Well, Kevin, it's your turn. I'm just kidding. Brother, I love you much. Peace, Kyle. Good evening, hello again. It's
been a while since we got a visit. I was thinking, Solomon, the Lord
said, was the wisest man born of Adam that walked this earth.
He said, it's better to go to the house of mourning than to
the house of feasting. For that's the end of all men,
and the living lay it to his heart. So it would be good for
us tonight if we could lay his word to our heart. That's our
end. And we need to hear a word from him. That's what we need. If you will, turn with me to,
we'll be in John 8, but turn to John chapter 7. I always appreciate
a conference. It's like a family reunion, isn't
it? We gather together, have a time of rejoicing, In our homes,
my children, they have to eat vegetables at each meal. They
have to have some protein. They have to have a fruit and
a vegetable. They have to have some nutrients in them. They've
got to watch them. They can't have too much soda. They can't
have too much sugar. They watch it. Desserts are a
rare thing. You know, you have a cookout.
You have a family reunion. You can go to a conference. I
loved them as a child. I was one that always liked casseroles
from a young age. Boy, they might have cakes and
eat hot dogs and chips. Mom and Dad ain't even looking.
I enjoyed it. We don't have to have Baltimore
Bottoms. We don't have to watch it too close. We just have sweet
things and eat today, okay? John will give you your vegetables
next week. I hope I can just bring this here. See how I'm
getting at it? Here in John 7, our Lord had been preaching. He was preaching here and talking
in the synagogues. And He says that there was a
division because of Him. And that's always the reason
of division. Man can make it out to whatever
they want. They'll have different denominations
on the size of hat they wear, or whatever it may be. But if
it's between believers and unbelievers, it's over the gospel. It's because
of Him. Well, thank you, Christ. Who's
Son is He? That's what He asked for. Well,
because of this division, there were some officers sent by the
Pharisees to go fetch Him. It says there in verse 46, they
come back and fail their mission. John 7, 46, as the officers answered,
never man spake like this man. Then answered them the Pharisees,
are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the
Pharisees believed on him? But this people who know not
the law are cursed. Nicodemus said unto them, he
that came to Jesus by not being one of them, John didn't yet
say he was one of us, he still said he was one of them. He asked,
doth our law, our law? Listen, now these common folks
that's following this man named Jesus, they don't know the law.
They're condemned already. Nicodemus says, now doth our
law, our law judge any man before he hear it and know what he doeth.
They answered and said unto him, art thou also of Galilee? Search
and look, for out of Galilee rises no prophet. Listen, you
go home and read your Bible, Nicodemus. What's wrong with you? No prophet
ever came out of Galilee. Well, Jonah did, didn't he? starting
off on the wrong foot. And every man went to his own
house. They went back to their houses.
They had fallen out, and they went home where their Lord went. Chapter 8, verse 1. John 8, verse
1. Jesus went unto the mountain
of Olives. From a young age, He said, I
must be about my Father's business. Aren't you thankful? Amen. Aren't
I thankful? Verse 2 says, and early in the
morning he came again unto the pit temple, and all the people
came unto him, and he sat down and taught them. He taught them. He sat down on the outside of
that temple, right on the front steps, and he taught the people.
What about the division? What about these things? Oh no,
what's his father's business? He's going to teach his children.
There's a whole lot of other stuff going on these children
need taught. What about them bigwigs? It don't
matter what they think. These children need to talk.
And he sat down and he taught them. What did he teach? The very same things he always
taught in his public ministry, didn't he? You can go read Matthew,
begin in Matthew chapter 5. He saw a great multitude. He
went up on a mountain. He sat down. That's how they talked
back then. In the red standing up, he talked sitting down. And
he opened his mouth and taught them to say, Blessed are the
poor in spirit. He begins with the Beatitudes.
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. He tells them there in
Matthew 5, he came to fulfill the law. He said, thank not that
I've come to destroy this law. Or the prophets. I've not come
to destroy but to fulfill the law. He came to fulfill the law.
Does that mean he's going to do real good? Oh, he explains
what that law really meant. Does he have a good handle on
it? He wrote the law, didn't he? He knows what he's talking
about. He told them what it meant. We
know what it meant. We can read it. He knows what it means. He
knew what he meant by the law. He explained what that law meant.
He said, your anger with your brother without a cause is to
kill him. I never murdered nobody. You
ever been kind of upset somebody had a stop sign? And green lights wouldn't turn
green enough on our way over here. I was in a hurry. To look on a woman as committing
adultery already in the heart. He says, for I say unto you that
except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees, Does that mean they was holy? No. But you're
going to have to clean the outside of the cup and the inside of
the cup, and you can't do that. Unless your righteousness exceeds
that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall in no case enter the
kingdom of heaven. You've heard them all have said, thou shalt
not kill. They're in danger of the judgment.
But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother without
a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. He explained to
them what this law meant. Nicodemus said, our law? Oh,
no, it's his law. He told what it meant. He said,
seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and
all these things will be added to you. That's what he told me.
Do you have a question? What did Christ teach on this
earth? Somebody ever says, what did Jesus teach? What did the
Lord teach while He walked this earth? Go read them three chapters.
Matthew 5, 6, and 7. Sermon on the Mount. Maybe give
an eye to see He didn't teach like other people. He didn't
teach like what we see on television today. So it came to pass when
Jesus said, into these saints the people were astonished at
His doctrine, for He taught them as one having authority, not
as the scribes. The root word of authority is
author. He authored. He had authority. And John 3
taught Nicodemus standing there, he said, you must be born again.
And he said, how can these things be, Lord? How can these things
be? And he said, Moses, Lift up the
serpent and the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted
up, that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish, but
have everlasting life." He talked there. That's what He talked.
He said, Amen first there in John 7. Let Him come unto me.
He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of His
belly will flow rivers of living water. He said, I am life. That's
what He talked. God in human flesh sat down on
the front of this tabernacle, on the steps, and He talked.
