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Today, we are in Hebrews chapter 12, coming near the end of this book and the Scripture reading we've had just now, from verses 12 to 17, will be the basis of our thinking this morning. If you've read it just now, you will realize it is not an easy passage of Scripture, but I trust it will be a meaningful and helpful passage for your consideration today.

Now, I’d like to start by asking you a very simple question: How many of you have been close to a snake or have handled a snake before? Can I see by a show of hands? Wow, we've many. Can I see again by a show of hands? Don't hesitate if you have gone near a snake or you have handled a snake before. Can I see by a show of hands? I want to see the brave people here in this church. Wow, a lot of brave people.

Now, if I were to tell you that a snake, even those that are for entertainment purposes, is very dangerous and can bite you, would it affect the way you would approach a snake in the future? In other words, if I were to tell you today, warn you that a snake can be very dangerous, will you stop going near a snake? How many of you would stop going near a snake because this morning I told you that a snake can be very dangerous? How many of you would avoid? One, two, three, a few of you would listen, all right. The rest don't listen to me, right?

What if I were to say, I warn you about the dangers of a snake every Sunday? Every Sunday, I come up on stage and I tell you don't go near a snake, even those that the snake handlers have, because they may bite you. How many of you would then listen to me? Still the same people, maybe less now. Now I suppose, even if I were to warn you week after week, Sunday after Sunday, it might not change the way you react to a snake, but maybe this may help [pastor went on to show a video].

You could see how the snake just turned and bit the woman's, I don't know, nose or mouth, on the face lah, they say. And look at the shock on the snake handler. Now I suppose after a video like this, would it change the way you interact with a snake? Yes or no? Yes, now I get a resounding “yes”.

I guess this is the power of an example. You know I could preach to you week after week, snakes can be dangerous and you wouldn't care, but just giving you one video, one clip will convince you that this can be very dangerous. And I think this is in the mind of the author of Hebrews when he wrote Hebrews 12 verses 15 and 16. He says:

See to it… that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
(Hebrews 12:15,16 ESV)

You see the author of Hebrews has been warning the people of God – don't turn your backs to God, don't fall away from Him, don't despise spiritual things. And he says this chapter after chapter after chapter and now he says, look at this video, look at this example – his name is Esau. He despised his birthright and sold his birthright for a single meal.

The point is that Esau had a very bad deal that day. He lost his birthright, he sold it for a pot of soup and really, I think Esau gives to us a picture of someone who is the biggest loser. Nobody likes to lose, right? But here is someone who loses big time.

If you have done business before, you've lost a very important deal, or you have done a very terrible deal, you feel awful about it. And I think there's no one who has a worse business deal than Esau himself, and his life is an example for all of us to take note – don't you make this poor deal in your own life. It's a terrible thing to despise spiritual things. It's a terrible thing to give up spiritual things for physical things and that's his point.

Timestamp 0:04:48

So let me show you this video in slow motion, all right? This video of Esau, of how he sold his birthright. This is what I shared with my kids, all right? [Pastor showed a picture of Lego pieces to illustrate Rebekah's delivery of a pair of twins. The first baby's body was full of spots and the second baby was grabbing the heel of the first.] I shared with my kids Lego and my kids asked me, “Wah daddy, did you do this? Wah, you are so good, you can make this Lego.” No, I didn't do this, all right? By the way, this is just from the internet.

So the story of Esau comes like this, or goes like this. Rebekah, the wife of Isaac, is now going to deliver. So there are twins in the tummy, in the uterus of Rebekah and when delivery time comes, the first baby that comes out is… Esau. He is the… Why “jit liap, jit liap” one? [“Jit liap” in Hokkien refers to a spot. Pastor was asking why the first baby's body was full of spots.] He is the hairy one. Esau is hairy so he came out first. But right after Esau is… Jacob and there's something special about Jacob. Jacob grabbed the heel of Esau and by the way, that's how he got his name – “heel grabber” [=] Jacob.

So Esau came out first but Jacob really wanted to be first. Even as an infant, he already wanted to be first, that's how the Bible puts it to you. So these two boys grew up in Isaac and Rebekah's family, a family that is blessed, a family that is… the descendant of Abraham, direct descendants of Abraham.

