Have a father cry. Have a father cry. Thank you, Sherry. That hymn,
if you were able to enter into it, is nothing but words of assurance. I started to sing blessed assurance,
but this is better. But all of this speaks of our
Lord's suretyship. for His people. I hope after
tonight's message, you will go away with more assurance, trusting
the Lord, your surety. You can turn to Genesis 43 with
me. Genesis 43. And I hope this will
be a blessing to you. A surety means a guarantor. Someone who guarantees something. Someone who is responsible for
another person. To be accountable for that person. Completely accountable for that
person. One who agrees to do whatever is necessary on that
other person's behalf. to pay whatever outstanding debts
they may have, or to take care of whatever is needed by that
person. They're a stand-in, they're a
substitute. That's what a surety is. And this story we're looking
at is of Judah, the elder brother of young Benjamin. who vowed
to be surety for his younger brother, a guarantor, responsible
for him, completely and totally responsible for his younger brother. And you know that this is a much
greater story than that, but the story of the Lord Jesus Christ,
firstborn among many brethren, who became the surety for all
of his father's children, his brethren. Now let's look at this
surety, what he says here in verses 8 and 9. Judah said unto
Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and
go, that we may live and not die, both we and thou, and also
our little ones. I will be surety for him. Of
my hand shalt thou require him. If I bring him not unto thee,
and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever."
Give me the lad, and I'll be surety, and I'll bring him back. And if I don't, you'll blame
me forever. All right, go with me to John
17. You'll be amazed at this. John 17. All of Scripture speaks
of an everlasting covenant. A covenant made by God the Father
and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. A covenant made before
the world began concerning all the sons of God. Alright? Stay with me, because this is
the message of this book. When David's last words were
of this covenant, weren't they? He said, this is all my salvation.
David said, all my salvation depends upon this everlasting
covenant that God made. Not on me. It completely depends
on this covenant God the Father and Son made concerning me, ordered
in all things and truth. But this covenant is this. Here
it is. And you know this thing. The Father chose some out of
this fallen race of Adam in love. He set His love on some of these
fallen sons, and He purposed to show mercy. He purposed to
save them from their sins and destruction. God, who will destroy
sins and sinners out of the earth, but chose some. In love and in
mercy. And He gave these chosen ones
to His beloved Son. The Lord Jesus Christ who was
with Him from the beginning. His Son who is the covenant head. The second Adam from above. The
Son who agreed to come to this earth as a man. The second man. Adam. And represent these people. He agreed to come to this earth
and live as a man and do what Adam failed to do. You know,
by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. Sin was imputed
to all of Adam's race. Even so, by the obedience of
one, Jesus Christ, shall many be made righteous. So Christ
came to this earth as a covenant head. Second Adam, representative
of his people. Surety. Same thing. Surety. And he lived as a man. And God
was well pleased with him. Well pleased for his righteousness.
He said so. And then, because he was made
of a woman, made under the law, he had to become a curse by the law. The soul that sinneth
must surely die. Well, he had no sin. But God
had to make him to be sin for us. He who knew no sin. And we had to be made the righteousness
of God in him. Substitution. Substitution. Switch places. And he did just
that. And God charged all the sin of
all of God's people to his Son. He said, I'll be their sheriff.
I'll be their covenant head. I'll be their righteousness.
I'll be their sin payment. I'll be their Lamb. Whatever
they're guilty of, charge me with it, and I'll pay the payment."
And he did that. And God said, I'm satisfied. Christ said on the cross, it's
finished. He did just that. And the Scripture
says He ever lives to make intercession for the transgression. And by
Him they are justified from all things, from which they could
not be justified by the works of the law. But Christ did it
all, He said. By one man's will be. Alright? And then the Holy Spirit will
bring all of these people to Him by the power of the Gospel. And that's His work in this covenant.
But here's the prayer. John 17 is the surety prayer. Let's just read the whole thing,
okay? I'll read it again. And there's not a more wonderful
passage of Scripture in all of God's Word. This is the surety
prayer. for His people given to Him.
