Genesis chapter 45. I've entitled this message. Joseph
makes himself known. Now we're going to learn from
this passage of Scripture. What it is that Christ makes
known. When he makes himself know. Joseph makes himself know. Now, before we look at this passage
of scripture, let me remind you of what had taken place. Now, remember what these 10 boys
were guilty of. Heartless. Cruelty. To their brother. Now, the only
illustration I was trying to think of an illustration and.
Leanne, you have four boys. You're the only one, maybe, well,
you got the most boys, I guess. What if John, Stephen and David
agreed to sell Ben as a slave and then lied to you and told
you that he'd been killed? Can you imagine that? I mean,
this is heartless cruelty. And how evil they were to their
father to let him go through the grief that he experienced
in losing his son. This was treachery and this was
deceit. Now, I also want you to remember
who Joseph now was, the same one that they sold into slavery.
He is now the most powerful man in the world. And I doubt that
there's ever been one single man that was ever as powerful
as Joseph was. If you were going to eat, it
was up to him. Now, you think about the power
that one had. The only place you could get
food was in Egypt, and the only way you could get it is if Joseph
gave it to you. Joseph was the most powerful
man in the earth. I don't think there never has
been a more powerful man than him. Now, you know the story
when they come to buy food, they did not know who he was, but
he knew them and he had just heard the story of Judah being
the surety for Benjamin. Now, we considered that a couple
of weeks ago, but let's read that passage of scripture because
it will serve as an introduction to Genesis 45 when he makes himself
known. Let's begin reading verse 18
of Genesis 44. Now, this is after you remember that the silver
cup had been planted in Benjamin's sack, and Benjamin is going to
have to be taken as the slave and taken into Joseph's home. They didn't know he was Joseph.
And Judah is now speaking for them. Remember, Judah said he
would be a surety for Benjamin to their father. We read in verse
18, 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, and 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. Now, how do you reckon Joseph
felt when they were speaking of him being dead at this time?
They're talking to Joseph at this time. And thou saidst 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 saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest
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 cannot go down.
If our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down. But
we may not see the man's face, except our youngest brother be
with us. And thy servant, my father, said, And dost thou know
that my wife bared me two sons, and the one went out from me?
And I said, Surely he is torn in pieces, and I saw him not
since. And if thou takest this also from me, and mischief befall
him, thou shalt bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the
grave. Now therefore, when I come 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 seeth that the
lad is not with us, that he will die. And thy servant shall bring
down the gray hairs of thy father, our father, with sorrow to the
grave. For thy servant became surety
for the lad, and to my father, saying, If I bring him not unto
thee, that I shall bear the blame to my father for ever. Now therefore
I pray thee, let thy servant, and you know these are the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ regarding us. Now therefore I pray thee,
let thy servant abide, instead of the lad, a bondman to my Lord. And let the lad go up free with
his brethren. That's such a powerful gospel
message right there. 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. Now, Joseph has heard all this. Then Joseph 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." Now, can
you imagine how shocked they were? Can you imagine how terrified
they were? The last time they saw Joseph,
he was crying in the anguish of his soul, don't sell me. And
they were heartless and cruel toward him. As far as they knew,
that's the last time they saw Joseph. And now all of a sudden,
this mighty king who's in absolute control says, I am Joseph. Can you imagine the shock that
this must have given these boys? Let's go on reading. Verse two,
he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard,
and Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph. Doth my father yet
live? And his brethren could not answer
him, for they were troubled, and my margin says they were
terrified at his presence. They were finally shut up, weren't
they? They didn't have anything to
say. They were scared to death, perhaps
thinking they were in trouble. They didn't know what his intentions
were. Verse four. And Joseph said unto his brethren.
Come near to me. I pray you. And they didn't know what his
intention was, maybe chop their heads off. And they came near
and he said, I am Joseph, your brother. Whom you sold into Egypt,
just in case you forgot. I'm the same one. Now, for these
two years, verse five. Now, therefore. Be not grieved. nor angry with yourselves that
you sold me hither. For God did send me before you
to preserve life." Do you reckon they expected to hear anything
like that? I guarantee you they weren't
thinking they were going to hear anything like this. And he tells them, don't
be grieved. Don't be angry with yourself.
