Genesis chapter 47. I'd like to read verses 11 and
12 of Genesis chapter 47. And Joseph placed his father
and his brethren. and gave them a possession in
the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Ramses,
as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph nourished his father
and his brethren and his father's household with bread according
to their families. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
we ask in Christ's name that you would break the bread of
life to us. Lord, feed us with heavenly manna
for Christ's sake. Speak to each heart here and
meet each need here according to your blessed will. Accept our praise and thanksgiving
through thy blessed Son. In his name we pray. Amen. I've entitled this message, What
Joseph Does for Us. So when I say what Joseph does
for us, I believe you know what is meant by that. What Christ
does for us. And in bringing this message,
I'm going to tell you from the Word of God, what Christ has
actually done for you. Now, I'm interested in what Christ
does for me. And let me tell you why I say
that. What can I do, talking about what Christ has done for
me, what can I do apart from Him? What did He say? Without me,
you could do hardly anything. You didn't say that, did you?
Without me, you can do nothing. So what I do, obviously, is not
anywhere near as important as what He does for me. And in reality,
what I do is dependent upon what He does for me, isn't it? Now, in this passage of Scripture,
We're given a beautiful picture of what Christ does for every
believer. And I can say with full confidence
to every child of God, this is what Christ already has done
for you. May God give us grace to believe. To believe what he's done for
us. Now, notice it says in verse
11, and Joseph placed his father and his brethren. Now, what's
that mean? Well, I was heavily dependent
on Strong's Hebrew dictionary for the meaning of these words,
and I thought this was very interesting. That word place means he set
them down. He set them down. He literally made us to sit down
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He placed us. Turn with me to
Ephesians chapter two for just a moment. Now, in Christ is the
place to be. You're either in yourself or
you're in Christ. You either stand before God in
your own works, or you stand before God in Christ's works.
Now, in Christ is the place I want to be. I know exactly what Paul
meant when he said, oh, that I may win Christ and be found
in Him. That is the very desire of my
heart, that when God comes looking for me, He finds me in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, look here in Ephesians chapter
2. But God, who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith
He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved, and hath raised
us up together, and made us, what's that next word? Sit. He made us sit. together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. You know when the scripture points
out that Christ Jesus sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high. It points out he sat down, his
work finished. You know who else sat down? Me. Every believer. By virtue of
union with him, When he sat down, having finished the work I sat
down to, nothing for me to do, he placed them. He sat them down
in the best land, the land of Goshen. Now, when I look that
word up, it also gave this definition. He settled them in that place. It means to cause to abide. He caused them to abide in that
place and it is even sometimes translated married. He married
him, he set him down, he married him, he caused him to abide in
that good land, the land of Goshen. Jacob and his sons were placed
in the best land and we're placed in Christ, the place of all of
God's blessings. Now, listen to me, believe this.
You say, I want to be blessed. I do, too. But you already are
blessed. And you can't get any more blessed
than you are right now, because the Word of God says He hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ. Now, believe it. Believe it. Can't get any better. He set
them down. He placed them. Now, let's go
on reading in verse 11. And Joseph placed his father and his brethren
and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt. The land he
gave them in the land of Goshen, the best land, the land he gave
them became theirs. It became their possession. It
became their personal property. Their names were on the deed.
They weren't renters. They certainly were not squatters.
They were owners of the land He gave them. It became their
possession. He gave them a possession. Now, what is your possession?
Your possession is what actually belongs to you. It's your stuff. It's not somebody else's. It's
yours. He gave them a possession in
this land. Now, what is my possession? He
gave him a possession. What is my possession? Well,
according to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 18, Paul says to every
believer under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he says,
all things are yours. All things. That's my possession.
That includes everything. God is my possession. He's mine. You know the Lord
said to his disciples, you go tell, he said to Mary,
you go tell my disciples, I go to my God and your God. And my Father and your Father. God is my God. He's my possession. He's mine. When I'm talking about
possession, believe me, I'm not talking about material stuff.
And we have our possessions. But you know, they're not really
ours, they're His. Do you believe that? Do you believe that what
you have really is His and you only have it by loan? You believe
that, don't you? It's His. And you know that the stuff we
have, the material things, we're not going to have much longer.
