Brother David Edmondson, pastor
of Bible Baptist Church in Madisonville, Kentucky. Brother David, we love
you. We're so thankful you're here. In my darkness, Jesus found me. touched my eyes and made me see. Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of
Nazareth was coming his way, but he didn't call him that. He said, Jesus, thou son of David,
have mercy on me. What can I do for you, O blind
Victor? Oh, that I might receive my sight.
Oh that you are yet without Christ, may today God enable you to have
sight. Thank you Mike, that was beautiful. Turn with me to Genesis chapter
42 if you would please. I suppose there's no person in
the Bible that pictures the Lord Jesus Christ more than Joseph,
the son of Jacob. At the age of 17, Joseph was
sold into slavery by his own brothers. You remember the story,
the coat of many colors, we're all familiar with that story. At the age of 30, Joseph was
made ruler in Egypt. For nearly eleven years he was
a slave in Potiphar's house, and for at least two years he
was an inmate in prison. But from the pit to the potentate,
from a slave to the savior of Egypt, it was all by the determinate
counsel and for knowledge of God. Here in Genesis chapter
42, Joseph is approximately 39 years old. Gabe just turned 43
yesterday. That just seems so young to me
now. I guess that's age as a relative, like so many other things, isn't
it? I remember when I was in Pee Wee League Baseball, I thought
my coach was old. He was 21. But 39 years old. He's a young man. The seven years
of plenty have now passed. You remember the story Joseph
interpreted, the dreams of Pharaoh. They're now in the second year
of famine. Things have gotten tough. There's
a famine in the land. Friends, there's still a famine
in the land. For 22 years, Joseph has been
estranged from his family. In verse 1 we read, Now when
Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his
sons, Why do you look one upon another? And he said, Behold,
I have heard that there is corn in Egypt. Let me just interject
this. Friends, there's corn in Egypt.
There's corn in Egypt. There's food in this world in
which we live, but you have to know where to find it. I've heard
that there's corn in Egypt. Get you down thither and buy
for us from thence, that we may live and not die. Serious, serious
issue here. Life and death issue. And Joseph's ten brethren went
down to buy corn in Egypt. But Benjamin, Joseph's brother,
Jacob said not with his brethren, for he said, lest pervent your
mischief befall him. And the sons of Israel came to
buy corn among those that came, for the famine was in the land
of Canaan. And Joseph was the governor over the land. And he, it was, that sold to
all the people of the land Joseph's brethren came and bowed themselves
down before him with their faces to the earth. I'm sure many of
you remember that this was one of the things that caused them
to hate Joseph so much is that he had told them about a dream
that he had which foretold this very thing happening. So let's
first state the obvious here. What's going on? If you're going
to live Through this horrible famine, you're going to have
to have food to eat and live by, and you're going to have
to come to Joseph for corn. You're going to have to come to Joseph.
You're going to have to bow before Joseph in order to live. No way around it. Joseph is the
governor of the land. Now the word governor here And
verse 6 means potentate, prince, powerful, ruler. You're going to have to bow to
Christ, friends, who governs all things if you're to receive
any sustenance from God. That's God's ordained means.
Joseph is governor of Egypt, but Christ the sovereign governor. He rules and reigns over all
things in heaven and in earth. The scripture says in the deep
places. The sons of Jacob didn't come
directly to Pharaoh. Now listen, you don't just walk
up to Pharaoh. And the most powerful man in
Egypt. It doesn't work that way. And
also, Joseph wasn't actually the one that was dispensing the
corn, there were servants for that. You had to first come to
one of Joseph's servants. Isn't that a picture of gospel
preaching? That's God's ordained means. You've got to first come to God's
servant. Why? Because it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. So, if God
gives you gospel corn, If God gives you the bread of life,
it'll be by true preaching. That's just the way it is. It's
true gospel preaching that points men and women to Christ, the
one mediator between God and man. Now look at verse 7. And
Joseph saw his brethren. Joseph saw his brethren. Joseph
is ruling over all the affairs of Egypt, but his eyes seem to
be on lookout for his family. And Joseph saw his brethren,
and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them. And he spake
roughly unto 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 not him. There was a time when God's elect
didn't know the Lord Jesus, but he knew them. He knew them. And when it says that Joseph
knew his brethren, that means much more than just he saw them
and recognized them. Well, it's been 22 years, they've
changed a little bit, but I see that as, oh, it means much more
than that. It means much more than that. It means he loved
them. cared for them. He was intimately
acquainted with them. He saw them to do them good. Don't you like that? Teresa and I have three children.