These words spake Jesus and lifted up His eyes to heaven and said,
Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son that Thy Son
also may glorify Thee, as Thou hast given Him power over all
flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast
given Him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
Thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And
now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the
glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine
they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all
things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given
unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received
them, and have known surely that I came out from 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. 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, but the son of perdition that
the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I 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 not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them
from the evil. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. As thou hast
sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into
the world. And for their sakes I sanctify
myself. that they also might be sanctified
through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word,
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, thou in me, that they
may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. 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 before 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 that the love wherewith Thou hast
loved me, may be in them, and I in them. That's the surety
prayer for his people. And God, Christ said this himself,
the Father always hears me, always grants what I request. That's
the surety prayer. Now, in our story of Judah and
the Father and Benjamin, Did you notice that Benjamin never
said a word? He's not heard from. Nobody asked
Benjamin what he thought about this agreement. Judah didn't
say, no, Benjamin, I'd love to represent you if you'll let me.
No. Jacob didn't say, will you let Judah be your personal surety?
No. This was between the father and
his son, Judah. And Benjamin didn't speak a word.
This covenant that our God made was between the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit before we were born, ordered in all things and
sure, and does not require our approval, our vote, or our participation. In fact, when they made this,
we weren't even a gleam in our prophesy. And He did this for all. Turn
to Hebrews with me. Go to Hebrews 6. We already read
chapter 2. Hebrews 6. And keep your place
here. Hebrews 6. This is for all that
God gave to Christ, like He prayed there. And it's ordered in all
things and sure, predestined. Predestined by God. For whom
He did foreknow, He did predestinate. Whom He did predestinate, He
called by the Gospel. They're all going to be called,
they're all going to be believed, all going to repent. And whom
He called, He justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that's in Christ. And whom He justified, He glorified.
Our Lord said that, didn't He? They're glorified by seeing My
glory. Hebrews 6 speaks of this covenant,
verse 17, and I'm not going to take long, but this is the heart
of God's Word. This is the whole story of the
Gospel. Hebrews 6, 17, God willing more
abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability,
unchangeableness of His counsel, or covenant, confirmed it by
an oath. That by two immutable things
in which it was impossible for God to lie, we have a strong
consolation, who fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set
before us. What hope's that? It's a person.
Anchor of the soul, hope, sure and steadfast within the veil,
that's Jesus Christ, our great high priest. You see, and he's
called a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Now
look at chapter 7. Chapter 7, verse 22. And so by
so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. Better
than the law? A surety of a better testament. Chapter 9. Go over here. Chapter
9. And then we'll go back to our
text and study that. Chapter 9 of Hebrews, verse 15. For this
cause, he's the mediator of a New Testament for the redemption
of transgressions. Verse 26, Christ, once in the
end of the world, the last line, hath he appeared to put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. Chapter 10, one more. Chapter
10, look at verse 14. By one offering he hath perfected
forever. Them that are sanctified, verse
60, this is the covenant, God said, I will make with them after
those days. Say, I'll put my law in their
hearts, their minds, will I write them? And their sins and iniquities,
will I remember no more? Where remission of these is,
there's no more offering for sin. So we have boldness to enter
into the holiest by the blood of Christ, by a new and living
way, which He hath consecrated for us within the veil. Verse
22, let's draw near then with a true heart and full assurance
of faith. How's that? Why's that? We have
assurance. Full assurance. You can have
full assurance if you trust Christ. If you just trust Christ and
quit looking to yourself. If you just believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, like He said, thou shalt be saved. None of them
that trust in Him shall perish. None of them that trust in Him
shall be ashamed. None of them that trust in Him
shall be cast out. None of them, because Christ
assuredly said, if I don't bring them back, you hold me accountable.
