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Once again, it is my great joy to minister the word of God to you. And this morning, in the providence of God, we find ourselves once again in Hebrews chapter 11. So if you will take your Bibles and turn to that epistle; Hebrews chapter 11. We will be examining verses 20 through 22 this morning. If you haven't been with us, it might be helpful for you to know that we go through the text verse by verse, And so that is why we are in these three verses this morning. And I've entitled my discourse to you "Faith in the Face of Death." Let me read the text to you, Hebrews 11, beginning with verse 20,

"By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come.

"By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

"By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones."

Dear friends, what will you say on your deathbed? You probably haven't thought about that very much. As you get older, you tend to think of these things a little bit more so, right? What will be the consuming passion of your heart that you will want to pass on to your family as they gather around you in the final hour, what will you say to them? For indeed, you will have their undivided attention. Let me tell you what won't be on your mind. You'll have no interest in your bank account, your bass boat or your body image, your Facebook page, and the condition of the stock market will never go through your mind at that time. You will either be filled with confident hope and joy, or you will be filled with uncertainty and fear, and in many cases, as I have witnessed personally, absolute terror. In Ecclesiastes, chapter three and verse 11, Solomon says God has set eternity in our heart, according to God's design. We know that man is not suited for this fallen world. Nothing in it brings lasting joy, lasting satisfaction. Therefore, man has an an innate desire to search for something more, something beyond what he can experience in this life. And of course, those who reject Christ never find that lasting joy, that lasting satisfaction. They live for the fleeting pleasures of this world, then they die. And if they're without Christ, they pass on into eternal judgment, where they will pay the penalty for their rebellion against the Most High God, the very penalty that Christ paid in full for all those who trust in Him. But for the redeemed, death becomes the most exhilarating moment of life. For it is there that we are prepared; we are readied by the Spirit of God to pass through the portal of this worldly existence, filled with sorrow, filled with sin, where we are ready to enter into the glorious presence of the lover of our soul. And I've been with people when that has happened, and it is a precious thing to behold. But this side of glory, we know that God has set eternity in our heart, in every man's heart. Intuitively we know that there has got to be meaning beyond what we see, what we are able to measure. And so within every man, there is this awareness of finiteness; an awareness of our inability to know even the design for our life.

But through the eyes of faith, we can see the promises of God, and those promises at least partially, satisfy the longing of our soul as we anticipate the full glory of the inheritance that we will one day experience when we pass through the veil. This will be the theme that is on the heart of the redeemed on their deathbed, but not so those who have lived by sight rather than by faith. For, as we have read earlier in this passage in Hebrews 11 without faith, it is impossible to please God. For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him, and by implication, he is a judge of those who don't. And what we have in our text this morning is an example of three men who lived by faith and manifested that faith in the face of death; they were Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. Three men that despite the inevitable lapses of faith during their life, especially in the life of Isaac and Jacob, nevertheless they ended well; and in each case, they died without seeing the fulfillment of God's promises that were first given to Abraham. Nevertheless, they were so confident that God would be faithful to his word that on their deathbed, the unfathomable blessings of God's promises were foremost on their mind. It was the consuming passion of their heart. So much so that they passed those things on to their children. These men serve as further example of men whose lives were part of this unbreakable link of God's sovereignty, and as he carries out his purposes - much of which were revealed to Abraham and the Abrahamic covenant and later on in the Davidic Covenant and explained even more in the New Covenant -  ultimately, all of those promises finding their fulfillment in the person and the work of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, before we look closely at the text, let me remind you that the covenant that these men were thinking about, that really animated their heart even on their deathbed, was first given to Abraham. We see it initially in Genesis, chapter 12, and then it's elaborated upon in numerous other passages, especially in the new covenant in Jeremiah 31 through 33 and Ezekiel chapter 36 through 37. But that covenant basically contained four elements that out of Abraham God promised that a seed would come; a seed referring to Christ, who would be both Redeemer and King. And secondly, that they would be given a land. A specific territory that would be set apart by God for his people; a place where he would one day dwell with them in a holy and intimate union. And thirdly, they would become a great nation; that Abraham's magnificent reputation would be displayed materially and spiritually and even socially, and the glory of God's grace would be put on display for the nations of the world to see. And then finally, the fourth aspect was that of a promise of divine blessing and protection. Now, folks, these were the things that were on the minds of the early patriarchs, and mind you, these were the great truths that were on the minds of the first century Hebrew Christians that were hearing this text that we have just read for the first time, and also some of the almost believers that were hearing this. These were Jewish people who were tempted to fall back into Judaism because of persecution and to live by sight rather than by faith; men and women who were tempted to reject what God had promised all along, even in their own Scriptures concerning the coming Messiah, which the writer of Hebrews, through extended argumentation, has proven most compellingly to be Jesus of Nazareth, the incarnate Son of God, whom they had crucified.

