Jacob was close to 130 years
old when he made this statement with regard to what he had seen
his experience to be. All these things are against
me. That was Jacob's perception.
He had experienced so much of the grace of God for so many
years And this is his assessment of his situation. All these things
are against me. And nothing could be further
than the truth. Everything that was taking place was taking place
for his salvation, the salvation of his children, the preservation
of Israel, and the preservation of the seed that would be born
some 1500 years later, the Lord Jesus Christ, everything was
working together for his good. But his perception, all these
things are against me. Now you will remember at this
time that Joseph Was the prime minister of Egypt and he was
the most powerful man on earth. If you were going to have anything
to eat, it was up to Joseph. Yeah. How could there be more
power than that? You'd starve to death. If he
decided you wouldn't have food, look in chapter. 42 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, don't come to me, go to Joseph. What he saith to you, do. And the famine was over all the
face of the earth. There was only one place you
could get food, Egypt. And Joseph opened all the storehouses
and sold unto the Egyptians, and the famine waxed sore in
the land of Egypt. And all countries came unto Egypt
to Joseph, for to buy corn, because that the famine was so sore in
all the lands. Now, if you were gonna have anything
to eat, you'd get it from Joseph. If you're gonna have salvation,
it must come from Christ only. Do you believe that? Let's go
on reading, chapter 42. Now, when Jacob saw that there
was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, why do you look
one upon another? And he said, behold, I've heard
that there's corn in Egypt. Get ye down thither and buy for
us from it. That we may live and not die.
We consider that some last week and Joseph's 10 brethren went
down to buy corn in Egypt, but Benjamin Joseph's brother. He also was the son of Rachel,
Jacob's favorite wife. But Benjamin, Joseph's brother,
Jacob's sent not down with his brethren, for he said, lest peradventure
mischief befall him. These other guys are expendable,
but I want this man safe. He's my favorite. Verse five. And the sons of Israel came to
buy corn among those that came, for the famine was in the land
of Canaan. And Joseph was the governor over Now let me remind
you, he was 17 years old when his brother sold him in Egypt.
He's nearly 40 now and they don't recognize him. He recognizes
them. What do you think he thought
when he saw these men come in? Can you imagine how amazing that
was? He recognized them, but they had no idea who he was. And Joseph was the governor over
the land, and he it was 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." Just like Joseph dreamed it would
take place. They hit the dirt. You see, they
understood that if they were going to have any food, If they
were going to survive, it was totally up to him. And they bowed
down with their faces in the ground, just as Joseph trained. Verse seven and Joseph saw his
brethren and he knew them, but made himself strange under them
and spake roughly under them. He didn't want them to know who
he was just yet. He spoke roughly with them. And 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, Turn back to Genesis 37 for just
a moment. Verse five. And Joseph dreamed a dream and
he told it to his brethren and they hated him yet the more for
he said to them, here, I pray you this dream, which I've dreamed.
For behold, you were binding sheaves in the field, and lo,
my sheep arose and also stood upright. And behold, your sheaves
stood round about and made obeisance, worshipped my sheep. And his
brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? Or shalt
thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the
more for his dreams and for his words. And he dreamed yet another
dream and told it to his brethren and said, behold, I've dreamed
a dream more and behold the sun and the moon and the 11 stars
referring to his 11 brothers made obeisance to me. And he
told it to his father and to his brethren and his father rebuked
him and said unto him, what is this dream that thou has dreamed?
Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down
ourselves to thee to the earth? Yep. Yep. And he sees this taking
place. But what does he say to them?
You're spies. To see the nakedness of the land,
you are come. Now, he didn't mean that. He had intentions
of mercy and grace for them. But their perception was we're
in trouble. Verse 10, and they said unto
him, hey, my Lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. We
are all one man's sons. We are true men. Thy servants
are no spies. Now, I agree that we're not spies. They came there to buy food,
but true men, come on. You guys have been living a lie
for many years after what you've done to your brother. And you
continue the lie to your father. Your father doesn't know what
you did. Yes, I would agree. You're not
spies, but you're not true men. But that's what they call themselves.
