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[0:00] Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country famished.! He said to Jacob, Quick, let me have some of that red stew. I'm famished.! That is why he was also called Edom.

[0:12] Jacob replied, First, sell me your birthright. Look, I'm about to die, Esau said. What good is the birthright to me? But Jacob said, Swear to me first. So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

[0:25] Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright. And then over to Genesis 27.

[0:38] We'll pick up the reading in verse 30 and read through verse 38. Genesis 27, verse 30. After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father's presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting.

[0:55] He, too, prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, My father, sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing. His father Isaac asked him, Who are you?

[1:08] I'm your son, he answered, your firstborn, Esau. Isaac trembled violently and said, Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him.

[1:19] And indeed, he will be blessed. When Esau heard his father's words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, Bless me, me too, my father. But he said, Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.

[1:34] Esau said, Isn't he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times. He took my birthright and now he's taken my blessing. Then he asked, Haven't you reserved any blessing for me?

[1:44] Isaac answered, Esau, I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants. And I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?

[1:58] Esau said to his father, Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father. Then Esau wept aloud. Red is a good old boy.

[2:13] He likes his women. He likes his truck. He likes working for the weekend. He doesn't do anybody no harm. And Red raises a family and he pays his taxes and he holds his hand over his heart when the national anthem is played.

[2:29] His eyes wander a bit from time to time. But whose don't, after all? And Red grew up in a Christian family. But it wasn't for him.

[2:41] He didn't need all that church stuff. Because Red is a good old boy after all. Well, Red, that story, takes place millions and millions of times all across America.

[2:57] Takes place hundreds and hundreds of times in Marshall County. And in New York City a million times over, I'm sure. Red is a good old boy.

[3:09] But he's sexually immoral and he's godless. The author to the Hebrews, and we're going to finish up in Hebrews chapter 12 today, has addressed four problems.

[3:25] Or he's addressing four problems. And he's addressing the last two potential problems that are facing the church in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 16 and 17.

[3:35] And remember, the church is running this race. They're on an all-out chase for holiness. And they need holiness if they're going to see Jesus.

[3:47] But the race is long and there's lots of obstacles. There's potential problems facing them. And we talked about two of those problems last week. Verse 15 warned us of coming short, of failing to obtain the grace of God and of the bitter root of idolatry.

[4:08] So many are going to grow weary and they're just going to stop running. And then others will turn off the path and actually chase an idol instead of the Lord.

[4:21] Well, the cure for both of those is simple. It was for the church, you and me, to watch over one another. To carefully look after its members.

[4:34] See to it, he said. See to it that certain things happen. And that word see to it was the overseer's job.

[4:46] That's a word that's describing an overseer, a pastor, an elder. And even though we're all not called to be pastors, we're all called in this text to oversee each other.

[4:58] To watch over one another. Well, now the author comes to the last two potential problems. Facing the church, sexual immorality and godlessness.

[5:10] So look at verse 16 of Hebrews chapter 12 with me. See that no one is sexually immoral or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.

[5:27] And afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

[5:39] So we see the first potential problem in verse 16 is sexual immorality. And the first thing that comes to my mind is why?

[5:52] Why put sexual immorality in that context? Why include sexual immorality in this list of potential problems? Because sexual purity is absolutely essential to holiness.

[6:10] The author has called us to this all-out chase for holiness. We're to pursue holiness with all of our hearts. And if we're going to pursue holiness, we have to pursue sexual purity.

[6:22] So we must have sexually pure bodies. The things that we do with our physical bodies must be holy.

[6:33] Remember Romans 12. Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship.

[6:46] So God made our bodies and he made sex. But the way we're supposed to carry out our bodily actions and our sexual life is to be holy.

[6:59] Well, how do we do that? We obey God in our bodies. The seventh commandment is you shall not commit adultery. God commands us to live sexually pure lives in our bodies.

[7:13] And that is our spiritual act of worship. When we obey that command, we worship God. We show our respect and our love for God.

