“Jacob Finds Greener Pastures” - Genesis Chapter 47 - Pastor Scotty Brown

This morning's message, Jacob has found greener pastures. You've heard that saying,

right? Grass is always greener on the other side. Well, in this case, in fact, it

is. So we're in the 47th chapter of the book of Genesis. We're getting there. My

wife will be relieved. But there's just some good things, a few nuggets we

can glean from this this morning. Because of this severe famine, God brings the

family together and sometimes that's what it takes. You ever, I don't know if

you've ever been to a funeral or family gathering sometimes where people

have been at odds with each other and something big enough happens or comes

along where it kind of reconciles whatever has been the schism. And

I think the Lord would just have us humble ourselves and deal with it.

But so often we wait. We wait until it's forced or there's no

other option. And that's kind of where Israel was and they had no other option

other than to go to Egypt. And in doing so, it brought the family together there

in verse 46 where we saw Joseph falling on the neck of his dad whom he hadn't

seen who had been in mourning for over 20 years at the loss of this boy. And I

know that just talking to people these last two weeks that have lost children

and the weight of that is just, it's overwhelming. I talked to a grandma last

night who lost her granddaughter here a while back and she's getting older

and she goes, "It's like I'm almost in a place where I almost can't remember

her." And I'm just going, "Wow." She goes, "But I will." I said, "You will. You will.

Because the Lord's coming and he's gonna write everything." And so

that's just an exciting thing. But to know that God works his plan,

right? God has plans, God has places for us and God in him is blessing. And so

we're gonna look at that this morning. Let's pray, shall we? Father, thank you for

your word and thank you for our life, Lord, and all the trails we find

ourselves on, Lord, whether it's loss or whether it's abundance and joy and all

those things. Everything comes at us, Lord. And so we just thank you that you

have called us, Lord, and you have us in the palm of your hand, Lord, even

through the tough things in life. And yet you have good plan for us, your word

tells us, and a blessing and a hope, Lord. And so we do put our hope in you.

And I just pray that you would touch those hearts this morning that might

just be struggling, just struggling with hope, struggling with the weight and

the burden of this life, Lord. Would you lift that, Lord, as we come to you

and we hear your word, Lord, and we see where you meet your people, Lord,

just as you meet these people in this chapter in Genesis, Lord. And so, Lord,

we love you. Thank you for having a ready ear for the humble heart to cry out

to you and knowing that you'll answer, Lord. So we love you and we pray that you

would teach us today in Jesus' name. Amen. So we're gonna start in verse 1

of chapter 47. It says, "Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh and said, 'My father and

my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess have come from

the land of Canaan, and indeed they are in the land of Goshen.' And he took five

men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh

said to his brothers, 'What is your occupation?' And they said to Pharaoh, 'Your

servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.' And they said to Pharaoh, 'We

have come to dwell in the land because your servants have no pasture, for their

flocks for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan, in the land of Canaan. Now

therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.'" And the land of

Goshen, when you look at it on the map, it's this, it's called the Nile Delta, and

it's just, it's this verdant, very plush area there in Egypt before the Nile

River goes, spills into the Mediterranean. And just, it's really

fascinating actually. And it was, it was brutal. It was brutal in Canaan. Years ago

I took a ranch job in, in Piscina, California, and I remember pulling in

there, I pulled in there about this time of year, it was about the first or second

week of September, and I noticed all their pastures where they had all their

horses there, there were feeders, you know, where they, you could tell where they

were feeding them hay, and then, you know, we're usually feeding still, they're still

on pasture up here in, in Idaho. But all the ground was dirt. It was just dirt. I

mean, there was not a blade of grass. And that's what happens in California. I

didn't know that. But the cattle and the horses graze everything off to the

dirt. There's nothing for them to eat. And, and I was, I was fascinated with it. Well,

fast forward to January, we start getting rain. And all that dirt, you could almost

watch the grass grow. I mean, by, by mid-March the grass was like this tall,

where the dirt was. It was fascinating to me. But these guys had had dirt for some

time. I'm sure, I'm sure animals were dying as they were on their way to eat

in Egypt. But they took their flocks and their herds down there because they

didn't have any pasture. And, and obviously time was of the essence for

them to get there so they could salvage their, their, their livestock and their,

their form of livelihood. And so he says, "My father and my brothers have come to

the land." When Joseph speaks these words to Pharaoh, it's, it's, it was according to

Joseph's plan. He wanted them, but he had gotten Pharaoh's permit, permission. But

they had to come before Pharaoh. They had to, had to come before this leader, the,

the, the leader of the land. And it was, them coming was a fulfillment obviously

of God's plan, right? He had told Abraham this clear back in chapter 15. He

says, "Your descendants," right? Jacob's is his grandson. "Your descendants are

gonna be in Egypt for 430 years." And, and, and God told him that. You know, it's

amazing when God says stuff, you can take it to the bank, you know what's gonna

happen. What you don't know is the process, right? How is this gonna happen?

