It's so good to see you this
evening. I'm so glad we're all here. I
want you to take your Bibles and turn with me to Genesis 47. Genesis chapter 47. I want to look this evening at the last
phrase that was given by the Spirit of God, verse six. I read this last time, read,
spoke out of this chapter 47, and I got down to verse six,
and I'll just be honest with you.
I read the last portion of that, and the Lord had given me no
light on that last, very last verse. I could understand it.
I could read, I can read English. I understand the words, but the
spiritual significance. The Lord was not pleased to give
me any light on it. So I read it. I feel comfortable
reading it, commenting on it. No, I had no light. Here's what it says. I'll read
verse six. We'll get the context of that.
The land, and this is Pharaoh speaking to Joseph. The land
of Egypt is before thee. in the best of the land, make
thy father and brethren to dwell in the land of Goshen, let them
dwell. And here's the part, here's the
last part. And if thou knowest any men of activity among them,
then make them rulers over my cattle. Now the natural understanding
of that is pretty simple. If you know anybody that you
have some confidence in, out of your family, out of your tribe,
then give them responsibility. Now that's a natural understanding.
I understand that. Well, tonight I pray that the
Lord give us some light on that in light of the glorious gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I jotted down this just before
I got up here. I said this verse in type and
picture is regarding the instruction of the Father to His obedient
servant, the Lord Jesus Christ, concerning the government of
the Church of God. Now, this we know. We've been going through this
book now. And this book, the book of Genesis,
is the book setting forth the mercy of Almighty God to a people
of His choosing. It's the revelation of a family,
basically. of Jacob and his family. Their lineage and how in picture
and type we see the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. We look
at all of the trials and tribulations that were gone through by members
of this family, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Now we're in this time
of Joseph Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob. And now, we perceive
now in these verses, the trials, the tribulations of God's people.
And looking at the trials and tribulations of the Lord's people,
I realize in these days of uncertainty, in these particular days that
we're in now, just like they were in times Trial and tribulation,
just like we are. Same thing to man, few of days,
full of trouble. That's what scripture says. In
these days of trials and tribulation, the Lord knows that we need comfort. We don't realize how much comfort
we really need, we desire it, but we need it, we need it. And
only the Lord can comfort his people. But here in these verses,
we're going to find out, and I want you to realize when we
see that it's going to be, in that verse I'm looking at, the
part I just read, the latter part of that verse, Pharaoh gave
Joseph this instruction. Joseph is going to be the one
that's gonna be providing some men to do some work there, and
Pharaoh gives him some instruction. Look at Pharaoh as a picture
of the Father. Look at Joseph as a picture of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep that in mind while we're
looking at these verses. Now to realize what's actually
going on, we see the blessed Lord and Savior, the anchor of
our soul, who rules in heaven and earth. Now his glorious rule,
was marvelously set forth in this scripture in the revelation
of the deliverance of Jacob, Joseph's daddy, and all of his
family. You know, we've gone over these last few weeks. Jacob's
family now has been brought out of Canaan, and now they're in
Goshen. They're in Egypt, part of Egypt,
Goshen. And that's where they are. It's
the best of the land. Goshen is a picture, double picture. I'd say a double picture. a beautiful
picture of glory, it's a heaven itself, Goshen. But even now,
Goshen, in these scriptures, is a picture of us, God's people,
in this world right now. We're in this world, and we have,
whether we realize it or not, we have the best. We have the
best. The Lord is with us, people.