[7:25] And so we dishonor God when we disobey that commandment. Instead of worshiping God, we exchange God for an idol. The idol of sexual pleasure.

[7:38] Colossians 3 says, Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed. Which is idolatry.

[7:52] Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. And of course, sexual immorality goes deeper than our bodies. Jesus taught us that.

[8:04] If anyone looks at a woman lustfully, he has committed adultery in his heart. Holiness means sexual purity in our thought life.

[8:15] So let's say here that if we want to have a pure life, it's going to be an uphill road.

[8:25] This is no easy battle in front of us because our culture is saturated with sex. And I don't have to tell you where it's at because it's everywhere.

[8:37] It's everywhere. If we want to be careful, then we have to watch what goes into our eyes, what comes into our ears, what we put in front of us. So TV, movies, the internet, they can all be very good.

[8:51] They can be good and fun, but they can be absolutely polluting to you. So if they're not filling up your eyes with sexually impure images, they could be filling your heart with wrong desires.

[9:07] It's the sensual worldview that we are soaked in. And it's that culture that we have to put off and the desires that come from that.

[9:20] So it's an uphill battle, but it is a battle that we have to win. You have to win this battle if you're going to be holy. Well, why does he warn against sexual immorality?

[9:32] Because it's essential for holiness and because it's essential for the health of a church. Remember, that's the context of Hebrews 12. The author has already stated that we're to be living in such a way that my life actually encourages your holiness.

[9:51] My life brings healing into your life. He has already started the discussion with the command to strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees, make level paths for your feet so that the lame would not be disabled, but rather healed.

[10:06] So he wants us to live in such a way that the sick are healed and the lame are restored. And the way that we can do that is by living sexually pure lives. Sexual immorality in the church, on the other hand, is like a man with cancer.

[10:26] He has a hidden cancer. So you look at him, and by all appearances, he's in good shape. He goes to work. He's eating well.

[10:37] But the whole time, there's a cancer eating out of his insides. Sexual immorality in a church is like that. The outside can look really good.

[10:50] The Sunday school could be well-staffed. The people, the worship services could be well-attended. The singing is good. The preaching is good. But the whole time, sexual immorality is eating the heart of the church.

[11:07] The pastor preaches well, apparently, but he's been compromised. And the men sing well, but their minds are filled with pornography. And people do the right things, and they say the right things, but it's a sham.

[11:24] It's not real. It's a cover-up for the devastating fact that the church is being destroyed with sexual immorality. And of course, cancer, you can't hide it forever.

[11:38] Eventually, the tumor becomes big enough that people notice. And so one day, the tumor's obvious. And then by that time, what has happened?

[11:49] It's spread. The whole body's been contaminated. The whole body's compromised. And it's the same way with sexual sin in a church. By the time it's halted, families have been torn apart.

[12:05] And sheep lose their shepherds. And the weak are left wondering and confused. And they don't know what to do. But on the other hand, a sexually pure church is a healthy church.

[12:20] It's a place where marriages are restored. And it's a place where marriages grow in their love for one another. And it's a place where the lame are healed.

[12:32] Where people that do struggle with sexual immorality, they're brought back and they're restored. And it's a place where people grow in their joy and in their obedience instead of in their guilt and in their fear.

[12:47] They grow in holiness in a church like that. So sexual purity is essential for the health of a church. Sexual purity is essential for the witness of the church.

[13:02] And I'm saying this in passing because it's not the thrust of the passage in front of us. But it's nevertheless true. Sexual purity is essential if we want to reach the world.

[13:14] If we want to evangelize effectively. The culture is so depraved. Our culture is so depraved. Yet it is so sensitive to sexual sin in the church.

[13:28] They don't see any difference in a lot of churches than what they have already. Well, if the Roman Catholic abuse scandal has taught us anything, it is this, that we have to be absolutely vehement in our pursuit of sexual purity.

[13:49] Because most people don't see the difference between a Roman Catholic and a Reformed Baptist. Do you know that? They don't know. They can't tell the difference. If you tell them, they're like, okay, that's fine.

