Well, it's good to see all of
you this evening. I'm gonna ask you to take your Bibles and turn
with me to Genesis 47. Genesis chapter 47. I'd like to look at the last
few verses of this chapter, Genesis 47, verses 27 to 31. And after reading this passage
of scripture, praying about it, asking the Lord to give me some
light on this passage, I think about
when the Lord said, he said, you have not because you ask
not. And I think how foolish of me,
and I'm sure I speak for all of you that know him, how foolish
we are to fail to ask. We've come this evening to meet
together to hear from the Lord. And I do pray that the Lord be
pleased to speak to our hearts. I've entitled this message, Request
of a Departing Believer. Request of a Departing Believer. You know, it's so comforting
to read the God-inspired words of one to whom the Lord has taught. These scriptures, especially
to us who have found ourselves to be in the latter years, I
know everybody, you know, we think that we're never going
to get old, but if we live long enough, we will. But is it not
a comfort to read God's word and have the Spirit of God teach
you something, teach you of his mercy and his grace I want us
to read these last verses, 27 to 31, and then I'm going to
just go back and make a few comments on each one of them, but I want
to read the passage first. Genesis 47, 27, and Israel dwelt
in the land of Egypt in the country of Goshen. They had possessions
therein and grew and multiplied exceedingly. Jacob lived in the
land of Egypt 17 years, so the whole age of Jacob was 147 years. And the time drew nigh that Israel
must die. And he called his son Joseph
and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put,
I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly
with me. Bury me not, I pray thee, in
Egypt. But I will lie with my fathers,
and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their 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. Oh, the blessing. Of hearing
a believer speak. Of the knowledge of knowing.
My time is short on this world. What if the Lord gives us another?
Five years, 10 years, 15 years. In light of eternity. It's so
so short. Just hand breath yet. Verse 27, 28. And Israel dwelt in the land
of Egypt. The scripture says, in the country
of Goshen. and had possessions therein,
and grew and multiplied exceedingly. And Jacob lived in the land of
Egypt seventeen years, so the whole age of Jacob was a hundred
and forty-seven years." What words of grace and mercy to an
unworthy sinner. Israel is talking now about the
people, the people of Israel. The people of Israel dwelt in
the land of Egypt. But the people of Israel were
a people that had come to be blessed by God through and by
a man named Israel. Do you remember this Israel? Turn, turn with, hold your place
and turn to Genesis 32. Genesis 32. Genesis 32, verse 24. The nation of Israel, the nation
of man that had been blessed of God, is what he was saying.
Genesis chapter 32, verse 24. And Jacob was left alone, and
there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the
hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out
of joint as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go,
for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee
go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is
thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said,
Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel. For as a prince
hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
And Jacob asked him, said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it
that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And
Jacob called the name of that place, Peniel, for I have seen
God face to face, and my life is preserved. And as he passed
over Penuel, the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh,
and therefore the children of Israel, eaten out of the sinew,
would shrink, which is upon the hollow of the thigh to this day,
because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh, the sinew that
shrank. Now here was a man that God crossed
his path. This man's name was Jacob. It's a planter, trickster, huckster. And this man, Jacob, when he
crossed the path of the Lord, I want you to turn with me while
I'm telling you this. Turn to the book of Hosea. Hosea,
you know, Daniel, Ezekiel, Daniel. Keep turning, you'll get to Hosea.
