True Men? We Are Verily Guilty

Q: What does the Bible say about guilt and mercy?

The Bible teaches that all have sinned and need God's mercy, which is available through Christ. The Bible explicitly states that all humans are guilty before God due to sin; Romans 3:23 says, 'For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.' This guilt is vital to recognize as it leads us to understand our desperate need for mercy. Joseph’s brothers, coming to the realization of their guilt, demonstrated that recognizing one's sin is crucial for repentance. The Lord deals with His people in love and mercy, aiming to bring them to sincere repentance. Through Christ, who is our perfect provision for salvation and forgiveness, those who confess their sins can find mercy and be reconciled to God (1 John 1:9).

Q: Why is acknowledging sin important for Christians?

Acknowledging sin is essential for receiving God's mercy and forgiveness. Acknowledging sin is central to the Christian faith as it opens the door to repentance and, subsequently, to the grace of God. The narrative of Joseph and his brothers illustrates this truth; the brothers had to confront their past sins to receive mercy from Joseph, who is a type of Christ. The Bible indicates that the law serves to expose sin so that all may become guilty before God (Romans 3:19). By recognizing our sinfulness, we understand the need for a Savior—Jesus, who paid the penalty for our sins and offers forgiveness and reconciliation (Romans 5:8). If we do not recognize our guilt, we may miss the grace that is offered to us.

Q: How do we know that God's grace is sufficient for our sins?

God's grace is sufficient because He promises forgiveness to all who truly repent. The sufficiency of God's grace is repeatedly affirmed in Scripture. In Romans 5:20, it states, 'But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.' This demonstrates that no matter the depth of our sin, God's grace is greater. The example of Joseph reveals that while his brothers were deeply guilty, he chose to extend mercy and forgiveness. This reflects the heart of God, who sent His Son to die for our sins so that we might be justified by faith (Romans 3:26). Additionally, 2 Corinthians 12:9 reinforces this concept where God tells Paul, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' The assurance lies in recognizing our inability to save ourselves and resting entirely on the grace of God, who forgives us through Christ.

So Lord, may you graciously help me, I'll return your prayerful attention to the chapter that we read in Genesis chapter 42, and reading part of verse 11 and part of verse 19. So in verse 11 we read these words, we are true men these are the words of joseph's brothers we are true men but sorry in verse 21 it says we are verily guilty concerning our brother so these two different statements from the brothers of joseph We have in this account, in the Word of God, a very beautiful picture of how the Lord deals with his people.

He deals with them in love and mercy. He deals with them in grace. Joseph was that one who was loved of his father, hated of his brethren, and also a picture of Christ. He came unto his own and his own received him not. We read in Acts chapter 7 that when Stephen was giving his defence, we read that, and Joseph was one of the people he mentioned, they were showing the coming of the Just One, we read in the Acts of the Apostles chapter 7. So Joseph was showing the coming of the Just One. In other words, the Lord Jesus was being foreshadowed in the life of Joseph. Joseph, that one who was hated of his brethren, yet loved of his father, going to provide a provision for those who sold him into slavery to be their saviour from the famine.

Well, as we pick up this account in chapter 42, we've come to that place where Joseph is the governor of the whole land of Egypt. He's been through some very difficult times. He's been in prison. He's been firstly accused, sold by his own brothers into slavery, and then in Egypt, he's then been defrauded by Potiphar's wife, falsely accused, and finds himself in prison for more than two years. And but then in God's time, he's lifted from the from the dungeon to that exalted position, something akin to the resurrection, as it were, from the lowest place in Egypt to the second highest in the kingdom in one day. And so Joseph, then in that exalted position, he spends his life providing and storing up a store for the Egyptians, but also for his own family. Eventually they would come and be benefiting from it. They couldn't speak peaceably to him. They hated him. They didn't want to ever see him again. And yet that one that they despised and rejected was providing a blessing and a provision for them in their time of need.

A picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. As they were nailing Christ to the cross, they were doing their worst to him and yet some of those that were there doing those things became recipients of that great salvation. The dying thief was one of them, we read, cast the same in his teeth, and yet he will receive that mercy, that gracious, this day shalt thou be with me in paradise. Well, Joseph was then in this exalted position his brothers were coming into need. And how God used this to bring them to that place of repentance.

