Sometimes the Lord graciously
gives indications that maybe he has led in the preparation
for the service. Brother Merle had no idea what
I would be preaching on tonight. Brother Allen didn't, but they
couldn't have read or sung any more appropriate portions or
hymns than they did. I want, as God enables me, to
talk to you for a few minutes about Jacob when he was dying. When he was dying. What a good
thought. Jacob, when he was dying. Hebrews
chapter 11. Needless to say, my mind has
been on the subject of death almost incessantly for the last
couple of weeks. My dear friend, Brother John
Mitchell, who pastored the church in Great Falls, Montana for so
many years, he'd been laying in his bed dying for the past
two years. Had Parkinson's disease so terrible
that he'd shake and lived in a, he and his wife lived in a
mobile home and shaked the whole house. And he's been in that
shape for the last two years. God graciously took him home
just a couple of weeks ago. Brother Bob Ponce, the Lord just
took him last week. We rejoice in God's goodness
in doing that. And we have been waiting to get
a call or a note any minute that the Lord's taken Mary Bell home.
She's obviously in the last stages of cancer, taking her life gradually,
slowly, painfully. This too in God's good wisdom.
And we read in the scripture often about men and women dying. Here in Hebrews chapter 11, the
apostle is writing to us about a good many men held before us
as examples of faith who the scripture says, these all died
in faith. It really doesn't matter when
I die, where I die, or how I die if I die in faith. These all
died in faith. There is no gift in all the world
to be compared with the blessed gift of faith, faith in Christ. Rich indeed is that immortal
soul to whom God has graciously granted the gift of faith in
his dear son. Truly, faith is precious. Precious in trial and temptation. Precious in heartache and sorrow. Precious in trouble and tribulation. Precious in the fiery furnace
and in the raging sea. Oh, what a precious gift the
gift of faith in Christ is. But never is that gift more manifestly
precious than when the cold sweat of death is on our brow and we're
about to leave this world. Matthew Henry rightly observed,
faith has its greatest work to do at last. To help believers
finish well, to die in the Lord so as to honor him by patience,
hope and joy. Nothing honors God like faith
in his son. Nothing honors God like believing
him. How God is honored when his people
die with their flag flying at full mast. Believing God. Believing God. His worthy name
is honored when the spirit triumphs over the flesh, when the world
is consciously and gladly left behind for heaven. For this,
faith must be an exercise. And the exercise of faith is
the work of God's grace and his gift in us. Here in Hebrews chapter
11, beginning at verse 20, The Holy Spirit furnishes us with
these three examples of faith in the final crisis and conflict
of life. Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. Using these three examples, God
assures his trembling, doubting children. that he who has begun
a good work in us will continue his work until the end, performing
it until our last day on this earth. He who has sovereignly
and graciously given us this precious grace of faith will
not allow it to languish, but rather will support it when it
is most needed. God, who enabled you to believe,
Enables you to believe will continue to enable you to believe when
you leave this world Following his son into the grave and into
glory Isaac Jacob and Joseph all left the world Believing
God look at verse 20 by faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau
I Find that remarkable Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau. Jacob, his believing son. Esau, his reprobate son. Isaac
blessed both those boys both of them blessed by their father
in there in the common Ordinary way that a father would bless
his children He didn't deprive Esau of anything because Esau
was an unbeliever, but oh how Jacob was blessed Blessed by
his father with covenant blessings passed on by the patriarch to
his son. He blessed his sons Jacob and
Esau concerning things to come By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both
the sons of Joseph and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.
By faith, Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing
of the children of Israel When he was about to die, he said,
God promised that he's going to take you up out of this place
and bring you into the land that he promised to our father Abraham.
