While you're turning back to
Hebrews chapter 11, Lydia Wilson called me and wanted me to express
her thanks to the church for all the help and support they've
received during this time with Eric. And everybody remember
Geraldine Bigelow. She had a medical procedure. She had a. What do you call it? Whatever she had, most of it,
I can't remember what it's called, what did she have? Yeah, she
had a colostomy, so everybody remember her. And also, Susan
Holdhouse had a wreck this afternoon. They're all okay, from what I
understand. But she totally recovered, so let's remember her family. Hebrews chapter 11. Now, God
the Holy Spirit could have picked out a whole lot of things about
the life of Joseph to give us his faith, but he was pleased
to think of this event. In Hebrews 11, verse 22, by faith
Joseph, when he died, may mention or remember it. That's the way
that word is generally translated, and that's what my marginal reading
says. By faith, Joseph, when he died, remembered the departing
of the children of Israel, and gave commandment concerning his
bones." Now, faith is remembering what God has said, isn't it?
It's remembering what He said. That's a good definition of faith. It's believing what God has said.
remembering what God has said. He brings it to your remembrance,
and you believe. And Joseph was made to remember
what God said to Abraham. Now, how did Joseph know that
the children of Israel would depart out of the land of Egypt? And he said, now this is what's
going to happen. God's going to visit you, and you're going
to leave this land, and when you do, take my bones and bring
him with you. How did Joseph know that would
take place? Well, I have no doubt that God
appeared to Abraham and told him this would take place. And
Abraham told Isaac, and Isaac told Jacob, and Jacob told Joseph
that this was going to take place. It's first mentioned in Genesis
chapter 15. Would you turn with me there? Genesis 15, verse 13. And he said unto Abram, Know
of a surety that thy seed, now that seed is the same seed you
just read about, Clare, where he can't sin because his seed
remaineth in him. Now this is what's so mysterious,
this seed, the seed of Abraham. The Lord Jesus Christ, all of
his people, the seed, the divine seed. Now, he says in verse 13,
no surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that
is not theirs. And shall serve them. And they
shall afflict them 400 years, 400 years in Egypt. 400 years ago, it was 1609. The Mayflower
hadn't even come into the United States. And you think of all
the things that could take place in 400 years. A lot of water
goes underneath the bridge in that time. They're going to be
there 400 years. And also that nation whom they
shall serve will I judge. And afterward, they shall come
out with great substance. Now, God revealed this to Abraham. And so Joseph is the great grandson
of Abraham and he knows about this and turn to Genesis chapter
50. Verse 24, this is what the writer
to the Hebrews refers to. And Joseph said and his brethren.
I die. And God will surely visit you
and bring you out of this land unto the land which you swear
to Abraham, to Isaac and Jacob. How do you know that, Joseph?
Because God said it. We just read it in Genesis 15. That's how we know what we know.
It's what God has said. Verse 25, And Joseph took an
oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit
you, and you shall carry up my bones from hence. So Joseph died
being 110 years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put
in a coffin. God will surely visit you. Now that's what is needed. I
need a divine visitation. You need a divine visitation. We need the Lord to visit us
in mercy and in grace. And if he doesn't come to me
and visit me, this divine visitation, I will not be saved. I need him
to come and visit me. Don't you? Don't you want this
divine visitation? The God of glory, the creator
of the universe, he whose name is holy, he whom the heavens
cannot contain, he who holds the winds in his fist, he who
covers himself with light as a garment. I need him to come
and visit me. And he gives this promise. He
will surely come and visit you. You know, if he comes and makes
himself known to me, a visitation is a divine revelation. If he
comes and makes himself known to me so that I know who he is,
everything will be just fine. If I know who he is, I'm going
to sure enough know who I am. If I see who he is, I'll see
who I am, and I'll see my desperate need of him. Oh, how we need
a divine visitation where he makes himself known. Joseph says, God will surely
visit you. Why is this sure? Because God
said he'd do it. And once again, how desperately
I want him to come and visit me right now. I want him to visit
me in the preaching of the word. I want him to visit me in the
hearing of the word. You know, the only time you ever
really hear is when God visits you. That's a divine visitation.
