May the Lord be pleased to bless
us together this evening as we consider his word. Let's turn
to the book of Genesis, chapter 50, and we'll read verses 19
and 20. The book of Genesis, chapter
50, and reading verses 19 and 20. And Joseph said unto them,
Fear not, for am I 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 so just before Joseph dies, well at least a
little while before, a few years before, he is able to declare
to his brothers the great and glorious truth of God's omnipotence
and of God's almighty power and planning. So he tells them, God
meant it unto good. to bring to pass, as it is this
day, to save much people alive. Now this was demonstrated very,
very clearly, was it not, in the life of the children of Israel. But to a lesser extent, it is
demonstrated in the life of all God's children. Because one thing
we know, that God means everything for his people good. Those things
which on the face appear to be wrong and evil. The truth is
we're thankful to be able to remember the words that the Apostle
Paul wrote and we know that all things work together for good
to those who love God and to those who are called according
to his purpose. There is, in fact, no doubt about
it. And how encouraging that should
be as we look in our own hearts, look in our own lives, and perhaps
it appears that things are not working together for good. Things
are not working out. Well, surely that was precisely
what Joseph thought. Remember in Joseph's case, he'd
been blessed with those two quite amazing dreams. And it was, that
was the reason why his brothers took him and sold him to those
merchants. Because they hated that which
Joseph had told them. He didn't want to believe that
such a situation would ever develop, and therefore they thought they
would dispose of him so that it could not possibly develop.
But one thing is certain, we will never be able to overturn
the plans of Almighty God. It doesn't matter how things
appear to be going contrary, going in opposite directions, they will come to pass. Because
God has ordained every item, every detail in this world. And we believe that the Lord
has ordained to bring His Church, His family, safe home to glory. That maybe along a circuitous
path It may be along a very long path, it may be along a very
rugged path, but nonetheless God will lead and bring his people
at last safely home. Now God graciously and gloriously
brought his people safely at last across the Jordan, in Sicanon. That which he had promised so
many, many years ago. And to think that there was Joseph, sold into Egypt. And there he
was, in the prison, not for any wrongdoing, but for right doing. You shouldn't forget that. He
was cast in a prison because he was honourable and did that
which was right and turned away from that woman. So he was wrongly
judged and put in a prison and was told, there he was, in irons
and the word of God tried him. Those promises How many times
perhaps he must have thought, well, what did that mean? Surely I must have been misled. But God's purposes for good were
being worked out. Many things had to be developed
before that could occur. The situation had to be right. But at the appointed time, very
rapidly, Joseph was brought from the prison house to stand before
Pharaoh and was, by the grace of God, enabled to give him the
interpretation of the dream which he had. And as a result, he was
placed second in the kingdom to rule over it. And there he
remained in that position of power. Now we see God's purposes
being amazingly worked out. You see here these brothers,
they come before Joseph after Jacob had died. And they were
concerned and rightly concerned. They dealt very wrongly with
Joseph. And they were fearful that now
they might be judged for those things which they'd done. They
came and they sent a messenger unto Joseph saying, thy father
did command before he died saying, so shall you say unto Joseph,
forgive I pray thee the trespasses of thy brethren. and their sin,
for they did unto the evil. And now we pray thee, forgive
the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father.' And
Joseph wept when they spoke unto him." Yes, Joseph's heart was
moved. Joseph realised how the Lord
had brought into fruition those dreams. And so now, as
his brethren come in his way, through this messenger, he weeps. And his brethren also went and
fell down before his face, and they said, Behold, we be thy
servants. What a fulfilment indeed of those dreams. Joseph then
responds and says, Fear not, for am I in the place of God. It's lovely to read, isn't it? So many times in the Word of
God, when the Lord uses His people, they immediately give the honour
to God. David did in his life. Joseph did in his life. Daniel
did in his life. Yes, they give the honour to
God. And how important it is for us today that we acknowledge
it is the Lord's work. It's not our work, it's God's
work. So he says, fear not, for am
I in the place of God. And then he tells them, he spells
out that which is really quite obvious, But nonetheless, it
is very good that he spelt it out. It's good that it's recorded
in this way for us today. 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. Where there are
those things which are evil, And God brings good out of evil. It's wonderful to realise we
have an omnipotent God who rules and reigns and nothing is too
hard for the Lord to perform. Those things which appear impossibilities,
God is able to bring to pass. And God means it for good for
us today. He meant it unto good in those
days. He means it for good today. I know that you and I might have
those eyes to observe God working in that way for us. And when
he works in that way for us, it is to bring honour and glory
for his great and holy name. Remember the word of God, not
for your sakes do I these things, but for my holy namesake. But what a blessing it is to
be involved in God's great plan. What a wonderful favour it is
to be found as a part of that plan. Here was Joseph, just a
part of God's great plan. And that great plan was to fulfil
the promise that he had given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that
there would be a multitude of Israelites that no man could
number. And here they were. to come up
out of Egypt. And again, we might think, isn't
it strange that they had to go down into Egypt, that they were
in that place in Egypt. We might say, surely the Lord
could have blessed them where they were, surely the Lord could
have provided for them. The Lord's plan was that he would
receive great honour and glory from those deliverances which
he brought about for his people Israel. What did they do? They saw the work of the Lord
appearing. We pray, don't we? Let thy work
appear. These Israelites, they saw the
work of the Lord appearing. But they wouldn't have done unless
Joseph had been sold into Egypt because they would not have gone
down into Egypt and they would not have come up out of Egypt
but it was God's purpose so that His name would be honoured and
glorified and so it was and how they multiplied for those 400
or so years they were in Egypt according to the word of the
Lord according to the prophecy according to the promises of
God. Oh, the promises of God are certainly, yeah and amen.
