God is Faithful to Deliver

We all want happy endings in life. We want happy endings at work. We want to be able to retire. We want to not be fired from our labor, from our occupation. We want happy endings at home. We don't want to lose our home. We fear foreclosure with all the financial crises going around. We don't want to lose our home or buy a home that ends up having septic trouble. We don't want to buy a car that's a lemon. We don't want to buy a computer that crashes. That's why we buy apples. Some of us. We want happy endings in our relationships. We don't want friendships to turn into enemies. We don't want to lose reconciliation or we don't want to end relationships with sin and anger and bitterness. We want happy endings for our children. We want them to grow up to be happy, to have fun with life and be blessed by God. We want happy endings with our marriage. We want to keep our marriage, to protect our marriage, to love our spouse. We want happy endings. This is why we like the movies, because it's a break from a life that has very few happy endings. We like movies because they typically end happily. The boy gets the girl, the good guy wins, the evil villain is caught, the cowboy rides off in the sunset. The truth is, in the fallen world, we don't get that many happy endings. We must be thankful for God's blessings, but we must realize that in this fallen world that is full of sinners, we do not get that many happy endings. Sinners are selfish, which leads to covetousness, hatred, lies, malice, disorder, We have to realize that things are not ultimately the way they're supposed to be. This world is no longer good the way God created it because we as sinners have corrupted it. We're hurt by other sinners and we must realize that we are sinners that hurt others. Happiness in this world will always be strived for, but true perfect happiness will always be beyond our grips. That's why this morning we're going to look at hopeful endings. We must realize that our hope is for an ultimate happiness that we receive when we die and are taken up into heaven with Christ, when we get to see him face to face. Our message this morning is from Genesis 50, and it is this. We have hope in our Redeemer. We have hope in our Redeemer. We will look at God's promises that give us hope. And these promises will change the way we mourn, they change the way we die, and they hopefully will change the way we live. Now, we're going to change a little bit of our plan. I had planned on going from 49-29 through 50, but as I prepared the first point, it ended up being a little longer than most sermons, and so I decided I'm not going to go to the second point. You're welcome. So I'm going to skip 15 through 21. We're going to look at that next week because it's a rich passage, one of the greatest declarations of God. What you intended for evil, God intended for good. We're going to look at that and the reconciliation of Joseph and his brothers more fully next week. So this week we're going to go from 49 to 29 and then we'll skip down and we'll look at Joseph's funerals. We're going to be thinking a lot about death today. I'll begin in chapter 49, 29, and just for those who are thinking, well, last week you said you're going to finish Joseph this week. I'm going to finish that next week from chapter 49 as well with the section with the brothers. As I read, listen for these words, key words in the text. Bury. They're going to bury the father. They want to be buried outside of Egypt. The key word is father, bury, and then go up. There's a number of different ways he says go up. It's the same Hebrew word. He went up, they're going up. But the action of going out and up is a key repeated term. Verse 29, Then he commanded them and said to them, speaking of Jacob, I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me and my fathers. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron, the Hittite. In the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, at the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with a field from Ephron, the Hittite, to possess as 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 field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites. When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people." Then Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. And the days of weeping for him were passed. Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak. in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, My father made me swear, saying, I am about to die in my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan. For there you shall bury me. Now, therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return. And Pharaoh answered him, Go up, bury your father, as he made you swear. So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, They lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he made a mourning for his father seven days. When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, this is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians. Therefore, the place was named Abel Mizraim. It is beyond the Jordan. Thus, his sons did for him as he had commanded them. For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan. and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah at the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with a field from Ephron, the Hittite, to possess as a burying place. After he buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers, and all who had gone up with him could bury his father." We'll skip down to verse 22. So Joseph remained in Egypt. He and his father's house. Joseph lived 110 years. And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. The children also of Mechiah the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph's own. And Joseph said to his brothers, I'm