Praise my faithfulness. Praise my faithfulness. Thank you, Sherry. I go back to the book of Genesis
with me. I hope you've enjoyed this study.
Perhaps we'll go through it again five years from now. We've done
this once every five years. Now, we could easily do several
more studies, but tonight will be the last. Let me just sum
up the whole story, the whole purpose of this story. Here's
the purpose of this story. You see, God Almighty loved and
chose Jacob. Jacob have I loved. And God purposed
to save Jacob and his sons. He's called, more than any other
name, the God of Jacob. He chose the sons of Jacob and
chose to save the sons of Jacob, children of Israel, who they're
called. We're studying through Exodus the journey of the children
of Israel, all that God did for them. In order to do this, God
in his infinite wisdom devised this whole scheme of salvation. God in his power carried it out. Now in the actual story of Jacob
and his sons, God exalted one of Jacob's sons, one of his sons,
chosen from among the sons of Jacob. He exalted Joseph to be
on the throne of Egypt, and he did this. God did this. Joseph
kept saying that. God did this. God did this. You see his ways are not our
ways. God did this through the sins
of the sons of Jacob. God exalted Joseph to the throne
through the very sins of the sons of Jacob. God purposed to
save them from their sins and he did it by their sins. That's amazing. God in his wisdom
this is a picture as you know well you know these things. This is a picture of how God
purpose the salvation of his people who are called the sons
of Jacob through the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ and
God has made him Lord Lord over all his people. All right now this whole thing
was prophesied. Remember how it started? Joseph
as a young man it was prophesied concerning him that his brethren
would bow their knees to him. And they hated him for that.
They despised and rejected him. Well, did they? Did they bow
the knee? Yes, in God's good providence. He put Joseph on the throne after
bringing him through great trouble. And he was about 30 years old.
No mere coincidence, he was 30 years old when he ascended to
the throne of Egypt. And God made all of his brethren
come to him and bow to him. Now, at first, they didn't know
him. They didn't know him. But they're forced to bow to
him. They come to him in need. They're all in need. It's a time
of famine. And they come in. And we've seen
in this study how all of God's people, at first they don't know
who Christ is. They don't know really what they
need. But God begins to bring all his people into desperate
circumstances. Makes them feel their guilt,
their need, and brings them to a place where they can hear from
God. And at first, Joseph did not
speak to them directly. Remember, he did not speak to
them directly, he spoke to them through an interpreter, through
another man. And the way that he spoke to
them was not peace and love and mercy and grace and kindness,
but it was hard. Because they had to feel their
guilt. They had to feel their sin. They
had to be sorry for what they'd done to their brother Joseph.
They had to realize that all their troubles had come upon
them, and it was their fault. Their fault. Every one of them
had to come to realize that it's nobody's fault but mine. All
my troubles. And they had to realize their
need, their guilt, in order to fully appreciate the mercy and
the grace that Joseph's going to show them. They wouldn't have
appreciated it otherwise. And this is exactly what God
does for all these people. He brings them down before he
lifts them up. He makes them feel real bad before they hear
the good news. He makes them feel their utter
guilt and sin and misery before God before they hear the mercy,
love, and grace of God in Christ, the gospel, the good news. They have to know at first that
the very one that they despised and rejected and thought so little
of, God hath made him Lord over all, before they hear that, but
he loves you and accepts you. You see, preaching today has
got it all backwards. All backwards. Well, here they are. They stand
before the judgment seat. They're standing. In chapter
44, this ended up with them all standing before the judgment
throne of Joseph. They don't know him yet. They're
all standing guilty before Joseph, not knowing what he's going to
do with him, whether he's going to spare him or not. You remember? That's where our story starts.
They're all standing before this ruler they don't know, and they're
guilty, being caught red-handed. They all believe that whatever
they get, they deserve it. But Joseph, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love was, he loved his brethren. Sound familiar? This is where our story began.
