Do you remember Pharaoh's dream? About the seven fat cows and
seven skinny cows eating the seven fat cows. And the seven
fat ears of corn and seven skinny ears of corn and the seven skinny
ears of corn eating the seven fat ears of corn. Do you remember
Joseph's interpretation of that dream? Let me remind you in Genesis
41. Beginning in verse 25. And Joseph said unto Pharaoh. The dream of Pharaoh is one,
these two dreams are actually telling the same thing. God has
showed Pharaoh what he's about to do. The seven good kind are
seven years. And the seven good years are
seven years, the dream is one, and the seven thin and ill-favored
kind that came up after them are seven years, and the seven
empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of
famine. This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh. What
God is about to do, he showeth unto Pharaoh. Behold, there come
seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. And there
shall arise after them seven years of famine, and all the
plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine
shall consume the land, and the plenty shall not be known in
the land by reason of that famine following, for it shall be very
grievous. And for the dream was doubled
unto Pharaoh twice, it is because the thing is established by God,
and God will shortly bring it to pass." Now, there were seven
years of plenty. Look at verse 46, just as Joseph
said. Verse 46 of Genesis 41. And Joseph
was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went
throughout all the land of Egypt. And in the seven plenteous years,
the earth brought forth by handfuls. And he gathered up all the food
of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid
up the food in the cities. The food of the field, which
was round about every city, laid he up in the same. And Joseph
gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much until he left
numbering, for it was without number. There was so much food
that a number could not be given it. Now that's how much food
was there. What a time of plenty And then the famine began. Look
in verse 53 of Genesis 41. And the seven years of plentiness,
plentifusness that was in the land of Egypt were ended. And
the seven years of Darth began to come, according as Joseph
had said. And the Darth was in all lands,
but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. And when all
the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for
bread. And Pharaoh said unto all the
Egyptians, Go unto Joseph. Don't come to me. Go to Joseph.
What he says to you, do. And the famine was over all the
face of the earth. This was a worldwide famine.
And Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold unto the Egyptians.
And the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt. And all countries
came unto Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn, because that the
famine was so sore in all the lands. Now, in my lifetime, I've
never experienced a famine. Now, we've read about the famines
that take place in Africa, and we've seen the pictures of the
poor children starving to death, and it's very grievous to see
that. But in my lifetime, I've never experienced a famine. But
just for a moment, imagine a real famine where there really was
nothing to eat. And you did not have the ability
or even the potential to get anything to eat. Can you even
imagine that? Now, you may have hundreds of
thousands of dollars in the bank. You may have bricks of gold hidden
in your basement. But what value are they to you
if you could not get food? They would be absolutely without
value. The one thing necessary is food. Now, you think of this, a universal
famine. What is the one great need? Food. That's it. You know, I think
right now we're grumbling at gas prices. I can't tell you
how much it grieves me because of the gas station right now.
I get upset every time I fill up my car. I'm angry, but I fill
it up anyway. Now, can you imagine being in
a position where you could not get food? Now that would be a
miserable place to be. Food is the one thing that is
absolutely essential to life. Now there are scenarios where
we could live without clothing, or we could live without shelter. We could certainly live without
luxury, but one thing we cannot live without, and that is food. Now you think of the importance
of food in a famine. Now, these seven years of famine
covered the face of the earth. Man, because of his sin, has
brought a famine into his soul. The one thing he needs, righteousness,
he can't come up with, and he doesn't even have the potential
to come up with. That's the state of you and I
by nature, and this is a universal famine, the total depravity of
our race, and we do not even have the potential to get what
we need. Now, this is a famine that's
actually much more severe than this physical famine. Oh, the famine that our sin has
brought, and we may think that we have a lot of money, a lot
of good things about us, but as long as we don't have this
one thing needful, righteousness, all these things that we think
are good in reality have no value, do they? None at all. They can't
buy for us the one thing needful. But here is the good news. There's corn in Egypt. There
was a place where there was food. And there is mercy. There is
righteousness for you. There is salvation. There is
forgiveness. in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
how did there come to be corn in Egypt when there was a worldwide
famine? Well, you remember the story.
Look back in Genesis 41, beginning in verse 33 or verse 32. Now, Joseph has given the interpretation
of the dream. And for that, the dream was doubled
under Pharaoh twice. It is because the thing is established
by God and God will shortly bring it to pass. Now, therefore, this
is Joseph speaking to Pharaoh. Now, therefore, let Pharaoh look
out a man discreet and wise and send him over the land of Egypt.
