Please turn with me in the Old Testament to Genesis and chapter 50. We'll be picking up the very end of the story of Joseph, which most of us know. Most of you children know the story of Joseph really well. And we'll see as we go on this morning whether you can remember all the details. We're not going to read the whole story, which spans eight or nine chapters. We're going to read the end of the story, which begins in verse 15 of this chapter, Genesis and chapter 50. When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, perhaps Joseph will hate us and may actually repay us for all the evil that we did to him. So they sent messengers to Joseph saying, before your father died, he commanded saying, thus you shall say to Joseph, I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin for they did evil to you. Now please forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.' And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face and said, Behold, we are your servants, Joseph said to them, do not be afraid, for I am the place of God, but as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, don't be afraid. I'll provide for you and your little ones. And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. Thanks be to God for His glorious word. Well, it's a new year and the question is, have you made a New Year's resolution? Now, some people don't believe in New Year's resolutions. They say, I've tried it in the past, it never works for me. Other people say, well, actually it's a help for me to have a focus for the year. So if you've not got a focus for this year, I want to bring before you a suggestion this morning. I want to suggest to you that what the Holy Scriptures describe as the main things should be our main things as we go into 2022. Do you remember the last verse of the New Testament passage we read? And now abide faith, hope, and love. That's a threesome which we saw the last time that I preached. Perhaps you remember a few weeks ago that I preached from Galatians 5 and we spoke about through the Spirit we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith working through love, faith, hope, and love. There it is again. And you maybe remember that when Paul writes to the Thessalonian church, he says, I thank God for you remembering without ceasing your work of faith labour of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. And we could go elsewhere in the New Testament and see that faith, hope and love are described as the three greatest Christian virtues, faith, hope, and love. But let's zero in on the very last words of 1 Corinthians 13 for a minute because Paul says something which you may have found surprising. He says, but the greatest of these is love. Now have you ever asked yourself, why is love greater than faith and hope? It is a more difficult question than it sounds and there are a few different answers that people give. Some say it's because love has to come first. You can't have faith or hope until you love because we only have faith in somebody who we love. And we saw last time that that actually is not true. In the Bible, faith comes first. Because first of all we need to see Jesus Christ through the eye of faith and we see that He's supremely beautiful and then we love Him. Which is why the first work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a convert is regeneration. It's the working of faith in that person and when we see Jesus Christ through faith, when we see ourselves in all our need, That is the time when we love. So faith comes first, not love. So that doesn't answer the question, why is love the greatest? Well some people say it's because love lasts forever. And I guess there's some truth in that because when we get to heaven, by God's grace, faith will be replaced by sight and hope will reach its fruition. Those things that we hope for, we will have. But even that isn't a fully satisfying answer because if faith involves having trust and confidence in God, well, we'll have that still in heaven, won't we? In fact, our trust and confidence in God will be greater than ever. And if hope involves looking forward to things which are going to be even better than they are now, well, isn't that the very essence of heaven? That every single moment we have to look forward to something even more wonderful in the future as we grow in our love for the Lord Jesus Christ. So that isn't the reason why Paul says that love is the greatest of these. Some people say love is greater because it makes the greatest difference but that doesn't fit with Scripture either because we're told in Scripture that it's by faith that we're sanctified, by faith that we're made the children of God, by faith we overcome the world, by faith we're saved, by faith we conquer kingdoms The reason that Paul says that love is the greatest of these is because love is the most useful to the church. Charles Hodge puts it like this, faith saves ourselves But love benefits others. And all the way, therefore, through 1 Corinthians in chapter 13, Paul has been saying, OK, you guys want to shine. You love to prophesy. You love to speak in tongues. You love to work miracles. But you know what he says? There is one supremely useful Christian virtue. And this is the way in which you're going to make the most difference to the church. cultivate love. It is the greatest of the three supreme Christian virtues. So this morning we are looking at the grace of love and I trust that it will set the tone for the year, that we will want as the year goes on to distinguish ourselves by our love one for another here at All Saints Church. Well let's start by defining the word because the word love has become so devalued in our culture. What even is love? Now there's a difficult question. If I were to put you on the spot and say write down your definition of love, I wonder what you would say. It's become synonymous with a feeling, hasn't it? Love is a feeling, that's how it's portrayed. Love comes and goes. Love is something you fall into. Love is something that happens to me. I can't choose it. And when it goes, I can't sustain it. That's how it's represented to us, isn't it? What does the Bible say about love? Well, Thomas Aquinas had this very simple definition, very beautiful, very profound definition. Simple, but profound. He