Well, how could they be anything but that? They were scared to
death. But he says, don't be grieved. Don't be angry. God
sent you, sent me before you to preserve life. Verse 6, for
these two years, Had the famine been in the land, and yet there
are five years in the which there shall be neither earing nor harvest. We have five years of famine
ahead without any food. And God sent me before you to
preserve you of posterity in the earth and to save your lives
by a great deliverance. And what a great deliverance
it is. So now, It was not you that sent me hither.
Now, I want you to think about what he just said to them. They
get it. They did it, and they were always
paranoid about it. Let me show you something that
happened 17 years after this. Turn over to Genesis 50. This
took place 17 years after him making himself known. This is
when Jacob finally died. Jacob lives in Egypt for 17 years. with Joseph, and he finally dies.
And look what his brothers say, verse 15. Genesis chapter 15. And when Joseph's brethren saw
that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will for adventure
hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did
unto him. They were still suspicious. After
all that the Lord had done, or Joseph had done for them, they
were still suspicious. He's going to get us. And they
sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, thy father did command
before he died, saying, So shall you say unto Joseph, Forgive,
I pray thee, now the trespass of thy brethren. Did he really
say that? I don't know if he did. He might have just been lying.
I don't know. We don't read where he said that. But they're coming
up with a good story to cover their tracks, aren't they? And
their sin, for they did unto thee evil, and now we pray thee,
forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And
Joseph wept when they spake unto him, and his brethren also went
and fell down before his face. And they said, Behold, we be
thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not, for I am
the place of God. Now, as for you, you thought
evil against me. There's no question about that.
But God vented unto good to bring to pass, as it is this day, to
save much people alive. Now, therefore, fear ye not.
I will nourish you and your little ones. And he comforted them and
spake kindly unto them. And that's the way our Lord speaks
with us, isn't it? Look at the language of Joseph
back in our text. You did not do it. It was not
you that sent me hither, but God. And he hath made me, look
at this language, he hath made me a father to Pharaoh. He made me even above Pharaoh. and Lord of all his house and
ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Now, here's what I
want you to do. I want you to go to my father,
haste ye, and go up to my father and say unto him, Thus saith
thy son Joseph, God hath made me Lord of all of Egypt. Come
down unto me, tarry not, and thou shalt dwell in the land
of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, and thy children,
and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds,
and all that thou hast. And there will I nourish thee,
for yet there are five years of famine, lest thou and thy
household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty. And behold
your eyes, and I'm speaking to his brothers now, and behold
your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it
is my mouth that speaketh unto you. This is really Joseph speaking.
And you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and
of all that you've seen, and you shall hasten and bring down
my father hither. And he fell upon his brother
Benjamin's neck and he wept. You know, his heart was so big
with love for these boys. He fell on his brother's neck
and he wept. Moreover, he kissed all of his
brethren and wept upon them. You know, even when he was speaking
roughly to them, this was always in his heart. He loved them. How he loved his brothers, and
I think it's real interesting. The last phrase of verse 15 says
after that. After they saw they were accepted
freely after that, they finally got up the nerve to talk with
him. At first, they were afraid to speak, but after this, they
began to speak with him. What a wonderful story. And what
a striking illustration of the gospel. Now I want us to go back
over this story as the Lord enables us and see the gospel in it. Look back at verse one. Then
Joseph and remember, Joseph is neither more nor less than a
type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then Joseph 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 Joseph
couldn't refrain himself any longer because he loved them.
He loved them. After all that they had done,
he loved them. They treated him so cruelly,
and they didn't know who he was, but now he makes himself known. Now, if you know the Lord Jesus,
it's because He loves you. and because he made himself known
to you. You wouldn't have known him unless
he was pleased in his mercy to make himself known to you. He made himself known to them
in a very powerful way. Look at the love that was in
his heart, verse 2, and he wept aloud. And the Egyptians in the
house of Pharaoh heard Even when he was speaking roughly to him,
this was still in his heart all along. But look at their response.
Verse three. And Joseph said to his brethren,
I'm Joseph. Does my father yet live? And his brethren couldn't
even answer him, for they were terrified at his presence. And you know, when the Lord makes
himself known, you know what happens? That's when that man is finally
shut up. His objections are gone. He shut up. He stands guilty
before God, doesn't have any excuses. Remember that scripture
in Romans 3, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world
stand guilty before God. And that's what happened to his
brethren at this time. Now, they had some idea of what they had
done. They bring it up. They say, God's
requiting us. We've seen several things in
the last several chapters, but now they're actually shut up.
