NEEDS EVERYTHING INCLUDING DATE

EDITED DOWN. LINK IN WORDPRESS. DRae 10/27/25

Genesis 27:6–17 NKJV So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death.”

And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”

But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.” And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved. Then Rebekah took the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

•     Have you ever wanted something from God? Like REALLY wanted something from God?

•     Maybe it was a miracle, healing, provision…

•     Maybe you REALLY want to be in the ministry… to be a pastor, or a deacon, or a missionary.

•     Maybe what you REALLY REALLY want is something God has promised, something He has prophesied… you know that God wants it for you too…

•     But maybe things don’t seem to be moving that direction… things seem to be lining up a different way from what you want from God.

•     Maybe days, and months, and years have passed but you have not gotten what you want from God.

•     Your prayer life is consumed by these thoughts, by these desires. “God, you said it was going to happen! WHY HAS IT NOT HAPPENED YET! God I want this so bad from You… please LORD!”

•     I know that I have been in that situation many times.

•     I was called to be a pastor about 10 years before I really truly became a pastor, at least the pastor that God wanted me to be.

•     I wanted it so bad, I wanted people to call me pastor, I wanted a church to lead… “GOD YOU CALLED ME TO THIS… WHY HASN’T IT HAPPENED YET”?

•     And can be honest church, for those 10 years… those years of wanting God to make me a pastor… wanting it so bad… guy’s I got myself into some trouble some times….

•     And I just want to warn you church… being in that place… that place where you DESPERATELY want something from God… That can be a VERY DANGEROUS place to be in… and that is where Rebekah finds herself in the events of today’s text… Let’s Pray…

•     Welcome back to our series on Genesis 27 called Faithless Religion.

•     In this chapter we read about Isaac approaching death… he is old and blind and knows his time is coming.

•     Now Isaac has two sons, Jacob and Esau… but Isaac has a favorite… Isaac loves Esau, because Esau likes to hunt and Isaac likes to eat.

•     Rebekah on the other hand favors Jacob. So there is this family drama that is playing out where mom and dad have chosen two different sons to favor… and of course this is problematic for many reasons… but the BIG reason this is problematic is because God prophesied that Jacob, the younger son, would rule over Esau, the older son.

•     And what we know now is that the prophecy that God gave, that Jacob would rule over Esau… that this prophecy was all part of the Messianic plan that God has put forward… in other words, the son that is blessed in Genesis 27 will become a great grandparent of Jesus. And so when God prophesied that the Older would Serve the Younger it wasn’t just some fortune cookie prophecy.. it was the family of the Messiah that God is talking about here.

•     So chapter 27 is all about old blind Isaac giving the Messianic blessing, the messianic prophecy to one of his sons… it is about Isaac passing down the mantel that he received from Abraham, passing it down to one of his sons to carry on as the head of God’s people on earth. So this is incredibly important stuff that we are talking about.

•     So what happens? Well Isaac sends out Esau to hunt him some dinner… and he says “When you come back I will eat and bless you” but Rebekah is listening and schemes up a plan to deceive her husband. She dresses Jacob, her favorite, in Esau’s clothes… she cooks up a goat to taste like Esau would cook it… she covers Jacob in animal furs so he feels like his much hairier brother… and she tells her son Jacob to lie to his father so he can receive this eternally important blessing instead of Esau.

•     Jacob complies, lies to his father… the trick works and Isaac blesses Jacob instead of Esau.

•     Now as I explained last week, in this chapter there are four people and all four people acted faithlessly. They all practiced faithless religion… Just as a quick reminder here is a couple of definitions that we talked about in depth last week…

Faith: Taking God at His Word because He has already proven Himself true.
Faithless: Ignoring God’s proven Word and living by sight and feelings instead.
Religion: Intentional Interactions with God, His Kingdom, or His plan.
Faithless Religion: Interacting with God while ignoring His word.

•     All of us are practicing religion right now. We are interacting with God and His Kingdom simply by coming to church.

•     You woke up this morning and decided you wanted to do something religious…  you wanted to go be around God’s people… you wanted to praise God corporately… maybe you wanted to serve God, or give an offering to God, or bring your tithes to God…

•     Whatever reason you are here for… coming to church is a religious act… now some people are here this morning from a place of faith… of believing God and trusting His word… and some of you are here practicing faithless religion… you live contrary to God’s word… you don’t trust His word… yet you still want to interact with God.

