OK, I don't think you tire of
singing that either, do you? Judging from the sound of it. All right, go back to Genesis
42. Genesis chapter 42. You won't mind if we review a
little bit with you, will you? I just can't hardly move on. Enjoy it. Keep rehashing what
we looked at already. And we'll review a little bit,
lead up to the text in chapter 43. In a moment, our story is
about the sorry sons of Jacob. And that's what they are. A sorry
bunch. Sinful. Sons of Jacob. And they're starving. They're
going to die if they don't get some corn. And their father tells
them that there is corn in Egypt. And so he sends them to Egypt
to buy a coin. Now, this is a clear picture
once it's revealed. Like the Proverb 8 says, it's
all plain to him that understands. It's right for them to find knowledge. But a clear picture of all saints,
all believers, God's elect, sons of Jacob, is what they're called. Brother Nyberg reminded me that
God calls himself by the name of the God of Jacob. more than
any other title. And I'm glad. Happy is he to
have the God of Jacob for his help. These sorry sons of Jacob,
and that's what we are. And these sons of Jacob, they
were to come before an unknown Lord. They were going to come
and appear before an unknown Lord, but their salvation was
that he knew them. And that's us sons of Jacob we
come we God brings us to where the gospel is he sends us we're
dying. And don't know. We need one thing. And there's one place it's fine
to be found and one person has and we don't know we don't know
him we don't fear him yet but God. rich in mercy sends us to
where Christ is where the gospel is sent by the Spirit of God
to hear the gospel chapter forty two. You remember this verse
seven Joseph saw his brother and he knew them. They didn't
know him and he knew them and it says the first thing he did
was he spake. He made himself strange unto
unknown and spake roughly to the The margins there are. Hard that he spoke rough to him
and himself trying. And now what he said was he accused
them. Of being spies he accused them
of being there for the wrong reason. He accused them of a
lot less than they were guilty of it. And at first, they denied any
wrongdoing, didn't they? Verse 11, they all denied to
the man. Oh, we're true men. We're not
spies. We're true men. They haven't been brought to
see themselves yet, have they? They're going to. They're going
to. Oh, we're true men. We're not spies. We're not dishonest
men. We're true men. Yeah, right. Sorry, no good,
worthless, sons of Jacob. True men. They all denied. And didn't you? When you first... I remind you
of that story. My dad reminded me of this again.
I know what it was. I was listening to that tape
full of illustrations by him. And he was preaching on the TV
and there was a fellow down in Pikeville, Kentucky. sitting
watching the TV that Sunday morning, and Dad said something about
it, and pointed his finger at the camera and said, You're a
sinner, and you need the mercy of God. And that fellow, Mr. Klein was his name, said he got
up, turned that TV off, said, I ain't no sinner, and went back
and sat down. He said in a couple of minutes
he started thinking. Maybe I am a sinner. And went back and turned
the TV on. True story. And God revealed
the gospel to that old boy. And John has been a piteful member
of the church ever since. And we deny it, don't we? When
we first hear the truth about us. But then the Lord, the Lord of
the land, Joseph, so he was, the Lord's rough word. began
to take their effect. His rough word, Scripture says,
God's word is like a sword that pierces, dividing the thunder
of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart. When God finally began to work
on you through his all-powerful word, he was revealing the very
thoughts and intents of your heart, the wickedness, bringing
up your sin before you to reveal what you really are. It's by
the grace of God that we hear of our sin and guilt. That's
the grace of God. And it's the goodness of God.
Then it's the goodness of God that leads us to repentant. Joseph
didn't have to keep putting up with these fellas. Are you with
me? Joseph did not have to reveal
himself. Joseph didn't have to have mercy on him. Joseph didn't
have to do anything to these sorry fellas. But he did because
he's merciful. And our God is rich in mercy. And it's the goodness of God
that leads us to repentance. Nobody's going to repent of their
sin, their guilt, before God unless God leads them to repentance. And all that Joseph did was bring
them to repentance. And then these sorry sons hear
from the Lord. realize their own guilt. The
very first twenty-one, it says there, they all realized. They
said one to another, every one of them. We're guilty concerning
our brother, for hating our brother, for wanting to kill our brother,
Joseph. They all repented, and Joseph was listening to them.