Now it's important for us to remember that at the heart of Old Testament expectation - as understood by the original Old Testament authors and audiences - at the very heart was the idea that the salvation and restoration of the nation of Israel in an earthly kingdom of God under the Messiah would one day come, and that with that would come land and physical blessings for Israel as the basis of bringing blessings to all of the nations of the world. And part of this was fulfilled literally in the appearing of Jesus, the Messiah, the one who brought new covenant salvation and forgiveness of sins and the indwelling Spirit to believing Jews and Gentiles. And since these promises were fulfilled literally, we have every reason to believe that the rest of them will also be fulfilled literally at Jesus' Second Coming that we await; promises pertaining to the national and physical restoration of Israel, the restoration of the nations, even the restoration of creation, as you read in the New Covenant promises.

Now, as we look back upon the days of the patriarchs - and this is very important background information so you can understand the mind of the people that were hearing the Letter to the Hebrews being read to them - as you look back in the days of the patriarchs, we know that eventually Israel did enter the land, but as God predicted in Deuteronomy four, Israel would, quote, "act corruptly and do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord." And according to verse 27 of Deuteronomy four, this would lead to God scattering the people among the nations. Verse 28 says that they would then serve the gods of those nations. But then the prophecy through Moses went on to say, "but in the latter days," in other words, while Israel is in distress, as the text goes on to describe, they will quote, "return to the Lord, their God." And then God will, with compassion, will remember the quote, "covenant that he made with Israel's fathers." And then later on, in Deuteronomy, chapter 30, the first 10 verses, God gave a panoramic view of his prophetic plans for Israel, for them in themes of their dispersion and eventually a gathering, and then even a restoration. And again, the first century Hebrew people who were the recipients of this letter, they were very well aware of these things. They knew the Old Testament promises. And there in Deuteronomy 30 God reiterated his promises pertaining to both spiritual regeneration as well as prosperity in the land of promise, all of which would be fulfilled under the New Covenant. Let me read to you Deuteronomy 30 verses one through 10, this great prophecy,

'"So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the LORD your God has banished you,

"'and you return to the LORD your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons,

"'then the LORD your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you.

"'If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back.

"'The LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.

"'Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.

"'The LORD your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and those who hate you, who persecuted you.

"'And you shall again obey the LORD, and observe all His commandments which I command you today.

"'Then the LORD your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for the LORD will again rejoice over you for good, just as he rejoiced over your fathers.

"'If you obey the LORD your God to keep His commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and soul.'"

Now although that prophecy was written many years after the days of Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, that prophecy nevertheless expanded upon the elements of the Abrahamic covenant that they knew so well. And again, the first century readers of this epistle to the Hebrews were anticipating these things. So my point is simply this: the ancient patriarchs had much to be excited about, as we do. By faith they believed God's promises, and those promises animated their heart and their mind with such exhilarating hope that it flowed out of them even on their deathbed. And this should be what occurs in each of us as well. So let's examine the lives and testimony of faith of these three patriarchs so we can better grasp what the Spirit is saying here to these early saints.

First of all, and obviously this breaks down into a three-point outline very easily. First of all, the faith of Isaac. Now, of the three, Isaac's faith was perhaps the least exemplary. Let me give you a little historical background. Like Abraham, Isaac trusted to God to give him a son, though his wife, Rebekah was barren, so you may recall in the Old Testament, Isaac turned to God, and he cried out to God in prayer, and God answered his prayer, and Rebekah conceived twins who, quote, "struggled together within her," and this caused her to inquire of the Lord God, "What is going on inside of my womb?" And God revealed to her that the relentless wrestling in her womb was a harbinger of future antagonism between the two nations that those children would one day father. In Genesis 25 verse 23,

"The LORD said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples will be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger.'"

