Before we turn to Genesis chapter
45, again look at Genesis chapter 44 with me. Accused of stealing the silver
cup from the sovereign ruler of Egypt, all Joseph's brothers
could do was to throw themselves upon the mercy and grace of the
one that they had offended. In Genesis chapter 44 verse 16,
and Judah said, what shall we say unto my Lord? What shall
we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity
of thy servants. Behold, we are my Lord's servants,
both we and he also, with whom the cup is found. Now this is
the place that God brings all his chosen people. These three
questions pretty well sum up where each of us are brought
when God reveals to us our sin. What shall we say unto the Lord?
What shall we say? What shall we speak? How shall
we clear ourselves? We can't. Guilty as charged. Our realization is the same as
Joseph's brothers. God hath found out our iniquity. No hiding it from him. No hiding
it from him. Oh, that every mouth may be stopped
and all the world become guilty before God. Neither is there
any creature that's not manifest in God's sight, but all things
are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have
to do. All things are naked, all things
are laid bare in God's sight. Not gonna hide anything from
Him, are we? All things are opened to the
eyes of God, nothing can be hid from Him. It gives reference
to exposing the vulnerability of someone. Well, that's what
Paul is saying in Hebrews chapter four. God exposes our vulnerability. God exposes our deadness in sin,
not hid from him. There's no creature, no sinner
who's not manifested, that's not exposed in God's sight. We've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. We're all dead and trespasses
in sin. And when God confronts a sinner
in their sin, what can they say? What can they speak? How can
they clear themselves? The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. Now in verse 17, Joseph said,
the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant. He's gonna be my slave. He's
gonna suffer the consequences of this offense. The man who
is guilty of this sin shall suffer great consequence. And then in
verse 18, we see that unless our surety, the Lord Jesus Christ,
whom Judah here very well pictures, unless he come near unto God
for us, unless our substitute and savior speak a word for us
in God's ear, We have no hope at all of escape unless our mediator,
and there's only one, one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus, unless our mediator petitioned God that his anger
not burn against us. Do you see the language there
in verse 18? We shall forever be lost. And
I love how Judah pleads for Benjamin in these verses. You read on
through the rest of the chapter and what a beautiful picture
it is of Christ, our surety, who pleads for us. And as much
as I love how Judah pleads for Benjamin here, I love even more
how the Lord Jesus pleads for his elect. Now in verse 33, Judah,
as Benjamin's surety says, let thy servant abide instead of
the lad. Take me as his substitute. Let the lad go up with his brethren,
because it'll kill my father if the lad does not return to
him. And what a picture we've seen
of redemption by substitution this is. Christ became our surety. Christ became our substitute.
Christ became our sacrifice. And unless every chosen sinner
that Christ died for returned with him in glory, it'll bring
evil. to bring reproach upon God the
Father. And as we saw last time, as Judah
pleads for Benjamin, then we read in chapter 45, verse one,
then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that
stood by him. And he cried, cause every man
to go out from me, And there stood no man with him while Joseph
made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept aloud in the Egyptians
and the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
I am Joseph, doth my father yet live? And his brethren could
not answer him for they were troubled at his presence. And notice that this discovery
of Joseph was made secretly. Christ does not show himself
to a sinner in a crowd. Every man, woman, every chosen
sinner must see Christ for themselves. Every sinner must experience
the guilt of sin in their own heart. Somebody once said that
sinners go to hell in bundles, but they go to heaven one by
one. I suppose that's so. The first
thing that Joseph revealed to his brothers was his name. He
says, I am Joseph. I thought about that. How wonderful
is the day when Christ says to the sinner, I am the Lord Jesus
Christ. How glorious is the day when
the law giver, he who gave the law, says, I've satisfied and
fulfilled the law for you. What a glorious day that is.
