Faith is the sight of the believer. The natural eye looks upon things
which shall soon be no more. But faith looks upon things that
are, and that shall be, and that shall be forever. And by faith
we overcome the desires of the flesh, the allure of the world,
and the fiery darts of our adversary. But faith does something else.
It does something more. We may not feel like we need
faith when we're strong and full of vigor. But when we approach
the hour of death, the sight of the natural eye or of any
ability in our flesh will be of no value whatsoever. In most
cases, the eye grows dim and it's of no use at all. And yet
as the case throughout the believer's life, at the hour of death, faith
is more precious than all the physical senses combined of anything
that this flesh can offer. Faith is more precious. The day
of the believer's death is the perfect day. It's the perfect
day. path of the just is as the shining
light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. What a
word of comfort to us frail creatures of dust. The light shines more
and more. By God's grace, the light shines
more and more. When we need it more, He shines
more. Faith begins in the believer
as a gift of God, and it's sustained by God. And God enables us to
exercise faith when we're young and strong. But as we see in
our text this morning, the Lord won't allow His quickening power
to be withdrawn from us, or will not withdraw His quickening power
from us when we face the weakness of death. He'll sustain our faith
so that we may gain a triumphant passage even in this appointed
hour that we all face. The example given to us this
morning is that of Jacob. And we're not given an example
of Jacob's faith when he was young and strong. We're given
an example when he was dying. That's the title of the message
this morning. When he was dying. When he was
dying. Hebrews 11 verse 21. By faith, Jacob, when he was
a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph, and worshipped, leaning
upon the top of his staff." We're given two things here that Jacob
did by faith. He blessed both the sons of Joseph,
and in blessing Joseph's sons, Jacob worshipped God, leaning
upon the top of his staff. First, by faith, Jacob believed
God in spite of all the interference of Satan and men. He believed
God. Jacob had a deceitful uncle,
a rotten uncle named Laban. And he had served him for his
youngest daughter, Rachel. And when the time came that he
had worked this work to receive Rachel, Laban gave him Leah,
his other daughter. She bore him a son named Reuben,
and Reuben was Jacob's firstborn son. And lawfully, the birthright
of the firstborn son went to Reuben. And later he married
Rachel and he had a son named Joseph that's mentioned here
in our text. Now over time, Reuben sinned
against Jacob and he lost his right, his birthright. Lawfully,
he lost it. And by faith, Jacob knew that
Joseph was to have this birthright. The birthright was to go to Joseph. As far as Jacob knew, Joseph
was dead. He had been betrayed by his brothers,
and he was dead. Jacob didn't know he had been
betrayed by his brothers. He thought he had died, as they
told him. Well, years later, Jacob went down to the land of
Egypt. because there was a famine in
Israel by God's appointment. And he moved Jacob down to Egypt. And when he came to Egypt, he
met Joseph, his well-beloved son, the son he thought was dead.
And Joseph was a powerful man. He was over the storehouse of
Egypt, made so by Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt. He had two sons, Joseph did,
he had two sons that were born while he was down there in Egypt
by an Egyptian woman. And these two sons were named
Ephraim and Manasseh. Manasseh was the oldest, Ephraim
was the younger. Now get this now, these two boys
are Egyptian princes. They're little fellas when he
sees them, when he's blessing them here, but they're Egyptian
princes. They're the sons of one of the
most powerful men in Egypt, Joseph. Who would ever logically conceive
that these two boys would ever leave Egypt? Would you leave
there? Would you leave there if that
was the condition you were born into? And who would ever think
they'd go up into that land of Canaan where the famine was at
this time? Who would have ever thought they
would do that? That didn't make good sense, did it? That went
beyond all logic and all reason. Who would ever do something like
that? Would you ever imagine that they would become two separate
Israelite tribes? Logically, no one would. But
by faith, Jacob trusted the Lord. And trusting the Lord by faith,
Jacob knew without a doubt against all carnal reasoning that these
two boys were to be blessed by the Lord. And so by faith when
he was dying, Jacob blessed both the sons of Joseph. Now let's
read it together. Genesis chapter 48, verse 8. And I want you to notice here
in whom Jacob placed all his confidence. Genesis 48, verse 8. And Israel, that's the name of
Jacob. That's what the Lord named him,
