As a blessing, would you turn
to Genesis 47? I thought that was a very appropriate
song to go with the message I'd like to try to bring. While you're turning there, Todd
and Donna Meek had their child this week, a little girl, Anna
Grace. He said she had ten fingers and
ten toes and everything looked good. He was very thankful, very
healthy. sign up sheet in the foyer to
bring them meals for the next couple of weeks. If you can sign
up for that. I want to begin reading in verse
twenty nine, read the last three verses of this chapter. And the time drew nigh that Israel
must die. And he called his son Joseph
and said unto him, If now I have 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, Joseph, said, I will do as thou hast said. And he said,
Swear unto me. And he swore unto him. And Israel
bowed himself upon the bed's head. The time grew nigh that Israel
must die. Now, the same is true of you
and I. Death is right around the corner. Right around the corner. And for the unbeliever, Death
is the beginning of an eternity of torment. I don't even like to talk about
it, don't like to think about it, but it's what the Scripture
teaches. For the unbeliever, death begins misery that we don't
know even how to describe. But for the believer, death is
the beginning of life. I love the opening phrase of
that hymn you sang, waiting for my body that will never see Him. The thought of being in the presence
of Jesus Christ, seeing His face. You know, the hymn writer said,
when by His grace I shall look on His face. That will be glory. And you know it will. Being in
His presence. We have every reason to anticipate
death. Not just to get out of here.
Now, I realize that when things are going bad, we just think,
oh, I just can't wait to die. I wish the Lord would call me
home and so on. But that's just fleshliness on
our part. That's all it is. But that desire
to see Christ, that desire to be without sin, I think of that
statement Paul made in Galatians chapter five, which is that we,
by the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness. We're waiting. We're waiting for that time when
I'll wake in perfect conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
the time of death drew nigh for Israel, the time that he must
die. And I think that language is
interesting. He said the time drew nigh that
he must die. And you know that Israel is Jacob. He's the great type of the believer.
He's Jacob in himself. He's a heel. That's what the
word means. He's a defective man in himself. He's a weak, sinful, The Lord himself called him a
worm. Fear not thou worm, Jacob, for
I have redeemed thee. That's who he is. He knew that.
But he's also Israel. In Christ, he is a prince with
God. And the time drew nigh when he
must die. Now, why must he die? What is this about the time drew
nigh that he must die? Do you know that all men have
a time appointed when they must die? And the exact second of
your death has already been determined and appointed by God. He has
determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation. The exact second of your death
has already been determined. Kind of takes the pressure off,
doesn't it? I mean, we worry about, you know, this taking
place, that taking place. There's no point in worrying.
The exact time of your death has already been decreed. There's
nothing any man can do to lengthen that time or to shorten that
time. You and I will die at God's appointed
hour. And I find that very comforting.
Here the Lord said to his disciples, which of you by taking thought,
by worrying, can add one minute to your life? All the things
you do for your health, it's a good practice. I'm not taking
away from that, but I'm saying this, nothing you do is going
to add a second to your life. Nothing that you do is going
to take away a second from your life. The time of your death
has already been appointed, the time when Israel must die." Now
notice the language. It says Israel must die. Now
why must he die? Well, what's the reason for death?
Now there's only one reason for death. The wages of sin is death. That's why Israel must die. Israel has sinned, and Israel
must die. If you sin in this body, this
body must be put in the grave. There's only one reason for death,
and that is sin. And I think the most awesome proof of this is, why
did the Lord Jesus Christ die? There's only one reason why Christ
died. The sins of his people became
his, and that is why he died. And all that he died for absolutely
must be saved, because their sins have been put away. Now,
Jacob sinned, Jacob must die. Jacob must die because Christ
must have his reward. Now, I want you to think about
this. Here's why Jacob must die. It's that the time has come that
he must die. That means it was absolutely necessary that he
die. Absolutely necessary. Why? Was it because he'd reached
that point? Because he got old or got sick?
