Isn't it wonderful our Lord Jesus
Christ still performs miracles? I'd like to ask you to open your
Bibles to Genesis chapter 37. I love to see pictures of my
great Savior and the different events that are recorded in history. The ones that are recorded in
this book that we call Holy Scriptures. Our Bible study, we just finished
looking at a woman by the name of Abigail. One of the difficulties
my Lord gave me when I first was called out of the darkness
and shown the light of truth in his word. Some people like
to say, when I was saved. Folks, I have been saved since
before the foundation of the world, just as every single one
of those who God has loved. But there was a time when I walked
in darkness, just as there was for each one of us when we didn't
want to believe the truth, we didn't want to have this God
of scriptures rule over us. We thought ourselves to be gods.
I have the power to make decision of where I go. And during that,
those first years, one of the problems that I, the Lord gave
me to deal with one of the trials, and I'm very thankful for it
because it was, as I look back on it, it increased my ability and my
faith in some of the things that our Lord says in his word. One
of those things, what that was is that women must be in submission
to their husbands. This was one of the points of
scripture that offended my wife greatly before the Lord opened
her eyes. And so we dealt with that in that five-year period
between when God had called me and when God had called her.
So I take great pleasure in reading what we read earlier in Bible
study about this woman, Abigail. and how she presented herself
before David, who she called Lord several times. And David
is a picture of Christ in many ways, but here our Lord was showing
her to be the picture. We saw how she had laid herself
down and humbled herself before this one. How she had pleaded
with the Father. She had made intercession for
this one who was called Nebal, which means fool. And in the
closing of our Bible study, we talked about this one Nabal,
who are we not all at one time or another, this Nabal? Does
it not show us the picture of Abigail? Do we not see our Lord
Jesus Christ in this one? I love to see pictures of my
great Savior in the different events that are recorded in this
book of Holy Scriptures. The other day, a very good friend
of mine who had attended one of our conference meetings last
Sunday, he specifically asked me this. He said, why are you
so repetitive about who God is to those who already know him? He took a little bit of offense.
Not offense, that's kind of, I apologize, that was the wrong
word. He took a little bit of question and couldn't understand. He said, you know, in that message
I heard you preach, John, you mentioned God being sovereign
at least five or six times. Why do you have to say that over
and over again? He said, I understand why you would
have to to those who've never heard of Him. But why repeat
yourself to those who have? Why do you repeat yourself to
those who do know Him? And I'm going to be blunt and
truthful. I failed in my answer to him. I was distracted with one of
my customers. I can tell you that I could use that as an excuse. The sun was shining. I could
use that as an excuse. But they're just excuses. I failed to give him an adequate
answer. And I've thought about that all
week long. Our schedules only give us certain days of the week
that we can talk on the phone. And I've thought about that,
and I can't wait till tomorrow to talk to him about it again,
because I think I've got the right answer for him this time. I failed my answer to him at
that time, but I can't wait. I do pray that our Lord will
give me wisdom this time, where I had none before. Wisdom in
my Lord Jesus, not wisdom in John. I ask myself this very
thing, why do I desire these pictures? What is it about these
truths that brings joy and comfort to me when hearing them over
and over again? I have nothing new for you today,
folks. We heard seven wonderful messages last week. Amazingly, they were all seven
messages from different parts of the scripture. And they all
did the same exact thing that I wish to do here this morning,
and that is to point you to Christ. Nothing different. What is it
that brings us to hear this story over and over again? What is
it that burns in our hearts? for this story of who Christ
is? God in the flesh. God manifests in the flesh. What is it that burns in the
hearts of his people that brings them to this story every Sunday,
twice on Sunday, once on Friday nights? Why is my heart comforted by
the telling of what he has done? in sacrificing himself, becoming
a man, walking this earth perfectly, fulfilling the law exactly the
way the law should be fulfilled. What is it that comforts me about
this one and what he had done? Going to the cross and becoming
sin for me that I might become righteous in him. What comfort
is there in that? Hearing it over and over. I heard
about it last Sunday seven times. I've looked at it all week long
in thinking about what I'm going to preach here this morning to
you. It's the same story. What is it, John? What makes
my heart so peaceful knowing these things? What reason gives me the peace
in knowing where He is now, on His throne in glory, doing exactly
what pleases Him to do so, and that's calling His people out
of darkness. giving them a new heart, shining the light of Jesus
Christ in their hearts. Oh, it brings such peace to me. Knowing that it was nothing that
I did, I didn't do anything to deserve this. In fact, if you
want to count me for what I deserve, I deserve His wrath. My anger flew up out of control
once this week. A guy cut me off in the middle
of a rainstorm. And that's a dumb thing to do
in front of an 80,000 pound semi. I deserve his wrath. I deserve
what the whole world deserves. I was talking yesterday. This whole world is cursed. and
everything in it. Cursed is the ground that they
walk on. Because of what happened in that
garden, Adam was kicked out of the perfect garden that God was
well pleased with. What God created, He was very
well pleased with. But Adam was created to sin against
God. He was given the nature of men.
