Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Genesis chapter 43. Genesis 43. Verse 15 says this, and the man
took that present, and they took double money in their Benjamin and rose up and went
down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. The greatness of the famine that
was found in Canaan is a fit picture of the famine
of the hearing of the gospel in many places in this world. And Jacob is going to have to
send his sons back to Egypt. He's going to have to send them
to let them stand before their brother that they don't know. because he is the means by which
the Lord is gonna supply his people with food. I was reading this one verse
tonight, and I was thinking how merciful, how gracious the Lord
is to know our every need. to supply, he promised. I will supply all of your need. How surely we've heard many say,
doesn't mean we get all of our wants, but all of our needs. According to his riches in glory
in Christ Jesus. Benjamin is gonna have to be
brought. be brought and let Joseph see
him. Now Jacob has agreed. At first
he didn't. But now he's agreed to let Benjamin
go. And in Benjamin being brought
to Joseph, in this one verse right here, that verse gripped
my heart earlier this week and I began to look at that and I
thought, in that one verse of scripture, we see a beautiful
picture of every believer being brought to the Lord Jesus Christ. And our passage sets forth the
characteristics of God's people as they're being brought And
this beautiful characteristic is seen in part in every believer,
but it was fully seen in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
who came into this world to seek and to save that which was lost,
to save His people from their sins. So I want us to take a
few minutes and just look at this passage of Scripture and
realize I've entitled this message, Taking Benjamin to Joseph. Taking Benjamin, a picture of
every vessel of mercy, to Joseph, a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, historically speaking, Jacob needed some corn. He needed
some food. As I said, he was struggling
at first to send his youngest son, Benjamin, because Joseph
had made it clear, if you don't bring Benjamin, don't come back,
because it's not gonna do you any good, you're not gonna see
my face. You don't bring your youngest brother, you won't see
me. So Jacob has agreed to send his
youngest son, he's gonna send His younger son, he's gonna get
a gift, get some gifts. He's gonna get some balm, and
he's gonna get some honey, some spices, some nuts. He's gonna
take that gift, the double money, and he's gonna send that with
his son. Now, the instruction that we
see in this passage of Scripture, here's how, I was talking about
the characteristics God's people as they're being
brought to the Lord Jesus Christ. We're taught something, first
of all, about obedience. And the men that were told by
their dad, you take double money, you take the gifts. They took
that present. They took double money in their
hand. Benjamin rose up, went down to Egypt, and stood before
Joseph. Now, observe the obedience of
those boys. That was the first thing that
struck me, the obedience. We're instructed, turn with me
to Ephesians 6. I've told you before, I wonder
if you'd ask my kids, do you remember a particular passage
of scripture that your mom and daddy Quoted to you often, this
will be it, I guarantee it. Ephesians 6, I want to read one
and two. Children, obey your parents in
the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother,
which is the first commandment, promise. Humanly speaking, our
parents are the immediate and they're the visible vessel or
means of authority in this world. Parents are actually types of
the Lord Jesus Christ, unto whom obedience is due. Children, obey. Obey your parents
in the Lord, in those things that are agreeable to the mind
or will of the Lord. Why? Because this is right. It's
right. It's right for children to obey
their parents. But children, even in their obedience
to their parents, are taught something concerning that obedience. Submission. Submission to authority. That's right. That's right. That is the very heart's desire
of a regenerate. To obey. That's what you that
know the Lord, that's what you want to do. I want to obey, I
want to. I see myself, I see that old
man in me that wars against my new man and I fight, but there's
a new man that wants to obey. I want to follow after him. When Saul of Tarsus, he had letters
of authority, He was going to Damascus to take all that were
of the way. And where he found them, he was
going to take them bound back to Jerusalem. But the Lord stopped
him on the road to Damascus. A bright light shone about him
and a voice from heaven. It said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me? I'm Jesus, whom you're persecuting. It's hard to kick against the
