I wanted to stop last week with
it. I wanted to stop this week, but
we're going over one more week with it. We're going to look
mainly at one aspect tonight, and that is Joseph's brethren
being brought to him. We've been studying on that now
for a couple of weeks, and we want to continue that thought
tonight. And we've been studying what's
been so amazing is that this man, a young man, was sold of
his brethren. They betrayed him, put him in
the pit, sold him down into Egypt, and there he was falsely accused,
put in the dungeon for years in jail. They hurt his feet in
the stock. But we saw that suddenly they exalted him from that jail
cell, that dungeon, and he was made governor over Egypt. And
all people came to him, all the lands came to him when the famine
came to buy from his storehouses. And last week, we saw that his
brethren came to buy corn. Of course, they didn't. They
didn't really buy anything. If you studied the story, they
came and every time they came and bought, Joseph put their
money back in the bag. They never bought a thing from
him. Every time they either found all their money in the sack,
Or they found double their money in the sack, but never one time
did they buy anything from Him. And ain't that the way it is
with the Lord? I mean, if we think that we bought anything
from Him, or worked to get anything, just look in your little sack,
and you'll find out that there your money is. Please give it
back to you and more. I love what the old prophet said
about, Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the water, Come and
buy milk and buy wine without money and without price. Somebody said the Lord's too
rich to sell and we're too poor to buy. And what He has, we just
can't buy it. Not with what we have, we just
can't buy it. He don't need our money. If he
got any gold, he don't need it. I mean, they walk on gold up
there, we're told, you know. Streets of gold up there. If he was hungry, he said, I
wouldn't ask you. The cattle on a thousand hills
are mine, and the hills, too. If he wanted fish or bread, he
don't have to go fishing. He fixes that himself, doesn't
he? If he needed counsel, you think
you and I could do it? I mean, if he needed help, We're
not strong enough to have him over. There's just not very much
that he needs from us. We go and think, boy, we'll give
him this and we'll give him that, and we turn around and he puts
you back in our little sack. And that's the way Joseph's brethren
was. They came down to buy bread, but Joseph's just too rich to
sell to them. But that's what we're going to
look at this evening. We want to finish this story tonight
about his brethren. coming to Him. And I want to
begin here in Genesis chapter 42, and I want us to examine
this just a little bit further about His brethren coming to
Him, because it has some principles here that is taught to us that
apply to us coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, to be saved by
Him. And there are three or four things
that I want to look at here. Am I where everybody can see
me? I want everybody to back up. Can you two ladies scoot
out just a little bit? You're not comfortable. I can
tell you're not comfortable. And I don't want you to get a crick
in your neck. How's this? Is this better? I don't want
you to get a crick in your neck. If you're looking up at me, you're
going to get a crick. But I want to look at some principles. And
I want us to begin here first in chapter 42. And the first
one is found here in verse 2 and in verse 5. Look in verse 2.
Now here is where the famine hit the land. Jacob said to his
sons, he said, Jacob said unto them, Behold, I have heard that
there is corn in Egypt. Get you down thither and buy
for us from them, that we may live and not die. And then verse
5, The sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came,
for the famine was in the land of Canaan. Now here is the first
principle that is taught in the Old Testament and in the New
Testament. Why did Jacob send his sons to
Egypt? There was a need, wasn't there?
That's the first principle that we learn all through the Bible.
Why did they come to Joseph? There was a need. There was a
famine in the land. Now, their need Their need, no
doubt, began gradual. They went for a month, and they
thought, boy, the crops ain't going to come up if we don't
get some rain. And it didn't rain. And that fall, they thought,
man, wow, we're in bad shape. Well, glad we laid up enough
for the whole winter. And they got through that winter,
planted the crop next year, and there was no rain next year either.