said, To love is to will good to someone. And then he said it again, to love a person is to wish that person good. And of course to wish somebody good means that you're going to do good to that person if you can obviously there are some things that we'd love to do for people we don't have the power or the resources to do but where we can do somebody good if we love them we will do them good which is why James says what good is it my brothers if a brother or sister is naked or lacks basic food, and you say to them, depart in peace, be warmed and filled, but you don't give them the things which are needed. In other words, love can't be just words, because if you truly will somebody good, you will do whatever is in your power to bring that about, which is why the Lord Jesus said to us, if you have two coats and your brother or sister has none, then give one of those coats to your brother or sister. In other words, love acts. Now, the world knows this. For all I said, and I think it's true that the world is confused about the definition of love, the world does know this. It was Christ who says, if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same. In other words, the Lord Jesus is saying that the tax collectors loved those who love them. So the world understands the notion of love in the context of people who love us back, our family, our friends, and our lover. And in that context, what I've said is not controversial. We wish them good. But what did the Lord Jesus Christ say? You've heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say to you, love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, for He sends His Son to rise on the evil and on the good and his reign on the just and on the unjust. Now this is where Christian love, agape love, pulls away from the competition and this, at this point we part company from the world and they say to us, you Christians are crazy. It doesn't make any sense to love those who are your enemies. But I want us to see this morning as we look at the story of Joseph that this is the fruit which the Holy Spirit produces in our lives when we have faith in Christ. It's the focus of our first sermon in 2022, and may God grant that this kind of love may characterize the love that we have, not only for one another, because I can't imagine that we'll have enemies amongst one another, but as we go about our daily business, that this kind of love, this God-like love, may characterize our lives, our hearts, our attitudes. Well the verses that I want to call your attention to within the text that we've read are in verse 19 to 21 and you've heard the scene being set. So Joseph's brothers are in Egypt, they're Father has just died. Jacob has just died at a great age. And they now realize that they are wholly and entirely at Joseph's mercy. And they go to their brother Joseph and they fall down on their face and they say, forgive us. It was our daddy's dying wish. And Joseph said to them, verse 19, do not be afraid. For am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. So our sermon this morning is very simply called Joseph's Love for His Brothers. And our points are these. Joseph chose not to take revenge. And then secondly, we're going to see Joseph refused even to be bitter. And thirdly, we're going to see Joseph points us to Christ. So first of all then, Joseph chose not to take revenge. Now we find that in these words, Joseph said to them, do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? Now let's just remember for a moment, because we haven't read the whole story, have we? I'm relying on your memory here. Joseph had every reason to seek revenge. His earliest memories had been made painful by his brother's hatred. Do you remember that when his brothers saw that their father Jacob loved Joseph more than any of them, he gave him a coat of many colors didn't he? And the brothers hated him and then Joseph started to have these dreams in which his brothers and his parents bowed down to him and they hated him even more. He was the 11th brother, he was the little one in the family. all his brothers were older than he and boy did they take advantage of that and when their chance came they plotted to kill him. It was only the intervention of the oldest brother Reuben that saved Joseph's life and Judah at that point said okay if we can't kill him let's make the rest of his life miserable and they sold Joseph into slavery. He was then sold again as a slave to Potiphar, the captain of the Kingsguard and from there things went downhill because when he resisted the advances of Potiphar's wife he was thrown into a foul dungeon and there he languished for about thirteen years. Joseph had every reason to seek revenge. And he now has every opportunity to take revenge even if he doesn't want to actually put his brothers to death and arguably he may have felt that they deserved that. He has only to step back from them and they are completely at the mercy of the people of Egypt. Nobody knows them except for Joseph. And without his protection and his love and support and provision they're going to be outcasts in the land that they fled to. So Joseph has every opportunity now to get his own back and yet he doesn't. And I want to ask the question how does he avoid a vengeful spirit because As people of God, one of the things that the tempter will bring to us is the temptation to feel angry at others who treat us badly. And it's found in these words that we've read, do not be afraid for am I in the place of God. Joseph understood that vengeance belongs to God. And here is the insight, you see, to respond to injustice with kindness. To show undeserved love as Christ has commanded us, even to our enemies, to wipe the slate clean after a lifetime of suffering is only possible when we recognize that God is just and that dealing with the sins of others is not our business, it's His business. Joseph was willing to leave the consequences of actions to God. He knew the God who says, vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. And God does delegate responsibility for justice, doesn't he? To men and to women and positions of authority. Paul is the one who says in Romans 13, the authorities that exist are appointed by God and he does not bear the sword in vain. He's God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. But