Let's go back to Genesis 47. I've entitled the message for
tonight, Jacob Blesses Pharaoh. Now, that ought to get our attention. Pharaoh is, at that time, the
most powerful man in the world. Jacob is insignificant by worldly
standards. And we have this insignificant
man by worldly standards, blessing the most powerful man in the
world. And you can almost see Pharaoh
thinking or even saying, I don't need your blessing. You need
mine. I don't need your favor. You need mine. Let me remind
you of this scripture without all contradiction. This is not
up for contradict for controversy without all contradiction. The
less is blessed of the better. Pharaoh, the less is blessed
of Jacob, the better. Now that's fact. How can it be? How is this? The scripture that I quote frequently
and think about frequently is found in 1 Corinthians 4, verse
7. Who maketh thee to differ? Who made Jacob to differ from
Pharaoh? What do you have that you didn't
receive? Now, Jacob differed from Pharaoh
the same way every believer differs from an unbeliever. Here's the
difference, God. Here's the difference, Christ. Here's the difference, the Holy
Spirit. God the Father made the believer
to differ in eternal election when he chose the believer before
the foundation of the world. God the Son made the difference
when he died for that individual and put away their sins. That
other person who is an unbeliever, he didn't pay for their sins.
God the Holy Spirit makes the difference in regeneration when
he gave them the new birth. Now the message of false Christianity,
and I'm calling it that, false Christianity. There's no saving
benefits in false Christianity. All there is is damnation. And
I'm not saying that harshly, but I'm saying that believing
this with all my heart. False Christianity makes man
make the difference. God loves everybody the same.
Christ died for everybody the same. God the Holy Spirit calls
all men the same. But as to whether or not you're
saved, it's not God making the difference, it's you making the
difference by you accepting Jesus or receiving Jesus where the
other person did not. Now, if that's true, Salvation
is dependent upon man. And that would be a denial of
what we just read in Jonah chapter two. Salvation is of the Lord. Not of man, not of his work. Salvation is of the Lord. I like
what somebody said. Even a fish spit out somebody
who believed that. Salvation is of the Lord. But let's not forget. The believer
does differ greatly from the unbeliever. Let me repeat that. The believer
does differ greatly from the unbeliever. And this difference
is not found in the way they are by nature. Paul said we were
by nature, children of wrath, even as others. By nature, there's
no difference between Pharaoh and Jacob. They were born equally
sinful, born of Adam. All have sinned. There's no difference.
I love the way Paul says in Romans 3 23, there's no difference.
You take everybody in this room, different backgrounds, different
education, different opportunities. There's a big difference in people. In God's sight, there is no difference. No difference. No difference
between me and you. You take the most immoral man
alive and you take the most moral man alive, humanly speaking.
No difference. You believe that? No difference. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. There's a glorious definition
of what sin is. Anything that comes short of
God's glory is sin. And there's just no difference
between men, naturally. But by grace, there is an infinite
difference The natural man, the man is unspiritual. The man has not been born of
the Spirit. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God for they are foolishness unto him, neither indeed can
he know them. He lacks the ability to know
them because they are spiritually discerned. Now, Pharaoh was a
natural man. Jacob and every other believer
is what Peter called a partaker of the divine nature. Now, I want you to think of that
language, 2 Peter 1, 4. If you're a believer, oh, the
difference between you and an unbeliever, God made the difference,
but what a difference there is. You've been made a partaker of
the divine nature, born of God. You see, Jacob loved God. Pharaoh didn't. Jacob was born
of God. Pharaoh wasn't. Jacob had hope. Pharaoh didn't. Jacob was justified. Pharaoh was in his sins. Jacob
was poor in spirit. Pharaoh was proud in spirit.
Jacob mourned over his sin. Pharaoh was a stranger to that.