pricks. Now, what were the next words out of Saul's mouth? Lord,
what would you have me to do? What do you want me to do? This
is the heart of a believer. Let me tell you what you want
to do. Let me tell you what that new
man, that new creation, that new man created and Righteousness,
true holiness. Let me tell you what you want
to do. I want to obey Him. I want to obey. I want to be
submissive unto Him. I want to obey. But all of this
is setting forth and leading to Christ's obedience unto the
Father. What did He say? I come to do thy will, O Lord. Turn with me to Romans 5, Romans
chapter 5. Look at the very heart. Here
is the very foundation of our hope of glory. Here's the foundation. Romans 5, verse 19. For by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. By the disobedience of one man,
by one man's one disobedience, by one act of disobedience, all
of mankind was plunged into darkness and bondage of sin. So by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Is it right? Is it right? to obey God. Absolutely. It's right. Children, obey your
parents in the Lord. This is right. Our Lord came
into this world to do one thing, work the work that his father
had given him, and he did it. This is my beloved son, whom
I'm well pleased you hear him These boys, back in Genesis 43,
15, the men took that present, took double money in their hand. Benjamin rose up, went down to
Egypt, and stood before Joseph. Jacob's sons obeyed their father, not only by rising up and actually
going down to Egypt, but they honored him. Ephesians 6.1.2,
children obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. Honor
your mother and your father. This is the first commandment,
the promise that you may live long in this land, that you may
live long. That's the promise. They honored
him. They honored him. And let me
tell you how I saw that. The men took Look at that next
word, verse 15. And the men took that present. Their father told them, in verses
11 and 12, their father Israel said unto them, if it must be
so, do this. Take of the best fruits in the
land of the vessels and carry down the man a present, a little
balm, a little honey, spices, myrrh, nuts, almonds. Take double
money in your hand. The money that was brought again
in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand. Peradventure,
it was an oversight. And the man took that present. They took that which was commanded
them of their father. He was gonna give them a gift.
He was gonna give this man in Egypt a gift. And he was gonna
give that gift for the man's pleasure and for appreciation
and for thanksgiving. The point is they took that gift. It wasn't that they were gonna
decide what they were gonna give, but all that spirit of thankfulness in the Lord's people for the
matchless gift that was given unto us. To know and to believe
that salvation, now listen to this, now here's a gift. They
took that gift, what a precious gift. Listen to this gift, Ephesians
2a. For by grace are you saved, through
faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. It was
that gift. What do we take? What do we receive
from the Lord as his gift to us? He gives us his son, but
he gives us faith to believe his son. What a gift. They honored
him. We honor the Lord when we believe
it. He took that gift Here we are
by the grace of God. We're redeemed from death and
sin to life and glory by the free grace of Almighty God. And
faith in Christ is God's way, God's gift by which we receive
and enjoy salvation. Faith is not the product. a man,
but it's the gift of God. So here's what I see. I see obedience
and honor that was given by these boys to their daddy based on
what he told them. And they obeyed him and they
honored him. But here's the second thing. Not only do we see the
beauty of obedience in Jacob's son, but let me tell you what
else we see. Willingness, willingness. willingness to make this journey
right here. Now, I looked it up. I just got
thinking. Now, they're in Canaan and they're
going to Egypt. Now, how far is that? It said anywhere between 250
and 330 miles. Take up to six weeks, depending
on where you started and where you stopped. Somewhere between
250, 330 miles, six weeks, six weeks. And they left, and they
did what their daddy said, and they did it out of a heart of
obedience, but they did it willingly. These boys didn't argue. There was no debate. It was a
willing work of love for their father. They
needed to obtain food. These boys were, like their daddy,
like the rest of their family, they were gonna starve. But now
here's the spiritual. Do we not see in type and picture
of the willingness of a believer to do whatever he must do to
obtain, through the hearing of the gospel, the food of heaven?