They can't speak. But you know you can't really
hear unless you're not speaking. When your mouth is shut, that
is when you begin to hear. And really not before then. Now
there, shut up and let's look at what happened, verse four.
And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. Now I'm sure they weren't expecting
to hear this. Maybe lead forever. But no, he says, come near unto
me. I pray you. Look at the gentle
way that he speaks to him. He says, I pray you. Now, this
is the most powerful man in the world talking to the people who
betrayed him. And he says, come near to me.
I pray you. And I see the words of the Lord
Jesus Christ to every one of His people so clearly in this
come near. You know the Lord says, come
to me. Now that's His message to me.
That's His message to you. Come unto me, all ye that labor. and are heavy laden, laboring
under a sense of your sin, the burden of being who you are.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me." I like the way he said that. He didn't say learn about
me. He didn't even say learn from
me. He said learn of me. For I am what? Meek and lowly in heart. Now can you
come into somebody's presence without feeling terrified who's
meek and lowly in heart? That's the only person you can
come to. And that shows the strength of our Lord. Come unto me, all
ye that labor and heavy laden. I'll give you rest. Take my yoke
upon you. Learn of me. I am meek and lowly of heart. You'll find rest for your souls,
for my burden is easy. You know why it's easy? Because
He carries it. You know why it's light? Because
it's all of grace. It takes all the pressure off,
doesn't it? It's all of grace. I can't say that clear enough
or plain enough. He said in John 7, 37, if any man thirsts, let
him come to Me and drink. He said in John 6, 37, him that
cometh to Me, I will in no wise For no reason
whatsoever, you can't come up with a reason why God, why Christ
would turn you down. If you come to Him, whatever
that means, He will not cast you out. He's promised it will
not happen. Listen to this scripture, Revelation
chapter 22, verse 17 says, And the Spirit and the Bride, that's
the Spirit and the Bride is the Church. This is the message of
the Church. And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let
him that heareth say, Come. And whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. Don't have to find a reason yourself.
Now that is the words of our Lord. And He says that to me
right now. He says that to you. Come to
me. Isn't that wonderful? Come to me. Go on reading. Verse four, come near to me,
I pray you. I pray you. Paul said we as ambassadors
of Christ pray you in Christ's name. Isn't that amazing that
the Lord of glory would say, come to me, I pray you. That's so incredible. And they
came near and he said, I am Joseph. Your brother, whom you sold into
Egypt, I'm Joseph. Yes, this one who's so powerful
that you're absolutely in the dust before it's me, I'm Joseph.
I'm the one you sold in Egypt. He wasn't forgetting this. This
is what took place. You sold me into Egypt. You did it. But God had a purpose
in you doing this. Look in verse five. Now, therefore,
be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me hither,
for God did send me before you to preserve life." Now, don't
be upset with yourself for doing what you did. God sent me for
this purpose, to preserve life. And, you know, I think of this
in light of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says to
his very murderers, Don't be angry at yourself for
doing this. God sent me before you to preserve
life. Listen to this scripture. Acts
chapter 2 verse 23. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. You have taken and with
wicked hands have crucified and slain. You did it. But he was
delivered by what? By the determinate counsel and
the foreknowledge of God. Yes, you did it, but God had
a purpose in you doing this. Verse six, for these two years
hath the famine been in the land, and yet there are five years
in which there shall Neither be earring nor harvest. And this famine represents what
our sin has done to us. And if left to ourselves, we
will die. There will not be any food. He
said for five years, there will be there won't be one thing grow.
The only way you can get food is through me. God sent me here
to preserve life and to provide this food. Look in verse seven.
God sent me before you. To preserve you a posterity. I see that word preserve, look
down in verse 9. Haste ye, go up to my father
and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made
me Lord of all Egypt. Now that word made is the exact
same word that is translated preserved. He said, God sent
me for this purpose, to make you a posterity, to make you
life. That's why I came, to make you.