Can you imagine that? What would that be like to hear
Him speak? I pray He's pleased to teach
one of us tonight. It might be me. I'll take it
if it's me. I'd love to hear a word from
Him. These scribes and Pharisees knew
He was teaching these people. And they couldn't have that.
Those false prophets, they find people to follow after themselves,
don't they? They couldn't have that. They're
mad at this guy. He's baptizing people and people
are happy. Oh, I can't have that at all.
People are relieved of peace. You can't control people that
are peaceful. They're happy. They'll do what they want. And
so they said, well, let's discredit him. We're going to prove he's
a false prophet to those people. And he's against Moses. He's
against the law. He's against the prophets. He
came to destroy the law. That's what he's doing. He's
wrecking everything. And he said, I didn't come to destroy the
law. I came to fulfill it. Those religious church-going folks,
they were going to attempt to teach the Lord something. How
this time? They sought to kill him, sought
to stone him, sought to cast him off a hill, sought to do
all these things. Now we're going to line him out.
We'll prove him wrong in front of everybody. How are they going
to do it? Here in John 8 verse 3. It says, And the scribes and
Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. And when they
had set her in the midst, they said of him, Master. That seems
respectful, doesn't it? Her mouth said one thing and
her heart meant another. Master. That's what Jews said. Master. This woman was taken in adultery
in the very act. They showed up to him, for him
to call the situation, and they gave him all the facts. They
gave him facts. So she had to make a decision
in the facts. And then they gave him an ultimatum. You're going
to have to make a decision. Verse 5, now, Moses in the law
commanded us that such should be stoned. What sayeth thou? What a question. What did Moses
say in the law? You interested in that? John
told us to try the spirits. Turn with me to chapter 20. We
read the scriptures out of the mouth of two or three witnesses.
Every word may be established. Leviticus 20. If you didn't have two or three
witnesses, I would always recommend one of those witnesses be the
Word of God. And you better have a good handle on it. Because
we'll be judged out of our own mouth, won't we? Leviticus 20. Let's see if these
Pharisees left something out. They brought this woman. We all
know that, don't we? We've heard this story. Adultery's
wrong. A heathen has that written on their heart, but Jonah's somewhere.
They know the name, right? We know this. Were they right?
Let's see if we left something out. Leviticus 20, verse 10.
And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even
he that committeth adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer
and, do the Bible say and? And the adulteress shall surely
be put to death. Both of them. Both of them. We read over in Deuteronomy 22,
if a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband,
then shall both of them die. The man that lay with the woman
and the woman. So shall they put away evil from Israel. Both
of them have to die. Now they said she's caught in
the very act. It wasn't rumors of an act. They might have heard
something from down the street by two or three witnesses. She
was caught in the very act. Well, where's the fellow? Where's
the man? If they were doing what Moses
said, they would have brought both of them. Maybe it was one
of them. Maybe it was one of their friends.
Those who stress the law, those who stand on the law, usually
they're the ones breaking it while doing so. Paul said, they
command you to keep the law, they don't even keep it themselves.
Go back in our text. This law that the Lord gave,
it is just and it is holy. Yes, it is. And the law offers
no mercy. It was written in stone. It wasn't
written on sheep hides. It wasn't written in dirt. It
was written in stone. It's unbendable. It's holy. It's just. It's good.
But this law condemns. It says the woman and the man
are guilty and they should be stoned. Scriptures say the soul
that sinneth, it shall surely die. What a faithful schoolmaster
this is. It isn't wavering. It isn't bending.
It's a faithful schoolmaster. The interest of these Pharisees
was not upholding the holy law of God, but discrediting Christ. They bring this woman to shame
who was just icing on the cake for them. Proving he was a false
prophet to those that listened to him. To his teachings. And
get those people back under their control. That's what they're
trying to do. They bring this woman. They quote the law to
him and they ask him, What sayest thou? What do you say? These men meant this for evil,
but God meant it for good. Unknowingly, against all their
judgment, against her judgment, what she wanted to do, against
her comfort, they had some uncomfortable times in this too. In sin, she
was at sin, she was at war with God, she was brought to Christ. By the determinant counsel and
foreknowledge of God, you with wicked hands, The Lord purposed this. They
meant this for Abel. A child of his was being brought
to him. Do I have the nerve to discredit
his means? To judge his means? Who really
brought it? They are the secondary means,
but the primary means is always the Lord. He said, All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me. And he said, Bring my children
from afar. They obeyed his command. Well,
they were crafty. The enemy of the Lord and His
people are crafty. They're not subpar. And the wiles
of the devil are easily discerned. This is devious. This is cunning.
This is, what do you say? If the Lord says, stoner. Thought
this through. It's, what say you? Here's the
law. Here's the fact. She did it. What do you say?
If He says, stoner, those people that's been listening to Him,
those people He's been preaching to and teaching, they're going
to realize He's no different than them Pharisees. Like Nicodemus being one of them. He's just one of them. There's
no difference. In the teaching of Christ, there
was hope. There was grace. There was mercy to be found.
Amen. There was life to be had. There
was water to drink. There was bread to eat spiritually.
This was something. This wasn't some cold dead law.
This was a man. This was a person. He spoke to us. No man spake
like him. He gave rest. He gave pardon. Mercy there was great and grace
was free. Pardon there, Him, was multiplied
to me." That person in the work of Christ, that's pardon, that's
mercy, that's grace. That's what He is. This is why
all the publicans, all the sinners, all the harlots, all the sick,
all the guilty, they came to hear Him. Never a man spoke like
this. Well, I ain't going home. They
all went to the houses after this big disagreement, didn't
they? Where were these folks the next morning? Outside waiting
on him. Was he coming back? Was it 6? Maybe he needed breakfast. When's he getting here? They
needed him, didn't they? They had peace with him. Not
with these legalists. Not with these ones carrying
the law deceitfully. With them, there's no hope for
the guilty. There's no rest for the guilty. It's cold. It's rigid.
And it could not give life. All it can do is declare it guilty.