And when you go up, you take my bones with you. And he gave
commandment concerning his bones. Oh, I would like to die like
those men died, wouldn't you? Worshipping God. Leaning on Christ. Proclaiming
God's grace, pointing my family to God's promises of grace and
mercy. I'm thankful for modern medicine,
thankful that you can be relieved of pain. But it is my sincere
hope that God will allow me to leave this world with full consciousness. fully aware with my senses about
me, worshiping God, leaning on Christ Jesus, proclaiming his
goodness and grace, pointing family and friends to God's promises
and God's works. Though we naturally shy from
thoughts about death, we try to avoid thinking about it, let
alone talking about it. Yet we must prepare to meet God. Soon you and I will meet God
face to face in judgment. Soon you and I will die. If you die without faith, you
shall enter into a Christless eternity in eternal damnation. So I urge you, I urge you, believe
on the Son of God. Trust the Lord Jesus. Cast your
soul in the arms of his mercy. Trust his blood and his righteousness. Trust the Son of God. Now, believe
on the Son of God. Come unto me, the Savior says,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,
rest that will stand you in good stead when you come to leave
this world. I want you to know, I want you
to know my God and I want you to know the blessedness of what
it is to die in the Lord. Satan would constantly harass us with fear
with regard to death. Child of God, all fear with regard
to death and judgment and eternity. Experienced by a child of God
in this world is baseless. There is no reason for any believer
to have any dread, any apprehension, any fear at all with regard to
death and judgment and eternity. Please hear me. God help you
to hear me. This is the clear teaching of
God's Word. There is no reason for any believer
to have any fear, any dread, any apprehension of any kind
concerning death and judgment and eternity. Mark Henson Christ
is ours. His righteousness is ours. His blood is ours. His atonement
is ours. His satisfaction is ours. We're accepted in the beloved. One with Christ the Lord. No
more have we to dread from God than Jesus Christ has to dread
from God. A God-given, God-sustained faith
is not only sufficient To enable the feeblest of saints to overcome
the weakness of the flesh and the attractions of the world
and the temptations of Satan God-given faith is sufficient
to sustain our souls in the hour of death in the immediate prospect
of eternity Turn back to Exodus chapter 15 Exodus 15. I want you to look at this. I Love this portion of Moses
song in which he triumphs over God's goodness and grace and
the Saints of God are taught to sing triumphant over their
foes as they make their easy passage through death into heavenly
glory Exodus 15 verse 16 Fear and dread shall fall upon them
that is fall upon your enemies By the greatness of thine arm,
they shall be as still as a stone What a word as still as a stone. Not one causing trouble. Not one causing uneasiness. Not one giving difficulty. By
the greatness of thine arm, they shall be as still as a stone
till thy people pass over. O Lord, till the people pass
over which thou hast purchased. Thou shall bring them in and
plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place,
O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the
sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. The Lord
shall reign forever and ever. It is written. Precious in the
sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Well might all
men speak like Balaam did, let me die the death of the righteous
and let my last day and be like his. The believer in his last
experience in this world shall have his best experience in this
world. The believer in his last experience
in this world shall have his best experience in this world.
Listen to this Proverbs 418. The path of the just is as the
shining light that shineth more and more under the perfect day. The path of the just is as a
shining light that shineth more and more under the perfect day.
Yes, this body may convulse with pain. Physical unconsciousness
may set in and yet my soul Once it is freed from this body of
flesh, shall be blessed with the sight and sense of my Redeemer,
such as I have never yet enjoyed. Now, why was it that we should
have some apprehension? Why was it we should have some
fear? What is the reason you suggest for any dread? As soon
as I have breathed my last breath, I will have sight and sense of
my Redeemer as I have never yet enjoyed. You'll get an idea of
what I'm talking about in Acts chapter 7. Stephen was being
stoned to death. And we read in the last experience
that that man had in this world, He being full of the Holy Ghost,
looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and
Jesus standing on the right hand of God. I think we often behave and think
as mystics when we read the scriptures. What did Stephen see when he
saw the glory of God? Was it as Paul when there was
a light that shone from heaven like the noonday sun? No, no. It was the accomplishment of
his salvation in the person of that Mediator standing at the
right hand of God. Stephen looked up into heaven
and he saw Christ, his Mediator, and in him he beheld the glory
of God. That's what we can expect in
our last breath on this earth. Mark the perfect man and behold
the upright. For the end of that man is peace. Mark the perfect man. Every man
made perfect by God's grace in Christ and behold the upright. Every man regenerated, born again
by God's spirit may partake of the divine nature through faith
in Jesus Christ. For the end of that man is peace. Mr. Spurgeon said in commenting
on that statement in Psalm 37. With believers, it may rain in
the morning, thunder at midday, and pour torrents in the afternoon.
