Genesis chapter 42. Now this here, I've been looking forward to this ever since we started Genesis. You know, this is one of my favorite parts of the Bible, really. Joseph is made known to his brethren. He meets and he's made known. Reunion. The dream comes true. The dreams that Joseph had all these years ago, they finally come true. And it's really just such a, and it covers three or four chapters here. I can't, there's no way we can read it all or we'd be here all day. So what we're going to do is just get started and we're just going to kind of go through the story here and there's some really good things in here and it's really wonderful. Let's pray and then we'll get started here. Lord, we thank you for the songs we've sung this morning. Been a blessing. Thank you for everybody that's here. Lord, thank you for a place to be. People that'll be here with us. Pray you bless this message. And Lord, I know these here will hear it. Other people will also hear it. And I pray, Father, that you'd take the Word of God as bread cast upon the waters and it would help somebody to see and understand what this thing is all about. Pray You'd do for them what You've done for me in helping me to understand these things. And I pray the Word of God would be real and quick and powerful this morning to everybody's heart in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, the famine. The seven years of plenty ended, you remember, and the seven years of dearth began. And desperation drove him to Egypt. In chapter 42 we find out, Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why did ye look one upon another? And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt. Get you down thither, and buy for us from thence, that ye may live and not die. And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. Now, their intention was to just get help from Egypt, not from God. You didn't hear one mention of God, not even from Jacob. They were desperate, things were tough, and the course of action to take was to go to Egypt and get some help, because there was corn in Egypt. And they didn't mention God at all. They just left God out of it. Even Jacob viewed the situation as the only hope they had to live was to get help from Egypt. Don't you be like that. You better trust God. You hear me? You better trust God for what you need and not always be looking to Egypt. They ain't got what it appears they got. And it's a funny thing here because when they got there, what Egypt had, God provided through one of His own. This is the worldly view of life that everybody has before they know God. The world's got it. That's where we can get it. If we're going to prosper, then we're going to have to go out there and get it. We're going to have to get it from who's got it. We're going to have to jump in and run the race with everybody else. They did get help from Egypt, but that help was provided by their God through Joseph, whom they had rejected. Now, you ever think about that? They went to Egypt. There was bread in Egypt. There was corn in Egypt. But the only reason it was there was because they sent Joseph there, because they didn't want him. with them. Better be careful who you reject and who you throw off. Better be careful who you send away. You know, the whole situation could have been different. If they would have accepted Joseph and kept him with them, the death come and all of that and the years of plenty, the whole situation could have been reversed. It could have been Pharaoh and Egypt coming to them, but it wasn't. And you know, it works that way most of the time with us too. People reject the ones that they shouldn't reject. The very ones who someday are going to be their salvation. And it works that way with the Lord, too. But anyway, I've got a lot to say here this morning. And I just want to say this to start off with. And this is what you need to get from the very beginning. Joseph is a type of Christ. He is one of the most ideal types of Christ in the Old Testament. Do you know what that means? That means that Joseph's life shadowed the life of Christ. It was a picture, a foreshadow, a type. Everything that we can read about Joseph can be likened to Christ and His life, His purposes, the way He was rejected by His brethren, sold for 20 pieces of silver, and all of this stuff. You know, there's so many things that God puts in there to seal it for us so we know that Joseph is a type of Christ. So when you start out understanding who Joseph is, Then you understand that his dealings with his brethren are designed to bring about their repentance. Ah, I've thought a lot about this deal, Joseph and his brothers. Mercy. You know, there was such a thing went on here. I've thought about a lot of things. You know, I've thought about the way Joseph acted and treated with his brothers there when they showed up. You've got to think about a lot of things. Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, so Jacob must have seen somebody come back with corn from Egypt. So, people were coming there. Joseph knew they were coming. The thought might have crossed his mind, I wonder if they'll show up. And they did. They did show up. I also thought about this. Joseph, governor over all the land of Egypt, with such responsibility. You don't think that Joseph handled every single transaction personally, do you? But he did this one. Maybe I'm just, you know, where they came from. The fact that there were ten of them. You know, whatever the case, Joseph was a wise man, obviously. He was a godly man, a man that had wisdom from God and understanding that everybody else didn't even have a clue about. And Joseph may have laid down some guidelines and rules like most governments do, you know, in anticipation that they might show up. And the way he dealt with them, I've always wondered if he struggled in his soul. with what to do. I don't really think he did, but I've thought about that through the years. Boy, the rest of us would, wouldn't we? Boy, when the tables are turned like they were turned on those guys, I mean, when the power shifts from one side to the other, and when you've been done so wrong, I mean, they stole his life from him. He spent his youth, his young years, his prime of his life in prison on account of them. He'd been mistreated and robbed of everything in life that he thought. And these guys were the ones who did it. And so, you know, you think about when they show up. But here's what you've got to think about. You know, here's the problem. People do not understand