You know? And, and, and hindsight we're looking back saying, "Oh, a teenager got

his, his, his wrists and his ankles all tore up from shackles going to Egypt, and

that was God's plan to use this one guy, Joseph, right? And, and God just spilled

all this wisdom on him. But it wasn't easy, right? It was hard. Life is hard. You

agree? Life is just hard. It just is. And, and yet God is working and he's, a couple

of guys and we're talking about that we were talking about this as you look back

and you see all the little very detailed things that God has done in your life.

And just the little, little diversions he gives you here and, and there. And you're

looking back and you're going, "Oh, I see." And, and hopefully we've, we've embraced

the idea that no matter what happens, God truly is sovereign. And so this was God's

plan, but it was also Joseph's desire to have his family with him. We were talking

this, this week, I guess I have an older brother that was older than my brother

Randy. And I'd heard little schisms about it as I was growing up, but I didn't

really realize. And, and so my siblings are thinking, "Do we need to find this guy?" I

said, "All we have to do is look for a square head." Right? Dad's got a square

head. Rick's got a square head. I got a square head. But you know people always,

they want, what do they want? They want their family around them. They, they want

their people around them. They, they, there's something powerful about the

family, right? It's been said, right, that a family can survive without a nation,

but a nation cannot survive without a family. And, and I think that's so true,

because the, the family is, is foundational, right? And so the family

seems to be under attack right now, right? What is a family? A family is a husband, a

man, a wife, a woman, and that man and that woman have babies, right? I was at a, I

was at a rodeo Bible camp, and you can say things like this at a rodeo Bible camp,

and I'll share with what I said. And, and I said, "I have never seen a chick come

from two roosters." Just saying, right? So Joseph is reunited with his family. It was

a hard road to get there, but he reminded his family this was God's plan. This is

the fulfillment of my dreams, right? God had given me these dreams of, of the 11

stars and, and the sun and the moon bowing down to him. And in fact, here we

are, right? And so Abraham's prophecy, or the prophecy that was given to Abraham is

fact beginning right here as Israel moves to Egypt to greener pastures. So

they asked Pharaoh, "Please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen."

Obviously they knew about how, how fruitful this area was, and because of

Joseph's position, obviously, and, and Pharaoh's love for him, he, he, he obliges

them. And so he makes a place for him. You know, God has a place for us, and he has a

place for all of us in this world. And this, this drought thing that drove them

into Egypt, it's, it's, it's not new. Like Solomon said in, in Ecclesiastes 1.9, he

says, "What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again.

There is nothing new under the sun." And it's interesting that, that just this

week I, I read an article in East Idaho News about Western Idaho, and the, the

title of the article was "Idaho Ranchers Faced with Tough Decisions in the

Aftermath of Summer Fires." And, and they are dry on that side of the state. We were

there yesterday at Gooding and, and driving, you know, driving out between

Windell and Gooding. It's just like, it's so dry, you just feel like, "Oh my gosh, I

hope nobody throws out a cigarette butt." Right? A friend of mine was moving cows

north of Gooding, and he said he looked down, and his horse, his foot hit a rock,

and sparks flew off the rock from the shoe, from the metal shoe. And he's going,

"Oh man, we better watch out. We're gonna start a fire." And further west, they have

had fires, and they interview one rancher. And this rancher said, "You may have to

put your cows on trucks and go somewhere where you haven't been before," he said.

"You may have to sell some. It's not the first time this has happened. It's just

the first time it's happened to me," the man said. "We'll come out the other side.

People in agriculture are pretty resilient." Right? And this is, this is, this

is Jacob and his family, right? This drought is driving them to a new place.