•     And my hope with this series is that I strengthened the faith filled Christians who come to this church, and that I convict those who are here as an act of faithless religion…  and if that is you… Good news, God loves you and He has this message for you to help you grow and to start walking in faith.

•     Now, speaking of faithless religion, all four people in Chapter 27 practiced faithless religion.

Isaac – Trusted in the flesh and pursued his own desires over God’s word.
Rebekah – Rebelled against her husband and used sin to try to advance God’s plans.
Jacob – Aligns himself with sin and deceit.
Esau – Chooses the things of the world over the things of God.

•     Last week we took a deep dive into Isaac’s faithless religion… he KNEW that God said that Jacob was the one who was supposed to be blessed, but he ignored God’s word and pursued his own desires… and that lead him into a deep deception… one that, praise God, at the end of it he repented from.

•     This week I want to take a look at Rebekah’s faithless religion… so let’s get right into it with point one this morning… Faithless Religion Schemes.

Point One – Faithless Religion Schemes

Genesis 27:11–13 NKJV And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”

But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.”

•     You see Rebekah REALLY REALLY wanted something from God… for 40 years she has been living on this promise that she got when she was pregnant… And we need to remember this promise because it is vital to understanding the faithlessness of pretty much everybody involved.

Genesis 25:23 NKJV And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb,

Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.”

•     So the LORD spoke to Rebekah 40 years ago and says “you are going to have twins, and the older twin will serve the younger twin”. Rebekah, as it so happens, favors the younger, so this prophecy is right along with her own personal desires… and the more and more she sees Esua, the older, being favored by her husband… the more and more she wants this prophecy to come true…

•     The more and more DESPERATE she get’s for this prophecy to come true… and this is problematic.

•     So when I ask “Have you ever REALLY REALLY wanted something from God”… church I ask you that question to WARN YOU!

•     “But pastor! She wanted what God had prophesied!”

•     YES! And it is so good to want the things of God

•     But when you REALLY want something from God… even something He has promised… you must be careful. Because your flesh can twist that desire into chasing the fulfillment for yourself, instead of seeking God’s glory in the fulfillment of His Word.

•     I will give you an example…I once served under a pastor who felt God had called him to start a Christian school.

•     Now this pastor was pretty sure that God told him to do it, and I am pretty sure as well… but the pastor quickly began getting visions of grandeur… he began making plans that were much bigger than his britches… when he was challenged “Hey pastor I don’t think we are big enough for that” he just called us all to have more faith.

•     He would tell us about all the grants the government was going to give us, and all the money we were going to make.

•     New buildings, big offices, comfortable salaries! God said we are going to start a school, so WE ARE GOING TO START A SCHOOL.

•     And man, this pastor was not lazy! He went after it! He started doing the work… like really pushing, and I was right there with him… working long weeks and having big faith.

•     At first things were going great! The government favored us, judges started placing kids in our school. Imagine that… secular judges sending kids to a Christian school!

•     But then things took a turn… we started having students, and teachers, and support staff… but we didn’t have any money… But my PASTOR REALLY REALLY REALLY WANTED THIS SCHOOL TO TAKE OFF.

•     And this is when his religion started being faithless… hiring new staff promising them salaries we did not having money to pay…

•     Then he told me to buy things with checks… furniture, and supplies, and all sorts of things… I protested “But pastor there is no money in the checking account!”

•     “JUST HAVE FAITH CHRISTIAN! Write the check and have faith that God will bring in the money before they cash that check!”

•     No! That’s not faith, my brother, that is Fraud! I nearly got arrested for it! Because I trusted and submitted to my pastor… I shouldn’t have… I should have walked away… Just like Jacob should have walked away.

•     Because like my fraudulent pastor in North Carolina… Rebekah wanted something SO BAD that she took her eyes off of God’s word and decided to use sin to get what God had already promised.

•     She wanted the things of God SO BAD that she took her eyes off of God and focused instead of getting the things of God.

•     She wanted the promise of God so bad that she took God out of the equation and said “I got to get it myself”.

•     So she schemes and she plots and she lies. She rebels against her husband… and… it doesn’t turn out well for her.

•     Oh, sure, Jacob get’s the blessing… the scheme works… BUT JACOB WAS ALWAYS GOING TO GET THE BLESSING, it was prophesied by God… of course Jacob got the blessing… there were other consequences for Rebekah…

Genesis 27:41–44 NKJV So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran. And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away,

•     Rebekah LOVE Jacob… she was pretty mid on Esau… but she LOVE LOVE LOVED Jacob… her scheme was all about getting Jacob, her favorite, the blessing… and the result of that… this is the last day that Rebekah ever saw her son, and the last day that he would see her alive.

