Would you turn with me to Hebrews
chapter 11? And tonight, we're going to consider
the blessing of Jacob. It's where Jacob blessed the
two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh. And we're going to
find out what God's blessing is. Last week, we considered
How Jacob obtained the blessing of his father, Isaac. And tonight
we're going to consider the blessing of Jacob. And Jacob is a very
special character in the scripture. God calls himself by this name
more than any other name. The God of Jacob. And that's
how special Jacob is. And I want to be a Jacob, don't
you? There isn't anybody I identify with any more in the word of
God than this man, Jacob. And we read in verse 21, by faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph,
speaking of Manasseh and Ephraim, and worshipped, leaning upon
the top of his staff. Now, before we get into this
blessing of Jacob on the two sons of Joseph, I want us to
notice where it says, by faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed
both the sons of Joseph and worshipped. He worshiped. Now this is the
introduction of the word worship here in Hebrews chapter 11. Now
one of the glorious things of Hebrews chapter 11 is it tells
us what faith does. For instance, we read in verse
3, by faith we understand. There's no understanding of God
or His gospel or His truth until I'm given this thing of God-given
faith. It's only by faith that we understand. And then in Hebrews chapter 11,
verse 4, we read, By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent
sacrifice that came. He offered up the sacrifice of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's only by faith I can
do this. And then we read in verses 5 and 6 how by faith Enoch
pleased God. The only way I can please God
is if I have this thing of faith, this God-given gift where I actually
believe God. And then we read in verse 7 where
Noah moved with fear. The moving of faith, it believes
God and it moves on what he says. And then we read in verse eight
where Abraham obeyed God, there's the obedience of faith and there's
no obedience of God without faith. It takes faith to obey God. And then in verses nine and 10,
we read of the sojourning of faith, how if you have faith,
it makes you live in this life on this planet as a stranger
and a pilgrim. And then we read of the receiving
act of faith where Sarah receives strength. Only faith receives
that which comes from God. The flesh doesn't do it. And
then we read of the accounting of faith with Abraham, how he
believed that God would raise his son from the dead because
God had promised it. And then last week we saw The
how faith obtains a blessing. And tonight we're going to consider
the worship of faith. There is no worship without faith. Now here's the first question
I want to ask. What is worship? What is worship? I want to worship
God, whatever that means. What is worship? The word means
literally to fawn like a dog. You ever seen a dog when it's
afraid, it's displeased, it's mastered how it crouches down
in fear? That's what the Bible calls worship. Or to lick, to kiss like a dog
licks its master's hand. That's worship. To fall prostrate. to fall on your face in awe and
reverence. That's worship. Now you couldn't
do that with a man, could you? Oh, we love men, but we couldn't
fall on our face before them in awe and reverence. We wouldn't
fawn and cringe before them. They're just men. They put on
their pants just like we do. We don't worship men in that
sense. I mean, men are men. The man
at his best state is altogether vanity. I'm looking at some people
who I love dearly, but I realize what you are and what I am. At
our best state, we're altogether vanity. God only is to be worshiped. Do you remember when Satan told
the Lord, he said, all the kingdoms of the world I'll give you if
you'll fall down and worship me. And the Lord said, get thee
hence, Satan, for it is written. It is written. Thou shalt serve
the Lord only and worship Him only. Him only shalt thou serve. Jesus Christ is God. He's the
object of divine worship. You know, when people fell down
before Him, He didn't say like John did when they fell down
before Him, get up, I'm just a man. No, He accepted their
worship. He's the object of divine worship. It's to fall down in all. before him, his greatness and
his majesty. And when you worship the Lord,
you worship him for who he is. You don't worship him simply
out of what you can get out of him. You worship him for who
he is. He's to be worshiped. He's worthy worship. If he didn't
do anything for me or you, you believe that? What if he didn't
do a thing for you and let you go to hell and didn't save you? Would he still be worthy of worship? That's what it is to worship.
When that leper came to him, he didn't know if the Lord was
going to do anything for him, but he came and fell down before
him and worshiped him saying, Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. He didn't know whether the Lord
would do it. He hoped he would, but he knew he was to be worshiped
whether he did it or not. What about that Syrophoenician
woman? She comes seeking his help and he doesn't pay the attention
to her. She continues asking and he says, I'm not sent but
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The scripture says,
Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. Now, she didn't know whether
or not he would, but he was to be worshipped for who he is. Remember the Gadarene demonic,
filled with devils, the scriptures he says he came and fell down
and worshipped him, saying, what have I to do with thee? Are you
come to torment me before the time? But he worshipped him.