here's the thing, Joseph was not appointed a judge over his brothers. God had not said to him, you are in a judicial capacity over your brothers. You are the one who has to execute my vengeance. And knowing that he is simply a brother to them sets him free to forgive, to do them good, to love. Now we read in the chapter, in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 13, love suffers long and is kind, love is not provoked, love thinks no evil, or in some versions it says love keeps no record of wrongs. And I just want to pause on that note How difficult it is for us not to keep a record of wrongs. And yet with this insight that Joseph brings to us, that God is the one who's responsible for dealing with injustice, comes a wonderful freedom because it's not on me anymore to make sure that the person who has sinned against me gets their comeuppance. That's not my responsibility. God will take care of that. And so what we're seeing here is that faith precedes love. It's by faith that I can see that God will make all things right. Now without going into details, just to illustrate this, I have had the experience of feeling wrongly dealt with by somebody who is a Christian brother. And the question then in such a situation is, what is it that I am to wish? Am I to wish that God will exact vengeance? And wonderfully, God showed me in that situation that God has exacted vengeance already. And you know who bore that vengeance? It is the Lord Jesus Christ. So when I am sinned against, I know that God has to the uttermost punished the sin that I'm suffering from. Because it wasn't just a sin against me, it was a sin against Almighty God. And when Jesus Christ suffered on the cross, he himself took in his own body the sins of my brother who grieved me. Well, when you know that sin is dealt with, How is it that I can harbor a sense of vengeance? Surely that can only be inconsistent with a Christian spirit. And yet I want us to see that Joseph did more than simply resist vengeance. He also, and here's our second point, he refused even to be bitter. Now he had every reason to be bitter, he was only 17 when he was sent away from his home and it happened like this, there were some Ishmaelites coming by on camels and his brothers saw them and thought, ah Here's a chance for us to have some money. They sold him to the Ishmaelites. The Ishmaelites took him and he ended up in Egypt and there he would spend the next 20 years before he ever saw any member of his family ever again. I don't know about you, but 20 years is a long time to be replaying that in your mind without that making you bitter. He hadn't got the opportunity to talk about it with anyone who really understood. He hadn't got the opportunity to seek his brother's repentance even. And yet, during that time, it seemed that Joseph was able to resist a bitter spirit. And now, the brothers are coming forward, and have you noticed that their apology is a little bit lame? In fact, they don't just come on their own account. They say, Joseph, we want you to know that just before he died, our father Jacob, he had a dying wish, and it was that you should forgive us. Now, that's not recorded in Scripture. I imagine that the brothers just made that up. So here is a lame apology, which is pretty manipulative actually, after 20 years of suffering on Joseph's part. And Joseph is being asked, will you forgive us? We need to understand that Joseph is realistic about what his brothers have done. He says, and we had it here in verse 20, you meant evil against me. It's not that Joseph is looking at the situation through rose tinted glasses. He knows that there was evil in the heart of his brothers. You meant evil against me. And yet, and yet, there is not a trace of bitterness in his attitude. The very first time that the brothers came to Egypt, he loved them. You'll see that in chapter 42. When he recognized his brothers, he turned himself away from them and wept. That's a tenderness of heart. And then you remember he went through a period when he tested them. He took Simeon and he said I'm going to keep him in Egypt and the rest of you can return to your father. And the reason that he kept Simeon in Egypt was very simple because he didn't want his brothers to go back to Canaan and never return. He loved them. And then sure enough the brothers did return and when they returned He loved them so much that he set the best of Egypt before them. He said to his brothers, go back, I'll fill your carts with grain, I want you to bring your father to be with me and he will enjoy and you will enjoy the best that Egypt can provide. And now as they approach to ask for his forgiveness, Joseph weeps again. Now, I want us to see that Joseph avoided becoming bitter because of his perspective. Let me read it for you in verse 20. You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. In order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. And here's the insight. Joseph avoided bitterness through the long, dark years. By remembering that God is in control, God is sovereign in his universe. He set the Lord before him. Not only did that vision of God protect him against Potiphar's wife all those years ago, But understanding that God was in sovereign control of this universe, protected him against bitterness and allowed him, set him free to love. And this is how he reasoned. He said, I know my brothers hated me and tried to destroy me, but behind their malice was God's goodness. How then can I be bitter? Look at all the good that has come from this. and Joseph is comforted. He has an insight into something which would be written many years later by the Apostle Paul. All things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to his purposes. And I want us to see again that faith leads to love. It is as we see with the eye of faith that behind the malice of our enemy is the sovereign guiding hand of an all-wise, sovereign, loving God who cares for His children, that we are comforted and that we are set free that we can rejoice and that we can do good to those who spitefully use us. And so Joseph comforted them and spoke kindly to them. And Matthew Henry has a beautiful comment at this point. He says, note, broken spirits must be bound up and encouraged. Those we love and forgive We