[14:01] But the world looking on, we're all Christians. We're all guilty, except we're just hypocritical about our sin. We don't have anything for them to hold on to.

[14:14] There's nothing different in our lives. And so we have to be vehement and violent in our pursuit of holiness and of sexual purity if we're going to have a credible witness in the church. We have to have a marked difference or they're not going to see it.

[14:29] There's no room for compromise. There's no room for giving way a little bit. It's essential for our church's witness. Well, that's why the author brings it up in this context.

[14:44] Because sexual purity is so important in a church's life. It's essential for this pursuit of holiness. It's essential for a church's health. And it's essential for a church's witness.

[14:55] Well, how can a body of believers like Grace Fellowship pursue holiness in this area? Well, notice again that we are told to see to it.

[15:11] We're told to see to it that no one is sexually immoral. This is an area where the church is to watch over one another. I'm not only supposed to live for me.

[15:23] I'm supposed to live for you. I'm not only supposed to make sure that I'm sexually pure, but that you are as well. Well, how can we help each other in this area?

[15:35] It's a very private area. We aren't going to naturally just start talking about it. Well, I thought of five ways that we can pursue sexual purity as a body of believers.

[15:49] And they go from sort of the most conservative, the most easy to do, the easiest to do, and then the most radical. These are the most painful steps.

[16:00] Number one, modesty. Modesty. And I'm speaking mostly to girls. If you want to love your brothers and see to it that your brothers are sexually pure, then be sure to dress modestly.

[16:18] Paul wrote to Timothy and said, I want women to dress modestly with decency and propriety. Ladies, you think you know how visually aware guys are, but you're wrong.

[16:34] You don't have any idea. Whatever you think, multiply that by about 10. And that is what is going on in a man's mind. And that's not gross and it's not bad.

[16:45] It's the way God has made us. But since you now know that, dress modestly. Guys are very visually oriented. So take steps to help them.

[16:57] So you need to love them enough to dress for their holiness. Dress for their holiness. That's one way that you can see to it.

[17:10] As a body of believers that we can see to it that we're sexually pure. Number two, open dealings. And I'm speaking mostly here to unmarried people.

[17:23] But there's application for all here. But mostly to unmarried people. Have open dealings with people of the opposite gender. Don't put yourself into compromising situations.

[17:37] And men, be extra scrupulous in this area. Do whatever you can. It doesn't matter what they think. If you're cool or not. Do whatever you can to stay out of compromising situations.

[17:51] So teenagers, college. If you have a boyfriend, a girlfriend. If you want ever to have a boyfriend or a girlfriend.

[18:03] Have open dealings. And I know that you like them. And you love them. And you just want to find a nice cozy place and kiss them.

[18:16] But don't. But don't. You can't go into a situation like that. With just some sort of vague ideas. Vague lines in your mind about.

[18:28] Okay, these are the lines I'm not going to cross. But I'm not too sure about them. You can't go into a situation like that. With vague ideas. And expect to come out on the other side.

[18:39] Pure. Pure. You can't go into a situation like that. And not stir up desires in your heart. That are good. And they're right. But they're not for you to indulge.

[18:51] Until you're married. So read Song of Songs. This is a book that is about love. And sex. And marriage. And repeatedly. It says. I charge you.

[19:03] They're talking to the single people. I charge you. By the does and the gazelles of the field. Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires. Sexual love is a fire. And marriage is the fireplace.

[19:15] And if you take that fire out of the fireplace. Your house burns down. So if you want to do yourself a favor.

[19:26] Don't burn your house down. Keep the fire in the fireplace. And build a nice hearth. And keep it in there. And keep it out of your house. Number three.

[19:37] Protective accountability. So I'm speaking to everyone here. But I'm mostly speaking to guys. Guys. Unless you're sick. Unless you're dead. Unless you have the gift of singleness.

[19:49] This is the area that you will have to work on. And you know what? We heard last week. That two are better than one. Because they get a good return for their work.

[20:01] And so find somebody. Find a friend that you can hold yourselves accountable with. That you can say. How are you doing? Can I pray for you? That's one way that we can keep sexual immorality.

