All right, brethren, if you will,
let's turn to Genesis 43. Genesis 43. I don't know if everybody
had a chance to get a bulletin, but that was a precious thing
to me this week. I enjoyed putting it together.
And in there, too, I forget to tell you, that's why I write
it down. Lord willing, Monday night or Tuesday morning, Brother
Angus will be coming into town. And as the Lord's pleased, he's
gonna preach for us Wednesday night. So I'm tickled to have
him again and to hear him preach and visit with him. So pray for
him as you ate one. Top of the message is the brethren's
approach. We just looked at last hour,
the enemy's approach. This is the brethren's approach. And I want these two messages
to go together today. Somebody's gonna listen to this
one. If you downloaded this one, look up the date or however and
go listen to the other one first. They go together. The enemy's
approach and the brother's approach. I think you'll notice some striking
similarities and some differences between those of the enemies
that come and the brethren that come. And then I pray we see
the only thing that makes the difference. What makes them different? It's not what, it's who. Who
makes us to differ? Who makes us to differ? There's
a whole lot of what's that divide everybody. This whole, you want
division, look outside. It's all over, over anything. Who, who makes them different? What got Joseph's brethren to
this point? We're here in Genesis 30 or 43.
Uh, they had, they'd went there and the famine got some stuff,
left the brother and come back home to Jacob. And what led him
to this? Years ago, a couple of decades
ago, Joseph had some dreams. And he said, hey, brothers, come
over here. They didn't like him anyway. He was the preferred
of their father. He wasn't the firstborn, but
they treated him like the firstborn. What's wrong with this? You know,
I came first. Me. That's what the problem was
then. That's what the problem is now. But he said, brothers,
I had a dream. And he said, what it got to,
y'all going to bow down and worship me. I'm going to be the boss.
And boy, they didn't like that at all. And then he went and
told his mom and dad, he said, I had another dream too. The
sun, the stars, the moon, the stars, they're going to make
oblescence to me. And they said, wait a second.
Now that was fine when you was talking about your brothers, Jacob said.
Now this is hitting home. You're putting this in shoe leather
to me. You saying that about me and your mama? We don't have
that. He said, go check on your brothers
down there in Sheeham. Oh, that horrible town. And so
he went to go check on him, and they took him. They couldn't
even say nothing nice to him. And they threw him in a pit,
sold him off to slavery, faked his death, went home. Did he
die? They didn't know. He may have
been fine. He may have been tortured for
15 years. He may have died from some disease. They had no idea,
might as well have been dead. That's a bad thing. Lying to
their daddy, put their daddy through all that grief just because
they were proud. Just because they wouldn't have
some man come down there and say, I'm going to tell you what
to do. And you know what's going to happen? That man's going to
tell them what to do. If the Lord's purposed it, man can't
undo it. What brought him to this? A famine came. Joseph kind
of hit repeat with all this in prison. He ended up in prison
unjustly, falsely accused. He interpreted more dreams. He
said, here's what this means. And then that ended up getting
him there with Pharaoh. He interpreted Pharaoh's dream. He said, you're
going to have seven years of plenty, and you're going to have seven
years of lame. And you better put somebody that's just and
wise and prudent over this to sort it. You got a problem coming. And they said, you, and they
changed his name. And he said, you're over everything.
You're equal to me, except in the throne. I'm still the Pharaoh,
but you are everything. You're it. You're the head. And because of that, they have
seven years of plenty. Joseph's brothers are living life as normal,
giving in marriage, having dinners, having get togethers, going to
college football games, having a good old time. And then famine
comes. Famine comes. And famine came. You think he's happy about having
famine? We may be having a famine in this nation. I ain't gonna
be happy about that. I like eating. You like eating?
God was pleased to send a famine. Why? To bring his people to their
elder brother. What if the Lord sends a physical
famine in this nation? He's just, Lord's just saving
his people. Well, if there's earthquakes, Lord's just saving
his people. Well, if there's tsunamis and school shootings
and all these other horrible things that are so hard to deal
with, Lord's just saving his people. What if it's seven years
plenty and the economy's booming and everybody's got money coming
out their ears, we're all on vacation together in some tropical place?
