Genesis chapter 43, we'll start
reading in verse 26, and if you remember the story of Joseph,
he's now in Egypt, he's the governor over, he's in second command,
the only person that's over him is Pharaoh. And he's given Joseph
responsibility to, during the famine, to open up the storehouses
of corn, and everybody's coming in from miles around, gathering
corn. Well, Joseph was sold into slavery,
and left for dead by his brothers, whom he had not seen for a long
time. And so he doesn't know anything
about his family. He's in Egypt. He hasn't been
back to Jude or where his family's from. And he doesn't even know
that there's another son. Benjamin is the youngest one.
He doesn't know anything about that. Doesn't know anything about
his mother and father. So this is where we pick this
up. Is that okay? We'll see. We'll see. Genesis
43, and we'll start in verse 26. And when Joseph came home,
back to Egypt, not to his, where he hadn't seen anybody in a long
time, They brought him, they, that is his brothers who don't
recognize him. They don't know it's Joseph.
They brought him presents because he's second in command. And their
father said, you better take this guy some gifts to make sure
everything is copacetic, everything is fine, which was in their hand
into the house and bowed themselves to him, to the earth. They're bowing themselves to
Joseph. Like I said, they don't know who he is. And Joseph asked
them of their welfare, and he said, is your father well, the
old man of whom ye spake? So he's talked to him before
this, earlier in the chapter. So he's asking him, is your father,
the old man of whom you spake, is he yet alive? And they answered,
thy servant, our father, is in good health, and he's yet alive. And they bowed down their heads
and made obeisance to him again, to Joseph. And he lifted up his
eyes and Joseph saw his brother, Benjamin, his mother's son, and
said, is this your younger brother of whom you spake unto me? He didn't know who he is. They don't know one another. And he said, Joseph said, God
be gracious unto thee, my son. And Joseph made haste, for his
bowels did yearn upon his brother, and he sought where to weep.
And Joseph entered into his chamber away from everybody and wept
there. That's what we're going to look
at. Tears of joy and tears of thankfulness. In verse 30, it states very clearly
that Joseph could not contain himself and he sought, as it
says, he sought where to weep. He didn't want to be seen. He
wanted to get out and get into a different room. These tears
of overwhelming joy were the result of the truth or the fact
of two things. His joy, these tears. One, it
was the news that his father was yet alive. He hadn't seen
him for a long time. They thought they, his father
and his other sons put him in that pit and they thought, and
they just were going to leave him, left him for dead. So they,
they didn't know. They didn't know, I don't know
how many years, I can't remember how many years it had been since
this all took place. But here they are, they're coming
to get corn, because nobody has any corn. But Joseph is giving
it out as he sees fit. And he happens, happens, we know
there's no such thing as luck, there's just God's providence,
and so they meet. and he's talking and he said
something about your father. Is your father of whom you spoke,
is he still alive? So the first thing, the news
of this father was yet alive in verse 28. Is thy father in
good health? Is he yet alive? Yep, he's alive. And secondly, when he saw his
brother Benjamin for the first time in verse 30. Verse 29, he lifted up his eyes
and he saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son. And he said,
is this the one you spoke of that now you brought him back?
And of course, Jacob's like, don't take Benjamin. I've already
lost Joseph. Don't take Benjamin back, because
if something happens to him, I'm going to go to an early grave.
Well, so they, his Joseph, when he was talking, he said, oh,
you got a younger brother? You make sure you bring him back.
I'm not going to give you any corn. So here's these two facts,
these two truths that brought about these cheers of joy and
thanksgiving. One writer, old writer said,
yes and amen, the sight of the one and the news of the other
created such an ecstasy of joy in his heart and it was too great
to bear. So he had to get out and weep. I am curious, and I know we are
as well, but wouldn't it have been something to be able to
follow him, Joseph, into that chamber? What praise amidst the
tears and weeping, what a prayer, what thanksgiving unto Jehovah
God we surely would have been witness to. But I think today,
if we know the Lord Christ, if we've been saved by his grace,
We can echo the thoughts and intents of Joseph's heart. How
God in his providential dealings with us has been ever gracious
and ever glorious. Yes, the road's been bumpy. I'm
not saying, you know, the believers like anybody else go through
trials, difficult, sickness, health, all these different things.
