Would you turn with me to Hebrews
chapter 7? I want to read one verse of scripture
from Hebrews chapter 7, verse 22. By so much was Jesus made a surety of a
better testament by so much, by this infinite amount. This is not a competition going
on. It's not like the New Testament
is just a bit better than the Old Testament. It's not a close
score. It's not two to one. It's infinity to zero. It's not even a billion to zero.
That doesn't come even close. It's infinity to zero. By this much, by so much, was
Jesus made a surety of a better testament. Now, this word testament
is the same word that is quite often translated covenant. Same Greek word testament. I'm not sure what makes the translators
translate it sometimes covenant and sometimes testament, because
it is the same word, but yet they're two words in our language
that have a little bit different meaning, but both of these meanings
are included in the Greek word that's translated testament or
covenant. A covenant has something to do
with an agreement or a contract. Like the marriage covenant. You
know what the marriage covenant is. I agree to be Lynn's only. She agrees to be mine only. We agree to live with each other
all the way to the end and to receive each other and come sickness
or health, poverty, wealth, all those things. It's an agreement.
Or it can be understood like a mortgage contract. This house
is yours if you pay so much. It's a contract or an agreement. That's a covenant, a contract.
A testament has something to do with a last will and testament. Now, both of these ideas are
included in this word. The writer to the Hebrews speaks
of an infinitely better testament or covenant, and by this infinite
amount, Jesus was made surety of this better testament or covenant. The gospel, the gospel of God,
the truth, is impossible to understand without some understanding of
the two covenants. He says Jesus was made a surety
of a better covenant. There are two covenants. Paul
said in Galatians 2.24, these are the two covenants, the two
contracts, the two agreements, the two last will and testaments. They're not three, they're not
four, they're only two, and one is infinitely better than the
other. Now, before we consider the better
covenant, also known as the New Testament as opposed to the old,
or the covenant of grace as opposed to the covenant of works, I'd
like us to consider this inferior covenant. He says that Jesus
is the surety of a better covenant, or a better testament. Well,
what's he speaking of when he says he's the surety of a better
testament? What testament is he talking
about? Well, he's talking about the covenant of works. And let's
look at the way the writer to the Hebrews had already described
this covenant. Look in verse 15. He says it's far more evident
for that after the similitude of Melchizedek there arises another
priest who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment."
Now, he calls the Old Testament God's law. He calls it a carnal
commandment. That's strong language, isn't
it? He's talking about God's holy
law given to Moses on the mount, and yet he calls it a carnal,
a fleshly commandment. Look what he says in Verse 18,
For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment. Talking about
God's holy law, he says it's been disannulled because of the
weakness and the unprofitableness thereof. Now that's him speaking
of God's holy law. He calls it weak and unprofitable. It has no saving power. It has
no saving benefit. It is disannulled. It's no longer
valid. That's what he calls God's holy
law. Look in chapter 8. He says in verse 6, But now hath
he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he
is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better
promises. For if that first covenant had
been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the
second, for finding fault with him, God found fault with He
said, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I make a
new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of
Judah. Now, God himself finds fault with this covenant that
he gave. And this is strong language in
speaking of this old covenant, isn't it? Unprofitable? This and old? Weak? Yet those
are the words the Holy Spirit inspired the writer to the Hebrews
to use regarding God's holy law. And this is not shared in any
disrespect for God's holy law. I love God's holy law. I love
everything that comes out of his mouth. This is not spoken
in disrespect for God's holy law. This is spoken in respect
of the gospel. You see, the law has no glory
in comparison to the gospel. Do you believe that? You see,
the law only gives half the picture. It tells us of God's requirements,
but it doesn't give us any power to obey His requirements. It
tells us of our need of atonement for our sin, but it doesn't provide
any atonement for our sin. It tells us of our need of a
priest, but it only provides priests who are corrupt and sinful,
who can't really represent us before God. The law is weak. And the law is unprofitable.
And once again, that's not speaking in disrespect for God's holy
law. That's speaking in a high estimation
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what is this first
covenant that he speaks so poorly of? It's the covenant of works.