So they grew up and Esau became a hunter. He hunted for food, you could see [from a picture of another Lego display], and he's still a very hairy man, all right. And one day, he was coming back from his hunt and he saw Jacob, his brother, cooking a pot of soup. We do not know what kind of soup, it's red colour in Genesis, just a pot of red soup. Now, he's hungry, Esau. So when he came back, he saw his brother and says, “Can I have a bowl of soup, please? Feed me some of that red stuff, for I am famished. I'm really hungry.”

Now Jacob is a smart guy. You know when he was a young infant, he already grabbed his brother's heel, wanted to pull him back so that he can get forward. So now is his golden opportunity. He says, “Now, I will give you the pot of soup but first transfer to me your inheritance.” Actually in the Bible, it's “transfer to me your birthright”.

What's a birthright? The birthright is the right of the eldest son to have more things from daddy. The birthright is the right of the eldest son to have a greater inheritance from daddy. Usually, it's a double portion from daddy but in this case, there is something more than just things because you remember Abraham was given a promise from God, that through his descendants, a seed will be given, a Messiah, a Saviour will be given.

So it is likely that this Saviour, this Messiah, this seed promised from God will be in Esau's line – elder brother, birthright. But Jacob knew that that was precious. So he took this golden opportunity to say, “I'll make you a deal. You give me your birthright and I will give you this pot of red soup which you so long for.”

Esau then said, “Look, I'm about to die. What good is this inheritance to me? Ah, you can have it. I just want my soup. I'm hungry.” And Jacob says, “Alright, first swear an oath to me,” and this became the most expensive soup anyone could ever have, because this is a story – Genesis 25 – of how Esau sold his birthright.

I Googled to find the most expensive soup in the world today and the Guinness Book of World Records tell me that the most expensive soup is found in London, in a Chinese restaurant, I think, and the soup is “Buddha Jump Over the Wall”, the Chinese popular dish 佛跳墙 [“fó tiào qiáng”]. It is said to be more than $200 in this restaurant in London. I think it's much lower now after Brexit but it is still a very expensive bowl of soup.

But there is no soup more expensive than Jacob's pot of red soup because Esau gave up everything that is precious. He gave up his birthright to his brother and the Bible says, be careful, see to it that you do not become like Esau who sold his birthright for a single meal; that you do not go for physical, external, carnal, temporal things; that you don't become like Esau that says, “Who cares about God's promise? Who cares about the covenant? Who cares about the seed? I just want my soup, and I don't care about God's things.” Don't be like someone who despises spiritual things. That's the warning.

Timestamp 0:10:11

Now for those of you who read this verse (Heb 12:15-16), you might be very intrigued with this phrase “sexually immoral”. You say, “Where in the world was it mentioned that Esau was sexually immoral?” I mean, if we say that David was sexually immoral, we say, “Yeah, yeah, he was.” He had an adulterous relationship with Bathsheba – terrible guy, but you don't read any of this in Esau's life. Maybe if there is any accusation of sexual sins, it will be when he married two Hittite women but maybe that's not what it is supposed to mean.

The word “sexually immoral” in the Greek is the word “pornos” from which you get the English word “pornography”, but it might refer to the fact that this is not just about sexual immorality but it's about spiritual adultery, because right after that is this phrase “that he is unholy and he sold his birthright”.

So it may refer to how Esau was in the family of God's blessings, experienced all these blessings but he despised spiritual things, he never really loved God. He was simply a spiritual adulterer. That might be what it meant but nevertheless, Esau, he sold his birthright and the tragic part about this is that you cannot turn back. He sold it, it came to the point of no return, it became too late.

For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
(Hebrews 12:17 ESV)

So this man, who despised God's things, sold his birthright casually and flippantly, later on realised what a dumbo he has been. He says, “I want it back again,” but God says, “It is too late. You have despised it and now there is no place for repentance for you.”

You see, Esau is a perfect example of Hebrews chapter 6. Wah, for all of you, you say, “Wah, Hebrews 6, what is it?” Well, that's a difficult passage and you might want to recap if you have forgotten. But in Hebrews 6, it talks about someone who is in church like you, someone who is in church and who has experienced many blessings. He has experienced many answered prayers, seen many lives change all around him but he decided one day that he'll turn his back on Christianity.