They didn't know that he could understand them, but he was hearing
their groaning. Then they hear from the Lord
the one way that they are going to be pardoned and accepted by
him. Look at verse fifteen. It says,
Hereby you shall be proved by the life of Pharaoh. You will
not go forth hence. You're not going to go free except
your youngest brother come here. This is how I'm going to prove
you. Whether you be true or not, you're not going to go free unless
you bring your brother with you. Verse 20, he said it again. Bring your youngest brother unto
me, and so shall your words be verified, and you shall not die. If you don't bring that brother
that you told me about, the Father's beloved son, with you, you're
going to die. That's the last thing he said
to them. He will not go free. So Joseph revealed to them the
one way that they could be set free, the one way that they would
be accepted, the one way that they'd see his face again. And
God Almighty, by the decree of God, the purpose of God, Joseph
said, by the name of Pharaoh, the life of Pharaoh, and by the
name of God Almighty, the living and true God, we will not go
free. We will not be free from the law. We will not see God's
faith. We will not be accepted, except
the Son come loose, except in the blood. Well, they
heard this, and they feared it, and they learned well. They heard
this, and they believed it, and they learned it well. And our
Lord said in John 6, they shall all be taught of God. Everyone
that hath heard and learned of the Father does what? They come by faith in Christ. Verses 29 and 30, they heard
this well. They came unto Jacob their father.
They went back home. And they came unto Jacob their
father in the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell
unto them, saying, The man, and he's more than a man, he's the
Lord of the land. He's a man, but he's a lord.
He spake roughly thus, took us for spies of the country. And
verse thirty-three, and the man, the lord, that is, of the country,
he said unto us, Hereby shall I know your truth. Leave one
of your brethren with me, take food for the family of your house,
and be gone, and bring your youngest brother unto me. Then shall I
know you're not spies. but they're your true man. So
will I deliver you, your brother, and you'll just come and go throughout
the land, free to come and go. Just bring your brother. Bring
your brother. Now, every son of Jacob, every
sinner whom God Almighty deals with in mercy and grace and reveals
the son to them, at first they don't know too much. They fear
God. They know He's sovereign, can
do with them as He pleases. But this one thing they all know. They don't know much, but they
come away after hearing from God, they know this one thing.
They'll not get to God, but by one way. They all knew that,
all eleven of these brothers. They knew that if there was one
way, they're going to be accepted by the Lord. And every one of God's people
know this. There's one way to come before a holy, just, and
sovereign God. And there's one person whom the
Father is well pleased with for His righteousness to say, the
well-beloved, only begotten Son of the Most High God, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And Joseph repeated it twice,
didn't he? Didn't he? He repeated it twice.
And God has spoken once throughout the whole Testament. God has
one thing to say to the sons of man, bring the blood, bring
the blood, bring the blood, bring the blood, when I see the blood.
And in the New Testament, God has spoken twice. What's he say?
Christ, Christ, Christ. One thing he has to say to the
sons of man, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. When I see
you in Christ and Christ in you, I'll accept you. And he promised
to receive them all, didn't he? Who did he promise to receive? All of them. All of them. All those sorry sons, if they
came with the Son. Now, as I said, these sorry sons
of Jacob begin to acknowledge their guilt and repent of their
sin. They said, We're guilty concerning our brother and the
Lord of the land. Joseph understood them. Verse
23. They knew not that Joseph understood them, but he spoke
unto them by an interpreter. And we first hear the gospel
through a man. And you remember that story of old Champ Clark,
don't you? A fellow going home with his wife after hearing the
preacher preach, and he said, You've been talking to the preacher
about me, haven't you? She said, no, honey, I have not.
