Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / Equipped 2026: "Sibling Rivalry and Sovereignty (Gen. 26-28)" by Allen Webster

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Equipped 2026: "Sibling Rivalry and Sovereignty (Gen. 26-28)" by Allen Webster · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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If you opened your Bible and had in one hand the book of Genesis between your thumb and
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first finger, and you had the rest of the Old Testament in your other hand, Exodus through
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Malachi, which hand would hold the most years?
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Now there are more books in the second hand, but you would hold more years in the hand
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that held Genesis because 2,500 of the 4,000 years of Old Testament history are contained
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in the book of Genesis.
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Now in Genesis there are two sections.
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You have chapters 1 through 11, the history of the human race, and then chapters 12 through
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50, the history of the Hebrew race, where you deal with four characters, Abraham, Isaac,
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Jacob, and Joseph.
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When you look at an overview of the book of Genesis, you're looking at six characters.
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These are the generations of, is a key phrase in the book of Genesis, and you have the generations
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of Adam, chapters 1 through 5, Noah, 6 through 11, Abraham, 12 through 24, Isaac, 25, 26,
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Jacob, 27 through 36, and Joseph, 37 through 50.
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Now where we are in this class is between two of those sections.
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We have the last chapter dealing with Abraham and with Isaac, and then we have the beginning
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of the chapters dealing with Jacob.
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So let's go into this section.
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The approach we're going to take is to look at our three chapters that we were assigned
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and cover those briefly, and then we're going to look at sibling rivalry and divine sovereignty
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in chapter 27.
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So we've started up at the airplane view, we're coming down now to the crop duster view,
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we're going to look at the three chapters, and then we'll come down to the ground level
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view and look at just one chapter.
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So let's go into Genesis chapter 26, and I'll just summarize this.
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I'll put on the screen more than I'll be able to say, so if you like to take notes, this
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is a good opportunity to take notes, or you can also just snap a picture with your cell
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phone because we'll go so fast you might not be able to cover much of the material.
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But here we go, chapter 26, 27, 28.
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In chapter 26 we're dealing with the only chapter that deals, the whole chapter deals
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with the life of Isaac.
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Now he was covered partially the last half of the previous chapter, but the first half
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as we studied last hour with Chance, dealt with Abraham and his later life.
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And now the next chapter, it will primarily focus on Jacob, although Isaac will be involved.
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Now this chapter shows that Isaac is following in the footsteps of his father.
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Abraham had traveled after a famine years before, about a hundred years before, to Gerar
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and he stopped there and he had the same interaction with a different Abimelech.
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Abimelech is not a name, it's a title.
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So it's unlikely this is the same Abimelech that we found in Genesis 20 with Abraham,
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but it's the same place.
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And it could have been his son or his grandson, but either way, Isaac has an interaction that's
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very similar to the one that Abraham had with Abimelech earlier.
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And we find that because of the famine, he's traveling toward Egypt.
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God says, don't go to Egypt.
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So he stops and he makes his home in Gerar and there he becomes a very wealthy man.
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God blesses him in fulfilling the promise to Abraham that was renewed to him in the
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first part of this chapter.
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Now we find that he's following in the steps of Abraham, not only physically because he's
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in the same place, but spiritually because he faces the same temptation.
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In the early part of the chapter, he tells the same lie that his father told on two occasions.
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Abraham said that Sarah was his sister.
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She was his sister, but they didn't live together as brother and sister, they lived together
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as husband and wife.
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So it was told with the intent to deceive, which is what a lie is.
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Now the lie is worse with Isaac because his wife was his cousin.
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And so it was even less true when he said that she was his sister.
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And then he forgot after a while, we don't know how long, maybe months have passed.
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And the King James Version says that he's sporting with Rebekah, sporting with.
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That probably means some kind of PDA, public display of affection.
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And the King sees that, maybe looking out the window, and he says, that's not what a
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brother and a sister do.
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And so he confronts him and said, you said she's your sister, but she isn't.
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And he admits that he was afraid that he might be killed because his wife was beautiful and
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someone might take her from him.
