I told Donny last night the last
two services I forgot to put this on. He just reminded me
to do so. So I got it this time. Thank
you. I want to Say how much I and Teresa appreciate
you having us here for this meeting. Everything's just been wonderful.
I mean, a little heaven on earth, isn't it? Yeah, a little heaven
on earth. Donny, you and Shirley are just
wonderful hosts, beautiful home, and we felt so comfortable there. First night, Gabe and I were
in the refrigerator, so you know we felt pretty cold. The singing has been great. Truly worship, worship, magnifying
God, worshiping him for what he's been pleased to do for us. And I just rejoice. You know,
you've said the sisters is how you've referred to them to me,
but you said they were the best. I agree with you. We agree a
lot on music. That's beautiful, ladies. Just
all the music. It's been great. The food. Well, I ain't no need to go on
and on about that. Turn with me, if you would, again
this morning to the book of Genesis chapter 50, if you would. in Genesis chapter 50. There's a three-letter word that
flows in and out of our conversations daily that we don't really give
a lot of thought to. We just say it and don't really
think about it. And that's the little three-letter
word, but. We say it a lot. without giving
it much thought. The word but, B-U-T, is used
many ways in the English language. It's used as a conjunction, a
preposition, an adverb, a noun. But it basically means the same
thing however it's used. It means on the contrary. It means except. or unless, with
the exception of, it means only, or just, or no more than. It also means to argue or object
against. When the word but is used in
conjunction with the word God, The two words together changes
everything that's previously been said. With the phrase, but God, we
must pause, we must stop and reflect and consider a different
outcome. But God means that the sovereign
God of the Bible has the ability to change the outcome of anything
and everything that he so wills to do. He controls all things as he
sees fit, as Gabe so ably just showed us. For example, Paul
wrote this, but as it is written, I have not seen or heard, neither
hath entered into the heart of the man the things which God
hath prepared for them that love him. Now spiritually speaking,
our eyes are too blind to see. Our ears are too deaf to hear. Our hearts so cold and so dead
to understand all the wondrous things that God has prepared
for his people. And after saying that, Paul immediately
says, but God. There's an exception. A wonderful exception. But God
hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. but God, but God. By nature, we're unable to see,
we're unable to hear, we're unable to understand, but God redirects,
God argues, God objects, and He makes an exception. God makes it so that we can see,
and that we can hear, and that we can understand. The Lord Jesus
said, no man can come to me that he might have life, except, but
God. But God, except the Father which
sent me draw him. What an amazing exception there
is throughout the history of the scriptures. Now let me tell
you a couple of brief stories. On the morning of August 9, 1945,
a young 14-year-old Japanese girl, age of Isabella Stoniker,
14 years old, in Nagasaki, Japan, woke up and got ready to go to
school as was her custom to always do. On this particular morning,
however, she wasn't feeling well. So instead of going to school,
she went to the doctor. That was the very morning that
the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. And every classmate
of this young girl perished. All of them. But God spared her. That young girl was Teresa, my
wife's mother. But if God had not intervened,
my wife would have never been born. God had an elect child that would
be born over a decade later. But God. But God. Another story. In 1955, an unmarried
young lady from Muhlenberg County, Kentucky became pregnant. As
her delivery date drew closer, it became apparent that she wouldn't
be able to keep this child, support this child. And she had a friend
who had a sister-in-law who her and her husband had tried for
many years to have a child and couldn't. So immediately, adoption
arrangements were made. And I must tell you that that
child was me. But God, but God. Had our God not sovereignly intervened,
there would have never been my wife, there would have never
been me, maybe, possibly, don't know. I think about our three
children and our four grandchildren. Let me tell you another story
about all of us. It's a story you're very familiar
with. After the fall of Adam, God saw that the wickedness of
man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the
thoughts of the man's heart was, as Gabe said earlier, only evil
continually. Not just evil, but only evil,
and only evil continually. And it grieved. The scripture
says that it grieved God's heart. The Lord repented that He made
man upon earth. In other words, God had enough
and He said, I'm going to destroy man. I mean, after all, He created
man. And is it not right for Him to
do what He will with His own? He said, I made everything, created
everything, and I have the right to destroy everything that I've
made. And man's destiny seems so hopeless
