Beyond the river, in the Christ of the cross, be
my glory ever, till my raptured soul shall find Thank you. Robin and Jan. Go back to Genesis
26 with me now. Genesis 46, read with me the
first four verses again. And Israel took his journey with
all that he had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices unto the
God of his father, Isaac. And God spake unto Israel. and
the visions of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. And he said, the Lord said, I
am God, the God of thy father. Fear not to go down into Egypt
For I will there make of thee a great nation. I will go down with thee into
Egypt, and I will also surely bring thee up again. And Joseph,
the son shall put his hand upon thine eyes." Now, we could easily see this
as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jacob being Him who God sent,
who God was with, who God brought up again. But we're going to
look at again at Joseph as being the son of Christ, the Son of
God, to whom Jacob was going. That's where he was going. It
says in verse 1, Israel took his journey with all that he
had. His name is Israel, but yet his name is Jacob. He's both,
isn't he? He's two men in one. And only
the sons of Jacob know what that means. Sons of God. He's a Jacob,
and yet he's an Israel. He's an old man, and he's a new. In the flesh, he's a Jacob. He always will be. But in the
spirit, he's an Israel. A prince of God. Has power with
God. Meaning influence. God hears
him. All the sons of God, all the
children of God are both flesh and spirit. The paradox. But they understand something
of this mystery. And you can't be one without
the other. You can't be an Israel if you're not a Jacob. And every Jacob he makes an Israel. He took his journey. He's leaving
home, he's going somewhere. When you take a journey, you're
leaving somewhere to go somewhere, aren't you? All the sons of God
are in a journey. All the sons of God are called
strangers and pilgrims, sojourners. Abraham, Scripture says, Abraham
dwelled in tents with Isaac and Jacob all their lives. They never
had a permanent place. They dwelled in tents, and so
do God's people, in a temporary tabernacle. We have here no continuing
city. We're looking for one which has
foundations, unmovable, permanent, whose builder and maker is God,
not man. The house that Paul built is
already starting to decay. But the house that Christ built
never shall. And it says in Hebrews 11, of
all these sons of God, they received the promises again and again.
God kept giving them the promises like Jacob. And they saw them
afar off and were persuaded and embraced and confessed. And they
desired a better country. Jacob is going to see the Son.
Well, I hope the Lord will give you ears to hear this morning.
I tell you, this is going to be the best message you've ever heard, if you let me preach
it. He's going to see the Son. He's
going to be with the Son. He's going to live the remainder
of his days with the Son that he loves, the beloved Son. And
he can't wait to get there. And the Son sent wagons to get
him. They get all those sorry sons
of Jacob. Now you're awake. They get all of them. And buddy,
that's the reason I read all those names, they're all coming.
Dinah, you're coming. Well, she won't come. Joseph
said, bring her. She's coming. Reuben, Simeon,
the sorriest of the lot. Every one of them that sold their
brother, their brother is not ashamed to call them brethren,
said, bring them all. They're going to see my glory. Seven verses make up this journey. Seven verses sum up this journey. It was a long journey, Tammy.
In wagons, 72 people, wasn't it? Seventy-two? Seventy? Seventy. Two of them
were already there. Seventy-two. In wagons, a long
journey from Beersheba to Egypt, but in seven verses, it's over. That's a good picture, isn't
it? What is your life? But a vapor, 70 years. Henry,
you're way past that now, aren't you? 80. What is your life? You're
82. 80, not 82. 82. I don't want to make you
older than what you are, but that's young, isn't it, Ma? But
boom, it's gone, isn't it? But Jacob, when he got in that
wagon, he's 130 years old. He's an old man. And if he had thought, I'm going
to ride in a wagon to Egypt, I can't make it. Oh yes you can,
Jacob. Joseph sent for you. And you're
going to get there. You're going to carry Him all
the way. You're not going to drive it.
You're going to carry it. You've got to make sure you get
there. His sons are going to carry you. You notice that where
it says, all the sons, that was in the previous chapter, it says,
all the sons came to Jacob and said, we've been sent to carry
you, Dad. And don't we do that, lift up
our brethren, bear each other's burdens? If I can help it, Barbara,
Robin, I'd carry you there. I want you to be there with me.
