Transcript of a published Bible study by Gary Hodum, transcribed from YouTube. An attributed primary source — not Acts 2:38 Life doctrine text.
Summary
Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.
Dead or Alive — The Promises of God
- The teacher opens with former principal Mr. Myrick's morning sign-off to his students — have a good day or not, the choice is yours — and says each day a person can choose to be a grumbler and complainer or choose the joy of the Lord, which is his strength when problems arise and everything is upside down.
- He titles the lesson "Dead or Alive": God is not the God of the dead but of the living, and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, though dead after the flesh, inherited the promises of God.
- He reads of God making a promise to Abraham and, because he could swear by no greater, swearing by himself — surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee — and of Abraham, after he had patiently endured, obtaining the promise.
- He stresses that God forbade his people to swear at all, since a person cannot make one hair white or black or add to his stature; God alone gives the body and sets such things in order, and no one should blame God for the choices that are his own.
- Yet when God makes a promise, heaven itself would be turned upside down to keep it; the teacher recalls David's saying that he had never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread, and brother Danny Fraser's saying that the angels may have to go on rations, but God is not going to let his people down.
Scriptures: Hebrews 6:13-15
By Faith — Abel, Enoch, Noah and Abraham
- By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain and obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; by it, he being dead yet speaks — the teacher explains that the bloods crying out from the ground condemned Cain and justified Abel, who offered the firstlings and fatlings of his flock while Cain presumptuously offered the fruit of a cursed ground.
- By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death, having this testimony that he pleased God; by faith Noah, being warned of God of things not yet seen, moved with fear and prepared an ark to the saving of his house, becoming heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
- By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out not knowing where he went; he sojourned — temporarily dwelt — in the land of promise, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise, looking for a city whose builder and maker is God.
- Abraham could have returned to the country he came from but chose a better country; the teacher says that whether dead or alive, he himself is going to inherit the promise God has given, believing not with faint, weak faith but with a surety that every promise of God will come to pass.
- These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, persuaded of them, embracing them, and confessing that they were strangers and pilgrims in the earth; Abraham himself waited twenty-five years between the promise of a seed and the son who was given.
Scriptures: Hebrews 11
Where Is the Promise of His Coming?
- The teacher notes that some today ask where the promise of his coming is, since the fathers fell asleep and all things continue as they were; he answers that they are willingly ignorant that the world of old stood and perished by the word of God, and that the world today is held in reserve unto fire by that same word alone.
- He describes the heavens departing, the elements melting with fervent heat, the earth and the works in it burned up, mountains melting like wax, and time itself stopping at the beginning of the sounding of the last angel — every clock, he says, will stop.
- Those in the graves will hear the voice of the Son of God and come forth, some to everlasting righteousness and some to everlasting contempt; those who are alive and remain will not leave in the old body but will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and caught up together to meet the Lord in the air.
- Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, but the teacher warns that confessing it then will be too late; the Bible declares that confessing him now brings faithful and just forgiveness.
Joseph Gave Commandment Concerning His Bones
- The teacher returns to Joseph: by faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones.
- He retells Joseph's story as a type and shadow of the good things to come: the beloved son of Jacob's old age, given the coat of many colors, dreaming dreams his family could not comprehend, hated by his brothers, sold at seventeen, and carried to Egypt, where his bloody coat led Jacob to mourn the rest of his life.
- Joseph became ruler of Potiphar's house, was thrown into prison on a false charge and ruled there too, then was called before Pharaoh and set second in command over all Egypt, living in the fulfillment of the dreams and promises God had made him.
- The teacher warns that reality can be the worst thing against faith — circumstances and the promise may not seem to coincide — but urges holding on: this is only one page of a life, and the promise of God may be on the last page of the book.
- Living in fulfilled promises, Joseph remembered the promise God had sworn to Abraham and told his brothers that God would surely bring the nation out of Egypt; he did not want his bones left in a land that did not worship God, but carried into the promised land flowing with milk and honey, where God's action would be — after ninety-three years in Egypt, still believing a promise made four hundred years before.
Scriptures: Hebrews 11:22
They Saw It Afar Off and Embraced It
- The teacher says Abraham desired to see Christ's day and saw it — not by living until the manger, but with a prophetic eye — embracing the change that was coming, loving and appreciating what God was doing, though he did not live to see the promises fulfilled.
- The prophets of old likewise searched diligently what manner of time the Spirit of Christ in them signified, seeing both the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow; the teacher loves preaching the cross, but warns against stopping at the death and omitting the resurrecting power — the Holy Ghost places believers in the glory that followed the suffering, which is why there is joy, peace and righteousness in the Holy Ghost.
- He recalls preaching the cross in another church, where an old brother came down the aisle in tears, saying he had thought the apostle Paul would have to be resurrected before anyone heard preaching on the cross again.