Lord's saving his people in that too. We need to see him, don't
we? He sent this famine to bring
them home. to a home that was not their home. Genesis 43 verse
1 says, And the famine was sore in the land. And it came to pass,
when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of
Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little
food. And Judah spake unto him, saying,
The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not
see my face, except your brother be with you. You tell me to go
buy food? He said, if I show up without
our brother, he's gonna die, we're gonna die, he's gonna kill
us. If thou will send our brother with us, we will go down and
we'll buy thee food. You let Benjamin go with us.
That's what he said, he wanted our little brother to come back.
He sent the corn, and he didn't ask for corn back, to go see
if you can multiply and make more of it, grow it down there.
He said, I want your brother. And then you can be a true man,
you'll live. He said, if you send our brother
with us, we'll go down, we'll buy you food. Verse five, but
if thou will not send him, we will not go down. For the man
said unto us, you shall not see my face except your brother be
with you. Judah, there was a fear in Judah. Do you see that? He's
talking to his dad. Now they're all grown and then
some, but he's reverence to his father, but he's telling his
dad, I don't care what you say, I ain't doing it. The man said,
You're a man, and I respect you, and Lord put you in that office.
But the man said, unless a brother comes, ain't no laughing. I ain't going. He had a fear
in him. He didn't know the language.
Judah didn't know the language yet. He couldn't speak like them Egyptians,
not yet. He didn't know all the customs
yet of when to talk, when not to talk, what to dress, how to
do, what we do on this day. He didn't know all those customs.
He didn't know the language. He didn't know all the ins and outs,
but he knew one thing. If we're going to live, we must
bring our brother. That's all he knew. That garden basically was Egypt,
wasn't it? There's no food nowhere else,
and all the food's in Egypt. And he said, I ain't going in
that garden unless I got my brother. Why? He said so. I understood. And there's a fear in him. And
I thought, too, why the youngest brother? Benjamin's a picture
of us in many ways, but this is also a picture of Christ,
isn't it? Why the younger brother? Well,
one of the writers said, chronologically, Christ wasn't born yet. And that's
true. Benjamin was the least esteemed. He was the mama's boy. He hadn't moved out the house
yet. He still lived at home. He wasn't even 30 years old.
He wasn't even there. He didn't come up in conversation.
Judas said, I'll be surety for him. He wasn't even there. He'll
just do what we tell him. He's the least esteemed. What'd
our Lord say? The least shall be the greatest.
He was least esteemed by us and everybody else, wasn't he? Whichever
one's the least of you, bring that unto me. He was made the
least, that he might be the greatest. Where did this fear begin? It
began in the exact same place that every blood-bought child
of God begins with. Nothing's different between these
sorry sons of Jacob and this sorry son of Jacob. And if you're
one of his, nothing's different with you. Look here in chapter
42 over page verse seven. We're just God saving fears.
Come in. Same as it does all of us. Genesis
42, seven and Joseph saw his brethren and he knew them. but made himself strange unto
them, they didn't know him. And he spake roughly unto them.
He had hard sayings. What did they tell our Lord?
These are hard sayings, who can hear it? You know what God's preacher's
gonna have to say to you? Some hard sayings. Had to me. He spake roughly to
them, and he said unto them, whence come ye? And they said,
from the land of Canaan to buy food. And Joseph knew his brethren,
but they knew him not. And he told them, he said, you're
spies. You come in to see where the food was and how you could
take advantage. And you're looking out for number
one, you're spies, you're enemies of the state. And they said,
oh, we're true men. Are you crazy? We're just here
to buy food. I told you we was here to buy food. They spies
didn't know it, did they? Verse 10. And they said to him,
nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. We are
all sons, all one man's sons. We are true men. Thy servants
are no spies. We're true men. We tell the truth. And he said to them, nay, but
to see the nakedness of the land that you come. You come here
to see what you could obtain. He's calling them out, ain't
he? They were there to buy food. They see what they could get.
