The subject this evening is learning
from the lives of others and particularly the life of Joseph. Let us read together from the
Word of God, just a short portion first. Psalm 105 and verses 16
to 23. Psalm 105 and from verse 16. Moreover, he called for a
famine upon the land, he break the whole staff of bread. He sent a man before them, even
Joseph, who was sold for a servant, whose
feet they hurt with fetters, he was laid in iron. Until the
time that his word came, the word of the Lord tried him. The
king sent and loosed him, even the ruler of the people, and
let him go free. He made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his substance. to bind his princes at his pleasure,
and teach his senators wisdom. Israel also came into Egypt,
and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. so thus far the reading
of God's word from that psalm now reading gave a brief summary
of the life of Joseph from the time he was sold into Egypt until
his father came into Egypt and I want this evening to bring
before you profitable lessons for your lives from what happened
to him. Obviously we can't look at everything
and it is going to be assuming tonight that you do know already
a lot of the story of Joseph because it spans chapters from
chapter 37 right through to chapter 50 in Genesis a large amount
so I'll just be picking out parts of that account for each of the
instruction but this principle of learning from others lives
I hope each of us to learn from our own lives, from our mistakes,
from the things that we do, proving what is acceptable to the Lord,
and that we don't go through life just not learning from the
things that we pass through, we're to learn by experience.
But there's another way of learning and that is learning from what
others have passed through. So we haven't actually had to
experience it, we haven't actually had to walk that path, but we
do gain the benefit of the learning from what they have gone through.
So if we're going to do that and learn from our own lives
as well, It needs observation. We need to be perceptive and
actually observe what things are going on and then we need
to think about them, ponder them in our heart and think, well,
why did that happen and what caused that to happen? What was
the thing that could have been changed that altered that? and
so learn in that way and to apply it then to ourselves. I want
to read another portion that highlights how the Apostle Paul
did this using the life of the children of Israel in the wilderness
to teach the Corinthians and in this way what they should
not follow as an example so if we turn together to 1 Corinthians
chapter 10 and we'll just read the first 12 verses 1 Corinthians
chapter 10 and the first 12 verses This establishes this principle
of how the Lord would have us use the lives of others and especially
those in the scripture for our own learning. Moreover, brethren, I would not
that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under
the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized
unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and did all eat the
same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual
drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed
them, and that rock was Christ. But with many of them God was
not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
Now this is what he says, now these things were our examples,
to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also
lusted, neither be ye idolaters as were some of them, as it is
written the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to
play, neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed, and
fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt
Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of
serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of
them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now
all these things happened unto them for in samples, and they
are written for our admonition, or teaching, instruction, warning,
upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that
thinketh, he standeth, take heed, lest he fall." So the apostle
very clearly takes what happened to the children of Israel, makes
it a lesson for the Corinthians and for us what not to do. And so there are many aspects
of Joseph's life that we may also gain that instruction from. Many aspects there are of types
of Christ. And apart from a brief reference
to this, it is the lessons that I wish to look at this evening.
