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Subject 24 : Sermons for Those Who Have Become Our COWORKERS
[24-60] Blessings Are Conveyed Through God’s Church (Genesis 27:1-30)
(Genesis 27:1-30)
“Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, ‘My son.’ And he answered him, ‘Here I am.’ Then he said, ‘Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death. Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.’ Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it. So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, ‘Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.’ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death.’ And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, ‘Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.’ But his mother said to him, ‘Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.’ And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved. Then Rebekah took the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. So he went to his father and said, ‘My father.’ And he said, ‘Here I am. Who are you, my son?’ Jacob said to his father, ‘I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.’ But Isaac said to his son, ‘How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?’ And he said, ‘Because the LORD your God brought it to me.’ Isaac said to Jacob, ‘Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.’ So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, ‘The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.’ And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. Then he said, ‘Are you really my son Esau?’ He said, ‘I am.’ He said, ‘Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, so that my soul may bless you.’ So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, ‘Come near now and kiss me, my son.’ And he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said:
‘Surely, the smell of my son
Is like the smell of a field
Which the LORD has blessed.
Therefore may God give you
Of the dew of heaven,
Of the fatness of the earth,
And plenty of grain and wine.
Let peoples serve you,
And nations bow down to you.
Be master over your brethren,
And let your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,
And blessed be those who bless you!’
Now it happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.”
It is very important for you and me to realize clearly what blessings are given to us through God’s Church. Today I would like to share the Word with you regarding this important issue.
How did you and I receive the remission of sins? Did we receive it by chance? Did we meet our Lord because we were somehow wiser, smarter, or even more spiritual than anyone else? Is it possible for anyone to meet the Lord through his or her own merits? No, not at all!
You and I have been blessed. How then did we receive these blessings? It is through His Church that God bestowed upon us these blessings. We must realize here that we did not find God through our own efforts. Rather, it is through His Church that God works, and it is through His Church that God blesses people. Any church that’s not approved by God is useless, no matter how many such churches exists. If God’s authentic Church were not on this planet, then no one in this world would have been able to receive God’s blessings. It is because God has clearly established His Church as the pathway through which He bestows His blessings.
Jacob Was Blessed Because He Listened to His Mother and Followed Her Counsel
Isaac, the son of Abraham and the father of Jacob was nearing his death due to old age. His eyes became dim as well, making him blind. Taking advantage of his father’s situation Jacob disguised himself as Esau and received the blessings of birthright reserved for the firstborn that his brother should have received. Some preachers say without much thought that Jacob wanted to be blessed so much that he deceived his father to obtain these blessings of birthright, but the Word of God is not that simple in its meaning.
Why is it written in the Bible that when Isaac became old and had lost his sight, Jacob put his brother Esau’s clothes on, took the savory food prepared by his mother to his father, and received all these blessings? This does not just mean that Jacob had a deep longing to be blessed so much that he deceived and lied to his father to get it. Rather it teaches us through whom God blesses everyone. We need to latch onto the reason why God recorded this event in the Bible. It was to reveal the fact that God bestows His blessings through His Church.
In his old age Isaac called his firstborn son Esau and said to him, “Go out to the field and hunt game for me. And make me savory food that I love with it. I will then bless you.” Esau then said, “Yes, father, I will do as you say.” So Esau sharpened his arrows, slung them over his shoulder, and went out to the field to hunt.
While this conversation was going on Rebekah Isaac’s wife eavesdropped what he was saying to his firstborn son. So Rebekah thought, “Once Esau returns from his hunt and prepares a savory dish for his father, Isaac will bless him.” Rebekah loved her second son Jacob more than her first son. The name “Jacob” means “heel holder” or “supplanter,” and Jacob had always been helping his mother. So it was only natural that Rebekah would love Jacob more, given how obedient he was.
Rebekah said to Jacob, “I heard your father saying that he will bless your brother once he returns from hunting game and makes him his favorite savory food. I want you to be blessed instead of him. I want you to receive all these blessings. So do as I ask you to do.” Rebekah then told Jacob to pretend to be Esau before his father. Jacob then said to her, “I will do what you’ve told me to do, but my brother is a hairy man while I am a smooth-skinned man. So, I am afraid that far from being blessed, I’ll be cursed for trying to deceive my father instead.” What did his mother then say to him? She said, “If this happens then let all your curses be upon me; you just do what I’ve told you to do.” Now that Jacob had his mother’s guarantee, he only had to do what his mother told him to do, for even if he were to be cursed, his mother had agreed to bear them all in his place.