about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, God will surely visit you. And you will carry up my bones from here." So Joseph died being 110 years old. They embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. Well, we say goodbye here to a dear friend, Jacob. We see his burial, his death, and then his burial. His death in chapter 49, verses 29 through 33. He requests to be buried with his father, his grandfather, and his two wives. He's already given instruction once in chapter 47 verse 29, but here he calls all the brothers together to make sure that he is not buried in Egypt. He wants to be buried in the promised land. He wants to be gathered with his people, the covenant people of God. One of the striking things here is that he makes them swear. But then verse 33, Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drove his feet into the bed and breathed his last. gathered to his people." Now remember Jacob, he's the one who fought to come into this world. He fought with his brother in the womb to be the firstborn. Very dramatic explanation of his birth. Here we see him leaving just as dramatically, but peacefully. He draws his feet up into bed and breathes his last. We say goodbye to a dear friend, someone we've seen grow, someone we've got to know more than any other figure thus far in the Old Testament. Let's turn quickly to verses one through three, as we see the brothers now burying him. We see first that Joseph mourns for his father. He weeps aloud. This is verses one through three. Very emotional. We've seen Joseph become extremely emotional throughout Genesis. He's weeping almost every turn. But the man has gone through numerous trials, numerous tribulations. He's had numerous reasons to celebrate. As I read a lot of the older commentaries, they kept correcting Joseph for crime. They kept saying he's not in control of his passion. He's too run by his passion. I think this is wrong. It's not correct to correct Joseph for weeping. It's only proper that he would weep. He weeps at the sight of his brothers after they sold him to slavery. He weeps when they're reconciled. He weeps when he sees his father. And now he weeps when his father dies. He's not a crybaby. He's a man. A man should cry. He feels real pain and it has a proper effect of having an emotional response which turns into weeping. Even this morning, one of the dear saints that I've gotten to know talking about their deceased spouse had tears in his eyes. We should love our spouses and we should hate the fact that they have died and we should miss them. Crying is a proper response. We see Joseph, I think, mourning well. The questions we should ask is, do we mourn well or do we numb the pain rather than allowing it to have its proper work? Death is painful because it takes away our loved ones. Death is painful and confusing because it reminds us of sin and its consequences. Do we mourn well? We'll look at that later on in the sermon. Verses 2 and 3, Joseph asked for his father to be embalmed. Now, notice he asked the physicians. Embalming was typically a religious action. It was a ceremony that the priests would do. But here he asked the physicians specifically. And I think it's because he doesn't want this to be a religious ceremony. He doesn't want to have any trust in the ceremonial embalming. He asked the physicians to do it to make sure it's a medical embalming to keep the body Because he's going to remain in Egypt for 70 days. I believe they're that 70 days that includes the first 40. Our next scene, Jacob asks for permission to make the journey out of Egypt. Verses 4 through 6. They've wept for Jacob. Joseph goes and he asks the Pharaoh, I need to take my father out. I need to take him to the promised land. He has made this request. That's the basis of the request. Remember, Pharaoh has great respect for Jacob. He came out to honor Jacob, and so Joseph going and making the request in the name of his father has a lot of weight to it. And the request has three basic parts. Let me go up. Let me bury my father and I will return. That's very important. They all go out. Except for the children and the animals, as we'll see next in verses 7 through 14. There's a grand procession to honor Jacob. This is what we see in verses 7 to 14. There's a grand procession. Let me read it again. So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh. The elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as the households of Joseph, his brother, and his father's household, only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. And they went up with him, both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company." What we see here is actually a little bit of a proto-Exodus. Israel is leaving Egypt. They're leaving, and it's very inclusive. The word all is repeated three times. All of the house of Joseph, all of the house of Jacob, all the servants of Pharaoh. It's a great company. They're going to leave behind the flocks. They're going to leave behind the children. This could be so that Pharaoh believes they are going to come back. They're not going to leave their children in this foreign land. But it may be also because the children could not make the long, difficult journey. Notice there in verse 9, the chariots and the horsemen of Egypt, they accompany Israel. The chariots and the horsemen, the might of Egypt goes out with them to honor Jacob and to protect the exiling Israelites. If you look at verse 10, when they came to the threshing floor of Atah, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented. There was a very great and grievous lamentation. And he made a mourning for his father seven days. There's great redundancy in the mourning. Again, they are sad. There's weeping. They're mourning correctly. Verse 12. Thus, the sons did for him as he commanded them. I can't think of another place in the Old