How joyful is the day when the just one reveals to you that
he's satisfied justice on your behalf. How happy is the sinner
when Christ reveals that he is both just and justifier to all
who believe on him. Yet I must admit that when Christ
first revealed himself to me, the same fear that struck Joseph's
brother's heart struck mine. Why were they so troubled? The
same reason I was. Their great sin and my great
sin had been against the one that I stood before. They had
sinned against Joseph, against thee and thee only have I sinned
and done this evil in thy sight. All sin is against God. When
the Lord revealed to me that all my sin was against him, I
was troubled at his presence. When I saw that the one who I
was accountable to was also the very one that I had offended,
the very one I had sinned against, I was troubled at his presence. Yet as we see, the more revelation
of Joseph given to his brothers, the more joy they experienced. And the more Christ and his mercy
is revealed to us, the more we'll rejoice in his presence. God,
who was angry with the wicked every day, is no longer angry
with his brethren. Look at verse four. And Joseph
said unto his brethren, come near to me, I pray you. And they
came near. And he said, I am Joseph, your
brother, whom you sold into Egypt, and I would Bring to your attention
that nowhere in this chapter is the sin of Joseph's brothers
minimized. From the very beginning, Joseph
identified their treatment against him as sinful. He said, I am
Joseph. Not just someone named Joseph,
but I am Joseph, your brother. There's no doubt in their minds
who this was now. I'm the brother that you hated.
I'm the brother that you despise. I'm the brother that you desired
to kill. I'm the brother that you sold
into slavery. I am Joseph, your brother, whom
you sold into Egypt. And there's an important lesson
for us to learn here. God never, ever minimizes sin,
never, never. God never excuses sin, never. But thank God that he forgives
sin and that he forgets sin. But only one way, and that's
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Sin's not swept under a rug,
it's gotta be dealt with. And thank God, our surety, the
Lord Jesus Christ dealt with our sin before God. Now concerning
Joseph's brothers, I can assure you that their sin is all that's
on their mind at this time. Don't you just imagine it was?
I imagine in their mind, their minds playing pictures, motion
pictures. And they're thinking about the
day that he came to them and was telling them about his dream.
And I'm sure they're thinking about how they hated him without
a cause. I'm sure they thought about throwing
him into that pit and selling him into slavery. taking that
coat of many colors and staining it with the blood of beasts and
taking it home to their father and saying, Joseph's dead. And
now all these years later, they've continued to lie to their father. They've not sought the welfare
of Joseph. In their minds, he was dead.
All this is playing through their mind. That's all that's on their
mind. And now they stand before the
very brother that they did these things to, did these things to,
what's going to result from their sin? They knew they were guilty. They knew that they had done
wrongly. They knew what they deserved. But they didn't want
what they deserved. And I don't want what I deserve
either, do you? I want mercy and I want forgiveness. And I'm telling you, for Joseph
at this point to elaborate, to dwell, to harp more on their
evil would add nothing more to their guilt. They knew. Man, they knew. They were terrified. That's what that word troubled
means in verse three. They couldn't have felt any worse.
They couldn't have been more afraid, terrified. Their only
concern at this point in time was pardon and forgiveness. That was the only thing that
would bring them any relief at all. Does that story sound familiar
to you? That's my story. That's your
story, child of God. How relieved they must have been
to hear Joseph's words in verse five. Now, therefore, be not
grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me hither, for
God did send me before you to preserve life. Oh, they were
troubled for they knew that they had sold him into Egypt, can
you imagine the grief and hatred of self that they must have felt
at this point? Have you ever done something,
you knew it was wrong, and you just hated yourself for doing
it? I just hate myself, we say. And we do, don't we? But this
gracious potentate says, be not grieved. Feel no pain, no hurt,
no worry. Don't be angry and upset with
yourselves that you did this. Can you hear your Savior say,
be not greed, feel no pain, hurt, or worry? For I have blotted
out as a thick cloud your transgressions. And as a cloud, your sins are
gone. Come near to me, for I have redeemed
thee. Isaiah 44, 22. Don't be angry
with yourselves, for I will receive you graciously. I will love you
freely. Be not angry with yourselves
for your sins, which are many. All are forgiven. For my name's
sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain
for thee, that I cut thee not off, Isaiah 48, 9. What gracious
words these are. Come now, let us reason together. God Almighty reasoning with me,
a sinner. Come now, let us reason together,
saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. Isaiah 118. Oh, many of you know
and have experienced the way our Savior talks. Oh, that he
may right now make every believer sure that there's not a sin Not
one against him left in his book of remembrance. None. None. Joseph said, you sold me,
but God sent me. We talked about that briefly
last time. Their purpose was to destroy,
but God's purpose was to save. And whatever evil men and women
do against God and us, God causes all of it to accomplish His will
and His purpose. And there's a lot that I don't
understand in this life, like what went on today there in Florida.