They're doing things they haven't done before. Like he said, this guy said, "We're

gonna have to move our cows to places we've never been before." But, but God,

right? God's directing all this. God's in control. He's at the helm. We don't have

to worry about him. In verse 2, five of his brothers was chosen to, to be, to go

before Pharaoh. I wonder who, if they were flipping coins or drawing straws, I

wonder how this all went. Because you gotta wonder who it was, don't you? You

gotta wonder who these five, five guys were. Probably wasn't Reuben because he

had psychosis, right? And it probably wasn't Simeon because he was such a jerk.

And, you know, out of the others, I don't know. I know Dan and Naphtali were, were

probably very instrumental in the whole Joseph debacle. So, may not have been them

two. Judah was probably there because he seemed to be the most diplomatic. But, but

these five brothers come before Pharaoh. And they asked for pasture. And they got

so much more than that, right? Because it goes on and says, "And Pharaoh spoke to

Joseph saying, 'Your father and your brothers have come to you, the land to

come to you. The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell

in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know

any competent man among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.'" So

this is kind of like having your cake and getting to eat it too, right? So they get

there, they got a place to run their cows, and then they get a job. No doubt. And no

doubt Pharaoh will compensate them. And, and it's kind of like when I used to

start colts. I'd start a colt and I'd sell it. And then the guy goes, "Well, he's not

quite as broke as I want him, so I'll hire you for another 90 days to ride him

and pay you for it." So I get my check for the colt and get paid too. It's a good

deal. You know, that's just kind of how God works, right? He's just, he's just

ready to pour out blessings on those who would seek him. And where these guys have

been reconciled, right? I think the New Testament encourages us, be reconciled to

God. And, and be reconciled to one to another. And, and blessings come, right?

That's what God's saying there in Isaiah when he tells Israel, "Come, let us reason

together," says the Lord, right? If, if you're, if you're willing to do what I, to be

reconciled, then you'll eat the good of the land. And that's what God desires to

bless us, right? It's just that we always get in the way. That just frustrates me

so much about myself, right? I just get in the way. When I got saved, I mean, I

was, I was so destitute. I was so, and, and asked, you know, asking God for

forgiveness and, and the, the flood of joy and peace just in your heart. That's where

I was blessed. I was blessed in my spirit when, when I humbled myself before the

Lord. And he gave me so much more. He gave me true freedom. Don't you just love

fellowshipping with Christians and they start telling you their story and the

things that God has delivered them from, right? And I can think of many in this

room even right now, just, just what God's done in your life. And, and, and

you've experienced true freedom. The, the world sees the Christian life and just

think, "You guys are so stuffy," right? You're so stuffy and you can't, you don't

have the freedom to do anything. What? You have no idea, right? It's the whole fence

thing that I, I talk about quite often, right? I've been on both sides of the

fence. Those on that side of the fence that's never coming over to this side

and tasting and seeing how good Jesus is, right? They have no clue. I know

everything that, that has, that greener pasture of, so to speak, over there has

to offer. And it, the grass is all alkaloid, right? It's no good. No value

whatsoever. And so getting so much more, the Lord begins to bless Israel and, and

they get this, this promotion. Warren Wiersbe says, "This was quite a promotion

for the eleven sons of Jacob. One day they were ordinary resident aliens and

the next day they were Pharaoh's official herdsmen. Joseph had been kind to Pharaoh

and now Pharaoh showed kindness to Joseph's family." Right? And that whole

principle, it, it, it holds true. What goes around comes around. In verse 7 it says,

"Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh and Jacob

blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Jacob, 'How old are you?' And Jacob said to

Pharaoh, 'The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty

years. Few in 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 in the days of their

pilgrimage.' So Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from before Pharaoh." So here's

Jacob, the old cowboy coming before Pharaoh. Because right when we finished

up chapter 46 it said that the herdsmen or the shepherds were an

abomination to the Egyptians. They loathed them. You know, they were just hick,

calloused hand, dopey cowboys. Right? That's what they were. And, and yet

because of Pharaoh's respect for Joseph, right, he has this interaction with

Jacob. And first Jacob, it says Jacob blesses him. That's interesting. He comes

in and he, he blesses Pharaoh. And actually we're all to be a blessing as

God's people. And, and Jacob obviously has, has enough life behind him realizing

that, that being, being humble before leaders is probably a good thing. And, and

Jacob was a blessing in his life, right? Remember Laban was extremely blessed

because of Jacob. Esau was blessed when he met Jacob there coming back from, from

being with Laban. And he gave him all that stuff. And, and then he asked him,

"Well, how old are you?" 130 years Jacob is. So, and notice he compares himself to, to

his father and his grandfather, which Abraham lived 175 years, Isaac lived 180.

