I have a CD of hymns or choruses
rather that were copied by Brother Rolf Barnard singing. He loved
to sing and his wife, such a good pianist too, she played the piano
for him. But one of the places he was
preaching, I think it was in Alabama, He told him, he said,
I'm not going to let you go home till you sing this. And with
that chorus, reach out and touch the Lord as he passes by. You'll find he's not too busy
to hear your heart's cry. He's passing by this moment,
your need to supply. Reach out and touch the Lord
as he passes by. I believe he meant it, too. But
I know on several of them, he said, you're wedded to your songbooks. And he said, get rid of your
songbooks. You can't sing looking at your songbook. So we don't
have the words to that hymn. And so we'll learn them, and
maybe we'll be able to sing a little bit better as the weeks go by.
Now, if you will, let's open our Bibles to Genesis chapter
45. I ended my message last time
from the life of Joseph, looking at the advice which he gave his
brethren that is recorded in verse 24, Genesis 25 and verse
24. So he sent his brethren away
and they departed and he said unto them, see that you fall
not out by the way. That's advice. that he gave his
brothers, and that's advice that is good at all times for God's
children. His brothers had everything for
their trip. Everything was supplied for them
as they made their journey back home. Even as the Lord has supplied
all of our needs as we go through this world, as we travel toward
our heavenly home. And yet he said, see that you
fall not out along the way. We must guard against that. The
psalmist wrote, behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren
to dwell together in unity. And what a blessing it is to
be a member of a local church where this unity exists. And I know this evening that
we are all in unity In many things, in many areas that I could mention,
we are in unity concerning the person of Jesus Christ, that
he is both God and man. We're all in unity. We're in
unity concerning the sovereignty of God, that God is not some
wannabe God, that he is God Almighty, that he reigns and rules at all
times and all places over all people. He's sovereign. We're
in unity. And we're in unity that salvation
is of the Lord, that God the Father purposed it in eternity
past, and God the Son came into this world, became incarnate,
and purchased our salvation, and God the Holy Spirit applies
salvation to those that the Father gave unto his Son. And I could
go on and on about things in which we are in unity. And we
are in unity that it is our desire to live such a life in this world
that we adorn the doctrine of Christ, that all of us have that
same desire to adorn the doctrine of Christ, to walk worthy of
this calling wherewith we have been called, this holy, heavenly,
high calling by which God's people are called. And we have unity. We rejoice with those who rejoice. And we weep with those who weep.
We're in unity. And I'm so thankful. And Joseph
told his brothers, now you have everything. Make sure you don't
fall out along the way. And I believe that's good advice
for every church, every congregation, because such little things sometimes
can cause such great problems and cause difficulties. And we
certainly do not want that. Tonight, I want to take three
things, three things that we are told that Joseph did for
his brethren, and use them, these three things, to use these three
things tonight to picture what our Joseph, that is the Lord
Jesus Christ, what he does for his brethren. Now, first of all,
let it register in our minds that Joseph, he sends his brethren
away and they go to their country and their country was a place
where there was no bread. There was no corn in Canaan. That's what the scriptures reveal
unto us. And that reminds us, of course,
of Mephibosheth, the place where he was living when David sent
for him Lodibor, and that simply means a place of no bread. Well,
Canaan at this time, where Joseph's brethren lived, And where they
headed back was a place of no bread. There was no corn in Canaan. And if Joseph doesn't help them,
if he doesn't help them, they will not be helped. If he doesn't
help them, they have no hope whatsoever. And they certainly
did not deserve his help. When you think about the fact
that they had sold him, into slavery, sold him away from his
family, they certainly did not merit or deserve his help. And I think that's a good picture,
don't you, of all of us who come into this world. By nature, we
have no deserving of God's consideration of us and no deserving of God
blessing us. helping us, and yet, if he doesn't
help us, we have no hope. None whatsoever. Now, here are three things, and
we'll look at these scriptures, three things we see here that
Joseph did for his brethren. First of all, Joseph brought
his brethren to the place of bread. I want you to notice that
in chapter 45 verse 27. And they told him, that is they
told Jacob all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them.