•     Those “few days” Rebekah told Jacob to stay at Laban’s turned into 20 years! Yes Rebekah secured the blessing… but at what cost? She lost her son because of it.

•     HENCE MY WARNING TODAY CHURCH.

•     It is good to desire the things of God. When we align ourselves with God, of course our desires will start to match His desires…

•     But the warning is… be careful how you pursue those things which you so desire.

•     You and God may be going to the same destination… but make sure you are getting there TOGETHER.

•     Have you ever been with a group of people and you take two cars to meet somewhere… say you are meeting for dinner across town and you take to cars. Your buddy drives one car and you drive another… and on the way you notice that your buddy takes a different way then you. You get on 380 but they just keep going down first… And then you get to the restaurant and your buddy is no where to be found? You get seated and the bread comes out and the drinks are served… and you end up waiting 15 minutes for your buddy to get there…

•     You started at the same place, you had the same destination… but you did not take the same path… you got separated…

•     But with God it is not “You get to the destination 15 minutes late” it is “You have been through hell and back because you decided to go your own way”.

•     Listen! Yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil… WHY? Because you are with me!

Psalm 23:4 NKJV Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;

For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

•     Woe to me if I walk through the valley and you are NOT with me!

•     I want to be on the same path that YOU are on Lord. Weather it is the valley of life or the valley of death, I want to be next to God.

•     So I can’t decide that I want the things of God so much that I decide that I am going to go get them myself… that I start scheming and sinning and manipulating.  GOD WILL NEVER ASK YOU TO SIN TO ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSES.

James 1:19 NKJV So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;

Romans 3:8 NKJV

And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderous reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.

•     We should not do evil that God may come… that is not the way of the Lord.

•     How many men know God wants them to be married… but they rush of to marry the first pretty thing they see walking by.

•     How many conversations have I had with fornicators “God want’s us to be married”… well yeah maybe, but He doesn’t want you sleeping together “But we can’t afford to live apart” don’t give me that nonsense, that is your SCHEMING to justify your sin.

•     How many people have left their home church to start a “ministry” even though there own church says “No, the timing is not right”. *Raise Hand* I did that one at Faith and Victory and it cost me dearly.

•     How many people have bought a home, or started a job, or moved to a new state, or started a new ministry… and have done it by the schemes of man, instead of trusting in God.

•     Just because you know God want’s you to buy a house doesn’t mean you need to buy the first house you see… or take the first job that is offered, or move to a new place as soon as possible, or start that ministry that YOU have always wanted to start.

•     Hear from God… and CONTINUE to hear from GOD all the way…

•     Because I have seen it happen… God says it is time to buy a house… so people pick the BEST house they can find, not the one God has for them… so they get to the bank and realize they can’t afford it… so they have to Scheme in order to trick the bank to give them a loan… or people scheming to lie to their pastors during marriage counseling… or people scheming to get there ministry off the ground…

•     I have seen it time and time again… Yes God wants you to get from point A to point B but make sure you are with Him along the way…

•     Because Faithless religion SCHEMES…

•     Faithless religion SCHEMES but Faith Filled Religion Trusts… that is our final point this morning… Faith Filled Religion Trusts.

Point Two – Faith Filled Religion Trusts

Psalm 37:3–5 NKJV Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.

•     Look at the last verse in this psalm… it is pretty much the whole point of this sermon.

•     Commit your WAY to the LORD… I am going to go the WAY that the Lord tells me to go… not just the destination, but the way!

•     Trust also in Him… I believe that God is going to do this thing that I so desire because He said it would happen.

•     And He shall bring it to pass… HE WILL BRING IT TO PASS… I don’t need to bring it to pass… HE WILL BRING IT TO PASS.

•     Imagine for a minute if Rebekah handles things differently here… what if she, you know… Trusts also in Him. What if instead of her doubting that God will bring to pass what He said He would bring to pass… what if she trusts in Him that He will bring it to pass.

•     Let me rewrite history here for a minute… just try to imagine how things might have been different if things went down like this…

•     What if, when Esau went out to hunt game… and what if instead of Scheming Rebekah went to her husband and said “Babe… I know you want to bless Esau… but don’t forget what God said… God said that Esau would serve Jacob… God made it CLEAR that Jacob was to receive the birthright blessing .”