And we know that Esau was born first. In fact, the text says that he, quote, "came out red, all his body, like a hairy cloak." That must have been a surprise. Afterward, the text says, his brother came out, "with his hand holding Esau's heel." So the enmity began in the womb, and as they were coming out of the womb, and then for many, many years to follow. Esau, as you may remember, was the progenitor of Edom, the Edomites. Edom in Hebrew, means "red." And of course, Jacob was the father of Israel. The Old Testament record reveals that the Edomites were the bitter enemies of Israel. In fact, you will recall that Herod who tried to kill baby Jesus was an Idumaean. He was of that lineage. We know historically that the Edomites eventually allied themselves with Rome in the siege of Jerusalem in AD 70, after which it is believed that the Romans even annihilated them; and they are never again mentioned in history.

According to the Old Testament record, Esau was a rugged outdoorsman. He was a hunter, and he was his father's favorite, while Jacob was perhaps more domesticated and he was his mother's favorite. And of course, wherever there is family favoritism, you have a recipe for conflict and untold misery. Parents remember that. Because of famine, we know that Isaac moved his family south to Gerar, which means "lodging place," and that was a town in a coastal valley of the Mediterranean of south-central Israel. It would have been northwest of Beersheba, which exists to this day. And there God encouraged him by speaking to him in a vision recorded in Genesis 26 beginning in verse three. God said this to him,

 "'Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.

"'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.'"

Now we also know that while in Gerar the men of the region, who, by the way, later became the Philistines, those men noticed that his wife, Rebekah, was, quote, "attractive in appearance," and so fearing that these men might kill him and then take Rebekah unto themselves, he lied about her and told everyone that "this is my sister." Of course, this was reminiscent of Abraham's lapse of faith. You will recall when he lied about Sarah being his sister on two occasions. So not only did Isaac fail to trust in what God had promised him, but also, it appears that he was even more concerned for his own safety than perhaps his wife's, and eventually we read that God disclosed the true nature of their relationship to the pagan king Abimelech, who ruled in that region, causing him to rebuke Isaac and even put them both, Isaac and Rebekah, under his protection. What an example of God's amazing grace, right? And his sovereign power to orchestrate all things to accomplish his purposes, even to the point of using a pagan king.

Well, as the story goes, God continued to prosper Isaac, which caused his pagan neighbors to become very jealous. By the way, that is a phenomena that has played out time and time again over the course of history. And to this day, you see antisemitism, because people are so jealous of the way that God prospers those people, even though most of them do not know the true and the living God. But God even used that jealousy to accomplish his purposes, because as we read the story, the Philistines became so envious of Isaac's prosperity that they kept filling up his wells. And when you're living in a desert region and you've got to feed your flocks, that is not a good thing.

Well, this forced him to move southeast to Beersheba, which was part of the promised land, where he was supposed to have stayed in the first place. And in Genesis 26 and verse 23 we read, "Then he went up from there to Beersheba." And then something very interesting happens.

"The LORD appeared to him the same night and said, 'I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants, for the sake of My servant, Abraham.'

"So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants dug a well."

In other words, that's where he settled down. And as the story goes as Isaac became an old man, he got to a point where he couldn't see. His cataracts probably got the best of him, and Scripture reveals that when he knew he was about to die, he asked his favorite son, Esau, to go hunting and to kill, quote, "some game and prepare a savory dish." So at that meal, he was going to bless his older son, which was often the custom, although he knew from God's revelation to Rebekah that God had promised that the older son would serve the younger. Therefore, it was God's will for Jacob, not Esau, to receive the blessing. Moreover, he had to have known about the story of Esau selling his birthright to Jacob. So he should have thought, you know, God is really up to something here. Maybe this is not a good idea. But no, he decided to take matters into his own hands. But what he didn't know is that Rebekah overheard his conversation with Esau, so she goes and conspires with her favorite son, Jacob to join her and trick her blind husband into giving him the blessing instead.

