Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.cccharlotte.org/sermons/59298/surety/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] A Pastor's Reflections, Surety, Genesis 50, 24. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die, and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

[0:19] Psalms 19, 7. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. Matthew 7, 28-29.

[0:32] And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine. For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

[0:45] In Genesis 50, Joseph is now an old man of 110 years old. He knows his end is near, and so begins to speak of things to come to his family.

[0:56] He speaks of a time after his death, when God will take the entire population of Jacob's descendants, and remove them from what is now their home in Egypt, back to their ancestral land of Canaan, the Promised Land.

[1:10] Joseph does not just speak of this as an idea he hopes will happen, or as a prayer that he is praying God will answer, but as an event that is already decided.

[1:23] Joseph speaks with absolute surety, but how did he know? In Genesis 46, the word of the Lord came to Jacob, as he was preparing to travel to Egypt to meet his long-lost son, Joseph.

[1:37] God makes Jacob a promise that he will not leave Jacob's family in Egypt, but he will bring them again back to Canaan, at a point when they are a great nation. Jacob, believing God's promise, then travels to Egypt on the surety of that promise.

[1:53] Genesis 46, 3-4 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father. Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there make thee a great nation.

[2:06] I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again. And Joseph shall put his hand upon your eyes. This is the same promise that Jacob then passes on to Joseph.

[2:19] Joseph, as he is dying, then passes this promise on to his family, and all of the descendants of Jacob, Israel. But, how can Joseph be sure this promise is true?

[2:34] How can the descendants of Israel be sure this promise is for them? Neither Joseph, nor the children of Israel ever heard God speak this promise. What surety do they have that this promise is for them?

[2:47] They have God's word. Matthew 24, 35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

[2:59] You and I, like Joseph, have had the word of God and the promises of God handed down to us, not by direct revelation, but as it were, by word of mouth.

[3:10] None of us have ever heard the voice of God directly speaking a promise of God to us. And yet we have just as much surety of God's promises in our lives as Jacob, Joseph, or the children of Israel had.

[3:25] We have God's word. God's word does not need man's verification to be true. Neither does it need man's approval. God's word stands true all on its own.

[3:40] Romans 3, 4 Yea, let God be true, but every man a liar. Today, we can stand upon the word of God and the promises of God with the same amount of surety as Joseph.

[3:53] It's not about whether we have ever heard God speak his word directly, but do we believe the word already spoken? Father, thank you that your word is eternal and true.

[4:07] Thank you that your word is not in any way dependent upon my life and actions, but my life is 100% dependent upon your word.

[4:18]  Help me today to stand in the absolute surety of the already spoken word of God. Amen. Amen.