Jacob has already been talking about his death. He's thinking, "Man, I'm, I'm gonna

get cut short." Right? "I'm gonna die." And he, he noticed what he, he calls his life,

he calls his life a pilgrimage. A pilgrimage. Everybody has some metaphor,

right, that they, that they call their life. You know, in America you ask a lot

of people, "Well, how's things going?" "Oh, just living the dream. Just living the

dream." Right? Some people call it a battle, a race, "I'm just running the race. It's a

trap. It's a puzzle. It's a mystery. It's a fight." His is a pilgrimage. Well,

pilgrimage means, the word actually means, to sojourn. Well, what does sojourn mean?

Sojourn means to dwell for a time, to dwell or live in a place as a temporary

resident or as a stranger. Not considering the place as a permanent

habitation. Is that where you're at? Are you on a pilgrimage? Are you sojourning?

Right? The old hymn, the old American hymn, right, "This world is not my home. I'm just

a passing through. My treasures are stored up somewhere beyond the blue." Right? No,

Jacob has come to the realization that this life is temporary. That it, it's

gonna be over. Mine might be over sooner than later. And, and we're all in a

sojourn. It's throughout Scripture. We see it. And the believer should have this,

this whole sojourn thing figured out. And if you don't, and all you can see is this

life, you're probably miserable. Right? You're probably miserable. Depending on

the, the tribulation that you've been through in your life. But in Hebrews, it

talks about those people of faith. In Hebrews 11 and verses 13, excuse me,

chapter 11 verses 13 through 16, it talks about those who had died in faith. That

they truly believed they were, they were looking forward to a homeland. We, we see

Abraham and Sarah, that they, you know, they were looking for a city whose

builder and maker was God. They wanted to go to a city that didn't have any

problems. Can you find one of those today?

Some cities they're eating cats and dogs I hear, just, just saying.

That sure got a lot of, lot of coverage, didn't it? Oh Lord, here we are. But it

says, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen

them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they

were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare

plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly, if they had called to mind that

country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to

return. But now they desire a better, that is a heavenly country. Therefore God is

not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Them

would be you and me. We, we are heading, we are on this pilgrimage, this sojourn

towards a city whose builder and maker is God. And they aren't eating animals

there. Well, maybe. I don't know. But it would be a porterhouse. We're just

passing through. First Peter 2 11 says, "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and

pilgrims, right? Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul." And to

get where you're going, you got to have somebody directing the ship. And he's, his

name is Jesus. And so we are pilgrims.

We're, we don't belong in this world. Being in the world and not of the world,

we sit, we hear all the time in Christendom, right? And so he realizes

that his life seems to be fairly short. He says, "Few are my days." And then he adds

something to it. "And evil are my days." Not that this isn't talking of moral

wickedness, but it's just talking of the trials and the misery of life. And so

obviously the, the mourning process that he went through with Joseph and, and the

struggle, the famines, the, the terrible decisions he made, the decisions of some

of his family members, all, all of what caught, that caused trouble. And so he

tells Pharaoh, "Some of my days been evil. This has been a pretty tough life." Praise

God, this just isn't it. This isn't the only place God has for us, right? Paul

tells us our citizenship is in heaven, right? That's what we're looking forward

to. We got something to look forward to. Don't you, aren't you glad? I mean, I have

to have something to look forward to. Well, I just got to. I don't, I am just

totally unmotivated unless I have something to look forward to. And, you

know, like cleaning up around the house and cutting trees and stuff. I have to do

that because I'm looking forward to peace with my wife. It motivates me. And so, so

he's honest with, with, with Pharaoh and he shares with him and, and, and tells him

that his, his, his dad lived, lived a good long life, his grandpa lived a good long

life, and Jacob, as he leaves, he blesses Pharaoh again. He blesses him. And Pharaoh

acknowledged Jacob was a man of God by accepting his blessing. In the Egyptian

religion, Pharaoh himself was thought to be a god. They considered Pharaoh the

human embodiment of Ra, the sun god. But he had this respect, probably beginning

with Joseph and then meeting Joseph's father. No doubt that some of Joseph's

character and, and personality came from his dad. The old saying is true and it's

scary as a parent. Somebody has said that children become their parents. Really? Oh

golly, I need to be praying for my boys. They're in trouble, right? It's so true. I

mean, it's the, the, the impact and the, you know, the words spoken over the years

into our children, they become us and they don't even want to. It drives them

crazy. I remember being a teenager and my mom telling me, "You are just like your

father." But this is, is, is in a good light that, that who Joseph was obviously was a

result partially in part because of who Jacob was. In verse 11 it says, "And

Joseph situated his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in

the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Ramses, as Pharaoh

had commanded. And then Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his

father's household with bread, according to the numbers of their families." And so

