Gateway Church's Podcast
Hunger Pains
I want you to open your Bibles this morning to Genesis chapter 25 and when you find Genesis chapter 25 hold Mark Genesis 25 in some way and then turn over to Hosea Chapter 1 now, I want to tell you it's okay if you have to look in the table of contents I just did myself couldn't find Hosea. It's 12 from the end of the Old Testament So if that helps you we are in a series called defining moments And I was thinking the other day about defining moments defining moments do not happen in our lives every day They happen from time to time and usually what is true of a defining moment is that we don't realize we're even in one until later and We look back because of some consequence that we're living in and we say about that decision You know if I could do that decision over. I believe I'd use more wisdom this time Well, you need to know that to God that represents a victory in your life Because if you grow in wisdom from your life experience God counts that successful But what happens inside of a defining moment is the work of God. That's what makes it defining and Inside of our defining moments God is orchestrating our Circumstances and he's moving the pieces around in order to bring us to a point of decision and God watches the way we make Those decisions Proverbs 16 verse 26 says the laborers appetite works for him His hunger drives him on I want to tell you that every decision that you and I make is Fueled by a hunger of some sort There are days that I get up in the morning and I'd rather go play golf than come to work There are days that I'm on my way to work and somebody passes me in a brand new car and I get hungry to go get a new car Mr. Budget always says it's not time for that yet but what drives every decision that we make is a hunger for some sort and God wants wisdom to temper our desires Inside of those decisions what God is trying to do is take our attention off of temporary business only and Put them on to eternal things. He's trying to get our attention off of physical things So that we can see spiritual things as well and so this morning I want to visit with you about three people from God's Word who struggled with various hungers for things and God dealt with them in very specific ways And I think we're going to learn a lot of things about ourselves and about the Lord this morning That brings us to the very first point and that says hungering for the right thing the right way and I want to take you to the book of hosea for us to look at this now There are 66 books in the Bible 65 of those books talk to us about who God is what God is like how we relate to God and what God expects of us But hosea is the only book in the Bible that teaches us what it feels like to be God What God is trying to teach hosea is to want the things of God from the inside out Now this is why the book of hosea is so important for us today because most of us We're taught the way to desire the ways of God from the outside in In other words, well God is for this and against that So I'm going to try real hard to be for this and against that too Well, I want to tell you that That's not a bad thing. I Don't want to totally discount that in fact aren't there things that all of us do We do because God wants us to do but it's not really in our heart to do. I Don't want to totally discount that in fact, that's better than disobedience But what if you and I could actually come to the place where we want what God wants from the inside out That's what God is teaching hosea And if you've never read through the book of hosea, you may be surprised At how God goes about this look with me at hosea chapter one beginning in verse two When the Lord began to speak through hosea the Lord said to him Go take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness because The land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the lord And so he married gomer the daughter of divlaiim and she conceived and bore him a son now. Here's what happens God looks and sees that his people have become adulterous with other gods And so god calls hosea And hosea goes out and he marries a prostitute And if that's not bad enough her name is gomer I hope she had a good personality Because there's a lot stacked against her at this point And then they begin to name their children horrible names And I want you to pick up the story with me in chapter three because sadly enough Gomer does not change her ways after she gets married Look with me in hosea chapter three beginning in verse one. The lord said to me go show your love to your wife again Though she is loved by another and is an adulterous Love her as the lord loves the israelites though they turn to other gods And love the sacred raisin cakes so I bought her for 15 shekels of silver And about her homer and a lasek of barley And then i told her you are to live with me many days You must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man And I will live with you now. It's one thing For god to use the imagery of adultery with hosea This is not original with hosea both Jeremiah and Ezekiel used the very same imagery in relationship to israel But what what is peculiar about hosea is that god doesn't just call him to speak a message of adultery But to go and live these things out in the midst of his people Scholars call this sympathy with the divine pathos Feeling what god feels How hard would it be To have a spouse like that and to say I still want you My hunch is is that when hosea brings this message He's not just thinking what god is thinking He is feeling what god is feeling Now we're into this just a moment ago, but I want to I really want to challenge this just for a moment The reason hosea is so important to us today is because most of us have been taught to approach christianity opposite than hosea In other words most of us have been taught to obey god from the outside in not from the inside out A lot of times we obey god either because we want the blessings that come with obedience or Because we don't want horrible things to happen to us In other words, we learn to obey god not so much because we love god But because we don't like the consequences of disobedience Friends it is entirely possible to obey god for completely selfish purposes And I want to tell you that what god offers to every Single one of us as children of god is that we can live so closely with him That we begin to desire the things of god from the inside out Psalm 37 four says delight yourself in the lord And he will give you the desires of your heart when we live intimately with god He begins to put things inside