So Lord may graciously help me I would turn your prayerful attention to Romans chapter 8 and reading verse 15 for our text this evening. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Romans 8 and verse 15. We spoke this morning of more the former part of this verse. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. What was the spirit of bondage? The thing that brought them into bondage to feel that they were under the wrath of God because of their sin. And they couldn't satisfy the requirements of God's righteous law. They were sinners, they were outcasts, they were guilty. How could they ever make things right? But it was the Spirit, you see, it's the Spirit's work to convince of sin. The Lord sends His Spirit to convince us of our sin. It's His great work. It's one part of His great work. If that's all he did, convince people of their sin, he would drive us to despair. But you see, there's another aspect. And the purpose of, as we have, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee, and Joseph's brethren will be drawn to him. Drawn to Joseph. We looked at the conviction that they had, sins that they'd committed some 20 years before. Joseph was given that wisdom to probe and to cause them to remember and to cause them to realize that these sins had been committed and they needed to confess them. We're verily guilty concerning our brother. The truth came out and they realized they needed, they were guilty. And they were not true men. And there was this governor of the land of Egypt that seemed going to destroy them. He was going to find out who they were and they feared him greatly. Well, we come before a God that is much greater than the second ruler in the kingdom of Egypt. We come before an awesome, holy God that cannot cease sin without destroying it. That he is a holy God, thrice holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of his glory. And so we come before a holy God as sinners. And what is that holy God going to do to sinners? Surely we would naturally expect he's just going to obliterate them. He's going to destroy them because of their sin. Why would you come back to the law giver and confess that you've broken the law? There surely should be just one response. Guilty. And then the judgment should be poured out upon you. And that's what the brethren expected. that's what Joseph's brothers expected would happen. They thought that it's all up for them and now they would just be in, receive all that condemnation. But you see Joseph had other thoughts and Joseph is but a foreshadowing of one much greater than Joseph. Foreshadowing one the Lord Jesus Christ who This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And we look then at this great blessing that Joseph was able to give fellowship and friendship to his brothers, and they could only imagine that he was about to, he'd cornered them as it were. Benjamin was guilty and Judah said he would then be a slave for the rest of his life. But you see Joseph had other ideas. Genesis 45, then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him. And he cried, cause every man to go out from me. You see, this was going to be a dealings between him and his brethren. It was not for the paparazzi to be involved to tell the rest of Egypt. This was between Joseph and his brethren. You see, the God brings his people so he deals personally with their sin, not to spread it out on the newspapers, but to deal with it. not in anger but in love and in forgiveness cause every man to go out from me and there stood no man with him while joseph made himself known under his brethren this was between them and them and joseph and it is so with a living soul when god comes and deals with us it is personal he's dealing with us god be merciful to me a sinner and he comes and he deals with that one. You think of that on the cross with the dying thief. It was a personal dealing that he had with the dying thief. Yes, others witnessed it, but it was between him and the dying thief. And we then read that You see, and everybody to go out, so that meant the interpreter was gone. You see, the interpreter brings a barrier, doesn't it? If you're speaking through an interpreter, there's a barrier between you and the people you're speaking to. But the interpreter was gone, and now Joseph spoke to them straight to their heart. We think of that beautiful hymn, Thy love unknown, has broken every barrier down, the barrier of language, the barrier of separation, the barrier of sin. And you see, he spoke to them in love and mercy. And you see, he said, I am Joseph, we read in verse 3. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph. And we read later on in that verse, and his brethren couldn't answer him for they were troubled. They were terrified. at his presence. You just imagine what that meant to them. They'd said, and one is not, our brother is not, but there he was standing in front of them, not just as their equal, but as their Lord, as the over them and had the complete power of the land of Israel behind him to destroy them and to punish them and to meet out the justice against them that was duly theirs. But we come when we come to our God, we come to one that is holy. and he's righteous, and he has just indignation against sin, and he can rightly judge us, and it's justice. But what does he do? I am Joseph. He reveals himself. