Good morning. Good seeing everybody. If you will, let's turn to Genesis
43. I want to touch on a couple verses
there. And get into Genesis 44. I intended on emailing everybody
ahead of time if you have the ability and the Lord gives the
motivation to read this story. Chapters 43 and 44. Joseph and
Benjamin and the Silver Cup. And I didn't email you. And I
had intended on sending out those links for the conferences in
Kingsport. And I didn't do that until, I
think, Saturday morning. So I'm a little behind the curve today,
but I pray it'll still be a blessing to us. If you notice any bullets,
I want to make a point too. I got a list there of all the
upcoming conferences that we know of. I'm going to make several
statements to the young people today. It's needed. If you're
younger than me, it counts for you all too. You older young
people. Practically, it's according to
the word of God, set you up a budget every month. Tell you money,
be good stewards of your money. And line one on that budget,
that's to the furtherance of the gospel and the attendance
of the gospel. Cameron and I always made up
our monthly budget and yearly budgets and things like that.
And we said, well, we're going to go to about three or four conferences this year.
You going to pay your power bill? Yeah, you gonna buy groceries?
That's needed. Well, I needed to go to a couple
conferences that year. And of course, I started preaching,
and then Clay would go to conferences, and I had to stay back, but Kim
and the children went. And then even then, years ago, we was
planning for retirement. That was part of the things we
budgeted for. Like, well, we're gonna retire. I ain't gonna divorce
the Lord's people when I retire. I ain't gonna leave him. I ain't
gonna leave her. And so you plan for those things,
long-term, short-term and long-term, and be where the gospel's preached. There's like a grocery bill or
power bill. It'll be good. You build your life around the gospel.
You don't squeeze the gospel into what's convenient in your
busy, busy schedule. Well, I guess I can squeeze into
worship now then. Build your life around that Lord-provided.
He will. In Genesis 43, the story of Joseph
and his brothers hits like one of those mosaic murals. You ever
seen those? Where people take a lot of little
tiny pictures and they make one big picture out of it. That's
kind of like this story we have. There's a whole lot of little
pictures. We can focus in on Benjamin being the bride of Christ.
That's the church. Benjamin being a picture of Christ
today. Pictures of what Joseph shows us in that. But all these
little tiny pictures, as we read this story, we get the big picture. All these little pictures make
up a big picture. But each one of these little
ones, it's needed right where it is. It's needed right that
week, right that time. Don't need to go moving it around.
That's where the Lord put it. That's where we'll leave it.
Joseph had done several things to his brothers so far. They
had done something to him a couple decades before. They'd sold him
off into slavery and faked his death. And they didn't know whether
he was alive or dead or what. He was dead to them. They didn't
know him. And now this famine came. God sent a famine on the
whole world to give us this picture. You think he's gonna save his
people? You betcha. And his brothers were brought
to him, and he was speaking another language. He had a different
name. He had an interpreter to speak to him through. And he
dealt with them sternly. And they said, you spies, we're
true men. They didn't know what true man
was. They was lying through their teeth. And he didn't dump it
all on them at once. He just said, you bunch of premeditated
murderers is what you are. And I'm the one you premeditatedly
murdered. Tried to. He just said, you spies, you
tricksters, you hucksters, you liars. And I said, we're true.
And then what he said, well, he's going to turn their hearts.
He said, you're going to bring me your brother. You going to
be true, man? I want one thing out of you, your least esteemed
brother, the one made the least. Give me that one. And then he
put him in prison for three days to prove to them they can't do
what they just got told to do. That's to be done for him. This
is wonderful kindness. I pray God will do that to some
sinners in San Diego County. I pray he'll do that to some
sinners in this room. Show you what you can't do and put you
in a prison and take all hope is lost except for his freedom
that he provides. You see our elder brother high
and lifted up. But he locked him up and he provided for him.
