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Well, this morning, let's come to Genesis 25, and Jonathan has given us a reading of this passage. It's a pretty long one, I will not read it again, but just to remind you that maybe several years ago the whole nation of Singapore was plunged into a mixture of emotions when our Prime Minister, former Prime Minister Mr. Lee Kuan Yew passed away.

There were feelings of sorrow, there were feelings of gratitude and thankfulness. There were feelings of maybe fears and anxieties because we're not sure what's going to happen next. And in the very same way, I think you probably had that feeling when you read of Abraham now passing away.

He has lived a full age of 175 years. That's a little different from what we have, of course, nowadays, but the Bible tells us, "He lived to a ripe old age of 175. He passed away and was buried in the same burial place with his wife, Sarah." [Gen 25:7-8]

And maybe that's the question you have, "What's going to happen now, that Abraham has passed? He's a great man of faith, is God still going to be at work?" Well, this chapter is a tremendous reassurance and comfort to all readers because the answer is affirmative - God is still at work. Men come, men go but God is still at work.

1. The Continuation of God's Work

So right away, I like us to consider, number one - the continuation of God's work in Genesis, chapter 25. Aren't you glad that the Bible does not stop at Genesis 25, with the passing away of Abraham? But the Bible continues, Genesis continues, and in fact, Genesis will not end for another 25 chapters, it's 50 chapters altogether.

We are still going to read about Isaac and Jacob, and the sons of Jacob and ... and there's a lot more going on because even though Abraham has passed away, God is still at work. In fact, the ... the work of God continues beyond Genesis to Exodus, to Numbers, to Kings, and to Malachi, to Matthew, to Romans, to Revelation and even up till our day, God continues to work.

So without even reading a single verse, I just like to remind you, chapter 25 is saying, "Even though Abraham would pass away, God is still at work." And it teaches us, isn't it, that we should not fix our attention, we should not fix our dependence on any man, but on God alone.

Now, we are very thankful for our founding pastor, Pastor Paul, God used him to start this church. I'm very humbled to continue to serve God's people here at this local church. But I hope Gospelighters, will not be fixated upon any man here at this church, because at the end of the day, we learn, even from chapter 25, men come, men go but God is the One who is always at work.

And I hope this is something we even have a hint of, when we look at our mission statement - "Leading Generations into a Life-changing Relationship with Jesus Christ". My hope, and I hope, that's your wish, that's your prayer. The work of God continues beyond the lifespan of any frail man. We want to be leading generations.

I hope that the work of God will not stop with my generation, or even the next generation, but it will continue for many, many more generations, because our trust is in God. Didn't Jesus tell us, "To go and make disciples and at the very same time, He gave us the tremendous assurance that He is with us, always, even unto the end of the age." [Matt 28:19-20]

I'm longing, I'm praying, I'm hoping that one day when we all gather into heaven, I will be able to look at the history of how God used Gospel Light, not just in Pastor Paul's time, not in my time, not in the next generation but for many generations to come, until Jesus returns. That has to be our long-term vision and dream.

You know, God never promises that any hospital will last for generations, or any charitable organizations would last for generations, or any schools would last for generations. He never promised that! But He did promise that the universal church, not just any particular local church but the universal church would exist and carry on the Great Commission, until He returns.

And so it is our prayer that our local church here would be a part of that universal church that God would use for many generations to come. Jesus Himself, He promised, "I will build My church." [Matt 16:18]

So let us trust Him. People will come, people will go, one day I may go, one day I may die, I will die, and there'll be a next generation. And let's ask God to help his people look to Him, trust Him, depend on Him, pray to Him, that He will continue the work that He has promised to do, to reconcile many men and women, sinful men and women unto Himself through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I'm very thankful for great leaders, great men in our days, but I see many of them aging, I see many of them going to pass away. I pray our hearts will not fail when they pass away, but we will look to our God. Let's not idol worship, let's worship God alone.

So that's I think, a very clear message in Genesis 25, that even though Abraham would die, the work of God continues.

2. The Election of the Work of God
But not only are we going to see the continuation of the work of God, I'd like us also to notice in Chapter 25 - the election of the work of God. God is going to continue to work. And interestingly, He is going to work through the people He chooses, He selects, or He elects. That's what we read in chapter 25 as well.

