Brother And Sister 
BillyGoat Sheep

Acts 9:1; "And Saul, yet breathing out threatening, and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest."

This scripture speaks of a time when Saul of Tarsus acted much more like a billygoat than he did a sheep. There was nothing about him to cause those who trusted in our Lord Jesus to suspect him of being a "chosen vessel" of our Lord. Yet he was.

At this time in his life, everything about him was contrary to the things of the "Kingdom of God". He was expending his life and energy trying to rid the earth of those who professed our Lord. He cast his lot among those who were enemies of Christ. By his own words, he was more zealous than any among those whom were called Christians. One day in his madness, he embarks upon the road to Damascus where, by the Grace of our God, his life was forever changed.

While many people speak of "seeking" the Lord Jesus, the case was not so with Saul. Notice what he was doing at the time of his "calling". He was raging against that very Christ who called him. He certainly appeared much more in the nature of a billygoat than he did as a sheep.

Is not this a good picture of what we were like before our Lord appeared unto us on "our" road to Damascus? Is it not also a good picture of what many people look like to us before they accept Christ?

I have often wondered what the reaction of the Christians were in regards to Saul. I don’t suppose their reaction were much different than it is today.

How many times have I been told to forget about certain people because they are hopeless and will never accept Christ.

How many times have I even met people I would, in the flesh, prefer to stay away from rather than face their hard and bitter words.

Why do we feel the way we do? Is it not because, to us, they appear so much like billygoats, and so little like sheep? In our wildest dreams we just can not visualize them as being "chosen vessels" of our Lord.

Do we pray that our Lord Jesus save those people or do we pray that He will keep them away from us and out of our lives?

I want to share with you what I, by the Grace of God, now do. I think maybe the best way to do this is to share some mail which I received a short time ago. In this mail I was called "a worthless, uneducated piece of dung." And told me to "hear the truth, fool." This mail said, "There is no God, and THAT is truth".

I replied back and the first thing I said was that I was happy to have received this mail; "and I was happy", why? Because it gave me an opportunity to try and minister to that person.

Next I told this person that I would not stoop to name calling for I loved them as a human being and this love was not based on them being a Christian or anything else.

Next, I told this person, "There is one thing I would like for you to think about." Suppose that you are right and I am wrong: what do I have to lose? But what if I am right and you are wrong: what do you have to lose?

Next I ask for a favor: I wish to ask you to do whatever you do that if I am wrong, my eyes may come open to truth.

Next I let them know what I intend to do: "In the meantime, I will pray that my God will open your eyes to see the Truth of the Gospel Message and God."

If any request that I not pray for them, this is the answer I give: "I can not quit praying for you may be as was "Saul of Tarsus", a "chosen vessel" who has not as yet ventured on the road of Damascus.

Now I would like for us to look at another passage of scripture: This is Genesis 27:1-25:

27:1: "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, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I.
2: "And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:
3: "Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;
4: "And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.
5: "And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.

Rebekah teaches Jacob to obtain the blessing

6: "And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,
7: "Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD before my death.
8: "Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.
9: "Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:
10: "And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death.
11: "And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:
12: "My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.
13: "And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.
14: "And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved.
15: "And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son:
16: "And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:
17: "And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

Jacob, pretending to be Esau, obtains the blessing

18: "And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?
19: "And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.
20: "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.
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.
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 the hands of Esau.
23: "And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him.
24: "And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am.
25: "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.

We know that Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob in Genesis 25:27-34

……27: "And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.
28: "And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29: "And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:
30: "And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
31: "And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
32: "And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
33: "And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.
34: "Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

…. and the blessing always went with the birthright, and we know that God would get the blessings to the one who was supposed to get them.

Just as our God has made many promises to us in this day, and He will see that we get them. Nevertheless we need to wait upon our God’s provided way and time and not do as did Rebekah.

No doubt Rebekah knew what was supposed to happen as we can read in Genesis 25:19-26;

……. 19: "And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham begat Isaac:
20: "And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
21: "And Isaac entreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22: "And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD.
23: "And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
24: "And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25: "And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.
26: "And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.

When Rebekah heard something which she knew was not according to the "plan of God" she acted on her own much as the church does today.

She knew that if Esau, (the elder) received the blessing, then Jacob (the younger) would do the serving, not the elder.

So Rebekah begins to act. But look what she does. She caused the one God loved…..

(Malachi 1:1-3: 1: "The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
2: "I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,
3: "And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

Romans 9:13) "As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

……… to look, smell, and act like the one God hated.

Let’s notice what she begins to do. First she tells Jacob to go to the goatherd and fetch two kids of the goats. She was going to flavor that goatmeat so it would taste just like the venison which Esau was going to fix for his father. Is it not strange that we can take goat meat and so flavor it up till anyone can not tell the difference between it and venison?

But is it not stranger still that we can take the things of God and so flavor them up till we can’t tell the different between the things of God and the world?

Let me say this: No matter how deep this goatmeat is steeped into all this flavor, it is still nothing more or less than goatmeat. While there are many things we can change about it, we can change the taste, we can change the texture, we can change the looks, feel and so-forth, but, we can never change the fact that it is and always has been goatmeat.

And no matter how steeped into the Church the world becomes, it is and always will be nothing but the world and must perish with the world.

This things of this world can be changed so much till: Matthew 24:24: "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."

Yet it is still the world and again, I say, it must perish with the world.

But now, for the good news!! No matter how stooped the Church of the Living God becomes into the things of the world, she has a promise from our God:

Psalms 40:2 "He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings."

God will not allow His Church to remain embedded in the things of the world. He will bring us out!!!

So the first thing Rebekah did was to take goatmeat and so flavor it up till Jacob, giving this to his father did receive a blessing.

The Church Of God is guilty of the same thing in this day. We take the things of world and so mix them with the things of Heaven, offer it to our God and do thereby receive some blessings from God.

Here is something I want you to notice: The same thing which brought Jacob’s blessing was the same things which caused his trouble. I wonder if is not the same with us in this day? I am sure it is.

I want to insert a little statement here: Notice, Jacob, the son is only doing what the Mother (Church) is telling him to do. Is not this a strange thing that the Church is leading her sons and daughters astray?

The next thing that she does is to take the clothing of the one God hates and dresses up the one God loves in those same filthy dirty clothes. She should have been trying to clothe Esua in Jacob’s clothes instead.

Next she takes the goat skin and begins to conceal every Christian attribute which Jacob had. When she has done all this, she places the food, which is still goatmeat into the hands of Jacob and sends him into the presence of his father.

When he gets into the presence of his father, he looks and smells just like Esua whom God hates. The only thing different about him was his voice!!!!

If both boys had stood before Isaac, the only different would have been their voices. Is not this a sad picture of today? How many times have I stood with people and find that the only way to know if there were Christians present was to ask, "Are you a Christian?" One says "No" and the other says "Yes". No different in the way they act, only the voice.

Think!! Are you one of those whoms only sign of being a Christian is your voice saying, "I am a christian?" Is there no other signs that tell people that you are a Christian?

Are you as the "Children of Israel" (chosen of God) yet making bricks for the enemy? Or maybe like Paul, (chosen of God) yet, using his strength to tear down the Kingdom of our God??

If you find or even think that this could be you, please consider these Scriptures:

Zechariah 3:1-7: "And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
2: "And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
3: "Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
4: "And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
5: "And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.
6: "And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying,
7: "Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.

Please pray and ask our God to take away those filthy garments and to clothe you in His Righteousness.

God bless all.

Rev. Whatley

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