They won't be changed. And so that which had been prophesied
so many years ago, eventually came to pass. Eventually came
to pass. Joseph had to walk this way,
so that eventually it would come to pass. Joseph wasn't going
to see the fulfilment of those things. But he did have faith
to believe it, because he instructed them to carry his bones up out
of Egypt when they were delivered. Many years had passed before
that came. But it did come to pass. What
a blessing it is to realise that we have the same God today, And
we may look in our little lives and think, well, they're so insignificant
by comparison with this great operation. Well, they may be
insignificant by comparison, but what a blessing to know that
the Lord is still, has still, is still, taking you and me in
hand. And we're part of this great
plan of God. We're walking on the earth today
in accordance with His divine purpose. It's not by chance. You and I are here by divine
purpose. We're fulfilling the will of
our God. How humbling it is, surely, to
contemplate such a thought as that, and to realise that in
your life and my life, God is meaning it for good. for our
good. We don't always think it, might
we? Nonetheless, it was in Joseph's
case. It was in his brethren's case.
It was in the case of all those Israelites. It is in the case
of all his church. It's meant for good. It brings
honour and glory to him. If we just pause for a moment
and think of this, If by God's grace, God's wonderful grace,
you and I are brought safely at last to glory, it must be because God meant
it for good. It must therefore be that every
part of our path is working for good. It's passed the ordained
way. The Lord has marked out for us. Here it was, marked out for Joseph
and his brethren. But God meant it unto good. And how we need to remember this
time and again. God meant it for good. It's such a broad word really,
when we think of that. And it has a great breadth in
our lives today. The psalmist, in the 119th Psalm,
he makes a wonderful statement. And he says this, it is good,
you might think, what's coming? It is good for me, personal,
it is good for me that I have been afflicted. He says it's good. Naturally
we would not like to perhaps think that to be true. But he
goes on to say that I might learn thy statutes. What that means
is that you and I might learn the ways of the Lord. And here it is. the direct way,
good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn
my statutes. There's many reasons for being
afflicted, there's many ways of being afflicted. Some of those
ways of being afflicted will curb us in a number of areas,
perhaps in our life. We may not have been able to
pursue certain avenues in our life. where it's quite clear
that Joseph wasn't able to pursue many avenues, he was in prison. Perhaps in our lives, our way
may be hedged up. We may think we're in prison.
We're not. God is with us there. God was
with Joseph in that prison house. Let us not think that through
an affliction God is dealing with us wrongly, he's dealing
with us rightly. And to be able to come and say,
good that I've been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. In these paths, it's a path of
teaching. What does it do? I believe it
brings us nearer to Christ. Because in times of affliction,
perhaps painful affliction, We may enter in a little into those
physical sufferings of Christ. And in that way we realise how
little we suffer by comparison with what the Saviour suffered.
