By Faith: Joseph
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Introduction
Introduction
When my father died in April of this year, we were a bit taken by surprise. He had not really been in declining health nor had been sick. He simply sat down on the screened in porch at my sister’s house where he lived, and seemingly went to sleep. His death certificate showed he died of a heart attack. Even though he was 78 years old, he did not have a will or directives about his burial. My Brother and sisters and I came together to have to make some decisions that were not ready to make. My dad lived on the Outer Banks the last 7 years of his life but that was not his home. We knew that we would want him to be buried in Iredell County, the place of his birth. So we made arrangements to bring him back across the state to bury him alongside his father and mother.
In today’s message, we are looking at quite the opposite. We are looking at a man named Joseph who as he was dying, gave directives about his burial and that he was to be buried in a place that was not yet his home but a place that he knew that his children’s children and their generations to come would call home.
Our text is from .
By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.
This one verse in this great chapter in Hebrews which we have called the Hall of Faith is the summary of what is recorded in .
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.”
Genesis
How could Joseph be so confident in his faith to make such statements? What can you and I learn from his faith that we can apply to our lives in the 21st century, thousands of years later?
A closer look at Joseph’s faith gives us an outline to a stronger more enduring faith.
First look at Joseph’s Fixed Faith.
Fixed Faith
Fixed Faith
Joseph had many reasons to quit in his faith. He had a sorry, no good family. He was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and removed from his family’s land, forced to settle in a land that was not home. Joseph was tempted to gain power and prestige by turning his back on his God. He was falsely accused and persecuted for retaining his integrity. In spite of doing all that was right, Joseph could have just given up and given in to the pressures of his life.
Sounds familiar doesn’t it? If we are honest, there are times we are asked to do things that are not of God. We are tempted to gain power and prestige by doing things not of God but of this world. We perhaps have been falsely accused and think that we can no longer stand up against those accusations. We start believing those lies and think was are not worthy of the redemption of God. Truth of the matter is that we are not worthy. Yet because of God’s redeeming Grace, we can establish a faith that is fixed and secure.
When I ride my bike, I have to set short term goals so I can get a long term result. I have to start out and picturing a place in my mind that I can strive to get to in a certain amount of time before I can get a drink of water. I have noticed that if I keep looking ahead and not behind or gazing on my circumstances, I can achieve my bike riding goals. Where my eyes are fixed mentally and physically, my body will follow.
The same thing is true in my spiritual life.
Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze directly before you.
Proverbs
gets a bit more specific.
Hebrews
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
We will look at that verse in more detail in a few weeks, but it is relevant to our thoughts just now.
If you and I have a faith that is fixed, one that is firmly in position, determined, established and set, we will not be easily moved by the winds of change this world blows out us.
Joseph had a fixed faith so that when it was tested, he could realize that God’s word could be trusted. Aren’t you glad that God’s word is trustworthy?
Righteous are you, O Lord,
and your laws are right.
The statutes you have laid down are righteous;
they are fully trustworthy.
Joseph knew that his fixed faith when tested, he could rejoice in the power of God!
Do you serve a powerful God?
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit.
Psalm 14
{sa
Joseph’s faith was not only fixed, but it was a faith that was fervent.
Fervent Faith
Fervent Faith
Joseph had a faith that was more that just a faith of month! Joseph had a faith that was full of zeal and emotion. Is it okay to get zealous with your faith? We should be a people that are full of fervor!
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Romans
What drives you to do what you do? When you are driven and motivated by the right reasons, you will have a fervent faith like Joseph. Joseph was taught at a very young age about the faithfulness of his God. He knew that God was with him and kept him alive through being sold into slavery and then becoming a ruler in a foreign land. Joseph watched how his faithful God reconciled his family and then how God blessed him and his sons with his father Jacob’s blessing. Joseph knew of the promises of God and how God was going to move His people from a land of exile into a land of promise.
Joseph was driven and motivated by this and his faith became a fervent faith. You and I can also understand that God is faithful and just and we can be assured that He is still the same God that saw Joseph through and He will see us through as well!
We can glorify His Name and we can be fervent in our faith because indeed Great is His Faithfulness. That great hymn is based on
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
Lamentations 3:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Joseph had a fervent faith that indeed knew God’s faithfulness was and continues to be great!
Is your faith a fervent faith?
Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Are you seeking the Lord?
Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
O Lord, you preserve both man and beast.
How priceless is your unfailing love!
Both high and low among men
find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
Psalm 36:5-7
Are you finding refuge in the shadow of His wings?
My days are like the evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.
But you, O Lord, sit enthroned forever;
your renown endures through all generations.
Psalm 102:
Because our God sits enthroned forever, we can know that He is faithful and our faith can be fervent! This gives us a FOREVER FAITH!
Forever Faith
Forever Faith
Joseph teaches a lesson by giving instructions about His bones. You see, sometimes we have to show hope and faith so others can see it! Joseph challenged challenged the thought of his people settling in a place where they had there needs met. Joseph wanted his people to understand that God had called them to reach more. God doesn’t want us to accept where we are. He wants us to accept where He wants us to be!
Joseph challenged that the people would not give up under the pressures they faced and give into the weight of their world. Joseph could not see the promised fulfilled but he sure could die in the faith of it! His instructions were “preserve my bones unburied in Egypt until God delivered the people, then bury them in the promised land.”
Joseph lived and died in Egypt but he died an Israelite instead of an Egyptian.
Joseph could have had a magnificent burial in Egypt but because of his forever faith, he chose a significant burial in Canaan.
Joseph would go as far as he could with his people, but he could not go as far as he would.
Joseph’s forever faith made it clear to the people that God would deliver them and be with them just as He promised.
God gives His people living comforts in dying moments! And in doing so, the saints can communicate to others for the glory of God! This is why God says in Psalm 116:15
Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his saints.
Psalm 11
Joseph expressed confidence that God would deliver the Israelites from Egypt. One generation after another dies in the certainty that God’s promise does not fail!
But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
Scripture tells us that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph all died. We as a future generation can attest that God is still faithful. He can be depended upon, and He can be trusted!
We as a future generation can attest that God is still faithful. He can be depended upon, and He can be trusted!
Joseph gave us a fixed faith.
Joseph gave us a fervent faith.
Joseph gave us a forever faith.
What are you going to give?
Around 1870, Louisa Stead, her husband and daughter were at the beach in Long Island, New York enjoying an ocean side picnic when a drowning boy cried for help. Mr. Stead rushed to save him but the boy pulled him under and both tragically drowned while Louisa and her young daughter stood there helplessly. During the sorrowful days which followed, Louisa penned the words of one of our most beloved hymns from her grief stricken heart.
She wrote:
‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word,
just to rest upon His promise, just to know, “Thus saith the Lord.”
O how sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to trust His cleansing blood,
Just in simple faith to plunge me, ‘Neath the healing cleansing flood!
Jesus, Jesus how I trust Him! How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him More!
After the death of her beloved husband, Louisa Stead and her daughter went on to become missionaries in South Africa for more than 25 years. When she died, her fellow missionaries wrote this tribute after her death:
We miss her very much, but her influence goes on as our five thousand native Christians continually sing this hymn in their native language.
Louisa Stead had a fixed faith.
Louisa Stead had a fervent faith.
Louisa Stead had a forever faith.
What about you?
