Okay. Genesis 45, turn there. And let me briefly retell the
whole story of Joseph, recap the whole story. Joseph was the
altogether lovely son of his father, the favorite son in whom the
father was well pleased. And his father distinguished
Joseph above all of his brethren, sons of Jacob, with a coat of
many colors, thereby showing that Joseph was his favorite,
approved of the father. And this altogether loveliest
son, in time, as a young man, just a boy, was sent by his father
to his brother to see about them, to take them some food and care
for them as they were out in the wilderness. Well, these evil
sons of Jacob despised and rejected the altogether lovely sons of
the father, and they sold him. They sold
him into Egypt. They made it to appear that he
had been slain by a beast. They sold him for twenty pieces
of silver. But all of this was by God's
all-wise purpose and design. Everything in the life of Joseph,
the altogether lovely son, was ordained by God. for the salvation
of these rotten, no-good subjects. Joseph was put in prison in Egypt,
and in the process of time, through God's direction and God's purpose
and provision, Joseph was brought forth from prison and sat on
the throne. He went from the prison Now,
when the sons of Jacob last saw him, he was in a pit and a bloody
garment. And the next time they saw him,
he was sitting on a throne. Well, he's reigning. He's ruling.
He's next to Pharaoh. He's equal with Pharaoh. Reigning. The fulfillment of prophecy,
see all of this came about through the fulfillment of the word of
Joseph. God, through a dream to Joseph,
told him that these brethren of his would bow down to him. That all would bow down to him.
They didn't believe it, these sorry sons of Jacob. God ordained it that every knee
would bow and every tongue would confess that Joseph is king to
the glory of God the Father. And so it came to pass just as
Joseph's word was spoken. Now the brethren didn't know
him. They didn't know it was Joseph when they first met him.
They didn't know him. And then, when Joseph first began
to speak to them, he first began to speak to them, his first dealings
with these no-good sons, he spoke roughly to them. He didn't speak
peace. He didn't tell them he was glad
to see them. He didn't say how much Pharaoh needed them, and
what they could add to the throne, and what they could add to...
No, no, he was speaking roughly to them. See, Joseph's design
and his wisdom was to humble these men, to bring them down. They're not going to bow to their
brother until they're at the bottom. They're not going to
worship their brother until they see themselves as unworthy. So
he speaks roughly to them, rough, hard things, and he speaks through
the interpreter. He doesn't speak to them personally.
Are you listening? Are you? Understand this what thou hearest.
If you're not, I'm going to explain it in a moment. Joseph spoke roughly to them,
but his determination in all of this was to save these men.
But the way he's got to do it is to bring them down, bring
them down, bring them down, humble them, to break them. To this
man is he going to look? To him that's a broken, contrite
heart. They're going to have to tremble
at the word of justice. Until they see him as a sovereign,
almighty king on a throne, able to kill or make alive. Able to raise up or cast down.
Until that, they're not going to worship. Well, finally, they're broken.
And what broke them? The thing that finally brought
them down and humbled them before Joseph was seeing their innocent
brother, Benjamin, bury their blame. And finally, now they're broken.
And now that they're sufficiently broken and humbled, Joseph's
going to reveal himself to them. He's going to speak to them.
He'll speak kindly to them. He'll speak peace to them, and
reveal His purpose to them, and reveal unto them His will and
God's will, and all things, He's going to open up all the mysteries
to them, but not until they're broken. Now, do you understand?
This is all a picture. This is all the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the altogether loveliest Son of God, the Father's
Savior, coat of many colors, a righteous Which no man ever
had or ever will have, but him. Sent by the Father to his brethren,
called his name Jesus. Why? He came to save his people,
his brethren, from their sin. But he was despised and rejected. Sold for thirty pieces of silver.
Yea, he was wounded and bruised for our transgression. But all
of this was by God's purpose. All of this was in God's design.
Christ was put in prison, as Isaiah said in Isaiah 53. He
was put in prison. He was cut off from the land
of the living, but he didn't stay there. He was brought forth.
