Hebrews 11. In verse 20, we saw that it was
40 years before Isaac died, and it said, By faith Isaac blessed
Jacob, and Esau concerning things to come. Then in verse 21, we
saw, By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons
of Joseph. and worship, leaning upon the
top of his staff. And today we see by faith Joseph,
when he died, made mention of the departing of the children
of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones. Seeing
these men face death, fully believing God is an encouragement to believers
that true God-given faith will sustain us throughout every trial,
even when we face death. A man's life may appear easy
in the world. It may look like he's got everything
going for him, and it's just an easy life for him. He may
not think of God because of his own ignorance, or he may put
God out of his mind and try not to think upon Him, soothe his
own conscience by his religious works. But what will be the case
when we face God, when we face the hour of death. What's going
to be the case then? Genuine faith glorifies God and
is settled by God's grace even in the appointed hour of death. As Joseph was about to depart
from this world into the presence of the Lord God of glory, he
mentions nothing of riches, he mentions nothing of his own achievements,
but he declares the gospel to those he loves. We see a type
of Christ here in Joseph because, as the Scriptures tell us, having
loved his own, he loved them until the end. And so it is here. Joseph, with the last bit of
breath he had, the last bit of life he had in him, he preached
the gospel to his brothers. And he declared two things that
will make up the divisions of our study this morning. First
of all, he declared God's promised deliverance. And secondly, he
gave a commandment concerning his bones. Now let's look at
these. Verse 22 says, By faith Joseph,
when he died, made mention of the departing of the children
of Israel. What was it Joseph believed,
and what was it that he taught his brethren when he died? What
was this thing he taught his brethren? If you'll be turning
to Genesis chapter 15, Genesis chapter 15, the promise mentioned
here was originally made to Abraham. You have Abraham, and then he
had Isaac, and Isaac had Jacob, and Jacob had Joseph. And this
promise was passed down from father to son. And it came down
to Joseph. And Joseph believed God. And
this is what the promise included. Genesis 15, verse 13. And the Lord said unto Abram,
Know of a surety that thy seed, thy children, shall be a stranger
in a land that is not theirs. He's talking about Egypt. And
they shall serve them. They'll become slaves in Egypt.
And they shall afflict them four hundred years. And also that
nation whom they shall serve will I judge, God said. And afterward shall they come
out with great substance. People that say they don't believe
predestination, the doctrine of predestination, don't read
their Bibles because God here declared to Abraham long years
and years and years before it ever came to pass that he on
purpose was going to have predetermined that Abraham's children would
end up in Egypt in bondage to Egypt, slaves in Egypt. And there
was a purpose why God would have them be slaves in Egypt. As time
went by, you know, Abraham had Isaac. Isaac had Jacob. Jacob
had all his sons and they sold Joseph out. Betrayed him. Left him for dead. Sold him into
Egypt. And Joseph ends up down in Egypt. That's where Joseph's
at when he's dying here. He's in Egypt. about 200 years
to go before this will come to pass, what the Lord said would
happen. But Joseph was brought down into Egypt so that he could
behold the Lord's salvation. And his brothers would be brought
down into slavery in Egypt so that they could behold the Lord's
deliverance and how He delivers. Did you know that's exactly why
we fell in Adam in the garden? and fell into bondage and sin
and total depravity, is that His people might behold Him delivering
us in Christ Jesus the Lord? Look at Exodus chapter 10. I
don't want you to take my word for it. Look at Exodus chapter
10. Just as Adam died and plunged
the human race into bondage, that Christ might be exalted
in saving His people from their sin. God brought Israel into
bondage that He might manifest that He alone has the power to
save sinners from bondage. Look at Exodus 10, verse 1. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Go in unto Pharaoh. They are in Egypt now. They are
in slavery in Egypt, the children of Israel, just as the Lord said
it would come to pass. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Go in unto Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart
of his servants, that I might show these my signs before him. You mean the Lord hardened Pharaoh's
heart? He sure did. That he might show
these my signs before him. Why? Look at the next verse. And that thou mayest tell in
the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have
wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them,
that ye may know how that I am the Lord. That's why he did it. Well, turn to Genesis chapter
50, and I'll set the scene for you as you're turning there.
Joseph is dying, and this hasn't come to pass yet. They're not
down in Egypt yet. In fact, it'll be difficult for
Joseph's brothers to even entertain the thought of this, because
they're prospering so well in Egypt. Joseph is the governor
in Egypt. He's over the storehouses in
Egypt. And all of his brethren have ended up down there in Egypt
with him. And they're prospering very well.