I love them. I care for them. And I'm out
to do them good. Any way I can. How much more
is it so with our Heavenly Father? Now we might immediately ask,
how could Joseph love them and seek to do them good after all
they've done to him? That's a very good question,
one we ought to consider, especially in light of what we've done to
our Lord. How could Christ love his brethren
after all they'd done to him? How could the Lord Jesus love
them who hated him without a cause? How could he love them who desired
to cause him pain, suffering, and even death? How could God love you and me? You answer that question and
you preach the gospel. Really? Yeah. Verse 7 tells us
that Joseph made himself strange to them. He didn't quickly reveal
himself to them. Why? He's going to teach them
some things. He's going to teach them some
things. Joseph's brothers are going to be made sorry for their
sin. Joseph's brothers are going to
be convicted of their sin. And this is the first thing that
God does when he saves sinners. He doesn't reveal himself all
at once. I'm convinced we couldn't handle
it if he did. We grow in grace and in the knowledge
of the Lord. God just deals with us so graciously,
doesn't he? Notice also that Joseph spake
roughly unto them. Now in the margin of my Bible
it says that he spoke hard things. Roughly, hard things. Joseph
staked hard things unto them. Now in order to be convicted
and convinced of your sin, you're going to have to hear some hard
things. Hard things. Some rough things. I mean some
hard and rough things about yourself. Your sin is going to have to
be exposed. That's rough. Isn't it? You're going to have to be dealt
with. Your sin is going to have to
be dealt with. I heard someone say not long ago that I've heard
it all my life. Well, God loves the sinner. He
just hates sin. Can you separate the two? Sin is what I am. Not just what
I do, but what I am. The sinner knows that. You're
going to have to hear some rough, hard things about your disobedience,
about your sin, about your inability. Oh, that's never comfortable. Don't tell me I can't do something.
Well, you can't save yourself. I'm sorry. I hope that didn't
offend you, but you can't. You're going to have to hear
some rough, hard things about your unwillingness. about what awaits you without
repentance. These hard things, Joseph told
them, was to prepare them. These hard things were a work
of grace that went before grace. We call that prevenient grace. But we've got to hear, as I said
last night, the bad news before we'll ever rejoice in the good
news. We've got to be brought down in order to be lifted up.
We've got to be humbled in order to be exalted. We've got to die
before we can be made alive. That's just God's order of things. And it's all provenient grace.
Grace that goes before grace. Joseph's brothers are going to
be convicted of their sin. Joseph was going to see to it. Before Christ reveals himself
fully to us, we're going to have to learn some hard things about
ourselves. We're going to have to be reminded
of some things. You know, I was thinking, Joseph's
brothers had obviously put a lot of things in the back of their
mind concerning him. It had been 22 years since they
had sold Joseph into slavery, 22 years. They had conveniently
forgotten many things in those 22 years. Isn't that the way
we are, especially when it comes to our sin, our inadequacies? It's easy for us to forget our
sins against others, which are ultimately against God, and yet
we don't easily forget wrongdoings against us, do we? So in verse
7, Joseph roughly asked, whence come ye? Why are you here? Why
did you come to Egypt? And they said, from the land
of Canaan to buy food. They were telling Joseph the
truth. That's why they came. They certainly didn't come looking
for Joseph. They thought he'd been a long
time dead. And for the most part, they had forgotten about him.
You can forget a lot of bad things in a short period of time, can't
you? especially when they're concerning you. Joseph's brothers
came in order to buy food. What a picture this is of salvation
by works. We got people still trying to
buy food. Buy food in a time of famine. Sinners by nature,
they want to earn, they want to merit, they want to buy their
salvation. But you know, a true son of Jacob
can't back on. Do you hear what I said? A true
servant of Jacob can't buy corn. You know why? It's not for sale. Not for sale. And that's what
Joseph is going to teach his brothers and that's what Christ
is going to teach his people. It's not for sale. It's free. It's free. Look at verse 9, and
Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them. And
Joseph remembered the dreams that he'd had the years before,
as I said a moment ago, of his brothers bowing down to him.
And he said unto them, you're spies, to see the nakedness of
the land you're come. Now allow me to say this again.
Before God saves a sinner, He's going to convict that sinner
of their sin. And you know I don't suppose
there's anything that you could say about me that in some way
or sense is not true. If I haven't done it, I thought
it. As one old preacher used to say, just between us girls,
we know that's so. In order to save a sinner from
their sin, God's going to expose their sin. He's going to convict
and convince them of their sin. God is going to show you that
all your sin is against Him. You're going to be made to confess,
as David did, that God is justified if He condemns you. If God sends
me to hell, He's just because that's what I deserve. But I
don't want what I deserve. Do you? No. Not when you see
what you are. You're going to be made to truthfully
say that God is clear of any wrongdoing if He condemns you
forever. Joseph said, you men are spies.