They is hungry, and they wanted something to eat. And he said,
you spies. That's stern, isn't it? Is that
a hard saying? Do you know, that's a whole lot
better. That's a whole lot gentler. That's a whole lot more tender
than what the truth was. They were told sternly, they're
spies. You're in here on bad motives. The truth was, y'all
a bunch of premeditated murderers. Oh, we forgot about that. That's
been two decades. That was the truth. If you tell
the truth, he says, you bring your brother to me. Everything
you say is true. If you're truth tellers, I want
one thing, your brother. What's that picture of? If you're
a truth teller to God the Father, you're going to bring one thing,
Christ the truth. nothing else. He didn't say bring
me more corn. He didn't say bring me jewelry. He didn't say bring,
just come singing songs. I want nice songs wrote and bring
your brother, bring your brother. Joseph threw it in jail for three
days. He lets those words soak in. He said, you're going to
live. Here's what you, they said, we'll do it. And he said, good,
go jail. Why can't do it from jail? Well, we're starting to
learn our inability. We ain't nothing but sin. We
ain't got no ability to do anything about it. It says in verse 19, Genesis
42, 19. If ye be true men, let one of
your brethren be bound in the house of your prison. Go ye,
carry corn from the famine of your houses. You take corn with
you to your houses, but bring your youngest brother back unto
me. So shall your words be verified and he shall not die. You want
to live? I want the brother. I'm gonna
give you corn. I'm gonna give you stuff to make
bread, okay? I'm gonna give you the words
of life. You just go tell people. Take that back to your house.
This is yours. You wanna live? Eat this. Eat
this and live. This is it. But I want something
back. Your brother. Your brother. Only him. And he
commanded their sacks to be filled. And he commanded that provision
be provided for the journey. I thought their sacks was already
filled. Yeah, and everything else. If they needed a traveling
stick of toothpaste, it was in there. If they needed guards
to go before and guards to go behind, whatever it was, it was
provided. But it wasn't a recommendation.
It wasn't, well, if you check this block, it's available to
you. It was a command. He commanded it, just as our
Lord commands our salvation, He commands our provision. And
He put all their money back in their sacks. You're gonna come
to find out, maybe not right now, might take a little time,
but you're gonna find out that everything that was given to
you, the price paid wasn't one iota from you. Everything you
thought you'd paid or thought you'd given, that wasn't yours
anyway. It's right there where it was
found. In verse 28, Genesis 42, 28. And he said unto his brethren,
my money's restored. Remember they'd come to that
inn and they'd made provision for the ass to feed it. And they
started looking in their sacks, and he said unto his brethren,
verse 28, My money's restored, and, lo, it's even in my sack.
And their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying
one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us? Why
was Judah scared to take anything back to Egypt other than his
brother? That's a picture of a man that's starting to get
some wisdom. He was convicted of sin. And he was convicted
of, the Lord has done this, has revealed this. He's convicted
of righteousness. That's the Lord. He's the Lord of our righteousness.
And we can't come to him with nothing but his son, with our
brother. And they were afraid and they
said, God's done this. And in chapter 43 verse nine, poor old
Judah didn't know what he was saying. So many times, like Aaron
going up on that mountain and being stripped and his robes
being put on his son. And then he died. What a picture
that was of Christ. He says in chapter 43 verse 9,
I will be surety for him of my hand, shalt thou require him.
If I bring him not to thee and set him before thee, let me bear
the blame forever. For Benjamin, I'll take him.
He is who they require, not what is required, a person's required.
And I'll take him. I'll be his surety to go before
him. That's a lot different than what
Reuben did. Reuben's a picture of religion. A picture of what
we come up, what we think's right. You know what, I've been thinking
about this, and I think this is right. That's probably wrong.
That's probably wrong. Look here, chapter 42, verse
37. Reuben spake unto his father,
saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee. Deliver
him into my hand, I'll bring him to thee again. You see the
difference? Reuben said, if Benjamin has
to go down there so we can live, if Joseph, this ruler in Egypt
that knows Joseph, is requiring our brother, let me have him. And if I don't bring him back
to you, you can pick somebody other than me. That's blame shifting. You take two of my sons, that's
real important. That's real important, take two of my sons. What did
Judah say? I'll be sure of thee. I'll do
it. It'll be on my head. That's a
picture of Christ, isn't it? That's on him. Here in chapter
43, verse 11. This brother must be brought.
And there was fear put in him. He was the only one that could.
And so Jacob's gonna respond. Here's aged Jacob. This man that
the Lord loved. throughout eternity. He revealed
himself to a long time ago, and he's walked with the Lord. He's
been through so many experiences and trials, and one would think,
you need some advice? Let's go ask Jacob. Ought to,
right? Ought to have learned some things.