the nature to think of himself bigger than God. And He did,
exactly according to His nature. He took of the fruit, and He
ate of it, and so does all mankind along with Him. This world is cursed, and everything
in it shall burn up as it should. When our Lord Jesus Christ is
called the Last One, for whose name was written on the breastplate
of God before the world was, when the last name is called,
that's it. It's all done. There'll be a
new earth, new heavens, and God's people will be the one that fill
it. No empty chairs, no empty spots. Every spot has a name
and it shall be filled. What reason gives me peace in
knowing where he is now? I believe that I can sum up every
one of those questions with this answer. Love. Love. I love him. John, why do you
go to these messages and hear this same message over and over
again? Why do you say that same message
over and over again to the people who sit? Why do they come to
this church every Sunday? What purpose is there? I heard
that. I don't need to hear that again. I need to hear something
different. Not me. I need to hear more about
my Savior's love. For me. and what He's done for me, what
He's done for every one of His people. If the Lord Jesus Christ takes
up residence in your heart, and that's what He does, He gives
you a new heart, He cuts away that old stony one that's full
of sin, and all of the desire of it is to go out and fulfill
your pleasures of your flesh, whatever that fulfillment might
be, He cuts that out. He throws it away. Disposes of
it. And he puts a new heart in there
that he dwells in. A new temple that is not made
with hands. Because he loved us from before
the world was. With an eternal love. That's
an eternal love that's from before anything was till whatever it
is after. It never stops and it never started.
It was from ever for ever. as far as the east is from the
west. You just keep going round and round and round. Isn't it
interesting how God relates these kinds of things to what we see
and what we live on? These worlds. Not the flat earth thing, but
these round worlds. I love Him because He first loved
me and for that love He has had for me from the foundation of
the world. I love to hear more of it. More about Jesus would
I know. More of His love that died for
me. When we see the experiences that
these ones, these ones who are pictured of Him, and what they've
had to go through, it brings a little bit of an understanding
of what our Lord and Savior went through for us. If we didn't
have these pictures in the form of stories, true stories, would
it not be more difficult for us to say, you know, God became
a man. Really? How could that be? You know,
God experienced what it's like to be in the flesh. He became
a man. He became Jesus Christ. And that
man went through all kinds of turmoil, hatred, scourging, beating,
his own creation turning against him. He told them, he says, you know,
when you see me, you've seen the Father. They knew what that
meant. That angered a bunch of them. How dare you call yourself
God, they said. But he is. He is God in the flesh. Brings a little understanding
as we see with some of these pictures. As we see what Abigail
did in the presence of David for her husband's sake. She was
willing to take the wrath of David upon herself. That's a
picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. He took the wrath of God that
you and I deserve, that you and I should be getting, and He took
it upon Himself. He went to the Lord, the Father,
and He says, Father, don't hurt this one, this one is Mine. Because He loves us. God is a
God of love, but He's also a God of hate, and He hates iniquity.
And iniquity will be destroyed in the end. Depart from Me, ye workers of
iniquity, for I never knew you." That's deep, when the Lord says,
I never knew you. Didn't He create you? Oh, He knows you, but He doesn't
know you intimately. That's what that word, no, new,
means. I knew you. I have known my wife for 41 years,
40, oops, 43. Sorry, baby. 43, 43 years. Christ knows his
people intimately. He dwells in the hearts. We see the turmoil of our Lord
Jesus Christ. We see His distress. We see His
humanness. We see His sufferings. We see
His hunger. We see His thirst. And these are things that bring
Him to a point where we can understand His sovereignty. His love for
us is that He stepped away from His sovereignty for a moment.
He stepped away from His glory. God the Father is still sovereign,
still working all things out. You know what, I'm saying that
wrong. Because Christ never stepped away from His sovereignty. He's
always been sovereign over everything. I apologize. That's not what
I was trying to say. He stepped away from His glory. He was made flesh. And when we
see that, Can we not understand what it is that He went through
as we see the same pictures of those who are going through those
very same things? We see His holiness. We see His perfection. And as we see these things about
Him, these actual characteristics of Him, we understand that what
He went through was great. It was no little thing. It was
no little thing for God to become a man. It was no little thing
for God to take sin upon Himself to become sin for us. It was
no little thing for God to hang on a cross until the flesh died. We cannot help but stand in awe
of what He went through for His love for His people. One such
story is this one of Joseph. the youngest of 12 sons of the
patriarch Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. Are you with
me? In Genesis chapter 37, look at
verse 1. And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein
his father was a stranger in the land of Canaan. And these
are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being 17 years old, was
feeding the flock with his brethren, and the lad was with the sons
of Bilhah. with the sons of Zilpah, his
father's wives, and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Now Israel loved Joseph more
than all his children. He had 12 sons. And all of his
children, his favorite was Joseph. He loved him more than all his
children, verse 3, because he was the son of his old age and
he made him a coat of many colors. And when his brethren saw that
their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated
him and could not speak peaceably unto him. The brothers of Joseph hated
him. They hated him without a cause.
