Now let's check that text again
in Acts 7, just so it'll be fresh on your mind. I like to give
titles to messages. I spend a little time thinking
about a title. I thought about calling this
one, What's Going On? What's Going On? Because I know
that's being asked by some folks. What's Going On? And then I thought
about entitling the message, The Second Time. says here, Acts
7, 13, and at the second time, Joseph was made known to his
brethren. But I decided to title it, to
call it a more scriptural, by a more scriptural title and one
that had to do with the subject, Christ Known by Revelation. Christ Known by Revelation. Joseph was made known to his
brethren. He was revealed to his brethren.
Now, let's prepare the message in this way. Many of the Lord's
true people, true believers, true people, true sheep, experience
a false profession of religion. Many do. Most do, really, in
this day. This is not true in history,
this is true today, in the day of fundamentalism and and high-pressure
evangelism, and the type of campaign that we're having this week in
our own town is going to get hordes of people down the aisle. There'll be hundreds coming down
the aisle. Among those, there's a good possibility it will be
some true people of God, true sheep. True sheep. Before they actually come to
know Christ, before they actually are saved, They go through a
false profession of faith. Now, there's several reasons
for this. Let me give you reasons for this. And like I say, you're
not listening to a novice now. I know a little bit about what
I'm talking about. When I was 20 years old, I wanted to be
40 because I felt like that a preacher could have a little more Influence if he's older and when
I got to be 40, I thought well, maybe when I get to be 50 I'll
have a little more influence, but I'm 56 going on 57 now and
I still run into 17 year olds that want to argue about things,
you know, but I Know what I'm talking about. I know what I'm
talking about The first reason for these false professions.
Here's the first reason there is in every man a religious inclination
a That's so. There's in every person religious
thoughts. Nobody, nobody can go through
this life. Nobody can go through this life
without some thoughts of God. The fool has said no God for
me. Nobody can go through this life
without some thoughts about death, about judgment, about eternity,
about heaven and hell, so much is said about it. And so there
is in every person, the Bible says that every man has a conscience,
God-given. The Bible says that the things
of God are understood by the things that are made. The Bible
says there's a light that lighteth every man that cometh into the
world. There's a light of conscience and the light of nature and the
law of God written on the heart. So everybody out there, even
little fellas, even little fellas, have some thoughts about God.
Our three-year-old grandson Luke's getting to be a real theologian.
The other day, Becky said now to those two children, she said
to Carrie, Luke said, when Daddy's here, he's boss. And when Daddy's
gone, Mama's boss. Luke said, God's the big boss,
isn't he? Well, you see that? Everybody
has some thoughts about God. God's the big boss. Well, he's
not saved by any stretch of the imagination. But those thoughts
are there. All right. Secondly, why are
these false professions? Secondly, well-meaning parents. Well-meaning parents. And I say
well-meaning. I believe some of them are. Everybody's
not a con man. Some of these preachers are,
and people are, but everybody's not. Well-meaning parents and
well-meaning friends. And well-meaning religious people
begin to apply pressure to this inclination. They apply the pressure. You see, that inclination's there.
That thought about life and thought about death and thought about
God and those thoughts about heaven and hell, they're there.
They're there, and we begin to apply pressure, pressures, certain
pressures, on these folks to do something about, do something
about it. Do something about your relationship
with God. Live right. Go to church. Decide for Jesus. Join our church. Be baptized. Accept Jesus as
your personal Savior. Do it today. Tomorrow may be
too late. Tomorrow's sun may never rise.
To bless your long deluded sight. Pull center. Hearten not your
heart. Be saved tonight. Tonight. Tonight. And here He comes. Here He comes. We apply that pressure. A father,
the child's about eight or nine years old, he comes and says,
now son, don't you think it's about time you thought about
joining the church? Don't you think it's about time
you thought about lining up with God? Don't you? Yeah, he's thought
about it. And enough pressure from you,
he'll do it. And some parent comes to the pastor and said,
our little boy said the other day that he'd like to be a Christian.
Now, you get with him. And so the pastor descends on
that little fellow, you know, with all his theology and his
arguments and his reasoning and his soul-winning techniques,
and he comes and says, our little boy is saved, you know, all fixed
up. That's what happens. And under
these inward concerns, these inclinations toward God and toward
toward heaven, these inclinations toward something spiritual, these
inward inclinations and concerns, and these outward urging voices,
these outward voices and this outward pressure, and under these
inward concerns and these outward pressures, multitudes walk an
aisle, make a profession, join a church, get baptized, only
to find, only to find There's no reality to it. There's no
reality. The profession's there. The form's
there. Even some biblical knowledge
is there. Even some desire is there. But
the reality is not there. The rest is not there. The peace
is not there. No real knowledge of the living
God. I got a most pitiful letter. I let Doris read it last night.