Verse 12. And he said unto them, Nay, but
to see the nakedness of the land you are coming. I can't help
but think Joseph was kind of enjoying this. He knew exactly
what he was doing. He saw his brothers groveling,
and he got some kind of enjoyment out of that. But he still intended
mercy. What they perceived was not reality
at this time. But this elicits more information
about them. And they said to Joseph who knew
them and they didn't know him. Thy servants are 12 brethren,
the sons of one man in the land of Canaan and behold, the youngest
is this day with our father. And one is not now. Joseph heard
of Jacob, his beloved father, and he heard of Benjamin, his
beloved brother. This is what he was interested
in. Joseph said unto them, verse 14, That is that I spake unto
you, saying, Your spies hereby you shall be proved. This is
what is going to demonstrate whether or not you're real by
the life of Pharaoh. You shall not go forth hence
except your youngest brother come hither. You're going to
bring Benjamin here. 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 by
the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies. And he put them all
together into the ward in prison for three days. And I like to
think about what all they were talking about during this time.
I bet there was finger pointing, blaming. It's hard telling what
all was said at this time. And then something happened that
absolutely freaked them out. And we considered that this morning.
And Joseph said unto them the third day, this do not live. For I fear God. Now I believe they probably were
like Abraham back in Genesis chapter 20 when Abimelech said,
why did you do this? And Abraham said, well, I thought
the fear of God wasn't here. Well, God was there, even if
his fear wasn't with those people, God was still there, but Abraham
was very concerned. And I believe these men were
just like that, and they were shocked when this man who, they
didn't know who he is. They didn't know he was Joseph.
They just knew he was the ruler of the land, and that their food,
whether they had any, was up to him. And he said, I fear God. I fear Elohim. He knew, or they
knew, he was talking about the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob, the triune God, Elohim is the plural of
God, God the Father, there's one God revealed in three distinct
persons, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit,
and you can be sure that these men were amazed when they heard
this man say to them, I fear God. They didn't know anybody
in Egypt feared God, but here the head man says, I fear God,
the God that created the heavens and the earth. I fear God. Verse 19, 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,
your houses, but bring your youngest brother unto me. So that shall
your words be verified and you shall not die. And they did. So now he gives him instruction.
I'm going to give you food. You go back when you come back
again, you bring your brother, Benjamin. I imagine he, maybe he didn't
leave the room, but they didn't understand that he could understand
their language. And they said one to another.
And I imagine he, well, I know he was listening at this time
because the scripture says he spoke to him through an interpreter
and they didn't know he knew the Hebrew language while they
were speaking. So they started speaking to each other in Hebrew
and here's what they say. And they said one to another,
we're very guilty concerning our brother. And that we saw
the anguish of his soul when he besought us and we would not
hear. Therefore, this distress has
come upon us. They're saying what goes around
comes around and it's coming back to us. We got this coming after
the way we treated our brother. And Reuben answered them saying,
spake I not unto you. I told you, I told you. saying, do not sin against the
child and you would not hear. Therefore, behold, also his blood
is required. They thought God is paying us
back. Verse 23, and they knew not that
Joseph understood them. For he spake unto them by an
interpreter and they had no idea that he understood every word
they were saying. Once again, perception's not
reality, is it? Verse 24, and he turned himself
about from them and wept. You see, he loved his brothers
and he was overcome by this. He wasn't gonna let them know
it at this time, but he turned himself about from them and wept
and returned to them again and communed with them. He communed with them and he
took from them Simeon and bound him before their eyes. He's the
one I'm going to keep him here while you all go back. He's going
to stay here. Then verse 25, oh, this is such
a glorious gospel message. Then Joseph commanded salvation
begins with God's command, doesn't it? Then Joseph commanded to
fill their sacks with corn, plumb to the full. You couldn't put
another kernel in one of them. I mean, he's giving them corn
abundantly. And to restore every man's money
in a sack. He's not gonna take money. This is grace. You're
not gonna pay for a thing. He commanded to restore everyone
their money back into their sacks. They didn't know it yet, but
that's what he did. and to give them provision for
the way. There's perseverance. He gives
provision for the way that people might continue all the way to
the end. And thus did he unto them. Isn't that what salvation is?