I don't understand that. But I know that God's on the
throne, and I know that He did it for His people's good, somehow,
someway, and for His own glory. And I just have to leave it right
there. Just have to leave it right there. What amazing proof
we have from our verses here that all things do work together
for what? For good. To whom do they work
together for good for? Well, they work together for
the good of those called according to what? His purpose. God's called
us according to his purpose. And yes, it's true that our Lord
was taken by the wicked hands of wicked men and was crucified
and slain, but he was delivered into their hands by the determinate
counsel, the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God. Men say silly things like God
had a backup plan. God don't need a backup plan.
We should always find comfort and encouragement in God's sovereign
providence, whether it seems pleasant or hurtful. If you belong to God, he's gonna
work all things together for your good and for his glory. And it certainly worked together
for Joseph's good. And you know what? It even worked
together for good for his brothers. No doubt that God hates sin,
but it's always his prerogative to bring good out of evil. Joseph
said, you sold me, it was wrong, it was sinful, but God sent me
to preserve life, in verse five. God sent me. God sent me to preserve
posterity, verse seven. That word is, we mentioned last
time, means remnant, God sent Joseph to preserve his people.
Even so, then at this present time, also there is a remnant
according to the election of grace. God sent me to save your lives
by a great deliverance, he said in verse seven, and what a great
deliverance this was. Verse eight, it wasn't you that
sent me, but God. It says, he made me a father
to Pharaoh. That word fathered there means principal. And that
means one of the highest in authority and position. God made me this
to Pharaoh. God was behind it all. God made
me Lord. You see that steward over Pharaoh's
house. God made me Lord throughout all
the land of Egypt. God did this because God does
all things well. Child of God, your God does all
things well. We may not always see it, but
it doesn't make it any the less so. Now here's the lesson for us
to consider tonight. As much as Genesis chapter 44
is about repentance, Genesis chapter 45 is about forgiveness. I don't suppose there's anything
that exposes our sin and our depravity more than our unforgiveness
of others. Now you think about that. I don't
suppose that there's anything that exposes our sin and depravity
more than our unforgiveness of others. On the grounds of God's
mercy, we hope and pray that God will forgive us of all our
sins against Him. We see that all our sins against
Him. We know that God is justified when He speaks against us. He's
clear when He judges us. But at the same time, hoping
for God's forgiveness of us, we find it difficult, if not
impossible, to forgive those who sin and offend us. Christ makes very clear the principle
of forgiveness in His Word. In Matthew 6, 14, 15, you know
the verses well. He says, for if ye forgive men
their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your
Father forgive your trespasses. Now you see a man that cannot
forgive others has not been given a true sense of the pardon of
their own sin. Now let me say that again. A man that cannot forgive others
has not been given by God a true sense of the pardon of their
own sin. How can we expect God to forgive
us if we cannot forgive others? Certainly, if God can and will
forgive us of all our offenses against Him, knowing something
of the frame and the sinfulness of those who are just like us,
just like us, not a dime's difference than any of us. We've all sinned
and come short of the glory of God. How many of all of us? There's none that doeth good.
