I'm gonna ask you to take your
Bibles and turn with me to the book of Genesis 42. Genesis 42. I'd like to look at one verse
of scripture. Verse 15. Joseph is speaking to his brothers He says, hereby you shall be
proved by the life of Pharaoh. You shall not go forth hence
except your youngest brother come hither. The Spirit of God moved upon
a man named Moses to pen this book. Moses was a man just like
all of us. He struggled, saw his frailty, but God moved upon him to set
forth the truth of God's mercy to a people of God's choosing
that those people might be made to know and behold the mystery
of God's sovereign grace, beginning from the existence or the creation
of man. God was pleased to show mercy
to his people. Now through these scriptures,
we've been taught that God historically sent a famine Famine that was
in all the world. But remember, that's a picture
of the famine of the word of God, the hearing of the words
of God. Now, how would we know that there
was a famine today in this world? There's a famine in this world. And the only way we know that
is God's told us that. He said, I'm going to send a
famine. not of bread and water, but of hearing the words of the
Lord. But I want you to consider, and we're gonna get to that 15th
verse in just a second, but I want us to remember the particular,
particular mercy of God. This passage of Scripture is
dealing with a particular family, a particular man, particular
sons of that man. Consider the mercy God that speaks
of one man. His name was Jacob. That's what
verse one said. Now when Jacob saw that there
was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, why do you look
one unto another? Behold, I've heard that there's
corn in Egypt. Get you down thither and buy
for us from thence that we may live and not die. One man, one
man. One man saw, one man heard, one
man instructed. Of all the other people in the
world, the Spirit of God didn't mention anybody else concerning
going to meet Joseph. A bunch of them went to meet
Joseph. Joseph was the only one you could come to. Nobody else
could distribute the coin. You had to go to Joseph. That's
what Pharaoh said. You got a problem? You go see Joseph. Don't come
see me. But here was this one man ought of God to know the only
place of hope. Now that one man is a beautiful
picture of God's people that see and know where there's hope
and it's hope only in Christ. I looked at that in all of the
world. The famine was in all of the
world, but here's one man that God was pleased to talk about
in this passage of Scripture. Can it be that God would reveal
His mercy to just one man? Turn back to Genesis
6, 5. This passage still just amazes
me. Genesis 6, 5 to verse 8. Genesis 6, 5, And God saw that
the wickedness of man was great in the earth, that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And
it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and
it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy
man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man
and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air, for
it repenteth me that I have made them. But, one man in all of the earth found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. One man, one man. Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was just as guilty as all
of us. Noah's heart was just as black
as all of us. But God was pleased to show mercy.
God delights in mercy. He delights in it. Did Noah deserve
in himself to be destroyed? Absolutely. You know the answer
to that. Absolutely. Why was he not destroyed? Because
God found grace. God looked upon Noah in mercy
in Christ. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. But you know what? God Almighty
has always been pleased to show mercy to this world for the sake
of one man, the Lord Jesus Christ. And in our passage of scripture,
Joseph is a picture of Christ. Joseph is the man that everybody's
going to see. And Jacob's 10 sons, the scripture
says, was sent to this man, Joseph. Providentially, God is going
to meet all of the needs of his people. And Joseph sees his brothers,
his brethren, and he knows them. They don't know him. He makes
himself strange to them. He speaks roughly to them. He's going to show them something,
but we're gonna see something, too. Joseph said concerning his
brethren, they're there to buy corn. He asked them, where are you
from? Oh, we're from Canaan, and we're here, we're the sons
of one man, and there's, one of our brothers is still there,
and there's, one of our brothers is not, he's not here anymore.
They're looking at him. They don't know who he is. He said, you spies, you spies. You're here to spy out this land.
You're here to see the nakedness of this land. I know what you're
here for. No, no, no, no. No, we're true men. We're honest.
We're correct. We're right. We're upright. Joseph tells them in verse 15,
hereby you shall be proved. Oh, you're gonna be examined.
I heard what you said. I heard what you said concerning
yourself. I heard what you said, where
you from. But you're gonna be scrutinized. You're gonna be
tested. Joseph knew where they were from.