So this person who has experienced great things decided to turn his back on Christianity, despise God, turn back on God and he says, “I have nothing to do with Christianity anymore.” God says it is impossible for someone who has fallen away like this to renew them unto repentance – too late, point of no return. You say, “Is there anyone in the world who has ever been like this?” Yes, Esau. It's too late. He had all the blessings in Abraham's and Isaac's family. He heard the stories of faith, he heard about the promise God gave to Abraham, but he despised it all and now it's too late. So see to it that you do not become like one.

Now, by the way, I want to be clear. It is not that Esau was a Christian, a believer, and he lost his salvation. No, the point of Hebrews 6, the point of the book of Hebrews is that if you fall away from the faith, it's because you never believed in the first place. The Bible tells us in Romans 9: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” Jacob knew the Lord eventually, but Esau never knew the Lord and that's why he despised the spiritual things.

So this morning, we are reminded: See to it, make sure this does not happen to you; watch out that none of you will become like an Esau who would despise spiritual things, turn their backs on God and sell and give up spiritual blessings for a single meal, for physical things.

Timestamp 0:14:48

I shared this story with my kids, I think they were fascinated just looking at the Lego sets and I asked my sons, “Would you give up God's blessings for physical things?” Of course, my youngest son, four years old, cannot reply, don't know what I'm talking about. He's stuck on birthright, what is birthright, Moses gave birth. He's still thinking about how Moses was born and placed in the Moses' basket. So that was all he could go.

But then when Shawn replied, he says, “Of course not lah.” I say, “Why?” “Because it's like I eat chicken rice, thirty minutes it's over already but God's blessings is for a long, long time.” I say, “For how long?” He says, “Forever.” “What is God's blessings?” “Eternal life.” Eight years old, I guess he could figure that out but he gave a correct theoretical answer, the question is: If trials really come into his life, will he still choose the same way? But, at least he knows that it is foolish to give up eternal life, the spiritual blessings of God for something that is temporal.

And the author here (Heb 12:15-16) is saying to the Hebrew Christians, “Don't give up your spiritual life. Don't turn your back on Jesus. Don't turn your back on the Gospel just because you are persecuted for your faith. Don't give that all up because you want some comfort and peace and acceptance by the world. Don't give up Christ so that you can go back to your Judaisitic temple worship. Don't give that all up because these things are like a pot of soup – temporal, physical and they don't last.”

I want to say this to you, folks, because some of you may be in danger of making a bad deal in your life today. You may very well sell your spiritual blessings for a pot of soup. Maybe it's for a pay rise; maybe it's for a good business deal, a lucrative business deal; maybe you want to sell your spiritual life over a fling you may have with your secretary; maybe you want to sell birthright because you want ease and acceptance and comfort in this world. It's a very bad deal, do you know that?

And you are a spiritual adulterer if you do that because when you love the things of this world, the love of the Father is not in you. It's not that you can try both at the same time; the Bible says you cannot serve God and riches, you can't.

So if you despise spiritual things and you go for physical things, it just goes to show what was in your heart in the first place. You might be just an Esau, so be careful. Don't make a bad deal. Don't be the biggest loser today. You are in the church, you hear God's Word, you're with God's people, you're reminded of the spiritual realities of the hope that is to come and you give that all up, that is foolish.

“So pastor, I understand that I must not be like Esau but you know,  there are temptations. I'm famished, I want that bowl of soup, I want that pay rise, I want a more comfortable life.” “You got to guard against that.” “How do you guard against that, pastor?” Well, let me share with you how the author tells you, you can guard against being the biggest loser. He tells you in many words and I put it all up here in verses 12 to 16, just to let you see the context. He says all these things so that you will not be like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. Let me read this to you. I know it's laborious but I think it's necessary to read what God says.

Timestamp 0:19:02

12  Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
14  Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
15  See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
(Hebrews 12:12-16 ESV)

So you see the context of this passage. So there are a few things, he says, you can do that you will not end up this way, you will not end up to be like an Esau. He says number one, put in diligent effort. He says here (Heb 12:12-13), don't sit there and feel sorry for yourself. You know when someone goes through hardship, when I go through difficulties in my life, there's this tendency for me to sit in the corner and say, “I'm such a sad, poor thing.” Do you have that? You start to pity yourself, you feel sorry for yourself, and you just lie there and you be passive about things.