[20:15] Out of grace fellowship. Is by brothers. And brothers and sisters. Sisters and sisters. And brothers and brothers. Holding each other accountable.

[20:26] Number four. Redemptive action. Paul wrote to the Galatians. Brothers. If someone is caught in a sin. You who are spiritual.

[20:37] Should restore him. Gently. The idea is not. Aha. We caught you. You're caught in a sin. We got you.

[20:47] The idea is that this brother's trapped. He's like an animal that's been caught in the trap. And what do you do? You have to get him out of the trap. You have to rescue him. Well we do that through redemptive action.

[21:02] Through rescuing them. So how do we do that? We do it through counseling. And prayer. And accountability. And just to let everyone know.

[21:15] That this church has faced sexual immorality. And we have areas. And we have ways of redeeming. And doing redemptive action.

[21:27] So if this is an area that you're trapped in. And you're caught. Then talk to your pastors. There are steps to take. That we could do.

[21:38] To redeem. You out of that situation. So number four is redemptive action. Number five. And this is the most radical. This is when all these things don't work.

[21:51] Number five is church discipline. There might come a place. And a time. When the only alternative. To dealing with sexual immorality. Is to remove the member.

[22:02] From the body. There comes a point. And with cancer. Where you have to. Take the tumor out. You have to cut. And remove it. Surgery is necessary.

[22:13] If you're going to save. The rest of the body. And so. We might have to come to that. And church discipline. Is something that. To be honest. I think we do. Fairly well here.

[22:25] But it's never easy. It's always easier. To let it go. And not do it. Because we don't want to hurt. People's feelings. We don't want to break. Peace. We don't. There's all sorts of reasons.

[22:36] To do it. It's hard work. But it is necessary work. If we're going to stay. Sexually pure. So. I want to encourage you. To keep at it. Don't be afraid. To do the good work.

[22:47] You do it gently. You do it with kindness. And you do it. Trying to restore them. But you have to do it. It's better. It's better to do the painful work.

[22:58] Than to let sexual immorality. Overrun a church. So number five then. Is church discipline. So a healthy church.

[23:09] A holy church. A happy church. Is a sexually pure church. church. Well. The final. Potential problem.

[23:20] That. Our author addresses. Is godlessness. Godlessness. See to it. That no one is godless.

[23:30] Like Esau. Who for a single meal. Sold his inheritance rights. As the oldest son. So here's a woman. And her name is Jill.

[23:42] And she wakes up early. And she eats her special K. Breakfast cereal. For. To stay trim. And she jogs. And she showers. And she gets her kids ready. She puts them in the minivan.

[23:53] And she takes them to school. Or to daycare. And she goes to work. And she works hard all day. And then she picks up her kids. And she makes dinner for her family. She cleans up.

[24:03] She watches TV. And she goes to bed. She's faithful to her husband. She's kind to her children. She wants what's best for them. At least in her mind. She works hard at her job.

[24:16] Jill lives for her trinity. A family. And work. And a standard of living. That is her holy trinity.

[24:27] That she bows down to. Her whole life is. Is lived. For this world. There's no. Reference. To God.

[24:38] In all of her thinking. There's no room for God. She says there is a God. She believes in God. She thinks Jesus was a good guy. She goes to church on Easter and Christmas.

[24:50] She says she believes in the golden rule. But what can we say about Jill? She's godless. Like Esau. Her heart. Is a magnet.

[25:00] That points to the world. It never points upward to God. It always points outward. Or to things. It's always pointing somewhere. But it's never pointing to God. Jill's not a bad person.

[25:13] As the world would say. It's just that. God doesn't register. In her life. He's not there. In her mind. He's irrelevant.

[25:24] A nice thought. But no more than that. Well here's another girl. And we'll call her Tina. And Tina is different than Jill. Tina goes to high school.

[25:36] And she does well in school. She doesn't swear. And she doesn't drink. And she doesn't speed. Tina does her homework. And her teachers like her. She's a good kid. She wants to be a veterinarian.

