if you wish to follow along,
to turn to Genesis chapter 45 again. Now, it has been my practice
for the past several Sundays, I have been texting everyone,
or at least trying to. If I've missed you, I apologize,
and sometimes my phone does not do what I think it's supposed
to do. But I've been trying to text
everyone my text for the next Sunday so that you can at least
read it and have some idea about it. So as many of you may already
know, my text is Genesis chapter 45, the last few verses, verses
25 through 28. But before I read, I'm not just
gonna read the verses. I'm gonna read and give us a
little bit of the context of what's taking place here. And
I mean this with all the sincerity I muster. I'm going to also read
between the lines, because there are clearly some things that
are here between the lines. But after I do what I'm going
to do, I'll read this passage and comment on it, then we'll
move into the truth of Jesus Christ that is taught here. So
then, Genesis chapter 45, verse 25, but here's the background,
remember, Joseph has sent his brothers back to the land of
Canaan to gather up everything and everybody and bring it back
to Egypt to the land of Goshen. And he said, remember, this is
what I spoke on last Sunday, see that you fall not out by
the way, the last part of verse 24. That's the context, go get
this done. Set your mind to this and get
back here. That's what he's saying. And then it says this. and they
went up out of Egypt and came into the land of Canaan unto
Jacob their father. That's what they're supposed
to do, was it not? Now, have you ever gotten some
astounding news And as the person who's giving you this astounding
news, before they can even finish the astounding news, your mind
begins to work in milliseconds, thousands of scenarios that could
be true. It ever happened to you? You
can tell by their demeanor that they have a very astounding thing
to bring you, and before they even get all the words out, your
mind just starts running wild. You ever done that? All right,
think about it. They came to Jacob, their father,
and told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor
over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for
he believed them not. I can see Jacob as they begin.
Joseph is yet alive, what? What rumor are you boys spreading
now? Huh? Do you see the mind of the
old, he's almost 130, he's right at 130 years old. And I can see
the old man's mind turning. Who's fed you this pack of lies?
Huh? You see the mind turning? They went up out of Egypt and
came into the land of Canaan and to Jacob their father and
told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive. And he's governor over
all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for
he believed them not. I figure he started with, this
is probably a secondhand story these boys are giving me. But
this was no secondhand story, Mack. They had stood before their
brother. had their brother reveal himself
unto them in mercy and grace and compassion, and he proved
to them who he was. This ain't no rumor. This ain't
no secondhand word. This ain't something they heard
down in Egypt. This is something they experienced
down in Egypt. And they told him all the words
of Joseph, and let me tell you, in our experience, what we know,
what we understand, what we see, always begins with God's word. If you got your hope based on
your experience, you got trouble. Now experience is important.
but our hope is not in the experience, it's in the word of God. They
told him all the words of Joseph, what first hand? First hand, which he had said
unto them. But it wasn't just that. I can
see the old man looks up and his eyes are dimming. It's not
long before he will be in Egypt and he'll lose his sight. But
I can see him looking at her. He's straining and said, what?
What's that with you boys? It's a wagon train. Do you see
it? Look. 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, Bless God the work's
done, just get aboard. I take it these were, for the
most part, empty wagons. You know why? Because they were
designed to carry people back to Egypt. And if you go into
chapter 46, you'll find out it's an exact number of people. Right? I mean, we're given their names
and their numbers. And I see the old man looking
and he says, wagons of Egypt. You see, God not only gives us
his word firsthand, he'll prove it to you by his spirit. The
wagons here are the spirit of God, proving through providential
reckonings the veracity of God's word. That's what it was. That's what it was for Jacob
here, and that's what happens when you hear the gospel the
first time and the millionth time. The first time and the
millionth time. the spirit of Jacob, their father,
revived. You see that? This ain't no myth. Mason, here's the very wagons
of Pharaoh. This is real. This is real. Let me tell you something. As
one sent of God, I am not whistling in the dark. I am preaching to
you, thus saith the Lord. And I have it right before me.