No, not one. We're all in the same boat. And
knowing something of the frame and sinfulness of those who are
just like us, we ought to be quick to forgive them of their
trespasses and sins against us. What have others done to me that
I have not myself done to Christ? If God graciously forgives me
of my offenses, should I not graciously forgive others of
theirs? In Matthew chapter 18, Peter
asked the Lord, he said, how often should I forgive a brother
that sinned against me? And immediately he answered his
own question with a question. He said, seven times. And the Lord Jesus said 70 times
seven. And the Lord didn't mean 490
times. This was a certain number for
an uncertain amount of times. A man should all the days and
every day of his life forgive those that sinned against him.
Why? Because in Christ, God will all
the days of our lives forgive us, for Christ's sake. And after asking this question,
our Lord told Peter a story. He said there was a king whose
servant owed him a great deal of money. And the king called
the servant and he asked the servant to pay the money back,
but he couldn't pay it. He'd spent it all. What a picture
that is of us. Spent all, haven't we? Like the
prodigal son. We've spent it all on riotous
living. Then the king said, well, because
you can't pay me, I command that you and your wife and your children
and all that you have be sold to relinquish the debt. Oh, and that servant, he fell
down and the scripture said he worshiped the king He begged
for mercy. He begged for patience. He said,
Lord, give me some time. I'll pay it all back. The king
was moved with compassion, and he forgave him the debt. And
the king said this. He said, you don't have to pay
me back anything. He forgave the debt. He forgave the debt. It cost him something. But it
didn't cost this man anything. When that forgiven man left the
presence of the king, he walked out on the street almost immediately,
and he saw a poor man that owed him a few dollars. And he said,
give me my money. And the poor man said the same
thing to him that he said to the king. He said, I can't pay
you. I don't have the money. And he
became angry, and the scripture said he seized the man by the
throat. The poor man begged for patience,
but the king's servant wouldn't listen, and he threw him into
prison. And then there were other servants
of the king that saw all these things, and knowing that this
man had been forgiven all that he owed, and yet was unwilling
to forgive this poor man, they told the king. And the king was
angry. The king sent for this man. He
said, I forgave you that great debt you owed, and you're not
willing to forgive such a small debt owed to you? And the king delivered that man,
the scripture says, to the tormentors. And when the Lord finished the
story, he said to Peter, he said, Peter, my heavenly father has
forgiven you all your sin, all of it. But if you refuse to forgive
the offense of others, neither will my heavenly father forgive
you. You see, forgiveness has everything
to do with submitting to God. I never really thought about
that. Forgiveness has everything to do with submitting to God. Let me try to illustrate what
I mean there. After reading these chapters
of Joseph's life again, one of his most noticeable and admirable
characteristics day in and day out of his life was his awareness
and his love for God. Many professing believers claim
God to be a part of their life, but unfortunately, he's not at
all at the center of it. To many, God is a spoke in the
wheel, but he's not the hub. For Joseph, everything centered
around God. I don't know that I ever really
noticed that till I read back over these chapters again. When
Potiphar's wife, Remember when he was in Potiphar's house and
Potiphar's wife tried to seduce him? Joseph immediately thought
of God. He said, how can I do this great
evil and sin against God? He didn't mention sin against
Potiphar, though it would have been. His mind went directly
to God. This would be a sin against God.
I can't do this. When Joseph was in prison in
the dungeon and the cupbearer and the baker came to Joseph
for interpretation of the dreams, Joseph's response was, do not
interpretations belong to God? Don't put me up on any pedestal.