The Bible is saying, “Hey, don't do that. Don't sit there and have a pity party. Don't give up but get up, step up. Be diligently applying yourself to pursue God; make every effort. That's the point – lift your drooping hands, strengthen your weak knees. You know how it is when you're tired and you run. You see… wah, very “chum” ah [“chum”, in Hokkien, means “pitiful”], the army forced me to run. Now it says, “Get up and run! Stay in the race!” You say, “Why?” Because of the word “therefore” (Heb 12:12). You say, “Why should I keep running the race? Why should I keep pressing on in the Christian faith? Why can't I just give it all up?” Therefore, you say, “What is ‘therefore' there for?”

The “therefore” is there because earlier on, in Hebrews 10 and 11 and 12, the author says, God has no pleasure in those who shrink back in unbelief, so don't you give up. God does not accept those who shrink back in unbelief. He also mentions in chapter 11, look at the cloud of witnesses, look at so many heroes of the faith from Abraham to Noah to Moses, look at all of them. So don't give up because they have done it, you can do it too.

He goes on to tell you, look at Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despise the shame and is now sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Look at Jesus. He didn't give up so don't you ever give up.

Then remember that when God gives you pain in your life, it's not because He hates you, but He loves you.  And remember that no discipline is pleasant but it is always grievous. However, realize that it will afterward yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

So, in the light of how God doesn't want you to shrink back, in the light of the witnesses, examples that have gone before us, in the light of Jesus, in the light of God's love, in the light of what He's trying to achieve through your life, don't give up, press on, keep running. That's his point.

To add further depth to this passage, this phrase (in Heb 12:12) is a quotation, really, from Isaiah 35. Now, these things are hard to grasp. The scholars, the commentators, the pastors in time past, they've done their scholarly research and that's how I got to know, by the way. This passage is found in Isaiah 35, you can cross reference it and in Isaiah 35, it is spoken of in the sense of helping one another. It's not just “I've got to pick up my hands, I've got to pick up my knees”. It's spoken of like, “You guys, don't give up. Come on, get up and go!” It's a mutual encouragement, the teachers to the people.

And I think it's appropriate here to apply this, not just to individuals but to the community, that we will encourage one another not to give up in our race but to strengthen one another's hands and legs. After all, this is the thrust of the book of Hebrews as well. We remember Hebrews 3:13 – exhort one another, encourage one another, speak to one another. And again in Hebrews 10:24-25, stir up one another to love and to good works, don't forget to meet together. Why, because we need to encourage one another in the Christian journey and faith.

Timestamp 0:24:19

About three weeks ago, I was in Darwin with my family, vacation, short one there. We parked our car in a natural or a nature park and we went to some pool, some spring, some creek, and thereafter we got back to the car and to our surprise, we saw lots and lots of green ants. You don't find them here in Singapore, my son was very tempted to bring one back or a few back to breed here and multiply. Of course, we didn't allow him. I think you could get away, you could easily bring them on plane, nobody would know.

But they are so unique, you can see there's a golden body and then the buttock at the backside is green colour. We had lots of them on our car. This is just on the side mirror, the back part of the side mirror or the… yeah, the back part of the side mirror, and they were all there, on our doors, on our side mirror. I just took one on the side mirror and we didn't dare to, of course, brush them off. I've no water to spray and so on.

So anyway, we got into our car and we drove. I was hoping that in our journey, we are going to drive two, three hours at rather high speed because it allows for high speed in Australia. So I thought I would drive fast and these guys will just fall off and that will be it, but you know what? These guys are tenacious. As I drove, I go fast, slow, fast, slow, they still hung on to the side mirror. I mean the wind was strong. I could see them… [Pastor demonstrated how the ants struggled to stay on the car.] Literally, I mean the legs were like this and then those whose legs were sort of off, the body was doubled over. I mean the belly was on its head, but it was still hanging on but some of them, of course, got blown away by the wind, you expect that.

But what I saw about these green ants were that they were very intelligent, they were very smart. When they saw that it was difficult for any one of them, they began to huddle together, they began to be in a mass there. Now it was entertainment for me. For the two, three hours, it's terrible to drive long distance but it was great looking at how many there still, okay, it was awesome, how many there still and see if they survive. But they survived all the way to the city, all the way to the carpark, they were still there.

Well, I guess this is a picture of how they strengthened one another for the journey, they didn't give up. They could easily say, “Aiyo, this is so difficult, that stupid driver drive so fast. I'm just going to give up on life and get off the road and maybe get run over by another car.” But these guys didn't, they hang in there. And how important it is for us to hang in there in our spiritual journey and the only way you can do it really well is when you have one another strengthening one another.

