Message : Robert Gilland
Date: 12th July 2026
To start with I want to tell a story about William Wilberforce, the man credited with ending slavery. William Wilberforce was a strong believer in Jesus, and he put his heart and soul into the task of ending slavery. William had a friend whose name was William Pitt. William Pitt just happened to be the prime minister of England and also a Christian in name only. Wilberforce thought if he could get the backing of Pitt he would be able to end slavery quickly. Wilberforce took Pitt to hear a gospel preacher and hoped that Pitt would sense the power of the gospel and embrace the gospel of Jesus wholeheartedly. At the end of the gospel message however, Pitt turned to Wilberforce and said, “You know, Wilberforce, I have not the slightest idea what that man has been talking about” (Holmans Commentary Vol 6:251). The readings of today indicate the difference of those who have ears to hear and those who do not.
Genesis 25:19-34
Genesis 25 is the beginning of the story of Isaac as an adult. Genesis 12 describes the promise to Abraham of the family line which will bless all the nations of the world. It was not until Genesis 21 when Abraham and his wife Sarah were both very old that Isaac is born. We read at the start of Genesis 25 that after Sarah died, Abraham married another wife whose name was Keturah, and this wife had borne Abraham many children, yet God’s promise was to Abraham and Sarah. Before Abraham died he gave his other children many gifts and sent them away. Abraham then left everything to Isaac. It is clear that the promise of God to bless all the nations was very much front and centre in Abraham’s actions.
Just like it took many years for the family line of Abraham to start. We read that Isaac did not marry Rebecca until he was 40. Even though Isaac knew he was destined to be part of a long family line he did not seem to worry that he and his wife were getting past child bearing age. It was not until Isaac and Rebecca were near 60 years old that Isaac prayed to God for Rebecca to have children. Possibly Isaac thought it was all going to happen without prayer. But here we see that God wants us to pray no matter what. After Isaac prayed the twin brothers, Jacob and Esau were born. Esau was hairy even at birth and the name Esau is like the Hebrew word
for Hairy. Jacob who was second born grabbed at the heel of Esau, and the name Jacob is like the Hebrew word Heel.
Again the Scriptures describe a pair of brothers, Jacob and Esau, which adds to the list of brothers already described in the Scriptures. Each one of these brothers are an example of following God and not following God. Starting with Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, Cain kills his own brother Abel because he was jealous. Here we see right at the start of the story of humanity, what happens when people do not follow God. Then to Isaac and Ishmael, Ishmael through no fault of his own was born outside of the promises of God, because Abraham did not trust the promise of God. Ishmael was destined to live like a wild donkey opposed to everyone.
But what did Esau do, I hear you say. Esau is a great example of what is wrong with the society of today. Esau cared nothing that he was part of a family that were by God’s promise destined to be a blessing to all nations. When Esau was hungry, chose food rather than his position as the first born son in this great family. Esau did not understand his purpose in the story of God. Just like most in society today, they do not realise that they are created and loved by God and their purpose is to love God their Creator. We also need to remind ourselves of our place in society and what our purpose is. Esau only cared for material things and Jacob knew it. Jacob was not a good example either. He was devious and right throughout his life partook in deceptive activity. There are very few examples of people in the entire Bible who lived entirely good lives.
Psalm 119:105-112
Moving on to Psalm 119. Psalm 119 is a beautiful piece of poetry. Every eight verse section starts with the same Hebrew character in the order of the Hebrew alphabet. This particular section of Psalm 119 starts with the letter that matches the ‘n’ character in English. The entire chapter is about the word of God, which the psalmist delights in and learns off by heart, word for word. I remember as a young Christian learning Romans chapter 12 off by heart. As a young Christian I was challenged to memorise scripture verses off by heart, I recommend this habit for every believer. The world challenges us daily with slogans that go against following God, this has always been the case, and it has always been the case that writing the words of God on our hearts is the best defence to the messages of the world.