Jealousy. He's got 12 children. This one does that, that one
does this, whatever. This one, he happened to love
more because he was of old age. Now look over at verse 23. One
page over. So here Joseph is hated by his
brothers so much so that we read in verse 23, it came to pass
when Joseph was coming to his brethren that they stripped Joseph
out of his coat His coat of many colors that was on him, and they
took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty, and there
was no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread,
and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a company
of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with the camels bearing spicery
and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. And Judah,
the oldest, said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay
our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the
Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our
brother in our flesh. And his brethren were content.
Then there passed by Midimites, merchantmen, and they drew and
lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites
for twenty pieces of silver, and they brought Joseph into
Egypt. Now look down at verse 36, and the Midonites sold him
into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's and the
captain of the guard. So we see the evil that was laid
upon this innocent one, this child who all he did was get
a coat from his dad. What evil was laid upon this
one? To be thrown into a pit, first off by your brothers. And
then, you know, we'll just profit a little bit from this whole
thing, you know, we can take some extra wine back to dad,
maybe a couple of extra blankets, whatever he might spend with
it. He's got 12 sons, how's he gonna miss one, right? What evil
was laid upon this innocent one who was hated without a cause?
Just because his father loved him, they hated him. They were
jealous. What has jealousy done to many
in scriptures that we have seen? Jealousy drove Cain to kill his
brother Abel. Jealousy drove the Israelites
to kill the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. He was taking
away the people from the leaders of the church. Oh, they're starting
to follow that guy. He's not one of us. We've got
to get rid of him. John 15, 19, it says, if ye were
of the world, the world would love his own. But because ye
are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you. Oh, how often we have read in
scriptures of how people, in their jealousy for those that
God has loved, How dare you? Isn't that what free will is
all about? How dare you say that God loves you and not me? Next, we see Joseph again as
a picture of our Christ when he is charged falsely. Turn over
to chapter 39. Chapter 39, beginning at verse 6. And he left all that he had in
Joseph's hands, speaking of Potiphar. And he knew not aught that he
had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly
person and well favored. And it came to pass after these
things that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and
she said, lie with me. But he refused it, and said unto
her, said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wanteth not
that what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that
he hath unto my hand, there is none greater in this house than
I, neither hath he kept back anything from me, but thee, because
thou art his wife, how then can I do this great wickedness and
sin against God? Now let's skip over to verse
12. And she caught him by his garment,
speaking of Joseph, and saying, lie with me. And he left his
garment in her hand and fled and got him out. And it came
to pass when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand
and was fled forth, that she called into the men of her house
and spake unto them saying, see, he hath brought me in a Hebrew
unto us to mock us. He came in unto me to lie with
me and I cried with a loud voice. And it came to pass when he heard
that I lifted up my voice and cried that he left his garment
with me and he fled and got him out. And she laid up his garment
by her until his Lord came home. And she spake unto him according
to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant which thou hast brought
unto us came in unto me to mock me. And it came to pass as I
lifted up my voice and cried that he left his garment with
me and he fled out. And it came to pass, when his master heard
the words of his wife, which he spake unto him, saying, after
this matter did assert to me that his wrath was kindled. And
Joseph's master took him and put him into a prison, a place
where the king's prisoners were bound, and he was there in the prison. Now I'd like you
to jump over to chapter 45. Just a few pages over to the
right. Chapter 45, verse 1. Then Joseph
could not refrain himself before all of them. Now Joseph has gone
on to Egypt. He's talked, he told about the
divisions. He interpreted the visions of
the king. He's gotten out of jail. He's
been made Joseph, the storekeeper of all of Egypt. He has all the
keys to Egypt's storehouses. He's become this great and wealthy
man. His brothers have come down to Egypt to seek food because
there's a great famine in the land, a famine which God brought
against the land of Canaan. And here Joseph is now sitting
in his office, you might call it, with his big table in the
front. He's got all the garments on
him. And his brothers, now remember, they thought maybe he might be
dead because they sold him off as a slave. Surely he wouldn't
be the one that we're coming to for food, right? So here he
is. Then Joseph could not refrain
from himself as he had brought his brothers before him. before
all of them that stood by him. And he cried, and he caused every
man to go out from me, he said. And there stood no man with him
while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept
aloud, and the Egyptians in the house of the 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 by his presence." Oh my goodness!