And when he was brought forth, he was set on the right hand
of the majesty on high to reign equal with the Father, reign
in ruling. And in fulfillment of his prophecy,
of his very own words in John 6, Christ said, All that the
Father has given me, How are they going to come to Him? Not proud, not presumptuously,
but broken, a contrite heart, humble. And what it is that humbles
us, finally? Well, God first speaks roughly
to us. God's Word first speaks to us and tells us how unworthy
we are, what wretches we are, what worms we are, what dogs
we are. rough language, not peace, but
rough. And then what finally breaks
us is seeing Christ bear our sin and our shame and bear our
blame like Benjamin did. And this thoroughly breaks his
people. And then Joseph, then Christ, reveals himself, reveals
the mercy and the grace and the love of God through the gospel,
but not until then, and only to the broken, because only Guilty
people need mercy. Only the poor have the gospel
preached to them. Only those that mourn over their
sin will be comforted. The gospel is not comfort to
the righteous man, but it sure is comfort to a sinner. All right,
now this is where we are. Now, remember, these brethren
didn't yet know him. Are you with me? Stay with me.
Stay with the word. I've just been telling you what
this is. I can't make it interesting. You ask the Lord to do something.
All right. All right. These brothers didn't know him
yet. And we preach in part. We prophesy in part. We know
in part. But they were thoroughly convicted
of their sin. We're going to see this. They
were thoroughly convicted now. And in the end, they never did
lose sight of what they were. That's a good sign. Now the time
is right for Joseph to reveal himself to him. All right? To
make himself known. Speak peace. Chapter 45 now.
This is a blessed and wonderful portion of scripture. So here
they are. Now they think that... Remember, this is right after
Benjamin was held responsible. And they talk among themselves
and say, we're in real trouble. But then, verse 1, Joseph could
not refrain himself before all them that stood by him. And he
cried. And he said, cause every man
to go out from me. While Joseph made himself known
unto his brethren. Now he's talking in another language.
And in the language of Egypt. And he tells all his servants,
get out of here. Everybody. Out of here. And he's
weeping. And this is a real story. This
is a real man and he's a real man. And they're in real trouble. And they're standing for a real
sovereign. And they think it's all over. And here this man who could kill
him, or whether it's just a word. He speaks in a different language
and he tells everybody, get out of here. And he's going to make
himself known to them. And he's weeping now. He's weeping. This sovereign king is weeping. And he has everybody leave. And
this is, if you recall, so many instances. Nearly every instance. When our Lord dealt with a sinner. He dealt personally with him. Remember the blind man whom he
healed? It says he took him by the hand, took him out of town.
So let's get out of here. Remember the deaf man with a
speech impediment? He took him by the hand and said,
let's get out of this crowd. Let's get out of here. Zacharias said, come down. going
to your house, you and me. Come now, let's reason together."
Well, he revealed himself to him. Christ reveals himself one-on-one. If Christ reveals himself to
you, it's going to be you and him. It's going to be you and
him. If you hear the gospel, when
you hear the gospel, and that's why you ask every person in here
who knows and heard his voice. When you first heard, you thought
he's speaking to me. You thought no one else was in
the service. And it continues to be that way if the Lord blesses
his work. On rare occasions, you feel like
that was just for me. That's the way it is in salvation.
It's between God and the sinner. It's not between soul winner,
the preacher, Pastor, dad, mom, husband, wife, get out of here.
Between you and the Savior. He's going to deal with you personally.
No man. Like the disciples. Remember
when the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration said, Moses
and Elijah were there. And they were all carried away
with that. And then when God spoke, He said,
this is my son. When they woke up out of the
dust, they saw Jesus on them. It was just him. And that's the
way the Lord deals with all of his people, one on one. Well,
it says he wept aloud, verse 2. Verse 2, he wept aloud. Shortest verse in the scripture,
John 11, our Lord wept. Jesus wept. And they say those that heard
our Lord weeping. And never heard him weeping before. And their comment was, behold
how he loved them. Look, he really loves these men. He really loves Lazarus. He really
loves Mary and Martha. Yes, he does. Having loved his
own, he loves them to the end. And he wept over these sorry
no good sons of jihad. How could it? Well, he did. Behold how he loved them. Behold,
you know, a man might die for a righteous man. Some would even
dare die for a good man. Scripture says, but God commended
his love toward us in that while we were against sinners, Well,
not after we're saved. Why would he get sinners? Christ
died for them. Well, he weeps. And the Egyptians
and everyone heard this. I thought about this. I thought
about the angels listening to their Lord weeping. Think about that. They didn't
understand. John, they didn't understand anything. You know,
the angel didn't understand anything. Why is he going into the body
of a baby? They hovered over that manger. They watched their God growing
up as a young boy. We don't know why he's here.
