It's a joy to be with you. Would you turn to Genesis 42?
While you're turning there, this Sunday evening we're going to
be having a get-together after the services to honor our five
graduating high school seniors. And after the service, if we
could put out three or four tables in the back, that would be good. Now, I'd like to begin this message
by reminding you of Joseph's dreams before we look at this
passage of Scripture. Turn back to Genesis 37. Now, Joseph was only 17 years
old when he was dreaming these dreams. And Joseph, Genesis 37,
verse 5, and Joseph dreamed a dream. And he told it his brethren,
and they hated him yet the more. And he said unto them, Here I
pray you this dream which I dreamed, for behold, we were binding sheaves
in the field. And lo, my sheaf arose, and also
stood upright, and behold, your sheaf stood round about, and
made obeisance to my sheaf. 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 he told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed
a dream more, and behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven
stars 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 hast dreamed? Shall I and
thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to
thee to the earth? And his brethren envied him, but his father observed
the sayings. Now, 22 years have passed since
these dreams. Joseph has gone through a lot,
and he's now 39 years old, and he's the governor of the land
of Egypt, and he is the most powerful man in the world. Literally, this is not hype.
If you are going to eat If you were going to have anything to
eat, you were going to have to go to Joseph's fort. And that's
how powerful this man was. Let's begin reading in verse
3 of Genesis 42. Now, this is after the famine
had been going on for two years. And Joseph's ten brethren went
down to buy corn in Egypt. But Benjamin, Joseph's brother,
Jacob sent not with his brethren, for he said, Lest peradventure
mischief shall befall him. I can't help but be kind of amused
with Jacob's favoritism toward Joseph and Benjamin. They were
both the sons of Rachel, his favorite wife. And he showed
them unusual favoritism, and he didn't make any bones about
it. You fellas can go on down. It's OK if you get killed, but
we don't want that to happen to Benjamin. Verse 5, 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
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. Now, can you imagine? Joseph
recognized him. They didn't know who he was.
But he knew who they were. And don't you know that he remembered
those dreams he had? How they would be bowing themselves
down and doing obeisance to him. And here they are doing it. And
Joseph remembered this. Verse 7. And Joseph saw his brethren. He hadn't seen them in 22 years.
Hadn't seen them since he was 17 years old. And the scripture
says he knew them. Now that means more than he knew
who they were and recognized them. He loved them. Now he had 22 years to stew on
what they've done to him, how they betrayed him, sent him away. He had 22 years to stew on it. And yet the scripture says he
knew them. And that word means more than
he knew who they were. He loved these brethren. But what did he do? He made himself
strange unto them. He wasn't going to let them know
who he was. And he spake roughly unto them
in harsh language. 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 not him. They didn't have any idea that
they were bowing before their brother, their younger brother.
And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of then, and
said unto them, You are spies to see the nakedness of the land. You are come. You didn't come
to buy food. You came to exploit us. And they said unto him, Nay,
my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. We're all
one-man sons, and we're true men. Thy servants are no spies.
I've entitled this message. Spies or true men? Spies or true men? Verse 12. And he said unto them,
no, he didn't believe that they were true men as far as the way
he was talking to them at this time. He said to see the nakedness
of the land, you are come, you've come to steal and to exploit
and to see if there's any weakness we have that you can take advantage
of. And they said, Thy servants are
twelve 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. They had no idea they were speaking
to the one who was not. And Joseph said unto them, This
is it that I spake unto you, saying, Your spies, hereby you
shall be proved. This is how we're going to test
you. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go forth hence,
except your youngest brother come hither. Send one of you,
and let him fetch your brother, and you shall be kept in prison,
that your words may be proved, whether they be any truth in
you, or else by the life of Pharaoh you are surely spies." Now, this
will prove whether or not you're real, and they wanted him to
go get Benjamin. You remember how Jacob felt about Benjamin.
He would not send Benjamin there because he said, I don't want
mischief to fall on him. He wanted the best for his son,
Benjamin. So he put them all together in
war for three days. They were in prison for three
days. And as far as they knew, they were going to be executed.
They didn't know what was going to take place. They didn't have any idea
who Joseph was. And Joseph said to them the third
day. This do and live. For I fear
God. Now, you reckon that caught their
attention? They didn't even know anybody
in Egypt knew who God was. And he says, I fear the God of
your father. I fear the God of Jacob. If ye be true men, verse
19, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your
prison, and go ye and carry corn for the famine of your houses.
But bring your youngest brother unto me, so shall your words
be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so. And they said one to another.