Let Pharaoh do this and let him appoint officers over the land
and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven
plentish years. and let them gather all the food of those
good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh,
and let them keep food in the cities, and that food shall be
for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which
shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land perish not through
the famine. And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh,
in the eyes of all his servants, and Pharaoh said unto his servants,
Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit
of God is? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
and you can see how clearly Joseph is such a type of the Lord Jesus
Christ here. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
forasmuch as God has showed me all this, there's none so discreet
and wise as thou art. Is that not a reference to our Redeemer? There's
nobody like him. He's utterly unique. There's
not even one to compare to him. Thou shalt be over my house,
Pharaoh says to Joseph. And according unto thy word shall
all my people be ruled. Only in the throne will I be
greater than thou. Are those not the words of the
Father to the Son? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh
took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand,
and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain
about his neck. And he made him to ride in the
second chariot which he had, and they cried before him, Thou
the Knee. And he made him ruler over all
the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand
or foot in all the land of Egypt." Oh, we see so clearly a time
of our Redeemer. Let's go back even further. Joseph,
how did this food come to be in Egypt when it wasn't anywhere
else in all the world? You remember Joseph was betrayed
by his brethren. I mean, it's such a heart-rending
story. His brothers were so cruel and evil toward him, and they
sold him to be a slave, and they meant it for evil. They were
completely malicious in what they were doing. They wanted
to put him out of business. They hated their brother, and so through
pure maliciousness, they sent him into Egypt. But they didn't
know what they were doing, did they? Do you remember when Joseph
finally made himself known to his brethren? And they were scared
to death. And He said, you meant it for
evil. But God meant it for good to save much life. The Lord is so glorious. I mean,
men do their thing. I do my thing. You do your thing.
But God's in control of it all. And He means everything for good. His glory and the good of his
people. So while Joseph was in Egypt,
he gathered up an infinite amount of corn during those seven years
of plenty. As a matter of fact, it was so
much, they quit numbering it. They couldn't come up with a
figure to put on it. It was such a great, infinite
amount of corn. How clearly this represents the
Lord Jesus Christ. He came to this earth and during
his life and his death, the seven years of plenty. He worked out
a righteousness that was infinite in merit, and he made a blood
shedding, a sacrifice of himself that there's infinite power in
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's an infinite sin payment.
And what is so glorious about this is I can say to everybody
here, you cannot be too bad to be saved. Isn't that wonderful? You cannot be too sinful to be
saved. There's infinite merit in the
Lord Jesus Christ. There's corn in Egypt, infinite
mercy, infinite merit, infinite grace, infinite salvation. There's an infinite salvation
in Christ. And if you were to have any food,
it was up to Joseph. Look in verse 55 of chapter 41.
And when all the land of Egypt was famished after this famine
had gone on for several years, the people cried to Pharaoh for
bread. And what did Pharaoh say to them?
Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians. Don't come to me. Go to Joseph. And that's what
the father says to us. You don't come to me. You go
to Joseph. You go to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And whatever he says to you. You know. If you were going to
have food. It was up to Joseph. You know, this foolishness of
won't you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? Can
you imagine someone won't you accept Joseph, that was not the
issue in any way. It was up to Joseph as to whether
or not you're going to have any food. He said, whatever he says
to you do. And what does he say? What does
the Lord Jesus Christ have to say when he says whatsoever he
says to you do? Well, he said, repent. Change
your mind. About yourself, about me, about
salvation, you repent. You believe the gospel. That's
what Joseph has to say. Whatever he says to you, do. God's command is to go to Christ
for food and nowhere else. Now, what did Joseph do? Look
in verse 56. And the famine was over all the
face of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and
sold them to the Egyptians, And the famine waxed sore in the
land of Egypt, but Joseph opened all the storehouses. I love thinking
about the storehouses of mercy and grace that are in the Lord
Jesus Christ right now. I don't care what your need is. What can I say? I mean, it's
great to you, but it's not going to bankrupt Him. I don't care
what your need is. The storehouses that he opens
up, he opens wide for any sinner coming to him for mercy. He opens
wide the storehouses. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. The storehouse of infinite mercy
and grace, completely unmerited favor is in him and the door
is wide open. And listen to me, my friend.
I'm talking to myself and I'm talking to you. You are commanded. You are commanded. To believe
on him. Don't worry about not being invited.
You are commanded to come to him in his infinite storehouses
of mercy and grace more than all that you need. You are commanded
to come to him. God commands all men everywhere
to repent. Now, I think it's also interesting. What about this buying food?
They came to buy food. You'll notice Joseph Bradford.
You go on reading chapter 42. What did Joseph do? They gave
him their money. But remember, when they were
sent back, what came back with them? Their money. You try to buy something, he'll
send it back. It's counterfeit. It's no good.