- He also recalls a revival where trustees demanded to know where Jesus ever acted the way the rejoicing congregation had; months later he found the place where the returned seventy told Jesus even the devils were subject to them, and the word rendered "rejoiced" meant he leaped about much — sometimes, he says, it is better to be a little childish in these things than grown up.
Yea and Amen — Moses Took the Bones
- The teacher reads that all the promises of God in him are yea and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us — and notes that God gets no glory out of these things unless his people give it to him.
- He then reads of the Exodus: on the busiest days in the history of the world, with every Israelite on the move, Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.
- Joseph did not see the deliverance in his own day, but his bones were not left behind; the teacher says he would rather be where God is working than anywhere else in the world.
Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 1:24; Exodus 13:19
Having Therefore These Promises
- Having therefore these promises, the teacher reads, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
- He says he holds a promise of the Holy Ghost that Abraham could only glimpse and the prophets could only see settling on God's people; one of the prophets even wrote down a new covenant, not written on tables of stone as under the law given through Moses, but written by God in hearts and inward parts.
- He illustrates the difference with his own family: God took Israel by the hand and led them out of Egypt, and on the family's yearly Chicago revival trips he held his little son Josh by the hand crossing streets filled with cars — for leadership, and to keep him from danger. On the Sears Tower escalators, his oldest two children, John and Jennifer, stepped on and went ahead, while Anna and Josh clung frightened to the moving handrail; the teacher has brother Robert stand in as Josh to show the hand-holding.
- The new promise, he says, is that God no longer leads only by the hand: he puts a want-to and a know-how on the inside, writing his law in the heart — and the promise did not fail Joseph, whose bones will come out of the grave in the promised land in the resurrection day.
Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 7:1
The Promise Is Unto You and to Your Children
- The teacher reads Peter's words: repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins — he explains there is a reason for baptism in that name, that sins hang there until the name is called over them — and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
- For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
- He says he would rather be buried in the promises of God than live in the best situation the world offers, for what the world offers is only here a little while; heaven and earth shall pass away, but the word of God never will — every promise in the book is mine, every chapter, every verse, every line.
Scriptures: Acts 2:38-39
Resurrection and Judgment Are Sure
- Standing the class, the teacher declares that not a single promise God has made has ever failed, and none ever will, dead or alive: the hour is coming when all in the graves will hear his voice and come forth, some to everlasting righteousness and some to everlasting contempt or condemnation.
- He says the queen of the south will rise in the resurrection judgment, having come from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon while many of Solomon's own people did not want it, and the city of Nineveh will rise too, having repented at the preaching of Jonah; the promise of resurrection is sure, and the promise of judgment is sure.
- He goes quickly through the principles of the doctrine of Christ — repentance from dead works, faith toward God, the doctrine of baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment — mainstays of the doctrine of Christ, not only of this church, however silly some of them look to the world; when judgment comes it is too late, for doom or victory is already sealed, and sins must be repented of and washed away beforehand, as Paul himself, after repenting on the Damascus road, was told to arise and be baptized, washing away his sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
- All will stand before the judgment seat to receive the things done in the body, whether good or evil; so those filled with the Spirit of the living God are to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness — a strict standard, the teacher admits, asking whether the class could pass that muster tonight, and calling them to pray and search their hearts. (The recording ends mid-lesson; the lesson's close is not in the capture.)
Scriptures: Hebrews 6
Scripture index: Hebrews 6:13-15; Hebrews 11; Hebrews 11:22; 2 Corinthians 1:24; Exodus 13:19; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Acts 2:38-39; Hebrews 6.