Joseph just, he took care of his family. He put them in that place where they

were by themselves and they could be, begin to grow. That this group of people,

70-75, depending on which passage you read, 70 to 75 people, with, within the

400-year period that they were in Egypt, grew to as many as some believe up to

between four and six million people. And they maintained their identity, right? And,

and because they were in that, there was that separation. They were cowboys. And,

and, and cowboys are pretty distinct, right? Cowboys that are, that understand

farm and ranch and, and, you know, they, they, they're very in touch with reality,

right? These herdsmen. They're around life and death every day as they care for

these animals. And obviously realizing that it's their livelihood and their,

their sustenance, the, these creatures that God has given them to, to shepherd.

And it's interesting, I read an article in the UK, they're gonna try to do a way

with, with cattle and sheep that they don't want, they want to do away with

that industry. And again, that, that's a sin, right? Lamb chops and ribeye steaks

going away, that would be the ultimate sin, right? But it's weird. I mean, people

in the city that don't understand the process, that's maybe why these guys were,

they, they understood the process, right? Of how God keeps people alive. And, and,

and partially it's, it's these critters that he gives us. And, and he

supernaturally, I believe, got all of Israel into Egypt that they could grow

and they could sustain and they could be fruitful and productive. And, and, and, and

the people in that process, you're, you're, you're close to the God who created it

all. This bad things about cities is, is man's created all this. And people, that's

what they start putting their trust in, is what man can do. Now man has to, has to

create the, these, you know, has to protect the earth because obviously God's not

able to, right? And so now there's all these, all of these restrictions, you know,

they're gonna put, they're gonna put diapers on cows on their faces because

they burp. These gases, well what are they gonna do to us? We get a little gassy

occasionally.

The world has gone crazy folks. The world has absolutely gone crazy. But the, the

family of Jacob, Joseph is, is, is awesome. They are in a place. God has preserved

them and put this, them in a place where they can flourish. And God has done this.

And it is their place in the world. Egypt, throughout Scripture, is a place, it's

picturesque of the world. It's, they were in the world but they weren't like the

world. They were different. The Hebrews were different. Even in Moses time we see

the Hebrew women were, were, were, what they call them stealthy or whatever.

Having babies when they start killing the Hebrew babies because they were

growing so fast. And they were very prolific. And so God is, is, is growing

them. And he gave them this place. And so just like the people of Israel looked to

Joseph to sustain, we need to be looking to Jesus, right? Us in this world to

proclaim his name. We had a prayer before service and, and somebody said, I can't

remember who it was that. But time is short. We need to share Jesus with as

many people as we can, right? And so just as, just as the people of Israel

depended on Joseph, so actually the people of Egypt did as well. But we look

to Jesus, the Bible says in Hebrews 12, 2, we're looking unto Jesus, Jesus the author

and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the

cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of

God. That's where our focus should be, is the Lord Jesus Christ. And I was reminded

this week also of the, the verse there in, in John 15 about the true line that

Jesus said apart from him that we can do nothing. And so it's just as Joseph was

at this right hand of Pharaoh with power to bless whoever he pleased, so too the

Lord Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, willing to bless whoever would

seek him. And that's, we have to come to him by faith, right? And that we become

righteous by faith. Psalm 5 verse 12 says, "For you, O Lord, will bless the righteous

Psalms 5:12

with favor. You will surround him with a shield." And that seems to be what God is

doing with Israel here as he puts them in Egypt. Proverbs 3 33, "The curse of the

Lord is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the just." He's,

he's looking and he, he's seeing the, the people of Israel, the descendants of, of,

of Jacob as his people. And he's gonna bless him. He's putting a shield around

them. And so it was a blessing for them to go to Israel, or to go to Egypt, for

Israel to go to Egypt. And, and they were blessed there, and they were, they were

fed there, and they were sustained there. And so four quick takeaways that I want

to share with you this morning. First of all, God has a plan, right? God had a plan

in this all along. That you, and you can be a part of that plan in your life

personally. God has a plan. Some people would ask me, "Well, what if I don't like

God's plan?" Then you're stupid. No, God has a plan. He's got a plan for your life, my

life. He's doing things, right? And really, I, I, you know, people say, "Pastor Scotty, you

said the S word." You're not supposed to say that. Well, it's in the Bible, right?

