You might want to put a marker
in Psalm 105. I'll be referring to it some
during the message tonight. I want to talk to you for the
next little bit about being reconciled to God. Being reconciled to God. Now God has already been reconciled
to His elect. God's already been reconciled
to His church. God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto Himself. He says, not imputing their trespasses
unto them. And hath given to us the ministry
of reconciliation. And I'm going to do my best to
preach that to you tonight. We've been talking about Joseph.
Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob. And all through these Old Testament
studies, I've been trying to tell you how these old patriarchs
and these old men and their sons were pictures and types of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And the things that they did,
certain things and events in their lives, God set aside by
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and caused this man Moses to
write them down. He's the one who wrote these
first five books in the Bible. Moses. How in the world could
Moses write about the beginning of creation? By the inspiration
of God. By the inspiration of God. There's
no other way for any man born of Adam to write anything concerning
God except by divine inspiration. And so we're looking at these
things and these things weren't just preserved in scripture to
inspire you to live a better life. I don't know anybody. I was talking to Doc. He come
here tonight and was telling me how he'd like to reform his
life and turn his life around. Well, unfortunately, every one
of us would like to do that, but we found that we can't do
it. You can't turn your life around. Only God can turn your
life around. God has to speak to you. We're
so unable to do anything. What we need to do, and religion
has told us, come down the aisle, shake somebody's hand, make a
commitment, kneel down, pray through, come to an altar. They've
got a, I can give you a two-page list of things that religion
tells you to do. And I've done every one of them
and none of them did me any good. Nothing's going to do you any
good except to become acquainted with Christ. You're going to
have to come to Him because in Him is life. He that hath the
Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God,
whatever else he has, he hath not life. And so when I look
at these old patriarchs and I look at these events and things in
their life, I'm going to try my best to preach Christ to you
as I see these things typified and pictured. And I'm told in
the New Testament, in the book of Hebrews, and in the book of
Acts, and all through the gospel, how that these things relate
to him. And I just read them to you out of the Psalms. The
Psalms was written a thousand years after Joseph was alive. And here it is over here in the
Psalms talking about Joseph and relating these things of Joseph
to the covenant God and to his Redeemer, this coming Redeemer.
Talking about those things. So that's what I want to talk
to you about tonight. If you're not acquainted with
this story, and I know some of you haven't heard the messages
that led up to the message tonight or the lessons that I gave before,
but if you'll see my wife, she'll give them to you on tape, and
you can go home and listen to them and get caught up. But in
the beginning, Joseph's brethren, when Joseph, he was 17 years
old, and his father loved him. He loved him and he made a coat
for him and he put that coat on him. It was a coat of many
colors is how it's translated in the original. And some of
them call it a coat of many segments because it was sewn together
out of different pieces. And all of those things relate
to the scriptures. Christ was foretold in the Old
Testament in pieces. Just pieces and parts. Here a
little and there a little. Line upon line. Ain't that what
it says? And so, but in the beginning
when Joseph was just small and young and 17 years old, his brothers
didn't see anything in him. They didn't see anything and
they saw no glory in him. They saw nothing in Joseph except
this outward testimony of his father's love. That's all they
knew about him. They knew that the father loved
him more than the father loved them. Or at least that's what
they thought. And so they despised him. They just didn't like him. Joseph, you know what Joseph
was. He was a goody two-shoes. That's what we called him when
I was growing up. They just didn't do anything.
We was into everything, but we had fellas in school that didn't
do anything. They would just look like perfect
little examples running around. We used to call them goody two-shoes.
Well, that's how his brothers looked at Joseph. And they saw
that coat and he was just a thorn in their flesh every time he'd
come around. Well, anybody, anybody who manifests any kind of a good
life when he gets around a man living a bad life is a thorn
in his, just a constant reminder of how bad he is. That's why
once, you can be the biggest drunk in the world once you become
a Christian. And the Lord teaches you what
it is to walk with him and so on. You get around folks, they
don't want to be around you anymore. Used to, they didn't care. Used
to, you'd be throwing up drunk. Come knocking on their door and
they'd let you in. Now, you don't do any of those
things and they don't want you around. Don't want you around. Because your life is just nothing
but a constant reminder to them of what they are. That's right. The Israel gave Joseph a coat
and Joseph's brother They didn't see any reason in Joseph for
him to wear such a thing. They didn't see any glory about
him. They didn't see no integrity in him. They didn't see any glory
in Joseph. But Joseph is a type of Christ.
He wears this garment that distinguishes him from all others. Somebody
said the Old Testament weaves a garment that will just fit
one man. That garment can only be worn
by Christ. I'm going to be warned by Christ.