That's all it can do. This woman was guilty just like
those ones that the Lord was just preaching to on those steps.
She's guilty like I'm guilty. She's guilty like His people
are guilty, like sinners are guilty. And if He says, Stoner,
there goes hope for me and you. If there's no hope for her, there's
no hope for me. Let's go home. Pack it up. What
are we going to do? If he says stone her, there's
no hope for us. And if he says let her go, without doing what
the law says, without finding her guilty, she'd done wrong.
The accusers will say, we told you he despised Moses. We told
you he came to destroy this law. It's a sham. That's all you're
getting. You got sold a bill of goods. He's saying it in pretend. He's telling you everything is
as if. As if. But justice not satisfied, it
can't be true. They have to like to stand on
one. So that's the very, very old question. How would you answer? Somebody said, what would we
do? Do we stone her? Or do you let her go? Justice must be satisfied. Here's a sentimental part. What
would you do? I wouldn't want to be put in
that position. That's the very, very old question, and it rings
today. It should ring today. Oh, if I could get everybody
to take that serious with earnest, It's eternal life and death to
know Him. How can God punish this adulteress
and let her loose? How can that happen? Job asked
that question. He said, I know this is a truth, but how should
man be just with God? How is this going to happen?
How is he going to be just and a justifier? Verse 5 again. Now Moses in the
law commanded us that such things, such should be stoned. What sayest
thou? And they said, tempting him that
they might have to accuse him. That's why they're doing this.
Here's where mercy begins. Here's where, there's hope for
the hopeless right here in verse six, you ready? That Jesus stooped
down. Amen. How many weeks could we spend
on that? The one who thought it not robbery to be equal with
God because he was God stooped down. Stooped down to this earth. Stooped down to this sin-cursed
world. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. He came down that you and I may
be lifted up. He was humbled that we may be
exalted in Him. He was made sin that we might
be made His righteous. I would have thought he stooped
down. You talk about condescension. And when he's here in their behalf,
he stooped down. He took a knee. Verse 6 says, They said to him
that they might have accused him, but Jesus stooped down and
with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them
not. That's in italics, but I want
to touch on it. There's just a couple of translations that fits in.
Just because someone's fighting against the Lord, and they're
fighting His gospel, and they're fighting His people, do not pretend
like he does not hear them. Just because he might not seem
as though he heard them, and immediately respond, don't be
fooled that he is slack like men are. There in Genesis 18,
the Lord heard the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah. Their sin, whatever
they were crying out, He heard every idle word of it. What a
thought. I have no idea what the Lord
wrote. I have some ideas and I ain't
gonna tell it. That's heresy, you know that? That's where the
root word of heresy comes from. To take oneself a choice, an
opinion. Well, I think. I think. I don't want y'all to know what
my heresy is. I want to know what He says.
What does he think? That's what I'm worried about.
What's the first time the Lord used his finger? It's three times
recorded in the scripture that a finger was used of the Lord
to write something. I'll read these to you. Deuteronomy
9. It says, The Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone written
with the finger of God. Moses said, And on them was written,
according to all the words which the Lord spake with you in the
mount, out of the midst of the fire and the day of the semen.
It came to pass that in the 40 days and 40 nights that the Lord
gave me two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant."
That first covenant, the covenant of the law, was given in stone
and written with the finger of God. He came down to this stone
on earth and wrote with His finger. He gave us the law. Now these
Pharisees, they've had this law a long time at this point. A
couple thousand years after that. And they've only applied it to
others. They've only applied it to others, not themselves.
They never was trapped on a deserted island. I'll tell you all that
before. There's a man on a deserted island one time. He finally got
rescued. There's three houses, three little huts built. And
they said, what's them huts? He said, well, that one's my
house. And they said, well, what's that one? He said, that's where
I go to church. He said, where's that other one? They said, well, that's
where I used to go to church. He got tired of going there, didn't
he? These have applied this law to
others, not themselves. Paul wrote to us, he said, now
we know that whatsoever the thing is the law saith, that saith
it did were under the law that, the reason for that, that every
mouth may be stopped and the world may become guilty before
God. I've seen guilt in other people, but I've seen guilt in
me. That's what's neat. It says there in verse seven,
John 8, seven. So when they continued asking him, they hadn't been
stopped yet, They hadn't been shut up to sin. They hadn't been
shut up to the law. So when they continued, He lifted
up Himself and said unto them, He that is without sin among
you, let him cast a stone at her. He threw it back in their
court. He said, Examine yourselves.
This wasn't a law for somebody else. This wasn't a law for that
sinner. She wasn't under it. This is a law for them. If you
have no sin, pick up a stone and you throw it at it. Wow,
now we have to examine ourselves, don't we? Our Lord wouldn't finish
with them. It says in verse 8, And again
he stood down and wrote on the ground. We just read it. See, the first time the Lord
came with His finger and wrote on this earth was on that stone.
He wrote the law then. The second time He came, He wrote
His fingers with His finger on a wall. Belshazzar had a big
party there. He took the things of the temple,
the things used to honor God, and had a party with them after
Nebuchadnezzar was out of the picture. And a hand was riding
on the wall. It says, they drank wine and
praised God of gold and gods of silver and brass and iron
and wood and stone and all this just nonsense, playing with religions,
all this dope. In the same hour came forth fingers
of a man's hand. a man's hand, and wrote all over
against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the
king's palace, and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
You'd see his face. You'd see all of him. No man's
seen God live. I saw part of the hand, part
that was a man, writing on the wall. You remember what that
was? He read it in Daniel 5. Interpretation was, God hath
numbered thy kingdom and finished it. Thou art weighed in the balances
and art found wanting. The first time the Lord came
to this earth with His finger to write something was on stone,
it was the law. The second time, in Daniel 5, He came, He wrote
on the wall, that's the end state of the law, that we're found
outside of Christ. We're found wanted. We've been weighed, and
we ain't worth nothing. Our end's been determined. First
the law was written, then we got the results of the law. Here's
the third time. John 8, 8. And again, He stooped
down. and wrote on the ground, and
they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience. They
weren't convicted by the Holy Spirit of sin. The Lord said,
I'll send a comforter. And the Holy Ghost would have
come. He's going to convict of sin, convict of righteousness, convict of
judgment. They weren't convicted of it. They were seeing that
just their consciences were created. I just don't want to be wrong
in front of this man. Being convicted by their own
conscience went one by one, beginning with the eldest, even to the
last. What do you write on that ground?
