Now you hear folks say things
like, have a blessed day. I want to show you what it is
to be truly blessed. Truly blessed. That's the title
of the message, blessed. Genesis 48, we begin reading
in verse 1. 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. Joseph
is in Egypt and he's gone to his father now, Jacob, who's
dying. And he takes these two boys,
Manasseh and Ephraim. These two sons were born to Joseph
of an Egyptian woman when he was down in Egypt. And one told
Jacob and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee. And
Israel strengthened himself. Israel is Jacob. Israel strengthened
himself and sat upon the bed. And Jacob said unto Joseph, God
Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and
blessed me, and said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful
and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people,
and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting
possession. And now thy two sons, Ephraim
and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt
before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine. As Reuben and
Simeon, they shall be mine, as my own sons, he say. And thy
issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall
be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.
And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the
land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way
to come unto Ephratah, and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath,
the same as Bethlehem. Now, the first thing I want you
to understand here is something concerning the firstborn son. Now the firstborn son in the
household was entitled to special blessing, to special rights called
the birthright from his father, a double portion from the father. Now Jacob's firstborn son was
Reuben. Now look over at Genesis 49 in
verse 3. This is the description of the
excellency that went to the firstborn son. He says, Reuben, thou art
my firstborn. My might, that's what the firstborn
son represented, the might of his father. The beginning of
my strength. The excellency of dignity. And
the excellency of power. But Reuben sinned against his
father. And when he sinned against his
father, he forfeited his birthright. He lost his birthright. Look
at verse 4. This is what he says of Reuben.
You're unstable as water. The word is you're poured out,
you're fallen like water spilled out. Thou shalt not excel because
thou wentest up to thy father's bed, then defilest thou it. He went to my couch, Jacob said. So we see a type of Adam in Reuben
here. Adam was the first. We see a
type of Adam. Adam forfeited his birthright. And when he did that, just like
Reuben did, he not only lost for himself the privileges, but
for all the children that would be born into his house. He lost
the privileges for all them by his one sin. Adam was unstable
as water, he fell like water poured out. Romans 5.17 says,
for if by one man's offense death reigned by one, he died, spiritually
was cut off from God. Much more, they which receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign
in life by one, Jesus Christ. The firstborn right has to go
to somebody else, and that one's Christ. It says, as by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Just like
when Reuben sinned against Jacob, his whole house was affected.
All the privileges that would have been theirs through their
father were gone. That's what happened with Adam.
By his one offense, judgment came upon all men to condemnation.
By one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. So by the
righteousness of one shall many be made righteous. Now the birthright,
the double portion of blessing goes from Reuben to Joseph. And
we see a type of Christ in Joseph. Paul told the Romans, he said,
God has predestinated, He foreknew some children and He predestinated
them to be conformed to the image of His Son. That His Son, this
was the purpose, that His Son, Christ Jesus, might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Now, I want you to consider how
Joseph is a type of Christ. We're not going to turn to these
scriptures, but I'm going to give you some history that you've probably
read about, and probably some of you young folks probably know
about this, but let me give you some examples of how Joseph is
a type of Christ. Joseph was forsaken of his brethren,
just as Christ was. Joseph went down into Egypt and
went into prison and was in chains in prison. Just as the Lord Jesus
Christ, when he laid down his life, was made sin for his people
and bore the wrath of God, he went into the grave, often called
the prison. Joseph was released by Pharaoh,
the king of the land, and he was given charge, government
over the whole land of Egypt. and he was over the storehouses
so that any who were in need and hungry, they came to Joseph
and he opened up the storehouses and fed them. That's a picture
of Christ. Christ rose to the Father and
the Father's given him all power in heaven and earth and he has
the keys to the storehouses of all God's grace and mercy to
open to those who come to him in need. And Joseph saved all
his father's house. They all ended up down in Egypt
and He saved them. Those that had betrayed Him,
He forgave them and saved them by opening the storehouses to
Jacob and to his brethren. Our Lord, there's free forgiveness
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the storehouse is open to
all who come to Him. Now, the second thing I want
us to consider, we have to get that set up first here. We're
going to look at Joseph in this In this account here in Genesis
48, we're looking at Joseph as a type of Christ. Now the second
thing, and we're looking at Jacob as the father, as a type of God
the father. Now the second thing here is
the everlasting covenant. I want you to see something about
the everlasting covenant. Covenant's just a fancy word
for promise. It's an everlasting promise. Now, we're looking at Jacob the
father and Joseph the son as a type of God the father and
God the son, but for a moment here, the type is going to change
just a bit. Jacob is about to speak of the
covenant which God the father made with him. Now the promises
of God, all God's promises are given freely to each believer
because of the promise that God the Father made to God the Son. So, listen to this, Genesis 48,
3. Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty
appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. And said unto me, Behold, I will
make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee
a multitude of people, and will give this land to thy seed after
thee for an everlasting possession. Now that unbreakable, that everlasting
promise of God that he made to Jacob, it meant all his children
would receive every blessing that God gave to Jacob. Now,
that's a picture, that's an example of the everlasting covenant that
God made with His Son. And because He made this covenant,
be turning to Ephesians 1 now. Hold your place there in Genesis
48, we're going to come back to it. But Ephesians 1. When God the Father blessed His
Son, chose Him and blessed Him, He put a people in His Son. And
when He blessed His Son, He blessed His people with all the blessings
of that everlasting covenant, all the promises of God. Look
at Ephesians 1.3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. See, we're looking at God the
Father over Jacob here as an example of God the Father and
God the Son. God the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us, these are brethren he's writing to,
believers, has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. How did he do that? according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." Now,
so you see how this everlasting covenant goes to the sons, because
it goes to the firstborn son, because he's chosen of the father,
it goes to him. Jacob was the firstborn son.