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And so he lied.
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But Abimelech shows much higher character than he thought he would.
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And he reprimands him for lying in the first place.
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And then he commands all his people, you don't touch this woman.
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He protected Isaac and Rebekah.
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And so he lives there for a while until they become jealous of him.
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He has a hundredfold crop that comes in, normally 20 or 30% would be considered a good year.
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And so he goes out and brings in more than everybody around him.
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His flocks also grow.
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And they began to fear him and they asked him to leave.
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And so he is a peaceful patriarch.
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That's what we call this chapter, the peaceful patriarch, because he loved peace more than
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he loved possessions or prominence.
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And so he just pulls up stakes and moves.
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And he gets out to where his father had also been earlier and had digged a well and they
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had filled it back up.
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And so he re-dug it and called it by the name that his father had called it.
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And some of those selfish people around says, that's our well.
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And so he lets them have it, moves on to another location, does the same thing.
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And somebody else says, we want this well.
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And so he just moves on to a third place and digs a fresh well there and nobody bothers
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him.
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And so he names it Rehoboth, which means room.
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And there he makes us home for a time.
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And finally, he continues prospering and finally, Bimelech, and he brings his military
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leader and a friend or advisor.
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They come out and talk to Isaac and they say, we want to make a covenant with you.
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You're powerful, you're strong, you're influential.
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We were good to you.
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I made a note where they say this and this is verse 29, that we've done nothing but good
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to you.
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And above that, they ran him off and stole two wells from him.
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That's not only good, but they had protected him and not violated his wife.
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So in that sense, they have been good to him and he's a peaceable man.
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He agrees to a covenant with them.
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And so they enter into this covenant that they'll be allies and not enemies.
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And that brings us then down to the last part of the chapter where Esau, who was born, the
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twins were born, as we saw last hour, when Isaac was 60 years old.
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And now Esau is 40 years old.
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So that would make Isaac 100 years old at the end of chapter 26.
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And Esau is a disappointing son.
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He marries two pagan women that are listed there, Judith and Basimath, and he was a grief
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to his parents.
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So that's how that chapter ends.
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Now we move into chapter 27.
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I'll just give a quick overview, go to 28, come back to 27.
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But in 27, we have Isaac has the blessing stolen, or Esau has the blessing stolen by
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Jacob by Isaac's deception, or he is deceived by Jacob.
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In this chapter, we find that Isaac has decided to bypass the will of God that had been revealed
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earlier when the two children were first born, actually still in the womb, the elder shall
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serve the younger.
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At that time, they did not know the names of the sons nor which one would be the oldest.
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But of course, Esau came out first and Jacob had a hold of his heel and that was the birth
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order, Esau first born, Jacob second born, and so Esau had all the privileges of being
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the first born, but he did not appreciate them.
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As we saw, he sold his birthright earlier for a mess of stew or pottage.
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He said, I'm going to die here today anyway, just give me the food and you can have the
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birthright.
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But then he decides in this chapter, he really wants it back.
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He wants that blessing and so when Isaac suggests to him that if you'll get me some
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venison and make me that savory dish that I really like, I will bless you today.
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But he did it on the down low.
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He didn't tell Rebekah, he did not tell Jacob, he just told Esau, but Rebekah overheard it.
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I don't know if she was eavesdropping or just happened to be close enough that she heard
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this conversation.
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Now this time, Isaac's eyes are no longer, they're dim, he's blind, he cannot even see
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someone directly in front of him, and so it could be that she was nearby and he didn't
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know it, or it could be that she was behind the door somewhere, but anyway, she overhears
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that Isaac has determined to give the blessing to Esau instead of her favorite, who is Jacob.
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Now she begins to very quickly concoct a scheme, she brings Jacob in, he's agreeable
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to it, they deceive Isaac and he blesses Jacob.
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He says that your brothers will serve you, you're going to have the best of the land,
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and the spiritual blessings have been extended from Abraham down through me now to you in
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connection to Genesis 12, 1-7, those four promises listed there that when God called
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Abraham out of Ur and blessed him for being obedient to him.