Now, the author goes on to say, not only do you do that but he says, “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” (Heb 12:14) I just want to summarize that into two words: strive for peace and purity, it comes together. Peace and purity, it comes together. The first one refers to the fulfilment, really, of the second commandment. The second great commandment: to love your neighbour as yourself, do not bear grudges, do not have differences, seek peace with everyone. The second one about pursuing holiness or purity is about loving God. You love God by pursuing likeness to Him, by avoiding sin in your life.

So it's a very simple command. Instead of being passive, instead of allowing yourself to live in sin, the Bible says be actively pursuing righteousness and love – loving God, loving man. When in trial, it's tempting for us to say, “I don't care about God's Word anymore. I don't want to obey His Word anymore.” No, the opposite is true. Lift up your arms, strengthen your weak knees, keep on obeying, pursuing peace and purity.

Now, I want to be clear. The author is not saying that you earn your salvation by obedience. That's absolutely foreign to the Bible, but you obey God to evidence your salvation. Now, this is the teaching in 2 Peter chapter 1, I'm not going to refer to you to those verses. But in 2 Peter chapter 1, Peter says, add to your faith virtue, and long-suffering, and godliness, and brotherly affection, and love. Add to your faith these things. Why, so that when you are full of these things, you will not be blind and forget that you were saved, but that you will be diligently making your calling and election sure. Peter, in his many words, is simply saying when you abound in godliness, in brotherly affection, in love, you have assurance of salvation because when you see these things in your life, they are the evidences of God's work in you.

Timestamp 0:29:45

So the author here says, instead of being passive and giving up on your Christian journey, actively pursue obedience to God; strive, the word there is to persecute, chase so hard as if you are persecuting it, strive for peace and purity that the evidences will be obvious in your life. And then finally, he says, “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble.” (Heb 12:15)

Let me tell you my initial read of this passage, the lazy read of this passage: “Ah, the ‘root of bitterness' must be someone who is resentful and unforgiving. So don't be unforgiving, don't be resentful.” That will be how I will read the “root of bitterness”. I suspect that will be the way you read, but that's a lazy way to read because it actually doesn't fit into the context.

Why suddenly unforgiveness? It's not about that. So this is where research has to come in, a careful look into the Bible has to come in. The “root of bitterness” is not talking about resentment but it's about something else. It's actually a quotation from Deuteronomy 29. If you read commentaries, good ones, all of them will refer you to Deuteronomy 29, where it says:

Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the LORD our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit,
(Deuteronomy 29:18 ESV)

You see that? That's where it comes from. The author of Hebrews is a man steep in the Scriptures, the Old Testament; he knows it really well. So he says this is what it is, this root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, but what does it mean then? Look at this. It refers to someone whose heart is turning away from God. So this root of bitterness is not so much about resentment but about poison, about venom, wickedness, falling away, turning away from God. Be careful of having this root in your life that will result in you ultimately turning away from God. You say, “Why?” Verse 19, look at this:

one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.'
(Deuteronomy 29:19 ESV)

So this “root of bitterness” is really about someone who is presumptuous. Let me bring it together. It's about someone who is presumptuous. He looks at himself and says, “I am fine.” He's self-righteous, not recognizing the wickedness or stubbornness of his heart. So the author, bringing it all back, is saying, be careful of being someone in the church who has experienced the blessings of God, who thinks that he is fine because he trusts in his own righteousness, but you are not because there is that root of bitterness that comes from self-righteousness, that will eventually manifest itself by turning away from God.

Many of you have been in church for many, many years. You look fine, you dress well, you sing the right words, you know where Malachi is, you know where Haggai is, you can turn your Bible there. You might even have been baptized. But what you are trusting in today is your self-righteousness. I can be accepted before God because I've been a good boy in church all these years. You know what? I've been going through some hardship and difficulty and you know, I'm beginning to think Jesus is not that worth it anymore. You know what? This is the root of bitterness that can come. This is the thing about the root. A root is hidden underneath the ground, you can't quite see it. But what the root absorbs is going to influence the entire plant, and one day you will see it.