And when Christ came into this world, we'll say in his youth,
he was born a tiny babe laid in a manger, and he came into
this world. Isaiah said, we didn't see anything in it. Ain't that
what he said? We didn't see anything in it. What's all the fuss about? Why
are these angels talking about this? And all these prophets
talking about this? And all these preachers making
some big hooper off of this baby born. Now, who's he? He was despised
and rejected of men. Just like Joseph's brethren didn't
care for him, they didn't care for Christ, because they didn't
know who he was. They didn't know who he was. Men and women, they see that
outward name of Christ. I've never met anybody that didn't
know who Jesus Christ was, have you? I never have. They all acknowledge
his existence, They don't see any glory in Him. They don't
see anything that excites their soul or condemns them. They don't
see any glory in Him. They don't see any purpose in
Him. Joseph was, I suppose you could
say, the son of promise in that God communicated to Joseph in
dreams. He came to him in dreams and
visions at night. And He gave him these dreams.
And Joseph understood. He was able to interpret the
dreams. He told these, he prophesied
to his brothers, and that just made them all the madder. They
didn't like it. And especially what he had to
say. He said, in my dreams, oh, you're all bound down to me.
Oh, boy, they didn't like that. And then he came to his daddy,
and he said the same thing to his daddy. And he said, you saying
that I'm going to bow down to you? I'm Jacob. Do you know who
I am? Yeah, I know who you are. But
in my dream, you're bound down to me. Actually, the word means
reverence. He's reverence in him. So he was kind of the son of
promise, but nobody saw what the promise was all about. Saw
nothing in Joseph to make them believe that any of these things
would ever come to pass. All they saw was this good little
boy. He's just a good little boy.
And when they saw him coming, they said, look, the dreamer
coming. We're going to have to listen
to him again. He's going to start in with all that sovereign stuff
and all that predestination and election and all. The dreamer
cometh. Here he comes. Here he cometh. They call Paul the babbler on
Mars Hill. The babbler. What will this babbler
have to say? But I don't think you'll find
too many people that will disagree that the life of Christ This
Jesus of Nazareth was a good life. He was an honest man, charitable
man, self-denying, self-sacrificing, hardworking. Those who knew him
in the book of Acts said he went about doing good to all. That's
how they described his life. And I don't think you could find
anyone who would deny the Father's affection for him. But that's
about as far as man can go. in his understanding of Jesus
Christ. That's about as far as he can go. He sees nothing further
than the natural eye can see. Natural man sees no eternal purpose
of God in Christ. That's what the fellow asked
me the first time I ever told him about it. I read in there
where it talked about the Lamb's Book of Life written before the
foundation of the world. where it talked about Christ
over there in Revelation chapter 5 coming and taking the book
out of the hands of God himself off the throne. All his eternal
counsels and decrees and purposes and sealed in a book. And there
was only one worthy in heaven and earth to take that book.
There wasn't an angel, there wasn't an elder, there wasn't
anybody in heaven, there wasn't anybody in earth, there wasn't
anybody in eternity to come worthy to take that book and unloose
those seals. Just one. And it was this lamb
slain, a lamb as if it had been slain before the foundation of
the world. Brethren, don't that speak something
about the eternal purpose of God in Christ? All through the book when I begin
to read it, all through the book it gets to talking about Him
and God's eternal purposes in Him. All through the book, He ruleth
in the armies of heaven. That's what Nebuchadnezzar said
way back in the book of Daniel. He ruleth in the armies of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
His hand or say unto Him, What doest thou? He rules. He comes down. He manifests it. He said, I didn't
come to do my own will. I didn't come down here to see
if there was anybody worth saving. I didn't come down here to see
if anybody wanted to be saved. I said, I need not that any man
tell me what's in man. I know what's in man. That's
why I'm here. Man can't save himself. I came
to save. I didn't come to judge. World's
already judged. They're looking for a judgment
way out here somewhere. You're already judged. If you
wasn't judged, you wouldn't do the things that you do. You wouldn't
talk like you talk. You wouldn't drink. You wouldn't
do these things. Your life wouldn't be upside
down. If you was able to do something about it, you're not willing. You have to be made willing.
We're not seeking. We have to be made to seek. Joseph's brethren, they didn't
see any of those things in Joseph. He was just a goody two-shoes
to them. That's all he was, a dreamer,
a babbler. And so finally they just couldn't
stand him anymore and they dug a pit and throwed him in it and
sold him off to some merchants and sold him down into slavery,
down into Egypt. And so old Joseph, he went down
there and then he served this man and served him faithful.
He believed God and he served this man faithful. But the man's
wife lied on him. He got cast into prison. And
he served in prison. He was faithful. He was like
Job. He didn't blame God. I don't
even hear him anywhere in this story actually lay a lot of blame
on his brothers who sold him down there. Because he believed
the hand of God was in it. And so he took it. And he took
it patiently. And he took it quietly. And he
served down in prison, even in iron. Even in iron. You know, there in the Psalms
that I read to you a while ago where it says, it says here that
the Word of the Lord tried him. It said that his feet they hurt
with fetters and was laid in iron. In the original, the way
that thing reads is his soul went into the iron. That's how
it reads. Talking about our Lord, what
it's talking about. They saw no glory in Christ.