It's what he does to us. When he had by himself purged
our sins. He sat down. Oh, what a three-point
gospel message there is right there. He filled their sacks.
Plum full, you are complete in him, nothing else can be added.
He wouldn't take their money because salvation's by grace.
And he gave them provision for the way. The reason you're gonna
continue all the way to the end is because he gives you provision
for the way. This is what he did. Verse 26 and they laid in their
asses with the corn. I wonder how much corn that was and departed thence. And as one of them opened his
sack to give his ass Provender in the end, I like to think about
this, just traveling and got to the hotel, tried to saddle
up or unsaddle their asses, put them in, feed them. One fellow
opens his sack and all of his money has been restored. You spot his money for beholders.
It was in a sack's mouth. Verse 28. And he said to his
brethren, my money is restored and low. It's even in my sack
and their heart failed them. They thought we're in trouble. He's gonna use this to go against
us. We didn't try to keep our money,
but here it is restored to us. And the scripture says their
hearts failed them. They thought this is bad. We're going to end
up getting in trouble for this. Now once again, perception's
not reality, is it? This was his grace. But they
were perceiving it as something that was going to go against
them. Verse 28, he said to his brother,
my money is restored and low. It's even in my sack and their
hearts failed them. And they were afraid saying one to another.
What is this that God has done to us? Now they knew that this
was all God. They didn't know whether it was
for good or for evil, but they knew it was God. And I hope that
you and I will remember that whatever takes place, it's gone. Verse 29 and they came into Jacob, their
father under the land of Canaan and told him all that. Look at
that word befell unto them. It all fell down from heaven.
I love that language. It'd be fail them. And here's
what they said. The man who is the Lord of the
land spake roughly to us and took us for spies of the country.
And we said unto him, we're true men, we're no spies. We be 12
brethren, sons of our father, one is not, and the youngest
is this day with our father in the land of Canaan. And the man,
the Lord of the country, said unto us, hereby shall I know
that you're true men, leave one of your brethren here with me,
and take food for the famine of your household, and be gone.
And bring your youngest brother unto me, then shall I know. that you're no spies, but that
you're true men. So will I deliver you, your brother
and you shall traffic in the land. And it came to pass as they emptied
their sacks that behold, every man's bundle of money was there
in his sack. And when both they and their father saw the bundles
of money, they were afraid. And Jacob, their father said
unto them, me, have you bereaved of my children? Joseph is not,
Simeon is not, and you'll take Benjamin away? All these things
are against me. Turn with me to this very familiar
passage of scripture, Romans chapter eight. Somebody may be thinking, can
believers speak that way? Sure they can. Sure they can. And Jacob is. All these things
are against me. Now, this is a verse that if
we can't quote it, we ought to quote it. Verse 28, Paul says,
and we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Jacob's perception was that all
things are working together against him. The reality is Everything
is working for him. How do we know this? Paul says, and we know this is
not an educated guess. This is not me trying to develop
a hypothesis. And this is the statement we
conclude. We know, we know. Well, how do you know this Paul?
