Sovereignty of God

Have you ever been away on vacation for an extended time and long to be home? Even the most relaxing vacation needs to end so you can sleep in your own bed. We need salvation from our sojourning because we want to be home. There's a certain comfort that we find only at home. What we need to remember is that if we are Christians in this world, we are not home. This is not where we belong. This is not our ultimate end. We are not home. We are sojourning and we should be waiting eagerly to be home. We have been saved by God to sojourn until he completes our salvation. You see, if we're believers in Christ, we're no longer fit for this world. Now, typically, we think of fitness, we think of physical fitness. An example would be, I'm not physically fit to run long distance in Colorado. The altitude would kill me. Okay, really nowhere am I physically fit to run long distance. But we typically think of fitness in terms of how you can better be physically fit, how you can exercise and diet to become better fit physically. Really, it's a bigger category though. To be fit is to be prepared and equipped for a specific purpose. So, physically, we're unfit to live on the moon. We cannot accomplish that purpose. We cannot live on the moon. We cannot live underwater. We have special devices that allow us to visit there, but no one can live there. It's not just a physical category. It's an ethical category. It's very similar to the biblical concept of shalom. If you're in shalom, if you have peace, You are in right relationship with everything around you. You are where you belong. You're doing what you're supposed to do, and you're in right relationship with everything around you, especially God. Adam had Shalom in the garden, and we have lost it ever since he sinned against God. You see, friends, as sinners, we have no peace. We are unfit for God's presence. We do not relate to him rightly. Because we are sinners, we no longer are fit for this world. As sinners, first, our hearts are now unfit for the created order. We have to be in right relationship with God to be fit for this world. We are opposed to the design and we're opposed to the designer. The only way we are fit for this world is if we were no longer sinners and we were completely submissive to God and this world were no longer fallen. We are too selfish to be fit for this world. Rather, we are fit only now for the new heavens and the new earth. As Christians, secondly, we are only fit for God's new creation. We are only fit for what God is going to do when he calls us back to himself in the resurrected life of Christ. When we are saved by God, we're given a new identity, a new citizenship, and it's not here. We are supposed to be sojourners. When we confess Christ, we lose our place here, but we gain a new identity and a new life in the next life after death. Our message this morning is simple. God saves us to sojourn until he brings us home. God saves us to sojourn until he brings us home. Our text this morning begins with where Brian began reading the last time we were in Genesis. We were in chapter 45, and it was really one of the most emotional, climactic points of all of Scripture. Joseph was finally reconciled with his brothers. He revealed his identity. He waits with his brothers. They are fearful at first, but he gets to see Benjamin and the brothers are reconciled. We'll begin in 45-16, but let me go back and give a little bit of background for those of you who have not been with us, at least through the Joseph section of Genesis. Joseph has not been home with his father since he was 17. When he was 17, he walked out to see his brothers wearing his nice bright coat. And his brothers took him, ripped his coat off of him, and threw him in a pitch. The purpose being to leave him for dead. But then Judah said, wait, we can sell him and make some money. God then took Joseph. rose him up into power and part of his life. And then, well, she lies about his advance on her. He's thrown into prison. Finally, after a few episodes, the Pharaoh himself calls Joseph out. And Pharaoh rises Joseph up to be the practical ruler of all the world. Pharaoh gives him all the power. So here you have Joseph being a foreign king in a foreign land over all the world. See, God was doing all of this from the very beginning. God was setting up Joseph to be that foreign king in a foreign land for the good purpose of Israel. God is going to use Egypt as an incubator to bring Israel, the small number of Israelites, into Egypt, grow them up into a great multitude so that he can then redeem them and reveal his power and his love for them. Egypt is like an ark. A protection for Israel against the famine, a protection of Israel so that they will grow mighty. As we look at this, we're going to have to see that God is sovereign over all of Israel. God is sovereign over their sojourning. He brings them into Egypt. He cares for them while they're in Egypt. He is with them while they're in Egypt. And he promises that he will bring them out of Egypt. It's the first section here, chapter 