until we see from the pages of scripture that glorious little
three-letter word, but. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. But God, but God. You know, today man's sinful
nature continues to rage and rebel against God. When Paul
wrote what I hate that I do, he was letting us in on a secret
of the impossible task of putting our own sin away. That which I should do, I don't
do. And that which I shouldn't do,
that's what I do. Every one of you here this morning,
if you're honest with yourself, you know that's so. I hate what
I do, but I just keep on doing it. Oh, wretched man that I am,
Paul said. Not that I was, but that I am. Unless or except God sovereignly
and divinely intervenes, friends, with an almighty and an omnipotent
intervention. And that's what it is. We're gonna die in our sin. I
have good news for you, but God. We all had our conversation in
times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in trespasses and sins, hath quickened us together with
Christ, and by grace are you saved. Can you shorten that up,
Brother David? Bud God. Bud God. Sadly, today there are multitudes
of folks, even professing Christians today, who do not recognize this
sovereign, omnipotent God to be the one with whom we have
to do. They sadly attribute everything
to three fatal mistresses, called misfortune, lady luck, and even
mother nature. Our Lord Jesus said, for there
shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show
great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they
shall deceive and seduce even the very elect. But friends,
it's not possible. And the reason is, but God will
not allow it. Before we get into our text,
I was thinking about this this morning, kind of a long introduction.
I know, I remember Brother Todd, I was preaching with him in a
message one time, and he said, you know, I don't like preachers
that give long introductions and don't get right into their
text. And I stood up and did that very thing. But before we do get into our
text here in Genesis chapter 50, I want to tell you a little
cute ancient Chinese story. There was an old farmer that
had an old horse. And that horse had for years
tilled his fields. And one day, that old horse got
out of the corral and just took off to the hills. And heartbroken,
the old farmer was sad. And his neighbors came around,
and they told him that they were sorry for his bad luck. And that
old farmer, all he'd say was, bad luck, good luck, who knows? About a week later, that old
horse returned with a herd of wild horses, and they followed
him right into the farmer's corral. And now the neighbors come, and
they're rejoicing with him, and he's good luck. But the old farmer,
all he said was, good luck, bad luck, who knows? A short time
later, the farmer's son attempted to tame one of the wild horses,
and it threw him. He took a hard fall, and he broke
his leg badly, and here come the neighbors again, and they
gave him condolences for the son's bad luck. Of course, the
old farmer would only say, bad luck, good luck, who knows? Some weeks later, the emperor's
army rode into the village and drafted every able-bodied young
man that they could find. But when they saw the farmer's
son with his badly broken leg, just passed on by. And here they
come again, congratulating him on the good luck of his son. And of course, what did he say?
Good luck, bad luck, who knows? You know friends, this life is
not a spinning roulette wheel. Anyone who knows anything about
the sovereign God of this Bible knows that luck, chance, fate
has nothing at all to do with anything. They're all just a
part of man's imagination. We really need to get that word
luck out of our vocabulary. We really do, because there's
nothing that happens by luck. It all happens according to his
purpose. Just like you said, Gabe. And it all goes back to two words,
but God. Now here in Genesis chapter 50,
we have the continued story of the man named Joseph and his
brothers. Our subject Friday night was
divine redemption. What does that mean? That means
that God does the saving. Salvation's of the Lord. God
giving us a divine deliverer. And our subject last night, as
you remember, was divine revelation. So our subject this morning is
divine providence. Providence. My, we could simply
title the message, But God. Jacob, the patriarch of his sons,
has now died. And in verse 14, let's pick up
the story here, and it says, and Joseph returned into Egypt,
he and his brethren and all that went up with him to bury his
father after he had buried his father. And when Joseph's brethren
saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure
hades. and will certainly requite us
of all the evil which we did unto him. And they sent a messenger
unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
So shall you say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the
trespasses of thy brethren, and their sin, for they did unto
thee evil. And now we pray thee, forgive
the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. Now
it's pretty obvious from just reading that verse that Joseph's
brothers are still concerned about what they had done to him,
as we saw in these previous studies. And they're looking out for themselves.
