I want you to take your Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Genesis. Genesis chapter 47. Genesis 47. I'm going to be looking at verses
7-9 out of Genesis 47. Let me just tell you what has
happened up to that verse. We could read the verses, but
basically here's what has happened. Joseph, who is in Egypt, he's
second in command only to Pharaoh. And he brought his family. Jacob is his daddy. And he brings
his dad and his brethren. He brings his brethren before
Pharaoh. Pharaoh asks Joseph's brethren,
what do you do? shepherds. They'd just like to stay here
in Egypt, in the land of Goshen. Got a bad famine going on in
Canaan. And he said, okay. And then in verse
7 of Genesis 47, and Joseph brought in Jacob, his father,
and set him before Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. I don't for one second doubt
that he blessed him in the sense that he was cordial to him, thankful. I appreciate you. being kind
and considerate to me and to my family. But the word there
he blessed him was more than just a cordial blessing. As a spokesman, Jacob, one of
the patriarchs, as a spokesman of the Most High God, This is
what he did. He said, I pray the Lord bless
you. You know, we're in this world
and we're not of this world, not believers. They're in it,
not of it. And a lot of times you'll come
across, and I've had people, I've dealt with people, especially
if they find out that I'm a preacher. They get very religious. You
know, they start talking religious. And I've wondered often, I've wondered,
what's the right thing to do? How do you respond to somebody? Someone comes up to me and says,
I pray the Lord bless you. Lord bless you. And I just didn't
know what's the right thing to do. Well, according to this Scripture,
let me tell you the right thing to do. I pray truly the Lord
bless you. I pray God give you a heart.
I pray God call you out of darkness. I pray that God have mercy on
you and on your family, I pray the Lord reveal Himself to you.
I pray that the Lord bless you. And when I respond to people,
I truly try. I want to. I want to have a right
attitude when I say that. I don't want to say that in a
way that is anything other than honest. I pray the Lord bless
you. for the Lord's blessing on salvation.
Paul the Apostle said this, my heart's desire and prayer to
God for my brethren, the Jews, is that they might be saved. I pray God save my kids. I pray
God save my grandchildren. I pray that the Lord have mercy
on my brother and my two sisters. I pray God does. I pray the Lord
saves your family. I pray that God calls your kids
out of darkness. Give them a heart. I do. I know
He's able. When I ask, when I pray, I do. I call your names before our
Lord. Not everyone, every time, as
the Lord calls and brings your name to my heart, I ask God to
have mercy. You young people, call your names
before God. Ask Him. Lord, have mercy on
our kids. Lord, call our children out of
darkness. You blessed Him. Jacob stood before Pharaoh, and
Jacob blessed Pharaoh. In verse 8, Pharaoh said unto
Jacob, How old art thou? How old are you? I don't know
why he asked him that. The Spirit of God doesn't give
us any explanation why he asked him that. But that was the question
that he asked Jacob. And that's what I've entitled
this message. How old are you? And here was Jacob's answer,
verse 9, Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage
are a hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have the days of
the years of my life been and have not attained unto the days
of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their
pilgrimage. Verse 10 says, And Jacob blessed
Pharaoh, and went out from before him. How old are you? He said, Well, I'm 130 years
old. And he said, These years have
truly been days. And they've been few. And they've been evil. And I haven't lived as long as
my father's." Not that he was complaining, but it was a word
of thankfulness. The Lord would be pleased to
show mercy to his fathers. But now concerning that question
that Pharaoh asked Jacob, I'd like for us to consider the answer
of a believer. In light of that question, here
it is. Two answers, two views, two thoughts
of life. How old are you? Well, according
to Jacob's answer, he answered in such a way that it spoke of
frailty. Brevity. And here was the answer
as being born in Adam. How old are you? Well, being
born in Adam, I'm a creature of time. And here's the fruit of the rebellion of man before
God. I'm just a creature that is here for a while. Concerning the fruit that Adam
was forbidden to eat, the Lord said in the day that thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die." The literal is dying. Thou shalt
surely die. Adam died spiritually. As I said
this morning, spiritual death. Spiritually dead. And that is
the soul unquickened by the Holy Spirit. That's a spiritually
dead man, unquickened by God's Spirit. And this spiritual death
is going to evidence itself by physical death. The reason we
die physically is because of sin. How old are you? And Jacob said, well, I'm 130
years closer to dying than when I was born. That's how old I
am. Time. Humanly speaking. Time. It's the most precious
thing that a person has on this earth. Because after it's gone,
it's expired. Then the judgment. Then eternity. Time is fleeting. Lord, have
mercy. Have mercy. I think of, I've been here, this
July I would have been here ten years. Ten years. And if I'm not mistaken, I may
be. I've had either ten or eleven
funerals since I've been here. Life is fleeting. I know that. I know it in my head for sure.
