03/09/2025: "What's Your Cup of Soup?

Pastor Todd examines the story of Esau trading his birthright for a bowl of soup and challenges us to identify the "cup of soup" sins in our own lives that hold power over us.

• Esau's downfall came through valuing immediate gratification over his spiritual inheritance
• Our "cup of soup" sins are the ones we most aggressively defend when challenged
• These pet sins are the ones we foster and care for rather than destroy
• Don't trade your spiritual birthright and blessings for temporary pleasures
• True satisfaction can only be found in relationship with Jesus Christ

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:21

Well, good morning church. Let's hear for our worship team. So our worship pastor's on vacation, a well-deserved vacation. Florida man went to Florida, so I'm happy for him. We're missing a drummer today, but these guys still sounded amazing and still led us well in worship. So I'm very thankful for everyone who serves here.

The Story of Esau's Birthright

Speaker 1 0:47

If you have your Bibles, let's go to the book of Genesis. Today we find ourselves in chapter 25. Chapter 25, and as you're turning there, I'll pray for our time. Our great God, we are so thankful that we can worship your holy name For those, lord, that you have saved and set apart. We glorify you. Help us to glorify you with our lives. Help every single one of us, as we approach this text, to be able to look inward and say what about me, father? I pray that your Spirit would teach us that we might glorify Jesus and Lord, that we could set aside the burdens of our lives for a short time, just to hear from you. Help us, lord, to be free from distractions, just to hear from you. Help us to cast all our cares upon you because you care for us, as your word says. And so, lord, I pray for these people, for this church, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Speaker 1 1:56

Genesis 25, I'm picking up in verse 19. Today I'm actually reading out of the NIV. This is the account of the family line of Abraham's son, isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, the Aramean from Padom Aram, and sister of Laban, the Aramean. Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer and his wife, rebecca, became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her and she said why is this happening to me? So she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her two nations are in your womb and two peoples from within you will be separated. One people will be stronger than the other and the older will serve the younger. When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red and his whole body was like a hairy garment, so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out with his hand grasping Esau's heel, so he was named Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. The boys grew up and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for a wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Speaker 1 3:20

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's why he's also called Edom. Jacob replied first, sell me your birthright. Look, I'm about to die. Esau said what good is this birthright to me? But Jacob said square to me first. So he swore an oath to him selling his birthright to me. But Jacob said square to me first. 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. Then he got up and left and so Esau despised his birthright. This is God's Word.

Speaker 1 4:02

Some of you are going to regret me saying this, but 60 years ago the Rolling Stones released their song Satisfaction. Anyone remember that coming out Like for the first. Okay, but that was the song that made them big in the United States, and today the lyrics are rather tame. But of course then when it came out and some of you remember and were well aware that song made a splash. I mean, as music goes. It's a rolling stone, so it's good rock and roll, but the lyrics of satisfaction could be lifted right out of the pages of Ecclesiastes or the book of Romans. It could also be the out of the pages of Ecclesiastes or the book of Romans. It could also be the song of Esau. I mean, I could see Esau running through the fields to the rolling stones. That's his jam, this melody that follows his life and his ventures. He can't get no satisfaction, but he tries and he tries and he tries, but it all ends and it seems absolutely meaningless to him.

Esau's Soup: Understanding Our Pet Sins

Speaker 1 5:13

Matthew Henry, who is one of the great for those of you who are a little more scholarly, matthew Henry, who is one of the great commentators of the Bible, said of this passage he said the gratifying of the sensual appetite is that which ruins thousands of precious passage. He said the gratifying of the sensual appetite is that which ruins thousands of precious souls. Esau cared so little for the things of God that he allowed his belly to supersede his own promises in God. He was never satisfied and he took the great blessings that he had for granted. He sought soul satisfaction everywhere, but with God himself. What we see here is nothing more than how the lusts of the flesh can derail a man or a woman of God and can bring ruin to the soul. And I want to tell you, this has as much implication and application for us today as it did for Isaac, jacob and Esau. So I want to take just two big steps through this passage.

