The Lord Comforts His People

Q: What does the Bible say about comfort in death?

The Bible assures us that believers are gathered with their people in glory after death, providing comfort that transcends mourning. In Genesis 50, we see that the death of Jacob brought mourning among his family, yet it also reaffirms a profound comfort for believers: they are gathered to their people, which signifies being in the presence of God with fellow saints. This is echoed in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, where Paul comforts believers not to grieve as those without hope, emphasizing that Jesus' resurrection guarantees that those who have died in Him will be with Him forever. This assurance of eternal fellowship with the Lord and other believers is a significant comfort that transforms our understanding of death from despair to hope.

Q: Why is true repentance important for Christians?

True repentance is essential as it acknowledges our sin and turns us towards Christ for mercy and forgiveness. True repentance is a critical aspect of the Christian faith, as it signifies a genuine acknowledgment of one's sins and a heartfelt turning toward Christ for forgiveness. This process is not a one-time event but rather a continuous act of the believer, reflecting the ongoing nature of faith and repentance. As exemplified in the sermon, Joseph's brothers recognized their evil actions against him and admitted their guilt, illustrating that true repentance involves facing the reality of one's wrongdoing without excuses. This acknowledgment leads to a deeper understanding of God's grace, which ultimately brings comfort and peace to the believer's heart, revealing the love of Christ who forgives abundantly.

Q: How does God provide for His people?

God provides for His people through His grace, meeting all their needs both physically and spiritually. In Joseph's assurance to his brothers, we see a vivid representation of how God promises to provide for His people. Joseph declared he would nourish them and their families, which signifies God's ultimate provision. The Lord, our Jehovah Jireh, promises not just to meet our physical needs but also to provide righteousness, faith, and all spiritual blessings through Christ. This reflects Ephesians 1:3, where Paul states that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. As believers trust in this provision, they find comfort and security in knowing God will meet their needs according to His riches in glory, bestowing grace that sustains them in all circumstances.

Q: What role does God's word play in seeking forgiveness?

God's word serves as the authority by which we approach Christ for forgiveness and assurance of His mercy. In the narrative of Joseph and his brothers, we see that they approached Joseph for forgiveness based on a command from their father. This reflects how believers come to Christ on the authority of God's Word, seeking His mercy. God's promises in Scripture provide the foundation for our requests for forgiveness, assuring us that Christ's sacrifice is sufficient for our sins. As Hebrews 4:16 encourages us, we can approach the throne of grace with confidence to find mercy because it is grounded in God's faithful promises. This reliance on God’s Word fosters a deeper trust in Christ's character, reinforcing that He is eager to forgive those who come to Him sincerely.