But it must clear up ere the sun goes down. Most clearly,
that was the case with Jacob. This man, Jacob, here in our
text, Hebrews 11, 21, when he was dying, blessed both the sons
of Joseph and worshiped, leaning on his staff. Jacob sojourned
through this veil of tears. was a stormy passage indeed. But the waters were all smooth
when he was dying. The hours of his life, most of
the time, were cloudy and dark. But it was bathed with the radiant
splendor of God's goodness at sunset. Mark, the perfect man. Behold the upright, for the end
of that man is peace. Let's go to the patriarch's bed
now as he was dying and learn what God would teach us. Faith's
last act is its most delightful act in bringing us into heaven's
glory. And I'll show you that in these
three things. First, understand this. Jacob was a believer. Jacob was a believer. He's held
before us here, side by side with Abraham and Isaac. Side by side with Jephthah and
Samson. Side by side with David. Side by side with the faithful
of the past. Here is Jacob. Jacob, the supplater. Jacob, the devious man. Jacob, the man who was as shifting
as the shifting sand. Jacob. This man Jacob was a genuine
believer. God revealed his son in Jacob. Jacob understood that Jesus Christ
is the only ladder by whom God comes down to men on the earth.
The only ladder by which men can ascend up to God in heaven.
God showed Jacob that when he showed him a ladder reaching
from heaven to earth. Jacob was conquered by God's
grace. The Savior wrestled Jacob until
he broke it, until he bowed to him and made him confess, my
name is Jacob. This man, Jacob, he was truly
a believer. But Jacob didn't often act like
a believer. In fact, Jacob rarely acted like
a believer. Doesn't that surprise you? Jacob
rarely acted like a believer. Jacob rarely acted like a believer. What are you saying, pastor? Believers have no hope in themselves. Neither before nor after experiencing
God's grace. And the fact is, though we like
to pride ourselves in thinking that we somehow we behave differently
than others and we have superior conduct than others. Larry Brown is just not so. We
rarely act like we believe God. Rarely. Or we defend our doctrines,
we defend our creed, we defend our position on this, that or
the other, but rarely do we walk before God with confident faith
and act as believers. Above all the other patriarchs,
Jacob's life was marked with trials, temptations, faults and
failures. And he therefore furnishes us
with a marvelous, illustrious testimony to faith. You see,
the life of faith is not the shining of sun on a calm, clear
day. Meaning with no resistance from
the atmosphere, no, the life of faith is like sunrise on a
morning when the fog is dense and heavy and the light of the
sun struggles to break its way through the dense fog. Jacob
walked by faith. But in the exercise of faith,
he encountered struggle after struggle. His was an uphill battle
all the way. Young believers are like young men. Merle, do
you remember when you were 20? Had the world by the tail on
a downhill pull and there's nothing you couldn't whip. Anytime you
get to be 25 or 30, 35 or 40, you find out you don't have anything
by any pull. And the older you get, the more
you recognize that, the more you recognize it. So it is in
the experience of God's grace. The young believer thinks, oh,
how things are now, how different, how strong he is, what he's going
to do, what he's going to accomplish, how he's going to do this and
how he's going to do that. And he has a little struggle.