Notice that before Abraham passed away, he would remarry. I say remarry because Sarah had passed away, "He would receive to himself Keturah. And this, wife of his, would bare for him six children." [Gen 25:1-2]

I'm not going to read their names, you can see it right here. And these six children would be added to the existing two sons, that Abraham had. Abraham had Ishmael by Hagar, the Egyptian handmaid. And Abraham also had of course, Isaac by Sarah. So at least eight children are listed right here in Genesis. Abraham had at least eight kids, but the focus is only on Isaac, the promised one.

So there is a clear laser sharp focus on Isaac, in a sense to the neglect of the rest. Maybe Ishmael, you read a bit more, but we are pretty much not in the know with regards to the six children of Keturah. Maybe Midian, you would be familiar, but the focus is on Isaac.

In fact, it becomes very explicit in Genesis 25, verse 11, where the Bible says, "God blessed Isaac," not the rest, just Isaac, even though they were all the children of Abraham. Earlier, God said that, "He would bless Isaac, in the sense that the offspring, the promised Savior and Messiah would come from Isaac." [Gen 21:12] No one else!

And the story focuses or puts the spotlight on Isaac's family going off ... going forth from here. We read that, "Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren." [Gen 25:21] Now, Isaac knew that it was going to be through him, and through his wife, that the Messiah, the Savior would be born. He knew about God's promise to his father Abraham.

So when he knew, when he saw that there was no pregnancy news from Rebekah his wife, he prayed. "And the Lord now granted Isaac's prayer and Rebekah his wife conceived ..." [Gen 25:21] “The children struggled together within her and she said, "If it is thus, why is this happening to me?" [Gen 25:22]

So there were some unusual movements in her womb and she was troubled, she says, "Why?" And in those days, you don't have ultrasound scan, you probably don't have very skilled gynaecologists. "And so she went to inquire of the Lord, she wanted to know what's happening." [Gen 25:22] She prayed and asked God, "Why? What's happening?"

And God told her that, "There are two nations in her womb ..." [Gen 25:23] There, there really is not just that, it's not that there were many, many kids but there were two boys in her womb, who will eventually grow to be two powerful nations.

"... So two nations are in your womb, Rebekah. Two peoples from within you shall be divided;” They will not be of the same country of the same nation. They will become two nations. And this is the interesting thing, "... The one shall be stronger than the other," they will not be equal nations, "... but the older shall serve the younger."

So there will be a stronger people, and the stronger people will not come from the older one, though traditionally, that's the case. But in this case, the younger one will be the stronger one. And we all know that this refers to how Jacob and his people will become the nation of Israel, and they will be greater than the people of Esau, the older brother.

Now, "When the days to give birth were completed, behold, they were twins in a womb." [Gen 25:24] So exactly as God had revealed to Rebekah when she prayed, she would give birth to twins. "The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau." [Gen 25:25] What a ... what an interesting baby! He came red, he came hairy, and maybe he's the very first ang-moh. If you would have it, red hairy child, so his name is called Esau, which means red. So very interesting boy!

But the second one, the younger one was also very interesting. They were just different by maybe a few seconds, a few minutes, we do not know, "But the younger one, seeing that his brother came out, he now holds on to his brother's heel, so his name was called Jacob." [Gen 25:26] The word, 'Jacob' means grabber or heel grabber. And it is so befitting of how he was born, he didn't like the fact. I'm not sure whether he was even conscious of it as a baby, but he didn't like the fact that his brother was out first, so he grabbed his brother's heel, wanting to pull him back. Therefore His name is called, Jacob, the heel grabber.

But the point is that God had already declared, even before they were born, when they were still in their mommy's tummy, that Jacob the younger one will be greater and Esau will serve Jacob. Now, you say, "What is this?" I say to you, "This is a passage that speaks about election."

This is a passage that speaks about how God would choose one out of eight, Isaac. And God would choose one out of maybe twenty and twenty over, because Ishmael would have twelve children, Keturah had six and so on. So you could imagine that they would or Jacob would have many, many cousins. But God says, "It will only be via Isaac, and it will be via only Jacob, even though he had an older brother."