And you do too. And you can see it. The only
question is, will God give you eyes to bow to it? You ever been
in a desperate need of something? With no avenue of escape. Whatever
it be, a bill, something. No avenue of escape. And then,
enough comes. Enough, not just enough, but
enough. Enough, not just enough, but
enough. When that happens, how much more do you need? Nothing. Now look at what it says. The
spirit of Jacob their father revived, and Israel said, it is enough. I liked that when I read that.
It is enough. Joseph, my son, is alive. I will
go and see him before I die. Now here's a man that knew he
would not die till he'd seen that boy because that boy had
already had a dream, told me, you gonna bow to me in charge
one day. Isn't that glorious? Isn't that
glorious? Enough. That's my subject. It is enough. Now somebody says, what's interpolated?
Listen, don't get too technical on yourself. Don't try to find
some deep, this ain't deep doctrine. This is just blessed sweet doctrine. When it comes to God's word and
God's spirit proving to you, he comes and reproves the world.
He shall reprove the world. He will reprove the world of
sin, of righteousness and judgment. He will bring the wagons. He
will prove God's word to you if you're one of his. And you
know what you will say? It is enough. Now he didn't say
enough. Uh-uh. He said, it is enough. You get it? You get it? It is
enough is the answer of a God-given faith and a God-wrought satisfaction
with God's words and God's actions. That's a God-given faith. When
a God-given faith looks at God's word and sees, in spite of what
you all see, what you see in front of you, or in light of
what you see in front of you, you say it, is enough. Enough. This response denotes
joy. Do you see the old man revived
at first? He's thinking a million thoughts. Where'd they hear this
story from? They're gonna drag me through this trouble again.
I've just started to be able to get that boy out of my mind
a little bit. And now they're telling me he's
alive and he's governor of Egypt? Come on now. Isn't that what
this is, Steph? You read between the lines, he
said he believed them not. Is that not what it said? Mason,
there's some stuff between the lines here. But yet, all of a
sudden now, they step, so we got firsthand account, Daddy.
He spoke to us. And here's his very words. and look at the wagons. Jacob said, it's enough. It's
enough. This response denotes joy, satisfaction,
submission. It's enough. It's enough. Well,
why didn't he send armies? Don't need armies. God's in charge
of this deal. You see what I'm saying? Oh,
if we just had more power, we got all the power God's ordained
for us to have, right here in this little place. That's right,
because we have the power of God and the salvation, his gospel,
declared in his word. Yeah, that's right, Joseph's
words and wagons from Joseph are enough. It's enough. It's submission, it's confidence
in God. Truly, God-given faith declares
it is enough to all of God's words and ways, doesn't it? It's
enough. You see, I don't have to understand
how everything works. Now we may understand how some
things work, but there's some things, even by faith, we'll
never understand how it works, we just understand that it works. And that's what Hebrew says.
By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed, but then
it doesn't say how. It says that the worlds were
framed by the word of God. I don't have to understand how,
I just understand that. God-given faith looks at all
of God's words and all of God's ways and says it's enough, but
I wanna deal with a few particulars. See, I could've just stopped
it. Either you believe all this word or you don't believe God. And
I could sit down and you know what? That's the truth. But that
would lay a great weight on your shoulder, would it not? Think
about it. See the universe around you.