Look at chapter 45, verse 1. Then Joseph could not refrain
himself before all them that stood by him. They're in dire
straits. They're all just feeling. I wish
I could paint this picture. I wish we could see what this
was like. These 11 brothers just trembling,
just trembling before this despot, this great ruler, not knowing
what he's going to do with it. And the great Joseph, greatest
man on earth at this time. on his throne. And all of a sudden. He breaks down before. He tells
everybody go out of the room cause every man to go out from
me. And I thought about when you.
Your children. There are times they have to
go through some pretty tough chastening at your hands and
tough time. They don't know how it's going
to end up with How is it affecting you. You want so badly to. End the case before it's time
but no. It's got to run its course they've
got to feel guilty I got to be sorry for what. But you're wanting
to you're ready to forgive you're more ready to forgive and they
are ready to admit. That's exactly what you said. Ready. Slow. Joseph was wanting to show mercy
to them all this time. Joseph was wanting to reveal
himself to them all this time. Joseph was wanting to embrace
them all this time. Joseph was wanting to commune
with them all this time, but he can't. They've got to get
as low as they can get. Because from there on, it's all
up. It's all looking up. It all looks up. Well, finally, he can't refrain
himself. He says, cause every man to go
out from me. And there stood no man with him
while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And when God
Almighty finally reveals himself to you, to a sinner, through
the preaching of the gospel, you think it's just you and him.
in that room. So there's a crowd of people
in there. It's like everybody else left when God spoke to you
through the gospel. And I'll never forget, I remember,
I thought the preacher was staring a hole out of her. I thought
I was the only one in there. Well, verse 2, And he wept aloud,
and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph
said unto his brethren, I am Joseph. As I said, I wish I could thank
you. They haven't seen him for twenty
years. They didn't know what happened to him. As far as they
knew, he was big. And now he's, they're standing
before this one they don't know, and he says, I am Joseph. And they can't speak for the
next 20 minutes. Is my father dead or alive? And
they couldn't speak. His brethren couldn't answer
him. They were troubled at his presence. You know, go to Luke
24 with me. Luke chapter 24. This exact scene
took place between the Lord and his disciples. This was the very
scene when Christ arose from the grave and appeared under
his disciples and revealed himself unto them. They thought he was
dead. They hadn't seen him but three
days, but that seemed like an eternity to them. So look at
Luke 24, 36 with me. It says, And as they thus spake,
Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said unto them, Peace
be unto you. terrified in the private, supposedly
they'd seen a spirit, scared to death. And he said unto them,
Why are you troubled? Why do thoughts arise in your
heart? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself, it
is I myself. Handle me and see. Handle me and see. And down in
verse forty-four, he went on to say, These are the words which
I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things
must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses.
What's that? Genesis. And in the Prophets
and in the Psalms concerning me. As Joseph made himself known
unto his brethren. That was the story of me. And
go back to the text. All concerning me, and as in
the story of Joseph, he said in verse four. He said, Come near to me, I pray
you, come near. As Christ said, Handle me, touch
me. A spirit doesn't have flesh and
bone. It is I. He said, I am Joseph, your brother,
whom you sold into Egypt. Now, he said, be not grieved
nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither, for God did
send me before you to preserve life. And he keeps saying this. He says in verse 7, God did send
me before you to preserve you a posterity, a remnant in the
earth, to save your lives by a great deliverance. Verse 8,
so now it was not you that sent me hither, but God. He had made me a father to Pharaoh,
Lord of all his house, a ruler through all the land of Egypt.
God had sent me. And in verse 13, he says, You
go tell my father of all my glory. It wasn't this Peter's message
at Pentecost. His exact message at Pentecost
was this. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked
hands of crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up. Therefore, being by the right
hand of God exalted, having received of the Father the promise of
the Holy Ghost, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that
God hath made that same Jesus whom you sold, whom you crucified,
both Lord and Christ." Why? To save that sorry bunch, to
save the very woman. And at that preaching of that
message, God saved three thousand sons of Jacob. A little later on, another five
thousand. That very, very message at Pentecost. So back to Genesis
forty-five. Now it says in verse nine, he
says to them, haste ye, go up to my father. Scripture
says this over and over again. Today is a day of salvation.