He let him out. I'm gonna keep Simeon but put everything that
they need in their sacks and send them On their way send them
to the father everything required everything needed for life He
provided abundantly for them, didn't he? But they're required
to bring their brother. So they brought him they went
and they ate up All the Kings goods didn't they just consumed
it But they ate it fast too They ate up all that corn, and it
wasn't until the corn started running out, as fat and happy
up to that point, and then the corn started running out. Uh-oh,
we got trouble. Hunger's coming again. That's
good. We're going to have to bring
Benjamin to him if we're going to eat. And the father said,
Jacob said, don't you take my son. One of them's already dead. You didn't bring back Simeon,
and now you're going to take Benjamin? No. And they said,
we ain't going to this. He said it plainly. You ain't
going to see my face unless you bring your brother. You think, is this just a story
that happens to line up well with the theological system?
God purposed this for maternity to teach us something. He did. And they brought the Son. Judah
said, I'll be surety. I ain't gonna be if somebody
else be surety. I ain't gonna have surety at a proxy. It ain't gonna be
in some piece of paper that's 400 years old. It's in me. I'll
be surety for you. Amen it. Or do we use him to be a picture?
It says in Genesis 43, Joseph, they brought Benjamin
to him and he saw him and he was moved. His heart was moved
and he commanded them to be brought somewhere. These ones that brought
the sun and on it, they didn't bring money. They didn't bring
more corn. They didn't bring good ideas. They didn't bring
a bunch of snake oil and theories of how to grow more corn. They
brought the sun. and they were commanded to go
somewhere. Where? Look at verse 16. Genesis
43, 16. And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler
of his house, bring these men home. Bring them home. Not to my home. Not to a home.
Not to what some old dead fella said was home. Bring them home. Slay. make ready for these men
shall die with me at high noon when the sun's at its highest
elevated these brothers got worried again they got fearful and they
started just they're going to be silenced here towards the
end of it they're gonna finally get shut up but they keep regurgitating
the same story they keep just telling it and it's this is what
now here's what we did and this is what happened and here's what
we did and this is what happened and and we now we did everything
right I acted on the best way with the best information I had
at the time. That's what I always used to say. I did the best I
had with the best knowledge I had. And they kept telling the story
over and over again. They were scared. Told the whole
story, and they told it truthfully to this servant. In chapter 43,
verse 23, this servant replied to him. He said, peace be to
you. This is a picture of the Holy
Spirit speaking to him. Verse 23, peace to you. Peace to you. Fear not. That's
what the Lord speaks to our hearts, doesn't it? Calm down. Peace. Be still. Fear not. Your God and the God of your
father hath given your treasure and your sacks. I had your money.
The Lord's orchestrated all this. He's done all this. This is His
will. This is His purpose. He had me do it. And he brought
Simeon out to him. Their brother was unbound. Loose
him. What was Lazarus loosed of? Grave clothes. You reckon
it stuck to him? I bet it pulled some hairs. You
men's got some hairy arms, you ever had like a bandaid on you?
Or some ropes tied around you? And you go to undo something
and it rubs on you, it pulls some hair. That sting was a little,
don't it? The Lord commanded his servants for his children
said, loose him, let him go. This servant loosed him, let
him go. They made ready a present for Joseph. And when he came
home, they gave it to him. And Joseph didn't say anything
about this present. He didn't ask them where they got it. He
didn't say how much he loved it. He had one question for them. Look at verse 27, Genesis 43,
27. And he asked them of their welfare. You okay? And he said, is your father well?
The old man of whom you speak, is he yet alive? And they said,
thy serving our fathers in good health. He is yet alive, our
God liveth. And they bowed their heads before
him, before Joseph, and made obeisance. Remember right before
they threw him in a pit decades ago? He had dreamed a dream.
And they said, my corn, my seeds was out in the field, and your
seeds was out in the field, and your seeds made obeisance to me. And they
said, we didn't like him anyway, And I can't even say something
nice to him now. Let's kill him. He told his mommy
and daddy the same thing. He said, the stars and the moon
are going to bow down to me. And I said, well, hold on now.
