Go with me now back to the book
of Genesis, and I'm actually going to back up just a little
bit this evening and kind of deal with chapter 45, verses
26 and 27. And here's my subject, Jacob
will be brought to Egypt. Jacob will be brought to Egypt. I should think that Jacob was
sitting in despair in the land of Canaan. Judah and his other
sons had gone into Egypt. Simeon was kept there by the
one who was the governor of Egypt. Jacob did not know that was Joseph. And, of course, Joseph had sent
word back by the other brothers that they would only receive
grain if they brought Benjamin, their youngest brother, back
to him as a witness or testimony that they were not spies. Judas
said he would be surety. for Benjamin. Of course, that
opens a whole chapter of gospel truth as we think of our Lord
Jesus being the surety of all of his Benjamins. He stood good
for all of us. You know, Judas said to Jacob,
he said, I'll be surety for Benjamin. If anything happens to Benjamin,
take it out on me. And our Lord Jesus in the covenant
of grace, the covenant of everlasting mercy, He pledged to the Father
that He would keep and save and rescue and bring safely unto
the Father all those that the Father entrusted to Him. He was
our surety, our surety. If He doesn't bring us all home
to glory, then He must bear the blame forever. And this is what
Judah said, I'll bear the blame forever. So, Benjamin goes back
with Judah and the other sons, and they meet with Joseph, and
Joseph has revealed himself to them now, but still Jacob is
back in the land of Canaan And I put myself as best I could
kind of in his shoes. There was no telephone. There
was no communication. There was no way for him to know
what's going on in Egypt. And I'm sure that all kind of
different scenarios ran through his mind. What's happening? What's
happening? I don't know. Where are my sons? And I would certainly picture
Jacob sitting out on his front porch in his rocking chair waiting
for his boys to come home. Every day he watched. When are
they coming home? Are they safe? Have they been
arrested just like Simeon? Will that governor of Egypt keep
them? What's going on? You moms and
dads, put yourself in Jacob's shoes. That's what you'd be thinking. What's going on? One day, I can just picture Jacob
out there on the porch, and he sees all this dust rising up
from the desert. And he looks and it's wagons,
lots of wagons, fully loaded. He asked one of his servants,
who is that? He said, I don't know. Looks
like several people, they're sure several wagons and they're
heavily loaded. And then here come his sons running
up to him. And don't you know he was thrilled. And the first thing they said
to him was this, Joseph is yet alive. And that news, it hit him It
hit him so hard and so shocking, he fainted. He fainted. And then he revived. Look at
verse 26. And they told him, Here are these
sons, I'll read 25 too. They went up out of Egypt, they
came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, and
told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive. He is the governor over
all the land of Egypt." And Jacob's heart fainted. That news was overwhelming, for
he believed them not. And they told him all the words
of Joseph which he had said unto them. And when he saw the wagons
which Joseph had sent to carry him, The spirit of Jacob, their
father, revived. And Israel said, it is enough. Joseph, my son, is yet alive. I will go and see him before
I die. Joseph had sent these men into
the land of Canaan to bring Jacob into the land of Egypt and to
Joseph. Now, let me, you'll think I'm
kind of jumping ship here, but I'm really, I'll show you how
this ties together. Here's a question. When we think
about conversion, when we think about salvation, what is the instrument that the
Spirit of God uses when He works in the hearts of men and women. Well, it isn't seeing physical
miracles. That's not how the Spirit of
God works. Because even those people there
in John chapter 6, they had eaten the bread, they had eaten the
fishes, and they had eaten to their fullness. They satisfied
their fleshly appetites, and then there were lots of leftovers.
And then the next day when they followed the Lord, He said, I
know why you're following Me. It's not because you need Me
and My salvation. It's not because you know I can
make you righteous. It's not because you need your
sins forgiven. You want another free meal. you
want to see another miracle. Seeing a physical miracle, even
being one who has had a miracle performed for them, that's not what the Spirit of
God uses. Now, he may use that to get somebody's
attention, but it won't result in regeneration. I have visited
with several people through the years. I've been pastoring now
for, what, 46 years or so. Visited with people in the hospital.
And I'm always glad to go and visit people who are associated
with our congregation or even somebody else if I have the time. Somebody asked me to visit somebody.
And I've had several people say, you know, I tell you, if God
would heal me, I'll start coming to church. And I'd always tell them, God
is not a bargaining God. He may or may not heal your physical
condition, but He is the great physician of spiritual diseases. And you know what I have discovered?
Nobody is much interested in that kind of healing. No. So it isn't having physical healing. One particular man, I know I
visited him. Visited him in Martinsville,
Virginia. He was in the hospital. He had terrible back trouble.
And he was going to have surgery. And he said, I'll tell you, Jim,
and I've known, he's still alive, I've known him since I was a
little kid. He said, I'll tell you, if God
would heal me, I promise on the life of my mother that I'll start
going to church. You know what? The Lord healed
him. He used surgery to do it, but
the Lord healed him. Did he ever come to hear the
gospel one time? No. That won't do it. That's not
what the Spirit of God uses. The Spirit of God doesn't use
tongue speaking or testimony meetings. He doesn't use gospel
singings. The Bible speaks of one thing
only that the Spirit of God uses to the salvation of sinners.