45, verse 16 through 28. We see Pharaoh respond that Joseph's brothers are here. Pharaoh is excited. He's wanting to celebrate with them. He's wanting to help with the progress of reconciling this family. Let's go get your father. Send your brothers. We'll send the wagons. We'll send the camels. We'll send gifts. Go get your father. Let's bring him here. I'll give you the best of the land, the land of Goshen. Now, one thing I wanted to point out in this section that Brian read is verse 22. To each and all of them, he gave a change of clothes. It's a small detail in the middle of the story, but clothes, garments, robes have played a major role in this story thus far. Remember, it was Jacob in chapter 27 of Genesis that put on a hairy skin so that his father thought he was Esau. Remember, it was Jacob that stole the blessing from his father with clothing. Then it was Jacob who adorned Joseph with a fancy robe and separate him out from the others with clothing in chapter 37. Also in chapter 37, it was Joseph who was beaten and had his robe, his clothing ripped off of him. Then it was a piece of clothing that Potiphar's wife used as evidence against Joseph. In chapter 39 and chapter 41, when Pharaoh brings Joseph out of prison, he puts royal garments on him. What a fantastic contrast that is. Jacob had put a fantastic royal robe on his son. It was ripped off by his brothers. But then the whole king of the king of the entire world re-adorns him with clothes. Now he gives his brothers garments of grace. He gives them clean clothes. Now, not only is this a beautiful part of the story, this is beautiful literature. You see this play out throughout the story. It connects and unites the story. It also reflects the gospel of mercy. He who had his robe ripped off of him, the intent of murder, now gives clothes back to those who were hurting him and seeking to kill him. We'll think about that more later. So himself leads the rescue mission. He sends the brothers to go tell Jacob, Joseph's alive. Now, imagine how awkward this has to be for the brothers. They're the ones that have lied to their father all these years. Joseph was killed by some animals. Look at his coat. They now know that they're going to have to go and say, well, Joseph's alive. He's the king of all the world. Sorry, we kind of lied about that 80 years ago. This is extremely awkward, but I believe it's the grace that gives them the boldness that allows them to do this. We also remember that Jacob didn't want to send all of his sons. Jacob refused to send Benjamin because he was afraid that the other brothers would kill him if he let them go. He is sitting there wondering if Benjamin is going to be brought back or if they're going to bring back another piece of clothing and lie about Benjamin being killed like they lied about Joseph. So the father is sitting there with lots of anxiety. What's going to happen? Is Benjamin going to come back? He's wondering if he's lost another son. And then when they come, they proclaim the good news. Joseph is still alive. Jacob's wondering if he's going to hear Benjamin's dad, but instead he hears Joseph is still alive and he's ruler of Egypt. He first responds with numbness there in verse 26. How can this be? But then they explain to him all that's happened. He sees the wagons, he sees the carts, he sees the clear evidence that royalty from Egypt has sent for Jacob. And he believes. It's interesting, in verse 28, he's called Israel instead of Jacob. He received that new name a long time ago. But he keeps calling him Jacob, and I wonder if it's because he's revived now. He has new life because the son that he thought was dead is now alive. It is enough, he says. Joseph, my son, is still alive. I will go and see him before I die. We see him leave in chapter 46. Let me read verses 1 through 4 again. This is an extremely important part of the story. So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob. Now, the devil calling is usually used for calling someone for a special purpose. And we see here that it's a purpose usually specific for a prophet as he responds. Here I am. Then he said, I am God. The God of your father. It doesn't say Yahweh, it's using the generic powerful God. The God of your father. I think this God of your father connects this with Exodus 3. That's how God revealed himself to Moses in the Exodus. I am the God of your fathers. Here he's saying I'm the God of your fathers to bring them into Egypt. He revealed himself that way to take them out of Egypt. Very important declaration. Do not be afraid. He's going into a foreign territory. He has to wonder what's next. Are his sons duping him yet again? Do not be afraid, God says. There, I will make you into a great nation. Egypt will serve as an ark, an incubator. You will become great. This is my plan. I myself will go down with you. That's the kind of language you use with Abraham. I am with you wherever you go. It's also exile language. God was with Israel. in His personal presence that perseveres and preserves. And finally, I will also bring you up again. And