And this is a vital place to come to. The natural condition you see is really epitomised in what we have in verse 11. We are all one man's servants, we are true men. This is a picture of us by nature, satisfied with our own righteousness, self-sufficient, satisfied that we can stand on our own feet and we can be responsible for ourselves.

But you see, Joseph was, they were coming to buy this corn, and Joseph was speaking to them. He knew them, but they did not know him. And we read in verse 7, but they made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them. Now this does not mean he spoke unkindly, but yet he was going to, the intention of Joseph was to bring his brothers to repentance, to bring them to that place where they realised their sin, they repented of their sins and that they would obtain mercy.

And you see, this is very, very different than the outlook of the world. We think of the media, it raises up somebody, somebody who's done something wrong and it puts them on the front of the newspaper and then says all the evidence against them and seeks to completely ruin their reputation and their name.

Joseph never does that with his brethren. He never does that. The House of Pharaoh, I don't think ever knew that Joseph had been sold as a slave by his brothers. I don't think he ever knew that. He kept that. That was a family secret. He kept that between him and his brothers.

He was going to bring them into conviction of sin for it. not to expose them to the world, not to ruin their reputation, but to bring them in repentance and then to show mercy and love towards them. This is a picture of the Lord's dealings with his people. He deals with them in love, in faithfulness. He doesn't say sin doesn't matter. He doesn't say, well, that's not a problem. He exposes sin in its nature and its awfulness. and yet shows kindness and mercy and forgiveness.

You see in the very names that Joseph gave to his sons. He had two sons in those years of plenty before while he was governor of the land of Egypt and yet the famine had not yet come. There were seven years of plenty and Joseph didn't sit there in the lap of luxury just with his feet up.

He was up and down the land. He was going around gathering all those storehouses to give to his traitors and his foes. a picture of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He has a store of grace for his people who were once his traitors and his foes. And yet the love of Christ for sinners. So Joseph, you see, he had these two sons, Ephraim, Manasseh and Ephraim.

Manasseh meant, the Lord hath made me forget all my father's house and all my toil and my father's house. It didn't mean that he'd had a mental blank. It didn't mean that he couldn't remember who his dad was or what his brothers had done. But he could, as it were, look upon it without bitterness, without revenge. He could look upon them in mercy. And you see that's how Christ looks upon his people.

Not in anger, but in mercy. seeking to bring them to repentance but there's a work to be done you see there's a work to be done to bring his people this is God's work and there's a picture of it in in this uh a narrative a picture of how God deals with his people well they came seeking a bread you see and it says he spake roughly unto them and said whence come ye and they said from the land of Canaan to buy food.

You see, they didn't come seeking mercy. They wanted to have dealings with Joseph and Egypt on a commercial basis. They would give money to Egypt and Egypt would give them corn. It was nothing to do with mercy. It was nothing to do with anything like that. It was a business transaction. One of the great things that the Lord needs to teach us is that we don't come to God on a business transaction.

We cannot buy grace, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's a gift. He giveth. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. We didn't buy him. We didn't pay for the Lord Jesus to come. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.

The gift of God, the giving God, And so we have with Joseph here, Joseph was that one that would never sell the corn to his brethren. Yes, he did to the Egyptians, but to his own brethren. They were gonna know that they were dealing with mercy, they needed mercy.

And that's something that we need to come each personally to recognise in our individual pathways. that we need God's mercy. We cannot come and buy God out with all our good works. We cannot pay for that grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot do, we cannot. But we need to come with humility.

Joseph remembered the dreams which his dreams and said unto them ye are spies to see the nakedness of the land are ye come of course he had been accused of being a spy for his father by his brothers so many 20 years before and they accused him of being a spy and they sold him as a slave into Egypt. So In verse 10, they say unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.

We are all one man's sons. We are true men. Thy servants are no spies. So they try and give their credibility by saying we're all one man's sons. We're all together. We're not just random people. We're sincere. And they were, if you like, they were speaking honestly in one sense. They really believed this. And yet this is the false confidence that we each have by nature. We bury our sin, we try and pretend it happened 20 years ago, we won't mention that. But you see, they were true men as far as they were concerned. And they were gonna deal with Joseph on that front. We are true men.

