I wanted to entitle this message,
Possession Made Sure, but I think that would have been a good title,
but I want to entitle this message, The Death of the Believer. The Death of the Believer. You
and I are facing death. What about the death of the believer?
In Stephen's message that cost him his life in Acts chapter
7, he brings out so many things from the Old Testament. He practically
preaches the whole Old Testament. And it's my intention on dealing
with everything, devoting a message to everything he said individually. And included in that message
that cost him his life, is the verses we just read. Verse 15,
so Jacob went down into Egypt and died. That's what me and you have awaiting
us. He went down to Egypt and died. He and our fathers. And he includes
this detail, they were carried over into Sycamore. He actually
made Joseph promise him, I don't want to be buried here. I want
you to take my body and bring it back into the land of Canaan,
into a cave that my grandfather Abraham purchased to bury Sarai. And in that cave, Abraham and
Sarah, Jacob and Rachel, his mom and dad, and Leah, his first
wife, was buried there. And I want to be buried there
as well. And he made Joseph promise to
bury him there. And a whole chapter in Genesis
chapter 23 is devoted to buying the cave and the field that they
were going to be buried in. A whole chapter. is devoted to
that. Now, I was thinking about this. If you would ask an unbeliever,
someone that didn't have any understanding of the gospel,
to read the book of Genesis, it is a very interesting book,
even to an unbeliever, I would think. The stories that are there. But if you would ask him, what
is the most uninteresting chapter in Genesis? I believe they'd
probably pick out Genesis 23. The chapter where We're given all the details of
Abraham purchasing this burial ground for his precious bride
of probably 100 years after she died. And great detail is given
this, even some weird, what we would consider weird practices,
like when you struck a deal with somebody, you put your hand under
their thigh. You remember Abraham doing that with his servant,
Genesis 24? Well, it happens again. tells his boy, Joseph,
put your hand under my thigh and promise me that you'll bring
me back and bury me in this particular cave. That's where I want to
be buried. I don't want to be buried in
Egypt. Now, in this chapter, we have
the gospel. And we know that ahead of time,
don't we? No matter what it is, we might not know what it means.
We might not understand it, but we know what it means. It has
something to do with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
first let's look at Jacob's words regarding his death in Genesis
47. Genesis 47. verse 28. And Israel, that's Jacob, dwelt
in the land of Egypt, that's his progeny, and in the country of
Goshen they had possessions therein and grew greatly. I'm in the
wrong chapter. Chapter No, no, I'm in the right
place, I'm sorry. Verse 28, and Jacob lived in
the land of Egypt 17 years. You remember how he went down
to see Joseph. So the whole age of Jacob was
in 147 years. And the time drew nigh that Israel must die. And he called his son Joseph
and said unto him, if now I found grace in thy sight, put, I pray
thee, thy hand under my thigh and deal kindly and truly with
me. Bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt, but I will lie with
my fathers and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt and bury me in
their burying place. And he said, I will do as thou
hast said. And he said, swear unto me. And he swear unto him. And Israel bowed his head upon on the bed's head. Now, I love
the way it goes back and forth in Genesis calling Jacob. One time it calls him Israel,
another time it calls him Jacob. Just back and forth, back and
forth. You find that in the book of Isaiah, the same verse. One
day, Jacob this, Israel that. Now, I understand this. Jacob is his name of the flesh. He'll supplanter, deceiver, rip
off artist. That's what he was. He was a
bad person. That's what Jacob means. I can
remember Esau saying he's well-named Jacob. He's deceived me these
two times. He was going to kill him over
it. He was so upset. Jacob and Israel. a prince with God. You've got the ear of God and
you prevail with him. Now there is every believer,
Jacob and Israel. Both men, the two natures, the
holy nature and the sinful nature. And he says, promise me that
you'll bear me in the place where my fathers are buried. And he
made him make that promise and Joseph agreed to it. I look in
chapter 49, verse 29. And he charged them, Jacob, he
charged them and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people. What a way to describe death.