Ask the brethren down in Madisonville, the loss of one of their loved
ones. Our Lord has been so kind and
compassionate to usward. It's very far from giving us
what we know we deserve when we're born in trespasses and
sins. How marvelous are his works to those who would not trust
nor follow after him from birth. We're born in sin, he says, Christ
says, you will not come to me that you'll have life. That's
just what we are by nature. how he has not meted out to us
as our iniquities deserve turn to psalms 110 i'm sorry 103 psalms
103 psalms 103 and verse 10 the psalm
of david a believer another believer he echoes what all believers
know In Psalm 103 verse 10, He hath not dealt with us after
our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. We deserve damnation. We deserve
hell. If we do not get that, it's His
mercy, His grace. And shall we not shed tears of
sweet joy and celebration recounting these things? In the first thought, the first
point, the fact that we now see our brother clearly, and perhaps
for the first time, and I'm talking about our elder brother. I'm talking about our brother,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe you haven't seen them yet.
Maybe you haven't heard the truth yet. Maybe you've been in church
your whole life and you still do not know the God of the scriptures,
the Christ of the scriptures, the Holy Spirit of the scriptures.
He says, when we, next, Lord willing, next Sunday, we'll have
the Lord's Supper. He says, do this in remembrance
of me. Well, why would he do that? Because
we, by nature, we forget him. We'll get done today. hopefully
have an enjoyable afternoon, we'll go to work the next day,
and we'll get busy with the things of the world. And we do forget
our Lord at times. Every believer. So he says, do
this in remembrance of me. This is our brother, this is
our elder brother. And do this in remembrance of
me. Can we remember when we view him in the scriptures, when we
hear him preached, when we sing hymns concerning him, As Isaiah
51 says, the pit from which we have been dug. The pit, the pit
of sin. Sin was exceeding sinful to us. The law and God's judgments were
hard against us. There was no way out of this
prison called sin and Ephesians 2 tells us that we were dead
in trespasses and sins. So I ask, what can a dead person
do to give themselves lives? Can't do it. It all has to be,
which we heard this morning in Ephesians, it has to be by divine
revelation. We can't choose, we can't make
a decision, we can't sign a card, we can't walk an aisle, none
of this stuff It has to be done by God to us in the heart. But then also Ephesians chapter
two, but then God says, but God through his everlasting gospel
and the Holy spirit of grace and supplications opened our
eyes to behold the brother, to behold the brother. And he lifted his eyes and he
saw his brother. Benjamin, his mother's son, is
this your younger brother of whom you speak? Be graced, the
Lord be gracious to you. And he couldn't contain himself.
He'd seen this wonderful sight. He'd heard about him, but he'd
seen this wonderful sight. In Hebrews chapter two, it talks
about our elder brother, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one among
the thousands, and Job, set up for sin and uncleanness to pardon
every last blemish upon us. That's our problem, the blemish
of sin. He was set up for sin and uncleanness
and pardons us thoroughly. And now by divine revelation,
we are arrested by the pure and lovely and holy sight of him. We assuredly will go to our chambers
this night and give thanks and be ever grateful for his sovereign
mercy. Every day we need to be thankful
for his sovereign mercy. Or as I love how this text is
written here in verse 30, look at it. And Joseph made haste
for his bowels did yearn upon his brother. Our bowels do yearn
for Christ. That's just to put it in contemporary
language. As our text reads, our bowels
will yearn. And that word yearn, we don't
use that very often. It's to be deeply affected. We
are deeply affected. When the Lord saves us, he makes
a change. Now we sin like we still have
issues with sin and we will until the day we die. But there's a
new nature. There's a new creation. And it
yearns after godliness, it yearns after righteousness, it yearns
after our brother, deeply affected. Blessed be God who has chosen
us unto salvation in Christ, 2 Thessalonians 2.13. We, though sinful in ourselves,
are highly favored in God's sight because of the final and accomplished
works of Christ on Calvary. And the beautiful thing is, is
Christ, when he died, he did not shed his precious blood in
vain. No, he actually finished the
work that God had given him to do. And where is he at now? He's
seated, which means it's a sign of accomplishment. He's not standing,
he's seated. The work is done at the right
hand of God for all his elect. That's our brother. That's the
scriptural brother. That's our friend. That's our
God. Once more, not only did he see
his brother, but he heard something. He heard something. Is your father in good health?
Is he yet alive? And they said. He is, he's yet
alive. He's yet alive. He heard the
good report. That's a good report. That's
good news from a far country, the scripture says. Our father
is yet alive. Unbeknownst to us, because of
our blindness and veil upon these wicked hearts, our supreme, majestic,
and righteous father is alive. And I know there are people,
different, irreligious or whatever, say, you know, God is dead. He's
not alive. No, he's alive. just because you can't touch
them and see them. We walk by faith, not by sight. That's what
we're required to do. That's what we desire to do.