When you're enabled to hear in the power of the Holy Spirit
and you know that you're hearing God's message. I want him to
bless me in every aspect of my life. I need a divine blessing,
a divine visitation. Oh, Lord, bless me indeed. Whatever
your blessing is, give it to me in every aspect of my life. I desperately need a divine visitation. Now, God says to this bunch that
were afraid they wouldn't get it. If you read this passage
of scripture, they were afraid after Jacob died, Joseph was
going to get them. And they, I don't know whether
they were lying, but they sent word to Joseph. Jacob said, don't
get us back, forgive them. I don't know whether he said
that. He may have, but they said it, but they were scared to death
and they didn't expect a divine visitation. They were just trying
to figure out a way to get out of the trouble they might get
in. And yet Joseph says, God will surely visit you. Now, this visitation that he's
speaking of, and you know, that's talking about the Exodus that
would happen some 300 some years later. This visitation came at
a time when all seemed hopeless. They were under cruel and bitter
bondage with seemingly no way out. And when God visits, what
he does is he brings us out of a place into another place. Look once again in verse 24 of
Genesis 50. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
I die, and God will surely visit you and bring you out of this
land unto the land which he sware, the promised land, to Abraham
and to Isaac and to Jacob. And when God visits, he brings
us out of the place, the place of self, the place of bondage,
the place of works. And he brings us into the promised
land, the place of grace. What we leave is experienced
in repentance. We have a change of mind concerning
what we leave in. We want to get out of there.
There was a time when we didn't. We were plumb satisfied in the
world, in our natural religion. We were satisfied. We weren't
looking for anything else. And God gave us repentance. We
had a change of mind about that. And we want out. And we want
brought into that place that he's promised. That's what faith
is. What you leave is repentance. Where you go is faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And then Joseph gives commandment
concerning his bones. You see, as a type of Christ,
Joseph most certainly was, he always is going to have his body
with him. You're not going to leave my bones here. You're going
to bring them with you. And like I said, I don't have
any doubt that Abraham told Isaac about this, this vision he had.
We're going to look at it again in just a moment. Genesis 15. And then Isaac told Jacob about
it. And Jacob told Joseph about it. That you're going to be brought
into the land of Egypt for 400 years and then God is going to
bring you out. Now let's go back to Genesis
chapter 15. This is one of the Most important chapters in the
Bible. As a matter of fact, this passage of scripture, there's
more time spent in the New Testament expanding this chapter than any
other chapter in the Old Testament. That gives us some idea of how
important Genesis chapter 15 is. Now, let's begin in verse
one and see what led up to this vision to Abram. Verse one. After these things. And that's
talking about when Abraham said, I've lifted up my hand to the
Lord, I won't take a dime from you. He said to the king of Sodom,
unless you say I've made Abraham rich, I won't take anything from
you because the Lord is the one who takes care of me. Now, after
these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision
saying, fear not, Abraham. And I suppose Abraham was scared
to death when the Lord appeared to him. I would be too. He didn't
know what was going to happen to him. Maybe he thought he was
going to be put to death or executed or something. I don't know what
he thought, but he was scared. Wouldn't you be scared if all
of a sudden the Lord appeared to you in a vision? But he says,
fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. I got to thinking about this.
The Lord, now, fear not Todd, fear not Ron, fear not Wilma. The Lord says, I am thy shield. I am thy exceeding great reward. What a reward. The Lord's mine. I'm his. And he's mine. I am
my beloved and he is mine. He's my shield. What's a shield
for? The shield takes the blow so that I don't have to. And
that's exactly what happened on the cross. I've got him as
my shield and he's my exceeding great reward. You know, when
I think of that, the Lord being my reward, how offensive is the
thought of higher rewards in heaven? When he's your reward,
you can do something to get higher than that. Some work that you
could perform would somehow improve on that? That's foolish. Fear not, Abram. I am thy shield
and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, verse 2, Lord
God, what wilt thou give me? Seeing I go childless. And the
steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus. And Abram said,
Behold, to me thou has given no seed, and lo, one born in
mine house is mine heir. Now, God said in Genesis chapter
12, I'm going to make a great nation of you. I'm going to bless
them to bless you, and I'm going to curse them that curse you.
