There's a pastor friend of mine
who, by necessity, leads his own singing. And he told me,
first thing every day he goes into his study, first thing he
does is he prays that the Lord send him a song leader. Sean,
I should start my day thanking God for you every day. I'm so
thankful for a song leader. The songs you pick out, it's
such a blessing. All right, if you would, open
your Bibles with me to Genesis chapter 46. Genesis 46, we'll begin reading
in verse 28. We'll read down through verse
six of chapter 47. And he sent Judah before him
unto Joseph to direct his face unto Goshen. And they came into
the land of Goshen. Joseph made ready his chariot
and went up to meet Israel, his father, to Goshen and presented
himself unto him. And he fell on his neck and wept
on his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph,
now let me die, since I've seen thy face, because thou art yet
alive. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
unto his father's house, I will go up and show Pharaoh, and say
unto him, my brethren, in my father's house, which were in
the land of Canaan are coming to me, and the men are shepherds,
for their trade hath been to feed cattle, and they have brought
their flocks and their herds and all that they have. And it
shall come to pass when Pharaoh shall call you, shall say, what
is your occupation, that ye shall say thy servant's trade hath
been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we and also
our fathers, that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every
shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians. And Joseph came
and told Pharaoh and said, my father and my brethren and their
flocks and their herds and all that they have are come out of
the land of Canaan behold they are in the land of Goshen. And
he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented
them unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto his brethren,
What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy
servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers. They
said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we
come, for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks, for
the famine is sore in the land of Canaan. Now, therefore, we
pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. And Pharaoh
spake unto Joseph, saying, thy father and thy brethren are come
unto thee. The land of Egypt is before thee.
In the best of their land, make thy father and brethren to dwell. In the land of Goshen, let them
dwell. And if thou knowest any man of activity among them, then
make them rulers over my cattle. We'll end our reading there.
Let's bow together. Our Father, how thankful we are
that you've been pleased in your goodness to your people, to allow
us another opportunity to meet together here in the middle of
the week, to gather together out of the world with our people.
Father, sing your praises, to come before you in prayer, bow
before your throne, to open your word, to read it, study it, and
we pray have Christ crucified preached to us out of Father,
I pray you give us the spirit of true worship this evening,
that you bless us with your presence, that you bless us with another
sight of Christ the Savior. Father, enable us to worship
in awe and wonder and have that worship strengthen and encourage,
comfort our hearts. Father, we're so thankful for
a place that you've provided for us where we can meet together
Father, I pray you continue to bless this congregation, that
you continue to bless the preaching that goes forth from here. Father,
that you might enable us by your power to minister to our generation,
to preach Christ to our generation, that you'd use the preaching
of Christ crucified to call out your people, comfort and edify
and instruct your people, to draw us ever near to Christ our
Savior. Father, We pray for ourselves
here tonight. We pray for your people, wherever
they might be meeting together tonight. Father, bless them for
your great namesake. We pray a special blessing for
Brother Eric there in Lexington. Pray you'd bless him in preaching
and bring him back home safe to us tonight. And Father, for
your people that you've brought into the time of trouble and
trial, we pray that you'd go with them into the valley. We
know that you're with them. a special portion of your presence.
Comfort their heart with your presence, that even in the midst
of the valley, they find comfort in thee. Father, we pray you
might be pleased to heal and deliver as soon as it could be
thy will. All these things we ask in that name which is above
every name, in the name of Christ our Savior, amen. I've titled the message this
evening, Dwelling in Christ. Jacob's family, 70 souls had
left Canaan and now they're coming to live in Egypt in the land
of Goshen. And Goshen is a picture of Christ.
This is a picture of God's elect living in Christ. To give you
just a little bit of understanding of the history of Goshen so we
see why this is a picture of Christ. Goshen was considered
the best land in all of Egypt. This was the best place to live.
It was a delta. that's still flooded, even during
this time of famine, it's still flooded so grass could grow there.
