A Promise to the Past

Genesis 50 25. and Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel saying God will surely visit you and he shall carry my carry up my bones from his Joseph made them promise under oath that when God delivered them from Egypt that they would take his bones with them this must have been very significant because of the special events recorded in Hebrews chapter 11 Hebrews 11 22. by faith Joseph when he died or as he was dying made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones the help of the Lord I want to preach on a promise two to the Past God bless you please be seated today we pause to honor our past as a local church the Apostle Paul said that he was a debtor to people he had never met to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them but I feel a special sense of debt to our Founders and Builders who brought us to this place where we could see the great future God has for our church hundreds and hundreds of people sacrificed in the past to bring us to the present and to position us for the future many of the people who served in our church who gave to our church who came to our church have gone on to be with the Lord others through the years have relocated and moved to other areas of the country but there are still quite a few Founders and Builders who are a part of Atlanta West Pentecostal Church faithful members here our elders represent the past and the present of our church but they also have faith for the future of our church and they are going with us into the promises that God has given us it's been my experience that the sentiment of those who have sacrificed in the past is not that we should try to pay them back that would be impossible but what they would like for Our Generation to do your generation to do is to pay it forward to a generation that they will never meet amen so it is our responsibility now to see how we can affect the Next Generation so while we cannot pay back the generations of the past today we want to honor them and we have honored them and thanked them the Bible gives an amazing story of a generation of people honoring a past generation it is a story of Joseph a man who gave his entire life to his people Hebrews 11 to tells us this one line about the faith of Joseph who gave commandment about his bones in Hebrews 11 There's a summary of The Heroes of Faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice Enoch walked with God and pleased him Noah moved with fear prepared an ark Abraham obeyed and walked out into a place he had never seen before no road map and no guide Abraham's Faith also caused him to be willing to sacrifice his only son and of course God intervened Abraham's wife Sarah had Faith to conceive in her old age giving birth to a baby at the age of 90. Isaac had Faith to bless his sons Jacob in Esau he also blessed Joseph's Sons Ephraim and Manasseh then there's Joseph that I'll skip for now Moses parents had faith that he was a proper child and they feared God more than they feared the government Moses when he came to years refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to suffer Affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season there are others that are named in Hebrews 11 but Joseph captured my attention when the Lord brought this idea to my mind just a few days ago Hebrews 11 22 by faith Joseph now Faith is the substance of things hoped for it is the evidence of Things Not Seen so Joseph by faith is seeing something in the spirit that he cannot see with the natural eye he had faith when he was dying and he made mention of the departing of the children of Israel that one day God would get them out of the land of Egypt and he gave commandment concerning his bones when Joseph was dying he made mention of the departing of Israel this story is an amazing story it is a story of the bones of Joseph and a promise made to the past now many of you know Joseph but let me assume you don't his life was as colorful as a coat his dad made for him when he was an older teenager God gave Joseph dreams about his future his brothers would bow down to him his parents would bow down to him Joseph saw this as a 17 year old boy his brothers despised him because of the favoritism of his father and they decided they were going to kill their brother you've thought about it thank God you didn't but Reuben the older brother intervened I said I've got a better idea let's not kill him let's just sell him you've thought about that too so they did they sold him to Ishmael like traitors and they took him down to Egypt and sold him there to a man named potiphar he served Pharaoh king of Egypt Joseph served there prospered there was the head of the entire house until Potiphar's wife falsely accused him of sexual harassment and he was thrown in prison for many years and totally forgotten Joseph endured severe trials while the word of the Lord Tried Him the Bible said God was making Joseph the kind of man that could be trusted with a god-sized dream and when Joseph's Word of Deliverance came in a single day he was elevated from the prison to the palace and God raised him up to be a protector of all the land of Egypt Pharaoh dreamed it Joseph interpreted it seven years of plenty store up everything you can seven years of famine sell it to the world become even more wealthy in that time frame and as God showed Joseph it happened seven years of plenty seven years of famine and God spared all of Egypt to preserve his people the children of Israel during this time 70 people 70 Souls that went down into Egypt begin to have babies and grandchildren and their church is really growing in Egypt they are multiplying there eventually Jacob passes away Joseph's dad he dies in Egypt it's interesting that he is embalmed remember that not many people were involved in those days usually they were