The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Joseph's Bones, a sermon
delivered on Lord's Day morning December 18th, 1870
by C.H. Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle,
Newington.
Hebrews 11 verse 22, By faith Joseph, when
he died, made mention of the departing of
the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning
his bones.
We cannot readily tell which action in a
gracious life God may set the most store
by.
The Holy Spirit in this chapter selects out
of good men's lives the most brilliant instances
of their faith.
I should hardly have expected that he would
have mentioned the dying scene of Joseph's life
as the most illustrious proof of his faith
in God.
That eventful life, perhaps the most interesting in
all sacred scripture with the exception of one,
abounds with incidents of which the Holy Spirit
might have said by his servant Paul, by
faith Joseph did this and that.
But none is mentioned save the closing scene.
The triumph especially of his chastity under well
-known and exceedingly severe temptation might have been
very properly traced to the power of his
faith, but it is passed over, and the
fact that he gave commandment concerning his bones
is singled out as being the most illustrious
proof of his faith.
Does not this tell us, dear brethren and
sisters, that we are very poor judges of
what God will most delight in?
Very likely, when we least please ourselves, God
is best pleased with us.
That prayer over which we groaned and thought
it was not prayer may have had more
true supplication in it than another intercession in
which we thought far more highly.
That sermon which made us lament in the
bitterness of our soul because we thought we
had delivered it so feebly may have been
in God's sight more precious than many affluent
discourse concerning which we congratulated ourselves.
That trial which we thought we passed through
with so much impatience may have been before
God an exhibition of true patience as He
looked deep down into our souls.
The tests by which we try ourselves are
very inaccurate.
It may be, when we read our own
biographies in the light of eternity, we shall
be surprised to notice that God hath highly
commended what we wept over, while much that
we gloried in will be cast away among
the reprobate silver.
The Lord seeth not as man seeth, for
man looketh at the outward appearance, but God
looketh at the heart, and His glance pierces
to the core.
The Lord weigheth the spirits.
He estimates not by color, form, and glitter,
but by actual weight, and hence when He
weighed up the character of Joseph, He gave
the preponderance to an incident wherein faith is
really present in much force, but not to
the superficial observer.
It may seem surprising that the charge of
Joseph concerning his body should be mentioned as
a notable act of faith, and not the
similar charge delivered by Jacob.
For did not Jacob also give commandment concerning
his bones?
And he charged them and said unto them,
I am to be gathered unto my people.
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 of Mechpelah, which is before Mamre in
the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with
the field of Ephron the Hittite for a
possession of a bearing place.
There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife,
there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife,
and there I buried Leah.
He bade them carry his body to that
dear mausoleum of the family at Mechpelah where
his fathers rested.
Why was not that a case of faith
in Jacob as much as in Joseph?
We cannot always speak positively of these things,
but we think that there is a very
decided difference between the two.
You will notice that Jacob's wish to lie
in Mechpelah was by himself described as resting
mainly on the grounds of natural affection.
He speaks about his relationship to Abraham, to
Isaac, to Leah, and so on.
And with that natural feeling which is exceedingly
commendable, but which is not a work of
grace, he desires to be buried with his
own kith and kin.
When his soul should be gathered to his
people, he would have his body lie side
by side with his own relatives.
This wish was probably as much an outgoing
of nature as an expression of grace.
Of course, natural affection would have led Joseph
to desire the same thing, but he does
not put it on that score.
Moreover, you notice that Jacob commands his sons
to do with his bones what they could
readily do.
They were to take him to Mechpelah and
bury him at once.
He knew his son Joseph to be in
power in Egypt, and therefore anything that was
wanted for his funeral would be provided.
The Egyptian court, as it proved, were ready
enough to give him the most sumptuous interment.
They even spent forty days in mourning for
him, denoting thereby that he was a person
held in high honor.
Jacob therefore commanded nothing to be done but
what could be done.
There was no very remarkable exhibition of faith
in commanding an immediate funeral which the filial
love of Joseph would readily secure.
