BY FAITH!

"By faith, Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones." -Hebrews 11:22 [KJV]

See, my soul, the triumphs of faith in this lively instance of the patriarch Joseph! How many have I known, who, though they have given up their souls, with full assurance of faith, into the hands of Jesus, conscious of an interest in Him, and of redemption in His blood; have, nevertheless, felt fears and alarms for the moment in which the soul separates from the body, and have wanted faith concerning their bones! Look at the patriarch when dying, and learn from him whence to derive strength and comfort for every emergency, and for every concern. "By faith:" is the one universal charm.

Jesus is in every thing, and for every thing the believer can possibly need or require, all the way home; in death, as in life; concerning the bones, or concerning the soul. In Him the soul goes forth boldly from the body at the hour of death; and in Him the body as safely and securely reposeth in the grave. The believer hears, or may hear, the voice of Jesus, in terms like those He spake to Jacob: "Fear not to go down into Egypt; I will go down with thee:" so Jesus speaks to His people: "Fear not to go down into the grave; I will go down with thee!" Hence, by faith, like the patriarch, the believer feels a holy confidence in Jesus concerning his bones. And who can feel concern, when, by faith, all is committed unto Jesus? Who would fear concerning their bones, if Jesus make the grave, and appoint the sepulchre where, and when they are to be deposited; yea, inters the remains, visits and watches over the dust of His saints with more care than the goldsmith doth the golden particles, which he suffereth not the least air to blow away?

Precious Jesus! be it my portion like Joseph, when dying, to have the same lively actings of faith as he had in Thee, (and sure I am, he had not greater cause for the full exercise of this principle than believers now,) and may I then enjoy with equal, yea, with increasing strength, this blessed assurance in Thee, and by the same faith that hath carried me through many sharp trials in the past, be carried through this last and trying conflict. Lord! Let me die, as I have lived, believing; yea, triumphing in believing. And when the earth gives way under my feet, and every object of sense is sinking also, then may my soul go forth as the jewel from the casket, in all the joy which a soul in Christ must find; and in the last act of the holy triumph of faith leave all with Thee "concerning my bones!"

 

-preacher Robert Hawker (1753-1827 A.D.)  



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