Lord, give me a heart to believe it. How old are you? Well, being
born in Adam, I'm a creature of time. Here's the second thing
I know. How old I am? My life is measured
in days. Days. The days of the years of
my pilgrimage are 130 years. I remember when I was a kid,
I mean, days just seemed like weeks. I'm talking about it was
forever from this morning until tonight. If I was wanting to
watch something on television, it comes on tonight. Or if it
was going to be something special. Weeks was like months, and months
like years. Time just seemed to linger. It
just never got there. But now, as I'm older, you see it differently. I mean,
last week, last Sunday, that was a week ago. It was ten years
ago, July of 2003. I came here on July
16th, 2003. I preached my first message here
July 20th, 2003. Ten years ago. And the older we get, the more
we begin to understand a little bit more of the truth of Scripture
and the brevity of man's life. 1 Peter 1.24, For all flesh is
as grass, and all the glory of man is the flower of grass. The
grass withereth, the flower thereof falleth away. Psalm 39.5, Behold,
thou hast made my days as a hand breath. I didn't know how long
a hand breath was. Four fingers. Just whatever a
man could spread, four fingers. They measured different things.
They'd measure a foot. They'd take an average foot.
That's how old a foot used to be. How long is this? Hand breadth.
Four spread fingers. My life. Hand breadth. My age is nothing before Thee. Verily, every man at his best
state is altogether vanity." See law. Isaiah 38.12, my age
is departed and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent. I've
cut off like a weaver my life. He will cut me off with pining
sickness. From day even to night wilt thou
make an end of me. James says in James 4.14, whereas
you know not what shall be on the morrow, but what is your
life? It is even a vapor that appeareth
for a little time and then vanisheth away. Psalm 90.12. So teach us to number our days
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. You don't know. I've said before. Somebody in
this congregation is closer to dying than anybody else. I don't
know who it is. I have no idea. It could be me.
It's just over. I mean, gone. Amazing. I may have told you about my
friend there in Tennessee, his mama. Friday was a week ago. We were
getting ready to go to Florida. She wasn't feeling good. Got
sick of her stomach. Throwing up. Next day, she felt
a little better, but then it came back, you know. Sunday,
she got up, had a spot on her nose. Right there. Took her to the doctor. Got to
the doctor, her face just turned black. Next day, Monday, put
her on the respirator. The next day she died. The following
Friday they buried her. One day she was there, one day
she wasn't. Who knows? How old are you? The days, the
years of my pilgrimage. This is the next thing I know
about being born in Adam. This life is a pilgrimage. All
believers confess that they truly are strangers and pilgrims in
this world. It's just temporary. And you
know it. You know it. We hear these marvelous
truths of God's grace, God's sovereignty, and we know that
we're just here for a little while. The Scripture says in
Hebrews 11 concerning Abraham being a sojourner. This is an
evidence of a believer being a sojourner. I know that I'm
just a traveler. Hebrews 11 verse 8 to 10, the
scripture says, Abraham, when he was called to go out into
a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed.
And he went out not knowing whether he went. By faith, he sojourned
in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in
tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same
promise. For he looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." This is what
a believer does. He knows he's just here. I'm just a stranger here. By
the grace of God, I realize this is not my home. There's nothing
substantial here. I know I have to eat, have a
place to lie down, have clothes to wear. But the Lord will provide
that. I know that. Lord, help me to
realize I'm just traveling through. But not just traveling through.
Everybody's just traveling through. But a believer, as a sojourner,
He looks too for that city, as Abraham did, whose builder, maker,
is God. I think about the Lord Jesus
Christ when He was praying that high priestly prayer, John 17,
16. And this is what He said of His people. He said, they're
not of this world. Even as I am not of this world. Believers
are not of this world. They're not of this world's religion.
They're not of this world's principles, opinions, ways. Man by nature thinks whatever
he's got to do. Cody Groover told me this. He
said down in Mexico, he said if somebody can cheat you, they
lied to you, they told you something, they swindled you out of something. They got something and you, you
know. They don't look at that. They don't look at that as being
deceitful. They look at it, Cody said, as
being astute business people. He said, they're just a good
business man, and shame on you for believing them. Really. God's people, they're not of
this world's principles. God's people, you're not going
to knowingly cheat somebody, lie to that person. You're not
going to do that. You say, well, it's not that
big a deal. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Don't tell me that it's okay
to just lie to somebody, cheat, steal. No. They're not of this
world. They know that everything concerning
this world is a lie. This whole world lieth in wickedness. Believers have nothing of any
significance in common with this world. We're just passing through.