What I am is what He made me to be. What are you? Well, 1 Corinthians 1.30. I love
this verse of Scripture. For He hath made Him, God the
Father hath made Him the Lord Jesus Christ. For of Him are
you in Christ Jesus. Here's how it goes. 1 Corinthians
1.30. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto
us. Wisdom. Now what that means is
Christ Jesus is my wisdom so much that I am fit for fellowship
with God. Now God can't have fellowship
with anybody but a wise person. He can't have fellowship with
a fool, can he? Christ is my wisdom and I'm fit for fellowship
with God. He's made unto me righteousness. He is my righteousness before
God. He's made unto me sanctification. That word is holiness. He is my holiness before God. That's a reference to the new
nature he gives us, the holy nature. He's made unto me redemption. He is my sin payment. He's my
final deliverance. He's made this to me. And that's
what he's saying in verse 7. God sent me before you to make you
a posterity in the earth and to save your lives by a great
deliverance. And you know, this is a great
story, isn't it? I mean, it's a great deliverance. Can you
imagine how amazed they were? No doubt this was a great deliverance.
They were saved by it. They come down there to buy food.
They find out Joseph's the Lord of the land. He puts them in
the land of Goshen. My grandmother used to always
say that. Karen, you might not remember.
Grandma used to always say, land of Goshen. I always wondered
what she was talking about. This is it. This is it. He saved you by a
great deliverance, putting you in the land of Goshen. Let's
think about just a moment for a moment about this great deliverance.
He saved you by a great deliverance. I love to think of the greatness
and the awesome majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ and the greatness
of his deliverance. Now, he's great in his person. He's infinitely great. He's got
the son. He's the uncreated. God of glory,
the Creator of the universe, the One who controls everything. He's God. I don't suppose there's
anything that I like saying more than this. Jesus is God. I love
that statement. Jesus is God. I love it. He's so great in His person.
He's great in becoming flesh. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh.
Is that great or what? The infant became an infant. He's great in his obedience. I think of his law keeping the
fact that he never sinned, that he kept God's law perfectly.
He's great in his death, what he accomplished by his death,
the complete putting away of all my sin. He's great in His
resurrection when He raised Himself from the dead. What power that
a man could raise himself from the dead. He's great in His ascension
when He ascended back to the Father with all His people with
Him. He's great in His intercession right now. He doesn't have to
beg and plead the Father to spare me. That's not the way His intercession
works. He stands before the Father and simply shows Himself. And
the Father says that sinner is accepted for Christ's sake. We're going to sing at the end
of this sermon that song, Rise My Soul, Rise. And I love that
one verse. The Father hears him pray, his
dear anointed one. He cannot turn away the presence
of his son. His spirit answers to the blood
and tells me I am born of God. The Lord is so great. What a
great deliverance. What a great salvation. And would that be in any way
stretching that statement? Great. What a great deliverance. And here's here's how great this
deliverance is. And I wish I could say this the
way it ought to be said. But right now. While I'm talking
to you and I'm saying this regarding every believer, same thing is
true about you right now. I am. holy, unblameable, and unproofable
in the very sight of God. That's not something I will be,
it's something that I am right now. Now is that a great deliverance
or what? What a great deliverance. He
says, I'll save them by great deliverance. That's how glorious
his work is. On the cross, that's what he
accomplished. And he says in verse eight, So now it was not
you that sent me hither, but God. And that's what our look. Who sent the Lord Jesus Christ?
God did. Who killed the Lord Jesus Christ? God did. Who raised him from
the dead? God did. Who set him in his right
hand? God did. He said, you didn't
see me hither. Don't even give yourself credit.
God did this. You know, there's no point in
being mad at yourself if God did it. He did it. He did it. God sent me. It was not you that
sent me either, but God. And listen to this. He has made
me a father to Pharaoh and Lord of all his house and a ruler
throughout all the land of Egypt. And that's said of the son. And
here's a scripture that I can quote and I believe it with all
my heart and I don't have any idea how to understand it or
grasp it, but I sure enough believe it. Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. That
son wasn't born. That son's always been. He's
the eternal son. And the government shall be upon his shoulders,
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Show us the Father, Philip said,
and we'll be satisfied. He said, I've been so long time
with me, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath
seen me is just as if he'd seen the Father. I didn't quote that
right, did I? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. He's made me a father to Pharaoh,
and Lord of all his house, and a ruler an absolute control or
a sovereign throughout all the land of Egypt. And isn't that
exactly what God has made Christ? Now, here's what I want you to
say. He says, verse 9, this is what I want you to tell my dad.
