Kerwin Baptist Church Daily Broadcast

Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today.

Our desire is for the Word of God to be the oldest, the one he was close to. And he said, Esau, I would love before I die for you to go out and get me some venison and cook it and make it just like you know I like it. And Esau said, okay. And so he headed out to the woods to do that.

And something interesting happened. Notice if you would, verse one. And it came to pass that when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau, his eldest son, said unto him, My son. And he said unto him, Behold, here am I. And he said, Behold, now I am old.

I know not the day of my death. Now, therefore, take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow and go out to the field and take me some venison. Make me savory meat such as I love and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless thee before I die. That last blessing, that blessing that Esau deserved because he was the firstborn. Verse five. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son.

Mom listened in, heard what was going on. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison and to bring it. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau, thy brother, saying, Bring me venison. Make me savory meat that I may eat and bless thee before the Lord before my death. Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.

Go now to the flock. Fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats, and I will make them savory meat for thy father such as he loveth. And thou shall bring it to thy father that he may eat, that he may bless thee before his death. And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau, my brother is an hairy man, and I am a smooth man. My father, peradventure, will feel me, and I shall seem as a deceiver.

And Jacob was, by the way. And I shall bring a curse upon me and not a blessing. And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son, only obey my voice and go fetch me them. And he went and fetched and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory meat.

Such as his father loved. Look at verse 18. And he came unto his father and said, My father, and he said, Here am I, who art thou, my son? And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau, thy firstborn. I have done according as thou batest me.

Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me.

Ouch. And now he's blaspheming God. Look at verse 21. And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father, and he felt him.

Felt what? Rebecca took that goatskin and made real thick, hairy things to put on his arms so that when Isaac, his eyes were just about gone, when he felt his arms, they felt hairy like Esau's. And he thought, Well, I guess this must be Esau. Look at verse 22. And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are hands of Esau.

And he discerned him not because his hands were hairy as his brother Esau's hands. So he blessed him. And he said, Art thou my very son Esau?

And he said, I am. And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat, and he brought him wine, and he drank.

And we're almost done. And his father Isaac said to him, Come near now and kiss me, my son. And he came near and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his raiment and blessed him and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed. Remember, he went out to get the goats.

That's why it smelled like outside. Verse 28, Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth and plenty of corn and wine. Let people serve thee and nations bow down to thee. Look at verse 30, And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out of the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. He also had made savory meat and brought it in unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly and said, Who?

Where is he that hath taken venison and brought it to me? And I have eaten all before thou camest and have blessed him. Yea, and he shall be blessed. And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.

And he said, Thy brother came with subtlety and have taken away thy blessing. And that pertains to mothers. And, Lord, I pray you'd help us this morning. In your name we pray.

Amen. A mother's classroom. I guess that oftentimes you can learn how to do something by finding out how not to do it. And mothers, may I humbly say I could never begin to tell you how to be a mother. I wouldn't want to begin to tell you how to be a mother. I have no idea how to be a mother.

I'm still trying to learn to be a father. And when I say this, this is one story where you can find out what not to do. You see, I don't know if you see through the thing, we always say, Jacob the deceiver. Jacob the deceiver. Jacob was a conniver. Jacob was a schemer.

But can I ask you something? Was it really his fault? Who's the first person that started that whole process? Mom. Rebecca comes in and she was determined to get her son Jacob blessed. She wanted him to have the blessing. He was her favorite. He was the one she loved the most. And she thought up a plan and she came to Jacob with that plan. And she started the ball rolling. And she helped him along the process.

And I could not even take too long this morning to try to tell you all that happened because of what was done. Jacob and Esau were bitter enemies after that. Esau was determined to kill Jacob. And that went all the way up until finally Jacob wrestled with an angel the Bible said. And all night long Jacob wrestled with an angel from heaven. And the Bible said the next morning when the sun came up that the wrestling match was over. And Jacob came out of that different, not only different spiritually but different physically. Now he would limp the rest of his life because the Bible says that angel touched his thigh. And now for the rest of his life Jacob walked with a limp. God changed his name to Israel because Jacob who had been a schemer now had struggled with God. And from then on it was different. And now God used that to turn Esau's heart because Esau couldn't kill a cripple now.

That would look bad on Esau. He hated his brother so much but now he was maimed and now he would look like a jerk to do that to his brother. And that began the process of bringing Jacob and Esau back to where they were supposed to be.

All these things that transpired, all the hurt feelings, all the people that were killed, it was all because this one act of deception. A mother's classroom. There's four things I noticed in this story that I want to challenge you mothers. And I say it this way, mothers you don't have any idea how important you are. I think you have an idea but even us husbands know how important you are. We as husbands know what it means to our children what you do.