I was going to bring it, but I thought better. Some dear person
that's just so wrapped in religion, she's made so many professions,
she's experienced already one complete mental breakdown, nervous
breakdown as a result of religion. This is the reason psychiatrists
hate religion, is because people get religious professions and
religious commitments and don't know God. and don't know Christ,
and don't have any peace and rest, and they crack up. Charlie,
that's exactly what to do. They crack up. And they don't
know anything about Christ, and the psychiatrist doesn't know
anything about Christ, but they're full of religion, and he thinks
the religion did it, and it did, really. Religion without Christ
will crack you up. It will. It'll destroy you mentally,
emotionally, physically, and every other way. Because He's
your rest. There's no rest in the law. There's
no rest in ceremony. There's no rest in profession.
He's our peace. He's the Prince of Peace. And
there's no peace in religious commitments and religious rituals
and religious ceremonies, religious duties and standards that you
can't keep. There's no peace in those things.
The peace is in a person. The rest is in a person. That
assurance and confidence and hope is in a substitute. in a
Redeemer, in a great high preach. If we sin, we have an advocate
with the Father. If we confess our sins, He's
faithful and just to forgive us. And this poor soul was cracking
up over her thoughts. Her thoughts were sending her,
she says, I'm on heavy medication. I've been in and out of this
place. And she said, my thoughts are killing me. Guilt ridden. Oh, I wrote three or four pages,
and just, I said, I said, listen to me. You quit listening to
these preachers. Turn them every one off. Turn
them every one off. They're merchandisers of souls.
They're hooksters. They're con men. Turn them off.
Turn them off. And you get into the Word of
God, and you find Christ. I showed her how all men are
lost. In Adam, by nature, I said, you know more a sinner than I
am, no greater sinner than I am. You are a sinner and I'm a sinner,
but you're no greater sinner than anybody else, or that preacher
is preaching to you. You're no greater sinner than
he is. Your thoughts are no more wicked than his. You're no more
strained from God than he is. You're no more wicked than he
is, just as much. He needs Christ and you need
Christ. And I showed her our inability, and then I showed
her Christ, and His grace, and His kindness, and His mercy,
and His love, and His willingness to pardon. He delights to show
mercy. I pointed her to Christ, Christ,
Christ, Christ. I hope she'll find Him, but you'll
crack up under this modern religion. In multitudes, here's one problem
now. And then they make that profession.
They come down the aisle and join the church. And they get
baptized, and they make a profession. And multitudes hold to these
refuges. They continue in them, and they
rest in these professions through their whole lives. They know the doctrines, they
know the form, they know all their experience, but they don't
know Christ. They don't know Christ. Never
met Christ. But by the grace of God, in his
own time, Saul of Tarsus was 40 years old before God saved
him. He'd been in religion since he was a baby, since he was circumcised
at 8 days old when his religious training started, Jim, when he
was 8 days old. And when he got to be 40 years
old, Christ revealed himself to him. He revealed himself. And that's what some folks are
doing now. The second time, Christ is made known. The second time,
joy and peace and life is revealed. Now, if you care to look into
it, let me deal with this thing about Joseph. Now, I've already
read it to you. And I'm going to make it brief,
and if you care to, I'll give you a scriptural parallel, a
scriptural picture of what's going on and help you to understand
this, that men get religion and later on they meet Christ. That
they may even be, here's the thing, they may even be in his
presence. And they may even be involved
to a certain extent with him and with the things of Christ,
but don't know him. That's what I'm saying, they
don't know him. You're saying everybody's ignorant but you?
No, sir. Everybody's ignorant but free grace preachers and
believers? No, sir. I'm simply saying that
the difference is Christ and a divine revelation of a person. Anybody can learn doctrine, and
I mean straight doctrine. Satan has doctrine, but he doesn't
see the glory of it. He doesn't see the beauty of
Christ. That's what I'm saying. All right, Joseph, now let's
go back just a little bit. Joseph was quite special to his
father. This man, this boy Joseph, you
remember his father made him the coat of many colors and so
forth, and God prophesied great things for Joseph. And his father
knew that, and Joseph knew that. But his brethren, his ten brothers,
now not Benjamin, but his ten older brothers despised him. Oh, they hated him. They despised
him. And he came out in the field
one day on a mission for his father with that pretty bright
colored coat on, and his brethren got so angry, he told them a
dream. He dreamed that they bowed down
to him. And so they just took him and threw him in a pit. They
were going to kill him, and one of the brothers begged them not
to. They were going to kill him. So they threw him in a pit. And
some folks came traveling through there, going to Egypt or going
somewhere. And one of the brothers said,
well, let's sell him to these slave traders. So they got him
out of the pit and sold him. He begged them. He pleaded with
them. He treated them. That's what I read a while ago,
but they sold him anyway. And they took him down into Egypt.