So maybe this will be easier for you if I put it in a flow chart, or family tree, lineage form. You'll see that out of the whole world, God chose Abraham. Abraham had several children - Ishmael, Isaac, Zim ... Zimran and so on and so forth. But God would only choose to bless and use Isaac, for the purpose of the arrival of the Messiah.

And even though Isaac would have two sons, and you could think that Ishmael will have twelve and each of the sons of Keturah would also have their own children, God would only choose one man, Jacob. Because through Jacob, there will be twelve sons. And they will be the origins of the nation of Israel, the twelve tribes of Israel.

And if you fast forward several generations down, there will be the birth of David. And if you fast forward several generations down, there will be the birth of Jesus. But this is the line that God has elected and chosen.

Now, when I say that, "This passage is a passage about election, it's not my idea, it's what God Himself would reveal via Paul the apostle in Romans 9." So I'm not trying to read too much into the text, even though it is an obvious point that God sovereignly, unilaterally, deterministically choose who He would use.

This is actually the teaching of God in Romans, chapter 9:10-13, by Paul. You read about how Rebekah had conceived children, this story we read in Genesis 25. It's clear, that's the reference! And that story is about God's purpose of election.

And God's purpose of election is such that it is not what man expects, because what man expects and what custom says, is that "The older one is always the greater one." But God elections say, "No, I want to turn it around in that the older one would serve the younger one. "So Jacob will be the one I would select, and I will elect and I will choose."

Now, is it because Jacob was smart or Jacob was handsome? Is it because Jacob is more obedient? He's such a good boy? Oh no, God's election has nothing to do with Jacob! He has nothing to do with how handsome he is, smart he is, obedient he is, humble he is. Nothing to do with that!

In fact, if you read on Genesis, you will realize that Jacob is a rascal, he's a terrible guy! You wouldn't want him! But God's election, God's sovereign election is unconditional. It has nothing to do with who or what Jacob is, because the Bible says, "Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad." [Rom 9:11]

So there's nothing in Jacob, that God sees so remarkable that He had to choose, but it is all about God's purpose of election. It is a sovereign, unilateral, unconditional election that the Bible speaks about. Not only to choose Jacob to be the ancestor of Jesus, but that in this passage, in Romans 9, we also told about salvation. Because Paul quotes Malachi, chapter 1, verses 2 and 3, As it is written, in Malachi, "Jacob, I loved, but Esau I hated."

So, God sets His salvific, His saving love on Jacob, but not on ... not on Esau. So this is God's election plan, that He will choose Jacob and not Esau. Now, I know immediately, when you hear about election and when you hear about how God would choose Jacob and not Esau, you would immediately, probably scream or cry out, "But it's not fair, how can God do that?"

Well, I ... I can totally understand why you would say so, because I totally agree with you partially that it is not fair. What do you mean by that? Well, if you think fairness is treating everyone the same way, then I'm saying, "The Bible does not teach that God treats everyone the same way." It's very obvious, isn't it?

Abraham had eight children but God would only choose one. Abraham had maybe tens of grandchildren, but God would only choose one. He doesn't treat everyone the same way! So God does not say in the Scriptures that He treats everyone fairly. But I want to tell you that, "God is never unjust with anybody." So God does not deal with us according to fairness, but God always deals with people and with all things in justice. So He's always just, even when He does not treat everyone the same.

Some of you would be very troubled, "What do you mean He is just, He didn't save Esau? He ... He ... He ... the Bible says, "He hates Esau," [Rom 9:13] and so this is a troubling verse for many people.

In fact, there was a lady who came to the well-known Baptist preacher of time past, Spurgeon, she said to him, "Preacher, pastor, I have a problem, I really don't understand how God could say, ‘Esau I hated,’ I cannot get my head around this matter." To which Spurgeon replied, "Ma'am, I don't have a problem with God saying, ‘Esau, I hated.’ My problem is in the first half, ‘Jacob, I love.’"

And you know why he said that? And it is very helpful for us to understand, it is this: we often think that we are such good people, that it will be so unjust for God to damn any man in judgment. We have this perspective that we are actually quite okay, we are quite pleasant, we are quite godly, we are quite good people, we don't deserve judgment. But you know something, the Bible is totally opposite of that view.