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. They heard Joseph's voice speaking to them directly for the first time, before it was through an interpreter, but now it was personal to them. Perhaps it was, you could say, through others before, but now direct. God makes himself known to his people. And you see, they were terrified to start with. What is he going to do? Is he going to use all this power against us? He could have done. And he would have been just in doing so, and that is so of our God. He would be just to send us to a never-ending eternity in hell. That would be perfectly just. But you see, he has other thoughts. But he is just. And therefore, he could not bypass sin and say, well, yes, your sin deserves eternal punishment, but we'll put that to one side. We won't worry about that. No, he doesn't do that. See, this is the beauty of the cross. The cross satisfies justice and mercy. Because the wrath of God was poured out, but not upon his people, upon his only begotten son. You see here, what I'm picturing here in Joseph is but a shadow of the real thing of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, Joseph didn't really pay for his brothers personally. Yes, he did suffer great things, but the Lord Jesus Christ suffered for his people so that he could say, I've stood in your place. It is finished. The wrath that was due to you has been paid by me. And therefore, you are free. And you are now brought into that liberty of the people of God. Fear gives way, you see, to amazement. They were shocked. They were amazed. This is the one who could destroy them. And yet he's speaking kindness to them. I am Joseph. Doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled his presence. You see, and then he says, come near me, come near to me, I pray you. I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Now therefore, be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves that you did sold me hither. For God did send me before you to preserve life. He puts a completely different view on what they were thinking. A completely different view. The grace of God changes the whole of our view of our lives. You see when God comes into the equation it changes everything. God is in it and therefore God has allowed it and God is working through it and causing it to be for our good. All things work together for good. You see, when Jesus met Mary Magdalene, when he was risen from the dead and Mary Magdalene was so upset because her Lord and Master, it seemed had died and gone. And now what was the hope of her resurrection and the hope of her faith seemed gone. He says to her, my father and your father. You see, there's that bond, isn't it? And we've got that in our text, you see. that we, for ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption. To recognize that instead of this mighty judge destroying us and meeting out the just reward of our sins, he's showing us kindness and love and mercy. He's extending the scepter, the golden scepter to us. You have received the spirit of adoption. You've come into the family. They suddenly realize that I am Joseph, your brother. There's a family link. This one who was the governor of the land of Egypt that they so feared, it's your brother. And your brother loves you. And you don't deserve him to love you. And we don't deserve the Lord Jesus to do what he's done for his people. But he's done it. Why has he done it? The cause of love is in himself, then be his name adored. And you see, the grace interprets providence so differently. God did send me to preserve life. Instead of Joseph, as it were, telling his brothers off about why did you act so terribly? Why were you so selfish to me? Why were you so unkind to me? Why did you do such wicked things? Yes, all those things were true. Joseph recognises that God overruled all those things to bring about his sovereign purposes. And we realise in our lives then, linked with this word that we've read about later in the same chapter, we know that all things work together for good to them that love God. To recognise that in our lives, that is not the difficulties that we pass through, the sadnesses we come into. We say, if only this didn't happen, if only that didn't happen, if only I hadn't sinned in this way. And this never legitimizes sin. It never says, well that was good I sinned. No, sin is always wrong and always negative. And yet, there is a way that God is able to overcome the aboundings of sin with the super aboundings of his grace. He's able to turn that which was evil just like it was at Calvary. By the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye by wicked hands have crucified and slain. It didn't make what they did to Christ correct. It didn't make what they did good because they were doing that wickedness to Christ. No. You've done it by wicked hands and have taken it, but God overruled it for good. And you see that changes everything in our lives. Instead of seeing everything as retribution, as our due reward, to realize that God is able to have mercy, and to show mercy to unworthy sinners, has broken every barrier down. Broken those barriers down that separate between us and our God. They could only see Joseph as this one that they feared. But now they realized that he was their brother. that the money in the sacks was he put it in love he was showing them his kindness towards them he was doing this because he wanted reconciliation he was doing this because he wanted communion they could only think of separation