Joseph's hand shall close your eyes. God gives a promise. I'm going to take you down. There's a certain purpose. You're going to be built up. I'm going to grow you into a great multitude. I'm going to bring you back out. How often do you think that Israelites in slavery Repeated this promise. This is the comfort. This is God's big plan for Israel, who are later enslaved. And then he says, Joseph's hand shall close your eyes. This is typically the closest relative has the honor of closing the eyes of the one who is deceased. And here he's giving it to Joseph. Jacob leaves for Egypt. Now, Abraham went down to Egypt in Genesis 12. Egypt plays a very prominent part in all of Israel's history. After Abraham is originally called by God, he flees because of a famine. See the connection here? Jacob's going to Egypt because of a famine. Abraham originally sinned against God. He did not trust him, and because of a famine, he went into Egypt. God also told Abraham in Genesis 15, verses 12 and 6, that your offspring will be sojourners in a foreign land, and they will be afflicted for 400 years. In Genesis 15, God didn't specify what nation that would be, but now we know who it is. It's Egypt. This has been God's plan all along. We also learned that Isaac was told not to go to Egypt, and obviously, if you're an Israelite, Egypt is a huge part of your history because of the exile. It says he goes down to Egypt and he stops at Beersheba. Beersheba is where Abraham made a covenant with Abimelech in Genesis 20. It's where Isaac built an altar in Genesis 26. But most importantly, it's where God revealed himself on the ladder to heaven. In Genesis 28. This is where Jacob was first converted. This is Jacob returning to that major event that changed his life. Here he goes to build an altar as he leaving the promised land. We look at this, we see God's great plan. We see that God did not accidentally send them into Egypt. The famine didn't cause this. God caused the famine to send them into Egypt. Let's look at this genealogy again, I'm so thankful that Brian read so well. Israel enters Egypt with the entire family and all their flocks and all their goods. Now, there's some discrepancy here. How many people went down? Was it 66, as verse 26 says? Is it 70, as verse 27 says? Or is it 75, that Acts 7, 14 says? Now, there's a lot of creative ways, but I've read many people come up with solutions as to why there's different numbers. You could be counting Aaron Oden who died. You could be counting Ephraim and Manasseh who are still in Egypt. You could be counting Joseph and Judah in different ways. I'm not really sure if 70 is supposed to be a hard and fast number. I think there's a great possibility that 70 is a symbolic number. See, 70 is the perfect number. 7 times 10 is 70. It's like the most perfect number. Seventy represents that Israel is coming in as the perfect microcosm of the nation of Israel. We can come up with a way that we can count seventy exact people, but the very fact that it's saying they're going in as seventy, Israel the person is leading his tribe into Egypt with the perfect number of people to be the microcosm of what would become the great nation of Israel. What's amazing is they're coming in as a small tribe with their own goods, and they're going to leave as a great, mighty nation, taking away Egypt's goods. Remember, they plundered the Egyptians on the way out. So that is coming in with all the herds and their flocks. They're going to leave with the gold and the glory of all of Egypt. Now, let's look at chapter 46, starting in verse 28. I will read through 47.6. He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel, his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. Israel said to Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive. Jesus said to his brothers and to his father's household, I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, my brothers and my father's household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me and the men are shepherds and they have been keepers of livestock and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have. When Pharaoh calls you and says, What is your occupation? You shall say, Your servants have been keepers of livestock from your youth, even until now, both we and our fathers in our order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen. For every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians. So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, My father, my brothers with their flocks and herds and all that they possess have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen. And from among his brothers, he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to his brothers, What is your occupation? And they said to Pharaoh, Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were. And he said to Pharaoh, We have come to serve you in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. And now, please, let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, Your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen. And