Well, first of all, because it's the teaching of scripture. It's
what the Bible's always taught. This is no new New Testament
doctrine. This is the truth with regard to the word
of God. God is God. And the scripture
says the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Every step you take is ordered
by God himself. You don't realize it. Most of
the time, you're not even thinking about it, but every step is ordered
by the Lord known unto God are all of his works from the beginning. Turn with me for a moment to
Proverbs chapter 16. Verse one, the preparations. of the heart
in man. And that word preparations is
the disposition, the inclination, the preparation of the heart
in man and the answer of the tongue. The way he responds is
from the Lord. Look in verse nine, a man's heart
divides his way. You have plans for tomorrow,
probably thinking about what is going to be done. Maybe even
tonight you're devising your way, but the Lord directed the
stamps. Look in verse 33, the lot is
cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is up the Lord. Look in Proverbs 19 21. There are many devices in a man's
heart. Nevertheless, the council, the
determined counsel of the Lord shall stand. Proverbs 21 verse
one, the King's heart. is in the hand of the Lord, as
the rivers of water, he turneth it whithersoever he will. That's Bible. This is what the
scripture has always taught. He declared at the end, from
the beginning and from ancient times, the things that are not
yet done saying, my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. This is what the Bible has always
taught. That's why we know and all things
work together for good. to them that love God, to them
who are called according to His purpose. It's because we know
it, because the Bible's taught it, and here's the second reason
we know it. We know it because He's revealed
it to us through His Word. You see, there's a lot of people
could read that. Okay, let's go on to the next. It just doesn't
mean much to him, but to somebody it means everything. And that
means God has taken his word and shined his light in your
heart to make you rejoice in it. And here's a third reason we
know this is so. First, because it's what the Bible teaches.
Second, because he's revealed it to us. He's revealed his gospel
to us. This is not just an intellectual
acknowledgement of what it says there, but there's a rejoicing
in it because he's revealed it. But here's the third reason.
This only fits with the character of God. Anything else is not
God. Anything else is a false God,
is a weak God. It's not the God of the Bible.
This is the God of the Bible. Known unto God are all His works. He doeth according to His will
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? We know. They may not, but we
do, don't we? We know. That all things work
together for good. And it's not hard for him to
cause all things to work together for good because he's God. It's
not difficult. It's not like he's trying to
scratch his head, trying to figure out how to make everything work
out. He's God. It's easy for him to take all
things and work them together for good to them. Here's the
next thing I want to point out about this though. Who does all
things work together for good for? All things work together for
good to them that love God. To them who are thee called according
to his purpose. That's the twofold description.
They love God. Now I realize, I'm just sure that when we think
of our love to God, We feel quite sure that it's way too weak,
and that it's not as strong and passionate as it should be, and
it's not. It's not, is it? Do you love
God the way he ought to be loved? Of course you don't, to my shame. One of the things I pray, Lord,
cause me to love you more, cause me to adore you more, cause me,
I wanna love him more. But I know this. My love to Him
is not what it ought to be, but I tell you this, I do love Him
as He's revealed in His Word. I love His holiness, His otherness. I love His justice, He's absolutely
just. No sin will ever go unpunished.
I love His sovereignty, the fact that He controls everything,
even the thoughts going through men's mind. He's Lord of. I mean,
He really is God. His mercy, His grace, His immutability,
His independence. I love His wholeness. You know,
He's not made of parts. He's not part sovereign and part love
and part just. No, He's whole in all that He
is. He's the God of glory. And we
love Him as He's revealed in His word. We would not change
Him if it were in our power. We wouldn't change Him in any
way. He's God, He's altogether glorious. to them who love God, to them
who are thee called according to his purpose. God has what he calls in Ephesians
one, an eternal purpose, which he purposed in Christ Jesus,
our Lord. This man, Jacob, who said, all
these things are against me. You know what Paul said? for the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand. Not of works. That's God's purpose. Not of
works, but of him that calleth. All things work together for
good, to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose. Are you back in Romans 8? Romans 8. Somebody once called this the
golden chain of salvation. And it's got five links and none
of these links are weak. You know, as they say, a chain
is as strong as its weakest link. Well, these are omnipotent links. There's no weakness in this chain.