I'm to be gathered unto my people. He's facing death without fear.
And he knows what kind of person he is. He knows what a sinful
man he is. When he was first introduced
to Pharaoh, he said, few in evil have been the days of the years
of my pilgrimage. I'm not attained to my fathers.
I'm nothing like Abraham was. I'm nothing like Isaac was. He
was aware of what a sinful, contradictory man he'd been all of his life. And yet, when he faces death,
he says, I'm going to be gathered, gathered by God, and laid to
rest with my fathers. Now, I love the way the death
of the believer is described in the scripture. Blessed. Blessed are the dead. that die
in the Lord. That they may have rest from
their labors. That's not talking about all
the hard work they're doing from Christ. It's talking about the
struggle with sin is over. Blessed are the dead that die
in the Lord. How blessed of God. It's described
in Psalms as precious. Precious in the sight of the
Lord. is the death of his saints. You know, it's hard to get a
hold of this, but the Lord is gonna be so happy when you die
and come into his presence, to be with him eternally forever
and behold his glory. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. And I love what Paul said, for
me to live is Christ and to die is gain. The best day of your
life, if you're a believer, will be the last day of your life,
because you are entering into glory, perfectly conformed to
the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when he says, I am to be gathered unto my people,
he's talking about all of God's people. I shall call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. He's
talking about the elect of God. Those are my people. He's talking
about the people Christ died for. Those are my people. He's
talking about the people God the Holy Spirit has given life
to. Those are my people. And I'm to be gathered with my
people. You see, they're united to Christ.
They're one with Christ. They're my people. And I am to
be gathered with my people. These people are your people.
These are the people you want to be identified with, the people
of God. He said, I'm to be gathered together
to my people. Now, as I said, child of God,
you don't have any reason to fear death. If anybody would
have feared it, it would have been Jacob. And he didn't. You see, the only thing that
creates fear is sin. And if the sin has been taken
away, There's nothing to fear. I don't care who you are. There's
nothing to fear. He was manifested to take away
our sin. Did he do it? Yes. And in him is no sin. If you're in him, you have no
sin. What is there to fear? Nothing. you're going to be gathered
together with your people. Go back to Acts chapter 7 for
just a moment. Acts chapter 7, verse 16. Jacob was carried over into Sycam
and laid in the sepulcher that Abraham bought for some money.
And that word carried over is the same word that's used with
regard to Enoch where he was translated. You remember that where he was
translated that he should not see death. He was translated
from one place to another and that's the way the believer dies.
He's translated into eternal glory. That is what every believer
has awaiting. Now back to Genesis 49 and he
charged them and said unto them, I'm to be gathered unto my people.
Bury me with my fathers in the cave that's in the field of Ephraim
the Hittite, in the cave that's in the field of Machpelah, which
is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham, my grandfather,
bought with the field of Ephraim the Hittite for possession of
a burying place. There they buried Abraham and
Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah
his wife. And there I buried Leah. The
purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was
from the children of Heth. And when Jacob had made an end
of commanding his sons about getting him into this cave, he
gathered up his feet into the bed and he yielded up the ghost
and was gathered unto his people. Now he is referring to what took
place in Genesis chapter 23. And like I said, this is the
chapter that if you would ask an unbeliever, what is the most
uninteresting chapter in the Bible? Or in Genesis, I dare
say they would say Genesis chapter 23, but let's turn there. in Genesis 23. Now this is about
the death of Sarah. Verse one, and Sarah was 107 and 20 years
old. These were the years of the life
of Sarah and Sarah died. Edgar Jeth Arba, the same as
Hebron in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for
Sarah and to weep for her. Now, Abraham and Sarah had been
married close to 100 years, and they loved one another. They
genuinely loved one another. They were friends, and Sarah
died. and Abraham mourned and wept."