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Now that has passed down through Isaac in the first part of chapter 26, and now it's
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passing down unwittingly, as far as Isaac is concerned, to the one God chose, who is
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Jacob.
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He intended to give it to Esau, but he's blind, Jacob lies and says he is Esau, he receives
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the blessing, and then the firstborn was denied the blessing and served the younger just as
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God had predicted and willed, and then Esau comes in about the same time that Isaac is
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leaving having taken the blessing, and he's cooked the food, he's brought it in, and he
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says in effect, here's your meal, dad, and Isaac says, who are you?
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I'm Esau, and then Isaac trembles exceedingly because he understands what has happened.
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Esau weeps, begs, but Isaac says there's nothing I can do about it, he's blessed and he will
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be blessed, but don't you have a second blessing for me, and so he gave him, Esau, another
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blessing, but it was almost like a blessing mixed with a curse, there was some of both
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in it, because he had already given all the good stuff to Jacob, and there was very little
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left to give to Esau, but he blesses him, and he does say that at times your descendants
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will rule over his descendants, and we see that happens in the history that's revealed
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after this, but not very often, normally the Jews were over the Edomites.
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Now that's chapter 27, now chapter 28, the last of the chapters for this hour's assignment,
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each chapter you'll notice has the key verse, the key thought, an outline, and the title
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to it on the screen, so this one we call a ladder to heaven, because this is where Jacob
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has to leave his father and mother, because Esau has vowed to kill him because of the
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trickery, he said as soon as dad dies, I'm going to take care of him, and he received
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comfort from that thought of revenge, but Rebecca, that news got back to her, and she
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said, well, we've got to get him out of here, and so she goes to Isaac and says, I don't
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think my heart could bear another son marrying the daughters of the land here, she didn't
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say her real reason, she was very manipulative, but Isaac says he agrees with her, and so
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he thinks on his own, decides to send Jacob over to her people, and he goes never to see
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his mother again, as far as we know, it was only supposed to be a few days, but turned
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into 20 years, because he worked for his wives seven years, and then another seven years,
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and so, as far as the Bible records, Rebecca never saw Jacob again, and then in this chapter,
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he saw this ladder to heaven, and he renewed, or made a vow, an oath to God that he would
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give him 10% of everything that he gave him, based on the blessings that God had promised
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to give him, and that's a great chapter, and you can preach a lot of lessons from chapter
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28, but that's the overview, that's the first part of our study, let's move into the second
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part of our study, which is coming down to ground level, and just looking at chapter
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27, the middle chapter, because this is the chapter that deals with the sibling rivalry,
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and the divine sovereignty, I don't know if you can, I'll make that as large as I can,
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if you can see that, I'm not going to go through all that, but I want to talk about the chapter,
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but if you want the keys to this chapter, they're in that red box there, I want to talk
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about sibling rivalry with you for just a minute.
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This is a dark thread that runs through Scripture, especially early Scripture, the book of Genesis,
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instead of standing shoulder to shoulder against the world and challenges, too often brothers
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stand nose to nose in conflict with each other, and that's what we find in the first family,
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Adam and Eve had two sons, first Cain and Abel, as you well know from Genesis 4, Abel
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offered the first leaves of the flock, and Cain offered from the ground, and Hebrews
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11 says that Abel offered by faith, so that implies, Romans 10, 17, that God had told
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them what he wanted, and Cain rejected that, did what he wanted, Abel accepted it, gave
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God what God wanted, and that made Cain mad, he was jealous because his offering was rejected,
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Abel's was accepted, and so sibling rivalry ended, in that case, in destruction.