And he's so concerned with the things of this world. flesh don't
change, does it? We might grow in grace, that
new man in us will get a little stronger, a little older, a little
wiser, right? Start waking up a little bit more, looking at
Christ more, but this body of death's always with us. Until
we shed it, nothing's gonna change. And I wanted to say this too.
This is a poor picture of Jacob and what he's advising his sons,
but when the Lord deals with someone, And when we are decision-making,
it's completely different when we look at the situation or a
trial or whatever. When we look at that in light
of the gospel, as opposed to the light of the world. Even
after the Lord saved us. If we look at something and we
look at it with carnal understanding and fleshly wisdom, that's not
in day, no pun intended, from looking at it in the light of
the gospel, in light of Christ, isn't it? I had a friend that
Had a legal matter that had to be settled, and the courts required
it. He didn't want to do it, but he had to. And it was a business
dealing, and the partners wanted more than half, and they thought
they deserved a little bit more, and he ought to get 45% or whatever.
And it had to go before the courts. It was required. And he went
to his lawyer, and his lawyer said, you know, I think you can
fight this, and I think you can get half and half. I think that's fair. We
can prove everything. We've got all the evidence to prove. He
said, give it all to them. What? They're offering 45%. He said, they want more than
half, give it all to them. You're a fool. Your children
could live off of this. What are you doing? He said,
that's my gospel, buddy. That's the gospel I was saved
with. Lord gave all for me. He's given me everything. If
he gave me, and then walking through this world, that business
is his. The clothes on my back's his. I'm not my own. I've been
bought with a price. That's fine. I was thinking a
lot less, which that lawyer said, where do you go to church at,
buddy? Lord may have to sit that whole trial to save that lawyer.
I don't know. That toilet in the back had so
much plumbing issues this last week, hopefully be fixed this
week. But things are closed down, and common questions come up. What happened? Well, there was
a pipe that wasn't clogged, and now it's clogged. It ain't more
complicated than that. Who's going to pay for it? The
insurance company, landlord, us, me, you, Would you be happy
if it was paid with the Lord's money or the Lord's money? You
see, that's what, now something has to do. We do live here, don't
we? We do live in this world. We do have calculators and checkbooks.
Well, this has to be handled, but then you step back. If the
Lord gives us grace to do so, look at this in the law of the
gospel. Well, if that landlord pays for it or I pay for it,
who cares? Lord ain't going broke. It's his money. No matter whose
account's setting in. Then you know what happened?
Landlord text Miss Warren, said, hey, we'll be down here Tuesday.
We got you covered. We'll put a new toilet in. We'll take care of all of
it. Big difference, isn't it? There
in verse 11, here's what Israel said, Jacob. And their father
Israel said unto them, if it must be so now, do this. Boys,
you're gonna do it. That's how it has to be. Do this. Remember what we looked at last
time? This is bifocal, textrifocal, quadfocal sometimes. This is
a picture of what Christ is for us to the Father, isn't it? And
this is also our ignorance. Take the best fruits in the land
in your vessels. Carry down the man a present,
a little balm, a little honey, spices, myrrh. Take nuts and
almonds and take double money in your hand. And the money that
was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, you take that
and you take double that amount on top of it. Carry it in your
hand. Don't you let nobody steal it. And you keep it secure. Take
all these things with you. Perventry, it was an oversight,
just in case they messed up. You take the money that was in
that sack you originally had, take double that amount, and
take all these other things, the fruits, and the myrrhs, and
the nuts, and almonds. That's a lot of stuff. You think
you'd have to carry it on a camel or something? What was going
on when this took place? Remember what verse one said,
and the famine was sore in the land? They're in the middle of
a famine. Why are they going to Egypt?
They're about to starve to death. Where did they get all these
fruits, and honey, and spices, and nuts, and almonds? They're in a famine. They're
in a famine, ain't they? Joseph gave it to them. If you
had all that stuff, you don't need to go to Egypt. You make
almond butter and put some honey on it and sniff myrrh all day. You got seasonings. That's what
Joseph gave them. To bring the fruits and gifts
that God's given us and expect a reward or favor from God is
like me going into your house and picking up one of your trophies,
Trevor, and saying, hi, I want to give you something. We buddies
now. I earned that years ago. Why are you doing that? It's
like me finding money in your couch and giving it to you. You
like me now? That's yours anyway. That's foolishness.
