Genesis chapter 2. I'm sorry,
Genesis chapter 42. Genesis chapter 42. Terror will
fill you in after it's over. Anyway, this message, now that
I think about it, it really goes well with what Matt was sharing
out of Proverbs 16. It's 30 passages in verse 24
about discipline in children. And we saw that as the father
disciplining his son for our sins. And we saw that as the
struggles that we go through. The Lord brings us the struggles.
And it's usually when we're on our back. And I use this wrestling
illustration because I used to wrestle. But when you're on your
back and wrestling, it is not a good thing. You do not want
to be on the back looking up at the lighting in the gymnasium. That's not the place to be. However,
when God does that to us, will cry to him. And this is what's
going on in this passage. So this, this corresponds to
what kind of what Matt was saying. And I wanted to, you know, I
think the Lord laid this on my heart for me because you get
in these, you get, you think everything is fine. Well, I'm,
I'm looking and I'm preparing for messages. I'm doing this.
I'm going to, and all the while, no, all the while, yes, I'm,
am I going through the motions? Am I playing religion? Are we
gathered together here? Do we want to hear a word from
the Lord? Because Christ did beseech you by us be reconciled. So, you know, I hate to say it
for our sakes, but he uses the pastors to speak a word to you. He uses everybody, as we saw
in this morning's passage in Romans, he uses believers to
speak to one another. Iron sharpening iron. Iron sharpening
iron. Genesis chapter 42. I'm going
to read the first 24 verses. So bear with me, Melinda, please
bear with me. Now, and we understand the story,
that's why I want to read it, that now when Jacob saw that
there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, why do you
look upon one another? And he said, behold, I have heard
that there is corn in Egypt. Get you down thither and buy
for us from thence that we may live and not die. Here's the Lord arresting the
attention of Jacob, and he's gonna get his attention, and
he's gonna get his kid's attention. And Joseph, who was a part of
Jacob, was a son of Jacob, Joseph's 10 brethren went down to buy
corn in Egypt. But Benjamin, Joseph's brother,
Jacob, sent not with his brethren, for he said, lest perventure
mischief befall him. Because Jacob thought Joseph
was, he didn't even know about Joseph. He thought he was dead.
And so the commentator said, this meeting, it was 20 years
since they'd seen Joseph, his brethren. So that's why they
didn't recognize him. And the sons of Israel, 10 of them, came,
to buy corn among those that came, for the famine was in the
land of Canaan." Famine, sore famine. And Joseph, he's their
brother, they didn't know him. They thought he died, thought
they killed him. Joseph was the governor over
the land. And he was the one that sold
to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brethren came and
bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth,
which fulfilled the prophecy that he told them about, and
they got mad at him. And Joseph saw his brethren,
and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake
roughly unto them. And then he said unto them, Whence
come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan, to buy food.
And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew him not. And Joseph
remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them and said unto
them, you are spies, to see the nakedness of the land are you
come? And they said unto him, no, my Lord, to buy food are
thy servants come. We all are one man's sons and
we are true men. Thy servants are no spies. And
Joseph said unto them, nay, but to see the nakedness of the land
are you come? And they said, thy servants are 12 brethren.