Look at it. I was driving with an inmate
the other day and he kept responding, this is beautiful country. This
is beautiful country. And I told him, yes, it's God's
country. Beautiful farmland, nestled between
two mountains. All of these rolling hills and
cattle everywhere. And he kept saying, this is beautiful
country. Look at God's universe, look out into the sky. and wait
until the night moves in and you see all those stars and then
maybe you've seen some pictures of Hubble and you realize that
some of these things are not just stars, they are whole separate
galaxies filled with millions of stars, Mack, spinning around
out there. And the word of God comes to
me and says in the beginning, God created the heavens and the
earth. And faith says it's enough. You hear what I'm saying? Well,
but what about all of this site? It is enough. And it says in six days God created
everything we see. An evening and a morning, six
days. It is enough. And especially enough when I
read what Paul said in Colossians 1, 16 and 17, our Lord Jesus
Christ did all this. And Mac, he still holds it together
today. By him, all things consist. That means he is holding it together. They argue about whether it's
going apart or coming together. He's got it wherever it is. Whether
it's expanding or contracting, he's the one that has it right
there. And he's either doing this or he's doing this. And
you know what? All's I gotta know is he's the
one that's got his hands on it. It is enough. And you say, well, that's so
simple. Listen, there are young children
today that are bombarded in their minds and are being taught that
they must believe in evolution or they're some kind of freak.
Faith says concerning God's work, and you can see the proof of
it out there. Drive out here, look at these beautiful mountains.
as you go home, it is enough. Now if you can't say that, then
you don't have faith. You don't have faith. But preacher,
I see something else. I see a lot of corruption. You
watching the news? Some of you tell me, I know you
tell me you don't like watching the news, I do. I want to see what my God's
doing. I got no problem with it. Oh
yeah, I just lied to you. I got a problem with it, but
I can't do nothing about it. And I know it's my God that has
it in control. You got nuts over here on this
side, the left, you got nuts over here on this side, the right,
you got nuts in the middle, you got nuts everywhere, but my God's
in control of those people. And they are doing exactly what
God Almighty has ordained to be done upon the face of this
earth. but it goes deeper than that. They're not my problem. And here's my problem. If I was okay in here, Joe, I
could deal with all of that out there. Right? My problem ain't them out there.
My problem ain't you. My problem ain't you. My problem's
me. That's my problem. Is it nurture or nature? Blah,
blah, blah. Psychology here. Sociology there. For as by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. Faith says it is enough. I don't have to answer all the
what ifs and what fors. The book of God says, our daddy
Adam sinned in the garden and when he did, he made us sinners. And what does a sinner do? He
or she sins. That's what sinners do, right? Like a dog is a dog. He, I started
to say he licked something, but I gotta be careful what I say,
I'm gonna be on TV. That's what we do. We sin because
we're sinners. The corruption resides in here. Yeah, we see it out there too.
God cursed this whole creation. But the problem with the curse
is it is in here. When God says this all started
with one man named Adam, faith says it's enough. I don't have
to look at philosophy to try to figure this out. where you
were born, who you were raised by, all of that matters. All
of that matters. But it all started back there
with Adam in the garden. And faith says it's enough. And
consider the wrath of God. Consider the wrath of God. Consider
the wrath of a holy God. Ever read Romans chapter one?
specifically verses 18 through 23, where God tells us to the
Apostle Paul, man knows there's a God. And he knows this God
is wrathful and he knows, man knows that wrath comes because
of rebellion. You live your life in alcohol
and drugs and thievery, your life will be miserable. the richest
cartel man in Mexico or wherever is constantly looking over his
shoulder and must pay armed men to keep him safe, he don't have
everything this world has to offer. Does he? Now come on,
he might have more money than you never dream of. He might
have had his own zoo with hippopotamuses, and some of them are still down
there, but he gonna die and rot in the grave just like you. God says in Romans chapter one,
God gave them up. That's a frightening thing. That's
a frightening thing, but that is our God. Henry Mahan said
this the other day. We said it years ago. I heard
it the other day again. And he said, I talked to some
fellow about God, who God is. He said, your God's a monster.
He said, okay, prepare to meet a monster. Because that is who
you will stand before. Now do you, we need to quit worrying
about being so wishy-washy and carrying our emotions and doctrines
out on our shirt sleeve. Your God's a monster. My God
is a holy, wrathful God. and the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness. Faith says it is enough. Does it not? I don't have to
understand how all this fits. What about this group, what about
that group? It is enough. But consider the news about salvation.