The Lord's with us. And so here they are, Joseph's
family. They're in Goshen. And so here's
his family, and he's brought his family. Joseph has got his
family there, and they're in Goshen. And Joseph has been providentially
exalted, second in command in Egypt. And his family is now
with him. They're with him, and they're
being cared for by the Lord. Jacob's family, Joseph's family,
they're in a place of safety. They're in where God has put
them. And now they're gonna be spoken to by Pharaoh. Now, Pharaoh
is a picture of our Father. Now, I want you to, keeping that
in mind, here's, Here's a picture of the Father in Genesis 47. And in the first few verses,
I want you to listen how this picture and type of us being
taken care of in this land in which we go through. This land
is not our home. We're in this world. We're not
of this world, but we're in it. We're in trials and tribulations,
but listen to these first few verses that we looked at last
time. Verse 1, 47. Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh,
and here's a picture of the intercession, the Lord Jesus Christ speaking
to the Father. Here's Christ Jesus, our mediator,
God-man mediator, the intercession. Joseph came and told Pharaoh
and said, my father and my brethren and their flocks and their herds
and all they have come out of the land of Canaan and behold,
they're in the land of Goshen. And he took some brethren, some
five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said
unto his brethren, what's your occupation? They said unto Pharaoh,
thy servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers. They
said moreover unto Pharaoh to sojourn in the land, or we come,
for thy servants have no pasture. We don't have a pasture here.
We don't rest in this world. The Lord is our shepherd. The
Lord is our God, the Lord is our direction. Goshen wasn't
the home of these people, but it's a picture, it's a picture
of God's sustaining grace in the midst of this world. Verse
four, they said, moreover unto Pharaoh for to sojourn in the
land are we come, for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks.
The famine is sore in the land of Canaan. Now, therefore, we
pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. And Pharaoh
spake unto Joseph, saying, thy father and thy brethren are come
unto thee. The land of Egypt is before thee,
and the best of the land. Make thy father and thy brethren
to dwell in the land of Goshen. Let them dwell. And then he gave
that part that we're going to look at for a moment. If you
know any men of activity among them, among those that are of
your family or those in your group, if you know any men of
activity, men that have ability, men that have some knowledge,
some strength, if you know any men that are qualified, bring
them with you. Put them in positions. of leadership
and direction, given direction. Well, hearing that instruction,
we see what a warm word of friendship and fellowship and welcome was
given to Joseph by Pharaoh. For not only did Pharaoh set
forth his love for Joseph, now remember, just continue thinking. It's an actual story, it's an
actual happening. But it's a type, it's a picture. The conversation is really between
Pharaoh and Joseph. And they're talking about Pharaoh's
love for Joseph and therefore for Joseph's family. And he's
telling Joseph, Pharaoh was telling Joseph, your family's welcome
here. Why? For your sake. For your
sake, Joseph. I'm doing this for your sake.
All of the good that we possess, whether the trials and tribulations,
that family right there had gone through some tough times. They'd
have some hard times. They'd been traveling and they'd
been in a famine, but God's hand of deliverance was upon them. God's leading them. And he's
guiding them through. And here's Pharaoh talking to
Joseph, the one he knows, the one he's trusted, the one he
loves. And he's telling him, all the
land that is here, that I have, it's in your hands. You just
bring your family, bring them to Goshen. You put them in the
best of places. And I know you. I know you, Joseph. I know who you are. if thou knowest
any men of activity. Here again, you look at this
picture now of the father talking to the son, the mediator, the
glorious conversation of this eternal council. If you know
any men of activity, efficiency, among them, among the people
that came with you, that's with you, out of your family, You
make them rulers, you make them leaders in this land, over my
cattle, over all that belongs to me. It was Joseph's choice
over the overseers who would have or possess the responsibility
of leadership and direction and guidance to the rest of the children
of Israel. Everything that that Pharaoh
desired for the good of Joseph's family was laid at the feet of
Joseph. Everything that Pharaoh would
have for Jacob's people. He said, okay, Joseph, it's in
your hand. If there's anybody in your family,
any of them that you know, you set them apart. You bring all
but spiritual. Spiritually speaking, all that
came out of Canaan were types, figures of God's sheep. They were people that were totally
out of the group, out of the part of this world that God had
selected, chosen for His glory and His honor, and all of their
good would be to them through Joseph. Pharaoh set him apart. You got any men of ability, you
got any men of activity, any men of leadership, if there's
anybody, Pharaoh trusted Joseph and beheld Joseph's wisdom. Pharaoh trusted Joseph. Father trusted the Son. Everything was put in the hands
of the Son. All power is given unto the Son
in heaven and earth. And this is what Pharaoh is doing
right here. Everything that's going to be for God's people
is in the hands of the Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. God Himself,
who according to the eternal counsel of God was knit with
human nature, the Mediator, the Savior, the Messiah, and everything
according to the Father's will is put in His hands. Oh, do we
not behold in this type right here, just listen to what of
what Pharaoh is saying to Joseph. I'm going to put it all in your
hands. Everything of this, you got all this, this is all yours. All yours. The land's yours.
