Genesis chapter 42, please. Joseph's brothers with corn in
their sacks, along with the money that they had originally taken
to Egypt to buy corn, returned home to Jacob, their father.
Simeon, as you remember, was kept back as a prisoner in Egypt.
Look at the last part of verse 24. It says that Joseph took
from them Simeon and bound him before their eyes. Now we've
got to remember here that Joseph knew who his brothers were, but
they still didn't know who Joseph was. And then in verse 29, upon
arriving home, they begin to tell Jacob, their father, all
the things that had transpired. Verse 29, And they came unto
Jacob their father into the land of Canaan, and told him all that
befell unto them, saying, The man who is the Lord of the land
spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.
And we said unto him, We're true men, we're no spies. We be twelve
brethren, sons of our father, one is not. And the youngest
is this day with our father in the land of Canaan. And the man,
the lord of the country, said unto us, hereby shall I know
that ye are true men. Leave one of your brethren here
with me and take food for the famine of your households and
be gone. And bring your youngest brother
unto me. Then shall I know that ye are
no spies, but that ye are true men. So will I deliver you, your
brother, and ye shall traffic in the land. And it came to pass
as they emptied their sacks, that behold, every man's bundle
of money was in his sack. And when both they and their
father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. And Jacob their
father said unto them, me, have ye bereaved of my children? Joseph
is not, and Simeon is not. And you will take Benjamin away?
All these things are against me. And Reuben, spake unto his
father saying, slay my two sons if I bring him not to thee. Deliver him into my hand and
I will bring him to thee again. And he, Jacob said, my son shall
not go with you. For his brother is dead and he's
left alone. If mischief befall him, by the
way, in which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with
sorrow to the grave. Now, before we go on to chapter
43, I want to talk to you briefly about the five main characters
we have in our story. First, there's Reuben. Reuben
is the oldest son of Jacob. And Reuben, in our story, very
well pictures man's religion. Secondly, we have Judah. Judah,
in our story, very well illustrates to us the Lord Jesus Christ,
the believer's substitute and surety. Then we have Joseph. Joseph, throughout our studies,
has been a type of Christ, but in tonight's lesson, He's a very
good representative of the holy law of God. And then we have
Benjamin. Benjamin, as you know, is the
youngest son of Jacob and Rachel. He's the only full-blooded brother
of Joseph. And Benjamin pictures the believer
who trusts in Christ. And then lastly, there's Jacob,
and Jacob as he has throughout pictures God the Father. Okay,
Genesis 43, look at verse one. And the famine was sore, that
word means serious, it was grievous, it was heavy in the land. Now I don't know about you, but
it seems to me here that the Holy Spirit through the writings
of Moses is not gonna let us forget that about this horrific
famine in the land. It seems like every time we begin
a new chapter, something's mentioned about it. Why do you think that
is? Well, because the famine brought
about great need. The famine is a reminder of the
great need that all of us have. In Genesis chapter 41, verse
50, we're told this famine was all over the face of the earth.
In chapter 41, verse 56, we read that this famine waxed sore in
the land of Egypt. In chapter 41, verse 57, the
famine was sore, severe, serious in all the lands. And in Genesis
42, five, we're told this famine was also in the land of Canaan.
And now again, in verse one of chapter 43, we're reminded again
of this grievous famine. Everyone was affected by this
famine. Everyone was. The only place
you could get food was in Egypt. The only person you could get
corn from was Joseph. The Holy Spirit constantly reminds
us of our need. Why? Because this famine pictures
the great spiritual famine in which all men and women born
of Adam find in themselves. God is going to bring and show
every true child of God that they're in spiritual famine. You who are believing children
of God, who trust in Christ alone, know that to be so. God showed
you one day, you remember it well, I'm sure, how you were
in spiritual famine. Spiritually, you were without. You couldn't provide what God
requires. Some never see their spiritual
famine. and they perish in their sin.