Only we as husbands, even if we don't voice it like we should, we see how our kids watch you and need you and how you impact our children. I want you to notice number one in this story. I see this integrity. Rebecca failed to teach integrity. She came up with a deception.

She came up with a scheme. And can I say this first under that this morning, your children are watching you. They're watching.

Moms can I say this that sometimes you think well I just don't think my kids are listening and I just don't think they get it. Oh listen to me, I want you to know something, they are watching you. Kids watch if we're honest. They watch when you get on the phone and if you tell a little white lie on the phone. If somebody calls and somebody's there or somebody calls and your husband answers the phone and you're sitting there and your kids watch.

And the husband says hey so and so's on the phone and you say just tell them I'm in the shower, tell them I'm not here. Kids watch that. Rebecca failed to teach Jacob integrity. A lady named Jill Churchill said this, there is no way to be a perfect mother but there's a million ways to be a good one. Can I say this moms, I challenge you, you impact your kids more than anybody if you will have integrity. Even if it doesn't seem they're listening, even if it doesn't seem they're watching, even if the husband doesn't have integrity, even if the other family doesn't have integrity, if you as a mom will have integrity, if you'll do what's right, if you'll honor God, if you'll be honest and clean and pure before God, I'm here to tell you your children are watching you.

Nothing gets by them. By the way your kids watch how you treat your husband. They watch it. They watch how you treat and talk about others. They watch it when you sit at the dinner table and you rip apart the preacher. Listen, they watch when you rip apart this lady in church and that lady in church and this person in church. Kids watch that.

How many of you agree with me say amen? I'm starting to wonder. They watch how you treat leadership.

They watch when there's a sarcastic comment about maybe somebody in leadership, maybe the boss at work, maybe this or that. Listen to me folks, kids are watching. Second, your children are wanting.

You say, what do you mean? Listen to me. Whether you know it or not, your children want you to do right. There is something inside of a child that they want their mom and dad to be people they could respect and look up to.

Listen to me, I want you to get this. They might not want to do right, but they want their mom and dad to do right. There might be times where your child doesn't look like they want to do right, but can I tell you, they want to have that comfort. Even though they buck against you, even though they fight you, even though they want to rebel, there's something comforting about knowing that my mom has integrity and she's never going to change. That's what your children want.

Can I tell you this? Oftentimes they might tell you, but they don't know. They don't really want a buddy. They want a parent. They don't want somebody to let them get by with everything. They want somebody that will stand up when they do wrong. Kids want that and they need that.

All mothers are working mothers. Kids want to have structure and rules in their life. You say, my kid don't. Oh, yes, he does.

And he needs it. I've told this story here before. I hate to embarrass dad while he's sitting here, but he's embarrassed me for years.

I'm going to start on him now. Now it's my turn. I've told a story about we were in the grocery store years ago and the mother was pushing the baby in the stroller.

I know some of you have heard it, but some of you haven't. She was pushing that baby in the stroller. We were walking through the grocery store. That's when dad used to go to the grocery store. Now he just sits in the car and waits and makes fun of people that walk in the store. Some of the best memories of my childhood were sitting in the car with my dad while watching and making fun of everybody that went in and out of Walmart. It was great. It was just funny.

I can't tell you what he said, but it was very funny. Men go through stages at Walmart. You start off as a child. You want to go to the toy section. Then you get a little bit older.

You want to go to the sports section. Then you get a little bit older. Now you've got your own car.

You want to go to the automotive section. Then you have a house and you want to go to the house section. And then you get a little bit older and you sit in the car and wait on the wife. Then when you get really old, you want to go back to the toy section because you start losing it. It's embarrassing when you're looking at toys with an 80-year-old man. Like, what's that toy? Anyway, we were sitting there and that lady was pushing this kid in the grocery store. The kid was being a demon. You've been in grocery stores with that.

It's probably mine. And the wife kept saying, if you don't stop, I'm going to spank you. If you don't stop, I'm going to spank you. I'm going to spank you.

You know, aisle one, aisle two, aisle three. If you don't stop, I'm going to spank you. Kids have us trained, don't they? They know they're not going to spank them until probably aisle 13.

They know they're going to get 100 warnings and their mom is going to promise, I'm going to spank you. I'm going to do whatever. This is my dad. You know him.

You either love him or whatever. This is my dad. Finally, about aisle six, my dad went to her and said, ma'am, are you going to spank him or you want me to? Now, you can tell this happened years ago.

This wouldn't happen nowadays. And the lady said, well, would you? He said, yes, I'll be glad to. Took the boy out of the thing. Whack, whack, whack, whack, whack. Sat him back down and said, now you be good. Ma!