Testament where this was said of the sons of Jacob. They were finally all obedient. All gathered together for the one purpose that Jacob had for them. None trying to up the others. They were all obedient. They all gathered to bury him together. And then verse 14. After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father. You hear the redundancy of burying his father. And he comes back to Egypt. Now let's move ahead, and I want to go ahead and look at Joseph's burial, and then we will start looking at the gospel in our story. Let me read this again. So Joseph remained in Egypt. He and his father's house, Joseph, lived 110 years. And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. The children also of Mechir, the son of Manasseh, were counted as Joseph's own. And Joseph said to his brothers, I'm about to die. But God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones here. So Joseph died being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt." Now we're looking at these two together because, well, they're both deaths. And they're both burials. They're both saying goodbye to life. And they both have a very clear theme uniting them together. And it's redemption. It's exile. Before we get into that, let me walk through this text quickly. Verse 22, it says he lived 110 years. This actually bookends his epitaph. So we have 110 years in verse 22. We have 110 years in verse 26. 110 was considered the ideal life. He had the ideal life. He was blessed. He got to see not only his children, but his grandchildren to the third generation. Where they focus on is verse 24. I am about to die. But God, anytime you see that phrase in Scripture, you're about to see something awesome. But God will visit you. And bring you up. They had just gone up out of Egypt. But now he's promising there will be a greater exile, there will be a greater bringing up out of the land and into the land that Abraham and Isaac and Jacob were sworn by God. Verse 25, after he shows what God has sworn to do, he makes them swear. God will surely visit you. That's the basis of the entire swearing. He asked his children. He asked Israelites, make sure you carry up my bones from here. Because God will surely visit you. I don't want to be buried here either. I want to be buried in the promised land. I don't want to be stuck here in Egypt. I will be embalmed. You can keep my body in a coffin. Whenever you exile, whenever God comes, whenever God visits, whenever He brings you out, take me out with you. The gospel hope is testified in these two prophets and their deaths in Joseph and Jacob. They both testify that God is going to be with them. God is going to keep his word. God is going to have a sure victory over Egypt. We see our sure hope in Jesus Christ in this text. The gospel hope is testified over and over again. In order to see this, we have to first look at it through the lens of Genesis, and then we're going to have to look at it through the lens of the exiling Israelites, then we're going to have to look at it through the prophet Isaiah, and then finally Paul. We're going to do a little exercise in redemptive history because this text points us to the theme of redemption, and we're going to trace it throughout Scripture. We have to remember that the first readers of this text that Moses wrote would have been the exiling Israelites. They would have been the Israelites who were enslaved to Egypt. They were rescued from Egypt. And as they hear this, God took them out once before. God was with them. God made these promises. Joseph and Jacob were pointing us to God. They should have been encouraged. First, let us trace redemption through Genesis. Let's go back to Genesis 15, 13. God said to Abram. No, for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs. And will be servants there and they will be afflicted 400 years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve. and afterward they shall come out with great possession." Already years before Jacob is born, years before Isaac's born, years before they go into Egypt, God has already told Abraham, I'm going to send your people into a foreign land. Abraham doesn't know he's talking about Egypt, but we can look back and we can see now this is God declaring what he's going to do. See, God didn't have to figure out, OK, there's a famine. Now what do I do with my people? I'll send them to Egypt. No, God brought the famine to send his people into Egypt because that is his plan. He could build them up there, make them numerous, make them mighty, and then show his mighty right arm to deliver them. Redemption has always been the purpose and the plan of Genesis to get us into Egypt so that Exodus can take us out. Redemption is a great theme that drives the book of Genesis. He's already prophesied this is going to happen to Abraham. Look at Genesis 46. This is after Joseph is ruler of Egypt. He calls his father and his sons back to him. When Jacob starts heading off. To Egypt. God says this to him. I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for they'll make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again. And Joseph's hand shall close your eyes." Here God is making it very specific to Jacob. You're going to go in and I'm going to bring you out. There's hope. The Israelites who were enslaved, the Israelites who were in exile, they should have seen the hope that God had been orchestrating all of this. And then as we saw just a few weeks ago in Genesis 47, Jacob demonstrating great faith by making Joseph promise that he would not be buried in Egypt, that he would be buried in the promised land in Canaan. And as we see, we've already, he has fulfilled this promise. That promise of fulfillment isn't just between a father and a son. We see God orchestrating the preservation of his people, the growth of his people, and the redemption and deliverance of his