but joseph was speaking of communion the complete opposite and he did it because he loved them You see, surely they took time to take this in. Could this really be true? Could this one that they were pleased to live without for the rest of their lives, this one that they'd treated so terribly, this one that they'd envied? And we read in the Gospels that Pilate knew that for envy they had delivered up Christ to be crucified. For envy! And these brothers had, for envy, they'd sold him into Egypt. They hated him. They were envious of him. And yet, ye meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. A completely different view. God is able to take the most negative things and turn them around for his glory. It doesn't make the negative things right, and it doesn't justify us in sinning. Never. But when we come and we have fallen, there's always that way back to God. So grace reinterprets providence, to see that God's hand is in it and that changes everything. All the difficulties, it changes what Jacob said, all these things are against me. Now he's, Jacob's going to come soon to realize that all these things weren't against him and they were for his good. all things work together. He hath done all things well, we read in Mark 7 verse 37. He hath done all things well. To recognise that's what he has said. And to recognise that all this was done on a work that was already complete. Yes, we had an inclination of substitution in this story. Remember, this is only a shadow of good things to come. This is a picture, an earthly picture of a heavenly truth. And so not everything fits together perfectly in the sense that Joseph didn't die on their behalf. And if he had have done, it still wouldn't have solved the problem because he himself was a sinner. but it points to the Lord Jesus who was sinless and did die on behalf of his people and declare, it is finished. So the broken law that all his people were responsible for was satisfied at Calvary. And he was able to say, it is finished. And you see, it is finished was said now more than 2,000 or about 2,000 years ago. It is finished. And yet you see in the experience of God's people as the Spirit applies that to our hearts that it is finished is applied and then we have peace with God. It took place some 2000 years ago but in the experience of God's people as they come to recognise that their standing with God is all because of another, all because of substitution, all because of what God has done to his only begotten son. And therefore there is life for them. They are accepted in the Beloved, they are sealed unto the day of redemption. There is a security and it's all in what Christ has done. All in the substitute. And so Joseph in verse 4 says, And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me. He wants fellowship. He wants union with them. They're running away from him. They're scared of him. They're terrified. near to me." Oh it was similar to the Lord Jesus wasn't it? We read in Luke's Gospel, Luke 24, that when he appeared after the Emmaus road and came to that group on the evening of the resurrection, we read when he came and stood in the midst and said, peace be still, they were terrified. They were terrified. What was happening now? They'd lost their Lord and Master and now what's happening? But you see, it was peace beyond to you. Peace. Oh, they could think of anything but peace. When they came before Joseph and all this was going on was peace, the word that came to mind. Peace? Forget peace. This is trouble. This is difficulty. This is guilt. This is sin. But you see, Joseph came and spoke peace. And that's the gospel. And Joseph said unto his brethren, come near to me. You see, he wanted fellowship. He wanted them to come and to be with him. They wanted communion with him. He wanted them to not be afraid of him. And you see, surely is not this or part of this But ye have received the spirit of adoption, adopted into the family of God. Now they're sons and daughters. And you see, an adopted father doesn't want his children, when he comes in the room, to run away from him, does he? He doesn't want his children to be terrified of him. He wants them to come and to know his fellowship and friendship. He wants that love and that familiarity that there is in a good family setting. You see, it's the opposite of what you had before. The opposite of fear. How is this God going to treat me? How is he going to destroy me? He's a holy God and I'm a sinner. He must be going to ruin me and punish me. No, you see, there's mercy in Christ. And this is what we have here. Come near to me, I pray thee. And he said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Oh, he knew it exactly. He hadn't forgotten. They couldn't fudge the issue. They couldn't say Joseph is not now. No, I know what happened. You sold me into Egypt. The sin is not diminished, is it? He doesn't say that it didn't happen. It did happen. What he does is turn it round, that there's a way that God has overruled it. And when we think of what it is with the Lord Jesus Christ, he is able to say, I've stood in your place. You were guilty. You had sinned greatly. but I've stood in your place, I've taken the punishment. Now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me hither, for God did send me before you to preserve life. God has overruled it for good. And God, you see, has overruled all our troubles. If we're truly his people, all the