Well, it's good to see you all
out this evening. Glad to see you. As far as I
know, Sunday, everything's on schedule. We'll get back on the
regular schedule here. Let's begin our worship service
tonight with hymn number 62, crown hymn with many crowns. crown Him with many crowns, the
Lamb upon His throne. Hark how the heavenly anthem
drowns all music but its own. Awake, my soul, and sing of Him
who died for thee. ? And hail him as thy matchless
king ? ? Through all eternity ? ? Crown him the lord of love
? ? Behold his hands and side ? ? Rich wounds yet visible above
? ? In beauty glorified ? No angel in the sky can fully bear
that sight. But downward bends his wandering
eye at mysteries so bright. Crown him the Lord of life. who triumphed o'er the grave,
who rose victorious to the strife for those he came to save. His glories now we sing. life to bring and lives that
death may die. Crown Him the Lord of heaven,
one with the Father known, one with the Spirit through Him given
from yonder glory Him number 354, what a friend
we have in Jesus. What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear What a privilege to carry Everything
to God in prayer Oh, what needless pain we bear
Oh, because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer Can we try those
temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a prince of faith? ? Will all our sorrows share ?
Jesus knows our every weakness ? Take Him to the Lord in prayer
? Are we weak and heavy laden ? Comforted with the load of
care Taken to the Lord in prayer In
His arms He'll take and see have your Bibles turned to Genesis
chapter 49 going to read verses 25 and 26 even by the God of
thy father who shall help thee and by the
Almighty who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts
and of the womb, the blessings of thy father hath prevailed
above the blessings of thy progenitors unto the utmost bound of the
everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of
Joseph and on the crown of the head of him that was separate
from his brethren. Let us pray. Our God and our
Father, Blessed be thy name, honor and glory belong to thee.
You are the great and mighty God, the everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace, the Counselor. We thank you that you have been
so merciful to us, that you have regarded us we can say with David
what is man that thou art mindful of him son of man that thou should
visit him but you have visited us in the power of your spirit
by and through the gospel of Jesus Christ and have caused us in our souls
to hear the voice of Christ through the words that are written and
have brought us to the feet of him who is worthy of all praise
and honor and glory to there find solace for our souls We
thank you that we can speak to you, who created all things and
sustain all things and shall consummate all things, that we
poor worms of the dust can voice to you our hearts, for the privilege
is ours. Father, we pray for those of
our company who are sick and going through trials, continue
to remember Perry and Melvin, those of our shut-ins, Wayne
and Ethel and Peggy Lambert, We'd ask also, Father, that you
would be merciful to those who had this COVID. My nephew, as
he's recovering, my son-in-law, we thank you that he's doing
better. We pray for our congregation, Father, that we might be a lighthouse
on a hill, a hospital for sinners to come and hear the good news
of God's grace to wretched sinners. Help us to be mindful of what
you've done for us. Continually remind us of that
fact that you, by your grace and mercy, because of the shed
blood and perfect sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, have counted
us among your children. You have taken us as beggars
from the dunghill and have set us among princes and crowned
us and endued us with righteousness. We can never thank you enough.
Bless our time together tonight for your glory. Touch our hearts
by your spirit, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Now in this passage of scripture,
Jacob ends his prophecies concerning Joseph. He only has one son left,
and that's Benjamin. We'll look at him next week.
He speaks of the blessings that Joseph will receive from God
that will surpass those of his brethren. Historically, these
blessings will be bestowed during the remaining years of Joseph's
reign as number two in Egypt. These blessings consist of natural
things, natural elements, necessities for life that will be provided
for Joseph and his brethren as they take up residence in Goshen. and grow into a great nation.
These blessings placed on Joseph's head as the head of his family
will assure the prosperity of the household of Jacob for the
glorious days that precede their predestinated slavery at the
hand of Pharaoh, the Pharaoh who knew not Joseph, and their
great deliverance from the bondage of Egypt by the blood of the
Lamb. And that nation, though enslaved, will be preserved until
the day of redemption. God, through Joseph, will assure
that all things will serve this nation, things from heaven above,
things from earth below, things from the hills, things from the
breast and the womb. All those will serve this nation
and preserve them until the day that they are delivered Even
the cruel hand of Pharaoh will serve them, because they are
God's family. Spiritually, this is a picture
of the salvation of the elect. They are preserved until the
day of redemption, and they will find that God has ordered all
things, even their bondage, to work for their good and for His
glory. And these blessings will flow from the blessings that
the Father has placed upon the Head of Jesus Christ, who is
Head of the Church. Now the blessings listed are
from a singular source. It says here in our text, in
verse 25, they are from the source of all blessings. The old doxology
hymn says, Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him
all creatures here below. Praise Him above ye heavenly
hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. All blessings are
by God and shall be for our help. He says, I will be your help.