people. Let's look at the Exodus that we know of in the book of Exodus and compare and contrast it to what actually happens here in chapter 50. In our story, a great multitude went out from Egypt But it locked the children and the animals. When the exodus happens in Exodus 12, the children and the animals go out with them. They leave nothing behind. It's actually interesting. After the eighth plague, Pharaoh says, OK, you can go out, but leave your children here. After the ninth plague, he says, OK, you can go out, but leave your herds here. What he's trying to do is make sure they go out, they do their little homage, they pray to their God, then they're going to come back. No, the great exodus, exodus that happens after the last plague is a final exodus. The exodus that we see in Genesis 50 is just a partial exodus. It's a hope, it's looking forward to that exodus. But it's an exodus where they will leave no child, no herd behind. Not only will they not leave anything behind, but they're going to take all of Egypt's possessions with them. They're going to plunder the Egyptians. It's going to be a complete exodus. It's going to be a perfect exodus. Secondly, the protection is going to be different. And the exodus that we see in Genesis 50, the protection is from Pharaoh. It's his chariots and his horsemen. They go out to accompany them, to protect them. Remember, in exodus, the real exodus, the perfect exodus, it's the chariots and the horsemen that are pursuing them, to crush them, to bring them back into slavery. They don't need chariots and horsemen. They have Almighty God to protect them. He is the protector in their glory. He crushes those who pursue them. Finally, it's different because of the purpose. It was perfect. They had different protection and finally the purpose. They're not going to exile in the book of Exodus to honor the dead. No, rather, they're going to go out of Egypt to have life. They're going to go out of Egypt to receive the promises that God has given them. As we look at Jacob and Joseph, we see great hints of the exodus. And it's because Moses wrote this while in the midst of the exodus, most likely. The exodus is rich in his mind, and he's writing these things to point forward to the great exodus that's going to take place. The redemption and deliverance of Israel from Egypt is a great theme that runs throughout scripture. It's a great event that tells us about God's salvation. Our second stage of redemptive history. It gets clearer and clearer as we move on. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah, he writes of that exodus from Egypt. He talks about an exodus that's going to happen for historical Israel, and he's also looking ahead to the exodus and the deliverance that God is going to provide in Christ. Listen to redemptive and deliverance language from Isaiah. I want you to listen, I'll tell you the passage later. Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion, put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for thou shalt no more come unto you. Shake yourself from the dust and arise. Be seated at Jerusalem. Loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus says the Lord, you were sold for nothing. You shall be redeemed without money. For thus the Lord God says, My people went down at first into Egypt and to sojourn there. And the Assyrians oppressed them for nothing. Now, therefore, what have I here, declares the Lord, seeing that my people are taken away for nothing. The rulers wail, declares the Lord, and continually all the day my name is despised. Therefore, my people shall know my name. Therefore, in that day they shall know that it is I who speak. Here am I. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news. who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, Your God reigns. The voice of your watchmen, they lift up their voice. Together they sing for joy, for eye to eye they see. The return of the Lord to Zion. Break forth together in a singing. You waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord has comforted His people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his holy arm. Before the eyes of all the nations and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. This is Isaiah 52 verses 1 to 10. He makes an obvious allusion back to Egypt in verse 4. He makes the clear declaration that just as God had brought them out of there, he's going to bring them out of their present captivity. The Jews are being held captive by Cyrus. And Isaiah is promising a sure deliverance, but he points more than just that particular historical deliverance. So this is the introduction of the most famous servant songs. If we continue further, we're going to see that a perfect final redemption is placed upon an individual who doesn't accomplish what Isaiah says in his day. We know that it is accomplished in Jesus Christ, starting in Isaiah 52 verse 13. Behold, my servant shall act wisely. He shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you, his appearance was so more beyond human semblance. In His form, beyond that of the children of mankind, so shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of Him. For that which was not been told them, they see. And that which they have not heard, they understand. Who has believed what He has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him. and the beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And with his stripes, we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed. He was afflicted. Yet he opened not his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silenced, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with a wicked and with a rich man in his own death, although he had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him, as he put him to grief. When a soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring and he shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous. And he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the many. He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors." Amen. You see, even in the midst of enslavement, even in the midst of enslavement to the Babylonians and the Assyrians, Israel was longing for not just a hero to come with a sword to free them from that physical enslavement. Yes, Cyrus, a Gentile, fulfilled a prophecy that a great hero would come up and save them. But that's not the way it's supposed to be. The scepter is supposed to come from Judah. The lion is supposed to roar from Judah to save Israel. They should have known that Cyrus was at the end. Cyrus just gave him freedom to go back to Jerusalem and build a dinky temple that was always more pathetic than the last. Is that where true worship was supposed to take place? No, a new hero, a true king from Judah was supposed to come. One who would lead a redemption more glorious than that of Moses. See, we get to look back and see who this person is. Isaiah. In Israel, they were looking ahead. Isaiah has amazing clarity as to who this one would be and what he would do. We get to look back and see that Jesus Christ is the one who was sung about in Isaiah 52 and 53. He's not delivered us from our physical enslavement. He's delivered us from our spiritual enslavement. He's delivered us from death. He's delivered us from our passions, from our carnal delights. He is the one who was smitten by the Father and who carried our sorrows, the one who is pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. He took on our iniquity because we all went our own way. Every one of us a sinner. He was not violent or deceitful, but they numbered him as if a sinner and to crucify him between two thieves. He bore the sins of many, making intercession for the transgressors. so that we could be counted as righteous, even though we are nothing but unrighteous. Jesus Christ on the cross being crushed by the father there. The father unleashes his wrath against all of our sin on the cross. It's there that he sits under the judgment of God himself. The judgment we deserve, the judgment that we should have. Jesus Christ took it upon himself there on the cross, dying on the behalf of sinners. He created us. He made promises to us. He was patient with us. He came to save us himself. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God and he's man. He's the incarnate one, the one who became like us in every way, but without sin. That way, when he dies, he's the innocent, righteous one who takes upon himself wrath that's not deserving so that he can give us his righteousness that we also do not deserve. The son was crushed. He is our great hero. He is our great deliverer. He is our redemption. Our third stage, let's look at Paul and how he reflects upon the theme of redemption and deliverance. I'll be reading only from Romans 3, even though you can look up this theme in Romans 8.24. 1 Corinthians 1.30. Galatians 3.13. Galatians 4.15. Ephesians 1.7. Ephesians 4.30. Colossians 1.14 and Titus 2.14. We'll put this in the evangel. I list those ones so you can continue the study of redemption, but to show you that this is just in some instances of Paul picking up the theme of redemption, which is the Exodus language. Here, Romans 3. Starting in verse 23, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over four sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. God is holy. God is good. God will punish every sin and every sinner, and we should rejoice in this. We want every sin and every sinner to be punished. What hurts? We realize that's us. God is a holy and good God must Pour out his wrath on every sin and every sinner. The beauty of Christ's redemption, the beauty of what Paul is talking about here in Romans three, he talks about throughout his letters. The holy and just God poured out the wrath we deserve on Jesus Christ. He must punish our sin. But there's a dilemma. He loves us and wants to have us as his children, but he can't let us come into his presence, his holy and good presence in the filth of our sins. And so he takes the punishment and the wrath we deserve. And he pours out upon his son. Who is innocent. Who is righteous. Friends, if you're not a Christian this morning, death is certain for you and for us all. Death is scary. Death is a scary thing to face. But what you do not realize is what happens after death is what is so scary. God created us for good, but we all went our own way. We are all sinners. When we die, we will be faced with our sin. We will come face to face with God and He will punish our sin. Our sin cannot stand in His presence without being punished. God's wrath will be upon you and your sins unless that wrath is satisfied by you placing your faith in Jesus Christ. Your wrath hangs over your head, wanting to devour you when the guilt comes face to face with you in between you and God. But you can believe in Jesus Christ. You can believe in his death for you. You can believe in his resurrection. And He will set you free from that guilt. He has died for sinners. It is only by faith that we get to participate in that great deliverance from God's wrath. Christians, there's numerous applications that we can have from this passage. First, let's look at how God calls us out to live for Him. That scene, they went up out. They go out. This is in verses 5 or 6, verse 9 and 14 of Genesis 50. God promised that he would take them out and he brings them out. He delivers them to the promised land. Now, we're free. We are free just as the Egyptians were free, we are free in Christ. We're not free to sin, we're free from sin. We're free to obey, not to grumble. We are free to be selfless, not selfish. Notice, God doesn't promise the American dream to his children, that we'll always be growing in wealth