Good morning, let's all stand
together and sing hymn number one. Hymn number one. Oh, worship the King, all glorious
above. and gratefully sing His power
and His love. Our shield and defender, the
Ancient of Days, pavilion in splendor and curtain with praise. O tell of His mind! O sing of His grace! Whose robe is the light, whose
canopy space, His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds
form, And dark is His path on the wings of the storm. Thy bountiful care, what tongue
can recite? It breathes in the air. It shines in the light. It streams from the hills. It descends to the plain. And sweetly distills in the dew
and the rain. Frail children of dust, and feeble
as frail, in thee do we trust. Please remain standing and we'll
sing the hymn of the day in the bulletin. The hymn of the day on the back
of the bulletin. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord. Praise his name with one accord. Tell the wonders of His power. Praise His goodness every hour. Let the Ransomed Church begin
Who He has redeemed from sin Gathered from the East and West
north and south to enter it. Through the wilderness they stray,
In a lonely, weary way, Hungry, thirsty, tired and faint, God
attends to their complaint. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord While His goodness they record ? All His wondrous works rehearse
? ? Who redeemed Him from the curse ? Be seated. I'm gonna be reading from 2 Thessalonians. Chapter 2. I think it's familiar to everybody
that I am so thankful for the meeting this far. Oh, it's been
such a blessing to me, and I'm sure it has to everybody that's
been here. Start in verse 13. Verse 13. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you. Thank God for you, you who are
God's children, God's elect, you who believe the gospel, rejoice
in the truth, delight in the truth, love the truth, And here's
another reason we thank God for you. Brethren, you're beloved
of the Lord. God Himself loves you. Beloved
of the Lord. Because God, and this is because
He loves you, this is what He did. Hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation. Just read that, that blesses
my heart, just read that. But hath chosen you to salvation,
and here's how he did it, through the sanctification of the Spirit,
the Holy Spirit set you apart. And then he brought you to believe
the truth. And then look what else he did,
he called you, called you, called you by our gospel. What for? To the obtaining of the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast
and hold the tradition which you have been taught, whether
by word or our epistle. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ himself
And God, even our Father, which hath loved us and hath given
us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort
your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. Our Father, oh, our great glorious
God of heaven and earth, Lord, we're so thankful that
we can come into your presence. Oh, we're so blessed to be able
to come into the holiest of holies by a new and living way through
the blood, righteousness, merit of your blessed Son. Lord, we
come to thank you this morning, to thank you for your presence
you've given us. Oh, how we enjoy your presence.
Oh, to have your presence, to have your presence among us,
to come dwell among us just for a few moments a day, a few moments
in the evening. And Lord, we enjoy your word.
Oh, how we enjoy your word. Oh, that one thing that's needful,
to hear your word. And oh, Lord, we so enjoy hearing
your word. Oh, your word does something
for our hearts and souls and understanding and comfort and
peace and joy for us in this world that nothing else comes
close to even comparing. And Lord, we enjoy your people,
oh, your people, people you set apart for yourself, you love
from all eternity, called them by the gospel, set them apart
by the grace of God. Reveal Christ to them and reveal
Christ in them. Oh, how we enjoy your people.
How we enjoy their fellowship. How we enjoy their love. How
we enjoy them personally. And Lord, and I especially enjoy
and love my dear preacher brethren. God bless these brethren today.
Lord, use them mightily. Quicken their hearts, quicken
their minds. And Lord, give us hearts to believe,
ears to hear. And Lord, it may hearts be opened
today, may seed be sown that'll bring forth fruit to the glory
of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, please, oh
God, come among us again. We ask these things and glorify
you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Redeemer. our only hope, our only righteousness. We bless you in his holy name.
Amen. Amen. Hymn number 204. 204. O soul, are you weary and troubled? O light, in the darkness you
see, There's life for a look at the
Savior And life for a funded and free Rise upon Jesus, look full in
His wonderful face. and the things of earth will
grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. He passed and we followed Him
there Over us in no more abdomen Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look
full in His wonderful face The kings of earth will grow
strangely dim In the light of His glory and praise His Word
shall not fill you, He promised Then go to a world that is dying
His perfect salvation to tell Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will
grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace I appreciate Houston so much.