Don't you? Me? When I tell you who is carrying
us both on His broad shoulders and blessed sister, we're going
to be glad. We're going to see the sign. And His body ain't dead. We're
going to see Him that was dead and we're going to see Him say
and hear Him say, I'm alive forevermore. Enter ye, blessed is my Father."
Jacob, sons of Jacob. Oh, happy, happy, happy, happy
is he that hath the God of Jacob for his salvation. Sons of Jacob. Now, buddy, when Jacob sees the
Son, all that journey. It was not worthy to be compared
with the glory of seeing His blessed Son. You wait until we
get to that Wednesday night. They're going to fall on each
other's necks. They're going to weep a good
while. And He's going to live 17 more
years. 17 more years! But they pass by quickly. You
know why? He's with the Son. It didn't matter now. It was
with the Son. Long journey. Well, old Jacob
says he took his journey with all that he had, and you read
all he had. Do you remember where
this started, people? Do you remember how Jacob started?
Do you remember about that fellow running scared from his brother
Esau that didn't know the Lord? And laid down one night with
his head on a pillar, on a rock, and he didn't have anything but
the clothes on his back. He didn't have anybody that loved
him, didn't have a wife, didn't have children, didn't have anything.
He didn't have a place to lay his head. And he laid down, bless
God, with his head on a pillar. And God came to him that night
and said to him what he's going to say to him now, I've chosen you. Now look at him. Seventy. Seventy-two. Two of them are
waiting on him. He doesn't even know he exists. Two grandsons
he doesn't even know exist. Anybody in here lost a child? That childbirth? You're going
to see him. He started with nothing. He's
a nobody with nothing. He's running scared, and now
look at him, a prince of God. A family that loves him. A wife
that adores him. And many that love him dearly. How about you, Jacob? Do you remember the pit from
which you were digging? Has God given you a wife that loves you? A family that loves you? Jacob
didn't deserve Rachel. He didn't deserve Leah. Do you have a family that loves
you? Do you have many brethren that love you? Jacob knew he
didn't deserve any love by God or anyone else. What all has
God done for you? What all has God given to you?
What all has God shown you? I love what Jacob prayed, that
short prayer. Don't you, Lord? I'm not worthy
of the least of all the mercies that you And most of all, least
of all, I'm not worthy of the truth that you've shown me. And
keep showing me that I'm still a Jacob. I don't appreciate what
you've done for me. Oh, may we not be a Jacob, though.
May we be an Israel. And Israel, when he heard about
Joseph, when he thought about all that he had, and he said,
Oh, I'll just go see him and I'll die. Israel said, It's enough. I've got enough. And now he's
not looking for anybody or anything else. The Lord has given him
a precious family, and a wife that loves him, and children
that love him, and brethren that love him. He says, That's enough.
And he's going to go see the Son. What else does a man need? Well, he comes to Beersheba.
He came to Beersheba. Does that sound familiar? That's
the Well of the Oath. You know who started there? Abraham. Abraham called it the Well of
the Oath. And you know what? Isaac was born there. And Isaac
lived there and Jacob was born there. And he comes back. He
comes back to Beersheba, the Well of the Oath. Abraham, Isaac,
now Jacob. Jacob left. Jacob ran away from
Beersheba, but blessed God, God brought him back. The well of the oath. Oh my,
this well, like every well mentioned in Scripture, the well spring
from on high, that's Christ, isn't it? He's the well, he's
the water, but that oath, the well of the oath, this is a gospel
isn't it? He left me. It was me. I was like Jacob,
running. I left. He brought me back where
my father was. To hear this oath, to hear of
his oath and his covenant, and what else? He offers sacrifice. He knows he can't come to God
but one way, doesn't he? You can't come to God but by
the blood of the Lamb. God's taught Jacob well. He knows,
if you want to worship God, you've got to come by the blood. Without
shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin. And buddy,
that's what you'll hear at every, you know, like Isaac said to
his father, Jacob, Father, here's wood, here's fire, where's the
Lamb? And that's false religion in it. You've got the wood, hay
and stubble. You've got all this fiery religion.
Where's the blood? I'm not hearing the blood. I'm
not hearing Christ crucified. But here's what you'll hear.
Here's what you'll hear everywhere Christ is, where His people are,
where the sons of Jacob were truly met at the well of Beersheba. You'll hear about the blood.