Speaker 1 6:13

Let's start by considering Esau's soup and, effectively, your soup. Esau's downfall was literally a cup of soup, wasn't it? 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's why he's also called Edom.

Speaker 1 6:36

So we have two brothers that are very different from each other here. Esau's a big, hairy, red guy. He's a man's man, he's a hunter, he's a man of the field. His brother, jacob, is fairer and perhaps a little more effete. He's a man of the culinary arts and everything that's domesticated. He hung around the tents with his mom. The other guy's running through the woods like a big bear, rough and rowdy, impulsive Esau, gentle and conniving Jacob. Jacob was conniving and we won't see the end of it in this chapter, as a matter of fact.

Speaker 1 7:10

But God's covenantal blessings were gifts to be received and not grasped. Jacob had faith. Unlike Esau, jacob really depended on his own abilities to secure the rights that he coveted, which seems to be a family trait on his own abilities to secure the rights that he coveted which seems to be a family trait. Jacob exploited his brother's impulsiveness and hunger into selling him the birthright that he had as the oldest. Now it's good that Jacob valued this birthright, but deeply faithless for him to secure it for himself, especially in the way that he did. Jacob began a long period of genuine belief in God's covenantal promises, but he failed to live in confidence that God would actually do what God said he was going to do. So I'm going to do it myself.

Speaker 1 8:02

In the Hebrew culture, grasping someone's heel was a figurative way of to express deception. Jacob was holding on to Esau's heel when they were born and later, in chapter 27, after losing his blessing, esau says isn't he rightly named Jacob? Isn't he rightly named a deceiver? And it's really Esau becomes aware of this too late that he lost his birthright as a result of his brother's schemes and his own uncontrolled appetites. Jacob took advantage of his brother's sensual nature, of his impulsivity, didn't he?

Speaker 1 8:44

Esau was not at the point that he was going to die by missing one meal. But he revealed how worthless he considered his birthright and how little anything that was not here and now and something that he could feel or taste or touch. He had so little faith in God that he was willing to sell and get rid of everything. Verse 31,. Jacob replied first, sell me your birthright. Look, I'm about to die. Esau said what good is a birthright to me? I mean Esau's sin, literally a cup of soup. Eve's sin a piece of fruit Esau soup. Eve's sin a piece of fruit Esau soup. Both seemingly innocuous things, but what was behind them was much more profound than just what they were. Esau was not going to die, but his appetites consumed him. His sin was his own sensuality, his own desires that ran rampant. It is a contempt for the things of God. So what did Esau give up for this cup of soup? He gave up his birthright.

Speaker 1 9:56

And we hear that and we're like what on earth does that mean? Well, he's the oldest son. I mean only minutes older. But that meant that he had the formal blessing of his father where the other children did not. He's the oldest child. He had the formal blessing of his father where the other children did not. He's the oldest child, receives the formal blessing of his father. Now in our culture that's relatively meaningless, but in this culture it means everything.

Speaker 1 10:17

He would receive a double portion of any land that would pass down from Isaac. He would become the priest of the family as his birthright. I mean, these were nomadic people. They didn't have a community church to go to, so the father was effectively the priest of the family, not just the leader of the family, but the spiritual leader as well. He was the one who led the family in the covenant and, as the oldest son, that all belonged to him, that fell to him. That was not only a burden, it was a great privilege for him. But most importantly, as the firstborn of Isaac, esau would be the one to carry on the covenant and Esau would be one of the progenitors of the promised Messiah from way back in Genesis 3.

Speaker 1 11:03

But we know he's not because we don't say Abraham Isaac and Esau. We say Abraham Isaac and Jacob because Esau wanted the immediate satisfaction, not the delayed peace of the covenant of God. I think during all of those years while Isaac was favoring Esau, I think during all of those years while Isaac was favoring Esau. Jacob was dreaming of a way to. I need to get this for myself. This was premeditated, wasn't it? And he knew what to do.