And that's a picture of Christ. The world that we live in is
in a spiritual famine. It's a desert. There's no life
there. There's nothing that gives life. There's nothing that supports
life. But in Christ, there's life. In Christ, God's people
have life. It's the only place that life
is found in Christ. And that's where God's people
dwell by his grace. If you dwell in Christ, you dwell
in the best place. You can't dwell in a better place
because there's spiritual life there. And the 70 descendants
of Jacob that came to Egypt, every last one of them came to
Goshen. It wasn't some of them lived in Goshen and some of them
lived somewhere else. They all lived in Goshen. That's God's
elect, all of them. Without exception, they all dwell
in Christ. They all have the blessings of
dwelling in Christ. Now Jacob doesn't know it yet,
but we know this because we know the story. Going to Egypt is
going to turn out to be a very, very trying experience for Israel,
isn't it? But you know what? If they never
went to Egypt, they never would have experienced the blessings
that are found in Goshen. They never would have known the
joy of being redeemed from Egypt. They were still living in Goshen
when they were redeemed from Egypt. If they never gone to
Goshen and gone to Egypt, they never would have known the joy
of being set free from bondage because of the blood of the Passover
lady. Just like Adam's race. Falling into death and sin in
Adam has been a very trying, I guess, horrible, I don't know
what word to use, a very horrible experience for God's elect to
fall into sin, to fall into death, to be thrust out of God's presence.
But do you know if we had never fallen in Adam, we'd never know
the joy of redemption in Christ. If we didn't know death in Adam,
we'd never know the joy of life in Christ. If we'd never been
made unrighteous in Adam, we'd never know the joy of being made
righteous in Christ. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that righteousness which is of faith,
the righteousness of Christ. We'd never know that joy if we
didn't fall in Adam first. If we'd never fallen into bondage
to sin, We never know the joy of being God's free men. Christ's
free men, set free through the blood of his sacrifice. You see,
God's people, Israel, that family of Jacob, they had to go to Egypt. And they went to Egypt, and there
they lived, but they were never of Egypt. See, they were in Egypt,
but they were always separated from the Egyptians. They always
lived in Goshen. They were in Egypt, but they
were not of Egypt. Well, that's God's people, isn't
it? We live in this world. I mean, here we are, you know,
we live in this world. But scripture tells us we're
not of this world. We're not of it. We dwell in
Christ. We're of Christ. And even though
it was a great trial, many, many, many of those years that they
were there in Goshen, you know, Israel saw some great blessings
while they lived in Goshen. Look over at Exodus chapter eight.
In Exodus 8, this is when the Lord sent the plague of the swarm
of flies to Egypt. And do you know what? Not one
fly came into the land of Goshen. Exodus chapter 8, verse 21. Else if thou would not let my
people go, behold, I'll send swarms of flies upon thee and
upon thy servants and upon thy people and into thy houses. And
the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and
also the ground whereon they are. And I will sever in that
day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms
of flies shall be there. To the end that thou may know,
I'm the Lord in the midst of the earth, and I will put a division
between my people and thy people. Tomorrow shall this sign be."
I tell you, it's God that makes a difference between the saved
and the lost. between those in Christ and those
out of Christ, between being in Egypt and being in Goshen.
Then the Lord sent a plague and he killed all the animals, all
the Egyptian animals, their cattle, their camels, and their donkeys
and everything. Not one Egyptian animal died
in Goshen. Look in Exodus nine across the page here, verse three.
Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle, which is
in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels,
upon the oxen and upon the sheep. There shall be a very grievous
moraine. And the Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel
and the cattle of Egypt. And there shall nothing die of
all that is in the children of Israel. And the Lord appointed
a set time saying, tomorrow the Lord shall do this thing in the
land. And the Lord did that thing on the morrow. And all the cattle,
all the animals of Egypt died. but of the cattle of the children
of Israel died not one. There's no death in Goshen was
there? And there's no death in Christ. Then the Lord sent another
plague. He sent a fiery hail, a hail
mixed with fire that would run across the ground. He sent that
in all the land of Egypt, destroying everything. But no hail fell
in the land of Goshen. Look in Exodus 9 verse 24. So there was hail and fire mingled
with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it
in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. And the hail
smote throughout all the land of Egypt, all that was in the
field, both man and beast, and the hail smote every herb of
the field and break every tree of the field. Only the land of
Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail. There's no judgment. There's
no fiery judgment in Christ. Then the Lord sent another plague.
He sent the plague of darkness in Egypt. And you guessed it,
there was darkness in all the land of Egypt, but not in Goshen. Look at Exodus chapter 10, verse
21. And the Lord said unto Moses,
stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness
over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And
Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven, and there was
a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They saw
not one another, neither rose any from his place for three
days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings."
There's no darkness in Christ. In Christ we see. In Christ I
see how can God be God and still save a sinner like me. In Christ
I see. Then on the night of the Passover,
every firstborn in those Egyptian houses died. And the firstborn
in every Israelite house lived because there was blood on the
door. In every house in Goshen, there can't be any death where
the blood of Christ has been applied. So Goshen was a very
special place, wasn't it? I mean, if I was going to have
to live in Egypt at that time, I sure would want to live in
Goshen, wouldn't you? Well, dwelling in Christ is a special, special
blessing. What a blessing of God's grace.
There's life, there's light, there's no judgment, there's
no death in Christ. If I've got to live a time in
this world, I sure do want to live in Christ while I do it,
don't you? Well, now here's the question.
I don't think anybody would say, I don't want to live in Christ.
Then here's the question. How do I get in Christ? Well,
it's the same way Israel came to live in Gushen. I'm gonna
give you five pictures of that. Look back at Genesis chapter
45 to start. Number one, God's elect live
in Christ by divine purpose. Genesis 45 verse nine, this is
when Joseph first revealed himself unto his brothers. In verse nine,
he says, haste ye, go up to my father and say unto him, thus
saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me Lord, of all Egypt, come
down unto me, tarry not, and thou shalt dwell in the land
of Goshen, and 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 hast, and there will I nourish thee. For there
are yet five years of famine, lest thou and thy household,
and all that thou hast, come to poverty. Now before Jacob
even knew Joseph was alive, Joseph had already determined this.
Jacob and his whole family are gonna go live in Goshen. He already
determined that. And they're gonna go live in
Goshen, because that's what Joseph purposed for them to do. That's
what the king purposed. See, Jacob wasn't there in Canaan
and say, you know, there's a famine here. It's very grievous, and
boys, I'll tell you what we're gonna do. We're gonna go down
there to Egypt. We're gonna dwell in Goshen, because I hear that's
the best land in all the world. Jacob didn't decide that. Jacob
couldn't decide that, but Joseph could, and Joseph did, and Joseph
made his purpose come to pass. Well, here's the picture. Before
man ever fell in the garden, before anything was even ever
created, Almighty God purposed that his people would live in
Christ. Before time began, the Father
put all of his people in Christ. It was the Father's purpose.
It was the Father's will. It was the Father's decision.
That's how they got in Christ. See, man can't make the decision
to accept Jesus as our personal Savior, and now we're gonna live
in Him. Dead, fallen man doesn't have the capacity to make that
decision. And even whatever decision we
do make, I promise you, it's gonna be away from Christ. It's
not gonna be to live in Christ. Our nature will always choose
sin over righteousness. will choose works over grace,
will choose death over life every time. You and I can't make the
decision to live in Christ, but God can, and God did. God willed for his people to
live in Christ, and by his power, he made his will come to pass. That's how they live in Christ.