No glory in Joseph. And so they sold him into bondage
for 20 pieces of silver. They sold him. They despised
him. They got rid of him. And God allowed this treachery
because God had a purpose in Joseph. You ever wonder why God
allowed men to spit in the face of his son? You ever read that
and wonder why God? How could God? all powerful,
all just, all righteous, one who loved his son as he loves
himself. How could he stand by and let
men spit in the face of his son? Because he had a purpose in him.
That's why. That's exactly why. He had a
purpose in him. That's why Joseph was allowed.
That's why God tolerated that treachery And it says also here in the
Psalms that I read to you just a little while ago, the Word
of the Lord tried him. It tried him, and there's a lot
of meaning here. The Word of the Lord which God
gave to Abraham, his covenant promises concerning Christ. That
which he said was confirmed in Isaac and Jacob, believed by
Joseph. The Word of the Gospel, the Gospel
he knew. gospel he told to his own brother. He tried him. He told his brothers
that he was going to be exalted and they were going to come and
they were going to bow down before him, didn't they? Huh? Did he
believe that? God said, I'll try you. I'll
try you. He was tried by the gospel he
preached. And then secondly, he was tried
by the by the word of the gospel, which came to Abraham, that word
of that covenant, and that word that came to Isaac, and that
word that was confirmed to Jacob as a law, which Jacob no doubt
taught to Joseph. That tried him. That tried him. And then thirdly, he was tried
by the word of God in the sense of its divine origin. Now, don't
you listen to me for just a minute. Everything that I have to say
to you tonight is based on this book being of divine origin. If this is not 100% inspired
by God, if it's not God's word, then you and I, we're just speculating.
We're just standing up here, I'm giving you my opinion after
church, you give me yours. That's all it is, it's just conjecture.
It's just throwing out opinions and throwing out ideas and theories
and all this kind of stuff. But if this is the Word of God,
there's nowhere to appeal it. Huh? I've got no appeal to it. Whatever it says, that's what
it means. Whatever it says, that's it. There is no arguing. A fellow
told me one day, I was talking to a fellow out on the job and
I was telling them about Christ being made sin. He was made sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him, the very heart of the gospel, substitution.
And he said, now, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. He says, the
Bible never says that He was made sin. I said, well, sure
it does. Where at? I said, 2 Corinthians 5.21. Said, for he hath made him to
be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. God himself did it. Oh, he said,
that's, he said, I know what this is. He said, that's the
old King James Version. I said, well, made means the
same thing that meant then, don't it? M-A-D-E, I don't think it's
changed much. Still means the same thing. It's
not the old King James Version that gives us trouble, it's the
old man. It's the old man in here who won't have the word
of God. He won't receive this book as
God's testimony. The Jews told Christ, they said,
Abraham's our father. He said, I know that you're the
seed of Abraham. I know that your bloodline runs
back to Abraham. I know that. Listen, he said, I know you're
Abraham Seed, but you seek to kill me, and here's the reason
why. My word hath no place in you. That's why. That's why. You don't have my word. You won't
listen to my word. You want to run off talking about
bloodlines, and you want to run off talking about self-righteous
ceremony keeping, and you want to run off and talk about animal
blood, and high priests, and all this kind of stuff, and you
don't understand anything at all about the Word of God. You
won't have my Word. My Word has no place in you.
He told them this. He said, which of you convinces
me of sin? And if I say the truth, why don't
you believe me? Huh? Why don't folks believe
me when I stand up and tell them the gospel? When I tell them
there's only one hope, and that hope's in Christ? That God appointed
him officers before the foundation of the world and made him king
and made him mediator and gave him rule over all things. Why
don't folks believe that when I tell them the truth? Huh? Because his word has no place
in them. Which of you, he said, convinces
me of sin? Huh? There was no sin in Christ.
Which of you convinces me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do
you not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's
words." That man in whom God gives a hunger like He gave to
Joseph's brethren to come down to this Egypt and confront His
Son. When these things come to pass,
when God begins a hunger in a man's soul, I'm going to tell you where
he's going to go. He's going to go here. He's been lied to
all his life. You're going to go to this book
and you're going to see what God says. And if that man standing
up behind that pope is not following this book, he ain't going to
listen to it. If you find out I'm not following this book,
I fully expect you to go right out the back door. You don't
have to even say goodbye. Just get up and leave. You don't
have to listen to me. But brethren, if I'm giving you
the word of God and I'm showing you in this book where these
things are sold, you better have it. You better have it. Hebrews 4, verse 12, for the
Word of God is quick, it's alive, it's powerful, it's sharper than
any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder
of soul and spirit, and of joints and morals. It's the discerner
of the very thoughts and intents of our heart. The Word of God
tried him. It tried him. We talk about trials. This man was down in the prison,
William. He's down there in that They took them shackles and they
put them around his ankle and they took a hammer and put it
on this side and took a hammer on this side and drove that rivet
shut. Bound that ankle right up against
his leg with that iron, that steel, and a chain about five
foot long. That's all far as he'd go. They
tied him. Tied him. Then it says here in
Psalm 105 that the king sent loose to him. Sent loose to him. Oh, he was lied on, he was despised,
he was sold into slavery. He suffered. He suffered, but
he was quiet because he believed God. He was faithful. He was faithful. And like a cork,
God just let him bob up. No matter where he went, he just
bobbed right up to the top. Sold him into slavery. First
thing you know, he's running everything in Potiphar's house.