When Jacob, their father, died, the man who was Pharaoh at that
time mourned the death of Jacob. But there's coming a Pharaoh
that don't know these people. That's going to make their life
bitter with hard bondage and bring them into slavery. But
Joseph has a promise. He has the promise that God gave
his great-grandfather Abraham. And he believes God and he trusts
God. And just as the Lord told Moses,
you tell your sons and your sons' sons that I'm the Lord, Joseph
is telling his brethren here as he dies, I believe God. He's
God and I believe Him. They're gathered around his bedside.
And it's his dying hour. And he's going the way of all
flesh. And here's what he says in Genesis
50 verse 24. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
I die. That's going to be our end. That's
where we're going to come to. I die. You can read Scriptures
and you read all these great achievements by men throughout
Scripture and you come to the end of their days and it says,
and they died. Every one of them, and they died.
That's the last words that's going to be said about you and
me. No matter what's said about us and what we've accomplished
in our life, the last thing it's going to end with is, and they
died. They died. And he said, and God will surely
visit you, and God will surely bring you out of this land. And God will surely bring you
out of this land unto the land. It's a land that God promised
to deliver His people to. And he says, and God will surely
bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob. Salvation is based on God's covenant
promise. And his promise is that it's
made between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit to save a people out of Egypt, out of slavery, out of
bondage, and elect chosen people to save them out from under Slavery. Sin. Satan. Death. To save them out of it and deliver
them into a land that He promises His people. Heavenly Canaan. A heavenly country that He'll
deliver. This is Egypt. You might not
think right now that you need to be delivered out of this land.
You may not see that you're in bondage. Just like Joseph's brethren
couldn't see at this time that they would be in bondage. But
he knew they would because the Lord said it. We're in bondage. We're in a corrupt land. And
if you know not God right now, you don't trust God, you're in
bondage. You're in sin right now. Held
captive just like a man in a prison. But Joseph told his brethren,
but God is going to come. And He's going to raise up His
messenger. And He's going to bring us out of bondage and deliver
us into the land that He promised He'd deliver us into. When you
make a promise to somebody, if you want to make it so that you
can't go back on the promise, or the person that's making it
so you can't go back on it, you take them somewhere where they
can be sworn in to a judge. And they make their oath and
they swear. and they can't go back on it.
It's binding. It's legally binding and they
can't go back on it. Look over at Hebrews chapter
6 with me. Joseph said, fellas, there's
none greater than God. There is none greater than God. And therefore, when he gave his
promise to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because he couldn't
swear by any greater, he swore by himself. He gave His promise and He swore
on His own holy name that He'd bring it to pass. God gave His
promise and He made this promise in His Son. And His name's at
stake if He doesn't save His people from their sins. That's
what we learned in Hebrews. Look here with me. Hebrews 6,
verse 13. For when God made promise to
Abraham, the same promise we just looked at, because he could
swear by no greater, he swore by himself, saying, Surely blessing
I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. Look at
verse 16. For men verily swear by the greater,
and an oath for confirmation, to make it sure, is to them an
end of all strife. sworn and they've given their
oath. It's the end of all strife. There's no going back on it.
Two things now. We're in God, willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel. The unchanging counsel of God. He confirmed it by an oath. That
by not one, but two unchangeable things. in which it's impossible
for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have
fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. And Joseph
said, fellows, God can't lie. He's given His promise, and He
swore by Himself because He could swear by no greater. And I believe
God. I believe Him. He's going to
deliver His people out of Egyptian bondage. Do you believe God? He's going to deliver His people
out of sin and death. He's going to do it. The problem
is with Joseph's brethren is the same problem with us. We
don't see any need for deliverance. We don't see any need for deliverance.
Well, let's move on. What did Joseph mean with this
commandment concerning his bones? Well, I meant to tell you to
hold your place back there in Genesis 50, but I'll just read
it to you. In verse 25 of Genesis 50, Joseph
took an oath of the children of Israel. And he said, God will
surely visit you. And when he does, he said, you
carry up my bones from here. Carry my bones from here in the
Canaan with you when he delivers you. Now, he made it clear that
this was going to be a long time from now because All that was
going to be left of him was his bones. That was it. But he said,
but when He delivers you out of Egypt, you dig up my bones
and you take them with you into Canaan. Why did he say that?
Why did he say that? Because faith declares its allegiance
not to this Egypt we live in right here, but to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Faith lays hold of Christ and
believes Christ and proves it. And the Lord had given Joseph
great riches. He had given him so much in Egypt.