That's us. and Benjamin who's not there,
and a guy named Joseph who they thought was dead. There are 12
of us, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. Behold, the
youngest is this day with our father, and one is not. And Joseph said unto them, that
I speak unto your spies, hereby you shall be proved. By the life
of Pharaoh you shall not go hence except your youngest brother
come hither. Send one of you and let him fetch
your brother and you shall be kept in prison that your words
may be proved whether there be any truth in you or else the
life of Pharaoh surely your spies. And he, Joseph, put them all
together in prison, in the ward, three days. And Joseph said unto
them, the third day, this do and live for I fear God. And
if you be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the
house of your prison. Go ye, carry corn for the famine
of your house, but bring your youngest brother unto me, Benjamin,
so shall your words be verified and you shall not die. And they
did so. And as they were walking back
to daddy's house, Jacob, they said one to another, We're very
guilty concerning our brother, Joseph, in that we saw the anguish
of his soul when he brought, besought us and we would not
hear, therefore is this distress come upon us. And Reuben answered
saying, spake not I unto you saying, do not sin against the
child, Joseph, and you would not hear, therefore behold, also
his blood is required. And they knew not that Joseph
understood them, for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
And Joseph turned himself about from them, and wept, and returned
to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon,
and bound him before their eyes." And then they go back to take
this food that they'd gotten and bring it back, supposed to
bring back Benjamin. In Psalms 105, kind of tells
the story of what's going on here. Psalms 105 and verse 16
and 17, not only did our sovereign manipulate these events to promote
Joseph, Psalms 105, give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his
name, make known his deeds. So he's talking about the Lord,
Verse 16, moreover, the Lord called for a famine upon the
land. He break the whole staff of bread. He sent a man before
them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant. So this is all
the Lord, our sovereign manipulated these events to bring about this
confrontation. He also sets Joseph, I believe,
in type and picture of our most honorable Redeemer, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Note with me, observe with me
these things. To me, perhaps one of the sweetest
verses in our text is found in verse eight. Found in verse eight
of Genesis 42. Joseph knew his brethren, but
they knew him not. Isn't that like our Lord? who
chose us before the foundation of the world. Well, we didn't
know that. We just lived our lives in sin
and degradation and iniquity. We didn't know that. Oh, to grace the song says how
great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be. That song stayed upon
Jehovah. Stay upon Jehovah and thank him
for daily grace, daily grace. Thank Him for understanding and
believing the gospel, if you believe it this morning, if you
don't, ask Him to cause you to believe the gospel. But regardless
of the situation, if we're one of His, He knew us, but we didn't
know Him. We know Him not. When in Providence,
these things that happen, these things that happen to you and
to me right now, yesterday, the day before, physically, spiritually,
monetarily, these things are brought by the Providence, the
good hand of God. You know, we only know what God's
doing when we see it, you know, like Tim James said, read the
newspaper, see what God's doing. That's what he's doing. But God
in his Providence caused us to be in hunger. When Jacob saw that there was
corn in Egypt, said unto his sons, why do you look upon one
another? Go buy corn for us, get down
to Egypt, buy for us, verse two, that we live and die not. It's
just a dire situation. And what we were talking about
back there, usually it's not until dire situations. We're
just cruising right along. I'm blessed to the Lord, I'm
one of his elect. All of a sudden, now there's a bunch of sharks
surrounding me. in need and he sought us long
before we sought him. God will always create a real
need in us and cause us to rightly know this famine of soul or even
physical need or monetary but certainly a need of heart and
soul and conscience. What you're going through right
now, what you're going through right now, kids, parents, Grandparents
is brought by God. Now, are we seeking him or are
we seeking something else first? I can take care of this. I can
go see a doctor. I can do these different things.
And there's nothing wrong with these things. But that should
not be your first go-to. Even the children should not
be your first go-to. The parents should have taught,
you know, what is going on? What is going on in my life?
Lord show me, show me what to do, give me wisdom on how to
deal with this or to deal with it through grace. A lot of times
when the Lord saves somebody he doesn't change their situation
but you have peace and that's all I can tell you is you will
have peace. Because Christ has done the most important thing.
All these other things in life are secondary, if even that.
The salvation of your soul, the salvation of my soul, is the
most important thing. One thing needful. One thing
needful. So you ask ourselves, why am
I going through this? Doesn't make a difference how
old you are, male, female. Why am I going through this?
Go to the Lord. Go to the Lord and have him show. God, give me mercy. What of us
here today? Why me? And I can tell you this,
nothing happens by chance. Now, I know our roommates and
our neighbors, they all talk about luck and fortune and chance
and bad. No, it doesn't. These things
that God is on his throne, just like this situation here. He's
going to bring these brothers together. And Joseph, as a type
of Christ, is gonna save much people alive. I've heard it so many times,
that is the scheme, that is the reason why we are here. The substitution
or death of Christ, that is the most important thing. He's gonna
see to it that every one of his elect, every one of his lost
sheep are found, but they're gonna know they're lost. Maybe
what you're going through right now is the Lord's showing you,
if you have eyes to see and ears to hear, This known need will also turn
to confession of sins, repentance of guilt, and godly sorrow over
iniquities. Look at verse 21. They're talking
to one another, these brothers, and this, we're very guilty,
we're guilty. Nobody uses that term. We're
not, I'm not guilty. Yes, you are. Yes, I am guilty
concerning our brother in that we saw the anguish of his soul.