He does take care of everything back there and got three things
going at one time. And then he leads the singing
and plays the guitar. I really appreciate him and love
him. And well, I hate to see these days come.
I really do. Cody, I love you, appreciate
you, and you're a great, great blessing to me and this body
of believers. And you come and bring your last
message for the-God bless you, and the Lord use you. Good morning. If you will turn
with me in your Bible to Genesis chapter 41. I've hinted at and teased a few
things as I've been leading up to this message, and I wasn't
quite sure how far I would go. And I want to go further than
I planned on. So if I'm reading fast, please
bear with me. I want to be brief. But I want
to get to the part of this that just blesses my heart the most. Up to this point where we left
off yesterday, we're in the famine. There's a great famine in the
land of Egypt, and Joseph is in charge. Pharaoh's put Joseph
in charge, picturing God the Father has placed everything
into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the famine came,
and everybody needed corn, so they start going to Pharaoh,
and Pharaoh said, go to Joseph. Go to Joseph. Go to Christ. You who have a need, go to Christ.
That's the gracious command, go to Christ. There are storehouses
that Joseph has been preparing for this time. For seven years,
he's been filling storehouse after storehouse after storehouse.
There's an overabundant sufficient supply. We'll pick up here in
verse 56, Genesis 41, verse 56. And the famine was over all the
face of the earth, this famine stretched far and wide, and this
famine is still here today. It's still here today. Turn with me to Amos chapter
8. I want to show you a verse here. This is the famine. Amos
chapter 8. If your Bible's like mine, page
1147 in the Old Testament, Amos chapter 8. This is the famine that applies
to you and me in this world. Amos chapter 8, verse 11. If you're not there,
just listen. Amos 8, 11 says, Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in
the land, not a famine of bread, nor thirst for water, but of
hearing the words of the Lord. That's the famine. That's the famine. My confession from experience
is a fallen man is far more interested in anything and everything but
this. Has that been your experience? No regard for God. Just like
Joseph's brothers had no regard for Joseph, no regard for his
word, no regard for his glory, you think about false religion.
You know what the theme of false religion is? It's self-promotion,
self-glory. More interested in their opinion
on God's word than God's word itself. Let me tell you what
I think. It don't matter what we think.
It matters what God said. My opinion and yours is just
irrelevant. Just irrelevant. But not only do we have no interest
in these things, we don't have the ability to understand these
things. It's not in us. Just like Joseph
said, to give you an answer of your dream, it's not in me. God
alone must speak. We must hear him. In Matthew
11, 25, at that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things. understanding
of this book, from the wise and the prudent. You know, we think
we got it all figured out. God's hid these things, and he's
been pleased to reveal them unto babes. Lord, make me a babe. Show me that I am ignorant and
foolish and dependent on you and you alone to understand anything
about you. Verse 56 right here again, back
in our text. Genesis 41, 56. And the famine was over all the
face of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses. If you understand that you're
in a famine, that will be so, so glorious to you. If God reveals
to us we're in a famine, we'll rejoice to know that he opened
all the storehouses. There was a great need, and there
was a man fit to meet the need. Is anybody here in need? Oh,
I pray we're in need. We have nothing. If we don't
have Christ, we have nothing. Got a good job, a happy family.
We have nothing if we don't have him. I love this verse. Philippians 4 19 says, My God
shall supply all your need, not needs, because if we have the
one thing needful, we lack nothing. God shall supply all your need.
How? according to his riches in glory
by Christ Jesus." There's the one thing they need for. Christ
Jesus. And I love thinking about this. Joseph did not keep the storehouses
closed. They were his. He prepared them. They belonged to him. He opened
them. All of them. All of them. He
didn't just open a few of them. He opened all of them. Can't help but think about that
word election. You either love it or hate it, don't you? Some say election closes the
door. No, it opens it. It opens it. Were it not for
God's electing grace, there would be no salvation. Election is
unto salvation. God hath chosen you unto salvation.