That's what He said. And didn't we just read there
His prayer? Did He? What did He say there? None of
them is lost. And He said, didn't He say, I
don't pray for them alone, but I pray for all that thou hast
given Me. Those that shall believe on Me
through their word. That's right. Everything that's required of
us, Christ provided it. Christ performed it. Christ fulfilled
it. He said it's been it. God satisfied. God said, come unto Me. Buy my
son and you will be accepted. Genesis 43 in our text. Okay? Look at this. Genesis 43. Now that's the covenant. Let's look at what all Christ
brought to the Father along with His blood. Judah said, the Father said to
Judah in verse 11, well, verse 10, I like this. Judah said,
except we'd lingered, surely now we'd return a second time.
Meaning, He's coming back and it's a certainty, and it's just
a matter of time. Christ said, surely I'll come
quickly. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Verse 11, the Father
said to Israel, said unto him, all right, if it must be so,
do this, take the best fruits in the land in your vessels and
carry down the man a present. A little balm, a little honey,
spices, myrrh, nuts, almonds, double money in your hand. The
money was brought again in the mouth of your son. Carry it again
in your hand for adventures and oversight and take your brother
and go again to the man. And God Almighty give you mercy
for the man. Take the best fruits. Oh, what
fruit our Lord Jesus Christ bore under the glory of the Father.
Didn't He say, herein is the Father glorified that you bear
much fruit? Well, we come far short of that.
Not Him. And He brought the fruit of righteousness
that's sown in peace by Him that maketh peace. He had it without
measure, didn't He? Love, joy, peace, gentleness,
goodness, meekness, faith, temperance, all these things. The fruit of
the Spirit without measure to the Father and the Father's well-plea
and a present. He brought him a present. And
all through the Hebrews it says things like that, that when a
high priest goes to offer gifts. Do you remember reading that?
I was going to have you turn, but you've already read too much.
But it says a high priest has somewhat to offer. He offers
gifts for the people. And that's what Christ did, that
balm. You've heard of that before,
haven't you? Take a little balm with you. That's the blood of
Christ, the balm of Gilead. Take some honey with you, he
said. A little balm, a little honey.
It's the Word of Christ, grace pouring from His lips. Didn't
David say, when I found Your Word, it was like honey to my
tongue? Same with all of God's people. When they hear this grace
pouring from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ, it's like
balm. And the Father loves to hear
it. His words, that prayer that he prayed to his father, don't
you know, that was sweet to the father's ear. Spices, it said. Spices. What about Solomon's
description of the Beloved? His cheeks as a bed of spices. That's his fragrant character.
Myrrh. Take some myrrh with you. Myrrh. Frankincense and myrrh is what
they came to embalm him with. Didn't need it. Didn't need it,
ladies. Oh no, there's no stench coming
out of that tomb. Nothing but fragrance. Life. Myrrh. That's a healing herb
is what that is. Nuts and almonds. Fruit. In case you didn't know, nuts
are fruit. Fruit. Fruit of righteousness
and peace. Verse 12 says, take double money. I ring a bell. We've received
of the Lord's hands what? Double for all our sin, all our
iniquity. Not only did the Lord have mercy
upon us, but mercy and truth, righteousness and peace kissed
one another in the Lord Jesus Christ. We not only receive pardon,
but we receive justification. Not only receive forgiveness.
Forgiveness is wonderful. But we've received acceptance. There's a difference. We not
only receive acquittal, but adoption. No judge, you know, if you're
a criminal and he says, well, you'd go free. He's not going
to say, now I want you to come home with me. This one did. Any man's sin, we have an Advocate's
Assurity with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. The
judge, our advocate, our surety is the judge's son. Our case is sure. You see that? If he takes your case, it's a
sure thing. Sure thing. Double money. Take
it. It's brought again in the mouth
of your sight. Carry it again in your own hand." And he said,
maybe it was an oversight. Oh, no. I don't think Jacob knew what all
he was saying, but we do now, don't we? We do now. All of that was written as a
glorious picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. And take your brother.