The Bible presents to us a portrait of humanity that is so, so wicked, and repulsive and deserving of judgment. And so the problem we have, and ... and the issue we have with God, "God, You are so unjust ..." It's because we have the wrong perspective. We are looking things the wrong way! We think we are so good, when actually we are so rotten and so deserving of judgment.

And so when God says, "Esau I hated," there is no injustice with God. Esau, like all of us, since Adam had sinned against God, we are so depraved, we are so corrupt, we're so wicked, we are so deserving of the wrath of God. That actually when you read this verse, what shocks us should not be that God hates Esau, but that God could love a man like Jacob.

That's why Paul would also say, "What shall we say then, is there injustice on God's part?" [Rom 9:14] Is God unjust to damn sinful Esau to judgment? Of course not! "By no means!" [Rom 9:14] You have totally missed the point if you think that God is unjust, you don't understand how sinful and deserving of judgment we are!

Indeed, "For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I have compassion on whom I have compassion." [Rom 9:15] "For Me to damn everyone is justice, because all men have sinned against Me. But for Me to show mercy to some, that's not injustice, that's mercy, that's compassion." And God has every right to do so, there is no unrighteousness that can be accorded to Him when He does so.

In fact, Paul goes on to say, "Has the potter no right over the clay?" [Rom 9:21] I mean, doesn't the sovereign God have a right to determine what He will do with his creation? Well, "God desires to use some to be vessels of wrath, they will be the ones who will contain the wrath of God." [Rom 9:22] And there is no injustice there because men in sin deserves judgment anyway. And when God simply allows them to continue to be vessels of wrath, there is no injustice with God.

But, God also chooses to save some that they may be the receptacles, the vessels of God's mercy [Rom 9:23] that when man looks at their lives, these people who are saved, God receives the glory that He is so merciful to save.

So when we say, "It's not fair!" I say to you, "Yes, He doesn't deal everyone the same way." But, let it be said, "He is never unjust in doing so." For some, He will allow them to be damned, and to be judged, to display His wrath against sin. For some, He would choose to save, that we would all praise God for His mercy and compassion and grace. And when God chooses to manifest His glory in such ways, there is no injustice with God. He is God, and He's sovereignly, right to elect some to salvation, and some not to salvation.

Maybe you have another problem, or maybe another question, and it is this, "Does God choose based on our response?" Is it that God would somehow look at, or look through the tunnel of time and see in advance, who would select him or who would repent and believe in Him, therefore He selects them?

Well, that's a concept people like to come up with, but that's not the concept of the Bible. The Bible tells us, "God's election is not predictive, it is deterministic, it is unilateral, it's sovereign, it's unconditional." Again, back to this story, we see that, "Jacob was chosen, even though he was not yet born and he did not do anything good or bad." [Rom 9:11] In other words, the Bible is saying, "It has nothing to do with Jacob in a sense, it's all to do with God."

Other passages in the Bible like John, again we see, "Not because of works, but because of Him who calls." [Rom 9:13] So Paul is laboring, emphasizing the point that it has nothing to do with Jacob himself, it's all to do with God. You can read of other verses, that, "We are saved not because of blood, not because of genes of the family line, not of the will of the flesh, not because what we want, but it's all because of God." [John 1:12-13]

God chooses, His sovereign right! We read in John 15:16, "You did not choose me but I chose you." So God did not choose people because He saw, or He predicted that they will choose Him. It's God who sovereignly, unilaterally, deterministically chooses.

And then Ephesians, chapter 1:4, "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world." This is the amazing reality that you are ... if you are God's child today, if you are a believer today, you are a man of God today, God chose you even before you were even born.

So, does God choose based on our response? Nope! The answer is God's election is sovereign, it's not dependent, not dependent on us, it's sovereign! He determines it purely Himself.

There's one more question, I just like to address because people often quote, Romans, 8:29 and say, "Oh no, God chooses because He predicts, He could foresee, He could foretell who would believe in Him, therefore he leaves the choice to men." And Romans 8:29 basically says, "For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son."