And they took his coat of many colors and they ripped it to
shreds and killed a lamb and covered it with blood. And they
went on back home and they said, Joseph's dead. We found his coat
and it's covered with blood. A lion must have got him or something.
And old Jacob was heartbroken, just, oh, so heartbroken. And these brothers, ten of them,
they said, he's just dead. Well, Joseph went down into Egypt.
And he was in slavery, and he was in prison, and he was in
so many terrible circumstances and situations, but according
to the promise of God, he wound up on the throne. Now, Pharaoh
had had a dream. And Moses, by the grace of God,
interpreted that dream. You remember the story. And told
Pharaoh, he said, there's going to be seven years of plenty,
plenty like you've never seen it. The crops are going to bear,
the barns will be full, there'll be seven years of abundant, abundant
harvest. But following that seven years
will be seven years of famine like you've never seen before.
And so Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of the crops. He was a
brilliant man, Joseph was. He made him governor of Egypt.
He made him king of Egypt. He made him second in command
to Pharaoh over all of Egypt. And for seven years, under Joseph's
instruction, under Joseph's leadership, they filled the storehouses,
they built storehouses, they filled these places with enough
food to last for seven more years after the harvest was over, the
seven years of plenty. Well, you read the story a while
ago. The famine not only was in Egypt, but extended everywhere.
And so Jacob and his 11 boys, Benjamin included, were hungry. So this was years later. And
so he sent these 10 sons. He said, don't take Benjamin.
Don't let anything happen to him. He sent these 10 boys down
to Egypt to get food. And so they came down there,
and of course they had to go before Joseph. And when they
came before Joseph, Joseph immediately recognized all of them, but they
didn't recognize him. And they bowed down before him,
and, you know, I told you about what happened. And the second
time, he revealed himself to them. Now, let me draw this parallel.
Let's see if I can help you. First, there are two or three
things. First of all, men do not know who Christ is. Men do
not know who Christ is. Now, if you can, picture It's
no wonder these brothers didn't know Joseph. The last time they
saw Joseph, he was a kicking, screaming teenager, or 18 or
19 or so, being hauled off in the back of a cage by some Egyptian
slave traders. That's the last time they saw
him. Now, they were coming before Can you imagine these poor Israelite
shepherds in the presence of this Egyptian king? Here this
man sat on the throne, veiled in mystery, all of the fine silk
and satin, the royal satin and silk around him, girded with
power. He sat on a throne. He was king
of Egypt, governor of Egypt, and he sat on a throne. veiled
in power, girded with power, surrounded with captains and
princes and surrounded with honor, they didn't have the slightest
inkling this was their brother. They didn't know who he was,
not the slightest inkling of who he was. There sat Joseph. They didn't know it, but there
was Joseph, a king and yet their brother, with great power and
yet with a heart of pity, with great authority, and yet with
great compassion. They had no conception of who
he was, none whatsoever. Here are these poor fellows in
their shepherd clothes, with their shepherd rods, and they're
down on their faces, and here sits this man in all the splendor
and power and beauty and glory of the Egypt. Pharaoh had conferred
upon him everything, everything. Everything. All that Joseph had
suffered in slavery, in prison, in false accusation, and now
in exaltation, they didn't know it. They didn't know it, but
all that he was and all that he did was to preserve their
lives. He said that later. God sent
him before to preserve their lives. You follow me? That's
the first thing. They didn't know it. And men
do not know who Christ is. We've either got Christ unapproachable,
on an exalted sovereign throne, or Christ in the back of a cage,
being spit upon and reviled and mocked and persecuted by soldiers,
a weakling. Men don't know who Christ is.
They cannot see in the same person great power and great pity. They
cannot see in the same person great authority and yet great
compassion. They didn't have any conception
who Joseph was, not the slightest conception. Second, they did
not know that he was their brother. One with them in their nature,
one with them in their relationship. What were the thoughts going
through their mind as far as Joseph was concerned? He's a
stern, unapproachable, sovereign. He's associated with Egypt. He's
the king of Egypt. He's the sovereign of Egypt.