We haven't spoken at all about you. He said, well, he, he, he
was, he knows everything about me. No, but God does. And that's
who, and the Lord speaks, and though it's through me, and it's
the Lord speaking. And in verse 24, it says, he turned himself
from them and wept. Joseph did. And then he returned
to them again after they repented of their sin. He told them the
way to come back. Then he communed with them, he
said. He communed with them. Again, he's still through an
interpreter, but he's talking to them. Those rough words ease him off. After they repent, then the rough
words turn kind. He starts communing with them.
And then he gives them tokens. that he is telling them the truth. And verse twenty five says Joseph
commanded to fill their sacks with corn. Restore every man's
money in his sack and give him provision of wine. He's sorry
sons and daughters. Once they've repented of what
they are and what they've done, he begins to speak Kindly to
them, heals their sacks full, provides them provisions for
the way. Isn't that what our God does for us? Huh? In spite
of us. And in verse 28, in spite of
this, in spite of Joseph's, they don't know it's Joseph, but in
spite of the Lord of the land's goodness to them and all that,
they're still afraid. They shouldn't be. They shouldn't
be. They shouldn't be presumptuous. In verse 28, they all said to
a man, they said, My money's restored, and even in my sack,
and their hearts failed them, and they were afraid, saying
one to another, What is God doing? Why is He being so good to them? And isn't that what you think
when you first heard the Gospel? You thought, This is too good
to be true. Why would God have anything to do with me? Why is
He doing all this for me? Sorry, son of Adam. You don't know if you're a son
of James. You don't know if you're one of Joseph's friends. That's
why he's doing it. And they're doubtful, and
they're wondering, they're fearful. It reminds me of old Manoah.
Remember the story of Manoah, where that he... I'll save that
for later. And in chapter 43, this brings
us to chapter 43. Well, they get hungry again.
They get hungry again. They get down, hungry, starving. That's what sons of Jacob did.
And they need to go back to Egypt before the Lord of the land.
They need to go back. And now they know him, though.
They know something about him. They fear him now. They went
down to Egypt the first time. just to get corn. And they probably
came in that place, you know, full of pride. Well, they did.
They didn't know themselves. They didn't fear the Lord of
the land. They didn't know their lives were in danger. They came
into Egypt thinking, we're just going to buy us a little corn,
and we'll get out of this place. We just need something for our
belly. Not knowing, they needed mercy. at the hands of the Lord. And if he who knows them, who
sees them coming, doesn't spare them, they're going to die."
Well, he reveals himself. And now they know him. And they've
got to come back to him. They know him now. They fear
him now. They don't come back proud and presumptuous, do they?
They don't come back. They need corn. They need daily
bread. They need that. Now they're coming
back hoping he'll spare them. Hoping he'll have mercy on them.
They fear him now. They fear him. And you know,
Judah speaks on behalf of them all. Oh, Judah. Look at verse
3. Go down to verse 3. Well, let's
read verses 1 and 2. The famine was sore in the land
that came to pass when they'd eaten up the corn which they'd
brought out of Egypt. See, we need new grace, don't
we? And their father said unto them,
see the father sends them back, back to Jerusalem. Go again,
buy us a little food. Judah spoke up. Judah spoke on
behalf of all of them. This is the testimony of Judah.
This is the solemn vow of Judah. On behalf of all of them, this
is their testimony. The man did solemnly protest
unto us, saying, You shall not see my face, except your brother
be with you. And if thou wilt send thy brother
with us, we will go down and buy thee food. But if thou wilt
not send him, we will not go down." The man said to her, You
shall not see my face except your brother be with you. We
can't go. We can't go before this great
sovereign Lord unless Benjamin be with us. And I'm not going
unless you send him. We've seen him. We've seen his
glory. We've seen his power. He held us in his hand. He put
us in prison. He spoke wrath to us. We learned
our lesson. We're not going back, Dad, unless
Benjamin's with us. Is that what you think, Simeon?
Yes, sir. What about you, Levi? I ain't going back there without
Benjamin. Judah? Well, Judah's the one who saved.