You've come to exploit us. You've come to see where we keep
our corn. You're going to go back home. You're going to plot
to steal from us. And I was thinking, as I read
that verse again, when you attempt to secure salvation for yourself
by something that you purchase, earn, or think you deserve, you're
attempting to rob God of His glory. His glory He will not
share with you. Verse 10, And they said unto
him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. And
we are all one man's sons. We are true men. Thy servants
are no spies." They said, we're spies. We're men of truth. And
they were telling the truth here. God makes all whom He loves truthful,
doesn't He? My pastor used to say, there'd
be no liars in heaven. Why? Because we're perfect in
Christ. going to be truthful, going to
be truthful about themselves. Many claim today to believe that
God is sovereign. I hear men that don't even believe
the sovereignty of God say, oh, I believe God is sovereign. And
then they'll turn around and say something like, when Adam
sinned in the garden, God had a backup plan. A sovereign God
don't need backup plenty to do it. Oh, I believe that God causes
all things to work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to his purpose, and then they
say something when something doesn't go well for them, they
act totally contrary to that. Oh me, why me? But the true believer doesn't
just believe that God is sovereign, they love that God is sovereign. I love that God is sovereign. Come what may. Come what may. They don't just
give mental assent to the fact that God is sovereign, they rejoice
in the fact that God is sovereign. They wouldn't have it any other
way. And it's one thing to accept
God's sovereignty, but it's a whole other thing altogether to rejoice
in God's authority over all things. It's one thing to believe that
God will preserve His people, but it's another thing altogether
to actually persevere believing in Christ alone. Salvation is
much more than doctrines that we give mental assent to. It
took me a long time to learn that. When I first heard the doctrine
of election, I loved it. I remember telling Teresa, I
said, somebody has finally told me the truth about God. That
is a God that is worthy of my worship. One who, before the foundation
of the world, set his affection on no good wretch like me. Well, you know, brother, God
looked ahead of time and saw who'd believe. No, he didn't. He could have, but he didn't.
He set his affection on me knowing what I'd be. Undeserving, wretch. No, we don't just give mental
assent to the fact that God is sovereign. You know, it's one
thing to say you believe in irresistible grace, And it's another thing
altogether to find grace irresistible. It's one thing to believe that
God will, as I said, preserve and to actually persevere. True salvation is to see the
truth about Christ and what He's done for sinners. And to find
those truths absolutely necessary in order to be saved. Christ
told the woman at the well that true worshippers, you know what
that tells me? There's false worshippers. If
you've got to distinguish then that means there's false worshippers.
But the true worshippers worship God how? In spirit and in truth. By God's grace, I don't just
believe that God is sovereign in salvation. I rejoice. I rejoice that God is sovereign
in salvation. I find great joy and comfort
that my salvation is not left up to me. I want to be a true worshipper.
That's what a true worshipper does. They worship God for who
He is. regardless of what God does or
doesn't do. I worship Him because He's worthy
of my worship. I think about the verse found
in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 22 that says, let us draw near with
a true heart and full assurance of faith. Do you know what true
assurance of faith is? It's not just believing the doctrines
of grace. It's being fully assured that
Christ did what it took to save me. That He did for me what I couldn't
do for myself. My faith's in Him. Full assurance
of faith is knowing that you need nothing more than Christ,
as God showed you that. If Christ is all, then I can
have nothing. It would be filthy works, filthy
rags of righteousness if I did. Are you truly guilty? Again, verse 11, Joseph's brother
said, we are all one man sons, we are true men. Thy servants
are no more spies. And he said unto them, Nay, but
to see the nakedness of the land, ye are come. And they said, Thy
servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man, in the land
of Canaan. And behold, the youngest is this
day with our father, and one is not." You know who that is,
don't you? The very one they're standing
in front of. One is not. And Joseph said unto
them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies,
hereby ye shall be proved. By the life of Pharaoh, ye shall
not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.