But God's gonna show every one of his elect their great need
and where they must go to fill that need. Every true believer
is gonna be made to know that they have no way to sustain life
in and of themselves. If any were going to live through
this famine that we're reading about, they're gonna have to
deal with Joseph. And dear sinner, if you're going
to live through your spiritual famine, you're going to have
to deal with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's just a fact. No sinner
will survive this famine, this lack of righteousness, without
receiving the perfect righteousness of God's surety, the Lord Jesus
Christ. God is going to cause all His
elect to hunger and thirst after righteousness. That's just the
way it is. And I'm referring to that perfect
righteousness of Christ, that righteousness that Paul wrote
of, that God imputes to a man or a woman without works. You can read that in Romans 4,
verse 6. They're the ones that are truly
blessed. That's what Paul wrote. Man's truly blessed whom God
imputes righteousness to without works. And that's a very important
lesson to learn. Why? Because any righteousness
that man thinks he obtains by a work of his own is nothing
but self-righteousness. Any righteousness that a man
thinks that he obtains by something he does is a false righteousness. And all our righteousnesses,
plural, all the little things that we think somehow merit favor
with God. And I tell you, we can come up
with a lot of them. We can come up with a lot of them. God calls
them filthy rags of righteousness. Every child of God is gonna understand
that salvation is not acquired, it's not obtained by works of
righteousness that we do. No, sir. Can't be accomplished,
can't be obtained that way. But according to God's mercy,
He saves us. And aren't you glad that's the
case? I'm telling you it is, because we have no righteousness
to offer God. Therefore, we would never be
saved. It's by the mercy and grace of God that we're saved.
No salvation apart from the mercy of God in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ, our surety. And that's what this message
is about tonight. It's about Jesus Christ, our
surety. I love that subject. I love that
subject. May God enable us to see it.
Believe it for Christ's sake, for our good, and for God's glory. And if you're one of his, you'll
see it, believe it, and rest in that great truth. Okay, again,
verse one of 43. And the famine was sore in the
land. And it came to pass when they
had eaten up the corn, which they had brought out of Egypt,
their father said unto them, go again, buy us a little food.
And Judah spake unto him saying, the man did solemnly protest
unto us saying, you shall not see my face except your brother
be with you. If thou will send our brother
with us, we'll go down and buy thee food. But if thou will not
send him, we will not go down. For the man said unto us, you
shall not see my face except your brother be with you. And
Israel being Jacob said, wherefore dealt ye so ill with me as to
even tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? And they said,
the man asked us straightly of our state. and of our kindred
saying, is your father yet alive? Have you yet another brother?
And we told him according to the tenor of these words, could
we certainly know that he would say, bring your brother down? And Judah said unto Israel, his
father." Now pay close attention to these words. He said, send
the lad with me. and will arise and go that we
may live and not die, both we and thou and also our little
ones, I will be surety for him. Of my hand shalt thou require
him. If I bring him not unto thee
and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever. Did you notice The brothers referred
to Joseph in both chapters 42 and 43 as the man. Over and over again, they said
the man said this, the man said that, the man told us this, the
man told us that. They didn't know who Joseph was. And I was thinking as I read
those words over and over, men and women that don't know God
referred to him the same way. They say he's the man upstairs.
I hear foolish folks say things like, I prayed to the man and
it's gonna be all right. It's gonna be okay. Me and the
man above, we've got a good thing going on. We've all heard those
things. And there's no doubt that Jesus
Christ is a man, but he's no ordinary man. He's no man like
most people think him to be. He's the God man. He's God who
became a man. And anymore, I cringe even when
I hear people refer to Him as only Jesus. You know, there are
a lot of people who spell their name that way anymore. It's pronounced
a little different, but I'm telling you, I cringe when I just hear
the name Jesus. Why? Because He's the Lord Jesus. He's the Lord Jesus. He's Christ,
the anointed one of God. He's the Savior. He's the Messiah. He's the one mediator, the one
and only go between God and man. He's the man, Christ Jesus. And God's gonna reveal to every
blood bought sinner who Jesus Christ really is. He's no ordinary
man. He's the God with whom we have
to do. Now in verse 2, we see that they
had eaten up all the corn which they had brought out of Egypt.