You just read it. You never read in the Bible someone
who earnestly, desperately needed to be saved who wasn't. Our Lord
said in Psalm 81, this is glorious. Open thy mouth wide, and I will
fill it. Anybody hungry? What a promise. Oh, my soul, what a promise.
And yet, let me say this. It's also true what our Lord
said to some Jews in John 10 verse 26, he said, ye believe
not because ye are not of my sheep. You go read the account.
They had no interest in believing him. They said, tell us plainly. He already told them. Then he
tells them again, and then right after that, they seek to put
him to death. Had no interest. And neither did I. Neither but God. Here's the fact of the matter,
but because God from the beginning chose me to be one of his sheep
in time, according to God's eternal purpose in the time of love,
God caused me to believe. He went right on after that to
say, my sheep hear my voice. I know them. They follow me. Who gets the glory here? It's
not us. It's the shepherd. It's our Lord. Oh, praise God, Joseph opened
the storehouses. Thank God he elected a people unto salvation.
We're bound to give thanks. Always. Verse 56 again. The famine was over all the face
of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold
unto the Egyptians. And the famine waxed sore in
the land of Egypt. Well, hold on now. What do you mean he sold? He sold it. He sold it. I thought
salvation was free. It is. How do you explain that? What's it say in Isaiah 55? Ho,
everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. Come, buy and
eat without money, without price. Why do they have to pay for it?
This right here is key to the whole thing. Turn to Exodus chapter
11. If we don't see anything else,
I pray God will cause us to see this. Exodus 11 verse 6. The Egyptians are the ones who
had to buy. Exodus 11 verse 6. And there
shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as
there was none like it, nor shall be like it anymore. This is talking
about when the Lord is going to come and execute judgment,
the Passover. Verse 7, But against any of the
children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue against
man or beast, that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a
difference between the Egyptians and Israel. The Egyptians represent
the wicked, the lost, the reprobate. Israel, the children of Israel,
represent God's spiritual Israel, God's elect, those whom he chose,
those whom he came to save. Let me say this. Israel was affected
by this famine, too. They needed bread. They needed
corn, too. But this went very differently
for them. You know, the world is still
spinning because God has elect on it. All things are for the elect's
sake. Look back at our text. We're going to go on into chapter
42 here. Genesis 42, look at verse 1. Now when Jacob saw that there
was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, why do you look
one upon another? And he said, behold, I have heard
that there is corn in Egypt. Have you heard? Get you down
thither and buy for us from thence that we may live and not die.
And Joseph's 10 brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. Joseph
sends his sons to Egypt. Why? Because he heard. He heard,
faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. He heard
that there was corn in Egypt. He knew we're gonna die if we
don't get to Egypt, if we don't get corn. We're in a famine,
brethren. We need corn, and there's corn
in Egypt. Where do we need to go? To Joseph.
Go to Joseph. Go to Joseph. You say, well, I thought I thought
Jacob had 12 sons. Why'd he only send 10? Verse
four tells us, but Benjamin, his brother, he sent not with
them. For he said, lest peradventure and mischief befall him. And
the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came. For
the famine was in the land of Canaan, and Joseph was the governor
over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of
the land. And Joseph's brethren came and bowed down themselves
before him with their face to the earth. That sounds familiar,
doesn't it? They had to come to and stand
before the one they sinned against. And so will we. So will we. Verse 7, And Joseph saw his brethren,
and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake
roughly with them. And he said unto them, Whence
come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan, to buy food.
And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. That's the way it is, until he
reveals himself to us. He knew them, but they didn't
know him. Verse nine, And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of
them, and said unto them, Ye are spies, to see the nakedness
of the land. Ye are come. And they said unto
him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. He dealt roughly with them. And
we're going to read some of this. He continued to deal roughly
with them, but he had a heart of love for them. This has been my experience too.