buried within 24 hours embalming was expensive it was an extensive process but Jacob Joseph's Father Joseph had lots of money lots of power had his father embalmed and took him back to the land of Canaan Genesis 50 tells us he was buried in the cave in the field of macpillar that Abra Abraham had bought as a burying place so later 53 years later Joseph is a hundred and ten years old he has seen his children and his grandchildren his mind is sharp he is about to die though so he calls his family around him and he begins to prophesy over them in 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 swear to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob these Patriarchs Abraham Isaac Jacob God was faithful to them in their generations and Joseph is now saying that God never forgets a promise if God said it he will perform what he promises the Promises of God are yes and in him they are amen it is impossible for God to lie and if God said it he will do it amen and Joseph said just like God promised our fathers Abraham and Isaac and Jacob one day one day in the future God is going to visit you he's going to bring you out of this land unto the land that he swear to give our fathers amen it was the promise that God had given Abraham all the way back in Genesis 15 that you're going to be a stranger in a land that is not yours your people will live there you're going to serve those people they're going to afflict you 400 years but afterward you're going to come out with great substance and Abraham you're going to die in peace in the fourth generation your people are going to come out again because the iniquity of the amorites in the land of Canaan is not yet full which is a fascinating verse to me and so God is going to fulfill what he promises and I want to just stop right now to say that you may feel that you are stuck in a situation that you think is never going to change it may be days weeks months or years decades that nothing has changed but I said it before I begin preaching today that in a moment God can change everything he is doing it for our church he did it for Joseph he did it for Israel we're in the will of God and God isn't working us you're not stuck God is at work now when Joseph died Israel was still in like a favored nation status they were honored house guests Joseph was revered in Egypt no need for deliverance they were not slaves but God gave Joseph this promise that looked beyond this time to a time when things would change and then Joseph gives this command concerning his bones now Joseph was wealthy in Egypt but he was not an Egyptian he had a plan for his final resting place now you know you would say in a way that it didn't matter where Joseph was buried if he was buried in Egypt he was going to be dead and he wouldn't know where he was if he got buried in Canaan land he was going to be dead and he wouldn't know no one had to really keep the promise that they made to Joseph at the resurrection of the Dead Joseph a man of faith is going to be raised to life whether his body was in Egypt or Canaan land so while in a way it doesn't matter where you're buried it mattered to Joseph while he has spent many years of his life in Egypt he was not in Egyptian he was embracing the promise that God had made to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob for the future of his people while he was a figure of the past he was prophesying about the future of the people of God he went to Egypt as a very young man spent most of his life there a hundred and ten years old his mind is still very sharp I can imagine him Gathering his family around him maybe remaining Brothers his kids younger people and he says to them look these trade in the eye he prophesies about the future the Bible said in Genesis 50 and 25 let's read it again and Joseph took an oath he made them promise amen he took a note of the children of Israel saying God will surely visit you and you shall carry up my bones from his promise now I have a feeling that everybody who made that promise to Joseph died before God delivered them out of Egyptian bondage but the last words of Joseph that are recorded is Joseph essentially saying don't leave my bones in Egypt and then the Book of Genesis closes the last verse of the first book in your Bible Genesis 50 26 so Joseph died being a hundred and ten years old and they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt 110 saw his grandchildren he died and he was embalmed now I'm not going to take the time to try to talk about Egyptian embalming you can Google it later later was quite involved and it was an evolving process as the Egyptians perfected it you can go to a museum today and see the mummified bodies of people who lived in the times of Christ whose bodies were preserved Jacob a very wealthy powerful man excuse me Joseph his father was embalmed Joseph a very powerful wealthy man his final Arrangements were embalm me and put me in a coffin a casket now in the Bible you don't read about many coffins and Joseph is the first man in the Bible that the Bible says was ever embalmed and then put in a coffin so I've thought about this why would Joseph want to go in a casket or a coffin if he died and you embalmed him and you put him in a cave like many people were you might forget where that cave was and you might lose Father Joseph somewhere along the line if he was embalmed and put in the ground you might lose track of that grave but Joseph said I want to be embalmed and I want my body to be put in a coffin because when God comes to deliver you I want to be in a little mobile transporter to get me out of Egypt and into the land of Canaan he was embalmed and his body was put in a coffin I don't know where the coffin was kept but it was kept and the children of Israel the people of God promised Joseph they promised with an oath that when God