He takes immediate possession of his sepulchre in
Canaan, and for very excellent reasons does not
ask to remain unburied till Canaan is possessed
by his descendants.
Jacob seeks immediate sepulchre, but Joseph postpones his
interment till the covenant promise is fulfilled.
Joseph not only wished to be buried in
Mechpelah, which was nature, but he would not
be buried there till the land was taken
possession of, which was an exhibition of the
grace of faith.
He wished his unburied body to share with
the people of God in their captivity and
their return.
He was so certain that they would come
out of the captivity that he postpones his
burial till that glad event, and so makes
what would have been but a natural wish,
a means of expressing a holy and gracious
confidence in the divine promise.
It was faith in Jacob, but it was
remarkable faith in Joseph, and God, who looks
not simply at the act but at the
motive of the act, has been pleased not
to put down Jacob as an instance of
dying faith in this particular matter of his
bones, but to award praise to Joseph as
exhibiting in death a memorable degree of confidence
in the promise.
Probably Jacob's dying faith, when exercised upon other
matters, outshone his faith in connection with his
burial, while in his favorite son that matter
was his leading proof of faith.
We shall now come to examine this incident
with some little particularity, and we shall find
in it valuable lessons.
May the Holy Spirit write them on our
hearts.
I think I see first in this word
of Joseph on his deathbed the power of
faith.
I see, secondly, the workings of faith, the
forms in which this precious grace embodies itself,
and, thirdly, I see an example for our
faith when we come to die.
I observe in the text an example of
the power of faith, the endurance of true
faith under three remarkable modes of test.
First, the power of faith over worldly prosperity.
Not many great men after the flesh, not
many mighty, are chosen.
True enough is that word.
But it was never said, Not any great
men, not any mighty, are chosen.
God has selected a few in places of
wealth and power and influence who have faith
in their hearts, and that in an eminent
degree.
Our Lord told us that it was easier
for a camel to go through the eye
of a needle than for a rich man
to enter the kingdom of heaven.
But He added, The things which are impossible
with men are possible with God.
Observe, then, the difficulty which surrounded Joseph's case,
and then remark how great must have been
the faith which triumphed over the difficulty.
Joseph's position after he had passed through his
first trials in Egypt was a very eminent
one.
He possessed unbounded riches.
He was the viceroy of the entire country,
and Pharaoh had said to him, Only in
the throne will I be greater than thou.
He was in all respects except in name
the absolute Lord of that great nation.
He could do just as he willed.
He was surrounded by all the state of
royalty, and when he rode in his chariot
to the streets, the heralds cried before him,
Bow the knee.
Yet all this did not prevent Joseph's possessing
faith in God, and a faith which persevered
even to the end.
My dear brethren, the trials of faith are
usually those of poverty, and right gloriously does
faith behave herself when she trusts in the
Lord and does good and is fed, even
in the land of famine.
But it is possible the ordeal of prosperity
is far more severe, and it is hence
a greater triumph of faith when the rich
man sets not his heart upon uncertain riches
and does not suffer the thick clay of
this world to encumber his pilgrimage to heaven.
It is hard to carry a full cup
with a steady hand.
Some spilling will usually occur, but where grace
makes rich men, the men in high position
of power and authority, to act becomingly and
graciously, then grace is greatly glorified.
You who are rich should see your danger,
but let the case of Joseph be your
encouragement.
God will help you, seek you his merciful
aid.
There is no need that you should be
worldly.
There is no need that you should sink
the Israelite in the Egyptian.
God can keep you, even as he kept
Job, so that you shall be perfect and
upright and yet be exceeding great in possessions.
Like Joseph, you may be at once richer
and better than your brethren.
It will be very hard, and you will
need very, very much grace.
But the Lord your God will help you,
and you shall learn, like Paul, how to
abound, and like Joseph of Arimathea, you shall
be both a rich man and a devout
disciple.