I don't know something to convict their consciences. Not to say
never a man spoke like this. Leave him alone. Or we will not
have this man reign over us. Nobody will tell me what I've
done. I'm out of here. What's the reason? Any reason
goes back to there's division because of him. Isn't it? I compare myself to Him instead
of being made one with Him, and desire Him, I want nothing to
do with Him. That's the two sides of the fence. I want to be in
Him or out of Him. An in-law or an out-law. They went one by one, being the
eldest unto the last, and Jesus was left alone, and the woman
standing in the midst, just Him and her. And when Jesus had lifted
up Himself. This is how He was just and justified.
God Almighty became human flesh, came into this earth. He fulfilled
the law. That's what was with the finger,
wasn't it? Whatever was written concerns
that law. He came on this earth, came down in the mire pit underneath
the earth, fulfilled the law, and He lifted Himself up. And saw none but the woman. His eyes was fixed on her alone.
He was exhausted, sat at the right hand of God for what? To
ever live to make intercession just for her. And you who believe,
just for you. And just for me. And just for
you. Just for you. And he said unto her, Woman,
where are thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? Do
you remember what we was here for? Somebody snatched you up
by the arm and drug you here. Where did they go? She said,
no man, Lord. They come and said, master, rabbi,
teacher, we'll sort you out. We got a hard question for you
to answer. We got a pigeon hole. We got
a pain in the corner. This one, we're going to have
nowhere to go. Just like Onesimus getting that letter to Philemon.
He wrote it. That's right, boy. Paul said
that he was an unprofitable servant. He said, I was an unprofitable
servant. Bawling, right? Probably had some tear stains
on that lip. And he showed up to file in and said, that's my
pardon. You take it. This woman saw whatever
the Lord wrote that run all them other ones away, and she said,
that's right. She took sides with God against herself, because
the Lord doesn't work in her heart. Made her see what she
was. Made her see who that is sitting
there. That's the rivers of living water flowing out of her sitting
right there. And incorruptible seeds kneeled down in front of
her. Life's right there. And she said, you're right, I'm
nothing. You're everything, and all judgment's been set. You're
the one that doesn't. She said, no man, Lord, now I'm
peaceable. No man, Lord. And Jesus said
unto her, neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. They brought her forward, the
condemnation of both her and the Lord. They partly knew the
law, but they did not know the law of Christ. They didn't know
the law of grace. That's what they've been teaching.
That's what they've been mad at. They listened to him, they
didn't hear him. It wouldn't apply to them. Paul said, bury one another's
burdens. Go in and walk in backwards and cover up the adulterers caught
in the act. And whoever that fellow was, cover them up. Tell
them who Christ is. Tell them how God saves sinners.
How you can be just and to justify. Paul said, bear ye one of those
burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. That's it. Love is
it. This one they brought to her.
The one that wrote the law was the only one that could free
her. He's the only one that could truly bear her burdens. I want
to bear your burdens. I want to be long-suffering.
He's the only one that could truly bear it for eternity. And
put it away as far as the east is from the west. He's the only
one that could truly be long-suffering. He's the everlasting Son. How
long has it been long-suffering with me? He wrote the judgment of that
law, and he's going to write one more time. But this time,
he ain't going to write on a stone. This time, he's not going to
write on a rock wall. This time, it's not going to be in the ground. Turn to Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah
31. When the Lord, in His sovereign,
complete, authoritative providence that controls all things and
every molecule that's ever moved, when He puts His eye on one of
His children and the time has come, by whatever means pleases
Him, He brings them to Christ. That law is a schoolmaster. We're
going to know that He wrote the law, that it's holy just like
He is holy. We're going to know we cannot
keep the law. He must keep it for us. Jeremiah 31, verse 33. Jeremiah 31, 33. But this shall
be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After
those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law, I'm gonna put my
covenant of grace, that law of Christ, in their inward parts,
and right in their heart. And I will be their God, and
they shall be my people. I'm his, And He is mine. How can I know that there is
therefore now? Just like that woman, he said,
I don't condemn you. Go, send the Lord. How can I know there's
no condemnation for me? He said, there is therefore now
no condemnation. He writes it in the heart. No. He gave the
law. He fulfilled the law. He's wrote
it in the hearts of His people. He's freed us from the law. He
stooped down, dealed the law, and the sin cursed her. He crushed
the head of all the accusers. He dealt with the law, he dealt
with the devil, he dealt with the grave, by shedding his blood,
because he lifted up himself. And now he writes peace in the
hearts of his people. That's what Paul wrote to that
church at Colossae. He said, in you being dead in your sins,
and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, have he quickened,
together with him, having forgiven all your trespasses, blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances, his handwriting, that was against
us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing
it to his promise. I want to go to where he is being
taught, where his word is taught. I don't know where somebody is
whipping somebody out of the law that don't know the law. A friend of mine always said,
Kevin, he said, you need to read your Bible before you, okay? And he said, God has no hands
but your hands. Have you ever heard of this book called Psalms?
You ought to read that sometime. That's what they say. They have
eyes that don't see, ears that don't hear, hands that can't
do nothing. They need your hands. Not this
one. Not this one. I pray right in our hearts this
evening. Thank you. This is mine. Yes sir, it is.
I'll share it with you. No, here's another one there. the clay curves. You would come
and bring some more of that wonderful news, brother. Give us the gospel. The Lord be with you, my friend. I just realized that I failed
to record that first message. Is that recording? Not at all.