And because he had a heart of love for them, he was going to
break them. He was going to bring them to
the point where they had nothing, I mean nothing, but him. He was going to bring them to
the point where they fell helplessly in love with him whom they hated." You know, that's what we need.
We need to be broken. If you're going to ride a horse,
you're going to have to break it. If we're going to know Christ,
he's going to have to break us. He's going to have to break us. They go to Joseph, and Joseph
gets them to admit that they have another brother, Benjamin. And he gave them corn, but he
sent them on their way, and he said, don't come back without
him. If you want to come back for
more corn, you're going to have to bring Benjamin. If we're going to come
to Christ, it must be on God's terms, not ours. Not ours. Look at verse 19. If
ye be true, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your
prison. Go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses, but
bring your youngest brother unto me. So shall your words be verified,
and ye shall not die. You see how serious this is?
And they did so. And they said one to another,
we are verily guilty concerning our brother in that we saw the
anguish of his soul when he besought us and we would not hear. Therefore is this distress come
upon us. He said, you're going to leave.
One of you is going to stay here with me until you come back with your
youngest brother. That's harsh, isn't it? And I love this. They didn't
have a clue this was Joseph. But they don't have a clue. And
yet, Joseph's making it so that they remember. They feel guilty. First time they ever felt guilty
concerning what they did. Verse 22, And Reuben answered
them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against
the child, and you would not hear? Therefore, behold, also
his blood is required. They thought Joseph was dead.
They thought Joseph was long gone. Verse 23, and they knew
not that Joseph understood them, I love this too, for he spake
unto them by an interpreter. He was one of them and he spoke
to them in a different language, through an interpreter. And he turned himself about from
them and wept. I told you he had a heart of
love for them. And he returned to them again and communed with
them and took from them Simeon and bound him before their eyes.
Simeon stayed behind. Verse 25. Then Joseph commanded to fill
their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into
his sack, and to give them provision for the way. And thus did he
unto them. He opened the storehouse unto
them. He dealt kindly with them. And here's a key detail I don't
want us to miss. He gave their money back. All the Egyptians
were having to pay for their corn. Not his brothers. Not the children of Israel. It
was free to them. wouldn't take a cent. Look down
at verse 35. And it came to pass, as they
emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle of money was
in his sack. And when both they and their
father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. And Jacob their
father said unto them, Me, have you bereaved of my children?
Joseph is not, Simeon is not, and you will take Benjamin away?
All these things are against me." Have you ever felt like that? All these things are against
me. Do you remember who Jacob is?
You remember what Romans 9.13 says about him? Jacob have I
loved. Esau have I hate. I've loved
you, Jacob. Fear not thou worm, Jacob. All these things are against
me. When in reality, all these things
were for him. All these things were for him. You know, God does everything
for his people. Everything. Jacob have I loved. Salvation's
for sinners. The whole reason Joseph came
to Egypt, the whole reason for Egypt's existence is for this
right here. For Jacob and his sons. For the
children of Israel. The whole reason God put Egypt
on the face of this earth. All Israel shall be saved. Spiritual
Israel. Romans 11, 26. So here in our
story, Jacob eventually agrees to let Benjamin go with them,
but not before something very important happened. Judah, one
of the brothers, agreed to be surety for him. Look here, Genesis
43, verse 8. And Judah said unto Israel, his
father, send the lad with me, and we will arise and go that
we may live and not die, both we and thou, and also our little
ones. I will be surety for him. Of
my hand shalt thou require him. If I bring him not unto thee,
and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever."
What a wonderful, beautiful picture of our Savior. If I don't get
the job done, you let me bear the blame forever. He's our substitute. So they
go. They took double the money, but
Joseph wasn't interested in their money. In this chapter, Joseph, when
he sees Benjamin, he says to his servants, he said, we're
going to have them over for dinner. Can you imagine how terrified
they were? They were scared to death. They
thought, well, this is because Our money was with us. How'd
our money get back to us? He's found us out. Look right
here, verse 18. And the men were afraid because
they were brought into Joseph's house. They said, because of
the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time we're
brought in, that he may seek occasion against us and fall
upon us and take us for bondmen and our asses. And they came
near to the steward of Joseph's house and they communed with
him at the door of the house and said, oh sir, we came indeed
down at the first time to buy food And it came to pass, when
we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and behold, every
man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full
weight, it was all returned. And we have brought it again
in our hand, and other money have we brought down in our hands.