If you're interested in the types of Christ seen in Joseph's life,
then there's a recording of last Thursday evening's service here,
sermon, that I preached at Cranbrook, which looks at Joseph as a type
of Christ. That's on our website. Sir Joseph's life from when he
was 17 years old is told from Genesis 37 and really it's from
then on, so maybe a bit older than some of you this evening,
a lot younger than some others. There's 10 lessons that I've
sought out here that may be a help to us. And it might help if you
turn with me to Genesis, just have your Bibles open at Genesis,
Genesis 37 to start off with. I will mention other texts, but
it might be best that you just listen to those, but the ones
from Genesis we can actually look at. In Genesis 37 and verse 2 we
read, These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen
years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren, and the land
was with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Silpah, his
father's wives. And Joseph brought unto his father
their evil report. Now we read in Proverbs that
he that passeth by and medleth with strife, belonging not to
him, is one that taketh a dog by the ears. But in this case,
Joseph was with his brothers and he saw their evil things
that they were doing, reported them to his father. Now, if you're
like me, the first thought you think is, well, he's a telltale,
he's a troublemaker, he's referring back what they're doing, but
he was really there working with them, his father, his flocks,
his children, and in one sense he was bringing back a report
on behalf of his father. But we do need really much wisdom
in this. We need to ask ourselves if it's
a matter that we're going to repeat and report, does it really
belong to me? Is it my business? Can I deal with it myself with
speaking, reproving? With Joseph, he was a younger
brother, he didn't have the authority, he didn't have the ability to
do it himself. In an employment situation should
I take it further and tell my employer or in this case the
father? The other question to ask ourselves,
will I be going along with it if I keep silence? In the case
of Joseph, he very clearly did not go along with his brother's
evil deeds. Very commendable as a young person
under the influence of older ones in the situation working
with them and not going along with what they are doing. I remember
when I first started my apprenticeship when I was 16, a year younger
than Joseph here, And I hadn't worked long at the hospital as
a maintenance engineer, and we had the fitters, two fitters
and an apprentice, two carpenters, an apprentice, two plumbers,
an apprentice, and like that. And not long after I started,
we were working in an enclosed area in the hospital, a kind
of courtyard out of everyone's sight. And the carpenters were
there, the fitters were there, the plumbers were there, electricians
were there. There was about 10 of us. And they're just standing
around talking. I thought, this is no good, we've
got work to do, we're all there. I picked up my hammer and I started
to work. I said, hey boy, you stop doing
that. And they soon told me off. Now
in that situation, I didn't go running back to the chief engineer
and tell what had happened. I just went along with it but
I didn't continue in that path. Whenever I was working on my
own I sought to work diligently whether I was seen or not and
not to follow in their way but it is a situation I'm sure you
young people are going to get into in your work where you're
with people, they're doing things, they try to drag you into it,
and you don't want to, you resist it, you've got to think, if I
go along with this, if nothing is said, if it is found out,
am I going to be really the one that is going to be blamed for
this with them because I've held my peace? So it needs a lot of
judgment and care, and obviously With Joseph here, it was something
very major in his life. It did really affect how his
brothers viewed him. They weren't at all happy with
what he was doing. so to tell or not to tell one
lesson or one pointer to really consider comparing those other
scriptures as well and i'll look at a passage in timothy after
we've considered the next point because it covers both of them
so the second one the second lesson is favoritism or partiality
that is the cause of trouble in families. In Genesis 37, now
from verse 3 and 4, Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his
children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made
him a coat of many colors. And when his brethren saw that
their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated
him and could not speak peaceably unto him. Seems a very strange
thing in the lives of the patriarchs here. Jacob doesn't seem to have
learnt from the trouble that arose from his father Isaac who
favoured Esau and Rebecca who favoured him and Joseph in turn
later on he shows such favouritism to Benjamin obviously he loved
him dearly but when he gave them presents and things to send back
to their father He gave Benjamin so much more and really it was
a test of were the brothers really humbled or were they going to
rise up again because of the favouritism now that Joseph was
shown to one of his. And you wonder, has Father not
learned from his own experience as a child? Jacob not learned
from that? Has Joseph not learned from what
effect it was on his brothers? And so it's something that we
need to be very aware of. And you might think, well, as
children, I'm not in the position now. But you know, there's things
that I've heard and been taught as a child that when I've then
come into a parenthood or even grandparents, and I think of
those and think of those principles. and they're things that begin
very very early and imperceptibly and it is something to really
watch and it's a difficult thing as a child as well if you're
in a position where one parent is showing favouritism and you
realise that and you realise the reasons for it and you can
see the tensions but is very difficult to diffuse it or it
needs a lot of wisdom as a child in that way and I have walked
that path, I knew that path myself. So that's another lesson really
from the life of Joseph, be very careful with favouritism and