Speaker 1 11:33

And Esau just didn't care about God or faith in the covenant at all. I mean, he's a man with all of these central desires, and his desires controlled him so much so that when he sees food, nothing else matters he's ready to give it all up, the most important possession of his life, for a small morsel of food. But Jacob says hold on, swear to me first. I ain't giving you no soup until you swear. So he swore an oath, sold him his birthrightacob. Like any shrewd businessman, is like hey, you got, we're closing this deal before I give you this bowl. And esau, all he could see was the food and nothing else mattered to him. There's absolute unconcern of losing out esau. It says esau despised his birthright.

Speaker 1 12:23

Now, friends, I'll tell you. We read this and we're like oh well, this is nice. I heard about this in Sunday school and the teachers had the flannel graphs and they put the little soup and they're like don't like soup. That's not the point here. We all have a cup of soup like this. We all have a cup of soup that we're willing to throw it all away, for we all have these pet sins that have control over us.

Speaker 1 12:47

Now my mother always said of something she didn't like, because my mother was kind and she never said an ill word about anything she said. My mom would say she'd say, well, that's just not my cup of tea, because she couldn't say anything bad about anything. She wouldn't be like I hate that. She'd be like that's not my cup of tea. Well, for some of us, there's sins out there that are not just our cup of tea, they're our cup of soup. These cup of soup sins are never satisfied, are they? The lusts of the flesh are never satisfied. I can't get no satisfaction, although I try and I try and I try.

Speaker 1 13:24

Esau is taking this and he's giving away his birthright. It's basically like he's saying to his father and to his God I could care less about you, I could care less about what you have been through, I don't care about any covenant, I don't care about the future, I don't care, I don't care. Get in my belly, you say. Well, I don't think I have a cup of soup, sid, yeah, you do. You want to know how to identify it. You don't want it challenged Ever.

Speaker 1 14:01

The sexually perverse do not like to be called sexually perverse. The gossip does not like to be called a gossip. Herod would not let John the Baptist call him out on his incest and he cut off his head. Don't ever challenge my cup of soup. Sin, this is mine. Now I get a bit nervous when somebody says to me I like your sermons, you tell it like it is. Well, they typically mean you tell other people like it is. My experience is this within a few months they will be gone because I told it like it is. But about their cup of soup? People like preachers who tell it like it is until they tell it like it is. So if you ever come to me and say I like that, you tell it like it is, I'm going to say we're going to come to a crossroads at some point.

Speaker 1 14:59

Instead of repenting of sin, when that sin gets challenged, men and women typically run from Christ to that sin. What sin do you hate to have challenged? That's your cup of soup, isn't it? And even right now you're thinking how dare you? I haven't named any sin, have I? But you're thinking about it. You know like this goulay guy is meddling. You also know a cup of soup when you think about what has power over you soup. When you think about what has power over you when you face trouble. Where does your mind go? When your heart is trouble? How do you soothe it? It might just lead you to this pet sin. This cup of soup in your life. It's the one that has power over you.

Speaker 1 15:45

I mean, for Esau it was just the sensual nature of everything, his appetite. The sensuality for Esau was give me this immediate pleasure I need to take. I need immediate pleasure. Don't give me the promises of God. A dear friend in New England and he's in recovery and he was an alcoholic and he said I went to alcohol because I didn't want to feel. I didn't want to feel anything. And as soon as I felt something I went to alcohol. And we worked together for years and he's still in recovery.

Speaker 1 16:22

And if you ever watch Star Trek, I always say some people have that big red button that's on the bridge of the Enterprise. I know I'm a nerd, follow along with me, captain Kirk. In the old days, anytime something bad happened, kirk's like blow up the ship, self-destruct. A lot of people are like that when they have these cup of soup sins. As soon as they run into something, they run to that big red button. They're like blow it up, blow up the ship. For this man, it was alcohol. He didn't want to feel. It was that immediate release, that immediate pleasure. It wasn't the promise of God to be with him, it was what alcohol could do to dull him. It's the one that we foster, it's the one we care for. We don't destroy it.