He doesn't need anything you've got. He doesn't need anything
that you can bring to him. He really doesn't. He won't accept
it. He sent their money back. Now. The one thing you and I
need is Christ himself and beloved, he is absolutely free. The storehouse
is wide open. Now look in Genesis chapter 42 verse 1. Now here Jacob, old
Jacob, is a type of a gospel preacher. Now when Jacob saw
that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why
do you look one upon another. Now, I like to think about this.
These fellows, hard to tell how long they've been without eating.
They were skinny, they were gaunt, they were undernourished, and
they were looking upon one another. And Jacob says, why are you looking
on one another? There's corn in Egypt. It's not doing you a bit of good
to look on one another. It's not. What's the point? What
good does it do you? Standing there, here they are,
they're starving, they're gone, they need something to eat. What are
we going to do about this? What are we going to do? Why
are you looking at each other like that? What's the point?
There's corn in Egypt. There's food to be had in Egypt.
You're looking in the wrong place. Why are you looking at one another? You know, people look everywhere
but the place they need to look. Don't look to yourself. Don't
look to anybody else. Don't look to the preacher. Don't look to
a priest. Don't look to a man. Don't look to anything but the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's it. Why are you standing
there and looking at each other? It's so foolish. It's so stupid.
What are you waiting on? You're waiting for something to happen?
You're waiting for a feeling to strike you? You're waiting
for some kind of new revelation? What are you waiting on? Why
are you standing there looking at each other? There's corn in
Egypt. There's storehouses of corn in
Egypt. There's food to be had. There's
mercy to be had. There's grace to be had. He'll
give it to you freely. Why stand ye And look at one
another. I've heard there's corn in Egypt.
What we need is in Egypt. What we need is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. I'm going to quote a couple of
scriptures I always quote. I bet I quote these scriptures
every week. And they're precious to me. Here's the first one. Colossians 2, 9 and 10 says in
him. Remember there's corn in Egypt? In him. dwells all the
fullness of the Godhead in a body and you are, what's the next
word? Complete. Lacking nothing in Him. That sails my boat. Complete in Him. 1 Corinthians 1.30, of Him are
you in Christ Jesus? And we are in Egypt, in Christ.
There's corn in Egypt, in Christ. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us? Wisdom. I'm fit for fellowship
with God. With Him is my wisdom. Righteousness. I've got righteousness that He
can embrace. Holiness. Holiness. He's made unto me holiness.
He is my holiness. He is my redemption. He is my
sin payment. There's salvation in Christ.
There's mercy in Christ. Now, why do you fellas stand
around looking at each other? There is corn in Egypt. Go down
to Egypt and buy corn. Now, to get this corn, look at
the way it's spoken of in this passage of Scripture. Now, in
verse 1, when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob
said unto his sons, why do you look one upon another? It's an
exercise in futility. He said, Behold, I've heard that
there's corn in Egypt. Get you down, thither, and buy
for us from thence, that we may live and not die. Now, to get
this corn, you and I are going to have to go in one direction. Down. Down. When you've reached the
bottom, Get a little further than that. If somebody came to
Joseph relatively satisfied and somebody came in their need and
poverty and starvation. Who do you think Joseph's attention
would go to? I know who he'd go to. He wouldn't go to the
self-satisfied fellow. He'd go to the person that needs.
Now, you come to Christ. Here's the point I want to make. May God make this effectual to
my heart, to your heart. When I come to Christ, I come
to him down. I come to him as a sinner. Not so much as a good person. I don't really come to him as
a Christian. I don't come to him really as a believer. I do believe that I come to him
as a sinner needing him. And if I don't come that way,
I never got there. That's the only way to come to
the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, you come down, dither,
and when you hit the bottom, you ain't got down far enough
yet. Down. You come down, dither,
off your high horse of pride. You know, it's so easy to believe
on Christ when you have nothing else to believe. It's so easy
to trust Christ when you have nothing else to trust. It gets
complicated when I've got something else. He said, You come down
thither. I tell you what, I must have Christ. Now, I must have Christ. I don't know about anything else,
but I know this, I've got to be found in Him. That's the only
way to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's only in going
down to Egypt that we will live and not die. Going down to Egypt
and coming to Christ are really the exact same thing. In coming
to Him, we are promised. We won't be cast out. Look at verse 3, chapter 42. And Joseph's ten brethren went
down to buy corn in Egypt. Now there they go, skinny, starving,
They're making a trip to Egypt. Does anybody know what they brought
with them? And what did they did bring something with them?
Can anybody guess what they brought with them? Empty sacks. Big sacks. You remember they
were going to buy food. and food to last them a long
time. They brought mules to bring this food back. What did they
bring with them? Empty sacks. You can bet that they were not
small lunch size sacks. They brought the biggest sacks
they could find. And you can bet every one of
them were empty. You wouldn't want anything here,
would you? Would you bring a sack of something? That would be plumb
stupid, wouldn't it? You brought empty sacks. You can bet they had big sacks.