One thing to reveal Christ to the hearts of unbelievers. One
thing which results in new life. One thing to prove and correct
and instruct the people of God throughout our earthly pilgrimage. One thing is said to be the very
power of God unto salvation. That's the preaching of the Word
of our God. The preaching of the Gospel.
That is the proclamation of good news. And you see, that's what's
illustrated here. That's really what's set forth
here. Jacob hears good news. He hears words. Words. Our Savior said there
in John 6, my words are spirit, my words are life. Look again
here in Genesis 45. And they told him, somebody told
him some good news. Joseph is yet alive. That's good
news. Jacob thought he was dead. And
now he gets the word he's not dead. Now with our Savior, He
did die. He died that God might be just
and justify. He died to reconcile His people
back to God. He died to put away our sins.
He died to bring in everlasting righteousness. That's the only
way we could ever be righteous, is to be righteous in the Son
of God. The Lord uses words. But not just any words. The Word of God. The Word of
God. Joseph is yet alive. Our Lord
Jesus died. Yes, He did. But He lives. He ever lives to make intercession
for us. He ever lives to rule and to
reign. Joseph is yet alive, they said, and furthermore, he's the
governor over the whole land of Egypt. Boy, what good news
to Jacob. One related to me. One who is bone of my bone and
flesh of my flesh is the governor over the whole shooting match.
And that's what we tell people. Christ Jesus the Lord, He's yet
alive. And He's been exalted. He's the
governor over everything. But He wouldn't have known this
unless somebody told Him. In fact, now look at verse 27.
And they told him, watch it, all the words of Joseph. Not the words of Pharaoh, that
wouldn't have meant anything to Jacob. Not the words of the ambassadors
of Egypt, that wouldn't have meant anything to Jacob. But
they said, listen, Here's the words of one who is bone of your
bone and flesh of your flesh. All the words of Joseph. Joseph is a beautiful type of
our Lord Jesus Christ. So we understand this. There
will be no quickening work of the Spirit. There will be no
effectual call of grace to come to Christ. There will be no power
of God at work in the hearts of sinners apart from the declaration
of the Word of our God, the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ. Did
not the Savior say to Nicodemus, you must be born again, right?
He said that in John chapter 3, you must be born again. Last
Sunday night, Bill read to us from 1 Peter 1, and verses wound
up with 23 through 25, being born again. Not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever. For all flesh is as grass, and
all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
the flower thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth
forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. You know why we make so much
of the word of the gospel? It's the only message God has
promised to bless. That's the message He'll do us
good. See, gospel preaching is the power of God. It's the instrument
by which God the Holy Spirit works in the hearts and the lives
of the chosen, redeemed people of our Lord. Yet there's so little
gospel preaching today. In churches that say they're
gospel preaching churches. I sometimes feel like crying
as Mary did at the Lord's tomb. They've taken away my Lord. I
know not where they've laid Him. Oh, how I pray that God would
give a revival of true gospel preaching. Several years ago,
I was in another state preaching with another preacher, staying
in the home of a friend, and I rode with him to the church
meeting house, and this other preacher preached before I did,
and then I followed him and preached the gospel. After the service, we were riding
back. I was riding back with this friend
back to his house. And he said, well, what did you
think of that first message? I said, well, honestly, I didn't
think much of it. He said, well, he's a sovereign
grace preacher. I said, I know he is. I've heard him preach.
He said, well, you disagreed with his message? I said, yes, I disagree with
the message, because his whole message was the reason women
ought to wear a head covering in the auditorium during a worship
service. He said, well, that's what it
says in 1 Corinthians. I said, well, I'm not going to
debate the passage with you now. But I said, there wasn't any
gospel in that message. And I looked at him. He was driving. And I said, was there? He said, no, I reckon not. I
said, well, it's worthless then. Did it have regulations in it?
Yes. Rules? Yes. Mandates for the women? Yes. Gospel? No. Tragedy. And I'm going to tell you something.
That's criminal. That's criminal. I don't care who it is. That's
a crime against God. That's an awful crime against
the Son of God. And it was a crime to all of
those who were in the congregation. It was a big group of people
there. all of that time, and they go away, and here's what
they go out the doors thinking, at least during the break after
he preached, because I didn't preach from 1 Corinthians chapter
one, or chapter two. I'm determined not to know anything
among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. But with his
message, they went out thinking, should all of our women be wearing
head covering? What has that got to do with
anything? Anything. Gospel preaching. That's what
we need. And the only real biblical preaching
is gospel preaching. And the gospel is not what you
must do for the Lord. It's not what you must do with
the Lord. Gospel preaching is the declaration
of what God in Christ Jesus has already done. He has done the work of redemption. You don't add anything to it.
