Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Genesis chapter 42, and reading
through our text, verse 24. Verse 24. And he turned himself
about from them and wept. I'll just leave the verse there. The verse does go on, "...and
returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them
Simeon, and bound him before their eyes." And the subject
that is upon my spirit is the heart of the Lord toward his
people. This was Joseph's heart toward
his brethren, and Joseph is a beautiful illustration given by God of
himself and how he is dealing with his brethren. Very notable
here that his brethren did not know Joseph but Joseph knew them
and that is certainly the case. with all of God's children when
he first deals with them, when he first begins it to work in
their hearts and to bring them to conviction of sin. And this
is what is happening here with Joseph's brethren. The way that
he is dealing with them, they are thinking back 20 or more
years to what they did to Joseph. They even remember how he entreated
them How they did not hear Him, we read in verse 21, we are verily
guilty concerning our brother in that we saw the anguish of
his soul when he besought us and we would not hear. They remembered
all of those things from those years ago. And sin is then laid
upon their conscience and I wonder, Just what went on during those
three days that they were locked up together? We get just a little
hint of it here, but no doubt there was much searching and
much going on in those three days. But Joseph was doing these
things, remembering the dreams, remembering this had been foretold
those years ago that this should happen, and remembering how they
had treated him, and so that he was dealing with them in a
way that was bringing their sin to remembrance. They were being
brought into a place where he would show mercy. In fact, as
he dealt with them here, he was showing mercy upon them. He was
dealing with them in mercy, and yet they and Jacob could not
see it. And it is then that I desire
to look not just at Joseph, though we look more at this beautiful
time, this beautiful illustration, but concerning our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. It's very important for his people
to understand the heart of our Lord, to understand how he feels
towards his people, what really is at the heart of all that he
does in their hearts and in their lives. And so that is the subject,
the thought this morning, this evening, the heart of the Lord
toward his people. So I would mention also Paul,
the Apostle Paul, in writing to the Romans, He says that God
is a sovereign God, and that He will show mercy unto whom
He will show mercy, and compassion on whom He will have compassion. We know also that God is the
Saviour of all men, especially of them that believe. He is good
to all, His tender mercies are over all His works. He causeth his rain to fall on
the just and unjust, his sun to shine on them too, him that
serveth him and him that serveth him not. He openeth his hand,
he satisfies the desire of every living thing. The Lord is a compassionate
God to all. His heart, as we have sung, is
made of tenderness and his bowels move with love. But we would
remember that many, even as in the days of his flesh, they followed
for loaves and fishes, they were just satisfied, they just looked
for temporal things, they measured his love and his compassion only
on what he gave them in this life and for an immediate effect,
not thinking of anything long term, not thinking of any dealings
with their soul, or the worth of their soul, or of eternal
life. And so the Lord has special dealings
with his brethren, as Joseph is here with his, and that especially
regards their souls, although of course he does favour them
in a special way in their lives generally. We want to look then
at the heart of our Lord. Firstly, in the types, and specifically
looking at the type here of Joseph, or if you're more happy, we're
saying an illustration of Joseph as our Lord that we want to look
at first. And then secondly, the heart
of the Lord. in the days of his flesh. We
are shown very clearly as he moved amongst the Jews, amongst
his own people, what his heart was like. And then thirdly, the
heart of our Lord above, our high priest above. So we're looking
before Christ came onto the earth, we're looking at his time upon
earth, and now in heaven above. His heart is in each portrayed
and set forth in each of those places. Firstly then in the types
or the illustrations that are set before us in the Old Testament,
specifically here with the account of Joseph. Joseph was able to
say later on that it was not you that brought me hither, but
God, to preserve your lives by a great deliverance. The Lord
Jesus Christ was sent to preserve and to give life unto his people. Joseph, it was foretold in those
dreams that we read in this passage that he remembered those dreams
God had intimated before what he was about to do. And with
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, he has intimated before
that it should be a suffering saviour, a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief. The path that Joseph walked before
he was brought to the position next to Pharaoh, he knew what
it was to be falsely accused. He knew what it was to be put
in prison. No, really, he dealt much less
with his brothers. He wasn't falsely accusing them
in one sense, though they said they weren't spies, and they
weren't. But Joseph knew what it was to
be falsely accused, to be put into prison on false pretenses. He knew what it was to be dealt
with. And however much that they weren't
spies, they knew what they really had done. I often feel this is
a very big help to us and God does use this method with his
people. They may be falsely accused,
they may go through things which in themselves they are not guilty
of, but often my thought is if you, my accuser, really knew