Knows everything about them. But for their sake and for their
cause to have to walk In this world, in submission to Joseph,
they're gonna be tried by fire, but this is all a beautiful picture. The Lord who knows his own, he
knows the faith that they have. He gave it to them. All men have
not faith. It's given unto you to believe. So Joseph's brethren are hemmed
up. They're in Egypt. They're in
Egypt. They're staying in a place that
they're just there to buy food. That's all they want. We're gonna
buy food and we're leaving. They're hemmed up, not as criminals
of Egypt, but rather hemmed up because of the compassion that
Joseph would show them. These men are in a dilemma. Again,
they were just there to buy food. And he said, I'm going to prove,
I'm going to test you. I'm going to make proof of you. These men are held fast in Egypt,
and while that's a dilemma to them, their daddy's waiting on
them. Come back and bring the corn, but these men are being
hemmed up and held by Joseph and surely they're looking at
this as a heartache. But what safety? Joseph's got
them. Joseph is gonna hold on to them
and protect them. And though he's speaking to them
in a harsh way, seemingly harsh way, a humbling way, if we look
at their state, and the glorious position of safety and joy found
within the hearts of these men later when they realized what
Joseph's done for them. They don't know now. They don't
know, they don't realize now what's going on. But oh, the
mercy that's being shown these men. I want you to turn to Ephesians
4. These men are actually his prisoners is what, the prisoners
of love. Ephesians chapter four, look
at verses one to three. Listen to what Paul the apostle
says. I, therefore, the prisoner of
the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith
you're called. Now what he's saying is we've
been called to be prisoners of the Lord. Normally speaking, when you hear
somebody's a prisoner, that's usually Kind of a slur, not a
good thing. Here Paul says, I therefore the
prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith you're called to be a prisoner. You're called to
be a prisoner of the Lord. And walk with all lowliness and
meekness, with longsuffering for bearing one another in love,
endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond So
this is a glorious calling to be called a prisoner of the Lord. I'm going to prove you, Joseph
said. You're going to be proved. Now we all admit with the Apostle
Paul that this blessing of being a prisoner and being proven is
one that usually flies in the face of our of our flesh. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse
11 says this. Now, no chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. No trial of our faith And we're
gonna be proven. We're all gonna be proven. That's
what Joseph told them. He said, you're gonna be proven.
I'm gonna prove you. That you are who you say you
are. They were his brethren. And he was gonna prove it to
them. He was gonna prove them and prove himself to them. No chastening for the present.
It's not joyous. I know that I'm looking at some
folks tonight that's going through some tough trials. I know somewhat what a lot of
you is going through. And no chastening for the present
seems joyous. It's hard. It's hard to go through
some of these things. Whether it's family, bodily,
or some trial with this world and its harshness, religion that
opposes us, These things are hard. Every time we're proven. But all of these things that
we're going through are for the glory of God. That's what we
just sang. We tried and afflicted, but he
said, I'll never, no never, no never forsake you. But knowing,
turn with me to Hebrews 11, knowing that these trials are grievous. We know that they're lovingly
sent by the Lord, and truly, we would have it after we've
pondered. Now, Brother Scott told me one
time, I've told you this before, I'd gone through a trial, and Heard some things from a
doctor I didn't really want to hear. This was God's first words
to me. He said, you know what, the hardest
part is when you first hear it. Man, I bet you I've told that
to so many people. The hardest part's when you first
hear it. The Lord's grace is sufficient. Always is. Hebrews 11, 24, 26. By faith, Moses, when he was
come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach
of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he
had respect unto the recompense of the reward. The trials and
tribulations that we go through, they're always hard when we first
hear them, always, they're hard, they're hard. But do you know,
as by the grace of God we ponder and we consider and we pray and
we seek the Lord's guidance, we ask the Lord for grace and
mercy. When you ponder these things, knowing that they're
sin of God, You wouldn't have it any other
way. You wouldn't. You'd say, well, would you change
it? No, because this is the Lord's will. I'm telling you, these
brethren of Joseph are going to be proven, and we are too. We're going to be proven. What
a blessed state of proof when it's found in an unworthy sinner
that rejoices now to be the prisoner of the Lord. What a calling. What a calling. Who are you?
