And we're going to look at the whole chapter, but I'm not
going to read the whole chapter. We'll just look at verse 1 and
2 and then jump, I think, to verse 15 and to the end of the
chapter. Verses 1 and 2 just to kind of
bring us up to date as to what's going on. Genesis 48. And verse 1, it came to pass,
after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, your father
is sick. Now that's Jacob, or the name
is Israel, it's got changed, but Jacob or Israel, that's the
person we're speaking about. Behold, thy father is sick. And
he, that is Joseph, took with him to visit his dad before he
died, his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim. And one told Jacob,
and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee. And Israel
strengthened himself and sat up upon the bed." Verse 15, and
he's blessing the children, Jacob is, which is what they did in
the Old Testament times, and actually later as well. And he,
that is Jacob, 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, blessed the lads, and let my name be named on them
in the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow
into a multitude in the midst of the earth. And when Joseph
saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim,
it displeased him And he held up his father's hand to remove
it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. And Joseph said unto his
father, Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your
right hand on his head. And his father refused, and he
said, I know it, my son, I know it. 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 so Jacob 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. And Israel, that is Jacob, said
unto Joseph, Behold, I die. But God shall be with you, and
bring you again unto the land of your fathers. Moreover, I
have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took
out of the hand of the Amorites with My sword and with My bow."
Before we get going here, my desire is that we would find
this particular statement, the statement I'm going to look at
in verse 21, we would find this statement and apply it to our
own hearts and be able to say each and every one here what
is being said, what Jacob is saying to Joseph. Verse 21, Behold, I die, and
we're all going to say that, but God shall be with you. God shall be with you. That's
my desire for each one here. God shall be with you. bring you again unto the land
of your fathers." Good old Jacob could no more be with his son
Joseph, for his hour had come to die. But he left his son without
anxiety, for he said with confidence, God shall be with you. When our
dearest relations or our most helpful friends are called home
by death, We must console ourselves with the reflection that the
Lord is not departed from us, but lives for us and abides with
us forever." I don't know why, maybe folks that I know that
are getting older, but I thought how beautiful this setting was. Jacob didn't deny that he was
getting ready to die, and we know that Shortly thereafter,
He did depart. And we're all going this way.
Unless the Lord comes back again, we're all going to die. But to
leave those who remain with such confidence, and as He says here,
without anxiety, what am I going to do? Mom and Dad are gone.
What am I going to do? This and that. The person I looked
up to. If you can say this from your heart, God is with you.
It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. But I want us to take a closer
look at Jacob, or Israel, in the same verse. Look it with
me. We know verse 1, a father is dying, he's sick. And
he took his two sons, Joseph, took his two sons with him to
visit him. But look at what Jacob says in verse 11. And Israel,
that is Jacob, said to Joseph, I had not thought to see your
face. Remember, he thought Joseph was
dead. But the Lord had other plans. So, he said, I didn't
think I was going to see your face, and lo, God has showed
me also your children. So God was gracious and was better
to Jacob than what Jacob thought. I lost my son Benjamin in Judah. Woe is me, my favorite, Joseph,
the coat, the one I made the coat for. But the Lord brought
him back. And so there's a lot of things
that we fret about, we think may happen, and it never turns
out. But God was gracious, was gracious
to Jacob. But look at verse 15. And he
blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham
and Isaac did walk, the God, that God, the God, the only God,
which fed me all my life long unto this day. Now is there anybody
here that's missed a meal regularly? No. I'm not saying that bad things
are not going to happen in the future, or what we humans call
bad. But Jacob's testimony to his son and his grandsons was,
God has fed me all my life. All my life. All my life. And look with me at verse 21. He says, I'm dying, but God shall
be with you. And he was confident through
Abraham and through the promises that were before, he understood. He says that they saw Abraham
and his prodigy and Jacob. Christ said, they saw My day
and rejoiced. And we'll get back to this point,
but there's the gospel in this phrase, this one verse that the
gospel is laid out plainly. But Jacob says, God shall be
with you and bring you again to the land. We don't know what
tomorrow will bring. Scriptures is clear. We don't
know what tomorrow will bring, especially in this chaotic world
of chaos, We don't know what it will bring. We don't know
what gladness. Wake up with your spouse there and the
joy that all surrounds that. Wake up to the church still being
in Jackson and the gospel still being heard and fellowshipping
one with another. We could wake up with gladness. Our children are healthy. Our
children are happy to see us. We could wake up with sorrow.