This is after they left. Now remember, they're speaking
in Hebrew. Joseph can understand Hebrew, but he's been speaking
to them in the Egyptian language and they didn't have any idea
that he could understand what they're saying. And so they hold
this conversation together. Verse 21. And they said one to
another. We are verily guilty concerning our brother. This
happened, as I said, 22 years ago, it's coming back to haunt
us now and that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought
us and we would not hear. Therefore, is this distress come
upon us? And Reuben answered them, saying,
Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child,
and you wouldn't hear? I told you so. Therefore, behold,
also his blood is required. And they knew not that Joseph
understood them. Now, Joseph is listening to this conversation
this whole time. For he spake unto them by an
interpreter, and he turned himself about from them, and went. Who knows what all was going
on through his mind at that time, but he was weeping tears of joy.
Tears of love. And he returned to them again
and he communed with them. He's not speaking harshly now.
He communes with them and he took from them Simeon and bound
him before their eyes. He had purposes of love. He's
still not going to let him know who he is. But look how Joseph
responds to them at this time. Verse 25, Then Joseph commanded
to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money
into his sack, and to give them provision for the way. And thus
did he unto them. And they laded their asses with
the corn, and departed thence. Back to Jacob. And as one of
them opened his sack to give his asscroff, and in the end
he has spied his money. For behold, he was in a sack's
mouth, and he said unto his brethren, My money is restored, and, lo,
it is even in my sack. And their heart failed them,
and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this
that God hath done unto us? True men or spies? Now, a spy was somebody who would
come into the land not to be fed, not for food, but he would
come in to take, not to receive, but to take, to exploit, to gain
an advantage. The spies wanted to get food
in an unjust way, and this represents salvation by works. trying to
get food in an unjust way. You know, I was thinking about
the idea of spies. You know, some people, they hear
the gospel as a spy. They don't hear the gospel to
be fed. That's not what they're here for. They don't hear the
gospel to be fed. Oh, somebody comes in here wanting some food,
wanting food for their soul. Somebody else comes in to spy,
to criticize, to find fault with. There are spies and there are
true men. They said, no, we're not spies.
We're true men. We're real. We've not come to
see the nakedness of the land. And they gave their history.
They told the truth. Look what they said in verse
11. Back in chapter 42 again, verse 11. They tell the truth.
We're all one man's sons. We're true men. Thy servants
are no spies. And he said unto them, Nay, but
to see the nakedness of the land are you come? And they said,
thy servants are twelve 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." They tell the truth. Now, everybody that God saves
is a true man. They're real. Now, you listen
to me carefully. Everybody that God does a work
of grace in their heart, they are true men. They are real. They have no guile. They're the
real deal. God has made them that way. And
what do I mean by that? Well, some people, everything
they believe is hypothetical. It's somewhat less than real. Let me give you some examples
of what I'm talking about. It's one thing to believe that
the Bible teaches that God is sovereign. I can't deny it. There it is in plain writing.
It teaches that God is sovereign. It's one thing to believe that
the Bible teaches God is sovereign. It is quite another thing to
love the God who is sovereign. And it's quite another thing
to not Except with soul and resignation
that what he does and just you accept it because there's nothing
you can do about it. It's one thing to do that. It's another
thing to rejoice in whatever he does. It's best because he
did it. There's a big difference in there. It's one thing to believe that
the Bible teaches that men are sinful. And totally depraved. I can't deny it. That's what
the scripture teaches. There's none righteous. No, not one.
I agree with that. I believe it. It's one thing to believe
that the Bible teaches that men are totally depraved. It's an
altogether different thing to believe that you personally are
totally depraved. There's such a difference. It's one thing. to agree with
the fact that the Bible teaches election. God did, in fact, according
to the Scriptures, elect the people. You can't read the Bible
and deny that. It's one thing to believe that
God elected a people because the Bible teaches it. But it's
an altogether different thing to love the God of election and
see that your only hope is that he elected you and chose you. There's an infant difference.
It's one thing to believe that the Bible does, in fact, teach
limited atonement. Christ's intention in saving
was limited to the elect. He never intended on saving everybody.
He said, I lay down my life for the sheep. That's what the Scripture
teaches. Now, it's one thing to give assent to that. It's
another thing to find your only hope in Christ's effectual redemption. There's a big difference, isn't
there? You find your only hope in that what He did is everything
in your salvation, left nothing undone. That's the only hope
you have is that Christ died for you. It's one thing to believe
in irresistible grace. I believe the Scripture teaches
irresistible grace. No doubt about it. I see that
in the Bible. It's one thing to believe in irresistible grace.