chastening, all the sorrows, no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous. nevertheless afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness. And as we come into this situation God is able to tell us that he is overruling it, he's working all these things out for our good and for our blessing and to bring us into that family of God. to make us conform to the image of his son. You see, when you join a family, adopted into a family, you take on some of those family characteristics, don't you? The way they carry on. You start to learn their ways, you start to learn their attitudes. Well, when we come into this family of God, we are start to imitate the attitude of our elder brother, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to imitate him. that we are to love Him, we are to hate what He hates and love what He loves. We are to be like Him, that we are to be conformed to the image of His dear Son. We know that all things work together for good for them that love God, for those who are called according to His purpose. So this is the transition then, isn't it? From being under the wrath of God to suddenly realising that God is our Father and that he has loved us and he has drawn us away from a life of sin and brought us into the kingdom of his dear son. This is the gospel. This is what is so precious. And in Romans, Paul is telling us that ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you've received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father, our Father. We're told to pray, our Father, that art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name, our Father. Not a fearful judge, although they feared he would be. God is the judge of all the earth and in that sense he is a fearful judge but he has translated us from that kingdom of Satan, he's translated us by the work of his only begotten son and brought us into the family of God. A family whose father fills the throne, a family who have been washed in the precious blood of Christ, who come to realise the beauties and the preciousness of substitution. And so draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. We are to come with this boldness because we've been commanded. You see these brethren were commanded to come. If they didn't come they would be disobedient, wouldn't they? They were commanded to come, come near to me. And he tells them how they are to go on their way. And we read how that he was to show his love to them. We read that how he fell on the neck of Benjamin in verse 14. And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept. and then on we read that he wept on all his brethren and talked to them and then after that his brethren talked to him you see there was a demonstration of this love this was not just theoretical was it this was the felt sense of being part of that family, being accepted, having that relationship with Joseph there, that governor of the land of Egypt that they felt so distant from, talking through an interpreter, so many barriers, we can't have access to this great king, this great governor of the land of Egypt, but now he's embracing them, he's saying come near to me. He's showing his love and mercy and you see this is the great opposite that we have here. The spirit of bondage and the spirit of liberty. And the spirit of bondage to recognize that there's a gulf between us and God and that God is going to be angry with us because of our sin and it's right that we recognize that because we need to come to realize our need of mercy. If we think, you see, that we can be one with God and we don't need to worry about sin, then we've missed the point. We've missed this great truth that God must punish sin. And we need to come and plead for mercy. We need to come with confession of our sins and contrition. A broken and a contrite heart, O Lord, thou wilt not despise. We need to come and know that blessing. But then he fell on their necks. He showed his affection towards them and then we read it was after that, after that, that his brethren talked with him. They were dumbstruck before. They couldn't process it, what was going on. This one who they were so fearful of now was embracing them and showing his love towards them and all along then they could look back over all their pathway and realize that it was but a demonstration of his love. and they had misread it all that he was against them and he was going to do them evil and they were going to be in trouble because of this famine and he was going to use his position of authority and power against them. But really they suddenly understood that actually the heart of Joseph was for them. And that's a wonderful thing you see in our spiritual experience when we realise that the heart of God is for his people. that it's not in anger but in his dear covenant love. He's working in their lives and causing them to pass through paths to bring them to himself so that there will be that time when he will be able to embrace them, he will be able to have communion with them, not separation but union. And this is what the Lord is working in his heart, to bring his people to that place where they will be a united family, the family of God, whose father fills the throne. And he will not have that family spending all their time and efforts and delights with idols. He wants them to worship him. He wants to draw them. He wants to prepare them for eternal glory. wants to prepare them you see to live