No. For Christ to have his reward, Jacob is going to have to be
perfectly conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
for him to reach that and attain that, he's first going to have
to die. You know, the Scripture says in 1 Corinthians chapter
15, this corruptible must put on incorruption. And this mortal
must put on immortality. Now, why must I put on incorruption? Why is it necessary that I put
on immortality? That's the language. It's an
absolute necessity. Why is that? Because Christ must have the
fruit of His death. Everybody He died for must be
perfectly conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that is why Israel must die. Death is our graduation day. The best day of your life will
be your last day. I wonder how many of us really
believe that. Some of us are young and we've
got our whole life ahead of us and we think of all the things
we want to experience, and I understand that. I understand that. There
isn't anybody that doesn't have some fear of death and some even
dread of death. The Lord has put it in us to
where we want to live. We want to live. The Lord put
that in us. But that being said, if I'm a believer, the absolute
best day of my life is my last day. Because that's when I'm
going to be ushered into the very presence of Jesus Christ. I'm going to behold His face,
and I'm not going to be ashamed. I'm not going to be cringing,
looking down in shame. I'm going to behold His face
in righteousness, and I'm going to be perfectly conformed to
His image. I'm going to be holy. It's graduation day for the believer.
Now, every believer has every reason to look forward to death. Now, I realize you enjoy life,
and I realize that. But every believer has reason
to long for death, not just because they want to get out of here,
but because they want to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. Why must
Israel die? Because God's purposed it. Why
must Israel die? Because Christ has purchased
his salvation and Christ is going to have the fruit of his death.
Israel is going to be made just like Christ. Why must Israel
die? The Holy Spirit has applied his
work to Israel and he must be made like Christ. Jacob must
die so Christ will have the reward of his sufferings. Listen to
this scripture. Precious. In the sight of the
Lord. is the death of His saints. Now, I want you to think about
this. This is so hard to believe. It's so hard to get hold of.
But when I die, it's going to be precious to the Lord. When you die, we're all going
to be crying. We're going to be distraught. But you know who's going to be
rejoicing? The Lord Himself. Precious. In the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. The Lord said, or the angel said
to John, write, write, making sure everybody's able to see
this, write it down. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. And Jacob knew this. He knew
it was time for him to die. And you know that you're soon
going to die. Every one of us, we know it's just around the
corner. Our life is, we live another 50 years. What's that?
Your life is a vapor that appears just for a little while. And
after that, it's over. Now, let's look at how Jacob
dealt with this, how he dealt with death and what he had to
say, and we can see how we're to deal with death. The time grew nigh that Israel
must die. Now let's look what he had to
say. And he called his son Joseph. You know that Joseph is a beautiful
type of the Lord Jesus Christ. We've seen that so much in the
last several months. There's not a more beautiful
type of Christ than all the Word of God than Joseph. And look
what Jacob says to Joseph. He said unto him, If now I have found grace in
thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and
deal kindly and truly with me." Now he says to Joseph, if I have
found grace in your sight. Now this is what I like to think
about. This is what I must think about when I'm thinking about
death. Grace. Free, unmerited favor. Grace. Now, are you heavy in your heart right now
because of your sin? Oh, you're troubled because of
your sin. Sins that you've committed over
and over and over again. and you're troubled, let me tell
you something. Do you know that with the grace
of God, your sin is absolutely no hindrance to you being made
just like Christ and being brought into heaven? Isn't that wonderful? Grace. Grace. What is the grace of God? Turn
to Ephesians chapter 2. Hold your finger there. And the last phrase of verse
three says, we were by nature the children of wrath, just like
everybody else, even as others. But God. Somebody once said the definition
of grace is right here, but God. But God, not that you turn things
around, not that you turned over a new leaf, not that you believe,
but God as grace. who is rich in mercy for his
great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in
sins. Hath, that means it's already
been done, quickened us, given us life together with Christ. Paul says what I mean by this
is by grace ye are saved. And he has raised us up together. It's already happened. You know,
the resurrection has already taken place. The resurrection
of every believer in the person of their substitute. He had quickened
us together with Christ. He's raised us up together. He's
made us. That's past tense. He's made
us sit together in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, and in the ages
to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace. And this
is the subject of heaven. In the ages to come, He's going
to show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus, for by grace are you saved. Don't you say amen to that. You
know that's the truth. Through faith. And that, that
faith is not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works. Lest any man should boast, for
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them."
Now, the only way I can face death is grace. And notice the way Jacob says
this. He doesn't say, I claim grace.