Timestamp 0:34:26

So the author says, be careful of having that root of poison, of presumption, of self-righteousness arise in you. Kill that root, kill this root, kill this root of self-righteousness. You say, “How?” Well, that's exactly what the author has been talking about from the beginning. The author says, pay attention to the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Heb 2:1). The reason why we value self-righteousness is because we forget the radical power and grace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So pay much closer…

I'm not sure how you're listening to the Bible today. Some of you, Sunday morning, ah, pastor is going on his deep theological “chim chim” talk again [“chim” is a Hokkien word for “profound”]. No, I'm not doing it because this is scholarly or it gives me intellectual delight. I'm doing it because this is the Word of God and this is about you, and there's nothing more dangerous for you than to come in church, pat yourself on the back and think, “I am fine,” when you are not. So pay attention.

He says, “Do not harden your hearts.” (Heb 3:15) You might just be doing that this morning, not caring a hood about what the Bible says and going on with your sin, thinking that you will be fine. Draw near to God (Heb 4:16). How do you kill that root? Pay attention, don't harden your heart, come to God in prayer, ask Him to do the work of grace that you need in your soul (Heb 4:16).

Do not be sluggish; by faith and patience, you would inherit the promises (Heb 6:12). Keep on believing. Don't turn your back on God because you have some persecution, or trial or pain. It is difficult, I'm sure, but keep the faith, keep enduring. Hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering (Heb 10:23).

And in a nutshell, that is the message of Hebrews. In a nutshell, this is what Esau fell into and he became the biggest loser. This morning, I pray you will not be the loser but you'll triumph in Christ. Don't be in the midst of God's blessings and give it all up because it may happen to you and you will come to the point of no return. Folks, kill the root of bitterness, keep on pursuing righteousness and love, peace and purity. Keep on encouraging one another in the faith. This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let's bow for a word of prayer together.

Real faith endures. That is the teaching of the Bible. And real faith values spiritual things. How do you know Esau didn't have faith? Very simple, he sold his birthright for a pot of soup. How do you know Moses had real faith? Very simple, he gave up the glories of Egypt to suffer reproach with the people of God. My friends, faith is not something secret and hidden, faith is something that will manifest itself with works. A tree is known by its fruit, a faith is known by its works.

This morning, don't sit on that chair of presumption and assume you are fine when you are not. The point of this sermon is not to scare you so that you despair, but the point of this sermon is to give you a snapshot of reality that perhaps, this morning, you will humble yourself, turn from your own self-righteousness and rely on the amazing grace of Jesus Christ. You know, this morning, if you're listening, I believe it is still God's hand of mercy reaching out to you.

Timestamp 0:39:29

God hates self-righteousness. That's found throughout the Gospel. But let me tell you the good news. I find that even the self-righteous Sadducees and Pharisees, and religious leaders, religionists come to have an opportunity to know Christ in the book of Acts. Many of the priests turned to the Gospel. This morning, you can turn to the Gospel, you can turn from your self-righteousness to the righteousness of God in Christ, freely given to you. So this morning, would you repent and believe? Don't be like that Esau, please; so close in the family of Abraham, in a family of Isaac, and yet so far.

Maybe some of you today are thinking about selling your birthright for a pot of soup. You want to give up on your Christian faith, you want to lie, you want to cheat so that you can get a good business deal. You want to have an adulterous relationship because you think that will give you pleasure and joy and you say, “Who cares about obeying God? Who cares about walking in righteousness?” Oh friends, pick up your arms, strengthen your knees, and run and stay in the race. Make every effort, don't just sit there passively, pursue God, hear His Word, pray, be with God's people, do everything you can to stay in the race, do everything you can to stay in the race.

Of course, ultimately, it is God's grace that will keep you there but His grace works through your active obedience, never passive. So don't be a loser, please. Let us all complete this race, and let us see one another on the other side, rejoicing. Whatever the Lord is saying to you this morning, would you spend this time and reflect it before Him in your prayer, in the thanksgiving, in your confession? Don't be a loser.

Father, we thank You this morning. I know this is a tough passage, difficult verses and a very difficult reality to confront. But perhaps, dear God, by Your Spirit, You will turn all this into something beautiful in many lives here. Our prayer is that none in this room would turn their backs to You, none of these people here would trust in their self-righteousness and be presumptuous about their walk and relationship with You, that everyone here would have that wisdom from God, that wisdom from the Bible to steer clear of the life of Esau. May this example change our lives. We ask all this now in Jesus' Name. Amen.

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