It first appeared in the Garden of Eden There was one tree they
were forbidden to eat of, and their right relationship with
God was conditioned upon them not eating of that tree. He says,
here's all these trees you can freely eat of every one of them,
but there's one tree that you can't eat of. It's the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil. Your right relationship with
me is dependent upon you not eating of that tree. And we all
know the story. Eve ate the fruit. She gave to Adam. And he ate. And the scripture says they died. They did not fulfill their end
of the covenant. Now, I know that Adam knowingly
chose to go down with Eve, but he loved the creature rather
than the Creator. And it was an act of rebellion. It was an act of wickedness when
he chose to sin against God. And when he sinned, we all sinned. Listen to this scripture from
Romans chapter 5 verse 12. For by one man's sin entered
the world, and death by sin, so that death passed upon all
men in that all have sinned. Now that's what it says. It doesn't
say his sin was charged to their accounts. It doesn't say that
at all. It says when he ate of the fruit,
They did too. You see what he did? He did as
a representative. And when he ate of the fruit,
I literally actually ate of the fruit. That was my sin. When
he sinned, I sinned. Now, I know people think, well,
how can it be fair? I wasn't even around then. I
wasn't around. How can I be charged and held
responsible for something that Adam did and then say it's my
sin? How can that be fair? Well, OK, let's just forget about
it then. Have it done on your own. Forget any connection with Adam.
How have you stood on your own? The fact of the matter is, is
you sin wickedly on your own, and in reality, the only hope
that you and I have is that just as when Adam sinned, we sinned. We disobeyed. If that can be
true, it can also be true that when Christ obeyed, I obeyed. When Christ died, I died. When Christ was raised from the
dead, I was raised from the dead. You see, the only hope we have
is in this thing of representation. Somebody says, well, how could
it be fair? You're barking up the wrong tree there. The only
hope you have, the only hope I have, is that what Christ did,
he did as a representative. Now, when Adam was placed in
the garden, he ate of that fruit, he fell, and you and I fell Now,
when Paul describes the two covenants, I think it's very interesting
of all the stories in the Old Testament, the story he picks
out to illustrate the two covenants. Turn with me for a moment to
Galatians chapter four. Galatians chapter four. He tells
the story of Sarah and Isaac, Hagar and Ishmael. Now, let's
begin reading in verse 21 of Galatians, chapter 4. Tell me, ye that desire to be
under the law, under this first covenant, this covenant of works. And like I said, it was first
mentioned in the gardener's only two covenants, or three, The
covenant works in the covenant of grace, first seen in the Garden
of Eden. In order to have a right relationship with God, you must
obey Him perfectly. And if you don't do your part,
you've had it. That's the covenant of works.
Now, when Paul picks out a passage of Scripture from the Old Testament
to describe what this is, he says, Tell me you that desire
to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it's written
that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other
by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman
was born after the flesh." There wasn't anything supernatural
about her birth. Now, you remember the story. God made a promise
to Abraham. He said, through your seed, all
the earth is going to be blessed. Thirteen years pass, and Sarah
still hadn't had a child, and she's actually gone through menopause. Now, you can't have kids when
you've gone through menopause. It's impossible. And she knew
that, and yet the promise hadn't been fulfilled, and she said,
Abraham, here's the problem. I know God made this promise,
but that promise cannot be fulfilled unless we do our part. If we don't do our part, We're
never going to have a kid. Now, here's what you need to
do. There's a hater, my bondmaid or whatever she was. He said,
you go into her and you conceive through her and we'll have a
child through her and that child will be mine. That's how the
Lord will fulfill his promise with me and you doing our part. God's promise cannot be fulfilled
unless we do our part. Now, let's go on reading. Verse 23. But he who was of the
bondwoman was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman
was by promise, which things are an allegory, for these are
the two covenants. The one from Mount Sinai which
genders to bondage was his Hagar, for this Hagar is Mount Sinai.
This Hagar represents Mount Sinai, the giving of the law. Listen,
if any part of salvation is dependent upon me or you to do our part,
it's wrong. It's the first covenant. It's
the covenant of works. And let me tell you this, the
covenant of works is doomed for failure. You know why? Because
it's dependent upon me. And anything that's dependent
upon me is going to fail. You believe that about yourself?