They watched him suffer when he could call heaven and earth
to do for him. They watched him suffer. They
watched him go hungry, thirst, And then in the fullness of time,
they watched men, these wicked, no good men whom he could destroy
with a blast of his nostril, lay hold on him. Surely the angels were thinking,
what's happened? They watched him weep. It's all
a mystery. Which things did the angels desire?
Peter said. Well, they heard him. They all
heard him. They didn't know what he was weeping about. and all
the house heard him weeping, and they didn't know what. Well,
it says in verse 3, and Joseph said unto his brethren. All right,
these are the first words that he spoke personally to these
brethren. He spoke these words personally,
not through an interpreter. He spoke in their language. They
can understand. They're hearing from his mouth
now. And here's what he said. Here's
the first words out of his mouth. He said unto his brethren, That's
all that was there, his brethren. I am. I am. Joseph. I am Joseph. Let my father get thee. I am. And this is how the true Christ,
true God, reveals himself to all his brethren. See, this is
life eternal. They might know him. True God,
true Christ. And the true God is the I am,
John, isn't it? That's the true God. Not the
I want to be, if you'll let me. Not I will if you shall. Not
the, well, I sure won't. I am. Tell them, what shall I
tell the people who have sent me? What shall I tell the people
who you are? Lord, show me your glory. Reveal
yourself to me. Who are you? I am. I am. I am that I am. That I am is always present. It's always the same. I am always the same. It's always
what he is. It's not used to be or shall
be, but I am. Same yesterday, today, forever. I am. You see, we have to qualify
that. Whenever we use that term, we
never can go up to somebody. Well, if you went up to your
neighbor and said to him, Bill, I am. And he'd look at you. He's waiting,
you see. Right? You are what? I am, he said, I am a man, I
am a woman, I am a whatever, this or that, I am thirsty, I
am, he just, God said, I am. And every, every office,
every glorious character, facet of his character can be added
to that. He's infinite in his person.
But ever the same, I am God. There is no other. I am God. This is how God reveals himself. This is how the true God and
true Christ always reveals himself to every one of the sons of Jacob. But he said, first thing he says
to them, first thing he reveals to them all is I am. You understand, you understand,
don't you? Blessed are you. The flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you. This flesh and blood preaching today always says Jesus
wants, Jesus wants, God wants, God wants, God wants. The Gospel,
the Word of God says to you, I am. Do you understand? I am God. He said, I am Lord. I am Master. You call me Lord
and Master, for so I am. I am holy, I am just, I am light,
I am the way, I am the truth, I am the light, I am the door,
I am water, the water of life, I am the vine, I am the bread
of life, I am your righteousness, the Lord your right, I am your
mediator, I am the high priest, I am the advocate, I am Jehovah
Jireh. I am Jehovah Raphael. I am Jehovah
Nisa. Jehovah Shalom, Re'ah, Jehovah
Sidken, Jehovah Shammah. I am. Just say something, and
that he is. I am. I am Joseph. I am. Who are you? Remember when
Paul, on the road to Damascus, hit the dust? Christ didn't reveal
himself to him until he was in the dust, did he? Huh? He knocked
him off his proud high horse into the dust. And Paul said,
Who are you? And he said, I am Jesus. Whom thou persecutest. I heard
you kicked against the bridge. I am. That I am. Well, when they heard this, and
he said, Doth my father yet live? He demanded an answer. Is my
father alive? And his brethren could not answer
him. Look at their response. When he revealed himself to them,
I am Joseph, his brethren could not answer him. That is, they
could not speak a word. They were at a loss for words.
And it says they were troubled at his very presence. This is the way it is with every
son of Jacob whom God saves. This is what I look for. When God begins to deal with
people, I look for their mouths begin to shut. See, this is what's wrong with
religion today. One thing. One of the many. See,
these two things can't work simultaneously. The ear and the mouth do never
do work together. You cannot hear while you're
talking. And you cannot talk while you're here. And when the Lord reveals himself
to his people, he says, Be still and know that what? I am God. Be still. Scripture says God is in heaven.
