In our last study in the life
of Joseph, we saw that Joseph had revealed himself to his brethren
and told them to go back into the land of Canaan to get their
father and their family and to bring them all back to the land
of Egypt where they would live in the chosen land of Goshen.
And all their needs were provided for by Joseph. He gave them wagons
according to the commandment of Pharaoh and gave them provisions
for the way to Canaan and for the way back to Egypt. And when
they arrived back in Egypt, they would receive the good of the
land of Egypt. And he said, they shall eat the fat of the land. And all this was provided by
Joseph at the king's command. All this was provided by Joseph
at the king's command. So marvel at the wondrous picture
that we have set before us here. of our Heavenly Joseph, the Lord
Jesus Christ, providing all that we need spiritually at the commandment
of the King, our great God, Jehovah, God the Father. And when we're
born again by the Holy Spirit of God, do we not see it as so? Do we not see our Heavenly Father's
continuous provision for us in and through Christ and him alone?
Our great sovereign God has provided all that we spiritually bankrupt
sinners need in Christ. It's all provided in him. We
know the scripture says that all spiritual blessings are in
Christ. It says that in Ephesians chapter
one. And so I ask you, are we not
provided for? Are we not provided for by our heavenly Joseph? As
we journey through this world, are not our needs met, not our
wants, because the scripture says we want to miss many times. But our needs are fulfilled,
aren't they? We always have what we need. God's people always
have what we need. And while we seek a better country,
while we journey through this world, our Heavenly Father cares
for us. And that is evident every day
in our lives, whether we see it or not. Because the scripture
says, the Lord's mercies are new every morning to his people.
New every morning, every morning. And praise be to our great God
and King. Praise his mighty name for his mercy and his grace bestowed
upon poor needy sinners in Christ. Let's look at our text today.
We'll read from Genesis 45, verses 17 to 28. And Pharaoh said unto
Joseph, say unto your brethren, this do ye. laid your priest
and go and get you unto the land of Canaan and take your father
and your households and come unto me and I will give you the
good of the land of Egypt and you shall eat the fat of the
land. Now thou art commanded this do
ye, take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little
ones and for your wives and bring your father and come. Also regard
not your stuff, for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.
And the children of Israel did so, and Joseph gave them wagons
according, look at this, to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave
them provisions for the way. To all them he gave each man
charges of raiment, but to Benjamin he gave 300 pieces of silver
and five changes of raiment. And to his father he sent after
this manner 10 asses laden with the good things of Egypt and
10 she-asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father
by the way. So he sent his brethren away
and departed and he said unto them, see that ye not fall out
of the way. He's saying this, basically tell
them don't get discouraged by what you did to me. Don't fall
out in the way. Don't fall out with one another. but go and get my father and
bring him back to me.' And they went up out of Egypt
and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, and
told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over
all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for
he believed them not. And they told him all the words
of Joseph which he had said unto them, And when he saw the wagons
which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their
father, revived. In Israel, now it doesn't say
Jacob, now it says Israel, the child of promise said, it is
enough. Joseph, my son, is yet alive.
I will go and see him before I die. Wagons of revival, I'd name this
message. If you ever had a time in your
life where when you're in Christ, or since you believe, where you're
really going through something, and you hear a gospel message,
and the preacher doesn't even know that he's just preaching
the message, and it just blesses your heart, or you read a passage in the
scripture, and the Lord will lift your heart up with it, or
you hear a song, and the Lord will bless you with it, That
ever happen to you? Time and time again, right? And
you just feel revived in the spirit, don't you? The last study we left off at
verse 24, just before Christmas, and I want us to look at those
last few verses in chapter 45 today, because we see a wonderful
picture here. A picture of joy that the believer
has knowing that Christ is alive. Knowing that Christ is alive.