Transcript
aren't you glad you chose to come to church tonight the choice was yours amen Alton think of what mr. Myrick said that used to be the principal of our high school here in Corinth he was the man down in the lower part of the state when they had the first school shooting in Mississippi no that was out in Colorado let's just stick with Mississippi tonight all right I don't remember the name of the school right now but he was the assistant principal down there he tackled the shooter in an act of bravery and when he did this he held him until the law enforcement agency got there and put him under arrest
and you know they caused a threat to be over with right then well later on we were privileged here to have him in our school I always admired the man for the act of bravery that he had done but he did a lot for our school also a few short years that he was here every morning andrea was in school there at the time every morning he got on the intercom and he addressed the students and to close of his little pep speech he'd say have a good day or not the choice is yours a man
well you know he put me to thinking every day we live we can choose to be an old grumbler a complainer or we can choose to have the joy of the Lord amen and remember this the joy of the Lord is your strength he's not short on joy when your problems arise he's not short on joy when everything is upside down in your life the joy of the Lord is your strength
and I want to talk to you about the promises of God tonight but a title this dead are alive amen Dead or Alive you don't really matter amen of course God said that Jesus said he's not the god of the dead but he's a God of the living and referred to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and of course we knew that were dead after the flesh but we also knew they inherited the promises of God
let me read to you while you're standing in the book of Hebrews chapter 6 verses 13 through 15 for when God made promise to Abraham because he could swear by no greater he swear by himself saying surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee and so after he had patiently endured now this is Abraham that now patiently endured he obtained the promise
I want to go over that one more time and for this cause amen God swear by himself you know he forbid us to swear he said above all things brethren swear not at all he told us why he forbid us to swear don't swear by the temple because that's his throne that's not your throne that's his don't swear by the older because you know that's where we approach God in humility don't don't and don't swear by the gift that's on the altar he said above all things brother and swear not at all
you're not able to make one of your hairs white or black I know you're thinking of all that color back but when it comes out from the roots it's the color that God made it amen you're not able to change your stature one cubit amen I mean you're you're either gonna be big-boned and you're gonna be or are skinny or well I don't know you could be big small bone and fat I guess but you know I you're gonna be big-boned and then you know burly are you gonna be kind of thin boned and frail a frame and whatever and that's probably not the word since I'm there was frail frame
but anyway I'm not trying to make fun but I'm just telling you God is the one that gives us the body that it pleased him don't none of you blame your over waiting us on God though I'm you don't be with you that's another one of our choices we eat too much or we don't eat too much and I'm one of those on the side that loves to eat so but what I'm saying is we're unable to change things that God has set in order
but now if God ever makes us a promise folks get turned heaven upside down and shake it out to keep his promises amen the young lines may like and there's a whole lot of things that could go unfed but he's made a promise to his people David said I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread amen
brother Danny Fraser brother Keith's father used to preach and I've heard him say this and it was always so well it always just helped my fees in here and he said the angels may have to go on rations amen you know heaven heaven may have to kind of get scarce but God's not gonna let his people down he's made us promises folks and we're gonna live in the promises of God when he promised to Abraham he swear by himself because there was none greater that he could swear by he couldn't
say well I'm gonna you know by the heavens because he made the heavens in the earth he couldn't say this other of this other of this other I've heard a lot of folks in trying to honor the Bible do this honor to God say well I I'd swear to it with my hand on a stack of Bibles you can't change a word in that Bible you didn't write that Bible that's God's Word so above all things brother and swear not at all but I'm gonna tell you one thing when God makes a promise it's gonna be a kept promise you can just count on it halleloo you can be CD if you'd like
Hebrews again chapter 11 and verse 4 by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain by which he obtained witness that he was righteous God testifying of his gifts and by it he being dead yet speaketh now that's by his gift I want to I want to take just a moment right there I have I've went through this on different occasions but it's been a long long time and I like to explain something there we
we know that the just said that his blood cries out from the ground when he asked his brother came he said you know where's your brother he said am I my brother's keeper and he said your brother's blood cries out from the ground but in the original text in the old language it said thy brother's blood plural we don't have but one you know I mean he made of one blood all nations but what he is actually speaking of and this this confirms it right here by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent somebody say sacrifice than Cain by which he obtained witness that he was righteous God testifying of his gifts Amen
God was at testifying of Abel's blood but the Bloods that he had shed and that they were crying out to him from the ground and they condemned Cain and they justified abled because Abel offered of the firstlings and the fatlings of his flock and it was a gift that God honored Abel for but he dishonored Cain because Cain was very presumptuous and offered of the fruit of the ground and at this time even the ground was cursed of God so here he is bringing an unsatisfactory offer unto God and God just did not have respect unto it and it made Came mad and because of this he slew his brother
in verse 2 by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him for before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God that's verse 5 I'm sorry and verse 7 by faith Noah being warned of God of things not yet seen moved with fear prepared an ark to the saving of his house by which he condemned the world and became the heir or became heir of the righteousness which is by faith a man