Hosea chapter 12. There was something about that
which was recorded in this book, in Hosea chapter 12, that really
struck me. And I thought, what a blessing
to read. Hosea chapter 12, in verse 4. I'll read verse 3 and
4. Hosea 12, 3 and 4. And he took
his brother by the heel of the womb. Now you know it's all about
Jacob right here. He took his brother by the heel
in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God. Yea, he
had power over the angel." That's talking about what we just read,
when Jacob was crossed by the Lord himself. When the Lord stopped
him, asked him, what is your name? And Jacob said, my name
is Jacob. The Lord said, you're not going to be called Jacob
anymore. You'll be called Israel. because
you're a prince with me, a prince with God. Yea, verse 4, back
in Hosea 12. Yea, he had power over the angel
and prevailed. And when I read that today, I
was reading this part of this message today, looking at this
passage, and I've read that passage of scripture about when Jacob
wrestled with the angel, and you know the angel was the Lord
because he blessed him That was the Lord God of heaven. And the
scripture says that the Lord said to Jacob, let me go. Jacob said, I'm not going to
let you go. I'm not going to let you go. And the scripture
says that Jacob prevailed. And I've wondered so much about
that as he wrestled with the Lord. And this passage of scripture
right here in Hosea 12, verse 4, gives us an understanding
of what it is to wrestle with the Lord. Let me tell you what
this wrestling with the Lord is. I would read that scripture.
I'm just, you know, admitting my ignorance right now. But I
would read that scripture, and when I read that he wrestled
with the Lord, in my mind, what do you think? when it says he
wrestled with the Lord. I know what you think. He wrestled
with the Lord. That's what you think. But listen
to what the scripture says. It is to spiritually wrestle
with the Lord. Hosea 12.3, Yea, he had power
over the angel and prevailed. And here's what he is. He wept
and made supplication unto him and found him in Bethel. And
there he spake with us. Now let me tell you what it is
to wrestle with the Lord. It is to pray, to spiritually
wrestle. It's a heart thing, not a physical
thing that we think about wrestling. But God's people wrestle, pray
with the Lord himself in prayer, seeking his deliverance, seeking
his guidance. How many times have you found
yourself, which is always for a believer, you find a time to
be with the Lord. You just want to be and you just
pray it. You're praying for your children. You're praying for
the assembly here. You're praying for the preaching
of the gospel. You're praying that God would
direct you and lead you in guiding. That is wrestling with the Lord.
And the scripture says that Jacob, wrestled with the Lord. He wrestled
with the angel. And we do that spiritually when
we seek the Lord. And prevailed. Did Jacob prevail
because of his own strength or prevail because the Lord allowed
him? to prevail with. You know the
answer to that. You know that. Absolutely, God Almighty puts
it in the hearts of His people to cry unto Him. Come unto me,
all you that labor, heavy laden. I'll give you rest. Come unto
me. Seek me. Ask of me. God puts it within the hearts
of His people to ask Him. And then He gives them what they
need. necessarily what they want, what
they need. So back in Genesis chapter 47,
Israel welt in the land of Goshen. Israel, that country of Goshen,
they stayed in a place. God Almighty had put his nation,
the nation of Israel, in Egypt. But within Egypt, There was a
special place for them. It was the best of the land. At that stage, you look at Genesis
chapter 47, look at verse 6. Genesis 47, 6. This is what scripture
says. The land of Egypt is before thee
in the best of the land. Make thy father and thy brother
dwell in the land of Goshen. Let them dwell, and thou knowest
any man of activity among them. Then make them rulers over my
cattle. That's what Pharaoh said. Joseph. Let me ask you something. Here
was God's people. Now, where are they? They're
in, they're in Egypt, but in Egypt, the land of rebellion,
the land of Antichrist, Egypt, against the Lord. But found within
this land of Egypt, there was a place called Goshen. Goshen. It was the best of the land,
the most fruitful of the land. And as I began to read this today,
I started looking at this final request that's going to be made
by Jacob, Israel, to his son, Joseph. And he's coming to the
end of his life, and they're dwelling in this place called
Goshen. You that know the Lord, you know
that we are, by nature, we're living in Egypt. That's where
we are. We're living in Egypt. It's a
famine here. There's a famine, generally speaking,
people that don't know God, but found within this place of spiritual
Egypt. There's a Goshen. There's a place
of refreshment. It's the best of the land. And
by the grace of God, the Lord has given his people a heart
and placed them in Goshen. You want to know where the best...
I'll just share with you as I was thinking. I'll be preparing messages
and I'll start thinking. You know where the best of the
land, as far as I can tell, right here, this northern part of where
we are in West Virginia. You know where the Goshen is
in West Virginia? It's where God raised up the
gospel. That's the best of the land.