Thou art on the earth. Therefore, let your words be
few. Don't be hasty to utter anything before God. God's in
heaven, you're on the earth. Therefore, let your words be
good. Sacrifice fools what he calls it is worthy. When Christ, when God reveals
himself to his people, it's there like Sheba. Remember, Queen of
Sheba, there's no more spirit left in her. When she saw his
glory, Solomon's glory, and heard his wisdom, It says there's no
more spirit left. She came, she was going to prove
him with hard questions. She was religious and she had
some things she was going to stump him with. But when she
heard his wisdom and saw who he was, she had nothing to say. And this is the way it is with
every single son of Jacob that God reveals himself to them. So Brother Cody and I were sitting
on the beach. I got all this in one day. And that's the reason
it's going to, tomorrow it's going to be one big sheet and
it's going to feel like I'm going to be white again. But we were
sitting on the beach in the sun, talking. And oh, we had such
a good time. The ladies were talking together
too, and the girls were talking. It was good. And we were talking
about many things, all scriptural. We were talking about just many
things, a new heaven, a new earth, and talking about our Lord becoming
a man, talking about Colossians 1, remember what we studied last
time I was here, and how that our Lord, firstborn of all creatures,
took the image and perhaps walked us, and all of those things.
And finally, after we were talking about all these things, mysteries
and all that, we both stopped and went, we're darkening counsel. with words without knowledge.
We're speaking things too wonderful for that. That's what we both
realize. We don't even know. We're just
conjecturing. Well, when God reveals himself
to his people, they realize, well, there's no more spirit
in them, and they don't use words without knowledge. Just fear
and reverence and worship primarily at his presence. And some of them, some of God's
people, some of you were wordy religionists. Had all the answers as your Bible
verses down pat, didn't you? I remember one in particular. But wordy religion had a lot
to say. And when the Lord reveals himself
to his people, we begin to shut up. We begin to be troubled at
his very presence. All right, then, verse four,
it says, Joseph said unto his brethren. Now, they're just dumbfounded. They're fearful. Joseph said, Come here. Come to me. I pray. Come on. That's exactly what
our Lord said. Come on to me. And if one of them said, oh,
we dare not come, he might have said, no, come boldly. You have
to come, come on to me. Come, come nearer to me. Come
near. And that's what the whole book
of Hebrews is all about, that we have a way we can enter into
the holiest of holies. And Joseph said, I pray you come
near. And they came. So they did. They
came near at the word of Joseph. They came near. Touch me. Handle me. It's me, Joseph. He
said, I'm Joseph, your brother. He reminds them. Whom you sold
in thieves. I'm Joseph, your brother, whom
you sold into Egypt. Let's read verses 5 through 8
quickly. Now therefore, he says, be not
grieved nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me hither, for
God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two
years that the famine been in the land, there are five years,
yet five years, in which there shall neither be earing nor harvest,
And God sent me before you to preserve you of posterity in
the earth, to save your lives by great deliverance. So now,
it was not you who sent me hither, but God. And he hath made me a father
to Pharaoh, and Lord of all his house, and a ruler through all
the land of Egypt. Turn over with me quickly to
Acts chapter 2. I don't want to misquote this. If you don't have this mark,
you need to. Acts chapter 2. We need very almost to the word. These very words were spoken
concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. Who's been exalted to the right
hand of the majesty on high. And we crucify him. Look at Acts
chapter 2. Look at verses 23 and It says,
him being delivered by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you have taken him by wicked hands and crucified and slain. But God has raised him high,
have him loose the pains of death, because it's not possible that
he should be holding of it. He said, Let all the house of
Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom
you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. And when they heard
this, they were fricked in their hearts. They were troubled. They
were troubled. Chapter 4, turn over there. Same
book, same message. Chapter 4, verse 27 and 28. Peter's
preaching again. He says, Of a truth against thy
holy child Jesus, with all the churches praying this here. And
they say, Against thy holy child, Jesus, whom thou hast anointed,
both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people
of Israel, were gathered together, were to do whatsoever thy hand
and thy counsel determined before to be done. So Joseph tells them, go back
to the text, say, What you did, you did. God's purpose to be done. All right, now look at their
response. Look at this. This is good. This is to be the
response of his brethren. This is the commands of Joseph.
This is what he tells them to say. Now, they haven't said a
word yet. They're going to wait for the word from him. They've
said too much up to this point. Now they're waiting to receive
their words. And that's as it is with us.
Now, he says in verse nine, haste ye, now haste. Go up to my father,
go to the father, and this is what you say unto him. This is
what you tell the father. This is what you want to say.