It's so. The only hope I have is that
salvation is totally outside of me. It's not something that
the Lord does. He says, these are the two covens, verse 24,
which things are an allegory for these are the two covens,
one for Mount Sinai, which jitters to bondage, which is Hagar, for
this Hagar is Mount Sinai. In Arabian, answers to Jerusalem,
which now is, and is in bondage with her children. Now, he's
saying Hagar, Abraham going into Hagar. She was able to have children. She was a young woman. There
was nothing supernatural about this childbirth. This is Abraham
doing his part. He says, this is Mount Sinai.
This is salvation by works. This is salvation contingent
upon or dependent upon human obedience. Now, Sarah, you know
what happened 13 years later? She's gone through menopause
and it was impossible for her to have children. And God said,
the seed is going to come through Sarah. And she supernaturally
had this child, and this was not through her doing her part.
This was God doing everything. He said, at this time will I
come, and Sarah shall have a son. This is not due to Sarah doing
her part. This is due to God saying, this
is the way it's going to be. Now, the covenant of grace, salvation
by grace, the Better Testament, the Better Covenant, works by
God doing His part. Few illustrations. Here's a beautiful
car. It'll get you wherever you desire
to go. All you have to do is start the
engine. And if you start the engine,
you'll get there. That car will get you there.
You've got to start the engine. You need to do your part, but
that's not that much, starting the engine. And then you steer
it, and you hit the brakes. Press the accelerator. You do
your part. But it's getting you there. I mean, you can't give
yourself the credit. It's that car that's getting you there.
But you've got to do your part or it won't work. Now, what good
will that do somebody who doesn't have any hands and who doesn't
have any feet and who's blind? What good would a promise like
that do them? Here is a beautiful piece of art. If you can just
Describe to me all the colors of this piece of art, then you'll
get it. It's worth millions. Well, what
good would that do to somebody who's blind and can't see? Play a beautiful piece of music
and you say, all you got to do is whistle this music back to
me and you're going to be awarded untold millions. Well, what good
would that do to somebody who's deaf? And they couldn't hear. What if I said to a dead man,
if you take the first step, God will meet you with all the rest.
What good would it do that man? You see, if you can't meet the
conditions of that covenant, it won't do you any good at all. Now, the first covenant, It's
without value. It's without benefit. It's not
saving because you and I can't come up with the goods. What
if I said to a sinful man, God will save you if you never sin
again. How could he succeed at that?
Why, you couldn't keep that in for one second. A covenant that's
dependent upon human obedience in any way is doomed for failure. Thank God. There is an infinitely
better testament. It's called the New Testament
or the New Covenant or the Covenant of Grace. It's what David described
in 2 Samuel 23. Would you turn with me there? I love David. He's the man after God's own
heart. He's the sweet psalmist of Israel. He's the spokesman
for every believer. If you want to know what's in
a believer's heart, read the writings of David. You'll find
that in reading a psalm, he describes you much better than you could
describe yourself. I'm so thankful for the psalms.
I loved reading Psalm 51 this morning. What a wonderful psalm.
Now, David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, King David, the man
after God's own heart. Let's look what he has to say.
These are his last words. Verse one says, Now these be
the last words of David. Now look down in verse five.
He says, although my house be not so with God. And it was a mess. His house
was an utter mess. His children were rebellious.
His wives hated him. I mean, he had one trouble after
another. He didn't have one of those warm
and fuzzy homes. I mean, there was trouble, trouble,
trouble, trouble. Although my house be not so with
God. And I think he's talking about
this house, too. This body, this body of sin, although my house
be not so with God. And Paul said, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? That's the house he's talking
about. Although my house be not so with God, yet, yet, in spite
of that, yet, he hath made with me everlasting covenant. And this is the better covenant.
This is the better testament. He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. Now, it's everlasting
because it was made before I was ever around. This is the covenant
that God the Father made with the Lord Jesus Christ. Six times
in John 17, you're going to read that this week as the Lord opens
a door for you to do that. You read John chapter 17 and
six times the Lord Jesus refers to those the Father gave him.
This is a reference to that covenant. He gave Christ a people and their
salvation was given to him. It was up to him. It was up to
his responsibility to make sure they'd be saved. Now, this is
a wonderful thing to think about. When Christ agreed to take responsibility
for me, everything that God requires of me, He looks to Christ for. Everything. Now, is that a better
covenant or what? That's infinitely better. What
do you want? Salvation dependent upon you?