Sarah was a very special woman in scripture. She's mentioned
many times in the New Testament. I like there in 1 Peter chapter
3 where Peter talks about Sarah calling Abraham Lord. I think
Lynn needs to hear that. You've all thought that. She
called Abraham Lord and she's commended for that the way she
treated her husband. And she's mentioned as by faith,
Sarah received strength and received seed and she was heard. And we're
going to look at the Genesis account in a moment because it's
almost sounds like you're reading two different accounts. But Sarah
was a very interesting woman. Look in Hebrews 11, let's read
those two accounts. She was so beautiful. that Abraham, when
he went into a different place on two different occasions, let
her be taken into a harem because he thought if they find out I'm
her husband, they'll kill me to get her. That's how beautiful
she was. And I always wonder how she graciously forgave Abraham
for doing that. Abraham was wrong. It was cowardly. It was sinful on his part. It
was unbelieving. And here he has his wife sold
into a harem. Just tell him I'm your brother.
Don't tell him I'm your husband. Ladies, can you imagine how mad
that would make you if your husband did something like that? She
went through that twice. She traveled around with Abraham. Look in Hebrews chapter 11, as
I said, I want us to read the two accounts and notice how they
sound like two different accounts. Verse 11, through faith also
Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered
of a child. When she was past age, she'd
already gone through menopause because she judged him faithful
who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of
one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky
in multitude, and as the sand which are by the seashore innumerable.
Now turn to Genesis 18. Beginning in verse nine, and
they said unto him, these angels, and it was the Lord, and these
two angels that had come to destroy Sodom, they were gonna tell Abraham
about it, And they said unto him, where is Sarah thy wife?
And he said, behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly
return unto thee according to the time of life. And lo, Sarah
thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent
door, which was behind him. Now, Abraham and Sarah were well
old and well stricken in age. And it ceased to be with Sarah
after the manner of women. But she said, I believe God.
I believe exactly what he said. No. Therefore Sarah laughed within
herself, saying, After I am old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord,
being old also? She didn't believe this was going
to happen. She heard the Lord say it would, and she just laughed
at it. And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah
laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child which am old? Is
anything too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed, I will
return unto thee according to the time of life, and Sarah shall
have a son. Then Sarah denied. She lied to
the Lord right in his face. She said, I didn't laugh. Sarah. And yet you read this New Testament
account, by faith, Sarah received strength to conceive. See, now,
the Old Testament account gives the account of us. The New Testament
account gives the account of what we are in the gospel. If
you want to know about Sarah, well, she was laughed, didn't
believe. Yet the New Testament account
says she received strength by faith to receive seed. Both of
the accounts are true. One is the history of her old
nature. The other is the history of her new nature. You read Hebrews
chapter 11, you'll find this quite often. Moses murdered an
Egyptian. hid his body in the sand and
ran out of fear. And read the New Testament account
that says he was not afraid of the wrath of the king. And it's
just two totally different stories. And that's the way our story
is, the story of the old man and the story of the new man.
But she lived a long life, 127 years. You know, she's the only
woman that the Bible records her age. Doesn't record the age
of any other woman, but it records the age of Sarah. And I love
the story of Sarah in Genesis 16. Would you turn with me there
for a moment? This gives us some idea of what kind of person Sarah
was. I know she died in faith. I know
she was a believing woman, greatly blessed of God to be Abraham's
wife. Now, Sarah, Abraham's wife, bear
him no children. And she had a handmaid, an Egyptian
whose name was Hagar. And Sarah said unto Abraham,
behold, now the Lord hath restrained me from bearing. I know the Lord
said that I was going to have a baby, but it hadn't happened.
Therefore, we need to do something. It doesn't seem like his promise
is going to come to pass. We need to do our part. I pray
thee, go in unto my maid. It may be that I may obtain children
by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice
of Sarah. He did what Sarah told him to
do. And Sarah, Abram's wife, took
Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, after Abraham had dwelt 10 years
in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband, Abram, to
be his wife. Now, was there anything right
about that? No. No. But this is what they did. And he went into Hagar, and she
conceived. And when she saw that she had
conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. I had Abraham a
baby and you didn't. I'm more important than you.