must not only do well for, but speak kindly to. And let's see the kind words that Joseph speaks at this point. It's there in verse 21. Now therefore, he says, to these undeserving, good-for-nothing brothers, he says, now therefore, do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones. And he comforted them, and he spoke kindly to them. Well our third point is the most wonderful and most glorious of all and that is that Joseph points us to our own brother and I'm talking of course of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now if you've never reflected on how similar Joseph is to Jesus Let me help you with that now. Ten quick similarities. Joseph was especially loved by his father. Jesus was the father's beloved son in whom he is well pleased. Number two, Joseph was hated by his brothers. They couldn't bear to think that he would have dominion over them. And so it was that the Jews, Christ's brothers according to the flesh, hated him and said, we will not have this man to reign over us. Thirdly, Joseph was sent by his father on a long journey to visit his brothers and to know their welfare. And Christ was sent from the bosom of the father to seek and to save the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And then Joseph's brothers plotted to take away his life. And in the same way the Jews said, this is the heir, come let's kill him. And they consulted to take away his life. Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver at the suggestion of Judah. Christ, by a man of the same name, Judas, is simply the Greek form of the word Judah, was willing to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Joseph was delivered to strangers, Christ to the Gentile nations of the Romans. Joseph being reckoned dead by his father was yet alive and in the same way Christ died and was risen. Joseph's brothers couldn't prevent his coming to power, and neither could the Jews prevent Jesus being exalted and set on high as Lord of all. And of course, Joseph saved his people from certain death by storing up grain at a time of famine, just as Christ saves us. And then, last of all, Joseph became a means of salvation for the surrounding nations. All countries came to Joseph to buy grain. And in the same way, Christ is sent as a light to the Gentiles. Through him, all nations on earth will be blessed. You couldn't make it up. These two people are intended to be the type and the anti-type, the shadow and the reality. Joseph as the brother who loved the undeserving, Christ as our older brother who loved us. And so we have a third motive for love. We've said that Joseph, his first motive for love, was that he knew that God is just and he promises to take care of evildoers. Secondly, he knew that God is sovereign and he promises to overrule evil for good. But we have a third reason. We know the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. He was to us that Joseph who looked on us while we were still sinners, Christ. died for us. When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son. So we can say with the Apostle Paul, as we read at the beginning of the service, and now abide faith, hope, and love. These three, but the greatest of these, the most useful to the church, that which is God-like, is love. Can you imagine what the impact would be here in All Saints if we loved like that? If I loved like that? If we loved one another like that, if we love those who are outside like that, because there is no more attractive power than being loved. Being loved is to have value set on you. This world is longing to have value set on them. They don't know themselves to be created in the image of God and therefore of infinite worth. They are more sinful than they ever imagine, but they are more precious, more valuable, more intrinsically of worth than they know. And it is our task, by loving people in this Christ-like way, to communicate not only that we have been changed, but that God is willing to change them. Let us be known as a church for Christ-like love. And I just want to say as we finish, if you are not yet a Christian, then you may have been listening to this and thinking, well, yes, okay, it's all very well and good, but I think you're being idealistic. I think you're being unrealistic. I don't think in real life that kind of thing works. You're simply going to be taken advantage of. I want to say, if that's been your thought this morning, consider this. Your only hope in life and death is that God should love you in that way, setting aside your past, overlooking the imperfection of your repentance, lavishing on you grace and calling you to eternal life that is undeserved. And that is what Christ offers, full and free forgiveness. But let me say to all of us that we must not try to love others in this way until we first know ourselves loved like this. Because this is a supernatural grace. This is not a grace that the world knows. This is not a grace that we're able to summon up by willpower. We can't decide we're going to love each other like that. This has to be a fruit of the Holy Spirit. This has to be a result of Christ dwelling in our heart by faith. This has to be something which is produced by the Holy Spirit. And it is as we see with the eye of faith that that is how we have been loved, and as we receive Christ's gift of the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts, that that transformation takes place in our lives, and it won't happen all at once, whereby we begin to love as Christ loved the church and laid down his life for it. Well, brothers and sisters, friends, may that shape our worship as we consider what great love the Father has lavished on us. Let's pray. Our heavenly Father, what can we say in response to these things except that we worship you and we adore you And we confess again our unworthiness. We're like Joseph's brothers. When the Lord Jesus Christ suffered on the cross, it was on our account. It was our hatred, our defiant, rebellious pride that placed him there. And we freely confess. And we acknowledge, oh Lord, that you alone are worthy of all glory and honor and blessing and praise. And we ask that you would flood our hearts with your nature and that you would produce in us that fruit of love which is pleasing to you, for which we ask in the name of Christ, amen.