All right, number two, now look at Genesis 46. Verse 28, where
we began reading earlier. God's people live in Christ because
Christ leads his people to live in him. Verse 28 says that he
sent Judah before him unto Joseph to direct his face unto Goshen,
and they came into the land of Goshen. Now here, Jacob's made
this trip with his whole family. They get to the edge of Goshen,
and now he's got to send one of his sons in there. He'll let
Joseph know that they're there, make these arrangements so they
know where they're supposed to go. He's got 11 sons there. It's
no coincidence he picked Judah. He picked Judah to lead them
in because Judah is a type of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ
is gonna be born of the tribe of Judah, the kingly tribe. He has to come from the tribe
of Judah, doesn't he? The Lord Jesus Christ is king. He's king
of all kings. He's coming through the line
of Judah. And since Christ is king, he has the authority to
lead his people into him. He has the authority to make
his people lawful citizens of his kingdom. You know, God's
people don't dwell in Christ as an illegal alien. You know,
you're there, but you ain't supposed to be there. Just God never allowed
that to happen. God's people don't dwell in Christ
on a temporary visa that could be revoked at any time. God's
people dwell in Christ as a permanent resident. It's by the declaration
of Christ the King. You know, we used to make those
trips to Mexico. I was just a little bit nervous
the whole time we were there, because when you go in there,
there's a visa, that little piece of paper, they give you a temporary
visa. And they get real mean looking
at you and say, now don't lose this. If anybody stops you, you
got to have this. And you can't get back out of
this country without this little piece of paper. I mean, I check
for that little piece of paper 55 times a day. I mean, I'm just
so nervous that's going to lose that thing, you know. I don't
have that worry when I'm in the United States of America. I belong
here. I didn't belong down here in
Mexico. You don't have to look at me very long and say, that guy don't
belong here. One of these things is not like the other. I belong here. God's people. Do not dwell in
Christ on a temporary visa you kicked out at any moment. No,
they belong there. Christ made it so he led them.
He led them into himself. Look over at John chapter 10. John chapter 10. Verse one. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber, but he
that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and
he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. Now how
did the sheep get out of the world into the green pastures?
How did the sheep do? The shepherd led them. He led
them out. The good shepherd leads his people
into himself. He's the shepherd that leads
us, and he's also the city in which we dwell. He's everything,
isn't he? He's the one who leads us in. If you're one of God's
sheep, this I can promise you. God the Holy Spirit's gonna come
to you, and he's gonna lead you into Christ. He's not going to
drive you. He's not going to beg you. He's
going to show you Christ and he's going to lead you in and
you'll follow willingly. All right. Number three, when
we dwell in Christ, Christ is all that matters. There's no
other issue. There's no other subject. Christ
is all that matters. Look at Genesis 46 verse 29. And Joseph made ready his chariot,
and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented
himself unto him, and he fell on his neck and wept a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph,
now let me die, since I've seen thy face, because thou art yet
alive. After 21 years, over two decades,
Jacob thought his favorite son Joseph was dead. Now I'm sure
over the course of 21 years, as much as a person can, Jacob
came to terms with the fact his favorite son was dead. He came
to terms with that, but he's still sorrowed. He still missed
his favorite son. And after 21 years, Jacob finds
out that Joseph is alive. And he takes this long journey,
and at the end of that long journey, he sees his favorite son. He
sees Joseph. Joseph runs up to him and hugs
him and says here that Jacob and Joseph hugged each other
and wept on each other's neck a good while. You reckon? You reckon? Our daughter Holly's working
in town this week. Instead of staying in a hotel,
she's staying with me and her mama. She got home last night And Jan
and I both just ran and hugged her. And I hugged her. Oh, I
felt so good to have my baby in my arms. And I just hadn't
seen her in two weeks. Jacob hadn't seen Joseph in 21
years. Can you imagine how good that
felt to that old man? Jacob's heart just about, I would
imagine, had to burst with happiness. that just had to feel so good
for him to put his arms around that favorite son. When that
happened, I promise you this, Jacob didn't care one bit about
his surroundings. Not one bit. He didn't care what
kind of clothes he was wearing, what kind of shoes he was wearing.