These boys were gonna have to walk 250 to 330 miles, up to
six weeks of travel. Six weeks to go buy some more
food. They weren't gonna just get in a car and just run over
to the grocery store and get us some stuff and just, I mean,
these boys were gonna have to make a trip. And there was gonna
have to be some effort in it. They needed some natural, they
needed some natural food. And it was gonna be a labor.
It's going to be a journey. Six weeks is a long time. One
way. Let me ask you this. How great
is the need of God's sheep? How great is the need of God's
sheep to be consistently feasting upon the bread of heaven? It
used to amaze me. It just amazed me because of my
own silliness, I know. When we would go down to Mexico, there were some of those people
that would come to the service and they would walk all day. They'd leave that morning to
be at the services that evening. And they would walk hours, hours. And I thought, what dedication. And does our flesh not so often,
you know, let me tell you how it is with me. Is it this way
with you? John Newton says, you know, you
that love the Lord, is it thus with you? How many times can
I come up with a silly excuse? Oh, well, I'm just, you know,
I'm just this, that, and the other, or it's just, I just,
I'd have to do all, These men made that journey,
but to be able to have the consistency of being able to meet with God's
people and savor the message of Christ, that regenerated center
that's been called and taught of God to see that any sacrifice
any sacrifice that has to be made to be where the preaching
of the gospel is, is that too high? Is that too costly? Almighty God, who gave of His
Son, who gave His only begotten Son, who came into this world
and lived and died for His people, Is not the hearing of Him proclaimed
worth it all? They were willing to go. Our
willingness to worship Him is the blessed result of His willingness
to come into this world as a servant of His Father, servant of Jehovah,
to find His lost sheep and save them, all that the Father had
given Him. They were His. They're His. and he's gonna have
them. What did he say concerning his
willingness to obey? He was obedient, but listen to
his willingness to be obedient. My meat is to do the will of
him that sent me. This is what I want to do. I
want to do it willingly. I thank the Lord. I thank the
Lord that I want to stand in this pulpit. I want to. Can you imagine the drudgery? Well, I can tell you this. If
I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't do it. I can tell you that. I wouldn't. If I had no heart, it would be
because the Lord didn't give me a heart. But I mean, I want
to be here. You want to be here. That's the
reason you're here. You want to be here. You want to be here.
We're obedient, but we're not stubbornly obedient. Like the
story of the little boy, you've heard him. He's standing up in
the back seat, and Dad tells him to sit down. He stood up
and wouldn't sit down. His dad just shoved him back
down. He said, I'm sitting down, but I'm still standing up in
my mind. You know, he wanted, you know, he didn't want to.
God's people are obedient, but they're willing, they're made
willing in the day of God's power. They want to. But there's another
precious observation that I found in this passage. While Jacob
would easily be able to send the gifts of that land, the balm,
the honey, the fruit, the spices, nuts, he could easily give that
as a gesture, a kind, considerate gesture of his appreciation. He could send the double money
because he owed it. He owed that. For the food, he
owed it. But that which honored the Lord. And I looked down at that passage
of scripture. Here's where the Lord was honored.
Verse 15, the man took that present and he took double money in their
hand. And these two words, gripped my heart, and Benjamin, and Benjamin. Jacob could send a little gift
of appreciation with a few nuts. He could send a little bit of
money because he owed that. But when he sent Benjamin, he
was sending his heart. He sent his heart. Listen to the word of the Lord
toward his people. Proverbs 23, 26. My son, now I know this, whoever
the Lord's talking to, it's his people. That's who he's talking
to, my son. Give me thine heart. Give me thine heart. You know, This world and its man-centered
religion twists this passage of scripture and tries to convince
men in order to be saved, they have to give the Lord their heart.
Well, I can tell you this, no one dead in trespasses and sins
has any interest in what you're saying. That is a distortion of scripture,
to give the Lord one's heart in the context of this scripture.