And you know, I was thinking, we can't live today on yesterday's
grace, can't we? We must have and receive grace
for today. I need grace afresh, new, every
day. Jacob tells his sons to go again
and buy us a little food. We have to daily gather that
manna that falls for us. We see that Judah speaks up and
he again reminds Jacob of their dilemma. He said, the man did
solemnly protest unto us. Now that's strong language there. The ruler of Egypt, the man,
strongly warned us not to come back except our brother Benjamin
be with us. He said we would not see his
face with any acceptance if we didn't come with Benjamin. He
said we would not receive anything else at his hand without Benjamin
being with us. He said we would be treated harshly
if our brother didn't come with us. And then Judah said in verse
four, he said, if you send our brother with us, we'll go down
and buy the acorn. But if you will not send him
with us, we will not go. For the man said, we would not
see his face except his brother be with us. Now don't forget
also that Simeon, Simeon is still there in prison. And these boys
are so, well these men, they're not boys, but they were so afraid
to go without Benjamin, even if it meant Simeon would stay
in prison. They were concerned. They didn't want to go without
Benjamin going with them. Jacob says, he says, why did
you even tell him you had a brother? And they remind Jacob that the
man inquired and asked him very directly about their family. You see, all must answer this
man. Why, he's the one who holds their
life in his hands. You're gonna have to answer honestly
to him. He asked if our father was alive.
He asked if we had another brother. How could we not answer? He's
the one in charge. He's the one who had what we
need the most. We certainly didn't know that
he would tell us to bring your brother down. Verse seven. Now
look at verse eight. This is so beautiful. I've thought
about this for the last week, especially the last three days.
So beautiful. Remember, Judah pictures Christ,
our surety here. In verse eight, Judah said unto
Israel his father, send the lad with me and we'll arise and go
that we may live and not die, both we and thou and also our
little ones. And here we see the necessity
of a surety. We've got to have a surety. It's
a matter of life and death. Judah said, send the lad with
me and we'll arise and go that we may live. See, this is a matter
of life and death. Matter of life and death. It
affects the whole family of God. If we return without Benjamin,
this man might kill us. He thought we were spies. This
is the proof that we're not. This is the proof that we were
telling him the truth. If they don't return, they're
going to starve. And if they returned without
Benjamin, they could very well die. So we see that Jacob's whole
family would die without a surety. Joseph had demanded that Benjamin
be brought. Joseph here, as I said a moment
ago, pictures the law. Joseph must be obeyed. Joseph must be satisfied. The law must be obeyed. The law's
got to be satisfied, friends. Jacob, the father, must be assured. He's not gonna let Benjamin go
unless he has some assurance, assured that Benjamin, his beloved,
would not be lost. Judah said, send the lad with
me. He said, give him to me. We'll arise and go. Father, you
can count on me. You can count on me. You can
put your trust in me. We all will live and not die,
both we and you and all the little ones. I'm telling you, friends,
with Christ as our surety, all God's little ones will live.
Look at verse nine, I will be surety for him. Of my hand shall
thou require him. If I bring him not unto thee
and set him, now let me just pause there for a minute. The
Hebrew word for surety means intertwined. It means mingled together. It means intermingled. It means
to become one. Isn't it amazing how words always
mean something in Scripture? What Judah is telling Jacob,
his father here, is this. He said, whatever happens to
him, happens to me. And whatever happens to me, happens
to Him. I'm one with Him. Me and Benjamin, we're intermingled.