Knowing that he has provided all things for us through the
sacrifice of himself. So let us never forget that Joseph
was sent to Egypt by God. We know that, don't we? He was
sent to Egypt by God and he went through all that he had to endure,
being sold into slavery by his brothers, becoming a slave and
becoming a servant, being falsely accused of a crime that he did
not do, and then being imprisoned for that even though he was an
innocent man. Then being taken from prison
and being raised up to second in command over all of Egypt
under Pharaoh the king. And he went all through this
because God had sent him before his people to preserve their
lives. Look at verses five to eight in this same chapter. It's very plainly bought forth
that Joseph knows that the sovereignty of God was at work in his life. Now, therefore, be not grieved
nor angry with yourselves that she sold me hither, for God did
send me before you to preserve life. Verse six. For these two years hath the
famine been in the land, and yet there are five years in the
which there shall neither be earring nor harvest. And verse
7, and God sent me before you to preserve your prosperity in
the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now
it was not you that sent me hither, but God. But God. And yet meet me a father and
Lord of all his house and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. God sent Joseph before his brethren to preserve
them. To preserve them. I'm amazed at how I thought I was going to die
in Oregon. I had no idea that the Lord would
bring me here. but by his mercy and by his sovereign
hand and by his sovereign will, he bought me here. And so I understand what Joseph's
saying and so do you. He bought you to where you would
hear the gospel. He moved you from the places
you were living to be the place you were to hear the gospel. It's not
by chance that you and Denise came, brother Charlie. It's not
by chance. We've talked about that. The Lord brings his sheep
to where they're gonna hear the gospel. He does. He does, and they rejoice over
what they hear. When he gives us hearing ears
and seeing eyes to see and to hear the gospel, who knew that
our hearts would be knit together? God knew that, right? It's all
part of his plan and purpose. And it's amazing. So Joseph saw
the big picture, didn't he? Joseph saw the sovereignty of
God at work. And note, he didn't grumble about
it, did he? He's actually rejoicing in it.
He's being bought from the pit of slavery. Who thought that
a young shepherd boy, a young shepherd boy in the land of Canaan,
Did you think that when he was in the land of Canaan that he'd
ever think that he'd be second in command over the most powerful
nation in that time? Because Egypt, love of Egypt,
was one of the most powerful nations during this time. Second in command. The only one
he answers to is Pharaoh. He had no idea. He had no idea
at all, did he? Isn't God's grace and sovereignty
amazing? It's absolutely incredible, isn't it? Let's read verses 25
to 28 of this chapter. And they went up out of Egypt
and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, and
told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over
all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for
he believed them not. And they told him all the words
of Joseph which he had said unto them, And when he saw the wagons
which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their
father, revived. And Israel said, it is enough.
Joseph, my son, is yet alive. I will go and see him before
I die. Now we see in verse 25 that Joseph's
brothers head back to the land of Canaan, just as Joseph commanded
them to do. At the command of Joseph, they
go And they're going to bring their father and their families
back to Egypt. And we see in verse 26 that the
sons of Jacob spake to Jacob of his son Joseph. And take note
of his response here in verse 26. And told him, saying, Joseph
is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And
Jacob's heart fainted, for he what? Believed them not. He believed them not. Now, don't
forget, many years had passed, right? Many years had passed. And here's a question for all
of us. Have you ever doubted God? Have you ever doubted God as a believer? Have you ever doubted God as
a believer? And not just once, but multiple
times? Have you never ever reacted to a situation without thinking
about the Lord, first of all? All right? Have you ever struggled
with unbelief even after the Lord saved you? I remember a
couple of years ago, or years back, Vicki telling me about
someone that she met who professed to be a grace believer. They
claimed that they never doubted God. They made the claim they
never doubted God, never. And I told Vicki, I said, that
person's a liar. That person's a liar. And you
know what's going to happen to them? A trial's going to come
up that's going to make them doubt God. You know what happened? The trial came up and they're
liars. They're making them doubt God. You don't make statements like
that. That's a very self-righteous statement. Because you know what,
we're all, what did the apostle Peter, the one who was with the
Lord on a daily basis, he says, Lord, help my unbelief. Help my unbelief, help my unbelief. So we're all plagued with it,
aren't we? We're all plagued with it. Even after we're saved,
we're plagued with these statements, or these, Unbelief, we're plagued
with doubt, we're plagued with all these things. Jacob's a man
who believes God, though, but he reveals his frailty here.
