Life comes with urgent moments. We all know the difference between something that can wait and something that cannot. The doctor calls us with news that cannot wait. The smoke alarm pierces through the night and demands you move now. A loved one's last words pull you in to their side immediately. the call of help from a wife because something happened to your child. Life is full of urgent matters. And when these urgent matters come upon us, what do we do? We lock in. Because we realize that what is happening is consequential. And truth be told, when it comes to the most urgent matter of all, our standing before God, we're naturally prone to delay. We can deal with eternity tomorrow, or next year, or after we've lived on our own terms, but the gospel call doesn't come to us with the luxury of delay. The gospel call comes with urgency. Genesis 27 confronts us with this same truth. Through the story of Jacob and Esau, we see that Jacob was outwardly deceptive, but receive grace from God. Esau, on the other hand, looked like he should have inherited the blessing. After all, he was the firstborn. But inwardly, he was not. Esau's mistake was to live as if God could be added to his life when the time was convenient. He wanted the blessing, but not God himself. And when he finally cried out for the blessing, even with tears, it was too late. And we learn from Esau's life that we must not neglect the urgent call of the gospel. We must not neglect the urgent call of the gospel. So we start our passage today in Genesis chapter 27, verse 30. And we're at a bit of a cliffhanger, aren't we? In the first half of the chapter, we've observed Rebekah scheming with Jacob to steal the blessing from Esau. And then we watched him carry out this plan, and we're confronted with suspense. The idea of a cliffhanger comes from TV shows, where the producers would produce an ending that ratcheted up the suspense so that you're just dying to know what happens, right? And that's exactly where we are in Genesis chapter 27. Rebecca has schemed to deceive Isaac, Jacob has stolen the blessing, and something's happened that cannot be undone. Something's happened that cannot be hidden. And we see Esau coming back to the tent after he's gathered his own meal, and he's coming to Jacob. And you just imagine, Isaac is sitting back, fat and happy, having eaten this savory dish, and he has no idea what has actually happened. Jacob's deception could not be hidden, it could not be undone. Look at verses 30 to 32. As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac, his father, Esau, his brother, came in from his hunting. He also prepared a delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, let my father arise and eat his son's game that you may bless me. His father said to him, who are you? He answered, I am your son, your firstborn, Esau. Now the first bullet point in the outline may surprise you. God exposes Esau as the true imposter. Who is the imposter in Genesis chapter 27? Well, if you look back at verse 19, what do we see? We see Jacob saying these words. Jacob said to his father, I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Now sit up and eat of my game that your soul may bless me. Imagine how brazen Jacob is in that moment, right? Rebecca and Jacob have just devised this scheme and here's Jacob coming to his old blind father. and just says to him that bold face lie. Actually, throughout the whole first, in the first half of the chapter, we're amazed because as Rebecca was outlining the plan to Jacob, what's his reply? The only thing he thought about was this. What if I get caught? What if I get caught? And then Jacob goes into the tent wearing the goat hair so he looks like Esau. And then he proceeds to deceive his father and steal the blessing. So who's the imposter? But what I want you to see here is that Jacob was the imposter outwardly, but Esau was inwardly. Jacob was the imposter outwardly, but Esau was inwardly. You see, It was custom that the firstborn would inherit the blessing. But yet in chapter 25 verse 23, if you turn back maybe one page in your Bible, you hear God's prophetic announcement in these words. Chapter 25 verse 23, and the Lord said to her, that is Rebecca, 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." You see, Jacob was sovereignly chosen by God. God put His sovereign hand upon Jacob. He said, He is my chosen one. The older shall serve the younger. But Esau's rejection by God was not only confirmed in that prophetic announcement, but it was actually confirmed in the way Esau lived his life. How did Esau live his life? We think about the story when he comes back from the field famished. What happens? He sells his birthright for a single meal. He sells his birthright, the promise, the gift of God, for a single meal. And then what does he do? He lives in sexual immorality all of his days. He marries the Canaanite women and the Hittites, which