It's fine with your brother. Why don't you go say that about your mommy
and daddy? And it says they fell down. They bowed their heads
and made obeisance. End of verse 28. Well, well,
well. If a prophet's God's prophet,
what he says is gonna come true because it's God saying it. And
everything in this word, it has come true, it's coming true,
and it shall come true. This is the word of the Lord.
What he says is gonna come to pass. And I wish we'd get that
in our hearts. It'd give us a whole lot more peace in this world,
and we'd stop being scared of everything. Just like these brethren. They'd
have just listened to him from the get-go. But they had to go through
this. They had to learn these things. It does a sinner good to realize
this book is written to me. If I wrote you a letter and gave
it to you, or I told you the letter, or I had somebody else
read the letter, that's words from me to you. This is God's
word to his people. This is to us. To us. And he said, you're going to
bow. It's going to come to pass. I believe him. but he proves
his word to me over and over and over again. Verse 29, and
he lifted up his eyes, Joseph did, and he saw his brother Benjamin,
his mother's son, bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh, and
said, is this your younger brother of whom you speak to me? And
he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. And Joseph made
haste, for his bowels did yearn upon his brother, and he sought
where to weep, and he entered into his chamber and wept there. His heart was broken. He was
satisfied. He was content. And then keeping to these perceived
traditions. These Egyptians, they wouldn't eat with Hebrews.
They're nasty. They didn't want nothing to do
with them. And so they'd sit down for bread. They'd sit down at another
table. And they were placed down, these Hebrew brothers, these
brothers of Job's, sons of Jacob, they said, all right, we're all
gonna sit over here, now here's your seat, and here's your seat, and here's
your seat. And you know what? It went from the oldest to the
youngest in birth order. And they had different mommies
at different times as a boy. They marveled, they said, how
could this be? Joseph knew, you think he told her to sit him? You sitting in that chair, you
think that's an accident? God set you in that chair. God
set you in that chair. And Benjamin, he got five times
vittles. He got five times the food everybody
else got. And you know what? Those brothers
thought it was wonderful. They didn't get mad. They didn't
get jealous. Well, he's the baby. He's always getting the most.
That ain't fair. They rejoiced. Look at verse
34. And he took and sent messes unto them from before him. But
Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And
they drank and were merry with him. Christ who we esteem not. You see Benjamin speaking any
of this? Like a sheep before his shears is done. He didn't
revile again. He didn't say nothing to him.
He's gonna get all the glory. drink and be married. That's
good news. I'm happy. There's gonna be one
more trial. Joseph's gonna give his brothers,
we've been taking this in small chunks, little pictures, ain't
we? And it's building the big picture. There's gonna be another
trial, it's gonna happen again. One more trial is gonna give
his brothers and wisdom and prudence and understanding. They knew
they were guilty selling off their brother. They were made
to see that Brangham Benjamin was the only approach that they
had to see his face. And now one more thing is going
to be taught. Lord willing, we'll see Joseph as a picture of the
Father, and this steward as a picture of the Holy Ghost, and Benjamin
as the Lord Jesus Christ in this. Chapter 44, verse 1. And he commanded the steward of his
house, saying, Fill the men's sack with food, as much as they
can carry. put every man's money in his
sack's mouth. The Lord commanded to the Holy
Ghost to fill us, fill our sacks with food as much as we could
carry. David said in Psalm 68, blessed be the Lord who daily
loadeth us with benefits, the God of our salvation. Is his
mercies new every day? Is he our daily bread? It's not
as much as you could store up. Not as much as you could write
down in a book and keep forever or keep living on that stuff
from 10 years ago. Remember them good times back in the good old
days when we used to have that stuff? Not then. Not tomorrow. Tomorrow's not promised. As much
as you can carry right now. That's daily sufficiency. You
see that? It's commanded. I don't know
if the Lord's gonna give me sufficient grace for today. If you're his,
he's gonna command it and it shall be sufficient. Paul went
three times in perfection. That gives me hope. He's an apostle
and he asked three times. You reckon I can ask six, 60,
300, or take this from me? And he said, my grace is sufficient,
deal with it. Keep it right where it is. I'm so thankful that it
tells us what that thorn was, ain't you? We'd all go out and
try to get one of them. And they moped around, said,
look at my big old thorn. We got plenty, don't we? But
he commanded this, as much as they could carry. Remember the
blessings the Lord gave you, huh? Can you write them down?
