Chosen by Grace: Jacob, Esau, and God's Purpose

The need does not justify the call. You wait for the call. Do you think another boy, another Hebrew boy could have come up against Goliath? Their stones would have flung wide. Their power and their strength would have been frail. The need doesn't justify the call. You wait for the call and then you go by faith. David got the call. He took the stone. God arced that stone to the forehead of Goliath. That's how God works. He's sovereign. He selects. He chooses. He empowers. [00:31:49] (38 seconds)  #CalledBySovereignGrace

I trust that God can take my the mess I make and turn it for his glory. Isn't that great? Have you ever just done something stupid and you're like, oh, I didn't what am I doing? Lord, will you will you turn this stupidity of mine into glory for you? Try it. God works with messy and dysfunctional people. That means we're all qualified. The big idea. God doesn't wait for perfect people to accomplish his purposes, but he chooses whom he wills. The ones he chooses are providentially made willing, not meritoriously worthy. [00:27:48] (50 seconds)  #MessesToGlory

For what reason would God bless him? For the same reason God blesses you for his holy purposes and because of his infinite love. You think you're any better than Jacob? All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death. But where sin did abound, grace has much more abounded through the Lord Jesus Christ. And I thought, Lord, how could you possibly bless Jacob? He blesses who he wants to for his own holy purposes. [00:21:07] (34 seconds)  #BlessedForPurpose

Rebecca's barrenness is not a detour. It's the road upon which God's glory is displayed and her faith is expanded. Your suffering is not a detour even though you feel in your fleshly nature that's what's happened. Persecution, sickness, job difficulties, relational difficulties, it's not a detour. Oh, no. It's a road upon which God's glory will be displayed. So, therefore, our response to suffering should be humility and prayer and confidence. [00:17:18] (38 seconds)  #SufferingNotDetour

The big idea, God's grace is not achieved, it is received. To come to God, all you need is need and all you bring is nothing. That's why it's called grace. What did Jacob do to merit his selection? Nothing. What did he contribute to it? Nothing. That's how it is for you. If you believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you have a relationship with the father through the son, it is not something that you have accomplished. It is something you have received. [00:22:57] (46 seconds)  #GraceIsReceived

Esau traded his future for his present. Didn't he? He came in from the hunting trip. He's very hungry. He smells the stew. And his natural appetites overcame his rational mind. And he traded his future for his present. My goodness. How many of us are short, not disobedient because we're preferring the pleasures of right now, today, to the right thing that God has for us. [00:32:42] (41 seconds)  #DontTradeFuture

Jacob is going to be disciplined and we will be disciplined. Because the natural thing when you read the story of Jacob is, what does it matter how I live? In theology, this is called antinomianism. And it means because we have grace, the laws of God, the truths of God, they don't matter anymore. Antinomianism. Jacob might have been an antinomian, but he faced the judgment of God because he had to wrestle with the pre incarnate Christ and you don't win that battle. [00:36:08] (34 seconds)  #WrestleAndYield

All Isaac knew to do, and he knew the promises because Abraham had taught him what God had said. All Isaac knew to do was pray. And by the way, when you don't know what else to do, prayer is always your best option. By the way, when you think you do know what to do, prayer is always your best option. The Messiah's family line is hanging in the balance of her barrenness. But because God had a purpose, God had an action. [00:14:55] (32 seconds)  #PrayerIsFirstResponse