Be it remembered, too, that Joseph was not
only tried by riches, but that the trial
lasted throughout a long life, from almost his
early days to the close of his career.
I suppose that for sixty or seventy years
at least he stood in the high position
of Lord Lieutenant of Egypt, with all the
wealth of that great people at his feet,
and yet all that time he remained true
in heart towards the God of his fathers.
May God give you, who are in elevated
places, the like fidelity.
May you remain unshaken under the most protracted
temptation.
Remember, moreover, that the society into which Joseph
was cast by his position in Egypt was
of the very worst kind as to spiritual
religion, for the Egyptians were to a man
idolaters, worshippers of all kinds of living animals
and creeping things.
A satirist said of them, O happy people
who grow their gods in their own gardens,
for they even worshiped leeks and onions.
They were a most idolatrous people, and though
far ahead of their neighbors in civilization, they
were very low in the scale of religion.
We think we see in Joseph, here in
their traces, that he was damaged by Egyptian
habits and customs, but still not so much
as one might have expected, and in no
degree so much as to make us suspect
his fidelity to the one God.
There must have been a deep, sound faith
of holiness in the young man, or he
would never have been able to live at
court, and at an idolatrous court too, and
yet to preserve his integrity and his faith
towards Jehovah, the God of Israel.
Do not forget that during a very great
part of that time, Joseph had not one
single person to associate with who was of
his own faith.
Think what a trial that must have been
to him.
I have known persons very warm-hearted in
religion while living with zealous Christians, and very
diligent while listening to a lively ministry who,
when removed from Christian society or compelled to
sit under a cold ministry, have made a
spiritual failure.
Alas, I mourn over some who, when transplanted
into stern or soil, have so declined that
it were hard to say whether they are
trees of the Lord's right hand planting or
not.
Joseph was removed to a place where there
was no prayer in the household, no friend,
no godly teacher to speak a word with,
no one who knew of Jehovah or of
the covenant made with Israel.
He was all alone, alone, alone in the
midst of an idolatrous people with all the
temptations of Egypt before him, possessed of its
riches and its treasures, and tempted to live
as the people lived in all manner of
heathenism.
And yet for all that, he endured as
seeing him who was invisible, and at the
last he died full of confident, joyous, and
godly belief in the God of his fathers.
Ah, this is a great triumph of faith,
and I would urge any of my dear
brethren here who really love the Lord to
seek that the work of grace in them
may be so deep, so true, so thorough,
that if God should make kings of them,
they would not grow proud of it.
If God should send them right away from
Christian associations, they would not forget him, and
if they were exposed to all the temptations
of the world at once, they would resist
them all.
The power of Joseph's faith was, you see,
abundantly evidenced in its triumph over his worldly
circumstances.
Secondly, you see here the power of his
faith exhibited in its triumph over death.
He says, if you turn to the last
chapter of Genesis, I die, and God will
surely visit you.
Or as the text puts it, he made
mention concerning the departing of the children of
Israel.
Death is a great tester of a man's
sincerity, and a great shaker down of bowing
walls and tottering fences.
Men have thought that it was all well
with them, but when the swellings of Jordan
have been about them, they have found matters
quite otherwise.
Here we see Joseph so calm and so
quiet that he remembers the covenant, falls back
upon it, and rejoices in it.
He speaks of dying as though it were
only a part of living, and comparatively a
small matter to him.
He gives no evidence of trepidation whatever.
No fear distracts him, but he bears his
last witness to his brethren who gather about
his bed concerning the faithfulness of God and
the infallibility of his promise.
Moreover, if I am to gather from the
text that the Holy Spirit has singled out
the brightest instance of faith in Joseph's whole
life, it is beautiful to remark that the
grand old man becomes most illustrious in his
last hour.
Death did not dim, but rather brightened the
gold in his character.
On his deathbed beyond all the rest of
his life, his faith, like the setting sun,
gilds all around with glory.
Now that heart and flesh fail him, God
becomes more than ever the strength of his
life, as he was soon to be his
portion forever.