And send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and he
shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether
there be any truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh,
surely ye are spies. And he put them all together
into war or into prison for three days. And Joseph said unto them
the third day, This do and live, for I fear God. And that meant
that he would do what was right, that he was true. Verse 19, If
ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house
of your prison. Go ye, carry corn for the famine
of your houses, but bring your youngest brother unto me, so
shall your words be verified, and you shall not die." And they
did so. Now let me say again what I said a moment
ago. In order for God to save a sinner, He's going to convict
and He's going to convince that sinner of their sin. That sinner
is going to hear some hard things. That sinner is going to be made
sorry for their sin. Now look at verse 21. And they
said one to another, we are barely. That word means truly. You know,
whenever the Lord said barely, barely, truly, truly. They said
we are truly guilty concerning our brother. They're talking
about Joseph. The one who may seemingly forgot. They said, in that we saw the
anguish of his soul. When he besought us and we would
not hear. Therefore is this distress come
upon us. Now listen to me. Every true
sinner will confess that they're truly guilty. As charged. How do you plead? Guilty as charged. Joseph's brothers confessed their
guilt as to how they had treated Joseph. We saw the anguish of
his soul when he besought us and we would not hear. Let's
don't read over these verses too quick. When we're reading
God's Word, take your time, read these things, think about what
they're saying. Can you imagine the anguish of young Joseph's
soul, 17 years old. They threw him in a pit. Can you imagine? Can you imagine
the agony, the pain, the torment that that must have caused him? The distress, the sorrow, the
grief, despair, heartache, heartbreak. I can just see his quivering
lips. Such a young man. the flood of tears that this
young 17-year-old Joseph must have experienced as he looked
up out of the pit and saw his brothers walk away. Oh, I've
put myself in that pit, tried to imagine. Just can't. Can't
imagine what that'd be like. Never happened to him, never
experienced it in that way. Even more so, dear sinner, can
you imagine the anguish and the sorrow and the grief that Christ
must have felt looking down from the cross upon his brethren according
to the flesh, who the scripture says with wicked hands had taken
and crucified. And Joseph's brother said, we're
truly guilty concerning our brother, as God brought him to that point.
I had a man, I'm sure you've all heard things like this, but
I had a man say to me not long ago, well if I had been living
in the Lord's day, I would have stopped it. No you wouldn't have. You would have been right there
yelling, crucify him with the rest of them. Don't you just know that Joseph
begged and pleaded with them to let him go and they would
not hear? He said, we would not hear. It
meant nothing to them. They would not hear. They were
guilty of turning a deaf ear to Joseph's cries and hardening
themselves against him. I think of that passage, is it
nothing to you? All you that pass by, behold
and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is
done unto me." That's the Lord Jesus. The Lord hath afflicted
me in the day of his fierce anger. How much more severe is the crime
of turning a deaf ear to the gospel of Christ? Do you see the anguish of his
soul in death? Do you see Him dying the just
for the unjust? Do you see Him suffering under
the wrath of God? Do you see Him providing satisfaction
for divine justice? Do you see Him working out a
perfect righteousness for those who did not deserve it? Or is it nothing to you? One thing different here between
Joseph and the Lord Jesus, the Lord didn't plead or beg for
his release. He, by the sovereign will and
purpose of the Father, laid down his life for his people. Why
he came into the world, this is a worthy saying, worthy of
all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save who? Sinners. That's why he came. Oh, I love to think about that.
What a God, what a Savior. Is this your God? Is this your
Savior? To the sinner that will not hear.
Do you see what they said here? They said, therefore is this
distress come upon us. We're reaping what we've sown,
is what they're saying. And every child of God is made
to see that they deserve outside of God's mercy and grace that
this is what they deserve, and as I said, to the sinner that
will not hear, you can expect great distress to come upon you.
Either in the conviction and the saving of your soul, or great
distress in the damnation of it. One of the two. And then verse 22, and Reuben
answered them saying, I nod unto you, saying, Do not sin against
a child, and you would not hear. Therefore, behold, all his blood
is required." And when I read that verse, I thought to myself,
there's always a self-righteous one in the bunch. I told you. I told you. I warned you, but
you wouldn't listen. You would not hear. You should
have listened to me. Oh, God help me from being a
Reuben. But you know, Reuben was as guilty
as the rest of them. He may have talked them out of
murdering Joseph, if you go back and look at the account, but
he wasn't opposed to selling him into slavery. Christ told his accusers of that
woman caught in adultery, and he said, let him that is without
sin cast the first stone. Lord, don't let me be an accuser
of your people. Oh, I want to comfort and encourage. I want to be comforted and encouraged.