Speaker 1 17:07

What sin has most power over you, friends? It's likely the one you're thinking about right now and, sadly, these sins are the ones that you most vehemently defend. You defend it. I'm so hungry, I'm going to die. Do you want me to die? How dare you want me to die of starvation? We all need to eat it's food. God gave us food. I'm going to die, and so we make justifications for these cup of soup sins in our lives. It's not my fault, or maybe it's not even sin at all.

Speaker 1 17:48

I mean, if it's anger, if it's anger, maybe's anger, maybe you justify it. You know what people annoy me, and they say the wrong things around me. That's why I'm angry. No, you're angry because you're angry. You're angry because you need to repent of your anger. And if you can't say amen, please say ouch. You say, well, I wouldn't be so angry if people were just better. Well, good luck. I mean you need to ask your family. Your family's the best judge, because they're with you all the time. I mean I love my kids Driving and she's not here, my oldest daughter. We're on a road trip, driving in the car. Some guy cuts me off and I'm like and she from the back seat goes that's your pastor. Ladies and gentlemen, get out. And it's funny because they repeat it how dare you judge me? I mean, I don't think I have anger issue at all and I think they would agree with me.

Speaker 1 18:59

I do have a judgmental spirit sometimes and this is a uniquely Southern thing. This is something that I've learned about the South. I'm just not used to it. I mean people in the South and I've said this before people in the South are genuinely nicer than Yankees. Amen, yeah, of course you'd say amen, people in the South are genuinely nicer than Yankees. I mean, we ran into it when we first moved here. We're walking on the Greenway Trail and we're just walking and people are like hey, how you doing. I'm like what's with you, man, what are you talking about? I mean you do that up in New Hampshire. You talk to somebody. They're like what? So this is a uniquely southern thing.

Speaker 1 19:44

You go to the grocery store I just had to run Christy's like hey, can you run to the thing and get me these three things? I'm like, yeah, sure, no problem. I go up to the checkout Every single time the person checking out my groceries is giving me a running commentary on what I'm buying oh, eggs, huh, you must be rich Ice cream, you must have a sweet asparagus. That doesn't really go together. Light bulbs, is that? So you can see. And I'm like man, just ring up my stuff. I'm judging you, judging me about judging my weird groceries. So I confess I got this. I'm getting used to it. Now I'm just like, yeah, we're weird. I mean I don't know.

Speaker 1 20:36

But I mean if you have a real anger issue, you've got to deal with it right. By the way, if you go up to Boston and you're getting your groceries checked out and you start having that conversation, they're going to be like get out of the store. That's what they're going to say to you. If you've got a real anger issue, you've got to deal with it right. Don't let your kids grow up in a house where it's their responsibility to manage your mood. Far too many kids are growing up in a house where it's their responsibility to walk on eggshells around you because you're so sensitive and you've got your little cup of soup. Anger and you're like, don't you dare jostle this, that's too much for a kid to take on, isn't it? But we become like Jonah and Nineveh yes, I do well to be angry, justifying when we should be confessing and repenting.

Speaker 1 21:26

What sin do you defend? So we all have sins that we don't want challenged, or ones that have power over us, or ones that we defend. That's this cup of soup in your life, and we've got to remember there's really two categories of sin in life. There's sins of commission and sins of omission. We're probably thinking of sins of commission, things that we do, things that we do that we shouldn't do, theft, adultery, lies, so on. That's probably where our mind goes with this text. But there's also sins of omission where we fail to do the good that God commands us to do. James says it doesn't he? If we know the good we're to do but we don't do it, then it's sin, and I'm paraphrasing.

Speaker 1 22:15

Last week I mentioned that we need a culture change around inviting the people to church. We do, but I think we also need another monumental change here. There's a real weird culture of the men in this church. There's this odd silent culture of men here and a lot of you guys I don't know if you can give a rip or not if you're here. Do you men? Do you love Jesus? Lead your family. Do you love Jesus? Lead in your church. Do you love Jesus? Lead in your church. If you love Jesus, grow in Jesus. Do not be a bump on a log somewhere. That's the sin of omission. We can't lead our families if we're not willing to grow in Christ.