Now, what's called a day? Haste. He that believeth shall
make haste. And say unto him, go to the Father,
say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me
Lord of all Egypt. And this is what we plead. This
is what we plead to the Father, don't we? We plead the name of
the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. There's some interchangeable
types here. Jacob can represent God, the
father, whose son is on the throne. Jacob is Jacob, and Pharaoh can
represent the father. We'll see that in a moment. But
here he tells him, you go to the father through the son. You
go to the father, and this is what you confess to the father.
Your son's on the throne. Your son's on the throne. And he told them to give Jacob
several promises from the son. Joseph told them to tell Jacob
of all his glory and all the promises. Now Jacob, this is
all about Jacob. This story is about Jacob and
his son. There's more time devoted to
Jacob in the book of Genesis than anybody. And God calls himself, as I said,
the God of Jacob. And one of my favorite verses
in all scripture is this. Happy is he that hath the God
of Jacob for his help. And surely, if you're a sinner,
you can relate to Jacob. Jacob was a man full of trouble. That's what he said in his latter
days, in his last confession to Pharaoh. He was standing before
Pharaoh, and he said, My life, my days have been few and full
of evil. Few and evil has been the pilgrimage,
not pilgrimage, let me say. Jacob was a sinful man. You know
the story. We've been through this before.
Jacob was a sinful man. A whole lot of what came on his
head was his own fault, most of it. And he sojourned through a sinful
world, it seemed like everybody was against Jacob, including
his brother, his father-in-law. His enemies were those of his
own household. His whole life was a series of
gross sins on his part and troubles within and without. Jacob, Jacob,
Jacob. Jacob is all of us, the sons
of Jacob. Go back to chapter 42 with me,
chapter 42. I brought this to your attention.
One time, look at Genesis 42. Jacob was a sinful man and full
of trouble and living, sojourning through a world of trouble. And
look at what he says after he heard tidings of bad things,
he thought. Verse 36, the last line of verse
36, he said, are you going to take Benjamin away? He said,
all these things are against me. Everything's going against
me. Is that right? Is there an ounce of truth to
that? No. Nothing is going against
you, Jacob. I mean, nothing's going against
you. Chapter 47, all that is is unbelief
and ignorance, what that is. He's ignorant of what God is
doing. He doesn't know. At his defense,
Jacob didn't know what we know. Jacob didn't have the Bible we
have. The apostles didn't have what we have. All right? We have
more life than they have. But Jacob, in ignorance, not
knowing what God is doing, he said, everything's going against
me. Not knowing that everything's going for him. That everything
God's doing is Look at chapter forty seven this is what I told
you he said to to Pharaoh verse nine he said the days of the
years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years. I haven't lived
long. A hundred and thirty years. But Henry you know compared to
his great great great great great grandfather you know he didn't.
He thought I haven't lived very long within short life. And evil.
Have the days of the years of my life been evil? Well, you
know, Jacob, you're a sinner, and you have committed a lot
of evil, and a lot of evil, you think, evil has come down on
your head. And rightfully so, and you're getting what, a lot
of what you deserve, but God hath not dealt with you according
to your iniquity. God has not dealt with any of
his sons according to our sins. He will not. He has not. No,
no, no, no. He dealt with Christ according
to our sins. We've never been punished by God. We've been chastened.
Although it's like little children, you know, little babies. When you first begin to chasten
them, they think you're killing them. Don't they? Mom, don't they? They think you're
killing them. You hit them one time. They cry. They look in the mirror. They
look in the mirror. It's worse, isn't it? You look at yourself.