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You go a little further and you see Isaac and Ishmael, just prior to this, were also
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sibling rivals, and the older son, Ishmael, mocked his younger brother, and that ended
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up with a separation in the family, you come here to Jacob and Esau, sibling rivalry, later
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in the book, you have this Jacob, who showed favoritism toward his son, Joseph and Joseph's
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brothers hated him, sibling rivalry, and they attacked him, and put him in a well, stole
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his coat, sold him into slavery, and first plotted his death, but ended up instead just
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making a slave out of him, thought they were rid of him, a sibling rivalry, and then you
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find it even later, in Israel's history, between the sons of David, Absalom, and Amnon,
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so sibling rivalry is common in scripture, and it's common today, families that should
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be the closest to each other, of anybody in the world, besides a spouse, sometimes they
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don't speak for, they haven't spoken for years, two brothers, a brother, a sister, two sisters,
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there's much to be said about that, and so we'll go into this context, and then we'll
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make the application, and we will extend the application, not only to blood brothers, that
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is genetically, or biologically, kin to one another, but to spiritual brothers, because
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that also happens sometimes in the church, and the same principles are true in both areas,
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but let's go into this in a little more detail, let's talk about four causes of sibling rivalry,
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and you see all of these illustrated in the book of Genesis, these are still true today,
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you could extend this list, but these are the four primary causes in scripture, first
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one is favoritism, it says in Genesis 25, I believe this is verse 28, that Jacob was
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Rebecca's favorite, and that Esau was Isaac's favorite, because he ate of his venison, seems
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like Isaac is a man who loved his food, maybe a lust of the flesh there, but at any rate,
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because there was this favoritism, sibling rivalry doesn't come out of favoritism so
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much as it is fed by it, there's a natural rivalry between brothers or between sisters,
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but in healthy relationships that rivalry grows, and they continue to love each other,
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and support each other as they mature, but in unhealthy environments, like this one where
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you have one being favored by the other, then there's this constant hoping to have a comeuppance
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or an advantage over the other by playing one parent against another, you see that a
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lot today with divorces, and two parents trying to win the favor of the child, it's the same
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situation that you had even in a nuclear family where they were together.
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Now the second one is worldliness, coming at life from different values, in this case
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Esau is a profane person, Hebrews 12, 16, 17 says, he's worldly minded, he doesn't have
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any appreciation for the spiritual, that's why he was willing to sell the birthright
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at no cost, because he didn't care about that. Now when you think about Abraham and why Abraham
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was chosen, I heard it mentioned I think by our brother over here in the second lesson
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today, that he was chosen because God knew that he would command his children after him,
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Genesis 18, 19. So you imagine that Esau got this blessing instead of Jacob, well he had
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pagan wives, he did not have any appreciation for God, he would have inherited his grandfather's
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blessing, Abraham, but he would not have appreciated it, nor would he have handed it off intact
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because he wouldn't have trained his children to receive that blessing as Abraham had and
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as Isaac had, at least to some degree, there's weakness here in Jacob at this point, but
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there's hope for Jacob, he's going to get better, there's no hope for Esau, he's never
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going to be any better. We'll come back to that in a moment, but let's talk about the
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other two. On the screen there's selfishness, I want the blessings, I would rather you not
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get them, selfishness, pride, ambition, those are personal failures, temptations that often
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feed into sibling rivalry. And then the last one is envy. Envy plays a part in some of
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these others also, but envy over personal appearance or over athletic abilities, scholastic
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ability, envy because I see my brother or my sister as being better than me in some
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ways and I want to tear them down, I want to better them. Now let's talk about the worldliness
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just a little bit more. Here's a contrast between Jacob and Esau. You can't say a lot
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of positive about Jacob this early in Genesis, but he's going to improve. You never find
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anything good about Esau. Now you see these three contrasts, Jacob valued the spiritual
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blessing, that was demonstrated when he bargained for it with his mess of pottage or food, he
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wanted it, so that shows he had an appreciation for it. By contrast, Esau despised sacred
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things and he gave it away. The middle line there is Jacob acted in manipulation, you
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see this in this chapter, he listened to his mother, he had no qualms with lying to