Rebekah first told Jacob to bring two choice young goats from the flock. When Jacob brought the goats as he was told, his mother cooked them and made savory food for Isaac, and she put the goat’s skin on Jacob’s arms and neck—that is, on his exposed body parts that his blind father could touch and feel. She then told Jacob to take the prepared food to his father.
It Is on Account of the Faith of God’s Church That He Has Blessed Us
My fellow believers, what does this account really mean? Jacob’s mother symbolizes none other than God’s Church. The Bible often speaks of the Church as a married woman. Just as Adam said to his wife Eve, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh,” God spoke of His Church as the embodiment of His love and the pillar of the Truth. In other words, Jacob’s mother in today’s passage of Scripture refers to none other than God’s Church.
Indeed, today’s passage of Scripture describes how Jacob was blessed through the Church. How was Jacob able to receive these blessings? He was blessed because he did what his mother, God’s Church, told him to do. Spiritually speaking, it was through God’s Church that Jacob was blessed. The Church made this savory food so that Jacob would be able to receive his father’s blessings.
And the savory food here does not literally refer to a plate of food. Isaac ate this savory food and blessed Jacob. What is the spiritual meaning of this savory food mentioned here? It means that Jesus Christ has blotted out all our sins once and for all with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. None other than our faith in this righteous work of the Lord is the prepared savory food before God the Father. If we make this savory food of faith and take it to God, we will receive all His blessings.
However, not just anyone can make this savory food that can please God. Although there are countless churches in this world, few churches actually teach the mystery of salvation that enables one to receive the remission of sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. In other words, only God’s righteous Church can make this savory food of faith and salvation. You must grasp this truth that this is not something that just any church can make. Only God’s Church can teach people how they can receive the remission of sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and only God’s Church can enable them to receive blessings by making this savory food properly and offering it to God. Unless it is God’s Church, no church can teach any soul the way to receive the remission of sins.
Spiritually speaking, God’s Church is the wife of Christ. No church can spread the blessings of the remission of sins to the people of this world unless it is a church that believes in and serves the righteousness of the Lord absolutely. It is only through God’s righteous Church that you can receive blessings from God. You must realize this. You must also realize just how important the ministry of God’s Church is. Without the gospel ministry carried out in God’s Church, no one can receive any blessings.
Think about it. If it were not for God’s Church, how could we have received the blessings of salvation? In reality, Jacob was a deeply flawed man with many shortcomings. How could such a weak man be blessed? Even if he tried his best, how could he receive any blessings at all? Blessings cannot be received when God has not given them. Yet Jacob was still blessed all because he obeyed his mother—that is, he obeyed God’s Church.
How Are People Blessed by God?
In today’s Scripture passage, God is teaching us a deep truth. He is teaching us the truth that we are blessed only through His Church. Remember this important teaching clearly. Without God’s Church, we can never receive the blessings of the remission of sins. Without the Church, it is absolutely impossible to receive any blessings. Through whom does God give us the blessings of both heavenly and earthly fertility? It is none other than through His Church. No matter how hard you work in this world and how much you long to receive blessings, you can never receive these blessings unless you rely on God’s Church. Today’s Scripture passage reveals to us that God blesses us only through His Church. You need to realize here that God wrote today’s passage of Scripture in Genesis chapter 27 to show us how one is blessed—that is, to reveal that you are blessed through God’s Church.
My fellow believers, do you know God’s Church? You and I must be able to recognize God’s Church properly. If you fail to recognize God’s Church and just say, “I’ve received the remission of sins, so I would like to just go on living according to the course of this world,” then the remission of sins that you’ve received will all be in vain. Although we think that we are serving God’s Church, but the reality is, it is God’s Church that’s serving us, not the other way around. We must grasp clearly here that it is through God’s Church that we are being blessed by God, rather than us serving God’s Church.
Therefore, you should never take God’s Church lightly. Someone who takes God’s Church lightly, or does not know it at all, is not yet leading a life of faith. Those who do not know God’s Church are leading a life of their own greed rather than a life of faith, and they are asking for blessings from anywhere, akin to building the Tower of Babel. You and I should never allow this to happen to us. Instead, we must realize clearly that we are blessed through the Church, and we must serve God’s Church and follow it.