You have self-pity, sorrow. You see yourself crying. Oh,
it is bad, isn't it? It's really bad, isn't it? It's
worse than I thought it was. Everything's going against me,
mom and dad. That's not an ounce of truth.
God has never punished his children. He never has and never will.
God punished Christ. God laid on him the iniquity
of us all. God hath not dealt with us. Joseph
did not deal with his brethren like what they deserved him.
Not even close. He gave them a little taste of trouble. Put them in jail
for, what, a few days? Went through guilt and remorse
and all that for just a little while, didn't he? It didn't last
long. Their light affliction, which was but for a moment, worked
for them a far more exceeding weight of glory with Joseph. All these things are against
me. Anybody said that? You ever said that? Everything's
going against me. No. If you're a son of Jacob,
if you're a child of God, chosen, loved by him, and found in Christ,
nothing is going against you. We know. that all things work
together for good. Now, that verse Romans 828 belongs
to the sons of Jacob, not to the world at a funeral, but to
God's people all the time. And we know who's the we. We
talk to the saints, brethren, called, beloved of God. We know. We need to know this. We need
to have this Grounded and settled in our mind, we know that all
things, not some things, all things work together for good. How can that be good? You haven't
seen the end yet, have you? We live by faith. We've got to
rely on the promises. How can this be good? All things
work together for good to them that love God. You do love God,
don't you? Yeah, because you first love
Him. But you do love God. them who are the call according
to his purpose what's that purpose of a son of Jacob to exalt his
son exalt Christ. For all his brethren and to save
us by great deliverance. So that we'll stay throughout
eternity to the praise of the glory of his great where we have
made a success. Now Jacob nothing is going against
you. And the days of your life, listen
to me, son of Jacob, daughter of Jacob, the days of your life
have not been evil, they've been good. Start counting the blessings.
Start counting the blessings. Like old David said, if I should
number them, they're more than I could number. They far more
outweigh my trouble. No. There's only one Job in Scripture. One. Has anybody come close to what
he's been through? I mean close. And it's unbelief and self-pity
to say everything's going against you. It's unbelief. It's self-pity. And the years of our lives have
not been full of evil, but he crowned the year with goodness. I've had the pads drop. That's
what every son of Jacob could say. Couldn't Jacob say if he
stopped and thought about it? Everybody, everything's good
according to God's infinite purpose and mercy and love and grace
toward me, a rotten, no good fella. That's what he should say. We'll
go back to chapter 45. Our years have been full of goodness
and blessing. Although we're full of sin, God
hath abounded toward us in goodness. And he will yet do so. He sent
promises. He sent promises to old Jacob, didn't he? He said,
You go tell Jacob. Chapter 45, look at verse 10 and 11. He says, You shall dwell in the
land of Goshen. So where's that? Apparently,
it was the most beautiful land anywhere. That's where we got
the old saying, a land of Goshen. Don't say that anymore. Remember,
you're not supposed to swear by anything, heaven or earth
or anything. But nevertheless, that's where
we got that when we see something. Goshen must have meant something,
really something. And I have not seen, nor hath
not heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man the things
that God hath prepared for them. We're going to dwell in the land
of Goshen. Maybe we'll say that when we get there. You're going to dwell with me
in the land of Goshen. Thou shalt be near unto me." What's the
scripture say? God will dwell with them. Doesn't
it answer? We love that passage. God will
dwell with them. Christ. Thou and thy children,
thy children's children. You're going to see some of your
children there. Some of you, all of your children maybe. Wow,
wow. Thy flocks and thy herd. Yes,
the lions will lay down on the land. All that thou hast. You're going to be joint heirs.