Proverbs chapter 12 verse 1, "Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he

Proverbs 12:1

who hates correction is stupid." But God has a plan. He, he knows the thoughts that

he has toward us to, to thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and

a hope. But that's predicated upon something. You seeking him, right? You

seeking him. You seeking out God's plan for your life. Verse 12 of that same

passage says, "Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me, and I will listen

to you, and you will seek me, and you will find me when you search for me with all

your heart, and I will be found of you," says the Lord. Are you seeking him? When

you seek God's plan, or his face, actually, the plan seems to follow as I look back

at my life. And, and I can see, I can just see, "Oh Lord, you're, oh wow, Lord, you're

just doing all kinds of cool things." But it's because you're seeking him, and he's

gonna direct your paths. As the Proverb says, "Man, we plan out our way," right?

Hopefully when you make your plans, the Lord is included, right? You seek him, and

then he directs your steps, the Scriptures tells us. And so God has a

plan. Our job is to pursue him, and he'll show us the plan. Secondly, God has a

place for you in this world. You and I, we're, we're on our sojourn, right? And our

sojourn may be a fraction of a second or a hundred years. This week, because I did

a funeral on Friday, or Friday of last week, and I was thinking, "Golly, all the

young people, here I am, I'm 62 years old, and all the teenagers," I started just

kind of chalking them up, all the teenage funerals that I've done since I've been

in the ministry. I was fascinated by how many funerals I've done of teenagers, from

11 to 18. And it's just like, "Wow." They had their sojourn. Some of them was

really short. I'm thinking the short ones isn't a bad idea.

I think of some of those, those kids and all the stuff they've had to forego,

especially if you get some history with their family, and thinking, "Oh man, I'm

glad they weren't here for that one." Right? And you can have that, that hope,

because God is good. And people ask me all the time, "Well, what if you

don't know? Somebody who dies, what if you don't know?" I don't know. So many of them, I

don't know. I thought they had faith. Some of them, maybe not. I don't know. I wasn't

there when they took their last breath. My hope is, listen, and this is where you

have to lead this, folks, because we can go crazy when you think about it. "Why

are they in heaven?" I don't know. You can go crazy about that stuff. And so what I

do, and what I encourage people to do, is God is the judge, right? He's just. He's

loving. He's merciful. He's kind. And so what I do with that is I just, you know

what? I don't know. I got family, man. I don't know. I don't know if they had

surrendered their life to Jesus, maybe if they cried out to Jesus. That's my

hope. And that's where I leave it, right there. My hope is that they cried

out to Jesus, maybe even in their spirit. And I leave it right there. And then I

can just live my life in hope, and hope for them. And I don't, I don't, you don't

go crazy, because you would go crazy if you were questioning every single little

thing. God's good. God's just. God's merciful. And I leave it in his hands,

right? Because ultimately he's the one who determines. He's the one that we stand

before. As the song I sang earlier, he's the one that everybody talks to, right?

And so he determines that. And so our hope is just that they cried out to the

Lord. That's your hope. And you leave it right there. And that's a good place to

leave it. So God has a plan for us in this world, right? That we can be salt and

light, and to be a part of increasing the kingdom of God in this world. That's why

we're here. We're here to bring glory to him. That's why we're here. That's your

purpose in this life, is to know the one who created you, and bring glory to him.

Because he's worthy of it, right? And the Bible tells us he doesn't share it with

anybody. We would like to think that we have a little glory, but God says, "I will

not share my glory with another. I won't do it." And so that's why we're here to

give glory to God. That's what Jesus, when he was here, he gave glory to the Father,

right? The Holy Spirit comes into us, and we give glory to Jesus. And so to be a

part of this, it's the Great Commission, right? That's your place in

this world. That's my place in this world, where Jesus said, it says later in Mark

16, 14 through 16, it says, "Later Jesus appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table, and

he rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart." Are you walking in unbelief? Is

your heart hard? Get rid of it. Soften it. Humble yourself before the Lord, right? He

rebuked him for their unbelief and their hardness of heart, because they did not

believe those who had seen him after he'd risen from the dead. They were

questioning the resurrection. Are you questioning the resurrection? If you

don't believe in the resurrection, you have nothing. Absolutely nothing. And so

he's checking them on that. No, the resurrection is like, it's the deal, right?