[25:47] And she goes to church every Sunday. She goes into Sunday school. And she believes in Jesus in a way. That he's somebody.

[26:00] But she doesn't think much about sin. Sin's not a big deal with Tina. So she quits listening to the pastor. After a few minutes of the sermon. I mean.

[26:12] It's nice and all. But it's just not for me. So Tina lives for her trinity. Of friends. And money. And family. And entertainment. So what can we say about Tina?

[26:25] Well she is godless. Like Esau. She lives an okay life. Except God is nowhere in her picture. God's been gagged.

[26:36] She doesn't listen to his word anymore. And he's been weighed. And he's been found wanting. And so. She's looked over Jesus. And the verdict has come up.

[26:48] So what? Well it's this godlessness. That the author warns us against. It's this potential problem.

[26:59] This last potential problem. That we're going to talk about. Well to understand this warning about godlessness. We're just going to ask one question. And then kind of flesh it out. And we'll try to answer it from verses 16 and 17.

[27:13] And the question is this. How does godlessness show itself? How does godlessness show itself? Well I might not have this quite right.

[27:24] But my medical training. From watching a couple of episodes of House and ER. I've gathered. That illnesses have certain presenting symptoms.

[27:36] Right? So the doctor can look at the symptoms. And by the symptoms know. Okay. This is what we're dealing with. Whatever it is. So.

[27:47] We're going to talk about four presenting symptoms. Of godlessness. In this passage. Four ways. That. When we see these symptoms. We know that godlessness.

[27:59] Is the illness that we're dealing with. The first symptom is this. The person. Enjoys. The world. Something else. More than God. Now Esau.

[28:10] We read about him at the beginning. Esau loved certain things. One of those things was food. He loved food. But he loved food more than God. So you remember this story.

[28:22] Esau was hunting all day. And he came back. And he was hungry. And Jacob. Who loved to stay by the tents. Happened to be there. Making some stew.

[28:33] And Esau saw the stew. And he said. Give me some of that. And Jacob said. Aha. Here's an opportunity. Well. If you give me your birthright. I'll give you this bowl of stew. So.

[28:44] Esau agreed. So they make the trade. Esau sold his rights. As the firstborn. To Jacob. For a single meal. Well.

[28:55] What's this birthright? This birthright is. God's blessing. On Abraham and Isaac. It's. It's the. The right to have.

[29:06] All the things. That God had blessed. Isaac with. And most importantly. This birthright. Represented. The relationship.

[29:17] That Isaac had with God. It was this covenant relationship. Of. I'll be your God. And you'll. You'll be my people. I will love you. And you will love me.

[29:28] It was this relationship. Well. Esau. Looked at all those blessings. All the. The physical blessings. The spiritual blessings. And he waited out. And he thought it was worthless.

[29:39] A single meal. A single meal was more important. To him. Than God. He loved food. More than God. So. Esau enjoyed the pleasures of food.

[29:52] And he enjoyed it more. Than the favor. That he could have with God. Of knowing. And enjoying. A relationship with him. Well. Let me ask you. Is that you?

[30:04] Do you look at this world. And say. Oh. That is what I want. Their houses. Is what. Is. I want those. And that job.

[30:15] That's what I want. That looks so good. I want that. That is what will. That. That's going to hit the spot for me. If that's you.

[30:26] If you're saying. That's what I want. And I don't care about God. You are godless. Like Esau. You're just like Tina. And Jill. And Esau. So the first presenting symptom.

[30:38] Of godlessness. Is that. Is that you enjoy. And you want. This world. And the things of this world. More than God. The second presenting symptom. Is a short.

[30:49] Sighted. View of life. A short sighted view of life. On the surface. Everyone would say. I think if everyone. Had the. Question. Put to him.

[31:00] Would say that Esau. Was a fool. He was an absolute fool. You would be crazy. To trade. A single meal. For. All the blessings.

[31:11] That were. Offered to him. You would be. It was like. Holding a bowl of cereal. Before you. So there's. Your bowl of cereal.