And then he finds out something about himself. He wakes up one
day to realize that his old nature is just as corrupt and just as
vile as ever. And he has an uphill struggle.
all the time. So it was with Jacob. In spite
of all his faults and failures, though, Jacob dearly prized his
interest in God's grace, his interest in God's covenant, his
interest in God's goodness, his interest in God's Son. He trusted
God and highly esteemed his promises. I don't know what to make of
this. But I know that we are all full
of errors like Jacob and I know we all like Jacob being born
of God have two warring natures within us. But that which most
prominently stands out about this man Jacob is this fact in
spite of all his behavior. In spite of all his failure,
in spite of all his faults, this man displayed a steady, confident
faith in God, in the teeth of his sin. He deceived his brother Esau
to get the birthright, but he thought more of the birthright
than his brother did. He cherished the birthright.
And it wasn't just a physical birthright of a physical lineage.
Jacob understood as they were taught in the Old Testament scriptures
from the patriarchs from Adam and Eve right down through the
Old Testament scriptures that God would send his son into this
world through the woman's seed and the woman's seed would come
through Abraham's seed and somebody in Israel is going to be in the
family of that one who brings forth God's son in the world.
And Jacob cherished the birthright. He cherished it. He coveted the
promises of God in his free grace in Christ. He desired the Lord
God to be his God. He said when the Lord spoke to
him, he said, the Lord shall be my God. And though he was
terrified of Esau, he was terrified of him. Nevertheless, he sought
the Lord. When he was going out to meet
Esau, trembling, he sent flocks and herds and gifts and did everything
he could to bribe Esau. He was scared to death of Esau.
Still, in the face of that, this is what Jacob said when he pleaded
God's promise. Thou saidst, I will surely do
thee good. In the teeth of his unbelief,
In the teeth of his terror, in the teeth of his fear, he said,
God, you said, I will surely do you good. I believe what you
said. And though he cringed at the
feet of his brother, he prevailed as a prince with God in prayer.
Like his fathers, Abraham and Isaac, by faith, he sojourned
in the land of promise as in a strange country dwelling in
tents. Then during the closing days
of his life, Jacob's faith shined most brightly. When his sons
were going up the second time to Egypt, they were going up
to Joseph. Jacob didn't know that. And he
had to send Benjamin with him. He had no choice. God forced
his hand. God fixed it so he had to send
Benjamin with him. And when he sent Benjamin, this
is what he said. God Almighty, God Almighty, God
the sufficient one, give you mercy before that man. All right, take him! And God
give you mercy before that man. He rested his soul on his God
who said he would do him good. And we see Jacob when he goes
into Egypt. Here's this, this Hebrew, this
sheep herder, this man who's come in poverty, this man who's
come, come with nothing. He comes before Pharaoh. Now
he comes before Pharaoh realizing that his son, Joseph is prime
minister in Egypt. And when he comes into Pharaoh,
he does a remarkable thing. He doesn't bow and cringe and
scrape and beg, but rather, Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Jacob came as a child of God
to the king of the mightiest empire on the world. And in the
name of the king of kings, Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And oh, how
Egypt was blessed while Jacob and Israel were in Egypt, dwelling
there in that land of strangers, in that land of ungodliness. Yes, Jacob was a believer. He
was born of God. He trusted the Lord Jesus. Christ
was revealed to him and Christ conquered him. That's the first
point. Jacob was a believer. Here's
the second thing. When he was dying, this old believer
blessed his sons, leaving them a rich heritage by faith. Oh, how I would like so to bless
my family when I leave here. Jacob's benediction on his sons
in Genesis 47 and 48 Was a great act of faith. We could learn
much from the circumstances of it You can turn back there if
you want to look those two chapters for a few minutes Genesis 47 Jacob exercised faith in his
old age in the immediate prospect of death Look at verse 29, Genesis
47. The time drew nigh that Israel
must die. He understood he was about to
die. God told him, said, your days
are up, your numbers up. And he called his son Joseph
and said unto him, if now I found grace in thy sight, put, I pray
thee, thy hand unto my thigh and deal kindly and truly with
me. Bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt. Somebody asked me the
other day about burial and funerals and somebody said, well, just
put my body in the ground, make nothing of it. Ah, let's think
about that again. Let's think about that again.