It went to him. Now, we see Joseph is the firstborn
son. This blessing is going to Joseph.
All right, now look here in Ephesians, the next verse speaks of adoption.
While you're there, look at this. Not only did He choose some in
Christ and bless them with all spiritual blessings in this everlasting
covenant of promise which He made with His Son, but He also
predestinated them to be adopted. Verse 5, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. The Father did this by Jesus
Christ to Himself. according to the good pleasure
of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein
He hath made us accepted in the Beloved." Now let's go back to
our text, and let's get back into this type we began with.
Jacob is a type of God the Father, and Joseph is a type of God the
Son. Alright? Now we're going to see an example
of adoption. We're going to see an example
of adoption. Verse 5. He says, This is because of the
promise that God made with him. Because God promised him a blessing.
He gave him an everlasting covenant. Now Jacob is here and stands
as a picture of God the Father. He's making this promise with
his son as we just saw. And because he's made this promise
with Joseph who is the firstborn. At Reuben's sin he forfeited
his right. Now Joseph is the firstborn.
So Jacob is making a promise to Joseph, but because he's made
this promise to Joseph, Joseph has two boys that came from Egypt,
that were born in Egypt, and the blessings that go to Joseph
are going on these two boys. Watch. He says, and now thy two
sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land
of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine. What does he mean by that? They're
mine. as Reuben and Simeon, just as my own sons. They're mine. That's adoption. He just adopted
those two boys. Joseph here came to his father. You saw predestinated unto the
adoption by Jesus Christ. Joseph here, type of Christ,
comes to the father and he brings these two boys with him, Manasseh
and Ephraim, born in Egypt. Born in Egypt, born of an Egyptian
woman. Born in Egypt. And he brings
these two boys to Jacob. But because Jacob was giving
this blessing of the firstborn to his son, Joseph, just as God
the Father blessed his son, Jacob says, now you bring those
two boys to me, and he says, those boys are mine. Just as
much as my own sons are mine, those two boys are mine. They're
mine. Just as real as God the Son is
God's own Son. Those who are saved by His grace
are God's sons. They're God's children, His sons
and His daughters. He predestinated them to this
adoption by Jesus Christ to Himself. Christ came into this Egypt below.