I'm the Lord's prisoner. Joyfully, joyfully confessing
myself to be bound with the glorious chains of his love. He's loved
me with an everlasting love. And all that he does for me is
gonna be for my good and for his glory. He spewed out his
wrath. upon his son, bearing my sins,
and now he's going to do me good, gonna deal well with me. Scripture
says when Paul and Silas were bound in the Philippian jail,
they prayed and sang praises unto God. God's people love the
truth that they're being kept secure in the prison of his grace. They're gonna be proven. You're
gonna be proven. You're gonna be tried. Your faith
is gonna be tried. And beloved, when the Lord's
dealings with us seem harsh, let us remember. Lord, help me
to remember. He has set us apart as heirs
of glory, and he's going to lovingly, I think about this more and more,
Neil, weaning us from this world. We're going to look forward to
leaving this world. You will. You say, I don't see
how that can be. I've seen it. I've heard believers that are
dying say it. I'll be glad when I'm gone. I
look forward to leaving this world. God is gonna wean us from
this world, and he's gonna wean us by lovingly proving us and
proving us and proving us by trials, whom the Lord loveth,
chasteneth and scourgeth every son that he receiveth. So he's seen fit to often cause
us to wade the waters of trial to prove our faith, to show it,
to test it, to show unto us. He sees it, but he's gonna show
us. that he's faithful and he will
keep us. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
stood before Nebuchadnezzar. He said, now, boys, evidently,
y'all didn't hear what I said concerning the music. But when
all these instruments start playing, you bow. because if you don't, I'm gonna
throw you in a fiery furnace. And these boys said, King, let it be known today that we're
not gonna bow. We're not gonna bow. By the grace
of God, these boys being tried, their faith was proven. The Lord kept them. We're kept
by the power of God through faith. You don't have enough, I don't
have enough, I can't do that. I'm a weak and frail creature, I
don't have the power to do that. Somebody talking about people
who've got great faith, I'm telling you, you're looking at a frail,
frail creature. But kept by the power of God
through faith, our faith is going to endure. So hereby you shall
be proved. But there was one other thing
that Joseph told them. He said, by the life of Pharaoh,
you shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother
come hither. Now, Joseph, making himself strange
to these brethren, to his brethren. And he's speaking to them really
as an Egyptian would speak of the life of Pharaoh. He's speaking,
saying this by the one that's in greater authority than me. He said, except your youngest
brother. He said, now they had told him
They told him, you know, we're 10 brethren and our daddy's at
home and we've got one young brother there with him and then
our other brother's not. Jacob said, except your youngest
brother come hither. You're not getting out of this
prison. You're not leaving Egypt. Except your youngest brother
come, you're gonna be bound in this place right here. There was a son that was greatly
beloved of their father, Jacob, and his name was Benjamin. But
what a picture of the beloved son of God. This is my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased. Benjamin was a son that was looked
over and guarded by his daddy, Jacob. But the coming of that
son to where Joseph's brethren were being held, that was the
only way they're getting out. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall
not go hence, go forth hence, except your youngest brother
come hither. That youngest brother was their
only hope. That's all they got. I looked up these words, and
here's the blessing in it. If we just read over that and
just say, well, except, I mean, except you go get Benjamin, I
guess that you know. But there was an adjective that
was put in concerning that brother. It's gotta be your youngest brother. Your youngest brother. except
your youngest brother come hither, you're not gonna leave. Looking
at that word, and you can look this up, I invite you to do this,
it's such a precious thing to be able to look these words up.
That word youngest right there, it means small, insignificant,
little, least, less. But that word, youngest is from
a root word which means to feel loathing against self. To feel the loathing against
self. Joseph's younger brother, Benjamin,
was here a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn
over to Philippians 2.6. Knowing the meanings of those
words, Philippians 2. What does youngest mean? Small, insignificant, little,
least, less. Philippians 2, six to eight. Who being in the form of God,
thought it not right to be equal with God, but made himself no
reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, was made
in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion of the man,
he humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. Lest your youngest brother come,
that one that's small, insignificant, little, least, less, that one
that is feel the loathing against himself. He made himself of no
reputation, became a servant, laid down his life, forsaken
of his father. My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? Because you're holy. Almighty God, who abased himself,
and brought himself, humbled himself, to a state of servitude
under his father, a servant. Look what he said of himself.
Read Psalm 22. Except your youngest brother,
the less, the least, the insignificant, the little, the small. Psalm
22, six to eight. Now these are the words of our
Lord. The words of our Lord as he stood
in the place of his people before the law. But I'm a worm and no
man. A reproach of men and despise
of the people. All they that see me laugh me
to scorn. They shoot out the lip. They shake the head saying he
trusted on the Lord that he deliver him. Let him deliver him seeing
he delighted in it. That's the youngest brother. Joseph told these men, his brethren,
he said, you're going to be proved. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall
not go forth hence. You're not getting out of this
place of bondage. You're not getting out of Egypt, except
your youngest brother come hither. Almighty God, was pleased, according
to his everlasting covenant of grace, to send a savior. Call his name Jesus. He shall
save his people from their sins. If your youngest brother doesn't
come, you're gonna be here. Brethren, except the Lord Jesus
Christ had come into this world and made himself according to
his words, a worm. The lowest, the least, the insignificant,
humble himself, made himself of no reputation. I can't even,
I don't even know how to say it. That's what the word youngest
means. Youngest, not in age. He was
the one in age, but the significance of that word, except the youngest
brother come, you're not leaving. Lord, thank you for coming in
this world and making yourself what we, your people, are by
nature. You were made that, not as a
sinner, but you made yourself sin. God made him sin that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him. I pray the Lord
bless this to our hearts. Amen.