He didn't know if he's going to do anything for him, but he
worshipped him for who he is. He is to be worshipped for who
he is, whether he does anything for me or you or not. Now the Lord said, God is spirit. Remember in John chapter four,
God is spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit. And in truth, it takes God, the
Holy spirit to worship. You can't just up and worship
God. And I've said this several times. I don't tell people indiscriminately
come worship with us. I want you to come hear the gospel.
I want you to believe, and if God gives you the grace to worship,
I want you to worship. But I'm not going to say indiscriminately
to people, come worship with us, as if you can do that. Only
God the Holy Spirit can enable you to truly worship. God is
spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit
and in truth. There is no worship apart from
the truth of the gospel, the truth of who God is, holy, sovereign,
in control, the truth of who I am, nothing but a sinner, the
truth of who Christ is and His salvation is utterly in Him.
There's no worship of God apart from the truth. And there is
no worship without faith. Jacob, this old man, dying, leaning
upon his staff, blessed both the sons of Joseph, and worshipped."
Oh, that God will enable you and I to do that. Now, by faith,
Jacob blessed Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Now, who
are these two boys? Would you turn to Genesis 41?
Genesis 41. Verse 50. Now, the setting of this was
after Joseph had been made the head man in Egypt. Remember,
he's gone from prison to being the most powerful man in Egypt
to this point. If you got anything to eat, it
was up to him. Your life or your death was in
his hands. Joseph, the glorious picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ, Joseph. Oh, Joseph. Verse 50. And unto Joseph were born two
sons before the years of famine game, which Asenoff, the daughter
of Potiphar, the priest of own barren to him. And Joseph called
the name of the first born Manessa. And my marginal reading says
that means forgetting. For God, said he, hath made me
forget all my toil and all my father's house. And the name
of the second called he Ephraim. And my marginal reading says
Ephraim means fruitful. For God hath caused me to be
fruitful in the land of my affliction. Now Joseph, would have been what
the world would have called a man with bad luck, wouldn't he? His
brothers hated him. They despised him. As soon as
they had opportunity, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. He was his father's favorite.
Remember, his father gave him the coat of many colors. He was
the father's favorite, but his brothers hated him for that,
and they sold him into Egypt. Now, while he was in Egypt, away
from his father's house, he prospered. And what happened? His master's wife accused him
of rape. He was accused of a crime he
did not commit and he was thrown into prison. And there he is
rotting in prison. What bad luck, what bad circumstances
for this man. And as he's in prison, God blesses
him even then. And the prisoner, the prison
keeper, makes him the head of the prison. And you remember
the story, how he interpreted those two fellows' dreams, the
butcher and the baker. He said, the butler and the baker,
the butler will be restored and the baker will have his head
cut off, and it happened. And they forgot him. What bad luck,
what miserable circumstances. There he is rotting in that prison
away from his family, away from everybody he loved, stuck in
that prison. And you remember how God brought
him out and made him after he interpreted those dreams and
made him the ruler over all of Egypt. I love that passage of
scripture you read this morning. That was such a blessing from
Genesis 45, when he made himself known to his brethren. He said,
you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. Now as Jacob,
I mean, Joseph is thinking about all the Lord has brought him
through. He has these two boys. The first one's name is Manessa.
And he says, God is using him to cause me to forget all the
hard times I've had. Forgetfulness. And he causes,
and he deems the next boy, Ephraim, fruitfulness. God has caused
me to be fruitful, not merely forgiven, and that's what forgetfulness
represents. This forgetfulness, it represents,
you know, there are sins and iniquities I'll remember no more.
God doesn't remember my sin because there's nothing there to remember.