from God's point of view, what a sinner looks like in God's eyes. See? Most people who are lost, they think God is going to get them. And so they feel toward God just like Joseph's brethren felt toward him when they found out who he was. They feel toward God just like Joseph's brethren did whenever they were going off down there. There's some more I want to say here, but I mean, just got the wrong idea about God. You need to understand that Joseph's a type of Christ. His mind toward his brethren is the way God's mind is toward us when we're lost before we come to know God. Now, the first contact that they had with Joseph was not a pleasant experience. And the first contact with Christ is usually not a pleasant experience. You know? The first contact that Saul of Tarsus, the Apostle Paul, had with Christ on the road to Damascus was not a pleasant experience. But that was his first personal, face-to-face encounter with Christ. And their first encounter with Joseph was not very pleasant. He knew them, but they didn't know Him. And that's just how it is with God. He knows you, but you don't know Him. He knows what's in your heart. He knows what you've done with your life. He knows your attitude, but you don't know His. To you, He's a stranger. To you, He makes Himself strange. That's what Joseph did. He made Himself strange to his brethren, and He talked roughly to them. And that's the way you're going to find God when you first encounter Him. He's not going to be this loving, begging, smooth, sweet, sugar Christ that the whole world talks about. It's not what you're going to meet the first time you meet Him. And Joseph was governor over the land. And he it was that sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brethren came and bowed themselves down, bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth. And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them. But he made himself strange unto them and spake roughly unto them, and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan, to buy food. Now, he made himself strange to them. He didn't seem anything like the Joseph that they knew. Let me tell you something, the first time you encounter Jesus Christ for real, he ain't going to be like you've always heard about, the one you think you know about. I guarantee you he's not. There's some things that have to be dealt with. There's some things that have to be cleared out of the air before you're going to know him. like you've heard others talk about him, men. Joseph speaks rough to them, and he makes himself strange to them, but that's not Joseph. That's not what he wants to do with them. We read here in just a minute where he's yearning upon them. I mean, he's not harboring ill feelings toward them. He has forgiven them. Remember Manasseh and Ephraim? It's in the past. He's already settled that thing. I mean, it's a done deal. And God has settled the thing. He gave His Son to die for us. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. God didn't love man less the day after Adam sinned than He did the day before. It's not God who changed, it's man who changed. And man must be reconciled to God. Joseph's not angry with his brethren. He's not speaking rough to them to vent, to let off some steam. It's not for him, it's for them. They've got to come clean. They've got to be real to him before there can be any clearing of the air, any relationship re-established. God won't deal with you that way either. I mean, you've got to come clean. You've got to admit what you are. You've got to acknowledge your transgressions. And you can't be sitting there hiding things from God. Joseph's a wiser man than to just jump into this and let emotions run him in this deal. He made himself strange to him. You know, a lot of people have heard of Christ, but what they've heard of him is not what they find him to be on their first encounter with him. He can't reveal His true self to us until we reveal our true self to Him. You hear me? He spoke roughly to them, calling them spies and saying they were there to see the nakedness of the land. They were accused of evil by Joseph himself. He's a type of Christ. Let me tell you something, your first encounter with Christ, that's what you're going to find. Just like the woman at the well. That's what she found. She found a man who would talk to her, but he didn't speak real gently to her. What did Jesus do at the well with that woman in John chapter 4? He brought her right straight to her sin. She was a fornicator. She'd had five husbands and the one she had now was not her husband. Oh, she wanted to talk about religion and she wanted to talk about worshiping and where they ought to worship and all that. But he took her right to her sin. And that's exactly what Joseph does with his brethren. He said, you're just down here to see the nakedness of the land. Now, do you understand what he's saying? I mean, if I said you're just going down to the beach to see the nakedness on the beach, you understand, don't you? Do you know what Egypt was like? When the children of Israel left Egypt and they got in the wilderness and when Moses went up on the mountain and the children of Israel got all backslidden in their hearts and gave up on him coming back, when Moses came back, what did he find? Nakedness. They were all naked, dancing around the Egyptian deity and worshipping an idol. These guys, that was their sin. Reuben, his father's concubine. Judah, his daughter-in-law. I mean, that was their sin. He put his finger right on it. I know what you guys are. Bunch of dirty minded. That's what you come down here for, just to look at everything. Yeah. That's what I believe. They were accused of being evil. He immediately put his finger on the particular sin that had been dominant in their lives. And what do you think that evil report that he always took back to his father that made them hate him, what do you think that was? They were always going down to Shechem. They were always involved in that mess. He knew them. They didn't know him. But he knew them like the back of his hand. He's the type of Christ. Christ knows you. He knows me. He knows our thoughts are far off. He knows me inside and out. He knows my down sittings and my uprisings. He knows me. And I can't hide things from Him. But what He wants us to do is to come clean before Him and say, Lord, search me and try me and know my heart. And see if there'll be any wicked thing in there. And lead me in the way everlasting. That's what He wants. Give me thine heart. My