And then they say, "Ah, look at this, God selects and God elects because He foreknew! He knew in advance, He predicts, He sees through the tunnel of time." But you see, I understand why you would say that, because when we use the word, 'foreknow' in our English usage in the modern world today, generally it refers to something predictive. He knows in advance.
But when you look at the way this word is used in the Bible with regards to God, it is not used in a predictive, know in advance kind of way. It is always used in a way that speaks about action - deterministic action. God's choice to choose, not God's knowledge in advance.

For example, in Amos, chapter 3:2, referring to Israel, "You only have I known of all the families of the earth." You mean God only knew about one family out of all the families, He knew in advance only one family or one nation? No! The word, 'known' means that God has chosen Israel, God has chosen to set His love, particular love upon Israel. Not that He predicted Israel only, but that He sets His love upon Israel only.

And then we see in Romans 11:12, "God has not rejected His people, whom He foreknew." Again, it's not about knowing Israel in advance, but loving Israel in advance. We see in 1 Peter, chapter 1:20 and this refers to Jesus. It's even clearer, "Jesus was foreknown before the foundation of the world." You mean God predicted that Jesus would come into the world? No! It is that God has set in advance His love upon His Son, His plan for His Son before the foundation of the world.

So it's not a predictive thing, it's a deterministic thing. And then, "This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God." [Acts 2:23] So this is a causative phrase, right? It is not a reactive phrase, it's according to the definite plan and foreknowledge, the action of God before time.

So I hope when we read Romans 8:29, you don't have a wrong idea that this is speaking about God predicting that these are the people who will respond to Him, therefore He saves them. No! It is about God's deterministic choice. These are the people He foreknew, these are the people He would set His affection and love upon even before they were born, even before the foundation of the world. And these are the people who He will predestine to be conformed to the image of the Son.

So the 'foreknow' here speaks of the people He would choose, the 'predestine' there speaks of the destination, the where these people would be, they will be like His Son. Well, that's quite a discourse about the doctrine of election, but that's what we see in Romans, or in Genesis, chapter 25. You say, "What's the big deal out of this?" I tell you what's the big deal.

The big deal is if you are a child of God today, you are not a child of God because you are better than anyone else. You are a child of God, not because you were kinder, or more receptive, or more humble. You are a child of God today purely by the sovereign grace of God.

And therefore, there is no one who can boast, who says, "Ah, look at me, I'm a Christian because God sees in advance that I will believe Him, or that God sees that my heart is particularly tender towards Him!" No! God sovereignly, mercifully chose to set His love upon you.

And you know the doctrine of election should humble us to the dust, the doctrine of election should work in us a wonderful sense of gratitude and worship towards God. That's what it does! Jacob, can never boast that he is saved because he's better than his brother, Esau. But Jacob would know that God saved him even though he was a rascal, God's amazing divine grace.

And my friends that's the assurance we have, when we go out sharing the gospel, when we go to our friends, when we go to our neighbors, and we ask for permission, we ask for the privilege to share with them the Good News of Jesus Christ. This is our confidence, that God in this world is still at work, and He is still choosing men, or He has already chosen men and women to believe the Gospel. And we can be a part of His salvation plan by sharing the Good News, because God works via His sovereign election.

3. Rejection

Now, I don't have much time, but I'd like to rush on finally, that even though God is at work, a third dynamic is seen in rejection. There will be people who reject God, and we see that spotlight on this family of Isaac's. Isaac would have two sons, first son is Esau, ang-moh, the red hair guy, 毛毛 if you want to call him that way, full of hair but he grew up to be a skilled hunter who frequents the open fields.

And then the younger son, Jacob, he would be a man who likes to stay at home, stay in the tent. He's a quiet man. The Bible doesn't tell us a lot about the growing up years except for this one incident when Jacob was cooking. He was cooking some red lentil soup.

Lentil is a kind of legume, we don't really eat a lot of that here in Singapore but it's a kind of legume, similar to beans and chickpeas and chickpeas and so on. So you use it to cook, maybe a soup, a dish, and that's what Jacob was doing. And when Esau came back from hunting, he was famished, he was hungry and so he asked his brother, "Can I have your soup instead?"