And they began to feel the need of this famine. And after a while
the famine was to soar in the land of Canaan, Jacob said this,
if you don't go down and buy corn, we're going to die. We're
going to die. It was a matter of life and death. Now I'm saying this, if God has
purpose to save a man, and He has, then after a while there's
going to be a need arise in that man to be saved. Is that not
so? The Lord Jesus said, it was said
of the Lord Jesus, He saved those who had need of being saved. They that are whole need not
a position, but they that are sick. And if I asked any of you
here tonight why you came to the Lord Jesus Christ, you know
what you would tell me? I needed Him. I needed Him. Now this need I don't know the
ways the Lord has in starting this need, this need to be saved. I don't know the ways that He
may start that in a man. I don't know He could start it
through sickness. He may start it through your reading the Bible.
He may start it through someone witnessing to you or you looking
up in heaven. But God has ways of starting
this need in a man, this need of discontent, this need of a
famine in a man's soul. that he begins to realize, I'm
just not happy anymore. The things of this world, they're
not a pleasure to me anymore. And he becomes burdened in his
soul. Now somebody's asked the question,
somebody's asked the question, how much conviction does it take?
How much brokenness does it take before man is willing to come
to the Lord Jesus Christ? Before he's willing to forsake
himself, his own ways, and come to Christ? How much conviction
does it take to bring a man to Christ? Well, I think that answers
itself. It takes enough conviction until
a man comes to Christ. And I think most of the time
it's a matter of like it was with these men here. He said
here in verse 2, "...Thy for us from thince, that we may live
and not die." It really becomes a matter of life and death, doesn't
it? If I talk to you about this this
afternoon and ask you, what does it mean for you to be saved? What does it mean for you to
know the Lord? What does it mean for you to
be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ? What does it mean to
be born again? What does that mean to you? And you know what
you tell me, Bruce, that's a matter of life and death. That's a necessity. That's a necessity. So this is
the first thing that you and I see here as far as principles
are concerned. It's a matter of life and death.
He that hath the Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
A need. A need. Everybody you see come
to the Lord in the Gospels, they have this need. That's the first
principle. But the second one is this, and it's also found
here in verse 2 of chapter 42. Not only is there a need, but
there's something else that has to go with this need, and that's
the knowledge of how that need can be met. There was a fowlman
in the land of Canaan. And if there was corn to be found,
then where was it? Where was it? See what I'm saying? Jacob just didn't say to his
sons, go out, guys, and start looking for something to eat.
Maybe you'll stumble upon something somewhere. It doesn't happen
that way, does it? When this need begins, however
God begins it in our heart, I tell you, with that must accompany
the knowledge of how my need can be met. And look what he
said in verse 2. And Jacob said, Behold, I have
heard that there is corn in Egypt. I mean, it was the specific place
where this corn was. They didn't go wandering through
the desert hoping that they'd run up on something. They went
looking in a specific place. And this is why some of you here
tonight aren't looking in any other place to be saved. You're
not looking for another Savior. You're settled on this fact,
aren't you? Because you had a need in your heart. to be saved, and
you heard, you come to the knowledge that Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, is the only Savior for poor sinners. And when you come to
Him, you are seeking for Him. And let's be honest about it,
brothers and sisters. We didn't stumble on the Lord
Jesus Christ as a man stumbles in a hole. I don't think we have to be theologians
to be saved. I don't think the Bible teaches
that. But I think the Bible teaches this, that we do have to hear,
we do have to know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of poor
sinners. I quoted this verse to you in
Romans 10, all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. How then shall they call on Him of whom they have not
believed? How shall they believe in Him in whom they have not
heard? So we have to hear of Him, don't
we? That we may know who we're called upon. And that's the principle,
two principles that's taught throughout the Word of God. And
thirdly, here's another principle. Here's another principle. I didn't
know what to call this principle as I studied and thought about
it. We find it here in this chapter
also, though. I didn't know what to call it.
An attitude of reconciliation? are clear in the air. But when
we come to the Lord, we come in this attitude of reconciliation. If Clarence and Gail have a problem,
then they come to me for counseling. They never had a problem with
coming to me for counseling. Well, maybe once or twice. But you know the
first thing that you have to determine When a man and a wife is having
a problem, you know the first thing you try to determine, help
them determine, what's the problem? What's the problem? And if the
man is at fault, then he needs to be brought to the knowledge
that he's at fault and confess it. And if the man is at fault,
until he comes clean with that, there can be no reconciliation.