Potiphar's wife lies on him. They put him down here in prison.
Boom. Just a few years, he's running the prison. And then he foretells those dreams
that these two men had. And the one was put to death
and the other one's restored. has a dream and he gets wind
of it. The old butler tells him what
he forgot to tell him about Joseph and he sins for it. I don't know. We don't have much
idea in our day. I think we've got very little
idea of sovereignty. I don't think we've lived in
a country where we vote on everything and that's why folks think when
they join church, church ought to vote on everything because
that's what's taught in our country. Unfortunately, America is not
the kingdom of God. Kingdom of God is a theocracy
with God at the head. We don't vote on things. We believe
God. We follow God's teaching and
God's commandments. But these old monarchs back in
the days here where Joseph was, they were sovereigns. Now they
had laws and they had senators and they had committees and they
had different things out here. He delegated authority all out.
But I'm telling you this, there wasn't anything done without
His okay. Nothing was done without His
okay. And when I talk to you about God's law and when I listen
to men talk about God's law, they got His law disconnected.
They got His law over here and they got God way over here. God's
not disconnected from His law. God's law is, God gave this law
out of His perfect character. The perfections of God are manifested
in that law. He tells you things in that law
that come right straight out of His heart. He warns you in that law about
evil things and He tells you good things to do. This law is
a manifestation of God. It's connected to Him. You can't
separate that law from God. That's why I say he said to offend
that law on one point to be guilty of the whole thing. Why? Because
you're rebelling against God. That's why. Love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, soul, mind, and strength. You think you can do that? Huh? You can't do it. No, you can't. Well, that's required before
the other nine. Then you're going to have to
love your neighbor as yourself. Ain't no way you can do that
either. You can't even stand for his dog to come over in your
yard. But you're going to love him like you love yourself? No,
you can't. But if you could do those two
things, you could keep everything else in the law. That law is
a part of God. It's a manifestation of God.
God will never do anything contrary to His law. because he's expressed
the perfections of his own character in it. It's called in scripture
the holy law of God. That's what it's called. Now
I'm going to say something here. I'm just going to kind of interpret
this by my own experience. I've got no scripture I can go
to to give this to you. I'm going to interpret this on
what I know about the gospel and what I know about the sovereignty
of God. I believe when Joseph was brought
up before Pharaoh, he was Pharaoh. Pharaoh had knowledge. Pharaoh
had people around who came and reported to him what went on.
Pharaoh knew exactly what happened down in Potiphar's house. He
knew what Potiphar's wife was, and he knew what Joseph was,
and he knew how Potiphar's house prospered under Joseph's authority
and under Joseph's rule, that house of profit. So much so,
old Potiphar, all he worried about was what he was going to
eat that night. He didn't worry about business anymore. Joseph took
care of it. He prospered. And he knew exactly what happened
down in that prison. He knew that Joseph was thrown
down there as under a lie, and maybe Potiphar, or maybe he didn't,
somebody who had control over that prison come down, realizing
what had taken place, and let Joseph rule that prison. I believe Pharaoh both heard
and knew about Potiphar's wife and he knew that Joseph was not
guilty of the crime. I believe he knew exactly what
he did and how he ruled and all about him. And I know that he knew when
Joseph interpreted his dreams, he knew that he had a godly wisdom.
All his wise men put together couldn't tell him what those
dreams were. Joseph didn't even hiccup. He told him exactly what
those dreams were about. What am I saying? I'm saying
that Pharaoh did not justify a convict and turn his kingdom
over to him. He knew something about Joseph. He knew something about him.
He justified a righteous man in whom he saw the Spirit of
God. But whether Pharaoh did or not, the Father did when he
raised Christ from the dead. And that's what I'm getting at.