Get you a pencil? You'll run out of trees. As much as they could carry.
And who's this to? This command of provision, as
much as they could carry. Who's it to? This is to the very
people, all this blessing, all this provision for the very brothers
that hated him. They still don't know this is
Joseph. He knew them. He knew them. Verse two. And put my cup, comma,
the silver cup, comma. Not any old cup. Put my cup,
the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest and his
corn money. And he did according to the word
that Joseph had spoken. Joseph said, do this, and that's
what was done. He did what he was told. He did
what he heard, didn't he? Said what he was heard. This
cup, verse five says, it's divineth. It says, is this not it in which
my Lord dranketh, whereby indeed he divineth? That means this
is the one he makes trials with. This silver cup is the one he
makes judgment with. It was a silver cup given to
the youngest brother. silver throughout that Old Testament.
That's what Israel was redeemed with, wasn't it? They were counted
by the silver shekels and the half shekels they brought. And
that was all used to make the sockets. Eventually the foundation
is the tabernacle. That was the base. Our Lord was
betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. All that provision for us was
the exact thing he was betrayed by. And that blood and that sacrifice
is what bought us. His person, His work, the blood,
that's our foundation. He's the rock of our foundation.
Our redemption. It says, and put my cup, the
silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest and his corn
money. And he did according to the word
that Joseph had spoken. You take this cup and give it
to the son. You heard that before? Peter
mentioned something like that, didn't he? The determinate counsel
and the foreknowledge of God. Is that what was taking place
here? Putting the cup of his trial and judgment, making Christ
sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. That's not an accident, that's
not plan B. That's the determinant counsel
and the foreknowledge of God on His command, His will, His
purpose. The son gets the cup. There's a lot written about this
cup, and we're looking at that on Wednesdays. He just told Peter,
he said, shall I not drink of this cup? And the Lord prayed,
Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless,
not my will, but your will be done. Not that their wills were
different, but we would know the gravity of this cup. Let's
turn over to Revelation 14. Let's take a look at it real quick.
Revelation 14. This is a cup of wrath for the one that drinks
it. Revelation 14. There was three
angels John had saw. One came preaching the gospel
One came to clarinet, hour of judgment, Babylon has fallen.
And here's the third one, verse nine, Revelation 14, verse nine.
And the third angel followed them saying with a loud voice,
if any man worship the beast and his image and receive his
mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of
the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture
into the cup of his indignation. And he shall be tormented with
fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the
presence of the lamb. The lamb is the one who drank
of that old covenant for us. All this will happen to mankind
who the Lord doesn't drink that cup for. They're going to drink
it. His people will be made one with him. We've already drank
it. He did that for we was in him and him and us. And he drank
of that cup, consumed it. Because the father purposed it
that way. Because that's his cup. He drank it for his people. He consumed the indignation,
the wrath. What do we drink? What do we
drink? Isaiah 51. Isaiah 51 verse 16. The Lord speaks, and he says, I have
put my words in thy mouth. I have covered thee in the shadow
of thy hand, that I may plant the heavens and lay the foundations
of the earth and say in design, thou art my people. Why did he
do all those things? To say to them, you're my people.
Awake, awake, wake them up. Stand up. Oh, Jerusalem, which
has drunk at the hand of the Lord, the cup of his fury. You've
already drunk the fury of the Lord. Huh? Because of the cup that Christ
drunk, you have. Sure he is. O Jerusalem, awake,
awake! Stand up, O Jerusalem, which
hath drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of His fury. Thou
hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them
out." Completely. It's completely finished. Who
purposed this? The Father did. Who purchased it? The Son did.