Now obviously neither Isaac nor Rebekah acted in faith during this unseemly episode of trickery. So what happened then is, while Esau is out hunting, Rebekah tells Jacob to go kill a couple of their young goats so that she could prepare them, throw them on the grill, smoke them up real good, just like daddy likes them, and then you go in and serve it to him. And then she went and got some of Esau's clothes that smelled like him. Being a hunter, I can only imagine what that must smell like. And she took the skins the text says, "of the young goats, and put them on Jacob's hands and on the smooth part of his neck," just in case Isaac were to say, "Come here, you sound like Jacob, not like Esau. So I want to feel you to make sure you're the hairy Esau that I know." Well, Jacob then approached his father, who was surprised at how quickly his son Esau had gone out and killed the game and prepared it, and he asked Jacob to come near him so he could know whether or not he was really Esau. Though it was the voice of Jacob, he was tricked into believing that it was Esau. So he blessed Jacob. And here's the blessing in Genesis 27 beginning in verse 25,

"So he said, 'Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son's game, that I may bless you.'  And he brought it to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank.

"Then his father Isaac said to him, 'Please come close and kiss me, my son.'

"So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he blessed him and said,

'See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed;

"'Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and an abundance of grain and new wine;

"'May people serve you, and nations bow down to you; be master of your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you.

"'Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you.'"

So there you have elements of the Abrahamic covenant and his blessing to Jacob, who he thought was Esau. Of course, as the story goes, almost immediately, Esau comes in and discovers what has happened; he is absolutely horrified, and although Isaac gave some manner of blessing to Esau as well, the primary blessing belonged to Jacob.

So despite all of the scheming and the sin, Isaac could see that God was in charge. But you know what's interesting, here in Hebrews 11, none of these historic details are mentioned, because, frankly, they're all assumed. Moreover, that is not really the point. The writer simply says in verse 20 of Hebrews 11, "By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau even regarding things to come." And the point is simply this, despite his weak faith and his preferential treatment, Isaac still believed that God's promises to his father Abraham, would be fulfilled. He trusted in what God had to say, and though he was deceived, the blessing that he gave to Jacob was given with utmost confidence in the unseen promises of God - promises beyond his life, beyond the grave - that he knew would be fulfilled by a sovereign God who cannot lie; because faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. So dear friends, he never doubted the covenant making and the covenant keeping, God of Israel; the God of truth, the one who reigns in unassailable sovereignty over all of His creation. He cherished the promises of the inheritance as if he possessed them completely that very moment. And it was these promises that he passed on in his blessings to Jacob and Esau quote, "even regarding things to come." So in other words, he assigned to his sons future things as though they existed in the present. Dear friends, this is an example of the kind of faith that God honors. And I must ask you, will you by faith, have a passion to pass the promises of God on to your children when you were dying?

Well, we see the same kind of faith in Jacob when he was about to die, the second illustration the writer uses. Notice verse 21, "By faith, Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff." This is such a precious scene. I read through these great Old Testament stories a number of times even this last week. And it's fascinating to me, to see what God was up to. Jacob's strength is about gone. By the way, he was 147 years old, but he musters up enough strength to rise up from his deathbed and lean on his staff. God's promises were so powerful. They were so precious. They were so exhilarating to him that they ignited his body with adrenaline, and by the power of God he was able to exercise his faith one last time as he passed on the blessings of God's promises to his son Joseph, and his grandsons that Joseph had brought with him, Manasseh and Ephraim, who were with him.

I want to read you this story in Genesis 48 beginning in verse one.

1 Now it came about after these things that Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is sick.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him.
2 When it was told to Jacob, “Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel collected his strength and sat up in the bed.
3 Then Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,
4 and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’
5 Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.
6 But your offspring that have been born after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the names of their brothers in their inheritance.
7 Now as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died, to my sorrow, in the land of Canaan on the journey, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?”
9 Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” So he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.”
10 Now the eyes of Israel were so dim from age that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.
11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your children as well.”
12 Then Joseph took them from his knees, and bowed with his face to the ground.
13 Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them close to him.
14 But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, although Manasseh was the firstborn.
15 He blessed Joseph, and said,
“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
16 The angel who has redeemed me from all evil,
Bless the lads;
And may my name live on in them,
And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

17 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.”
19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”
20 He blessed them that day, saying,
“By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying,
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’”
Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
22 I give you one portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”