When he besought us, we just turned our back on a sibling,
on a fellow. That's pretty, that's pretty
rough. That's pretty rude. That's pretty mean. And Ruben said, I did not
tell you, do not sin against this child that you wouldn't
hear. And that's what we're not, we're
not hearing. We're not hearing. The natural heart will not receive
the things of the Spirit of God. They're foolishness. We're not
listening to the Lord. We're not listening to Him. Until
He'll bring you to a famine. You've got no other place to
turn. You know, they talk about a cornered badger. If you come out, that's what
He's going to do. He's going to lock us in. I pray
He does. Then that shows that you're His.
I pray he does. So I don't want to go through
that pain. You would rather go through eternity in hell, which
pain I don't even know. I can't even explain. And worried
about pain for just a little. I understand, I understand, I
understand that. Our God will lock us up unto
himself so that his glory and grace will be unquestionable
and his mercy absolutely revealed. Verses 16, send one of you, let
them fetch your brother that you shall be kept in prison.
So not only did Benjamin come, the Lord, every last one of his
sheep, his father, Jacob, he brought the whole house. He didn't
miss any. They're all in famine, but our
Lord is gonna fetch every last one of his sheep. As I said previously,
great need will, it must, have a great remedy. We must have
corn. Jacob says we must have corn.
God, in his good and sweet providence, will order all events, both good
and bad, to bring every elect sinner unto himself. Even Jacob,
even Benjamin. John chapter six. John chapter six, starting in
verse 37, all that the father gives me shall come to me. And
him that cometh to me, I will no lies cast out. For I came
down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him
that sent me. And this is the father's will that has sent me,
that of all which he has given me, I should lose nothing, but
should raise it up again at the last day." Every last one of
his elect, every last one of his remnant, every last one of
his church, but not all, not everybody, just anywhere. No, he came for a purpose, his
sovereign purpose to do the will of his father. Observe with me
once again, Christ revealed typically in Joseph. I've got five points
and then we'll close. First, Christ knew us before
we knew him. From all eternity, Christ was
the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, Revelations 13,
verse eight. And he blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, Ephesians one.
Secondly, we never come or seek him unless he makes us to know
of a certainty our famine of heart and nature. We will be
emptied before he will fill us. We saw this a couple weeks ago
in Isaiah chapter 6. When I saw the Lord, the year
that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord and I said, woe is me. Woe is me. Woe is me. But we have to be emptied. We
have to be empty. This is not a McDonald's drive-through
salvation or gospel. That's what we wanted in this
country. We just wanted everything easy. We were talking about this
back there. Every parent has been a helicopter
parent. I know it's a big term, lawnmower parents, helicopter
parents, but I got to think it, every parent through all generations,
if they're a proper parent, have been concerned about their kids. Your children, if they're the
Lord's, are going to go through some stuff. Leave them alone. Leave them alone. God is dealing
with them, we hope and we pray. Leave them alone. Thirdly, oftentimes
our Lord does not relieve us instantly. That's what we want.
I got pain, We were out messing with some ropey. I got bit by
a spider, something I can figure. You know, working and all of
a sudden, oh, I thought I'd cut myself. Well, it's a spider bite. Then we want instant relief.
Go in there, get the ointment. It didn't help. So you just go
on. Oftentimes, our Lord appears
to us as a governor over all. instead of a brother in the situation
here. Joseph was the governor over
the land and it was he that sold all the people of the land and
Joseph's brethren came to him and bowed down before him. They
just, they thought they were doing reverence to the second
in command. Lord dealing with you, he'll
bow. We'll see him as holy and supreme
and righteous before he is revealed as our elder brother. Great revelations
of our need produce sweet unions of forgiveness and therefore
our enduring love and service for him. Sadly to say, why do
people's love wanes? I'm just a casual sinner. Do
you see yourself as the sinner? Lord be propitious to me, the
sinner. Those who have been forgiven
much, love much. The leper cleansed, Lord if you
will, bow into his governorship, Matthew chapter eight. The woman
with the issue of blood, see that's what we do, we try every
remedy. We go to this physician, we go
to that physician, we go to this, this, we go to this faith healer,
we go to many, many people, but we don't go to him. And I'm saying
this knowing that Luke was the physician. So there's places
for these things. Places for medicine. The Lord
put all these things. But still, go to Him first. Now the Lord is ever gracious.
