Hebrews chapter 11, verse 22 is our text and the person we're looking
at today. By faith, Joseph, when he died,
made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and
gave commandment concerning his bones. Now, those of you who
have been with me from the beginning, when we came here, as I brought to your attention
before, we have studied this one chapter, Hebrews 11, now
more than fifty times. is because faith is the subject
here in this chapter. And Scripture speaks so much
of faith. Therefore, in being justified
by faith, we have peace with God. Faith. Without faith, it's
impossible to please God. The just shall live by faith. So faith is the subject. And
let me remind you, faith is not something we do. Faith is someone
we look to. Faith is in a person. And beginning
in chapter 1 of Hebrews, the Lord tells us who is the object
of our faith. And begins to set forth the Lord
Jesus Christ from chapter 1. And then all the way through,
it tells us who Christ is, the object
of our faith. And then all the way through,
he keeps telling us, hold fast. the profession of our faith. That is, look to Christ. He's going to end this book by
saying, look unto Him, the author and the finisher of our faith.
So this whole chapter, this whole book is concerning faith. Christ,
the object of our faith. And exhortation to hold fast
the profession of our faith without wavering to the end, because
He is faithful. Here in chapter 11 are many examples
of people like us, just like us. They're no different than
us. Different names, different time that they lived in. But
they're just like us, and they all died in faith. And that's
the way I want to die, don't you? They all died in faith. That's what it said. Sixteen
names are given to us, and we're looking at each one. The Lord
wrote these names down specifically, and so I thought we need to look
at each one as examples. Old and young, male and female,
just like us. People just like us. Names of
people whose lives are written for us to read and learn. Scripture
says, Whatsoever is written is written for our learning, that
we, through patience, and the trial of our faith, work of patience,
patience, experience, experience, hope, hope in God, hope in Christ. And that we, through patience
and comfort of the Scriptures, I get great comfort from reading
the stories of these people, don't you? Just like me, just
like you, and what all the Lord brought them through, and they
died in faith. That gives me hope that I, too,
shall die in faith. So that's why we look at this
so much. If you trust the same Lord that
Abel did, you come to the Lord just like Abel did, you're going
to die in faith. If you believe like Noah did,
it's one hope. You're going to die in faith. So here we have three examples
of old men who are dying. Three in a row. Three old men
on their deathbed. Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. All
right? These are their deathbed testimony. Here's Joseph. Now, his whole
life, you know, I told you a while back we were going to look at
Genesis, and we are. When we get through with Hebrews,
we're going to start in Genesis. That will be our Bible study.
And oh, how I look forward. Well, the whole book is wonderful. We've looked at it before together.
But the story of Joseph, such a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. But all that Joseph went through,
his whole life is filled with an example of God's saving faith. You know, the Lord, Joseph's
life covers Genesis 37 all the way to chapter 50. Because he's
such a type of Christ. And because no one can go through
more than what Joseph went through. And no one is a clearer example
of saving faith than Joseph. It began when he was 17 years
old. Joseph. He may have been younger than
that. But he lived until he was 110 years old. Do the math. I did it somewhere and wrote
it down. Ninety-some years. Ninety-three. Ninety-three years. Ninety-three years. He lived
by faith. My, my. My, my. But his whole life is a testimony. Remember when he was down in
the pit? Down in the pit, his brothers hated him. Threw him
in the pit. And then he was in Potiphar's
house working in Egypt as a slave, really. Then he got thrown in
prison. And on and on. Then he went to the throne. But
his deathbed is recorded. Right here. In the end, his deathbed
confession is recorded. as an example for us to read
and follow. Why is that? Because, as we said
before, although it's important how a person lives, yet how they
die is the most important. You tell me how a man dies, how
a woman dies. And you might be able to conclude
whether or not they die in faith. Because when a person is ready
to die, that means they're leaving this place. They're leaving this
world and everyone and everything in it You're losing everyone and everything. Tell me how he dies. Can he say,
if I go or if I stay, it'll be alright. I'm standing on a rock. Can he say that? Tell me how
he dies. When he is faced with the reality
that this is all over. It's all over. Tell me. Tell me. Well, Joseph did. Joseph did. He died believingly, trusting
his God. He died peacefully. He marked
the perfect man, that person that's in Christ. The end of
that man is peace. The Lord said it. He giveth his
beloved sleep. They don't leave here kicking
and screaming. They go to sleep. Go to sleep. And we have many examples of
that. We had three in a row here. Jacob, Isaac, Jacob, and now
Joseph. By faith, Joseph. You remember
what faith is? It said in chapter 11, it says,
these all died in faith having received the promises, having
seen them afar off. What promises? All the promises
of God. Where are they? In Christ. Yay and amen. The promise of
eternal life, which God that promised cannot lie. Eternal
life. That's what Joseph wanted. Life. Christ seeing them afar
off and persuaded of them. Persuaded. Paul said, I know
whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able. It's all about a person. I know
who. And persuaded. And it says, they
embraced them. Embraced. Laid hold. That means love. Laid hold of
Christ by faith. And mindful of them. That's what
faith is. That's how Joseph died. One of
the greatest dying testimonies in the Scripture is Stephen.