And so would we. They're going to do anything
and they're gonna do everything that they can to make sure that
Joseph, who's now a very powerful man, second in charge of all
Egypt, that he doesn't give them what they deserve. As we said
last night, we don't want what we deserve, do we? The last sentence
here in verse 17 tells us that Joseph wept when they spake unto
him. It hurt Joseph a great deal that
his brothers would think such a thing after all the love and
the kindness and the mercy and the grace and forgiveness that
he'd already shown them. You know, I immediately think
about the passage of Scripture that tells us about when Lazarus
died, it said the Lord wept. He wept, no doubt, because he
loved Lazarus, but you know, he also wept because of the unbelief
of all those around him. I don't think there's any doubt
about that. Here in verse 18, we read, and
his brethren also went down and fell down before his face, and
they said, behold, we be thy servants. And Joseph said unto
them, fear not, for am I in the place of God? Meaning, am I God
that you should fall down and pay homage to me? Am I not under
the same God as you are? Am I in the place of God? Is
it in my power to change God's purpose? To alter God's providence,
to contradict God's will, to do hurt to those whom God has
determined to do good to. Joseph knew that. He knew that
all this good was from God. God determined to do them good. And that's what I want us to
consider for a few minutes in light of all that we've said
thus far. Now, I want you to look at verse 20. You know this
verse well, but what a blessing this is. Joseph said, but as for you,
you thought evil against me. And they did. But God meant it under good to
bring to pass as it is this day to save much people alive. Now was it lady luck? Was it good luck? Was it bad
luck? Or who knows? Well, I tell you,
who knows? God's people know. It was divine providence. It
was God's purpose. To do them good, to do Joseph
good. It was God working together for
the good of one of his sheep, one of his elect named Joseph,
one who loved the Lord, one who was be called according to his
purpose. What Joseph's brothers did was
meant to be evil against them, but God meant it unto good. What
good to bring to pass as it is this day to save much people
alive. Now when his brothers threw Joseph
in the pit without food or water, they meant it for evil, but God
meant it for good. As I said, the way to the palace
was by way of the pit. Acts 7 verses 9 and 10 reads,
and the patriarchs moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt. Envy is not a good thing. It's
an evil thing. But God was with him. This is
what the scripture says. And delivered him out of all
his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight
of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt
and all his house. That's exactly what God did.
Secondly, when Joseph was sold into slavery into Potiphar's
house, was it good luck? Was it bad luck? Was it misfortune? No, God meant it for good. Potiphar's wife meant it for
evil, but God meant it for good. When Joseph was falsely accused
and sent to prison, God meant it for good. Did you notice the wording here
in the text? Again, verse 20, he said, but
as for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it
unto good. I think that's important. You
see, all the time that Joseph was betrayed, at the time that
he was taken as a slave, at the time he served in Potiphar's
house, at the time he was wrongly accused, at the time he was in
prison, it didn't seem good. Sometimes things don't seem good,
do they? It was uncomfortable. It was
painful. It was unpleasant. Why, it was
even miserable. Even unbearable at times, but
God meant it unto good. God's working all things together
unto good. What a wise, God we serve. For the good of the world? No. For the good of his people. For
the good of his sheep. I love to think about the fact
that our Lord does all things well. All things well. And that's the amazing thing
about our God. When Joseph told his brothers,
you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good, there's
no contradiction, there's no controversy, no disharmony between
man's action and God's sovereign will. God will always do exactly
as he pleases and he purposes, and our obedience or our disobedience
never changes God's purpose. God uses our obedience and God
uses our disobedience to accomplish His will and His purpose in all
things. If God doesn't let man have his
way, or if God does let man have his way, God in sovereign providence
makes all things work together exactly as He wills And when
it comes to his elect people, he means it unto good. Every
time. Every single time. I heard Brother
Mahan say one time, I'll never forget this. He said that every
particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move
one atom more or less than God wishes it to move. We can't take
that too far. Let every soul be subject unto
the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers that be ordained of
God, Romans 13. Now I want to give you just three
simple things that we see from this inspired verse. First, nothing
can alter God's purpose. We've pretty much already covered
that, haven't we? God is sovereign over all, even
the evil that people do. Just like the evil of Joseph's
brothers. God took their evil and he made
it unto good. God is a God of providence and
purpose, not luck or accidents. There are no accidents. No accidents with God. Pastor
Maurice Montgomery, many of you know Maurice, he was telling
me about a time that he, I believe he was in Ashland, I can't really
remember, but he ran a red light or something and just ripped
into a guy's car. And the fella got out of his
car and he was upset. And he folded his arms. Maurice said he was a big man.