Jacob said to him, "Alright, you can have my soup, but you will have to give me your birthright." You see, Esau is the older brother and it's always the case that the older brother gets the birthright, the double portion of blessings and so on. But in this particular case, the birthright means more than a double inheritance from the father Isaac, it means the privilege of being the ancestor of the Messiah, of the Savior.

And so Jacob said, "Alright, you can have my soup, but you give me your birthright." Esau did not hesitate as far as we read, he says, "Alright, I'll give you my birthright." And he ... he ... he just drank and ate that soup with great relish. The commentary given in the Bible about Esau's action was that he said, "I'm about to die; of what use, what's the use of a birth right that is about the future! I want my soup now because I am hungry!" [Gen 25:32]

So, "Esau despised his birthright." [Gen 25:34] He gave up the double inheritance, he gave up the privilege of being an ancestor of the Messiah for a bowl of red lentil soup. I'm not sure if that soup looked like this in Jacob's day, but truth be told, when I look at soup like that, I'm not very interested, just not my kind of thing.

But this kind of soup I like, maybe you will be familiar, this is bak kut teh, a very popular familiar dish here in Singapore. And wow, this is savory, it's beautiful, it's sweet! It's bak kut teh, one of the nicest soups! And it is so popular that when people do not have it for some time, they crave for it, isn't it?

Especially if you're traveling overseas, you come back, maybe you would want to have this soup. And that's what I read in ... in social media, "Came back to Singapore must eat our local food." So this person has been away, he's been traveling and when he got back to Singapore, he wanted to have this soup. So he got this soup, he posted it on Facebook, on social media. And then his friends began to say, “Shouldn't you be at home? You know quarantine oei? 14 days SHN, not allowed to leave house leh!"

Well, this person, his name is Mr. Alan, Mr. Alan Tham. Ah, not the Hong Kong singer but Singaporean Alan Tham! This took place last year, when Singapore was first struck with COVID-19. Our nation gave rules and laws about SHN when you travel in from another country back here to Singapore, you are to serve, "Stay Home Notice" at home, you can't get out. But this person, he can't tahan [Hokkien dialect], he can't wait, he can't bear not having his bak kut teh, so he decided to violate the SHN, went out for his bak kut teh soup.

And the story goes that he was charged. It was not that he was likely to be charged because after this event, he was actually charged. What was his punishment? Well, his lawyers actually pleaded for him that he would receive a maximum fine of $10,000 Singapore dollars. That's a lot of money! But that was what his lawyer pleaded for, because what he got eventually was not $10,000 fine, but six months jail.

Wow! You could say that, "This bowl of bak kut teh soup is super costly. It's the most expensive bak kut teh soup in the world, man - six months jail!" But the biggest loser is not Alan Tham, the biggest loser is Esau, because he sold his birthright, a privilege, a tremendous privilege for a bowl of lentil soup, and that's what he did.

The deal was done that day because he said, "It is useless to me. I just want my soup. Give me my soup, I don't care about what Jesus, I don't care about what Messiah, I don't care about God's promise with my father, Isaac and my grandfather, Abraham. I don't care about this spiritual things, I just want my soup." And thereby, he despised his birthright, he despised spiritual things.

You say, "Why is Esau not saved?" Let me tell you why. Because God did not elect him, God did not choose him, but at the very same time, Esau was a man who rejects God. You see people are often so troubled, "Oh, God did not say ... did not select me, did not choose him, did not choose her."

First of all, you do not know who God elects or not elects. You don't know! But at the very same time, I can tell you, "The people who will not be saved, are people who say, "I don't want to be saved! Who cares about Jesus! Who cares about the Bible! Who cares about God! Who cares about the Gospel! I despise these things! Just give me this world. Just gives me the things that I can enjoy right now." That's why they won't be saved, because like Esau, they are the rejecters of God.

Now, some of you in church would say, "Hah, I am not like Esau! I value spiritual things, I go to church, and now that church cannot be a place where I attend service in, or the building is not a place I can worship in, I ... I attend every Sunday sermon and worship service. I read my Bible, I say my prayers, I was even baptized, surely I am not like Esau, right?"