No, sir. Interpretations belong to God. Genesis 40 verse eight. When
Joseph came before Pharaoh who said, I hear you can interpret
dreams. Well, this was his ticket out
of prison. And I could just see me standing
there. Well, yes, matter of fact, I can. But not Joseph. No, sir. He said, it's not in
me. It's not in me. He said, God
will give Pharaoh an answer of peace. It's God. It's all God. And in Genesis
chapter 41, when Joseph gave Pharaoh the interpretation of
his dream, Joseph used God's name four times to communicate
to Pharaoh that it was God who was telling him what was about
to happen. Four different times. God gets
all the glory. When Joseph's wife gave birth
to two sons, Joseph gave them both names that bore witness
to God's faithfulness. He named the first son Manasseh,
saying, God made me forget my trouble. And he named the second
son Ephraim, saying, God has made me fruitful. God's done
all this. He gets all the honor and the
glory. God was the center of Joseph's life. And even when
Joseph's brothers came to buy corn and Joseph disguised himself,
he knew who they were, but they didn't know who he was. Joseph
couldn't hide his relationship with God. They thought he was
an Egyptian. monarch. But when he kept Simeon
hostage, you remember, and sent the others back to fetch Benjamin,
he swore no harm to any of them by saying, this do and live,
for I fear God. And when they returned with Benjamin,
still disguising himself, Joseph said to Benjamin, he said, may
God be gracious to you, my son. It was all about God. When Joseph
Stewart, according to his word, told his worried brothers, boy,
and don't think they weren't worried when they looked in their
sacks and saw that money. They said, oh man, we've been
set up here. We're fixing to get into some
serious trouble. He said, your God and the God
of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. It's
a gift of God. Oh, we're just rejoiced. God's
given you treasure in your sight. And at the end of the book of
Genesis, when Jacob died, Jacob, their father died, and the brothers
then feared that Joseph would pay them back for what they'd
done. Joseph responded, don't be afraid, for am I in God's
place. Am I the one who judges? Am I
the one who takes vengeance? Am I the one who deals in justice
against sin? No. Don't be afraid. Everything's all right. God's
in control. And just before his own death,
Joseph said to his brothers, he said, I'm about to die, but
God will surely take care of you. and bring you up from this
land to the land which he had promised as an oath to Abraham,
Isaac, and to Jacob, Genesis 50, as we'll see. From the beginning
to the end of his life, the sovereign God was the center of Joseph's
life. Now, the real question is, is
he the center of my life? The real question is, is he the
center of your life? You know, this all goes together
because the ability to forgive others, talking about forgiveness,
the ability to forgive others is best exemplified in God's
example of mercy and grace to us. One who has God at the center
of their life, not only finds forgiveness of others to be needful,
but necessary. How so? If God's forgiven me of all that
I've done against him, is it not but a small thing for me
to forgive others who've sinned against me? I'm not talking about being religious
or being holier than thou. I'm not talking about forgiving
but never forgetting. That's not forgiveness. This
is not. Sadly, that's how I forgive most
of the time. I forgive, but I don't forget.
But that's not true forgiveness. I'm talking about Christ being
your Lord. I'm talking about Him being everything
in your life. I'm talking about a revelation,
a consciousness of knowing that God is behind everything that
happens in this life. I'm talking about a God-given
understanding that if and when someone wrongs us, that God allowed
it. And God gives us an opportunity
to forgive as we've been forgiven. Do you see that? I'm talking about being so conscious
of God in every area of life that we understand that all things
are allowed of Him, even when they seem to be harmful to us. Well, how dare so-and-so do that
to me? You see, friends, it's then and
there that we can, like Joseph, Forgive those who've trespassed
against us. For we know that God allowed
their transgression, and He allowed it to teach us something of His
forgiveness, His love, and His grace and mercy to us. Oh God, teach us, teach us. Teach us to forgive, to love,
Show compassion to have mercy and grace to others as you have
to us, and do so for Christ's sake. Lord, help me to appreciate
the pardon that I have received by the grace of God by enabling
me to truly forgive and pardon those who've hurt and offended
me. I believe that's where the rubber
meets the road. I do. I believe that, but Lord, help
thou my unbelief. For Christ's sake. For Christ's
sake. Amen. Okay. Father, we thank you again for
the privilege to come into your house.