and prosperity, that we'll always be having happy endings. No, if anything, God promises that he's going to be with us. God's going to be with us. He's going to be leading us and guiding us. And if anything, Christians are promised they're going to suffer. There's going to be trials and temptations. The beauty of that is the fact that God is always with us. He is promised to discipline those he loves, and he is promised to continue to persevere those he loves. Until we face that ultimate happy ending, when God calls us home, we will suffer, we will be tried, we will be tested, we will be refined, we will be corrected. And oftentimes, we're going to be disappointed. We're going to be disappointed when our sinful desires lead our minds and our hearts. God doesn't disappoint. God's purposes and his promises and his means and his direction, they never disappoint. When you are facing disappointment in this life, it's because your sin nature has led you astray. If you're disappointed with what this life has for you, it's because you have allowed your sinful desires to declare expectations rather than godly promises to determine your expectations. See, that's why God refines us and He tests us. He refines us so that we become more godly. He refines us so that we start desiring the right thing, or rather the one right thing, the perfect thing, God Himself. Secondly, we must remain faithful. Joseph and Jacob demonstrate great faith in God's promises. They know they will come true. They believe they have faith in the faithfulness of God to forgive. Jacob, we see him constantly reminding his sons. Joseph, we see him saying, take my bones out of here. There's fruit to their faith. There's clear fruit in the way they die to their faith. Where's the fruit in your faith? What evidence of grace and faith is in your life? Let's turn that around. Let's not do the self-speculation. I think it's helpful to ask yourself, is there true fruit? But let's turn it around. How can you encourage others by pointing out evidences of grace in their life? How can you look around this body and encourage others that you see fruit of faith, you see evidences of grace? Go outward. Look around and see where others are showing examples of a great love for Christ, a great deal for his grace, a desire to be committed to his word, a commitment and a consistency and conviction, a humility, a joy and service, a love for others, a hospitality, sacrificing themselves for Christ and for others. Look around and ask, how can I encourage other brothers and sisters with the fruit that I see of their faith." Third, death is grievous and our gain. We should grieve at death. We should mourn and have great grief at death. But we also remember it is for our gain. Death is sad because we lose our loved ones. Death is difficult and painful because we lose our dear ones. It's also difficult because we're reminded of sin. A funeral is supposed to be a sad occasion. Look at Jesus himself at the funeral of his friend in John 11. He weeps. Jesus himself weeps at his friend dying. So this is kind of a curious case here. Jesus knows he's going to bring him out of the grave. Jesus knows he's going to ultimately give him absolute deliverance to give him eternal life. But here, at the sight of death, in the midst of losing his friend, even temporarily, Jesus weeps. Because death is sad. Death is supposed to constantly be serving us a reminder of sin and its consequences. This is why we should attend funerals. You should attend a funeral as often as you are able, as often as you know someone who passes away. Do not avoid the appearance and the sight of death. This is why churches traditionally were built around graveyards and they had graveyards nearby. So that we would be constantly reminded of death. It reminds us that life cannot be wasted. It reminds us that the world is not the way it's supposed to be. It reminds us of the resurrection. The more we think about death, the more we should think about the resurrection. The more we think about the resurrection, we should think about the way we should live for Christ now. Paul says as much in Philippians 121, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. I was listening to James Boyce's funeral service not too long ago. Eric Alexander preached his funeral and this was the key text. And Eric described Dr. Boyce as having this verse as his engine room. For me to live as Christ and to die as game. This verse is so simple, it's so memorizable. It's such a sweet summary of the gospel, but yet so powerful if it actually sinks into our hearts and becomes our engine room. That's why James Boyce was so used by God. It's because this verse was his engine room. He knew that the only life he had was Christ, and he knew when he died, he had nothing but gain. We can no longer be afraid of death because we believe in Christ and His power to overcome the grave. You see, when we die, we know it's going to be gain. We hate death. Death is not the way it's supposed to be. When we look at death, we're supposed to say, I'm not afraid of death because death is going to take us into the happy ending we long for. See, death is better because we get to see God face-to-face. Now, a lot of, well, Asher and John particularly, they make fun of me because of the way I talk on the phone. I'm rude on the phone. I hate talking on the phone. I don't know how my wife and I made it through a long-distance relationship on the phone. I end phone calls very abruptly. I don't realize this until Asher mimics me and makes fun of me for it. But I try to get the phone as quickly as possible. When I call, I have data to give or data to receive, and then I'm done. So if I've been rude to you, please forgive me. But I don't like the phone because it's impersonal to me. There's something about seeing someone's face that helps the conversation. See, right