And in your seed, in you, will all the nations of the earth
be blessed. And Abraham says here in chapter 15, I don't have
any seed. The one who's going to inherit everything from me
as a servant born in my house. You haven't given me any seed.
Verse 4, And behold, the word of the Lord
came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that
shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad
and said, Look now toward heaven. and tell the stars if they'll
be able to number them. And he said unto him, so shall
thy seed. Be. Now, this concept of the seed
is so important in the scriptures, it's bigger than I realize, but
let me show you an example that sold your finger there in Genesis
15 and turn to Galatians chapter three. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not unto seeds as of
many, but as of one, and to thy seed which is Christ. The seed of Abraham is the Lord
Jesus Christ and everybody in him. This is an eternal seed.
This is that seed that does not commit sin. If I'm in Christ,
I'm the seed. I'm the seed of Abraham. Now,
this is mysterious. This is not something that I
can really grasp and get hold of, but it's something I believe.
All of God's people are the divine seed, the seed of Abraham. Look in verse 29 of Galatians
chapter 3. And if you be Christ, then are
you Abraham's seed. and heirs according to the promise. This is the seed by which we're
born again, being born again, not a corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever. This is that seed that does not
commit sin. Remember that one. Can Christ
Does Jesus Christ the Lord have the potential to sin in His person? Absolutely not. Nor do I. The seed. What about when you
commit sin? That's not the real me. That's
not the real me. The real me is the seed that
does not commit sin. In Him is no sin. And he that abides in him does
not commit sin. The seed does not sin. Now, like I said, this is not
something I understand, but it's something I believe. The seed
of Abraham, the eternal seed. This seed being spoken of, I
want to get back to it in a few moments. This is an eternal seed.
It never had a beginning. Every one of God's people have
always had personality before God. Now, I realize I wasn't
born until September 9th, 1959, and I didn't have any conscience.
Maybe I had conscience just then, but I don't know. But way before
then, I've always had personality before God. Before I formed thee
in the belly, I knew thee. He doesn't know someone that's
non-existent. All of the eternal seed And this is what he's talking
about when he's talking about the seed of Abraham. And this
is where we're going to understand something about union with Christ.
Jesus Christ became what I am. I made what he is, and this is
our hope, the seed, the eternal seed, this is big in the scripture. Now, he said, so shall thy seed
be. Verse six. And he believed in
the Lord. He believed what God said. He
believed God's word, and he counted it to him for righteousness. That's Genesis 15, 16, or 6,
with no evidence, but what God said. God said, Some see your
seed be, and you know what Abraham did? He believed what God said. Do you believe what God says? When he says in Christ there's
no sin, do you believe that? that if you're in Christ, you
have no sin. He believed the Lord with no
evidence. He didn't say any sin. He didn't say any descendants.
He didn't say any people. But he believed God, and that's
what faith is. He believed in the Lord, and
it was counted to him for righteousness. Verse 7, and he said unto him,
God speaking, he said, I am the Lord that brought thee out of
of the colonies to give thee this land to inherit it. And
you know, I need to have the Lord tell me once again, over
and over again, I'm the Lord. I need continual revelation,
don't you? I need him to continually make himself known to me, because
I forget. And if he doesn't remind me that he's the one that brought
me out, I'll forget it, and I'll think I brought myself out. And
I need him to continually come to me and tell me that I am the
Lord that brought thee out of the earth, the colonies, and
to give thee this land to inherit it. And Abraham said, he replied,
he said in verse eight, Lord God. Whereby shall I know that I shall
inherit it? Give me some evidence. I know
you said it, but I don't see any seed. How is it that I can
be assured that I'm going to inherit this promise me? Give
me something to give me some assurance that that I'm going
to have it because I don't see it. Verse nine. And he said unto
him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of
three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle
dove, and a young pigeon. What is this for? Sacrifice. What is the assurance that God
is going to bless me? What is the assurance that God
is going to visit me? What is the assurance that I
have that God is going to do something for me? Well, it's
because I'm so holy. It's because I'm so good. It's
because I read the Bible. It's because I pray. No! The sacrifice. The sacrifice. Do you need any other assurance
than that? The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. That's how I know
God's going to deal with mercy toward me. He that spared not
his own son But delivered him up for us all, how shall he not
with him also freely give us all things? It's the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how I know. Verse 10. And he took unto him all these
these. Animals to be used for sacrifice,
and he divided them in the midst and laid each piece one against
another. But the birds he divided not.