[31:22] And you could say. You can have this bowl of cereal. Or you can have. All your mom and dad's stuff. When they die. Why. Which one do you want. If you. Just say no to the cereal.

[31:32] You get everything else. If. You take the cereal. Then you don't get any of that. And you don't get God either. You'd be. A fool.

[31:44] To trade. Your cereal. For all. For all. For all of your parents. Things. A relationship. With God. Well. If.

[31:54] You aren't believing. In Jesus Christ. Right now. That is what you're doing. You're living. You're living for this world. This world that is. So. Momentary.

[32:05] It's so temporary. It's not going to last. You can have. Everything. And if you lose your own soul. Then you're the biggest. Loser. Of all. You've. You. You've. Made a.

[32:17] A horrible mistake. A horrible. Foolish decision. So. God is offering you. Himself. In the gospel. There's a promise. To you. If you believe.

[32:27] In Jesus Christ. Then you'll have. The forgiveness. Of sins. You'll have. A righteousness. From Christ. That is. Absolutely. Perfect. And afterwards. You get heaven.

[32:37] And thrones. And crowns. And you get a walk. With God. And live with Jesus. Forever and ever. And you're going to trade that. For what? A bowl of cereal.

[32:49] That's just going to get soggy. And you throw away. That's this world. It's so. Temporary. Well. If you're trading. Pleasure now.

[33:00] If you're trading. God. For the pleasure now. Then. You're showing how. Short-sighted. You really are. And that's the second.

[33:11] Presenting. Symptom. Of. The godlessness. It's. It's a short-sighted view. Of life. The third. Presenting symptom. Is this. It's an unbelief.

[33:21] In the promises. Of God. And that's the deeper symptom. That's what's running. Under. The first two. That's what's causing him. To. To look at God. And say. I don't think so.

[33:32] And look at all. What God is offering. And say. I don't think so. Because. Esau. Really. Didn't believe. God's promises. He knew them.

[33:43] He knew the story. Of Abraham. And he knew. About. What his father. Had received. And what was possible. What. God. Had said. But Esau. Looked at the promise.

[33:54] And he didn't believe it. And godless people. Never. Believe. The promises. Of God. Do you believe.

[34:07] That. Christ. Is coming. And the second. Coming. And you might say. Well. I kind of have. I mean. I know. That's what the bible says. I suppose.

[34:17] I believe that. Does that ever register. Higher. Than. The tooth fairy. And Santa Claus. That that promise. Is that more real to you.

[34:28] Than those things. Is that you. You know. The coming judgment. You know. That God. Is going to call. Out the living. And the dead. And he's going to bring them.

[34:40] Before. The man appointed to judge. Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ. Will decide. Where each person goes. And he will put them there. Forever. And ever. That is the promise.

[34:54] He is coming. And he's coming quickly. Do you believe it? A godless person. Doesn't believe it. They don't see. Any reality. That's not something. Worth living for.

[35:06] Well. If you're godless. You don't believe. The gospel either. You know the story. You know the way. To forgiveness. You've looked down the road.

[35:17] You've seen it on the map. And you've read. John 14. 6. Where Jesus says. I'm the way. And the truth. And the life. And no man comes to. The father. Except through me. You know it.

[35:28] But you don't believe it. You know God's promise. The standing promise. That whoever comes to him. He's not going to cast out.

[35:39] He's going to accept. And receive. And love. And forgive. And cleanse. And the promise is there. Do you believe it? A godless person never believes.

[35:51] God's promises. The fourth presenting symptom. Is this. It's a small view. Of sin. Whenever you see. A small view of sin.

[36:03] You know. That the illness. Of godlessness. Is there. A godless person. Has silenced God. He.

[36:13] He doesn't hear. God's law anymore. He doesn't hear. God's. Gospel anymore. He's exchanged. God. For the world. Romans. 125. Talks about.

[36:24] We've all made. This great exchange. Well. A godless person. Has made this exchange. And the result is. Sin is no big deal. I mean. God.