with him and you see when when these brethren you see they were blessed in this way they were then given a commission in verse 9 haste ye and go to my father and say thus saith thy son joseph god hath made me lord of all is egypt come down now unto me and tarry not. You see, they were to then be, they were then to tell others of what they'd been blessed. They'd been blessed with that assurance that Joseph was their brother and he was their friend. And now they were to go and tell others of that love. And others to benefit from that love. Even their father, Joseph. And you see that is so with the Lord's people when they come into his banqueting house and their banner over them is love. They're then to go and tell others. They tell others that the woman of Samaria, she left her water pot and she went back into the village and said, come, see a man that told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? But you say this man exposes my sin. That's not pleasant. He deals with sin. Yes, he said, he showed that woman her sin with having five husbands, and the one that she now had was not her husband. Yes, he put his finger on the sin, but he showed his mercy and kindness to her. That you see, this is the Messiah. I am the Messiah. I that speak unto you am he. I am the Messiah. She said, when the Messiah comes, we'll know all these things. He says, I am the Messiah. I am the Messiah, and I'm speaking to you. I'm speaking to you in love and mercy. And you see, she said, come, see a man that told me all things ever I did. Is not this the Christ? You see, she became a witness. She became one that was zealous to show forth his praise, because she had realized something of the kindness and forgiveness that he had shown her. you see the assured believer gives a message of grace to others and shows others the way of salvation. But then you see there was going to be more in verse 10 and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen. You see there was going to be an inheritance, there was going to be a place in this time of famine. These people were going to dwell, his brethren were going to dwell with him. As a family they were to be together. He didn't say well look you stay back in the land of Canaan and I'll send supplies to you every now and again. No, he wanted them with him. And that is so with the Lord's people. The Lord wants his people to be close to him and to live out of him and to have union, communion with him. And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, thou shalt be near unto me. You see, it's all about love and fellowship and forgiveness. And there will I nourish thee, for there are yet five years of famine, lest thou and thy household and all that thou hast come to poverty. Joseph was going to provide for these. This was not just to be a little blip of kindness. This was the beginning in their understanding of that kindness. But it wasn't the beginning, was it? What had he been doing in those years of plenty? When they were back in the land of Canaan, happy and content to be without him, happy that he would never come into their life again, he was filling storehouses with food so that when they did come, he would have that rich provision. And that's what is stored up in our Saviour in all that that he accomplished and when he declared it is finished the storehouse was full for the whole election of grace the storehouse was complete it is finished and so you see these children come to to to be adopted into this family and they realize that he has done all things well he's provided for us all I've done and all my sin and all my rebellion He's graciously stood in my place and he said, come unto me. All ye that labour and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. And ye shall find rest for your souls. But you see, and so they were then to live not in fear. They were to live and just experience the daily kindness and love. of Joseph and that was consistent and yet you see when their father died and they went to bury him back in the land of Canaan that's Jacob in verse Genesis 50 verse 15 we read this and when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead they said Joseph will peradventure hate us and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. How, you see, sometimes something else happens in our pathway and we think, surely now the Lord is going to deal with us for our sin. We read, he hath put our sins as far as the east is from the west, so far that he removed his transgression. You see, when Christ said it is finished, it really was. It really was. It was finished. And therefore there is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation forever and forever because they're completing him. They've come to lay hold upon the hope set before them in the gospel. And you see So they sent a message to Joseph. So shall you say unto Joseph, forgive, I pray thee, the trespasses of thy brethren and their sin, for they did unto thee evil. And now we pray, forgive the trespasses of thy servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when he spake unto them. He must have thought, how many years have I fed you? How many years have I done you good? And now you think I'm going to, at last, turn and be your enemy. And how often we treat God like that, don't we? The years of blessing, each sweet, each sweet Ebenezer I have in renew confirms his good pleasure. He'll love me quite through. But you see, we