son, give me thine heart. Be honest. It's only in a good and honest heart that the seed comes forth and brings forth fruit unto everlasting life. That's all in one. So, this is what Christ does when He deals with the soul. Just like He did with the woman at the well and countless others. We could go through the New Testament. I can show you over and over where Jesus did. That's the way He dealt with sinners. Took them right to their sin. And that first encounter is not the best. They claim to be true men, see? And Joseph immediately contradicted them. They said, no, we're true men. That word, I looked it up, you know what it means? We're upright. We're honest. We're Christian men. You know, we believe in God. We do what's right. We're true men. We're not liars. We're not cheats. We're not whoremongers. We're here to just get some food. That's what we come down here for. He said, now, you're spies. You come down here to see the nakedness of the land. Now, that word spies means more than what you think it does to you. Now, I go on here. This is the common first response from every sinner toward God. I'm okay. I mean, I'm a good person. I do what's right. I treat other people right. I mean, I'm better than most people. I'm a true man. That's the first response to the conviction of the Spirit of God and the Word of God. And it's like a fig leaf covering. That's what it is. I'm okay. I'm good. I'm trying to do better. I know. I'm mad. But they don't even want to mention what's in the past. It's what I'm doing right now. I mean, I'm doing good now. I've turned over a new leaf. But it's a smoke screen, a hiding place. See, people think God's going to judge them based only on how they're acting right now. And that he'll forget everything that's in the past. That they can just stop doing it. and start doing different, turn over a new leaf, start going to church, quit doing so much of the rotten stuff, and then God will judge them based on that, instead of all this in the past. It doesn't work that way. No. No, the issue, the problem between Joseph and his brethren is what happened back there, not what's going on right now. That's the thing. And that's what they've got to come clean on. And everything that Joseph's doing and going to do here is designed to clear that up, to bring them out on it, to make them face up to it and own up to it. He wants to see their hearts. He wants to see how they really feel about it. Do they still hate me? Do they still have that feeling toward me that they'd kill me if they could find me? How do they feel about my father? Back then, they could have cared less about the old man. I want to know how they feel now. And so, people think God will judge them that way, but He won't. So although they're now acting in honesty and truthfulness, they did tell the truth. They were there to get corn. That's all they were there for. They were acting in honesty and truthfulness. They thought the great sin of their past was still hidden from this man that talked to them so roughly. Listen to this in verses 13 and 14, And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. And behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not. And Joseph said unto them, Boy, ain't that something, how they put that, see? And Joseph said unto them, That is it, that I speak unto you, saying, You're spies. See, Joseph heard them, heard what they said, and said, you're spies, just like I said. You ain't honest. You're sneaking. You're not being open. You're not telling me the truth. And they weren't telling him all the truth. They said the truth, but they kind of just smoothed over that part about one is not. Everyone standing there knew what they'd done. They knew what they'd done to him. But they left that out. Don't want to tell this man about that. They did acknowledge that they had a brother who was gone, but they left out why he was gone and what had happened to him. And can you imagine Joseph, the one, standing there listening to that? See, he knows they don't know. He knows who they are. They don't know who he is. They don't know that he knows all about it. I mean, he knows more about it than they do. He's the one that suffered from it for all these years. Twenty years! Twenty some years! But that's dishonesty. And that's covering your sin. And it's unacceptable with God. You're going to meet Christ and you're covering your sins? You're going to find a man that will speak rough to you. And you're going to find a man that will make himself strange to you. You cover your sins? That's how you're going to find Jesus. You ain't going to find Him loving and forgiving and kind when you're covering your sins. You've got to acknowledge your transgressions. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Proverbs 28, 13. We've got to come absolutely clean before God and be thoroughly honest before Him with ourselves. But all Joseph did serve to bring out their true hearts about what they had done to him years ago. And it may look like it's cruel at times. More people have a hard time with God's dealings with people and especially with other people. Everybody wants to just make it all honey and sugar and easy and God don't work that way. God's rough sometimes with how He deals with you and how He deals with sinners. He has to be. It's just like raising children. I mean, I'd much rather love on them and hug them and kiss them and hold them and give them candy. But you're going to make a kid a ruined mess of a life if that's all you do. There's times when it has to seem rough. That's why grandma and grandpa don't need to be too involved in the grandchildren if they've got good parents that'll discipline them and raise them. Because grandma and grandpa, man, they'd rather love them. And it looks rough when they have to be disciplined. And people looking on what God's doing, sometimes they don't understand. They want to interfere. And they want to stop this roughness and make it sweet and easy. and it won't work. God knows what he's doing. Joseph knows exactly what he's doing here. He's not running on emotions. In fact, he's holding back his emotions. He's having to deny himself and what he really wants to do in order to deal with these guys for their own benefit and for the thing to work right. It may appear cruel at times, but it's what's necessary to break down the walls of self-righteousness and self-deceit and pride that's built up there. Everything Joseph did was bringing them to the place where they would acknowledge their transgressions of long