now, we're talking to God as if on a phone. It's personal, it's caring. He gives us the hope and the promises we need. He gives us even more than what the phone call provides. But I can't wait to talk to him face to face. I want to be more intimate, I want to be more personal. I want to see him as he is and talk to him face to face. That's what's wrong with this world now. We are corrupted with our sin, so we don't hear Him as He speaks perfectly. We do not see Him as He is. We only get to see it in a mirror dimly. Praise God we can speak to Him. Praise God He speaks to us. But we're longing for that day where we no longer have sin, tainting what we hear, tainting what we see, tainting what we desire. We long to be overwhelmed with a love to receive when we see him face to face. Next, we must mourn faithfully. We must mourn faithfully. As Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4, 13, we do not mourn like those who have no hope. Now, Paul doesn't say thou shalt not mourn. We do not mourn like those who have no hope. We are to mourn, we are to grieve. But it's a paradox. We mourn the loss, but not like those who have no hope. We mourn the death of our loved ones while celebrating the death of our Savior that takes away our sin and the wrath of God. We mourn the end of our loved one's life while rejoicing in the resurrection and the power of Jesus Christ. Our next application. We must live well, to die well. We must live well to die well. If I look at Jacob and Joseph, they died well. I want to die well. And as I was listening to another brother proclaim the gospel, it was a great application. The best way to die well is to die daily. The best way for us to face death and to die well is to die daily. This is what Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 31. Because of the resurrection, Paul dies daily to his carnal desires and his perverse passions. Because of the resurrection that provides deliverance, we are now called to deny our carnal passions and strive for godliness. He said that physical death will not destroy us. It will not be scary if we have been spiritually dying every day. By dying daily to our own self, we can know the power of the resurrection in part more and more and more. So, when it's our time to go, we're ready to go. We're ready to face God. We're ready to see the full power of the resurrection. Finally, friends, meditate on heaven. Meditate on heaven. We are overloaded with the promises of this world. That's what we get naturally. When you're anywhere in the city, when you're at home and you're watching TV, whatever it is you're doing, you're overloaded. All the different specials for Black Friday, all the different material goods you can get, all the different ways you can find passion and satisfaction in this world, we are bombarded with it. The world is always dangling its temptations in front of us. We must intentionally remember we are built for another world. We are now citizens of another world. We must intentionally think of heaven. For those who read, meditate on Revelation 21, where God there describes heaven. Or if you want something to reflect upon beyond scripture, go read Jonathan Edwards, Heaven is a world of love. Heaven is a world of love. I know we're all used to thinking that Edwards is the guy who preaches on hell, but no. Edwards' passion was heaven. His passion was heaven. That's one of many sermons that I can highly recommend on heaven. For those who sing, meditate on the last lines of many songs. One of the songs we sing here, Beautiful Savior. I long to be where the praise is never ending. I yearn to dwell where the glory never fades. The countless worshipers will share one song and cries of worthy will honor the Lamb. Or one of my favorite songs, There's a Redeemer that Joe is playing on the offertory. When I stand in glory, I will see his face. There I will serve my King forever in that holy place." You can go to your hymnal. 208. Love divine, all love excelling. Finish then thy new creation. Pure and spotless let us be. Let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored in thee. Changed from glory into glory. Till heaven we take our place. Till we cast our crowns before thee. lost in wonder, love, and praise. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Man of sorrows. When He comes, our glorious King, all His ransomed home to bring, ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah. What a Savior. And finally, And when from death I am free, I'll sing on. I'll sing on. And when from death I'm free, I'll sing on. And when from death I'm free, I'll sing on and joyful be. And through eternity, I'll sing on. And through eternity, I'll sing on. The last line of what wondrous love is this. How can we do anything more the desire to sing praises to the King, the Lamb who laid down His life for us. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, as we have thought of these two funerals, these two fathers of our faith, We thank You, Lord, for the hope of deliverance and redemption that they testify to. We thank You, Lord, for the promise that they have given that You would come back and be with Your people and deliver them. But we praise You, God, that it wasn't just that deliverance of Moses. We praise You that it was the deliverance of Jesus Christ for sinners, enslaved to the power of sin, enslaved to death. Lord, as we are a people who are all going to die, help us, Lord, to not try to numb the pain of death. Help us, Lord, to not avoid the reality of death. Help us, Lord, to think about it and think about it well, because when we think about our death, we can think about Your death and the resurrecting power You have over it. Lord, I pray that we would all be committed to dying well. And that we would be committed to dying daily to our sin and living for Your glory. In Your holy name we pray, Amen.