Or salvation dependent upon Christ? I love the way David describes
this covenant. He says it's ordered in all things.
And it's true. That means it can't fail. It's
incapable of failure because Christ is incapable of failure.
And he says this is all salvation. Can you say that? Can you say
that with David? This everlasting covenant. Ordered
in all things, ensure it's all my salvation. And not only is
it all my salvation, it's all my desire. I don't want to be
saved any other way. I simply want to be found in
the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't want to have any part
in this thing. I want Him to do it all. This is all my desire. That's a better covenant. You see, it saves. Now, here's
the word I want us to close thinking with, and it's going to take
me, I don't mean close as in I'm going to be finished in five minutes,
but this is the last thought. By so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament. Now, the Bible does not mean
the same thing that we mean by surety. I know what we mean by surety,
because the first time I bought a car, I didn't have the financial oomph
for him to give me a loan. I mean, I was 16 years old, and
I went to the loan officer, and he wouldn't give me a loan. So
I went to my good old granny man. And I said, Granddad, he
told me if you get somebody to co-sign, you'll get it. My grandfather
co-signed on that loan for me. It was to buy a 1967 Mustang
Fastback with 289 V8. And I was so proud of that car. And I remember my payments. They
were $67 a month. And my grandfather made good. He said if he doesn't make the
payments, I'll be responsible for it. But you know what? I
paid every single one of them myself. He never paid a dime. Now, in the Scriptures, the surety
is not someone who stands good if I don't pay. In the Scripture,
the surety is the one who does the paying. And this is what
our Lord Jesus Christ is. He's the one who bears complete
and full responsibility. He doesn't say, well, I'll take
care of thought if he doesn't make it. No, he already knows
about me. And he bears complete. Now, the scripture gives us a
beautiful illustration of this in Judah. Would you turn with me to Genesis
43, and let me give you some background information. Jacob had 12 sons, the 12 patriarchs,
and two of them came from Rachel, his favorite Joseph and Benjamin. And Joseph showed flagrant favoritism
toward those boys. I mean, there's no doubt about
it. They were esteemed much more highly by Joseph than the rest
of that bunch was. So parents, don't do your kids
that way. Can you imagine how many psychological
problems all those kids had? He showed slavery favoritism. Remember how he made him a coat
of many colors? He didn't like the rest of that
bunch of that. And his brothers, because of
Joseph, was the darling of his father's eye, his brothers hated
him. And they couldn't speak peaceably to him. And when they
got the opportunity, they sold him into slavery. And you remember
what happened. They sold him into slavery. took that coat
of many colors, which I guarantee they just resented that, and
they killed a kid and dipped it in blood, and bring that coat
and said, is this your son's coat? I mean, we found it. His
dad thought he'd been eaten by an evil beast, and oh, he was
in such grief. But Joseph is sold into Egypt.
And while he's there, he does very well for himself. Joseph
was a remarkable man. But through a series of unfortunate
events, he's accused of something wrongly that he didn't do by
Potiphar's wife, and he's brought into prison. And while he's in
prison, he does well. I think this is so glorious about
his character. Wherever he goes, he does well.
He prospers. While he's in prison, he does well. And all of a sudden,
the keeper of the prison makes him the head of the prison. And
all the responsibility of the prison is with him. And then
he interprets, you remember the story, he interprets Pharaoh's
dream and all of a sudden he's made the highest man in Egypt. He was responsible for the grain,
for collecting food, for the years of famine that God had
revealed to him through that dream of the king that was coming.