She despised Sarah. And Sarah said unto Abraham,
my wrong be upon thee. I know you told me to do this,
but you shouldn't have listened to me. You shouldn't have done
this. You were wrong and you know it.
My wrong be upon thee. I've given my maiden to thy bosom.
And when she saw she conceived, I was despised in her eyes. The
Lord judge between me and thee. And Abram said unto Sarah, behold,
thy maid is in thy hand. Do as it pleaseth thee. And when
Sarah dealt hardly with her, I wonder how hard she was on
her. I mean, she gave her a time, so much so that she had to leave. Now, Sarah, in some respects,
you could say she was peevish. She was immature. She was vindictive.
It was her idea for Abraham to do this, but she said, you shouldn't
have done this. You shouldn't have listened to me. This is
your fault. This gives us some insight into the character of
this woman. And she was a great woman, and she died. That's the way our story is going
to end. And he died. And she died. Her and Abraham had been together
for around 100 years. They loved each other. They were
friends and she died and Abraham mourned and wept. When my wife dies, If she goes
before me, I'll mourn and I'll weep. If I die before her, I
hope she'll mourn and weep. But she will. Believers mourn
and weep just like unbelievers, but they don't mourn and weep
as those who have no hope. We have a hope that the unbeliever
doesn't have. But she mourned or he mourned
and he wept. Now back to Genesis 23. Now we're given this account.
The rest of the chapter is devoted to Abraham buying a cave to bury
him. Verse three. And Abraham stood up from before
his dead and spake unto the sons of Heth. He was in a place where
he didn't own any land. He was in the land of Canaan.
It hadn't been given to him yet. He said, I'm a stranger and sojourner
with you. I understand my place. I don't have any rights. I don't
have any property. I don't have any reason that
you should do anything for me. Notice the humility in which
he treats these people. He says, I'm a stranger and sojourner
with you. Give me a possession of a burying
place with you that I may bury my dead out of my sight. I want you to give me a place
to bury my wife that is a possession so that I'm not burying her in
a borrowed tomb. I want it to be mine, and I want
it to be a sure possession for her. Verse five, and the children
of Heth answered Abram, saying unto him, Hear us, my lord, And
they had seen the Lord's favor upon Abraham. Everything he did
prospered. He was so blessed by God and
they understood who he was and how the Lord had blessed him.
And they said, hear us, my Lord, thou art a mighty prince among
us. In the choice of our sepulchers, bury thy dead. None of us shall
withhold from thee his sepulcher, but that thou mayest bury thy
dead. Just take whatever you want.
We will give it to you. And Abraham stood up, verse seven,
and Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the children of the
land, even to the children of Heth. Now notice again the humility
of Abraham with these people. He bowed himself before them
and he communed with them saying, if it be your mind that I should
bury my dead out of my sight, Hear me and treat for me to Ephraim
the son of Zohar. He already knew what he wanted,
that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath,
which is in the end of his field. For as much money as it's worth,
he shall give it to me for possession of a bearing place among you."
Now, Machpelah means double portion. I love that scripture. She has
received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. That's talking
about the blessing of the believer. And God is not the God of the
dead. He's the God of the living. Sarah
lives before God. And there's going to be a sure
place for her. You see, the Lord Jesus is going
to make a sure place for his bride. And he said, I don't want
you to give it to me. I will pay the full amount, the
full price, because I want it to be mine for a possession,
a possession made sure. I don't want to bury her in a
borrowed cave. I want it to be hers. With regard to being saved by
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, The righteousness
and merits of Christ are not his that I am borrowing. They're mine. It's not something on loan to
me. It is my possession. What do I mean by that? Jesus Christ took ownership of my sins. he called them my sins. Throughout the Psalms, he became
guilty of the commission of my sins. And when he died on Calvary's
tree, he was getting exactly what he deserved. Now, it's what
I deserved, I realized that, but he took ownership of it.