Who proclaims it? Who's the one telling them about
it? The Spirit does. That's what Paul told us in Ephesians
1. That's exactly what happened. Because of that, that cup that
was given to him for the wages of sin is death. They go hand
in hand. That's what that is. Why is there
indignation? Sin. Why is there sin? Wages is death. He died on a
Roman cross, didn't he? But the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord. In doing that, him drinking
that cup, him being given that cup, we live. He's given us life,
made us a new creation. We're his workmanship. And then
we drink. Joy, don't we? Because of that,
because of his death giving us life, Paul said, he goes, I speak
as to wise men, judge what I say. We'll look at that next hour,
the fools and the wise. He goes, I'm gonna speak like a wise person.
You see what I say. The cup of blessing, which he
blessed. Is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? What's
your cup of blessing? His blood. He quenched that cup
of wrath. He did that because he drank
that. We drank his blood, don't we? The bread which we break,
is that not the communion of the body of Christ? That's our
cup now. David wrote that in Psalm 116.
So what shall I render unto the Lord for all of his benefit toward
me? I will take the cup of salvation. and call upon the name of the
Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. He said in Psalm 23,
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies,
anointing my head with oil, and my cup runneth over. Runs over. What'd our Lord say? He commanded, take this cup,
drink all of it. This is the New Testament in
my blood. Well, David, that was a long time before that happened.
That's the same Christ, isn't it? That's the same lowly esteemed
brother that we had the whole time. Why is the father not angry with
us anymore? Christ drank that cup. If he
does not drink it for someone, they're going to drink it. Turn over Matthew 20. Matthew 20. Verse 21, those sons of Zebedee
come down. James and John, sons of thunder,
their mama had a question for our Lord. Verse 21, Matthew 20,
21. And he said unto her, what wilt
thou? She saith unto him, grant these my two sons may sit the
one on the right hand and the other on the left hand in thy
kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, you know not what ye ask.
Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to
be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And
they say unto him, we are able. He saith unto them, ye shall
drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that
I am baptized with. Like a, like a father patting
his child on the head. It's all right. You don't know
what you're talking about. I looked that up. I couldn't
remember if it was Matthew 19, 20, 21, somewhere through there.
And I was in a hurry. So I typed into Google, are you able to
drink of the cup KJV? And Google come back and said,
according to two sources, no. Look at that one. We can't drink
that cup. But because he did, we shall.
We'll drink the cup of salvation and the cup of blessing and the
cup of joy. The father gave that cup to Christ.
For his people before time, the son entered into that covenant
willingly. And the Holy Spirit comes and
proclaims that's what took place. And that's what breaks the heart
of his people. Everybody else, it's a cold, dead fact, maybe
at best. But when that, what this is,
this story of salvation, who he is and what he's done, when
that goes to the heart of his people, it breaks the heart. It does. Back in our text in Genesis 44. Verse 3, Genesis 44, 3. It says,
As soon as the morning was light... We need light to see this, don't
we? Not our light, not man's light. God has to reveal His.
As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away in their
asses. And they were gone out of the city, and not yet far
off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men, and
without us overtake them, saying to them, Wherefore have you rewarded
evil for good? This master's been so good to
you, why are you evil? Why have you done him wrong?
Is this not it in which my Lord dranketh, and whereby indeed
he divineth? Ye have done evil in doing so.
You try and take that cup yourself, is what he's telling them. He
overtook them. And he spake them the same words. They argued a little bit. Verse
7. And they said unto him, Wherefore
saith my Lord these words? God forbid that thy servant should
do according to this. We didn't take nothing from you.
We only took what was told us to take. We didn't do anything
wrong. Behold the money which we found in our sack's mouth.
We brought again to thee. We did good things in the past.
You know all the good things we used to do. I hear it a lot. I hear it in the mirror a lot,
too. I don't know if you think of the good things I've done
in the past. Look at all I've done, all I've given up, all the right
things I've done. Behold the money which we found in our sack's
mouth we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan. How
then should we steal out of thy Lord's house silver and gold?