He reveals that he's just like us. He's just like us. See, these
Bible characters are just men and women like we are. They struggle with the same things
we struggle with. Paul, wretched man that I am,
who can deliver me from this body of sin? They struggle with the same things
we do. So Jacob is a picture of a believer
here doubting, doubting. Now remember, he was quick to
believe the evil titans, wasn't he, that his sons bought to him
about Joseph. He was quick to believe that. that Joseph had perished at the
hands of a wild animal when his sons held up the coat of many
colors dipped in the blood of a lamb and asked him, is this
not Joseph's coat? He said, it's my son's coat.
An evil beast had devoured him. Joseph was without doubt rent
in pieces. So he believed the evil report
right away, even though it was a lie. So natural men are more ready
to receive the dark sayings of the world over the glad tidings
of the word of God and salvation in and through Christ. And they
are more than ready to receive evil thing and reject a good
thing. And we're plagued with this too,
as believers. We're plagued with this too.
Look at verse 26 again, and told him saying, Joseph is yet alive
and he is governor over all the land, and Jacob's heart faded,
for he believed them not. He didn't believe them. And it says Jacob's heart faded
there. This means that he was stunned. He was numb. You ever
be numb when someone tells you something? You ever be numb?
Shocked at what they're saying? We all have had that, haven't
we? Every one of us. That's what this means in the
Hebrew. He was stunned. He was numb from
what he was hearing. Couldn't believe it. And the scripture says he believed
them not. He believed them not. He was
stunned by the words, did not believe them. Think of these words that are
proclaimed to him. Joseph is yet alive and he is governor
over all the land of Egypt. These are the very ones that
bottom of the coat covered in blood. And now they're telling
him, well, no, it justifies the lie. And think of this too, this statement
here, Joseph is yet alive and he's governor over all the land
of Egypt. This is actually a fulfillment of that dream, right? That Joseph told Jacob about.
And remember, Jacob said, don't send any dear brothers. And then we see again at the
end of the verse, Eden blue. We know, beloved of God, that
our great God knows and controls history. He does what he wills
in the armies of heaven and in all the earth. And the scripture
says none can stay his hand. No one. We know that. We know
that, and yet we still doubt sometimes. We see things going
on in the world, we get a little worked up about it. I was listening to a message
this week and the preacher said, you want to know what the will
of God was for yesterday? Just read the headlines today. It's true. Is not our God sovereign? Is not our God in control of
all things? Lord, help my unbelief, Peter
said. That's what we say too, isn't it? Oh, Lord, help my unbelief.
Help me, Lord. Help me as I struggle through
this world. Oh, my. And Joseph's brothers, according
to the predetermined, now think of this, Joseph's brothers, according
to the predetermined sovereign will of God Almighty, they had
a successful trip to Egypt, and now they had a successful trip
back to Canaan. And we know, we already know,
because we've all read this narrative before, the whole story of Joseph.
We know that they're going to have a safe trip back too, aren't
they? And it's all according to the sovereign will of God.
Now, we may have a rocky road here in this earth, but we're going to arrive safely
in glory one day, we who are God's people, because it's the
predetermined will of God for that to be so. And we just have
to learn to rest in that, don't we? But that's the hardest thing
for us, is just to rest. Okay, Lord, you're in full control.
You're in full control. I'm gonna trust you. I'm gonna
trust you. So they had a successful trip
to Egypt, from Egypt to their homeland, the land of Canaan,
all by the predetermined sovereign will of God. And now they brought
good news, good news to Jacob, their father. They told him that,
Joseph is alive and he's governor, the sovereign ruler over all
the land of Egypt. And Israel, Jacob couldn't believe
what he heard. It sounded too good to be true. Too good to be true. And his
agent heart was numb. His agent heart was numb over
this news. Numb within. Again, what a picture
we have of a doubting sinner, right? A doubting sinner. You
ever hear people say, well, that's just too good to be true about
the gospel? Is that, you're telling me I just have to trust Christ? That's just too good to be true.
I've heard that statement before. No, it's the most wonderful news
in the world. Christ did it all. So you tell
someone what to do, and we have religions in this world. It's
such a clear example, beloved. We have religions in this world
where people tell people what they have to do to supposedly
gain salvation. And what do they do? They're
all trying to do it, aren't they? Yeah. But you tell them that
salvation is by grace alone, according to the sovereign predetermined
will of God alone, in Christ alone, and they walk away shaking their
heads. Oh, praise God for the sovereign
grace and mercy of God, as it's only he who has made us to differ
from them. Because left to ourselves, we'd
be walking away shaking our heads with them. Wouldn't we? Yeah? Yeah, we did that, didn't
we? Yeah? Yeah, I know. We did that. Many
times. Yeah? I know. I remember when
I was younger. What are you talking about? I
had nothing to do with that. Well, praise be to God. He had
mercy. Praise be to God. He didn't leave us where we were.