ago, not just the present. They spoke of it with each other in his presence, thinking he couldn't understand what they were saying. He's talking to them through an interpreter. And so, they turned to each other. And they said one to another, we're barely guilty concerning our brother in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us and we would not hear. Therefore, is this distress come upon us? Now, who are they talking about? Joseph. Joseph's standing there listening. He can understand them. They don't know he can understand them. They don't know he can hear them. See? And Reuben answered saying, spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child, and you would not hear. Therefore, behold, also his blood is required." So they're standing there before a man of authority who had the power to judge them and condemn them to death. And their veneer of self-righteousness for the present, their present self-righteousness wasn't sufficient to cover the awful sins of their past and stand for them in the face of the judge. When they're standing before a judge and their life's on the line and they're in trouble and they got no defense. We're true men. Don't ring very true. When you got all that darkness in your past. I'm telling you guilt is a powerful thing. and it'll get you, it'll wear you down, I mean it'll kill you eventually. They're standing there, they're in trouble, and there's their sin of many years ago right before their eyes. My sin is ever before me, said the psalmist. It was the sin that they were all involved in together. It was the major sin of their lives. Man, they'd done some awful things. Think of what Simeon and Levi did. Went in there and killed that whole city. And, you know, just think of the different things they'd been involved with. Judah with his daughter-in-law, and those three, and going off down there, and his friend down there, and all that mess. And Reuben, and on and on. The things they had done. But boy, this was the kingpin of them all. this sin of what they had done to their own brother. It was a major sin that had changed all their lives. It had changed the life of Joseph, and it had destroyed the life and the hope of Jacob. I mean, he was nothing after that. He was a broken man after that. You never read anything out of Jacob after Joseph was gone, but woe and evil have been the days of the pilgrim which is thy servant. I mean, he was just, well, all these things are against me. That's what you hear out of Jacob after Joseph's gone. And their sin caused it. Their sin broke the old man. I mean, they made a mess. It was a big deal what they did. It's the very sin of their life that's messed up everything. It is exactly what everybody does in their heart when the Holy Spirit of God is convicting them of their sins. They're standing there before Joseph. And Joseph says, you're spies. And they turn to each other and say, I know what's wrong. It's what we did back there. The sin of their life was brought before their conscience. And they're talking about it in front of him. They don't understand that he hears them. Just like everybody does. When the preacher's preaching and the Holy Ghost is convicting and somebody's sitting in the pew, and they're sitting there and God's convicting them, you know what's going on in their mind? They're saying the sin of their life is being brought before their eyes. And they're discussing it in their own heart, just like these guys are discussing it before Joseph. And God's seeing your heart and He's hearing what you're saying, just like Joseph heard what they said. You're talking about it. But they're talking about it with no hope. We did it. It's done. How could it ever be fixed? What are we going to do now? His blood is going to be required. We've had it. We're doomed. That's the way a person feels about their sin. There's no way. Nobody would ever forgive me for that. And God wouldn't forgive me. And even if they did, it's such a mess that it could never be straightened out. And that's what they say. That's what they were saying. They rehearse in their hearts the sins of their past, thinking Christ can't be aware of what they're thinking about. But here's what's interesting to me, the effect that it has on the heart of Christ when you do that. And they knew not that Joseph understood them. For he spake unto them by an interpreter, and he turned himself about from them and wept. That's how it affected him. If he's the type of Christ, how do you think it affects Jesus? John 11, 35. Jesus wept. Why did he weep? The Jews said, all behold how he loved him. Lazarus in the tomb dead. And they think Jesus is crying because Lazarus is dead. Jesus is crying because of their unbelief. because of their lack of any kind of hope. He's dead. It's all over. Martha said, Oh Lord, if you'd have come earlier, our brother wouldn't have died. But it's too late now. And the fact that it had on Joseph here was that he wept. He had to turn away from them and weep. He knew what they didn't know. He knew what his heart was toward him. They didn't know what his heart was toward him. To them, at this moment, he seemed like a hard man. He spoke roughly. He was strange to them. He felt unapproachable to them. They didn't understand what was really going on in his heart. They couldn't see him weep. He couldn't let them see him weep. He had to turn away from them. and wept, and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes." Who was Simeon? The oldest, the firstborn. He took him, bound him, handcuffed him, and took him away. And they had sold their brother into slavery and broken the heart and the life of their old father who never recovered from the loss. And they seemed to be of a different mind now about their father and were concerned with hurting him anymore. Two of the ten were willing to give themselves in the place of Benjamin to keep him from being taken from his father. Reuben and Judah both offered themselves. It's a different attitude that they have about the old man now. It's funny how things change. It's funny how time changes things. When they bowed before him, Joseph remembered the dreams that he dreamed of them. Joseph was governor over the land and he it was that sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brethren came, I'm reading in 42.6. His brethren came and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth. And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies, to see the nakedness of the land, ye are come." Verse 9. Now, I don't know if you