Jacob didn't care that he was going to go live in a place where
there was the best houses and the best green pastures living.
He didn't care. Jacob didn't care that he was gonna be provided
with more material blessings than almost anybody in the face
of the earth had. All Jacob cared about was seeing Joseph. Just let me see him one more
time. Now that really happened. That
happened to these men, to Jacob and to Joseph. That happened
to them. This is their life experience. But do you see the picture? A believer, one of God's children,
is more blessed than human language can express. We just can't express it. I know there are things that
bother us, there are things that pain us, there are things that
disturb us, but God forgive me for ever complaining.
A believer has being blessed more, you can't express it. The Lord blesses His people with
things in this life. He gives people the things we
need in this life. He taught us to pray. Give us
this day our daily bread. If we're going to have it, He
gave it to us. And the Lord's given in handfuls,
heaps upon heaps to every single person here. He has. But the
believer doesn't follow the Lord for the things that He gives.
No, he doesn't. The multitude who followed the
Lord after the miracle of the loaves and fishes, you know why
they were following Him? They just wanted a free lunch. They
just wanted a free lunch. They were following Him for what
He could give them. A believer follows Christ because we love
Him. I have to have Him. I don't care what kind of food
He gives me or doesn't give me, I have to have Him. I have to
have Him. There's such a difference. The
Lord heals. I know the Lord worked many miracles
and healed people and flocks and flocks and flocks of people
followed him because he healed people. Physically he healed
them of many diseases. But the believer doesn't follow
the Lord because he can heal me. The believer follows the
Lord because I must have him. I must have him. be in his presence. I must have his presence in my
heart. I must hear of him. I must be given faith. I can't
live without him. And the Lord promises his people
blessings in glory that are indescribable. I mean, the scriptures don't
give us very, very little description of what heaven is like. Partly,
maybe that's so, you know, We focus on what the Lord has given
us to do here, and largely it's because we couldn't understand
Him, they told us. The Apostle Paul said, I went there and saw
it. And I can't possibly tell you I saw. I can't possibly tell
you. It's blessings that are indescribable. Just like Joseph, giving the
land of Goshen to Jacob. Jacob was gonna receive everything
he was gonna receive in Goshen. It's not, you can't even compare
that to what a believer is going to receive when this life is
over. But the believer does not look
forward to heaven because we want a big mansion in the sky
or because we want to walk on streets of gold. The believer
looks forward to heaven because there I'm going to see Christ
face to face. No more weak faith between him
and me. no more glass darkly between
him and me, to see the Savior face to face. Ralph, they can
take the streets of gold and the big mansions, that's not
what I'm interested in. The believer says, give me Christ
or else I die. He will be heaven to me, wherever
he's at, wherever he's at. That's heaven for me. The believer is so taken up with
Christ that seeing him, that knowing him, that being with
him, that being made like him, that's my heart's desire. I have
to have you. Doesn't Jacob sound a lot like
Simeon here? Jacob was looking forward to Christ by faith. Simeon,
working there in the temple. God promised him he wouldn't
die until he saw the Lord's Christ. And Simeon was just going about
his daily business, working there in the temple. And here came
in Mary and Joseph and laid that eight-day-old baby in his arms. And he looked at that baby and
he said, like Joseph, now I'm ready to die. Lord, let thy servant
depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. This
is all I've ever wanted, to see Him. I'm telling you, not just on
Sundays and Wednesdays, but in our daily life. Brothers
and sisters, I'm telling you, it's Christ that's all that matters.
Do the best job that you can do. Provide for your family.
Be a good husband, a good wife, a good child. Be a good neighbor. I mean, all those things. But
do all that with this basic foundation. Christ is all that matters. Christ
is all that matters. I want to be consumed with the
Savior that way, don't you? Alright, here's the fourth thing.