The error has to be clear. See what I'm saying? And that's
what's going to take place with Joseph's brother. Now, look down
here in verse 21 and verse 22. Still in chapter 42. Verse 21
and verse 22. Look at this. This is where you
remember the context. Now, this is where they came
down to Joseph and he said, you know, he inquired how many there
were of them. They said, you know, we'd be
12 brothers. One of them's dead. our little
brother's home, and he said, OK, you go on back, but don't
you come back unless you bring him widgets. And he kept one
of them, tied one of them up and kept him, and he was getting
ready to send them on his way, but he talked roughly to them.
Well, he talked roughly to them, got rough with them. And look
in verse 21, And they said one to another, We are verily guilty
concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul
when he besought us, and we would not hear. Therefore this distress
is come upon us. And Reuben answered them, saying,
Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child?
But you would not hear me. Therefore also his blood is required." In this attitude of guilt, There
was no way that these brethren of Jacob was going to have sweet
fellowship with him. I mean, this guilt had been festering
for years and years. The first thing, when they run
into trouble, the guilt comes back to their minds. Boy, we
saw his face and it was just all twisted up. He was crying
when we put him in that pit. He was beseeching us, please
don't do this to me. Please don't do this to me. And
now it's come back to their minds. And there's no way that they
can keep this in and let this fester in their heart without
coming clean with it. There's got to come a time, there's
got to come a day, if they're to be reconciled to Joseph, this
has to be dealt with. It has to be dealt with. It has
to be dealt with for Joseph's sake, doesn't it? Joseph was
a good man. He was a very tender man. And
He had prophesied and told them, you guys are going to come down
some day and bow before Me. And they were going to have to
do it, not only ignorantly as they had been up until now, but
they were going to have to do it knowingly. They were going
to have to bow knowing who they bowed before. And you know something?
They were going to have to justify Joseph. They were going to have
to justify. He was right. You're right. They're
going to have to face that fact, aren't they? It can't be right. It can't be right. And they had
to do it for themselves. This festering guilt that had
bothered them, that had come up now, the guilt of what they'd
done to Joseph, that had to be settled for their own conscience
sake. How could they, how could Joseph
make himself known to them without this acknowledgement of what
we've done to him? Why, they come into His presence
and they'd always be thinking, boy, does He remember what we've
done? Man, is He going to fall on us? Is He mad at us? There
has to be reconciliation on our part. And to do that, somebody
has to own up. Somebody has to say, I'm wrong. Their conscience had to be cleared
for their conscience's sake. Look here in chapter 43. Jump
over to chapter 43. And look here in verse 29. Now
the problem wasn't Joseph's. The problem wasn't on Joseph's
part. He was good. He was just. He
had never done a thing to them. The problem wasn't with him.
Look what he said in verse 29. Chapter 43 and look in verse
29. You remember the context now.
I hope you remember the context. I hope you went home and read
this, son. But this is where they came down and they brought
Benjamin with them. And look what happened when Joseph
saw Benjamin with them. In verse 29 of 43. And he lifted
up his eyes. Joseph lifted up his eyes and
saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this
your younger brother of whom you have spake unto me? And he
said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. Now look at Joseph's
attitude. And Joseph made haste, for his
vows, his heart, his emotions did yearn upon his brother. And he sought where to weep,
and he entered into the chamber, and wept there. And he washed
his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Sit on bread. Serve the bread. The problem
was not with Joseph. He loved his brother. He was
going to eventually make himself known unto them. His heart yearned
for them. The problem was not with him.