Going back to Genesis chapter
50, we have now come to the end of
our study in this book. I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I feel like I ought to go back
now since I have a little more understanding of it. That's probably
the way we ought to do it, go through it the first time Then
go back and try to preach it. But we've come to the end of
it. And there's one thing that's set forth in the book of Genesis. They all die. You go back after
the fall. I don't care. Methuselah, even
Methuselah had to die. 960 some years. And he died. And he died. And he died. That's
how it keeps going. And he died. And here we come
up to Jacob. And he dies. And at the end of
it, Joseph, 110 years old, and he died. But Jacob here, he dies as far as this world
is concerned. And they mourn over their loss
of him. There's nothing wrong with mourning
over the loss of a loved one. It's when we mourn excessively that's when it becomes a problem.
Look over in 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians, no, it's 1 Thessalonians. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, Paul says this in verse 13, But
I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which
are asleep. That's what happened to Jacob.
He went to sleep. That you sorrow not, even as
others which have no hope. He's not saying you don't sorrow.
But you don't sorrow as those who 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. So Jacob dies and they mourn
over him. But Jacob made Joseph promise
that when he died that he would bury him with his people. in the land of Canaan, the land
of promise. You notice what it says here
in verse 33 of chapter 49? And when Jacob had made an end
of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, yielded
up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people. I believe that
means he's gathered with those in glory. Because it was several,
it was what, like three months before they finally took him
to the land of Canaan. But he was gathered to his people. It's a great joy to know that
when believers die, they are gathered with the people of God
in glory. The true promised land. The true
promised land. And they are gathered with them
immediately. You see it says there, he pulled
up his feet into the bed, gathered up his feet into the bed, gave
up the ghost and was gathered immediately with the people of
God. He was gathered with Abraham
and Isaac and all the saints of God that were there. Now verse
15, And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead,
they said, Joseph didn't say this, And Joseph gave them no
indication or reason to say this. But they said, Joseph will perventure
hate us now, now that Dad's out of the way, that Jacob, their
father, was out of the way, and will certainly requite us all
the evil which we did unto him. They become suspicious of Joseph's love to them. I want to point out a couple
of things in this verse. The first thing I see is unbelief,
unbelief. Joseph had taken good care of
his brethren for seventeen years in the land of Goshen, and now
they are suspicious of his love to them. All during their time in Goshen,
we never read, we never read of Joseph doing anything to warrant
such suspicion. You don't read anything at all.
We so often, before we shoot them and send them off to hell,
we so often suspect our Lord's love to us because of circumstances. Something unfavorable comes along
and we think, He loves me not. Something favorable comes along
and we think, He loves me. How feeble is our understanding
of God's love to us in the Lord Jesus Christ? How feeble is our
understanding of that? God's love to us has nothing
to do with what I do or what I don't do. My doing something or not doing
something has never merited God's love to me. Never. It never has. And Joseph's brethren, you see
the problem here is not with Joseph. It's not something about
Joseph. It's something about Joseph's
brothers. It's called S.I.N. Sin. That's what it's called.
His brethren began to remember their sins They're evil against
their brother, and they thought, now he's going to get even. Now
he's going to get even. It's evident they didn't really
understand. They really hadn't comprehended
yet the character of their brother Joseph. Joseph wasn't like the rest of
that group. Like I said before, you don't read anything negative
about Joseph's life at all because he's a type of Christ in that
respect. Fear and doubt comes from a lack,
now listen, it comes from a lack of knowing, truly knowing the
character of our Lord. That's where it comes from. When
we begin to doubt and to fear His grace, His mercy, His love,
it has nothing to do with Him. It has everything to do with
us. It's a lack of understanding of His true character. The Scripture
says God is love. But now you and I, we have a
real problem trying to understand what that is. Being born in sin,
in darkness. Joseph. The problem was not with
Joseph. It did not even cross his mind
after Jacob died. I'm going to get even with you. When the Lord Jesus Christ was
nailed to the cross, those who slapped him, spit on him, plucked
out his hair, what did he say? Father, forgive him. They don't
know what they're doing. It never crossed his mind to