You got it there? Oh. I failed. Thank you, sweetheart. That's why you kind of hurt.
That's exactly right. Alright, brother. Let's go in
our Bibles to Genesis chapter 50. So good to be with you, and
I apologize for not coming out. This afternoon, today, I was
trying to get the message for tonight and was having some trouble,
good trouble, but we'll see how this goes. Brethren, I can't hear at all. And I don't know if I'm talking
loud or if I'm not talking loud. So if you need me to talk louder,
just do this, and I'll try to pump up the volume a little bit.
Genesis chapter 50. Genesis chapter 50. Now this
text, we have Joseph and we have his brothers. What we have here is believers. Believers. In Joseph's brothers
and in Joseph. But Joseph is also a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I'm going to have a little
bit of an introduction here and I may get to preaching for the
introduction. If I do, I may just have to preach
the rest of this tomorrow night. But I do want to give you the
introduction because it's very important. Very important. Now
let's just begin here in verse 15. This is where we'll sort
of jump off. Genesis 50 verse 15 says, And
when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said,
Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite
us, he will repay us all the evil which we did unto Him. Now, you know this story, and
I'm going to rehearse it, especially for those that might not know
it, the young people here. And I'm going to preach to Josiah
tonight, so the rest of y'all can get in on this if you want
to. But I'm going to try to make this plain enough that Josiah
can understand this. I want this to be plain. Brother
Kevin always preaches plain and I want to preach plain. I want
you to hear this. Now years before this, when Joseph
was 17, Joseph's brethren hated Joseph. They hated him. Now why
did they hate him? They committed evil against him. Why did they hate him and commit
evil against him? Why do Men by nature hate the
Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what scripture says.
The carnal mind is enmity against God. Why do men hate God by nature? Why do men hate God's people
and the gospel that we preach? Why do natural men do so? Well,
Joseph was Jacob's favorite son. This was his favorite son. He
made Joseph a coat of many colors. He was his favorite son. And
in that, there is a type of the fact that Christ is the preeminent
choice son of God the Father. He's the only begotten son. He
is the choice son of God the Father. And Joseph declared a
dream to his brother. He said, In his dream, he said,
we were in the field, and he said, and I had some sheaves,
that's where you gather together all the wheat, and you had your
sheave, and he said, and you had some sheaves, telling his
brethren, and he said, and my sheave rose up, and all your
sheaves bowed down to my sheave. And the meaning of that was that
Joseph's brethren were one day going to bow down to Joseph.
And now you can just imagine if your younger brother said
to you, one day y'all are all going to bow down to me. Well,
he didn't only tell that dream, he told another dream about how
the stars and the moon would bow down to him. And in that,
what he was saying, and he told this to his father Jacob. And
his brethren again said, are you saying our father and our
mother is going to bow to you, Joseph? And Jacob even rebuked
him for this. His father rebuked him for this,
but his father hid those words away in his heart, too, and thought
about those words. Well, another thing Joseph did
was he told his father about the sin of his brethren. Our
Lord Jesus said, if I had not come, they had had no cloak for
me. No sin, but now they have no
cloak for their sin. They got no disguise for their
sin. Christ is perfect. He's the perfect Son of God. He come down and took flesh and
being the perfect Son of God made in comparison, made everybody
know He's righteous and we're not righteous. He's perfect and
we're not perfect. And what those dreams signify
is all men All men without exception are
going to bow down to God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. They are
all going to bow. In the Day of Judgment, all are
going to bow and confess that He is Lord, to the praise and
glory of God. But in this lifetime, all who
are God's elect, all who've got a purpose to save by God's grace,
shall bow down, be made willing and bow down, and confess Him
to be Lord and Savior. So this is what we have pictured
in Joseph. Now, due to men's proud sin nature,
before God gives a new heart, we hate Christ just like Joseph's
brethren hated him. They hated him. Whenever the
Lord Jesus came into this world, men said, we will not have this
man reign over us. And that's what Joseph's brethren
were saying, we won't have Joseph reign over us. And so one day,
they threw Joseph in a pit. And then one of them got the
idea when they saw these slave traders go by, they got the idea,
let's sell him to those slave traders. And they did. And so
they took Joseph. Now you just imagine this. This
is the evil they committed. They sold their brother. And they sold him into slavery. And these slave traders took
Joseph down to Egypt. And that wasn't all. Joseph gets
down to Egypt. There was a man named Potiphar
who made Joseph, gave him charge over his house. And Potiphar's
wife lied on Joseph and accused Joseph of rape. And Joseph was
arrested and thrown into prison. All this because his brothers
hated him and sold him into slavery. Well, by the providence of God,
Pharaoh needed a dream interpreted. And nobody could interpret this
dream. And there's Joseph, been in jail
now, in prison for a long time. And they called Joseph, and he
interpreted the dream for Pharaoh. And Pharaoh saw how wise Joseph
was, he told him a famine's coming, and he told him how they could
be saved from this famine. And so Pharaoh, in God's providential
hand ruling all this, Pharaoh raised up Joseph to be the head
over all Egypt. And Joseph put up corn in the
storehouse during the plentiful years. So when the famine came,
he was in charge over the whole land and over the storehouses. And Pharaoh told the people,
go to Joseph. And Joseph provided corn. He provided life for the people
and saved the people through the famine. All of that's picturing
The fact that our Lord Jesus Christ came into this world.
He was despised. He was rejected of men. We lied
on Him. But our Lord Jesus Christ, and
in our hatred of Him, we nailed Him to a cursed tree. But our
Lord Jesus Christ bore the sin of all his people and thoroughly
honored God's holy law by what he was doing and put away all
the sin of his people so that God, being so well pleased with
him, raised him to his right hand and gave him the kingdom. He has all power in heaven and
earth, and he has the storehouse, and he is the life of the storehouse,
and he is the one that God the Father says, Go to Him. You want
life? Go to Christ. This is not life. What we're experiencing right
here in this world, this is not life. Life is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Life is having the Lord Jesus
Christ. Life is Him giving to you everything
you need to live for eternity with God. We need righteousness. Perfect righteousness. We need
holiness. We need life. Righteousness and
life are the same. That's what righteousness is.