Joseph's Lord. And that's exactly our belief
and our response and our testimony. We go to the father. This is
what the father wants to hear. Our Lord is. Indeed, Lord, overall,
and Joseph now in these next several verses and chapters,
Joseph tells them many things, too many things for us to go
through. We've already gone through four or five years ago, we went
through all of these verses. And now Joseph tells them many
things. And that's reminded me of our Lord right before he went
to the cross. Remember when he, in chapter
13, where he told Judas, get out of here. Remember? He told Judas, get
out, while he revealed his will and purpose to his brother. That
was before he went to the cross. And then after he arose from
the grave, he said many things to him, too. Revealed many things
to them, as did Joseph here. Now here, look at this. This
is good. Verse 10. Look at this. Joseph says, now you tell the
father, you go back to the father, and you tell him what I say. Come down unto me, tarry not.
And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen. He's talking to them. And thou shalt dwell in the land
of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou and thy children,
and thy children's children, and thy flocks and thy herds,
and all that thou hast. You go tell the Father that I
will, that you be with me where I am. Maybe you didn't catch that.
Joseph said, you go tell the father that this is my will. That all of you be with me where
I am. Behold my glory. Be with me. And that's precisely what our
Lord said in John 17, didn't it? Except he himself said it
to the father, for us. Father, I will, that they be
with me where I am. The whole my glory, the glory
I had with you from the beginning. And that's what Christ said to
the father. Now let's just skim down through here. Verse 11,
he says, and there with me, I'm going to nourish you. They're
five years of family. And if you, unless I nourish
you, you and your household and all you have is going to come
to poverty. But you're going to be with me.
You and all of your brethren in my household are going to
be with me. There's a famine going on, and I'm going to nourish
you. I'm going to prepare a table
for you in the midst of this famine. You're going to feast
while the world is in a famine. Dying of thirst and hunger, I'm
going to feed you. Fat things, wild things, the
best that we're going to see. The best to eat you're passed
off. That's exactly what our Lord does for us in the midst
of this wilderness. Verse 12. Behold, your eyes see. Now listen, you're looking at
me, he says. The eyes of my brother Benjamin. That's my mouth that's speaking.
You're looking at me and you're hearing what I'm saying. Do you
hear what I'm saying? It's me, he said. And this is
what I'm saying. Everything's come to pass up
to now, hasn't it? Huh? And everything I say from here
on out will tell you. So you see me and you hear me. And this is what our Lord said.
If you don't believe me just for the work, the work, the words
I speak, believe the very work I do. Verse 13. Tell my father. Here's some more. You go tell my father of all
my glory and all that you've seen. Hasten, bring my father
here to the And look at verse fourteen. I love this. He had
a special affection for Benjamin. And he fell on his brother Benjamin's
neck and wept. And Benjamin wept upon his neck. This is a sweet thing that Benjamin
and Joseph were united after all those years. The Lord on the throne and they're
all together. There's another lovely son, Benjamin. Separate from the rest of these
sons of Jacob. And the Lord on the throne loves him and fell
on his neck and wept and they both kissed one another intimately. And I think Benjamin deserved
that. Joseph deserved it too. But there's
more kisses. to be had. Look at the next verse.
Moreover, he kissed Simeon. He kissed Nathala. Damn, he kissed these
no good fellows. He kissed them all, man. He kissed
them all. And one of them was kissed by
him. And wept. upon them, and wept upon them. After that, his brethren, and
now they can say something. They can finally say something.
He's revealed himself to them, and he weeps over them, and he kisses
them, and he hugs them intimately. That's what a kiss is, an intimate
thing, an embrace. And now they can say something.
Now they finally have words to say. It doesn't say what they
said, but they talked with him. I imagine about all they could
muster up was, thank you. Thank you. Huh? You got anything
to say, Simeon? Thank you. I'm glad to be here.
Thank you for your mercy, Joseph. Huh? Well, what else could this
happen? That's all I could come up with.
Well, verse 16, Pharaoh heard all this. The fame thereof was
heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come. And
it pleased Pharaoh well and his servants. It pleased the father
to bruise Christ, and it also pleased him to make you his people,
Scripture said. Whatsoever the Lord did, it pleased
the Father. And it pleases God. God is not ashamed to call us
brethren. That's what he said in Hebrews.