was explicitly contrary to God's intention. Throughout all of Genesis, there are two lines, coming back all the way to Genesis chapter 3, where he says that he'll put enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. And you see from Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, seed of the serpent, seed of the woman. Then you see Seth go to Noah, and Noah to Terah and Abram, and then we get into the life of Abram and you again see this theme of two lines. There's a line that comes from Shem, from Noah, and there's the line of the rest of the world, the line of Cain. And God's intention from the beginning was that that line would be preserved, and that that line would be preserved. and that he would continue to pass through this promise, the promise from Genesis 3, verse 15. But what does Esau do as the firstborn? He marries the Hittites. He marries the Canaanites. He mingles the lines. He lived like the world. He talked like the world. He thought like the world. And he revealed that he was what? Of the world. He sold his birthright for a single meal. If you're a Christian, if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ here today, think about what Jesus means to you. Think about what his promise means to you. You know, I had a friend back in college, he loved the Lord Jesus so much, he would sleep with his Bible gripped to his chest. He loved the Lord Jesus. How could you sell your birthright for a single meal? You see, so Esau revealed that he was actually the rejected one by how he lived. He put God on his own timetable. He knew that Esau was near his death. And what did he think? Now's the time to get the blessing. Right? That's what happened. And you could imagine a son. Imagine a son who moves away to a distant city or distant land and he never thinks about his dad one time. Not one. His dad calls, he doesn't answer. Dad's birthday comes up, doesn't say happy birthday. He has no care for his father at all. Doesn't care. Then one day, he receives a phone call. Your dad's passed away. By the way, I think I heard he has a will. And then that son immediately gets on a plane and flies back home. And he arrives and says, hey, I heard that I'm in the will. Did dad leave me anything? What would you think about that son? What would you think about that son? I don't know what should happen to him, but I do know one thing that I sort of wish that he wouldn't get anything. That's Esau in our story, right? He comes at the opportune time. He tries to put God on his own timetable. His dad says, I'm about to die, and he puts out his hand, well, let me get the blessing. I'll tell you, we might be able to deceive people, but we cannot deceive God. We might be able to deceive people, but we cannot deceive God. Esau came into the tent, he had the savory meal prepared, and he's ready to receive the promise, and he hears these words. Verse 22. Who are you? Who are you? And I'll tell you, those words came from Isaac's mouth, but they might as well have came from the mouth of God. Who are you? From the spiritual perspective, wasn't it right? So you see, Esau was the imposter. Esau wasn't the child of promise. Esau wasn't the lover of God. Esau was the inward inwardly he was the imposter in Matthew chapter 22 20 Matthew chapter 7 verses 22 to 24 this is what Jesus says actually 20 starting in 21 not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not cast out demons in your name? Did we not do many mighty works in your name? And I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Now don't those words sound similar to, who are you? That Esau heard from Isaac. I'm telling you, God will not be mocked. We can deceive men, we can deceive even ourselves, but we cannot deceive God. And in chapter 27, you have this startling reality that Esau is exposed as the imposter. Now look ahead to verse 34. 34 to 40, I want to read these again in your hearing. As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, He cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, bless me, even me. Alas, oh my father, but he said, your brother came deceitfully and he has taken away your blessing. Esau said, is he not rightly named Jacob? For he cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright and behold, now he has taken away my blessing. Then he said, have you not reserved a blessing for me? Isaac answered and said to Esau, behold, I have made him Lord over you and all his brothers. And I have given him, I've given to him for servants and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then shall I do for you, my son? Esau said to his father, have you but one blessing father? Bless me, even me also, my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. So after the words, who are you, were said, the reality settled in. The reality settled in. But Esau's time had passed. You see, there was no blessing left. There was no blessing left. But not only that, when