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his father, he just didn't want to get caught. He said, I'm a smooth man, my brother's a
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hairy man, my father may peradventure feel of my skin and he'll know that I'm lying to
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him and then he'll curse me instead of bless me. It's all pragmatic, he doesn't have appreciation
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for doing what's right in the sight of God, just doesn't want to get caught in stealing
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the blessing. Actually there are five lies that Jacob tells here beginning in verse 19
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and to the side here you have his deceptions, he deceived the taste and the touch, all these
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things of his father. But the five lies, Esau thy first born lie, he said I did according
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to what you bade me lie, he said eat my venison, it was goat, he said the Lord God brought
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it to me, he connected the God of truth to his lie. Maybe in his mind he was saying well
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God wants me to have it, it would be okay to say it, it's never okay to lie, it's never
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okay to do evil that good may come. And then the fifth lie is down in verse 24 when Isaac
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is suspicious and he says how did you get this venison so quickly? And your voice sounds
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more like Jacob than Esau, who are you? He says art thou my very son Esau and he said
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I am, that's a lie. Martin Luther said here that if he had been Jacob he would have dropped
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the dish and run out of the room. His father is really turning up the heat on him, he's
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a cool customer, he just lies, lies, lies, lies and he pulls off the deception and his
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father ends up as you know blessing him. Now we go back over and we see that Esau in contrast
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to that manipulation or really reacting to it, he reacted in bitterness. Bitterness,
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he hated him, wanted him dead, comforted himself by the fact that he would be able to kill
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him as soon as his father wasn't around to stop him or to know about it. Then number
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three, Jacob and this is the saving grace of Jacob, he slowly grew spiritually. He's
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not a lot in chapter 27 but starting in chapter 28 you begin to see what God saw in him all
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the way back with the ladder and the promise and then what you have in the subsequent chapters
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with, he still is not a great example in some ways but he does have great faith in
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God as that's demonstrated. And so by contrast Esau always lived secularly.
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Alright now we're going to move into a discussion, let's talk about the application to today.
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So there's a better way, there's a higher way than the way of Jacob. Everybody in this
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chapter lost. There are four characters here, Isaac, Rebekah, Esau and Jacob, every one
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of them lost. Nobody, nobody benefited. Now in one way yes Jacob got the blessing but
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God was giving that to him anyway. He didn't have to do this. So Isaac has, he has to leave
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everything he owns and goes to live in a new place. Rebekah never sees her favorite
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son again. Esau lost the blessing that he had hoped to pull back or claw back that he
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had sold earlier. Isaac is disappointed and embarrassed that he was going against the
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will of God and then he was tricked and nobody in this chapter wins. There's a better way
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and whenever hate moves our motivations we don't win today either. Families don't win
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when they're divided. Churches don't win when they're divided. We're not happy when we're
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at odds with people. Why don't we, why don't we pursue that path? Here's a better way.
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And all of these lessons would have applied here but certainly apply to us. Let's just
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go down the list of seven and you see where we're going with this. In Christ we are, we
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are family by grace and brothers by blood. Every one of us in the body of Christ are
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family and brother to brother, sister to sister, brother to sister, sister to brother. Alright,
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this is a lesson all to itself of course but we won't have time to pursue it at all. Let
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me just read these to you and I'll go to the next point. Pursue love instead of hate, 1
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Peter 2 verse 13, 4. Cooperation instead of competition, Ecclesiastes 4, 9 to 12. Unity
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instead of separation, Romans 12, 16. Honor instead of innuendo. Brag on people, don't
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tear them down. Romans 12, 10. Edification instead of envy, Romans 14, 9. Reconciliation
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instead of rivalry, Matthew 5, 24. Brotherhood instead of division, 1 Peter 2, 17. I'd like
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to talk about that more but I also want to talk about divine sovereignty so we move into
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our last point where God goes into the situation already knowing what He wants to come out
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of it and He comes out of the situation even though all these shenanigans have gone on,
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He comes out of it still right where He wanted to be. He has not been moved or changed or
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thwarted in His plans by the sins of these four individuals. So when you think about
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divine sovereignty, God has absolute authority, immense power, and total holiness. We live
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in a world with shifting sands and uncertain tomorrows but there is one unshakable truth
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upon which the Christian stands. God reigns. God has always reigned. God will always reign.