He was already reconciled to them. The problem was with him. They had not confronted, they
had not faced this problem. that they had harbored all this
time down in their heart. It had festered. It had bothered
them. And until they'd come clean with
it before Joseph, as to what their attitude was towards him,
they're never going to be comfortable in his presence. Look what he
said in chapter 43 and look in verse 18. Here's a good example. Look at the mistrust. Look at
the fear. Joseph brought them into his
house. He saw Benjamin come back with them. There in verse 16
and verse 17. And he commanded his steward
to bring, he said, bring those eleven men into my house. And
he was going to feed them. But they don't yet know him,
you see. And they've got this problem down within that hasn't
been resolved yet. So look at their attitude when
Joseph brings them into his house to feed them. Verse 18, And the
men were afraid. because they were brought into
Joseph's house, and they said, because of the money that was
returned in our sacks at the first time, we are brought in,
that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take
us, both slaves and our assets." What's their problem? Guilty. They've got this attitude towards
Joseph that's not been settled yet. And that's the point I'm
bringing out. That's the principle that I'm
bringing out this evening, brothers and sisters. The problem is not
in God. There was a problem, and it was
our sins and God's justice that stood against our sins. That
was the problem. But God resolved that problem
at Calvary 2,000 years ago. There is where reconciliation
was made. There is where justice was satisfied. There is where sin was punished.
That problem was settled. And in this sense we can say
God is not angry with us anymore. The anger that we feel is God
teaching us that He's going to bring us to face what's in us.
It's not in God, brothers and sisters. Our sin was satisfied
for 2,000 years ago. The problem is in us. Our carnal minds are enmity against
God. And He's going to have to so
work in our hearts to bring us, just as He did Jacob, least brethren
of His, to own our sin. to acknowledge it, to come clear,
to come clean. That as He has made reconciliation
on our behalf, now our conscience must be reconciled to Him. This is what Paul said in 2 Corinthians
chapter 5, a very familiar passage. He said, where he's talking about
God is committed to us, the ministry of reconciliation. And he made
this statement. He said God was in Christ. Reconciling the world unto Himself. He's reconciled men all over
the world to Himself. Not imputing their trespasses
to them. And here's what he says. Here's
what Paul says. He says, I pray you, therefore,
since God has been reconciled to us through Jesus Christ, I
pray you now in Christ's stead, you be reconciled to God. Since God has made reconciliation
in Christ, since Jesus Christ has made peace by the blood of
His cross, now what should you and I do? Throw down our weapons. Quit fighting with Him. Come
to Him and own what we are and own what we've done before Him. Come clean with Him. Come clear
with Him. Until we do. We'll mistrust Him. Until we
do, we'll not be comfortable in His presence. Because we'll
always be thinking, is He still angry with me? Well, what about
this sin? What about that sin? What about
the sins of my youth? What about all this? He must
bring us to Himself and bring us until we confess and own all
before Him. I want you to take your Bibles
and turn to three or four places just to read some Scriptures
and tell you quickly. Hold Genesis chapter 43 and look in Leviticus. You young people start turning
to your right and you'll run into Leviticus chapter 26. If
you have your pew Bibles, that will be on page 155 in your pew
Bibles. Leviticus chapter 26 and look
in verse 39. I was reading Mr. Bonar's song
that we just sang, and I noticed as we were singing there, he
was singing, Then all is peace and light, this soul within. Thus shall I walk with thee,
the loved unseen, leaning on thee, my God, guiding along the
road. Now listen to this. Nothing between. Nothing between. God has removed
all obstacles between Himself and us. And now you and I must
remove all obstacles between us and Him. And how do we do
that? Just confess it. Just a thorough
confessing. A thorough acknowledgment of
what my attitude towards Him has been. A thorough acknowledgment
of my sin. I'm just not going to hide it
from Him anymore. I'm coming clean with Him before Him. That's
repentance. Now look here at what He said
in Leviticus chapter 26, and look in verse 39. And they that are left of you
shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemy's land, and also
in the iniquity of their father shall they pine away with them.