A man's going to say it. You know, I've often thought,
you know, if in preaching you don't have any liberty, if you
just don't feel like there's any liberty at all, and the Lord's
not with you, just at some point in the message, Tyler, blood, it's the blood, and you have
done well. Look to Christ and sit down. The Lord bless you. Beersheba,
the well of the oath, that's Christ, His oath, His covenant,
His blood, support me in the whelming flood. You know, Jacob
is going a long way, and he's going to see the Son, and that's
what kept him going. He's going to see the Son. And
he stopped on the way. He came back to this place where
it started, Beersheba, where his dad and his grandfather started,
where they all came, all the sons and fathers of Jacob. He ended up at this well of the
oath. to where God will renew this covenant, will remember
for them. Remember that? Maybe Jacob had
forgotten. He had forgotten. He was afraid. But God remembered for him His
covenant, renewed it with him and for him, and reminded him
of it. Like Peter said, I'm going to
always have him in remembrance of this. Even when I die, I'm
going to write a letter. They're all going to read it.
Beersheba, and you know Beersheba is the church. You can't separate
the head from the body. You can't separate the covenant
head from the body. Beersheba is a well, and Isaiah
12, I was going to read it, Isaiah 12 says, you'll draw water out
of the wells of salvation. There's only one water. but many wells, places where
you'll find that water, where God has placed them, put His
name there. You know who dug most of the
wells in the Old Testament? Isaac, the son of promise. Well, this Beer Sheba was like
La Jolla Rye. Remember that? We met down in
the basement and we looked at the well of La Jolla Rye. It
took me three days to remember this. La Jolla Rye. That's where
Rebecca met Isaac. Remember that? Where Rebecca
met Isaac. Jacob came too, and one of our
ladies met somebody at a well in John chapter 4. John's wife met her master at
the well, like that Samaritan woman. This is where all of God's
people will meet Him. This is where He will meet with
you at the well, where the water is, where Christ is, at the mercy
seat, between the chariots, where the blood is, where Christ is.
preached, and him crucified. Verse 2 says, now, he offered
his sacrifices unto God, and God spake. He spake unto Israel. He spake. Has God spoken to you? Christ said, My sheep hear my
voice. Didn't He? It's not an audible voice. But
it is His voice. And it may be a man. It probably
will be a man preaching to you. Please God, by what this world
calls foolishness, preach Him. Save them but believe. But as
Brother Bruce said distant and at the mouth of two witnesses,
if you hear from the Lord, it will be through a man, Brother
Chris. Because that's how God speaks.
But it's Him nonetheless. Like Joseph spoke through an
interpreter, didn't he? Through his sons. And they all
heard. It was Joseph. But it's his man just repeating. And through God's Word, God's
people, the sons of Jacob, hear him speak. And they hear him
through the preaching of the Word and the reading of the Word
and through the providence of God and the experience of God. And listen now. From the time
that the Lord called Jacob, God kept speaking to Jacob. God called him in the beginning,
Jacob. What's your name? Jacob. He kept
saying the same things to him. He never changed what he said
to him. All his life he kept speaking
to him. There was one time when Jacob was somewhere where he
should not be. Remember Paddanuram? Remember when he took his family
there where he shouldn't have been among the laban? He should have
gotten out of there a long time ago. He dwelled there. He got
rich. There's no mention of God. No mention of Jacob calling on
God. No mention of Jacob worshipping God. And his whole family was
a mess. And God was silent. And yet,
you know, God often through His silence says something to us.