partiality. I read to you from 1 Timothy
chapter 5 and verses 19 to 22 because this applies to these
two points against an elder receive not
an accusation but before two or three witnesses. Then he changes in verse 20,
them that sin, rebuke before others that others also may fear. So Timothy is in a position in
the church of authority and so the scriptures tell us that we
are to rebuke when we're in that position. With Eli he said to
his wicked sons that they should not do so wickedly, but he didn't
remove them from office, and because of that Shiloh was brought
to nothing. God's judgment was upon it. Then we have in verse 21, I charge
thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels
that thou observe these things without preferring one before
another, doing nothing by partiality. lay hands suddenly on no man,
and then this concerning Joseph and his brother's sins, neither
be partaker of other men's sins, keep thyself pure." So just in
those four verses in Timothy, we have about receiving accusations
from another, we have about rebuking sin, we have about not being
partial, and we have about not being partaker of other men's
sins and it applies to both of those two lessons that I've first
brought before you so then moving on to the third and that is obedience
to parents and in things that are small so going back to Genesis
now verses 13 and 14 in chapter 37 And Israel said unto Joseph,
Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? Come, and I
will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. Now remember, Joseph will know
that his brothers hate him. He's still willing to do his
father's bidding. And he said to him, Go, I pray
thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren. You get a
little hint here, his father's wanting to know about the brethren
from Joseph. and well with the flocks, and
bring me word again.' So he sent him out of the Vale of Hebron,
and he came to Shechem." Now, a willingness to do his father's
bidding was crucial to Joseph's life, painful though it was for
him. And it was also for David. Remember that it was David's
father that sent David to see how his brethren were doing when
Israel was fighting against Goliath and it was in that that then
brought to King Saul's attention this young man and all Israel
and they sang of him in their songs and so what hung upon that
obedience of Joseph And David, if they said, no, I'm not going,
that's just a manual task. I've got a much more important
job looking after the sheep or something else. I'm not going
to do that small task. By doing that, then it affected
their whole lives. We read in Proverbs 22, 29, seest
thou a man diligent in his business, he shall stand before kings,
he shall not stand before mean men. And that diligence begins
in small things. I say it to each of you young
people, that if you would get on well and be diligent and be
a blessing in your employment, And think of it first as in the
very smallest things, even before you are in employment, how you
are at home. The training for being a good
servant, a good worker, a good employee, is really to obey your
parents in the law. That's the training for it. And
very often if you start, when I first started as an apprenticeship,
Then my jobs were often sweeping the floor or cleaning up the
lathes or doing something that they were manual jobs. But those
are how we begin and if we do that well, people notice we're
doing a simple, a small, a manual job well, then they'll give us
something more and it gets to more and more and it's training
and we find that with Joseph, we find it with David. Many of
you are starting out, some of you have already started out
in employment, but take care that whatever you do, you do
well and you don't resist doing it just because it's a small
thing. You don't know what it will be a stepping stone through
to. The fourth thing is Providence
makes choice for us. Providence makes choice for us. Now there are times in our lives
that we need to make a choice which way to go. We've got to
look at the facts, compare it with the scripture and make a
choice. But other times that choice is
made for us, as it was in Joseph's case, and not just once. no he
did his father's bidding but then it was taken out of his
hands he was thrown into the pit it was taken out of his hands
he was sold and then he was sold again as a servant to Potiphar's
and his household and then in obedience and resisting evil
he was thrown into prison and that was taken out of his hands
how to get out of prison that wasn't in his hands And so many
parts in this life of Joseph, and we remember he was 17 here,
when he stood before Pharaoh he was 30, that's 13 years had
gone by, and then there were seven years of plenty, then there
was two years of the famine, and then he was made known to
his brethren 22 years later. But a big part of his life, instead
of Joseph saying, what should I do? I'll do this, I'll do that. It was taken out of his hands.
And sometimes it can be very encouraging when that is so.
Dear relatives, only just recently, a loved one not well, will we
send her into hospital? Will we not? And they really
felt he did need hospital treatment. but didn't want to have the risk
of infection there, so they kept back. But then she took ill,
the ambulance came, it was taken out of their hands, she had to
go in, and they saw it as God's kind providence, taking the decision
out of their hands, dealing with it, and felt, even difficult
as it was, that the Lord was in control, He had managed it.
And so do watch that in your lives. Notice some of the things
that you've had to make a decision with, and other things taken
out of your hands. Maybe it is, as young people,
and your father's house is taken out of your hands because a decision
is made for you by a parent, rightly so. and so notice the
Lord's kindness to his people not just in word of direction
but in shepherding in providence in things that happen in our
lives the fifth thing is a time to
run away from temptation rather than stay and resist it Genesis
39 verse 7 to 20, but I'll only just briefly overview this. This is when Joseph was in his
master's house as a servant and doing the business in the house.