Jacob was meek before God. Pharaoh wasn't. Jacob hungered
and thirsted after righteousness. Pharaoh didn't. Jacob was pure in heart. Pharaoh
wasn't. Jacob was a merciful man. Pharaoh
wasn't. Jacob was a peacemaker. Pharaoh
wasn't. Jacob was persecuted for righteousness
sake. Pharaoh wasn't. You see, there
is a vast difference between a believer and an unbeliever. You could never say a Pharaoh
that he was foreknown by God. Whom he did foreknow. You can
say that of Jacob. Jacob was predestinated to be
conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. You can't say that of
Pharaoh. Jacob was called by God. Pharaoh wasn't. Jacob was
justified. Pharaoh wasn't. Jacob was glorified. Pharaoh wasn't. What a difference. Can you see how it was the greater
that blessed the lesser when Jacob blessed Pharaoh? Not by nature, not by nature. There's no difference between
any of us and every one of us that has any light. No, we don't
have the right to look down our nose at anybody under any circumstance. We don't, there's no difference.
by nature, but what a difference grace has made. Who made you to differ from another?
God did. What do you have that you didn't
receive? Everything you have, you received it. Well, let's,
somebody says, well, what if Pharaoh was a believer? Well,
maybe he was. Nebuchadnezzar was a believer,
wasn't he? God used Daniel to make himself
known to Nebuchadnezzar, and maybe through Joseph's influence,
Pharaoh heard the gospel. You know, Pharaoh loved Joseph.
He had great respect for Joseph because of all the things Joseph
had done for Israel. Maybe Pharaoh was a believer. You know, there was another king. There was a king, Exodus begins,
there arose another king who knew not Joseph. Pharaoh did. Now, I love this statement, Jacob
blessed Pharaoh. And I love the way, and it was
not disrespect on his part, but if you look at the last verse
of the passage I read, he blessed him again. He blessed him. And we don't read where he asked
Pharaoh permission to leave. It just says he went out from
him after he blessed him. Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Verse eight. And Pharaoh said
unto Jacob, how old art thou? There was respect for age, and
there should be respect for age. How old art thou? Perhaps Jacob
looked like a really old man. I would say he did. He'd been
through a lot. And we know he was 130 years old at this time.
That's pretty old. But Pharaoh looked at him and
I think he said this with respect. He saw this man who, he was the
father of the man who delivered all of Egypt. And he said, how
old art thou? Jacob's answer, verse nine. And Jacob said unto Pharaoh,
the days of the years of my pilgrimage are in 130 years. Few and evil have the days of
the years of my life been and have not attained under the days
of the years of the life of my father's in the days of their
pilgrimage. Now the first thing that I would
notice about Jacob's answer, our life is measured in days. Just days. Boast not of tomorrow, for thou
knowest not what a day may bring forth. Our life is measured in
days. You know, it wasn't very long
ago that I was a teenager, and I can remember it so well.
I was a teenager, had all my life before me, and now I'm on
the downhill slide. The days. David said in Psalm 39 verses
4 and 5, Lord, make me to know my end and the
measure of my days what it is that I might know how frail I
am behold thou has made my days as an hand breath the distance
from here to here and my age is as nothing before thee surely
every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Moses said in Psalm 90, teach
us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Paul said, redeem the time. You know what that means? Make
the most of every day. Make the most of every minute.
For the days are evil. Now your life and my life are
measured in days. What is your life? It's even
a vapor that appears for a little while and passes away. I always think it's interesting
when people talk about wanting to leave a legacy. Let me tell
you how much of a legacy you're going to leave. Stick your thumb
in the water and pull it back out. That's it. And in not too
long, nobody will remember your name. If the earth lasts long
enough, a couple of generations, oh, I hope the people that knew
me will remember me, but they'll die. Nobody else will. A vapor. Teach me to number my
days. And notice he calls his life
a pilgrimage. And we're going to get back to
that in a moment. And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, the days of the
years of my pilgrimage." You know, every believer is a
stranger and a pilgrim. This world's not my home. I'm
just passing through. And I really believe that. This
world is not my home. Now, he says, The days of the
years of my pilgrimage are 130 years. Few and evil have the days of
the years of my life been and have not attained unto the days
of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their
pilgrimage." Now, he's talking about Isaac and Abraham. Abraham
lived what? 175 years. Isaac lived 180 years. He didn't reach their age, but
I don't think that's really what he's talking about. I think Jacob's
saying, I'm not the man they were. I'm not the man they were. Are there people you could say
that about? Jacob certainly could. I'm not the man they were. Few
and evil have been the days of the years of this brief life
of mine. Now, I want us to consider his
assessment of his life. Come around sometime, how you
doing? Great, great, couldn't be better. If it could be better, I don't
know how I could take it. I'm doing so wonderful, great.