When we feel like God is not speaking to us, where are we? God hasn't moved. He's the same
yesterday. He's always the same yesterday. He's always there. He's an ever-present
help in times of trouble. If the heavens are brass, if
God's not speaking to us, if we're not getting anything out
of it, why? We must not be calling on God. We must be where we shouldn't
be, with whom we shouldn't be, doing what we shouldn't be, just
like Jacob. No communion with the Lord. But I tell you what, You call. Call again. He'll call you. But bless God. God calls first, doesn't He,
Jacob? Look at what He's called him. Now, Scripture says he's
Isaac, doesn't it? Verse 2. God spake unto Israel. He called him Israel, didn't
He? God's the one that changed his name. But what does God call
him when He calls him? Jacob. Jacob. Jacob. Jacob. Jacob. Adam. Sinner. He's 130 years old. Surely he's
lived down this name by now. Surely he's past being a Jacob. You know, there were some men
like Joseph, real men, had the same means of grace that Jacob
did. In fact, Joseph had it harder
than Jacob did. And it was true and faithful. Caleb, Joshua. But I'm thankful, because
most of the time I feel like a Jacob. I'm thankful. that God said, I'm the God of
Jacob. Fear not, thou worm, Jacob. And you and I will never live
down that name, Jacob, sinner, supplanter, cheat, but God. He says, Jacob says, Jacob answers
him, verse 2. Here am I. Here am I, no matter
how old we get, we're still Jacob's, and reminded that by God, reminded
by our own sins, reminded by our foolishness, reminded. And God calls him, and when the
Lord speaks, you will answer. When the Lord calls, you'll call
back, especially when you come to Him
by a sacrifice. Always when you come to Him by
a sacrifice. Every time you come to God by
Christ, what does the Scripture say? You'll receive all that
come unto Him by Christ. He'll always hear you, Christ
said, if you call Him by name. If you come by the blood, He'll
always hear you. Jacob offered sacrifices to God,
and God spoke to him through that sacrifice. And bless God,
Jacob spoke back. And what did he say? Here am
I. Speak, Lord. Here am I. He's finally where he ought to
be, isn't he? He's finally where he ought to
be, where he ran away, back where he started, the beginning of
his confidence, where his fathers were. Here
am I. He's an anxious hearer now. He's a willing hearer. He's
a needy hearer, like Cornelius of old. And his family said,
we're all here. They all gathered and sat, and Jacob sitting there
waiting, listening, and calling, and sacrificing, and like Cornelius
said, Oh, we're all here to hear what you command us, whatever
you, to hear my, Lord, tell me, speak to me. What's the Lord
say? What's the first words that the
Lord says to all that call on Him? All that come to Him by
Christ. What are the first words that
God says to all the sons of Jacob? To give them comfort. To give
them peace. To give them rest. To give them
courage for this long journey. To allay their fears. To give
them consolation. I am God. I am God. You know, some people
never hear that. We say it all the time, don't
we? A true preacher says it all the
time. Thy God reigneth. Say it to my people. Thy God
reigneth. Tell them that over and over
again. I am God. He said that to Moses on the
mountain. I am that I am. And Moses took
his shoes off. He said that to Israel in the
wilderness. I am the Lord thy God. He said that to Saul on
the road to Damascus. I am Jesus. I am God, I reign, I rule. The God of thy father, who's
that? That's Abraham and Isaac, isn't
it? Son of promise. He's the God of the Son. He's
the God of Abraham. He's Jehovah. That's who God,
that's who's speaking here, Jehovah. Living and true God, covenant
God, the God of Israel. I am the God of your father.
And he says this, look at verse 3. Stay with me. Fear not. He kept saying that to Jacob
over and over again. Same thing. I am God. The God
of thy father. His God, your God. Fear not. I am with thee. We're going to
sing that in a little bit. Have you sung it too much? Oh,
that's the song of the redeemed. That's Jacob's song. If Jacob
was here right now, I hope he is, how do you reckon he'd sing
that Alferno Foundation? Fear not, I am with thee, oh
be not dismayed. You'd hear one boy singing louder
than anybody in here. And looking around thinking,
aren't y'all singing louder than this? Fear not. Look at this. To go
down into Egypt, fear not. You know, our Lord said that
every time He came to His disciples, what? Fear not. Fear not. They were so afraid. Jacob's
on this long journey, difficult journey. He's an old man. Fear
not, Jacob. Jacob was a fearful man all his
life, wasn't he? He was fearful and afraid. And
God is a God of fearful people. Fear not. To go down into Egypt,
everywhere, Fear not to go down into Egypt. You know, when you
come to Mount Zion, when you came here this morning, you ascended. When you come to worship God,
you come from a pit onto a mountain. You come from the well-watered
plains of Sodom to Mount Zion, Mount Calvary. That's where you
come. You ascend unto the city of Jerusalem. It's high above. Things that
are higher, things that are nobler are spoken of here. If you're
meek and lowly and want to be lifted high, come by with us. We'll lift you up. But he says
here, don't fear to go down into Egypt. When you leave here this
morning, when you leave here in Christ and Him lifted up,
you're going to go back down, aren't you, into Egypt? We're
going to descend back again into the slime pits, aren't we? But here's what our God's telling
us. Fear not. Why, Lord? Because here it is,
verse 3, I will there make in Egypt, where you're going, I
will make of thee, A great notion. Oh, how that speaks of Christ,
huh? And Him crucified who came. But it also speaks of the new
creature that Christ makes. And God called Him Israel, didn't
He? He may not see it, but He is
a new man. He's a different man. He believes
God. There was a time when He didn't. He loves the Lord. There was
a time when He didn't. He heard His voice. He didn't. He knows what He is. He knows
what this world is. He knows what His children need.