he doesn't receive the blessing, he receives the anti-blessing. He receives the curse. Away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high. By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother. So not only did Esau not get the blessing, he got the anti-blessing. I'm telling you, Esau represents human tendency to think that we can have God on our own timetable. Esau represents human tendency to think that we could have God on our own timetable. He postponed coming to God until this last moment. Like I said, he lived, he gave up his birthright for a single meal. He lived in pervasive sexual immorality. He married the Hittite and the Canaanite women, which was against God's design for the promise. And then at the opportune time, he comes. When it's convenient, he comes. And he tries to take the blessing. And isn't this, if we know our hearts as we ought to, isn't this eerily similar? We think that everything can wait. We think that all of our plans should be prioritized and that God will wait for me. Let me finish school and then I'll come back to Jesus and He'll be waiting for me. And maybe after I just work a little more at work and get the promotion that I've always been seeking, and then I'll come back to Jesus and He'll be waiting for me. And then we think, oh, well, you know, I got a lot of really fun things that I want to do right now. But I do kind of want Jesus in my life when I get married and have children, right? At that time, Jesus will be waiting for me. But Esau put God on his own timetable and then he presumptuously thought that he could come and receive the blessing, but the only words he heard were, who are you? You see that grace cannot be demanded. Grace is the unmerited favor of God. Grace is a gift from God. It's not something that we can ask for or demand or require. But God is the sovereign bestower of grace. It's a gift. Repentance is a gift. Faith is a gift. When Esau wanted the blessing, he couldn't, here's the reality of it. When Esau wanted the blessing, he couldn't see past the horizon of this world. He wasn't looking at God. He was looking at all the things that he had lost. the blessing of this world, the fatness of the earth, having his brother be his servant, et cetera, et cetera. You know, we see that he couldn't see past the horizon of this world. It's like a man who goes to the doctor, and the doctor says, no, you have a serious condition. You gotta take care of this right now. And the man goes away, and he disregards the doctor's advice, and he comes back six months later, and then the doctor says, you know, now it's terminal. It's terminal. Right? And Esau, at this point, is a walking dead man. Right? He's in a tomb, and the tomb is sealed with a heavy stone, and no one's going to move that stone away. Right? It's like in those horror movies, when the guy wakes up and he finds out that he's in a casket, buried six feet underground alive. That's Esau. He was a walking dead man. I'll tell you, sin has these characteristics. It does two things. It deceives us and it hardens us. Sin deceives us. Right, it puts out the false promise that if you pursue it and you seek for it, it's gonna provide you some pleasure or some satisfaction in life. It's like a, it holds forward the roses. Will you be mine? Will you be mine? But behind its back is a knife. And it's just waiting. And little by little it convinces you that you can coexist with it and be okay. Little by little, it wraps its tentacles around you, and the noose is tightening, and the tentacles are wrapping, and it's convinced you of this, that you can coexist with that sin and have Jesus just as you like, and that you're in control, but in actuality, that sin has mastered you. That sin has mastered you. You think that you can leave it at any time, all the while it has control and it will not let you go. Secondly, sin makes us insensitive to its dangers. It's like a big callus on your foot. You press it, you poke it, but you can't feel anything. And that's what sin does, it deadens the conscience towards God. makes us think that what I'm doing isn't grievous, what I'm doing isn't offensive. And sin puts layers of dead skin on our hearts, so that when we turn to God, we no longer feel the pricking of our conscience. You see, sin had deceived and deadened Esau's heart. And even after rejection, Even after rejection, what does he do? Does he come to God on his knees? Lord, would you have mercy on me? I have squandered my life. I've given away the promise, given away the blessing. No, he turns and he blames Jacob. Jacob deceived me again. He did this twice. There's no repentance there, but he blames his brother. When God calls us through the gospel, he calls us with urgency. He calls us with urgency. And from Esau we learn that everyone has a season. There's a window of time that God is calling and God is beseeching you to come. He wants you to turn to Him. He's