Right there, the same chapter, Romans chapter one, verses 16
and 17, the apostle Paul says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. For it is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to
the Greek. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed, and nowhere else. His wrath is revealed in
this world when he punishes men for their rebellion. But the
only place God's righteousness is revealed is in the gospel.
And Paul said, I'm not ashamed of that. But what about this
thing that men do? I'm talking about what God did
in his son, the gospel. Faith says that's enough. That's enough. What kind of good
news is it? That's enough. That's enough. You see, true faith seeks it's
all in Christ, and true faith finds it's all in Christ. It says, like Jacob did many
years ago, our brother in Christ, it's enough. True faith seeks
it's all in Christ. Read what Paul said again, Philippians
chapter one, verses one through nine. It's all in Christ. It's all
in Christ. But true faith also finds it's
all in Christ. The apostle Paul says, in Christ
dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And then he makes
this astounding statement. And ye are complete in him. Faith says that's enough. Doesn't it? That's enough. Now,
Joe, I would love to be a better man. I need to be a better man
for men's sake. But I cannot better myself in
God's sight. I can't do it. I can't do it. Not in God's sight. We ought
to treat one another, we ought to treat even our enemies and
do what love your enemies. Is that what the book says or
not? Love your enemies, do good to those that despitefully use
you. Is that what the book says? That's what we ought to be doing.
That's what God's people strive to do. But we know how miserable
we fell at it, Joe, at the same time. God says this is the way
I've left you. And faith says it's enough. Now don't it? Folks, God restrained
the king years ago from sinning against Abraham's wife. He can
do that for you today. So if you sin, it's because God
has lifted his restraint from you, and you did what was in
your heart and mind to do. And I am glad that there's still
a few Peters out here. He may not tell us like he did
Peter, but he said, Peter, you gonna deny me three times. You
know what he's saying? You ain't gonna be able to help
but deny me three times. You gonna deny me three times
and you can't get around it. You ain't gonna be able to stop
it, but bless God, it was only three times. He was not going
to deny him four times. Somebody says you're given license
to sin. Christ gave him license to sin. Huh, they say I'm tired
of playing games. Christ said Satan's sought you
to sift you as wheat. Who gave permission? God did. And we ought to quit playing
games because we're afraid somebody's going to misunderstand us. They
can't understand us by nature, no matter how clear and emotionally
sweet you try to be. Just preach the truth of who
God is. Present before Jacob Joseph's
words and the wagons. You see that? The words and the
wagons. God will do his work. whether
it's to add judgment to a man or woman's soul, who reject that
word in those wagons, or whether he blesses them by those words
in those wagons. True faith finds it's all, and
you're completed him, faith says that's enough. That's enough. Think about this, the recipient
of true faith may be startled by circumstances, wasn't Jacob? Huh, what does it say? And Jacob's
heart fainted. You ever been there when you
got that kind of news just like this can't be true? This ain't
true. Huh? This ain't so. They're playing with me again.
He knew these boys. Look at what he says about them,
daddy, didn't you? Go read it, baby. Look at what he says about
some of them. He knew these boys. He didn't know all they'd been
up to, but they knew what they'd done. They've been made to confess
what they've done, and now Jacob's gonna have the blessing of coming
down and seeing his son, and being nourished by his son. The recipient of true faith may
be startled by circumstance, just like Jacob was. However,
the word of God and the actions of God always comfort those with
true faith. He heard the words and seen the
wagons, and what? His spirit revived. You see, when Romans 8, 28 says
that we know all things work together for good, it does not
mean that I can look back now and see how everything fit together. I still don't see how everything
fit together. I don't know why God takes some
people's children from them when their children are still young.
I don't know why God will cause one spouse to abandon another
spouse. I don't know why all those things happen, but I know
if you're one of God's, all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Why? Because God offered his son for that group of folk. Don't
you think everything else that's happening, he's making sure it's
for their good? That's what he goes on to say.
So we think that we know all things. He didn't say we understand
how all things work together. We just know it. Why? Because
faith says it's enough. It's just enough to know it.