It says right here, and Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in
the country of Goshen, and they had possessions. What do you
have right now? In the possessions in this land
that we're in right now, what do you have? You've got, number
one, you've got the Lord Jesus Christ. You've got brethren. You've got the blessing of God.
You've got, we've got possessions. And they grew. They grew. God's people not grow in grace
and in the knowledge of their Lord and Savior. And they multiplied
exceedingly. God has blessed him, multiplied
that which he's pleased to give unto us. So here, here's, here's
the last days of, of this, of this man. Israel, verse 27, dwelt
in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen. And there
they had possessions, they grew and multiplied exceedingly. And
look at the next verse. And Jacob lived in the land of
Egypt seventeen years, 147 years total. Now didn't it just say
in verse 47 that his name is Israel? That the people of God were called
the Israel of God. Is that not what it just said?
Yep. Who are we in the Lord Jesus Christ? We're the Israel of God. We're God's Israel. Made so by
grace, not by works of righteousness that we've done. According to
his mercy, he's made us. What's your name? Jacob. Not
anymore. Your name is Israel. You're a prince with God. But
right there in verse 48, I mean 28, it says, and Jacob, he's
talking about the same man that just was talking about Israel. Yeah. We're Israels in Christ. But in Adam, you know who we
are? We're Jacobs. We're still Jacobs. Jacob lived
in the land of Egypt 17 years of the whole age of Jacob, 147
years. Oh, the blessing of being able
to remember, oh, this is who we are in the Lord Jesus Christ.
to be his own. He's made us Israels. He's made us the people of God.
He's blessed us. He's multiplied us. He's taught
us. But I'll tell you this, in ourselves,
we're still Jacobs. And we wrestle with that old
man daily. And while we live in this world
as Israels, spiritual Israels in Christ, We will never be allowed
to forget where the Lord found us. The Lord crossed Jacob's path. What's your name? He made him
admit it. I'm a cheat. I'm a supplanter. I'm a trickster. I'm a huckster. Not anymore. Israel dwelt in
Goshen 17 years. The old age of Jacob was 147
years, but he was never allowed in 147 years. And you that know
him, whatever your age is, you that know Christ, let me tell
you, in the Lord Jesus Christ, you're Israel. But as long as
you live in this world, you're never going to forget. You're
never going to forget who you are in Adam. You're going to
remember. You're going to wrestle. You're
going to wrestle with that old man. You'll war and fight and
you'll struggle. You're going to go through this
world. And God Almighty is going to teach us to call on him. If you if you want to know, I
think about I've said this time and time for. We ask the Lord
and it sounds so spiritual. Or teach me. Now we say that,
Lord teach me, I want to be taught. The scripture says the Lord learned obedience in the things
that he suffered. And if you want to know what
it takes to be taught, let me tell you what the scripture says
it's going to take for you to be taught. You're going to suffer. In this world, you're going to
suffer persecution. It's going to happen. I have
for years, by the grace of God, I've quoted scriptures and I've
prayed and asked the Lord, Lord, direct me and guide me and teach
me. And I'm sincere about those things
when I say them. But I'm telling you, you are
not taught any other way, but by suffering, by travail. We love these scriptures. God's going to teach us. I know
just a little bit more about what it is to call on the Lord
and ask Him, Lord, help me, help me. Even as I'm preaching right
now, it's a struggle in my mind, struggling with myself, struggling.
And while I'm doing what I'm doing, crying out to the Lord,
Lord, please don't let me be an embarrassment to you. Don't,
Lord, don't, don't let me. Don't let me be an embarrassment
to the people. Don't, don't let me. Lord, help
me, help me, help me. Greatest blessing that we'll
ever be allowed to go through is being taught. And this is
what's happening right now. Israel, he dwelt in Egypt. God never let him forget that
he was a Jacob. And then the scripture says in
verses 20 Nine through 31, the time drew nigh that Israel must
die. And he called his son Joseph,
and he said unto him, if now I found grace in thy sight, I
pray thee, thy hand be on, put thy hand, place thy hand under
my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me, and bury me not,
I pray thee, in Egypt. In time, we're going to die. This body
is going to die. And the scripture says there
in verse 29, and the time drew nigh. It is real, and I looked
at this word again. This word just hit me. He must
die. He must die. Flesh and blood's not going to
inherit the kingdom of heaven. We're going to have to die. We're
going to have to. And the time was drawing nigh.