Death comes through our door. Death comes to our children,
our grandchildren. Sickness. Disease. We don't know. We don't know
if we can wake up with joy, we can wake up with trial, we can
wake up with elation or affliction. You wake up, you move your hands. I don't remember that. It didn't
used to be so stiff. But, if we are numbered within
God's family, we can have this verse to our
account, God shall be with you. It's very specific. It's very
particular. God is with His people. His family. his precious bride, his chosen,
his elect, his redeemed. And we can say, as Jacob said
to Joseph, we can say with the same faith, God shall be with
us. Now, what does this book say
about God being with us? I'm just going to look at eight,
nine places, and we're going to turn there quickly, or you
can just listen. what God has said in this book
to His people. Numbers chapter 14. I think I
got them in order. Numbers chapter 14. This is God speaking to Moses,
and therefore Moses and his people. Numbers chapter 14 and verse
9. God says, only rebel not ye against
the Lord, or Moses is saying this, neither fear ye the people
of the land, which they are getting ready to go in, for they are
bred for us. Their defense is departed from
them, and the Lord is with us. Fear them not. It says the same
thing. You can apply this to me. I've
got to go to work tomorrow. I've got to meet somebody that
I don't care to meet. I've got to mingle with people I don't
care to meet, or whatever, or mingle with. The Lord is with
us. Fear them not." He said that
to Moses. We know Moses was a child of
God. Turn to Joshua 1. Joshua 1, verses 5 and 9. He said, There shall not any
man be able to stand before Thee all the days of Thy life, as
I was with Moses, so I will be with Thee. I will not fail Thee,
nor forsake Thee. And again in verse 9, Have not
I commanded Thee? Be strong and of good courage.
Be not afraid, neither be Thou dismayed, for the Lord Thy God
is with Thee whithersoever Thou goest. There is not a time that
God is not with His people. Joshua chapter 3 and verse 7. Joshua 3 and verse 7. And the Lord said unto Joshua,
This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel,
that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with
thee. This is the great I Am speaking. Joshua chapter 23. Joshua chapter 23 and verse 14. He says, And behold, this day
I am going the way of all the earth. Now this is Joshua. He's
about to die. Just like Joseph before him.
Just like Jacob before him. Behold, this day I am going the
way of all the earth, and you know all in your hearts and all
your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things
which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All are come
to pass, and not one thing hath failed." Why? Because God was
with them. God was with them. And I didn't
even think about, in 2 Samuel, when David's about ready to die,
I said, you know, this is all my hope. What? The covenant that God made. Though
He makes it not to grow. You don't see things happening
in Jackson. My desire is that my kinsmen,
according to the flesh, my current son-in-law and daughter and my
mom and brothers and sisters in the flesh, that they would
know God. He's got to cross their path
with the Gospel. That they would hear the truth. This is what
God told Moses. This is what He told Joshua.
This is what He tells David, Psalms 46. Psalms 46, verses 7 and 11. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge. In verse 11, the Lord of hosts
is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.
This he speaks, David, in this psalm, about himself and about
all who name the name of Christ. Psalms 118, verse 6, The Lord
is on my side, I will not fear. What can man do unto me? The
Lord is on my side. Now this is not just A bosom
buddy. This is not just somebody who
is our equal. This is the Lord. This is Yahweh. This is Jehovah. God is on our side. How comforting is that? Look
at what Isaiah found. What God said to Isaiah. Isaiah
chapter 50. Isaiah chapter 50 verses 7-9. This is beautiful. Now he says in verse 6, and this
is speaking about Christ as well, I gave my back to the smiters,
my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair, I hid my face from
shame and spitting, for the Lord God will help me. And if we're
in Christ, we can apply this to ourselves. But this is speaking
specifically, Christ is speaking, the Lord will help me, therefore
will I not be confounded, therefore have I set my face like a flint
And I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifies
me. Who will contend with me? Let
us stand together. Who is my adversary? Let him
come near to me. Behold, the Lord God will help
me. Who is he that shall condemn
me? Lo, they all shall wax old as a garment. The moth shall
eat them up." The Lord God will help me because He is with me.
This is what God said to Isaiah and what He said in type and
picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jeremiah. What did He say to
Jeremiah? Jeremiah chapter 1. Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse
19. And they shall fight against
thee. And He's speaking about the difficult time that Jeremiah
is going to have. But they shall not prevail against
thee, for I am with you, saith the Lord, to deliver you. I'm
with you. When you stand up and speak,
we heard this morning in Romans chapter 1, when Bruce was talking,
I am not ashamed of the Gospel. It's the power of God unto salvation. The righteousness of God is revealed
in the Gospel. The Gospel is about God, about
His Son. We have no righteousness. We
have none whatsoever. So when I stand up to preach,
when you stand up to preach, when you stand up to speak, when
you stand up to invite people to come to hear the Gospel, they
will not prevail against you. I am with you. I am with you. Jeremiah 20. Again, another picture
or type of Christ is being said here, but he's speaking to Jeremiah.