Yisra'el or whatever their name was. That's right. Every one of these sons of Jacob
knew this. We can't go back to this sovereign,
powerful Lord without his son, your beloved son. And every single one whom God
Almighty reveals himself to knows that. And this is why we call
on the Father in Christ's name. He tells us to do that. Whatsoever
ye ask in Christ's name. We call on the Father in Christ's
name. This is the faith of God's elect. This is a solemn vow of God's
people. God hear us. God accept us. God
receive us. God deliver us. God have mercy
on us. God give grace to us. God provide for us. God for Christ's
sake. For Christ's sake. And then so the father says to
them, down in verse eleven through fourteen, their father Israel
said unto them, if it must be so, now do this, take of the
best fruits in the land in your vessel, and carry down the man
a present, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts
and almond, and take double money in your hand, the money that
was brought again in the mouth of your sack. that mysteriously
got there, that money. Carry it again in your hand.
Maybe it was an oversight. And 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. If I be bereaved of my children,
I am bereaved. So the father says to them, take
all this and your brother. And may God Almighty have mercy
upon you. So the father sent the son. He sent the son. With these sons of Jacob. And
what a picture. What a picture this is. And,
you know, I thought about this. Several ways you could look at
this. You know, we're commanded of
God to bring forth the firstborn son. The best, our spring, God
tells us. What is it that we offer unto
God? We're not accepted for our works, but he says, bring the
sacrifice of your lips, the fruit of praise and thanksgiving, the
sacrifice of the firstfruits unto God, the best. And this
is a picture of every sinner who hears the gospel, they're
grateful, grateful to God for his mercy. They come to God wanting
to bring the best to him, wanting to bring his all to the God who's
had mercy on him. But, you know, Jacob doesn't
really understand here, and the sons of Jacob don't really understand
that Joseph said, there's one thing. He's looking for one thing. Well, I'm getting ahead of myself. There's one whom the Lord is
looking for when they come back. All right, verse 15, So they
left, and all these sons of Jacob, and Benjamin is with them. And
the men took that present, and they took double money in their
hand, and Benjamin, and rose up. and went down to Egypt and
stood before Joseph. Here we are. Here they stand
before the great Lord of the land. What's their hope? What's
their hope? Now, they're changed men. They
really are. They might have changed their
heart. God did. Is that their hope? No, though they are changed,
yet they're still sinners, aren't they? And they've repented. They've repented of what they've
done. They're sorry for what they did.
They acknowledge what they've done, but they're still guilty. What's their hope, eh? How do you reckon they're standing
there before this great Lord of the You know, the first time,
I can see them. Can't you see them? Standing
before the, maybe chewing gum, you know, looking around. What's
a fine place you got here, Mr. Ruler? I sure like this place,
Egypt. Yeah. I mean, I would like it,
you know, just proud and haughty and all that. Oh, yeah, by the
way, we need a little corn. How do you reckon they're standing
there now? To this man will I look, God
says, that he that is poor and of a contrite heart and trembleth
at My word. To this man will I look in mercy
and grace and salvation, God said, and him that feareth Me,
I will show My covenant. I will reveal My covenant. God
will have mercy on them that fear Him. They're standing there. They're trembling in their boots.
Standing before Him. They know who He is now. One
of their brethren is held in chains. They're broken. They're humble. They're trembling.
You know, the Scriptures, this is more than just a story, people.
The Scripture says we must all appear before the judgment seat
of God. And the reason people don't tremble
when they hear that is because they don't know God. But God's
people do. They understand something of
the thrice-holy God. Sovereign God. Just God. He said,
I'm a just God. He will by no means clear the
guilt. These are the rough things that God says to all of his people
at birth. I will by no means clear the
guilt. The soul that sinneth must surely die. And every son
of Jacob whom God reveals the truth to causes a fear of the
Lord. And then God in mercy and grace
reveals to them the well-beloved son, the only way to be accepted.
He says, I'll accept you. Come by faith in my Son. That's
the only way. That's the only way. Don't bring
anything. In your hand, no price should you bring. Come by faith in Christ. Well,
as I said, what's the sons of Jacob's hope? The money? They've
got double money. The fruit? It's good fruit. It's the best fruit of the land. They're sincere. They're really
sincere now with all their heart. They've come here. Is that it?