That's why I believe Pharaoh knew. Because of what Joseph
was sent there for. God saw in Christ a faithful
man, a just man, a wise and loving man. God saw a submissive man,
bearing what God laid on him as of God. You think you could
do that? Wasn't there no doubt in my mind
I couldn't do it. Heck, Joseph went down into Egypt
being sold out by his brothers. That'd be enough to break your
heart, wouldn't it? Your own family, your own kin,
your own brothers. Put you, throw you in a pit and
sell you into slavery. That'd be enough to break your
heart right there. And then get down there and then muster up
every bit of strength you got. Try to be patient. Try to believe. Try to do these things. Along
comes this man, and you've prospered him, you've made a success out
of him, you're the backbone of that whole house, and his wife
comes along and lies on you, and the man grabs you and throws
you in the air. Now you're down here in a prison house. It was
the worst prison there was. It was a pit. It was a dungeon.
Down there went Joseph. After a while, God raised him
up. God raised him up. You know why? Because God had
a purpose in Joseph. He had a purpose. I read it to
you in Psalms a while ago. It says, He sent a man before
them, even Joseph. Even Joseph. Who sent him? God
did. God did. Well, I thought his
brothers did. They did. But God sent him. God
sent him. Men with wicked hands crucified
and slain the Son of God, too. But it says over in Acts chapter
4, that when they all got together and did what they did, they did
what God's hand and God's counsel determined before to be done.
God had a purpose in him. Oh, he was a faithful man. He
was willing to let God settle the matter. The reason I made that statement,
I was thinking of the lesson that I gave you here a few weeks
ago in John, where Christ said, it is finished. And it says,
into thy hands I commend my spirit. He's willing to let God settle
the matter. Here it is. Here it is. Here's my life. Here's
what I've done. There it is. You settle a matter.
Ain't that what Joseph did? By faith? We think these old
patriarchs didn't know anything. I'm telling you, he had faith,
this boy. He had faith. He said, let God settle a matter.
Let God be true in every man a liar. Willing to let God's
will be done on earth as it was in heaven. Wrongfully accused,
shamefully treated, bearing the rightful punishment of his brethren.
They're the ones that should have been down there in the prison.
Huh? Here they are, home worn by the
fire. Joseph's brethren saw nothing
in Joseph in the beginning. The Egyptians saw nothing in
Joseph in the beginning. But in the end, in the end, when
the famine came, when the famine came, when it fell sore on the
land, and there was no corn to be found anywhere else. When
God destroyed every man's little garden that he planted, God destroyed
it. You say, well, boy, the economy's
getting bad. I'm going to have to start raising the garden again. What are you going to do when
God blows on it? That's what happened there. It
says there in the Psalms, I read it to you. He said, God broke
the whole staff of bread. He tore up everybody's garden.
He destroyed it all. He took away all the sources.
Some of them ran down there and traded. Traded goats for something
else. They were traders back then.
They didn't have a lot of cash. They went down and traded. But
he took away the source. He took away the gardens. He
broke the whole staff of bread. There was nowhere to eat except
Egypt. And the only way you're going
to eat in Egypt now is go to Joseph. You're going to go to Joseph.
And boy, when they did, let me tell you something. It says over
in Philippians 2, 9. Actually, it says a little earlier
than that, it said, Let this mind be in you, which was also
in Christ Jesus our Lord, who thought it not robbery. He
was equal with God, but he thought it not robbery, but made himself
of no reputation, took on him the form of a servant, was made
in the likeness of men, and being found in passion as a man, he
humbled himself and become obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. Wherefore, Philippians 2, 9,
God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which
is above every name, that every knee should bow of things in
heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father. Everybody's going to do it. You're
going to do it now or you're going to do it then, but you're
going to do it. You're going to bow down to him and you say,
I'm sure glad God appointed him. And that's what this is talking
about. These folks come down there, these Egyptians that saw
no glory in him, and his own household that saw no glory in
him, and they all came down there and got corn from Joseph. But he glorified now. He glorified. He ain't that little goody two
shoes anymore. He's glorified now. He's after
that pioneer now. He's got a name above every name. And they'd come down and they'd
get that corn from him and they'd bow down and they'd leave the
room bowed down with the corn, bowing and backing away from
Joseph and saying in their heart, I'm sure glad old Pharaoh picked
him, ain't you? Huh? We'd be hurting. We'd be
hurting. Oh, that's what they're talking
about. They're going to bow to Christ. Everybody's going to bow, but
they're going to bow for a reason. They're going to bow to the glory
of God. They're going to say, boy, God picked him. Because of the accomplishments
of Joseph. The kingdom was preserved. Everybody
that came to him for corn glorified old Pharaoh for his appointment. But God's going to have the house
of Israel to know a little bit more than that. He's going to
have them know a little bit more. That's the way they're going
to come. That's the way we all come. That's what I hope is going on
in your life. I'm hoping God will bring you to the end of
yourself where you realize you ain't got no control over yourself.
where you're just a beggar like all the other beggars. That's
all preaching is. Did you know that? It's just
one beggar telling another beggar where he got his bread. There's
corn in Egypt. Go down there. I ain't got any
bread. I can't help you. Down there, he's got it. He's
got it. Pharaoh's got a man, Zaphnath,
paying him. Go down there. Bow down to him.