Now then, I believe when the Spirit of God reveals that to
us, that the affliction that he has laid upon us is so that
we might learn his statutes. And the psalmist goes on to say,
Thy law, the law of thy mouth, that means the word of God, is
better unto me than thousands of gold and silver. He had a
right value of the word of the Lord. Sometimes the Lord graciously
brings us into the pathway of affliction to teach us the value
of the things of God, and by comparison, the poorness of the
things of this life. Oh, don't forget that. Now, God
means it for good. When you and I are brought into
a time of affliction, God means it for good. means it for good. And I believe that puts a very
different complexion upon our situation when we realise the
Lord's hand is upon us. We may not be just rushing about
freely, the Lord has hedged us about and caused things to enter
into our life which has brought an affliction upon us. The blessing
is as the psalmist said, that I might learn thy statutes, or
what teaching there was, what blessing there is. And when the
Lord, as it were, comes alongside us and gives us an understanding,
you know, it may be that we're like a bullet unaccustomed to
the yoke. We want to be free, we don't
want to be hampered, By a yoke we want to do our own thing. We want to be free. We want to
follow our own way. Sometimes the Lord comes and
brings affliction upon us so that we are willing then to be
yoked to the Saviour. We are not then rebellious. We're
not there saying, oh, I wish I could do this, I wish I could
do that. No, we submit ourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt us in due time. It's a gracious position to be
in submission to God's will. And it is this path where we
learn his statutes, we learn his law, we learn his word. He instructs us and shows us
what he's doing for us, how he's dealing with us, and then perhaps
we're able to stand back as it were and view the great plan
of salvation, the great plan of Almighty God, and to be thankful
that the Lord has ordained that we should just fulfil some very
minor part in that great work, unworthy as we are. Oh, you see, it will put everything
right. It puts all the wrong things
into perspective when we're able to realise the truth of these
words, but God meant it unto good. How important it is that
you and I have that before our eyes. We won't be so complaining,
will we? We won't be perhaps complaining
at all, because we will recognise that it's God's hand upon us,
and it's Him that's dealing with us, for our good, and for His
honour, and for His glory. Think of that account in the
life of the Apostle Paul, when he was in Philippi. It's a lovely
account, an avatar of reading it or thinking of it or meditating
on it, there was the Apostle Paul told to go to Philippi. And he didn't hesitate. He obeyed
the word of the Lord. Then he went with Silas and preached
the gospel. And because of that he was apprehended
for doing God's will. doing God's will. He was apprehended
and beaten and put in prison for doing God's will. Well, we
don't read, we don't hear the Apostle Osiris complaining, do
we? In actual fact, we hear the very opposite. We hear them singing
praises at midnight unto their God. They were in affliction,
were they not? Were they saying, can this be
right? Surely we made a mistake? Surely
by their actions they were concurring with this statement here that
God meant it unto good. Now at that stage they weren't
aware really of what good there was going to be, of what good
was going to come out of it. Nevertheless, There they were,
exhorting their God, not complaining at all, singing praises at midnight,
and the prisoners heard them. And then we know there was an
earthquake and the prison gates were opened and the jailer was
about to kill himself, thinking the prisoners would all escape.
Paul told him to stop because they were all still there. And
then we see his concern then. He desired what he must do to
be saved. And we know the Apostle preached
unto him Jesus. Preached unto him baptism. And the Jailer then confessed with all his heart,
if thou believest with all thine heart, and he believed with his
heart, and his house, and all heard the good news, and all
heard the gospel, what had occurred? God meant it unto good. That which appeared evil came
forth as good. What a blessing it is if we observe
these things and to see how the Lord's purposes are worked out. We can think of that, can't we?
Indeed, in the life of Moses, which followed on from this situation. There was Moses, had to go into
the backside of the desert for 40 years. He thought that the
Israelites would know that he was the anointed one to Deliver
them out of their time of bondage. Well, he had a lot to learn,
poor man. 40 years in the back side of the desert. He thought
he was ready when he was 40. He wasn't ready until he was
80. But then, you see, God meant it for good. Because Moses had
to learn a lot in those years. Yes, in that place, he had to
learn how small he was. When the call came then from
God, we see how he recognised how unequal he was, unsuitable
he was. He didn't think he was the right
person then, but God had taught him and God had blessed him and
so he was prepared by God. And he was that anointed one
to bring Israel out of Egypt. But God meant it unto good. And what a wonderful deliverance
it was when Israel came out of Egypt. How the Lord was glorified
in those miracles which were performed. And how he was glorified
when they came across the Red Sea on that dry land. and all
the Egyptians were drowned when the water came upon them. But
God meant it unto good. And we would think, would we
not, that with such amazing deliverances, that Israel would never doubt
the Lord, but they would realise that the journey they were now
on was the perfect way for them, that God had ordained it, But
no, we sadly read again and again their rebellion against the Lord
God. And yet, God meant it unto good
for them. He would perform His promise.