Right? He had mercy on us. Let's read
verse 27 here. Look at this. Jacob sees the
wagons which Joseph sent, and beloved, he's revived. He's revived. These are wagons of revival sent
to our dear brother Jacob. Now he's been mourning, think
of this too, he's been mourning the death of his son for over
20 years. He never really gotten over it. We know that from the
scripture. None of his children could comfort
him. He's never really gotten over that. The thought that Joseph
was killed by wild animals. And Joseph's brothers continued
talking with their father. They told him all the encouraging
words of Joseph. Look at verse 27. They told him
all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them. And when
he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit
of Jacob their father revived. Wagons of revival, beloved. Wagons of Revival. Oh, when Jacob saw what Joseph
had sent, the wagons with all the provisions for the trip back
to Egypt, this was proof enough that the report that his sons
were giving him was a true report. And Joseph believed the good
news, didn't he? He believed the good news then. Oh my. The only means for salvation
for sinners is Jesus Christ, our Lord. And we as believers,
we take great comfort and refuge in the fact that Christ was crucified
for us and that he's now risen, that he's alive, that he's alive,
don't we? And he's alive. He's reconciled
his people to God by the sacrifice of himself. And it is he who
has put away our sins. And he did it alone. He did it
alone. by the sacrifice of himself and
praise his mighty name in him and through him the believer
has a great hope of acceptance with God. Now remember that again
that the Egyptian capital was the focus of the world's wealth
during this time. In these days Egypt had ships
bought, ships would come to it From India, they would bring
frankincense and cinnamon and ivory and diamonds. And from
the north, marble and iron. And from Syria, purple and silk. It was a huge area for trade. And from Greece, some of the
finest horses in the world would come. And some of the most brilliant
chariots. Things bought from all different
parts, various parts of the known world then. would come to them
in Egypt. Very, very wealthy nation. And this was a place where Joseph,
now think of this, I mentioned this earlier, this was the place
where Joseph the shepherd boy was called to stand next to Pharaoh
by God. Was put in power as the second
in command, the governor over all that land, over all that
wealth. And what a contrast, what a contrast
between his standing as a young boy, a shepherd boy, and now,
and remember, he's a shepherd boy who was cast into a pit by
his brethren, sold into slavery, thrown into prison again. What a contrast in that standing,
and now, now, He's governor over all of Egypt. But you know what?
Joseph has never forgot where he came from. He didn't forget
about his father, did he? And we can tell that by him sending
his brother saying, you need to go get my father. He's never
forgot the rock he was hewn from. Isaiah says this, hearken to
me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord, look under
the rock whence ye were hewn. And then listen to this, into
the hole in the pit whence ye are digged. Never forget the
rock we were hewn from, and never forget the pit that we were in
when the Lord took us out of there. Don't ever forget that. Don't ever forget that. And take
note that Joseph sends his brethren back with wagons, which Pharaoh
furnished him. Pharaoh furnished him. And they're
laden with corn and provisions. They're the king's wagons. These
are not just any ordinary wagons. These are the king's wagons. Imagine them rumbling down in
front of the palace. Imagine this, rumbling down in
front of the palace as Pharaoh stands in his royal robes. And
beside him, his prime minister, Joseph, with a chain of gold
around his neck, which represents his authority and power that
he has. And a ring, a signet ring given
to him by Pharaoh, so that at any time he wanted to stamp the
royal seal upon a document, he could do so. And now he's second
in command, only in power to Pharaoh, governor over all the
land of Egypt. And these wagons are rolling
by them, full of provisions. rolling down from the palace,
laden with corn and meat and chains of raiment and everything
that can help a famine-struck people. All provided for by Joseph, who
again is a picture of our heavenly Joseph, the Lord Jesus Christ,
at the command of the King. What a picture. What a picture. So clear, isn't it? So clear.
