And in your Father's love you
will go And in your Father's love you will go And in Jesus'
love you will go All right, back to Genesis 44
now. This is approximately in the middle of the story of
Joseph, or somewhere thereabouts. And that's significant because
this is, hard to say, the most important
message, but this is certainly the clearest picture of the gospel
and our redemption. This right here. Now, Benjamin
is the type of Christ here in this story. Benjamin, the beloved
son. Now, remember, go back to chapter
43. Remember, all the blessings that
Joseph conferred on those sorry brothers were because of Benjamin. Remember that? All the blessings,
all the favor, all the goodness that he showed them was for Benjamin's
sake. Chapter 43, verse 16, when Joseph
saw Benjamin with them, these no good sons of Jacob, who had
sold him, who had rejected him, who hated him, who wanted to
kill him. They came back, but when Joseph saw Benjamin with
them, he said to the ruler of his house, bring these men home. All of them, and killed a fatted
calf, make ready, these men are going to dine with me. Why? Because Benjamin was with them,
the beloved son. And so it is. God hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Ephesians 1 verse 3 says, in
Christ. All we are, we sorry sons of
Jacob. All we are and all we have is
for Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. His righteousness
imputed to us and His blood to atone for our sin. All right. These brothers were going back
home again. They were leaving. Joseph, do
you remember the story? Joseph ascended them home. First
one, chapter forty-four. In verse one it says, Joseph
commanded the steward of his house. The steward of Joseph's
house did everything Joseph commanded. He was Joseph's steward. He was
the steward of Joseph. He did everything. He did all
of Joseph's bidding. While Joseph sat on the throne,
the steward did everything for him. And the steward is the Holy
Spirit. Picture the Spirit of Christ. He commanded the steward of his
house say, Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry. Fill
them, fill them up. The scripture says, David said
in the psalm, thy blessings are more than can be numbered. He
said in another place, blessed be the Lord who daily loatheth
me. loaded me with a benefit. It
says they were loaded laying down with good. Blessed be the Lord who daily
loaded me with benefits, even the God of our salvation, as
much as they can carry. It doesn't say as much as they
can store, but as much as they can carry. All right now he said
this is the command he sent the command feel the men's sacks
with food as much as they can carry. And they brought money
for this food he said they brought gifts you remember they brought
gifts they brought money to Joseph he said put every man's money
back in his sacks now. Everything they brought give
it back. The Lord always returns everything
we give with interest. Always. Does he not? You sons
of Jacob, tell me. Does he not? You don't out give
the Lord. He doesn't need it anyway. But
it's a trial to us. He always gives it back. Always. Well, then they leave. And what he does here, Joseph, Joseph and his wisdom. Now, from
the very first day he saw these men, he knew what he was going
to do. Known unto Joseph were all his
works from the very beginning. The minute he saw these sons
of Jacob come to him, he knew what he was going to do with
them. Remember, we talked about how
he loved them. They were sorry sons. He loved
them. And for the moment he saw them, he had purposed. He was
devising his plan and his purpose to reveal himself to them. Okay? But these men would not have
appreciated Joseph. These men would not have loved
Joseph. These men would not have bowed
to Joseph. These men would not have submitted
to Joseph had he revealed himself to them right away. Had they
not first come to know His power, His glory, His might, His justice,
His anger against sin, these men had to be absolutely, thoroughly,
completely broken, brought down to the point where they were
without excuse, without a word of defense on their own behalf.
They had to be completely stripped of all their goodness, of all
their merit. Remember, they started arguing,
oh, well, we're good men. We're all true men. Yeah, right. There wasn't even one of them
a true man. Well, they hadn't realized this. And Joseph, in
his wisdom, this is God's Word, Matt said. It's amazing. Joseph,
in his wisdom, purposed this whole thing to bring these men
down to the point where they were absolutely at his mercy. All right? And the way he finally
does this, the way he finally breaks them totally, is by laying
all the blame on the beloved son, Benjamin. And this This
was it, finally, that broke them. And is that not what God used
to find? Is that not the goodness of God
that leads us to repent? Huh? God making the Beloved Son guilty
on our behalf. My, my. the wisest plans known to man." Oh, Joseph is our Lord, isn't
he? All right, and after this, right
after they are totally broken and at the feet of Joseph without
excuse, and Benjamin's there, Joseph reveals himself to them
in love. And boy, they thought he did
something for them before. After he reveals himself to them,
Oh, sky was not the limit. All right, verse two. Now here's
the salt. Here's the plan. Joseph said
in wisdom, put my cup, the silver cup. Why wouldn't it go? Why
wouldn't it brass? Why wouldn't it copper? Why wouldn't
it wooden cup? Why wouldn't it earthy cup? Why
silver? You know that? You'll find it.