Speaker 1 23:06

Now. I love, I love. Now. Men, please listen to me, I love you and that's why I'm saying this to you. I love the fact that we can set up a work day and we do Next Saturday. We've got a work day and all you guys will show up on force with your rakes and all this other stuff. But if we set up biblical training for men or if we set up a men's only prayer meeting I know the four guys that are going to be there with me that scares me and that needs to change.

Speaker 1 23:41

We've done a significant amount of prep and planning for our men's ministry to get it up and running. One of my primary goals is the discipleship of our men and this whole month, every Tuesday night, this whole month, we have great speakers joining us for a joint men's group with Journey Church Every Tuesday night. Then in May, every Tuesday night we're going to have a bunch of speakers lined up here at our church for men. Then in June we have one big day a Saturday. We're calling it the main event. It's a big men's event right here. Right now we lean heavily on Men's Fight Club, but we only do that because it's good and it works. Scotty's so fired up, he's going to burst Glory to God, but the thing is he's just going to show up at your house unannounced and pick you up.

Speaker 1 24:35

If you want your and I'm like, yeah, go go for it. If you want your soul to be at peace, you need to make war against your pet sin, this cup of soup in your life. It's the most dangerous one of all. It's the one that threatens your soul. It steals your joy, it inhibits your sanctification. It's the one that most provokes God to chasten you out of love. If you want your soul to be at peace. You need to make war against it. They're never satisfied. The lusts of the flesh are never satisfied, and you know this, don't you? But the salvation we receive through Jesus Christ always satisfies.

Speaker 1 25:18

Let's go to the second step. Turn with me to Romans, chapter 7. I'm going to divert from Genesis for a moment. Romans, chapter 7. There's a second heading. I'm just calling it don't sell out. There's a second heading. I'm just calling it. Don't Sell Out. Romans 7. Look at verse 15. This is why I'm reading it in the NIV, because this is one of the most challenging to read and understand.

Speaker 1 25:46

Paul says I do not understand what I do, for what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate to do I do rather. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree. The law is good as it is. It's no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me, for I know the good itself does not dwell in me. That is in my sinful nature, For I have the desire to do what is good, but I can't carry it out. I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do. This I keep on doing. We could all get bumper stickers with that on right. Most people in Kentucky should have that bumper sticker on their car, verse 20,. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, it is sin living in me that does it. Paul says I do not know why I keep doing what I'm doing. I do not know why I keep sinning against God. I don't understand why I keep doing what I don't want to do, but I keep on doing it.

Speaker 1 26:53

When you came to Christ, when Jesus saved you, when there was that moment in your life that the Holy Spirit overtook you and you said Lord, save me, I'm a sinner. A lot of things happened in that moment, but one of the most monumental things is that the old man dies, the old you, the old man, the old humanity. And now there's a new man there. People I went to high school with. I didn't come to Christ until I was 23. People I went to high school with. They get a kick out of me telling them I'm a pastor. They're like no, no, really, what are you? I have to tell them the guy that you know is dead and I'm here now and I live with his wife and I raised his kids, but he's dead. Glory to God, he's dead. If you can't stand me now, you never would have been able to tolerate me back then. My mother-in-law's going, amen.

Speaker 1 27:59

But that old, dead Todd Goulet man, he comes back around like a zombie and he starts trouble now and then. A zombie, and he starts trouble now and then and then the old me wants me to yield to sins that brought me pleasure in the past life, that bring destruction upon me. That's why we need to throw out that soup, right. We need to ensure that that cup of soup doesn't drag us down. That's what Paul is saying here. The war that the old man wages, it's like guerrilla warfare. It's not fair. He's sniping from the trees, it's relentless, and if the old man loses a battle, he doesn't back up and go home, he goes back and tries to figure out another approach and he keeps coming until it brings you down.

Speaker 1 28:48

Now sin uses reason to appeal to us. However faulty that reasoning is, satan reasoned with Eve right? God didn't say that. You're misinterpreting that. You're misinterpreting what God said. Esau, I'm so hungry I could die. Take all these promises, but give me the soup. The fall brought our minds and our bodies into captivity, to sin. But in addition to reason, temptation appeals to our feelings too. Sin is always irrational. I mean, esau wasn't going to die. But if we were to stop and think about the consequences, both for us and for all of those around us, we would resist temptation.