Arise. Take your brother and arise. Get that? Take your brother and
arise. We're quickened together with
Him. When Christ was buried, we were
buried. When Christ arose, God said,
take your brother and arise, my soul, arise. And God Almighty
give you mercy before the man. Did He? Did He? Let's see. Go over to chapter
44. Let's see if He did. Chapter 44. This is the end of
the story. I've been 23 minutes, in case you want to know. Here's
the end of the story. In this story, the youngest son,
Benjamin, is found guilty. Our Lord doesn't represent innocent
people. Only the guilty. All of these
sons were guilty. And though Benjamin, you know,
didn't take part in their rejection of Joseph, yet he's a son of
Adam, isn't he? Is he a sinner? Absolutely. He just wasn't there,
was he? He just wasn't there. But at
any rate, here in this story, verse 1, look at this. This is wonderful. It says, Joseph
commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's
sacks with food, as much as they can carry. Put every man's money
in his sack's mouth, and put my cup, the silver cup, in the
sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And the steward
did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. And as soon
as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and
their asses. And when they were gone out of the city, and not
yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after
the men. And when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore,
why have you rewarded evil for good? And when you find that
cup, say, is not this it in which my Lord drinketh? Whereby, and
whereby indeed He divineth, you have done evil, and so do Him.
And so they did just that, verse 12. And He stopped them all,
and they searched them all. And when He began at the eldest
and left it to the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin's
sack. Then they rent their clothes
and laid it every man his ass and returned to the city. He's
been found guilty. Even though he has a surety.
Even though Judah agreed to be his surety. He's guilty, isn't
he? He's guilty. And we looked at
a whole message on this one time called, The Son with the Silver
Cup. Do you know what our Lord was
sold for? Thirty pieces of silver. You
know what the price of redemption was for a soul in Israel? Silver. You know what the sockets
were, the very foundation upon which every post and all the
fence was laid in the ground? You know what the foundation
of everything was laid on? Silver. It's the price of redemption. What's that? That's the blood
of Christ. The redemption of the soul is
precious. And we're not redeemed with corruptible
things such as silver and gold by your vain conversation, but
by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the
silver that's talking about. And this silver cup was found
in the Son's sack. Like the price of redemption.
Like the blood applied to our soul. And though he's found guilty, God's going to switch this thing
around. Guilt's imputed to him, but no,
righteousness is charged to his people. And they found the cup
in Benjamin's sack, and they ripped their clothes. And every
one of God's people are guilty sinners by birth, by choice,
by practice. And even after He redeems us,
even after we find out we have a surety, even after we come
to the Father, we're guilty. We're guilty of being sinners.
And whatever the laws say to them under the law, we're still
guilty sinners. And you know, the Scripture says
little children will write these things unto you that you sin
not. What if you do? We have an advocate. And here's
what Judah said. Now, let's just close with it.
Judah said, in verse 16, Joseph said, What deed is this? And
remember, his steward came down hard on these fellows. You're
guilty. And that's what the preacher,
the true preacher, you know, he's not soft-soaking God's holiness
and our guilt at all. And these men have to be completely
broken, and now they are. Now that they see this son charged, this son charged with guilt,
okay? This son represents Christ now,
Benjamin. And Judah said, as a surety,
what shall we say unto my Lord? What shall we speak? How shall
we clear ourselves? Can't. We're guilty. You just stop your mouth. All
guilty. And Judah came near unto him,
verse 18, came near unto the great judge and said, O my Lord,
let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my Lord's ear.