have a new problem. And then all the past blessings, we think, well, yes, he's done all this in the past, but he can't do the next blessing. And our faith goes down and we fear. We fear that now God is going to vindicate us. He's going to put his vengeance upon us. And his brethren also went and fell down before his face. Behold, we be thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, fear not, for I am in the place of God. But as for you, ye thought evil against me. But God meant it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day, to save much people alive. And then he reiterates that assurance. Now therefore, fear ye not. I will nourish you and your little ones. And he comforted them. and spake kindly unto them. You see, his heart was a heart of love to his brethren, despite their sin. But he was going to bring them to confess their sin. And you see, this is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in 1 John chapter 3, we have these beautiful words. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God, the sons of God, his family members, his close people, the ones that he shows his love to, those that were far off from God, those that had sinned away his mercy, despised the mention of his grace, too proud to seek a hiding place. We don't want anything to do with this one. And yet Joseph, you see, became the most important person in their life. Their whole life hung on their relationship to Joseph. And the whole of our eternal life hangs on our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him, we are safe eternally. In Him, we have a security forever and ever. Joseph died eventually. He wasn't able to nourish those people forever because he died. We have a much greater than Joseph, you see. We have one that lives forever. Yes, he did die. He laid down his life for his people. But now he's risen to ever live, to make intercession for his people. So they're never without a God. They're never without one to stand in their place. They're never without their God. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not. That means the world don't appreciate this. They don't see the value of having Christ in you, the hope of glory. Beloved, now are we the sons of God. This is not something just to be, well, when we get to heaven, we'll know what it is to be a child of God. We'll know what it is to be called sons and daughters of the most high. No, it says here, now are we the sons of God. God has done this now. And he's drawing us, he's bringing us into that family. And he's doing this so that we might know him. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. We're not to go back to be fearing Joseph and questioning whether he's loving us still. Is he still loving us or not? No, his love was an everlasting love in Jesus' case. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption. You've been brought into the family of God, whereby we cry, Abba Father. We come to our Father on familiar terms, like a child speaks to its own loving father. A family bond. The Spirit itself bearing witness with our spirit. that we are the children of God. When Joseph embraced his brothers, wept on their neck, surely they had some, there was something of this, the spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. They must have felt, yes, I have been accepted. He is going to be kind to me. He is not going to treat me according to what my sins deserve. And if children, then heirs, you see. You might be adopted into a family and that's very precious. But you see, this family that you've been adopted to as a child of God is an exceedingly rich family. It's exceedingly rich. If children then heirs, join heirs with Christ, you see, He has everything. He's made everything for himself. He owns everything. And you've been brought into his family. And you've been made co-heirs, joint heirs with Christ. Behold what manner of love the Father bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God. Well, may we, in our little lives, experience these unbelievable blessings of being translated from the kingdom of darkness that's what we're in by nature the sin that that we revel in by nature translated from that into the kingdom of his dear son, so that we sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and we are looking for that blessed hope. And if children then heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, if so be we suffer with him, that we might be glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared. Paul said there's nothing, you can't compare the difficulties here below with the glory that is stored up for these children of the heavenly King. And he ends up with saying, nor nothing, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. What a security, what a family, and what an exchange for our just reward for our sins that we deserve because of our sins. And yet instead of Joseph doing that to his brethren, he brought them into the family, he nourished them, he blessed them. A little picture of what God does to his people. God does so much more because he is so much greater than Joseph is. He is eternal. He ever liveth to make intercession for his people. May we then know what it is to not continually go back to the spirit of bondage but to recognise that now are we the sons of God and to live in that way that is consistent with being a son of God, to love mercy, to love God, to hate sin and to live to his glory. Amen.