Oh, what a terrible thought. Now look at this. If they shall
confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their father with
their trespass, which they have trespassed against me, and that
also they have walked contrary unto me." Now, that's something
we've got to come clear of, isn't it? Clarence has messed around
as a husband and not treated Gail right. And the feelings
ain't going to be there until Clarence acknowledges, Gail,
I've done you wrong. I've walked contrary. to my commitment
to you. And look in verse 41. And that
I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into
the land of their enemies, if then their uncircumcised hearts
be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity. See that? We just come in clean. We acknowledge to Him who we
are, what we are. Our whole attitude towards Him
has been wrong. And we say, Lord, I'm worthy
to perish. I'm worthy of Your wrath. If
You fell upon me with it, that's what I'm worthy of. I just accept
that. What happens when we come claimed
that way? Well, look on verse 42. Then
will I remember my covenant with Jacob. In my covenant with Isaac,
in my covenant with Abraham, will I remember. And I will remember
the land. That was a covenant of mercy.
That was a covenant of grace. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. That's what that covenant said.
Mercy. I'll show mercy. Look at another
place. Keep on looking over to your
right. Look in Hosea chapter 5. Hosea chapter 5. And you'll find that on page
984, young people, in your pew Bibles. 984, Hosea. Look in verse 13. Begin in verse
13. We're just looking at some principles.
In verse 13, Hosea chapter 5 and verse 13. If you go to Daniel, keep going
to your right and you'll find it. Everybody find it? Hard to find. Verse 13, Chapter
5, When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judas saw his wounds, then
went Ephraim to the Assyrians, and sent to King Jared, yet could
he not heal you, nor cure you of your wounds. Why even go to
them? That's just what we do, ain't
it? We'll run to first one Savior and then another. Verse 14, I
will be to Ephraim as a lion and as a young lion to the house
of Judah. Even I will tear and go away. I will take away and none shall
rescue him. I'm sending a famine. I'm sending
some trouble. I will go and return to my place
till they acknowledge their offense and seek my face. In their affliction
they shall seek me early. acknowledging their offense. Brothers and sisters, we can't
have peace with God. We can't be saved. We can't be
reconciled to God while we are harboring all of our former life
and our former sins. We have to come clean with Him.
We must acknowledge before Him. Look at another passage right
quickly. Look in the same book. Look in chapter 14. Look in verse 1. Old Israel, return
unto the Lord thy God, for you have fallen by your iniquities. That's a strange word, isn't
it? Return because you're a sinner. Return because you're fallen.
Take with you words and turn to the Lord, and say unto him,
Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously, so that we render
the calves of our lips. Asher shall not save us, he can't
do us any good. We will not ride upon horses,
neither will we say any more to the works of our hands, You
are our God. For in thee the fatherless findeth
mercy." And the Lord says, I will heal their backslidings, and
I will love them freely, for mine anger is turned away from
them. See what I'm saying? See what
I'm saying? This thing with Joseph's brethren
had festered and festered in their hearts. He invites them
home to him to feed them dinner. And what do they think? This
man is going to fall on us. He's going to take us for slaves.
And we're gone. Was Joseph going to do that?
Well, of course he wasn't going to do that. Man, he loved them
to death. He had to restrain himself to
keep them from falling on their necks and kiss them. But see,
this problem was within them, wasn't it? It was within them. And it's got to be confronted. It's got to be faced before God. Now look back over here at the
final straw. Look over in chapter 44. Look
in Genesis 44. You remember the context now,
chapter 44. They ate dinner with Joseph. They was feeling pretty
good. He didn't fall upon them, didn't
harm them, didn't hurt them. They ate a good dinner. He gave
Benjamin a bunch of... gave them all a bunch of things.
