Well, it's good to see you. I'm
going to ask you to take your Bibles and turn with me to the
book of Genesis chapter 48. Genesis 48. I'd like to look
at the first two verses. of Genesis 48. And it came to pass after these
things that one told Joseph, behold, thy father is sick. And he took with him his two
sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and one told Jacob, and said, Behold,
thy son Joseph cometh unto thee. And Israel strengthened himself
and sat upon the bed. Now, Jacob is at this point,
according to the scriptures, 147 years old. And this is the time, according
to the Lord's will and purpose for Jacob to depart. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verses
1 and 2, the scripture says, now listen to these words carefully.
Don't pray that God help us not to let this pass by. Do everything. Okay. Have we got that part in
our mind? To everything. Everything. There is a season and a time
to every purpose under heaven. A time to be born and a time
to die. I read that going over my notes. to everything, nothing that you
can see, perceive, understand, not understand, to everything. There is a season that is a fixed
portion of time. There's a season and a time to
every purpose. There's a season, a fixed portion
of time, and then a time when the fixed time starts. I looked at that today and I
kept thinking, there's a season and a time. I thought, well,
what's the difference? There's a season and a time.
Isn't that saying the same thing? No. There is a season, that is,
there's a fixed portion according to God's will and purpose. He's
going to do it. I know this scripture says that
we're all, if the Lord doesn't return, we're all going to die. That's, that's a season. I know
that there's coming a season, but there's a time when it's
going to happen. I don't know. I don't know when
it's going to be. I might have an indication somewhat about
the season. I mean, I can look at, you know. myself getting older, and I feel
myself getting tireder and weaker, and it might be a season. I know
there's something about it, Neil, that I can get. But the time, to everything there is a season
and a time to every purpose unto heaven, a time to be born, a
time to die. And the Lord here has made Jacob,
not only to know the season of departure, but he has settled
Jacob's heart on the issue of dying. Again, as I read that,
I thought, this is an issue that needs God's grace and God's mercy. And only a believer is settled,
truly settled on this issue of dying. I'm gonna die. That's just, that's an issue,
as I've heard Brother Scott say. We were created to live forever,
and there's something about dying that's mysterious and fearful,
and it's, and I get it, I get it. But the Lord had made Jacob
to know something of the season. Look, the last two verses of
chapter 47. Now, here's Jacob talking to
his son, and Jacob says to Joseph, verse 30, but I will lie with
my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me
in the burying place. And he said, I will do as thou
hast said, and he said, swear unto me, and he swear unto him,
and Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head. Jacob knew, I'm
going to die. We all knew, all believers know,
we're going to die. And we know we're going to leave
this world and we're going to deal with something that is mysterious. We've never walked this way before.
We've never been there before. We've been reading about it,
studied the scriptures, we know it's so, but we're not there. Death is
a necessary part of our existence. It's not a pleasant thing according
to the flesh, but it's God's way bring His people from this
life into the next. God's going to transport His
people. Now, if we're alive at the Second Coming of Christ, turn with me to 1 Corinthians.
Hold your place there and turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15.
Let's just see what the Scripture says about it. This is the only thing that matters
right here. 1 Corinthians 15. I was talking with a brother
today about this. We were discussing these things
right here. Just, these things become so wonderful. Look at verse 51. 1 Corinthians
15, 51. Behold, I show you a mystery. Now this is a mysterious thing. This is something that we could
not perceive. by natural wisdom or intuition
or knowledge or whatever you want to call it. You're just
not going to know this. This is something that was shown
to the Apostle Paul who penned this book of 1 Corinthians. Now
when he learned it, I don't know, maybe it was when he went to
the third heaven and he saw and heard things that are unspeakable.
I don't know. But God taught him something.
