I'm gonna ask you to take your
Bibles and turn with me to the book of Genesis chapter 44. Genesis
44. Years have passed since Joseph's
envious brothers sold him into bondage. to a caravan of Midianites. And as cruel as that act was,
how little could the brothers of Joseph realize that their
insensitivity toward Joseph would, by the overriding providence
of Almighty God, be the very means by which The Lord himself
would make provision for his people in the midst of a famine.
They had no earthly idea. They did what they wanted to
do. God was going to turn it for good. Joseph, to be the provider of
his people, had to be in the position of
authority over the sale and the distribution of the corn that
was found in Egypt. He had to be the one that provided
for his family. Now to be there in that position,
he was going to have to interpret a dream for Pharaoh. That's how he got the position,
humanly speaking. And to interpret that dream,
he was gonna have to cross paths with Pharaoh's butler so that
Pharaoh's butler could tell Pharaoh when he had dreamed, I know a
guy. I was in jail with him. And I
just remembered, after two years, he was going to have to meet
this butler. And to meet this butler in jail,
he was going to have to be sold to a man named Potiphar. And
Potiphar's wife was going to proposition Joseph, and he resisted
her. And then she lied on him because
she was shunned. And to get to Potiphar's house,
He had to have been sold to those Midianites that was coming to
Egypt. And to get to the Midianites,
his brothers were going to have to be envious of him and throw
him in a pit. They wanted to kill him. Reuben
said, no, let's don't kill him. Let's sell him. Brethren, according
to the power of Almighty God, counsel of Almighty God, the
working of all things after the counsel and purpose of His own
will. Truly, Romans 8 28 is always
Romans 8 28. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose. Whatever we're going through
right now, whatever trial you're going through right now, rest assured, whatever it is,
it's being ordered by God. Whatever it is, it's ordered
of the Lord. And the Lord is working it for
His glory and honor, and He's doing it for the good of His
people. The scripture says in Ecclesiastes 11.5, now listen
to this, Ecclesiastes 11.5, As thou knowest not what is the
way of the Spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of
her that is with child, even so thou knowest not the works
of God who maketh all. I've said before, I told you
what Brother Don told me. He said, we do not know what
God's doing. We do not know. Whatever He's
doing, He's doing it according to His will and His purpose and
His counsel. And He's doing it for our good,
the people of God. Now, in all the scriptures, especially
in this book that we've been considering, Genesis, this book,
we have seen how the Lord providentially is bringing His people to Himself,
causing them, being led by the Spirit of God, in the accomplishment
of his will. His will gonna be done. Whatever
he's doing, that's his will. Now in our passage tonight, I'd
like to look in Genesis 44. I'd like to look at the first
17 verses. I'll make a few comments here. But I want us to see how
the Lord is bringing his people. You know these interactions that
his brothers has had with Joseph. They don't know who he is. He
knows him, they don't know him. how Joseph is directed. Joseph
is a picture. He's a picture of multiple pictures,
but I can see some. For one, he's a picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ and his brothers as his people, the people of
God, the elect of God. That's a picture type. But in
this passage tonight, we're going to see some, I've seen some overlapping
pictures, different types. And I pray that God bless this
message. I have asked the Lord Lord, please
allow me to preach what I believe I see in my heart. Allow me to
have my mouth say what my heart is seeing, beholding, and loving. I pray that God bless this message
to our hearts because it is so beautiful. I want us to read
the first two verses here. Genesis 44, one and two. And
he, that is Joseph, commanded the steward of his house, saying,
fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and
put every man's money in his sack's mouth. And put my cup,
the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his
corn money He did according to the word that Joseph has spoken.
Now, in that first two verses right here, here's some pictures. And like I said, now, you're
going to see what I'm talking about as we look at these first
17 verses. We're going to see some pictures
and how different ones picture, shadow, type of the Lord, his
people, father, spirit, In this first two verses, in these first
two verses, we're going to see the foundation of God's sovereign
mercy being laid out. Here, Joseph, Joseph now, is
a picture of the father, a type of the father. The 10 sons of brothers, I'm sorry, of Joseph. They're types of the sheep. Benjamin
is, I'm going to say two types of him, but I'll just tell you
right now, he's a picture right here, type of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And the steward of Joseph's house
is a picture of the spirit. So you've got the father, you've
got the the 10 brothers, you've got the sheep, you've got the
Lord Jesus Christ, you've got the Holy Spirit. Now here's a
way that it's unfolding here. We're going to see how truly
salvation is by grace alone. The steward was commanded to
take the sacks and fill those sacks with as much corn as those
brothers could carry. the providing of food, the heavenly
food. That's what that corn sits for.