And he just walked around his car going, well, what do we have
here? What do we have here? Maurice
said he just kept saying it. And then he looked at Maurice
for an answer. What do we have here? And Maurice
said, well, I would say that we have an unfortunate occurrence. But it's not an accident. Not
an accident. Everything is predestinated according
to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel
of his own will. In Acts chapter 2 verse 23, we're
told that Christ died according to the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God. But men did exactly what they
wanted to do. And with wicked hands, they took
and they crucified the Lord of glory. But it was determined
by God. That's what determinate counsel
means. God just didn't know it was going to happen. God purposed
it to happen before the foundation of the world. God can't be charged
with the evil that comes from man's desperately wicked and
deceitful hearts. Sinful men and women do exactly
what they wanted to do. And they crucified and they killed
the Lord Jesus Christ. But it was according to God's
determined purpose and His counsel shall always stand. Do I understand that? No. I never will. But I sure do believe
it, Gabe. My sin won't let me fathom the
depths of God's infinite mercy and grace in Christ. But by God's grace, I believe
God and what he says in this book. But God. But God bent it unto good. Now, you may be going through
a trial right now that doesn't seem good. But if you belong
to Him, I can assure you, and please believe me, find some
comfort in this, God is gonna make it good somehow, some way. Eternally good. Maybe not good in this day-to-day
life, but eternally good. But God, aren't you glad your
Savior's sovereign? If we are to have any confidence
that God saved us, any assurance that we stand perfectly righteous
and holy before God, we've just got to trust that He's doing
everything for our good. Everything. It doesn't have anything to do
with my righteousness. You know why? Because I don't
have any. It's filthy. It rags righteousness.
Any righteousness that I think is It's just filthy. It doesn't have anything to do
with my sinfulness. Every saved sinner comes short
of the glory of God. Isn't that right? Salvation is
of the Lord. How many times have we said that?
We're saved because of the Lord Jesus Christ and what He's done
for us. He took all our sin. All of it. Past, present, future. He paid
for all of it. God's justice demanded recompense. And Christ paid it in full. Jesus
paid it all. Every single bit of it. It doesn't have anything to do with
me. It doesn't have anything to do with you. I don't know
why folks get upset about that. It has everything to do with
him. I walked according to the course of this world. I had my
conversation, my way of life in the lust of my flesh. I was
by nature a child of wrath even as every other man and woman
born of Adam. The scripture says even as others.
That's talking about all of us. But God, who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us. I see some of you smiling. That's
something to smile about. That's a good time to smile.
Go right ahead. Even when we were dead in sins,
God hath quickened us. He's made us alive together with
Christ. By grace are you saved. Nothing
can alter God's sovereign purpose. Secondly, when it comes to his
chosen people, God is good in everything he does. Two young boys are walking down
the street and there's a big old dog there blocking their
path. And the more courageous boy looks
over to the more timid boy. And he said, don't be afraid.
Don't be afraid. He said, his tail's wagging.
My daddy told me that if a dog's tail wags, he's not going to
bite you. And the other little fellow said, well, that may be. But I'm not looking at his tail.
All I can see is his teeth. He said, this dog's going to
eat us alive. Child of God. Which end are we
going to believe? When the trials of life come
our way, blocking us from continuing down the street of life, what
do we see? Do we see the wagging tail of
God's promises in our trials? In our tribulations? Or do we
see the teeth of God's justice that we deserve? Are we looking within to ourselves? You'll see the teeth over time
if you do that. Or are we looking to Christ,
our substitute, our sacrifice, and our Savior? That's where
we see the wagging tail. In Jeremiah chapter 29 verse
11, I won't turn you there, but listen to this. God says to his
children, for I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith
the Lord. Thoughts of peace. God thinks thoughts of peace
towards me. And not of evil. He says to give you an expected
end. You know, I got to thinking about
that. We have an expected end. And if our hope is Christ, then
God intends to do us good. Every single trial is meant for
good. And it's meant to bring us to
an expected end. A desirable end. An end to all
troubles forever. In Christ, all God's thoughts
toward us are of peace because Christ is the end of the lawful
righteousness to everyone that believes. The law has no claim
on me anymore. Christ has fulfilled the law.