Spiritually Speaking, the Savory Food for Isaac Refers to the Gospel of the Remission of Sins
Jacob’s mother in today’s Scripture passage made savory food. Isn’t it actually your mother who knows the most about what your father likes? So, when the Bible says here that Rebekah made savory food for Isaac, she did not just make a meal that everyone makes, but she made a very special dish. Then my fellow believers, what is the most special food among all the foods on this earth? It is none other than the remission of sins which constitutes the bread of life. In other words, the special food that Rebekah made in today’s Scripture passage refers to the blessed remission of sins that blots out all the sins of the entire human race.
You cannot hear about how mankind’s sins are blotted out anywhere in the world. Where can you then hear this? It is only through God’s Church that you can hear the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Do secular universities teach you this gospel of the water and the Spirit? Does society teach it? Do smart people teach it? Do the teachers of ethics or religious leaders teach it? No, no one can teach it. Who teaches this gospel then? Only God’s Church, the Bride of Christ, is able to make this savory food—that is, preaching the gospel of the remission of sins.
Think about it. Were it not for God’s Church, would you and I have been able to hear the gospel of the Lord? No, of course not! Our sins would have stayed intact in our hearts and because of this we would have gone straight to hell. Without God’s Church, no one can ever hear this gospel. Do you think you are smart enough to discover the Truth of the remission of sins all on your own? If this is how you think, then you will never be able to receive the true remission of sins.
The Savory Food of Faith Cannot Be Found Just Anywhere
It is all thanks to God’s Church that we heard the gospel of the water and the Spirit and received the remission of sins. All of us must grasp this fully. We must realize that it is through God’s Church that we can receive the remission of sins and be blessed. Jesus Christ is our Savior. But through what entity does He work? He works through none other than His Church. Christ’s work of salvation never unfolds unless it is through God’s Church.
It is therefore imperative for us to realize what kind of place God’s Church is. We must know where God’s true Church is found. And whenever we hear the Word through the leader of God’s Church, we must recognize clearly whether this is God’s Word of life or just some words of man that can be heard anywhere. The bread that comes down from Heaven is indeed the bread of life, but you must never eat poisoned bread. Indeed, this Word of the water and the Spirit through which God has saved us from sin is not something that can be had anywhere. It is not something that you can find just anywhere at any time. When we humans fail to recognize God’s Church that brings His true blessings, we are bound to throw away our blessings without even realizing it.
My fellow believers, it is because of God’s Church that you have received the remission of sins and this remission of sins is kept intact. Through God’s Church we receive the Lord’s promised blessings in His due time, we are led by Him, and we grow and mature before the presence of God. All these things are possible only in His Church, not anywhere else.
What will you hear from anywhere else other than God’s Church? Can you just pick and choose what you want to hear? No, this is not the case. Think about it. Do we have the ability to draw only clean water from a flowing river and filter out muddy water? No, we can’t help but accept whatever water that flows. If the true Word of God is mixed with the words of the world, you will have no choice but to accept them all, and once this happens, you will end up planting the seed of false teachings on a bad field and bear bad fruit.
How has God blessed everyone on this earth? He has blessed all humans through none other than His Church. What then is God’s Church? God’s Church is a gathering of those who have received the remission of sins and are worshipping God and it is a place where a leader is present who follows God wholly and faithfully—none other than this is God’s Church. In other words, God’s Church is where the Word of God and the Holy Spirit are to be found, where there is a leader united with God, and where the righteous are gathered together to worship—that is, where the brides of Jesus Christ are gathered together.
Not every church is God’s Church. It must have a leader who faithfully serves the gospel of the water and the Spirit, namely, the gospel of the Lord. Our faith must open its spiritual eyes. We must discern what is right from what is wrong. Even if we discover a treasury chest full of gold, unless we recognize its worth, we will not benefit from it. And once we discard it, saying, “Well, I came upon this chest by chance, and so I’m sure I’ll make another discovery,” if this happens it will be the end of God’s blessings.
Esau in today’s Scripture passage failed to obtain his father’s benediction. What does this imply? It means that Esau was finished. He sold his birthright of the firstborn to Jacob for a bowl of lentil soup. As Esau was unable to receive the last blessings that Isaac offered on behalf of God, his spiritual life was finished.
God’s Church Is Absolutely Indispensable to Every Born-again Christian
My fellow believers, you must recognize clearly what kind of place God’s Church is. Even though there are countless churches on this earth, not all of them are God’s Church. In other words, you should never enter and hear sermons in just any church that you happen to see. Although there are many preachers of the Word of God, few are actually preaching the true Word of God. You must remember this. It is not by doing something on our own that we are blessed. It is through God’s Church, by gathering together before God to worship Him and listening to the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that we are able to receive all the blessings that flow from God. Do you grasp this? What would happen to us if we the righteous had no Church? If we the righteous did not have the Church, we would be completely helpless. We would be just like orphans. For the saints, the Church is their parents. Without the Church, we will be lost, wandering around here and there, only to get hurt and be injured. Our spiritual lives, in other words, will be over.