I've claimed it for myself. He doesn't say anything like
that, does he? He says, if I have found grace in your sight. If
I have. Put your hand under my thigh,
and that was the way of making a promise. Perhaps you remember
there in Genesis 24 when Abraham sent out Eleazar to look for
a bribe for Isaac. And he said, you put your hand
under my thigh and promise me you're going to do this. That
was the way of making a promise. So Jacob says to Joseph, this
great type of Christ, if I have found grace in your sight, put
your hand under my thigh and deal kindly and truly with me. Deal kindly with me, and would
you turn with me? to Psalm 51 for a moment, that
word kindly is the exact same word that's generally translated
loving kindness. Deal with me. Treat me. If I found grace in your sight,
I'm getting ready to die. And here's my only hope. What
I need for you to do is to treat me and deal with me with loving
kindness. Now, here's what God's loving
kindness is here in Psalm 51. David says in verse one. Have
mercy upon me, O God. According to. Thy. Loving kindness. Not according
to my intentions to do better, not according to my intentions
to stop whatever it is I'm being Chasing for not according to
how sorry I am. Have mercy upon me according
to thy loving kindness, according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies, blot out my transgressions, wash me through me for my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin. Now, when I think of facing death,
here's one thing that I'm interested in, that he would deal with me
according to his loving kindness. where my sin will be blotted
out, erased, made to where it is no more. Would you turn with
me to Hebrews chapter 9 for a moment? And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, the time of your death has already been appointed.
But after this, the judgment, we're all going to stand before
God in judgment. So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Now, how is it that I can stand
in the judgment that awaits me after death? The loving kindness
of God that made a way for God to put away my sins by Christ
bearing my sins in His own body. Because He bore my sins in His
own body, I do not have to, and I can look at death and judgment
without fear. Now, death, death, oh, Let me
find grace in your sight. Now, if I have found grace in
your sight, deal with me with loving kindness, deal with me
in grace. But look what he says next, and
this is just as important. Look back to our text. Now, if I have found grace in
thy sight, put I pray thee thy hand under my thigh. And deal
kindly, that's with loving kindness, with grace. But next he says,
deal truly with me. Not only does he ask him to deal
in kindness or grace, but he says, deal truly with me. And that word means with rightness,
with fairness, with justice. deal truly with me, deal with
me according to truth. Now, not only will I be given
heaven according to grace if I am in heaven, if He has in
fact given me grace, not only will I be awarded heaven by grace
when I die, but when I walk into heaven, I will walk into heaven
because I personally deserve to be there. It's hard to say
that. It's hard to say it. But it's
the truth. If I walk into glory and see
the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, it will be because I myself personally
deserve to be there. I got it coming to me. How can
you say that? How in the world can that be
when you talk about getting heaven by grace and then you talk about
deserving to be there? And there's only one way that
this can be understood. And I tell you what, it's getting
bigger to me and more glorious to me the more I see this. Union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Does Jesus Christ deserve to
be in heaven? Does he deserve to stand before
God accepted? Does he deserve to be embraced
by God? Does he deserve that? Well, you
know he does. And you know who else does? Everybody
that's united to him. Now, this is how true union with
Christ is. If he deserves heaven, I do too. Literally? Literally. Actually. Yes, I deserve to be
there because my Lord deserves to be there. Union with Christ
makes me say, bold shall I stand in that great day, for who ought
to my charge shall lay, fully absolved from these I am, from
sins, tremendous curse and shame. Paul said, Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? There's not one thing that can
be laid to my charge. I'm perfect before God. I'm justified. Heaven is the place where I ought
to be in the very presence of Christ. And you know, when I'm
saying that, beloved, I really believe it. Because I believe
Christ Jesus is my righteousness. I mean, He really is. He is my
righteousness. And I go into heaven because
that's what I deserve through Him. Do I deserve heaven in myself? You know I'm not saying that.
You know I'm not saying it. Don't even think it. Don't even
suspect it. But union with Christ is so real that I deserve to
be in heaven. And can you see why a believer
can look at death without fear? These two things, loving kindness,
that's grace. It's the Old Testament word for
grace. And truth. I guess another word
to call it is justification. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that what? Justifies. Who is he that can condemn? It's
Christ that died. Yea, rather that's risen again.
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us. Now, that's where my confidence
comes from. Oh, if I found grace in your
sight. Can't you pray this prayer? If I have found grace in your
sight, deal with me kindly, in loving kindness, and deal with
me in rightness and truth. Now, look what he says next in
our text. He says, Bury me not, I pray
thee, in Egypt. I don't want to have any connection
with Egypt. Man's religion. Don't want to touch it. Don't
want to touch it. Bondage. Don't want to touch
it. Don't let me be in any way connected with Egypt. I want
out of Egypt. Carry me out and let me be buried by my fathers.
Look what he says. But I will lie with my fathers
And thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in
their burying place. Jacob requests, O if I found
grace in your sight, let me be carried." Now this word is a wonderful
word. Turn with me to Genesis 50. Verse 17. So shall you say unto
Joseph, forgive, I pray thee now the trespasses thy brethren.