I'm justified. And not only am I justified,
I'm sanctified. I'm fruitful. God has caused
me to bear fruit. This is the blessing every believer
enjoys. Ephraim and Manasseh. Now, God
used these boys to Make Jacob or Joseph rejoice. Now it's time
for Jacob to die. Turn over to Genesis 48. Verse one. And it came to pass after
these things that one told Joseph. Behold, thy father is sick. And
he took with him his two sons. Manasseh and Ephraim. Now this
is some years after what we read about. These are teenage boys
at this time. And one told Jacob and said,
behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee. And Israel strengthened
himself and sat upon the bed. And Jacob said unto Joseph, God
Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan and
bless me. You know the Lord loved Jacob. He said, Jacob have I loved. You look at Jacob's character,
there's nothing too much good you can say about it, is there?
In and of himself, he was a deceitful, sinful, weak man. Now that's the facts regarding
this man. But God loved him. He said, Jacob
have I loved. He saw him in his son, and he
blessed him. Oh, how he blessed him. Remember,
he changed his name from Jacob to Israel. As a prince, thou
hast power and favor with God. Jacob was a special man. The
Lord blessed him. I want to have his blessing,
don't you? I want to be a Jacob. Oh, I want to be a Jacob. Now,
let's go on reading. Verse 4. And he said unto me, Behold,
I will make thee fruitful. and will multiply thee, and I
will make of thee a multitude of people, and will give this
land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession. And
now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto
thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee in Egypt, are
mine. As Reuben and Simeon, they shall
be mine." Now he says, these two boys of yours, they belong
to me. And what he meant by that is
they are going to get a share in the land of Canaan. There's
going to be a tribe of Ephraim and Manasseh. They're going to
get this glorious share. He's not just saying, I'm taking
your boys. He's saying they're going to be having the same thing
that all of the sons of Jacob have. They're going to have this
special relationship. Now he didn't see him at this time.
because he was blind as a bat. Look what verse 10 says. Now
the eyes of Israel were dim for age so that he could not see.
He was in darkness. He knew Joseph's voice. He knew
Joseph had these two boys. He was blind. I don't believe
at this time he knew they were in the room, but he tells Joseph,
this is what is going to take place with these boys. Verse
six, and thy issue which thou beget us after them shall be
thine and shall be called after the name of their brethren and
their inheritance. And as for me, When I came from
Paden, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan, in the way, when
yet there was but a little way to come into Epiphath. And I
buried her there in the way of Epiphath, the same as Bethlehem.
And Israel beheld Joseph's sons. I guess he saw the outline of
them, but he couldn't see them. He said, who are these? Who are
these? Who are these boys that are with
you? He didn't know at this time. They were Ephraim and Manasseh.
And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath
given me in this place. And he said, bring them, I pray
thee, unto me, and I will bless them. Now the eyes of Israel
were dimmed for age, so that he could not see. And he brought
them near unto him, and he kissed them and embraced them. And Israel
said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face, and lo, God
hath showed me also thy seed. And Joseph brought them out from
between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the
earth. And Joseph took them, both Ephraim in his right hand
toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left toward Israel's
right hand, and brought them near unto him." Now picture what
it is. He puts Ephraim toward his left hand so Jacob would
bless him with his right hand, the chief blessing. And the other,
the opposite. He had it worked out Who would
get the chief blessing? But look what happened. Verse 14. And Israel stretched
out his right hand and laid it upon Ephraim's head. Now, Joseph
wanted him to lay it on Manasseh's head, but he laid it upon Ephraim's
head. Manasseh was the firstborn and
he thought he should get the first blessing. But Ephraim is
the one who gets the first blessing. And his left hand upon Manasseh's
head, guiding his hands wittingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn.
And he blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham
and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto
this day. And that word fed is shepherded.
The Lord was Jacob's shepherd. The Lord's my shepherd. He shepherded
me every day. Aren't you thankful for that?
The Lord is my shepherd. He says in verse 16, the angel,
which redeemed me from all evil, bless the labs. And here's the
blessing. Let my name be named upon them. And the name of my father's Abraham
and Isaac. and let them grow into a multitude
in the midst of the earth. When Joseph saw that his father
laid his right hand upon the hand of Ephraim, it displeased
him, and he held up his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's
head into Manasseh's head. And Joseph said unto his father,
Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put thy right
hand upon his head. And his fathers refused and said,
I know it, my son, I know it. He also shall become a people
and he shall be great, but truly his younger brother should be
greater than he. And his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
And he blessed them that day saying in these show Israel bless
saying, God make thee as Ephraim and Manasseh. And he said, Manasseh
or Ephraim before Manasseh. Now, what was the blessing? One
blessing, one blessing. What was the blessing that Jacob
gave these two boys? It wasn't riches and wealth and
health. It was his name. Let my name
be upon them. Now why was it that Jacob chose
to bless Ephraim fruitfulness over Manasseh forgetfulness. They're both great blessings.