And when he saw the wagons, and notice the wagons, which Joseph
had sent to carry him, you say, well, the wagons brought Jacob. The wagons brought his brothers
too. Let me show you that in the next chapter, chapter 46
in verse five. And Jacob rose up from Beersheba,
he's on his way to Joseph, and the sons of Israel, now that's
his brethren, the sons of Israel carried Jacob, their father,
and their little ones, and their wives in the wagons. the wagons which Pharaoh had
sent to carry him. So that's the first point I want
to make, is Joseph brought his brothers to where there was corn. Number two, Joseph nourished
his brethren with corn. Notice in chapter 47 and verse
12, after they were brought there, they must be nourished, they
must be cared for, In chapter 47 and verse 12, we read, and
Joseph nourished his father and his brethren and all his father's
household with bread. And then the third and last thing
that we see that I want to point out is Joseph presented his brethren
to the ruler. again in chapter 47 and verse
2. And he took some of his brethren,
even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh. I want us to consider these three
things as picturing or typical of the saving work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But first, Let's establish the
fact that the Lord Jesus Christ has some brethren. Let's establish
that fact. Let's go to Hebrews chapter two.
The Lord Jesus Christ has some brethren. Hebrews chapter two, and beginning
with verse nine, But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory
and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for
every man. For it became him for whom are
all things, and by whom are all things, and bringing many sons
unto glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through
sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he
is not ashamed to call them brethren." The Lord Jesus Christ in this
passage, he has brethren. The first thing I'd point out
from these verses here in Hebrews, the apostle said, but we see
Jesus. Now, how does anyone see Jesus?
Not with these physical eyes. We know that's not so. We do
not see. He's in heaven. He's at the father's
right hand. We do not see him with these
physical eyes, but yet we see Jesus. How is that possible? By faith, by faith, we see him. Looking unto Jesus, let us run
with patience the race which is set before us. Looking unto
Jesus. How do we look unto Jesus? By
faith. By faith, looking unto him. And we look unto him as Jesus. Now that's a very important name. I know it's so common, everyone
talks about Jesus, everyone's heard about Jesus, but that name
is very important. That name was given unto him.
I know the angel told Joseph, Mary's husband, and he told Mary
as well, that they should name her son, Jesus. But the reason
is that explains or that demonstrates the truth. His name is Emmanuel,
which means God with us. God. in the person of this son. And that name Jesus, it comes,
part of it, Jehoshua, comes from that incommunicable, un-incommunicable
name, rather, of Jehovah. That's never communicated, that
name is never communicated to anyone other than God. That's His name. And that name
Jesus, it means Jehovah Saviour. Jehovah Saviour. We see Jesus. By faith, we see and believe
that He is the One the angels said, Thou shalt call His name
Jesus, for He shall save His people. And we could, I assume
we could substitute there, for He shall save His brethren. from their sins. He was given
a people, we know that, from before the foundation of the
world. And he came into this world on
purpose to save them. And notice what the apostle continues
to write, but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than
the angels. The angels are a higher order
of creation than man. He became a man. God provided
no Savior for the angels that fell, for the angels that sinned.
He provided no Savior. He did not take upon Him the
nature of an angel. He took upon Him the nature of
a man that He might be our kinsman, Redeemer. He was made a little
lower than the angels for the suffering of death as a man that
He might suffer death, crowned with glory and honor. He came into this world and he
suffered death, but now he's crowned with glory and honor.