And we know that our God, Ephesians 1 verse 11, he's working all
things according to the counsel of his own will. We just don't
know it or didn't know it. Every sunrise and sunset, year
after year, line upon line, precept upon precept, declares, like
Genesis 18 says, shall not the judge of the earth do right?
Shall not the judge of the earth do right? Yes, he shall. Isaiah
43, I have the right, he says God, I have the right to, the
will to, and the means to redeem my people from their sins. That's
exactly, he's the only one that has the right to do. And he says
in another place, I can do all my pleasure. None can stay in
my hand or say to me, what are you doing? Turn to Daniel 4.
Daniel chapter 4. Daniel chapter 4 and verse 35. All the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing and he, does according to his will in
the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth
and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? Because he's alive. And he's
not just an innocent bystander, spectator on the events of this
world, but he's shaping and molding all things according to his own
will. Turn to Ecclesiastes. It basically
says the same thing, Ecclesiastes chapter 8. Ecclesiastes chapter 8 and verse
4. Where the word of the king is,
there is power. And who may say unto him, what
doest thou? He is our king and he's alive. He's alive, he's on his throne,
and he's in total control. Oh, what jubilation, what elation
and delight. If not tears, fill our souls. And time would not allow me to
speak of the many of the saints who could show forth the same
tears as Joseph did. We could speak of Gideon. Gideon,
he was confused, he didn't know what to do. So he said, Lord,
come down to my level and show me the direction you would have
me. And he did it twice. Or what about Ruth? Naomi says, go to the field and
try to glean. And then when Boaz, he left,
I like it's how it's worded, handfuls of purpose. That means
he left extra corn just for her. And what about Naomi? She was
a important figure, left, left her country, barren, abandoned,
her husband died, she comes back, don't call me this, but the Lord
restored her. Well, that's grace. That's just
like God's, my father's alive. That's just like seeing the son
for the first time. What about David? He says, we're
in first Samuel, And on Wednesdays, we're gonna be getting there
pretty soon. The last words of David, God has made with me an
everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure, though
he makes it not to grow. Hmm, that's interesting. And what about Job? He said,
my Redeemer lives. I think Job was supposed to be
one of the oldest books of the Bible, that he knew his Redeemer,
though he hadn't seen him, but he saw him here. And on and on
we could go. He's alive. He's on the throne.
He's in total control. Turn with me to Psalms 84. The last two scriptures and we'll
close. Psalms 84. And verse 11. To every one of his people, this
is what he says, to you, to me. Psalms 84 verse 11, for the Lord
God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and
glory. No good thing will he withhold
from them that walk uprightly. If you're a believer, you walk
uprightly because of what Christ has done for us. No good thing. And I know it's hard to believe,
but no good thing in our life. That's what Scripture says. This
unerring Word of God. In Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter
8 and verse 32. Romans 8 and verse 32. He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not, God, with Him,
with Christ, also freely give us all things? And it doesn't
mean the best job. It doesn't mean 10 or 12 cars. It doesn't mean toys. It means
we're blessed with all spiritual blessings, spiritual blessings
in heavenly places. But my point is, is these reasons,
and the same as Gideon, our brother, and Ruth, our sister, and Naomi,
our sister, David, and Job, they could have had a chamber as well
and went and wept because of the kind, gracious mercy that
had been received by the hand of the Father. But he's, he just,
He's seeing this. Joseph is seeing this. And he
couldn't contain himself. He made haste, for his bowels
did yearn upon his brethren. He sought where to weep, and
he entered into his chamber, and he wept there. Oh, my soul,
may we be glad. May we be happy. If God withholds
something or brings by trial, loss, or hardship, it's okay,
because God's done it. God's doing it, for he knows
us best, and he knows what is best. It's all all right, and
I would say it's reasonable for us to retire to our chambers
and weep tears of joy and tears of thankfulness, tears of thanks,
tears of sorrow, tears of joy, and tears of contented peace. We would not have it any other
way. If we would have taken control of our lives, so some say, it
would have been a mess. And usually when we try to do
stuff on our own or in the flesh without consulting, which we've
seen David and Samuel, it doesn't turn out very well. But thank
be to God that he has us in the palm of his hand. And what's
the New Testament say? No man. Boy, no boy, woman, man,
or child can pluck you out of that hand. That's assurance.
That's grace. Let us weep and be thankful like
Joseph did. Matt, would you close this, please?