It is the great God who is your help. In Psalm 33, in verse 20,
it says, Our soul waiteth for the Lord. He is our help and
our shield. All blessings flow from the Almighty
who shall bless thee. When the Lord told Moses to bless
the people in Numbers chapter 6, He said several things that were
designed to bless the people and did bless the people. He
said in Numbers chapter 6 and verse 24, he says to Aaron, Speaking
to Aaron and to his son, saying, On this wise you shall bless
the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee
and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine
upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance
upon thee, and give thee peace. These are the Lord's blessings
to his people. These blessings are described
as of heaven, of the deep, of the breast and the womb, and
of the hills. Naturally speaking, these have
to do with that which supports life and progeny, rain from above,
water from the deep wells, milk or sustenance for the children,
the promise of future children and the family, and the crops
and vineyards that the hills produce. Spiritually, from heaven,
the believer receives all good and perfect gifts. That's what
it says in James 1, 17. All good and perfect gifts come
from the Father of lights, in whom there is no variable, there's
no shadow of turning. From the deep refers to the deep
things of God that the Spirit reveals to us. Our Lord shows
us what He has done. These are the secret things that
belong to God, but they are also secret things that are revealed
to us as His children that only His children can understand and
receive. The world cannot receive them. The world don't understand
them. The world can't even know you as a child of God. That's
what John said in 1 John chapter 3. He said the world knows us
not because it knew Him not. it knew him not but you understand
and you know and our Lord makes that clear in first Corinthians
chapter two this passage of scripture is
almost always exclusively by preachers devoted to heaven things
out yonder that nobody knows But that's not what the text
says. The text is very self-explaining. But it is written. Now where
was it written? It was written in Isaiah chapter
64 and verse 4. As it is written, I have not
seen in verse 9 of chapter 2 of 1 Corinthians. I have not seen
nor ear heard nor hath entered into the heart of man the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him. And I guess if
you want to take that just as a text, you can talk about heaven
if you want to, but that's not what it's talking about. He says,
But God, eyes not seen, ears not heard, what God hath prepared
for you, but God hath revealed them to us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth the
deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things
of man, save the spirit of man which is in him. We understand
each other because we are all people. But by nature we cannot
understand God, but the Spirit does. Even so the things of God
knoweth no man but by the Spirit of God. Now we have not received
the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things which are freely given to us of God.
These are the deep things of God. What is freely given to
His people? salvation, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, justification,
all these things are freely given to His people. All things are
freely given to them. According to Scripture, Paul
said all things are yours and you are Christ and Christ is
God. From the womb refers to the truth of the church. that
was barren, that she who was barren has more children than
she that hath a husband. That's the language used in Isaiah
chapter 54 and in Galatians 4.27. Both of those refer to the church,
which looks to the world as barren. What do you think these big mega
churches would think about this group gathered here tonight?
It's what a ragtag bunch of nobodies. You got three, six, seven, eight,
nine, counting me here tonight. What do you think the world would
say? Ain't much to that outfit. That's what they'd say. But the
Lord says, O thou barren, you shall have more children than
she that has a husband. And he's talking about the church
of the living God. This is the blessings from the
womb. From the hills refers to the estate of the church that
has received manifold blessings. from hills. First from the hill
of Golgotha we receive the blessing of righteousness before God and
salvation and forgiveness of sin. No sin will ever be imputed to
us. No charged sin will ever be charged against us because
Christ has perfected us by his work on Calvary's tree. Most
of you know Psalm 121 if you've been to the drama here in Cherokee. Most of you know that Envias
Boudinot knelt down and prayed this psalm. This psalm is about
these hills. The hills of Golgotha and the
holy hill Zion, which is where we are tonight. In Psalm 121
it says, I will lift mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh
my help. And all the people stop there and say, well, I love the
mountains because my help comes from there. That's not what it
says. to the hills, what hills? Golgotha, Zion, Zion's holy hills. My help cometh from the Lord,
which made heaven and earth. He will not sever thy foot to
be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Behold, he that keepeth thee
shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord
is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun will not smite thee by
day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee
from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The
Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this
time forth, even forevermore. This is the help that he gives
to his people. And it comes from the hills called Gotha and Zion. These blessings are said to be
upon the head of Joseph. Christ is the head of the church
and all blessings are upon Him. The church being His body receives
all that He receives. Whatever Christ has as the head,
the body has also. And the body is His church. That's
why it says the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that
we are the children of God and if children, then heirs. Heirs
of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 8 and
verse 16 and 17. is all blessings are upon christ
by the almighty all believers are in him and all believers
are in him by the power of the almighty for it says in first
corinthians one thirty four of him are you in christ jesus who
of god is made under us wisdom righteousness sanctification
and redemption and in ephesians chapter one in verse three it
said blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who
has blessed us blessed us with all spiritual blessings now he's
done that according as he's chosen us in Christ before the foundation
of the world that's when he did it that's
when he blessed us and he's given his children all spiritual blessings
that's why Paul could say to the Colossian church we are complete
in him we have need of nothing His grace supplies all our needs. These blessings, said to be of
thy father, placed on Christ's head, exceed the blessings of
those who are born of him. And he is the one upon whom all
blessings exist. Jesus Christ is the source of
blessing. He is our blessing. He is that good and perfect gift
that comes from above, from the Father of alliance. And verse
25 asserts that the crown belongs to Christ's head. and it does. He is King of kings and Lord
of lords. The crown we just sung, crown
Him with many crowns. The crown of His glory, the crown
is His glory and it belongs to Him alone. The glory belongs
to only a single person always, the one who's done the deed.