Verse 11, there's an interesting sideline to this. And when the
fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abraham drove them away. I love
to think about this. I just picture it in my mind.
Abraham sets up all these pieces. He divides the animals and puts
the birds down. He's going to burn these as a
sacrifice before God. And there he's looking at these
things and all of a sudden the vultures come down. The vultures come
down and get on the sacrifice and Abraham gets up and shoots
them away. Get away. He keeps those vultures away. Now, what is the significance
of this? You know, in scripture, quite often, often fowls represent
evil. When Satan attacks the wayside
here, he's represented as a bird that comes and gobbles up the
sea, isn't he? You know, John spoke in revelation of every
unclean and hateful bird. Quite often, fowls represent
evil and Satan. And what is it that Satan is
going to attack? The sacrifice. He's always going
to seek to water down the sacrifice and make it to be somewhat less
than it actually is. That's what he's always going
to do. The fowls of the air are going to come down. What was
Abraham's job? It was to drive away the vultures
from the sacrifice. Verse 12, And when the sun was
going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and lo and horror
of great darkness fell upon him. This was a nightmare to him,
I suppose. And he said unto Abram in this horrific vision, Know
of a surety that thy seed, that he hadn't experienced yet, shall
be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve
them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years. Abram was giving a word from
God, and God said, regarding your seed, He said, they're going
to go into a strange land, and they're going to be afflicted
for 400 years. Now, you remember that these
people, 75 of them went down. 75 of Abraham's seed. And by the time this 400 years
is over, there's several million of them. And this is when God
brings him out. He gives this divine visitation.
Let's read about it real quick. Hold your finger, Genesis 15,
and turn to Exodus chapter 1. Verse 7, And the children of
Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied and
waxed exceedingly mighty, and the land was filled with them.
And there arose a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
And he said to his people, behold, the people of the children of
Israel more and mightier than we. Come on, let us wisely deal
wisely with him, lest they multiply and come to pass that when they.
They fall about any war, they also join on to our enemies and
fight against us and so get them up out of the land. Therefore,
they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens,
and they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Python and Ramses. They
were the ones who were building the pyramids that we read of. But the more they afflicted them,
the more they multiplied and grew, and they were grieved because
of the children of Israel. And the Egyptians made the children
of Israel to serve with rigor, and they made their lives bitter
with bondage, and in mortar and brick, and in all manner of service
in the field, in the service wherein they made their serf
with rigor. Oh, they were so miserable. Now, look in chapter
2, beginning in verse 23. And it came to pass in the process
of time that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel
sighed. by reason of the bondage, and
they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the
bondage. And God heard their groaning,
and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and
with Jacob. And God looked upon the children
of Israel, and God had respect to them. Look in chapter 4, verse
29. And Moses, you remember what
happened to how God appeared to Moses and told him he was
going to deliver the children of Israel. And Moses and Aaron
went and gathered together all the elders of the children of
Israel. And Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken
unto Moses, and did signs in the sight of the people. And
the people believed. And when they heard that the
Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he looked
upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped."