He would bring His people at last into Canaan. But don't forget
the very sanitary situation which developed when Israel disobeyed
the Lord. When they were told to go up
and possess the land, And they listened to the evil report of
those ten men. Only two, Caleb and Joshua, the only two
that encouraged Israel to go up and possess their land. But
they turned their back upon the Lord God and yet, the Lord was
ordaining these things for their good. And even in there, we see
how the Lord's hand was in it. Because then the Lord was with
Israel those other 40 years and he provided for them in an amazing
way all those years. And so God meant it unto good
to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. And then we need to think especially
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just think of his life. Think
of what happened to him. Those people that crucified the
Lord of life and glory, they thought evil against him, did
they not? They thought evil against the
Lord Jesus Christ. But, oh what a great but it is,
God meant it unto good. what good there was, came forth
from that evil which those men caused to occur that the Lord
Jesus Christ should be condemned to death and should be crucified
upon the cross of Calvary. Yes, but God meant it for good. It was the ordained way. And yet, really nobody seemed
to appreciate it was the ordained way. The disciples didn't really
realise it, the people didn't realise it, and yet it was that
way which the Lord had spoken of, and that way which had been
prophesied, and that way which was to come to pass. And yet,
at that time it seemed that evil had prevailed. It seemed that
the Lord Jesus Christ was dead and the hope had perished with
it. It seemed that the Lord God Almighty
was dead. My friends, sometimes it may
perhaps seem like that in our lives. It may perhaps seem there may
have been some promises. And it may be that situations
have developed and they may seem as though they're dead. Dead
in the ground. Seems as though there's going
to be no possibility of them being revived. In one sense, that was the same
as Joseph in that prison, being there a good few years. How was
he to be delivered? What was the possibility? The button had been restored
to its position and had forgotten all about Joseph. It may seem perhaps that those
things which we may have been, our hope is set upon, may appear
to be dead and buried. just like Joseph, just like our
blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. But the Lord Jesus rose
again, a conqueror over sin, death, hell and the grave. They could not hold him. He conquered. The devil was not the victor.
The devil may have thought he was a victor, but he was. He
was a defeated foe. The devil was defeated when Joseph
was raised up to stand before Pharaoh and to give the interpretation
of the dream. Yes, it came to pass that which
God had spoken to Joseph or revealed to Joseph so many years ago And
those things, those blessed and glorious things that have been
prophesied with regard to our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,
came to pass. He rose from the dead, but God
meant it unto good to bring to pass. And it is this day to save
much people alive. how true that is in a spiritual
sense. The blessed Lord Jesus, He died
that many might live, many might be given the great and glorious
gift of eternal life, many might be saved, to save much people
alive. God meant it unto good. So if we ponder these thoughts,
surely we are to not just look at the appearance. We are not to judge by the appearance.
We may judge very wrongly. These situations, we could easily
have judged wrongly. But we need to realise that God
is in control. And God is over all things. And
God brings all things to pass for His honour and for His glory. The Lord Jesus Christ had to
die. Why did He have to die? He had
to fulfil the requirement of that shed blood in order to atone
for sin. Without shedding of blood, there's
no forgiveness, there's no remission. It was the ordained way. It had
to occur. And evil was used to bring it
to pass. But evil did not gain the victory. The Lord ordained that that should
occur. The Saviour should endure that
time of enormous suffering. And it could only really have
occurred as evil was permitted, as it were to reign in that situation,
so that the Saviour suffered all incarnate God could bear,
with strength enough and none to spare, in dying upon that
cross, in shedding His precious blood, in order to redeem our
souls. He, God, meant it unto good. And what a performance there
was. But it had to go right down to the depths. Right down to
the depths. So there appeared to be no hope.
Appeared to die. And yet there he was, raised
up. It's a lovely term, isn't it?
Raised up. Raised up from the dead. Perhaps
we felt sometimes to be dead, or to think that the Blessed
Lord can raise us up, and that we went down. The Lord
allows us sometimes to go down, so that we are raised up, so
that we prove these words. God meant it unto good, and it
shows to us clearly that God is all powerful. And God is omnipotent. And God knows the end from the
beginning. And God has ordained these things so that His name
is honoured and glorified. If there was no Joseph going
down into Egypt, there would have been no deliverance in this
way, there would have been no glory to God. See how God ordains
these situations so that His name is honoured and glorified. And it would be a great blessing
if you and I, in our little lives, can trace out reasons for certain
things, for afflictions and things along those lines, so that God,
He is honoured and glorified through our afflictions. His
name is lifted up. and perhaps were able to come
and to concur and say, it was good, it is good that I have
been afflicted. Yes, it is good. What a wonderful
blessing then to realise that the Lord doesn't leave his people. The Lord never has done and the
Lord never will. And we can be assured that where
God has spoken, he brings to pass. And the words that he speaks
are true. Many words today we hear are
untrue. A blessing it is to have the
Word of God, which you and I can rely upon. We can trust God's
Word. When everything else seems to
fall apart, we can rely on God's promises. And so here we have
this statement here. Joseph said unto them, For am
I in a place of God? Or he realized who he was, just
a man, a poor man. But as for you, ye thought evil
against me. But God. There's a number of
but Gods in the Word of God. This is one of them. Bless God
for it. But God meant it unto good. to bring to pass as it is this
day to save much people alive. Amen.