His master's wife cast her eye upon him, she wanted to lie with
him, she tried and tried to get him to do it. There was a time
when he was alone in the house and she tried to grab hold of
him and to force him. And we read in verse 12, she
caught him by his garment saying, lie with me, and he left his
garment in her hand and fled and got out. It's a good thing
to learn from Joseph's life. Obviously there was times here
that he resisted her. But now it came a time that he
knew it was not resistance but to actually flee, to take himself
out of a situation where he himself could weaken and where he would
sin. And so he had already said to
her, how can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? And she wasn't listening. So
there are those times that the best way of dealing with temptation
and sin is to physically run away from it, turn away from
it, take ourselves out of that situation rather than stay and
argue or reason and try to deal with it in that way. So remember
that lesson from Joseph's life, a time to run away from temptation
rather than stay and resist it. Of course that then led to Joseph
being cast into prison and lay there for several years. And so in the sixth place I noticed
this lesson that there is a time that we are called to suffer
for when we have done well. This is taken up also in Paul's
writings, in his epistles, that it is praiseworthy that when
we have done well and suffer for it, this is well-pleasing
in the sight of God. But we need to be reminded of
it because there's something in us we think I've made an effort,
I've tried to do which is right, and yet I've suffered for it.
Things have gone wrong. It's not worth me serving the
Lord. It's not worth me obeying Him. I wish I hadn't have done
it, because it's made my life harder and more difficult. And
the lesson here with Joseph, we are to suffer tribulation,
and they that will live godly in Christ Jesus, our Lord says,
shall suffer persecution. I've given them thy word, the
world hath hated them. If they persecuted me, they will
also persecute you." So you think of Joseph, he didn't go along
with his brother's evil, so all he got in return for that was
hatred. He did his father's bidding and
what he got for that was cast into pit and was sold. He did
his master's work diligently and we're told that everything
under his hand prospered. The Lord made it to prosper for
his master. And what did he get for that?
Falsely accused and cast into prison. His master didn't believe
him, he believed his wife. Then he interpreted the prisoners'
dreams and rightly to them. And what did he get for that?
He was forgotten by the butler. And you can see how Satan would
get in and say, Joseph, you look back over your life, all the
time you've done good and all God has just given you hatred
and pits and sold and falsely accused and to be forgotten for
all your effort. But you know, Joseph was serving
the Lord. He had a clear conscience in
what he was doing. we're not to judge the right
or wrong of what we do or the blessing of the Lord by what
follows that, we're to leave that issue with the Lord and
there's a lot of lessons in that, for parents, for children, for
church officers, because when actions are taken there's always
consequences of some way, and many have said when they've acted
and brought things upon their head, never again, not going
to do it again, and yet some of the things that they've done
are right things, they're good things, and we shouldn't just
judge by the reaction, we should know that men that are approved
for sin and even shown up by us seeking to work and walk diligently,
will rise up against what they see. So the lesson is, suffering
for when we have done well, look for that approval that comes
from God, a clear conscience and the Lord's blessing, and
certainly that is what Joseph had. And so in the seventh place,
in all the places, unpleasant as they were, The Lord was with
Joseph. That made all the difference.