[36:34] He might be real. But he's far away. He might be real. But he doesn't care about me. He might be real. But. You know. He doesn't have anything to do. With my life. Anyways. It was nothing.

[36:48] For Esau. To trade. His birthright. His relationship. With God. His. Standing with God. So to speak. For a bowl of stew. It was nothing.

[36:59] For him. To make that exchange. Because to him. God wasn't. Worth it. And so he can make. This great exchange. He could just bow down. To a bowl of stew. And it was no big deal.

[37:10] His sin. Might have been a mistake. He would call it. He might have been sad. Because. He really made. A huge mistake. It might have been. Another defeat. At my craft.

[37:21] In the hands of my. Crafty brother Jacob. Who's always getting. The better of me. It might have been. I was tricked. It's Jacob's fault. It's something else. But you know what?

[37:31] He never saw God. In the picture. He never saw. That he was looking. At God. And the relationship. That God was offering him. And saying. Nope. I don't want it. And then when he was.

[37:45] Left out of the blessing. He cried. And he cried. And he tried to change. Isaac's mind. But. He never cried over his sin.

[37:57] He was sad that. He was losing the blessing. He wasn't ever sad. That he sinned against God. That he despised. The birthright. That was coming from God's hands. And so.

[38:08] Whenever you see a small view of sin. Where sin is no big deal. I don't have to repent. I don't have to ask for forgiveness. Godlessness. What you see is godlessness. Where God is far away.

[38:21] Nothing to do with me. Well where does godlessness lead? It leads to rejection. Rejection. God will reject you.

[38:33] Esau rejected God. And God in turn. Rejected Esau. God measured Esau. And he found him wanting.

[38:45] And he threw him away. There was no more opportunity for Esau. To find. God's blessing after that. And that is where godlessness leads.

[38:56] It takes you down a path. Where you cannot go. And you cannot come back. If you go far enough. There's no coming back. Because if you push God.

[39:07] Farther and farther. And farther away. And you diminish sin. More and more in your life. Then. Apart from the grace of God. Apart from a miracle.

[39:19] You will never come. To God. And after so many rejections. After so many rejections. God will in turn reject you. Well that's the final problem.

[39:32] Facing. The church. As it runs. Towards holiness. And towards Jesus. Jesus. Well how can we keep. Godlessness. Out of our church.

[39:43] Well. We see to it. We see to it. This is again. We don't want to repeat all this. But. This is our responsibility. It's our responsibility.

[39:54] To make sure. That no one goes down that road. Where. It ends up. There's no chance. We see. We see. We see. We see. We see.

[40:06] We see. We see. Each other. We hold each other accountable. We pray for each other. But I want to apply this to the family particularly.

[40:19] Dads. Moms. What kind of lives are you living before your children? Are you living. A God saturated life? Or are you living a relatively.

[40:31] God. Less. Life. So. I've been around a little while. And I've noticed things in Christian families. The families where God is central.

[40:45] And that. God is saturating their whole experience of family life. Mom and dad are always talking about God. They're always reading the Bible. Their house. You can tell it's a Christian's house.

[40:57] Their lives are saturated with God. They live very different lives. Than the people. Who. God is just a weakened thing. Jesus Christ.

[41:07] And the church is just a weakened thing. And. I'm not saying that the parents don't believe. And I'm not saying that. That. They're not genuine. But there is a difference.

[41:19] God. Has a tendency. It seems. To save people. Out of. God saturated families. A lot more than. Godless. Families. So dads.

[41:30] And moms. If you want. Your families. To be saturated with God. What can you do? Well. You start early. You start early. You start.

[41:41] Even before. All your kids are born. It's just when. It's. It's husband and wife. That's the first family. Make that family. God saturated. Well. You start early.

[41:51] You start tonight. You pray with your kids. Before you go to bed. You talk to them. About the Lord. When. When they get up. And when they lie down. And when you're sitting down in your house.

[42:03] And when you're driving down the road. You talk about God. You talk about. You bring God into everything. Find creative ways. To talk about God. So you're at.