Have we come to realise that that is us by nature. We stand in our own righteousness. Saul of Tarsus was just there. He set his touch in the Lord blameless. He kept the law. He kept all the Ten Commandments. The law was but a ladder to climb up to God, for God to congratulate Saul of Tarsus on his righteousness, on his keeping of the law. That's how Saul of Tarsus saw it. until suddenly he realised that he came short and all his righteousness came crumbling down.

But you see, this is God's mercy, isn't it? To leave us to stand ignorant of our own sin, ignorant of our own need of mercy. You see, this is a picture of all mankind. Yes, it's true of these brothers, but it's true of us all. This is not just about Joseph and his brothers. We read together in Romans chapter 3 of the universalness of this law.

There is none righteous, no, not one. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Paul, first of all, looks at the Gentile world in chapter one and says they come short. Then he turns his eyes to the Jews and says they come short. They have God's commandment, but they came short. They didn't keep them in the depth of them as Saul didn't, Saul of Tarsus didn't.

And you see, The Apostle Paul was well qualified to write Romans. He knew what it was to be a Jew. He knew what it was to be a Pharisee, to think that he kept the law, to think that he satisfied God's requirements. And you see these brothers of Joseph, their sin they put long away and thinking, well, that's a long time ago. There is none righteous, no, not one. And so, at our natural condition, we are true men. But what does Joseph do? He digs. He digs. In verse 12, And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land, are ye come?

He puts the pressure on again. You see, to be classed as a spy, even today, is a very dangerous thing. Often it results in capital punishment, isn't it, if you're revealed as a spy. And they were being accused of being spies. This was serious. This governor of the land of Egypt could have them executed. They're on the line for their lives. And they said, thy servants are 12 brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. They tried to give more information to show their credibility. Thy servants are 12 brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan.

And behold, the youngest is this day with our father. So far, so good. And one is not. Well, the one that is not is Joseph that's standing before them. you see there was sin. And you see God was bringing those, Joseph in this account was turning the spotlight to bring them into conviction. We read in John chapter 16, that work of the spirit, John 16. and when he this is John 16 verse 8 when he is come he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment of sin because they believe not on me this is the cardinal sin to not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ the only way of salvation so here and one is not you see They must have had trouble looking at him straight when they said that. You see, it was exposing a weakness. They knew where he was not. Why is he not? Well, we sold him to Egypt. He's actually standing in front of you. Do you see?

It was exposing their sin. And this is the great work of the Spirit to expose our sin. Not for the paparazzi to put it on the front of the newspaper. but for us to become guilty before God personally. And that's what we need, you see. This is the work of the Spirit.

This is what Joseph was doing to his brothers, to bring them to repentance, to bring them to recognize their need rather than cover their sin, and rather than to keep saying, we be true men, to make them come to realize that they're not true men. It's the divine work for God to awaken the conscience. and here Joseph is involved in this and Joseph said unto them this that is that I spake unto you saying you're spies and then hereby you shall be proved and he gives them a test as he puts them in prison for three days he'd been in prison for so many years but they experience this it gives them time to consider you might say Joseph's trying to get his own back on no when you realize he he turned aside to weep he loved these brethren he was not seeking to vindicate himself he was not seeking to punish them he was seeking to bring them to repentance when god deals faithfully with souls and say love not the world and and brings them to conviction of sin this is this is for our good He will reprove the world of sin. He brings his people sometimes into trouble to make them remember, to send them back up memory lane.

Oh, they'd long forgotten these things. Well, I'm not saying they'd forgotten them, but they'd put them into the back of their mind. This was some 20 years ago. Surely everything's forgotten now. You see, sin, 20 years doesn't solve sin. 20 years ago doesn't mean that sin doesn't matter anymore. If it was done 20 years ago, it doesn't mean it doesn't matter. God was gonna bring this event that took place some 20 years before, and bring it to their minds. You see, and then Joseph said unto them the third day, do this and live for I fear God.