Is anybody that you know, it's men of activity, men of ability,
that can be for the good of your people. I'm putting those in
your hands. You set them Put it in your hands
to take care of the trust and the power and the honor bestowed
upon the Lord Jesus Christ by the Father concerning the well-being
of God's elect. He is the object of the Father's
eternal love. Matthew 28, verse 18. Listen
to this. Before his ascension, before
the the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. It says, and Jesus
came and spake unto them, that is, unto his disciples, saying,
all power, that is, all power, and I looked this up to make
sure I knew this, all power. When you talk about all power,
all power to do what? All power to do everything. But
that phrase right there, all power, it is of rule or government. That's what that all power means. I mean, he has the power to speak,
and it's created, and he has power. He has power. He speaks. He spoke this world into existence.
particular all power right there. It means of rule and government
is given unto me. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ
said. Jesus came and spake unto them, that is his disciples saying,
all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Everything for the rule, everything
for the direction, everything for the government of this world.
is in my hands." That was sent forth right here in those first
six verses of chapter 47. It shows Pharaoh and he's talking
to a man named Joseph, the son of Jacob, and here's a combination
and it's talking about two men, one of them is the king and he's
got one in his kingdom who is actually Joseph, second in command. It's a wonderful, beautiful story. But it's a glorious picture of
the power and the authority that has been given unto the Lord
Jesus Christ, God Almighty, who submitted himself unto His Father. And His Father gave Him this
authority. You see, something was given
unto the Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty. Yes. He submitted Himself
unto His Father. God submitting to God. I don't understand this. But here was God Almighty. The
Lord said concerning And he came and he spoke unto his disciples
and he said, all power, all rule, all government is given unto
me, given unto me in heaven and earth by his power, by his father. Everything for rule and regulation
in this world, just like Joseph. was given the right, the authority,
the power to rule in the land of Goshen, in Egypt. You remember
the story when they were running out of corn. You want some corn? Who do you go to? You go to Joseph. If you're hungry, you go to Joseph.
If you're in need, you go to Joseph. You go talk to Joseph.
You don't go talk to Pharaoh, it was given to Joseph. And all
the rule and all the authority of ruling in this world is given
unto the Son. That's what's set forth here. As being God, man, mediator,
all power and authority for the affairs of this church, the kingdom,
The appointment of officers in this kingdom, and officers in
His kingdom, all the qualifications of all the officers in the kingdom
of God is given unto the Lord Jesus Christ, the Mediator of
God. It is bestowed by Him gifts to
fulfill the calling given unto the Son. You're the mediator.
You're my Christ. You're my Messiah, given unto
Him. Though no man born in Adam by
nature can discern of his own ability that which the Lord is
doing in the affairs or the positions of men, Any man, all men, nobody,
nobody. I told you what Don told me. He told me, he said, Marvin,
always remember, nobody knows what God is doing, but God, you
don't know. We look around and we think,
I think I'm pretty well seeing what the Lord's doing here. No,
you're not. No, you're not. We don't see anything. He rules
and reigns and we walk by faith and we believe him. was under
the authority of Pharaoh. Pharaoh loved Joseph. Pharaoh told Joseph, basically
what he's saying, I trust you, I trust you. I trust you, I love
you. You order, you direct. And if
there's anybody, if there's anybody in this land, any man, Any man
among you of activity, ability, knowledge, and I'm telling you
any man of any ability or knowledge in the kingdom of Almighty God
has been given unto them by the Lord Jesus Christ, chosen of
the Lord Jesus Christ, chosen of God in the rule of His kingdom. Why has the Lord been pleased
to allow me to sit in this place right here? And for one more
time, one more moment, I don't know if I'll finish this message.