My sin became his sin. It became something he was guilty
of committing. And he bore the shame of it.
Now, are you even implying that Jesus Christ ever sinned? Of
course I'm not. You all know I'm not. He knew
no sin. He did no sin. In him was no
sin. He never committed his sin. But
somehow God, nothing's too hard for God. Somehow God took my
sin and made it his sin so that it became his sin. He became
guilty of it. He owned it as his sin. But just as truly as my sin became
his sin so that he became guilty of the commission of it. Not
just charged to his account, more than that. More than that,
he was made sin. What all that means, I don't
know. The more I think about that passage of scripture, the
more I'm sure I don't know what all it means. For he hath made
him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. But just as truly as he became
guilty of the commission of my sin, it became his sin. That's such a, I feel like such
an idiot even trying to talk about it as if I even understand
it. I just know the scripture teaches that. Just as truly as
my sin became his sin, his righteousness is my personal righteousness. I'm not barring his righteousness. It's my possession made sure. I read that or I quoted that
scripture for he had made him to be sin for us who knew no
sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Turn to Revelation 19. Hold your
finger in Genesis 23 and turn to Revelation 19. I don't want you to loan me a
sepulcher. I want it to be mine. I want
it to be my personal possession. I want it to belong to Sarah. I look in Revelation 19, verse 8. And to her, speaking
of the Lamb's wife, all of the elect, the bride of Christ, To
her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean
and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness
of Christ imputed to the saints. Doesn't say it that way, does
it? It says the fine linen, clean and white, is the righteousness
of the saints. my personal righteousness. I
did it. I was the one who kept God's
law perfectly in Christ. When Christ did just as truly
as he owned my sin and it became his, and he died for it. That's
how it really became his, he died. It made him figurative
about that. He suffered the wrath of God
as the sin bearing substitute. And just as truly as his, he
took my sins and they became his. God takes his righteousness
and makes it my personal righteousness that I have done. Now how God does this, I don't
know, but he does. He does. I've heard people deal
with Revelation 19, eight, and they said, well, that's the righteous
deeds of the saints. And even in some of the translations,
it'll say, these are the righteous works and the righteous deeds
of the saints. Are any of your deeds righteous enough to be
counted fine linen, clean and white? If they are, you have such an
inflated view of your works. I mean, you're just, you just,
you missed it altogether. His righteousness is my personal
righteous for a personal possession. Now look in verse 10 of our text
in Genesis 23. He wouldn't take it as a gift.
They said, let us give it to you. No, I'm not going to be
your debtor. I'm not going to be your debtor. You're never
going to be able to say, I gave Abraham that. You know that cave
that Sarah's in? I gave it to her. You're not
going to be able to say that. I'm going to pay the full price
for a possession. Verse 10, and Ephraim, He's the
one who owned this place that Abraham wanted. And Ephraim dwelt
among the children of Heth. And Ephraim the Hittite answered
Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all
that went into the gate of his city, saying, Nay, my lord, hear
me. The field, give I thee. And the
cave that's therein, I give it to thee. In the presence of the
sons of my people, give I it to thee. Bury thy dead. I don't
want you to pay a dime for it. It's yours, here it is. You know,
Abraham wouldn't like these people who said, do y'all offer discounts
to churches? Y'all do things free? No, Abraham wouldn't do
that. That would be so beneath the dignity of the Prince of
God. And he said in verse 12, and Abraham bowed down himself
before the people of the land. Look how humble he acts even
then. And he's speaking to Ephron in
the audience of the people, of the land saying, but if I will
give it, I pray thee, hear me, I will give thee money for the
field. Take it of me and I'll bury my dead there. It'll be
mine and I'll bury my dead there. And Ephraim answered Abraham
saying unto him, my Lord, hearken unto me. The land is worth 400
shekels of silver. Now what is that betwixt me and
thee? Bury therefore thy dead. Now hold on for a second. You know how much 400 shekels
of silver would be worth today? $128,000. A lot of money. As a matter of fact, it was an