Wherefore, God, because of what Christ did, he's not ashamed
to call us brethren. And it pleases him. And the angels, Scripture
says there's joy in heaven over one sinner that repented. Joy
in heaven. Over us. Yeah, us. No good sons
of Jacob. The angels are rejoicing. Now here he gives
some command, verse 17. Pharaoh said unto Joseph, this
is the king saying unto Joseph, stay under your brethren. Now
this is what you tell your brethren to do. This do ye, lay your beasts,
go get you into the land of Canaan, take your father and your household,
and come unto me, and I'll give you the good of the land of Canaan. Here's what you tell them. Take
this yoke, this burden upon you. And go out. And bring your family
in. See there, take this yoke upon
you, this burden. I've done my yoke as easy, my
burden is light. Relighten your beast. And go
get your family. Your husband, your wife, your
son, your daughter. Bring them to me. Bring them
here. I'll feed them too. He had my
word on it. They're good, they'll eat the
fat of the land. And he commanded, verse 19, Thou
art commanded to do this. Take wagons. Wagons. That's what they need now for
all the grace that they've received. Started out with fat. Now they
need wagons. Take wagons out of the land of
Egypt for your little one. God hath abundantly. are abundantly
blessed. Blessed with all spiritual blessings.
It's going to take wagons. And your little ones and your
wives, and bring your father and come. And verse 20, don't
regard your stuff. In other words, don't bring anything
with you. Don't bring anything. You don't need anything. Come
empty handed. Don't regard your stuff. Don't
worry about it. Don't bring a little extra. I'm
going to feed you. The good of all the land of Egypt
is here. That's what our Lord says. Take no thought for tomorrow.
I'm going to take care of you. The land is yours. I've given
the Ethiopian Saba for your rent. Didn't it? Verse 21, he says, And the children
of Israel did so. And Joseph gave them wagons,
according to the commandment, just like he said. Oh, he's not
going to give us wagons, surely. We don't deserve getting whacked. The commandment of Pharaoh is
true, just like the commandment of Joseph. It gave them provision
for the way. It's obvious. And verse 22, it says, and this
is most important. Now, these fellows were wearing
their own clothes, and they're going to live in Egypt with Joseph. And so they don't have to dress
like Egyptians are. Well, Joseph's going to dress
verse 23. To all of them he gave changes
of rank. That's the righteousness of Christ.
But to Benjamin, he gave 300 pieces of silver and five changes
of rank. That was all right. You reckon
that's all right with old Simeon and Levi? You reckon that's all
right? They were just happy to have
one raven. That's fine, Benjamin deserves it, we don't even deserve
this. Verse 24, so he sent his brethren
away and they departed. And he said unto them, now look
at this, he said unto them, now you heard what he said then.
You heard what all he told them. Joseph said that, and the father
said that. I mean, Pharaoh said that. They
both said it together. Whatever Joseph said, Pharaoh
concurred. Pharaoh said it, Joseph concurred. This is what they both said.
Take this burden on you. Go back and get your family.
Bring them to me. You're going to live with me and you're going
to feed off the good of the land. I'm going to nourish you and
your children. Come. Come unto me. You're going to
live with me. You're going to abide with me.
If you don't abide with me, you'll be cut off. You'll die, like
the rest of the world. But if you abide with me, you're
where I am, you're going to live. So the last thing he says under
there, this is what Pharaoh and Joseph both said. The last thing
he said was, verse 24, as they were leaving, they departed.
And I can see this. Can't you see this, Sheriff?
They're leaving, and he says, See that you don't fall out by
the way. You come back now. Go. Come back. Don't fall out by the way. Hold
fast the beginning of your confidence. Step fast to the end. Yeah, you'll
eat the good of the land if you continue. Step fast to the end. Don't call that by the way. Look
not to the right, head to the left. You got all these wagonloads
now, don't you? Got all these wagonloads,
and things are just jiffy. And you're heading out. Now you're
on your own now. Watch out. That's going to run out. See
you come back. There's more where that came
from. Did I have time to deal with it? Look at chapter 47.
Did you see, did you hear this message there for us? Got wagon
loads now. The rich increase with goods.
Remember who God gave it to you. Let's see that you don't fall
out by the way. We have verse, chapter 47. Verse
1, Joseph came and told Pharaoh and said, My father and my brethren,
their flocks and their herds, they came back. They came back.