my life and you really knew about me, you would have a lot more
to say than what you are saying now. And it would not be false,
it would be true. And our Lord, as he stood before
Pilate, before the judgment hall, he was accused falsely, and yet
he held his peace. And the reason he knew for whom
he was standing there, he knew for whom he was to lay down his
life. And so he held his peace. If
Pilate had known, who he was being made sin for, who knew
no sin, then he would have had a lot more, as it were, to say. So we have in the types, in the
shadows, a suffering saviour sent forth, and this is seen
with Joseph. But in the midst of his sufferings,
in the midst of his path, and in what he was raised up to do,
the compassion that he has, towards his brethren, towards those who
have dealt so hardly towards him, that have been so bitter
towards him, so cruel towards him. He finds it in his heart
to be so moved when he hears what they're saying. He turns
himself about from them and wept and returned to them. What a
picture we have here. You know, they had no idea of
that. All they are seeing is what he is saying to them, his
severe words to them, and then he goes away for a little while,
and he comes back to them again, and then he binds Simeon before
their eyes. These are the things that they're
seeing, but what we are told in this account is in that time
that he turned away from them, He's weeping. And he really feels
all what he's going through. He has compassion on them. He
feels for them. And yet he continues to deal
with them and to do these things for their real good. What a lesson
it is to us. That which we do not see what
the Lord is doing. We only see the binding. We only see those things that
bring us into remembrance But we don't see, except through
the lens of scripture in this way, the heart of our Lord, his
feelings, going out toward us. How easy we can, my dear Jacob,
when these things were rehearsed to him, say that all these things
are against me, in verse 36. All these things are against
me. And yet again, He does not know how much Joseph's heart
was towards him personally and towards each of his brethren.
And those things that he was doing was for their good. These
passages are to impress upon us the heart of our Lord. In Psalm 107, we have the Lord's
dealings with his people, how they fell down again and again. There's none to help. Then they
cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out
of their distresses. And yet at the end we have who
so is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand
the loving kindness of the Lord, the heart of our Lord. Paul says
in Romans 8, we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God, to them that are the called. according
to his purpose. And the things that the Lord
does are for their real good, their soul's good. And his heart
is in all of these things. How many times in the Old Testament
account of his ancient people did the Lord have compassion
upon them. He saw their groanings, he saw
their bondage in Egypt and he came down to deliver them. He knew the path that they took
when they were bitten with the serpents, because they had sinned,
rebelled against him. Then he sent and caused Moses
to raise up the brazen serpent, that whosoever looked upon that
serpent should live. And they did live. And our Lord
points that to Himself, even as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but should
have eternal life. In all of these times, in the
provisions in the Gospel, there's the heart of the Lord, the cities
of refuge, three on one side, Jordan, Three on the other side
of Jordan, the heart of the Lord towards his people, towards one
that had killed a person unawares. The avenger of blood was seeking
to slay them and they could flee and have a place of refuge in
these cities. And the heart of the Lord is
shown in the provision of those cities. We think of Psalm 136, each verse
ends, for His mercy endureth forever. And it traces them coming
up out of Egypt, not just coming out, but with a high hand and
led forth and all of the mercies inscribed on all what the Lord
has done, even right from the creation, the forming the sun,
and forming the moon, all of the things the Lord has done
is by mercy and by the kindness of the Lord. Now God does not
have a, and we say reverently, a split nature. He is not on
one hand a tyrant, on the other hand a gentleman, one hand very
severe and the other hand very kind and gentle. He is a holy,
righteous God, a God that cannot look upon iniquity without utter
abhorrence and will. He will deal with and punish
the wicked, but he has made a way of escape. He has sent forth
the gospel and good news of salvation right from the very first promise
in the Garden of Eden. His heart toward his people,
those that he has loved with an everlasting love. And in the
meantime, though he deals in a special way with them, he is
dealing in mercy with others. Look at the picture that is before
us. The account here is dealing with
Joseph and his brothers. But all went down to Egypt to
buy. Joseph was sent forth with the
great purpose of keeping his brothers, his brethren alive. But in the meantime, all of the
Egyptians profited and all of other nations profited just because
of God's purpose to Joseph's brothers, just because of the
covenant that he'd given to Abraham. In thee and in thy seed shall
all nations be blessed. and that they should be a stranger
in a strange land. And in the fourth generation,
they should be brought out again. And Joseph intimated that. He said, God will surely visit
you and will bring you up again. And so he commanded that he should
not be buried in Egypt, nor buried yet in Canaan, but his body be
put in a coffin in Egypt and it was kept there until they
were brought out into the promised land and then buried there. What a token of what Joseph was
persuaded God would do for his people. We have in this time
not only the special compassion and feeling that Joseph had and