if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock." Jacob and Joseph are reunited. As Joseph wept over his brothers, here he weeps for a long time over seeing his father. He was taken away from his father at 17 years of age. As we'll see later in verse 28 of this chapter, he's going to get 17 more years at the end of his life with his son. The weeping connects this story. The warm embrace reveals that the family has now been fully reconciled. After weeping, though, Joseph gets down to business. He's a skilled diplomat. He's very skilled at business. He knows what to do. He starts plotting. All right, here's what we're going to do. You're going to go in. You're going to tell him you're a shepherd and that you're going to care for yourself. You're going to protect yourself. I'm going to do the same. And he's going to give us Goshen. He's got a plan. He's got a strategy. See, he wants them to be in Goshen. Goshen is not near the metropolis of Egypt, it's outside. So if Alamo County were Egypt, Shaltz would be the center, Asmat would be Goshen. It's far away. It's not an easy trek. It's full of resources, and it's just far enough away that Israel will not be inhabited by Egyptians. They will not be influenced by them in any way. It's an ark. It's a protection. They're going to stay protected. He also wants them to go in and make sure he says you're shepherds. Egyptians don't like shepherds. It's an abomination. So that's also going to keep the Egyptians away from the Israelites. The more so, I think Joseph wants to make sure that Pharaoh knows they're not going to be a drain on the economy. They're not going to be asking for handouts. They're not going to be occupying Nile Street. I was really proud of that one. They're going to serve under Pharaoh. They're going to serve faithfully. They're going to make their own. They're going to make their own living. They're not going to need anything. They're going to be a burden upon the city. They have their flocks. All they need is land. What's amazing is that how God orchestrates all this through Joseph. The entire nation of Israel is completely dependent upon Joseph. He does it all. God wills him to power. He protects his siblings. He now brings his father in. The entire nation of Israel is absolutely 100 percent dependent upon God's instrument, Joseph. They're going to get the best land. They're going to be protected. At least for a little while. Let's look at Jacob's interaction with Pharaoh. Look with me in verses 7-12. Then Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and stood before Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Jacob, How many are the days of the years of your life? And Jacob said to Pharaoh, The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. And they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers and the days of their sojourning. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the back of the land, in the land of Ramesses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his fellow household with food according to the number of their dependents. Now, verse 10 is really what stands out most about this meeting with Jacob and Pharaoh, because Jacob blesses Pharaoh. There's a rule in the ancient Near East, the greater blesses the lesser. Here, Jacob blesses Pharaoh. Pharaoh recognizes the great stature of this man. I don't know if you recognize the great use of God and the covenant that God has made with him. But Pharaoh allows Jacob to bless him. He recognizes, at least through Joseph, that God is with this family. Finally, let me read verses 13-31, as Joseph enslaves all the Egyptians. Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone. And Joseph answered, Give your livestock and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock. If your money is gone. So they brought their livestock to Joseph and Joseph gave them food in exchange for their horses, the flocks, the herds and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, we will not hide from my Lord that our money is all spent. The herd of livestock are my Lord's. There is nothing left in the sight of my Lord, but our bodies and our land. Why should we die before your eyes? Both we and our land. Buy us and our land for food. And we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh and give us seed that we may live and not die. That the land may not be desolate. So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. For all the Egyptians sold their fields because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh's. As for the people, he made servants of them from one end to Egypt to the other. Only the land of the priest he did not buy. The priest had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them. Therefore, they did not sell their land. Then Joseph said to the people, Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you and you shall sow the land and at the harvest you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh and four fifths shall be your own as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households and as food for your little ones. And they said you have saved our lives. May I plead my Lord we will be servants to Pharaoh. So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt and it stands to this day that Pharaoh should have the fifth The land of the priests alone did not become pharaohs. Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they gained possession in it. And they were fruitful and multiplied greatly. And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred and forty-seven years. And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said it to him. If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in the burying place. He answered, I will do as you have said. And he said, swear to me. And he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed. We'll continue the story next week as we see how Jacob blesses his sons. What's amazing here is This foreign ruler, an Israelite, enslaves all of Egypt. An Israelite enslaves all of Egypt. This had to be the favorite story of every Israelite while Egypt had enslaved them. Can you imagine being a child put to slavery? And you hear the stories of your parents and your grandparents. There was once this king. Once this ruler. He was in Israel. His name was Joseph. God brought him here. He is the reason we were here to begin with because God was saving us through him. He enslaved all the Egyptians. God did that through him. I believe this is a sign of hope for all of Israel that God can once again enslave all the Egyptians. He can overcome them and overpower them. Two meditations from this story. First, meditation. Salvation belongs to our God. Salvation belongs to our God. There's two levels of gospel in this story. The first is a very strong historical connection with our salvation in Jesus. You can turn to Matthew 2, verses 13-15. You'll probably be hearing this around Christmas. Now, when they had departed, Now, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, Rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him. And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet out of Egypt. I called my son." Now, this is a quote of Hosea 11.1, and at one level, that is fulfilled in God calling Israel, the nation, out of Egypt. Israel, the nation, was like a son to God. Israel, the nation, was supposed to reflect God and obey God and be submissive to God. They were supposed to proclaim God throughout the nations. But they were a huge failure. They always went after idols instead of the one true God, Yahweh. So at one level, Isaiah 11.1 is looking back to the time that God called Israel the nation out of Egypt. But here, Matthew, our inspired author of Scripture, applies the son called out of Egypt to Jesus. Because he's not like a son to God, he is the son of God. He is the Son who did go down to Egypt, like Israel, to symbolize that He is replacing the nation of Israel. He is the one true Son of God who will reflect God perfectly, and who is obedient to the Father perfectly. Israel was only a type pointing to the Son. They were a nation who would point to the Son. They were a nation through whom the Son would be born, and the Son now has replaced Israel. You see, the redemption of Jesus is much better than the redemption of Israel out of Egypt. God saved Israel out of physical enslavement. God saved Israel out of physical abuse. Jesus saves us from our sin and from death. The redemption of the deliverance that Jesus Christ brings in His death and resurrection is better than that redemption that Moses brought. You can read about this specifically in Hebrews. Let's look at how it's better just because of the feasts that both events have. The Passover meal. That's celebrating God passing over every Israelite home that had the blood on the post as God saved the child of every Israelite home. The Passover meal celebrates God saving the numerous children of Israel. Well, the Lord's Supper has supplanted. The Lord's Supper has replaced that mill. And it's not celebrating God saving our children. It's celebrating God giving up his own child. We celebrate the Lord's Supper in place of the Passover meal because it's a better deliverance. He's not just saving us. He has sent his Son to die for us. The Lord's Supper is a better celebration because we celebrate the death of Jesus. Because in the death of Jesus, we receive life. So there's a historical connection. Jesus himself goes down to Egypt to symbolize he is now the son that Israel was supposed to be. Secondly, the second way we see the gospel here is that Joseph strongly resembles Jesus in a number of ways. First, Joseph was thought to be dead. The father thought Joseph was Dad, he was murdered, he was killed by animals. But then, when he discovers he's alive, he's the ruler of all the earth. In a very similar fashion, the disciples thought Jesus was defeated and dead. The disciples thought he was destroyed on the cross. But instead, he was alive and the ruler of all creation, the ruler of all salvation. The second way Joseph strongly resembles Jesus. is that Israel was completely dependent