Now, I put my cup, yes, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the
youngest, and his corn mother. And he did, but Stuart, no, Stuart
did all this. And he did according to the word
that Joseph had spoken. Now, Benjamin was innocent, wasn't
he? Before all this, he was at home
with his father. Daily with the Father, he was
daily his delight. Seven ways, Proverbs 8. He was with the Father from the
beginning. How these rotten sons of Jacob were doing their sorry
sin. And in the good fullness of time,
though, this son was sinned. But he was innocent. He was innocent
of transgression. He was separate from these sons
of Jacob. Harmless, undefiled. But Joseph is going to make him
guilty for these fellows in their state. All right. Does that sound familiar?
Everyone in here I know has got this verse memorized. And if
I told you to stand up, you could quote it, couldn't you? I'll
give you another week, 2 Corinthians 5, 21. For he, who? God. For he, God, hath made him,
who? Christ, to be sin for us, who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him. That is the gospel. There wasn't
one more, because that's the only verse of scripture in all
the Bible. That's the gospel. And that is
this story. Joseph made Benjamin to be sin
for these sons of Jacob, so that they—Benjamin, who knew no sin—so
that these sons of Jacob could go free. This is the gospel. So he may he divides his plan
all right versus three through five and as soon as the morning
was like the men were sent away they and their answer and then
when they were going out of the city not yet far off Joseph said
unto his steward again it's the steward that does it all he said
up follow after these men overtake them. Lay hold on them. Apprehend them. Arrest them.
And say unto them. Now, you can say, speak rough
to them. They've got to be convicted.
Say, why have you rewarded evil for good? Is not this, or do
you have that cup which my Lord drinketh, and whereby indeed
he divineth? Why have you done evil, and so
do I. And so he did. Joseph commanded the steward.
So, and follow, overtake, and convince them of sin. God the Father sends His Holy
Spirit to all those, all of His elect, all of His chosen ones. Spirit of Christ. Now, He follows
us all the days of our life. You know that everything in our
life from the day we're born, or even before that, is leading up to the day of our
redemption. You know that? Everything, yes,
works together. All things. Can you look back
in your life and see all the things that God did to bring
you to where you are now? Huh? It's amazing. It's amazing. I've told you some
of my stories. Just some of them. Or all of
them. And you could tell the same thing. God's Holy Spirit
follows us all the days of our life. I've just said He leads,
guides, protects, hedges us about, allows whatever needs to be allowed.
Right? And then finally, in the fullness
of time, God's purpose overtakes us. Stops us in our wild career. John Newton wrote that. Stops
my wild career. Almighty love? Arrest that man. Overtake him. He's gone on. He's gone on long enough. Now turn him. And he'll be turned.
Overtake him. Lay hold on him. Convict him.
And this is what our Lord said in John 14. He said, The Father
sends the Comforter. He sends the company and he said
in John six thing that the cover when he's gone he'll come back
or convince them of what person. I guess to. First thing is to do is. Tell
him why have you done this you're guilty. And he did that he overtook
the person. And he overtook them and he spake
unto them exact words, these same words. And God the Holy Spirit sends,
God the Father sends the Holy Spirit. And you know, when we
first come to Christ, it's going to be as poor, helpless sinners
in need of mercy. That's how every single one of
God's elect comes to Him. It's not an offer. of amnesty. It's not an offer of good things. It's not some plea bargain. It's total guilt and absolute,
unconditional surrender. Defeat of the Lord, suit of mercy. Two of them. It's broken. And
that's what these felt. But first, now, like always,
When these men first heard of their guilt, they denied it. Every one of them denied it.
Verse 7, they said unto him, Why have you said this to us? God forbid that our servants
should do according to this thing. We wouldn't do all that. No way. And at first, you know, when
we first heard the gospel, when we heard what rotten sinners
we were from God's Word, we might have, you know, the flesh, Roy,
the flesh doesn't like that, does it? Self-righteous, proud
flesh. And we think, oh, it's not that
bad. I've done a few things, not a few things. I may have
stolen a watermelon or something. I got to thinking about that.