If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison, and 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 and they did so you see he wanted to bring them keep them coming back he didn't want them to go away you see these brothers if there had been two different places to buy corn in the time of this famine Egypt and then another place they'd have gone to the other place wouldn't they they would have never dealt with they'd never wanted to deal with this man that was so difficult Oh, they would have gone, they wanted to just have a business transaction. They didn't want their passport up. They didn't want to be searched. But the psalmist, David the psalmist cries, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. A child of God recognizes the value of searching.

You see, it's like this with a doctor, isn't it? You might go to a doctor and you might perhaps think you have some problem with your body in one part, some lump or some tumour. And you might show the doctor a different part of your body so the doctor doesn't see the tumour. But ultimately that's not going to do you any good, is it? You need the doctor to see the tumor. You need the doctor to put you through the scans and not to expose you on the front of the newspaper to show this person's got this wrong with them. No, you want the scans to reveal what's wrong so that then the doctor and the medical profession can work out how best that can be treated. and how that can be put right, if it's possible.

It's not always possible, obviously. But that is the purpose of the scan, of the images. And so when Joseph is, as it were, scanning these brothers, searching them, it is so that the sin may be exposed and dealt with. And that's really, really important in a gospel sense. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But if we hide our sin, David tried it for not only a year, his sin with Bathsheba, and it was a bitter year.

It was an empty year. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. He had no joy in that year, I don't think. He was far off from God, in a bad state, even though he was a child of God. And yet when he came and confessed his sin, then he was able to be brought back and we have in Psalm 51 a beautiful pattern. of how we're to come back to God when we have fallen. And we don't have to sin in the way that David did to need repentance. We need repentance from all sin. Any sin is, as it were, able to take us to eternal punishment. But we are to then seek for mercy. And this is the way to come.

Well, they he said bring your youngest and they did so and in verse 21 that we had as a second part of our text and they said one to another we are barely guilty concerning our brother here you see the dealings of Joseph with these brothers brought them to confess perhaps for the first time we don't know whether they'd ever said this before in the last twenty years whether they'd ever honestly confess that they were guilty But here 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. They link the present difficulty with some event that happened twenty years before, more than twenty years before. God was sending them, Joseph in this thing was sending them down memory lane, and God works, you see, to bring us guilty, and in Romans 3 it says, we read together, let me just turn to that.

Now we know that the things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty. before God. Yes, this is true of the brothers, but actually it's true of you and me. We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. And God is able to put his searchlight into our hearts and to show us our sin in any particular aspect, so that we are specific about our confession. We sinned on that occasion. There's no excuse. We cannot dodge it. We are sinners. And we need mercy.

And you see, this is the great, every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. You say, well, in one sense, what an awful condition to be in. And it is, in one sense. But you see, because we have a God of mercy, a God that delighteth in mercy, it's also a precious place to come to. because we're coming.

And Joseph, as these brothers were saying this, that we are verily guilty, they could only recognize that the ruler of the land of Egypt was this great, high and mighty one. They didn't have any idea that he had any feelings of kindness towards them whatsoever. They didn't know his heart, did they? They could only see. And you see, as the law does its work, the law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. And as that law does its work, it shows us we come short, we come short, we come short. But you see, that's not the end.

The law has a purpose. The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. And I understand that word, the schoolmaster there, is not actually the one that teaches you, it's the one that brings you to the school. When they had young people, there would be appointed somebody who would make sure that they got to school, would make sure that they got to their tutor. And that's the word that's used here. The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. He's the one that was responsible to make sure that child got to school and got to be tutored. And that's the picture of what the purpose of the law is. You see, all the time the law says, well, you're not so bad. Oh, it's not too bad what you've done.

You won't be being driven to Christ. You'll stop short. You'll stand in your own righteousness, like Saul of Tarsus did for many years, as touching the law blameless. But once that law comes with crippling power, to show that you are that sinner, that you have come short, that you are heading for a lost eternity but for the grace of God.

Then you see the gospel then becomes precious. The gospel then becomes necessary. We realise we've got to stop working on the basis of earning our salvation and realise we need to look out of ourselves to one who has kept the law perfectly. One who is able to save unto the uttermost. all that come unto God by him. And they said one to another, we are verily guilty. The work of God to come and convince the world of sin.