No. Verse 16 says, When Joseph saw
Benjamin. It's like he didn't even see
them, John. There are all eleven of them standing before him,
ten of them. One of them's in prison. And it says, Joseph,
he looked, he saw one person. All of them are standing there,
but he sees one. He sees many. What did he do? Ah, look at this. Verse 16, He
said to the ruler of his house, He said, bring these men home,
bring them in the house, open the doors and bring them home
with me. And slay, kill the fatted calf,
make ready, prepare a plate. These men are going to dine with
me. There he is, the one I'm looking
for. All because the Son's with them.
Now the scriptures Romans 8 32 says he that spared not his own
son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with
him freely give us all things. The father opens up the door
of heaven to all the people that come to him by Christ. The father
killed the fatted calf, but it was lamb's lamb for all of his
people. The father prepared a place,
Christ prepared a place for all of us. And he says coming down,
all things are ready. Why? Why? Because we're sincere. Because we've turned over a new
leaf. Because he sees Christ. He sees us in Christ. were accepted in the blood. Old Joseph being awful gracious
to them and these sorry sons of Jacob. And it's to the praise
of the glory of old Joseph's grace, wherein he hath made them
accepted in Benjamin. Well, they still don't believe
it. They still don't believe it.
They say there's a catch. They bring the ruler of the house.
Who is the ruler of the house? Who did Joseph put over his house? Who did Christ put over his house?
He went back to the father and sat down on the right hand of
the majesty on high. Who did he put over his house?
The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one that
revealed these things to us. The Lamb that slain and so forth
and tells us to come and die. And the man did as Joseph bade. He did what he was told. That's
what Christ said of the Holy Spirit. He'll take the things
of mine and show them unto you. He won't speak of himself. We
don't even hear this man's name. Well, he brought them into Joseph's
house. And the men were afraid, verse 18. They were afraid because
they were brought into Joseph's house. Again, like old Manoa. And they said, it's because of
the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time we
were brought in. He's going to seek occasion against us. He's
going to fall on us. He's going to take us. He's going
to keep us as unwilling slaves. He's going to, he's going to,
he's going to, he's after us. He's going to get us. God's ways, you know, God's thoughts
are higher, as high as the heavens are above the earth, that are
God's way. This is not the way of man. It's
the way of God. But they think, well, this is
all too good to be true, and we're still guilty, and surely
we're going to get what's coming to us. Surely we're going to
get what's coming to us. No, he hath not dealt with them
according to their sins. Joseph had not dealt with him
according to what they deserve, and he's not going to. Why? Why? Benjamin's with him. Benjamin's with him, as long
as the son's with him. But they still don't believe
it. Verse 19 and 20. So they asked the they asked
the ruler of the land. Verse 19. They came near to the
steward of Joseph's house and they communed with him. They
wanted to talk with him at the door of the house. They said,
Oh, sir. Oh, sir. We came down here just
to buy food. Now our lives are in danger. What's going on? What's happening? verse twenty one it says the
reverse you know that they told the story they recounted the
story of all that happened to a verse twenty three and the
ruler of the house and of the peace. And this is what the Holy Spirit
commanded by Christ. Says through the preaching of
the gospel to all them that fear God. And come unto God by Christ
this is what he said. You're God. You're not. You're
God. Who did this? You're God. The God of your father. Who?
Who's that? The God of Jacob. He did all
this. He did all this. He's given you
treasure in your sack. He gave you your money back.
I had your money. He told me to put it back. And
then he brought Simeon out. released unto them what of it.
My, my. And look at verse 24. It says
the man brought them into Joseph's house. It's all Joseph's house
now, isn't it? It's Joseph's house. What's the
church? It's Christ's house. It's a church
of Christ. Verse 24. He brought them into
Joseph's house and gave them water to wash their dirty, stinking
feet. Gave their asses, probably. That
is provided for them and in verse twenty five they made ready the
present against Joseph came. They heard they were going to
eat there. There was a table prepared for them right in the
middle of that land. Egypt was an enemy to the Hebrews,
but here they prepared them a table right in the midst of their enemy. Well, verse twenty six, then
Joseph came home. Then he came home. And they brought
him the present, which was in their hand, into the house. And
they bowed themselves to him to the earth in fear and trembling
and gratitude. They bowed down. And wasn't this
prophesied in the beginning? Didn't he say they'd do this?