We're one. Judah said, if something happens
to Him, you can require it of me. Judah said, if I bring Him
not unto you and set Him before you, then let me bear the blame
forever. Oh, don't you see the picture
of Christ here? I think that it's amazing how
the Holy Spirit uses Reuben in chapter 42 and Judah in chapter
43 as a contrast, contrast to one another. And these two men,
we can learn something about what a true surety is. Now we see that Judah pictures
Christ, our surety, and as I said a moment ago, Reuben very well
pictures man's religion. If you'll look back at chapter
42 again, in verse 37, Reuben spake unto his father, saying,
Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee. deliver him
into my hand, and I'll bring him to thee again." And did you
notice what Jacob's response to Reuben was? He said, my son
shall not go down with you. Wonder why he said that. Reuben's
response is reason enough to see why. Plus, as we'll see in
Genesis chapter 49, Jacob says of Reuben, he said, you're unstable
as water. Thou shalt not excel. He didn't
trust Reuben. And you know what? I wouldn't
have either. He had no confidence at all in Reuben, and I wouldn't
have either. But in chapter 43, verse 8, Judah told Jacob, he
said, send the lad with me. Send the lad with me. We'll live.
All of us will live. I'll be a surety for him. Of
my hand shall thou require him. If I fail, you can let me bear
the blame forever. Do you see in Reuben and Judah
the contrast in Christ and man's religion? First, we see the pride
of Reuben. What arrogance, what self-confidence. Isn't that what man's religion
promotes? It sure does. Arrogance, pride,
self-confidence. Religion says, I will, I have,
I can. That's the profession of the
proud. But then we see the humility of Judah. The gospel of Christ,
friends, and his suretyship promotes genuine humility. Judah, with great humility, says,
Daddy, send the lad with me. Send the lad with me. We'll rise
and go, and we'll live and not die. Everything will be all right.
Trust me, Daddy. I'll take care of him. Reuben had no true sense of justice. Reuben said, if I don't bring
him back, you can slay my two sons. You can kill your grandsons.
That's not justice. Would, could justice be honored
in that? Absolutely not. No way. But Judah,
oh, he had a true sense of justice. He said, I will be sure to. I'll
be sure to. He said, if I fail, let me bear
the blame forever. You can take my life. You can
take my life. Did you know that the Hebrew
word for blame in this verse means sin? Judah said, if I fail,
let me bear the sin. That's where true justice is
seen. That's where true substitution
is honored. That's what Christ did on His
people's behalf. As our surety, all our sin was
placed on Him. And this so clearly pictures
Christ's sacrifice for the eternal punishment of His people's sin.
I'm telling you it does. He truly is our surety. Now Reuben here showed what he
really thought of his father. Now you think about this. What
kind of monster did Reuben think his father was? And I tell you
folks, I've had people tell me before, I've had people say,
your God is my devil. Have you ever heard anybody tell
you that? You tell somebody about God being
sovereign and doing what He will with His own, having mercy on
whom He'll have mercy, and grace and compassion on whom He will,
and whom He will, He'll harden. They'll say, well, your God's
my devil. That's not my God. My God loves everybody. My God sent Christ to die for
everyone. Well, your God's a monster. If you don't come back with Benjamin,
Reuben said, if I don't come back with Benjamin, you kill
my two sons. And it not only showed what Reuben
thought of his father, but it showed how little he cared for
his own two sons. Now I'm telling you, friends,
what a picture of religion this is. Religion don't care about
the true God. Religion cares only about the
God of their imagination. Religion doesn't care about the
sinner. Religion cares only about its own self-promotion. Did Reuben really think that
Jacob would find any satisfaction in killing his two grandsons? I'm telling you right now, I'd
lay down my life for my children and my grandchildren. You want
to get on my bad side? You treat my children badly?