He came here and He lived and He died and He redeemed a multitude
of children. A multitude of children. And
He entered into God's presence and He presented those children
to the Father, just like Joseph came here with these two children
and presented them to Jacob. And by Jesus Christ, God the
Father adopted those children and said, they're mine. They're
mine. They're holy. He can receive
them. They're holy. He can have them himself. They
can come into his household. They're worthy to be children
under his roof. Because God's too holy to look
upon iniquity, on sin. But in Christ, they're holy and
now they are adopted. And not only this, but He predestinated
them to an appointed hour. Let me read this to you. To an
appointed hour in which the Spirit of God would come and they would
be born of the Spirit to enter into this blessing. Galatians
4, let me read this to you. He says, When the fullness of
time had come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law that
we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are
sons, because Christ finished the work God gave Him from the
beginning, because God the Father put His children in Christ from
the beginning, and all the blessings He was determined to give to
His Son, He's going to give to His children. And because Christ
has redeemed them and presented them to the Father, because you
are sons, God sends forth the Spirit into their hearts whereby
they cry, Abba, Father. Now they behold God as their
Father. He was their enemy when they
were in sin, now He is their Father. Jacob said, these two
boys are mine. Now, and those whom God the Father
has adopted by Jesus Christ, they receive an inheritance from
God, which natural sons do not receive. Natural sons don't receive
this blessing. Now, Jacob made these two sons
heads over their own tribes. He made them heads over their
own tribes in the place of Reuben and Simeon. And He gave them
a portion in the land of Canaan, not in Egypt, in their own land
in Canaan. Because these boys got this for
free because of who their father was. Christ is our everlasting
Father. These boys' father was Him, but
God the Father said, they're my sons. And look, in this picture,
in this type, if Joseph has any other children, Now, look at
him as a man now. If Joseph has any other children,
they're just going to be considered Joseph's natural sons. They won't
receive the adoption like these two boys did. They won't receive
blessings like these two boys did, simply because they're Joseph's
sons. For that fact, they won't do
it. They're considered natural sons. Look at verse 6. and thy
issue, he's talking to Jacob, thy children which thou begettest
after them shall be thine and shall be called after the name
of their brethren in their inheritance. Now here's the spiritual application
here of what's being said. A son born into the house of
a believing father may receive gifts from his earthly father,
he may receive an inheritance from his earthly father, he may
receive privileges from his earthly father, but it doesn't mean he
receives anything from God the Father. Nothing. It entitles
him to nothing from God the Father. Now the best commentary on these
two verses is in Romans 9, in verse 6, they are not all Israel
which are of Israel. That's what he's saying to them.
The sons you have afterwards, they don't get the blessings
these two boys get. They're mine. They're mine. And
he says, the children of the flesh, they're not the children
of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Who's calling the shots here in this whole thing between Jacob
and Joseph? Jacob is. Jacob's the father. And he says, these two boys get
the blessings. Now, the other sons that's going
to be born to you, They get blessings from you,
Joseph. They're your sons. But these are my sons. Now, here's
the point. God's grace is distinguishing,
electing grace. Spiritual blessings are given
from God the Father in Christ to the children of promise that
He chose and put in Christ. And they're born of the Spirit
of God. And they have God to praise for everything. Because He chose them. He chose
Him in His Son. He blessed His Son. He was faithful
to the promise that He made with His Son, just as His Son was
faithful to fulfill the promise He made with the Father. And
all those that are presented to Him by His Son, the type we
see in Joseph, they're His sons. And the rest are natural sons. They're natural sons. Now, and
it's a great inheritance. This is a great inheritance.
Look at Romans 8 with me just a moment. Romans 8. That's important for you to know,
that point about the sons, the natural sons, because this whole
thing of covenant theology and all, it's trying to continue
things under the old covenant system. We've got a bad problem
with that. We want to make men priests. We want to still worship
in temples and praise the temples. We still want to offer up, have smoke and incense
and do all the things that were done in the Old Testament. And
men still want to try to bring the Old Covenant into God's everlasting
covenant. It's of God. All that was to
show a picture of what God does in Christ. Now, but look, here's
this inheritance. Romans 8.15, to those that are
called and blessed of God. Look at verse 14. As many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. They're
the sons of God. For you've not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear, but you've received the spirit of
adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. We've been adopted. The Lord Jesus Christ's Father
is our Father. Just as real as He's the firstborn. And we're the brethren in His
house. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that
we're the children of God. And if children, then heirs,
heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we
suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together with
him. Now, I want you to turn to two more scriptures. 2 Corinthians
chapter 6, 2 Corinthians chapter 6, and then we'll go to Hebrews
12. I want you to see this. Now here's
the application. Jacob is declaring the blessings
of God to his son Joseph, so that Joseph and his sons will
leave Egypt and go to his father and his brethren. Not to look
to Egypt as their home anymore. That's what he's telling them.
Joseph's still in Egypt. It's going to be a while before
the children of Israel are delivered out of Egypt. But he's telling
them right now, you're not a child of Egypt anymore, son. You're
a child of Canaan. He's saying, don't mingle with
the Egyptians any longer. Don't have anything to do with
them. Your blessings of God in Christ, in Canaan, in glory. Now their inheritance is with
the people of God. That's why I'm preaching this
gospel to you. That's why Jacob raised up and
said all this to his son. Now here's the first constraint
of grace. It's having these promises. Having these promises. Everything
we just saw there, 2 Corinthians 6, having all spiritual blessings
in Christ. That's what we saw. We saw we
have all spiritual blessings in Christ. I'm going to read
it to you in just a minute. Let me say this to you. Seeing as how
we have all spiritual blessings in Christ, what Jacob is saying
to Joseph and these boys is, don't look to Egypt anymore,
look to Christ. That's where your blessings are
from. He says, seeing that God's able to predestinate us and everything
around us and bring us to this adoption. Don't worry about the
waves anymore. Don't worry about the waves here
below anymore. Look to God the Father. Trust
Him. Seeing is how that He's made
you joint heirs with Christ. Now, don't set your affection
on the treasures of this world. Set your affection on Christ,
the treasure in heaven. Now that's the first constraint,
having these promises. Look at 2 Corinthians 6 and look
at verse 17. Wherefore come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing, and I will receive you. That's exactly what Jacob is
saying to Joseph. Leave Egypt now. And look what
God the Father says, and I'll be a father unto you. You should
be my sons and my daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having
therefore these promises, dearly beloved, you see the constraint
is grace. It's not law, it's grace. Having
these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from
all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in
the fear of God. Let us be joined to Him who is
our separation, joined to Him who is our sanctification, joined
to Him who is our holiness and be separated from this world.