Huh? Aren't you glad God's given commandment
to save you? Made you bow? You wouldn't bow
unless he made you bow. Aren't you glad? Made you fear
his name? Aren't you glad he gave you repentance? Aren't you glad he revealed Christ
to you? The only way? Lest you come some
other way and be counted a thief and a robber. Aren't you glad?
What's that make you want to do? Prostrate yourself for him. Oh, thank you, Lord. Thank you.
That's what they're thankful for. They're still fearful, but
they're thankful. And again, verse twenty-nine,
Joseph lifted up his eyes and he saw his brother Benjamin.
He can't take his eyes off of Benjamin. And it says his bowels
yearned for him. Verse thirty, his bowels did
yearn upon his brother. He saw Benjamin. And down in
the last verse of this chapter it says, He took them, took them
into his house, set before them messes, and spread a big feast
before them, before them all. Oh, he's sorry. No good sons
of Jacob. They ought to be dead. They ought
to be in prison. But no, where are they sitting?
At the king's table. Why? And what did the Lord do? What
about Benjamin? What did he give him? Five times. Five times more than that. He's
worth it. Isn't that what Philippians 2
says? Because he did all this, God
has given him a name which is above everything. The name of the Lord Jesus Christ
of every knee. will bow and every tongue confess
he's lord of the land. And they drank it says they all
drank ate and drank and were married with him says they drank
largely. They were happy now. They were
happy now they finally realized hey this is a good man this is
a merciful lord this is a gracious kind merciful lord he's true
whatever he says he'll do it won't he. Oh, he has spared us. He's shown mercy to us. And he
did exactly what he's saying. He told us if we'd come through
the sun, we'd be accepted. And look at us. And now he himself is even with
us. What a merciful Lord. And what a merciful God we have
because of the sun. We're accepted in the 11th. Next Wednesday night, Lord willing,
We're going to look at the silver cup in the sunset for a Sunday
guilty. That's good. It gets better. That's chapter 44. Read it in
preparation for next Wednesday night. OK. We got a spread downstairs. And it's in honor of. Our sister
Roberta. It's her birthday or seventy
of her you didn't know you didn't know you actually didn't know. Well I'm fine. On behalf of this church we want
you to know how much we love you appreciate you this woman
and her husband have been here one hundred years. Henry looks it, Roberta doesn't.
She's 70, you never would have known it would, never would have
known. Sweet, faithful, gracious, Christ-like
lady who's been here many years, was here before I got here. Received
me with open arms and still here, still listening. And we thank
the Lord for her, the grace that he's bestowed upon her. And you
mean a lot to this congregation. We thank you for all that you
are and thank the Lord for you. All right, I'm going to give
thanks for the food and this will be the benediction also.
Stand with me. Our God and our Father, we
thank you now more than when we came for Christ, our acceptance, the beloved son.
Thank you, Lord, for sending the Son, Son of your love, and
how you've given us all things with him freely. Oh, we see the
mercy and grace and love of our God in Christ our Lord. Sorry,
sons of Jacob, though we be, thou art the God of Jacob, and
we're so glad. And we're so thankful you brought
us into your house to dine with you for Christ's sake. Lord,
thank you for the table, the continuous spread before us,
the gospel table full of fat things and wine on the leaves.
And we do drink largely with you time and again. We thank you, Lord, for Christ's
sake. And we thank you for this dear
lady. Thank you for your mercy, love
and grace that you've so evidently shown to her. Thank you for revealing
yourself to her. Thank you for her testimony that
you've given her faithfulness over all these years for the
cause of Christ. We ask that you would continue
to bless her spiritually and physically and keep her with
us for many years to come, according to thy will. We pray and give
thanks for all these things, once again, in the blessed name
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Okay, you're dismissed.