They come. Here they are. And verse 6, down
in verse 6, the land of Egypt. Pharaoh speaks unto them and
says, The land of Egypt is before thee, and the best of the land
make thy father and brethren to dwell. The land of Goshen,
let them dwell. If thou knowest any men of activity
among them, make them rulers over my cattle." Our Lord, and
I've just quoted it, this Lord, this world exists for God's people. You know, it really does. He
doesn't give us too much of it, so that we won't find here in
the continuing series, but He does, it is for our use. God giveth us all things richly
to enjoy. But not to forget him, unless
we fall out by the way. The land of Egypt, Egypt has
always represented the world and the best of the land. We
talked about this last Sunday, I believe it was, how the God's
people can really enjoy this world, knowing who it was that
made it and who it was that gave it. And whatever you're given
or wherever you go or whatever you do or whatever you have,
your children, your family, your home, your car, what your clothing,
whatever it is, knowing that God in mercy and grace and loving
kindness and generosity. That's what makes it even more
enjoyable. You realize you don't deserve
anything, a crust of bread. I don't God's people never lose
sight. Well, they look around them and
see And I visit these poor countries and I see these people living
in meager means and never fail to think about who makes me the
different? Who makes me the different? Who makes me the different? Why
am I not living down there in a grass hut or dirt floor with
my children playing in the dirt? Huh? And that's what makes things, you see, that's
what enables us to really appreciate. The world takes everything for
granted and almost feels it like it's their God-given right to
have it. You understand what I'm saying? God's people don't.
And so everything we get, we feel like, well, it's infinite
mercy and grace, or it shouldn't feel that way. But now this is
talking about the new heaven and the new earth, too, that
our Lord has prepared for us a dwelling place where we're
going to dwell. It says it makes them rulers,
kings and priests, kings and priests. Give them the best.
Verse 11 and 12, Joseph placed his father and his brethren and
gave them possession of the land of Egypt, the best land, the
best place, the land of Ramses, as Pharaoh had commanded. Joseph
nourished his father and his brethren and all his father's
household with bread according to their families. If you don't
think, well, let's just think about this place right here,
where we're at right here, Central Baptist. Let's just think about
this place. I've been to many places. I've been in many services,
many so-called churches. This is the best place. This
is the best place. You've heard me call this 13th
Street South. You don't realize it. Tammy does.
Ron does. Some of you have been there,
understand. That's just a little bigger place,
but it's not a better place. It's a good place. If you don't
think so, just go next—no. Well, turn on the radio. It's a good place. We eat more
in one message. You get more in one message,
whether it's me, John. I heard that message by John
Chapman. First thing I did when I got in the study this morning
was listen to that tape. I wish I'd been here. Man, oh man. I heard Cody. Boy, we were getting the best.
Absolutely. We were being nourished in our
children. What are we doing for our children? We're doing what the world's
not doing for theirs. We're not forming basketball teams. No.
We're preaching the gospel to them. Chapter 50. Now, let's
go over there. I quit. I quit. Chapter 50. Some time passes
by. A great deal of time. Years pass
by. Jacob dies. Jacob died. And now these sons of Jacob,
they're fearful all over again. See, Jacob was with them, and
they kind of felt like as long as Jacob was there, he kind of,
Joseph was going to have mercy on them. But really, they thought
Joseph, he really doesn't, I know he kissed us, I know he, well,
all what he said, but Surely he didn't mean that. He's doing
that for dad's sake. He's doing all that for Benjamin's
sake. Really, he can't love us like that. And when their dad
died, they thought, oh no. They were going to get it now.
He's going to kick us out now. And we deserved it. Look at verse 15. This is what
we read. They said Joseph's brethren saw
their father was dead, and they said, Joseph's going to hate
us now, and he's going to require us all the evil which we did
unto him. You see, they own up to it. They own up to it. They're not denying anything.
And Barbara, they're just saying, he's going to give us what's
coming to us. He's going to give us what we desire. Surely he's
going to give us what we desire. after all we did to him, and
they're fearful. Well, they should be. Shouldn't they? What if, Amy, what if now, you
know, after all, even though, in spite of all that Joseph's
saying, they all got all cocky and proud and said, yeah, yeah,
we're somebody now. Well, we're, Joseph loves us. They put Joseph loves us all
over their bumpers of their chairs. Joseph loves you too. I heart Joseph. I love Joseph. Why do you know? I'm one of Joseph's. I had t-shirts with Joseph. Got real proud and glad. Huh? What do you reckon that
happened to them? But they did, and they stayed broken, you see.