He's at the Father's right hand. All the angels of God and all
the hosts of heaven are worshiping the Lamb right now. As we're
here in this building and our desire is to worship the Lamb,
we just want to join in with all of the hosts of heaven. who
are tonight and every night and every day worshiping the Lamb,
the Lamb that was slain. That He, and notice this, by
the grace of God, everything about Christ in relation to us
is by grace, isn't it? Everything. Unmerited favor. His coming into this, His receiving
us at the hands of His Father, His receiving us, becoming responsible
for us as a surety for His people. It's all grace. It's all grace
from the very beginning to the end. And we know there is no
end to the saving of God's people because He gives unto us eternal
life. And all of heaven will be worshiping
Him for His wonderful grace. And I've often thought about
that hymn, Amazing Grace. It's sad to me that they say that's the best known
hymn in all the world, but very few people And I watched a documentary
one time on that hymn on public television. Very interesting. It's used on all kinds of occasions. But very few people know what
John Newton was writing about. An old slave dealer. who had become a slave himself
at one time. A wicked man by his own testimony. And God saved him. God saved
him. A few years ago, I read the story
of when he wrote that hymn, and the first time they sang it there
in the church building at Olney, I believe it was. And my thought, as I read this
story, he had his friend in mind. I can't recall his name right
now, but the one that suffered from depression. Someone help
me with this one. Calper, yes. Calper, yeah. He had him in mind when he was
writing that hymn, because Calper Being depressed like he was at
times, thought there was no hope for him. God's grace, it's amazing grace. Reaches to the lowest. I love to sing about it, don't
you? The grace of God. Love to think about it. That's my hope. For by grace
are you saved. If any merit, any merit required
at all, I'm not going to be saved. I know that. And I hope you know
it, too. And I hope you rejoice in God's
amazing grace that saved a wretch like me. And I once was lost,
but now I'm found, and once was blind, but now I see. It was grace that taught my heart
to fear, and grace my fears relieved. What a wonderful, wonderful testimony. That's what the scripture here
says, that by His grace, everything about
Him speaks to us of grace. And he became, notice it says
he became perfect. The captain of their salvation,
perfect, made perfect. You say, well, I thought he already
was perfect. He is perfect. He's always been
perfect. But listen, he's the perfect
savior that you need. Because you are a sinner, he's
the perfect savior that you need. No one else will do. He's the perfect Savior, because
He's both God and man. But notice, for both he that
sanctifyeth, now who does the sanctifying? He does. He that
sanctifyeth, and they who are sanctified are all of one. One. Union, union with Christ. We all make up one mystical body,
the church, and he is the head. And we are members of his body. And notice the writer said that
he is not ashamed to call them, to call you, to call me, brethren. He's not ashamed of us. You know,
in the Proverbs, the scripture says, There's a friend that loveth
at all times. That's him. That's this one who's
not ashamed to call us brethren. He's that friend that loveth
at all times, and he's that brother who is born for adversity. And certainly we know adversity,
all men do, but we know adversity as we go through this life, and
he's the brother who's born for adversity, the brother who sticketh
closer than a brother. We may well be ashamed of ourselves
sometimes. Sometimes our memory may bring
up things that we are certainly ashamed of, wouldn't want it
to be broadcast. He's not ashamed to call us his
brothers. That's wonderful, isn't it? It
is to me. He has some brothers. Romans
8 and verse 29, we read, For whom he did foreknow, that is,
whom God set his love upon from old eternity, he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he, that is,
Christ, he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Many brethren. And when he rose
from the dead, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene on that day,
and he sent her to his disciples with this word, be not afraid,
go, tell my brethren. You mean you call those men your
brethren? They had all forsaken you, one
had denied you, and with oaths swore that he didn't know you? Yes, he's not ashamed to call
them brethren. You go, Mary, and you tell my
brethren that they go into Galilee, and there they shall see me.