And he was made the highest man in all of Egypt. Twenty-two years
had passed. since he had been sold into slavery. Well, the famine hits the land,
and Joseph is the one who dispenses the food. If you were going to
get food, you had to come to Joseph for it. And Jacob heard
that there was corn in Egypt, and he sent his boys into Egypt
to get him some food and bring it back. And when they come in,
remember it's been 22 years, Joseph sees them. They come to
him for food. They don't recognize him. But
he recognizes them. And you remember how he had those
dreams that his brothers would bow down before him? There they
were, bowing down before him. He remembered those dreams God
gave him. But he didn't let them know who he was. The Scripture
says he spoke roughly to them. And he said, Who are you? Are you spies? He used that to
find out about their father, to see if their father was still
alive. Benjamin, his little brother,
his father's favorite, that was Rachel's boy too, if he was still
alive. Remember, tin came. And Jacob wouldn't let Benjamin
go with him. He said, no, I couldn't handle
it if he died. He kept him behind. So the tin come and he said,
well, I'll give you corn. But understand this, you won't
get any more unless you bring Benjamin back with you. They get all the corn and food
they need. They go back and eat for a few
months. They finally run out of food,
and Jacob says it's time to go back. Now, let's begin reading
in Genesis chapter 42. This is such a touching story. Genesis chapter 42, beginning
in verse 49. Now, Jacob is telling them, it's
time, the men are telling Jacob about what happened, when they
came and they come with all this food, and verse 29, they came
unto Jacob, their father, into the land of Canaan, and told
him all that befell unto them, saying, The man who is the Lord
of the land spake roughly thus, and took us for the spies of
the country, and we said unto him, We're true men, we're no
spies. We be twelve 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 households,
and be gone, and bring your youngest brother, Benjamin, unto me, then
shall I know that you are no spies, but that you are true
men. So will I deliver you unto 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 in a sack, the money
they thought they paid for. 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, and Simeon is not. And you'll take Benjamin
away? All these things are against me. Now Reuben speaks up, and
Reuben represents human religion. If you want to know what false
religion is all about, Reuben tells us. And Reuben spake unto
his father, saying, Slay my two sons. If I bring him not to thee,
deliver him into my hand, and I'll bring him to thee again.
And he said, My son shall not go down with you. For his brother
is dead, and he is left alone. If mischief befall him by the
way in which you go, then you bring down my gray hairs with
sorrow to the grave." Now, Rubin says, slay my two sons if I don't
break it. Is there any justice in that?
Would God's justice be satisfied by that? False religion always
has a false view of the justice of God. Always. It doesn't make up God to be
a just God and a Savior. Reuben says, slay my two boys,
if I don't bring him back. Furthermore, what harsh thoughts of God? Here's what will satisfy you.
If I don't bring him back, here's your two grandsons, kill them.
Would that satisfy God? Would that satisfy Jacob? Would
Jacob be satisfied by that? Of course not. Religion has such
harsh thoughts of God, like, he'll be satisfied if we do this
or do that. And I think this is another interesting
thing about Reuben. Reuben said, doesn't say anything
about take me or slay me, he says slay my two sons. He wouldn't
take any responsibility in this thing. And this just pictures
human religion. No sense of the justice of God.
Harsh views of God. And no sense of responsibility,
no taking any personal responsibility in this thing. Somebody killed
my two boys, not me. That's Reuben, and I love the
way Jacob said, I'm not sinning with you. As a matter of fact,
if you read the prophecies regarding Reuben, what does he say about
Reuben? Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel. He wouldn't
have anything to do with Reuben. No, that's not going to work.
OK, let's pick up reading in verse one of chapter 43. And the famine was sore in the
land, and it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which
they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them,
Go again, buy us a little food. And Judah, what tribe did the
Lord Jesus come from? Judah. And Judah spake unto him,
saying, The man, speaking of Joseph, did solemnly protest
unto us, saying, You shall not see my face, except your brother
be with you. If thou wilt send our brother with us, we'll go
down and buy thee food. If thou wilt not send him, we'll
not go down. For the man said unto us, You
shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. And
Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me as to tell
the man whether ye had a brother? And they said, the man asked
us frankly of our state and of our kindred, saying, is your
father yet alive? Have you another brother? And
we told him, according to the tenor of these words, could we
certainly know that he would say, bring your brother down?
And Judah said unto Israel, his father. Now, here's what a surety
is. Send the lad with me. and we will arise and go, that
we may live and not die, both we and thou, and also our little
ones, I will be surety for him. Of my hand shalt thou require
him. If I bring him not unto thee,
and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever." Now that is what the Lord Jesus
said as my surety. Now what does the Bible mean
by this word surety? Well, there's two meanings in
the Hebrew dictionary. First, the word means to braid,
to intermix, to mingle. As a matter of fact, this same
word is translated in the book of Ezra, mingled. to twine, to
entwine, to braid, to make one. This speaks of union. I will
become united to him. And the other definition is to
bear full responsibility. So they go back to Egypt with
Benjamin, and he gives them food. But if you know the story, he
placed that chalice in Benjamin's sack. And they go back, and he
sends some people to arrest them and accuse them of stealing,
stealing the king's chalice. And they're brought back, and
oh, they think they're in trouble. Now, let's look in chapter 44,
verse 14. And Judah and his brethren came
to Joseph's house, for he was yet there, and they fell before
him on the ground. They didn't yet know who he was.