He said, behold, verse 51, I show you a mystery. We shall not all
sleep. He's talking to God's people
there, we're not going to all die, but we shall all be changed. Everybody's going to die. Believers
and unbelievers are going to die. But he said, we shall not
all sleep, but we shall all be changed. There's going to be
a change that's going to be, and I'm going to read it in just
a second, we're corruptible right now. We're corruptible. When
we die, this body is going to go to corruption. It's going
to rot. It's going to corrupt. It's going
to be corrupt. But this corruptible is going
to be, according to what we're getting ready to read, it's going
to be changed into that which is incorruptible. Verse 52, In
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for
the trump 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 have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is thy sting? Where is your sting, death, to
those that know Christ? Where is your sting? When you
die, where's your sting, death? Christ's taken it away. Where's
your sting? Oh, death, where's thy sting?
Oh, grave, where's thy victory? The sting of death is sin and
the strength of sin. The sting of death is sin. And
for a believer, Christ is born it. He's born the debt of sin
for his people. And he put it away. Paul's asking
him. Death, where's your sting for
those that know Christ? Where is it? Gone. Gone. Sting of death is sin,
strength of the law, but thanks be unto God which giveth us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be you steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord insomuch as you know that your labor is not vain in
the Lord. Back in Genesis 48. Jacob is coming to that point. Back in Genesis 48, came to pass. After these things that one told
Joseph, behold, thy father is sick. And he took with him his
two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Jacob is sworn. He knows he's
getting weak. He knows he's going down. He
can feel the pains, the weaknesses, the
frailties. He knows. If you don't feel good,
nobody has to tell you you don't feel good. If you're going down,
nobody has to tell you you're going down. You know that. You
know it. Well, Israel, Joseph's father,
he had made Joseph Swear to him that when I die, don't bury me
in Egypt. You take me back. I want to go
back to Ephraim. I want to go back to, I mean,
to, oh, he'll come to me in a minute. You take me back home. Go back
where my family is. And I want you to swear to me
that you're not going to leave me here in Egypt. And so he swears to it. Verse
48 is where I want to start. It came to pass. How many times
did you ever hear Brother Scott saying it always does? It came
to pass. After these things, it came to
pass. After these things, after everything that Almighty God
had eternally purposed to ordain for the sure and absolute accomplishment
of His will and purpose. It comes to pass. God brings
it to pass. And at the appointed time, appointed
time, the scripture says, one told Joseph, behold thy brother,
I mean, I'm sorry, behold thy father, is sick. Your dad's sick."
And immediately, Joseph took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. He's getting ready to leave.
He's going to go see his dad, possibly for the last time. Now, Lord
willing, in the next message, I'm going to talk about these
two boys, him taking them. I'm going to take it up where
the Scriptures takes it up, but he's going to take his two boys
with him, Manasseh And Ephraim, they come, they hear, Joseph
hears, he tells his, you know, someone tells Jacob, I mean,
you're, you know, he's, your dad, Jacob, is sick, Joseph,
and I want you to be informed. So he takes his two boys. And
this announcement of Jacob's sickness, it reminded me when
I heard it, it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph,
behold, thy father is sick. You remember, turn with me to
John 11. Hold your place there, John 11, 1 to 3. John 11, verse
1 to 3. Now, a certain man was
sick. named Lazarus of Bethany, the
town of Mary, her sister Martha. It was that Mary which anointed
the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose
brother, Lazarus, was sick. Therefore his sisters sent unto
him, saying, now listen to what they said. The brother is sick. Lazarus is sick. His two sisters, Mary and Martha,
are going to tell the Lord concerning his sickness. They want to say
something to him. Now, I want you to notice they
didn't appeal to Lazarus' merit. They didn't appeal to their own
merit. appealed to the kindness that they had shown the Lord.
Lord, remember, you were there, we fed you, made you something
to eat. They didn't appeal to the Lord
being a guest in their house. They didn't even appeal to the
Lord for their brother. Lord, this is our brother. They didn't instruct the Lord
on what they thought he should do. Rather, they appeal to the
Lord's love for Lazarus. That just impressed me. Lord,
behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. That just is the sweetest,
most tender way that it could be expressed. I just thought,
what a way. Lord, the one that you love is
sick. And what you're doing is you're
laying all of this in the hands of the Lord. They're baring their
heart, obviously. I'm sure, according to the flesh,
they would desire that Lazarus might be healed. But they didn't say, they didn't
say, Lord, would you come heal my brother? Lord, would you? No. The way they approached the
Lord was in a way that bowed to his good pleasure. to his
sovereignty, to do what he will, with whom he will, when he will,
the way that he would, Lord, he whom thou lovest is sick. Oh, may we learn from this to
pray for those that we love. I was reading this today and
I'm finding myself as I'm studying these things and these things,
I relate them to myself. And I thought to myself, we've
got brethren that are sick. We've got friends that are sick.