To buy food, we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks."
Verse 23, what an answer. And he said, "'Peace be to you,
fear not, your God And the God of your father hath given you
treasure in your sacks. I had your money. I had your money. Gave it back to you. We wouldn't
take it. Joseph doesn't want your money. God doesn't want anything we
have to offer. He's well pleased with his son. That's it. That's
it. That's it. I like what that man told him.
He said, God hath given you treasure. What's the treasure? Christ. Christ is the treasure. There's
no other treasure. There's no other treasure. Wouldn't let
them pay one cent, but it gets better. Look at chapter 44, verse
1. They had dinner, and then they
went on their way. Chapter 44, verse 1, and he commanded the
steward of his house, saying, fill the men's sacks with food
as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his
sack's mouth. How much goodness does God have
for us? As much as you can carry. Is that enough for you? How much you need, here you go.
You know, it's like if someone gave you a blank check and said,
fill it in. Everything you want, everything you could possibly
need, here you go. He opened the storehouses unto
them, didn't he? Oh my soul, he withheld nothing. He withheld
nothing. The God who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us. What about God? How has God dealt
with us, you and me? We see how Joseph's dealing with
his brothers here. How has God dealt with us? I thought of Isaac. You know, on the mountains, God
will provide himself a land. That's what his father told him. God told Abraham, thou hast not
withheld thy son, thine only son. God withheld not his son,
his only son, from us. Who said away with this
man, crucify him, crucify him. He was hanging there for us. The Egyptians had to pay for
corn, but not Joseph's brethren, because the Lord put a difference
between them. Salvation costs our Lord everything,
but it's free to his people. Joseph was preparing and preparing
and preparing, working, working, working, and then his brothers
come, here you go. This is all for you. You know, the famine
came for them. The Egyptians ended up selling
everything they had. They ended up selling themselves. What about Joseph's brothers?
It was always free for them. Always. Always free. God hath freely given us all
things. What about his love? Do we earn
it? Do we have to? Well, now we're gonna earn his love. He
said, I will love them freely. Do you like the sound of that?
In chapter 44, Joseph has his steward put a silver cup in Benjamin's
sack. This is going to be the breaking
point. If Benjamin doesn't return home
to his father, that's going to be a problem. He puts this cup in Benjamin's
sack and tells his servant, you go and you get him. And they're
going to find the cup in Benjamin's sack, and they're going to say,
first he got Joseph's brothers to say, whoever's sack you find
this cup in, let him die. Now we've really got a problem.
Because they began at the eldest, even to the youngest, and they
found that cup in Benjamin's sack. They turned around and went back. They fell before Joseph. Look at chapter 44, verse 14. Judah and his brethren came to
Joseph's house, for he was yet there, and they fell before him. on the ground. They were going
to bring them to their wits end. Joseph was going to bring them
to their wits end. And then Judah, Benjamin Surety
spoke up. Verse 16, Judah said, What shall
we say unto my Lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall
we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity
of thy servants. Behold, we are my Lord's servants,
both we and he also, with whom the cup is found. God's gonna
make it to where we have nothing to say. He's gonna shut us up
to his mercy. That's what we need. That's where
we need to be brought. Go on reading verse 17. And he
said, God forbid that I should do so, but the man in whose hand
the cup is found, he shall be my servant. Not die, he shall
be my servant. And as for you, get you up in
peace unto your father. Then Judah came near unto him
and said, O my Lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a
word in my Lord's ears. Let not thine anger burn against
thy servant, for thou art even as Pharaoh. And then Judah goes
on. I'd love to read it, but for
time's sake, I can't, but Judah goes on here and he tells Joseph,
whom he still doesn't know, he tells him, he pours his heart
out to him, tells him the whole situation and how it's just gonna,
how reluctant their father was to send Benjamin, how it was
just going to grieve him to the point of death. He tells them how he agreed to
be surety for him. Look down at verse 30. Now therefore,
when I come to thy servant, my father, and the lad be not with
us, seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life, it shall
come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that
he will die. And thy servant shall bring down the gray hairs
of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave. For thy
servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, if
I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my
father forever. Now therefore, I pray thee. Let
thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord,
and let the lad go up with his brethren. For how shall I go
up to my father, and the lad be not with me, lest peradventure
I see the evil that shall come on my father? I hope somebody here doesn't
know what happens next. Oh my soul, Joseph's heart is about to burst. Look at chapter 45 verse 1. Then
Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by
him. And he cried, cause every man to go out from me. And there
stood no man with him while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. Does that not bless your soul? You remember who they are and
you remember who he is. You know, there were a couple
times in here leading up to this when Joseph got himself alone and
wept. It was all leading up to this.