He says, haste ye and go 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. Now,
here's what you're to preach. God has made Christ Lord of all.
Come to Him and don't wait. Don't wait. Don't wait for something
to happen. Don't wait for some feeling. Don't wait till you
get better. Don't wait till you have more conviction or more
understanding. Come right now. Make haste. Don't wait a bit. Tarry not. Verse 10. And thou
shalt dwell in the land of Goshen. And thou shalt be near unto me.
Thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy
flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast, and there will
I nourish thee. For there are yet five years
of famine, lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou
hast, come to poverty." And the Lord says, I'm going to nourish
you. I'm going to nourish you. I'm going to take care of you.
Isn't that wonderful that the Lord is going to take care of
you? He's not going to let you go. Verse 12, And behold, Your
eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it's my
mouth that speaketh unto you." Now, when we speak, we speak
as eyewitnesses. You know what I'm preaching to
you? I'm preaching as a witness. I'm preaching as somebody who's
seen something. And we've seen something, haven't
we? We have seen how Christ Jesus is God. We have seen that He
is our acceptance before God. We've seen this. We're speaking,
we're testifying. You know what, when I preach,
I'm not just, I'm just not rehearsing stuff somebody else told me.
I'm telling you what I've seen for myself. I know that Jesus
Christ is God. I'm an eyewitness to that. I
know He's God. I know He's the only Savior.
I know He's the only way to the Father. And I can speak as a
witness, and you speak as a witness. This is not just rehearsing some
stuff that somebody else told you about. You speak as a witness.
He said, Your eyes have seen. And the eyes of my brother Benjamin,
and it's my mouth that speaks unto you. Verse 13. Now, here's
what I want you to preach. To get Jacob to come down to
Egypt, Here's what you're going to preach.
You should tell my father of all my glory in Egypt. And of all that you've seen,
and you shall hasten to bring down my father. Now, is this
not the subject matter of our preaching? All his glory. And he says, you make sure you
tell all of it. Don't hold back. Don't leave
anything out. You see, if a man leaves something
out purposely, then I can't preach. Well, I can't preach everything
I know in one word, Christ. And I'm not that's not that's
not just big. I mean, that's all I know. But
I can't preach all the doctrine I know in one sermon. I mean,
that's impossible to do. I realize that. But I tell you
what, if I willfully withhold anything, I've had it. He said, you tell
all that you see, and that's what every true preacher is called
upon to do, to tell all that he see. Verse 14. And he fell upon his brother
Benjamin's neck and he wept. And Benjamin wept upon his neck,
I imagine. The other nine were feeling pretty
uncomfortable at this time. They weren't real sure what was
going to happen to them while he was falling on Benjamin's
neck and kissing him. And they thought, well, what's
going to happen to us? And then moreover, verse 15, he kissed
all his brethren and wept upon them. Now, you know what they
learned at this time? They learned something about
the meaning of grace. Is this unmerited favor? When he fell on them and wept
on them and embraced them and kissed them, this is truly unmerited
favor. They didn't have this coming,
did they? This is grace. And it was only when they had
some understanding of grace that they felt like they could talk
to him. I love the way it says that. Moreover, he kissed all
his brethren and wept upon them And after that, his brethren
talked with him. Not before then, but after that,
they felt like they could have talked to him. And you know what? I'm saying this, I hope in deep humility, I hope
I'm saying it in deep humility, but I'm not saying this about
myself only. I'm saying this about every believer. I've got the ear of God. He hears me. I am allowed to talk with Him. And He hears what I have to say. How could that be? Grace. That's the only answer to that
question. Grace. They learned something about
grace and they found out that they could, in fact, talk with
him. Now, this story is just another
example of what our Lord meant when he said to the Pharisees,
you search the scriptures. And then you think you have life.
You think if I can just obey these rules set forth in this
book and if I can just learn how to do what it says to do,
I'll be in good shape. You never get there, though,
do you? You search the scriptures and then you think you have life
and they are they which testify of me. Every single one of them,
and this is just another example of that. Well, I love this story
of Joseph. I don't think there's a more
wonderful or beautiful story in all the Bible. Well, we'll
we'll pick up in in verse 16 of chapter 45 next week. Let's
pray together.