Speaker 1 29:41

So it's like over here is the old man and over here is the new man, the redeemed man, the new heart in Christ and in Paul. Paul wants to do good. We want to do good. Our renewed mind wants to glorify God. If you're in Christ, that's what you want, isn't it? You want to glorify God. You want to do good. You want to do things that bring honor to your Savior. We do good now, not to get saved. We do now because he saved us. That's what the new man wants. And at times the old and the new they're kind of battling each other.

Speaker 1 30:17

But I can tell you, one of the marks of the new birth, one of the marks of being in Christ, is you have new desires. One of the clearest marks that you are new in Christ, or that you are made new, is that you have new desires, because a new heart has new desires, doesn't it? You have a love for Christ. You have a new love for Christ. Before I knew Jesus, I didn't love Jesus. Before I knew Jesus, I didn't care about sin. Before I knew Jesus, I didn't care about the Scripture. But in Christ I have new desires, I have a love for Christ. I want to be holy, just as Jesus is holy, and I hate my sin and I love to be with God's people and I love to talk about the things of God, but at the same time the flesh is there and it's strong, isn't it?

Speaker 1 31:07

That's the picture that Paul has here. He has a new nature and he joyfully agrees with God's law, but he's still dominated by the old nature. It seems Unbelievers don't have two natures battling within them, warring against each other. They don't love God's law in their hearts, but mature believers, those who are growing in Christ, have learned to put on the new man and to put off the old, so that they experience consistent victory over sin. Paul is not describing perfection, and neither am I. Paul is describing obedience, isn't he? He's not doing what he knows he should be doing. He's doing what he knows he shouldn't be doing. Martin Lloyd-Jones says that Paul's cry of anguish is not caused by the fact that he's in conflict with his old nature, but rather his persistent defeat in yielding to that old nature. Our defeat is when we yield to that old nature In this life.

Speaker 1 32:15

I will never love God as completely as I should, with my entire heart and soul and mind and strength, and I want to More than anything else. I want to love God with everything that I am, and I know I will never love others the way that I should and I want to. I'll always fall short of those commands, although I can tell you I'm better now than I used to be and, lord willing, 20 years from now I'll be better than I am today. But a lack of perfection is not the same as consistent, persistent obedience. Jesus is not asking for perfection, he's asking for obedience, isn't he? Perfection is going to come and glory to God. It's going to come as a new creature in Christ, by God's Spirit.

Obedience Over Perfection

Speaker 1 33:04

I can choose to love God by spending time, but it's action. It's actions that I'm taking. I'm spending time with Him in the Word every day. I'm in prayer with God, I'm gathering with His people every single week and I'm honoring Him with the money that he entrusts to me. I can love my wife and my children and others in this self-sacrificing way Paul it's almost like, and we want it too. Paul seems to want the perfection of heaven. He wants to be free from sin. I've never met a Christian that didn't want those things but he wants to obey God consistently, even if that obedience can never be perfect in this life. And I think that's the tie between Esau and Paul and us In Christ. We're not seeking day-to-day perfection and we can't chase big emotional experiences or big victories although we're going to see glimpses of those in this life and glory to God. But what we're seeking, as followers of the risen Christ, is consistent daily obedience.

Speaker 1 34:25

Friends, some of the strongest believers I know are some of the most boring people you'll ever meet. Amen, from the perspective of the world. Right, what are you doing Friday night? I'll be home, I'll probably be reading scripture, I'm going to be serving somewhere, I'm going to be glorifying God, boring.

Speaker 1 34:46

We are followers of Christ. We are literally followers of Christ. That means by following him. What does it mean to follow Jesus? It means to obey Jesus, doesn't it? Following Jesus means to obey Jesus. We obey his words, the scripture. We obey the nudging of the Holy Spirit, the scripture. We obey the nudging of the Holy Spirit. Hey, go do this for that person. You ever had that happen? Go do this for that person. Go pray for that person. I don't want to do that. No, go do it, and then God blesses you when you do it.