Now, let me warn you, that while it is good for you I believe to hear God's Word in worship services, good for you to read your Bible, good for you to be thankful for food and everything else, doing these things alone does not mean that you are certainly the child of God.

You say, "Why?' Because when we read about Esau in the New Testament, the Hebrews author says, "See that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal." [Heb 12:16] So again, I'm telling you this is a commentary of what we read in Genesis 25.

What's interesting is this phrase, 'No one is sexually immoral'. Now, we know Esau is unholy, he despises the holy things, he rejects the things of God, he's a profane man. That's what we would say. But what about sexually immoral? Was Esau really sexually immoral? You know, I can't really say he was sexually immoral, except that he had two Hittite wives. We would, we will read that in Genesis 26. In other words, two wives from the land of Canaan.

But I don't suppose you could say that he was therefore really sexually immoral, that in a such a special way that, that will be the title attached to his name. More likely, what the author of Hebrews is saying, is that, 'When we live sexually immoral lives, we are just like Esau, who despise spiritual things."

You see there are people today who say, "Ah, I go to church, I read the Bible, I say my prayers, but I'm living in adultery, I'm living in immortality." Why? "Because that's what I want, who cares about what God says, who cares when the Bible tells me that immorality is wrong! Who cares when a preacher tells me pornography, masturbation, adultery, romantic affairs outside of my marriage, they are wrong. Who cares! I just want to enjoy myself, I just want my bowl of soup, I don't care about eternal life, just give me my happiness today."

You see be very careful because you can grow up in a church, read your Bible, say your prayers, but absolutely live in sexual immorality and call yourself a Christian. Esau was raised in a Christian home, but he despised spiritual things. And your real heart will be seen in a way you obey or not obey God, you see.

A man who truly knows God has a heart transplant. He will now have a heart of sin taken away, and God will give him a new heart. A heart that fears Him, loves Him, knows Him, obeys Him. That's why we say in our church, "Our mission is to be leading generations into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ." Because if you do not have life-change, if you're still stuck in the same old sins, I say to you, "You do not know Jesus Christ because He will change your life."

Jesus, Himself said, "Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," will enter into the Kingdom of God but only those who do the will of My Father."' Oh, be very careful! Be careful about living in habitual sin. And if I may extend this application, not just sexual immorality, but bitterness, that's actually in the context of Hebrews, chapter 12. And maybe even ambition in this world, "What profits a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul."

A rejecter of God, he's maybe not just someone, who says, "I don't believe the Bible, I never go to church." But it may be exactly someone who goes to church, reads his Bible, but lives in a way that absolutely denies God. Be careful of being someone like this.

Well, maybe today, you are part of a church membership and you're living in sin, you're sliding deeper and deeper into sin. Maybe you had thought that it is okay for you to slide into sin as long as you are saved, you'll be okay. Let me tell you, "The Bible tells me that, ‘If you continue to live in sin, it might just show that you were never a believer in the first place.’”

I'm not saying, "You had salvation, and lost salvation." I'm saying that, "If you thought you had salvation and you're living in sin, it might be that you never had salvation to begin with." So, the warning to you is not just to preserve your rewards, the warning to you is that you might not even be saved! So don't slide into sin, don't let the deceitfulness of sin harden your heart. Don't slide into this but fight sin, because they who endure to the end are those who will be saved. And those who don't endure to the end, maybe those who are never saved.

So there's a lot hinging upon how you fight sin. You say, "How do I fight sin?" Well, there are many things I like to speak about, I'll skip these verses. Or maybe I shouldn't, just too much here, I can't. I want to say to all of you who are new to our church, new to the Bible, "Maybe you're worrying about, am I elect or am I not elect?" I say to you, "The Bible says, "God commands all people everywhere to repent."' [Acts 17:30]

Notice, He doesn't command the elect to repent, He commands people everywhere, all people. He doesn't tell us to worry about whether we are elect or not elect, the Bible never tells us to do that. But the Bible gives us a very open invitation, a command indeed, that we are to repent. You, regardless of whether you know you're elect or not, doesn't matter, you repent.