Is it not a grand thing for a
Christian to do his very best action last,
being strongest in divine power when his own
weakness is supreme?
We should desire to serve God in youth,
in health, in strength, with all the might
we have, but it may happen to us
that, like Samson, our last act may be
the greatest.
Many a good man groans over his life
that, having done all he can, it is
still unsatisfactory.
But perhaps the master may be intending to
give him a crowning mercy just at the
last, and make the place of his departure
to the scene of his most glorious victory,
so that he may enter into heaven wearing
the laurels of faith, and there to cast
them at the Saviour's feet.
Joseph, at any rate, is a noble instance
of faith's conquest over death.
Once more, here is a proof of the
power of faith in laughing at improbabilities.
If you will think of it, it seemed
a very unlikely thing that the children of
Israel should go up out of Egypt.
Perhaps at the time when Joseph died there
appeared to be no reason why they should
do so.
They were settled in Goshen.
They had been favoured with the part of
the land the wisdom of Joseph had selected
the most fertile part of the Nile as
a pasture for their flocks.
Why should they wish to go?
They had all the comforts earth could yield
them.
Why should they wish to leave Egypt for
the soil of Canaan, where the Canaanites would
dispute every inch of the ground, where there
were few, if any, advantages over Egypt and
many disadvantages?
Suppose Joseph to have seen by prophetic foresight,
as perhaps he did, that another dynasty would
succeed to that of the pharaoh who had
honoured him, and that Israel would be oppressed.
He must have felt, if he weighed probabilities,
that it was unlikely to the last degree
that the children of Israel, when reduced to
slavery, would ever have been able to cut
their way out of Egypt to reach the
promised land.
Any person qualified to judge, had he been
asked, as to the probable issue of a
conflict between the twelve tribes and the armies
of Egypt would have replied, Israel would be
at once trodden down like straw for the
dunghill, and the people would remain in perpetual
bondage.
But Joseph's eye was fixed upon the mighty
promise.
In the fourth generation they shall come hither
again.
He knew that when the four hundred years
were past, Abram's vision of the smoking furnace
and the burning lamp would be fulfilled, and
the word would be established.
And also that nation whom they shall serve
will I judge, and afterward shall they come
out with great substance.
Though as yet he could not know that
Moses would say, Thus saith Jehovah, let my
people go, though he might not have foreseen
the wonders at the Red Sea, and how
Pharaoh and his chariots would be swallowed up
therein, and though he did not predict the
wilderness and the fiery cloudy pillar and the
heavens dropping manna, yet his faith was firm
that by some means the covenant would be
fulfilled.
Improbabilities were nothing to him, nor impossibilities either.
God hath said it, and Joseph believes it.
On his dying bed, when fancy fades, and
strong delusion relaxes its iron grip, the true
sure faith of the man of God rose
to its altitude, and like the evening star
shed a sweet glory o'er the sea.
May we, my brethren, possess the faith which
will triumph over all circumstances, over the pains
of death, and over every improbability that may
apparently be connected with the word.
Under our second head we are to endeavor
to show you the workings of faith.
In this case, Joseph gives commandment concerning his
bones.
The first fruit of faith in Joseph was
this.
He would not be an Egyptian.
He had not been asked to be an
Egyptian under the yoke.
Anybody might have refused that.
He had not been asked to be an
Egyptian of the middle class.
That might have been desirable from a worldly
point of view, but he had the opportunity
of being an Egyptian of the highest grade.
He was actually exalted to almost royal rank,
and he might have become a naturalized Egyptian,
and his family also.
In the providence of God he was called
upon to accept the honors and emoluments of
a most dignified office, but still he would
not be an Egyptian, even on the best
terms.
His dying bed afforded him a turning point,
an opportunity for testifying that he is an
Israelite and by no means an Egyptian.
He did not hesitate.
His choice had never wavered.
No doubt he would have had a sumptuous
tomb enough in Egypt, but no, he will
not be buried there, for he is not
an Egyptian.