upon Joseph for every part of this salvation. In the same way, we are completely dependent upon Jesus Christ for every part of our salvation. Third, the one I really want to focus on. Joseph shows great mercy by forgiving his brothers. The same brothers who sought to kill him. The same brothers who ripped his robe off of him. He shows great mercy to them. He gives them new, clean clothes. In the same way, Jesus, he was stripped of all of his glory and his honor. He was stripped of his physical clothes and the guys trying to kill him, they actually casting lots for his clothes. But more so, Jesus was stripped of his honor, his glory, his right to be worshiped and praised. He was stripped of that as he died on the cross. You see, he gave up his robe of righteousness so that he could give us his robe of righteousness. Jesus allowed, Jesus even intended for his robe to be stripped off of him so that he could bless us with new clothes. In Revelation 9, it describes the bride of Christ this way. We will be adorned in fine linen, bright and pure. Friends, because Jesus Christ has died on the cross for us, we will receive a glory that we do not deserve. We'll receive righteousness in Christ that we don't deserve. Our second meditation. When we are saved by God, we are called to sojourn. When we are saved by God, we are called to sojourn. I believe this story was written First and foremost, for Israelites in Egypt and for Israelites who are sojourning after the exile of Egypt. But I think it's also written for us, as Paul says, all of the Old Testament is written for us. First, let's think about how would this story affect an Israelite? As we already said, I think this was probably The Israelite children's favorite story to come up on their grandfathers laps and say, tell us again about that Israelite king. Tell us again about Joseph and how God rose him up to power. Tell us again about how he enslaved all of Egypt as they come in after being abused, as they come in from the fields after having to build brick without straw. Famished, abused. They would love to hear the story about how God rose Joseph up to enslave the Egyptians. This would be the source of all their hope. God said, I'm going to bring you in, God said we're going to make you numerous, and God said he's going to bring you out. This should have been great hope for Israel. You see, the big picture in the midst of suffering, in the midst of trials, in the midst of sojourn, it's what we need to hear. What is God doing? How do we get here? What is God doing while we're here? And how is God going to deliver us? They need to remember that God has used Egypt as an ark. Instead, they saw God as punishing them because they did not believe his promises. Friends, we are called to sojourn in a foreign land, just like Israel was called to sojourn in a foreign land. A key text here in the New Testament is 1 Peter 2, 9 through 11. It talks about a new identity and a new purpose we have. Peter describes this way, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy, the love. I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against you. Friends, all those descriptions, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, these are descriptions of what Israel the nation were supposed to be. But now that's us, the church. We have a new identity. We have a new citizenship. We have a new home. And therefore, we have a new way of living. We no longer seek to enjoy this world. We long for heaven. It means this world is supposed to become less satisfying. It means we should long for the new world more. How much do you long for the things of this world? How much is your heart set on gaining money, prestige and significance? That will pass if you're really sojourning here Or if you're homeless here. Are we enjoying the temptations of participating in sin? Are we longing for the things of this world? Or are we longing for the day that we will see God face to face where we can praise Him and glorify Him without the taint of sin? That's what's wrong with this world today. It's our hearts. We cannot praise God without the taint of sin. Yes, we're forgiven for every sin, but our hearts are still bent towards us. What's wrong with our praise is our hearts. When God calls us back home to him, we'll receive new hearts that are without the taint of sin. Do we long for that day or do we want to play with sin while we're still here on this earth? As a soldier. We need to realize how dangerous our hearts are. We realize that our hearts will always take us astray. Their hearts are always going after other idols, their idol factories. And that we will be better bound in shekels and in prison than set free to sin. God must limit us and keep us and protect us from ourselves. We should pray that God will keep us from sin. He will limit us in our freedom. We need to repent of the desire to have freedom to sin. And long for the day where we are free to praise God with a pure heart. Keys to sojourning faithfully in a foreign land. There are three keys to sojourning faithfully in a foreign