remember or not, but we preached about Joseph's dreams, and I pointed out to you that Joseph's dreams were to see his family, understand the truth, and be in one accord, and be one. You know, his dreams were about him being a blessing to them and helping them to get straightened out. His dreams were not about subduing them under his authority. His dreams were not about exalting himself above them. His dreams were about being a blessing to his family. Someday, their sheaves would bow down to his sheaves. And that's really the essence of Joseph's dreams. And Joseph remembered his dreams. Here he is. He's the governor of Egypt. He's the man with the power. He's the man with the food. He's the man with the power to save them or condemn them. And they're bowed down before him with their faces to the ground and he looks down on their old bald heads and remembers. And in that moment, it dawned on him how all the years, all the nights, all the times that he had run it through his mind over and over and over, how in the world, all I ever wanted to do was just be a blessing. I wanted to help him to know God and find peace and live in peace with each other and be happy together. And they hated him yet the more. He was thinking good thoughts toward them, but they knew nothing about it this time. Joseph remembered the dream, and it wasn't like, ha ha! It wasn't that way at all. Joseph was not that kind of a man. And his dreams were about helping his family, and when they bowed before him, it all just came like a flood over his soul. And he was thinking good thoughts toward them that they knew nothing about. Thoughts that he'd had toward them for a long, long time. Both sides were thinking thoughts in their heart. They were thinking about their sin. He was thinking about their good. I mean, the good that he wanted to do for them. Do you understand that that's the way God is toward a sinner? You think about the badness of your life and the things you've done. You think about God as being your enemy. God looks at you as somebody that He wants to bestow a blessing on. David said, is there any left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? And they went looking for somebody. and found Mephibosheth, Jonathan's crippled son. And David brought him in, set him at the king's table, fed him from his own meat, took care of him himself for Jonathan's sake. Same thing's happening here. Joseph had known for over 20 years that his life would somehow be instrumental in bringing to pass the salvation and the deliverance of his family. And Joseph dreamed a dream and he told it his brethren, and they hated him yet the more." Genesis 37-5. And his brethren said unto him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us, or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams and for his words. Genesis 37-8. Remember? Remember that? They hated him. And they hated him more because of his dreams. They misunderstood the Savior. Just like all sinners misunderstand the Savior. They think he wants to roll over them with an iron fist. That's not what he wants to do at all. He wants to do you good and not evil. These guys are fixing to find out Joseph ain't the man they thought he was. They're fixing to be humbled by realizing how low down, dirty, wicked, rotten they really are. And what a man, their brother who they hated, really is. They're fixing to find out about forgiveness and redemption and restoration and reconciliation and salvation. That's a common attitude of the heart to the message of the gospel at first. They hated him yet the more. And you're not going to rule over us. Shalt thou indeed reign over us or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? All right, this is before they've had an encounter with the Holy Spirit of God, though, and been brought before the judge and accused of their sin. See, back in those days when Joseph was dreaming his dreams and he was the little brother and they hated him, they didn't have nothing to worry about sin. They was in control of things. They could do what they pleased. They didn't have to worry about the consequences of what they did. They could handle it. But now they're brought to the judgment bar. And boy, things are different there. Joseph's known for all these years that his life has been set apart from the rest for a special divine purpose But he really had no idea how it would come to pass until this moment Ain't that the way it works. I mean you can live a lifetime for a moment for the one moment Joseph's brothers hated him and rejected him and would have killed him if somebody hadn't had a better idea how to make money out of this deal too and get rid of him for good. Now the second trip to Egypt is when Joseph makes himself known to his brothers. They were sent home the first time with their money in their sacks. Joseph didn't take the money from them for the provision he provided for them. It was all a grace and not a works. You can't buy nothing. I mean, come without money and without price. God supplies it all. It wouldn't have been a right picture if Joseph would have kept their money. He put their money back in their sacks and sent them home. And on the way, one of them opened his sack and found the money and said, Oh, no, no. What is this? It scared them to death that they still had their money and had the food. We got to pay for this. Well, they'll call us thieves. It's not right to do it this way. Is that the way it works? Everybody just thinks you've got to do something. You've got to pay something. You've got to give something of yourself. I mean, you've got to, of your doings, you've got to do something. But it just don't work that way. They're not going to buy their way into Joseph's favor. There's only one way to get into Joseph's favor and that is to acknowledge their transgression. They were sent home the first time, their money in their sacks, and they came back with double money in their sacks. I mean, when they had to come back, they eat up all the corn, and finally, and that's a long story, and I don't have time to go through all that this morning, but Jacob told them, he said, put double money in your sacks and go back, and God Almighty show thee mercy. Boy, he put God in it this time. Benjamin's with him this time. Has to be. They said, well, he can't go. Jacob said, he's not going. And they said, well, if he don't go, we're not going because the man said he straightly charged us that if we didn't bring him, he wouldn't even see us. And Simeon's in prison down there. And Jacob just