retaliate and get even. It's a lack of understanding
and knowing the true character of the Lord Jesus Christ. Unbelief
always breeds the wrong kind of fear. It always makes us think
the worst of someone, especially Christ, especially our Lord. But there is a positive in this.
There's something else I see here. There's always two sides
to a coin. There's something else here.
We see the true nature of repentance in this verse. Remember this. Repentance is a lifelong act. You know, once before they came
before Joseph and they said, you know, he's going to kill
us for what we've done to him. And here again, they've remembered
this sin. They've remembered this evil
that they've done to him. He doesn't remember it. He doesn't. Repentance is a lifelong act,
just as faith is a lifelong act. I believe and I'm still believing. I've repented and I'm still repenting. It's not a one-time isolated
act. True faith always produces true repentance. And really,
just to put it simply, true repentance is this, it's coming clean with
God. It's coming clean with God. But I see this in this verse.
Here's true repentance. They acknowledge that what they
did to Joseph was evil. They said it was evil. Now listen, it deserves punishment. What we did was evil. And we
deserve punishment. They felt that. They felt it.
True repentance has to do with what I have done to Christ. What
I've done to Him. How I slighted Him. How I made
nothing of Him. I'm just as guilty of hating
Him as the Jews were in that day. There was a time, there
was a time I was just as guilty of hating Christ as they were. I was just as guilty of nailing
him to the cross as the soldiers who did it. Just as guilty. I despise his
goodness as much as anyone else. Guilty. Guilty. When Adam fell, he tried to pass
that guilt off. He tried to pass it off on God
by blaming God. He said, the woman you gave me
She's the problem, and if you hadn't have given her to me,
I wouldn't be in this mess. I wouldn't have done this. He
blamed God for it. But true repentance does away
with... And I tell you this, you'd never repent until this
happens. You'd do away with all excuses. Guilty. And you don't blame anybody else.
And then listen, true repentance brings real guilt. It brings real guilt. And real
guilt brings real fear of punishment. It brings a real fear of punishment.
You know that you deserve to be punished. You know that. And that's a fearful thing. When
I first heard the gospel, I realized God could save me or pass me
by and be a just God, whichever He did. And I'm telling you the
truth. It struck fear in my heart. It
struck fear. For the first time, I didn't
hear of a God who wanted to do something for me. I heard of
a God in whose hand I was. And He's going to do with me
as He will. And that struck fear in my heart. He could punish
me in hell everlasting, or He could save me by His grace. It
was up to Him. It's not in His hands. My enmity toward God deserves
punishment. Not loving God, not loving my
brother deserves punishment. And that causes fear. They remembered
what they did to Joseph. They said what we did to him
was evil. And now he's going to requite
us. He's going to pay us back. He's
going to give us just recompense. They knew in their heart they
deserved it. And if he gave it to them, they couldn't say anything
about it. But true faith, which produces
true repentance, always brings the sinner to Christ. It always
brings the sinner to the Lord Jesus Christ, and He soothes
for mercy. He soothes for forgiveness. Notice
here in verse 17. They send a messenger, and they
say, So shall you say to Joseph, Forgive! Lord, forgive! Oh, forgive us. A broken heart
over sin does not drive one away from Christ, it drives one to
Christ. Go to Joseph and ask him to forgive us. That publican
said, God be merciful to me, the sinner. Christ is the only hope I have. He's the one I sinned against and he's the one who can forgive
me. You remember when Peter in the book of Acts, he preached
to those group of people that were there and he spoke to them
who Christ was and what they did to Him. And they said, men
and brethren, what are we going to do? Fear struck their hearts. They
said, what shall we do? And Peter said, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on the One you persecuted.
Believe on the One you crucified. Believe on the One you hated.
Fall at His feet. And we'll see this in a minute. You'll notice here, and I want
you to notice something. They send this messenger. And we'll
first go back to verse 16. They sent a messenger unto Joseph
saying, Thy father did command before he died, the Father commanded
before he died, saying, So shall you say to Joseph, Joseph, forgive
him. You know what they did? They went to Joseph on the word
of the Father. And they said, he said, forgive
us. Oh, how powerful is that? We come to Christ on the authority
of God's word and ask forgiveness. Forgive me, Lord. Lord, you said,
he that cometh to you, you would know I have cast out. That's
your word. I come to you on the authority
of your word. And his words are the words of
the Father. He said, as I hear, I speak.
The words that I speak are not mine, but he has sent me. He commanded us to seek thy forgiveness. That's beautiful. The Heavenly