delivered them they would not leave the remains of Joseph in Egypt well then Joseph dies and all of his Brethren and all that generation Exodus 1 and 6 says so no one who heard Joseph say that is alive and the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied in waxed exceeding Mighty and the land was filled with them everywhere the Egyptians looked they saw Israelites the people of God were growing numerous so there's a new king over Egypt Exodus 1 and 8 says which knew not Joseph he forgot did not have a memory or an appreciation for what Joseph did to spare Egypt and make them a very wealthy country the king looks at these Israelites and says they're more and mightier than we are we need to deal wisely with them because one day they might fight against us by allying themselves with an enemy and they would overthrow us so let's set task Masters over them to afflict them but the Bible says the more they Afflicted them the more they multiplied and grew you may think you're going to die in your struggle but God might have a plan for you to grow in your struggle the early church was persecuted but they multiplied and grew in times of persecution so I don't know what the future holds you know in our culture but I can tell you what the future holds for the church that God has a plan for his kingdom to grow amen well the Egyptians didn't like that made him serve with rigor you know in Moses's day they tried to kill all the little boys made their lives bitter with hard bondage the Bible said they were miserable in this condition they sighed by reason of their bondage they cried their Cry came unto God by reason of the bondage God heard their groaning God remembered his Covenant God looked on the children of Israel and God had respect unto them I thought this would be a good sermon for someone God heard their groaning God remembered his Covenant God looked on Israel God had respect unto them decades are passing by after the death of Joseph four generations from the clock of Prophecy that Abraham heard of from the Lord and somewhere in Egypt Joseph's coffin is in safe keeping it's in a storage unit maybe a climate controlled storage unit or something I don't know I'm just saying May the people promise God brings you out you're taking me with you promise but all those people died remember Exodus 1 told us that time as a way of eroding the word of people maybe today you told God something you promised someone something your yay should be ye and your nay should be nay you say something your word should be your bond amen those people that don't die but then God begins to move he raises up Moses the deliverer and with ten plagues he shakes Egypt to their core and Moses says Let My People Go and finally Pharaoh says yes after the death of the firstborn out of bondage they go the Bible says with a high hand or a Victorious hand they spoil the Egyptians but what about the coffin of Joseph I'm glad you asked that question Exodus 13 17 tells us Pharaoh let the people go God LED them in a roundabout way he didn't want them to see War but look at Exodus 13 19. and Moses took the bones of Joseph with him for he had placed the children of Israel under a solemn oath saying God shall surely visit you and you shall carry up my bones from here with you it's good to remember what God has said and what you have said Moses Generations later still knew what Joseph said and what the people had promised Joseph that he would do I love what Moses said to Pharaoh you know the compromises there were four pharaohs said Don't Take Your Kids and Moses said we're taking our kids and Pharaoh said Don't Take Your livestock and Moses said we're taking our livestock Moses said we're not leaving a hoof in Egypt we're not even going to leave a hoof we're taking everything with us we're going into the future God has for us and everyone's going and everything's going with us we're leaving nothing behind [Applause] we made a promise to the Past and we're going to keep our word so Moses I don't know who was assigned to that Moses took the coffin of Joseph out of Egypt across the Red Sea on tri-ground when the cloud moved the coffin moved when the cloud settled and the camp of Israel settled the coffin stayed with him wherever they went now remember coffins were very unusual I don't think there was another one in all the encampment of Israel we have no more detail other than Moses took that coffin with him I imagine a little boy one day asking his dad hey dad what is that Joseph's bones Joseph's bones yeah you remember Joseph he's the one that kept us alive when there was a famine in Egypt and he made us promise that when God got us out of Egypt that we would bring his bones with us and that coffin right there son it's a promise to the past that we have kept that we're not going to leave the past forgotten but we're bringing the memory of the past with us we're going to have a continuity from the past to the present to the Future that's Joseph's coughing son amen wherever Israel went you know the Tabernacle went and set it up it was in the middle of their encampment and God wanted his church and the center of everyone's lives not on the circumference that you brushed up against it every now and then but in the middle of your lives but but I don't know where Joseph's casket was that coffin I really I I had to think about visualizing this coffin this conspicuous coffin that is going with him the bones of Joseph through the Red Sea when they moved it moved when they stopped it stopped and 40 Years of wandering in the wilderness wherever they went the bones of Joseph made the stops and the stars and the Camp 42 different campsites places where they stopped according to numbers 33 and yes I counted and cross-referenced 42 different times the coffin of Joseph was there with them when they camped out on their way from