And when people, now when people ask you how you're doing, say
fine, don't tell them. All the other stuff, you can just say,
fine, fine. You know, um, but when somebody starts talking
about how wonderful and great is what they're doing, they're
trying to make you understand that your life's not as good
as theirs. Things are going great for me. I, you know, I'm, I'm
thankful, but that's not the way Jacob answered. Is it? Jacob gave a, gave an accurate
assessment of his life when he said few and evil. have been the days of the years
of my pilgrimage here on earth. Few, life doesn't last long. Life does not last long. Life is brief. Few and evil. And that word evil is evil. Now that word actually carries
with it two connotations. First, calamitous. One calamity after another. One trouble after another. This is my life. One calamity
after another. Now you think of Jacob's life. His father showed so much preference
to Esau over him. And you can imagine all the problems
that created in his life. His brother hated him and wanted
to kill him. And he had to run away. And he was in a land of exile
for 20 years. That's where he found his two wives and two concubines. And he had a father-in-law named
Laban that ripped him off 10 times. What a difficult life
this man had. In his family, he had so much
problems from his children. There was rape. There was murder. There was one scandal after another
in his own family. He actually said to his boys,
you've made me to stink among the inhabitants of the land.
He was afraid for his life because of the conduct and the action
of his kids. You can imagine what conflict
there was between his wives. He thought Joseph, his favorite
son, was killed by a wild beast. And he believed that for 22 years. You think of his troubles and
his sons going down to Egypt. He was afraid for Benjamin, his
other favorite son, after his first favorite son he thought
was gone. You think of him losing Simeon and Simeon being locked
up. His life was a series of very
difficult trials. Man that's born of woman is born
to trouble as the sparks fly upward. And Joseph didn't try
to hide any of that. I mean, Jacob didn't try to hide
any of that. He said to Pharaoh, when Pharaoh
asked him of his life, few and evil had been the days of the
years of my pilgrimage. I read where a very pessimistic
philosopher or realistic, depending on your point of view. But he
made this statement, the best thing that could ever happen
to any man is to have never been born. And the next best thing
is to die early. I kind of laughed at that, but
he certainly was looking at things from a very bleak point of view. Few and evil have been the days
of the years of my pilgrimage here on earth. Aren't you thankful? The scripture
says, if there's evil in the city, hath not the Lord done
it? Whatever calamity it is, he's in control of, and we have
that blessed comfort. But evil also means wicked. evil, bad, sinful. It's the word used in Genesis
chapter 6 verse 5. God saw that the wickedness of
man, that's the exact same word. God saw that the wickedness of
man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil non-stop continually. Now I'm asking myself and I'm
asking you, do you believe that about yourself? That every imagination of the
thoughts of your heart is only evil, nonstop. Now the only way that you can
really believe that is if you've been born of God. Because the
only person that recognizes sinfulness is a person who's been born from
God. The natural man has no true concept
of sin. He thinks sin is, if I do this
and keep from doing that, I can keep from sin. And they don't
have a concept that my very nature is evil. And every imagination
of the thoughts of my heart is only evil continually. It takes, listen to me, it takes
a holy nature to see that. That's a blessing of His grace.
You see, when you see that about yourself, you sure enough know
that the only hope you have is if you have the righteousness
of Jesus Christ as your personal righteousness before God. And
you're clinging on to that. Your only hope is the life, the
death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ. It's a blessing in
that sense. You know not to look to yourself
if you believe. That every imagination of the
thoughts of your heart is only evil continually. You, you can't
look to yourself. You only look to the Lord Jesus
Christ. And this is the way every believer
feels. And only the believer feels this
way about themselves. No unbeliever feels that way
about themselves. Oh, they may be bad, but they
think they have the potential. If the circumstances are right.
And if my ducks are a row, I could be a believer knows this about
himself. Because he's been given a holy
nature and it's only the holy nature that recognizes the sinful
nature. And this is what day, or this
is what Jacob says about himself. Few and evil have been the days
of the years of the life of my pilgrimage. Now I know that about
myself and also know the joy and peace of believing. the joy and peace of believing.