Father says, Go to my Son. Go to my Son. And we can go to
Christ on the authority of God Almighty's Word. And have forgiveness. And notice here in verse 18.
And his brethren also went. See, they sent this messenger
and then they came. And they were not going to sit back and
wait and see what he said. They were just too antsy. You know,
it's like, oh, we've got to go. We've got to find out. You know,
we can't wait. And his brethren also went and
fell down before his face. They fall at his feet. You remember
back in, I think it was chapter 35 or 37, Joseph says, I had
a dream. He said, you all are going to
bow to me is what the dream was about. Not the stars and the
moon, but they represented his brother. He said, you're going
to bow to him. They said, you're out of your mind. I'm paraphrasing. He said, we are not going to
bow to you. Well, and his brethren also went and fell down at his
feet. God has a way. God has a way. It means of making
you and me to come to the feet of his son and fall down. Bow
down. Bow down. They fall at his feet. This is where we belong. At his feet. You will never be
lifted up until you fall at his feet in utter submission to his
authority. They recognized his power and
authority over them and fell at his feet. Salvation is not
accepting Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. It's bowing
to His Lordship over me. He is my Lord. Now, when they
fell at Joseph's feet, they knew Joseph could kick them out of
Egypt. Joseph could have killed them
at his feet. Or he could have mercy on them. But they knew something about
Joseph. They did know something about their brother. They did
know he was merciful. They did know that he had shown
mercy to them before. And they fell at his feet and
they willingly, I'm telling you what, they willingly, this is
willingness here, they willingly accepted his authority over them.
A man is not saved, a man or woman is not saved until they
willingly willingly accept the authority of Christ over them. He is my King. He is my Lord. Speak, Lord, thy servant heareth. And then notice here Joseph's
compassion. Notice how he handles this. It says, go back to verse 17.
They said, Forgive, I pray thee now the trespass of thy brethren
and their sin, for they did unto thee evil. What we did to you
was so wrong and wicked. And now we pray thee, we ask
thee, we beg thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the
God of thy father. And Joseph wept. Joseph wept when they spake to him. Joseph
wept. He wept, listen, he wept out
of love to his brothers. He loved them. He loved them. He knew God's hand was in this.
He didn't blame them. You'll see this in a minute. He wept for them out of love,
but now listen, he wept also because they doubted his love. He wept out of love for them
and he wept, I believe, because they doubted his love. Doubted
his love. Now listen, nothing breaks the
heart like someone you love doubting your love for them. Nothing. And here's another mark of true
repentance in verse 18. We be thy servants. We be thy
servants, willing, whole, willful submission. Glad to serve. Glad to serve. Whose servants
are you? We all serve someone. We all
serve someone. And our lives tell whom we serve. They said, we be thy servants. And listen to Joseph's message
to them. Listen to the gospel message. Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith your God. He says in verse 19, fear not. Fear not. You have nothing to
fear. Why? Why? Because your brother
has forgotten your trespasses. Your brother has, they're gone.
They're gone. Our Lord remembers our sins no
more. They are gone. Fear not. Our sins are all gone. Do you
believe that? Do you honestly believe that
your sins are all gone through the blood, the sacrifice, the
atonement that the Lord Jesus made? Do you believe that? Then
fear not. You have nothing to fear. As far as you are concerned,
he says here in verse 20, what you did, you meant it for evil. Yes, you're right. As far as
you're concerned, what you did, you meant it for evil, but God
meant it for good. He meant it for good. Now, that
does not make it less evil. It does not make it less evil
at all. But it does show God's grace
to sinners in Christ and God's power to rule and overrule all
things for our good. My, what Joseph was put through
because of the hatred of his brethren. But we've got to look above that.
God put him through this. He said God's hand was it. God
did this. God did this. Over in the book of Acts, he
said, you by wicked hands have taken the Lord and you've slain
Him. But this was God's determinate counsel. God determined this,
predestinated this, purposed this. You only did what God purposed. What you did was evil. It doesn't
lessen the evil of what you did. But God meant it for good. He
meant it for good. For the good of His people. It is through the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ that God has saved much people alive. Joseph said God made it for good
to save much people alive. We will be amazed one day when
we stand in glory and see much people alive. What we did to Christ was wicked.
It was wicked. But honey will come out of this
eater. Honey will come out of this eater.