said, well, I've lost Simeon and I've lost Joseph. But when it come down to hunger and desperation, he said, if I be bereaved of my children, I'm bereaved. Take him and go. And God Almighty show you mercy. And put double money in your sacks. So when you get there, you can explain to them, you don't know what happened. But you came with your money and you're not trying to cheat them or anything like that. They just couldn't understand how they could possibly get by without paying for what Joseph had provided for them to sustain their lives. And they came with fear and trembling and with Benjamin in their company. And they were taken to Joseph's house. When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he told the ruler of his house, he said, kill and make ready and take these men to my house. They're going to eat with me today. So he did. And they were taken to Joseph's house, and they were even more afraid. The Bible says here in chapter 43, 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, or we brought in, that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses. See? You see what they think of him? They think that their Savior is against them. He's trying to kill them. He's trying to destroy them. He is setting them up for the kill. He's going to take everything they've got. He's going to put them in prison. He's going to make them bondmen. That's what people think. That's what sinners think. They think if I'd get saved, all I'd have is that old drudgery life. I can't do nothing. I can't have no fun. Life will just be like a prison. It ain't like a prison. The devil's lying to you. This man is not trying to do that to them, but that's what they think. They're afraid. And they say, boy, he's fixing to get us. We've had it. We know what he's up to. He's set us up and he's going to take it all away from us. And the character of those of Joseph's house, those worth considering here, I read this and I thought, oh, my soul. They came near to the steward of Joseph's house. And they communed with him at the door of the house and said, Oh, sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food. Boy, this ain't that cocky bunch that sold him into Egypt, is it? It's not that cocky bunch that said, Behold, a dreamer cometh. Let us see what will become of his dreams. Boy, they're not so cocky now, are they? Oh, sir, to Joseph's servant. Oh, sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food, and it came to pass when we came to the end that we opened our sacks, and behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight, and we have brought it again in our hand. And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food. We cannot tell who put our money in our sacks." Now, listen to the response. And he said, peace be unto you. Fear not, your God and the God of your father Man, that oughta made them, that oughta got their attention. An Egyptian servant saying, don't be afraid guys. God, the God of your father, he is taking care of you. The God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. Everything you got came from God. I don't care if you're lost or saved or whatever. It's only by the mercy of God you got anything. I had your money, and he brought Simeon out unto them. And the man brought the men into Joseph's house and gave them water, and they washed their feet, and he gave their asses provender." Now, let me tell you something. Joseph's servants knew about God. Joseph had influence wherever he went. And he didn't have worldly influence. People didn't get taken down by being around Joseph. People were brought up. I mean, the people that were around Joseph knew about God. Here's the servant, the ruler of his house, the steward of his house, telling Joseph's brethren, the sons of Jacob, don't be afraid. Trust God. God's provided for you. The God of your father. An Egyptian telling them that. Let me tell you something. The servants of Joseph knew about God and had a charitable spirit toward men such as these, even though they were Hebrews. And the Egyptians don't have anything to do with the Hebrews, you know. They wouldn't even eat together. They said on food here, Joseph ate by his self, the Egyptians ate by their self, and these guys ate by their self. That's what it says. They wouldn't even eat with Joseph. But they were kind to these people. Do you get it? I mean, the people of God are that way too. There's things we can't do to associate and identify with, but there's never an excuse to be rude, arrogant, unkind. I don't care who it is. I don't care what their lifestyle is. I don't care how filthy they are, how abominable they are in the sight of God. They ought to find the servants in God's house kind and charitable. And that's what these guys found. Sinners will find true Christians charitable and kind and hospitable. And they also found Joseph to be much more kind this time. And when Joseph came, verse 26 through 29 here, Joseph came home. They brought him the present which was in their hand into the house. bowed themselves to him to the earth again. And he asked them of their welfare and said, is your father well, the old man of whom you spake? Is he yet alive? And they answered, thy servant, our father, is in good health. He is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads and made obeisance. That is just exactly what his dream was about. And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom you spake unto me? He knows, but he's making them tell him. And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. The boy ain't speaking rough now, is he? He ain't making himself strange to him now, is he? He ain't being rough with him. He's being gentle. The heart of Joseph yearned toward them so much that he had to leave to find a place to weep. Bible said there in verse 30, And Joseph made haste, for his bowels did yearn upon his brother. And he sought where to weep. And he entered into his chamber, went to his bedroom. and wept there. And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, set on bread." And that's when they set the bread and set for Joseph, set for them, and set for the others, the Egyptians, by themselves. Note, and there's a lot more going on there, but I'm just skipping a bunch for time's sake. Note, the heart of God is just like this also. His heart yearns for those who are estranged from Him. God desires to be reconciled. Remember, I've told you different times about the atheist in England who went around preaching his atheism. He hated God and hated everything. But