I don't know if I will. But up until this moment, why
am I the one sitting here? There's no difference, humanly
speaking, between me and you. There's no difference. We're all cut out of the same
lump of coal, lump of clay, just sinners, sinners by birth. centers by choice, but God has
been pleased in the in the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to give
positions of leadership for the good of his people, the glory
of Almighty God. The scripture sets forth. And
we know Romans 828. Oh, what a blessed passage of
scripture. And we know that all things work together. the position that you have, I
have, the place you have, where you are, all things work together
to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose, His purpose. It is by grace, by the grace
of God that He would call any man, any man, any man, any woman,
for a place, her place in this life. God has called men to be
preachers, pastors, but he's given women responsibilities
in whatever place or whatever position that the Lord has given
his people. It's for God's glory and God's
good and the good of his people. So here we are, by grace we stand. I want you to turn with me, Ephesians
Chapter four, Ephesians four. I was mulling over these and
I was thinking to myself, I've had so many things go through
my mind lately, I'll just share a moment with you. Ephesians
chapter four, I'm gonna start in verse four in just a second,
but I think about this place that Katie Baptist Church is
at at this moment in time. I've been here now, coming up
July, I would have been here 22 years, 22 years. And for 22
years, we've been together. We've shared together, we've
laughed together, we've cried together. We've had joy, we've
had heartaches, we've rejoiced. We've just, we've been a family.
Here we are. And the Lord has put us right
here. right now, at this purpose, for
this moment, for His glory and His good. And He's done it according
to His eternal counsel. This is His government. He's
ruling this government. He's ruling this world. Ephesians
chapter 4. It bears out some very things. Ephesians 4, verses 4 to 16. There's one body, one spirit,
even as you're called, one hope of your calling. One Lord, one
faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all is above all and
through all and in you all. But under every one of us is
given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. The Lord called me to pastor.
He's called you to whatever position you're holding. You said, I'm
not holding a position in this church. I beg your pardon. I
beg your pardon. No, God has called you to the
position that you're in right now. I'm telling you, this assembly,
you take one out or take something out of that assembly and it just
don't, function. It just, it's something we need
each other. And the Lord has placed us where
he has placed us for his glory and the good of his body. I'm,
you know, I look out and y'all, y'all sit in the same place.
That's how I can always kind of, when I'm thinking upon you
and praying for you, that's how I can remember where y'all, y'all
was sitting there. Y'all was sitting there, Fred,
you and Ivana, y'all, you know, I know where you are. The Lord's put you there, but
oh, more than that. He's put you here. He's put you
here. All right, there's one God and
Father of all, who's above all and through all, but every one
of us given grace according to the measure of gift of Christ.
Wherefore, he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity
captive and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended, What is
it? That he also descended first
into the lower parts of the earth. He that descended is the same
that ascended up far above heavens, that he might fill all things. And then the scripture says,
and he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some
pastors, teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, edifying the body of Christ till we all come in
the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God unto
a perfect man, under the measure of the fullness of Christ, that
we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried
about with every wind of doctrine by slight of men and cunning
craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. We're here by
God's grace, but speaking the truth and love may grow up into
him in all things which is the head, even Christ, from whom
the whole body fitly joined together and compacted that which every
joint supplies according to the effectual working in the measure
of every part maketh increase of the body unto edifying of
itself in love. We need, we need each other. We need each other. We're a family. I want to be whenever I'm able
to be with my family. I want to be with my family.
Why? Well, they're my kids. They're my grandkids, my great
grandkid. I love them. They're me. They're
part of me. And whenever we meet together,
We come together. We come together as brethren.