He knows where He needs to be, who He needs to be with. He has
a desire to see the Son. It's an all-consuming desire
to see the Son. Oh, He's a new man. It doth not
yet appear what He shall be. Wait a little while and you're
going to see Him sitting at the right hand of the majesty and agent. Don't fear to go down into Egypt,
because I'm going to make something of you. I'm going to make something
out of you. You can't do it. I've got to. God hath made us. He hath made
us the righteousness of God in Him. Because He made Christ to
be sin for us. A new creature in Christ. I'm
going to make something out of you. Old Jacob was a good witness
in Egypt. We'll see that later on. I'll
go down and look at verse 4. He said, I will go down with
thee into Egypt. I'm going to be with you. I'm
going to go down with you. I'm going to go down. And he
did, didn't he? Didn't he? Didn't he come down?
Our Lord Jesus Christ came down. into this world. He did. And you know what? He's still
here in the presence of His Holy Spirit. He said, I'll not leave
you comfortably. I'll be with you to the end of the world until
I bring you out of here. He said, I'll go down with thee. God was manifest in the flesh.
His delights were with the sons of men. He came down knowing
that the children were partakers of flesh and blood. So as much
as they were, he himself took part of the same, that through
death, oh, he came down, all right. Down, become a man, a
child, poorest of the poor. And he died, and he was buried
in the lower parts of the earth. And he did this that through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death. That
is the devil. Why did he do that? To deliberate. who through fear
of death all their lifetime subject to bondage. Our Lord came down
alright, but He came down for one reason. Look at verse 4. He said, I will also surely bring
thee up again. You're going down into Egypt.
It's where you're going to dwell a while. And I'm going to bring
you up. People, if Christ died for you,
If God chose you, who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. God
chose you. If you're a son of Jacob, that's
your name. If He asks you your name and you say, Jacob, He wrestles
with you, and you call it and you know who you are. And you've
laid hold of Christ, and you say by faith in your hearts,
from your hearts, and publicly confess Him. I will not let you
go unless you bless me. Bless God, He'll bless you. And
He'll call you Israel. And you're one of His. And God
justifies you just by simply saying, you're my salvation. And you know what? Whom He justifies,
He glorifies. And if Christ died for you, if
God chose you, if God called you, and you lay hold of Him
by faith, and He calls your name, and you answer, and you call
back, and you crucify with Christ, and die with Christ, I guarantee
you, on the basis of God's Word, what He said, that you're coming
out of there with Him. You're coming out. Surely, we're
going to see soon how Judah went before Him to make sure he got
there. Who went before the wagons? Judah! The surety. To make sure. That's
what he does. To make sure that Jacob's sons
get there. I will surely bring thee up.
And sinner Jacob, he will surely raise thee up. Come by Christ,
come by sacrifice, all that are carried by Him from the grave,
He'll carry them to the grave, from the womb to the grave. And
again, look at it, it says in verse 4, I'll bring thee up again,
again, and again. The Lord kept telling Jacob the
same thing again. Why? Because he kept forgetting
that God won't let him forget. Again and again. And why did
he keep calling Jacob and carrying him? Because Jacob was prone
to wander. So the Lord sent somebody to
get him, carry him again. Why did the Lord pick him up? Because he's all the time falling. When a righteous man falls seven
times, the Lord will raise him up again and again. You get down? Out of the depths
have I cried unto thee, O Lord. David cried, in Psalm 1-3, out
of the depths, are you there again? Are you there again, O
child of Israel, O son of Jacob? Yes, I am, through my foolishness,
through my sin. I feel like I've overcome in
the world. Here I am in Paddan Arab. Help! And God delivered him out of
all his trouble. Again. That would be a good title of
this message, wouldn't it? Again. Like, nevertheless. Again and again and again. Do
I have to pick you up again? Yes, Lord. Okay. If you didn't hear anything,
hear this, alright? He said, Joseph shall put his
hand on your eyes. Now, what's that mean? Joseph,
the son, the one you want to save, the one you thought was
dead is alive, the one you long to be with, the unseen son, He's
alive. And you're going to see Him. And He's going to put His hand
on your eyes. Stay with me. There was a blind man one time.