and then Abraham in verse eight again by faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should not have to would receive for an inheritance obeyed he went out not knowing whether he went by faith he sojourned in that word sojourn means he temporarily dwelt in the land of promise as a in a strange country dwelling in Tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob the heirs with him of the same promise now you know we would have thought that Abraham went there and permanently dwelt there
but let's look at it by faith he sojourned and I mentioned the word soldier means he temporarily dwelt if we had a continued reading you'd find that by faith you know he could have returned to the land from whence he came but he was looking for a city whose builder and maker was God hallelujah
I got up one time I got up a some time I think during the middle of the night and I took the notes down and when I say no scripture is all I have in my notes usually there's very seldom anything in there but scripture but I I had the scriptures down and coordinated them together never didn't get to preach it maybe one of these days I will just never didn't feel right when I was good in the wake but while I was asleep it was really good amen it really come down good i titled it when the country boy moves to town Abraham was looking for a city he could have went back to the country from whence he came but
he chose a better country amen hallelujah folks one of these days we're going to town now I don't care where you live down here I ain't go preach it tonight I'm just telling you a little bit of the outline one of these days no matter where you've lived in what country you've been in what how far away from the county seat you were or where you might you're gonna move to town amen God has prepared for us a city hallelujah and I'm just to live there myself and
whether I'm dead or alive I'm gonna inherit that promise that God has given me amen I'm living my life in faith believing that that promise is coming to pass not just believing with a little faint weak faith but I know of a surety that the promises of God are yes amen hallelujah every single one of them is going to come to pass hallelujah I want to touch one more Vela right here for just a moment well give me another scripture first so
these all died in faith not having received the promises plural but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims in the earth
now I don't need to explain much right here but I do want to mention something these were personal promises God gave to Abraham in thee and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed hallelujah but the promises that he's speaking of here that they did not receive you know Abraham received that Amen he could have never been obedient to God and took Isaac to the top of Mount Moriah had he not received that promise in V and in thy seed
but now then it went on beyond there he had no seed for 25 years after the promise of a seed was given unto him or a son was given unto him but then God said unto him and Isaac or rather Paul picked it up in spoken of Isaac and said it's in Isaac shall thy seed be called hallelujah I'm not just gonna accept any old thing like an Ishmaelite or anything like that but in Isaac shall thy seed be called hallelujah
25 years after the promise you would have thought now what a long time I mean some of us would have given up in five years some would have given up in 10 years some would have held on for 15 and some maybe 20 but after a while somebody would have said where is the promise that God give you I mean right now we have it in our world today something where is the promise of it's coming since our fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were
but let me remind you of this one thing for this they are willingly ignorant that the world of old stood out of the water and in the water by the word of God God spoke a world into existence by that same world the would by that same word the world that then was being overflowed perished and by that same word the world that you live in today is held in reserve unto fire now you can believe whatever you would like to believe I would like you to believe what I like to believe and what I do believe but I believe that this world has only kept here by the Word of God
until one day when the heavens are going to depart as a scroll that is rolled together amen it's going to reveal the things that are on the inside of heaven itself Jesus is going to step forth on a cloud of glory hallelujah that angel has set his foot on the land and one foot upon the sea and lifted that right hand to heaven and swear by him that liveth for ever and ever that time shall be no more but at the beginning of the sounding of the seventh angel that time is going to stop right then and there
mountains are going to melt down like wax hallelujah they're going to run down fire as go to spew up into the air and fire and brimstone is going to come raining down upon the earth the earth and the works therein shall melt the Bible said that heavens will pass away with a great noise the elements will melt with a fervent heat and the earth and the works therein shall be burned out
I believe that I'm waiting for that day but I also believe this that they that are in the graves are going to hear the voice of the Son of God they shall come forth some devil icing righteousness some devil icing contempt I want to be on that number of folks there's gonna be and that are run to the rocks and to the mountains and they'll crown them fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne for the great day of his wrath has come and who shall be able to stand
but there's going to be some folks say even so come Lord Jesus hallelujah if you're alive and remain of that day you're not going to get out here and their old body you've got it couldn't stand what we're going to folks
Paul said I show you a mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in the moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last Trump which trumpet the last Trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead in Christ shall rise and we that are alive and remain shall be caught up together to meet the lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord
a lot of timing in there if you just read it take take a careful view of it and see you're not going to get out here to let last trumpet sounds and at the beginning of the sounding of the last trumpet the Bible said time shall be no more