asking for you to repent of your sin. And there's this window of time where recovery is possible. But we read in Romans 1 that what does God do? after that time has elapsed, but he gives them over to a debased mind, to be sealed in that which is not fitting. Right? So I tell you, as you hear the gospel preached today, as you hear the urgency of the gospel call, we can't be those who are dragging our feet, coming up against the boundary of God's patience, We need to be those who hear the gospel and respond with repentance and faith Hebrews chapter 3 verses 7 to 8 says this very same thing. Let me read this. Let me read this to you Hebrews 3 verses 7 and 8 Therefore as the Holy Spirit says Today if you will hear his voice Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion on the day of testing in the wilderness Today if you will hear his voice Do not harden your hearts but turn to him Believe in him, repent of your sins, and trust the Savior. The call is for today. What does today mean? It means now. That's what he's saying. He wrote that almost 2,000 years ago, and it's still today, which means now. Now, if you hear his voice, return, repent of your sin, and trust the Savior. What does the fallout of Jacob's deception look like? Well, he's taken the blessing, he's deceived his father, he's double-crossed his brother, and what's more, there's no blessing left for Esau at all. Esau, we read, is fuming with anger. He's fuming. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. Have you ever been in that place where someone's offended you or someone has done something to wrong you and you just can't stop but replaying what's happened in your head? Right, that's Esau. He's just marinating and meditating on what had happened and he couldn't stop thinking about what had happened and he reveals to some people that he has this intention to kill Jacob. And by the way, doesn't that just remind you of another pair of brothers from the book of Genesis? Cain and Abel. But what's happened here? By ensuring that Jacob received the blessing, what God has done is he has preserved the promise of the Savior. And we see in this last scene that Isaac issues a gracious blessing to Jacob. Do you think that Jacob deserved it? Jacob is a reminder that God's call is full of grace. It is full of grace. Look at Genesis 28, verses one to four. Genesis 28, one to four. Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, you must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. Arise, go to Paddan Aram. to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you that you may become a company of peoples. May he give you the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you that you may take possession of the land and your sojournings, of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham. You know, if in the first half of Genesis, in the first half of our passage, if at the end of, in the first half of Genesis 27, if Isaac blessed Jacob with his eyes closed, and now he blesses Jacob with his eyes open, right? And he recognizes something. He recognizes that indeed, Jacob is the promised son. Jacob is the blessed son. Jacob is the chosen son. And what's happened here? But Isaac sought to bless Esau, right? He sought to bless Esau. He has this plan to bless Esau. But that's totally contrary to what God has told Rebekah and Isaac, by extension of God's plan to let the older serve the younger. Isaac's plan to bless Esau is totally contrary to God's announcement back in Genesis 25. And we read that Isaac has recognized that God is God Almighty. God is God Almighty. When we look at Genesis chapter 27, we see God's sovereign providence all over the chapter. The fact that he prevents Isaac from blessing Esau and gives the blessing to Jacob. And I just think that when Isaac realized what had happened, he was brought face to face with God Almighty. God Almighty just maneuvered completely around all of my plans. And that's why we read that he was trembling with a great tremble in verse 3. And now he calls Jacob to himself and with his eyes wide open gives him this blessing. You see, there's no person in Genesis 27 that's deserving of blessing. Not one. We have Isaac who's misguided. We have Rebecca who's devising this scheme. We have Esau who's lived like the devil and wants the promise. And we have Jacob who's willing to deceive his own father and steal his brother's blessing. It's amazing that we see this gracious God who is now giving the blessing to Jacob. If we want any confidence that God is a gracious God, then we see it in the life of Jacob. We see it in God issuing the blessing to Jacob. We all need grace. We all need God's kindness and mercy upon us. When you come to the church here, I'll tell you, this is not like a museum that's full of pristine wax figurines, right? Don't touch them. No flash photography, right? The church is a place that is full of patients who need