Paul, I don't have to see how it all folds out. Just to know
it. It is enough is a big statement,
isn't it? And he didn't say it's just enough. It is enough. Think about it. One more thing. One day, most
all of us, and I say most all of us because I don't know. I
don't know when Christ is coming back again. Christ is coming
back again and there'll be some of his people alive when he comes
back again. and they will be living when
he returns. And their bodies will be instantaneously,
that quick, in the twinkling of an eye, transformed. But most
of us will go the way of the grave. Most of us will go the
way of the grave. And I want to read you this one.
Because I have one more. There's a lot more, it's enough,
but I have one more I want to give you. Turn to 1 Thessalonians
chapter four. One day most all of us will go the way of the
grave. But faith says Christ's return to gather his people,
whether they've fallen asleep in him or whether they're still
living when he returns, it is enough. Now look at it, 1 Thessalonians
4 verse 13 is where Paul now goes into this about the return
of the Lord. But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye
sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep
in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you,
what? By the word of the Lord. He said,
God told me to give you this. And Mason, he did. He did. For this we say unto you, by
the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain under
the coming of the Lord shall not precede, that's what that
word meant, shall not precede them which are asleep. For the
Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and with
the voice of an archangel, and look, and the dead, here's another,
I said sleep, somebody said he never calls them dead, right
here calls them, and he says dead in Christ. That's a good place
to be. Dead in Christ. Dead in Christ, and he means
physically dead. It's good to be physically dead
if you're in Christ. because you're evidently with
him, because when he comes back, Mason, he gonna bring you with
him. He ain't coming back to get you, he's coming back with
you. Now look at it. For the Lord
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of an archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ
shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be
caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air. And here it is, here's the real
it is enough. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words. Faith says it is enough. But
what about the times and the seasons, preacher? Come on, preacher,
give us a little bit of detail so we know if it's really close.
Isn't that what unbelief says? Let's talk about Armageddon,
where's it all fit in? Right? Come on, preacher, study
a little bit about Armageddon, enlighten us. I don't have any
light on that subject. There's one subject that I'm
concerned about, and that's the man, Christ Jesus. And I'm telling
you the truth. I know Armageddon is true. It
is real. And it's a battle between God
Almighty and his enemies. And I can tell you this about
Albert again. God Almighty is winning. Not will win. He's the one that's gonna call
that battle to pass, or call it to be. But here's the point.
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that
I write unto you. For yourselves perfectly, you
know all about this. That ain't what he says. For yourselves know perfectly
that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. Even
Paul was not given insight as to that. Even John was not given insight. He tells us about a lot of things
that's going to happen, but he doesn't tell us anything about
when it's going to happen. For when they shall say peace
and safety, then sudden destruction shall come upon them as travail
upon a woman and child, they shall not escape. But ye, brethren,
are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a
thief. You're all the children of light and the children of
the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness, therefore let
us. Not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in
the night. They that be drunken, are drunken
in the night. But let us, who are of the day,
be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an
helmet, what? The hope of salvation. For God
hath not appointed us to wrath. but to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep,
we should live together with him. Wherefore, comfort yourselves
together, and edify one another, even as ye also do. Faith says
that is enough. Now we can talk and discuss about
details, we can talk about it, but none of us knows. I'm sure
our brothers and sisters back in the dark ages, when they were
burning them at stakes, thought the world's coming to an end
soon. This can't go on forever. Don't you think they thought
that? Mm-hmm. See, this thing's all in God's
hands. And God says, one day I'll come back and get you and
join all of you back together with me, and that's where you're
gonna be forever. Faith says that is enough. Oh God, give me that kind of
faith. Oh, God, continue to sustain
that kind of faith in me. Yes, sir. Mac, oh, God, help
me to walk with that kind of faith. You know why? Because
it is enough. Amen. Let's stand and sing number
130. I think this is fairly appropriate
for closing.