It's because you're ignorant of God's righteousness if you
try to come to God with another righteousness of your own. That's
what scriptures say. They're ignorant. They're ignorant. As believers, we do bring our
firstfruits willfully. The Lord's gave us everything,
doesn't he? We give the Lord as he's increased
us. If he increased us much, we ain't got much to give him.
If he's increased us much, our cup's overflowing. Willingly,
joyfully, from the heart. This is for the Lord's house.
And that's a hard thing. It takes a long time to learn
sometimes. I used to give to support the local church. I used
to give to support my pastor. Right? Worked hard to do it,
too. And then we were supporting other things, and he wrote a
check for a place to somebody else. But I wasn't giving it
to him, and I wouldn't give it, really, to that local assembly.
That's the Lord's. And the Lord does His own as
He sees fit. He wants to help somebody else do it. We don't
care. Do what you want. But not perventure, it was an oversight. We don't put confidence in those
things. That's not something, well, just in case, Let's say
our prayers. I don't like it. Say your prayer.
No, you're praying to a holy God. That's reverent. Well, we're
going to give the church, you know, just in case that might
help us out some. Maybe the Lord will bless it. No, you give out of
a willing heart. We're going to read a scripture
every day. We're going to devote 15 minutes of our day. Well,
how generous you are to devote your 15 minutes to God. It's
his day. We don't do that for benefit
or perventure, it was an oversight. There's no confidence in those
things. That's what we read for the scripture reading. Paul said,
for we're the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit. We
don't worship us singing songs and reading scriptures and showing
up to a place and putting a tie on or putting a dress on. That's
not worshiping God. We worship God in the spirit.
That's in the heart. It's heart worship. You get that? Now we
happen to look nice and, you know, show up on time and sing
songs because we want to sing. But we want to because that Spirit
sends. We worship God in the Spirit, and we rejoice in Christ
Jesus. I'm just rejoicing in you. I like you, but I like you
because you're His. And we have no confidence in
the flesh. None. None. Bring all those things.
That's fine. That's fine. If the Lord gave
you fruit, bring Him fruit. If He said, Christ, you do that,
that's fine. But you better have the Son with you. You get that?
All that other stuff can be in order and look good and smell
good to other people covered in dung. You can't tell the difference. You better have the sun. That's
what it boils down to. And not, like we looked last
hour, not knowing where the sun is, not knowing the sun's people
and where the sun meets at, what time the sun meets, and that
this is the right building, and this way looks like, mm-mm, what
they believe, no, no, no, no. Better have it. Gene had that,
wrote, and I'll put it in the bulletin. The only people that
have experienced it can explain the difference between professing
Christ and possessing Christ. Now, you can go get you a thesaurus
and tell me what the words mean, but in the experience, God has
to do that. Who makes them different? He
does. It's his doing. You don't want to bring nobody
else. Verse 13. Jacob told him all those things,
which, like I said, even in his ignorance last week, that gave
us a good picture of what Christ brings to the Father for us,
doesn't it? Bring those things, it's fine. Verse 13, take also
your brother and arise, go again unto the man. And God Almighty
give you mercy before the man that he may send away your other
brother and Benjamin, that they all may go free. That's God's
mercies that they go free. Why did our Lord there in John
18 said, you want me? Let these go free. Mercy. That's
mercy taking place right there in action. He says, mercy be
with you, verse 15. And the man took that present
and they took double the money in their hand and Benjamin and
rose up and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. And
this is where it all comes to play. And when Joseph saw Benjamin
with them, that's the key. When the father sees the son,
you get that? When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to
the rulers of his house, bring these men home and slay and make ready for these
men shall dine with me at noon. Bring them home. Does it say
my home? Better, if it does, you better
scratch that out or throw it away, get you another one. Bring
these men home. Struck me. This is our rightful
place. What's a home not the home bring
them home home. Not my home home Slay Kill a
young calf good Go find a young young sheep. Something's tender.