Stephen the martyr. As he was getting his brains
beat out with stones, everybody, a wild mob crying
for his death, says he looked into heaven. He said, Behold,
I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the
right hand of God. That's how I want to die, don't
you? And as he was departing, he said, Lord, receive my spirit
and let it not descend in their charge. Boy, that's peace. Stephen wrote of Joseph. I mean, Stephen preached Joseph. Right before they stoned him,
he brought up Joseph. Genesis chapter 50 is the story
of Joseph, his deathbed. Genesis 50. It says in our text
that by faith Joseph, when he died, as he was dying, he made
mention of the departing of the children of Israel and gave commandment
concerning his bones. Well, here's the story in Genesis
50. It must be significant because Stephen preached it and the Lord
wrote it down, what Joseph said on his deathbed. It must be significant,
mustn't it? This dying testimony. Alright,
look at it. It's said in Genesis 50 verse
22, Joseph dwelt in Egypt. He and his father's house. And
Joseph lived 110 years. Yeah, here it is. I knew it wrote
it down. 93 years. He lived 93 years in Egypt. 93
years in Egypt. And personally, Egypt, as you
know, throughout the Scriptures, represents this ungodly, sinful
world. Egypt. You know, Egypt was the
modern, technologically advanced, cultured, you know, world. It represents Rome, you know,
in the New Testament is that. America, I guess, is it now. All that is in this world, lust
of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. That describes
it, doesn't it? This present evil world. Can a person live in this ungodly
world for ninety-three years and not be overcome by it? Not die in it and die with it? Can a person live for 93 years
in this world and be ready to leave it? Yea, look forward to
leaving it? Yes. And that only by the grace of
God, by the grace of faith, this God-given faith, believing, looking
to the unseen God. There's a great cloud of witnesses,
Scripture says, of people who did live in this world, just
like us, who were not overcome by this world. And what is it
that overcometh this world? Faith. And I just told you what
faith is. God did it. Looking to Him. Believing
Him. Embracing the promises. Can we? I worry about that. You know,
the older you get, the more you ought to be weaned from these
things. I still find myself attracted to things in this world. Anybody
honest? But there's a great cloud of
witnesses for our comfort lest we faint. People who the Lord
gave this gift of faith who were not overcome. Many do. The Lord wrote that in Hebrews. Many, God was not well pleased,
were overthrown in the wilderness. Two things most dangerous to
believers. Number one, materialism. This
world. Number two, the people of this
world. People of this world. Evil communications. Corrupt
good manners. Now here's what Joseph said when
he was dying. Verse 24, Joseph said unto his
brethren, I die. He's facing death and he's not
afraid of it. He's very conscious of it. A wise man, Moses said, considers
it. Oh, that they were wise and would
consider their latter end. where man goeth to his long home
from whence he shall not return." Job said that. Oh, that they
were wise. Even the young. Even the young. I pulled my best friend, his
dead body, out of a room when he was 15 years old. A room that
I slept in many times with my brothers. A basement room. In
a house we lived in, we slept there many times as children. After we sold the house, someone
else bought it. And my best friend, childhood
friend, was sleeping in that room with another young boy,
and they asphyxiated him from a gas stove that we slept under
for years, didn't we, Mom? And my other friend came running
over to get me and said, I can't wait to mark up. Ran over there
and they were dead. And we pulled their bodies out.
I carried his body. I laid it on the ground and tried
to revive it. He's dead. Fifteen. My brother
at 21. My sister at 42. Young. Young. Forty-two. Real young. Die. Behold, I die. Look at all of us. Some with
no hair, some with gray hair. We're dying, aren't we? We're dying. All of us are dying. Let's face it. Let's face it. How? How can you face it? by looking to him who died, who
went there and came back and told us about it. What did he
tell us? Hear none. I'm getting into the morning
message now. We're going to deal with that. I'm way ahead of myself.
But Joseph is dying. He said, I die. Behold, I die. And God will surely visit you.
He's talking to his sons and his brethren. His brothers and
sisters and his sons. He said he saw his sons and his
sons' sons, his grandchildren. He's telling them all, I die.
And you're going to die, son. Grandson, granddaughter, you're
going to die. We're all going to die. But God will surely visit
you. God will surely visit. Joseph in dying is not taken
up with the will. The will. When someone dies,
that's generally what most everybody in the family is taken up with,
isn't it? The will. Well, if you do inherit
or if you don't inherit, it won't last. Don't be taken up with
that. Scripture talks so much about
that, doesn't it? In Proverbs, a man dies and he
leaves all his money to a fool. Works all his life, earns all
that money and leaves it to a foolish son, and he just poof, he's gone.