Egypt to the promised land and then when it was time to enter in when that faithless generation had died off that man of Faith Joseph his coffin was still with them it crossed the Jordan River on dry Crown as the water stacked up in a heap it was somewhere in the vicinity of Jericho when the walls fell flat they did not forget their promise to the fast and to me Joseph's coffin is a reminder of the faithfulness of God it is something that has been with us for years and years and years it has been a silent Observer to the Miracles and signs and wonders and the promises of God that it is not until the end of the Book of Joshua that we read of Joseph's final resting place it may not be chronologically accurate at the end of Joshua it's kind of speaking back into what took place there but after the land was settled and they inhabited it Joshua 24 32. and the bones of Joseph you remember that say Amen remember that and the bones of Joseph which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt buried they in shechem in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of amor the father of shechem for a hundred pieces of silver we even know the price and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph safely settled Israelites and the land of Canaan finally take the bones of Joseph to their final resting place reminder of the faithfulness of God and a promise to the past the dreams of a 17 year old teenager became the destiny of a nation and I am so thankful to say that for all the things that the Israelites forgot the Bible talks about the many things that they forgot they did not forget their promise to the Past amen Hebrews wrote about the faith of Joseph we read it in our text Hebrews 11 22 by faith Joseph when he died made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones today I feel like the story of the bones of Joseph remind me that what Dev what the devil means against you for evil that God will turn it around for good he was Joseph to told his brothers you meant it unto me for evil but God had another plan that God has a way that no weapon formed against us shall prosper God has a way of turning what is against us into something that is for us that God can take the dreams of a Joseph and turn it into the destiny of a Nation Hallelujah the story of Joseph's bows remind me that all things work together for good to them that love God who are the called according to his purpose the Bones have chosen from behind me that he will never leave us and he will never forsake us he reminds me that God who has begun a good work in us will complete it will perform it to the day of Jesus Christ I'm telling you that God gives a continuity from the past to the present to the Future and today while we are honoring our path we are saying to the past that we promise you that your sacrifices will not be in vain we promise you that your work is not in vain we promise you that your commitment is not in pain we're taking your memory into the future we take your sacrifice into the future [Applause] it's our promise it's our promise to the Past let's thank the Lord right now that we are people of Promise people with the prophetic Destiny over us as a church [Applause] thank you for the vision of the Harpers and the 18 that gathered with them in 1961 who said that God's church should love everybody and even in our founding they said this should be a multicultural Church thank you for the vision to move to 689 Chestnut Street in downtown Atlanta thank you for buying property and building the church on Cooper Lake Road of the pastor Fuller family stayed in a Sunday school room for 18 months while they got that church on his feet again and Revival broke out there are so many Amazing Stories of the Cooper Blake Road Revival thank you for everyone who worshiped in temporary places between Cooper Lake Road and Skyview Drive Garrett Middle School a storefront on Bankhead Highway another temporary place perhaps we need to thank the men and women who built the property that were sitting in this Sanctuary today that was inhabited on Easter Sunday 1986 that it was sweat and Blood and Tears and sacrifice and meals cooked and miracles seen as people said we need to build bigger for the future we may not be around to see it but just take my bones with you into the future don't forget what we've done oh praise God not just for a moment I know they can't hear it but we need to thank God for the people who built this church [Applause] I want to tell them that your labor was not in vain we have not gone back on the message we have maintained our Apostolic identity we love the mission of the church we believe in one God we believe in Acts 2 38 salvation your labor is not in vain we're building on the foundation of the past but we are possessing the future that they saw like Joseph said one of these days God's gonna get you out of here one of these days God's gonna take you into the future that he has planned for you just take me with you that's our promise to the Past he's seated for just a couple moments God's Gonna Get You Out of This Land place he promised Joseph was about to die but the promises of God were Fully Alive and the same God he orchestrated Joseph going to Egypt as a slave and orchestrated his meteoric rise to power in Egypt that same God allow them to multiply in seasons of affliction under cruel task Masters that same God worked his plagues on Pharaoh in all of Egypt and the same God that led them in LED them out and through the Wilderness into the land of promise that's the God we serve in our promise to the past is that we will always appreciate what you did we will honor what you did and we will not let your sacrifice be in vain we are living in the prophetic filament of God's Church that Upon This Rock Jesus said I will fill my church not a building but the church