And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that you've done?
What ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine? I can
see what's going on. And Judah said, What shall we
say unto my Lord? What shall we speak, or how shall
we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity
of thy servants. Behold, we are my Lord's servants,
both we and he also with whom the cup is found. We're in your
hands. And he said, Joseph speaking, God forbid that I should do so,
but the man in whose hand the cup is found. Talking about Benjamin,
he should be my servant. And as for you, get you up in
peace unto your father. Then Judah came near unto him,
and said, O my Lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a
word in my Lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against
thy servant, for thou art even as Pharaoh. My Lord asked his
servants, saying, Have you a father or a brother? And we said unto
my Lord, We have a father, an old man, a child of his old age,
a little one, and his brother is dead, and he alone is left
of his mother, and his father loveth him. And thou said unto
thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine
eyes upon him. And we said unto my Lord, the lad cannot leave
his father, for if he should leave his father, his father
would die. And thou said unto thy servants, except your younger
brother come down with you, you shall see my face no more. And
it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant, my father,
we told him the words of my Lord. And our father said, go again
and buy us a little food. And we said, we can't go down.
If our younger brother be with us, then will we go down. For
we may not see the man's face, except our youngest brother be
with us. And my servant, my father said, and as you know, did my
wife bear two sons. And the one went out for me.
And I said, surely he's torn in pieces. And I saw him not
since. And if you take this also for me and mischief fallen, you
shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. Now,
therefore, when I came to thy servant, my father, and the lad
be not with us, seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's
life, it shall come to pass when he see that the lad is not with
us, that he'll die. And thy servant shall bring down
the gray hairs of thy servant, our father, with sorrow to the
grave. But thy servant, became surety for the lad unto my father,
saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame
to my father for ever. Now therefore, I pray thee, let
thy servant abide instead of the lad, a bondman to my Lord,
and let the lad go up with his brethren." And that's exactly
what the Lord Jesus Christ said to God's law and justice. Let
me abide in his stead. Take me and let him go free. For how shall I go up to my father,
and the lad be not with me, lest perventure I see the evil that
shall come on my father? Then Joseph, chapter 45, could
not refrain himself before all them that stood by. And he cried,
cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with
him while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And
he wept aloud, and the Egyptians in the house of Pharaoh heard.
And Joseph said unto his brethren, I'm Joseph. Can you imagine how
scared they were at this time? I'm Joseph. What? Oh, they thought
they were in trouble. I am Joseph, doth my father yet
live? And his brethren could not answer
him, for they were troubled at his presence, they were scared
to death. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me,
I pray you. And they came near, and he said,
I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Now therefore
be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me hither,
for God did send you before me to preserve life." God did send
me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the
famine been in the land, and yet there are five years in which
there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me
before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your
lives by a great deliverance. So now, it was not you that sent
me hither, but God, and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh,
and Lord of all his house, and a rule throughout all the land
of Egypt. Haste ye, and go ye up to my Father, and say unto
him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me Lord of all
Egypt. Come down, and tarry not." Boy, there's a more wonderful
story in the Bible than that, is there? Now, when the Lord
Jesus became flesh, He became braided with me. He became one with me. What I
am, he became. And he bore full responsibility
for me. Bless God, I am intertwined with
him, so that his obedience is mine. Now, think of this back
to Hebrews 7.22. By this infinite amount, so much,
was Jesus made a surety of a better testament, a better covenant. Now, here's the thought I want
to leave you with. God the Father entrusted the
salvation of the elect to Jesus Christ. He gave them to Him. And he trusted Him to save him. God the Father trusted the Lord
Jesus Christ completely. Now here's a question I want
to ask you. Do you trust Him? The Father did. The Father does. Do you trust Him to save you? Well, I do. That's the gospel. If the Father
trusts it, I sure do trust it. May God enable each one of us
to trust our surety completely. Let's pray.