That's what Abraham did. Didn't he saw the Lord come over
them angels? Give me young calf Make ready a feast, make ready,
and the men shall dine with me at noon." I thought that prodigal
son, he'd rehearsed those things. He took his inheritance, went
and blew it foolishly. These men took that corn, went
and blew it too, didn't they? Instead of getting Benjamin ready
to bring back, they're just sitting there making cornbread day in
and day out until they run out. And he rehearsed what he was
going to say, you know, I've sinned against the Lord and I've done
this evil in your sight. Maybe you'll let me be a servant
in your house, Daddy. He practiced what he was going to say. And
he finally came home. And he talked to his father and
he said, Father, run out to meet him. And he said, Father, I've
sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy
to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants,
before he even got to finish his plan, can I be a servant
in your house? I'll live out back in a tent.
Just let me work here. He didn't even get finished.
The father said to his servants, bring forth the best robe and
put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his
feet. Bring hither a fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and
be merry. For my son was dead and alive
again. He was lost and was found, and they began to be merry."
They began to be happy. All this things is hard sayings
and jail time, right? We got convicted felons now.
Put that on your record. And they run away and they come
back and Simeon's still tied up over there. And when Joseph
saw Benjamin, bring him home. Home. They didn't even know that
was home. Yeah, well, you're going to get took home. Slay! Get the fatted calf. We're going
to eat good today. Be merry. Be happy. Why? Y'all's
dead, now you're alive. Why? Because of the sun. Because
we brought our brother and him along. He didn't mention not
once the honey and the myrrh and none of that other stuff,
the fruit. But I like them dates over there. Did you guys know?
Saw Benjamin, that's it. And it was commanded, bring him
home. It was commanded to slaves, commanded to make ready. And
he says, dine with me at noon. Why at noon? Why at dinnertime? Supper's in the evening. You
take a dinner bucket to work, right? Why at lunch? Why at noon? When the sun, the S-U-N's at
the highest. That's a good time. When it's
the heat of the day, that's a good time to get ready some shade
and just have some lunch and be merry, right? And worship
the Lord for doing all this. That's true, isn't it? When the
S-O-N is exalted, that's the time to be merry. Those that
are alive, that's when they're merry. When they're eating that
feast of that lamb slain and we're home. We're home. That's home. That's family. And
carnally, we had some family up north last night. And we drove
two and a half hours to go see him and watch a football game,
see her cousin play college football. I got a picture took with him.
That's close. Two hours away. Normally, they're
thousands of miles away. That's family. We're going to
go see him. That's his car, isn't it? Why'd I drive back so late
last night and get up so early this morning? That's my home.
That's my family. That's where the lamb's slain
and the sun's lifted up high. That's my place. Your place,
too, isn't it? You're gonna be here. You eat the same food I
do. We're gonna eat together. Be happy. Be happy, ain't we? Verse 17. Joseph commanded this
to his servant, and the man did as Joseph bade. And the man brought
the men into Joseph's house. Now look at the difference between,
remember those that boldly went into the garden of Gethsemane
to approach the Lord and get him, Judas and that band with
their staves and their lanterns and all their equipment ready
to go. And look here to approach to
Joseph. It says in verse 18, and the men were afraid. The
servant came and said, we're going home boys. We're going
to have lunch." I knew he was going to love it. Come in the
house, come in the master's house. And they were afraid because
they were brought into Joseph's house. I don't belong in that
house. Hold on a second. After everything's
happened to me and I know what I am, I don't need to go in there. And they said, because the money
was returned in our sacks at the first time we brought in,
that he may occasion against us and fall on us and take us
for bombing in our asses. He'd be right for us to die.
If the Lord's worked in you, do you remember that point when
you said, this is the gospel. I'm a sinner. He's holy. And
if God kills me right now and sends me to eternity of death
and damnation, he's right. He's right. I got it coming.
That's justice. That's not like that ain't fair.
That's right. I'm nothing but sin. I deserve
wrath. And they said, what are we doing
in here? What if he seeks occasion? He's right to do so, isn't he?
And they came near. This is good advice. Verse 19. And they came near to the steward
of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house.
He wouldn't even go in. And they said, hey, let me talk to you.