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You can rest assured that nothing is changed by an election or a war or the sins of any
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group of people that topples God off of His throne. He sits in majesty on His throne as
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a sovereign king of the world. His throne has never been threatened. He remains changed
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throughout time, undefeated by evil, and unmatched in glory. God rules. God reigns and He is
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just as strong today as He was the day that He spoke and a world came into existence.
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A world that He will one day burn up. So you have God ruling over His creation and then
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ultimately rewarding the faithful. God is king of the world. Nothing is ever going to
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change that. Now when you think about God ruling in the kingdoms of men, Daniel 4.25,
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Jesus must reign until the last enemy hath been put down. I mean there are many verses
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that talk about He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. You think that is a prophecy
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about what they did to Jesus when they tried to get rid of Him and God, you are just working
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my plan for me. I am going to raise Him from the dead and then that is what is going to
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save the world. You are not going to defeat me. He just laughs at man who tries to oppose
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Him. Now let's go into this context and then we will extend it to how it applies to us.
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In this context, think about the biographical lessons that we learn from these four characters.
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Number one, you have stubborn unbelief demonstrated by Isaac. Isaac knew what God said, that the
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elder would serve the younger. But he is whispering to the elder, I am going to bless you. Have
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you ever thought if he didn't ask for the food, he could have pulled that off? He could
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have done it right there when Esau was with him. But he sent him away and that gave Rebekah
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and Jacob time to perpetrate this deception. At any rate, stubborn rebellion to overturn
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what God had already decreed, but that didn't overturn what God had already decreed. He
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just wanted to. What about Rebekah and her faithless scheming? All she had to do was
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wait for God to do what God said He would do. She could have gone to her husband and
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said, wait, now let's talk about this. This isn't what God said and let's reconsider this.
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Let's pray about this. But she didn't do that. She came up with a lie to deceive her own
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husband. What about Jacob's short-sighted trickery? You know, he could never really
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enjoy this blessing like he would have because he always had to think back to how he got
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it. He had to lie to his own father. He had to cheat his brother. I mean, this could never
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be the blessing it would have been if he had just let God do what God said He would do.
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And Esau, of course, with his profane worldliness, all those things worked against the purpose
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of God, but God brought about His purpose anyway. Now, here's a key thought in this
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whole lesson. God does not need sin to accomplish His will. God does not endorse a sinner who
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does what He needs, what eventually helps God's plan. He doesn't approve of it. He doesn't
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need it, He doesn't use it, or He does not orchestrate it, and He does not approve of
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it. And yet, somehow, God is able to go through this situation that's so messy and so sinful
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and still be holy and come out on the other side having accomplished exactly what He wanted
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to have accomplished. Now, that's divine sovereignty. Now, for sake of time, we're going to skip
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this next section, but you can, it'll be on the screen at the same time if you want that
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right outcome, wrong method. But let's talk about the justice of God. The more I study
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the Scriptures, the more I am impressed with God's justice on an individual level. Now,
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we talk about the justice of God in the Judgment Day. We talk about the justice of God in the
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scheme of redemption. We talk about it with nations, but it's also true with individuals,
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and that's a scary thought. You think about how many times sin becomes its own punishment.
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You think about Saul of Tarsus. What did he do in his earlier life? What happened to him
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in his Christian life? That's the other side of the same coin. You see, he had to suffer
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many things because he had caused others to suffer many things. Be careful about the sins
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of your youth because even if, and hopefully you do come back, but when you come back,
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there are still the seeds that have been sown. There are consequences to those. And the justice
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of God is a part of that. I said that sin becomes its own punishment. You think about
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an alcoholic, for instance. He enjoyed the drinking to start with, but does there come
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a day in his life when he says, I loathe this stuff because I'm addicted to it? Does he
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say, I can't give it up? Could give it up, but very hard, and maybe would never. You
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see, sin can become its own punishment. Same is true with other sins. All right, so justice
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in this case, you know these stories in Genesis, so just think with me about these same four
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individuals who perpetrated all this sinfulness against each other and what happened after
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this in their own lives. So with Isaac, he blessed the wrong son after intending to change
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God's will. He had to live with that. He trembled exceedingly when he found out that he had
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done what he had done. What about Esau? He tried to renege on his earlier sale of his
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birthright and he is weeping and angry and vengeful by the end of the chapter. What about
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Jacob? Jacob was soon tricked into working seven more years for his wife after he had
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just tricked his father. What about the second one? He who deceived his father was deceived
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by his sons who came back and said, we don't know what happened to Joseph. And for 20 years
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he grieved over his living son he thought was dead. And then he who disguised himself
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to deceive was deceived by the coat dipped in blood in Genesis 37.