Gave Benjamin several garments of clothes. And all 11 of them
started back home to their daddy. Going back home to Canaan. Boy,
they were feeling good. Man, they had their sacks loaded
with corn. And they'd sign in. out and they was taking Benjamin
back home. Boy, they was feeling good. Feeling good. But that
feeling wasn't going to last. You see, they still had this
problem. They had this problem. They weren't right with Joseph. And they had to come and bow
before him. He had to make himself real to
them. He had to make his love known
to them. So what was going to happen? Boys, you might as well
turn around and head back to Joseph. So what does he do? This is what Joseph does. He
pulls a trick on them to get them back. He puts all their
money that they had given through the corn back in the sacks. And he takes his silver cup and
he sticks it in Benjamin's sack. They tie him up real good and
help him put him on the horses. And boy, they take off with their
mules loaded down. About the time they get out on the outskirts
of town, Joseph says to his steward, you go get them now. And you
tell them, why did you steal my cup? And boy, that's what
the steward did. The steward went and caught up
with them. And they was laughing and singing. And the steward
said, you stole his cup! Oh, man, all of them jumped off
of their mules, and they said, why? If you find that cup with
any one of us, every one of us will be your slaves. Well, they
started out with Reuben, unloaded his sack, opened it up. There
was his money, but no cup. They went right on down to the
next one. And there's those brothers standing
there. I told you, they ain't going
to find nothing here. We didn't steal it. Did you steal it? Well,
no, I didn't steal it. I didn't steal it. It got on
down to Benjamin. And lo and behold, their hearts
fell then. They opened that sack up and
there was Joseph's silver cup. I mean their hearts fell. They
rent their clothes. They loaded their sacks of corn
back up on the mule and they headed back to Joseph. They went
into his very presence. He's still there at his house
waiting on them. They come in and this is where we pick up
the scene. Now there's something going to happen that has never
happened before. They had always felt this guilt
before. And it has always come up to
their mind. And they owned it in their own selves. Their own
guilt of it. But this is going to be different
this time. Look here now what happens in verse 14. And Judah and his brother came
to Joseph's house, for he was yet there, and they fell before
him on the ground. And Joseph said unto them, What
deed is this that you have done? Know you not that such a man
as I can certainly divine? And Judah said, What shall we
say unto my Lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall
we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity
of thy And he went on to say, we'll
all be your slaves. Every one of us is going to be your slaves.
We give up. We give up. You say, Bruce, what's
the difference? Well, every time before, they
kept discussing what they had done. This what they had done
to Joseph kept coming up to their minds. But they would think about
it for a while and realize, we did something awful. Then they'd
go on their way. They'd collect their thoughts
and go on their way, but boy, it was different this time. You
know what they said? God has found us out. God has charged us with it. This
is of God. And boy, we can go on with this
legal conviction. When I was a kid, it would scare
me to death if I lied. If I did something wrong, I'd
go back and apologize, and I'd go on about my way. But you know
what really got my attention when I knew that God knew. And
when I knew that God was going to hold me accountable before
God, I'm guilty. Boy, that changed everything,
didn't it? This was a true confession wrung out of these men. God has
found out my... Wouldn't we find that out? I'm
telling you, something's got to be done there. We just ain't
going to go back. We ain't going to go back to
the house then. Do you know it? When we come to this knowledge,
God's found me out. God's found me out. I've been hiding this
thing. I've been hiding my whole...
Oh, I'm religious. I read, I pray, and I'm a very
religious person. But God's never found me out
in my conscience. Well, my problem is before Him.
For the first time in their life, they saw they had a problem before
God. God found them out. Things are getting ready to be
cleared up now. Look in verse 17. Verse 17. Instead of me reading this to
you, let me just tell you about it. We'll go on in chapter 45.
This is the passage I read to you last week. If you want to
see something beautiful, I ain't going to cover this again, but
if you want to see something beautiful, you start there. In verse 17,
the remainder of that chapter, this is where Joseph said, No,
I'm not going to keep all of his slaves, but I am going to
keep Benjamin. I'm going to keep him. And this
is where Judah came to him, walked right up to Joseph. And this
is where he began to plead for Benjamin. Remember how he pleaded?
He said, My father wasn't going to let him come with us. And
I said, Father, if you'll let him go, I'll be a charity for
him. I'll stand in his stead. I'll be responsible for him.
If I don't bring him back, let me bear the blame forever. That's
what he said to Joseph. Well, when he did that, Joseph
became overwhelmed. He couldn't reframe himself anymore.