You know, you've heard my dad say that a lot. A lot of old
preachers say that. They say, you're not going to
hell for stealing a watermelon. And I thought, why do they all
use that saying? Because back then, that's all
the mean that you could get into, stealing watermelons. I've got a picture of Darnell
sitting on that. Well, it's not for stealing watermelons. This fellow said, I may not,
I'm not that bad. I may have stolen a watermelon
or two, but I'm not, I'm not in hell deserving. No good. Worm and a dog, like you're calling
me, preacher. Not me. There's some good in
me. I've got a little bit of good
in me. I'm not as bad as that man down there. But now when
God, the Holy Spirit, ends his work, Everyone says to a man,
I'm the chief of sinners, to a woman. There's only one
argument. Brother Ron Treven said there's
only going to be one argument in heaven. That's over who's
the chief of sinners. We're all going to claim that
title, chief of sinners. But at first, not us, no, not
me, not me, not me, leave that out. Not me, no, not me. Except,
not me. Look at verse 19. Well, they
said, now here's what their words, With whomsoever of thy servants
it be found, both let him die, and we also will be, my Lord,
not me. Even they said to the Lord, let
him die, and we'll be five modern men. And the steward said, OK,
it's going to be just like you said. OK, for we know your words. He
with whom it is found shall be my servant, but you'll be blamed. That's the law. All right, now look at verse
11 and 12. So they speedily, they, every one of them, hurried
up, just got their sacks down to the ground, and opened every
man's sack, and they searched, and they were looking for the
cup, looking for the gill, looking for sand, and they searched every man.
beginning with the oldest, and it stopped with the youngest,
and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. The only one who didn't deserve
it. He couldn't find it in any of us. Well, the cup, what is
it? This silver cup. Verse 5 tells
us this. Here's a little clue. Is not
this the cup in which my Lord drinketh? Do you remember our
Lord saying this when Peter or someone tried to
stop him from going to Jerusalem to be killed? He said, the cup
which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? Remember that? The wine press,
the cup of God's wrath, the cup of His indignation, the scripture
says, was given to Christ. I'll never forget a young believer
hearing a very young preacher, a young preacher, a man who was
about 24 years old at the time, getting up and dividly describing
what it was like for Christ to drink the cup of God's wrath. And I'll never forget this day's
vividly described wretchedness and filth and pollution of his
sin. Poison, iniquity, and all the
wrath of God, the indignation of God against sin, hatred of
God against sin, and Christ taking that willingly and drinking every
drop of it. The cup which my Father has given
me of God's wrath, of God's judgment. Do you remember when he was in
the garden praying? And right before he was to go
to Calvary's cross and go through hell, a bloody hell, being forsaken by God and having
all that shame on him, pain and affliction. You remember what
he said in the garden, what he prayed in the garden? Nevertheless, not my will, but
thy will be done." The cup he had to drink. It was given to
Christ. Nobody could drink it but him.
It had to be. It's called a silver cup of wine. You tabernacle teachers, what
was silver in the tabernacle? Huh? Everything that spoke of
redemption. The price of redemption, the
people were to bring silver. It was the price of their redemption. The sockets upon which the pillars
were stuck down in the ground, the pillars of the gates, the
pillars of the temple, everything rested. Everything was supported. Everything, the very foundation
and support Of all that tabernacle, that
work of redemption, was set in silver. That's the price of redemption. That's the blood of Christ. Silver.
Silver. And it says, the silver cup by
which He divineth. You see that? By which He judges. All the purposes, all the wisdom,
all the knowledge, all the mysteries, everything. In this book is related,
points to, the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. The redemption, that silver cup. The price of redemption, the
cup of Israel. Isn't that amazing? A silver
cup. Well, it says, when these men
solved Benjamin's guilt, Look at it. Now, they rent their
clothes. Now, if we were talking back
in the study about how amazing these stories are, how God just,
Barbara, God wrote this book. Only God could have written such
a marvelously complex and perfect picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every aspect, every word, every
story, every symbol, every type, every single thing points to
Christ, doesn't it? Everything Pope Joseph said.
We started browsing through the next couple of chapters. You're
going to be amazed. How many verses of Scripture
come to mind? Everything that Christ said. It all points to
Him. This is God's Word. God's Word. Benjamin. Now, if a man had written this
story... Now, Benjamin's innocent. If a man had written this story,
he'd have had Benjamin defending himself. Huh? Wouldn't he? I didn't do this.