In Saqqara, hard by the great pyramid of
Pharaoh Apophis, stands at this day the tomb
of a prince whose name and titles are
in hieroglyphic writing.
The name is Esuf, and from among his
many titles we choose two, director of the
king's granaries, and the other, an Egyptian title,
a Brek.
Now this last word is found in the
scriptures, and is that which is translated, bow
the knee.
It is more than probable that this monument
was prepared for Joseph, but he declined the
honor.
Though his resting place would have been side
by side with the pyramid of one of
Mizraim's greatest monarchs, yet he would not accept
the dignity.
He would not be an Egyptian.
This is one of the sure workings of
faith in a man of wealth and rank.
When God places him in circumstances where he
might be a worldling of the first order,
if his faith be genuine, he says, no,
I will not even at this rate be
numbered with the world.
He dreads above all things that he should
be supposed to have his portion in this
life.
If you could put a Christian on the
throne, the first fear he would have would
be this.
Am I to be put off with an
earthly crown and miss the heavenly diadem?
Place him at court.
His great question will be, how shall I
show that I am not one of the
citizens of this world?
Surround him with broad acres, a noble mansion
and a large estate.
Yet he says, I accept this thankfully from
God, but, oh, I would not have it
if I had it on condition of being
numbered with the followers of mammon.
And now I have obtained wealth.
My daily prayer to God shall be, Lord,
help me so to use my station that
I may not serve this evil world with
it, but may be a father to thy
poor Israel.
If it comes to the choice between the
reproach of Christ and the treasures of Egypt,
I will take Christ's reproach and renounce the
treasure.
I cannot be an Egyptian.
Oh, rich men, make this a main point
of concern.
Prove that you are not worldlings.
You have to frequent the exchange, to visit
the bank, to handle large sums of money,
but be not money-grubbers, rakers up of
gold.
Be not covetous or grasping.
Prove that though in Egypt you are not
Egyptians.
May this be your prayer.
May God grant I may never so live
as to be mistaken for a man of
this world who has his portion in this
life.
My portion is above.
Whatever I enjoy here, heaven is my heritage.
And notice next that his faith constrained him
to have fellowship with the people of God.
Not only does he refuse to be a
worldling, but he avows himself an Israelite.
You will tell me, perhaps, that he only
had fellowship with them when he was dead.
Yet think not too lightly of that.
He gave up the funeral which Egypt would
accord him, that he might wait long years
for his obsequies to be celebrated by his
own people.
But I beg to remind you that it
was not the first time that Joseph had
shown fellowship with his brethren.
It was but the conclusion of a lifetime
of communion with them.
It is true he did not go down
into their poverty.
There was no need that he should.
But he made them shares of his wealth.
God had so ordained in providence that Joseph
should be a man of wealth and rank
and station.
And he showed his fellowship with Israel by
bringing down his father and brethren into Goshen
and providing for them there and being always
ready to urge their suit and to do
his best to promote their interests.
Now, one mark of faith in the Christian
man is this.
If he is poor, he takes his lot
with the poor people of God cheerfully.
But if he be rich, he counts that
he is placed in a commanding position, that
he may the better help his brethren, and
he has fellowship with them by his constant
kindness towards them.
If it ever were needful to prove his
true fellowship, that he should give up his
position altogether, he would cheerfully do it that
he might be numbered with the despised people
of God.
Joseph, it seems to me, never blushed to
own his race and never failed at all
proper times to say to the Egyptians, I
am not one of you.
There is my family down in Goshen.
As he knew that afterwards his family would
become despised and persecuted, he said to them,
keep my bones so that when they degrade
you, they may degrade me.
I am going to stay with you in
all your future sorrows, for I am one
of you.
True faith will make the child of God
say, I am one of God's people.
My soul is joined to them in all
conditions.
Where thou goest, I will go.
Where thou lodgest, I will lodge.
Thy people shall be my people, and thy
God my God.