Israel. And Israel beheld Joseph's sons and said, Who are these? And Joseph said unto his father,
They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. They
are in Egypt. And he said, Bring them, I pray
thee, unto me, and I will bless them. Now the eyes of Israel
were dim because of his age, so that he couldn't see. And
he brought them near unto him, and he kissed them and embraced
them. And Israel said unto Joseph,
I had not thought to see thy face. I didn't think I'd see
your face ever again, Joseph. And, lo, God hath shown me also
thy seed. He's shown me your children,
my grandchildren. And Joseph brought them out from
between his knees. You can picture them there. They're
kind of bashful and they're all hugged up on their father's knees
there. And he brings them out in front there to Israel, to
Jacob. And Joseph bowed himself with
his face to the earth. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim
in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his
left hand toward Israel's right hand. and brought them near unto
him. And Israel stretched out his
right hand and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger. Joseph
presented them to him, and he presented Manasseh, the older
one over here, so that Jacob's right hand would go on the older
son. And he presented the younger
son to the left so that his left hand would go on the younger
son. So he had blessed the firstborn. But Jacob, it says here, Israel
stretched out his right hand and laid it upon Ephraim's head,
who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head,
guiding his hands wittingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn.
Now listen, in whom Jacob's faith rested. And he blessed Joseph
and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did
walk, The God which fed me all my life long unto this day. The
angel which redeemed me from all evil. Bless the lads, and
let my name be named on them. And the name of my fathers, Abraham
and Isaac. And let them grow into a multitude
in the midst of the earth. Now, the first thing we notice
here about Jacob's faith is this. When he blessed Joseph and his
two sons, he worshipped God, recognizing and pleading and
basing all his confidence on God's promise, on his covenant
promise. When he said there in verse 15,
he said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did
walk, That's what he's talking about. Jacob's faith rested where
God-given faith rests, in the God of covenant mercy, in the
God of covenant grace. Jacob's words here are the same
as David's words when he was dying. This is what David said
when he was dying. He said, Although my house be
not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant. Ordered in all things and sure,
for this is all my salvation and all my desire. Although he
make it not to grow, this is all my hope, this is all my desire.
The substance and the strength of the believer, where our faith
rests and where we petition God, and where we have hope and assurance
in our God is this, all things are yours. And ye are Christ's,
and Christ is God's by covenant promise. That's the case with
the believer. Now, second thing we see here
is by faith Jacob knew that it was the God of promise who had
sustained him both spiritually and physically all his life. And he knew he'd do the same
even now as he lay here dying. And He knew He'd do so towards
these sons of His as well. That's what He's saying there
in verse 15 when He says, "...to God which fed me all my life
long unto this day." He brought me right here, all my life. He's done it all. And then by
faith, Jacob's confidence in the covenant promise of God was
due to the one whom God made this covenant, in whom God made
this covenant. Look there at verse 16. He says,
the angel which redeemed me from all evil. By faith, Jacob saw. Jacob knew that his justification
and his righteousness before a thrice holy God was due to
Christ, his surety, who redeemed him from all the evil of sin. By faith he knew that all God's
sovereign dealings with him were due to God's faithfulness toward
His only begotten Son who redeemed him from all the evil of this
world. And by faith Jacob knew that though his body would soon
return to the dust, was about to return to the dust, yet his
soul would enter into glory and be with the angel of the covenant
forever who redeemed him from the evil of death's grip. And
thus he calls him the angel which redeemed me from all evil." Sin,
the world, death, all evil. He's the angel who redeemed me
from all evil. And then, secondly, by faith,
Jacob blessed these two boys and worshipped God. And he declared
boldly to them that true faith It can't be turned from trusting
the Lord. True faith cannot be turned from trusting the Lord
no matter the interference of this world or of men. Now, look
here at verse 14 with me again. Genesis 48, 14. Israel stretched out his right
hand, laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and
his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly."