And the Bible also says, "Whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." [John 3:16] Again, the Bible is very clear, don't worry about whether you're elect or not, worry about whether you will repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

I found this quote very helpful - "Do not stand still disputing about your election..." There are so many people who are paralyzed by - am I elect or not? "Don't stand still there disputing about your election. But set, go about repenting and believing. Cry to God for converting grace. Cry to God to change your heart. Revealed things belong to you; in these busy yourselves ..."

What are the revealed things? Repent, and believe in Jesus Christ. Be concerned about these things. "... Whatever God's purposes may be, whatever God's electing purposes may be. I am sure His promises are true. I am sure that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Whatever the decrees of heaven may be, I'm sure if I repent and believe, I shall be saved." [Joseph Alleine]

I say that for you, "Repent and believe, and you shall be saved." And when you get to heaven, you would hear that God would tell you, "You are one of the elect." That's the mystery of God's electing purposes and our response.

But let me go back to my fellow church members. You are sliding into sin, my encouragement to you is please don't slide, please fight. And how you fight is given in the book of Romans, er Hebrews, "How we are to pay much closer attention..." [Heb 2:1] In other words, when you listen to the Bible, don't listen in a flippant, lackadaisical way, but pay attention, not just to learn or to know but to obey.

Hebrews 3:13 says, "Exhort one another every day ..." Make sure you are in a Gospel community. Make sure you are helping and provoking each other, one another, "...so that your heart is not going to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." "Do not harden your hearts!" [Heb 3:15] Do not say, "It is okay to live on in sin." "Draw near to the throne of grace, seek God in prayer, ask Him for grace." [Heb 4:16] "Hold fast. Don't give up." [Heb 10:23]

And of course, "Stir up one another again to love and to good works not neglecting to meet together encouraging one another." [Heb 10:24-25] You see in a sense; our eternal security is a community project. All of us need to be helping one another. I hope I'm helping you today, just as I have been helped by so many people in my own spiritual lives.

I end with this story, I know I'm over time, but please bear with me. Several years ago, I was in Australia, we went to visit some tourist sites. And when we got back to the car we had rented, we saw a bunch of ants at our car or on top of our car or all over our car.

You know, they were ants that were quite fearsome, they bite and they hurt. So we decided not to mess around with it, there's no water anywhere, and our family just quickly got into the car and I decided to drive in a way that could shake off the ants. So drive fast, drive slow, drive left, drive right, of course within safety limits. But vary the speed a little so that you know I could sort of dislodge the ants as we go through the expressways and so on.

But what's interesting is I ... I will look out and I will see quite a few of the ants still hanging around at the side-view mirror. At least that's where I saw and we traveled for many kilometers, back to our hotel. And when I got there I still see the ants all hanging on at the side-view mirror.

I look at them and I say, "Wah, these ants are amazing!" You know how they managed to hang on, with ... with all the crazy driving I did, with all the speed? It's like 80-kilometers, 90-kilometers per hour, they were still hanging on there! You say, "How?" It was a community project! They knew that if they were there by themselves, very quickly they will be dislodged and they will be crushed and they'll be dead in no time on the roads, but they hung on there for dear life together.

I say to you, "If you just slide off, it might just show that you were never saved in the beginning. And you'll slide off, not just into the loss of rewards, but the loss of your soul." So hang in there, don't be like an Esau! And we need one another, I know it's hard, because we can't meet together, but Zoom, meet online, gather in smaller groups, be focused, be prioritizing spiritual things. You'll Zoom for work, you'll Zoom for school but you will not Zoom for spiritual life?

Oh, hang in there, it's a community project! And I pray, none of us would fall short of eternal salvation on the last day. God is still at work, He's continuing to build His church. He's continuing to call people He has elected. And I pray today, you'll be one of those, who would repent and believe. You'll be one of those who will keep on believing, and one day, we will arrive together as a community project, safely in the shores of heaven. May God bless you.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together.

Father, there are many things spoken today and I just want to pray that Your Holy Spirit will work in our hearts, so that men and women would repent and believe in Your Son. And that Your people will not flippantly, carelessly slip and live on in sin.

May we pay attention, may we not harden our hearts, may we go to the throne of grace, may we hold on, may we exhort one another, encourage one another that we may hang on until we reach heaven's shores. Bless Your people, we thank You in Jesus' Name. Amen.

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