Look down at verse 25 of chapter 42. We'll see this again soon. But then Joseph commanded to
fill their sacks with corn and to restore every man's money
into a sack. and to give them provisions for
the way, and thus did he unto them, and they laded their asses
with the corn, and they departed thence." Now, these empty sacks
that they brought give us a beautiful picture of faith. I come to Christ in all my need
with an empty sack. And I come with a big sack, too.
I mean, the bigger the better. My great need of him. I so desperately need the Lord
Jesus. I come with an empty sack. Faith comes with an empty sack
and the Lord Jesus fills it. He wouldn't accept their money.
You know, what they got was utterly free. I love thinking about that. We don't much believe it most
of the time. We say we do. We say we believe in free grace,
but when it comes to the way we think, the way we act, what
we do, we try to buy things. Don't they? That's foolish. May
God give me grace to come with an empty sack. Now, in coming
to Christ, there are two things that take place. Look in verse
2 of Genesis 42. And he said, Behold, I've heard that there's
corn in Egypt. Get ye down thither and buy for
us from thence for these two reasons. Here's the first reason,
that we may live. And here's the second reason,
so we won't die. I love the simplicity of that.
I've come to Christ first, so I won't die. You see, if I
don't have Christ, I will die. But in Christ, in coming to Him
with these big sacks, these empty sacks where He's going to open
up the storehouses of His mercy. There's infinite mercy, infinite
merit, infinite forgiveness. I come with these empty sacks,
fully expecting them to have been filled. You know, I really
do. I expect to have them filled. You know, He's so great and glorious. His giving is so great that I'm
not even afraid of asking for too much. Come, my soul, thy
suit prepared. Jesus loves to answer prayer.
He himself has bid thee pray. Therefore will not say thee nay.
Thou art coming to a king. Large petitions with thee bring.
For his grace and power are such that none can ever ask too much. And that's how we come. And in
coming to him, we don't die. Now, there's a doctrinal thing,
but not to talk about physical death. I'm not going to suffer
spiritual death, I'm not going to suffer eternal death, I'm
not going to die. How come? Because I'm justified. Justified. This thing of being justified,
it's hard to preach a message without talking about it at some
point. It's the very heart and soul of the gospel. At publican
who beat on his breast, crying, God be merciful to me, the sinner.
You know what the Lord said regarding that man? He said, I say unto
you that he went down to his house justified. Justified. Not guilty. That makes, that makes, oh, I
love this. I'm not guilty. I don't have
anything to feel guilty about. I'm justified in God's eyes.
That's why I'm not going to die. I'm justified. He says, you go
to Egypt. With your empty sacks for corn
for this reason that you won't die and you won't die, you'll
be justified. But not only will we not die.
We'll live. Not just existence. We'll live. He said, you go to Egypt, not
only so you won't die, but so you'll live. Now this is talking
about eternal life, the life of God in somebody's soul. You
know, Christ lives Every believer can say that.
Every believer. I don't care what their condition
is. Every believer can say that.
Christ liveth in me. Well, it seems like if he was
really living there, I could see him. Well, I realize that,
but sometimes you don't. But you believe, don't you? You
believe he's in you. Whether you see him or not. You
see, this is a thing of faith. One of these days we're going
to see everything clearly. after we die. But until that
time, we walk by faith and not by sight. And I believe what
God says in His Word. I have eternal life. And I hope
sometimes it leaks out on me. I hope sometimes it's apparent.
Sometimes it's somebody saying, does he have eternal life? I
can understand why they say that. Sometimes it'll leak out on you. The life of God in your soul
that makes you love It makes you say, this is what
the life of God in your soul does. If he said, what do you want?
What do you want? You can have anything you want.
You know what I say? Thy will be done. That means it. Well, I know that, but if you
got what you wanted, what would you ask for? Thy will be done. Now, that's what believers want.
That's the life of God in their soul. They really want God's
will. Take my will and make it thine. It shall be no longer mine. Take
my heart, it is thine own. It shall be thy royal throne. That's the heart's desire of
every believer. Every single one of them. They still have the flesh that
would cause them to be indifferent and apathetic, and they hate
their flesh. And their desire is that His
will is done in all things. That's the life of God in somebody's
soul. Not only will you not die, you'll live. Eternal life. Now, what are you fellas doing
standing around looking at each other? Go down to Egypt. Bring your empty sacks. There's
plenty of corn. You don't have to worry about
making his storehouse run dry. He's got infinite merit, infinite
mercy, infinite forgiveness. You go down to Egypt and fill
up that you may live and not die. Let's pray together.