Taxes take part of it. He's not taken up with the will.
He's not so concerned with his children's inheritance. But he's concerned about their
deliverance from Egypt. There's a man dying, and what
he's concerned with is his children being brought out of Egypt. His
brethren being brought out of Egypt. God will surely bring
you out into the land. Joseph is saying, I'm not an
Egyptian, and you're not either. We're leaving this God-forsaken
place. That sounds like His Father and
His Father's Father to us. Sounds just like Isaac and Jacob,
doesn't it? In fact, it sounds like His Lord.
Our Lord Jesus Christ in His prayer right before He died.
Right before the Lord Jesus Christ died, facing death Himself, the
Lord Jesus Christ said this, Father, I come to Thee. He says, I've given these whom
you've given me, I've given them thy word, and the world hath
hated them. Like old Joseph. Brethren. Because they are not of this
world, even as I am not of this world. Oh, Father, sanctify them
through the truth. Set them apart. Set their minds
apart. Set their hearts apart. Set their
affection on things above. Set their mind on things that
last, things that are eternal, not things that are seen, that
are temporal, but things that are eternal. Take your truth.
Set them apart from the world. It's all they're concerned about.
Dead things. Father, set them apart through
Thy truth. I pray not to keep them taken
out of the world, but keep them from it. Keep them from being
overcome by it. And the glory You gave me, I've
given them. That's glory. Oh, whom he did
foreknow, whom he predestinated, he justified by faith. Whom he
justified, he glorified. It's glory to believe this, to
believe the truth. And he says, Father, I will that
those whom you've given me be with me where I am. Joseph said,
I'm dying. I'm going to be buried with my
Father. He said, I sleep. That's what Jacob said. I sleep.
Not die, but sleep. And I'm going to be buried with
my fathers. And Lord, that's where I want
them to be too. With me. With me. And that's the way I want to
die. I want this to be my dying wish
and my living desire. Don't you? My living desire. Look at verse 25, Joseph took
an oath of the children of Israel saying, God will surely visit
you and you shall carry up my bones from hence. I want you to turn in closing
to Joshua 24. Joshua chapter 24. Find that.
Grab four judges. Book of Joshua chapter 24. This was Joseph's dying command
that they take his bones, dig up his bones, and take them. He said, you're leaving here.
You're leaving here. God's going to visit you. We
have here no continuing city. You're leaving here. And take
my bones with you. And bury them in that place that
the Lord buried Joseph. Joseph ended up being buried
where Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Leah, Isaac, Rebecca, They were
all buried in the same place. This is significant. This is
significant. See, Moses, when they left, and
the Lord did come down and bring the people out of Egypt, Moses
said, Get Joseph's bones. We're not leaving here without
Joseph's bones. Get his bones. And they dug up his grave and
put his bones in a box. So Moses carried his bones for
40 years. But he didn't take them into
the Promised Land. He can't. Moses didn't go in. He can't. Why? He's a log. A log can't
give you rest. A log can't take you into the
promised land. Well, anyway, Moses took them
in throughout that journey in the wilderness. But I'll tell
you who did bring Joseph's bones in and lay them to rest in that
place. Joshua 24, verse 32. It says that the bones of Joseph,
which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried
they in Shechem in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought, that
is, Abraham. And Jacob bought the sons of
Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of silver.
That is, this place where Joseph finally found his final resting
place was purchased by someone. And it became the inheritance
of the children of Joseph. All the children of Joseph. All
the heritage of Joseph. The people of God. The sons of...
They were all buried there. You see the gospel picture here.
Oh, my. Our Lord Jesus Christ, not the
law, but our Lord, brought us up out of Egypt. Our Lord Jesus
Christ, who lived in Egypt, and overcame this world. He said,
Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. You know why we won't
be overcome by the world? Because Christ overcame the world.
And looking to Him, we won't be overcome. He overcame the
world. He lived in the world without
sin. He was made sin for us, he who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. And He faced death. He died because of that sin,
and he put away sin. That's all the way back to chapter
1. He purged our sin. Put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. And he was buried, but you won't
find any bones. God raised him. And he came out
of that grave and he said, He that liveth and believeth in
me shall never die. You believe that? Oh, but they
do die. And their bones, you'll find
their bones. Oh, hold on. Can these bones
live? Lord, thou knowest they will,
every one of them, though cast to the furthest parts of the
wind, though turned to dust. Our great Joshua is going to
gather those bones and put cinders on them, and flesh and blood,
and united with the soul. And they'll all be in that final
resting place, purchased by him.