And isn't that the greatest token of God's grace to a believer,
apart from saving us by his grace, is to give us one another for
that very reason? I'm so encouraged and comforted
in being here. Paul looked over at me during
the singing. He said, isn't that some good singing? I was just
thinking the same thing. What's it going to be like in
glory? My, my. We don't forsake ourselves assembling
together because if you read that verse closely, it's talking
about encouraging one another. I need this. I not only need
to hear the gospel constantly, but I need you. I need you. We need one another. Okay, verse 23. And they knew
not that Joseph understood them, for he spake unto them by an
interpreter. As they confessed the guilt of
their treatment of Joseph, they didn't know that it was him that
was listening to their every word, He spoke to them in Egyptian,
the Egyptian language by an interpreter, but he understood every word
they said in the Hebrew. And what a picture I think we
have here of the Holy Spirit. The word interpreter in this
verse means intercessor. It also means teacher. Well,
that's what the Holy Spirit is to us. And Joseph conveyed his
message to them by an interpreter. That's the way our Lord speaks
and teaches us. The Holy Spirit reveals the things
of Christ to us. The Holy Spirit takes the word
of the preacher and the teacher and makes them come alive to
his people. You ever thought about how the
same message can be preached and one on this side doesn't
hear a word and the other one over here hears the glorious
gospel of substitution? That's the work of the Holy Spirit,
isn't it? Well, how did Joseph react to
their confession of guilt? Oh, I've pictured this so many
times in my mind. Verse 24 says, and he, Joseph,
turned himself about from them and wept. These were tears of joy. I guarantee
you they were tears of joy over their repentance. Didn't our Lord say there's joy
in the presence of angels? the angels of God over one sinner
that repented. Child of God, God rejoices in
the repentance of those who see that they're truly guilty. I'm
not talking about a hand raised, a walk down an aisle, a profession
of faith that don't mean anything. I'm talking about true repentance
of one who's truly guilty. And again, verse 24, he turned
himself about from them and wept and returned to them again, and
look at this, and communed with them. Joseph's words went from hard,
rough things to communion with them. That word communed here means
to share intimate thoughts and feelings. Do you remember when
God first communed with you? I've never gotten over how Christ
could love me. I've never gotten over it. I've never gotten over how my
wife could love me, but how my Lord and Savior could love me? Notice that verse 24 says that
Joseph still took Simeon and bound him before their eyes,
but it was With the intentions of mercy, God's people have been
arrested by the grace of God. And in verse 25, I believe we
have the gospel, I really do. Then Joseph commanded to fill
their sacks with corn. And to restore every man's money
into his sack. And to give them provision for
the way, and thus did he unto them. Here we have four things that
God does when He reveals the guilt in the gospel to sinners.
Let me quickly give them to you in closing. He fills their sacks
with corn. In Christ, all fullness dwells. God's people are filled with
Christ and His Spirit. He restores everyone their money. Salvation is free. It can't be
bought. Come without money. You don't
need it. It's been purchased for you. Thirdly, He gives them provision
for the way. You know, we've still got a journey
ahead of us. I don't know how long it will
be. Some longer for others. Some have a longer journey. God
knows. Christ gives His people provisions
for the way. Aren't you glad? That word provision
means food or meat and water. Why? On our journey, we've got
the gospel of Christ. We have the Lord Himself. We
have the bread of life. We have living water. And on
our journey, we have all the provision that Christ provides. Christ is all. We need, and I'm
so thankful He provides for me all that God requires. All of
it. And lastly notice, and thus did
He, Joseph unto thee. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
all His doing. Wherefore, he is able to save
them to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing that he
ever liveth to make intercession for them. Joseph's brothers came
for corn, but they left with much more than that. Have you come this morning for
corn? Has God the Holy Spirit filled
your sack? Has Christ restored you with
all that Adam lost? Has God in Christ provided you
every provision you need? He does for all who are truly
guilty. May God be pleased to show sinners
their sin and their guilt and make them truly guilty. token
of God's mercy and grace. You know, he doesn't everybody.
He said, I didn't come to call the righteous, but who? Sinners to repentance. Those
that are well have no need of a physician. Are you sick? Are
you truly sick? I am. I need help. Lord, help me. Don't you love
those short little prayers? Lord, save me. Lord, help me.
Well, I don't pray very good. Can you say, Lord, help me? That's
a good prayer. Oh, thank you. Amen. Get your sack filled. That was so good. Maybe that's
why repentant sinners always wore sackcloth. Come empty, and you'll be filled. That was a blessing. Thank you,
brother. 199. This is a good hymn to sing. It goes along with that. Sinners,
the Lord Jesus will receive. Christ receiveth sinful men. Number 199. Stand. Everyone stay
for lunch, okay? 199. Stan and you ladies can
go downstairs and prepare. Stay. Send her, Jesus, we'll receive. Sound this word of praise to
all, Who the heavenly Father be, All who reign are all who
call.