Salvation is of the Lord. He will save. Then once again,
he says to his brothers in verse 21, fear not. Oh, that's worth
repeating, isn't it? He says it to them first. He
says, fear not. But I'm sure he can see their
faces. And he says again to his brothers, fear not. I'm serious. Don't be afraid.
You have nothing to be afraid of. Here stands the most powerful
man in the world at this time. His word was law. Pharaoh said
his word is law. Whatever Joseph says, that happens.
That's law. Here's the most powerful man
in the world and he's comforting his brothers. And he said, don't
be afraid. And he says it twice. He says
it twice. Paul said, for me, to preach
the gospel to you over in Colossians, for me to preach the same thing
to you again is not grievous, but for you it's safe. It's safe. Oh, fear not. That's worth repeating. Oh, the gospel is worth hearing
over and over again, because it's the only message that we
can preach to sinners and say, fear not. And now notice here in verse
21, Joseph says to them, fear not, I will nourish you and your
little ones. You know what that word nourish
means? I will make provisions for you. I will make provisions for you. Doesn't that fit this Jehovah
Jireh? The Lord will provide. I will make provisions. He will
provide all that we need and all that is required. Righteousness
is required. We can't come up with it. But He has provided it. He has
provided it in His Son. The Scripture says the soul that
sinneth shall surely die. It demands death. The law demands
my death. I mean, it demands my death.
The law does. There's a death sentence on me. That death is provided in the
death of Christ. I need faith. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. I need faith. Well, I can tell
you this, I can't muster up enough faith to believe God. God will have to do something
for me. He'll provide. By the work of the Holy Spirit,
by the operation of the Holy Spirit, He provides faith. Repentance. Just go on and name it. Wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, redemption. They are required. And He says, I'll provide them. I'll provide them. The Lord will
provide. Joseph's brethren provided nothing.
Joseph said, I'll provide. I'll do the providing. And then
look in verse 21. And He comforted them. They were
scared. They were worried. They knew
what they did to Him deserved death. They knew He had the power
to do it. And He comforted them. And He
spake kindly, kindly unto them. Just as tonight. These are kind
words from our Father to His children. These are kind words.
He's speaking kindly tonight. You and I deserve some rough
words. I tell you what, just from today, our thoughts, things we ought to have done
and did not do, we deserve rough words, but kind words. He spoke kindly unto them. The
Lord comforts His people. He comforts them with a comforter.
He said, I'll give you another comforter. He comforts them with
the Holy Spirit who is the comforter. He comforts them with His words. Go back over to 1 Thessalonians
4 there and at the end of that He says, comfort you one another
with these words. He comforts His people with preachers,
pastors that He sends to them. He comforts them with the sense
of His love and He speaks kindly to them. I thought this today. We need
to seek to live in a real consciousness of His love. To really seek to
live in a real consciousness of His love. Seek to know by
experience His blessings that belong to us in Him. Paul said,
Oh, that I might know the power of His resurrection. That's the
power of His resurrected life. Paul wanted to know the power
of His resurrected life in him daily. Daily. You that are fearful
over anything, go to Christ. Go to Christ. Seek His mercy. He'd delight
to show mercy to sinners. I'm going to give you this one
last comfort from Him. Here's one last comfort. In verse
24, the Lord will surely visit you. That's a promise. He says the Lord will surely
visit you. I hope He's visited us tonight.
I sure hope He's visited someone tonight. The Lord will surely
visit you and bring you out of this land, this ungodly, idolatrous
land, unto the land which he sweared to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. The Lord will surely come and visit you in grace, mercy,
regeneration. And then one day, one day, he will come and visit
you and take you home. That's a promise. That is a promise. He will come and visit you and
take you to the promised land, paradise, where He is. He promised
to do it. Now rest. Take Him at His word.
Wait on Him till He comes. He's on His way. The Lord's on
His way. He will surely visit you and
take you home.

The Lord Comforts His People

What does the Bible say about comfort in death?

Why is true repentance important for Christians?

How does God provide for His people?

What role does God's word play in seeking forgiveness?

Sermon Transcript

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The Lord Comforts His People

What does the Bible say about comfort in death?

Why is true repentance important for Christians?

How does God provide for His people?

What role does God's word play in seeking forgiveness?

Sermon Transcript

About John Chapman

Comments

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