They were broken. They never did lose sight of
what they were. They remembered what they'd done
to Him. They remembered their worthlessness,
their no good. And they never did lose sight
of that. They never did leave this place
of being just no good sons of Jacob, recipients of the mercy
and the grace and the goodness and the unworthy love. of Joseph. And that's God's people. They
never lose sight. They stay broken. They stay fearful.
They stay sinners all the days of their life. That's why God
allows us to sin. He could prevent it. He could. He could keep us from all manner
of sin, but He allows us to fall, to keep us broken. We're not
proud of it, no, but ashamed of ourselves. And even, say this
with these brothers, after all the years and after
all the promises and after all the things that he's done for
us, even our senior citizens back there, I'm sure, the Ralstons,
sir, after all of this, I'm sure you think, even now, still, surely
God's not going to let me in his kingdom. I'm not worried.
Surely. I'm just sure I'm not going to
make it. He's going to get me. Sooner
or later, he's going to get me. You ever think that? I know you
did. Well, that's what they thought
in verse 16. So they sent a messenger. They sent a mediator, they said.
An advocate, a go-between unto Joseph. They felt like they didn't
even want to be there. They didn't feel worthy to talk
to him. But here's what they said. What
they pled with Joseph was the commands of the father. The word of the father. They
said, through a mediator. Through a mediator. They said,
thy father, your father, did command before he died, saying,
So shall you say unto Joseph, forgive, I pray thee now, the
trespass of thy faith. This is what the father said,
forgive the brethren. This is what your father said,
and this is what we're pleading. And that's exactly what we plead. Still, we still plead the word
of God through a mediator, don't we? And Christ is all of this. He's all of this. He's our mediator.
He's the one we plead. The word, he's the word. Well,
and then they themselves say, verse 17. They said they did unto thee
evil, and now we pray thee. This is what we're asking for.
Forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And
they're not asking for anything. They're not asking for a special
place. They're not asking for a new charity. They're not asking
for anything. What they want, their chief need,
in the beginning and now in the end, there's one thing they needed
and one thing they sought at the hands of Joseph. Forgiveness. See that? Forgiveness. And so
it is with us. And what happened? Joseph wept.
Joseph wept when they spoke unto him. And his brethren also. They
fell down before his face, and they said, We're your son. We'll take whatever you say.
And Joseph's next word was, Fear not. I am God. I am in the place
of God for you. As for you, you did. You thought
against me, and our sins are against God. Our sins are against
God. Against Him and Him only have we sinned and done evil
in His sight. And He would be just to judge
us, and He's clear when He speaks. But God, who's rich in mercy,
the great love wherewith He loved us in Christ, He sent Christ. That's why Christ
came. Saved most people alive. Now,
therefore, fear not. He's going to nourish us and
our little ones. And He comforted them. Verse 21, He comforted
them. And the last line says, And He spoke kindly unto them.
Do you have a marginal reference there? See what it says? Spoke to their heart. Let not your heart be troubled." He loved the Father. He believed
the Father. He believed also me. Whatever the Father says, I'll
do it. And what I said, I'll do it, I'll do it. Because I
am him, his brother. And so he nursed him, just as
he said. Now, that's the story. All right, let's stand. Our Father, thank You for Your
Word. It's more than we can handle. There are many things, so many
things that we don't understand and can't enter into, and our
frail, feeble flesh is not able to retain them, just like You
said to the apostles. I have many things to say unto
You, but You're not able to receive them now. Lord, take these things
and plant them for future use. Let this be a well spring, this
water of your word, let it be a well spring and at times bring
it up, this well spring you said that would come forth out of
your bellies, rivers of living water that we might need at times
when we're thirsty. When things are bad, let's think
of these the words of our Master, and all His precious promises,
and all the goodness that's come to pass, and all the promises
He said wouldn't come to pass. All of these things, Lord, instill
the menace, hide them in our hearts, that we might not sin
against Thee, whose chief sin being unbelief. Not only for the works, but the
words say. Now, increase our faith. We thank
you for this word. This word, the story of Joseph,
which so clearly speaks of our Lord and Master on the throne
of glory. Thank you for it. Forgive us for our mishandling
of it. But bless your word. We know
it won't return void. Bring us back to Lord's day.
Be with your people that are in trial and suffering in Christ. Amen. You're dismissed. Thank you. you