It makes all the difference through life. I'd much rather be in a
very difficult, trying situation and know fully that the Lord
has put me there and kept me there and I'm doing the Lord's
will than to be in a nice, pleasant situation and all the time thinking,
did I make a right move? Is this the Lord's will? Am I
where the Lord would have me to be? I wouldn't want to be
in that position. I'd much rather be in a position
that I was in many trials and difficulties and discouragements,
but no, I was where the Lord would have me to be. So with
Joseph, in all the places that he came, he was a good son, he
was a good servant, he was a good prisoner, he was a good ruler. Like we said earlier on, doing
good and doing his best did not start when he was a ruler that
started when he was but a lad and in small things, manual things
and that then went on to greater things so there's a lesson for
us there wherever providence places us as it did here with
Joseph wherever we are brought maybe because of what we've said
or done and difficult and unpleasant as it is, the Lord can still
be with us and is with his people in tribulation and can improve
that situation. We should seek that wherever
we are put, that we might improve that situation, that it might
be a real blessing to us. It's very sad when we see those,
the Lord's dear people, have professed it and they brought
into a situation, maybe in hospital, maybe they go into Bethesda,
and they don't like to be in Bethesda, and you can hear another
ministry here, you can profit, you've got brethren, but they
so don't like being where they were, they make everyone else's
lives miserable, and there's no profit to themselves at all,
whereas if they were resigned to it and thought, now how can
I profit in this situation, I'll make the most of it, I'll make
the most friends I can, I'll hear what ministry I can, and
profit from this situation. So some of you might be in a
difficult situation now, unpleasant situations, whether in study
or employment or because of the lockdown. But it's a good thing
if you think, well, the Lord is with Joseph. He can be with
me in this situation. May it work for good and I obtain
profit. And whatever I do in this time,
I do well and to the best of my ability and that I come out
of it thinking I've redeemed that time. I haven't wasted it
and lost it. I've redeemed it. So the lesson
here, in all the places, unpleasant as they may be, make the best
of that situation. Seek that the Lord is with you
in it and His blessing is upon what you do. No doubt there were
those that looked on Joseph and they acknowledged it, they knew
it. Laban was able to say of Jacob that since he was with
him, that all things had prospered. He said, I've learned by experience
that he has obtained the benefit with Jacob being there. We come
then to the eighth point, that Joseph, he used his knowledge
wisely. he used his knowledge wisely
and I'm thinking here of when Joseph was a ruler and when his
brothers were coming to him and he knew them now he could have
immediately revealed who he was to his brothers but instead he
used his knowledge of them and the fact that they did not know
him in a very wise way the way he dealt with them it brought
their sin to remembrance And he was over the test to see whether
they were really sorry. He could stand back and actually
listen to what they were saying without them knowing that he
understood what they were saying. The whole account would have
been so different if in the very first instance Joseph had said,
I'm Joseph, I'm your brother. All that had happened in that
account, it was Joseph keeping back. There's a time to speak.
and a time to keep silence. We read in Proverbs 29 verse
11, A fool uttereth all his mind, but a wise man keepeth it in
till afterwards. What if our Lord, when he joined
with the two on the way to Emmaus, as soon as he came to them, said,
Why are you sad? I am Jesus, who was crucified
and risen again. He didn't. And because he didn't,
they had all of that journey to Emmaus, a sermon in which
their heart burned within them when they didn't know who it
was. And then the Lord revealed himself in the breaking of bread.
There's a time that the Lord hid himself and a time that he
revealed himself to them. And it's a lesson to us to use
what knowledge we have wisely, rather than just pouring it out. And even a fool, if he keepeth
his silence, is esteemed a man of wisdom. But it's using that
wisdom in a right way. And just as a word on that as
well, If we are in an employment situation, I've always worked
on the principle that if I know something, if I've got skills
and I have someone working for me, under me or alongside me,
I try to impart all I've got to that person. I don't think,
hmm, if I tell him too much he's going to take my job. And I'm
going to keep a position of just one up upon the other employees
because I'll keep knowledge that only myself know. And that is
something that can come so easy go over us. I had a lesson years
ago in that, a firm I worked for, I probably would have been
24, and we had new computers in the place, quite early in
years, that would have been 1984 or something like that, and we
had the manufacturers come in and they told the accountant
how to use these computers and the idea was that that accountant
then taught his understudies and taught the others in the
firm how to use the computers but he decided no he was going
to be in a position of power he was going to keep it they
had to come back to him and find out how to use it as soon as
the managing director of the firm found out he sacked him
on the spot and rightly so And I always think you never lose
out by sharing what knowledge you have for the benefit and
the good of others and we all profit in that way. So use knowledge wisely. The ninth thing is mindful of
men's natures. We ourselves are sinners with
infirmities and faults and work with people like ourselves. And
we are to make allowances, we are to give warnings, not lay
traps for people and they fall into them, which we probably
could have fallen into ourselves. And so we read in Genesis 45