Christ has satisfied God's justice. God no longer gives us what the
law says we deserve. God gives us what we don't deserve.
And it's called unmerited favor. It's called sovereign grace. For by grace are you saved. A
good end is to be expected. Good ends to be expected. Even in the trials of a terrible
famine, God was out to reunite Jacob with his beloved Joseph. But the amazing thing to me is
that God meant the same good for Joseph's wicked brothers. Could it be that God means the
same good for you and for me? 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." Oh God, comfort our hearts with these things.
The thirdly and last, we must trust the sovereign goodness
of our God in our trials. We've been through some pretty
tough things. Some of you are going through
some pretty tough things right now. I often think about Joseph waking
up every morning for years in that Egyptian dungeon. Joseph must have thought, Lord,
I trust that you're doing this for my good even though I don't
see it, even though I don't understand it. That's the way we are. We know that God in His Word
says that He's working all things together for our good, but it's
hard to see sometimes, isn't it? He had to have thought that,
Joseph did, in order to say to his brothers, you didn't send
me here, you didn't put me here, God sent me here, God meant it
for good. You might say, I can see God
being gracious and merciful to a righteous man or to a good
man, but what about an ungodly man or woman like me? Well, let
me give you again those two words. But God, but God commended his
love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Do you feel like Joseph's undeserving
brothers? Well, let me tell you, that's
a good thing. That's a good thing. Will you, like the sons of Jacob
in verse 17, cry to your great Joseph, the Lord Jesus Christ? You know, being afraid, we read
they sent messengers to say, forgive, I pray thee now the
trespasses of thy brethren and their sin, for they did unto
thee evil, and now we pray thee, forgive the trespasses of the
servants of God. You know, that's taking sides
with God against ourselves. That's what we got to do. That Syrophoenician woman, the
Lord Jesus ignored her and she just kept right home. He said,
it's not right, it's not fit to give the children's bread
to a dog. And she said, yay, Lord, I'm
a dog. But even dogs get the crumbs
from a master's table. Amen, I'm a dog. But even dogs. But God. Mm-mm-mm. Look at verse 21, Now therefore,
fear ye not, I will nourish you and your little ones. And he
comforted them and spake kindly unto them. The picture of Christ just keeps
on with Joseph, doesn't it? And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he
and his father's house. And Joseph lived 110 years. And Joseph saw Ephraim's children
of the third generation, the children also of Makar, the son
of Manasseh, were brought up upon Joseph's knees. This speaks
of Joseph's goodness and grace to his great-grandchildren's
children. Beloved, God's mercy in Christ
endureth forever. And ever, and ever. Verse 24, and Joseph said unto
his brethren, I die, and God will surely visit you and bring
you out of this land and to the land which he swore to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob. Friends, God will one day very
soon come and take us to the place that he's prepared for
us. He promised he would. So the next time trouble comes
your way, remember that there's no temptation taking you but
that which is common to man, but God is faithful. Who will not suffer you to be
tempted above that which you are able, but will with the temptation
also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it. That's
God's promise to you, Gary. Did our Lord not say, in my Father's
house are many mansions? He said, if it were not so, I
wouldn't have told you. He's not a man that he should
lie, or a son of man that he should repent. What God says,
He means. My mom used to tell me that all
the time. Young man, I mean what I say, and I say
what I mean, and I mean what I say. You've heard that. That's God. He means what He
says and says what He means. And that's the best news I ever
heard. May God be pleased to make it so for His own glory,
for Christ's sake and for the good of His chosen people. May
God be pleased to add His blessings to the preaching of His Word.
Amen. Thank you again for everything.
I appreciate it so much. Yeah, God's a God of purpose.