Now let's look at these three things. First of all, let's see that he does for his
brethren what Joseph did for his brethren. Joseph brought
his brethren to the place of bread. He sent the wagons to
bring them to the place of bread. Turn to 1 Peter with me just
a moment. 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 18. For Christ also hath once suffered
for our sins. He only had to suffer once, didn't
he? Why didn't he have to suffer twice? Because he paid the penalty
by that one sacrifice. He suffered once for our sins. The just, he's the just, suffered
for our sins. The just for the unjust, that's
us. The righteous for the unrighteous. That, in order that, he might
bring us to God. He might reconcile us unto God,
might bring us to God, just like Joseph brought his brethren to
the place where there was bread. So the Lord Jesus Christ brings
his chosen people to himself, who is the bread, the living
bread. In the parable of the shepherd,
And the one sheep that was lost, remember, he found it. He sought
till he found that sheep that had gone astray. The Lord Jesus
told Zacchaeus, for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save
that which is lost. And he's going to seek until
he finds every one of his lost sheep, and he's going to save
them. He's going in the parable there. He laid that sheep upon his shoulder
and carried it all the way home. He brought his sheep home. Christ brings us to him who is
the bread of life. You say, how does he do that? He does this. He commissioned
his disciples to go to all nations. and teach them, preach the gospel
to them, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost. God, the Lord Jesus Christ sends
God the Holy Spirit with the word, with the gospel. People
are not saved by dreams and visions and things like that. People
are saved by hearing the gospel. How shall they believe in him
of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? We see that so well in Ezekiel
37, don't we? When God took Ezekiel and that
vision out there to that valley of dry bones and then asked him,
can these bones live? Well, it sure didn't look like
they could live. Can these dry bones live, Ezekiel? Lord, you know, if it's your
purpose, yes, if it's your purpose. And it was his purpose. But his
purpose was in preaching, prophesying to the bones, preaching to them. He brought them. Second, he nourished
his brethren in this strange land. Joseph's brethren were
not in their home. They were not in their homeland,
rather. They were in Egypt. When he brought them to him,
he was in Egypt, they were brought into Egypt. That's not their
homeland. Even so, Christ's brethren, while
we are in this world, we are not in our homeland. We're just
passing through this world. He said, I go to prepare a place
for you that where I am, there you may be also. And our citizenship,
the apostle Paul says this in Philippians, our citizenship
is in heaven, from which we look for the Lord to come. Yes, our
citizenship, we're just passing through this world, but as we
go through this world, he nourishes us. In other words, he supplies
our every need. One of the promises that we have,
and there's so many of them, I encourage you to read the scriptures
and look at the promises that God has given us. So many of
them, but one is, As thy days, so shall thy strength
be. In other words, as every day,
your need for every day, God is going to supply your need. He's promised to do so. His strength
is sufficient. We would think, well, are our
days made up of a sick body? Some of God's saints, their days
are days of sickness. But the promise is still true.
As thy days, so shall thy strength. Some people, some of God's children,
are suffering from loneliness. Loneliness. Being alone. In a crowd, even. But as your days, so shall your
strength be. Whatever the situation is. Many of God's children are often
misunderstood. Misunderstood by family members. What believer has never had someone
say, well, you just think you're better than me. You just think
you're better than us. Oh, no. No way. If you only knew. If you only
knew. Misunderstood. But the promise
still is good, as your days, so shall your strength be. When he told the apostle Paul,
my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect
in weakness. You know what Paul's reaction
was to that? When God told him that? Let me
repeat that again. God told Paul, my grace is sufficient
for thee, Now listen, for my strength is made perfect in weakness,
what was Paul's immediate reaction. Most gladly, therefore, will
I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest
upon me. And think of his reasoning in
Romans chapter 8, when he said, he that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? See, he's given his son for us.
He's not going to withhold something else. I mean, there's nothing
as valuable as his son. He's already given him for us.
And then the third thing, he presented his brethren to the
authority, to the ruler there in Egypt. Joseph presented his
brothers, brethren, to the highest authority in the land of Egypt. But that man, that Pharaoh, was
nothing in comparison to the one to whom Christ presents his
brethren. Look in Jude, and I'll close
with this, but look in Jude This little letter right before the
book of Revelation, only one chapter, and verses 24 and 25. Now, unto him that is able to
keep you from falling, and notice this, and to present you. Joseph
presented his brethren to Pharaoh. The Lord Jesus Christ, who is
he going to present us to? Well, look at the rest of the
verse. And how is he going to present us? This is wonderful. He's going to present his brethren
faultless, faultless, before the presence of his glory
with exceeding joy to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory
and majesty, dominion and power both now and ever. He will present his brethren
to God, to God the Father who loved them with an eternal love. He will present his brethren
to himself, God the Son who loved them and washed them from their
sins in his own blood. And he will present himself to
God the Holy Spirit who made their bodies his temple, his
temples. May the Lord bless His word to
all of us here tonight.