There will I nourish thee. And you know, in some respects,
this is the land of Goshen right here. You've come here tonight
to the land of Goshen. Because there's five years left
in this family. We've come through two. There's
five years left in this family. And we're going to have to, Joseph's
going to have to keep opening the storehouses to us. That's
exactly what Christ is doing for us, unless we, verse 11,
and your household. You see, we have a vested interest
in this place. Staying here, don't we? Our children,
our children's children. Nancy used to worry about Sam
and Steve. Now you worry about Joseph and
Laura and Kelly. You're just as concerned about
Kelly as you are about Stephen. We all have a vested interest
in this place. Well. Come to poverty, let's see. Nourishes
verse 12. Behold, your eyes shall see.
Your eyes see the eyes of my brother, Benjamin, that is me,
my mouth to speak of you. Oh, we've seen we can't help
but speak the things we've seen. God has spoken unto us. Well, Pharaoh here represents
God the father. And Joseph Christ, of course. And look at verse 16. The fame
thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren
are come, and it pleased Pharaoh well. Joseph's brethren are here? Yes, they've come. Simeon, Reuben, instruments of
cruelty. Jacob said that about his own
son. Read about him later on. Who was it? The other brother.
It's unstable as water. Another one. Your hand will be
in the throat of a bunch of no good sons of Jacob. Joseph's
brethren, as I noted to you before, before they were called the sons
of Jacob. After Joseph reveals himself
to them, they're called the brethren of Joseph. Joseph's brethren
here, not the sorry sons of Jacob that hated Joseph, Joseph's brethren.
And it pleased Pharaoh well. Well, just bring them in. And the Scripture says this very
thing. In 1 Samuel 12, David, under
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says, It hath pleased the Lord
to make you his people. Who, me? A sorry son of... Yes, it pleased the Lord. Brethren, through Joseph, look
at verse seventeen. Pharaoh said unto Joseph, you
say unto your brethren. Dan, do you know why you read
Hebrews 1 tonight? That's what they and read in
the study back there because he wrote one to say if God had
in these last days spoken of by. That's why you read that. Because at the mouth of two or
three witnesses this thing is established God made payroll
said that Joseph you tell your breath. And God spoken of by. Tell your breath. Tell my son. this do you? Here's what you
do. Wait, wait, look at all this
that he does for me. Verse 18, take your father and
your household and come unto me and I will give you. Does that sound familiar? Come
unto me and I will give you. Who wrote this book, folks? Is there an ounce of doubt in
your mind right now, right this minute? There will be later on,
but right this minute, who wrote this book? is it anybody that
can convince you otherwise this is not just one. This do you. Come on to me and
I will give you. The good of the land of Egypt
you'll eat the fat of the land. This you're commanded this is
what you do this is a command. You think God has given commandment
to save And God has given commandment, like I love the story of Ruth,
my favorite story, where it says that Boaz commanded his servants
what to do for Ruth. Give her handfuls on purpose.
He commanded his servants, don't let anybody touch her. Don't
let anybody touch her. Give her handfuls on purpose. Pharaoh commanded They only should
take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little one. Take
wagons. You know what they brought with
them? Kelly, you know what they brought? Tow sacks. Tow sacks. That's what they are.
Tow sacks. They went home with wagons. Can you tell the story of where
you came from and where you are now? Huh? Your poor beginnings. We were talking about old Brother
Henry tonight. We passed a picture around the
room of Brother Henry's one-room schoolhouse in Corn Valley. Corn Valley. One-room schoolhouse
where he went to school. We passed that picture around.
Humble beginnings, buddy. Where are you now? Where has
the Lord brought you? What all has he done for you?
Look at this. Brought you into the land of the coming. There's a sign outside that one-room
schoolhouse that says, Keep Out. After Henry went to school there,
they didn't want him any more like him. No, I wish we had a whole bunch
like him. A whole bunch. Well, he says,
They bought sacks, tow sacks, and went home with wagons. Loaded. Not half full. Loaded. And look at verse twenty. He
says, regard not your stuff. He says, you go home, get your
dad, take these tokens. All this was tokens to Jacob
of who was on the throne. All this was tokens. Jacob's
not going to believe it. But when he sees all this stuff,
all these blessings, not stuff, blessings. All his stuff is going
to be stuff. After he sees all these blessings,
from Joseph. And he's not he's not going to
believe that he sees all these. And that isn't that what God
has done to us? A token, a token, sure token,
a sure token of his promises to us through Christ our Lord.