Take your sack. Just take it empty. Take it down
there. He'll fill it up. He'll fill
it up. It's the only place you can get
it. Now, I'm going to go and plant my garden. Go ahead, got
a blow on it. You blow on it. Oh, I'm going to tell you something.
The whole house of Israel, they're going to come to know more than
this. When the elect of God are brought to Christ, they come
first just like the heathen. They come in desperation, hunger,
and need. That's how they come. God sends
trouble. We're full of trouble. You know
that? We got wife trouble, and husband trouble, and job trouble,
and economy trouble, and president trouble. We full of trouble.
That's what Job said. He just lives a few days, and
the whole of his days ain't nothing but trouble. Trouble. But God sends trouble in that
you can't control, and you can't handle. And you see yourself
out of control. You're out of your control. And
in desperation, you come, and you sit, just like you're sitting
here tonight, and you're listening. It takes the hand of God just
to make a man shut up and listen. He don't want to listen. He wants
to talk. He wants to tell. He wants to
do. Give me something to do. Give me a bench to nail at. Give
me a hand to shake. Give me an aisle to walk. Give
me a job to do. I'll do it. No, you can't do
nothing. I'll tell you what you can do.
That's what Christ said. I'll give you something to do.
Believe. Do that. do that. Oh, I'll tell you what's going
to happen to them. And they're coming, they're going to be made
to recall their enmity of Joseph. They're going to come down to
Joseph with some sacks. But he's not just going to give
them corn and send them away. He's got a little bit more in
store for them than that. And he puts things in the sacks
of trouble. They get a little corn and go
away, but they got to come back. They got to come back because
he's the only source of corn there is. He gives you a little
taste, Nathan. Gives you an appetite. That's
what I wait on. That's what I look out here to
see. I want to see if somebody's hungry. When they're hungry,
you know what? They're going to come back and
eat. I'm coming back until they get hungry, Russell. Come for
a little while. Might hear a little something
different. Then go somewhere else. He put stuff in their sack
that troubled them. And so they come back. And they
kept coming back. They made to remember how they
treated him and despised him and gave no thought of their
father's affection for him. The loss of Joseph nearly brought
old Jacob down to the grave. They never gave a thought for
that. run right back there to their father's house, took that
coat of many colors and dipped it down in that blood of that
old beast and took it back there and just let that old Jacob draw
his own opinion. I don't know. Is this your son's
coat? Like they didn't know. We don't know what happened to
him. They knew exactly what they wanted him to think and that's
exactly what he did think. Let me tell you what the scripture
says. I'm going to apply that to Christ. Here's what Paul said
about it over in Hebrews chapter 10. He said, these lawbreakers
are taken outside the camp, and in the presence of two or three
witnesses, they're put to death. They're stoned to death. Rightly
judged, made to suffer pain and indignity for their crime. Oh,
but he said of how much sore punished. Shall he be thought
worthy who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God? Would you say,
preacher, I've never trodden underfoot the Son of God. Do
you have it? You have it? Oh. Lay aside the issue of His
birth and life and death. How much time in your lifetime
have you spent meditating on why did Christ come into this
world? What's so significant about His
life, His death, His resurrection. How much time did you dedicate
to that? How much time did you dedicate
to His Word? Trying to look in here and meditate
on His name and seek His face? Huh? Let me tell you what you've
done. Same thing I did. You trod underfoot the Son of
God. It's exactly right. You laid
aside the issue of His birth and His life and His death. You
laid aside the testimony of God concerning His Son. You preferred
some other worldly pleasure to the pleasure of God in Christ.
This is my beloved son, God said. God said! Hear ye him? Huh? Treated his coming and going
like that of some other man. Treated the knowledge of Christ
no different than knowing one plus one is two. Acted as if his name meant nothing
to us. Huh? Spit out an oath and put his
name in it. Huh? Trodden underfoot. How much sore of punishment?
Well, they take these old criminals out there and they got them some
stones about that big around. I think I read somewhere where
the stones they stoned men to death were about two pounds.
That's a pretty good sized stone. and stood him up there and had
a couple witnesses over here and a bunch of them get up here
with them big two-pound rocks and stone that man until his
brains ran out on the ground. That's what they did to the criminals.
Paul said, how much sorer punishment do you think you're going to
get? You walked on the Son of God. He throwed his name on the
ground like he meant nothing. You live like he meant nothing.
You live like the purpose of God wasn't even in him. You live
like there wasn't even a book of God telling you who he is,
why he came, what he did, and where he's at. Sinners! That's what a sinner is. Oh,
he takes these children of Jacob, and he brings them down, and
before he shows them his love, he's going to show them who they
are. You going to come to know who
Joseph is first. They still looking for goody
two-shoes. They just imagined that same
old boy that they despised. They imagined him being a little
older, maybe a little gray in his hair or something, you know.