He couldn't see a thing. He couldn't see a thing. He couldn't
see the world. He couldn't see himself. Filthy. Stinking. Couldn't see anybody,
anything. He heard about this teacher,
but he couldn't see him. Couldn't see his beauty. Saw
no beauty in him that he should desire. No comeliness. No former
comeliness. He couldn't see anybody, anything.
He was blind. And one day, somebody came along. and out of his mouth anointed
flesh, earthen vessel, dust, and took it and put his hand
on his eyes and he could see. He could see clearly. Started
out, I see men walking in trees, dead wood. They're all the same. What? Sinners. I annoyed him more clearly and
said, now what do you see? Now what do you see? He said,
alright. If you desire to see the Son,
everyone that seeth the Son, you're going to raise Him up.
Right? And the first thing He does, here's what He's going
to do, is He's going to put His hand on your eyes. He's going
to give you sight. Like that blind man the Lord
touched, you're going to see the Lord. You're going to see
the Lord. When Jacob sees Joseph, He doesn't have eyes for anybody
else from then on. You know that? He doesn't have
eyes for anybody else. He came to see the Son, and he's
going to see. And Bonnie, he can't take his
eyes off of Him. And Jacob said, Dad, you want
to have a ride here with me. You don't have to ever quit looking
at me, or me, you. He saw the Lord high and lifted
up. He saw Egypt for what it was. He had no beauty in Egypt. Oh,
he loved his son. Oh, you know the Lord's got to
cover your eyes to give you sight? You know that? The Lord's got
to make you blind before you see. That's what He did to that
blind man, put stuff on his eyes. You can't make a man see by sticking
mud in his eyes. The Lord did. He saw clearly
after that, John, when the Lord blinds us to see the world, to
the world's beauty, He'll show us the beauty of Christ. The
Lord shows us that this place is an ugly place. This is Sodom.
I want out of here. I don't want to dwell here. Jacob's
dying words later on said, don't leave me here to eat my bones
and take them back home. And Joseph said, that's exactly
what we're going to do. You're not leaving your bones
here, taking them to the promised land. Your whole body and soul
is going to be there forever. When the Lord lays His hands
on our eyes, He gives faith. See, we don't walk by sight. As I said, He's got to shut our
eyes to open them. You know, we don't walk by sight.
I'm getting some nearsighted. I don't want to buy it. I don't
want to have to wear them all the time. Anyway, the Lord's
got to Shut our eyes to everything so that we'll follow Him implicitly. Because if we look
around, oh, oh, oh, oh, don't look! Look unto Me! You know what? Bruce brought out that illustration
of a hoe in a row. He said if you put an object
out in front of you, a hoe, a straight line, just keep your eye on that
object. And don't look back, don't look
to the right or left, or you'll get off. He said, keep an eye
on that object, and once you get there, you'll look back and
it's straight, straight as an arrow. Look unto Me and be saved. Don't look around. Don't look
to the world. Don't look at yourself. Don't say, oh, whatever you do,
don't look at yourself. You'll stumble and you'll fall.
Look unto Me. But how do we look? We don't
look by sight. We look by faith. We can't see Him, can we? We
can hear Him. We can't see the Spirit. Christ
said, I'm going to send you a Comforter whom the world doesn't know and
can't see, but He's with you. Just follow Him. Well, I can't
see Him. Well, listen. Just listen. His voice is clear. It's right there. And don't listen to anybody else.
And don't look at anything else. But Joseph, our Lord, has got
to put his hands on our eyes. And bless God, and this is to
give sight, it's to give faith, and to give rest. To give rest. Our Lord says this to us. Just
follow me. Trust me. When you look around,
you don't understand. You just don't understand what's
going on. You don't understand yourself.