That's the bread, the bread of heaven. That's what they were
gonna eat. That's what God's people feast on. Fill as much
as they can carry. You know, the scripture says
in John 1 16 of His fullness, have all we receive in grace
for grace. You put as much corn in those
sacks as those men can carry. Give them all they can carry,
give them all they need. And it was also to put the men's
money back in the sacks, reminding us of this, salvation is of the
free grace of God, free grace, free grace. No part of the whole
scenario set forth before us tonight was according to the
work of the brothers. I want you to hold your place,
turn to Titus, Titus 3. I quote this first, I'm gonna
read Titus 3, verses 5 to 7. I quote Titus 3, 5 a lot. But I want you to look at this,
Titus chapter 3, verses 5 to 7. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, But according to his mercy, he saved us by
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which
he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that
being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life. You put all the corn those men
can carry in those sacks, and you put their money back in there. They were filled to the brim
All their money was in their possession. But there was one
thing that was done differently to one of the brothers, to the
youngest brother, Benjamin. In his sight, Joseph told his
steward, he said, I want you to put my cup, my cup, you put
my cup, the silver cup, You put that in Benjamin's sack. Benjamin was gonna be carrying
that cup that's gonna be discovered later and would prove to be,
now here's where I said I see some overlapping pictures here.
Whenever we read the scriptures, you remember these, all these
scriptures speak of Christ and his glory, his glory in the salvation
of his people, it's all concerning his honor. But in that silver
cup being put in Benjamin's sack, I see two things. In just a moment,
we're gonna see that that cup is gonna be a revelation of A,
man's depravity, but two, it's gonna be a beautiful picture
of Christ's suffering in the redemption of His people. Now
let's just look at these scriptures and just read them and let the
Word of God speak for itself. And as we read, remember this
one thing. When you read these scriptures,
you're looking for Christ. You look for Him. If you don't
see Him, if you don't see His glory, if you don't see His honor,
if you don't see His work in calling out His people, if you
don't see Him receiving honor, glory, and praise, you just read
words. Look for the Lord Jesus Christ
in every passage. Look for Him. He's there. Old
Charles Spurgeon said in lectures to his students, he said, you
look for Him. He's there. You find Him. You find Him. Find
Him. Verses three to eight. And as
soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they
in their asses. And when they were gone out of
the city and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward,
up, follow after the men. And when thou dost overtake them,
say unto them, wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? Is not this it in which my Lord
drinketh? whereby indeed he divineth. You've
done evil in doing so, and he overtook them. As he spake unto
them these same words, and they said unto him, Wherefore saith
my Lord these words? God forbid that thy servants
should do according to this thing. Behold the money which we found
in our sacks, we brought again unto thee out of the land of
Canaan. How then should we steal out of thy Lord's house silver
and gold? Now I want you to notice first,
surety of God's fetching grace. Joseph is going to have these
brothers back with him. The Lord's going to have us.
He's going to have his people. And so he sends this steward,
picture of the Spirit of God, toward these vessels of his mercy. The steward knew where they were.
They were going back home. He knew where the road was. But let me ask you this. Does
the Lord not know where his people are? Does he not know where his
sheep are? Does he not know where the vessels,
objects of his mercy are found? Joseph instructed his steward.
He said, now, and look, okay, the steward knows that that silver
cup's in the in the sack of Benjamin. He knows it's there. Joseph tells
him, he said, I want you to go after him and this is what I
want you to say to him. You go and you undertake, overtake him
and then you ask him, why have you rewarded evil for my kindness? Here's what he's asking him.
Why have you taken that which belongs to the one that has been
so kind to you? Why have you done this? He was
talking about that cup. Why have you taken something
that was mine? And they immediately began to
justify themselves, denying that any wrong was done by them. But do we not behold here something
of our own ignorance of indwelling sin? Here's where I saw a picture
of Benjamin. Now, Benjamin is two pictures. First of all, he's a picture
of us being born in Adam by nature. That silver cup was in Benjamin's
sack. And he was ignorant of it, wasn't
he? He didn't know it was in that
sack. But is he not a picture of all men in type in the fall,
ignorant of his guilt? before Almighty God calls us
out of darkness? How much before you were called
out of darkness, how much were you aware of the guilt that had
occurred before God? How much do you know about that?