But those that come together, how did they get together? God
chose us. And he gave us whatever we needed. He gave us apostles. He gave us prophets. He gave
us what was needed for our good and God's glory. I want you to
turn to 1 Corinthians 12, 12. 1 Corinthians 12, 12. I'm going to wrap this up. First
Corinthians 12, 12. First Corinthians 12, verses
12 to 18. For as the body is one and all
hath many members, and all the members of one body, so being
many, are one body, so also is Christ. By one spirit are we
all baptized unto the body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether
we be bond or free. We've all been made to drink
into one spirit. For the body is not one member,
but many. And if the foot shall say, because
I'm not the hand, I'm not of the body, is it therefore not
of the body? If the ear shall say, because I am not the eye,
am I not of the body? It is therefore not of the body.
If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? Where
were the whole? I'm sorry. And if the whole were
hearing, where were the smelling? Now God has set members, every
one of them, in the body as it pleased him. I thank God for every one of
God's people. And you'll know them. You'll
know who they are. You'll recognize. But you'll
know them by their fruit. With this, I'm gonna close. I
want you to turn to 1 Thessalonians 2. 1 Thessalonians 2. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, and
I'm gonna read verses. I'm sorry, Thessalonians 1, verses
2 to 9. 1 Thessalonians 1, turn there. But while you're turning there,
I want you to remember something. I read this passage of scripture
tonight, and I recognized that in picture and type, Pharaoh
had been pleased to give Joseph some authority. Here's a picture
of the father and the son. And the father, in picture and
type, had been pleased to give the son all authority, all authority,
all authority to manage and to order. And here we are tonight. We're sitting here by the grace
of God, ordered to sit in an assembly and to fellowship with
one another, but to honor the Lord and recognize why we're
here. to hear of His glory in ordering
all these things according to His good pleasure, giving each
of us gifts, special gifts. Again, I remember so many times
hearing that. Heard somebody say one time,
God is giving each of His people gifts. And I thought to myself,
I don't have one. I don't have one. Oh, but you
do. You do. God's people need each
other, and there's a special place for one another. And the
scripture sets forth that you're gonna know, you're gonna know
the ones that God has chosen. In 1 Thessalonians chapter one,
verses two to nine, we give thanks to God always
for you, for you all, making mention of you in our prayers.
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, your labor of
love, patience of hope, and our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight
of God, our Father. Knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election of God. How do you know them, Paul? How
do you know those that God has knit together? How do you know
them? Here it is, verse five. For our
gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and
in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as you know what manner
of men we were among you for your sake. You became followers
of us, and the Lord, having received the word, much affliction with
joy in the Holy Ghost, and you were examples all that believe
in Macedonia and Achaia, for from you sounded out the word
of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every
place your faith to God were spread abroad so that we need
not to speak anything. for they themselves show of us
what manner of entering in we had unto you and how you turn
to God from idols to serve the living and true God. Pharaoh
had come to Joseph. He loved Joseph. Joseph came to Pharaoh and he He told Pharaoh, he said, he
said, my family, my family's here. They're coming here to
be with me. They're coming here to be with me. And you just think
of these words as the mediator himself, the Lord Jesus Christ,
love to the Father. And in speaking in simple terms,
but with the truth of this being set forth, Here's the intercession
between the Lord Jesus Christ and His Father. You tell them,
these sheep, these people, the ones you've given me, Father,
where they are, where they are, I want them to be with me. And
those that I want to be with me now are in this land. And then Pharaoh responding back
to Joseph and telling him, all this land, all this, all
this is yours. This is all yours. And whatever
you want, whatever you want, it's given unto you. It's given
to you. For your sake, for your sake,
For my love for you, for your sake, I give all this to you.
And these sheep, these sheep that I've given unto you, that
you've undertaken for their good, for my glory, and for your glory,
all this I have given unto you for their sake. I want you to
know that I love you, and if there's any like you, If there's
any like you, and as he is, so are we in this world. As he is,
so are we in this world. He'd given us of himself. He'd borne our guilt, put away
our debt, robed us in his righteousness, taught us for himself, taught
us the gospel. If there's any, like you, you
bring them with you. And that's what he's doing. That's
what he's doing. He's made us to be likened to
himself, to love him. He's the Lord. He's our king. He's our husband. We're one with
him, knit with him, one in union with him. If any like you, you
bring them with you. they're welcome to. I pray that
the Lord blesses to our hearts for Christ's sake.