A believer. dwells in Christ by admitting
that I am an abomination. Genesis 46 verse 31. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
and to his father's house, I will go up, and show Pharaoh, and
say unto him, My brethren, and my father's house, which are
in the land of Canaan, are come unto me. And the men are shepherds,
for their trade hath been to feed cattle. And they brought
their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have. And it
came to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What
is your occupation? That ye shall say, Thy service
trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now,
both we and also our fathers, that we may dwell in the land
of Goshen. For every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians."
Now, for whatever reason, shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians. I don't know why. Was it the
rich, refined city folk, you know, looked down on the poor
country folk, you know, the white-collar people looked down on the blue-collar
people, got dirt under their fingernails from working them?
I don't know why, but a shepherd was an abomination to them. I
mean, they really, really, really hated shepherds. Remember when
Joseph first brought his brothers home to eat with him? I mean,
Joseph is somebody. I mean, these people love and
respect Joseph. I mean, they got food to eat
because of Joseph. And they still sat down by Joseph
by himself. The Egyptians wouldn't eat with
Joseph because he'd been a shepherd. That was an abomination to them.
And that word means abomination. It means disgusting. It means
unclean. And it means wicked. And Joseph
is telling his brothers, now you admit to Pharaoh that you're
disgusting, that you're unclean, and that you're wicked. Now,
I don't know if that hurt their feelings or not, but that's what
they did. You admit that you're a shepherd
because when Pharaoh sees that you're an abomination, he's gonna
separate you from the Egyptians. He's gonna put you over there
by yourselves over there in the land of Goshen to keep you separate
from all his good, clean people. Now, like I say, I don't know
if that hurt their feelings or not, but if they're gonna live
in Goshen, they've got to admit they're an abomination. Now,
the picture here of God's elect is so clear, you can't miss it.
We have to see ourselves as an abomination before we can ever
dwell in Christ. We have to see that our occupation
is an abomination. And our occupation, that's our
worst. That's all the religious works
that we're doing, trying to make ourselves righteous, trying to
make God happy with us, trying to make it so we're good enough
that God might accept us. We have to admit that all those
religious works, they're unclean and they're wicked. And we have
to admit that our works are abomination because our nature is an abomination. See, we can only produce what
our nature is. Our works are abomination because our nature
is an abomination. We're unclean and we're wicked. That's what we are. Sin is what
we are. We've got to admit, I've got
no hope of myself because I'm an abomination. The only hope
I have of righteousness and life and peace is in Christ. If your only hope of righteousness
is in what Christ has done for you, Then you know what? You dwell in the land of Goshen.
Everybody that dwells in the land of Goshen knows that the
only way I can be righteous is Christ's obedience for me. The
question is this. Are you a sinner? Now that's
the question. Are you a sinner? Christ died
for sinners. Christ came to save sinners.
He came to save even the chief of sinners. The question is,
are you a sinner? I hope you are. And I hope that
it's not just sin is what you do. I mean, this is what you
are. You're a sinner. If you're a
sinner, then you know what? You dwell in Christ. You dwell
in the land of Goshen because you fit the description of those
that Christ came to save. He came to save abominations. That's who he came to save. And
then fifthly, we dwell in Christ by saying what Christ says. Look
at verse 47 of Genesis. Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh,
and said, My father, and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds,
and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan. And
behold, they are in the land of Goshen. And he took some of
his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.
And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And
they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we and also
our fathers. And they said, Moreover unto
Pharaoh, for to sojourn in the land are we come. But thy servants
have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is sore in the
land of Canaan. Now therefore, we pray thee,
let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. And Pharaoh spake
unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are coming to
thee. The land of Egypt is before thee, and the best of the land
make thy father and brethren to dwell. In the land of Goshen
let them dwell, And if thou knowest any men of activity among them,
then make them rulers over my cattle. Now these brothers that
Joseph brought to Pharaoh, Joseph told him everything's gonna happen.