Where thou diest will I die, and there
will I be buried.
In the case of Joseph, his faith led
to an open avowal of his confidence in
God's promise.
On his deathbed he said, I die, but
God will visit you and bring you up
out of this land.
He also said he will bring you to
the land which he promised to Abraham, to
Isaac, and to Jacob.
Faith cannot be dumb.
I have known her tongue to be silent
through diffidence, but at last it has been
obliged to speak.
And, my brethren, why should not your faith
oftener speak?
For her voice is sweet, and her countenance
is comely.
No tongue more sweet to Christ's ear, nor
more potent over the hearts of men, than
the tongue of true faith.
If your faith be real, though you may
for a while hide your light under a
bushel, you will not be always able to
do so long, but you will be compelled
to say, I believe the gospel of Christ.
I believe the promise of God.
He will keep his covenant, and I avow
myself to be a believer in his truth.
Joseph, having thus declared his faith, practically showed
that he meant the avowal, that it was
not a matter of form, but a matter
of heart.
I do not know in what better way
he could have shown his practical belief in
the fact that God would bring the people
out of Egypt than by saying, Keep my
bones here, never bury them, till you go
yourselves to Canaan, having left Egypt forever and
taken possession of your covenant country.
He who believes in God will find practical
ways of proving his faith.
He will avow it by an open confession,
but he will also manifest it by choosing
some form of service in which his faith
shall be put to the test.
Or, if affliction be allotted to him by
God, he will take it cheerfully, expecting that
God will give him strength equal to the
emergency, and so his faith will triumph under
the trial.
That faith, which never proves itself by works,
is a faith to be dreaded.
If thy faith never makes thee speak up
for thy God or serve him, it is
a bastard faith, a base-born presumption which
will ruin thy soul.
It never came from God, and it will
never carry thee to God.
But Joseph is very practical, as practical as
the circumstances permitted him to be.
Moreover, notice that having faith himself, he would
encourage the faith of others.
No man may be said to have real
faith who is not concerned that faith may
be found in the hearts of his fellow
men.
But say you, what did Joseph do to
encourage the faith of others?
Why, left his bones to be a standing
salmon to the children of Israel?
We read that they were embalmed and put
into a coffin in Egypt, and thus they
were ever in the keeping of the tribes.
What did that say?
Every time an Israelite thought of the bones
of Joseph, he thought, We are to go
out of this country one day.
Perhaps he was a man prospering in business,
laying up store in Egypt, but he would
say to himself, I shall have to part
with this.
Joseph's bones are to be carried up.
I am not to be here forever.
And then, while it acted as a warning,
his body would serve also as an encouragement.
For when the taskmasters began to afflict the
people, and their tale of bricks was increased,
the despondent Israelite would say, I shall never
come out of Egypt.
Oh, but the others would say, Joseph believed
we should.
There are his bones still unburied.
He has left us the assurance of his
confidence that God would in due time bring
up his people out of this house of
bondage.
It seems to me that Joseph had thought
of this device as being the best thing
on the whole he could do to keep
the Israelites perpetually in remembrance, that they were
strangers and sojourners, and to encourage them in
the belief that in due time they would
be delivered from the house of bondage and
settled in the land that flowed with Milkenhine.
True faith seeks to propagate herself in the
hearts of others.
She is earnest, eager, intense.
If by any means she may scatter a
handful of holy seed that may fall in
good soil and bring forth glory to God.
It is a good proof of your own
faith when you lay yourself out to promote
the faith of others.
Note, too, that Joseph's faith made him have
an eye to the spiritualities of the covenant.
Joseph had nothing earthly to gain in having
his bones buried in Canaan rather than in
Egypt.
That can make small difference to a dying
man.
Naturally, we like to think of being buried
with our kin, but then we would choose
to be buried soon after death.
None of us would voluntarily desire to have
his bones kept for some hundreds of years
out of the ground in order that he
might ultimately come into the family sepulchre.