He's the fellow that will feed us or send us away empty. He's
the fellow that can preserve our lives or send us away starving. He has that kind of power. They
didn't realize sitting on that throne was their own brother. Did he love them? that he had
such great compassion for them that he was looking, here they
were bowing and scraping, they didn't know him, you see what
I'm saying? They didn't know him and they didn't realize he
was their brother and here they were going through all of these
motions and he wanted so much to embrace them. In fact, he
got up from the throne and went back in a room and stood there
and just cried and cried and cried and just wept. He loved them so much. He loved
them so much, went back in his chambers and wept. They didn't
know that. They didn't have any conception of that. And I tell
you, the reason people do not, the reason they don't have a
revelation of Christ, they do not know him. They do not know
him. They do not know his attributes. He's just, but he's merciful. Our God is righteous and holy,
but he's love. Our God has all authority and
power and sovereignty, but not a bird falls to the ground without
him. The hairs of your head are numbered. He cares for his own. And Christ Jesus is our brother,
brother. Turn with me to the book of Hebrews
just a moment. This is what we don't see. I
tell you eternal life, listen to me, is to know God and Jesus
Christ whom he has sent. It's not just to know doctrines
about Christ. It's not just to go through the
motions of ceremonies and ritualism and doctrines and these things.
It's to know the person, to be identified with the person, to
be in a living union with the person, to be embraced and to
love, be loved by the person, to approach unto the person.
In Hebrews 2, listen to this, verse 16. He took not on him
the nature of angels, He took on him the seed of Abraham, wherefore,
in all things, it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren."
His brethren! In all things, made like his
brethren. These shepherds there on their
knees, that's your brother. That's the son of your father.
That's one who bears your family name. That's one identified with
you in birth, in nature. In family, in all things, they
didn't know it. They didn't know it. They didn't
know it. All right, secondly, here's the
second thing now. There's a reason why at the first
coming they did not come to know it. Now, like I said, people,
they have inclinations of religion, they get outside pressures, outside
needs and so forth, and they rush in and make a profession.
And they don't know Christ. They may even deal with his Bible,
they may deal with his church, they may deal with his ordinance,
they may deal with a lot of things about him, but they don't know
him. Now, why didn't these brothers know Joseph the first time? Well,
the first time, they weren't looking for a brother, they were
looking for corn. They were looking for corn. Brother didn't have
anything to do with this. And men are not looking for Christ,
they're looking for comfort. They're looking for... When they
make that profession, they're looking for deliverance from
starvation in hell. They're looking for a little
corn of heaven. That's what these brothers came
for. They weren't thinking about Joseph laid buried. Joseph and their relationship
with Joseph was a dead issue. They hadn't brought up Joseph
in a long time. They just forgot about it. They
were going there to get corn. Corn. And I'll tell you this.
The issue, my friend, is not heaven and hell, it's Christ
and sin. This issue in salvation is not pie in the sky and a sweet
by and by or missing so-called the flames of hell and getting
my conscience saved in this life and becoming religious so that
folks will speak well of me. The issue is who is Jesus Christ
and what is my relationship with him. And these brothers didn't
come for a brother, they came for corn. And we're not coming
for Christ. We're coming for comfort. We're
coming for a saving of the conscience. We're coming for some kind of
religious profession. We're coming just for a refuge.
Not a redeemer, a refuge. Not a Lord, a hiding place in
time of storm. The storm coming and we want
to miss it. So we just skedaddle in the first
hiding place. Secondly, we have not felt our
great sin against him. Now this is what Joseph's bringing
out. This is what he's bringing out. His brethren have got to
resurrect what took place. His brethren, they've got to
consider, they've got to confess, they've got to once again bring
forth their great sin against Joseph. It lay buried through
the years. It's got to be brought out. It's
got to be brought out. And this is what I'm saying,
and I say it as kindly as I can. The issue between you and God.
And Barnard used to say this all the time, the issue between
you and God. Now, we think the issue between
us and God is very, these little insignificant things. That's
the reason folks say, well, God wouldn't send a man to hell,
would he? A loving God wouldn't send a
man to hell, would he? You think a loving God would
send a man to hell? Wait a minute now. You think
God would send a man to hell just for stealing a watermelon?