I mean, they're all going to be burned. There's nothing to
them. I mean, all the material things. You think about all the
stuff that you wanted and you finally got it and then you got
tired of it and you don't even remember it now. I mean, how
many things can we say that about? I mean, just stuff. When I'm
talking about possessions, I'm not talking about stuff that
we own, our house, our car, our lands. I'm talking about something
that is eternal, eternal possession, something I'm always going to
have. Because all this material stuff, I'm not always going to
have it. Job said, naked I came into this world, and how am I
going to return? Naked. The Lord gives and the
Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
When I'm talking about possessions, I'm not talking about the clothes
I have, or the money I have, or the car I drive. I'm talking
about eternal possessions. The Lord Jesus Christ is mine. I am my Beloved's, and He is
mine. What a possession! All that Christ owns is mine. You know, the scripture says
we're joint heirs with Christ. All that the Lord Jesus Christ
owns is mine by possession. You know, when I think of what's
mine, I think of something that's always going to be mine. It's
going to stay with me forever. It's my name. I'm Todd Goddard. That's who I am. There's only
one me in the whole world. There's only one you in the whole
world. My name, I'm going to have it forever. You know what
my name is? This is the name wherewith She
shall be called, talking about every believer, the Lord our
righteousness. Now, I want you to listen to
this. Here's my position. Righteousness is mine. Turn with me for a moment to
Revelation chapter 19. This scripture is so sweet to me to think about
this. Revelation chapter 19. Verse seven. And let us be glad and
rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage of the lamb
is come and his wife has made herself ready and to her was
granted graciously bestowed that she should be arrayed in fine
linen, clean and white for the fine linen is the righteousness
of who? The saints. Now, is this talking
about the righteous deeds of the saints, your good works?
Would you call your good works fine linen, clean and white?
Is that how you view them? This is talking about the perfect
obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, but notice how it's stated. It
says this fine linen, clean and white is not the righteousness
that Christ Jesus worked out When He walked upon this earth,
although that's what it's a reference to, but that's not what it says.
It says this fine linen, clean and white, is the righteousness
of the saints. That's my righteousness. That's
the righteousness that is mine. You know, justification. This
all comes from justification. The justifying work of Christ
on the cross. And this becomes bigger to me. It becomes more
glorious to me. It becomes more awesome to me the more I think
about it. And God justified me and every believer is justified.
That means not that I'm. Well, I'm guilty, but but God
justified me, you know, I'm still a sinner and everything, but
but I've got this righteousness covering it up where God can't
see it. It doesn't mean that at all. That's all justification
is. Justification means. I never sinned. I have I possess. perfect righteousness. That is mine by possession. He gave them a possession. I
have that eternally. Sonship is mine. Behold, what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should
be called the sons of God. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God and as a son of God, as a true child of God. Listen to this scripture, Ephesians
chapter 3 verse 12. Here's the privileges of sonship
in whom in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, he placed us in Christ.
That's my standing in whom we have boldness. And access with
confidence. By the faith of him. At all times. I have access. into the very presence of God
at all times. When I feel it, when I don't
feel it. And you know as well as I do, there's times when you
feel like you don't have any business coming into His presence. You
feel like you can't pray. You know, you can't come into His
presence. You know what that feels like.
But you know, at all times, we have access with boldness, with
confidence by the faith of Him. Here's why I have this boldness.
Here's why I have this confidence. Because I have His faith. His
faith is my faith. It's my faith. I'm saved by the
faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why I can
come into His presence with boldness. I have, I possess eternal life. Because of that, that's why I
believe. You know, right now while I'm
talking to you, I believe the gospel. I'm believing on the Lord Jesus Christ
right now. I'm resting in Him. I'm trusting Him. I know why I do. I have eternal
life. I'm repenting right now. I'm
repenting right now. I'm loving the Lord Jesus Christ
right now. Those are my possessions because I have eternal life.
I possess the Spirit of God. I possess the grace of God. I
have all the spiritual blessings. They're my possessions. I have
all the great and precious promises of God. This is my possession. I have His providence as my possession.
This is mine. All things work together for
good to him that loveth God, to him that calleth according
to his purpose. All things. Doesn't matter what it is. All
the stuff of yesterday that I feel terrible about. Do you know the
Lord brings good out of evil? And everything he does is working
for my good and his glory. All things. That's my possession. My possessions are not material
things. My possessions are eternal possessions, and notice what
it says in our text in verse 11. And Joseph placed his father
and his brethren and gave them a possession. My possession is
what he has given me. That's why I have it. That's why I have it. I've got
glorious possessions. Where'd you get them? He gave
them to me. He gave them to me freely by His grace. That's why
I have them. What I have, He gave to me. What do you have that you didn't
receive? Can you name anything? Of course not. He gave them to
you. And you know, you think about
His gift. There's three things that makes a gift precious. First,
the value of the gift. The value of the gift. The gift
is Christ Jesus Himself. God so loved the world, He gave
His only begotten Son. That's the value of the gift.