He says, come, come on. And that's where we're going.
We're headed to the land of Goshen to see our brother Joseph. We
have all these tokens of his goodness wagging loaves, don't
we? Wagging loaves. The good of the land, he says,
verse 20, don't look at your stuff, don't bring anything with
you. In other words, don't look at that stuff. The good of the
land of Egypt. My, my, I thought of Matthew
6 when our Lord said, take no thought for your life, what you
shall eat. The finest food we're going to
eat on this planet is going to pale in comparison to Solomon's,
greater than Solomon's table. Finest clothing on Earth is going
to be nothing compared to that robe that he robes us in. How
do you think they missed their garments? When Joseph put a change
of arraignment on them, you think they missed their garment? They
threw those rags away like Martimeus did that day. Benjamin got five changes of
arraignment and more than anybody else. More than anybody. He deserved it. Regard not your
stuff, take no thought for your life. Your father knoweth what
things you have need of even before you have. And it's your
father, fear not little flock, it's your father's good pleasure
to give unto you the good of the land of heaven. Don't think
thought for this. It's just a bunch of stuff. Well, what was their song on the way
home? They're headed home. verse twenty five they went up
out of the land of Egypt came into the land of Canaan under
Jacob their father and told him saying Joseph is yet alive is
governor over the land. Joseph is yet alive is governor
over the land. I bet they sang that all the
way home. Joseph is yet alive is governor
over the land. He is Lord. He is Lord. risen from the dead and. Joseph
is yet alive, Jesus is yet alive, and he's governor over all the
land. That was their song coming and
going, wasn't it? Going and coming. He's Lord. Well, there's one last parting
story here. We've got to see this. Chapter
50. You know I want to go there,
don't you? Chapter 50. And there's so much in between.
so very much in between all the blessings of the sons of Jacob,
and so forth, the prophecy of Judah, and so on. But chapter
fifty, Jacob, their father, died. The father of the sons of Jacob
died, and these sorry sons of Jacob,
they're still feeling their sin and their guilt. They're never
going to get over. And rightfully so. They're never going to get
over what they did to their brother Joseph. They shouldn't. Because they need to stay humble.
If they stay humble, they're going to appreciate Joseph. Right? If they ever lose sight of what
they did to Joseph, they won't appreciate Joseph. Remember the. Ever lose sight
of where you. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever.
Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever.
Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever.
Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever.
Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever.
Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever.
Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever.
Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever.
Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever.
Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever.
Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever.
Your sister tried to tell you you didn't want to hear about. Well their father died and they're
stealing their skin and their guilt and here's what they said
in verse fifteen when Joseph's brethren saw that their father
was dead they said Joseph is going to hate us now. He's going to require us all
the evil we did on it. He's going to get us back. We're
going to get what's coming to us now. Surely, this has all been too
good to be true. We're going to get what's coming to us. No, no, no, no, a thousand
times, no! They didn't hear what Joseph
said. They didn't believe Joseph. Ah, boy. Neither do we when we
take up that God didn't save us because of something he saw
in us. He saved us in spite of what
he saw in us. And God's not going to keep us
because of something he sees in us, but in spite of what he
sees in us. Is that good news or what? Surely he's going to get me now.
Look what I've done. I know better now. No, a thousand times no. He's
not a man that he should repent, and the gifts and calling of
God are without repentance. That means he doesn't take on
work. It's all to come and tell them, I
will in no wise cast them out. That's why it's called good news. That means it keeps being good.
That it's always news. Who's it news to? Sinners. Now, God forbid that we should
live in sin. We want to do without that sin.