Wash your hands of this world, be done with it. That's what
Jacob said to Joseph. That's the first constraint.
Now here's the second constraint, Hebrews 12. Oh, I messed you
up. I got you turned too soon. Are
you still in Genesis 48? Are you still holding there? Read
the next verse, Genesis 48, 7, and then we're going to go to
Hebrews 12. Now look what Jacob says to Joseph and these boys
next. When I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land
of Canaan in the way. That's Joseph's mother. That's
his boy's grandmother. She died by me in the land of
Canaan. Where was she? In the land of
Canaan. When yet there was but a little
way to come to Bethlehem. That's what the word is. And
I buried her there in the way of Ephrath, the same as Bethlehem. One writer, you be turning to
Hebrews 12, and I'll make a comment on that. One writer suggests
this. what Jacob is doing. We saw the picture of the Gospel
in what he did in blessing his firstborn son and blessing those
sons in him. We saw the Gospel in that. And
in what Jacob is saying to Joseph is the Gospel. God has blessed
me with all spiritual blessing. Our land is Canaan. So He constrained
him with this Gospel of grace first. And then here was the
second constraint He gave him. He suggests to them that, this
suggestion is that the death and burial of their mother, Rachel
in Canaan, he uses that to stimulate Joseph. He's saying, if your
mother left everything, if she left all, and followed me, and
went with me, was married to me, and went with me. This example,
her example, it ought to induce you to bid farewell to each of
them. Your mother left everything behind, and she came to Canaan. She left it all and came to Canaan.
And this would prepare them to do as their father and their
mother had done, leave all and take possession of that which
God had given them freely. Now, that's what the Hebrew writer
tells us, and this is the second constraint. We have the constraint
of grace, here's the second constraint. He gave that roll call of faith.
He even says in that roll call of faith that as Jacob was dying,
he leaned upon his staff and he blessed those two boys because
he knew God the Father, they were the ones to be blessed.
He knew they were the chosen boys. And he did that by faith. And Jacob says, and your mother,
look at how she walked in faith and left everything behind. Now
here's what the Hebrew writer says, Hebrews 12.1, Wherefore
seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth
so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that
is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured
the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right
hand of the throne of God." You know what that means? That's
where you're seated. You who believe Him and trust
Him, that's where you are. As secure as His Son is, That's
where you are. That means we don't have to fret
about this Egypt. We don't have to join ourselves
with this Egypt. We have this gray cloud of witnesses. For
consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against
himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. Now,
those of you who don't trust Christ, don't yet trust Christ,
sinners in need of mercy, let me say this to you. I can't press
upon you the urgency to enter Christ Jesus the Lord by faith,
to lay hold of Him by faith. I can't press upon you enough
the urgency of this matter. You're not going to find anything
but just the pleasures of sin for a season in Egypt. We're in Egypt. This land, this
cursed land is Egypt. You're not going to find anything
in this land. And I urge you, there'll be no
lasting blessings for you in this land. Just as Jacob preached
this gospel to his son, I urge you to leave Egypt. Leave it. Leave it. And flee to Christ
by faith and rest in Him and trust Him. It's a treasure that
never fades away. Never fades away. And brethren,
to you, listen, as we behold the faithfulness of God the Father
toward His Son, in this gospel we just saw, and we behold His
faithfulness towards all those sons He put in His Son. You see,
He's going to be faithful to you because He's going to be
faithful to His Son. Jacob was faithful to Ephraim
and Manasseh because he's going to be faithful to his son Joseph,
because the blessing goes to him. And as you behold it, you
behold the faithfulness of all these dear saints who died in
faith, having these promises and having this great cloud of
witnesses. Hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing, the rest and
the refreshing. Hold it fast to the end and leave
Egypt. Turn your back on Egypt and leave
Egypt. I pray we'll do that by His grace.
Amen.