We've come down to get food, and this very one that we're
going to get food from is the one we've sold. Their sin has
come back up against them, hasn't it? I can picture myself in that
very instant. I'd be just scared to death with
that. And Joseph said unto his brother, 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 this
is what I want you to see, folks. Now therefore, he says, be not
grieved. Be not grieved for your sin, nor angry with yourselves that
ye sold me hither, for God did send me before you to preserve
life. This is my title this morning.
For God did send me. A picture of Christ right here.
Our Savior was sent of the Father to save a particular people.
Not a salvation that would be offered, but a salvation of surety,
one that would be made. He shall be called Jesus, for
he shall save his people. In John 6.39, And this is the
Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath
given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day. It's a sure foundation for the
one who has sent God in the flesh. God the Father sent God the Son
to be a propitiation, a payment, a provider, a substitute for
all of those for whom he had loved from before a star ever
twinkled in the sky. God has loved us with an everlasting
love. Why do we come to these meetings
every Sunday? Why do we go to Bible studies?
To read about God's love for His people. And as I hear more and more about
the love my Savior has for me, the more I love Him. The more I see of what He does and
that He has done for me, the more I love Him for it. I love
Him because He first loved me. God has loved us with an everlasting
love. There will be no empty seats.
Now turn over to John chapter 17 if you would. To be in Christ means that we
were in Him when He was crucified. When our Lord Jesus Christ was
crucified on that cruel cross, we were crucified with Him. Those
were our sins that were laid upon Him on that cross. Our sins
were taken from us and put upon Him. By His stripes, we are healed. To be in Christ means that we
were in Him when He arose from the dead. We are made to sit in heavenly
places in Christ. I know we're walking this world
still, but our place is assured in heaven. He went to heaven
to prepare a place for us. Is there any way that it won't
be done? To be in Christ means that we
are in Him right now. Even when we sin right now, our
Lord, we have one who sits on His throne saying, that one is
mine. I paid for that sin. I took it into the grave. It's
gone. And God the Father remembers
it no more. He sees the blood, the perfect
blood of His Son. I know that we stand here in
the flesh, but Christ dwells in the temples that are made
without hands. He dwells in the hearts of His
people. Are you with me in John chapter 17? Let's begin at verse
8, shall we? For I have given unto them, speaking
of His people, I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest
Me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I
came out of Thee. And they have believed that Thou
didst send Me. I pray for them, I pray not for
the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me, for they
are Thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am
glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world,
but these are in the world. And I come to thee, Holy Father,
keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that
they may be one as we are." To be in Christ is to be one with
the Father, just as the Son is. Perfect. Holy in every way. Not in the flesh, in the spirit.
We worship our Lord in spirit and in truth. We have no confidence
in this flesh. This is gonna be but dust one
day. But our hearts, where our spirit
lies, a new spirit, born again, the gift of faith that our Lord
Jesus Christ has given us. If we're in Christ, we are one
as they are. Verse 12, while I was with them
in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest
me, I have kept, and none of them is lost. How many? Nine. That sure brings peace. Especially
when praying for our loved ones, our unsaved loved ones, does
it not? Oh, how many of us have unsaved
loved ones that we pray for? But we also pray not our will,
but Thine, be done, Lord. And now come I, verse 13, to
Thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they might
have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Thy word, and
the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even
as I am of the world. I pray not that Thou shouldest
take them out of the world, but thou shouldest keep them from
evil. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. Sanctify them, set them apart,
make them holy through thy truth. Thy word is truth. Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.
How shall you call upon the name of the Lord if you've never heard
of who He is? The sovereign ruler of everything.
How are you going to call upon one whom you've never heard?
How are you going to hear unless you go to church on Sunday or
Friday night Bible study and hear about the one who loved
you? To hear about our Lord Jesus Christ. Sanctify them through
the Word. Verse 21, that they all may be
one as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that they also
may be one in us. That the world may believe that
Thou hast sent me, and the glory which Thou gavest me, I have
given them. That they may be one even as
we are one, I in them, and Thou in me. That they may be made
perfect and one, and that the world may know that Thou hast
sent me and hast loved them. and Thou hast loved me." God
the Father loves us just as He loves His Son. Could there be
anything less perfect than that? Father, verse 24, I will that
they also whom Thou hast given me be with me where I am, that
they may behold my glory which Thou hast given me, for Thou
lovest me from the foundation of the world O righteous Father,
the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these
have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto
them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. Why do I love to hear this gospel
over and over and over and over and over and over again? Could there be any love greater
than the love that the Lord Jesus has for his people? It brings me to tears. As I said earlier, to think about
how much our Lord loves us. Even when we were yet dead in
trespasses and sin. So much so that He gave His only
begotten Son so that we would live. Why do I love to hear the gospel
over and over again? My Savior's love for me. That's
why. I'd like to change our closing
song from what we have in there. Would you mind?