And now these wagons, they're wagons of revival to Jacob. Look
at this, he says, and they told him all the words of Joseph,
which he had said unto them. And when he saw the wagons which
Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father,
revived. Revived. Now let's read verse
28. And Israel said, it is enough,
Joseph, my son is yet alive. I will go and see him before
I die. the wagons, the provisions, the promises from Joseph to care
for his father and all his prosperity during the remaining years of
famine. And as long as Joseph was on the throne, do you know
those were all secondary in Jacob's mind? You know why? Take note of verse
28. We see what mattered most to
Jacob. What matters most to us in this
world? Who matters most to us in this
world? The Lord Jesus Christ, our heavenly
Joseph. Hey, look at this in verse 28.
You see what mattered the most to Jacob? That his son was alive,
that Joseph was alive, and that he was gonna go and see him face
to face. Look at this. And Israel said,
it is enough. It's enough. It's enough. Just this is enough. Joseph,
my son, is yet alive. He's alive. Beloved our Lord
Jesus Christ is alive. And when we breathe our last
breath, we who are his people, we're gonna see him face to face.
He said this, Joseph, my son, is yet alive. I will go and see
him before I die. Oh my. If we have the spirit of Christ
dwelling in us, We don't have to try and imagine the joy that
must have filled Jacob's heart when he heard the good news that
his son Joseph was alive and that he was gonna see him before
he died. When our sovereign providential God was pleased to bring us under
the preaching of the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
we heard the good news, didn't we? There was a time when we
didn't believe it. Jacob didn't believe the good
news, did he, at first? Oh, but when he saw them wagons
coming, his whole tune changed, didn't it? Oh, my. When God was pleased to bring
us under the preaching of his glorious gospel, then we heard
the good news, all according to the sovereign will of God. His brother Tim and I talked,
Christ must reveal himself to us or we will never, ever, ever
know him. And all those brothers, they
had Joseph revealed to them, didn't they? Just like we've
had Christ revealed to us. And it's the best news now that
we've ever heard in our lives. Our Savior's alive. He's alive. And when God's ordained preachers
prove from the word of holy scriptures, the word of God, that Jesus Christ
as our substitute obtained eternal redemption for us, And when God
the Holy Spirit gave us faith to believe, what we hear is a
true report from God himself. A true report from God himself.
And our enlightened minds are filled with what? Joy unspeakable. Oh my, what a savior. And you
know it was God himself who commanded the light to shine on our hearts.
It's God himself who did this, scripture says that. that we
might, by the gift of faith, see his glory. And in the face
of Jesus Christ, our risen and exalted King. And it was ordained
by the God of all grace that his chosen blood-bought children
would hear and receive the Lord Jesus Christ through the preaching
of his word. And that we would hear the shepherd's
voice through the preaching of the gospel before we die. Before
we die. Beloved God, like Jacob, who
made the long journey down to Egypt rejoicing that he was gonna
see Joseph face-to-face. We're traveling through this
world of spiritual famine, aren't we? Yeah, we are. It's a world of spiritual famine.
But we rejoice in the glorious anticipation of that wonderful
day when our faith will give way to sight, won't it? Our faith
will give way to sight one day when we breathe our last breath
and we'll see our heavenly Joseph face to face, beloved. And we
know that our great God has promised to provide our every need as
we travel through this world. Again, not our every wants, but
our every need. And he's provided all that through
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Oh my, on that great day, when
we pass from this earth, we will see our heavenly Joseph face
to face. And do not the king's wagon bring
us good news every time the gospel is preached? Right? That's the king's wagons. Every
time the gospel is preached, the king's wagons are coming.
Oh my. The gospel tells us what Christ
has done for us. Our heavenly Joseph is alive
and in glory. and that he's purchased us with
his precious blood. You who believe, rejoice that
he's risen, he's alive, he's seated at the right hand of the
Father in glory right now. And our Joseph, Jesus, sends
us through the preaching of the gospel a message of pardon, of
life, of heaven, corn for our hunger. He's the bread of life. And we have a perfect spotless
righteousness for our amen, the righteousness of Christ. Placed
upon us by the Father, pictured, pictured when the prodigal son
is given the best will. And just as Israel longed to
see Joseph, we long to see our heavenly Joseph, don't we? We
long to see him too.