And they said, oh, sir, we came indeed down the first time to
buy food. We just came to get something to eat. And it came
to pass that when we came to the inn, we opened our sacks,
and behold, every man's money in his mouth of a sack, and our
money in full weight. And we had brought it again in
our hand. Ain't nothing ours. This is what happened. I'll tell
you what happened. Ain't nothing mine. And our other money we
brought down in our hands to buy food. And we cannot tell
him to put the money in our sacks. We had extra in there, and we
didn't have nothing to do with that. They're talking to the
steward of the house. And his only job, he said, hey,
get them, take them home, make some lunch. We're going to eat
and be happy. And now he's got these people. He said, come on.
He knows what's going on. You get that? This steward has
a good handle on what's happening. And he's like, come on and eat.
And they are losing their minds. They're tore all to pieces. There's
snot involved. I'm a sinner. He ought to kill us. And those
extra money, and they're confessing stuff that the steward don't
even know what's going on. Calm down, boys. What's wrong
with you? Peter went to cut off the enemy's
head in that covenant to take the Lord by force. Look here
what this servant does, verse 23. And he said, peace be to
you. Fear not. Your God and the God
of your father hath given you treasure in your sacks. The Lord
put that money in your sack. All these things. He allowed
these things to happen. He brought this knowledge to you. What happened
in the garden? Is there evil in a city and the
Lord hasn't done it? The Lord allowed this to happen. Why?
Because Christ can be exalted. to Christ's good and us in Him.
And they said, I had your money. Lord sent me to do it. And he
brought Simeon out to them. A brother was freed in this.
You see that sometimes in anxiety and fear and all these things,
we're bound. I listened to them yesterday as God's cure for anxiety,
and it gave me more anxiety. Listen, it was all the stuff
to do to not have anxiety, and I don't do the things I don't
do to not have anxiety, and now I got more anxiety because I
have anxiety, and I didn't do the things that's supposed to
get rid of anxiety. That's terrible. I don't want somebody telling
me that. I want somebody to say, in peace,
be still. God's done this. I'm just happy
no one brought it to you. Here, look, your brother's all
bound up in all this anxiety and all this depression and all
these other things. He's loosed. You see what the Lord worked
in Simeon? Calm down. It's fine. That's the Lord's
doing. And the man brought the men into
Joseph's house and gave them water, and they washed their
feet. And he gave their asses provender. Come in. You've been
walking a long way. Sit down. Wash this world off
your feet. That's where the Lord washed
his disciples' feet. Sit down. Wash your feet. And
what about our donkeys? We love them. We'll feed them.
Just calm down. Sit down. It's time to eat what's
been slayed. and rejoice at high noon." That's
a whole lot different when they walked in the first time, wasn't
it? What brought them there? They was hungry. They needed
corn. That's all they knew. What brought
us to get underneath the sound of the gospel? I know several
people that came datin' a girl. I know some girls that came datin'
a boy. Or keep Mom and Daddy happy.
Or keep a brother or a sister or a husband or a wife or whatever.
Whatever reasons. You feel guilty conscience. You
feel guilty and you're like, I need to go where church is.
I picked all the things that's closest and I know where that's
at and I'll go there. And then all of a sudden, The Lord deals
with you, and He shows you what sin you are, and He shows you
your guilt, and He shows you that it's Christ's righteousness,
and then you start getting real nervous. And you start getting,
I mean, shook up, not agreeing like this is correct. You're
shook to the core. And then just some old nameless
steward says, calm down. This is what the Lord does. This
is his doing. It's what's supposed to happen. Take your shoes off,
come eat. It's fine. That's what happened
to me. That's what happened to me. Let's
pray together. Father, thank you for your word.
Lord, we're in a famine in this land. Give us boldness to tell people
where to come and eat. Give us boldness to tell them
to bring nothing but our brother Christ, our elder brother, our
preferred as preeminence over all things. Lord, thank you for
these daily fruits and nuts and honey and conveniences you give
us and that from our brethren. We're thankful for those things,
but we're thankful for our Savior and the knowledge of Him will
make us grateful, make us profitable servants, give us peace, give
our brethren peace. Those that are in times of difficulty
and looking to the things of this world, turn them, turn our
hearts to Christ and keep us as you promised you will. Lord,
we know you're faithful to keep your promises, remind us of them.
It's because you're a darling son we ask these things. Amen.