He by Himself has purged our sins is what the scripture says
in Hebrews chapter 1. He has sat down on the right
hand of the majesty on high, having accomplished that, and
been awarded for it. Being obedient unto death, God
has highly exalted him and given him a name that is above every
name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every
tongue confess that he is Lord. Things in heaven, things in earth,
things under the earth, things in the sea shall all sing the
praises of Christ and call him Lord. Those who love Him will
call Him Lord. Those who have hated Him will
call Him Lord. Every knee shall bow and every
tongue confess. By one sacrifice He's perfected
forever them that are sanctified even to the extent that God will
remember their sins no more. The crown belongs to Him. He
did it all by Himself. Look sometime in your concordance
at the words by Himself. See how many times it's used
in reference to Christ. Are He alone? By Himself. By
Himself He purged our sins. And it says he is separate from
his brethren. He also says, I am with you always. And where two
or three meet, I'll be in the midst of them. So how is he separate
from us? Well, Joseph was the one that
was beloved of his father. It says that in chapter 37 when
we're introduced to Joseph. He was well loved by his father.
Loved above his brethren is what it says. His father loved him
above his brethren. He was the firstborn of Jacob's
true love, Rachel. and he was separated from his
brethren. He was different from them. They knew it, they saw
it, and they hated him for it. The Lord gave him dreams which
were prophetic of the glory that he would receive and also pictured
the glory of Jesus Christ. When he said to them as he went
out that day and they were tending the sheep, I had this dream.
These seven sheaves and they all bowed down to me. Or these
eleven sheaves and they all bowed down to me. And he said, wait
a minute. They said, you talking about us? He said, we're going
to bow down to you. Then he went and told his father another dream
that he had, and his father found out that his father said, wait
a minute, you think we're going to bow down to you? It's Jacob
speaking. What happened? What happened? They sold him into slavery. He
went into Egypt, sold to jail because of Potiphar's wife, got
out of jail, became second only to Pharaoh. And what did his
brethren do when they came to him? They didn't know him, but
what did they do? They bowed down to him. What
did Jacob do when he came? He bowed down to him with his
face on the floor. Every knee shall bow. Every knee shall bow. Christ is the beloved of the
Father. Now, every one of his children is loved with an everlasting
love, but he doesn't say this about all of his children. At
his baptism and on the Mount of Transfiguration, he said,
this is my beloved son. in whom I am well pleased, satisfied,
or propitiated." It says he's the firstborn, the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. He's
also the firstborn among many brethren, according to Romans
8.29. For whom he did call, he also did predestinate, be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. They were all sinners, his children. his brothers and sisters in Christ.
They were all sinners, saved by grace, and he's separate from
sinners. He's one of us. He's our family,
our closest friend, our elder brother, our father. He's all
that to us, yet he's different from us, isn't he? He's separate
from us, because he's separate from sinners. He's different.
You see, we've known nothing but sin since the day we do our
first breath. He knew no sin. He did no sin. And yet he was made to be sin
for his people that they would be made the righteousness of
God in him. He's separate from his brethren. The crown belongs
on his head. Even by the God of thy father,
who shall help thee, and by the Almighty who shall bless thee
with blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lieth
under. Blessings of the breasts and of the womb. The blessings
of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of thy progenitors.
Unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall
be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him
that is separate from his brethren. Let us pray. Our father, thank
you for your truth. Thank you for your son. Thank
you for saving us, in Christ's name.