one day, things happened and through the years, he ended up getting saved. His name was Malcolm Muggeridge. And he said after he got saved, years after he got saved, he said, you know, he said, I never wanted God. I never needed a God. He said, I didn't believe in God. But he said, I never could escape the idea that God wanted me. He said, that's what overcame me. You see, we love Him because He first loved us. You see, the thing is all of God. God's the one who initiates this thing. God's the one who's made provision and atonement for our sin. God's the one who forgives. We're the ones that are in the wrong. And yet God, While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He didn't die for us while we were coming, begging, and pleading, and admitting our sin. No, while we hated Him, and while we were against Him, and refusing Him, and rejecting Him, He died for us while we were that way. He yearns just like Joseph yearned. And Joseph had to go off and weep. He couldn't stand it. It was more than he could bear. He had to leave Him. and go to his room and weep for a while. And he washed his face and he come by. The heart of God is just like that. Joseph wanted to just take him in his arms and comfort him and assure him of his love and goodwill toward him, but it just wasn't there yet. It was not possible yet. He wanted to. Don't you know? You see, the father of the prodigal didn't go to the pig pen where he was either. But when he saw his son coming yet a great way off, he ran to meet him and fell on his neck and kissed him. You see? That's the way it works. That father yearned for his son, but he couldn't go to the hog pen and fellowship with him there. But as soon as the son started home, the father ran to meet him. And that's the way this is here. You'll see in a minute. You'll see in a minute. But he can't do that until they come to the point of acknowledging their transgression. Joseph arranges a series of things here that'll bring them to the place where they'll be humbled and admit what they really are. Now, you know, it's a long story if we read it, but I'll just tell you real quick. You know how they gathered up everything and they got their corn to go? Joseph told his servant, he said, put my cup in Benjamin's sack and send him away. And so they did. They got down the road a little ways and Joseph said, go after them. Somebody got my cup. They knew the cup was in there. Joseph's servants knew. See? It was not like a lie. It was not like a deceitful thing. Joseph was just working. That's called providence when it comes to God. Yeah. Now go after them. They weren't guilty. They had done, they had been honest, they had offered to pay for their corn and everything. So they went after them. And the silver cup is hidden in Benjamin's sack and they are sent home. Joseph sends after them and the cup is found in Benjamin's sack. And he searched and began at the eldest and left at the youngest and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. Then they rent their clothes and laid it every man his ass and returned to the city. And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house, for he was yet there." They didn't get very far, did they? This was not a long, drawn-out thing, was it? It didn't last days and days. I mean, they just left. He said, go get them. They brought them right back. Joseph's still there at the house, waiting. And they came back to Joseph's house, where he was yet there, and they fell before him on the ground a third time. And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? What's you not that a man such 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 found out the iniquity of thy servants. Behold, we are my Lord's servants, both we and he also with whom the cup is found. Now that's what he's waiting on, saying. You got us. We're just low-down, wicked, sorry, worthless nothings. God has found out the iniquity of thy servants. Now, you know what he was saying? He didn't really recognize who Joseph, he didn't know who Joseph was yet. But in his mind and everything, God was fixing to drop the hammer on him. I mean, God was fixing to tap the door on the gallows. God's found us out. This is it. We knew it was coming sooner or later. Ever since the day we done it, we knew we was going to have to pay for it sooner or later. Don't you see? That's what he's admitting. When he said, God's found us out, Joseph knew what he was saying. Judah didn't know that Joseph knew what he was saying, but Joseph knew. Joseph offers strict justice, and he tells him, you're all free to go home. Judah said, we're all here. The guy's got the cup, all of us. We're all your servants. Do with us what you want to do. And Joseph said, oh, no, no, we don't do things that way. He stole the cup. We'll keep him. The rest of you can go home. You want justice? No, I'd rather have mercy. Wouldn't you? Judah then offers himself in place of the lad. in order to spare his father the grief." Well, I really wish we had time to read all that, but we don't. But Judah makes this impassioned plea and tells the whole story again. You know, that their father lost his other son, and he's grieved himself to death, and if something happens to this end, he'll die. Let me stay and let him go back so the old man won't die. You know, we've hurt him enough. We've ruined his life. We took away everything. All of his hope. And we just can't do it again. I'd rather die. Take me! Jesus came from the tribe of Judah, you see. I mean, don't you see? He's the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Joseph sees what he needs to see. And Joseph makes himself known to his brethren. Then Joseph could not refrain himself. before all them that stood by. 