you know they checked a lot of tragedies automobile accidents house fires and a number of other things about looking at the time the clock stopped what time did the clock stop we know what time the tragedy hit because of then I'm gonna tell you you're gonna be able to tell because every clocks going to stop amen nothing is going to proceed after this when that seventh angel begins to sound it's over with every knee is going to bow every tongue is going to confess amen everybody's going to confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God
but I'm going to tell you if you hadn't already confessed it it's gonna be too late then to confess it but you'll do it anyway hallelujah if you hadn't already made him Lord of your life it's gonna be far too late then it's gonna be far too late for you to get your salvation Rock then but the Bible declares that if he would confess him right now he said he would be faithful and just to forgive you praise God
now let me look at this last one Joseph Hebrews 11 to 22 by faith Joseph when he died made mention of the depart of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones all of us are aware and we know very well the story of Joseph
I doubt if there's now you know certain places that you go like when I preached in the or taught a class in the prison there was there may have been two or three in the class and have heard of Joseph
and some of our acts classes I asked one tonight I was going to do some teaching on Joseph I said all of you know about Joseph and I saw this blank look come on their face I said him and Eden here has ever heard of Joseph nobody not a single one has ever heard of Abraham had a few that heard of Abraham all of them had heard of Jesus the most important one but they had not heard of Joseph
let me tell you a little about Joseph just to show you that he was a type a shadow of the good things that was to come his life was over shouting the life of Jesus itself he was a martyr in his own day he was born into one of the best families he was born into a blessed family should I say he was born into the most blessed family on earth at that time it was in the seed of Abraham Isaac and now Jacob and Jacobs son Joseph was the son of
his old age Jacob made a little coat of many colors for his son and for years he no doubt replaced that coat with one of just a larger size the coat was symbolizing that he was the chosen son it was symbolizing he's the outstanding one he's the only boy in that family that had that coat and this made it him hated more than the others and it caused them to have indignation against him
and besides this God showed up and was with Joseph in such ways until he began to dream dreams it had ultra meaning to them it was meaning that was beyond the normal and the natural meaning that they could not comprehend that even Jacob himself his own father could not understand
and he kind of ridiculed him for the dreams that he had and said son is mom dad gonna have to bow down to you yes Jacob you're gonna have to it's coming the time is coming the dreams are true the dreams are from God but God made these promises in dreams under Joseph and of course it's 17 years of age the family had had enough of this dreamer boy
and they decided they'd kill him but one of his brothers said let's not kill him and somebody saw the end of merchantmen coming by so they said let's sell him and then we won't his blood won't be on our hands so they sold him took that little coat of many colors seeing Joseph 17 years old at the time they killed an animal and dipped that coat in the blood and carried that bloody coat to his father and said tell us if this is your son's coat or not
Joseph's heart was set on that boy and Joseph knew God's hand was upon him but he didn't fully understand all that God was going to do to him and Joseph with a reality instead of faith and let me let me explain this
sometimes reality is the worst thing against your faith I mean we look and we see this circumstance and we look and we see I know this is real but the promise of God and this don't coincide one with another hold on just a little bit amen you're only living through a little temporary part of your life right now this is only one page in your life hold on the promise of God may be on the last page of the book but you just hold of the promises of God where they're going to be true and they're going to be a man
but Jacob looked at it recognized the coat saw the blood didn't recognize the blood so he said this no doubt is my son that it coat that has been torn to pieces by some animal and he said I will go to my grave mourning for him I will not be comforted I'm gonna mourn the rest of my life amen
you know I'm think about a lot of things that would cause us heartache sorrow I've gone through some things that has caused heartache and sorrow and at the moment it felt like this is a lifetime situation only to have the peace of God flood our hearts at some time later there's been circumstances that has arose in our family that has brought such heartache and sorrow until I think we'll never get over this this is something that'll be with us the rest of our life only to realize a little bit later on God Himself intervened and God give us victory God give us strength God give us power God give us some stability
and even the peace of God that passes all understanding came into our life and we begin to see that gods are greater than our circumstances you're you're bigger than our sorrow you you've got things for us that has caused us to forget the deepness of the sorrow even though it's still there and we'll be there the rest of our life you have given us an overcoming spirit in this situation
Jacob later got word your son's alive I'm talking about years later your son's alive that son was 32 years old now he was 17 the last time Jacob saw him he was 17 the last time he saw the promised land he'd been sold down into Egypt and had become a slave down in Egypt he had gone to prison in Egypt
if Jacob had a scene what really happened to Joseph in those dark days he would have sure enough wept and cried and and pleaded and begged but he couldn't see all of that sometimes God's mercy is hiding some things from us just to keep us from wallowing in a quagmire of our own unbelief but Jacob was waiting for the promises of God Joseph was living in the promises of God but they were not recognizable at the time
he became the king of Potiphar's house or the ruler of Potiphar's house he was then thrown into prison on a false charge he began to rule in the prison house he was then called out of the prison and was brought before the King Pharaoh and from there he was second on the throne of the king of Egypt hallelujah
nothing was done in Egypt without somebody asking Joseph he was we call him the prime minister of Egypt he was the second in command in all of Egypt in fact you might have called him first in command if Pharaoh got up against think it's a glass Joseph glass Joseph this was a dream gotta given him this was a promise God had made to him this was a fulfillment of a promise God had made to him everything's looking real good now Joseph is sitting where he ought to be sitting the dreams of Joseph are coming to pass a promise of God he's living in them he's walking in them