How much did you care about it? He didn't know, he didn't know,
but he was guilty nonetheless by possession, he had it. There's
the cup. I didn't know anything about
it. You still got it. That's not yours. That's not yours. Stuart faithfully spoke as Joseph
directed. He told him, he stopped him,
he fetched him, he stopped him, and he told him on the road,
this is what you've done. You've got something in your
possession that doesn't belong to you. Let me ask you this,
does the Spirit of God not convince us of sin? How did we ever know
sin unless God would reveal to us in regenerating grace what
we are? Before, as I said, we were ignorant. He told them they had something
that belonged to Joseph. Now I want you to stay with me
here and listen to what happened here. I told you a while ago
I saw overlapping pictures. Joseph, I said before, was a
picture of the father. And here's that silver cup. Whose cup was that? The cup was Joseph's. Joseph's
to give. That cup is a picture of the
sufferings of our Lord. and it belonged, that cup of
suffering, was given to the Lord Jesus Christ by the Father. The
Father gave him that. And as Joseph was a beautiful
picture of the Father, and that precious cup set forth the personal
suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ, that cup was in the hand of the
Father to give to the Son. And that steward came to him
and said, you stole it. You stole it. They denied it. They said, we don't know anything
about what you're talking about. But that's man by nature. Man by nature has got a heart
that covets the glory of God to do what God wants to do. Man
thinks that he's able and the spirit of God convinces us of
what we are. That cup belonged to the father
to give to Christ alone. The spirit said, you got it.
You're guilty. That cup of Christ's sufferings,
no one could drink of that cup except the eternally chosen son
of God to bear the sins of his people. And when that steward
came and told him, he said, you're a thief. You've returned evil for the
kindness that was shown unto you. That's what we've done.
We're just as guilty as we can be. We don't know anything about
what you're talking about. We're guilty. If we say we have
no sin, we make God a liar. He said, I don't know anything
about it. I don't know what you're talking
about. These brothers of Joseph heard
these things and they denied it. That's the attitude of every
person born in Adam. They were so sure of their innocence,
they were willing to put their lives on the line. We're not
guilty. And the steward says, we'll see.
We'll see. Look at verses nine and 10. with whomsoever of thy servants
it be found. Here's what the stewards say.
They told him, they said, we don't, uh-uh, no, no, no, no,
no. No, we paid our debt, they said in verse eight, we brought
the money back, oversight, whatever happened, we brought it back.
Now, do you think we would steal out of thy Lord's house silver
and gold? And the steward, is speaking
as the Spirit of God convinces us of sin. With whomsoever of
thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will
be my Lord's bondmen. And he said, now also let it
be according unto your words. He with whom it is found shall
be my servant, and ye shall be blameless. Oh, do we not see
the glorious truth of God's substitutionary death, Lord Jesus Christ, laying
down his life in the stead of his people. This is what the
Lord prayed. Turn to Matthew 26. Matthew 26,
verse 39. Concerning that cup, that heel on, Matthew 26, 39. He's in the garden of Gethsemane,
told his disciples to stay where they were. He'd go off and pray.
He fell on his face and he prayed, saying, my father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. He's going to have to drink the
cup of suffering. Christ is going to have to. And
the brothers were saying when they, that Stewart told them,
he said, somebody has stolen the cup. Somebody has stolen
that which belongs to God. Somebody has stolen that which
belongs to God only to give. And you've taken it. You've taken
that which is the Lord's. Picture, type. And his brothers
told him, he said, no, we're innocent. You search, you search
whatever you want to. These brothers were saying in
ignorance that whosoever possessed the silver cup would die. Any of us got it? Let him die.
The rest of us will be blameless. Buddy, do we not see a picture
there of the truth of what our Lord said? Look over in John
18. Whoever's got the cup, you let
him die. The rest of us, we're blameless. John 18, verse 7. Then asked they, they were in
the garden of Gethsemane, and here comes Judas and all of them.
Then asked them again, whom seek ye? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I've told you
that I am he. If therefore you seek me, let
these go their way. that the saying might be fulfilled,
which he spake of them which thou gavest me, I've lost none.
Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it, smote the high priest's
servant, cut off his right ear, the servant's name was Malchus.
Then said Jesus unto Peter, put up thy sword into the sheath,
the cup which my father hath given me, shall I not drink it? And Stuart told him, you've taken
something that belongs to my master. You've taken something that don't
belong to you. That's not yours. That's not yours to possess.