of us And in the context of that relationship as a good father He rejoices to bring those things to pass in our lives We'll turn it go ahead and turn over to genesis chapter 25 And I want to transition now To a couple of other guys that really struggled with the things of god In their own personal hunger. This is the the story of jacob and esau. It's a very familiar passage with all of us It's got a pretty big lead in and we're going to get to a couple of those things in just a moment But I want you to pick a story up with me in verse 29 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 eat him Jacob replied first sell me your birthright Look, I'm about to die. He saw said what good is the birthright to me But jacob said swear to me first And so he swore an oath to him selling his birthright to jacob then jacob gave esau some bread and some lentil stew He ate and drank And then got up and left so esau despised his birthright Now most of us have heard a preacher say in the past that jacob stole the birthright from esau friends look for yourselves He didn't steal that birthright Now jacob is no prince in the story, but he stole nothing The truth is esau gave it away And one of the reasons that it's difficult for us to to understand this story is because of the way it lays out in genesis chapter 25 I mean we would think to ourselves, you know what he's a kid I mean look look down in your bibles Genesis 25 look at verse 25 and verse 25 esau is born A verse 26 jacob is born verse 27 says and the boys grew up verse 29 The negotiation begins Here's what you need to know in that culture A jewish man Was not considered to be full grown and in control of his own estate until he was 30 years old Joseph was 30 years old when he rose to serve the king of egypt david was 30 years old when he became king became king of juda Jesus was 30 years old when he began his public ministry The truth is esau did not have the authority To sell his birthright Until he was 30 years old We look at this and we think you know what he he's just a kid here. Come on all kids make mistakes We would even expect this of a 14 15 stick even a 17 year old boy Friends he is a grown man And the truth is he may have been closer to 40 years of age by this time Now I want to talk just for a moment about the birthright We don't have time to go into the birthright in depth today But I want it it's important to know what was so important about the birthright to jacob the birth The definition of birthright is this What is given to you by god by virtue of your birth And if you read through the old testament You'd have to read with specific eyes. There are 12 to 15 Very specific things that went along with the birthright Four are very important for our understanding today. One is spiritual authority in the family Two judicial authority in the family priests And kings Are you tracking with me? I've read that in the new testament as it as it pertains to you spiritual authority in the family judicial authority in the family Third is the double portion of the inheritance Now that's the one we've all heard about right? We think about the the birthright Yeah, we know what the birthright is. That's the double portion of the inheritance not so fast friends It was important But the financial piece was the smallest piece of what's happening here And fourth This is the big one Fourth is the promise of the seed Through which every nation of the earth would be blessed It had been promised to abraham It had been passed on to isak and it was inherent in this birthright And even though jacob and esol could not have understood everything that you and i understand today about messiah They knew this is huge. This is big And there are eternal things that are at stake here friends. The birthright was not all about money It was way more spiritual than it was financial The difference between jacob and esol came down to values Esau hungered for the wrong thing But did you know that it's possible for us to hunger for the right thing the wrong way That brings us to our second point today in your outline is hungering for the right thing The wrong way. Let me tell you what i mean by that james for verse one says this What causes fights and quarrels among you Don't they come from your desires that battle within you You want something but don't get it You kill and covet but you cannot have what you want you quarrel and fight You do not have because you do not ask god now listen When you ask you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives That you may spend what you Get on your own pleasures Proverbs 16 and verse 2 puts it this way all the ways of a man are clean in his own sight But the lord Ways the motives that you know that your motives Are important to god. It is not just important that you go after the right thing God wants to know why you're interested in that You see we see jacob as the hero of this story. I mean the birthright is a good thing to have One could use the birthright and do a lot of good with that couldn't he Besides all that before he was born it was prophesied to be his So why in this moment should jacob not go after it sees the moment? I'll tell you why Yeah, he went after the right thing But friends do not forget that he had to manipulate esau to get it Friends anything that you have to sin to get God is not in This is like cheating on your taxes and promising to give half of it to god This is like falsifying a resume Because you know what I could really do a lot for the kingdom with that job This is like going on a missions trip Calling in sick the morning you leave so you won't have to burn vacation days at work This is like doctoring up an expense report because well, you know, I'm sending my kids to christian college Friends anything you have to sin to get God is not in And jacob will have to deal with his manipulation in the future in fact for years after this jacob lived in fear of esau For good reason This blessing brought a lot of trouble to jacob But look what proverbs 10 22 says the blessing of the lord brings wealth And he adds no trouble to it You know the only reason you and I sin Is because we think that sin Will give us something better than whatever god is offering us at the time And it's just not true Jesus put it this way in john 14 6 he says I am the way and the truth and the life No one comes to the father except through me friends it is impossible to lay hold of the truth And the life of jesus separate from the way of jesus Anytime we compromise the way of god whatever we get as a result is itself compromised Because our heart has been compromised I