Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyvert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nyvert. I'm reading from Genesis chapter
42, beginning in verse one. Now, when Jacob saw that there
was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, why do you look
upon one another? And he said, behold, I've heard
that there's corn in Egypt. get you down thither and buy
for us from thence that we may live and not die." I've entitled
this message, Corn in Egypt. Now at this time, there was a
worldwide famine. And Jacob heard that there was
corn in Egypt. There wasn't any in Canaan. The
famine had struck that land. There wasn't any food to be had
there. But Jacob heard that there was
corn in Egypt, and he told his sons, go down to Egypt and buy
that we may live and not die. A couple of introductory remarks. Preaching. I believe this is
the best definition I've ever heard of preaching. Preaching
is one beggar telling another beggar where he got bread. Now that's what's going on with
Jacob. He's telling his sons he's heard
where there was food to be had. It was in Egypt. Now the other
comment I'd like to make is there are so many scriptures that refer
to the Lord Jesus Christ being the sum and substance of all
scripture. He said concerning the scriptures,
they are they which testify of me. And this wonderful story
in Genesis with regard to Joseph certainly testifies with regard
to the Lord Jesus Christ, as does every other scripture. The Lord said, Moses wrote of
me. Moses wrote Genesis, and when
he was writing the book of Genesis, he was writing of the Lord Jesus
Christ. These are not simply character
studies of men who lived centuries ago, But all of these stories
are given to teach us the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
let me tell you why there was a famine in the land. Joseph
had been betrayed by his brothers, sold into Egypt. He worked faithfully
for a man by the name of Potiphar. He was unjustly accused during
that time and thrown into prison. During his time in prison, he
interpreted two dreams, the dream of the butler, the dream of the
baker, and they both came true exactly as he said. Now, some
years later, while he's still in prison, Pharaoh has a dream. He dreams about seven skinny
cows eating seven fat cows, and the skinny cows look no different
after they had eaten the fat cows. And then he dreamed of
seven full ears of corn being eaten by seven blasted empty
ears of corn, and the empty ears of corn look no different. And
he didn't know what these interpretations of these dreams were. He called
all the wise men of Egypt, they didn't know. He called the magicians,
they didn't know. So the butler who was in prison
remembered that Joseph had interpreted his dream and he told Pharaoh
about it. And they sent for Joseph. Joseph interpreted the dream.
He said that the seven fat cows and the seven good ears of corn
represented seven years of plenty. He said the seven skinny cows
and the seven empty ears of corn represented seven years of famine. God is showing Pharaoh what he's
getting ready to do. God will send seven years of
plenty, and after that, seven years of a worldwide famine that's
going to be so severe that the seven years of plenty will be
forgotten. And Joseph said to Pharaoh, you need to Have someone
during these seven years of plenty to manage all the plenty and
save up food for the seven years of famine. And they will put
Joseph in charge. In one day, Joseph went from
being a prisoner to the most important, powerful man in the
world. And during those seven years
of plenty through Joseph's supervision, much corn, much food was stored
up. Listen to this description in
Genesis chapter 41, verse 46, and Joseph was 30 years old when
he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out
from the presence of Pharaoh and went throughout all the land
of Egypt. And in the seven plenteous years, the earth brought forth
by handfuls." And he gathered up all the food of the seven
years, which were in the land of Egypt, laid it up, the food
in the cities, the food of the field, which was round about
every city, laid he up in the same. And Joseph gathered corn
as the sand of the sea, very much until he left numbering,
for it was without number." That is the vast supplies of food
that Joseph was able to save. for the coming famine. No one
else knew that this famine was coming, but Joseph did. And through
his wise management, vast, numberless amounts of food with no numerical
value. And what this speaks of is what
the Lord achieved when He went out from the presence of the
Father. He achieved infinite merit for
any needing sinner. He achieved infinite grace, infinite
mercy. infinite redemption. Now as great
and grievous as my sin may be, his grace is infinitely greater. Grace that is greater than all
our sin. And then in verse 53 of chapter
41, and the seven years of plenteousness that was in the land of Egypt
were ended. Everything had been great for
seven years. Everybody had all they could
possibly want. But now those times are over,
just as God said they would be. Verse 54, and the seven years
of Darth began to come, according as Joseph had said. And the Darth
was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt, there was