Your faith is not the P.S. to the good news letter. Your
faith is a gift of God. The good news is that Christ
has died. God is satisfied. He has brought
in righteousness. He put the sins of His people
away. God is satisfied. And God sends the Word of the
Gospel and makes it to be good news
to His people. And you know what Joseph, you
know what his words were? Let me show you again here. He
says in verse Verse 13 of chapter 45. It's
what Joseph said. And ye shall tell my Father of
all my glory. That's what we've got to be occupied
doing. Tell people the glory of Christ
Jesus. Tell people who He is. He's not
a fire escape insurance policy to keep you out of hell. He's
the Lord of glory. He's God in human flesh. He obeyed God's law perfectly. He died a substitutionary death. He satisfied God. Every detail
of that which God demanded, Christ has taken care of. Tell Him of my glory. Tell Him,
tell Him I've been exalted. That's what we need to tell people.
We don't tell people make Jesus Lord of your life. We tell people
He is the Lord. Bow to the Lord. Submit to the
Lord. He's the Lord. He doesn't want
to be your Lord. He's not asking you to let Him
do something for you. He's the Lord and He conducts
Himself as the Lord. He's the Governor. Tell him I'm
the governor. Tell him I have all authority.
Tell him I have all power. And watch this. Tell him everything
you've seen. Isn't that what John really says
there in 1 John 1 verse 1? That which we have seen, which
we have heard, which we have handled of the Word of Life. And then watch this, and ye shall
haste, and watch this, and bring down my father hither. Don't ask him if he wants to
come. Don't beg him to come. Don't invite him to come. Bring
him. Bring him. That's effectual grace. That's what that is. See, look
again over here toward the end of the chapter. Look at verse
27 again. And they told him all the words
of Joseph, which he had said unto them, and when he saw the
wagons which Joseph had sent, to carry him. Joseph can't walk to Egypt. Ron,
he's 130 years old. His walking days are over. He
has no ability to get over there. Well, if you'll just come over
here, Jacob, I'll take care of everything. Oh, my goodness. I need a hip replacement. I got
arthritis. I got all these other problems.
I can't come. Don't you worry about that. They're
going to carry you. They're going to carry you. Look in chapter 46, verse 5. Jacob rose up from Beersheba,
and the sons of Israel carried their father and their little
ones and their wives in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry
him. And isn't it wonderful for those
of us who are the people of God to be put in mind of this? We
were the lost lambs of the Lord. And the shepherd sought and found
us. And he picked us up. And he's
carrying us. You know what that is? That's
effectual grace. That's grace that gets the job
done. I know one of your favorite stories.
David said, and said, fetch my feather shaft. And that's what
Joseph did when he sent his brothers back to the land of Canaan. Fetch
Jacob. Don't ask him. Don't invite him. Bring him. Bring him. And David said, set him at my
table, and I'll tell you what the Lord does for us. He brings
us by sovereign mercy, sovereign, omnipotent, effectual grace to
the table that He has set and we feast and we dine on the gospel
of the grace of God. This is a gospel illustration.
I'll tell you, I woke up early this morning thinking about because
I'd been reading chapter 46 over and over and over again. And
I prayed. I said, Lord, I'll just be honest
with you. I said, Lord, show me Christ
again in this passage of Scripture. And when I began to read, I decided
I'd go back and read these verses before chapter 46. And then I saw this, Joseph is
yet alive. And they told Jacob all the words
of Joseph. Don't put your slant on the words,
just give the words of Joseph. Give the words of Joseph. And
I thought, Lord, I see Christ now. I see him in this. What a valuable spiritual lesson. And I give you this advice. Anybody
who endeavors to preach, do a devotional, teach a class, whatever, don't
ever, don't ever attempt to preach from any passage of Scripture
unless you have seen The connection of that and the use of that in
the gospel presentation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Don't even
attempt to preach it. Because I promise you this, He's
there. He's always there. The whole
book's about Him. So don't even attempt to Break
open a passage of Scripture unless you break it open knowing it's
an alabaster box of precious, fragrant ointment, setting forth
our Savior, whose words, whose words are full of life. You see, when
the brothers came to Jacob, They only told him the words
of Joseph. Preacher, don't tell me the words
of somebody else. Don't tell me the words of a
Spurgeon or somebody else. Tell me the words of my Lord
because His words are life. His words will do me good. Words
about somebody else won't and won't help me. I'll finish that story. I'll
give you the rest of that story I just told you a little bit
ago. So we're talking with this friend of mine. We're talking
about the women wearing head covering. He said, you know,
Jim, it's a sign of submission and subjection. Woman is saying
I'm subject to my husband. I said, well, OK. And I said,
I notice your wife doesn't wear a head covering in church. You know what he said? I guess
she's not in subjection. And he was my elder brother,
because this had been several years ago. I couldn't resist. Just had to say that. There's
only one, give me the words of Joseph, right? Give me the words of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Their life, their spiritual. Let's close in prayer.