The Lord is speaking to those who have a new heart, who have
been converted, regenerated by God's spirit. In this world of
things, mess, and stuff, There is enticement to God's people. And it's enticing because of
an old man that's in us. But the Lord has instructed His
people that we're to have no other gods before Him. And I'm
telling you, these little G-gods, they are just, I mean, ready
for the taking. But here's the instruction of
the Lord to His people. He said, give me, give me thine
heart. The Father, because of His love
for us, gave us His heart. The apple of His eye. His only
begotten Son. The one in whom He's well pleased.
One that the Lord Jesus Christ is Father. You ever hear me? I'm one with
you. I am the Father of one. Oh, the
union. The mysterious union of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He gave His heart. The Father, because of His love
for us, gave us His all. He gave us love, safety, redemption, wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, redemption, joy, peace. He gave us all. He gave us His
heart. And we're totally the gainers
as we're, by the grace of God, moved to give that which God
has given us. Did not the scripture say the
love of God is shed abroad at our hearts by the Holy Spirit?
And the Lord instructs us to give back unto Him that which
He's given to us and our new man. We bow to that. We bow to Him. And here's what
a believer says when you read, when you hear those words, give
me thine heart. The believer's going to say,
Lord, my heart is yours. James, Peter, after he was raised from the
dead, and he's on the seashore there, and Peter and some other
disciples are fishing, and John looks on the shore, and he says,
it's the Lord. Peter jumps in. They meet the
Lord on the shore there. The Lord asked Peter, Peter, lovest thou me more than these?
Yay, Lord. He asked him the second time,
asked him the third time. Peter was grieved the third time.
Peter told him, he said, Lord, you know all things. You know
I love you. Why? Because the Lord had his
heart. The Lord had given him a new heart. It is by the grace
of God that a sinner, regenerated by the power of God's Spirit
freely, gives his heart unto the Lord. a willing, obedient
heart. We love him because he first
loved us. In closing, we see that Joseph's demand for Benjamin
to be brought to him and Jacob's struggle to let him go. Here's what we learn. The Lord's
going to teach us. You give me your heart. Hold on to the things
of this world loosely. You've heard Brother Scott say
that so many times. Hang on to the things of this world. Well,
I love my kids. I love this. Hang on to them
real loosely. Son, my son, give me your heart. Give me your heart. All that Joseph desired for the
good of his family, according to the will of the Lord, was
providentially going to be provided. It's going to be for the good
of his family. The Lord's will is going to be
done. Joseph, you see, was placed in a position of authority and
that authority gave him the ability and the freedom to be able to
direct the steps of his family for his pleasure, for Joseph's
pleasure, for Joseph's desire, and for their good. He knew them. Again, they didn't know him at
first. Lord willing, we'll get there.
But oh, look at that beautiful picture. Just as Joseph had all
the authority to be able to order the steps of his family, because
he had all the food. They needed the food. They had
to have him. They had to have him. And he gonna bring them
to himself. That's what he's gonna do. And he's doing it beautifully. Has not the father? given the
Lord Jesus Christ power over all flesh, that he should give
life, life eternal, eternal life to as many as the Father has
given him. Jacob's boys rose up, scripture
said, and they stood before Joseph. He had told them, he told them,
he said, don't bring your brother, don't show up, you ain't gonna
see my face. But here it says right here, they stood before
Joseph. Joseph's desire was to have,
even though his father's not there yet, they're coming. We're
all coming, all of God's family. We're all coming, all coming
unto him. That's his will. Father, I will
that all that you've given me be with me. where I am that they
may behold my glory. I pray that the Lord bless this
one passage of scripture to our hearts tonight, showing us here's
the way God brings his people to himself. Here's the attitude
that they're gonna have. Here's how they gonna come. They're
gonna come obediently. He's gonna make them willing,
willingly obedient to him. And they're gonna be shown, they're
gonna be shown got their heart, and they want to give their heart
to Him. And they're going to stand before Him accepted for
His glory and our good.