You don't understand God's will. You don't understand. You do
understand God's will, don't you? It's His will to gather
together in one all things in Christ. That's His will. But you don't understand His
immediate will and purpose in all things? We don't need to
understand that. He does. You see, if somebody's
leading you, you don't need to see where you're going. Do you?
Jacob wasn't driving that wagon. He wasn't even the co-pilot,
was he? He's not the co-pilot. And neither are we. We don't
need to see where we're going. We just need to see the head
of Him who's I remember as a child riding in the back seat of our
car. I didn't know where we were going. They told us we always
went to the Gulf of Mexico, Pensacola, Florida. That's where we always
went on vacation. Always. Always kids, four of
us, piled up in those old Buicks, 57 Buick, you know, laying up
in the car seat. Are you kidding? Laying up in
the back window. Remember? I was a fourth. I had
to lay on the hump. The car had those humps, you
know. I had to lay across that hump. But I remember so well,
it's just vivid in my mind, sitting in that back seat, not knowing
where we were going. One time, I heard we were going to the
Gulf about 20 miles out of town. I'd just learned to read, probably.
And about 20 miles out of town, we stopped at a Gulf station.
I said, we're here! Didn't I? We're here! No, sonny, it's going
to take us two days to get there. Oh, no. And how many times? How many times did we say, are
we there yet? Huh? How about your kids? Are
we there yet? Just trust me. You know what
would my comfort? Looking at the back of his head. Do you hear me? We always got
there. My head, who I was looking to? Christ said, look unto Me, Jacob. I'll get you there. But what? I am God. Who are you? He never did say, I'm Israel. I'm Jacob. Good. Because I'm the God of Jacob.
And every Jacob gets to the glory. And Joseph is going
to put his hand on your eyes. Here's the point. Here it is.
He's going to give you rest. If you look into Him whom you
can't see, He'll give you rest at night.
He'll give you temporal rest. And bless God, people, He's going
to give you eternal rest when it comes to the day of your death. Old Jacob, the day he died. We're
going to get to that, Lord willing. I hope we don't get to it. I
hope the Lord comes first. But the day he died, old Joseph, But he's saying, my dear old
man. Like a child, the Lord, every
one of us will come to our death, our deathbed. Every son of Jacob
and everyone that can claim to be a Jacob is going to come to
your deathbed like a little child laying in a bed, troubled, sick,
restless, worrying, fearful, in the dark. And the father or
mother comes in. Have you ever done this? You
ever done that? I remember distinctly with Hannah
and I with my granddaughters, both of them. Them lying there
and caressing their face. You remember that? Putting my
hand on it. They just couldn't get to sleep.
So worried and so troubled. Finally, you just close their
little eyes and rub them and sing them a lullaby and go to
sleep. And they fall asleep. He giveth
his beloved sleep. When you come, if you're resting
in Christ, you're going to come to your death, and you're going
to rest in peace. You mark the perfect man or woman.
Every son of Jacob. We read it, didn't we? All of
them were there. They're coming with Him. And Joseph's going
to put his hand. He's going to kiss y'all. Kiss
all of you. All y'all. And lay his hand on
your eyes. And you're going to rest in peace
forever. Was that worth hearing? Okay. Stand with me and I'll
dismiss this prayer. Our Lord, we can't thank You
enough for Your Gospel, because it speaks of Him, the unspeakable
gift. Christ, our beloved, blessed
elder brother like Joseph, whom we despised and rejected, sold
and denied, He thought nothing of, saw no
beauty in, yet but God. God of Jacob. Covenant God. God who chooses, who must choose. Set His love on unlovely people. Called them by His marvelous
grace. through His Son and sent His
Son down into this cesspool, down into this awful place called
Egypt, Sodom, and become sin for us, he who knew no sin, that
we, sons of Jacob, though we be, might be made the righteousness
of God in Him, and bring us up, came down to bring us out, to
lift us up out of Egypt, to the promised land where we're going
to see the Son. He's going to lay His hand upon
us. We're going to see Him with our eyes, not another, but like
Job said, with my eyes, because I know, we know, our Redeemer
liveth. Thank you, Lord, for Your Word,
without which we wouldn't have heard this message. We wouldn't
believe. Oh, make someone else see the
Son. Their need of Him is our prayer. In Christ's name, amen. Thank you.