercy used us in spite of ourselves, so that generation is from now there would be people who bear both our name and his. That's the testimony I'm living for, the testimony of the glorious grace of God and the gospel that changes lives from the inside out. Would you buy with me