She went to all these and it says she grew worse. That's what
we'll do. If we continue to go on our own,
walk in our own understandings, walk in the light of our own,
the sparks of our own fire, our own flame, we'll grow worse. No matter how many times you
come, no matter how long your parents have believed, we're going to lie down in sorrow.
But, He did heal her. He takes our motives. He understands
us. He's created us. Fourthly, It
was sometime before Joseph told them, I'm your brother. This
is later on in the chapter. So to in many cases, our Redeemer
will bring us through many dangers, toils and snares says the Psalm.
Then he, as he always does, will tenderly make himself known and
then our fellowship is that much more pleasant and delightful. Prodigal son. He had to go through
all this stuff. Father never changed. Father
always loved him. He didn't know that. He said, give me my money,
I'm going. He went in the world, dabbled
in the world, saw that the world didn't really care. He was so
hungry he could take what he was feeding the swine. And no
citizens, they didn't care. And he came back. We talked about the holy kiss.
I thought about that. The father. Much kissing, much
kissing. Put on the robe, give him the
ring, just kill the fatty calf. But it wasn't, the son was gonna
have to go through that. Oh my, my, how beautiful, how
beautiful. It was a while before he revealed,
Joseph revealed himself to him. I'm your brother. I'm not the
governor. We have a much closer relationship.
But our Lord will be respected, and he will be reverenced, and
we will bow to him. Lastly, all the blessings that
they receive, all the blessings that the household of faith receives,
that you receive, I receive, even the Lord sends rain on the
just and the unjust. And if I'm not mistaken, your
dad said he sends the rain for the just. But there are benefits. Moses said to, I can't remember
his name, his uncle's name, he said, follow us. Follow us, we'll
do you good. Bob Coffey preached that 30 years
ago here. We'll do you good. So even if
you don't believe, Now, hang with the people of God. We are concerned for you. We
do love you. So all the blessings and all
the comforts that these brethren received came as a result of
Joseph knowing his brethren, but they knew him not. All the
blessings, food, food, silver, gold, all blessings that he had
were given as a result of his love for them. His loving us,
we love him because he first loved us. His love for us is
an everlasting love, Jeremiah 31 and 1 John 4. His loving care
for us, turn to Deuteronomy chapter seven. Deuteronomy chapter seven. And verse seven and eight, the
Lord did not set his love upon you nor chose you, because you were the more in
number than any people, for you were the fewest of all people.
But the Lord, because the Lord loved you and because he would
keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord
brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of
the house of bondmen from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
That's why he did that. for the benefit that we have
of being kept. Sometimes we wonder, am I gonna
keep on? Am I gonna walk away? This world
is so alluring, it's got a lot of trinkets, a lot of things
that glitter and shimmer, and we get carried away. He's gonna
keep his people. unto him who was able to keep
you from falling, and it presents you faultless. These are all
benefits because he loved us before we knew him, and is shepherding us. The great
shepherd, we need shepherding, we need guidance, we need counsel.
He's a mighty counselor. All these things, all these benefits,
blessings, and comforts of us, his people, came as a result
of him knowing us before we ever knew him. And on and on we could
go. But always and often remember
verse eight. And Christ knew his brethren,
but they knew him not. Maybe you don't know him here,
don't know him here today. Maybe you do. It all goes back
to his free, sovereign, omnipotent grace. I have chosen you, you have not
chosen me. John Sebald's favorite verse.
From me, Christ, the Father, the Spirit, is your fruit found,
Hosea. Without me, you can do nothing. What is nothing? I think we all
know what nothing is. It's Christ's hold on us, not
our hold on him. And I'm so thankful that the
Lord brought all these things to pass. And then one day you'll
be able to step back and say, and trace, just like this, trace,
like in Isaiah, Genesis 51, the Lord brought all this to pass
to save many people. It's all by his grace. Things
aren't happening by accident. I read this morning, which I
really have to be careful, China rejected five tons of pork. Oh boy. Nope. Doesn't matter. He has them in control. He has
them in control. He has everything in control.
Why? He's going to bring every single last lost sheep to the
fold. It may be Chris. It may be Ron and Angie. It may
be one of your co-workers. We don't know. But he's going
to get the glory, and he's going to save. He's going to fetch
and save his people. We're all Mephibosheths. We're
all weak and unable to come to him or seek him. But he knows
us before we ever knew him. Bruce, would you close this? Gratitude lay upon our hearts,
how important it is.