If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't think it was true, but it's true. Guess what happened about aisle 12? My dad's walking down through the aisle.

All of a sudden, somebody comes and grabs his hand. That little boy had gotten down off that buggy, found my dad, and walked around with him. Why? Because kids want somebody they can respect. Moms, I want to encourage you here this morning, you just stay strong. You keep integrity. You do what's right. You say, yeah, but they just fighting everything and I just can't.

Listen, you just keep having integrity because it makes a difference. Your children are watching and your children are wanting. Second thing she failed to teach Jacob was this, was influence. Rebecca had influence on Jacob. She comes to him and she says, hey, if you'll do this, this, I got the plan. You go get this, and what did Jacob do? He did exactly what she said. Literally, Rebecca influenced Jacob to do what was wrong. How pitiful to have your own mother influence you to do what's wrong. How bad to have your own mother tell you to do something totally contrary to what God wants.

But it happens every day. You say, why should I have integrity, like you mentioned before? Let me tell you why you have integrity, because we have so much influence. You see, moms, that's why it's so important to have integrity, because you've got more influence than you realize. You ever heard the statement we all have heard, if mama's not happy, nobody's happy?

That's the truth. If daddy's not happy, he goes to the garage. If mama's not happy, there's nowhere you can go. She'll find you, and you won't be happy when she gets there.

Trust me, I bought an outbuilding, and it still didn't work. Someone said this, mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever. Listen to me, under this thing of influence, I want you to know this, the impact won't be seen until later. Moms, I want you to know something, the impact you have on your kids will not be seen till later. You say, yeah, but I've tried, and it just doesn't seem, oh, listen to me, the impact you have on your children will probably not be seen till later.

Dr. William Tamas said an interesting phrase, I thought this was good. You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around, listen, and why his parents will always wave back. Mothers, you influence your kids, and the impact you have on your kids' life will probably not be seen till later.

We have no idea how our actions influence our children. Second thing is this, the importance of your influence won't be realized until it's too late. You see, what happens oftentimes, I've had moms come to me, and now their kids are grown, they have their own kids, and they say, boy, if I had it all to do over again, I would do this, and I would have taught them this, and I would have made sure that they knew this, and listen to me, by the time you get to the point in your life that you realize the importance of your influence, it's often too late.

So just take it from word, from us, and from God, the way he put it in his Bible, listen to me, just take this to heart, it's important. It's important. I thought I found this quote was interesting. A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, suddenly announces she never really cared for pie. That's a mother. You know what that is a mother doing? That is a mother influencing. How many of you would say that your mother, your mother, now some of you can't say this, and don't be embarrassed, but how many of you would say your mother is the most unselfish person you know? It's just mothers.

The majority of mothers. You know, I watched it, just that child comes first. That child comes first. You know, my wife probably hadn't had ten minutes to herself in months.

You know why? Because that child comes first. Mothers are that way, and listen to me, mothers, you won't realize the importance of it until it's too late. Can I say this, that what we do in moderation, our children will do to excess. That's why it's important for us to have integrity. That's why it's important for us to influence them correctly. Listen to me, Rebecca influenced Jacob wrongly, and it led to ramifications that lasted his whole life. It brings me to my third point, the impression you make on your child is eternal. The impact won't be seen until later. The importance won't be realized until it's too late, but the impression that you leave on your child is eternal.

I heard one guy say this, I thought this was good. Do parents often talk about the younger generation as if they didn't have anything to do with it? Parents, we're helping to form this young generation. You ever have somebody say, well, this young generation, this generation, bless God. Well, who do you think helped form it? Who raised your kids in it?

Ouch, okay. Abraham Lincoln said this, I remember my mother's prayers and they have followed me, they have clung to me my entire life. The impression you make on your children is eternal. Third thing is this principle of instigation. There was integrity, there was influence, but third, instigation.

Listen to me, you say, what does that mean? Rebecca was able to instigate, to start, to make Jacob head a certain direction. Mothers have a gift of doing this. Some of you say, well, I'm a mother and I wish I could have a gift to somehow instigate my husband to wash the dishes every once in a while. I wish I had somehow the possibility to instigate my kids to clean their room. I understand, but can I say this, that mothers can get you to do something nobody else can do. Still to this day, my mom could just probably give me a look.

And I might complain the whole time, but bless God, I'm going to do it because it's for mom. And Rebecca had the chance here, listen, to instigate Jacob to do right, but she instigated him to do wrong. The thing is, she started the process. She instigated, she motivated it. Number one, under this, your motivation, mom, is powerful. All Rebecca did, she started getting this schema.

You can be blessed and you can have all this instead of your brother. And she knew it was wrong. Your motivation is powerful. A mother's love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible. Second thing is this, your methods have to be personal.