Believing what? That Christ is all in my salvation.
There's such joy in that, there's such peace in that, there's such
rest in that. Notice how Jacob spake of his
life as a pilgrimage. A pilgrimage. just like my father Isaac and
my grandfather Abraham, a pilgrimage. Now the word means a sojourning,
just passing through. The world really is not my home. I'm not comfortable here. You
know when I see people who are believers, who profess to be
believers and they seem to be more comfortable in the world
than they are among the people of God, it always Bothers me. Um, this world and the ways of
this world is not my home. Peter said as strangers and pilgrims. Past the time of your sojourning
here in fear. Now stranger means you're not
from here. You're foreigner. You're not from here. The Lord said with regard to
all his people, they are not of the world, even as I am not
of the world. He said to one group of people,
you're of your father, the devil. That's where you're from. And
the lust of your father, you will do. HE THAT'S OF GOD HEARETH
GOD'S WORDS. Now, that's the mark of being
of God. HE THAT'S OF GOD HEARETH GOD'S WORDS. You, therefore,
hear them not, because you're not of God. The Lord said that
to these people. Here's where every believer is
from. Y'all ask people all the time, where are you from? And
if somebody asked me where I'm from, I'll say Ashland, Kentucky,
or first home was in Huntington, but here's where I'm really from.
Of him are you in Christ Jesus? That's where I'm from. Of him
are you in Christ Jesus? Blessed be the God and father
of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who have blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ before the foundation
of the world. You know, I was in Christ before
time began. That's where I'm from in Christ. I want to say this reverently,
but my dress right now is in Christ. And the only place I
ever want to be found is in Christ. To where all God sees is His
Son and I'm in Him. And truly this world is not my
home. I'm passing through longing for
my heavenly home. We're to treat this world like
a hotel room. Now, I like a nice hotel room. You know, when I was young, Lynn
can testify this, we'd stop at six, seven hotels looking for
the cheapest one. And we got to the point to find
out when you pay the cheapest, you get the cheapest one, too.
I mean, they're dirty. And Lynn put a stop to that.
And I'm glad she did. But let's say it is a nice hotel
room. Nice hotel room. Well, are you
going to invest a bunch of money in it? Are you going to invest
a bunch of time in it? Are you gonna buy new pictures
to put up in it? No, you're just there for a day.
You're just passing through. Now, I love a good hotel room.
I don't like a dirty one. I love a good hotel room, but
I'm not gonna invest much time in it. I'm just gonna be there
for a little while. And with regard to this earth,
me and you are just gonna be here for a little while. Pilgrims
passing, Now, the world has its blessings like a nice hotel room,
but we won't be there very long. We're passing through as pilgrims. Now, I want to end this message
with 1 Peter chapter 1 because Peter addresses pilgrims. This
is the first way he addresses believers. 1 Peter chapter 1. I'm just going to read this passage
of scripture and make a few comments. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ
to the strangers. Peter knows that the first thing
he calls God's people are strangers, foreigners. You're not from here. You're in a hotel room, but this
is not your home. Strangers. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ
to the strangers scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia. Elect. You know that, I love that. Elect. You know, that's just the way
the early church spake. Look at the last verses of this book
in chapter five. Verse 13, the church that's in
Babylon elected together with you, salute you. I mean, that's
just the way they talked. That's the way they thought.
And if you had said, well, I don't believe in election, they'd say,
what? Yeah, I don't. You've got problems. You've got
problems. Elect. I love election, don't
you? It glorifies God. It gives God
all the glory. It makes God to be God. Election
is God being God. It's not just a doctrine to be
argued over. It's God being God. It's not
up for debate. I'm not gonna debate this. This
is the very truth of God. And like I said, in the early
church, this was conversational. The church that has a Babylon
elected together with John writes to the elect lady, the children
of thy elect sister greet thee. You see how this was just so
woven in their thinking. Elect, back to our, in first
Peter one, elect according to the foreknowledge of God, the
father. Somebody says, well, that tells
you what election is. God foreknew you'd believe. Whom, not what, whom he did foreknow. Whom he did forelove. Elect according to that saving
love, the knowledge of God to you. To think that God knows
me. He knows me. He foreknew me. elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father. God's not a time traveler. He
doesn't look through the telescope of time and say, well, I see
that one's going to believe therefore. No, no, no. Elect according to
the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit. Paul said, To the Thessalonians,
we're bound to thank God always for you, brethren, beloved of
the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you unto
salvation through, through sanctification of the Spirit. This is the saving,
regenerating work of God, the Holy Spirit. and belief of the
truth." What is the evidence of sanctification of the Spirit?