No, I don't. I really don't. I really don't. I think the issue is more critical
than that. I think it's more critical. Because if he could
just not grow watermelons in heaven, you know, then there
wouldn't be any danger. You think God has sent a man to hell for
getting drunk? You think God has sent a man to hell for getting...
No, I really don't. I really don't. I really don't. In fact, I'll be perfectly honest
with you. I don't think... I don't think
that the issue between God Almighty and this human race lies nearly
so much in what we do as what we are. It's what we are by birth
and nature and practice. And I believe the issue between
us and God, here's the issue between us and God, is our hatred,
our inborn, inbred hatred and enmity against him. I think it
started in the Garden of Eden. I believe it started back there
with Adam and his wife. As much as to say, this is what
they said, they said in so many words, we'll not have God to
reign over us, we'll be our own God. Isn't that what they said?
Wasn't that the issue? The issue wasn't eating a certain
kind of fruit, it's why they ate that blooming fruit. That's
the issue, why they ate it. Because all the fruit in the
garden was good for food, but this one, God said don't touch
it. Now the character of God's at
stake. The power of God's at stake. The nature of God's at
stake. The throne of God's at stake.
The word of God's at stake. The reign of God's at stake.
And that's where they tackled it right there. They tackled
God where he reigns. Where he reigns. Where he reigns. And the same thing when he sent
his son. Somebody wrote one time and said, said if a man of perfect
character and perfect holiness came to the world, the world
would make him king. The world would crucify him.
That's how much the world hates holiness. The world Adam's sons,
they hate. Our Lord Jesus Christ came down
here and His hands never moved except in love. His feet never
walked except in grace. His eyes never flashed with jealousy,
lust, hatred, vengeance, only with love. His voice never spoke
except in grace. Our Lord Jesus Christ went about
doing good. He never offended men or the
Father. He kept the law perfectly. He
was embodied holiness. And you know what men think of
him? One of those soldiers stood face to face with him, cleared
his throat, and spit in his face. Now let me tell you something,
God's angry. Now you can, and this is what
they'll preach out there this week, never worry, if you ought
not to go to the show, okay, some shows you ought not go to.
You ought not take a drink. That's good sense. Wouldn't keep
it at the house. It doesn't need to be there.
It can be a very deadly and dangerous occupation, being involved in
drinking anything intoxicating. Just better leave it alone. Just
leave it alone. You ought not lie. I agree with
you. Lies will get you in trouble. Against God Almighty's will,
you ought not take God's name. I agree with you. Everybody knows
that as well as I know. Well, let me tell you something.
God Almighty is angry with this world, Clarence, we spit in his
face and told him to go on back to heaven, we'd run things down
here. Isn't that right, Mike? That's what God's angry about.
And that's not being preached upon. And that's the issue. That's the issue. And here these
boys stood before Joseph, the reason they didn't know him the
first time, they weren't looking for a brother, they were looking
for corn. We're not looking for Christ, we're looking for comfort.
The second thing is this, we've never felt yet, we've never been
persuaded or convinced of our atrocities. We killed God's Son. We spit in the face of God's
Son. Now our Lord, he gave this parable,
he said, the husband went and lent out his vineyard to some
fellas. And he sent a servant down there to check on it, and
they killed him. He sent another servant to check on him, and
they killed him. He sent another one, and they killed him. He
said, I'll send my son. You know what he said? He sent his son
down there, and they killed him. He said, I'm coming now. And
he wiped them out. I'm coming now. And that's what
God's saying to this generation. Almighty God sent servant after
servant, type after type, picture after picture. He sent his son,
and we're spitting his face. and nailed him to a cross and
laughed at him while he died. And I'll tell you, boy, we're
in trouble. And that's what that bunch at
Pentecost said as they wrung their hands. And Peter said,
you've crucified the Lord of Glory! And God has made the same
Jesus whom you spit upon and whom you laughed at while he
died. God's made him Lord! And they said, what we gonna
do? What are we going to do? Men and brethren, what are we
going to do? And that's what Joseph said on
that throne. And those boys, when he dealt
with them, they began to talk among themselves. I told you
we shouldn't have done that. I told you. That's what Reuben
said, didn't he? He said, I told you. Now his
blood's going to be required of us. I told you. I told you
20-odd years ago. that we shouldn't have done that.
We're in trouble. We're in deep, deep, deep trouble,
trouble like we've never seen. God is going to visit us. We're
in trouble. And I'll tell you this, a man
will never have Christ revealed to him until he gets in trouble.