It's another thing to find grace Irresistible. It's one thing to believe the
Bible teaches. That God will preserve his people.
It's another thing to actually persevere, isn't it? True men are real. What they
believe is not merely an academic assent to some facts. It's necessary
for them. It's necessary. For instance,
we talk about sovereign grace. Sovereign grace is necessary
for this sinner to be saved. I can't be saved without God's
sovereign grace. And it's necessary for me to
hear this. I can't hear anything else. That's
how necessary it is. We read in the scripture in John,
chapter four, verse twenty three of true worshipers. You know,
there is such a thing as false worshippers. Our Lord talked
about those who worship me in vain, teaching for doctrines
the commandments of men. There are false worshippers.
What's a true worshipper? Well, somebody who's not false.
He's true. That means he worships God for who he is. He bows before
God for who he is, who he reveals himself to be. Now, I worship
God for who he is. I better worship him without
respect to what he does for me or what he doesn't do for me.
Is God worthy of worship, even if he passes you by? Do you really
believe that? That's what true worship, true
worship, worships God for who he is. We read in Hebrews chapter
10, verse 22 of a true heart. Let us draw near with a true
heart, the scripture says, not a false heart, not a phony heart,
but a true heart in full assurance of faith. What's this full assurance
of faith all about? Being fully assured that what
Christ did is enough to save me. I don't need anything else.
That's full assurance of faith. We read in Ephesians chapter
four, verse 24, of the new man that's created in righteousness
and true holiness. A believer has true holiness.
A true holy nature, a new nature given them in the new birth that
is true and real. We read in Proverbs 14, 25 of
a true witness, one who is truly seen. This is not secondhand
information. I'm preaching what I've seen.
I'm preaching what I've experienced. It's not a fraud. This is not
phony. Now, let's look at what they
had to say in our text. Verse 21, now, remember, they've
been speaking of being true men and look what they say about
themselves in verse 21. Now, they were true men and here's
here's their confession, and they said one to another. We
are truly. Guilty. That's what that word barely
means. Now, here's these true men's confession of themselves. We are truly guilty. There are a lot of hypothetical
sinners around. Sinners in theory. But they don't
really see themselves as truly guilty. Guilty as charged, and their
guiltiness was in how they treated Joseph. Look what it says in
verse 21. And they said one to another, we're truly guilty concerning
our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought
us, and we would not hear. Therefore, is this distress come
upon us? Now, what they're remembering,
this is where their true guilt lay in how they treated Joseph.
They saw the anguish of His soul. And it meant nothing to them.
They still betrayed Him. They would not hear. Can't you
see this is exactly how we treated the Lord Jesus Christ? We saw
the anguish of His soul. Every one of us. We've seen the
anguish of His soul. We've heard it in the preached
Gospel. And what did it do to us? Absolutely nothing. We would not hear. Every single one of us, and here's
where our guilt lays, we have been guilty of the crucifixion
of Jesus Christ. Now, do you believe that about
yourself? Do you believe that you personally are guilty of
driving the nails in his hands and in his feet? Now, that's
where the true guilt is. They said we're truly guilty. concerning our brother. Now,
I cannot possibly know what all my sins are when I talk about
my guilt. But here is the main sin. Here
is the main guilt. Here is the main problem. How
I view Christ and his gospel, we would not hear. True people are truly guilty. Now, I wonder, if we have any
truly guilty people here tonight. You don't object to God's way
of saving sinners by His sovereign grace. You do not question His
fairness. You know you are guilty. And if He passed you by, He would
be giving you exactly what you deserve. You're not a hypothetical
sinner, something less than real. You're truly guilty. And you
bow before his throne and you sue for mercy. That's your only
plea. That's all you can ask for is
mercy. You know it's his to give it to you or it's his to withhold
it from you. Whatever he does is right. You really believe
that, but you don't complain with it. You don't argue against
it because you're truly guilty. You know, somebody objects to
God's way of saving sinners. They're not really guilty, are
they? They don't think they are. The truly guilty person doesn't. Now, this is their confession.
They said, one to another, we're barely guilty concerning our
brother in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought
us and we would not hear. Therefore, is this distress come
upon us? Now, look at Joseph's response.