Lindsay, Christ redeemed your body as well as your soul. And
he's coming again to raise your body up in glory. And it is,
don't misunderstand me, it can be way under overdone. But it's
proper and we see illustration after illustration with the children
of God in the Old Testament and in the New. It is proper that
we give proper honor even to this body, this tent in the time
of death. Jacob said, don't bury my body
in Egypt. Don't put me down here. You carry
me out of this place when you leave. In chapter 48, look at
verse 21, Genesis 48, 21. Israel said to Joseph, behold,
I die. I'm dying, but that's all right.
That's this. This is what I came into this
world for was to die. This is what God appointed for
me was to die at this hour. Behold, I die. But God shall
be with you. And God's going to save his people
in spite of all of his trials and conflicts, the weaknesses
and discomforts of old age. Jacob was still firm in faith.
His natural decay, his natural decay of strength had not diminished
his spiritual strength, his faith in the Lord Jesus. In blessing
Joseph and his sons, Jacob solemnly recognized and pleaded and asserted
God's covenant mercy with Abraham. He said in verse 15 of chapter
48, He blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham
and Isaac did walk. Now, this is the very essence
of faith in Christ. He laid hold of God's covenant.
He drew strength from God's covenant. He understood now that God's
done all this. He he had said before, all these
things are against me. Now he understood they're all
for me. God has dealt with me according to his covenant to
walk in the light. of the everlasting covenant.
That's the essence of faith. It is the foundation of all blessedness,
the charter of our heavenly inheritance, and the guarantee of eternal
glory. Hold your hands here in Genesis
and turn to 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel. Blessed, blessed, blessed. Blessed is that man, that woman,
who has God's covenant before him. when it comes to his deathbed. Oh, what a peaceful end it brings. Second Samuel 23. Now, these
be the last words of David. David, the son of Jesse, said.
The man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God
of Jacob and the sweet psalmist of Israel said, the spirit of
the Lord spake by me. His word was in my tongue the
God of Israel said the rock of Israel spake to me he that ruleth
over men must be just ruling in the fear of God and He shall
be as the light of the morning when the Sun rises Even a morning
without clouds as the tender grass springing out of the earth
by a clear shining after rain and look at verse 5 What a way to die. Although my
house be not so with God. Far as I can tell, far as I can
tell, David had one wife and one son out of that huge household
who believed God. Rest of his house rebels. The
rest of his house is just rebels. And David comes to his deathbed
and says, My house is not like I'd like for it to be. My house
is not as I have desired. My house is not as I would want. My house is not like any father
would want. Look at Absalom and Abner. Look
at my sons. Look at them. One after the other.
Look at them. Look at them. 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. John Gill on his deathbed made
this same heartfelt confession. Gill, remember, for 53 years,
if I remember correctly, was pastor of a church in London
that later was pastored by C.H. Spurgeon. This man, God used
so mightily, not only in his preaching in and around London
all his life, the man with a feather pen, you know, one of those pens
where you dip a little tip in ink and write a piece of a letter
and write a piece of a letter and write a piece of a letter,
he wrote 10,000 folio pages of theology and commentary. That's 10,000 sheets of paper
about the size of the top of this lectern top right here. 10,000 of them in his lifetime. Now listen to what he said. I
depend wholly and alone upon the free, sovereign, eternal,
unchangeable love of God. The firm and everlasting covenant
of grace and my interest in the persons of the trinity for my
whole salvation And not upon any righteousness of my own Nor
anything in me Or done by me under the influence of the holy
spirit Not upon any services of mine, which I have been assisted
to perform for the good of the church but upon my interest in
the persons of the trinity The free grace of God and the blessings
of grace streaming to me through the blood and righteousness of
Christ. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. A clear view
of Christ and God's covenant mercy in him secures our hearts
in the hour of death. God, give you and give me such
clarity. Jacob never forgot God's mercy
to him. In Genesis 48, verse 16, he calls
Christ the angel which redeemed me from all evil. He saw that
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is he who had redeemed him from
all evil. Bill Raleigh is my desire as
your pastor in preaching to you that when you lay on your deathbed,
you can look steadfastly toward the throne of God and say, Christ
has redeemed me from all evil. By his blood, by his grace in
regenerating power, by his providence in everyday experience. He has
redeemed me. He has delivered me from all
evil. It is written, there shall no
evil happen to the just. Oh, to leave this world with
full confidence in God and his word, that he has done me good. all my days and always shall."