the great physician, full of patients who are recovering. patients who need a gracious Savior. This one is healing from a broken leg. This one over here from a broken heart. This one's been in a six-month rehabilitation program. We are not perfect, but we're always repenting. We're always seeking the Savior and there's no one here in Christ that's trusting in their own merit, who's trusting in their own good works, but they've turned wholeheartedly to the Savior and said, I'm putting all my trust in him. I'm putting all my trust, all my hope in Jesus Christ, my Redeemer. That is the church. That is the Christian life. I'll tell you, no one here is too far gone. As long as it is today, no one here is beyond God's reach. You see, God is deeply committed to salvation through his son, Jesus Christ. We look back at Genesis 27 and it's a mangled mess. A mess of twisted iron and broken glass. hostility and anger, bruised egos. But there's only one thing that comes out of Genesis 27 unscathed. You know what it is? It's God's promise. It's God's promise that he would preserve a line and he would bring forth the nation of Israel for this very purpose that at the right time Jesus Christ would come into the world and he would be born under the law to satisfy the law on our behalf. At the right time he would go to the cross for the sin of his people that he would die and on the third day he would rise again from the dead be raised to life. a picture of his perfect righteousness, a picture of the justification of his people. And he ascended into heaven and he sits at the right hand where all things have now been made subject to him. That promise comes out unscathed. And through the life of Jacob, we're going to see how God continues to maintain that promise and it's finally gonna come to a place where the nation of Israel is brought forward out of Egypt And then finally, the precious Savior would be born. Actually, in Jacob's blessing, he makes this point. He says that, in verse 3, that you may become a company of peoples. Now, the word, if you look in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the word that is used there is ecclesia. It's Ecclesia. It means, it's the word that we translate in the New Testament for church. And it has this idea of not just one nation, but multiple nations coming together, that out of this promise, out of the seed of Jacob, would come one who would gather the nations, that would bring together the church. He's talking about you. He's talking about us in Jesus Christ and we have this promise that God Almighty would bring forward a people, a multitude of people, multiple nations of people. And all who put their trust in him are a part of that group, are a part of that covenant people who enjoy the gracious forgiveness that God has given us in Jesus Christ. You see, this is how we receive the blessedness of God's grace. We come to Jesus Christ, repenting of our sins and putting all of our hope in the Savior. Put your trust in Him today. If you are living in sin, if you know that you have coddled sin, that you are entertaining pet sins, if you know that you are just waiting to add Jesus onto your life at the convenient time, let me tell you, that time is today. and you must not be presumptuous towards God's grace. That's what we learn from the life of Esau. When Esau came forward, having cooked his best meal, he was presumptuously ready to take the blessing. He has his hands stretched out and open-palmed. What do you have for me, God? And God said, who are you? It was like a big stop sign. Don't pass go, don't collect $200. And in that moment, he realized his party was over. Not only was he not going to receive the blessing, but he received the curse. And what is worse, it was irreversible. And at the end of the passage, we see him sealed in that fate as he goes on and marries more Canaanite women, sealing himself in spiritual destruction. You see, the reality is that we're all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account, Paul says, of the deeds done in the body. And my preference for you is this, that you ask, who am I now? Rather than hearing, who are you then? And let me tell you, God is extending grace to you. God is extending grace to you right now. He says, do you see my Son crucified for sinners? Do you see my Son raised from the dead? Do you see my Son ascended on high, reigning over all? Put your trust in Him. Put your confidence in Him. Turn away from your sin and pursue the Savior And I want to ask you, will you put your trust in Him today? If you haven't put your trust in Christ, will you put your trust in Him today? He will welcome you. He will embrace you with open arms. He will rejoice over you. It says there's more rejoicing in heaven for the repentance of one sinner. Don't delay, but turn to Him today. Let's pray. Father in heaven, Lord, there is a reality to our sin. Our sin is not benign, it's cancerous.