I believe he had no eye to the
mere secularities of the covenant, but was looking
to the spiritual blessings which are revealed in
Jesus, the great seed of Abraham.
This made him say, I am no Egyptian.
I am one of the seed that the
Lord has chosen.
I look to the coming Messiah.
I have a part in a lot amongst
the chosen people of God.
I will claim that.
I will claim it not only for myself
but for my sons and for my household.
He had in the providence of God, without
any fault of his own, been married to
an Egyptian woman.
Manasseh and Ephraim therefore were half of Egypt.
And if the father had been buried in
Egypt, the sons might have clung to Egypt
and separated from Israel.
He seems to say, no, my children, you
are no Egyptians.
You are like your father, Israelites.
Never bury my bones in Egypt.
I charge you, never bury them at all
till you can lay them down in the
ancient sepulchre of our race.
Be Israelites to the backbone through and through,
for the best possession is not what I
can bequeath you in Egypt, which will pass
away, but the heritage to which I point
you, the spiritual heritage which I would feign
you should have.
My bones shall charge you, Manasseh and Ephraim,
not to make yourselves Egyptians, not to be
conformed to the world, nor to seek your
rest here.
But let your father's bones tempt you towards
Canaan.
Never rest till you feel you have an
interest in the spiritual blessings of the covenant.
Once more it seems to me that Joseph's
faith in connection with his unburied bones showed
itself in his willingness to wait God's time
for the promised blessing.
Saith he, I believe I shall be buried
in Mechpelah, and I believe that my people
will come up out of Egypt.
I believe, and I am willing to wait.
Every man wants that when he dies he
shall be decently buried soon.
Who wants to have his bones hawked about?
But this man will wait, wait for his
funeral, wait on however weary may be the
time of Israel's captivity.
It is a great thing to have waiting
faith.
Stand still and see the salvation of God
is easier said than done.
He that believeth shall not make haste.
We are, for the most part, in a
childish hurry.
We would like to be in heaven tomorrow.
If we were wise, we would be glad
to keep out till God lets us in.
We would like to have the resurrection tomorrow,
and many are pining because the coming of
Christ is not by and by.
Wait thou the Lord's appointment, O impatient grumbler.
Be thou quiet of spirit and calm of
heart.
The vision will not tarry.
Be willing to wait.
Be willing to let thy bones sleep in
the dust till the trump of the resurrection
sound.
And if thou couldst have a choice about
it, refer thy choice back again to thy
Lord in heaven, for He knoweth what is
best and right for thee.
I like the idea of a man who
could not wait in life, for he must
die, but who proves the waitingness of his
spirit by letting his bones wait till they
could be deposited in Canaan.
You will notice that he had Joseph's wish,
for when Israel went up out of Egypt,
you will find in the fifteenth of Exodus
that Moses took care to carry with them
the bones of Joseph.
And what is rather singular, those bones were
not buried as soon as they came into
Canaan.
They were not buried during the long wars
of Joshua with the various tribes.
But in the last verses of the book
of Joshua, when nearly all the land had
been conquered, and the country had been divided
to the different tribes, and they had taken
possession, then we read that they buried the
bones of Joseph in the field of Shechem,
in the place which Abraham had bought for
a sepulcher.
As if Joseph's remains might not be buried
till they had won the country, until it
was settled and the covenant was fulfilled, then
he must be buried, but not till then.
How blessed is waiting faith, which can let
God take his time and wait, believe in
him, let him wait as long as he
wills.
I must close with the third point.
I think we have in our text, beloved
friends, an example for our faith to act
upon when we also come to the time
of death.
We will imagine it to be very near,
and the conception will be literally true to
some, and true to us all in a
degree.
What shall I derive any comfort from when
I come to die?
Come, let me prepare my last dying speech.
Now think it over.
First, I would imitate Joseph by deriving my
comfort from the covenant, for that he did.
That commandment concerning his bones was only made
because he believed God would keep his covenant
to his people and bring them up out
of Egypt.