and verse 24, when Joseph sent his brethren away and they departed,
he said unto them, see that ye fall not out by the way. Just
that what he said, it was just a telling thing. He still, even
though he'd been so kind to them, he blessed them, he'd given all
this provision, he wanted them to come with him and to bring
his father He didn't expect more of them than what he would of
poor fallen sinners. He still knew they were quite
liable to fall out. And it's a good thing to remember
that our Lord is a sympathising High Priest He knows our frame,
he remembers that we are but dust. And we're to really deal
with one another in that way, remembering that we ourselves
have faults and failings and others will, and they will manifest
themselves in different ways. And Joseph, his experience of
men's nature was put to good use. He didn't go through life
expecting everyone to be without sin and perfect and never do
anything with the wrong motive or wrong way, no. And we look
at many of the epistles of the apostle and all the time he's
giving instruction and direction to counter the influence of sin
and what we are by nature. We are to be instructed and warned
and chastened and admonished but the Lord does that and doesn't
cast away and we're to imitate that in measure as well. Well the last one I want to say
is wagons as well as words. Joseph not only sent word to
his father that he was alive and that he wanted him to come
to him but he sent wagons and the best of Egypt, all the goods
of Egypt and how needful these were, I mean in a practical way
it was needful for carrying to Egypt his father and the little
ones, all their families and the provision, the wagons were
needed the provision was needed for them as well but as an added
token of the truth that he was alive and you see the effect
on his father in Genesis 45 and verses 23 to 28 or if we read
in verse 23 and we've already read 24 but To his father he sent after this
manor ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, ten she-asses
laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way. Then in verse 25 they went up
out of Egypt, 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. So there's the word on its own. And Jacob, he can't believe it,
22 years that his son was, he thought was dead and he'd seen
the blood. And now he's told that he's alive.
And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said
unto them. And then we read, and when he
saw the wagon, 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. And the turning point was these
wagons. If Joseph was not alive, where
did his sons get these wagons from? Where did they get all
the best of Egypt from? Here was real tangible evidence
of this. And very often the Lord puts
the two things together. You get the Apostle Paul and
he says, the Lord appeared for me in a great vision from heaven,
a light brighter than the midday sun. And that he spoke to me
and he gave me commission and teaching. And the Lord said that
it was himself speaking, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. And they would have said exactly
what Festus did say when he rehearsed it, thou art mad, thou art mad. And Paul might have wondered
it sometimes too, whether it was so. But when you look at
Paul's life before the Damascus Road, and after the Damascus
Road, what a difference, what a profound difference. And then,
so that he didn't be elated with that great vision, the Lord gave
him the thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet
him. A constant reminder, going back to Joseph, to Jacob, Jacob,
were you really wrestling with the angel? at Peniel? Did you really prevail? Well,
my name was changed from Jacob to Israel, and we find it in
this. The spirit of Jacob, their father, revived in Israel, said,
It is enough, the old Jacob, the supplant to Israel, the prevailer
with God. What a difference! But Jacob
also halted on his thigh. The Lord gave him something that
was extra to the vision, to the that remained, and there are
those blessings that accompany salvation, the things that are
joined with it, that go along with it, and they may vary, many,
many different things. When the Lord first worked in
my heart, first gave me spiritual life, I was beforehand wanting
to get away from the chapel, go right away. Afterwards I wanted
to attend every service that I could and just after that my
father said we're moving from Melbourne to Tasmania away from
the chapel and I said I'm not going, I'm staying here. I was
able to buy a house at 1920 and stay on my own. If the Lord hadn't given me eternal
life and opened my eyes then, I would say, good, I don't have
to go against my parents, I can just go away to Tasmania and
just leave the chapel just like that. And so the difference in
my life made in that time, it just proved the reality of what
happened on the doorstep of that day when the Lord appeared for
me. And so it's good to think of
that, how the Lord has in our lives, perhaps not just use words,
not just use the ministry, but accompanied it with things that
have happened. Maybe it is even things that
brought you to the Lord's house and to hear the word of God.
Maybe it is even like this time of lockdown. that you're now
joining with the young people's meeting that physically you wouldn't
have been able to get to at all but now because of the virus
and the lockdown you can now join with us and if the Lord
blesses that and uses that you've not only got the word but you've
got the circumstance of the lockdown as well etched upon your mind
that these things happen we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God that are the called according
to his purpose and so we have wagons as well as words so there's
these ten lessons here no doubt you can look over his life as
well and Jacob's found out with it find out many more and also
look at the parallels the types of our Lord Jesus Christ and
Him coming to His brethren, suffering at the hand of His brethren,
and yet in that going before to preserve lives. So may the
Lord bless this word and make it of use and help to you.