bread. The only place you could find food was in Egypt. This was a worldwide famine. We've recently experienced what
we've called this pandemic because of COVID. This was a much more
severe pandemic. This was a pandemic of food,
a worldwide famine. Everywhere there was nothing
to eat except in one place in all the world. Egypt. Now let's go on reading verse
55. And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people
cried to Pharaoh for bread. And Pharaoh said unto all the
Egyptians, go unto Joseph. What he saith to you, do. Now let's think just for a moment
about the fact that there was only food in Egypt. Now what that represents is there's
one place of God's favor. There's one place of God's grace. There's one place of God's mercy. And that place is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. All of God's favor, all of God's
love, all of God's grace, all of God's loving kindness, all
of God's salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ. speak to nor will he be spoken
to apart from his son. Every blessing of God's salvation
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what that's given to teach
us is God doesn't bless us because of something we do. God blesses
us because of something His Son did. Ephesians 1.3 says, He hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. Now this is the place of God's
blessing. If I'm not in Christ, I'm not going to have God's blessing.
All God has for the sinner is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Just like there was one place
where you could find food. There's one place of God's blessings,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you read Ephesians chapter
one, he enumerates what those spiritual blessings are. He said
in verse four, according as he has chosen us in him before the
foundation of the world, the Bible teaches election. The Bible
teaches that God chose who would be saved before time began, and
that choice was in Christ Jesus. And everyone chosen in Christ
Jesus was chosen that they might be holy and without blame before
Him. What a blessing to be holy before
God, to be without blame before God. in love having predestinated
us. God's love is in Christ Jesus
our Lord. Predestination is in Christ Jesus
our Lord. He predestined everyone, he predestined
to be perfectly conformed to the image of Christ. In whom
we have acceptance, we're accepted in the beloved, accepted by God.
In whom we have the forgiveness of sins. All of God's blessing
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're gonna have any of God's
blessing, it'll be for Christ's sake. Not for your sake, not
because of something you do, but for Christ's sake. Ephesians
4.32 says, be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Now, when the Egyptians
came to Pharaoh and said, we want food, he said, go to Joseph. Whatsoever He saith to you, do. Now, what I get from that, and
I know this was the teaching, you go to Christ. You don't go
to the Father independently of Christ. You go to Christ. Whatsoever He says to you, do. Go to Christ. What do you need?
You go to the Lord Jesus Christ for it. Pharaoh said, go to Joseph. God says, go to Christ. You see,
God is one God in three distinct persons. God the Father, God
the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is God the Son. He said, come unto me. Not go
to the Father or to the Holy Spirit. Come unto me. Go to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, if you have, and if I have any understanding of who God
is, and who we are, we'll understand that God cannot be approached
apart from Him who said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. Now, do you need grace? Go to the Lord Jesus. Do you
need the forgiveness of sins? Go to the Lord Jesus. Do you
need righteousness? Go to the Lord Jesus. Do you
need redemption? Go to the Lord Jesus. Do you
need faith? Go to the Lord Jesus. If you
can't come to him with faith, come to him for the faith. Ask
him to give it to you. Do you need repentance? Well,
he's exalted as a prince and savior for to give repentance
to Israel. You won't repent unless he gives
you the grace to repent. You go to the Lord Jesus for
the repentance. Do you need a new heart? Go to
the Lord Jesus. Do you need perseverance to be
enabled to persevere all the way to the end? Go to the Lord
Jesus. Now this is such a beautiful
type. Don't come to me. Pharaoh says,
go to Joseph. What he says, do. And it's the
same thing with us. You go to the Lord Jesus for
all things. And he has promised him that
he said, all that the father giveth me shall come to me. and
him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Now you go to the Lord Jesus
and whatsoever he says to you, do. Verse 56, and the famine
was over all the face of the earth. This was a worldwide famine. And Joseph opened all the storehouses
and sold them to the Egyptians. And the famine waxed sore in
the land of Egypt. And all countries came into Egypt
to Joseph for to buy corn because that the famine was so sore in
all the land." Now, Joseph opened all these storehouses. You know, he's the door into
the vast storehouses of God's grace and God's favor. And he
opened all these storehouses. I couldn't help but think where
the Lord tells us that he was not sent to condemn the world.