They didn't even recognize Joseph. Saw him in his glory. Oh, God sent him forth as a propitiation
for our sins. And then he said, not only did
you trot underfoot the Son of God, but you counted the blood
of the covenant whereby you sanctified an unholy thing. God sent him
forth as a propitiation for our sins through faith in his blood. What are we hoping in? Some decision
we made? Huh? Made this decision, got
to looking at her life and seeing how upside down it was. I'll
tell you what I'm going to do, preacher. I'm going to turn my
life around. You ain't going to do no such thing. All you're
going to do is switch from drinking to religion. You're going to
go down the hill. Now, I'm telling you right now,
if all you want to do is make a religious profession, you're
going downhill, not uphill. You're not turned to Christ yet.
You don't turn to Christ until you understand that all our righteousnesses
are filthy rags. That's what he's going to have
his brethren to learn. They're going to come down here
and confess who they are and confess who he is. A little bit
at a time he begins to reveal to them who he is, who he is,
who he is. And each time they come in with
a little bit more, they add a little bit more to that confession,
don't they? You know why? Because they're getting a little
more light. God gives you a little light. The more light he shines,
the more dirt you see. Started talking about 11 of them
in the beginning, then he started talking about 12. He started changing his story
a little bit. And then not only does Paul say that, we not only
counted the blood of the covenant wherewith we sanctified an unholy
thing, but he said we've done despite unto the Spirit of grace.
The Spirit of grace. I can bring a whole message on
that. No grace is going to be learned
apart from Him. No Christ is going to be revealed
without Him. There'd be no scriptures without
his inspiration. And there's sure going to be
no understanding of them without it. Count those things unholy things.
Something that has no divine awe to it. Something that does
not cause you to think on it. Something that's not significant
to you. You know of all the symbols of
religion, I've never seen a symbol of blood. Have you? Huh? But that's the key to the whole
thing. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of
sin. God set him forth as a propitiation for sin through faith in his
blood. It's the blood, he said, the
life's in the blood. And I've given it to you upon
the altar. God's going to reveal the depravity
of all his sons by reminding them of their attitude toward
Christ. How they hated and despised him.
We're not even aware that we despise him. Did you know that?
Not even aware of it. Another thing I found striking
about this account is the cup. They're coming back and forth.
And Joseph tells them, I'm going to throw Simeon, I'm going to
lock him up in prison. And they put him in irons right
in front of them, haul him away. And he said, now the rest of
you skedaddle back to Jacob's house, and don't you come back
without Joseph. You come back without Joseph,
you're going to prove to me exactly what I accused you of." And they
went back. Boy, Jacob didn't want to turn
loose of Benjamin. He didn't want to turn loose
of Benjamin. Benjamin, that's the dearest,
most precious thing to God's elect. Jacob was God's elect. He loved Benjamin. Benjamin was a thing he could
not bear to part with. Benjamin speaks of It speaks to me of all Jacob's
fondest memories, his beloved wife who died in the way of giving
birth to him. And here's the application of
that to the man who's coming to Christ. What's the dearest thing to a
man? It's his own integrity, isn't it? It's his own name. It's his own It's what there
is about his person that he can't part with. There's something
in a man's life he's not going to part with. Whatever it is,
he's not going to part with it. It's his character, his name.
I've heard men say, don't get that guy to do your work. Don't
get that guy to do it. He's got no integrity. Man don't want to part with his
integrity. He don't want to part with his character. Well, Benjamin,
he typifies that. And then Joseph, when he deals
with them and he puts the corn in their sacks, he takes his
cup and he puts it in Benjamin's sack. And then when they leave,
he sends this guy out. He said, now you go out there
and tell them somebody stole my cup. And they said, well,
we wouldn't do that. We're honest folk. We're good.
We're true men. We wouldn't do that. We wouldn't
do that. Huh? You know what the cup is? Christ said you should not drink
this cup. It's the portion. That's what
it is. See? See what he's saying? What we've stolen is his portion. That's what he's trying to picture.
That's what he's letting them know. You've stolen my portion.
With your good works and your true men and all your defense
of yourself and all this stuff about your integrity and character.
You liars! That's what you are! You liars! Now get your sacks down, we're
gonna see who's got the cup. Huh? Well, you'd think you'd
been the worst one of them, wouldn't you? You wasn't. It was the best. Joseph put the cup in old Benjamin's
sack. He discovered the cup. He discovered
his portion. best of the children. That's
what I quoted to you a while ago in the Old Testament where
Isaiah, he said, we are all as an unclean thing and all our
righteousnesses, the best prayers, the best intentions, the best
we got is just filthy rags before God. That's all it is. That's all it is. What are we
going to offer Him? You've got nothing to offer him. He's the
one who has the corn. What are you going to offer him?