Why did death enter? Because we sinned in Adam. And
sin is death. Righteousness, perfect righteousness
is life. There is no sin when you are
made perfectly righteous. And when you make perfectly righteous
and there is no sin, you have life. Eternal life. That's the
picture here with Joseph. That's the picture with Joseph.
Well, just like Joseph had told this dream about these brothers
going to bow down to him and the Father going to bow down
to him, when that famine came, it came to Joseph's father and
his brothers. And God spoke to them, not just
the hand of providence bringing the famine. Don't just ever judge
by providence. You will go wrong if you judge
by providence. There was another man named Elimelech,
and he judged just by providence. He was in Bethel, a house of
bread, and a famine came. And he looked at Moab, and they
had some bread in Moab. And he thought, well, it must
be God's will for me to go to Moab. And he took his family
to Moab, and left the house of bread and went to Moab. And went
down into a country where God had never put his name. And he
didn't have the gospel. That's like leaving the gospel.
Don't ever just judge by providence. God didn't just send a family,
God sent His Word to Jacob and said, Jacob, fear not to go down
to Egypt. Go by, judge providence by this
right here. That's how you're going to know
what providence is telling you. If you just judge by providence,
you'll go wrong. Go by this Word right here. Go
by this Word. Guess what happened to Joseph
and his, Joseph's brethren and the father? They went down to
Egypt. And they had to go to Joseph,
and they bowed to Joseph. Because they needed bread. They
needed bread. It happened just like Joseph
said it would happen. And you know what Joseph did?
Now listen to this. They didn't know Joseph. Here's
these brothers, and they did this evil to Joseph, and they
didn't know Joseph. They just went down there for
some carnal bread. That's all they wanted. In fact,
they took some almonds down there to give him some almonds to give
him some bread. You don't have to bring your
almonds to God. He don't want your almonds. But here's what Joseph did. Before they ever Knew Joseph? Joseph knew them. And Joseph
took the initiative. Joseph had already forgiven them
before he made them know he had forgiven them. And here's how
you know that. He revealed himself to them. And taught them who he was. And
here's what happened. Look back at Genesis 45 and verse
4. Genesis 45 and verse 4. 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 ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved
nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me hither. For God did
send me before you to preserve life. Look at verse 7, God sent
me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth and
to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not
you that sent me hither, but God. And he hath made me a father
to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout
all the land of Egypt. Hast ye and go up to my father,
and say to him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me
lord of all Egypt. Come down unto me and tarry not."
You know what I pray Christ to say to each one here tonight? God has made Him Lord over this
Egypt. Come down to Him tonight. That's what we're going to have
to do is come down to His feet. That's what we're going to have
to do. Now watch. And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen.
That was the best part. That was the best land right
there, the land of Goshen. Come to me, and you will dwell
in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou and
thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and
thy herds, and all that thou hast, and there will I nourish
thee. And so Jacob, his father, And
their mother, they went down there and bowed down to Joseph
too. Just like Joseph had said it would be in the dream. So
God our Father, this is what He does. He has sent His Son.
His Son has accomplished redemption. And this is what He's doing.
This is why we're here tonight. It's through this Gospel. This
is what God our Father is teaching us. That He's done with His Son
and He's drawing His elect to Him. Just like He drew Joseph's
brethren and Joseph's father to Him. That's what God's doing
with this gospel. He's drawing His people to Him.
You're going to have to make us see there's a famine, and
that famine's us. We can't produce life. We can't
produce the righteousness we need. We can't produce anything
we need that's going to make God receive us. And He's teaching
us to come to Christ. Just like Pharaoh said, go to
Joseph. And he's drawing his people to
our Lord Jesus. And he has mercy on his people.
And here's the truth of it. Just like Joseph saw his brethren
and knew his brethren, and even though they had done all that
they had done to him, he knew them before they ever knew him. And he was being merciful to
them before they ever knew anything about that mercy. He took the
initiative to forgive them and be merciful to them before they
ever knew anything about it. And He drew them to Himself and
He revealed to them who He was. And that's what Christ is doing
for His people. He has mercy on His people and
He forgives us before as yet we even know Him. That's why He called us and gave
us faith to believe Him. Now if there's anybody here And
for the first time, you're seeing what a famine you're in, and
you're seeing what a sinner you are. Go to the Lord Jesus Christ. You don't have to do anything. In your heart, you go to Him. You confess your need of Him. And if you can do that, it's
because He's already drawn you to Him and shown you mercy before
you ever knew He showed you mercy. It's because of what He's done
for His people. Go to Him, and what you will
find is, you will find full provision. You'll find a storehouse full.
You'll find life. You'll find righteousness. And
He will make you dwell in the land of Goshen, the very best
land. for all eternity, for all eternity. Now, we get to our text. Now here's our text. Joseph's
brethren had been in the land of Goshen for many years. They'd been there for years.
They'd been experiencing this nourishment from Joseph and enjoying
this plenty that Joseph had provided for them for a long time. And then their father Jacob died.
And it says, verse 15, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate
us and will certainly repay us all the evil which we did to
him. And they sent a messenger to
Joseph. They didn't go to him. They sent
somebody else to him. Saying, thy father did command
before he died. And we don't really know if Jacob
said this or not. He might have. We don't know.
The scripture doesn't say. But they sent this messenger
with this word, probably sent Benjamin, probably who they sent,
saying, so shall you say unto Joseph, forgive, I pray thee
now, the trespass of thy brethren and their sin. For they did unto
thee evil. And now we pray thee, forgive
the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. That's
a good appeal. They're saying, we're servants. of the God of your father. And
they're saying, in other words, we're brethren with you just
like your father. And they're saying, will you
please forgive us? Verse 18. And his brethren also
went after they sent this messenger with this message. Then they
went. And they fell down before his face and they said, Behold,
we be thy servants. And what did Joseph do? What
did Joseph do? Look at the end of verse 18.