Now, he's been speaking roughly to them. And they knew not that Joseph
understood them. Verse 23. For he spake unto them
by an interpreter. And he turned himself about from
them. And he went. This is how he responded to their
true guiltiness. This is how it moved him. And
you know, the scripture says. Remember in the In the parable
of the lost sheep and the lost coin and so on, where it says
there's joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner who
repents. Who's in the presence of the
angels? That's the Lord Jesus Christ who's in the presence
of the angels, and it's he who rejoices when one sinner repents. When one sinner acknowledges
his guilt before God. They were truly guilty, and when
Joseph heard this, He was moved and he actually wept. The Lord Jesus Christ is moved
by this, he no longer speaks roughly to it. Look in verse
23, verse 24, he turned himself about from them and wept and
returned to them again and communed with them. Now, there's something
special about that. He communed with them. Do you
know the only people that the Lord will commune with are guilty
sinners? He won't commune with anybody
else. But He will commune with someone
who is verily, truly guilty before Him. That's the person that He
has moved to commune with. That's the person He has mercy
on. As far as that goes, the only reason they feel that way
is because He's had mercy on them. He's given them the grace to
see that way. He's moved by that. Now, He took Simeon in verse
24, and He bound them before their eyes, but He had purposes
of mercy in doing that. Now look what he did for these
self-condemned, self-confessed, guilty men. Verse 25, I see the
gospel in this so clearly. Then Joseph commanded to fill
their sacks with corn and to restore every man's money into
his sack. and to give them provision for
the way, and thus did he unto the end. Now, am I speaking to
somebody who is truly guilty? Let me tell you something. Do
you know Jesus Christ the Lord commands your salvation? Isn't that wonderful to think
about? Salvation begins with the will of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And if you're truly guilty, He commands your salvation. And
if He wills it, it's going to be done, isn't it? He can't will
something and it not take place. He commands your salvation. What happened next? He commanded
to fill their sacks with corn. They were completely filled up. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead in a body and you are full. Complete. Now, to every self-confessed
guilty sinner, he fills your sack with corn. You have all
the fullness of the Godhead in Christ Jesus charged to you. That's how full your salvation
is. That's how complete your salvation is. You think of the
fullness of Christ, His righteousness is yours. He fills our sacks
with corn. And what happens next? He restores
every man's money into his sack. You see, we're going to find
out We're going to see that salvation was all of his grace and our
money doesn't even count. They thought that they could
pay for this and they brought money and it was all restored to him
once again. He wasn't going to take their
money. The Lord's not going to take your money. He's not going
to take anything from you. It's all. He's the giver. We're the
receiver. Aren't you thankful for that?
That's the way the Lord saves. He restores all money to their
sacks. And then it says he gave them
provision. for the way. Provision for the way. Now you
have a way to walk. I don't know how much longer
any of us have. We might have another 50 years.
We might have another year. I don't know. But you have a
way to walk. But you know what the Lord promises?
He's given you provision for that way. Listen to this scripture. Jude 24 says, Now unto that is able to keep you from
falling. And to present you faultless
before His presence with exceeding glory. He's going to give you
provision for the way. In this sense, He's going to keep you
from falling. He's going to keep you and cause you to continue
in the faith. Provision for the way. And look what it says next. It
says, And thus did He unto them. Isn't that what salvation is?
what he has done for us and to us. Thus did he unto them. Look how bountiful this provision
was in verse 26. And they laid their asses with
the corn and departed the inside. They were just, it was what,
they were bringing back all this food. And as one of them opened
his sack to give his ass, Provenger, in the end he has spied his money,
for behold, it was in the sack's mouth. And he said unto his brethren,
My money is restored, and lo, it's even in my sack. And their
heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another,
What is this that God has done to us? Now remember, everything
that takes place, it's what God has done. Now let's finish reading
this chapter. Well, they come back to Canaan,
and they come unto Jacob their father, unto the land of Canaan,
and told him all that befell unto them, saying, The man who
is the lord of that land spake roughly thus, and took us for
spies of the country. And we said unto him, We are
truly, and we are not 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 that country said unto us, Hereby shall I know
that you are 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 are no spies, but that you are true men, and so will I deliver
you, your brother, and you shall traffic in the land." You will
be able to buy and sell and gain and so on. And it came to pass,
as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle
of money was 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, if ye bereave of my children,
Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin
away? All these things are against
me. You ever said that? All these things are against
me. Jacob, thou art not. Every one of these things are
for you. Jacob had no idea that this was what was being used
to bring him and his family in the land, and they were going
to dwell in the land of Goshen, and they were going to be treated
like kings, and God was preserving that family and that nation through
this. But he says, all these things
are against me. Now, I understand him saying
that. I've had that reaction and you
have too. We might not have said it out loud, but we thought it. What a wrong thing to think and
what a wrong thing to say. Jacob, all these things are for
you. Isn't that wonderful? Let's pray.