That means understandingly. He knew exactly what he was doing. He couldn't see. Remember that
now. He couldn't see. But he guided
his hands to the boy that God would have the blessing. And it says, verse 16, the angel
which redeemed me from all evil blessed the lads and let my name
be named on them. And the name of my father is
Abraham and Isaac. And let them grow into a multitude
in the midst of the earth. We see here a picture of God
saving His people by grace alone. These boys were Egyptians. These
boys had no rights, had none of the rights of Israel, of that
nation Israel. But, Jacob adopted these two sons
to himself. He said, let my name be named
on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. He adopted
these boys to himself as his own flesh and blood. All God's elect born into this
Egypt that we live in, we're chosen by God and adopted to
Himself out of this strange land of Egypt in which we live because
we're His children from everlasting, because He chose us everlastingly
from everlasting. in Christ, He sent forth His
Son into this world like He sent Jacob down there to these two
boys. We see a type of the Lord in
Jacob going down there. He went down and these two boys
were brought to Him. And He laid His hands on these
two boys and He brought them into a union with Him so that
they could behold all the blessings that God had bestowed upon them.
Look at Galatians chapter 4 and verse 3. Scriptures say it better
than I can. Galatians chapter 4 and verse
3. Paul is speaking to the believers
in the church at Galatia. And he says, Even so we, when
we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.
But when the fullness of time was 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 ye are sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father, wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a
son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. These
boys became an heir of God, and all the blessings, the spiritual
blessings He would bestow upon them, and the physical blessings
He would bestow upon them through Jacob, just as the believer receives
the adoption and all the spiritual blessings of God through Christ
Jesus our Lord, who came to where we are and bought us, redeemed
us out from under sin and iniquity, bought us to Himself. And because
ye are sons, you didn't become a child of God when you believed
on God, You didn't become a child of God because of something you
did, because ye are sons. God says He sent forth the Spirit
of His Son, which caused you to willingly, lovingly cry out
to Him, Father, Father. He did it. He's going to receive
all the glory in this thing. These boys were down there in
Egypt. They couldn't enter into this
blessing. They had to be brought to Jacob. They had to be brought
to Israel. Now, there's something else here
that we see. You young people, listen to me. You may think that your greatest
blessings lie somewhere out there in the future, somewhere. But
you who have believing fathers, believing mothers, have one of
the greatest blessings that God gives. When he was dying, by faith,
Jacob taught Joseph and he taught his two grandchildren, Ephraim
and Manasseh, the most profitable lesson that you and I can learn.
He taught them the most profitable lesson. Dying. As he was dying,
he taught them by faith. And what he taught them was that
his desire for them wasn't that they have the riches of Egypt,
that they could have down there in Egypt, but that the riches
of God's grace in Christ Jesus the Lord, this world's blessing
aren't worthy to be compared with those riches. And He taught
them that. He taught them that and He was
teaching them here as He blessed them to be a nation blessed of
God, brought back into that land of promise, that God would bring
them into a picture of heaven, a picture of heavenly glory.
And as He is blessing them, He's teaching them that if you can
get everything you can get in this world, if you could get
everything Pharaoh could give you in Egypt, all the riches
of this world, It's nothing, absolutely nothing. It won't
profit you one bit, but the blessings from God. These are the blessings. That's the blessing we long for.
That's the blessing we need, is the blessings from God. It's
appointed unto men once to die, and after this, the judgment.
But the Lord said this, what is a man profited if he shall
gain the whole world and lose his own soul? What shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? We can't earn enough, accomplish
enough by our own hand, by our own works. We can't do enough
to ever offer anything to God so that He'll accept us and accept
us in spite of us. What will a man give in exchange
for his soul? For the Son of Man shall come.
in the glory of His Father with His angels. And then He shall
reward every man according to his works. The man who sowed
to the whirlwind, the man who has spent his whole life sowing
to his flesh, the man who has spent his whole life in Egypt
choosing to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, that's all he'll have. That's
all he'll receive. But the man who cast all his
care on Christ, on the Lord, whose desire, whose heart's desire
is for spiritual blessings, he'll be blessed with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places. Jacob's prayer for his children
was the same as your father's prayer is for you. This is what
he prayed for his children. The Lord that made heaven and
earth, bless thee out of Zion. Not with temporal riches. not
with temporal riches, with spiritual riches. Whosoever will save his life,
protect his own way, protect his own life in this world, go
his own way, whoever shall save his life, he'll lose it. He'll lose it. If it's our religion,
keeping us from God, if it's our righteousnesses keeping us
from God, our professions that's keeping us from God, if it's
this world and its riches and all it has to offer that's keeping
us from God, if we try to save our life, try to keep these things
that we want for ourselves, we'll lose our life, the Lord said.