The preciousness of the gift itself. Next thing that makes
it precious is the one who gave it. You know, if your enemy gives
you a gift, you don't even want it. But if the Lord Jesus Christ
gives you a gift, if God the Father gives you a gift, that's
what makes it precious. I'll tell you what else makes
a gift precious. Your need of it. That's what
makes it precious, the gift of His grace. What we have, we actually possess,
and what we have, He gave us freely. Now, notice it says in
our text, in verse 11, Joseph placed his father and his brethren
and gave them a possession, that which actually belonged to them.
It was theirs. They were not renters. They weren't
borrowing something to belong to somebody else. It was theirs.
And he gave this possession in the land of Egypt, in the best
of the land, in the land of Ramses, as Pharaoh had commanded. They were placed in the best
land. And I love being in the best
place. I was getting my oil change the
other day. And one of those Babylonians
said oil change. And they have that sign. I was sitting there waiting while
they were doing it. You can get good oil. or you can get better
oil, or you can get the best oil. If it's the best, it costs
a whole lot more, but if it's best, that means there's nothing
that's better than that oil. That's the best, so to say, but
I'm just using, I don't know what they're, I don't know, you
know, oil's oil as far as I can tell, but the best means there's nothing
better than that. He put them in the best land,
and I want you to think about this. Can the Lord God give anything
that's not absolutely the best? What he gives is the best. Oh, it's the best. Nothing can
be compared with what he gives. It is the best. He that spared
not his own son, did he give the best? He spared not his own
son, but he delivered him up. And don't even think of the for
us all in the generic term or even though it's a reference
to the elect. Think of this. He delivered him up for me. For me. For me. How shall he not also
with him freely give us all things? He gives the best. And look what the last phrase
says in verse 11. He put them in the best of the
land as Pharaoh had commanded. I want us to look at the authority
behind this. Do you suppose Joseph's brothers
wondered if they were dreaming? Now remember who these fellows
were. They were no good scoundrels. They had betrayed their brother. And sold him as a slave. And
do you reckon they're thinking, can this really be happening?
Are we really being put in the best land like this? I mean,
is this a dream? This all seems too good to be
true. It seems almost unfair. We surely don't deserve this.
But Pharaoh commanded it. That takes care of it. If Pharaoh
commanded it, that's the way it is. Now, all of this seems
too good to be true. Where does it come from? Is this
pie in the sky? Is this positive thinking, trying
to put a positive spin on everything and looking at everything in
a positive light? No, it comes from the commandment of God.
The reason I'm in the best land, the reason I have these possessions,
is because God commanded it. David said in Psalm 71, 3, Thou
hast given commandment to save me. Bartimaeus cried out, Jesus,
thou son of David, have mercy on me. And the scripture says
Jesus stood still and he commanded him to be called. He commanded him to be called.
And they said, be of good cheer, rise, he called the thing. Here's
the authority behind this. It comes with the command of
God. Now, believing Christ and believing All that I possess
in Him is not an act of presumption. It's not pie in the sky. It's
not just positive thinking. It's faith. I believe that what
God commanded must come to pass. Do you know when Jesus Christ
the Lord died on Calvary's tree, God said concerning every one
of His people, deliver them from going down into the pit, for
I have found a ransom. saved by the commandment of God. Look at verse 12. And Joseph nourished his father
and his brethren. Now, let me give you the meanings
of this word that I found in the Hebrew dictionary. If you ever look them up in the
Strong's Dictionary, the numbers, and look them up in the meanings,
it gave these numbers, these meanings, I'm getting them in
order. This word nourished means literally to keep in. He keeps us in the best place. If we wanted to get out, we couldn't
get out, but we don't want to get out, do we? You ever want
to be seen outside of Christ in any way? Of course you don't.
But the reason being is He keeps you in. You can't get out, don't
want to get out, couldn't get out if you wanted to. Once in
Christ, in Christ forever. We abide in Christ because He
keeps us in Christ, kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation. Now unto Him that is able to
keep you from falling. That's why I'm not going to fall.
You know, beloved, I'm not being presumptuous. When I say this,
I'm not falling away. I'm not quitting. I'm going to
keep enduring, and I know why. It's because He keeps me. That's
why. The next definition the dictionary
gave was maintained and preserved. I'm maintained. He maintained
His brethren. The Lord Jesus Christ maintains
and preserves His people. It is sometimes translated to
forbear. He forbear. You know, I love
the forbearance of God. Aren't you thankful for his forbearance? He forbears his people for Christ's
sake. I'll tell you what. I would have kicked me out a
long time ago. And I mean that. But he's gracious
and long-suffering and forbears his people for Christ's sake.