Belief of the truth. What is the cause of belief of
the truth? Sanctification of the Spirit. "...unto obedience and sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ." Now I've heard preachers use
this and say, you see, you're elect unto obedience. Now, I
want to be obedient. Every believer desires obedience. I want to be obedient to my Lord,
but am I going to put my obedience up beside the sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus Christ? This is talking about the obedience
of Christ and the sprinkling of his blood. And let me show
you that. Hold your finger. I said, I wouldn't
go anywhere, but I'm going to second Corinthians chapter 10. If you don't have a King James
Version, it might not read this way. And that's why if I were
you, I'd get a King James Version. But look what it says in verse
four. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. but mighty
through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down
imagination and every high thing that exalts itself against the
knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought
to the obedience of Christ. Every thought is to be subject
to the obedience of Jesus Christ. The obedience and the sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ. That's what we're elect unto.
Sanctification of the spirit makes us see that my salvation
is the obedience and every thought is to be brought into subjection
to that. Any thought that you have that, uh, Puts that into
question, get rid of it. Every thought is to be brought
into subjection to the obedience and the sprinkling of the blood
of Jesus Christ. Grace, back to our text, grace
unto you and peace be multiplied. What peace we have from salvation
by grace. That's the only place there is
peace, is His grace. Blessed, remember He's speaking
to the strangers. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively or a living hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. Don't ever even think without also thinking
of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was delivered for our offenses
and he was raised again for our justification. And the gospel
is seen, the character of God is seen in the resurrection of
Jesus Christ. He's begotten us again into a
lively hope, a living hope by the resurrection of Christ from
the dead. And here's what that means. When Christ was raised
from the dead, God said concerning him and everybody he represented,
I'm completely satisfied. I'm not looking for anything
else. To an inheritance, verse four.
To an inheritance. You've got a vast inheritance, an indescribable inheritance,
incorruptible and undefiled. And that fadeth not away reserved. You know, I've got a reservation,
my name reserved in heaven. For you who are kept, don't miss
that. You who are kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. I love when Paul said, now is
our salvation nearer than when we believed. Wherein you greatly
rejoice, and everything I've said, wherein you greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, you're in heaviness through
manifold temptations. That could be the temptation
to sin. Boy, when you're tempted to sin,
it makes you heavy, doesn't it? It's a grievous thing. Or it could be the trials, the
temptations God has brought your way. And here's why you have
this heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of
your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though
it be tried with fire, might be found into praise and honor
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having not
seen, you love. Now I want you to think about
that. You've never seen Jesus Christ and you love him better
than you love anybody else. And you've never seen him. Whom
having not seen, you love. Though now you seem not yet believing,
you rejoice with joy unspeakable. and full of glory, receiving
the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." Now
that is the promise to the strangers that he is written to. I don't
want to be a stranger, don't you? I want this world to, like
I said, I appreciate a good hotel room. I do. But I want this world
to be to me nothing more than a hotel room, that I'm staying
here for just a little while. I'm not investing myself in a
hotel room. May the Lord bless this to His
glory and our good. Let's pray together. Lord, how we Thank you that you made us to differ by
your grace. And Lord, may we manifest that
difference by poverty of spirit, by mourning, by meekness before
you, by hungering and thirsting after your righteousness with
that pure heart that you give. by being merciful, by being a
peacemaker. And oh Lord, allow us to be of
that number who are persecuted for the righteousness of thy
son's sake. Lord, as we face this coming
week, we pray for your blessing of grace upon us. We thank you for who you are,
in Christ's name we pray, amen.