In his old age, Jacob's hands were still guided wittingly,
understandingly, intelligently, so that he blessed the sons of
Joseph and pronounced their future according to God's promise. You'll
remember when Joseph brought his sons to him in Genesis 48,
Joseph stood, the older boy on his father's right hand, the
younger boy on his left hand, And Jacob wittingly crossed his hands
and blessed them. And Joseph said, no, no, don't
do that. Don't do that. Be sure you be sure you bless
Manasseh first. He's the first one. He's the
first one. And Jacob said, no, I bless the way God said bless.
I bless the way God said bless them. And he wants God's blessings
upon his sons. not the wealth of Egypt. He says
nothing to them about the wealth of Egypt. He says nothing to
them about the wealth of Egypt. What a disservice we do to our
children. What a disservice we do to those
under our influence when we speak so much about Egypt. to them. And so little about
Cain. So much about this world and
the cares of this world. So little about glory and the
blessedness of glory. So much we speak to them about
making a way in this world and so little about finding the way
of life in Christ Jesus. blessed his sons when he was
dying, understandingly, seeking for them the riches of God's
grace, not the riches of Egypt. Even in his dying hour, when
the will of his most favored relative crossed his will, when
Joseph, that boy he loved, that boy he loved, when Joseph said
to the old man, do it this way, Jacob said, no, we'll do things
God's way. will do things God's way. Jacob
understood that obedience to God is the great thing. He believed
God and he bowed to God. Now, here's the third thing.
I'll wrap this up. Jacob's faith. Is a great source of comfort
to me. If I had been given the task
of writing the 11th chapter of Hebrews, This great hall of fame of faith. If there is anybody's name among
the sons and daughters of God that I would have left out. I
don't know whether the first choice would have been Lot or
Jacob. I wouldn't have included Jacob,
but God did. God did. And the fact that God
puts Jacob here gives me great comfort. You see, Jacob was very
much like me. A believer, but so unbelieving. A righteous man, but so unrighteous. A man who loved God, but a man
who appeared to love himself more than anything. Jacob was
a faithful, faithful man, but often appeared unfaithful. He
was a strong pillar in God's church, but he seemed to be as
fickle as the wind. He was a saint, robed in God's
righteousness in his son, but often did that which was horribly
sinful. By faith, Jacob, when he was
a dying, Jacob is with Christ in glory. Because God chose him. Christ
redeemed him. The Holy Spirit called him and
the Lord God kept him by his grace. And this is my prayer. Oh Lord God. My God. Let me die like Jacob. Mark the perfect man. Behold
the upright. For the end of that man is peace. Peace that comes only with a
clear view of Christ, the angel of the covenant, who's redeemed
us from all evil. A peace that comes only from
the possession of a rich heritage of grace, free grace in Christ
Jesus. Peace that comes only from worshiping
God, leaning on your staff. Jesus Christ crucified. Isaac Watts wrote these words,
I think they're just tremendous. Why do we mourn departing friends? Or shake at death's alarms? Tis
but the voice that Jesus sends to call them to his arms. Are
not we tending upward too, as fast as time can move? Nor should
we wish our hours more slow to keep us from our love. Nor should
we wish our hours more slow to keep us from our love. The graves
of all the saints he blessed and softened every bed. Where
should the dying members rest but with their dying head? The grave, the grave is not a
thing to be dreaded. It is not a thing to be feared.
Where would you expect this arm to be when I go to bed tonight
except over there in that bed with this head? Wherever you
expect it to be, that's just most reasonable thing in the
world. Anything else is insane. Where should the dying members
rest but with their dying head? Thence he arose ascending high
and showed our feet the way up to the Lord. Our flesh shall
fly. At that great rising day. Amen.