It's sometimes translated to guide. He guided his father and
his brethren. He guides our every step in his
kind providence. The steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord. You know that step you took in
here? You didn't realize it, but it was ordered by the Lord.
And when you step outside of here, you'll be taking these
steps. But it's ordered by the Lord. Every step you take is
guided by His grace. The word is sometimes translated,
make provision. He made provision for His Father
and His brethren. And you know where I'd go with
that. What's the Lord's name? One of His names? Jehovah Jireh. The Lord will provide all that
He requires of you. He provides. Isn't that wonderful? Everything that He requires of
you, He provides it. Oh, Isaac said, here's the wood,
here's the fire, where's the lamb for the burnt offering?
My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering. It also means to be present. You know, Joseph was always with. His father and his brother. He
was present. He was there. And what that means is here's
another name of our Lord, Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there. The Lord is always present. When
you feel it, when you don't feel it. He's here. He's on every
worship service. You know who's here? The Lord
Jesus Christ. He's promised where two or three
are met together in my name. There I am in the midst of Him.
He's here. But not only is He here, He's
always with me. He said, I'll never leave you
nor forsake you. The Lord is present at all times. It means to nourish and it means
to feed and it means to sustain. It means to receive. There's
just a lot of a lot that this means. And Joseph nourished his
father and his brethren. What a glorious thing. But now, look, let's go on reading.
And this was a blessing to me to see this. And Joseph nourished
his father and his brethren and all his father's household with
bread according to their families. Now, would you turn with me for
a moment to Genesis chapter 50. Verse 21. Now, therefore, fear you not.
I will nourish you. This is Joseph speaking to his
brothers again. I'm looking forward to getting
to that passage of scripture because Joseph, this was after Jacob
died. You know what Du Bois thought? He's going to get us now. He's
going to get us. That's what I'd be thinking too.
He's going to get us now. I mean, the statute of limitations
is over, you know. But here's how Joseph speaks
to them. He says, but as for you, verse
20, you thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good
to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Now, therefore, fear you not. I will nourish you and your little
ones. Now, that word families where
it says I'll nourish your families is right here translated. I'll
nourish your little ones. The word means literally you're. Tripping was. Tripping like a
toddler, the root word that this word is taken from is to trip.
You're stumbling. Stumbling, tripping, falling
children. Weak children who stumble and
fall. Truly. The Spirit is willing,
and truly the flesh is weak. You know that, don't you? Oh,
this flesh is weak, stumbling, tripping children that He says,
I'm going to nourish you. I'm going to feed you. I'm going
to have mercy on you. I'm going to preserve you according
to the tripping ones. weak, tripping children. And one translation I read translated
it like this. I'm going to nourish you according
to your need. Let me tell you what my need
is right now while I'm talking to you. I don't have any doubt
about this. I know what my need is. I need His continual sovereign
grace extended toward me. I need mercy that never ceases. I need His favor. I need it. I need Him. He's going to nourish us according
to our need. Oh, I need He and I need Him. He knows what I need. I don't
know what I need. I talk about it, but I don't even know what
I need, but He does. And He nourishes me according to my need. I love the parable of the Good
Samaritan. He came to that fellow who was laying in the ditch.
The Scripture says He came to him where he was. I know where
he should have been, but that's not where he was. He was there
in the ditch. And the Good Samaritan came to
him where he was. He nourishes us according to
our need. You know, I love that scripture
in Psalm 103 that says, He knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we're dust. Aren't you thankful the Lord
remembers that about you? He's so merciful. And he's so gracious. Thank God he nourishes us according
to our need. He placed us. He set us down
in the best land, and this is what he's done for us. He set
us down in the best land, and he gave us our possessions. I
have possession in this land. I'm the one doing the believing.
It's my faith. I know he gave it to me, but it's my faith.
I believe him. I mean, he looks at me right now and he says,
there's somebody who actually believes me. I believe his gospel. I do love him. It's my love.
I know he gave it to me, but I love him. And I, my righteousness,
that's my possession, continual access before the Father. He
set me down. He gave me my possessions and
he nourishes us according to our need. Now, that's what he
does for you. Isn't our Joseph glorious? Thank
God for His grace He extends to every one of His people. Let's pray.