Now he tells his servants, get out. I've got to be alone with
them. God gets alone with his people
and makes himself known unto them. Has he done it with you?
This is how he does it, through his word, through the preaching
of it. Verse 2, and he wept aloud. And the Egyptians in the house
of Pharaoh heard, and Joseph said unto his brethren, I am
Joseph. Doth my father yet live? And
his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at
his presence. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said,
I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Our Lord draws us near to his
side. We sing this song a lot in Kingsport,
near my God to thee, near to thee, even though it be a cross
that raiseth thee, even though I put you on a cross. You know,
in his final moments, the Lord drew that thief who was just
cast in the same in his seat, near to his side. And he's near
to his side right now, and he will be forever. Joseph said,
come here, and they came here. If God wants you to come near,
you're going to come near. You're going to come near. Verse 5,
now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that
you sold me hither, for God did send me before you to preserve
life. God sent me here for you. for you. He shows us our sin,
and he shows us his goodness to us in spite of our sin, in
spite of our sin against him. Verse six, for these two years
hath the famine been in the land, and yet there are five years
in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest, and God
sent me before you to preserve you, a posterity in the earth,
and to save your lives. They're the ones that sin, and
he said, this is all for you. You think about what you did,
and God did this for you. For you. To save your lives by a great
deliverance. Tells us in chapter 50, when
their father died, they thought, well, Now he's gonna come get
us. Our father's not here. It was
because of him that he dealt kindly with us. No, he loved
them. He loved them. And so he's surely gonna requite
us now all the evil we did to him. Oh, they couldn't have been
more wrong. He said, fear not. You meant
it for evil, but God meant it for good. God meant it for good. Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do. Verse eight. So now it was not
you that sent me hither, but God. And he hath made me a father
to Pharaoh, and Lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout
all the land of Egypt. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken. and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain. But whose will was that? You
know, Pilate delivered Jesus to the will of the people. That
was God's will. That was God's will. And I love knowing that
some of the very ones who crucified our Lord, he was hanging there
for them. Remember those men who were pricked
in the heart? Verse nine. Haste ye and go up
to my father, say unto him, thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made
me Lord of all Egypt, come down unto me, tarry not. Thou shalt dwell in the land
of Goshen. 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 Is there anywhere you'd rather be than near to
our Lord at His feet? Nowhere else I'd rather be. There's
nowhere else to be. Verse 11, and there will I nourish
thee. That's so loving, isn't it? Oh,
truly God is good to Israel. There will I nourish thee, for
yet there are five years of famine, lest thou and thy household,
and all that thou hast, come to poverty. God won't let it
be for his people, because Christ took our poverty upon himself.
He was made poor to make us rich, made sin to make us righteous.