the called out ones and the Gates of Hell shall not Prevail against it we are part of the kingdom of God of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end we live in a culture where Across America there are many churches that are plateaued declining and dying they're shutting their doors they're selling their properties for pennies on the dollar it is not because they did not honor their past it is because they lived in the past and I want to say thank you to the Elders of this church while you appreciate the past you are looking to the Future amen I can tell you that my generation and those that are older than me we are investing in the Next Generation we're all in for Imagine we're giving ourselves to this campaign it is the future of our church We Believe so we're launching this campaign the next few months will be vital and pivotal for our church you can expect God to stretch your vision and challenge your faith don't be a season of sacrifice and we commit ourselves to hearing the voice of God and in dimension we've never done before you can expect God to show himself strong on your behalf and open the windows of heaven with Miracles that you never dream could happen as you step out in faith in God when our church voted unanimously by secret ballot vote just the other day to expand the vision that we initially had and by faith and commitment to build a 1200 seat sanctuary and remodel other spaces I thank God for that Vision I thank you for your support I look forward to what God is going to do we will raise millions of dollars six eight more who knows and Jesus Christ will perform Miracles savings into his Divine hand in the construction project favor with the community unexpected blessings but along the way our mission will continue There Will Be miracles of healing and miraculous stunning conversions you never know what God is going to do when you get out of the boat of security and safety and step out in faith in God this will be a season of harvest and breakthrough and the destiny of our church [Applause] amen please be seated I'm asking our ushering team and those that are helping them to come down the aisles they're going to give you an imagined packet right now please do not open it I will just say that I made that mistake in the first service and I try to be a fast learner you can open it later and you'll be glad you did they're coming down the aisle to give you a packet one per family member so if you're 18 or older single that's you or a family head one per family unit please family units amen family units some of you were here in the first service you're already imagining so happy for you you will find in this packet that you will open later a devotional book with 20 devotions four weeks five weeks a day of devotions that will help guide your family in prayer you will find a campaign calendar with the devotional schedule prayer and fasting calendar themes for each week of our campaign I'm very excited to tell you no details but two weeks from today we will have an off-site service at an amazing venue and you don't want to miss that service it will be at a little different time it'll be at an off-site location about 30 minutes from here I toured this facility this past Thursday with some other men it is amazing there's a fasting guide in this packet and then there's a a pen commemorative pin their prayer cards one side with focused prayer dates and this Vision campaign then there's a magazine conceptual renderings I repeat conceptual renderings they're not final but it's where we are right now in visioneering what we're doing for this new sanctuary and the connecting facilities and the remodeling of this and other spaces what an amazing time Jesus said Abraham long to see my day saw it that's pretty that's an amazing statement I think our founders long to see our day and by faith they saw it but we're the ones who have the privilege of living it if you would just take this packet with your family if you're able to stay and I'm asking you to stand right now we're going to pray this campaign is not about a building it involves a building this campaign is about people it is about backsliders coming home to God it is about lost people being converted safe from their sins this campaign is about the Next Generation having a place to worship that will accommodate them for as long as it takes for us to outgrow it and go back to two Services it's about us worshiping together for a while but that's not the end goal the end goal is impacting Metro Atlanta with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and from this place reaching every place possible would you pray with me right now over this campaign and would you imagine what God can do through us to build his kingdom Lord I pray right now in the name of Jesus Christ foreign Lord to begin to work in our hearts [Music] or can my heart my wife's heart God to help us know what you want us to do Lord in our giving and our going the leadership of this campaign I pray for every person here Lord today in this journey of faith that you've called us to that you would guide us every step of the way I pray Lord that you would give us creative ideas help us Lord take this seriously every day every day Lord to be prayerful and to ask you Lord what would you have us to do I pray in Jesus name that you would die to us I pray that you would provide for us I pray Lord Jesus that you would work in ways that we cannot even understand or fathom Lord as we invest ourselves in this I pray Lord that you would give us the faith to take every step of this journey Lord all the way to completion and as we go Lord we're gonna make a promise to the past that we will take their work their sacrifice and their faith and that they will go with us in this journey to the Future and I pray that in Jesus name what everyone said amen