And you see, you might say, well, when you're going through that experience, it doesn't feel nice. These brothers, oh, if only they could have changed things. If only they could have gone somewhere else for their food, I'm sure they would have done. But you see, Joseph shut them up. They were being shut up. They were being shut up together. They couldn't go anywhere else. They were hemmed in. And how the Lord does that with his people, there's no other way. And every door is shut but one. And that is mercy's door. And so they come to this place. We are verily guilty.

And you see, they didn't understand. They didn't realize that Joseph could understand them. Because Joseph, you see, was talking to them at this time through an interpreter. He didn't reveal the fact that he knew exactly the language that they spoke.

And how, you see, when God is bringing us in conviction, there doesn't seem to be that nearness and that closeness that we would love. that perhaps we wouldn't love that at that time but there seems a distance there seems God is holy and we're unholy there seems to be a distance God is looking us in in disapproval for our sin and yet behind a frowning providence he hides the smiling face and how Joseph you see he turned aside we read to weep He wept because he loved them.

He wept because he wanted to bring them to repentance. He wept because he wanted them to be restored, to show the kindness of God to them, so that though they were due to starve because of the famine, he could have shut the door of mercy on them. He could have not sold them any corn. They could have died. No, he wanted to show his kindness.

Not only would he provide food, he would provide food at no cost to them. Always the money was sent in their sack's mouth. They never paid for the corn. A picture of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we can never buy it, which is to be freely received. You see, grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he brings his people, you see, to realise their far-offness. We be true men. They considered their uprightness, but it was the Lord's work to show them that they were sinners. That every mouth may be stopped and every everyone become guilty before God. Well, Joseph was going to test these brothers.

He then sent them back, you see, with the money back in their sacks now. And, you see, normally speaking, we know that the Jews have a have a reputation for being good businessmen and good transactions and very careful with their money. Well, if you went to get some corn and you had the money back in your sack's mouth from a business point of view, it sounds a pretty good deal.

But they weren't happy. They weren't happy when they had the money. back in their sack's mouth. We read that. And one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn and he has spied his money for behold it was in his sack's mouth and he said unto his brethren my money is restored and lowered is even in my sack and their heart failed them. Why? You see it made them feel their guilt.

It made them more and more uneasy. What is this governor doing? their heart failed them and they were afraid, saying, what is this that God hath done unto us? You see, I don't know whether these men talked of God before. I don't know how important God was to these brothers of Joseph. They thought they could twist the truth. They could deceive their father. He would never know. They could go on in their own way. They could live life the way they wanted to. They were masters of their own destiny.

But now look at what they're saying. What is this that God hath done? now God you see starts to become not something oh well that's what that's what their fathers talked about that's what Abraham Isaac and Jacob talked about but we go our own way what is this that God hath done unto us you see God becomes a reality God is not just something distant and something mythical. God is a reality in our daily lives, and he is ordering things to bring us to that place of repentance, ordered in all things and sure. You see, he is bringing his people to turn away from their sin, to confess their sin, and that he might bring them to repentance and show mercy towards them. You see, Joseph is then going to test them further.

He's going to send them back with food. All of them are going to have that money back in the sack's mouth. And we read when, in verse 35 of chapter 42, 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.

They recognised this was something wrong. God was dealing with them, sending them up memory lane, bringing them into conviction of their sin. Of course, the father didn't understand what the sin was exactly. Jacob didn't know, although later on he did come to know. But you see, and Jacob says these words, and Jacob their father said, me have bereaved of my children.

Joseph is not, Simeon is not, and now you will take Benjamin. All these things are against me. One of our hymn writers says this, blind unbelief is sure to err and scan God's work in vain. God is in his own interpreter, and he will make it play. And you see, dear Jacob, Jacob had a wayward family. It seems that Joseph and possibly Benjamin, but the other 10 brothers were wayward brothers.

They were far off from God. They were going to be the 12 tribes of Israel. And yet they were far off from God at this stage. God was going to use a famine. God was going to bring them into these difficulties, to bring them into a family that were united.