Made him a governor in Egypt. He was a man of renown in Egypt.
Under the sovereign hand of God, he had all these things, but
he stands before us here as an exception, not the rule. Scripture says, you see your
calling, brethren. Look around you, look at the
brethren around you, how that not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, weak things
to confound the things that are mighty, base things. But Pink
said there is as much faith, yes more, in moderating the affections
under a full estate as there is in depending upon God for
supplies when we have nothing. heard an account of Spurgeon
that he asked Rathbun to pray for somebody. And everybody began
to question him, wondering what was wrong with him. Were they
sick? What was wrong with them? And he said, no, they just inherited
a large estate. Pray for them. Pray for them. This wise man said, Give me neither
poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient
for me, lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord?
Or lest I be poor and still, and take the name of my God in
vain. But an exception Joseph was. He was an exception. Because
Joseph, even in this rich condition he was in, in Egypt, and even
in this place of renown, in this place of power in Egypt, he tells
his brethren here, he says, I'm not a king in Egypt. I don't
want to have any part in Egypt. I don't want to remain in Egypt.
I don't want to have anything in this Egypt. Take me to Canaan. That's where I want to go. I
want to go to Canaan. I want to be in the land God's promised
me. That's where I want to be. That's what believers say. I'm
a pilgrim on this earth. I'm walking through this earth.
I'm not a part of this place. I'm not bound to this place.
I'm on my way to a heavenly possession. I'm on my way to to see my Lord
sitting upon His throne, the King of heaven and earth. And
I'm not bound to this place. I'm not being tied down to this
place. And by this vow, Joseph showed
them that he fully trusted the Lord would raise him to that
heavenly Canaan which God had promised him. That's what he
manifest here when he said, take my bones with you. The Lord had
said there when He made that promise to Abram, He said, I'll
give unto thee and to thy seed after thee the land wherein thou
art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting
possession, and I'll be their God. I'll be their God. And because Christ is risen,
because He's put away sin, and because sin, the wages of sin
is death, because He's regenerated His people and they've been partaker
of the first resurrection, They will pass from this death into
His presence. And not only that, but He will
raise our bodies to be with Him. To be with Him. Look over there
with me at 1 Corinthians 15. Let's read that. 1 Corinthians. Look at verse 45. And so it is written, the first
man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last Adam, Christ the
Lord, was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which
is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that
which is spiritual. We're born with a natural body
and then we're born of God in a spiritual body. Even so, our
natural bodies come first and then the spiritual body. The
first man is of the earth, earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy.
And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear
the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. We will
not all die. There will be some living when
the Lord returns, but we will all be changed. In a moment,
and the twinkling of an eye at the last trump, for the trumpet
shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and
we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when
this corruptible shall I put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall I put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the
saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
this is what Joseph was telling his brethren when he said, move
my bones, take them with you. He was symbolically showing them
that this was his hope. My beloved brethren, be you steadfast,
unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as
much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord, He
is going to make good on His promise. That is what Joseph
was telling them. He is going to make good on His
promise. And as he lay there dying, His heart wasn't set on
anything he'd accomplished that might make him accepted with
God. It wasn't set on anything in this world. In death, Joseph's
heart was set where it had been set all his days. It was set
on the promise of God, the surety, the sureness of God's Word that
He would deliver His people. Oh, that our minds and our hearts
might be set where Joseph's heart was set. That we might live,
right now, like he died. Believing on God. Trusting God.
Not looking to this world. Not looking to our own hands.
Not looking to anything here. But pointing sinners to Christ,
just like Joseph did. Well, did he do it? Did God deliver
him? Did God deliver Joseph? The Scripture
tells us that Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for
he had straightly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely
visit you, and you shall carry up my bones away hence with you.
And when God delivered him out of Egypt, Moses took his bones
with him, just like Joseph said it would happen. And when Joseph
died, something far greater than that happened. The Lord carried
Joseph to glory. The Lord delivered him into that
heavenly canon, just like He promised him He would. Do you
believe God? Do you believe Him? I was reading a magazine yesterday. It's Oxford American. It has stories in it, literature. This fellow was saying in the
story that he heard his Sunday school teacher talk about the
resurrection And he said he remembered laughing out loud and saying,
you've got to be kidding me. It's not a joke. You believe
him? Scripture says, the vision is
yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and
not lie. Though it tarry, wait for it,
because it will surely come, and it will not tarry. The Word
of the Lord is sure. Joseph knew it. He believed God.
Do you believe him? Do you believe him?