I didn't do that. No way I'm guiltless, because
Benjamin doesn't say. Benjamin uttered no words. Opened his mouth. Why? Because that's what it says
of our Lord. This has been made. I'm not guilty.
No, I didn't do this. He's guilty. And they all know
it. Well, when they finally saw,
this was the breaking point, this is what finally broke these
men, brought them down into the dust at Joseph's feet. When they
saw the cup in Benjamin's hand, they rent their clothes. And they returned to the city,
and boy, they had to go back and face Joseph. And they didn't
come this time like they came the first time. How do you reckon they were all
coming back to Joseph this time? With their heads bowed. Guilty. Hopeless. Helpless. Condemned. Ready to die. They've been caught. And Judah and his brethren came
to Joseph's house, and he was yet there. He's there. Yeah, he's seated right there,
the right hand of Pharaoh. He's always there. He was yet
there. And what they did, they fell
before him on the ground. They fell before him. Now remember,
the first time they came, all they wanted was corn. And in
mock humility, and in mock obeisance, oh, our Lord the King, you know,
we need corn. Not now. This is genuine. This is from the heart. They
are stripped. They're broken. They're guilty.
Their hope of help is condemned. And they followed him. Nobody
had to tell them to see that trip. The Bible had you pray
the sinner's prayer. Huh? Oh, they knew what to do. Now bow your head. Every head is bowed. That's one fake trying to tell
a bunch of other fakes what to do. You don't have to tell a
Holy Spirit convicted sinner to bow his head. You don't have
to tell a Holy Spirit convicted sinner to say, God be merciful. They came and they bowed before
him on the ground. And Joseph said, now here's Joseph's
words to them. What have you done? What have
you done? What deed is this that you've
done? Don't you know? What you know? That such a man
as I, don't you know who I am? That I can certainly define,
I can judge you, I can put you to death right now. I know you,
he said. I know you through the man. They know now, don't they? You
remember before when they were saying, who's doing this? Who's
doing this to us? They couldn't get by with
anything. Doesn't seem like they could
get ten paces out of town and something happened. Somebody is working on us. And the steward, remember the
steward was the one that said, it's God that's doing this. See, they've got, these men have
got to know themselves to be what they are, and at the mercy of their King,
the Lord. So they did, they fell down, and Joseph again speaks
very strongly, very heartily to them. Don't you know who I
am, what I can do to you? And Judah said, verse 16, Judah. Now here's the answer of every
believer, every sinner. who bows before the Lord, the
Lord Jesus Christ, in search of seeking salvation, seeking
mercy. Here's the answer. Here's the
sinner's prayer that the Holy Spirit gives. Look at it. What
shall we say? What shall we see? How shall
we clear ourselves? God has found that out there. No more excuses, was it? No more
please. No more justifying yourself,
Roy. No more. Nothing more to say,
but guilty. Guilty. We are thy servant. My Lord's servant. Both we and
he also, with whom the covenant is signed. We are your servant.
do what seems good in your sight. And here's Joseph's wisdom. And he said, God forbid that
I should do something, or that is, hold you accountable. Just like the law said, remember?
The man in whose hand the cup is found the guilty one. Well, as for
you, you go with peace to the bottom. Could you get up and finish this
story? Could you tell what that means? Understand what thou readest?
I know you do. Christ, again, was made sin for
us who knew no sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God. God placed on Him the iniquity
of us all. The chastisement of our what? Feet was laid on Him. For He desired peace. He made
peace by the blood of His Son. By His stripes we are healed.
He was wounded for our transgressions. And God held him accountable
in the stead of us. And we go in peace to the Father. All right. Next Wednesday, Lord
willing, we'll finish this up. Joseph cannot refrain himself
any longer. Now, these men are broken all
because of injury. They're broken. There's an absence
of mercy, and always Joseph's going to show me abundance of
mercy in life. All right, let's pray. Stay with
me. Our Heavenly Father, we marvel
at Your Word. It is without doubt, we are persuaded
and convinced that it is the word of God which liveth and
abideth forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto us, the gospel of our redemption,
the good news of salvation in Christ who has made sin for us
who do no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. Now we thank you for the beloved
son and his redemption. who met tonight to worship and
give thanks and praise, you and your wisdom, marvelous wisdom,
and the glory of your grace that's found in Christ Jesus. Amen.
You're dismissed.