Beloved, don't miss this. The writer of the Hebrews reminds his readers of this magnificent scene of faith when the venerable Patriarch who had sojourned with God in the land of promise his whole life but never possessed it, leans upon his trusty staff one last time to utter one final benediction: a confident benediction. And as I've thought about this, and by the way, I don't want to be too dogmatic here, but I believe there is perhaps symbolism in the staff. You will recall in Genesis 32 when Jacob came to meet his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, that he was terribly frightened. The text says he was "distressed." He feared that Esau might kill him. And for this reason, Jacob cried out to the Lord, praising him for all that he had done. And he said, "'I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to Your servant; for with only my staff, I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.'" In other words, he gave credit to the covenant faithfulness and sovereign power of Almighty God to take that single little staff, that's all he had, and then turn it into two mighty camps. What a transformation by the power of God. He had gone from poverty to great wealth.

And now we come to the text. We see that on his deathbed, at the age of 147 he still has a staff. Perhaps it's the same one, maybe a sentimental memorial of God's faithfulness. I have certain things that I keep like that, everything from pocketknives to my Bible. I've got the same Bible. It's been redone, but the same Bible I had when I was a little boy. But folks, this was the staff of a pilgrim, one that sojourned in a land that he did not possess. This was the staff that carried him on his first journey when he went in search of his wife in Haran; the staff he carried for 20 years, as you will recall, when he labored for that greedy father in law, Laban, caring for his flocks; the staff that supported him after he wrestled with God at Peniel, when God changed his name to Israel, which means "God's fighter," or "he who strives with God." You remember, that's when God put his hip out of joint, resulting in a limp the rest of his life. Indeed, every man and every woman that ever encounters the living God will walk the rest of his or her days with a limp. All pride and self-righteousness has been shattered. We must depend upon the living Christ to exist. And it's fascinating to know that it was the same kind of staff that his descendants would one day be required to have in their hand as they ate of the Paschal lamb with their loins girt and the blood sprinkled on the lintel and the door posts as they waited the deliverance of the Lord to take them from the land of Egypt.

And now, as he prepares to die, he raises himself up and he leans on that staff that supported him the first time when he crossed the physical Jordan and will now support him as he prepares to pass the spiritual Jordan. It's as though he's saying to Joseph and to his grandsons, "Sons, please hear me. I want you to understand this world is not my home. It never has been. It never will be. The whole of this earth is a vast wilderness to me, as it should be to you as well. There is nothing in Egypt, in all of Egypt, that brings satisfaction and joy to my soul. My citizenship is in heaven, and I live in light of the promises that God gave our father, Abraham and Isaac. And like them, I am looking for the city which has foundations whose architect and builder is God. My sons, all of the covenant promises of God are your inheritance. Never, ever forget it." So Jacob's actual words, which we just read were spoken by faith in the promises of a sovereign God, a holy God who cannot lie. And again, I would ask you, especially you fathers, men, when it comes our time to die, will it be the greatest priority and privilege of our life to bless our children by passing on to them the promises of God and pleading with them to live consistently with them?

Well, we see this as well in the final example of Joseph, verse 22, "By faith, Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave orders concerning his bones." This is a fascinating statement. Obviously, Joseph remembered well the dying words of his father, and though his jealous brothers had sold him into slavery when he was 17 years old, and though he lived in Egypt his whole life, the covenant that God had given to his father, Abraham, so to speak, some 200 years earlier, would remain the bedrock of his faith, the very compass of his life. Joseph died when he was 110 years old. So he lived in the land of Egypt for 93 years, but he never considered it to be his home. Think about that, over 35 years ago, having lived most of my life in Illinois, and then seven years in seminary in Indiana, we moved to Tennessee. We've been here all this time, so Tennessee feels like home, and yet, you know what? It's not my home. We have another home, don't we, and that's the way it was with Joseph in Egypt; his home was in the land of promise; the land that none of his ancestors ever possessed, save by faith.

And you will recall that Jacob, and all of Joseph's brothers, had to flee to Egypt to survive the great famine. And there, Joseph cared for them. You remember that story? There he cared for the 12 tribes of Israel. And it was in the land of Egypt that Jacob died, and you may recall that, per Jacob's request, Joseph saw to it that his father's bones were taken and buried in Canaan with Abraham and Sarah, and Isaac and Rebekah, and his wife Leah. And then when it's Joseph's turn to die, we read this in Genesis 50, Joseph said to his brothers,

"'I'm about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.