That belonged to my master. And you're a thief. No, we're
innocent. You find it in our brothers here. You find whoever has the cup,
let him die. The rest of us will be blameless. Oh, the wonder. of the Lord Jesus
Christ, bearing the cup of the sufferings given him by the Father. There is therefore now, because
he has laid down his life, there is therefore now no condemnation
to them which be in Christ Jesus, to them who walk not after the
flesh, but after the spirit. These men, just adamant. We are not to blame. The Spirit of God says, yes,
you are. Verse 11 to 17. Then they speedily
took down every man his sack to the ground and opened every
man him sack. And he searched and began at
the eldest. I thought, oh, the wisdom of
Almighty God. Stuart knew it's there. He knew
it's there. He knew it's in the youngest
man's sack. It's in Benjamin's sack. What
does he do? He starts with the oldest. He's
going to let all 10 brothers watch. He's going to go through
that sack. He's going to go through it and
through it. I can just imagine, probably dumped all that corn
out on the ground. We're going to search. He speedily took down every man
in his sack to the ground, opened every man in his sack. And he
searched, began at the eldest and left at the youngest. cup
was found in Benjamin's sack. Then they rent their clothes
and laid it every man his ass and returned to the city. And
Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house, but he was yet
there and they fell before him on the ground. And Joseph said
unto them, what deed is this that ye have done? What ye not
that such a man as I can certainly divine? or my margin says, make
trial. And Judah said, what shall we
say unto my Lord? What shall we speak or how shall
we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity
of thy servants. Behold, we are my Lord's servants,
both we and he also with whom the cup is found. And he said,
God forbid that I should do this, but the man in whose hand the
cup is found, he shall be my servant. And as for you, get
you up in peace unto your father. Oh, again, what a beautiful picture
is seen here in the cup being found in Benjamin's sack. Now here, Benjamin, who I said
was a picture of all of us who ignorantly, falling in at him,
ignorantly, guilty, guilty. Benjamin, he had not personally
taken the cup, did he? How'd he get there? Joseph put
it there through his servant, through his steward. Benjamin
did not personally take the cup, but he's going to bear the guilt
of it. He possessed that cup nonetheless.
Joseph had instructed the steward, you place it there. Benjamin
would bear the blame of having that cup. And likewise, Lord
Jesus Christ knew no sin personally. Benjamin didn't know anything
about it. He was ignorant, but the Lord Jesus Christ, according
to the good pleasure of his father, was made sin. He hath made him
sin, who knew no sin. Benjamin was personally innocent. So was our Lord. But he made
him sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Benjamin was ignorant, guilty
nonetheless by possessing the cup. But the Lord God himself
He was made sin with his eyes wide open. Benjamin didn't know,
the Lord did. Being without blame, he knew
no sin, he would bear and suffer the penalty of the sins of his
people that we might not eternally suffer. That Stuart found him. He found it, showed it to him.
He said, let's go, let's go. You have to go back and you got
to face Joseph. Can you imagine these brothers? Said, all we wanted was to buy
some corn. And look how, look the trouble we've gotten into.
Oh, but the deliverance through all of that trial. If you be
without chastisement, you're none of his. You know, scripture
doesn't say anything about any other family concerning Joseph
and his personal deed. Nobody else, just his family,
just the Lord's family. We suffer the trials because
of his love for us. Joseph loved his brothers. But
now they're gonna have to go back and face him. And that cup
being found, they brought him back. Now they're standing before
Joseph, and buddy, I'm telling you, Judah, starting in verse
14, he just bore his heart. You know what? These guys had
one hope, one hope. You know what it was? That Joseph
showed them mercy, that's it. And Joseph would show mercy. Judah, he came, verse 14, what'd
he do? He fell before him on the ground. Every knee going bow. Every tongue's
gonna confess. And Joseph asked him, what have
you done? Judah said in verse 16, what
shall we say unto my Lord? How shall we speak? How shall
we clear ourselves? You're not gonna clear yourself.
You're not going to. You're gonna have one hope. I will have mercy on whom I'll
have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. So it's not him that run it,
him that will it. God that showeth mercy. He told him, he said,
God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants. Behold, we are
my Lord's servants, both we and he also with whom The cup is
found. In that last verse, and I'm gonna
stop with this one, Joseph told him, he said, I'm gonna keep
the boy. That's what he's saying. I'm
gonna keep the boy. He's gonna be my servant, as
for you, get you up in peace unto your father. These men poured
their heart out in confession of sin. They didn't try to justify
themselves anymore. They were caught. And you know,
though, we find ourselves caught, and you can say, I didn't mean
to do that. I didn't mean that. That's no
excuse. That's no excuse. We're guilty. We were conceived in sin. We
came forth from our mother's womb speaking lies. We lie ignorantly. We sin with knowledge, without
knowledge. Christ Jesus came to this world
to save sinners. The Apostle Paul said, of whom
I am chief. But I'm telling you, one, first
John, and I will stop here. First John 1, eight and nine. First John 1, eight and nine. Again, I said,
they didn't try to justify themselves. They just started confessing.
How are we gonna clear ourselves? First John 1, nine, eight and
nine. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our
sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I pray that God bless this to
our heart. We can see, brethren, we came
into this world and I will readily admit we're ignorant We're ignorant
of the depth of our depravity and sin. We're ignorant of it.
I know this. But God knows. But in mercy, He's exposed it. And He's told us about it. He's
told us what we are. He's revealed to us that we're
sinners in need of mercy. And He brings us to Himself.
He shows that we've desired to steal His honor, steal His glory,
steal that which belonged to Him. but he wouldn't leave us
to ourselves. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad
that he would bring us to him, cause us to confess, and he'll
forgive us of our sins through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray the Lord bless this to our hearts. Amen. Okay, Gary.