Now, when they finally leave, you can read about this in chapter
13. God has visited them and brought them out. You know what
they did? They took Joseph's bones with them. And as they
traveled 40 years in the wilderness, they had his bones the whole
time. And when they entered the Promised Land, Joshua 24 points
out that they brought in the bones of Joseph. Now, go back to Genesis chapter
15. Now, he's speaking to Abraham. And
he said unto Abraham, Know of a surety that thy seed shall
be a stranger in a strange land. Now who is this seed? Ishmael
was born of Abraham. He was Abraham's biological seed,
wasn't he? But Ishmael has nothing to do
with this. He didn't go down into the land. Biological sperm was the same
for Isaac and Ishmael. Isn't that true? But the seed
spoken of here is more than biological seed. The seed was to a degree
biological, but it was more than that. This seed is Christ. New
Testament tells us that. This is elect. This is the transcendent
seed. This is the one seed. This is
the seed of Abraham. This is the seed that I must
be if I'm to be saved. The seed of Abraham, Christ and
his people. And this seed is eternal. The
eternal union of Christ and his people. The seed of Abraham. Now look what he says in verse
13. And he said unto Abraham, Know
of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger. In a land that's
not theirs and shall serve them and they shall afflict them 400
years. And that's exactly what they experienced. But I want
you to look in your own personal experience. I'm a stranger. In a strange
land. This world really isn't my home. And I find my time in this body. A time of affliction. My sin
grieves me. While I'm here temporarily in
this body, it is a time of affliction. Now, we also know that God judged
the Egyptians, didn't He? Those ones who were afflicting
the children of Israel. God judged them. He drowned them
in the Red Sea and brought them out. But you know what? At the time of my affliction,
this body of death that I'm living in, this sinful body of death,
on the cross, God judged it. And you know what happens to
me as a result? I'm brought out with great substance. Did you
notice how that's brought out? They were brought out with great
substance. It's an amazing event. The children of Egypt, the people
of Egypt, they gave them all kinds of goods, all kinds of
riches and said, get out. We don't want you here anymore.
Get out. They gave them everything. But
this is typical of what happens to us when God judged our sins. All of a sudden we come out with
great substance, the favor of God. The very righteousness of
Jesus Christ. The divine seed. The holy nature. Acceptance with God. The riches
of His providence, knowing that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. Perfect conformity to the image of Jesus Christ.
All the riches of all things join heirs with Christ. Is that
great substance? You know, I'm looking at some
people who are so wealthy, it can't even be described. You
don't feel that way, but you are. You've been brought out
with great substance. Verse 14, And also that nation
whom they shall serve will I judge, and afterwards they'll come out
with great substance. Verse 15, And thou shalt go to thy fathers
in peace, thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the
fourth generation, this is talking about what's going on while the
children of Israel are in Egypt, God bringing his purposes to
pass. But in the fourth generation, they shall come hither again,
for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. Now, the Amorites
didn't know anything about this. I didn't know God was watching
them and recording everything they did, and their iniquity
was not yet complete, but it would be, and God knew. God is
having mercy on His people, and He's judging the Amorites, even
at this time. Verse 17, And it came to pass,
that when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking
furnace to consume the sacrifice, and a burning lamp, that's our
light that passed between those pieces. Now, there's our hope. God consumes the sacrifice. That's our light, that God accepts
us through the sacrifice, the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's all my salvation. And the same day, the Lord made
a covenant with Abram, saying, that same covenant, unto Have
I given this land from the river of Egypt unto the great river
of Euphrates, the Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephamites, and the Amorites,
and the Canaanites, and the Pergocites, and the Jebusites, it's all yours. Now, because of this promise,
some, I don't know how many years it was, 80 or 90, well, no, it's
probably, it was a long time later. Joseph has been in Egypt
for 80 some years. When he says to the children
of Israel, now God is surely going to visit you. And when
he does, take my bones and bring them with you. Christ is never
going to be separated from his bones. But this sure visitation
comes because God said it would. Because of the sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ. I want to be part of this seed,
don't you? The divine seed. It's mysterious, isn't it? I
mean, it's mysterious. Understood, not even remotely. Believed with all my heart. Let's pray.