Verse 28, let's read it again. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose for. See, the thought's not over. For whom he did foreknow. Now that doesn't simply mean
that God can look through the telescope of time and see what
all is gonna happen and who's gonna be born. This foreknowledge,
Adam knew his wife Eve. This is talking about intimate
saving love. It doesn't say what he foreknew,
it says whom he did foreknow. Jeremiah 31 three, behold, I
have loved you with an everlasting love. Oh, may the Lord give us the
grace to bathe in that. Before I was ever born, the Lord
loved me. I had personality with God. before I had any physical
existence, before I was formed in the belly,
he knew me. He loved me. This is where salvation
begins with the love of God that's in Christ Jesus, our Lord. We love him because he first
loved us. Whom he did foreknow. Now, remember this is being called
according to his purpose. Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate. You know, I love that word. I
think it's amazing that in, you know, religious people avoid
that word. Oh, I love that word. This is who God is. He's the
God of predestination. He predestinates everything. He's God. He's God. Whom he did foreknow, he also
did predestinate. How come? To be conformed. to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren." Now, a lot of
times when folks think of predestination, they think, well, you know, if
you bump your finger, it was predestinated, or if you break
your leg, it was predestinated. Well, I wouldn't say it's not,
but that's not what predestination is about. Predestination is about
being conformed. God predestinating you to be
perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus Christ that he might
be the firstborn among many brethren. You see everybody he foreknew?
He predestinated to be just like his son, Jesus Christ. Do you want that? Do you want
to be just like Christ? He predestinated you to be just
like Christ. Verse 30. Moreover, whom he did
predestinate, them he also called. Now this is talking about the
call of invincible grace. Now some people will take the
great glorious truths of predestination and election. They say, well,
if you're predestined, you'll end up in heaven no matter what. Even if you never hear the gospel.
Oh no. Oh no. Then he predestined, then
he also called. And this is the call of effectual
grace. When it pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace to reveal
his son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen. Immediately
I converted all the flesh and blood. I didn't ask men what
they thought about this. We preach Christ crucified, Paul
said, and to the Jews, a stumbling block. Religious people, when
they hear the gospel, they say, why? That'll lead to sin. If you preach grace that free
and that complete, why, that'll lead people to live lives of
indifference and apathy, and that'll lead people to sin. Well,
that's the response of a religious person that doesn't know the
Lord, but it won't make any God's people like that. That ain't
ever happened. It hadn't happened. And to the
Greeks, the wise of this world, well, this is foolishness. How
can this help me? How can this help make this world
a better place by preaching Christ crucified? I'm interested in
improving the world and changing the world and making advances
to make life better. This is nothing but foolishness.
That's what it is to the Jews. That's what it is to the Greeks.
But unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks. He does
call Jews, religious people. He does call Greeks. To those which are called both
Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, Christ, the wisdom
of God. And whom he called, verse 30,
them he also, what? Justified. Now, would to God
that me and you could get a hold of this, if I'm justified, That
means I have no sin before God. I hate it the way preachers talk
about justification. Well, it's a forensic term. It's
a legal term, and that ain't the Bible. It's who a believer
is in Christ Jesus without guilt, without sin, perfect in Christ
Jesus, so that the holy God looks at me, Todd Nibbert, because
of what Christ did for me, and he says with regard to me, I'm
well pleased with him. He's perfect. He's without sin. He's justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. Now it doesn't say them he will
glorify. It says whom he justified, them
he also glorified. Now somebody looks at me and
says, you don't look very glorified to me. I get it. You don't look
very glorified to me either. But that's not the point. Is
Christ glorified? I am too. I'm in him. Jacob. Perception. All these things
are against me. Reality. All things work together
for good to them that love God. to them who are the called according
to his purpose. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you. for the power and the reality
of your grace. And Lord, we're like Jacob, so
easily led to cry out in our perception of things that they're
not good, but Lord deliver us from our flawed sight and our
flawed perception. and enable us to know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are called according to your glorious purpose. Bless this
message for your glory and for our good. In Christ's name we
pray.