And Jacob was going to have to die. And he knew that his time
was drawing near. We don't know the exact moment
when we're going to leave this world. But I can tell you this.
the time drew nigh that Israel must die. And he began to know
it. You began to feel it. I realize
that there's times when someone may go through a wreck in a car
and they die instantly. They have, but as a general rule,
as God's people especially, as they grow older, they grow more
and more tired. of this world. You get tired
of it. You get tired of seeing what
you see in yourself. You get tired of seeing the resentment
and the animosity against the glorious gospel and the Lord
that we love. You tire of it. And the time,
the time drew nigh that Israel must die. We must die. There's a time appointed It's
a time appointed. There's a time for all things.
There's a time to be born, and there's a time to die. And the
Lord had given Moses even concerning Moses' death. I want you to turn
to Deuteronomy 31, 14, 15. Deuteronomy 31, verse 14, 15. The Lord said unto Moses, Behold
thy day's approach, that thou must die. Call Joshua, present
yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may
give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went and
presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, and the
Lord appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud, and a pillar
of cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle. The Lord had
instructed Moses, you're going to leave this world. You're going
to leave this world. You're going to die. And Moses,
as all God's people will, he was resolved to that. He was
resolved to the fact that he was going to die. Back in Genesis
47, and the time drew nigh that Israel must die and he called
his son Joseph and he said unto him if now I found grace in thy
sight he he bowed now this is the dad this is Israel the dad
talking to his son Joseph and the Lord had raised Joseph up
in that that land he was second Joseph was second only to Pharaoh
But Jacob, his daddy, Israel, the daddy of Joseph, was resolved
to the authority that God had put upon Joseph. Joseph here
is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he bows to that. He submitted himself, if I found
grace in thy sight, Put, I pray thee, thy hand, which was a token
of a bond, of a pledge. Put thy hand under my thigh and
deal kindly and truly with me. Bury me not, I pray thee, in
Egypt. Departure was near. The time of Jacob, Israel's Departure
was at hand. David said in Psalm 3115, my
times are in thy hand. Deliver me from the hand of mine
enemies. Again, going over this thing,
this message again, I start writing it out. As a general rule, I
start writing it out, and by the time I finish writing it
out, it's probably, I throw away a lot of paper. writing it over
and over and over. And I was looking at this passage
again this afternoon before I preached, and I got to looking at my times
are in thy hand. Deliver me from the hand of my
enemies, from them that persecute me. You think of the enemies
of God's people. Sin, Satan, this world, myself,
Deliver me from mine enemies and from them that persecute
me. Think about what Paul the apostle said concerning himself. He said, I see in me that is
in my flesh. There dwelleth no good thing.
The will is present with me, but how to accomplish that which
I would I find not. Lord, deliver me from me. or
deliver me from my foolishness, deliver me from the bondage and
animosity I see in myself. Scripture says that Almighty
God is going to free his people. They see it coming and they long
after it. Israel, a prince with God, a
man that at one time had wrestled in prayer, supplication, with
the Lord himself is now going to be that one that calls upon
his son. And he's gonna ask him a favor.