I've got physically sick. I've got some, you do too. But how about concerning those
that we love, that we truly love, that are spiritually sick. Well,
how sick are they? Well, Isaiah, I can tell you
how sick the scripture says they are. In Isaiah chapter one, you
know where I'm going. Isaiah chapter one, verse five
and six, why would you be stricken any more Will you revolt more
and more? The whole head is sick, and the
whole heart's faint from the sole of the foot even onto the
head. There's no soundness in them,
wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. They've not been closed,
neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. I've got some people in my family,
and you do too, that if they know Christ and they're sick,
physically sick. The Lord may be pleased to heal
them. Or he may not. But I tell you, for those that
are in my family, they're spiritually sick. They need spiritual healing.
Here was son that was going to be informed. Here was
a son that was being informed, your dad is sick. Your dad is
sick. And the scripture says, and he
took his two boys, and he's going to see his dad. He heard that
his dad, he's going to leave immediately. taking his two sons
with him. In verse 2, now in verse 1, it
came to pass that Joseph, the son, was told, your dad is sick. And now in verse 2, one told
Jacob, Jacob now is the one who is sick. Jacob, behold, thy son Joseph
cometh unto thee. And Israel strengthened himself
and sat upon the bed. Now we've looked at these instances
where in these scriptures where the Lord is speaking of the same
man. He's speaking of the same man,
Jacob and Israel. It's the same man. Jacob is a
man who was born into this world, a supplanter, a huckster, a cheat,
trickster, conniver. And Jacob is sick. And he was told that his son
was told that he was sick. And they told Jacob, your son Joseph is coming to
see you. Your boy that you love is coming
to see you. Jacob heard that. Your boy's
coming to see you. Boy knows you're sick. Your boy's
going to get his boys and they're going to come see you. Jacob heard that. The supplanter
heard that. And Israel strengthened himself
and sat upon the bed. It is so amazingly wonderful
for us to hear and see how exact the Scriptures are. Jacob heard
His boy was coming to see him. Jacob the huckster, Jacob the
trickster, Jacob the conniver. But you know who was enlivened
and who was strengthened? Israel. That new man in him that
knew that Joseph was coming. Joseph is a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And here in this world, all of
us by nature are Jacob's. We're all Jacob's by nature.
That's all of us. And as we stand here and as I
stand here and I preach it, I'm looking at this spiritually speaking.
Jacob's are hearing with this ear. Jacob's are hearing with
this ear Christ is returning. And the Israel that we've been
made to be in Christ is strengthened by that. Jacobs hear it, we hear
it. How long did I hear of the second
coming of Christ before the Lord opened my eyes to know the truth
of the Lord? That he was truly, that Christ
was coming back. They hear it. That's what that,
look at that scripture, verse two. And one told Jacob and said,
behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee. And Israel strengthened
himself and sat upon the bed. There can be a congregation full
of people in here. Some believers, some not. And
those that hear, Christ is coming back. But not, this is a point
also that was beautiful to me. Listen to this, verse two. And
one told Jacob and said, behold thy son Joseph. Now let's look
at this part. Cometh unto thee. You know, it's
one thing to tell me that Christ is coming back. And with a natural
ear, I can accept that as a You know, I remember growing up in
religion. The Lord's coming back. Okay. I heard you. I understood English. The Lord's coming back. But to
read and to have the Spirit of God revealed to me that the Lord
is coming back for me. He's coming back for me. And
make it personal. Let me say it. Behold, thy son
Joseph cometh unto thee. And Israel enlivened himself. He was strengthened in that inner
man he set up. Jacob was strengthened as he
heard that Joseph was coming. Joseph is coming. But he's not
just coming, he's coming for you, he's coming to see. He's
coming unto thee. Christ is coming for his people. He knows where I am. He knows
and has revealed to me what I am by nature. Oh, the beauty of
who I am. Again, remember this. Joseph, here is a picture of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 1, Joseph heard from somebody,
thy father is sick. Christ knows of the sickness
of his people. He knows. He knows. He came the
first time into this world to bear their guilt. to be made
sin for them. He came the first time to be
their sin-bearer, to be the one that established their righteousness
by being made like unto His brethren. He came the first time to redeem
them. Now, He comes back again. When He comes back again, He's
coming back for them to receive them unto Himself, that where
He is, there they may be But also look at this, and I
thought to myself as I was looking at that second verse, one told
Jacob and said, behold, thy son Joseph is cometh unto thee, and
Israel strengthened himself. He's coming. But who initiated that meeting? Who initiated the meeting between
them? Well, for that, you've got to look back at verse 1.