•     What would have happened if Rebekah pursued it that way… “But PAAASTOOORRRR what if Isaac wouldn’t listen? What if Isaac would just double down on his own wicked scheme?!”

•     Great question! I am glad you asked it… Here is what you do… Psalm 37:7

Psalm 37:7 NKJV Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

•     Don’t fret because of the schemes of others… don’t match wickedness for wickedness and scheme for scheme… instead wait patiently on the LORD.

•     When we were robbed of our old building… the one we had poured money into because we were under contract to buy it… I WAS SO ANGRY! I felt that the landlord had been scheming against us… I felt it was unjust and wicked… I wanted to sue… I wanted to fight… I wanted to spite him for what I perceived to be wickedness…

•     But I didn’t do that… I don’t sue… I didn’t spite… I didn’t scheme… I trusted in the LORD. I remember standing in my hallway and the Lord telling me “Before I split the Red Sea for Moses, things looked bad… but I made a way for the Israelites, and I will make a way for you. In order for the to be Red Sea Miracle there must first be a Red Sea in your way”.

•     Man what comfort those words brought to me.

•     If Rebekah would have petitioned her husband honorably, and he responded with wickedness… then what… well Rebekah should respect her husband, quietly walk to her secret place to pray… and then she should hit her knees and pray and pray and pray… she should trust the Lord… She should continue to speak the truth… she should live like God had spoken and that was the end of it.

•     Listen if God has called you to ministry, you don’t need to force it. Trust in the Lord.

•     If God has called you to buy a new home… Don’t force it… Trust in the Lord.

•     If God has called you to ministry… Don’t force it… Trust in the Lord.

•     Whatever it is God has called you to… and you WANT IT… Be patient and trust in the LORD… He will bring it to pass.

•     Slow down… seek council of others… take your time… walk in step with your Savior.

•     If you don’t know where to go next… get in the Word… because it is a lamp unto your feet.

•     If you don’t know what to pray next… pray in the Spirit.

•     When you don’t know what to think… Seek Godly council.

•     When things aren’t going the way you think they should be going… Be patient.

•     When evil people scheme against you… Trust in the Lord.

Proverbs 3:5–6 NKJV Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Psalm 9:10 NKJV And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Psalm 56:3–4 NKJV Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.

In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?

Jeremiah 17:7 NKJV “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord.

•     Man I want to be blessed… amen.

•     Say amen if you want to be blessed!

•     Well according to Jeremiah 17:7 one way to be blessed is by trusting in the Lord. So if we want to be a blessed church, let us be a trusting church! Amen!

•     Because Faith Filled Religion is TRUSTING. Not trusting in man… but Faith Filled Religion trusts in God.

•     Now I just want to finish this point with three verses… see if you can see how these three verses are connected and how they teach us to have faith filled religion…

Nahum 1:7 NKJV The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him.

John 10:27 NKJV My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

Romans 10:17 NKJV So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

•     He knows those who trust in Him… My sheep hear My voice, and I know them… Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

•     Faith Filled Religion is a religion based on the Word of God… based on Listening to Christ… following Christ… trusting in Christ… being KNOWN by Christ.

•     This is faith filled religion… alright, let’s close this thing down… if someone wants to come and play.

Conclusion

Turn On Children’s Class Lamps

•     You know we have talked now about Isaac being deceived… how he was chasing after the desires of his flesh… how he wanted to be deceived… how he allowed him to be deceived…

•     And this week we talked about Rebekah, a deceiver. How she desired the things of God, but used deception to get those things… and that came with grave consequences…

•     Maybe you relate more to Isaac… you have been deceived… you have allowed yourself to be deceived…

•     Maybe you relate more to Rebekah, you have heard from God… but you have used deception, sin, or scheming to get what God has promised.

•     And you know, there is this very interesting verse in Job that I think will encourage you… whether you relate to the deceived or the deceiver… look what Job says.

Job 12:16 NKJV With Him are strength and prudence. The deceived and the deceiver are His.

•     God is so much stronger, so much wiser than any deception. You can belong to Him if you would repent and turn back to Him.

•     Isaac repented, and turned back to Him. Jacob, who’s name is deceiver, he eventually repents and get’s it right…

•     The deceived and the deceiver are His… and you can be His too if you give your life to Him. 

Join us this Sunday at either 8:30AM or 10:30AM for worship followed by this message from the Word of God.

Christian Life Church of Cedar Rapids
2808 Schaeffer DR SW,
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
www.CedarRapidsChurch.com