This is Christ's prayer. Let not thine anger burn against
thy servant. Go down to verse 30. He said,
When I come to thy servant, my father, and the lad be not with
us, seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life, It shall come to pass, when he
seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die. And thy
servant shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant, our
father, with sorrow to the grave." If Christ is not with us, we'll
perish. We go to the Father because in
Him is life. And His salvation is all bound
up in Him. But in the other way, Christ
as our surety, If His people aren't with Him in the end, if
all that God gave to Christ in that covenant are not with Him
in the end, God loses because His life is bound up. and all
of His promises and what He said. His wisdom, His love, His mercy,
His covenant, His grace, His promises, everything is bound
up in the salvation. I hope you'll get a load of this,
okay? I can't say it any better than what I've got written down
here. Assurity is one responsible for another. Okay? That you take like a husband,
or a father, or even a grandfather, supposed to be the provider of
the house, supposed to be the protector of the house. If he
fails at that, or if some doubt is cast upon his ability to do
that, then he's dishonored. He loses his honor. He loses
the trust of those that were dependent upon Him. Then doubts
and fears, they are filled with doubts and fears concerning Him,
worries and troubles, no rest, unrest, no peace, because this
One who is supposed to provide for them and care for them and
protect them, He wasn't able to do that. He wasn't able to
keep them out of harm's way. How much more God? who has declared that all that
come to him by Christ, he'll save. God's wisdom is at stake.
God's love is at stake. It's not your love that's at
stake here. It's His. Having loved His own,
He loved them when? To the end. His mercy is at stake. He says it endures forever. His covenant is at stake. I will
pardon them. His word is at stake, His promises,
all given, all given will be kept. All that come will be received. All that call will be saved.
All who trust will be pardoned. All whom Christ shed His blood
for will be justified. Salvation is sure to all the
elect. Isn't that what Scripture says?
Why? Why is it sure? Because of your
surety. Well, what did Joseph do? Huh? Look at verse 31. Judas said, It will come to pass
when he seeeth the lad's not with us, he'll die. See, God
loses His honor. His Word doesn't mean a thing. Thy servants will bring down
the gray hairs of thy servant, our father's sorrow, to the grave."
Oh no, he's going to be satisfied. Isaiah 53. He says, "...thy servant
became surety for the Lamb." This is Christ speaking. unto
my Father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, I'll bear
the blame to my Father for ever. Now therefore, I pray thee, let
thy servant abide instead of the lad, a bondman to my Lord.
Let the lad go up with his brethren. How shall I go to my Father if
the lad is not with me? If he sees this, evil will come
on my Father." And that's exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ did.
He's sure of it. He's sure of it. You can trust
Him because His honor is at stake. Your soul is at stake. You better
trust Him. But He has never lost one. Never will. When we went
to see Barbara, something similar happened with
her jail that did with your mother. The exact same thing, actually.
And Joe and Nancy and Mindy and I went to see Ellen and where
she was staying. And you know, her mind, her memory
was gone, you know. She didn't know me. I said, you
remember that, don't you, Nancy? We went in there and, how you
doing, Ellen? I said, you know me? She said, no. And I said, I'm
your pastor, Paul Mahan. She said, well, how is he? I
said, well, he's pilot. And I said, we've been, you remember
this, I said, we've been worshiping the Lord this morning, Ellen.
And I said, I tried to preach the gospel. I said, what is the
gospel, Ellen? And she didn't know anybody in
that room, but she knew this. She said, Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. Just as plain as she can be.
Well, Barbara's hurt. Her mind's affected and her speech
and all that. And I said to Barbara, I said,
Barbara, what's your hope of eternal life? What'd she say? The Lord Jesus Christ is crucified. And she went on to say and she
murmured some things and finally she said, He's a sure thing. I close with that. Do you reckon
she's going to be with him? She's got a surety. Alright,
stand with me. Forgive my murmuring, stammering
lips. Forgive us, but oh, how blessed
is Your Word that we've read, how glorious it speaks of our
glorious Lord and our surety, the Lord Jesus Christ. Take something,
Your Word, that You said will not return void. Our brother
read it tonight. It will not return void, but
it will bring forth seed to the sower and bread to the eater.
For those that are hungry, a message for the preacher and a message
for the people. Christ our surety. Oh Lord, take
something, one word, surety. When we begin to doubt and fear
and look within in our sinfulness like the sons of Jacob, may these
words resound in our ear. Christ is the surety of an everlasting
covenant. It's in His name we've met here
tonight. Amen. Thank you.