And verse 1 of chapter 45, look at this. Then Joseph could not
reframe himself before all of them that stood by him, 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 brother." Look in verse 2. And he wept aloud. And the Egyptians in the house
of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said unto his brother,
Brother, I am Joseph. Doth my father yet live? And
his brother could not answer him, for they were troubled at
his presence." You talk about a shocker now.
He had made himself strange to them. They just didn't know him.
Spoke roughly to him. But now he makes himself known.
And man, I'm telling you what, they're amazed at him. They're
amazed at him. And look in verse 4. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
Come near unto me, I pray you. And they came near, and he said,
I am Joseph your brethren, and if there is any doubt whether
I am or not, and which Joseph I am talking about, whom you
sold unto Egypt." Uh-oh. Uh-oh. See why I say, brothers and sisters,
what we are what we've done, our whole attitude in our life
towards God, we must come clear. It must be acknowledged. We must
be in agreement with God. We cannot walk with Him. We cannot
fellowship with Him while we're not in agreement with Him. And
what does He say about us? Our hearts are deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. Then let's come clean with that.
There is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth
not. Is that us? Then let's come clean with him.
Let's acknowledge that. We're guilty of not loving him.
We're guilty of not trusting him. That's infinite sin, is
it not? Then let's come to him and own
what we are. Because he knows it anyway, and
I'm telling you, he's going to confront us with it. He's going to confront us with
it. And if we're not in agreement with Him and we've not come clear
with Him, I tell you, when He confronts us with it, there's
going to be some conflict. Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute,
Joseph. I didn't have any part in that.
That was Simon that did that. I wouldn't have went along with
that. No. Every one of you sold me. Every
one of you were against me. Every one of you hated me. I'm
Joseph. I'm Joseph. But you're the betrayer. I'm Christ. You're the sinner. I'm the Savior. You're the guilty
one. We have to come clean, don't
we? We cannot stand in the presence of God and be comfortable until
we've come clean. He said in verse 5, he's going
to have to comfort them, I'm telling you, because, boy, they're
feeling something now. Now therefore be not grieved,
nor angry with yourselves, that ye sow me hither. For God did
send me before you to preserve life." And look in verse 13,
beginning in verse 14, 13. You shall tell my father, he's
telling them now to go back. They're still standing there
amazed. You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt and
all that ye have seen. You shall hasten and bring down
my father hither. And he fell upon his brother
Benjamin's neck and wept. And Benjamin wept upon his neck.
Moreover, he kissed all his brethren and wept upon them." And look
at this. After that, his brethren talked
with him. You know, being saved is a dramatic
thing. It really is a dramatic thing. When the Lord brings us
to Himself, and we're standing there before Him as it were,
and we're brought to acknowledge our sin, our helplessness, and
He makes Himself known unto us. But I'm telling you, He has to
make Himself known unto us in such a real way, or we won't
even talk to Him. We're afraid of Him. We've been
traumatized. I'm an awful man. I've been against
God all my life. And here the Lord Jesus Christ
must be made known unto us that He loves us, that He's made reconciliation
for us, that He's not against us. Has Christ ever made Himself
real to you? How has He made Himself known to you? That He
loves you? That He's borne all your sins? We'll never approach Him to Him
until He makes Himself known to us as an all-sufficient, loving,
tender Lord and Savior. But if He's taught us about ourselves,
as He's brought these brethren here, His brethren, to think
about themselves, then I'll tell you what He's doing. He's making
His love known to us. I'm talking about reconciliation.
I'm talking about reconciling love. Burying our sins. Giving
Him supper. Not this little emotional love
that religion talks to today. When He fell on their necks and
kissed them, and they looked into His sweet eyes, and they
saw no anger, they saw no resentment in His face, then they said,
I feel free to talk to Him now. All is forgiven. All is forgiven. I've carried this guilt all these
years. I've carried these awful feelings
all these years. And they simmered down inside
me. But now, all is clear. He's reconciled
to me, and I'm reconciled to Him. All is clear. One more lesson
on this next week. One more lesson. Any comments? Any questions?