What does that mean? Every child is different. Listen to me, moms, you've got to figure out what motivates your child. And you've got to figure out what different things you have to do for each child to motivate them to do right. Let me tell you something, moms can instigate kids to read their Bible. They can instigate kids to pray. They can instigate kids to be faithful to church. They can instigate kids, you say, well, mine won't listen. Listen, kids still make their own decisions later. Moms, you have the chance, you have somehow the power to motivate your kids to do what's right.

Rebecca had the power to motivate Jacob to do what was wrong. Moms, every child is different. Look at Jacob and Esau.

They couldn't have been more different. And you've got to figure out your child and you've got to figure out what makes them tick and you've got to figure out how to handle them, what will motivate them. Listen, we've got three sons.

Cade's just starting to come into a personality. But can I say this? I've got two wonderful boys and they are as different as night and day. I have one son, my oldest. If he's doing wrong, all I've got to do is look at him and he'll cry and come and apologize.

Probably 20 times a day he comes up and just gives me a hug. Dad, I love you. And then I have another one.

They're different. Guess what my job as a dad is? And guess what Julie's job as a mom is? To figure them out. To know what makes them tick. And to somehow find a way to motivate them to serve God. Now they might choose different, folks. I know parents that have done a wonderful job at motivating, pointing their kids in the right direction. And they make their own decisions.

Please don't misunderstand me. Your job isn't your job to make your child into something. It's your job to teach them what's right.

And they make their own decisions. The fourth thing, I told you I'm going quick, is this last principle of inheritance. Inheritance. Why did Rebecca do all this? She wanted Jacob to have the inheritance. She wanted him to have the money. She wanted him to have the land. She wanted him to have the blessing. She wanted him to have all the bells and whistles that come with it. But what did she end up leaving him?

What she wanted was all these wonderful things. But what she left him was a lifetime full of deception and going back and forth of being deceived and deceiving. What did Jacob do? He deceived and deceived. He sent him to his uncle Laban and his uncle Laban deceived him. And his whole life was deceiving and being deceived and deceiving and being deceived and running from his brother Esau.

Having a brother wanting to kill you your entire life until God finally got Jacob to change. That's the inheritance she left him. She wanted him to have the land and the money and the blessing but what she gave him was a life full of toil because she failed to teach him integrity. Let me tell you something about inheritance parents and moms let me tell you something about inheritance. Money is great and boy that looks good to kids.

And leaving a bunch of land or a big 401 whatever the case might be that's wonderful if you can do it. But the most precious inheritance you could ever give them is integrity. You see under this thing of inheritance first there is one childhood and only one. There is one childhood.

Kids grow up quickly. Saw this poem I thought was good by a lady named Donna Cooper. When you were small and just a touch away I covered you with blankets against the cold night air. But now that you are tall and out of reach I fold my hands and cover you with prayer. You see moms it might be that you can't just go tuck them in at night now and they're grown and they've got things but you can pray for them. There's only one childhood and it doesn't last very long. Saw this quote I thought it was good by a lady named Barbara Kingsolver she said this. It kills you to see your kids grow up but I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn't. Some of you know how that's like don't you?

Anyway we won't talk about that. There's one childhood second there's one chance. You get one chance at it parents. One chance. You say well I've made some mistakes that's fine you still have a chance. But you only get one chance. And you've got to understand that. And you've got to realize this isn't going to last long.

There's just one childhood and this is my only chance. And so moms you've got to realize I've got to teach them what's right. I've got to teach them integrity. I've got to teach them to fear God. I've got to teach them what the Bible says. They're going to make their own decisions. And if they go down a different path that I wouldn't have gone down then I'm going to pray for them while they're traveling down that path. That one day they'll come to their senses that God will reach their heart again and they'll come back to where they need to be. But while they're in my house I'm going to teach them what's right.

And I'm going to be consistent. Because your kids are watching and they're wanting. There's one chance. I guess I have a warped sense of humor.

This one guy John Wilmot wrote this. Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children. Now I have six children and no theories.

This guy Lionel Kaufman said children are a great comfort in your old age and they help you reach your old age faster. There's one chance isn't there? Last there's one challenge. One challenge as a parent. Now there's a million ways to do it. But there's one challenge. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 4 says to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

That's your challenge. Rebecca had one chance and she blew it. Rebecca could have taught him integrity but she didn't. Rebecca didn't realize how her influence would absolutely wreck his life. She didn't realize how she instigated him to do something that would hurt him. She didn't leave him much of an inheritance.

Because of the way she did. Moms we love you. I don't know what we'd do without you. But I want to challenge you. Your importance is far beyond what you even know. Moms you are priceless. All of us men would be lost without you. God bless you.