Romans 8:1-11
Moving on to Romans 8, which many theologians call the greatest chapter in the Bible. Personally I think Romans 12 is the greatest chapter in the Bible, but each to their own. In Romans 8, Paul writes a combination of a praise song and a theological essay describing humanity’s position before God. Romans 8 starts with “There is now no condemnation for those who live in union with Christ Jesus” and ends with “Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus”.
For those that are good at maths, Romans 8 comes straight after Romans 7. In Romans 7, we read of Paul despairing of the sin that still haunts him. Paul laments his human nature which steers him towards death at every turn. Paul exclaims “What an unhappy man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is taking me to death?” The greatest joys in life often come after the greatest sadnesses. The greatest hymns in the hymnal all have amazing background stories. “It is well with my soul” was written by a man who had just lost his four young daughters in a ship wreck. “Amazing Grace” was written by a man who had carried slaves on his ship and turned his life around by turning to Jesus.
The answer to Paul’s lament is of course Jesus Christ. This answer was declared to Eve way back in the Garden of Eden where God says to Eve that he will crush Satan via her offspring. When we become “in Christ”, that is, when we surrender ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus, our story is connected to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In a very real way, our life should do the same, die to sin, and rise again from it. In a very real way Jesus is the perfect Ark. The Ark of Noah only saved his family, yet sin still dwelt in humanity. The Ark of Jesus saves us from sin. Yes sin lays in wait, but we have the vessel of Jesus to live a life where sin can no longer condemn us.
In Romans 8, Paul describes two ways of living. The first way of living is by those who live according to what their human nature tells them and have their minds controlled by what their human nature wants. The second way of living is by those who live by what the Spirit of God tells them and according to what the Spirit of God wants. The first way results in death, the second way results in life and peace. The way of the Spirit of God can only be taken by those who follow Jesus as the Spirit of God is part of the work of Jesus. Be wary of those who separate people by any other method than what Paul does here. There are those who live by the Spirit and those who do not. There are those who seek the Lordship of Jesus in their lives and those who do not. It is not what church you go to, it is not what particular strand of theology you adhere to, it is whether you seek to follow Jesus Christ or not.
Matt 13:1-9, 18-23
Now we come to the parable of the four different seeds in the Gospel reading. When trying to understand the Scriptures it is important to be aware of what happens just before the reading, and just before Jesus told the parable of the four different seeds, we read about Jesus’ mother attempting to pull Him away from teaching. It is fair to speculate that this parable was in response to Mary attempting to pull Jesus away from His mission. Even though there are four different seeds only one of these seeds flourished, so in reality there are again only two types, one that goes into the good soil and flourishes and the three others that perish because they did not go into the good soil. Mary in this case was not caring about the task that Jesus had to do.
Conclusion
I started with the story of William Pitt, who was not living by seeking the Lordship of Jesus, even though he was in name only Christian. He did not understand the gospel because his heart did not want to hear it. The story of Genesis gives multiple examples of two different types of people. Esau did not care about his part in his family and in the plan of God, which echoed Cain, as well as Ishmael. In Psalm 119 we read of an example of someone whose care was only to follow the words of God and passionately lived that way which is quite a contrast to most people in the world. In Romans 8, Paul emphatically expresses the difference between those who seek to live according to the Spirit of God versus those who live according to their human desires and nature. In the Gospel reading we have the four different seeds which really only comes down to two types of seeds, one that did not dwell in good soil and the other that did. The one seed that did dwell in good soil flourished. We are in control of what soil we live our lives in, we choose what media we listen to, and what people we surround ourselves with. Surround yourselves with people of faith, be aware that most media messaging comes from people that do not follow Jesus. Find those who speak truth and are trustworthy. When I grew up there was not much choice in who to listen to, but nowadays with the advent of podcasts, there are people that are seriously living in Christ who are available to listen to. In the end, we must ensure that we are the people Jesus is talking about that have ears to hear Him and a heart that is willing to follow Him.
We have access to the Bible online in many different versions, to read or listen to. Some are very easy to understand.