Hear my prayer, Psalm 39, 12, O Lord, and give ear unto my
cry. Hold not Thy peace at my tears,
for I am a stranger with Thee. and a sojourner as all my fathers
were. How old are you? Well, I'm a
creature of time, just a pilgrim, sojourner. These days have been
few and evil. Few and evil compared to the
days of his fathers, few and evil compared to the days Eternity? Evil. Not only because of every
trial and tribulation that Jacob himself personally... I mean,
you go back and think about the life of Jacob. He lied to his
daddy. He got his brothers. He took his brothers' birthrights. Jacob's life was a life that
was just filled with evil. He just followed Him. But especially
because of the presence of sin. Grieved, grieved, grieved on
every circle. Just few. Evil. This body of iniquity that is
within me. Wars against me. You that know Him, you struggle.
You struggle. evil because of the hatred, the
opposition that this world pours out because of who we believe
and who we trust. The opposition. Psalm 49.5 says,
Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity
of my heels shall compass me about? The Scripture says that
the wicked lie in wait for the righteous to trip him up. An unbeliever looks for a way
to trip you up on the gospel, on who you believe. They'd love
to find something that you can't answer. They'd love to find something
that they can argue with you on. I thought you believed. These days they're evil. How
old are you? Well, Jacob said as far as being
born in Adam, I'm a creature of time. My life measured in
days. Just a few. Evil. This life is
just a pilgrimage. But I want you to answer this
one other question. You that know him. How old are
you? considered in Christ as the object
of God's mercy. How old are you? Well, I know
this. How old am I? As being found
in my surety. Ephesians 1-4, I quoted this
earlier. I'll read it. According as He
has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. How
old are you? I know this, I've always been
chosen in Christ. How old are you? I've always
been in Him. Eternally in Him. How old are
you? Jeremiah 31.3, The Lord hath
appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an
everlasting love. Therefore, with lovingkindness
have I drawn thee. How old are you? The Lord told
me that He's always loved me. If I'm His, I've always been the object of
His love in Christ. How old are you? Well, in Adam,
the days are mine. But in Christ, those words turn
to eternal, everlasting. Hosea 2.19, I will betroth thee
unto Me forever. Yea, I will betroth thee unto
Me in righteousness, in judgment, in lovingkindness, and in mercies. How old are you? I've always been married to Him. Always. Always. Always. Always. I've always been His. concerning the Lord, in whom
God's elect were chosen, loved, and married, the one who said
of himself, and here's how old a believer is. Proverbs 8, 27,
when he, and this is the Lord speaking now, this is the Lord.
I'm talking about the mediator. Before he ever took upon himself
flesh. Before he was ever made flesh.
In the beginning was the Word. Here's the Word speaking. In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. John 1. John 1.14 says, And the
Word was made flesh. But before the Word was made
flesh, Mitch, verse 1 says, In the beginning was the Word. Now
here's the Word speaking. When He prepared the heavens,
I was there. Then I was by Him as one brought
up with Him, and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always
before Him. Rejoicing in the habitable part
of His earth. And my delights were with the
sons of men. in the habitable part of the
earth. That part where His people would
be, Neal, out of every nation, and kindred, and tribe, and tongue. In all those parts where His
people were inhabitants. He said, I was rejoicing. When
He prepared the heavens, I was there. Before the mountains,
I was there. And I was rejoicing with my people
before anything else was. I was there. How old are you? Oh, before the Lord actually
came in time and openly revealed to His church before He was absolutely
made manifest into this world. He said, I was set up. I was
with Him. God-man before He ever took flesh
and we were made in His image. I was there and His people was
in Him. Chosen in Him. Loved in Him. And this is so divinely so, that
we can't grasp the fullness of it. He who came into this world
made of woman, made under the law, who was made sin, Calvary. He surely in the eternal wisdom
and purpose of God, was slain for us before the foundation
of the world, and we were in Him then. God justified us then. Now, I know this. In time, in time, God's sheep
are surely called out of darkness. In time, we're born. October
the 5th, 1949. That was the day I was born. That's what my mama told me.
That's what my birth certificate says. Obviously, I was born sometime
because I'm here. But October the 5th was not the
beginning of my creation. I was found in Him, chosen in
Him, loved in Him from before the foundation of the world.
How old are you? Being born in Adam, I'm just
a few days old. And these days, they've been
evil. I'm just a sojourner here. Just
a pilgrim. But being found in Christ, I've
been known and loved and betrothed to Him everlastingly. How old
are you? There was no beginning for me
in Christ. He's always had me. He's always
loved me. He's always watched over me.
He's always stood for me. Lord, teach me that afresh today.
Cause me to muse upon these things for Your glory and for my good
and comfort.