Why would we take something from you? Then they make their covenant,
right? With whomsoever of thy servants
it be found, both let him die, and we will also be thy Lord's
bombing." You find this cup and anybody's stuff here, you kill
that one and we'll all be your servants. Little did they know. Some of y'all get it. Servant
said, okay, we'll do what you said. Speedily they brought down. They said, here, go through our
sacks. They took their sacks down. Verse 12. And he searched, and began
at the eldest, and left at the youngest. And the cup was found
in Benjamin's sack, and they rent their clothes, and laden
every man's his ass, and they returned to the city. They tore
their clothes off, screaming and yelling, they're gonna kill
Benjamin. We didn't even know what we was saying. Guilt, isn't it? Our Lord said
in John 16, when he's come, that steward's come, the Holy Ghost
has come, he's gonna reprove the world of sin and of righteousness
and of judgment. Of sin, because they believe
not on me. Did they believe Joseph when he said, you're gonna make
obeisance to me and I'm gonna be the boss and you're gonna
be happy about it? And they said, kill him. We don't believe him,
we don't believe a word he says. They know it now, don't they?
Of judgment. Why does the Holy Spirit come
and convict us of righteousness? He said, because I go to the
Father and you see me no more. Where was Joseph this whole time?
On the throne. They hadn't seen him. He left. That's the Lord's work, isn't
it? These brothers about to find out whose hand judgment's in. A judgment
because the prince of this world's judged? About to find out who
commands. They're kind of aware of it now.
They're fearing physically. are about to honor their brother.
Verse 14. And Judah and his brethren, Genesis 44, 14. And Judah and
his brethren came to Joseph's house where he was yet there,
and they fell before him on the ground. And Joseph said unto
them, what deed is this that you have done? What ye not such
a man as I can certainly divine? Don't you know I can discern
these things? I can judge these things. And Judah said, what
shall we say unto my Lord? What shall we speak, or how shall
we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity
of thy servants. Behold, we are my Lord's servants,
both we and he also whom the cup is found. We've sinned against
God. You happen to see this. Now we're
your servants. For the believer, not for everybody
else, for the believer, Christ has drank your cup for you that
you rightly earned. It's put away. The sin's gone
as far as east is from the west. Righteousness, the acts of a
holy nature is accounted to you because now you have his holy
nature, a new creation's in you. But we don't forget we're guilty.
Not in this earth. I love old Don today. He said,
forgive yourself. He said, what? How could you? Well, I'm in this body, and I
see what I am, and I go through these days, and there's Thursday
mornings sometimes I wake up. You ever wake up on a Thursday
morning, and you know what you are? Oh, don't let me be me today. Don't let me be myself. Keep
me, preserve me. What's he speak to us? Verse
17. And Joseph said, God forbid that
I should do so. But the man in whose hand the
cup is found, this this punishment, it ain't going to come again.
We know we're guilty. There's no punishment for it.
There's no punishment for it's already been dealt. But the man
in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant. He said,
this is mine elect, my good and faithful servant. Look at him.
My son, whom I'm well pleased. He shall be my servant, and as
for you, burn him at the stake. That's
what we would say, wouldn't it? Get up. Get you up in peace unto
your father. Because of his person, his work,
they'll come a day. Either he'll come to us, or that
spirit will come to us and say, get up. It's time to go to the
Father. That's what we get, because we're
made like. Isn't that unbelievable? Let's pray together. Father, thank you for your word
to us. It's beautiful, just like our
Redeemer. Teach it to us, Lord. Commit
these things to our hearts. Make us see Christ in it. Every
page. Who He is and what He's done
and our need. Our need of a Savior. Our need
of redemption. Our need of a holy nature. He's
all. Thank you for this day, Lord.
Be with every soul here. Call your people out. Show us
our guilt. Show us our Savior. It's because
of Christ we ask these things. Amen.