Came to pass after these things that one told Joseph, behold,
thy father is sick. And he got his two boys, Manasseh
and Ephraim, and he's going to see his daddy. Who initiated
the meeting between the father and the son here in this story?
Who initiated the meeting? The son did. Doesn't say Jacob. He called him and said, come
save me, I'm not doing good. Joseph heard that his daddy was
sick. Joseph, as a picture of Christ,
knew of his dad's sickness. And he came in, well, the Lord
Jesus in picture and type came into this world for that one
he loved. He came to see him. He initiated,
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. You know why
Joseph, I mean, do you know why, well yeah, you know why Joseph,
you know why Joseph was going to see his daddy? He loved him. That was his dad. That was his dad. He loved him. He loved him. And he's going
to see him. Going to see him. Whether the
Lord's pleased to heal him, Joseph didn't know that, but he'd go
see him. And Joseph initiated this meeting. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. He was coming. And as far as
those that come to the Father, do we come to Christ? Does God's
people come to Christ? Sure, they come to Christ. But
why do they come to Christ? It's because Christ came to them
first. and gave them a new heart, a new understanding, a love,
an appreciation, to see their need, to find out, I'm sick.
I'm spiritually sick. And then told us, I'm coming
for you. Scripture says in 1 John 4.19,
we love him. Why? because He first loved us. Without
Him imparting to us a love for Him, a new heart for Him, we
don't know Him. We don't love Him. We don't appreciate
Him. We don't know Him. Paul said, Oh, that I might know
Him and be found in Him. Oh, Christ Jesus came into this
world first time because of the love of His people. Why was he
pleased to set his heart and affection upon us? It pleased him. It pleased the
Father. Why would God Almighty take rebels,
nobodies, Jacobs like we are? Why? What was the difference
in Jacob and Esau? Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. What was the difference? The
grace of God. That was it. Why would Joseph want to go see
Jacob? Jacob was the supplanter. Oh,
but what a beautiful picture of us by nature. And Joseph coming
to see him, come see his dad. The Lord came the first time
to redeem us, to buy us off the slave market of sin was sold
under sin. But he's coming back. He's coming
back. And with that thought, we're
strengthened. Are things easy in this world?
No. No. We get tired, we get weary,
we got problems, we got all but to know that he's coming back
for us, giving us a heart to love him, to appreciate him,
to look for him, look for his return, anxiously waiting. A believer, unlike an unbeliever,
a believer's getting older and older, and he feels, you know,
feels weaker and weaker. I used to tell my kids, situation
never changes, only the way you look at it. Told them that when
they were little bitty. Telling that all my life. Situation
never changes on the way you look at it. A believer sees death
as that which will usher him right into the presence of God.
An unbeliever sees death as his worst enemy. Oh, death, what we deserve, what
we deserve. He has borne it. He's borne the
sting of death and put it away. Jacob heard that Joseph was coming
to see him. And that made him feel so good.
Just livened him, strengthened him. He just sat up in the bed.
I just read that, I could read, I could just see this old man
before, just laying there all curled up, you know. But your
boy's coming to see him. And he sat up. Oh, may the Lord
Grant us the grace to remember through all of this that we're
going through. Listen, he's coming back. He's coming back. It won't
be long. He'll come back. Come quickly,
Lord Jesus.