God had to Joseph's brothers, and to his ancient people. But
we also have many, many unnamed others in Canaan and in Egypt
that all benefit as well. And it is in this present day
that all what God does in this world is for his people. It is for his church, his bride,
those that he suffered, bled and died for on Calvary's tree,
those that shall believe by His grace in Him and be saved everlastingly,
those are the reason why this world continues and why many
who never fear God, ridicule Him, deride Him, will never serve
Him, persecute His people, why they are permitted to live, why
they have food and raiment and mercies, is because of the people
of God. And yet because of sin, over
the whole race, God's people and those that are not, there's
tribulation, great troubles, afflictions, sorrows. Yet those
things God will make to work together for good, for the good
of his people. We have all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. We all deserve hell. We all deserve
banishment from God eternally. And it is of the Lord's mercies
that we are not consumed. We need to remember that. The
Lord does not owe us anything. He could have cut off the human
race right to Adam, but he didn't because he had a chosen people,
and a people that must yet still be redeemed, that are redeemed,
have been redeemed by Calvary, but must be brought into this
world and brought to be saved and tell again to another generation
that shall also be saved. And one day, all of God's people
shall have been brought to a knowledge of himself, believe in him, be
saved, and then the world shall end, no need for it anymore. But in the meantime, God's children
especially are to know that God is a compassionate God He is
a God who has his heart towards his people. And I believe many
times his people find it in a providential way before they do in grace.
They taste that the Lord is gracious. Peter says, if so be, you have
tasted that the Lord is gracious. And there's a very precious thing
to do that. The wicked and those who desire
not the knowledge of the Lord's ways, they're not tasting. that
the Lord is gracious, very often they're complaining and murmuring.
But if we realize, as Joseph's brothers here did, what they
really deserve, then every mercy is a mercy. And yet, the amazing
thing is here, when Joseph was showing them mercies, when he's
giving them their money and their sacks again, when he's showing
them kindness, they even take that as something that is against
them. They can't understand it. They
don't know why it is so, why these things are happening. Joseph
is dealing with them. They don't know the relationship
and they're troubled. And the Lord's dealings with
his people, very often his people are troubled and they don't know
either what the Lord is doing. What I do thou knowest not now,
but thou shalt know hereafter. So in the first place then, we
are to look at the times, the shadows in the Old Testament. We could go on. We can see Boaz
dealing with Ruth. We can see Mordecai speaking
peace to all his seed and how that he made intercession and
directed Queen Esther so that they were delivered from the
sentence of death. mere the heart of the Lord towards
his people, though they rebelled, though they turned against him
many times, yet he had compassion upon them and destroyed them
not. Well, secondly, I desire to look
at the heart of our Lord as shown forth in his time upon earth. Again we notice that the Lord
was good to all. We have the multitudes that followed
him and to hear his word. And those times that he saw that
multitude and he said, I have compassion on the multitude. They have now continued with
me these three days. He were the miracle. with the
loaves and the fishes, seven loaves and a few fishes on the
one occasion where 4,000 men beside women and children were
fed, and he fed them. But the Inspired Word specifically
highlights the compassion of our Lord on those that had come
to hear Him and to attend not just their spiritual needs, but
their temporal needs. And he supplied that needs. I will not send them away empty. We think of those that were in
bereavement when the Lord at the grave of Lazarus, and he
knew what he would do. He knew he would raise him again
from the dead. But all of those that were weeping
round about, they didn't know that. And we read Jesus went,
the shortest verse in the Holy Scriptures. But again, we have
the same heart of the Lord, the same feeling for his people. He goes into the city of Nain
and there comes out a widow and there is a bear with her son
on. They're going to bury him. He
died. And of course, in those days,
a widow would have depended upon that son to provide for her,
to look after her, and the Lord had compassion on her. He touched
that beer and said to the young man, rise, and he rose from the
dead. The Lord's compassion to those
in their need in bereavement was shown there. And again, it
is that we have a little look into the heart of our Lord. We think of the mad Gadarene.
Many were frightened of him. Many tried to tame him. And he was chained with chains,
dwelt among the tombs. And yet the Lord had compassion
on him. The Lord brought him to his feet
and clothed him in his right mind. And he said to him, go
home to thy friends and tell what great things God hath done
for thee and had compassion on thee. And that was one part of
the message. God had had compassion on him
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Our Lord many times
had the compassion on those that were blind, literally blind,
the man that was born blind in John 9. And how he opened his
eyes and then visited him, though the Jews had cast him out, revealed
himself to him. We think of blind Bartimaeus
and the blind men near Jericho. Now the Lord, as they went by,
they cried out. The multitude did, didn't have
compassion. They'd have them be quiet. But
our Lord said, no. And he had compassion on them.