But whosoever loses his life for my sake, counts those things
worthless, that he might follow me, The Lord said, He'll find
life. He'll find true life. Well, God
had revealed that the angel of redemption in Jacob's heart,
He had revealed Christ in Jacob's heart. And by faith, Jacob believed
God. And Jacob knew that the younger
of these two boys, Ephraim, would be the greatest boy. He knew
it because God had revealed it in him. By grace, he knew which
one of these boys was to receive the blessing. That's what it
means when it says, by faith He blessed these sons. And He
blessed them by faith according to God's will and purpose for
these two boys. Now let's see what happened when
this took place. He manifests here that faith
can't be turned no matter the interference of men. And no matter how those men that
might interfere are men we love and men we cherish and men that
we long for. Look here with me. Verse 17.
When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the
head of Ephraim, it displeased him. Ephraim is like the oldest
son. It displeased Joseph. And he held up his father's hand
to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. took his
hand off his head and said, No, that's not the oldest boy. Put
it over here on Manasseh. He's the oldest one. And Joseph
said unto his father, Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn.
Put thy right hand upon his head. And his father refused. Now,
you have to bear in mind how much he loves Joseph. You have
to bear in mind how much Jacob loved this boy Joseph. But he
said, not so. By faith, he said, not so, son. Not so. And he said, I know,
my son, I know. He also shall become a people
and he also shall be great, but truly his younger brother shall
be greater than he. and His seed shall become a multitude
of nations. And He blessed them that day,
saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee
as Ephraim and as Manasseh. And He set Ephraim before Manasseh."
We may feel as though those that are given by God for our good,
those that He's given to teach us and lead us and guide us,
We may feel as though they go against our will and our way
and what we would have done. But truthfully, if it's God's
servant, as Jacob was, what he does, he does for the honor of
God and not for the honor of men. No matter how it may hurt
him, no matter how it may go against, and he knows it goes
against what the will of his son is, or the will of his friends
are, or whatever. He's going to believe God. And
he's going to follow God. And he can't be turned away by
someone he loves as dearly as Jacob loved Joseph. It can't
happen. He knew the will of God and he
submitted to the will of God. And he taught Joseph. In doing
so, he taught Joseph to do the same. He said, I know. I know. I know whom I've believed. And I've persuaded. He's able.
I know it doesn't make sense to you right now, but I know
this is His will. And His will is that the younger
of these boys be blessed. And Joseph submitted. Joseph said, OK. OK. That's what faith does. Faith
submits to God when we don't understand it. When we don't
understand what God is doing, when we don't understand His
will and His purpose, faith says, Yes, Lord. It's the Lord. Let Him do what seemeth Him good. Do you think Jacob would have
ever imagined he would see his son Joseph? If he would have
ran after his own will and refused to submit to God, he never would
have ended up in Egypt and meet Joseph, his son, again. Or these
two boys. But believe in God. He believed
Him to the end. And even when Joseph would turn
Him, He said, Not so, son. Not so. He believed Him. The Holy Spirit says there in
Hebrews 11, verse 21, By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed
both the sons of Joseph and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. In Jacob, We behold that obedience
to God is the greatest thing. It's the greatest thing. When he was dying, Jacob's flesh
couldn't profit him anything. Yet by faith, Jacob left this
world worshiping God. The staff upon which he leaned is Christ Jesus the Lord. It's
the staff which supported him all his days and even in this
hour of death. Faith in Christ is a most uncommon
thing. Did you know that? Faith in Christ
is very uncommon. It's precious. Very precious. like a rare jewel. It's very
precious. There's very, very few, very,
very few who ever obtain this great thing called faith. My prayer is that the Lord be
pleased to enrich us and our children, not with the riches
of this Egypt, but with this most precious gift.