exorbitant price for a cave and a field. It was a very high price. And you can't help but wonder
if the guy was given that amount in order to make money off of
it. It's only worth 400,000 shekels. What's up between me and you,
expecting Abraham? He knew Abraham had plenty of money. And Abraham
could buy it. He had that kind of money. So
he says, it's worth, you know, 400 shekels of silver, but what's
that to me and you? Bury therefore thy dead. And
Abraham hearkened unto Ephraim, and Abraham weighed to Ephraim
the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of
Heth, 400 shekels of silver, current money with the merchants. Now, he did this publicly so
everybody could see that he was paying the full price. You're bought with a price. And Sarah's resting place, the
money for it is paid in full and the word, and the word, notice
the language, 400 shekels of silver, current money, with the
merchant. I mean it was the word current
is the same word that's used in the Passover. This will pass
with the merchant. The merchant will accept this. The merchant
will take this. What is our full payment? The Passover. When I see the
blood I will pass over you. I love that So dear dying lamb,
thy precious blood shall never lose its power. But here's the
part I don't like. Until all the chance, the ransomed
church of God be saved to sin no more. No, it'll never lose
its power after that. And God's people will always
be secure because of the current money, the Passover money with
the merchants. This was my standing before time.
The lamb slain from the foundation of the world. This is my standing
after time. And notice how he said in verse
17, and the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which
was before Mamre, the field and the cave, which was there in
and all the trees that were there in the field, they were all in
the borders roundabout. What's it say next? We're made
sure. We're made sure. You see, Abraham
is going to make sure everything is perfect for the resting place
of his bride. It was made sure. Look in verse
20, and the field and the cave that is therein was made sure
unto Abraham for a possession of a burying place. by the sons
of Heth. Now I think this is interesting,
this word made sure is generally translated in the Old Testament,
rise. Same word that can be used with
rising from the dead. Now what is it that makes sure? The death of the believer. The
death of the believer, you're gonna die, I'm gonna die, and
I hope by the grace of God we can die with full assurance of
faith, rejoicing, not afraid because the sin question has
been taken care of, Christ put it away. But what is it that
makes sure the resurrection of Christ? I say quite often, the death
of Christ is the only hope I have. Well, if he wasn't raised from
the dead, it's not a good hope. But his resurrection says that
the father is pleased with everything he did and everybody he did it
for. Complete satisfaction has been
made. I've got a sure place. A place
made sure and it's my possession. It's not something that I'm borrowing.
It's something that really is mine. The very righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ is my personal righteousness before
God. It's mine. It's mine. And it's been made
sure for me by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
current with the merchant of heaven where my I'm going to
be weighed on strict balances. And I'm not going to be found
wanting. I know what was said of Belshazzar, thou art weighed
in the balances and found wanting. I'm going to be weighed in the
balances. This is true of every believer. And I'm going to be
perfect in Christ Jesus. I've got a possession made sure
by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is true
of every believer. So you're going to die like Sarah.
Sarah had her ups and downs. Jacob, my soul, he had his ups
and downs. Abraham had his ups and downs.
I mean, just life of a roller coaster. That being said, you
have a sure possession purchased paid in full by the Lord Jesus
Christ. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
word. How we thank you for the possession made sure. How we
thank you for the righteousness and merits of thy son. actually
becoming our personal righteousness and our personal merits. And
Lord, we confess that it has nothing to do with anything we've
done, but wholly to do with what he's done, where he took our
sins and made them his own and took his righteousness and made
it our own. How we thank you for the gospel,
how we thank you for a sure possession, a possession made sure for every
believer. Now bless this message for your
glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.