What wilt thou that I should do unto thee, Lord, that we may
receive our sight? And the Lord gave them that sight,
literal sight. How much more when those that
feel their blindness, spiritually blindness, in the things of God. You know, John Newton for once
was blind, but now I see, and he scribes all to the grace of
God. You know, those that were blind
in that way, they were begging. They couldn't work, they relied
upon people just to give them, and the Lord had compassion on
them as beggars. When our Lord told the parables,
when he would give an illustration of who is my neighbour, we have
the well-known parable of the Good Samaritan, as it is called. The one that was going down from
Jericho to Jerusalem fell amongst thieves who stripped him and
wounded him and left him half dead. And there comes by a priest
and a Levite, but they saw him and passed by on the other side.
And then there came a Samaritan. And when he saw him, he had compassion
on him and went unto him. and dressed his wounds, pouring
in oil and wine, put him upon his own beast, brought him to
the inn, and gave money to the innkeeper. Whatsoever spendest
thou more when I come again, I will give thee." Look after
him, the compassion, the neighbourly compassion that the good Samaritan
had. Again, he is a beautiful type
of our Lord, whereas The priests, the Levite, the keepers of the
moral and ceremonial law, they couldn't come. We're one that
was wounded through sin, but the Lord Jesus Christ, the great
anti-type, can. The law by Moses came, but grace
and truth. by Jesus Christ, what the law
could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending
his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh. And many, many instances, our
Lord shows his compassion. When our Lord was going up to
Jerusalem, because his face was set to go there, Those in Samaria,
the Samaritans would not receive him. So the disciples that were
with him said, shall we call down fire from heaven and consume
them as Elias did? And the Lord said, you know not
what spirit ye are of. The Son of Man came not to destroy
men's lives, but to save them. And again, we have the heart
of the Lord. That is clearly shown in that
case. When the Jews brought a woman
taken in adultery, the very act, they said Moses commanded that
this woman should be stoned, but what sayest thou? Then again,
he did what Joseph did with his brethren. He brought them to
know and feel their own sin. Sadly, I don't believe it was
in a gracious way that they felt it, enough so that they left
off accusing the woman. He said to them, what man of
you is without sin, let him first cast a stone at her. And then
he kept writing on the ground. And they, convicted in their
own consciences, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest.
And it is in that way that the Lord shows his mercy and compassion
to sinners. in dealing with them, in taking
their part, appearing for them. And so with the Lord Jesus Christ
and the days of his flesh, they recorded those things that happened
and recorded what his heart was. Come, he says, unto me, all ye
that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. He is spoken
of in prophecy and truly was a meek and lowly lamb. Yes, very severely he spoke to
the scribes, the Pharisees, the lawyers, who were lading men
with grievous burdens, who made commandments of men taught them
as if they were the doctrines of God. And that was so opposite
to the Spirit of our Lord. He came to relieve men of their
burdens, to deliver them, not to lay them with more and more
burdens on them. And so His compassion to the
sick, to the needy, to those that were poor, to those that
were ignorant, was so manifest while he was upon earth. And
we do not read that he made really any distinction. It was those
that were in need he had compassion upon. And certainly with the
parable of the good Samaritan, he's answering the question,
who is my neighbor? another one in the denomination
or in our own church is one that is near to us, that is in need,
and we are in a position to help them and to have that same compassion
on a fellow mortal. And yet in the way the Lord dealt,
there were those, we think of those ten lepers that came to
Him and they desired the Lord to have compassion, He did. He
said, go, show yourselves to the priest. And as they went,
they were healed. But one, when he realized he
was a Samaritan, he turned to give glory to God. Nine, he says,
where are the nine? Were there not ten healed, where
are the nine? Nine would take the compassion
of the Lord, but not turn again to the Lord of compassion. They
had no more need than a temporal healing, did not return to give
thanks at all, and did not seek eternal blessings. But it is
the people of God, those like Joseph's brethren, those who
are in eternal relationship with him, those the Lord has a compassion
and a heart for that goes beyond time, It is to put away their
sins, to blot out their transgressions, to work for their souls' eternal
good. And so, in many ways, they are
a people that are afflicted and tribulation and troubles in this
life, but the Lord making them work together for good. So they
feel here below that this is but a wilderness journey. They're
on a pilgrimage. This is not their rest. This
is not their home. It is polluted, they seek one
to come, and the Lord in mercy has made them feel that way,
and seek a heavenly city, eternal city, and to seek the Lord himself. And it is his compassion and
his heart that is toward his people that causes him to work
in this way with them, though for a season. They may, like
Joseph, like Jacob rather, say, all these things are against
me. On to look then lastly at the
heart of our Lord above. Our Lord has risen from the dead. He has ascended up on high. And we are told very specifically