The sons of Jacob, they didn't despise or reject Joseph anymore. They esteemed him highly, didn't
they? They loved him. They appreciated him. But they were still sinners. Oh, they're Joseph's brethren.
Look at verse 15. Notice it again. When Joseph's
brethren. Not Joseph's brethren. And they sent a messenger. Here's
what they did. They sent a peace envoy. They sent an intercessor. They sent a mediator to Joseph.
Now here, Joseph's the picture of God. Here, Joseph's the picture
of God on the throne. He's going to get me now. No,
go through the intercessor. And here's what you say. Look
at verse 16. It says, Thy father did command. Here's what the father commanded
a while ago. God gave commandment to save
me. God says, Come unto me with boldness. Who? All that come unto God by Christ.
All the sons of Jacob. This is what he commanded, verse
17. So shall you say unto him, the one on the throne. This is
what the father said. Forgive, I pray thee now, the
trespass of thy brethren and their sin. The very verse that
God used to break my hard heart was when Christ was hanging on
the cross. First words out of his mouth. First words out of his mouth.
Father, forgive them. They don't know what to do. They
don't know what to do. And he did. Did the father hear
that? He sure did. As we said, 3,000 people. All
guilty. The father forgave them. He gave
commandment. Commandment to say, forgive their
trespass and their sin that they did under the evil. They did
under the evil. They did. They're not denying
it. Nobody, a believer, doesn't deny sin. He just pleads the
blood, the commandment, the word of God. He pleads the word of
God, the promises of God. He pleads the blood of Christ,
the righteousness of Christ. He doesn't say, well, I'm a good
boy now. None of these fellas said that. None of these fellas
said, we've cleaned up our act. We'll never do that again. None
of them said that. They all said we're guilty. And now we pray they forgive
the trespass of the servants of the God of our Father, Joseph
Webb, when they spake unto him. My, my. Our God doesn't weep,
but his son did, didn't he, as a man. And his brethren all went
and fell down before his face. Well, you've already done that.
You don't need to keep doing it, do you? Surely. They've already
bowed to him. Surely you can run in and claim
everything from him. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no Am I in the place of God? Well,
yes, you are. As for you, you thought evil
against me, but God meant it unto good. See that? Everything's not going against
you. God meant it all for good. What for? To bring the past as
it is this day. bring all this to pass, all according
to his purpose. Everything you see, isn't it
wondrous? Isn't it amazing? Isn't it a
miracle? A miracle of love, mercy, and grace, and wisdom, and power,
and sovereign power. Isn't it a miracle? Who could have done this but
God? And to save a bunch of people alive. I'm alive, I'm not dead. I was dead, now I'm alive. Praise
be to God. Fear not, he says, I'll nourish
you and your little one. And he comforted them and spake
kindly. And the margin says to the heart,
to their hearts. I'm sure every one of those sons
of Jacob said, I never heard. They left that place thinking,
that's the best news I've ever heard in my life. He's not going to kill us. He's not
even going to punish us. I was one of these evangelists
I'd run down there and talk to. Barbara? They never left. And they never left me. They
stayed right there from then on. Didn't go anywhere. And that's
what we're going to do someday. Go to the land of Goshen and
never leave. With our brother. OK. Stand with
me. Our Father, thank you, thank
you, thank you for your Word, without which we'd be in darkness
even as others. You shine in our hearts, give
light of the knowledge of the glory of God. The glory of God
is saving glory. Glorious wisdom is power, mercy,
love, grace. Thy glory is saving glory. As
Moses said, show me your glory. Made your goodness, all your
goodness pass before him. Proclaimed your name. Done the
same for us. Done the same for us. How we
thank you for your word. You've made us see the glory
of God in the face, person, the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
How we thank you that you've exalted him. As Sheba said of
old, concerning Solomon we say of the greater than some surely
God must have loved us to put the put the Son of God on the
throne. How we thank you for making these
things known to us. In Christ's name we pray and
give thanks. Amen.