If there's no resurrection, Paul said we should be pitied. We are wasting our time

this Sunday, right? If there's no resurrection. But if it is true, that's

the only thing that matters is what C.S. Lewis said. Verse 15, "He said to them, 'Go

into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is

baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.'" That's our

place in this world. God has a plan. He has a place. Secondly, or excuse me,

thirdly, our job is to be a blessing. Just as Jacob came in and blessed

Pharaoh as he was coming in, and he blessed Pharaoh as he was going out. Our

job is to be a blessing as believers in the Lord. Just as Jacob was to Pharaoh.

Right? To our family, to our friends, to our neighbors. Are you a blessing to your

neighbor? Or do you have that nagging dog that won't shut up? Woof! Woof! Woof! Right? And your

neighbor's just like that. The Bible says a soft answer turns away wrath. So get

out there and shut that dog up, would you? But we can be a blessing to our neighbors.

We can be a blessing to the Lord. We sang that song, "Bless the Lord, O my soul."

And all that's within me. Bless his holy name. Last of all, we bless our enemies.

Bless those who curse you and spitefully use you. We're gonna see more and more of

this, right? As we get closer to the Lord Jesus coming. And so being a blessing is

so important that we can actually be a blessing to those who we totally disagree

with. Because those who we totally disagree with think that we hate them

because we disagree with them. No, no, I hate you because I disagree with you. I

just disagree with you. We can be a blessing. And finally, and most

importantly, God has an eternal place for us. God has an eternal place for you and

me, right? It is true we're just passing through. And that place is heaven.

1 Corinthians 2 9, "But as it is written, eye has not seen nor ear heard nor have

entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who

love him." And it goes on in that passage of Scripture and it says, "But we have the

mind of Christ." We have an idea that this thing is gonna be really

good, but we have no idea how good, right? That we inherit all things, the Bible

says, that we are joint heirs with Christ. That is our eternal place. And this race

that we're running here, right? Some may have stubbed their toes, some may be

crippled and don't even feel like you can run anymore. Man, get up and keep

trying because it's worth it, right? It's worth it to get to the finish line,

to enter into that eternal place that he has for us and hearing those words

"Well done thou good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your Lord." I like

how personal that is, the joy of your Lord. Is Jesus your Lord? Because that's

that seems to be different than Savior. I think they're saved people that just

kind of, you know, they just slide in by their short hairs, you know. There are

others who are just like gaga, just all out for Jesus till the day they die. Is he

your Lord? Enter into the joy of your Lord. That is our final place and that's why we

live this life. I remember telling a young girl at the funeral on Friday, I

said, "Listen." And they're broken, right? Their friends are gone and I'm just, this

is why we live this life. This is why we live for Jesus. This is why we walk with

Jesus is because of days like this that some people it destroys them because

they haven't taken the cure for death which is Christ Jesus, right? So God has a

plan, God has a place, God's called us to be a blessing and God has a place for us

in heaven. Let's pray. Father, thank you. Thank you that you do have greener

pastures waiting for us. Can't wait. Lord, we know it's gonna be good. You've called

us, you've prepared us, Lord. You're doing a work in all of us. Lord, I pray

that you would, that we would walk humbly before you. Just recognizing who we are

and what we are. That we're here and we're gone. As your word tells us that

mankind at his very best is but a vapor that appears for a moment and then it's

gone. Lord, may we spend our time, Lord, working your plan, sharing your gospel.

Lord, just being okay with our place in this world knowing that if a move is in

order, Lord, you'll do it. And so, Lord, we just thank you that we can kind of live

hands off of our own life allowing you to direct us. So, give us energy, give us

wisdom, Lord, for the days ahead and, and Lord, that we would be truly those people

who are quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to wrath. And God, that that salt

and light that you've called us to be, Lord, that it would just be ever-present

in each one of our lives. Lord, we love you. We thank you for that incredible

hope you've given us. May we walk in it this week and, Lord, just that you would

put your joy in our hearts for truly it is our strength. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Let's all stand. We'll worship.