and then the promise of Abraham that God had swear by himself because he could swear to know greater I know greater they come to mind and Joseph remembered and he said it's not always gonna be this way I'm not always gonna be on the throne in Egypt but he said God will surely bring this nation out of Egypt and he looked at his brothers and he said now brothers after they had gotten down there he said when God brings you out I want you to take my bones with you hallelujah praise God I don't want my bones to be left down here in this land that don't worship God
I've seen mighty promises come to pass down here but there's a land that God promised them to Abraham there's a place that God promised it flows with milk and honey I don't care how dry it was when lot left it doesn't matter how unprepared it the land may have been when Abraham went down into Egypt
it doesn't matter that they almost starved before they came down here when Jacob came to Egypt all of that doesn't matter that land is going to be a good land of hills and valleys and his flowing with milk and honey and I want you to care my bones with you when you leave out of here
well Jacob was 17 years old he lived 93 years in Egypt 93 years waiting on the promise sure he had seen some of these minor things come to pass if you can call it minor hit seen some of these things that just some of his dreams come to pass but there was a promise that God had made 400 years ago and he still believed God and he said I don't want to stay here until eternity comes I want you to take my bones put him in a coffin and when you leave here I want you to take my bones with you
he stood before Pharaoh at 32 his family came into Egypt in about 400 years later they carried Joseph's bones out of Egypt the Promised Land it was blessed of God where the action is going to be that's that's where God's victories are going to fall that's that's where the armies of angels is going to come down and help their armies of Israel
he wanted his bones to be there when the action was going on I'm gonna tell you I'd rather be where God's working than anywhere else in the world amen I I would hate to be in a God forsaken land I would hate to be where God never showed up but if I can just witness amen
when you stop and think about those people that's going on that the scripture said and I read it to you and started to expound only just a little bit but he said they not having received the promises but having seen them afar off and we know Abraham received the natural promise of a son and his sons son and we're aware of that but they didn't receive the promises but having seen them afar off
they embrace them meaning they love them are they accepted them as being real and true and they confess that they were strangers and pilgrims in the earth now Jesus said Abraham desire to see my day and he saw it amen
it wasn't that Abraham lived until Jesus was born and laid in the manger it wasn't if Abraham lived until Jesus came back out of Egypt when he called his son out of Egypt it wasn't that Abraham lived to see the glory of God after Jesus began to preach and teach the kingdom of heaven
but he looked with his prophetic eye and believed in God he saw there's going to be a change in this world and he embraced that it's not always going to be like it is now there's going to be a change hallelujah and not only did he just embrace it by accepting it but let me say he loved that so he's telling God I appreciate what you're doing I love what you're doing
he didn't live to see these promises Jacob didn't live to see these promises all of these that were before the ones that I mentioned Abel and Methuselah they didn't live to see these Noah didn't live to see these but all of them spoke of these days that you and I are living in the prophets of old search diligently what manner or what time the Spirit of Christ that was in them when it did signify the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow
let me warn you just a moment I love preaching of the Cross I remember one time preaching about the cross and it was it was such a relief to me to get that out of my bosom god forbid that I should glory save only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified to me and I to the world
a pre set up in brother days church one time old brother plump from krump was there precious man precious precious man hallelujah and when he when I got through preaching and the service was over he come crying down the aisle and he said brother hold him I'd already begin to think we're gonna have to resurrect the Apostle Paul to ever hear any preaching on the cross again everybody's forsaken that
but he said you brought it out tonight let me tell you something folks I love preaching the cross I love the effects of the cross without that sacrificial death you and I couldn't have what we have got tonight but sometimes we get hung up on that death and we get hung up on the sadness and the things that surround death and we forget about the resurrecting power of God we omit those things that the glory that followed the sufferings of Christ but the spirit that was in these minimal when they could look forward and see the sufferings of Christ didn't stop them right there
they saw the glory that should follow that's what you and I are living in right now amen that's what you and I have that's to to the spirit of God that's why the Holy Ghost comes into our life is to place us in the glory that followed the suffering of Christ
that's the reason we shout up and down the aisles that's the reason we say hallelujah that's the reason we get excited at church that's the reason that we have joy peace and righteousness in the Holy Ghost is because he died that you and I might have the joy of the Lord I remember one time I was preaching it what's out of here I better not tell where it was I got home and I got a call from the assistant pastor and said you've got us in a mess down here
I mean while we were having church we were really having revival and even it was an old pastor he was older than than I am now and even his wife that was always stoic she got off of the front seat and danced a little around up front here people run the aisles and shouted and danced and hadn't had none of that in that church in so many years
and one of the trustees got in touch with the other trustees and got the pastor and the assistant pastor involved it they said we want to know where is it in the Bible that Jesus ever acted that way now I'd have been afraid honestly I would have been afraid and so the assistant pastor said well I'll just call brother hug them since he's the one who preached it I'll find out if there was ever a place and I said now look brother I I don't know of one place in the Bible where Jesus never acted that way but I appoint you to a number of places where when he touched folks they acted that way