And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. Look at verse 19. And Joseph said to them, Fear
not, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you thought
evil against me. But God meant it unto good to
bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore, fear ye not, I
will nourish you and your little ones." And He comforted them
and spoke kindly unto them. The first thing I want us to
see here, we see in Joseph's brethren, An illustration of
believers, been a long time in the Gospel, been a long time
believing on the Lord Jesus, been a long time enjoying His
grace. And we see in them the unbelief
that sometimes troubles God's believing people. After all Joseph
had done for them, after all they had enjoyed and how Joseph
had shown them he had forgiven them, put them in the land of
Goshen and they were enjoying all this rich blessing from Joseph.
They feared Joseph would now take vengeance on them because
of those sins they had committed against him. Now child of God,
do your sins, your sins, your sins, do your sins ever cause
you to fear that the Lord's going to requite you for the evil you've
done against Him. Now, our sin, our nature that
we have, that we were born with, we still have it. We still have
it. And this sin nature we have is
nothing but unbelief. It's nothing but sin, and it's
nothing but unbelief. But God does not change. Amen. Now we fluctuate because of this
sin nature. One day you're walking on the
clouds and you've got faith and you're believing and then one
day we feel like and act like we never even heard of who God
is and are unbelieving. But God does not change. He has
not changed at all. Not at all. He chose His people
by free grace. He chose His people without any
cause in us whatsoever. Jacob, Jacob, their father. Christ
is the one who came to their mother and said, Jacob have I
loved, but he shall have I hated. Both of them had the same father. Both of them was conceived at
the same time. Both of them was in the same
womb. And neither one of them had done anything good or evil.
And God said, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. Now if anybody
wonders why God said that, Romans 9 says that the purpose of God
according to election might stand. And this is a very important
thing to get. Here's the purpose. People get
mad, why do you have to talk about election? We have to talk
about election. That's right. Here's why. The purpose of God according
to election is is that salvation might be by grace, by Him that
calleth and not of our works. That's what it declares. You
see, where it begins is where it's going to continue is where
it's going to end. And that's with God doing the
thing. He's the Alpha and Omega. He's
the author and finisher of our faith. He's got to do it all
from beginning to end. God is going to get the glory
for the salvation of His people. This is why people don't want
to talk about election, because when you start with election,
you're taking it right from the beginning. You're taking it all
out of a man's hands. And it's going to have to be
taken all out of our hands. We're going to have to be made
to see we are in the famine. And this is why they hated Joseph. This is why they hated Joseph.
This is why they hate our Gospel. Because when God says it has
to be by grace, it has to be by God's grace, it's not of him
that willeth, it's not of him that runneth, it's of God that
shows mercy. And when He says that, what that's doing is, that's
declaring just what Joseph declared to their father, these boys are
sinners. And that made them mad. That
made them mad. And that's, it's not that people
don't understand the doctrine of election. It's not that people,
it's that they do. That's why they get mad. Because
the message of the doctrine of election is, you and me, who
God saves, everybody God saves, are sinners who cannot save ourselves. That's the message of election.
That's why Paul said, is God unrighteous? God forbid. It's
not of him that willeth. It's not of him that runneth.
It's of God that shows mercy. So God doesn't change. And the
gifts and calling of God are without repentance. If He's called
you and revealed to you the Lord Jesus Christ, that never changes. Because it's all of grace. Romans
11.29 says the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. That means God doesn't ever take
them back. He said in Isaiah 45, 17, Israel
shall be saved from the Lord with an everlasting salvation.
Everlasting. You shall not be ashamed nor
confounded in the world without end. God's not going to call
you to believe Him and put all your trust in Him and trust Him
to save you and then say, I just fooled you. That's not what He's
going to do. You're not going to be ashamed
for trusting Him. God can't lie. And he's not going to lie. He
said, nor Hyde, nor Depth, nor any other preacher shall be able
to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Now, God's believing children
hate our sins. We hate our sins. Nowhere, any
time, any place in this book does it say, you're saved by
grace, so it doesn't matter how you live, just sin all you want
to, that grace may abound. Nowhere in this book does it
say that. The way you live does matter. But it don't count. You're not going to be saved
by your words. But it does matter. It does matter. Why? Because
we're wanting people to hear the gospel. That's why it matters.
We want people to hear the gospel. But here's the thing. Our sins
and our iniquities, they are evil. What these boys did to
Joseph was evil. You could get that, can't you?
Wouldn't you say that's evil? To sell your brother to slave
traders and him go down into Egypt and suffer all that he
suffered, that was just evil. Our sins are all evil. They're all against God and they're
all evil. And I'm not just talking about,
I'm not talking about the things that we think of when we think
of sin. adultery and murder and drunkenness
and all the things. I'm talking about iniquity. Iniquity
is all the good that we do that does not measure up to the righteousness
God demands. That's iniquity. And the problem we have is really
is not thinking our sin is as bad as it really is. That's the
problem we have. Thinking ourselves better than
we really are. That's really the problem. Now, when you start to doubt
because of your sins, you go to the Lord Jesus Christ. You
go personally. Don't send somebody else. They
send somebody else to go to Joseph. No, you go personally to him. And here's why you're going.
It's called His throne of grace. And you go there to find grace
to help in time of need. That's why you go. You don't
go to a physician if you're not sick. You don't go to His throne
of grace unless you need grace. Why do you need grace? Because
we're sinners. That's why we need grace. And
we've sinned. And it's evil against him. But
go to him. Why did Joseph now, why did he
weep? They came, they sent this messenger.
And it says when they sent the messenger saying this, Joseph
wept. Why did he weep? Two reasons. One, because they sent a messenger
to him. They didn't come to him. And
they sent this messenger saying, forgive I pray thee now the trespass
of thy brethren and their sin. Why did Christ weep at Lazarus'
tomb? There was just so much unbelief. They knew He was their life.