He said, I want you to do something for me. Dad, what do you want
me to do? Verse 29, he said, I want you
to swear to me that you'll deal kindly and truly with me and
bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt. Israel himself, Jacob, God's
Israel, was blessed to see his time coming. That was a blessing
to him. He saw it coming. And it's just
by the grace of God that God's people are made to see this and
to know it. I've told you, I've told some
of you, I've probably told all of you, but there was somebody
that told me one time that she had gone to visit a friend that
was dying. And she said that what this person
said to her was, he said, you know what I regret most is having
to leave all this stuff that I've accumulated. And I thought to myself, how
sad, how sad. How much are these things and
mess and stuff? How much are they worth eternally? Nothing, nothing. And here now
is Israel, Jacob, God's Israel. And he's telling his son, he
said, I want you to do something for me. I'm leaving this world. I know I'm going to die. But
I want you to promise me, you swear to me that you will not
bury me in Egypt. He knew his departure was near,
and he gave his son Joseph. Don't bury me in Egypt. Rather, he wanted to be buried
in Canaan, in the land of God's promise. And spiritually speaking,
think of what he was asking. This is where I want it. I want
you to actually take my physical body and don't bury it in Egypt. That's what he said, physically. But just think of the request
of a believer. Pray, Lord, let me not die and
find myself buried in Egypt. Lord, deliver me. He's speaking
to Joseph, his son, but Joseph's a picture of Christ. And think
of the request that he made. Lord, deliver me from being buried,
from being placed in this place of famine and nothing. Lord,
help me. I don't want to be buried here
in Egypt. A few years ago, when Brother Walter
Groover passed away, Brother Walter was dear friend to all
of us. And I got to know him really,
really well after we'd gone down many times down to Mexico to
be there with Walter and Betty and Cody and Winna and go to
the different churches. I was able to meet so many of
the brethren that was down there in Mexico. And there was One
church in particular, and obviously it was a special place to Walter. It was a church there in a little
town called Zitzantun. And it was a place that, as I
said, was very special to Walter. For what reason, for whatever,
there were many other churches that had been raised up. But
Walter wanted to be buried in Zitzantun. And that's what he
expressed to him. He told Betty and he told those
people down there and they prepared a place for him when he was getting
close to and they buried him there in that little plot of
ground there in that little Pueblo on the backside of nowhere. But
it was a place of special tenderness to Walter and and here was here
was Jacob asking his son Joseph, he said, I don't want to be buried
here in Egypt. I want you to take me back to
Canaan and be buried with my fathers. That's what he said.
I will lie, verse 30, I will lie with my fathers and thou
shalt carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place. And he said, I will do as thou
hast said. Here was Jacob, the supplanter
that God had made to be in Israel. And God had raised him up, taught
him, and kept him, revealed himself to him. Now they're in Egypt,
and God's providing for them. But he asked Joseph, his son,
he said, don't bury me here, take me back. I want to lie with
my father, Abraham and Isaac and then Jacob. That's where
he wanted to be buried. And he made him swear. Oh, do
we not see the blessed request of all God's sheep unto the Lord
himself, the true Joseph, our true Joseph, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Lord, Let me be found buried eternally, living in you. Let me be found resting in you. My body is going to be, somebody
said, well, I don't see, I don't see the significance of somebody.
I mean, if you're dead, you're dead, whatever you want to do.
Well, it wasn't that way. I can tell you this for Jacob.
He wanted to, because of the spiritual application of it,
I want to be buried Lord with your people. I want to be buried
in you. I want to find my place being
buried in the Lord Jesus Christ eternally living. God's people
long for God's promise to be kept and allowed to eternally
be found in the Lord. Bury me there. And the scripture
says, it said, I want you to swear to me. Verse 31, and he
said, swear unto me, and Joseph swear, he swear unto him, and
Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head. He just, actually
I read what the commentator said about that, and he just, he relaxed. I can only imagine, as I was
reading that sweet passage of scripture, and I was thinking
about my experience, knowing some people that wanted to be
buried. I know when Brother Don Fortner passed away, you know
where he's buried? He's buried right there on that
piece of ground where the church is right now in Danville. Somebody said again, as I said
a moment ago, they said, well, I don't see the significance
of it. Well, God's people can see the significance of it. This
is where the Lord had raised him up. This is where the Lord
had taught him. This is where the Lord kept him. And he said,
that's where I want to be. In life and death, God's people
want to be where God's blessing is. I pray that the Lord blesses
our hearts for Christ's sake.