I mean trouble with God. I'm not talking about trouble
with you and the Lord. I'm talking about in trouble
with God. And these boys were in trouble, and they knew it.
They were at the mercy of that man on that throne. Isn't that
right, Jim? They were at the mercy. And I'll
tell you another reason he didn't reveal himself to them. They
weren't all there. They didn't have all their possessions
with them. They didn't have all their forces
with them. They left their pet at home in case something happened
to him. Are you with me? You with me? When the Lord Jesus
Christ reveals himself to you, you'll have everything you own
with you. You'll be there, lock, stock, and barrel. You're not
gonna... Old Brother Shelton told me one time that he took
a fella into the baptismal pool, and the fella had the pants on,
he wore to church, and when he came towards the pool, he took
his wallet out and laid it up there and said, I'll lay that
there while I'm getting baptized. Shelton took it out and put it
back in his pocket and said, let's dip into. Yeah, let's baptize it too. Don't
take it out, don't leave Benjamin home. Don't leave Benjamin home. I'll reveal myself to you when
you're all here, when I've got all of you. There you are, and
there's your pet baby, and there's your possessions, there's your
wife, there's your children. I'm not revealing myself. You
see, he Lord of all or he ain't Lord at all. You with me? The
second time, he assured himself, you go home and get the rest
of the outfit and bring them with you. Go home and get the
rest of it. Don't keep nothing away. Oh,
you can play games, you can join the church, and you can do all
these things. You can get your refuge to hide in just in case
you might die, and just in case there is a heaven, just in case
there is a God, and just in case there is a hell. But I'll tell
you, when you go home, he said, you go home and you come back
with Benjamin and we'll talk turkey. And they went home and
got him. Even to lay in... Old Judah said,
I'll die for him. I'll die for him. That's how
serious he was. He told his daddy, he said, we're
going to take him, and if need be, I'll die for him and my whole
family will die for him. And then when Joseph talked to
him, Judah stood there and he said, tell you what. He said,
let Benjamin and all of them go home and keep me. Keep me. Just take me. And kill me. But I'm at that place now, Lord. I'm at that place. Let's go to Genesis 44. Let me
show you old Judah here. I tell you, he's a beautiful,
beautiful picture here. Genesis 44. Finally, Joseph said,
he said to them in Genesis 44, And Judah was pleading for Benjamin
here. In verse 33, he said, Now, therefore,
I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad, as
a bondman to my Lord. Let the lad go back with the
brothers. How shall I go to my father and the lad not with me?
Lest, peradventure, I see evil that come on my father. And verse
1 of Genesis 45, Then Joseph could refrain himself no longer. before them that stood by him. He cried, everybody get out of
here, and he wept. In verse 3, Joseph said to his
brothers, I'm Joseph. I'm Joseph. My father lived,
and his brothers couldn't answer him. They were troubled at his
presence. Joseph said, come near to me,
I pray you. And they came near. He said,
I'm Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But don't
be grieved or angry with yourselves that you sold me. God sent me
before to preserve life. You see, I believe there's something
here that we need to look at. And he revealed himself to them
the second time. But there were some things that
had to be put in proper perspective. Proper perspective. They came
the first time, they didn't know him. They didn't know the relationship. They didn't know the suffering.
They didn't know what he'd been through to preserve life. They
didn't see all that. They didn't see God's attributes.
But they weren't looking for a brother, they were looking
for corn. We're not looking for Christ, we're looking for comfort.
And then the real issue is not at stake. They hadn't dealt with
the real issues. The real issues is what we've
done, as far as he's concerned. What think ye of Christ? And
when these issues were brought to the surface, and when they
were dealt with in contrition and in confession, And with a
broken heart, the sacrifices of God are broken hearted when
they were dealt with in this manner. And when they've gone
home and got okay, if we live or die, we bring in Benjamin. We bring in the, if I have to
die, I'm bringing the whole thing. We're starving, we're at your
mercy. At your mercy. Lord, save me
or I'll perish. I'm at your mercy. And that's when he revealed himself.
And they went away so glad. And they brought the whole family
to live with Joseph. And they had plenty. Our Father,
use the message now for your glory. Oh, these hearts are so
alert and alive to flesh and the world, materialism, so dull,
so dull, the spiritual thing. Give us spiritual wisdom, but
Christ is our wisdom. Give us a revelation of yourself,
but you said, he that hath seen me hath seen my Father. So open
these eyes to see Christ. Reveal Christ to our hearts,
to our understanding, as our Lord and our Redeemer. In the name of our Lord and Master,
we pray. Amen.