The world already was condemned, but that the world through him
might be saved. He opened up all these vast storehouses
and there was one place where you could come and buy food. And that place was Joseph. Verse 58, and all countries came
into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn because of the famine was
sore in all the lands. Now here's the scripture I read
at the beginning of this message. Now, when Jacob, he was in Canaan,
he didn't have anything to eat. And he heard that there was corn
in Egypt. Now, when Jacob saw that there
was corn in Egypt, how did he see that? Well, he said in verse
two, behold, I've heard that there's corn in Egypt. He'd heard
there's one place where you can have food. So he says to his
10 sons, why do you look upon one another? as if somehow you're
going to come up with food. It's not going to come from you.
Go down to Egypt. Don't look for yourself for anything. Go to Egypt. There's food in
one place. And my dear friend, there is
grace in one place. Don't look among yourselves.
Don't look within. Don't look to someone else. There's
only one place where God has favor for the sinner. And that
place is his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what Jacob
says. He says, don't look one another.
You're not going to be able to do each other any good. Go down. You see the way up in the kingdom
of heaven is always down. Go down to Egypt, get ye down
thither, and buy for us from thence that we may live and not
die. Now, when I've read that passage
of scripture, there's something that would make me think. Jacob was a wealthy
man. Jacob had a lot of money and
Jacob could send money down to buy. food. Now you're going to find out
if you go on reading in this passage of scripture that the
money they brought, Joseph didn't accept it. He sent it back. You see, we're not going to pay
for anything. Everything the Lord does is a
free gift. They brought their money and
the, and they didn't yet know that it was Joseph and Joseph
sent it back. If you're familiar with the story,
but I've often thought about this. What if you were in this
famine and you didn't have any money? And you didn't have any
way of providing for food to go down to Egypt with. You could
go down there, but if you didn't have any money, you wouldn't
get any food. What about the people who did not have any money? Jacob had plenty of money. His
sons had plenty of money. There's some who didn't have
any. What about these people? Well, there's a passage of scripture
in Isaiah chapter 55 that answers that question. Isaiah chapter
55, beginning in verse one, we read where God says, ho, ho,
listen to what I'm saying. What a mercy that God gives us
an attention getter. He says to us, whatever you're
doing, listen, ho, God speaks. This is worth hearing. This is
God speaking. And he says, ho, everyone that
thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, you
don't have to bring any money to buy this. He that hath no
money, come ye, buy and eat, yea, come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Now, what a mercy that God says,
ho, everyone that thirsteth. Now, there are two descriptions
of the people that he's calling to the waters. Number one, people
who are thirsty. And number two, people who have
nothing to pay. Ho, everyone that thirsteth. Now when you're thirsty, when
you're hungry, you know you cannot satisfy that hunger or that thirst
from within. Food and water is going to be
brought from without you, and that's the only thing that will
ever satisfy your thirst. Now, when he's talking about
thirsting, he's talking about thirsting for God. He's talking
about thirsting for righteousness. The Lord said, blessed are they
that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall
be filled. Now, the person who hungers and
thirsts after righteousness is the person who really believes
that they have no righteousness of their own. but how they desire
righteousness. Now the righteousness that every
believer thirsts after is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Now listen to me, the only righteousness
I want to be found in when God comes looking for me is I want
to be found in the righteousness and the merits of Jesus Christ,
so that when God looks at me, all He sees is Jesus Christ. I don't want Him to see me in
any way independent of me simply being viewed, seen in the Lord
Jesus Christ, accepted in the beloved. Now who thirsts after