[42:14] You're looking up at the stars at night. You can talk about. God. Spoke those stars into existence. And he has names for all of them. And he calls them out. And he puts them away.

[42:25] So to speak. God. Is powerful. And you tell your kids that. Or you can talk about Abraham. Abraham. Was promised to have. As many children.

[42:36] And more children. Than all the stars in the sky. And then you talk to them. About the gospel. Your children are going to sin. Your wife.

[42:47] And your husband. You're going to sin against each other. Talk about the gospel. Bring Jesus into every discussion. Pray. Pray. Pray.

[42:59] Decorate your house. With the word of God. Have family worship. Teach your children. The catechisms. Teach them to sing. Teach them songs. That they can sing.

[43:10] And have going through their minds. Always. Memorize scripture together. And you just flood. Their lives. With the word of God. And with prayer. And most of all parents.

[43:24] Let your children. See you worship. Let your children. See you worship. Show them. The power. And the delight.

[43:34] Of Jesus Christ. Let them see that. This is. Jesus is someone. That you really enjoy. Because. If you want them to. See him. As something.

[43:45] And someone to live for. And that is worthwhile. And that is delightful. Then you have to delight. In him yourself. You have to show them. That his love. Is better than life.

[43:57] And you are happy. If you have Jesus. Loving you. And when they see that. It's going to catch on. With them. But you know what. You can't do any of that.

[44:08] If it's not real. In your heart. Already. You can't fake. Loving God. And delighting in God. So it begins. At the cross. It begins by putting.

[44:19] Our sin to death. And our idolatry to death. Our love for the world. To death. It's finding. Righteousness. In Jesus Christ. And finding. A solid ground.

[44:30] To live on. And when you're on that ground. You have. Open avenues. To love. And delight. In God. And so. You start at the cross. You start at Jesus.

[44:41] Dying for sinners. And you start there. And then you live. A God saturated. Christ saturated. Life. Well. May God bless us.

[44:53] And make this church. Healthy. And happy. And holy. And a healing church. That's what we want. For us to be. Holy. And healing.

[45:03] One another. Let's pray. Our heavenly father. We. Thank you that. Despite the fact. That we've all been godless. In our lives.

[45:14] And I was godless. And every person here. Was godless. You saw fit. To have mercy on us. We neglected you. We heard your word.

[45:26] So many times. And we said. So what. Thank you that your love. Pursued us. And kept pursuing us. And that you reached down. And gave us a new heart. And you pulled back.

[45:38] The blinders from our eyes. And you let us see. The glory of God. In the face of Christ Jesus. Thank you for rescuing us. From our godless past.

[45:49] And thank you that. You still stand. Ready to save. All those who would turn. From their sin. And their way of thinking. Of their way of thinking. Without God.

[46:01] And you stand. And you're ready to save them. And so father. I pray that you would. Reach out. And have mercy on them. Will you keep. Our young people.

[46:12] And our older people. From walking down. The way of godlessness. That puts. More and more. And more distance. Between them and God. Father we need to remember.

[46:24] Your mercy. And your severity. That you are a god. To be feared. And we cannot trifle with you. We cannot presume. Upon your grace.

[46:36] But father. We thank you. That you have standing promises. For the gospel. That anyone who would call upon you. Would be saved. Father will you.

[46:46] Protect us. From sexual immorality. Will you help us. To take the necessary steps. To keep ourselves pure. Father we want to be. A holy church.

[46:56] We want to be. A holy people. We want holy families. That are. Devoted. To you. To obeying you. To loving you. To living upright. And pleasing lives.

[47:07] In your sight. Will you give us grace. To do that. Forgive us. For all of our sins. And. Wash them. In. Christ's blood. Wash our.

[47:18] Consciences. Clean. And. Give us. Grace. To know. How much. You love us. Will you. Strengthen us. In our inner man. That we can know. The height.

[47:28]  And the depth. And the width. And the length. Of your love. For us. In Christ Jesus. And it's in his name. I pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.