You treat my grandchildren badly? And I dare to say all of you
feel the same way. Judah, on the other hand, picturing
Christ our surety, he couldn't bear to see his father sorrowful. Look over at Genesis chapter
44. Look at verse 31. Judah is speaking here to Joseph,
who has still not revealed himself to him. And in verse 31, we read,
it shall come to pass when he, and this is as I said, Judah
speaking to Joseph, he said, it shall come to pass when he,
Jacob, my father, seeth that the lad is not with us. Joseph
was gonna keep Benjamin and send the rest of them back. And he
said, oh, he said, if my father seeth the lad is not with us,
He'll die. He will die. And thy servants
shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant, our father, with
sorrow to the grave. For thy servant, speaking of
himself, Judah became surety for the lad unto my father, saying,
if I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to
my father forever. Now therefore, I pray thee, all
Judas begging Joseph, He said, I pray thee, let thy servant
abide. Keep me. Do what you will with
me. Instead of the lad, a bondman
to my Lord, and let the lad go up with his brethren. Let me
take his place. You see that? And look at verse
34. He said, for how shall I go up
to my Father? And the lad be not with me. Lest
peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father." Oh,
I'm telling you, Judah loved his father so much and he couldn't
bear the pain that it would cause his father if Benjamin was to
be lost. And I can't help but to think
of John 3 16, for God so loved his people in this world that
he gave his only begotten son, to be a surety for him. That's
why Judah agreed to be a surety for Benjamin. He loved his father. And that's why Christ agreed
to be a surety for his people. He loved his father and his father
loved him. And how wonderful is our surety,
the Lord Jesus, who laid down his life for his people so that
they could forever be with God, their father. Joseph here, who
pictures the law of God, is going to be satisfied with Judas' suretyship. And Benjamin and his father Jacob
would, for the rest of Jacob's life, be reunited. You see, God's holy law accepts
Christ as the sinner's surety. And the father and his beloved
children will forever be reunited together. That's what a surety
does. That's what assurity does for
his people. Do you remember what we said assurity is? One who
is intermingled with another so that they're one. One who
has made himself totally responsible and accountable for another.
That's what assurity is. One who agrees to do whatever
is necessary and needed for the one that they represent. The
salvation of God's elect depends totally upon the covenant that
Christ made with God to be our surety. Now listen to me. Nowhere in our story, nowhere
in our story does Benjamin say a word. Nowhere. No one consulted Benjamin about
Judah being his surety. No one asked him what he thought
about it. You know why? Because this was
between the father and the son. It was between the father and
the son. This was a covenant that Jacob and Judah made together. Now you're still in Genesis 44,
right? Look at verse 30. Judah tells
Joseph this, and I thought this was beautiful. Now, therefore,
when I come to thy servant, my father, and the lad be not with
us, now look at this, it will kill him. It'll kill him. Do
you know why? He says, seeing that his life
is bound up in the lad's life. Oh, I tell you, friends, God
the Father's life is so tied, it's so intermingled, it's so
joined together with the believer, that God Himself and the person
of His Son died for His people. In that sense, God cannot live,
He cannot live without His people, His children. Isn't that the
most amazing thing you ever heard? Why, it's the Gospel. Only Judah was entrusted with
the task of assurity, and only Christ is entrusted by God to
redeem the chosen sinner. I heard a preacher say one time
that Christ was like a cosigner on a bank loan. No, sir, he's
much, much, much more than that. Much, much more than that. You
see, a cosigner, signs and says, I'll be responsible and answerable
for the note that I signed if the debtor can't pay it. That's
what a cosigner does. But Christ is our surety. He
agrees to pay the debt in full when he knows right up front
you can't pay it. Huh? Right? Absolutely. Christ says,
I'm taking care of the whole debt that Larry and Lou Ann Perryman
owe that I know they cannot pay. They can't pay it. I'm not expecting
them to pay it. I'm going to go ahead and pay
it right up front. And I'm going to pay it in full. I'm going
to pay it in full now. That's what our Lord says. You
know, Judah didn't say to Jacob, he didn't say, let me give this
a shot, dad. Let me give this a shot. You
can give, trust Benjamin with me. I'll give it my best shot.
I'll do my best. He didn't say, I'll try my hardest. What'd he say? He said, I will
be assured to you. I will be. You can count on it. If I bring Him not unto thee,
let me bear the blame forever." Christ didn't make redemption
possible. He didn't do His part and leave
the rest up to us. Christ made redemption certain. for his Benjamins what they couldn't
do for themselves. And that's the gospel. That's
the gospel. Oh, may God enable us to believe
it more. Lord, I believe, but help Thou
my unbelief.