He said, I'm gonna present you to Pharaoh. Pharaoh's gonna ask
you, what's your job? What's your occupation? And you tell him,
when he does, you tell him this. And Joseph's brothers said exactly
what Joseph told them to say. They said, we're shepherds. That's
what we've always been. We want to live in the land of
Goshen. They didn't add any opinions of their own. They didn't add
any input of their own. They didn't try to do something
to get Pharaoh to do what they wanted him to do. All they said
was what Joseph said. Well, that's God's people. You
know what a believer says? Exactly what Christ says. We
say everything that Christ says about me is true. He says I'm
guilty and I'm undone. I say that about myself. I'm
guilty and I'm undone. He says I don't have any hope
of myself. I say I don't have any hope of myself. You're right,
I don't. I can't be saved by my works. The only way I can
be saved is by God's grace. He's got to give me faith to
believe that. I'm helpless, I'm completely dependent on Christ.
That's what he says. I say that because that's what
he says. And we say about Christ what he says about himself. God wrote a whole book to tell
us about the Lord Jesus Christ, and we sum it up by saying this,
Christ is all. That's what we say about Him.
He's all. He's everything. He's my wisdom. He's my righteousness,
my sanctification, my redemption. He's my prophet. He's my priest.
He's my king. He's the only thing I have. I
don't have any righteousness, but He is. I don't have any hope
of forgiveness except in His blood. I don't have any hope
of acceptance with the Father, but in Him. You reckon these
five shepherds could have ever come into Pharaoh's presence
without Joseph? Not a single solitary chance.
But they came into Pharaoh's presence, and Pharaoh was so
happy to see them. Pharaoh said, oh, I'm so happy
to see your father and your brother come. Give them the best of the
land. Well, that wasn't because of them yahoos. It's because
of Joseph. Pharaoh loved those men for Joseph's
sake. He blessed them for Joseph's
sake. If you come into the presence of God, accept it. You know how
you're coming? Accept it in the beloved. It's the only way I
dare come to the Father. I don't want any other hope,
and I don't need any other hope other than Christ. I'm just resting
in Him. Everybody that lives in Christ
says that. We're saved by grace alone without any works. That's true. I don't think there's
nobody here would disagree with that. Say by grace, through faith,
without any works of our own. We say that because that's what
Christ says. But you know what else? Everybody that lives in
Christ is a man and a woman of activity. Pharaoh said, if you
find any men of activity, you put them over my herds too, all
my cattle. I mean, these guys are good at
what I want them to take care of my cattle. God's people are people
of activity. Now, we're not saved by our works,
not at all. We don't put any trust at all
in our works, but we're also careful to maintain good works,
aren't we? Because that's what God told
us to do, careful to maintain good works, to serve God by serving
his people. And that's the occupation of
everybody that dwells in Christ. Everybody that dwelt in the land
of Goshen was a shepherd, people of activity. Everybody that dwells
in Christ They're saved by grace, and they're people of activity,
aren't they? All right, I hope the Lord bless that too. Let's
bow together. Father, how we thank you for
this precious portion of your word that reveals Christ our
Savior, who would stoop so low to love and care for, suffer
and die to redeem such a sorry lot as we are. Father, how thankful
we are Father, how thankful we are for your redeeming grace
that puts your people in Christ. Father, I pray you'd comfort
the hearts of your people with this blessed truth that you made
us to dwell in Christ, in the beloved, that everything he is,
your people are, because we dwell in him, accepted in the beloved,
having our prayers heard for Christ's sake, being forgiven
for Christ's sake. Father, how we thank you. I pray,
Father, that you'd use this message as it's been preached to glorify
your son, to magnify him in the hearts and minds and eyes of
your people that we might be caused to find such hope and
peace and comfort in resting in you. Father, it's in his blessed
name, for his glory, his sake we pray. Amen. All right, Sean.