But this is Christ's cry again. Jeremiah 20, verse 11, But the
Lord is with me, as a mighty, terrible one. Therefore,
my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail. They
shall be greatly ashamed, for they shall not prosper. Their
everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten." The Lord is with
me. The Lord is with me. Well, Romans
chapter 8. Romans chapter 8 and verse 31. Paul. This is what God spoke
to Paul. This is what He speaks to every
believer. What shall we then say to these things? Everything
that was mentioned aforetime. He predestinated us. He foreknows
us. We're going to be conformed to
the image of His Son. Whom He did predestinate. He
called. And then He called, He justified. He's speaking to those
whom the Son laid down His life. What shall we say to these things?
If God be for us, if God be with us, who can be against us? Now that word, if, is rhetorical. And I hadn't thought about this
phrase for a long time. It's a rhetorical question. You
already know the answer. The answer is obvious. If all
these things preceding the verse are to be so, God can't be against
you. He can only be for you. It's
not the way we view it, the answer is obvious. If God is for us,
nobody can be against us. 1 John 4 This is what the Lord spoke to
comfort John and all who named the name of Christ. In this instance,
little children. 1 John 4, verse 4, You are of
God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater
is He that is in you than he that is in the world. God with
you. And do you remember what one of the names of Christ is?
Isn't it Emmanuel? God with us. God with us. That amazes me. God with us. If God be with us, we are in
nobling company. Even though we are poor and despised,
if God be with us, we have all sufficient strength, for nothing
can be too hard for the Lord. If God be with us, we are always
safe, for none can harm those who walk under His shadow." Oh,
what a joy we have here! Not only is God with us, but
He will be with us. with us as individuals, as families,
with us as churches. Is not the very name Jesus Emmanuel,
God with us? Is not this the best of all,
that God is with us? Let us be bravely diligent and
joyously hopeful. Our cause must prosper, the truth
must win, for the Lord is with those who are with him. All and
all this day may His sweet Word be enjoyed by every believer
who turns to Christ. No greater happiness is possible. Everybody's looking for happiness.
It's a touchy-feely society. I want to be happy. Well, we
don't count it joy when we're tried with these hard trials,
but we know who's with us in these trials. in these times,
and therefore we can rejoice. We do not sorrow like the world
sorrows. So that was where I closed. But
then I thought, well, no, we need to have a second closing.
Because I told you our glorious Gospel, back to our text, is
set forth in this one verse. Let me read it. God shall be
with you. That's the first thought. And
the second thought is, and bring you again unto the land. God
shall be with you. God shall be with you. Well,
He better be, or there's no redemption. Right? If God is not with us,
there's no redemption. He is with us as our substitute. God with us, our substitute.
In Genesis 22, not only is God with us, but he says, verse 8,
God will provide Himself a Lamb. God will provide Himself a Lamb
for us. If God provided Christ, He will
receive us in Christ. If God provided Christ, How holy
and pure and exacting must God be? On the other hand, how vile
and corrupt and holy must we be? He says, without me, which
in John, I think it's 15, John, without me, we can do nothing. If God had to provide this lamb,
how sinful we must be. He is with us as our righteousness,
as our peace, as our merit unto life, pardon and forgiveness
of sins. God with us. Slain for us, our
sins crucified Christ, yet God is with us. and therefore
we will raise again. God must do for us what we can
never do for ourselves. What's the Scripture say in Colossians
1 and 27? Christ in you, the hope of glory. And the latter part of this, God shall be with you. If Christ
started that good work, Will He not finish it? And look at
that last part, "...and bring you again unto the land of your
fathers." Now that's Canaan, and we know that's a picture
of the type of heaven. So, what God has started, He will finish. What God has provided through
His Son, He accepted His Son. And therefore us, by substitution,
by blood atonement, by righteousness, God shall bring you Unto the
land, to Canaan, heaven. If God has covered us, God will
carry us. And that to the land. This is
not conjecture. This man is dying. This is truth. And whoever said
it, it's in the Scriptures. And we know that the Scriptures,
every word of God is pure. God shall be with you. Can you
say that? Can I say that? If he's with
you, he will finish the work. God will accept the work. And
we shall see him as he is, face to face. That, as the song says,
will be glory to me. Bruce, would you close us? Father, we've come here this morning
to hear about you. I mean, the other day, we were
driving here.