You think of Joseph, Jacob when he died, all his children around him. He was a blessed man. And those brothers came to repentance. they came to recognize it we think of Judah Judah of whom our Lord sprang you read earlier on in what he did he was most ungodly in chapter 38 it doesn't make nice reading of what Joseph did sorry Judah did and yet later on then when Benjamin Benjamin is required to go back and Jacob will not let him go.

He says, I'm not going to send my children. But you see the famine kept on getting deeper. If that famine hadn't kept on getting deeper, they'd have never gone back. He's far too hard a man. We won't have dealings with him. We'll go to somebody easier. had to come back. You see, God was dealing with them. He was bringing them to that place, that strong and firm and mighty hand of sovereign grace was dealing with them to bring them to that place where they had to come back.

And Judah then, we see this beautiful picture of Judah being a surety for Benjamin. Judah that one who had suggested selling Joseph into slavery in the first place. It was Judah's suggestion and now Judah stands as a surety for Benjamin, in love to his father, in love to Benjamin and says I will be a surety for him and if I don't bring him back I will bear the blame forever. Beautiful words and a picture of what Christ did for his people.

I believe Judah did it not thinking that Benjamin needed it, but just to satisfy his father, just so his father would allow him to go. But you see, when our Lord and Saviour became surety for his people, he knew they would defect. He knew they would need it. He knew he would have to stand in their place. Judah did end up standing in his place.

And yet then at the end, you see, when Joseph was able to show who he was, he got all the Egyptians to go out. This was to be not for the paparazzi. This was not to be on the front of the newspapers for the Egyptians, that this is what happened to Joseph and his family. No, this was a private matter between Joseph and his brethren. He was going to reveal himself. He was going to say, I am Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.

Be not angry with yourselves, for God has sent me before you to preserve life, to give you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives with a great deliverance. Joseph had words of mercy and forgiveness and kindness and care for him. You're going to live in the land of Goshen. The best of the land of Egypt is before you. Regard not your stuff. These were the words of grace and mercy that Joseph had to his brothers. He was going to kiss them all. He was going to embrace them. This is the heart of Joseph for his brothers.

But you see, it had to be, first of all, they had to come to recognise their sin. And you see, this is the great importance in a spiritual Christian life. If we come to Jesus seeking to buy salvation, with our own good works, seeking to stand on our own two feet, as a respectable person coming to God, no, we have to come as sinners. come as those who are breakers of the law, those who come short of the glory of God. And we come, as we see in that beautiful parable that Jesus told of the Pharisee and the publican. The publican cried, God be merciful to me a sinner. This is the only way to come. The only way back to God. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just. to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The storehouses in Egypt were all there for his brethren. They never paid for any of it. They lived on the bounty of Joseph the rest of their lives, really, in the land of Egypt, the plenty. The Egyptians got poorer and poorer. Everything was ended up being owned by Pharaoh, but not so for Israel. They prospered, they grew in those years.

You see such a difference. with the Lord's people. He deals with them, you see, to bring them to this place, to take them from considering that we are true men to coming before God and saying, we are verily guilty. You see, if we don't realise our guilt, we don't realise that we're sinners, We don't need a saviour. We don't need a sacrifice.

You see, I've often wondered what the Pharisees thought the sacrifices were all about. Why did they need a lamb to die over there? What good was it doing? But to those who recognise that they need a substitute, a lamb dying on their behalf is precious. Oh yes, we read in Hebrews that the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin. It was but a shadow of the one who would take away sin, the Lord Jesus Christ, who would come and stand in his people's place as that surety for them. And you see, as Benjamin was found, in his sack was the silver cup of Joseph. The whole thing pivoted on Benjamin.

Benjamin would have to stay as a slave and all the rest of them could go home. Joseph put them in a position where they could do to Benjamin what they did to Joseph some 20 odd years before. They could leave him and go home scot-free. But they wouldn't do it.

Judah came pleading, such a beautiful plea. in love to Benjamin, in love to his father. Before, 20 years before, they told a lie to their father, let him believe that Joseph was dead and they didn't seem to have any kindness towards him at all. They let him think that for year on year.

But here you see now they have a love to their father. Now they have a love to Benjamin and he's willing to stand in his place and to let Benjamin go free. A picture of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And it was at that point, you see, that the brothers were changed. They were not selfish and self-centred anymore. When Joseph showed preferment to Benjamin, we don't hear any problem of the brothers. They weren't jealous of Benjamin.