Indeed, it is because we have God’s Church that we are blessed. Yet some saint’s act immaturely not realizing this truth, and it saddens me deeply to see this. Just how important is God’s Church? If we listen to the Word inside God’s Church no matter what, we will surely be blessed. Because there is abundant water, we are prone to think that water can be had anytime we want, and we also think that we can breathe air anytime we want. But is this really the case? Outside of the planet’s atmosphere, we can never breathe. Water and air are what sustains life. If one fails to appreciate the preciousness of air and goes to a place without any air, he will die right away. He will die because of his sheer ignorance. The same logic applies to God’s blessings. Even though many Christians think they can receive all these blessings from God at any church, but this is not true. This is not something that God would say to just anyone, but He speaks this truth only to all of us, His children.
My fellow believers, I admonish you all not to take God’s Church lightly. Even if you show disdain to others, you should never take God’s Church too lightly. The Church is where God works, and God is deeply interested in it. It is a beautiful city like Zion. The Church is the very place where God bestows His grace, where His blessings are found, and where the bread of life, the Word of God is discovered.
We must recognize God’s Church properly. We should not think of it only as a place of worship. Even though one hears the Word of God during a worship service, unless the Holy Spirit is there, it is not a proper worship service God is pleased with. That’s why it’s so important for you to have the right understanding of God’s Church. And you must also realize just how blessed you are through this Church. My fellow believers, do you believe that this Church is God’s Church? How blessed we all are. God works through this Church, He speaks to us inside this Church, and He leads us through this Church. I ask you all to realize this fact that God speaks and works inside the Church. What does God use to bless His people? He blesses them through none other than His Church.
Would Jacob in today’s passage of Scripture have been able to be blessed by his father were it not for his mother? Jacob did what his mother told him to do. His mother covered him with goat’s skin and clothed him with Esau’s clothes. And just as Isaac his father said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau,” Jacob was blessed by his father like this because he believed in his mother’s words exactly as she said.
It was Rebekah his mother who brought blessings to Jacob. What about you and me then? Who has given us the faith that we are God’s people? It’s God’s Church that has relayed this faith to you. Just as Jacob was blessed by doing what his mother told him to do, so are we also blessed if we do what God’s Church asks us to do.
God’s Church is such a wonderful place. If we really ponder upon it, we will realize just how important the Church is. No matter how intelligent and talented I may be in this world, I know very well that ultimately I am nothing if not for God’s Church. Through this God-given Word, we must realize that it is through His Church that God blesses us and works. Regardless of how insufficient we are, if we establish the Church, worship God in the Church, pray to Him in the Church, and work through the Church, God will infallibly bless all His people found in the Church.
That is why I am trying so hard to establish God’s Church. We know that once God’s Church is formed, God blesses through this Church. We know very well that not only the people of God but also everyone in the world are blessed through God’s Church. That’s why we form God’s Church and discern this genuine Church from the worldly churches that have been formed by false prophets. Where the born-again are gathered together to worship, this is God’s Church. However, a place of worship that’s mixed with those who have not been born again is not God’s true Church. In other words, God’s true Church is where only the holy and the sinless are gathered together to worship, clearly set apart from the sinful. When those who have received the remission of sins are gathered together in God’s Church to praise God, pray to Him, and worship Him, it is there that God blesses. We must grasp this clearly.
This is not achieved spontaneously. In other words, it is not by fluke that the remission of sins is received and the righteous gather together to worship. Nor is this achieved with money. It is accomplished only by the power of God, by the work of the Holy Spirit. My fellow believers, have you received the remission of sins? Indeed, all of us have received the remission of sins through the Church. Unless it’s through the Church, it’s impossible for anyone to receive the remission of sins. Obtaining the remission of sins is not so easy. It’s impossible unless the Church preaches the Word of God clearly and the hearer in question believes in this Word wholly. That is why even though everyone in this world wants to receive the remission of sins; those who have actually received it are very few.
It’s through the Church that God blesses those who believe in Him and are united with Him, on account of their faith. This means, because God has revealed to everyone in the world the mystery of the remission of sins and of prophecies, everyone can actually receive the remission of sins and be blessed.