what he is doing there. We have a beautiful type in the
prayer in John 17 of his prayer for his people. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them whom thou hast given me. And his prayer is that they
be kept from the evil, and that they be brought at last to be
with him and to behold his glory. The scriptures make it clear
that he is appearing in the presence of God for us, that he is our
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And as
a high priest, he there makes that intercession and speaks
on behalf of his people. In the book of Hebrews, there
are many passages that speak of the types and then lead through
to our Lord Jesus Christ, how he is a great high priest above. In Hebrews 2 and verse 17, We read there, wherefore in all
things it behoved him that his behoved was acceptable right
for our Lord to be made like unto his brethren that he might
be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in
that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to
succour them that are tempted. And we think with Joseph, we
mentioned how Joseph had been falsely accused. Joseph had been
put into prison. Joseph knew the path that he
was leading his brethren in, so that they would be convinced
of their sin. But in all what he did for them,
he had that heart for them. And the Lord knows the heart
of his people. He is a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. He came here below that he might
be made like unto his brethren, yet sin accepted. Joseph was
from among his brethren. Moses said, A prophet shall the
Lord thy God raise up unto thee of your brethren, Hymn shall
ye hear. And that was our Lord Jesus Christ. And so we have the types in Hebrews,
the Melchizedek especially that is spoken of there. And Melchizedek
was the priest of the most high God that met Abraham from coming
from the slaughter of the kings in Genesis 14. is he that spoken
of in Psalm 110, and is he that spoken of in Hebrews 5, and then
especially Hebrews 7. In Hebrews 5, in the beginning
of that chapter, we read, For every high priest taken from
among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God,
that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. And then there's this, qualification,
who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are
out of the way, for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. And so it looks back to the Old
Testament, high priests that were made like their brethren,
so that they could have compassion, and the Lord Jesus Christ as
well. So also Christ glorified not
himself to be made an high priest, but he that said unto him, Thou
art my son, today have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another
place, Thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. And it is in that type that our
Lord is in heaven. We know that there are those
naturally on earth that just cannot have feeling or compassion
on others. They cannot understand their
path. Often think of many of our politicians,
our sad It is, at this present time, the confusion amongst them. But those that are on very high
wages, those that are earning 100,000 or so a year, how can
they really understand the path of those on a minimum wage, and
those that are really struggling, and those that are finding it
hard to pay their bills at this present time? They can't really
enter into it, little increases or even large increases in prices
hardly dents their surplus of what they have. And yet when
we think of our Lord, He is able, He does understand, He does feel
for His people in a natural way and especially in a spiritual
way. His whole coming to the earth
is being made of a woman, made under the law, being as a poor
person as well upon the earth, despised because he was with
the publicans and sinners, and yet he was just the one that
should have compassion upon them. And so may we remember that. I've poorly set it forth, I know,
but the whole message is the heart of the Lord towards his
people. It is not a hard heart. It is not unfeeling. It is in
mercy. It is in compassion. And if we were to read the Lamentations
of Jeremiah, when Jeremiah saw the destruction of the temple
and the Lord's dealing with his people in chastening, then we'd
understand that even in chastening, even in destruction of the temple,
and the removing of his people to Babylon, there was mercies
in it. And the Lord had promised to
bring them back again, given many tokens of it. And when we
read Matthew chapter one, we read there that the going into
Babylon was a very important step in the plan of God, 14 generations
from Abraham to David, and 14 generations from David to the
carrying away into Babylon and fourteen generations from the
carrying away into Babylon unto Christ. And it was one of those
major steps, and hard though it was for those who walked through
it and saw the Lord's judgments on sin and chastening of his
nation, yet it was for their good, and the Lord himself did
come as promised. And we have these things set
before us in the gospel so that we are to know this. Many will
see to blacken our Lord as if he was a hard taskmaster, as
if he was an adversary, not the saviour, the compassionate saviour,
the merciful God. Call upon me in the day of trouble,
he says, I will deliver thee. and thou shalt glorify me. May we always remember this,
the Lord Jesus is a friend, a friend of sinners and one that is ready
to hear the cries of even the destitute and the needy and have
compassion upon them. May the Lord then bless this
word as we see it highlighted especially in how Joseph reacted
to his brethren even while dealing with them and he turned himself
about from them and wept and returned to them again. The Lord
bless this word.