And you won't have fruit without forgetfulness. The only way you'll
ever bear fruit is if God forgets your sins. And the only way he
can forget your sins is if he makes them to where they're not
to be, to where you don't have any sins. And when he forgets
your sins, you will bear fruit. But what is the greatest blessing?
A clean slate, forgetfulness or fruitfulness. What's the greatest blessing?
Never doing anything wrong or only doing that, which is right.
fruitfulness. Now you can't have the blessing
of fruitfulness without the blessing of forgetfulness, but the blessing
of fruitfulness is the chief blessing. And Jacob put his name
upon these boys. By what name is God called more
than any other name? This is so special. The God of
Jacob. The God of Jacob. Can you see
what a blessing you would have if Jacob's name is on you? If
your name is Jacob? He says, my name is upon these
boys. Remember, Jacob have I loved. Now when Jacob's name is on somebody,
you know who else's name is on them? God's name. The name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me show you that in the scripture.
Turn to Psalm 24. This is how important it is to have his name. Psalm 24. Verse six. This is the generation of them
that seek Him, that seek Thy face, O Jacob." Now, he's not
talking about seeking the face of Jacob, the man. Here, God
Himself is called Jacob. If you have Jacob's name, you
have the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's the name you
answer to. You remember last week? What's the one name? What's the one name that Jacob
would answer to? And I guarantee you he was scared.
But when his father said, are you my son Esau? He said, yes,
I am. And the only name that I'll answer
to is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. If I hear Todd's name,
I'm not saying anything. That won't do me any good. I
want to hear the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's
the only name I'll answer to. He said, I'll put my name upon
them. This is the name wherewith she shall be called the Lord.
I righteousness. If Jacob's my name, the Lord
himself is my name. That's that's my way into the
father. Now you see what a special blessing it is to have the name
of Jacob. What else would you need to have
the name of Jacob? You have the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. In Psalm 47 verse 4, I just read
this, we read of the excellency of Jacob, whom he loved. Now
this man, Jacob, as bad as he was in himself, just like me
and you, as bad as we are in ourselves, yet God beholds no
iniquity in Jacob. Why does God behold no iniquity
in Jacob? Because there is no iniquity
in Jacob. That is the excellency of Jacob. His sin has been put away. He
has no sin. He has the very righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm looking at some people
who God would say they're excellent people. The excellency of Jacob
whom he loved. To be a Jacob is to have God's
love on you. He said, Jacob, if I loved, and
Esau, if I hated. Now, if God loves everybody the
same, his love's meaningless. It doesn't do anybody any good.
If he loves all men the same, and they end up going to hell,
what good does his love do him? Not a thing. But, oh, his special
love, his special love, his saving love. To have God love me, Jacob,
have I loved? The excellency of Jacob, whom
he loved, Jacob is his chosen. Psalm 78, 71 says he fed his
people, Jacob. Now, if my name is Jacob, that's
the name of all of his people. That means he feeds me. That means he is my God and I
am his people. He feeds his people, Jacob. He's shepherd to his people,
Jacob. That means I got God for me.
If I'm a Jacob, that means all that God is, is behind me and
for me. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Can you see what a great blessing
this is to have the name of Jacob? I'll answer to that name. He
said, let my name be upon them. Jacob is called in Psalm 133,
his Jacob, his chosen. He's chosen. That means I'm one
of God's elect if I'm a Jacob. That means God chose me. And
if God chooses me, I must be saved. Jacob is God's chosen. And then we read in Isaiah 14.1
that the Lord will have mercy on Jacob. That means if I'm a
Jacob, God's gonna have mercy on me. And oh, how I must have
mercy. I must have his mercy for me.
If I'm a Jacob, I've got God's mercy. Isaiah chapter 49, 44
verse three says, the Lord hath redeemed Jacob. That means if
I'm a Jacob, all my sins have been paid for. I've been redeemed.