"'Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, 'God will surely take care of you and you shall carry my bones up from here.'

"So Joseph died at the age of 110 years, and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt."

You know, it's amazing, according to the text that we just read, and the one in chapter 11, verse 22, God had revealed to Joseph that one day he would take his people away from Egypt. So Joseph knew that an exodus would one day occur, and he wanted to be a part of it, even though he was dead. So he tells his brothers, promise me that when you leave Egypt, you will take my bones with you. Little did any of them know that that would be 400 years later. 400 years later, the covenant people of Israel were delivered from Egypt. Now, you know how the Egyptians were with bodies and coffins. They liked to make much of their great heroes. So Joseph must have had a magnificent tomb, no doubt it was placed in a position of great prominence. As I think about it, for 400 years, the Jewish people passed by that tomb, and they would probably say, "There lies our father, Joseph. A man so certain of God's covenant promises to Abraham Isaac and Jacob that he eventually wants his bones to be taken to the land that God has promised. My, there lies a man of faith." Isn't it interesting how that even in Joseph's death, his faith would have encouraged the people.

And then imagine the scene some 400 years later, when Pharaoh finally decides to let the people go, and all of the people of Egypt, including the Pharaoh and all of his army and all of his leaders witnessed the Hebrew people going into that tomb and taking the bones of Joseph placed in that coffin, and putting them probably on a cart to take them to the land of promise. Think how the empty tomb of Jesus even strengthens us today, right?

So Joseph knew that God would keep his promises, and Joseph clung to those promises; promises that God had even given him in the dreams of his early years, and he had witnessed God's faithfulness over and over again. So in verse 22 we read, "By faith, Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave orders concerning his bones."

So there you have it, dear friends, three men who manifested faith in the face of death, the kind of faith the writer of Hebrews wants his readers to remember and to emulate; to remind them that God is in control, that he keeps his word. And three times, the writer says, "By faith," "By faith," "By faith." And we see in every case, these men were dying, and what a powerful statement that is. The reason I say that, because the words of a dying man are considered to be the truest expression of his soul. There's no reason for deception or hypocrisy when a man is facing death. So my question to you, dear friends, is, what will be the expression of your faith when it's your turn to die? What will you say to your children, or perhaps your friends as they gather around you? And dear parents, especially you fathers, I hope you can see how important it is for your family to see you living by faith, to see the importance of living a life that is so dominated by the promises of God that on your deathbed, you can gather your family around you by God's power,  you can sit up and you can lean on the staff of God's faithfulness, and you can bless them. Dear friends, I hope that you will be able to someday say on your death bed, "Family gather around me. I am about to die. I am about to pass through the veil of this life and to enter into the presence of the God that has been faithful to save me. But before I go, I want to share with you a few things. I want you to know that God has proven himself powerful to me over and over again. By his grace, he revealed himself to me when I was a little boy, and as I have walked with him all of these years, I have seen his power, I have experienced his love, I have seen his faithfulness, and I can tell you that this world has never been my home. My citizenship is in heaven. You must know that for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And I can say with the apostle Paul, as he said at the end of his life, that I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. Oh precious children, please hear me, place your trust in Christ and let all you think and do be shaped by the promises of God. Understand the gospel. Embrace it wholeheartedly and know that God's covenant, promises to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob that were expanded even more, to David and then ultimately, even in the New Covenant. Know that all of those things are going to come true. Know that the only thing that matters in life is living for Christ. So lay up your treasures in heaven, not on this earth. Set your mind on things above, not on the things of this earth. And at my funeral, I want you to make much of Christ, not much of me. Plant me in the ground with joy, knowing that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And know that as you put this old, decrepit body in the ground, that when that trumpet sounds, it will raise triumphantly by the power of God, it will be glorified, and it will be attached to my soul."

Oh Child of God, I pray that this will be the kind of things that will be on your heart, on your deathbed, and if it is, death will be a welcomed friend, not a terrifying foe. And like Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, you too will be able to pass to your children the promises of God as their eternal inheritance by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Let's pray,

Father, thank you for these eternal truths that animate our souls to utmost worship and praise. Thank you for the hope that we have in Christ. May that hope shape all that we think and all that we do, and may we, as your people, justified by your grace, live by faith, for it's in Christ's name that I pray, Amen.