Speaker 1 35:20

We obey the clear teaching of the word of God. You see, our goal is not perfection, it's obedience To experience consistent victory over sin. We need to despair over our sin and cry out to God. That's what Paul is doing here. We need to throw out that cup of soup sin, right that causes us to throw out the blessings that we have in Jesus. We must grieve over our sins and turn away from them. We must grieve over our sins and turn away from them. Friends, as Christians, we are good at grieving over other people's sins and then telling them about it and then judging them for it, and then telling our little groups about how we're judging them for what they're doing. But what we need to do is grieve over our sins and turn away from them. Then we can lovingly help other people do the same thing. Listen, we live in a culture that is offended by everything and is ashamed of nothing. But we are different. We are set apart. We are the called out ones. The Bible says we must feel anguish over our sins against the holy and living God.

Speaker 1 36:40

The Bible says that we are also heirs of the promises. I mean Esau was the heir of the promise of God. We are heirs of the promise of God because we are descendants of Abraham through Christ. All the promises find their yes in Jesus and that's our birthright. But, like Esau, we trade our blessings for the things of this world. We don't want to sell our birthright like Esau did. Don't trade away your privileges for momentary pleasures.

Speaker 1 37:11

The writer of Hebrews says see that no one is sexually immoral or godless like Esau who, for a single meal, sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done. Peter says you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, god's own possession. Whew. Don't sell or trade your priesthood, don't sell out your priesthood in Christ. We have every blessing in Christ, in Jesus.

Speaker 1 37:52

You see, we have both positional and functional holiness, don't we? We have positional holiness means we are holy in Christ. Nothing can change that. He gives it to us because it's a holiness that's foreign to us, coming from Jesus. But then we're set apart to a special purpose. Here's the culture in the world. We're set apart, that is that we call it functional holiness.

Speaker 1 38:14

At times we trade that functional holiness for trivial things, things that we know will never satisfy. We can't lose our holiness in Christ, but we can be like a well-groomed man in a three-piece suit rolling around with pigs. And some of us that's what we are. We're well-groomed on the outside but on the inside full of dead man's bones. That's the Christian who has that cup of soup, just rolling around with the pigs. Jesus says be holy as I am holy.

Don't Sell Your Birthright

Speaker 1 38:50

Don't sell or trade the promises of God, just like the firstborn in this ancient society. That inheritance is the promises, and there's thousands and thousands of promises that God has made to us and they cover every single part of our lives. They take care of every need in our lives, and so we trade those blessings that God has promised to us. Don't sell your blessings for the trivial things of this world, the one you defend, the one you cherish, the one that you get upset if anyone mentions to it, get rid of it. Let me end this way and try to make a point.

Speaker 1 39:28

This morning Aldous Huxley, who is an author I recommend, he said there comes a time when we have to ask even of shakespeare, even of beethoven is that all? There is mick jagger, who sang satisfaction, the rolling stones? He said this was years ago. Obviously he said I don't want to be singing, I Can't Get no Satisfaction at the age of 40. Because maybe he thought he'd be fulfilled by then. Mick Jagger's 81. And he's still singing. In fact, I Can't Get no Satisfaction was the encore song of their tour just last summer.

Speaker 1 40:12

I think Huxley and Jagger are prophets in their own way. The meaninglessness that they experienced didn't come from pain. They were weary of pleasure. They became weary of pleasure. To paraphrase GK Chesterton, you see, the cup of soup, that pleasure that you trade your blessings in, will never satisfy. In fact, it will make you grow weary and you can't get no satisfaction, no matter how many times you try it. The only place that we can get satisfaction for our souls is in the Lord, jesus Christ. Let's pray together and then we'll sing one final song. Our great God, we are so thankful that in you we find soul satisfaction, lord, that every time we come to you are there, that every time we are with you, you give us satisfaction for our souls. Lord, keep us from these pet sins, these cup of soups that so entangle us, and make us more like Christ, for his sake and his glory, amen.