I gotta be honest with the with you this morning to tell you that There are times that I really wonder If i'm a jacob kind of a christian I really have to keep a tight rein on my heart As far as my motivations go, let me tell you what I mean by a jacob kind of a christian A jacob kind of a christian wants to go to heaven because he hates hell Not because he loves jesus see law A jacob kind of a christian hungers for prosperity because he loves money not because he wants to build the kingdom A jacob kind of a christian hungers for healing because he hates being sick not because It really makes god look good A jacob kind of a christian hungers for freedom because he hates bondage Not because that freedom will let him get closer to jesus Friends our motivations are important God watches the motivations of our hearts And he longs to bring us to a place where we want what he wants the right way Now that brings us to the third thing and that is hungering for the wrong thing the wrong way And I want to use the esau to illustrate that here was esau's logic Look, I'm about to die. What good is the birthright to me? In other words, if I don't eat right now I'm going to die Give me a break people. I've heard this before I've got five little children at home They go out to play in the summertime. They come in dripping with sweat They're not just hot. They're burning They go out to play in the wintertime. They come in. They're not just cold they're They're not just hungry they're Esau is a grown man I still struggle to get hold of this text a grown man who was so Loose with with the control of his own soul That all he could think about Was his hunger pains You know, let me tell you something I don't believe esau really thought this And i'll and i'll tell you why in just a moment, but i'll tell you something else Jacob sure didn't believe it Jacob sure did not believe that esau would die if he didn't eat Because if he did wouldn't it have been a lot more simple just to let him kill over then he gets the birthright without a struggle Doesn't that make a lot more sense You see the birthright emphasizes eternal things over temporary things Poor esau fell for the biggest lie in history That eternity Really doesn't matter today Esau despised the birthright Esau was nothing more than a consumer you know i I spent four months Trying to figure out what would cause esau to do something so foolish I was looking for some deep theological truth buried in the Hebrew language there We say something it's not complicated esau is not a deep guy This this is not complicated that The answer for why he did it is very very simple You know why he saw did it? To make his hunger pains go away listen friends People who deaden their pain Never discover their hunger for God And if we live for pain relief We become addicted to whatever provides that relief Jesus said in Matthew 24 verse 12 because of the increase of wickedness talking about the last days Because of the increase of wickedness the love of most will grow cold But he who stands firm to the end will be saved now that little word most is a very disconcerting word to me the love of most will grow cold why because of The increase of wickedness that that word for wickedness actually means Lawlessness and some of your bibles say because of the increase of lawlessness we tell you why Jesus said this because people violate laws by violating other people And anytime you and I are violated by another person it causes us pain And if we don't find God in our pain Jesus said Our love for God will grow cold It's interesting to me that the the writer of Hebrews reflected on on this little story And he does something very interesting that I want to point out to you Hebrews 12 verse 16 says See that no one is sexually immoral Or is godless like he saw who for a single meal Solve his inheritance rights as the oldest son Afterwards 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 Now here's here's what the writer of Hebrews says Esau Hunger'd for the blessings of the birthright without the responsibility of the birthright Let me reword that for you Esau desired intimacy without covenant And that's why the writer of Hebrews links sexual immorality with godlessness The definition of sexual immorality is a desire for intimacy without covenant It's when a person wants The blessings of the covenant without the responsibility of the covenant And in sexual immorality a person seeks another person Not because of the other person's value but for personal gratification Godlessness Is when we seek the things of god For our own personal interest and gratification With no regard whatsoever For the things of god friends our decisions really do matter Our choices make a difference in our own lives And the lives of those we love and if that's not enough One day you and I will stand before god And we will give an account of our lives and that day is every bit as real as today And when we stand before god god will say What did you do with what I gave you Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 12 he said for god will bring every deed into judgment Including every hidden thing Whether it is good Or evil. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 12 36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word They have spoken friends don't ever mortgage your future On the desires of the present Because there will come a day in all of our lives When we say to god would that I had given you more than I gave you Esau gave away a freight load Of spiritual blessing on the earth For a moment of satisfaction And that single moment would define his entire life. We're still talking about it today I want to close in james chapter four With you He says something that that captures the essence Of this jacob and esau story james chapter four beginning in verse 13 He says now listen you who say today or tomorrow will go to this or that city spend a year there carry on business and make money Why you don't even know what will happen tomorrow And here's what I'm after. What is your life? You are a mist That appears for a little while And then vanishes What if god came right now And said, okay, here's the deal The way you spend the next 24 hours Is going to determine How you spend all the rest of eternity How do you suppose you and I would live in between now and this time tomorrow You think you'd pray through some things Watch your steps watch your words Listen when we get to eternity All of our days on the earth Will seem to us like a vapor And it's gone Don't ever mortgage your eternity For today, let's bow our heads and close our eyes