May you and I be able to say
with David, although my house be not so
with God, yet he hath made with me
an everlasting covenant ordered in all things insure.
Ah, my soul, this is no dying, but
only passing from earth to heaven.
Jesus, who is himself the covenant, soothes most
blessedly the dying beds of his saints.
A negro was asked when he had been
sitting up to nurse his minister one night,
How is your master?
said he.
He is dying full of life.
It is a grand thing when one has
the covenant to think on.
You can then die full of life.
You can pass away out of this lower
life, being filled with the life eternal before
the life temporal is quite gone out, so
that you are never emptied out of life,
but the life of grace melts into the
life of glory as the river into the
ocean.
Joseph may be an example to us in
that he drew his consolation from the future
of his people.
God will surely visit you and bring you
out of this land.
Very often the dying thoughts of a Christian
man are troubled about the condition of the
church of Christ.
He fears that dark days are coming upon
her.
If a minister, he anxiously asks, What will
my people do now that I can no
longer lead and feed them?
Will they not be like a flock without
a shepherd?
But here will come in the consolation.
There are better days for the church of
God.
Though the fathers sleep, all the promises do
prevail with a glorious day of grace.
Though one after another we shall pass away,
there are not dark days for our descendants,
but days of brightness are on the way.
Let thy work appear unto thy servants and
thy glory unto their children.
He must reign till he hath put all
enemies under his feet.
The kings of the isles shall yet acknowledge
him, and the wanderers of the desert shall
bow down before him.
Jesus, the Christ of God, must be king
over all the earth, for God hath sworn
it, saying, Surely all flesh shall see the
salvation of God.
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together, for
the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
With such thoughts as these upon our minds,
we may well close our eyes in death
with a song upon our lips.
And then, my brethren, we have another and
brighter hope to die with.
If die we must before it be fulfilled,
and that is Christ Jesus, the Son of
God, will visit his people.
Brethren, the glad hope of the second advent
of our Lord Jesus Christ may light up
the chamber of death with hope.
As Joseph said, God will visit you.
The time cometh on when the Lord shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the
trump of the archangel and the voice of
God.
Let our dying testimony be to the effect
that surely he comes quickly, and his reward
is with him.
We have not to look forward as the
Jew did.
He expected the first advent, and we watch
for the second coming.
This shall cheer us even in our departure,
for if we die ere he comes, we
shall yet share in the splendor, for the
dead in Christ shall rise.
We may add to all this a hope
concerning our bones.
We may tell our weeping kindred as they
gather round our bed to give our bones
a decent sepulcher.
They need not blaze in our names or
write our fancied virtues on stone, but we
will tell them that we shall rise again
and that we commit ourselves to the bosom
of our Father and our God with the
full conviction that our dust shall yet be
quickened anew.
Mine eyes shall see him in that day,
the God that died for me, and all
my rising bones shall say, Lord, who is
like to thee?
I do not know when a witness to
the resurrection sounds more sweetly than it does
from the lips of a saint who is
just about to quit this mortal body to
enter into the presence of his God.
It is well to say, as you take
leave of these hands and feet and eyes
and all the members of this mortal frame,
farewell, poor body.
I shall return to thee again.
Thou shalt be sown in weakness, but thou
shalt rise in power.
Thou hast been the faithful friend and servant
of my soul, but thou shalt be still
more fit for my spirit when the trumpet
shall sound and the dead shall be raised.
May we take care that our last act
shall be a triumph of faith, the crowning
deed of our lives.
God help us that it may be so.
Beloved, there is one sad reflection, namely that
we cannot hope to die triumphantly unless we
live obediently.
We cannot expect to exhibit faith in dying
moments if we have not faith now.
God grant thee faith, O unbeliever.
Seeker, rest not till thou hast it, and
may the Spirit of God give thee the
faith of God elect that living thou mayst
serve God and dying thou mayst honor him
as Joseph did of old.
The Lord bless you, dear friends, for his
sake.
Amen.