and that went on for a long time he said I'll tell him that went on for a long time one day I was just reading my Bible just kind of unexpected just run upon this verse of scripture where those seventy come back to Jesus after he had sent him out
and the Bible said they began to tell him even the Devils are subject to us in thy name and the Bible said Jesus told them don't rejoice because the Devils are made subject to you but you rather rejoice because your name is written in heaven and then it said and Jesus rejoiced in the spirit why I looked it up I don't know I mean it was just it was no doubt the hand of God but it was not something to just strangely impress me or anything
I just looked up that word rejoiced I had everything was in book form back in those days you know you didn't have computers and computer works on there that you could click on a word and find out the original meaning of the word but I had to look it up in a concordance it wasn't Strong's Concordance but it was it was one that's actually better than Strong's I can't think of it right now I'm stalling trying to think but if I don't I've still got that concordance and it was an explanatory concordance now looked it up in there and that was one place in the Bible that the original word meant
he leaped about much hallelujah now I I know when you picture Jesus you picture him is that solemn fella that everybody's painted him by the one they came to seek and save that which was lost but what happens when the loss gets saved hallelujah Amen what happens when things begin to happen does it not make him happy
so I got on the phone that day and I called that assistant pastor been months that had gone by the the controversy had kind of dwindled down but I started up all over again I said hey I found where Jesus acted that way and I told him where it was what the word meant and I said now you go look it up for yourself you carried in there to them trustees what business did a trustee have doing all that anyway and they had one of them men I mean the main man that was against that is my friend until today and I know he heard that I know he heard what I'd sit word back to them
but I said Jesus leaped about much Amen I mean he put on a shine he had himself a time around there he jumped and leaped and and he said I thank thee O Father that you've hid this from the wise and the proof and you've revealed it on debates hallelujah praise got some time it's better to be a little childish than it is to be grown up in things like this praise God
except you you humble yourself and become as a little child you'll in no wise enter into the kingdom of God folks I've got the joy of the Lord in my soul and it's all because of the cross of Calvary and the blood that was shed for me I'm not hung up on the cross of Calvary but I found the joy that's on this side of the cross
the prophets of old saw it they seen it they embraced it they loved it they accepted it and I'm going to accept it in my day thank God for the Holy Ghost thank God for the power of God hallelujah
Joseph said now God's going to deliver you he's gonna come get you and he's gonna carry you into that land of promise where it's flowing with milk and honey don't forget me I didn't see it in my day he didn't come while I was here but my bones don't need to be left down here I want to be buried over there in the promises of God hallelujah I want to walk over there I want to come out of the grave over there where the saints come out of the grave we had the return of the Lord amen I'd only be down here in this godforsaken place
second Corinthians chapter 1 verse 24 all of the promises of God in him are yay and in him Amen unto the glory of God by us amen now you know God don't get any glory out of these things if we don't give him something so let's give him gourry for all of the promises of God Verte Exodus chapter 13 and verse 19 listen to this Moses took the bones of Joseph with him hallelujah
well the busiest days in the history of the world every Israelite is on the move everybody is busy the ones that ain't moving toward the promised land they're there marching to try to stop them that are moving toward the promised land the whole country is on the move and Moses said hey we've got a job to do we can't leave here no matter how much they're trying to thrust us out we can't leave here without Joseph's bones amen so he took with him that Joe Joseph's bones for he had straightly sworn the children of Israel saying God will surely visit you and you shall carry up my bones away hence with you amen
in 2nd Corinthians again chapter 7 verse 1 having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God
you know I've got a promise of the Holy Ghost I've got a promise that Abraham could just get a glimpse off and he loved it I've got a promise that the prophets of old could see the glory was gonna settle upon the children of God and their lives is gonna be changed and one of the prophets even wrote it down this way it shall come to pass and that they say of God I'll make a new covenant with the house of Israel something that could not be fathom by the natural mind
you know we've got Moses and we know God spoke to Moses we've got the law of Moses you can worship Him if you want to but God had said there's coming a day when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel not according to the former covenant that that I made with him when I wrote my law in those tables of stone but I will write my law in their hearts in their inward parts
I'm talking about the Holy Ghost folks I know about the Spirit of God moving on the inside of us I'm talking about God not leaving us on the outside of the promises but giving us a promise in our heart hallelujah she's not going to be like it was when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt let me illustrate this real Robert help me just a minute this is my little boy I doubted him a long time ago pretty good-sized fella I remember going to Chicago
we I went to every year revival for year after year after year the the door didn't close but I just finally quit going in the pastor kept telling me anytime you want to come the door is open I don't why don't you come every year again why don't you
well sister Perkins his brother was a pasture up there brother Terry Martin and the first not the first revival I went there for we had 14 that first night big ol church as big as this church right that you could have stood on the front steps of that church and screamed out that they could have been enough people to fill it up 20 times could have heard you standing on the front steps huge apartments are all the way around down on 95th Street and I forgot the other street that it was on but it was just amazing I mean you know country boy going to town like that and