Said it yesterday, beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning. Verse 12. And behold, your eyes
see in the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth
that speaketh unto you. and you shall tell my father
of all my glory in Egypt, of all that you've seen, and you
shall haste and bring down my father." Feather. You imagine
the joy this is gonna bring Jacob. Let me say this. You see how
much Jacob loves Benjamin. You know how much Jacob loved
Joseph, you remember? That's his beloved son. Jacob's
wife, Rachel, she was barren. It's believed for 26 years. And
Jacob had children with others that the Lord had given him children
through. Oh, he just wanted a child with Rachel. Wanted a child with
Rachel. That was his beautiful bride.
That was the one he loved. Then finally the Lord opened
her womb. Rachel had told him, give me children, else I die.
God opened her womb. You know who he gave her? Joseph. Joseph. All these years, Jacob has thought
Joseph was no more. Never going to see him again. You go tell my father. I'm here ruling in Egypt, and
you're gonna come be near unto me for the rest of your days,
and I'm gonna take care of you. Verse 14. And he fell upon his
brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck.
Moreover, he kissed all his brethren, and he wept upon them. And after that, his brethren
talked with him, and the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's
house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come, and it pleased Pharaoh
well. and his servants. What pleases
Christ pleases the Father, and it pleases us, doesn't it? Verse 17, And Pharaoh said unto
Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye, lay your beast, and
go get you unto the land of Canaan, and take your father and your
households, and come unto me, and I will give you the good
of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.
Now thou art commanded. What an offer! What an invitation!
This was a command. What a gracious command. God's
not waiting for us to decide to believe on him. No, he commands.
And we come. Now thou art commanded, verse
19, this do ye, take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for
your little ones and for your wives and bring your father and
come and I'll leave you here. Also regard not your stuff for
the good of All the land of Egypt is yours. What role did they play in this?
All they did was sin against him. And then they tried to buy
corn. Can't be bought. Can't be bought. Salvation's been bought by Christ.
He bought us. That word regard right there
means don't look upon with compassion. You don't look upon anything
about you or yours with compassion. All the land of Egypt is yours.
You have everything because you have me. How'd they have him?
He gave himself to them. He loved them in spite of them. We don't deserve it. We never
could. It's the free gift of God. It's the free gift of God. And
let me say this, it's all to the glory of Joseph. It's all to the glory of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's all about Him. It's all
about Him. Praise God He opened the storehouses.
He opened all the storehouses. Amen. May God bless His Word. Well, John Bunyan said, God had
bags of mercy yet not broke. Not broke open yet. And he does. Thank you. Oh, that was such
a blessing. Now, listen. A couple of ladies need to go
back there to do something. And so come and lead us in a
song while they go that yawn way. You know where yawn way is, don't
you? John way. All right, they got to fix some
stuff back there. Yeah. Yeah, you take a break. Did they never drunk? Yeah. Probably don't need the words. But if you want to look at them
number 236. Amazing Grace. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me that once was lost But now
have found I was blind, but now I see. T'was grace that taught my heart
to fear. And grace my fears relieved How
precious did that grace appear we have at first believed. Through many dangers, toils,
and snares, I have already come. Tis grace hath brought me safe
thus far, and grace will lead me home. We've been there a thousand years. Bright shining as the sun. We've no less Hey, man. Hey, man. Sometimes the right hand don't
know what the left's doing here. We had it all figured out, boys. You. my soul was astray from the heavenly
way. I was wretched and foul as could
be, but my Savior in love gave me peace from above. down for me. When he reached way down for
me. I was lost and undone without
God for his love. When he reached I was near to despair when he
came to me there, and he showed me that I could be free. Then He lifted my feet, Gave
me gladness complete, Then He reached out His hand, My Savior reached out for me
When He reached great depth for me I was lost and undone Without
God or His Son When He reaches out His hand
for me. Now my heart doth rejoice When
I hear His sweet voice In the tempest to Him I've been pleading there to lean
on his arm, safe, secure from all harm. Since he reached down
his hand, When my Savior reached down for
me When He reached way down for me I was lost and undone Without
God or His Son when he reached down his hand for me. There to be on his arms safe
secure from all harm since he reached down his hand for me. Good, good.