land. First, remember that you're in a foreign land. You're not to make your home here. You have a new citizenship. It's in the new heavens and the new earth. Remember that you're in a foreign land. Remember why you're in a foreign land. Because of your sin. It's because we have rejected the design and the designer. He made us fit for this world at one point. He made us as rulers of this world, but we decided we were going to rule it our way and not his. And therefore, we are no longer fit for this world. Remember how he's going to take you home. It's the most important thing for Israel. How are we going to get out of here? How are we going to get out of here? God said he's going to bring us out of here. We know how God's going to bring us out of here. He's already proven it through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is how God delivers us. We already know the exit strategy. Really, this brings us back to our sermon last week. How does the resurrection affect you? How does the resurrection change who you are? How does the resurrection make you a sojourner? So that your home is not here. Last week, I addressed married folk and parents, and this week I want to focus on other people in the congregation. First, how should the resurrection affect you? If you're a widow or a widower, know this. Your spouse, if they were a believer, are as happy as they possibly are right now. If you're a widower or widower, your spouse is receiving eternal life and infinite love at the right hand of the Father in Jesus Christ. They are more satisfied today, right now in eternity, than they were in this entire life. They have the perfect love from the risen Christ. Be comforted. Your spouse is perfectly loved by the perfect Savior. Set your own desires and affections in the hope that Christ loves you as well and that you will receive this perfect love with your spouse and you'll both be perfectly satisfied in Him. If you're not married, wanting a spouse is good. Keep praying for God to provide a spouse in his time and according to his will. Pray for wisdom, for discernment and waiting upon his timing. Most of all, know this. When God blesses you with a spouse, it's not going to make life perfect or perfectly happy. A spouse is not going to fix everything, a spouse is not going to be able to love you perfectly. There's only one person who can love you perfectly, and it's Christ, the perfect bridegroom. As you wait on God's timing, set your hope on the bridegroom. Set your affections on Him. Use this time to discipline your heart to love Him, Christ, more than you will love the spouse that God will provide in His timing. You will receive an imperfect spouse. You are promised and already have a perfect bridegroom in Jesus Christ. If you're married. Yes, I'm going to bring it back to you now. Love Jesus more than your spouse. Don't set your expectation on your spouse that they're supposed to love you perfectly and do everything for you and make life perfect. That's going to let you down. It's going to let your spouse down. No, only Christ can perfectly love you. The best way to love your spouse is to love Christ more than him or her. For if you're not a Christian this morning. You know, there's no satisfaction in this world. You know that the more you taste this world, the more you hunger for something else. There is no rest. There is no peace. This world is not fit to satisfy you. Sin is unfit to satisfy you. The world cannot bring you joy. You are unfit for joy. We have lost that privilege because we have sinned against God, because only He brings true joy. You can't make yourself more fit. You can't better your life to the point where you can start having joy. You cannot bring fitness to your spiritual or happy state. Only God can do that, and He has provided that way. Jesus Christ has done everything you need to make you fit. He has died on the cross to remove your guilt. He has risen again to give you hope and eternal life. He provides a spirit that will convert and convict your heart. You cannot make yourself fit to enjoy this world anymore. But God has provided the way for you to be fit, to be happy again, to find joy in the risen Christ. We all must stop trying to make ourselves fit for happiness and trust the work of Christ that makes us fit. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we thank You for Your love. We thank You for Your blessing. We thank You for how You have done all that we need. You have accomplished the forgiveness of sin. You have accomplished new life. You have taken away the wrath of God. I thank You that all we have to do is look to You in belief. Trust You. Trust You that You are going to take us out of this world, either by death or by ascending into the clouds when You call us by name. Lord, we trust You. We thank You that You've given us hope beyond the grave. We thank You that You've given us an opportunity to truly be loved and satisfied and happy. We pray for those who do not know this love and happiness. We pray that you would convict and convert their hearts. In your holy name we pray. Amen.