seeing all this first time I walk my kids that we went in the middle of the night we got to Nashville I looked around at the big city and you know compared to Collinwood and I woke him up this asleep in the back of the station I said look kids look here look here when we'd spent a week in Chicago and come back to Nashville it was just a podunk town man I mean Chicago the second largest city in the United States of America high-rise had had the tallest building in the world and we went to the top of that
but every time we try to cross the street Josh was just a little feller when we started going I got him by the hand and it wasn't that he couldn't follow me but it was dangerous for him to be loose in all those cars just by the hundreds coming at us
and that in all we got inside of that Sears Tower that's what it was called then it's finished our now didn't it bad this landmarks like Sears closed and lose all of that and it's all gone and we don't even know if someone had brought me a cup with Willis Tower on it in the picture I would have even known they'd changed the name of it but that WL s the radio station it was in the Sears Tower wls was a call letters it meant world's largest store and now it's a zero they're closed they're they're bankrupt amen yeah it's did you see all of that
but let me tell you heaven I bankrupt folks we got inside of the Sears Tower and we were going up to the observation deck which was above a hundred floors high and was going to look out over that big vast city and I didn't give it a thought that Pete children from Collinwood had never seen an escalator we got on an elevator and went down a floor two and got to the escalators and then we started back up to the elevator that went to the observation deck
well the oldest two children John and Jennifer just in Anna know John and Jennifer and a wooden one of them they stepped on the escalator and headed out I don't know where they'd seen wonder if they just watched everybody else but wife got on and I stepped on and then some of the office screaming and you know it was like a child as being murdered and I looked around and here's Anna and Josh and they've got their feet on in their hands is on this move-in handrail and they're doing their best to get back off heaven this this stair steps is moving and as scared as frightening it's it's terrifying them
so I after that I was more cautious to hold their hands part of it was leadership I needed to lead them part of it was to keep them from danger I needed to keep them from danger I wanted to hold him back when they wanted to run and it wasn't time to run I wanted to lead and urge them on when it was time to urge them on
God took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt but he said now I'm gonna get a hold of their hearts I'm gonna put a want to on the inside of them not only a won't - I'm gonna put a know-how on the inside of them I'm gonna write my law in their hearts and in their inward parts somebody say thank God for the Holy Ghost amen praise God thank you brother Robert you made a good Josh tonight
but the promise of God has never failed it didn't fail to Joseph and they didn't fail Joseph they brought him there and in the resurrection day them bones is gonna come out of the grave over there in Israel then I want you to notice something else
Acts chapter 2 verse 38 and 39 then Peter said unto them repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins there's a reason you're baptized in Jesus name it's to have your sins taken away they hang there until that name is called over them and he said you repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost for the promise is unto you and to your children and all that are afar off even as many as the Lord our God shall call hallelujah
you know I'd rather be buried in the promises of God than to live in the best situation the world's got to offer amen when the world offers you something gets so temporal it's only here for a little while but heaven and earth shall pass away but the Word of God will never pass away somebody say ever promise in the book is mine ever chapter ever verse ever live I'm trusting in his love divine every promise in the book is mine
would you stand with me tonight amen God made some promises to us not a single promise that he's ever made has ever failed and it never will whether you're dead or alive folks the hour is coming when all that are in the graves are gonna hear his voice and they're gonna come forth some to everlasting righteousness and some to everlasting contempt or condemnation those promises are going to be full filled
Jesus assured us in another place he said in the resurrection the queen of the south is gonna rise in judgment because she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and many of Solomon's own people didn't want his wisdom in the resurrection the city of nineveh is going to rise in judgment because they repented at the preaching of gentleman they said be only greater than Jonah and they failed to reveal the promise of the Resurrection is sure amen I said it's sure the promise of judgment is sure
let me just quickly go to Hebrews chapter 6 he said the principles of the doctrine of Christ which is repentance from dead works the faith toward God these are mainstays of our doctrine folks not just ours but it's the doctrine of Christ repentance from dead works faith toward God
the doctrine of baptisms the laying on of hands I know that looks silly to the world but that's some of the principles of God's doctrine the resurrection of the Dead and eternal judgment the judgment comes it's too late too when judgment comes our doom or our victory is sealed way they're going to be a saint we're going to be a sinner no sins gonna enter into heaven they don't have to be repented of our sins and have them washed away what did but in
and I say to Paul after Paul had repented on the way to Damascus he said brother Saul that was his Hebrew name arise and be baptized washing away thy sins calling on the name of the Lord folks I don't want to see them hinder me when that day comes resurrection is sure judgement is sure we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the things done in this body whether it be good or will it be evil
his promises are sure understand that if we're filled up with a spirit of the Living God and we've lived this life let us cleanse ourselves therefore from all the filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness and wholeness is a pretty good-sized word when you just say hopeless when you get perfecting holiness you get pretty strict in aren't you Amen could we pass that muster tonight I'd like for us to pray search your hearts your God
Scripture references as spoken: Hebrews 6:13-15; Hebrews 11; Hebrews 11:22; 2 Corinthians 1:24; Exodus 13:19; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Acts 2:38-39; Hebrews 6.