And you see, when we recognise the grace of God, we won't keep squabbling about what others have got. We'll recognise if we've obtained mercy, we're happy. If we've obtained mercy of God, then that's everything. Others may have double, triple, ten times what we have, but if we've obtained mercy, it's well. You see, that commandment, thou shalt not covet. It is such an important commandment. You see, we get given to covetousness. If somebody's got ten times as much as somebody else, we think there's a problem.

But God is a sovereign God. he gives no account of his matters but you see when those brothers received that food and they just enjoyed it they were just thankful to have it themselves they were thankful to be fed and the fact that benjamin got 10 times more than them wasn't a problem thou shalt not covet Oh, to have a heart, to be taken up with God, and to recognise that we have what we have by the grace of God, to recognise the mercy of God in Christ, and to recognise that this man received his sin as an edict with them. They realised that Joseph was going to use his power against them. You see, when he revealed himself to say, I am Joseph, they were terrified to start with. They thought well now surely he's going to unleash all his tremendous power of being the second highest in the ruler of Egypt and destroy them. When we come as a guilty sinner seeking God's mercy and confessing what we've done.

Let me just turn to a word in Psalms. I think it's Psalm 25. If you look at Psalm 25 in verse 11, in one sense, it doesn't make sense. For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity. for it is great. Just imagine going to a judge and saying that, pardon my iniquity, pardon me for this offence because it's a terrible offence. You'd say well I'm sorry that doesn't really cut it with the judge, there's no pleading ground whatsoever. But you see here is the mercy of God in Christ, though he is holy, though he is just, though he hates sin, yet he is made a way whereby sinners. The law of God, the righteous standard of God has been satisfied by Christ himself.

At Calvary, he took the price himself. Yes, the picture of Joseph broke down. He didn't actually pay for the sin himself, as it were, on their behalf. It was only a shadow of good things to come, but the Lord Jesus Christ, he stands in his people's place. He pays for the price of their sin. and therefore they are set free.

You see as we have in those beautiful chapter in Romans. To declare I say, this is Romans 3 verse 26, to declare I say at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, a just God, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. The justifier of sinners. And yet sinners saved by grace, sinners that have had their sin taken, imputed to the Saviour, He satisfied the law's requirement and therefore He shows mercy. Therefore He can show mercy, therefore He delights to show mercy. For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great. But you see, Joseph, you see, yes, they had greatly grieved him.

But I mentioned the son Manasseh, that it meant, God has made me forget all my toil and all my father's house. But the second son was called Ephraim. God hath made me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. Oh, the fruitfulness of Joseph in the land of his affliction. storehouses that he was filling in the land of his eviction. The storehouses just go in your mind to the greater Joseph.

God hath made me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. Where was the time of Christ's affliction more poignant than ever? It was at Gethsemane, it was at Calvary. God hath made me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction, the fruitfulness of Christ, the whole church living because of his death, the fruitfulness of Christ. Oh, God hath made me to be fruitful. in the land of my affliction.

You see, he'd lost the anger, he'd lost the revenge, and he was delighting in mercy and he was spending his time not in, I'm gonna get those brothers back for what they've done for me, in filling storehouses to bless them in their time of need. A picture of what Christ does for his people.

Well, may we, by God's grace, be brought to that place where we confess our sins, where we become guilty before God. Because if we never become guilty before God, this side of the grave, we shall stand at the judgment seat of Christ, and it will then be seen that we are guilty, and we must bear the punishment ourselves. We must confess our sins then, and it's too late. But if we confess our sins now, can obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Well, may we know this work of the Lord in our hearts, opening to us the exceeding sinfulness of sin, but not leaving us there, drawing us to the Saviour, the antidote of death. May the Lord have his blessing. Amen.

True Men? We Are Verily Guilty

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about guilt and mercy?

Why is acknowledging sin important for Christians?

How do we know that God's grace is sufficient for our sins?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Hayden

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True Men? We Are Verily Guilty

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about guilt and mercy?

Why is acknowledging sin important for Christians?

How do we know that God's grace is sufficient for our sins?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Hayden

Comments

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