God’s Church Is Not Found Just Anywhere
My fellow believers, you must realize that if you leave God’s Church, your soul will perish in a short time. You must grasp that leaving the Church is like throwing away your own blessings. Why has God placed you and me in His Church? God has put us in His Church in order to bless us, to protect us, and to bestow His grace upon us. Put differently, it’s not because God somehow needs us that He placed us in the Church. Rather, God established His Church on this earth and placed us in it in order to bless us, for we are His people and His children born with the price of His blood.
God’s Church is not found just anywhere. We must grasp this. Before establishing His Church, God infallibly prepares His servant first. He first raises a servant who has united with His Word, and who is fitting in His eyes, and then He establishes the Church through this servant and makes him preach the gospel. And through the Church established in this way, and as the righteous gather together to worship, preach the Word, and spread God’s blessings, everyone in the world is able to be blessed. God’s Church is the institution that spreads His blessings through such righteous people.
No country can have two governments. Your government is the institution that rules your country. There is only one such institution in your country, and it’s not found just anywhere. Just as there is only one president or prime minister who governs over the whole of your country, on this planet also, there is only one organization that spreads God’s blessings and enables you to receive them. It is none other than God’s Church. My fellow believers, I admonish you all to realize that God blesses the people of this world only through His Church.
Realizing this truth is realizing the greatest truth of all. Although we have been saved, we should not be happy at just having received the remission of sins. We must recognize clearly that while our Church is God’s Church, there also are other churches that are not God’s Church. You must discern this clearly in your life. In other words, you have to realize where you are abiding, and with whom you are sharing fellowship. God has blessed the born-again righteous abiding in His Church. Having blessed this Church, God is raising many workers there.
God’s Church is the only place in this world that preaches the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It is also the only place that spreads not just the gospel of the water and the Spirit but also God’s blessings. And only God’s Church preaches His Word exactly. This is how very important this Church is.
Today there are many people who claim to preach the gospel, but in reality they speak of only the history and tradition of their own denominations. In contrast, there are few churches and leaders on this earth who actually and correctly clothe their followers in righteousness and enable them to approach God the Father, as Rebekah had done for Jacob. She had slaughtered two choice goats, put the goats’ skin on Jacob, clothed him in Esau’s cloths, cooked the savory food for his father, and told him, “Go and tell your father that you are Esau.” We see and feel this reality all around us.
There are some people who, despite claiming that they have received the remission of sins, have actually never been born again. These people deny the gospel of the water and the Spirit even as they pretend to have received the remission of sins. But how do they express their logic? They just embellish it with their own thoughts while ignoring the gospel of the water and the Spirit. To deny the gospel of the water and the Spirit, one should bring the Bible and argue against it logically based on its original text—to be more precise, one should build arguments on both the Old and New Testaments. In other words, every preacher ought to preach based on the whole Word of Truth which is the correct standard.
We clearly assert that no one can be saved unless they believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Although we often hear that we would have many enemies if we preach like this, there is absolutely no need for us to be distracted by such words. The institution that conveys God’s blessings must deliver these blessings exactly as God has determined. It is nothing once it loses this unique feature. Remember this, my fellow believers. You can have fast food anywhere, but savory food is not something you can have just anywhere. Savory food must be made according to its specific recipe—that is, precisely according to the Word. It’s then that the savory food proves its real worth as the food of life. It’s when we spread God’s blessings according to His Word that our fountain becomes the wonderful fountain of everlasting life, and anyone who drinks from it never thirsts again.
My fellow believers, do you know God’s Church? To lead a proper life of faith, you must first know the Church. Trying to lead a life of faith without knowing God’s Church is like losing two-thirds of the God-given blessings. In contrast, if you lead your life of faith with the right understanding of God’s Church, then you will be able to receive all His blessings. Every blessing is conveyed through God’s Church. Cherishing God’s Church is to love God Himself, and serving the gospel is serving God. This is indeed true. We are absolutely not trying to establish another denomination. Nor are we trying to build a huge church building. Far from it, our goal is preaching the forever-unchanging Truth of God through His Church.
The true Word of God has made it known to us that everyone in the world receives God’s blessings through His Church. This truth is forever-unchanging. So I ask you all to believe in this truth, know the Church, and follow the Lord accordingly. And I hope and pray that you will all receive each and every true blessing of God by obeying this truth.
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Copyright © 2021 by The New Life Mission