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And then what about Rebecca? We said earlier that she also favored her son, tried to get
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him in a place of advantage but then she lost a relationship with him. We've got four minutes
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so let's move down and talk about the last of the practical applications here. There's
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actually two. Let's see if we can get both of them or at least get one of them.
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I'm trying to make it a little easier for you to see where we are on the screen with
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this. I'm going to do the last one because we probably wouldn't have time to do both.
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How to respond to God's solventry. So where am I in this picture? Every lesson should
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show where I am. Give me homework to take with me and not just tell me what the Bible
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says but tell me how I'll react to that. So here are your lessons. There are four of them,
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four takeaways from God's solventry. Number one, because God is sovereign we can trust
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him when life is uncertain. Is your life uncertain right now? Have you lost a job? Are you looking
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for a mate? Do you have a wayward child or sickness in your extended family or some spiritual
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challenge that you just don't know if you're going to be able to overcome it? We all have
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those things in life that make it uncertain. But because God reigns in heaven I've got
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an ally that can never be disappointed. God has the answer to every problem. God has the
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power to every challenge. God is able to bless his children. Now it might not be what I want
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it to be but it certainly can be me leaving this world and going to be with God in heaven
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forever. God is sovereign. He can get me through the temptations, challenges and problems
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of life. You could put John 16.33 there when Jesus was about to leave his disciples. Let
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not your heart be troubled. I'm going to send the comforter to you. You will be guided.
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You will be, God will take care of you. Number two, obey God without argument. We might not
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understand why God requires something. We might not personally approve of it or like
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it. It might be hard for us. But obey God without argument. He is always right. There's
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never been a time when he's ever been wrong. And so I will eventually come to see why he
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requires this of me or forbids this for me or of me if I will just be faithful. The blessings
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will continue and the problems I will avoid. So obey him. Be a loyal subject, John 14.15.
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Now number three, serve him with confidence even if it's unpopular. The only two times
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that the majority of people have approved of what is right as far as I can see was Adam
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and Eve in the garden before the sin and Noah and his family when they got off the boat.
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That's the only two times in the history of humanity when the majority of people were
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on the side of right. So if I'm on God's side, that's going to inevitably put me at odds
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with the world. But have confidence in serving him that he will bless me even though the
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world may not. That's 1 Corinthians 15.58. And then the last one, a minute and one second
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left, the last point is worship God even when it's difficult. The other people in the room
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with you worshiping will probably never know how hard it was for you to attend that Sunday.
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Have you had that Sunday already? You stood in front of your closet. I still don't know
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if I can go today. Maybe you wept. Maybe you cried. Maybe you were sad. Maybe you were
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out. But somehow you found the strength to pull up and maybe you got there a minute after
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it started and you came and you sat and you left a minute before it was over, but you
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were there. And God won the day. Sometimes it's hard to worship. Sometimes there are
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challenges that relate to, that may be physical like with Elijah in 1 Kings 19, physically
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exhausted. Did that impact him spiritually? Of course it did. But God cared about him.
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God brought him back to good health and he continued to be a faithful prophet. That may
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be me one day, discouraged, beaten down, feeling lost, but worship God anyway. God deserves
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worship. You will have about 3,000 Sundays to worship God if you obey the gospel at early
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teen years, age of accountability generally comes. Give God 3,000 Sundays of genuine worship.
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Sit around his table and may each one be more meaningful than the last. Sibling rivalry
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versus divine solventry. There's a lot to be learned in Genesis 26, 27, 28. Thank you
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for your attention.