Listen to this scripture. God said to Cyrus, The heathen
king in Isaiah chapter 45, for Jacob, my servant's sake, have
I called thee. Now Cyrus didn't know God, but
God said everything I'm doing with you, making you the king
of Persian, making you to do this and that and the other,
I'm doing it for Jacob's sake. You know what that means? That
means if you're a Jacob, you have all of God's providence
working together. for your good and for his glory. Want to be a Jacob? He said,
for Jacob, my servant's sake. Now
here's my question. Am I Jacob? Is that my name? Can I honestly, can I find a
reason in the scriptures to think I'm a Jacob? Because if I have
Jacob's name upon me, I have all of God's blessing. I have
all of God's love. I have all of God's protection.
I have all of God's redemption. I've got all of God's mercy.
I'm the chosen of God and I want to be that. I'm not arguing against
why didn't he love Esau. I can see why I didn't. But I
want to be a Jacob, don't you? Now, how can I know from the
scriptures whether or not I am a Jacob? Well, turn with me to
Isaiah chapter 41. Now, before I read this scripture,
I remember hearing Scott Richardson read this passage of scripture
and before he read it, he made this statement. He said, you
have no right to take a promise in the Bible to yourself unless
you personally fit the description of the one that the promise is
made to. Now that's good. Isn't it? Okay. Remember that as we read Isaiah
chapter 41 verse 10. Now he's speaking to Jacob and
he says, fear thou not for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for
I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. Yea,
I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed
against thee shall be ashamed and confounded, and they shall
be as nothing, and they shall strive. And they that strive
with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and thou
shalt not find them, even them that contend with thee. They
that war against thee shall be as nothing and as a thing of
naught. For I, the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand. saying unto thee, fear not, I
will help thee. How would you like to have God
say that to you? Hold you by the right hand and say, fear
not, I will help thee. Verse 14, fear not, thou worm Jacob. You know, when you hear someone
that seems insincere saying, I'm nothing but a worm, I'm just
a sinful person, but they're just saying what they know they're
supposed to be saying, it's offensive, isn't it? I don't like to hear
people talk like that. But when God says to Jacob, fear
not, thou worm, Jacob. You reckon Jacob got offended? You reckon he said, why is he
calling me something like that? No, Jacob knew. That's a description of him. You know, when we sing that song,
Alas, and did my Savior bleed and did my sovereign die? Would
he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I? Do you have a hard time singing
that? Fear not thou worm, Jacob. Somebody says, I'm no worm. Well,
then he wasn't talking to you then. He just wasn't talking
to you. But if you fit this description
in and of yourself, you're nothing but sin. And you can answer to
this description, fear not thou worm, Jacob. All these promises
of blessing are for you. You are a Jacob. And God is for you. And all your
sin has been put away. And you are promised God's help. And now somebody says, how could
he love someone described as a worm? I know the answer to
that question. In Psalm 22, verse six, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And that's the Psalm of the cross.
He repeated that Psalm on the cross. As he was made sin for
his people, he said, I am a worm. And no man, not even fit to be
called a man. And because he said that regarding
himself, every Jacob is beautiful in God's sight. And he doesn't
love you as a worm, although you know that's what you are.
He loves you as just as he loves his perfect son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's how he can say, fear not
thou worm Jacob. Oh, the great blessing in having
the name of Jacob. Back once to Genesis 45, and
we'll close with this. Or Genesis 48. Verse 17. 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 into Manasseh's head. And Joseph said, and his father,
not so my father, for this is the firstborn, put thy right
hand upon his head. And his father refused and said,
I know it, my son, I know it. He shall also become a people
and he shall also be great, but truly his younger shall be greater
than he and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. And he
blessed them that day saying, in thee shall Israel bless. saying, God make thee, this is
God's chief blessing as Ephraim and Manasseh. And he said Ephraim
before Manasseh. Now these two boys, when God's,
when Jacob's name is placed upon you, that means this, God has
forgotten all your sin right now. And the way he has forgotten
it, is because there's nothing there for him to remember. It's
been put away. Manessa, forgotten. But not only has he forgotten
your sin, you're fruitful. You might not even know it, but
you are. You have the blessing of God.
You have the fruit of God, the Holy Spirit. Oh, Jacob. Let's pray.