You know, they took money down there in their sacks, and every
time they did, he put the money back in the sack, and he went
home with the corn and the money. He don't want your money. You've got nothing he wants.
He's got what you need. By the grace of God, he'll make
it what you want. You know, these old boys, they
sold out their brother. And then they went back to their
father. And they gave him this coat.
They didn't just out and out lie to him. They gave him the
coat with the blood on it, let him draw his own conclusion.
But they lived out their days in a lie. That's how they do
it. That's what we do. We live out
our days in a lie. In a lie. Their whole life become
a lie. Their whole life was lived in
falsehood. They denied their hand in the
lost son, and they denied their hatred of him, and denied their
jealousy of him. It was a life of pretended grief.
All we do is grieve. Well, you the one that throwed
him in the pit. You the one that sold him. They
back there with the arm around the father and big tears coming
out the side, huh? Pretended grief, and pretended
sorrow, and pretended love. This is where the resurrected
Christ, this is where He brings us. He brings us to see what
we are, not what we think we are, not what we show we are
on the outside. Brethren, you wouldn't do what
you do if you weren't born in sin. If you weren't a sinner
by nature, you wouldn't do what you do. You can't change your
nature. Only He can do that. He said, that which is highly
esteemed among men is an abomination to God. But thank God he does not exact
from us the portion that he shows us we stole. He don't exact it
from us. He just put it there to expose
what we really are. That's all he did. Genesis 45-1. Then Joseph could not refrain
himself before them that stood by him, all those servants, all
those guards, soldiers. He couldn't refrain himself.
He cried, he said, cause every man to go out from me. And there
stood no man with him while Joseph made himself known to his brethren.
And they wept aloud. He said, I'm Joseph. Boy, I tell you what, they stood
there trembling in their shoes. This man, if this man pointed
his finger, there's six men running over there just did whatever
they think he pointed them for. That's how much power and authority
he had. Nobody picked up a tool in Egypt without Joseph's word.
And these men knew what they did to Joseph. Oh, he made that
nerve raw when they come to it. They knew exactly what they'd
done. They said, God brought this on us because of what we
did to our brother. That's why all this is falling
on us. He said, I'm Joseph. Man, them knees went limp. And they stood trembling looking
at him. And he said, don't be grieved. Don't be grieved. Don't be grieved because you
sold me down here. Let me tell you the reality.
God sent me down here. And he sent me down here for
your life. That you live and not die. He
sent me down here to redeem you. Huh? That's good news, ain't
it? I'll tell you where you have to come for that to be good news.
You've got to come down there and understand who you are and
who it was that you opposed and rebelled against. You've got
to understand something about this man, Jesus. You're going to have to understand
something of the purpose of God in him, of what he came to do
and why he came to do it and before whom he did it and who
he did it for. And then you can come down there
and kneel down before him. And by the grace of God, you
may hear him say, I'm Joseph. I'm your brother that you despised. And God sent me down here for
you and wept, wept, fell on their shoulders and they fell on his. Don't be grieved any longer for
yourselves, because you sold me, for God did send me before
you to preserve life. And God sent me before you to
preserve you, a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives
by great deliverance. So now, it was not you that sent
me hither, but God." Now, he said, you go tell Jacob. You
go tell Jacob, God hath made his son You know what he's talking
about here? He's talking about the Son of
Man. The Son of Man. The first begotten from the dead.
The new man. The Son of Faith. The Son. The
Son of God. Pharaoh hath made thy son Lord
of all Egypt. Now come and tarry not. And come
down to me and live with me. Right here in the land of Egypt.
Come down here and I've got a place for you over here called Goshen.
And you can be near me. Not only you, but thy children
and your children's children. And I'll nourish you and I'll
show you my glory." He said, I know what you remember,
Jacob. You remember that little boy
you said, you saying, I'm going to bow down. Come down here and
I'm going to show you my glory. That's what it's about. Salvation's
in Christ, but you're going to have to know who He is. You ain't
going to come to Him until you know who He is. And you're not
going to come at all unless God sends a drought, unless He sends
trouble into your life. And sends that trouble, and in
that trouble you begin to seek Him. And seeking Him, He might
just reveal Himself to you. He may. He has. He did me. I'll tell you this,
I'm just one beggar telling another beggar where I got my bread.
I got it in Christ. Got it in Christ. He's the only
one that's got it. But he got it. And he got warehouses
full. He got an abundance. Gives us
abundantly more than we can even imagine, is what the apostle
said. More than you can even imagine. That's how much he's
got. That's how much he's got. And
he has the right. God raised him up and gave him
the right to sin to you. Enemies of God gave him the right
to sin to you and give you life. Father, I thank You for Your
Word. Thank You for these beautiful
pictures. Pictures of Christ. And I thank you that you still
call sinners to hear your gospel. May you be pleased tonight to
call them, for Christ's sake. Amen.