this? And I'm glad it didn't say or
talk about the degree of thirst. Some people seem to thirst more
than others. I realize that, but it doesn't talk about the
degree of your thirst. It just says thirst. Everyone
that thirsts, come ye to the waters. Whosoever will, let him
take the water of life freely. Revelation 22, 17. Do you thirst
for Christ's righteousness because you know you don't have one of
your own? Now look what he says next. He says, he that hath no
money, Come ye by and eat, yea, come by wine and milk without
money and without price. Now, not only is the person who
is thirsty called, but there's another aspect to this person
who's thirsty. He doesn't have any money. He
doesn't have a penny's worth of merit. He has nothing to bring
to the table. He has no good works. He has
no experience. He can't say, well, I've started
doing this, or I've stopped doing that, or I've sacrificed this,
or I've... No, he has nothing. He doesn't have a penny to pay. If you have something, this is
not for you. You see, Christ only saves sinners.
He only helps those who cannot help themselves. I've heard the
saying, and you've heard the saying, God helps those who help
themselves. No, God helps those who cannot help themselves. And that person who has no money,
he has nothing to bring to the table. He has nothing that can
recommend him to God. That's the person God says, come
buy wine and eat not only water, but milk for strength, wine for
joy and gladness. All these things are to be had
freely. Everyone that thirsts, everyone
that has nothing, Come to the waters. And then he asked this
question in verse two, wherefore do you spend your money for that
which is not bread and your labor for that which satisfies not?
You know the only thing that satisfies this man talking to
you? Is the fact that Christ said
it is finished. And he did it all and there's
nothing required for me to do. Now I find satisfaction in that.
If you take any of that off and say, well, there's something
you need to do, I lose any joy and peace I might have. But I
find such satisfaction in knowing that all that God requires of
me, I have in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm satisfied by his
resurrection. When he was raised from the dead,
my sin was paid for, I was justified, complete salvation. Now, why
would you spin your bread for anything other than that? He
says in verse three, incline your ear and come unto me. Here, and your soul shall live,
I will make, this is God speaking, and he speaks to every thirsting
soul who has nothing. He says, I will make an everlasting
covenant with you. Even the sure mercies of David. Now, he says to everyone who
thirsts for Christ and has nothing to bring to the table, no good
works, no merits, totally dependent upon grace, he says, listen,
I'll make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies
of David. Now, if you read in 2 Samuel
23, verse one, we read, these be the last words of David. These
are David's dying words. And he says in verse five, and
this is what the Lord is referring to when he talks about the sure
mercies of David. He says, although my house be
not so with God. Now his house was a mess. He
had all kinds of criminal activity among his own children. There
was murder. There was rape. There was incest.
His house was a mess. And I have no doubt that when
he says that, he's also talking about his own sinful body. The
body is quite often in the scriptures called the house. He said, although
my house be not so with God yet, hath he made with me an everlasting
house. It was made before time began,
and it will never end. It's eternal. And David says
this covenant is ordered in all things and sure. Now, why is
it sure? Because it's Christ saving me. It's Christ paying for my sins.
It's Christ giving me His righteousness. It's Christ preserving me all
the way to the end. It's Christ making me just like
Himself. It's ordered in all things, ordered
by God. And it's sure, it's for sure,
because it's God's work. Now that's why they're the sure
mercies of David. And David said, this is all my
salvation and all my desire, though he make it not to grow. Now, if you come, if I come to
God, thirsting after his son and having nothing to pay, he'll
make this covenant with me and you, even the sure mercies of
David. This is Todd Nyberg praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. Amen.