They knew He had saved Lazarus. They knew Martha and Mary knew
He was their life. And there they're weeping and
they're just This brother, I know, we weep when we have a loved
one. We're brethren. We're the same body. And if one
member of your body hurts, your whole body hurts. And so if one
brother suffers, we all suffer. And if one brother's weeping,
we all weep. And that's understandable. No
problem with that whatsoever. That's just so. But listen, brethren,
whatever happens to our brother, What are we wanting? Why are
we here? I want to go be with Him. And whatever happens, either
He's going to get well for a little while, and then die and go be
with Him, or He's just going to get to go be with Him now.
I'm not trying to be... I hope that is rejoicing to you.
You remember where our Lord was going to the cross? And they
were weeping because He's going to die. That's how you feel right
now. They felt like that because this
is their Lord and Master. They've been with Him for three
and a half years and He's about to go to a cross and die. They're
weeping. He's about to die. And He said,
if you love Me, rejoice because I go to My Father. That's what
the Lord said. And brethren, we can't help but
weep I know, but what a reason to rejoice. I go to my Father. But we see something else. Here's
another reason. And let me say this. I don't
want to get off track here, but you go to Him yourself, to Christ,
and go there. Don't put anybody between you
and Christ. Don't put anything between you and Christ. Nothing. You go to Christ yourself. Confession
of sin is not coming to the front of the church to some man-made
altar. It's going to Christ our altar
in heavenly Zion. Confession of sin is not going
to a priest or a preacher. It's going to Christ and confessing
what you are to Him. They sent somebody else. You
go to Him. You go to Him. And here's something
else in this Joseph's weeping. Our Lord Jesus Christ is touched
with the feeling of our infirmities. He knows we're weak. He knows
we're weak. And this is a positive thing
about it. He knows it. He already knows
about us. Like as a father pitieth his
children, the Lord pitieth them that fear him. He knows our frame. He remembers we're dust. Joseph
was merciful to these brethren. He told them again what he already
had told them. They'd already expressed it.
They'd already been in the land of Goshen. And rather than rebuking
them, rather than being strict with them, He just told them
again what He already told them. Christ is going to make you and
me know again and again and again and again what He already told
us. What's the Gospel? Paul said,
put them in remembrance. That's what the Gospel is. Him
putting us in remembrance. And He promises those born of
His Spirit, this is what He promises you, there is now no condemnation. Because of what Christ has done,
there is no condemnation. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that heareth my word, this is what Christ said, and believeth
on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." And that's
what Joseph's picture here is telling him. And this is what
our Lord continually makes us know. The first hour He saves
you, and every time you come to Him with your doubts and your
fears, this is what the Lord is continually reminding us and
making us know all over again. I will be merciful, to their
unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities, I remember
no more." How's this fear going to be put
out of us? How's it going to be cast out
of us? God is love. That's what John... God is love.
God is love. You hear men say, God... God's
a God of love. God is love. Christ is love. He is the love personified. And
perfect love casteth out fear. He's the one that casteth out
fear. God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy
Spirit, God is love, perfect love, and He is the one that's
going to cast fear out of our heart. He is. He is. You've not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear. You have received the spirit
of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself
bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. That's how fear is going to be
cast out. You come to Him. You start doubting and you become
fearful. You won't even come to Him except
for Him drawing you, just like the first hour. But you're going
to come and you're going to pour out your heart to Him and you're
going to confess your sin to Him and your unbelief to Him.
And when it pleases Him, the Spirit of God will make you know,
just like the first hour, just like He's done over and over
and over again since you've been in the Atlantic Ocean. He's going
to let you know again. You're a child of God. And you're
a joint heir of Christ. Now go on and suffer with Him.
And one of these days, you're going to be glorified together
with Him. And that's the only way we keep believing in Him.
That's the only way we keep rejoicing. That's the only way we keep hating
our sin. That's the only way we keep coming
to Him. Everything we need, He gives it. He gives it and keeps
us coming to Him. And that's when he does that.
Psalm 103. Go there with me. I'm going to
try to preach the second part of this tomorrow night because
I haven't even gotten to my second point yet. I'll do that Lord
willing tomorrow night. Psalm 103. When he works this
and brings it to him, here's what you say. Bless the Lord,
O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all His benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities. Get that now. That means all
of them. That's right. And that word forgiveth, T8 means
He don't ever stop forgiving. They're forgiving. Forgiveth
all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth
thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness
and tender mercies, who satisfied thy mouth with good things. And
here's what you need right here. When you're in that place, here's
what you need. And all that, this is what he does right here,
so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. What does that
mean? Your youth is renewed like the eagles. The youngest day that you've
ever had since you've been a believer is that first moment He entered
into your heart and gave you life. You were a newborn baby. And every time He does this,
your youth is renewed just like He just birthed you again. What
did he tell Peter? Peter's boasted, I won't forsake
you. Peter, it's written in the Scriptures,
you're going to forsake me. You're going to deny me. Peter,
no, I won't deny you. Peter, Satan has desired you
that he might sift you as wheat. But you're not going to fall
away because I've prayed for you that your faith is not. So
you're not going to fall away. But, when you are converted,
Didn't he already believe? Yeah. Wasn't he already born
of God? Yeah. But when you're converted, when
your youth is renewed like the eagles, and you're born again,
I'll tell you all, we're born again, and again, and again,
and again, and again, and again, and again. And when you're converted,
do what? Go tell my brethren about it.
Go tell them. Strengthen my brethren with what
I'm showing you, so their youth will be renewed like David's.
And this is how He keeps you forever young, and keeps you
flying like an eagle. And we need that, don't we? We
need that. We'll get to the second part,
Lord willing, tomorrow night. And that's very important, because
the second part, we're going to look at Joseph as a believer
forgiving another believer. And we need to hear that too,
don't we? We need to hear that too. All right. Bro John. What wonderful grace Joseph showed
to his brothers. That was grace given to him by
God the Father.