See that word forgive? That's the exact same word translated
carry. If you look it up in the dictionary,
it means to lift up, to carry. And that's what that's the way
forgiveness is always translated in the Old Testament. It means
when your sins are lifted off of you. That's what forgiveness
means. This word carry means Forgive. Oh, I want to be carried,
don't you? I want to be carried. I need
to be carried throughout this life. Lord, carry me. I need
to be carried to keep me from falling away. I need to be carried
to keep believing. I need to be carried through
the passage of death into glory. I need to be carried. I need
to be carried to Christ by the Spirit of God. I need to be carried
by Christ before God in judgment. I need Him to carry me all the
way. I want to be carried, don't you?
I don't want to walk. I want to be carried. I want
to be just His child in His arms, Him carrying me all the way through. I need to be carried. And the
only way I'm going to be brought into glory... Now remember, He's
facing death. The time of His death was there. The time for
Israel must die. Well, the only way when I'm died
that I'm going to be brought into glory is for him to carry
me over Jordan and bring me in. I want to be carried, don't you?
Carry me. And look at this blessed promise. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. Now, if you say to the Lord, if I
found grace in your sight, Deal kindly with me in loving
kindness and grace, and deal truly with me through your justifying
righteousness, and carry me all the way through. Carry me. I
need to be carried. You know what the Lord says to
that, how He responds? He says, I will do what you said. You know, the Lord hearkens to
men. Remember, a believer is an Israel.
What is Israel? He's a prince. He has power with
God. God pays attention to what He
says. If you're a believer, you're in Israel with God, a prince
with God. You have power and prevail. You
have the very ear of God because of union with Christ. What you
say means something. You know, we think of our prayers
and we think, oh, how could he hear that? How could they get
past the ceiling? They're so weak and pitiful. Oh, but when
they're presented by Christ, how powerful they are. Every
single one of them. And He says, I'll do as thou
hast said. Verse 31, Old Jacob, you'd think
that'd be enough, wouldn't you? If the Lord said to you, I'll
do as you said, that ought to be enough. But Old Jacob, what
does he have to say? He says, swear unto me. Swear unto me. I want that assurance. I want you to swear unto me.
And he swore unto him. Jacob still feels like he needs
assurance. And God has sworn the salvation
for every Jacob. Would you turn with me for a
moment to Hebrews chapter six? This passage was such a blessing
to me. Verse 13. Hebrews chapter six, verse 13,
for when God made promise to Abraham, Because he could swear
by no greater, he swore by himself, saying, Surely, blessing I will
bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after
he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise, for men
barely swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation
to them in the end of all strife wherein God, willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel,
the changelessness of the character of His decrees, confirmed it
by an oath that by two immutable things in which it was impossible
for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have
fled to refuge to lay hold upon the hope that sat before us.
which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,
and which enters into that within the veil. You can't see an anchor,
can you? It's down at the bottom, but
it's grabbed hold of that which keeps you secure. An anchor that
you can see is not doing any good. That means it's still in
the boat. Now, this anchor is within the veil, that place we
can't see, but that's where my security is. which hope we have
as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which enters
into that within the veil, whether the forerunner is for us, entered
even Jesus, made an high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
He has sworn, He has sworn the complete salvation, He's sworn
to you, of everyone who's fled for refuge. I love that description
of coming to Christ. You've applied for refuge and
laid hold of the hope that's set before you. The hope of perfect
acceptance with God by what Christ did. You've laid hold of that
hope. That's what faith is. So He swears. So what did Israel do? Back to
our text. He said, Swear unto Me. And He swore unto Him. And
Israel bowed himself. upon the bed's head. Now that
word bowed is the word, bowed himself is the word that is generally
translated worship. What did Israel do when he heard
this swear from the Lord? And that's who Joseph is. You
know, what could he do? He bowed down and he worshiped. Worship is such a, you know,
heaven actually began right there for all Israel, didn't it? Isn't
that what heaven is, worshiping him? He bowed down and he worshiped. Now, every believer has every
reason to not fear death. I know there's
a little bit of fear because you've never experienced it.
You've never Anything you have experienced, I realize there's
some fear involved. But every believer, because of
Christ's promise, has every reason to not fear death. But I tell
you, when I think of death, here's what I say. If I found grace
in your sight, oh, deal kindly with me with loving kindness.
Deal with me according to pure, free grace. And deal with me
in righteousness. Christ's righteousness makes
me Fit for heaven. Deal with me
in righteousness because of union with Him. And carry me. Carry me all the way. And promise
me and swear to me that that's what you're going to do. And
that's how a believer deals with death. Let's pray together.