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 brethren." That's the way it's going to have to be with you, too. You know, people get saved in church. But even if it happens in church, it's just between you and God. It's just between you and Christ. Everybody else is going to get out of the picture. I mean, they're going to have to be out Can't be everybody standing there and putting their two cents in more than they're listening to everything. Everybody out! Joseph said, they're fixing to find out who I am. The Egyptians ain't got no part in this. They don't understand anyway. It's always done in private, not publicly. It happens in the heart, not And sometimes it happens at an altar. Sometimes it happens by your bed at the house. Sometimes it happens in a car going down the road. It don't make any difference where it happens, but it's what happens is what matters. When your heart recognizes Him. When you acknowledge your transgression and then you know who Jesus is. It's the heart. It's in the heart and it's not an outward thing. But it's heard about in the world. He wept aloud and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. I mean, Joseph couldn't refrain himself. Hey, there's joy in the presence of the angels. More over one sinner than repenteth and over ninety and nine just persons that have no need of repentance. Who do you think is in the presence of the angels? Where does that noise come from? Where does that rejoicing come from? God! Heaven shouts and it's God who's shouting when a sinner repents. I mean, the Egyptians heard it. They heard the commotion. Didn't have no idea what was going on. They're left speechless when Joseph declares openly to them who he is. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph! Wow, can you imagine that moment? They didn't have a clue who he was. They were totally unexpected this. I'm Joseph. Does my father yet live? I think that's interesting too. There's so much here, I could preach a sermon out of every one of these things and keep you here for two hours on every one of them." And his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence. No more excuses. No more, we're through, men. Silence on their part. I mean dumbfounded. No more defending themselves. You stop that when you find out who He is. When you meet Him face to face and you know who He is. You stop making excuses. Every person, every example in the Bible and the Old Testament and the New that ever got found in the presence of God, they fell on their face before Him. No excuse making, no self-defending, no self-righteousness, no comparing themselves with somebody else. I mean, it is I've got nothing to say. What am I going to say? What are we going to do now? Well, there's so much to be said here. I mean, he speaks to them in a different language. Now, no interpreter. Interpreter! Out of here! And all of a sudden, the same mouth that's been speaking that stuff they can't understand and somebody else has to tell them what he's saying, now they understand directly from his mouth what he's saying. Boy, that's different. It's a whole lot different than you hearing me tell you what God said and when God says it straight to you and you understand it from the mouth of God. Man, you talk about enlightening your soul and giving you something different. I mean, Joseph now speaks to them in their language and they hear his voice. And I am Joseph. Is my father still alive? And he makes it more clear by bringing up their sin once again. Listen to this, verse 4. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I'm Joseph, your brother, who you sold into Egypt. I mean, these guys are already worried because that's what's on their mind. Joseph. Oh, no, it's worse than we thought. We thought God was going to get us, but it's him. He's going to get us. And he said, Come near. I'm Joseph, I'm the one you sold into Egypt." But he immediately gives words of comfort and assurance. Now, I want you to listen to this. Now, I'm going to read here in chapter 45, verse 5. Now, therefore, be not grieved nor angry, immediately following whom you sold into Egypt. Now, therefore, be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me hither. For God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land, and there are yet five years in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance." That's what my dream was about, boys. That's what I tried to tell you years ago. Don't you see? If you ever do, if you're lost and you ever do get saved, you're going to see the same thing. You're going to see how that God worked in your life and how He tried in all the different times in His life that He reached out to you and tried to show you what He really wanted for you and what His heart was towards you and how you rejected and hated Him yet some more. If you ever get there, if you ever get before Him, you're going to find out that He has been providing for you all along and been prepared to do so. And so now it was not you that sent me, hither but God. And he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and Lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me Lord of all Egypt. Come down unto me, Tarinath." He wanted to see his father. That was a concern of his from the very beginning of this deal. He's alive. You know, most people, normal people would have said, I've got to go see him. I've got to see him. He's old. He may die any time. But time passed here and Joseph let it ride. He didn't let his own emotions and his own desires and his own feelings override what needed to be done, see? He didn't risk the souls of these men to satisfy his own emotional longing for his father. And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast, and there will I nourish thee. For yet there are five years of famine. I'll nourish you. I'll take care of you. I'm not going to return evil for evil. It's hard for these guys to believe. They really struggle with believing this. Most people do. Most people don't really believe in forgiveness. They don't believe it's possible. They don't believe that it can really happen. And especially with people. They don't believe people forgive at all. And they really struggle with this. And it goes on for a long time because after Jacob died and they took him back and buried him in Canaan and come back, they said, now he'll get us. Years later, they said, now we've had it. He's going to get us. I will nourish thee for yet there are five years of famine, lest thou and thy household and all that thou hast come to poverty. And behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt and of all that ye have seen. And ye shall haste and bring down my father 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 after that, his brethren talked with him." Bye-bye. What a way for the thing to end, this estrangement, this separation that's been long. What a way for it to end. Human relationships don't do that very often, do they? People fall out with each other and they just stay that way the rest of their lives and die estranged from each other, hating each other. What Christ has got anything to do with it, it don't work that way. Joseph, I mean, think about it. How he forgave his brother for what they'd done to him. He saw what God had been doing in his life all the way through. All those years of trusting with not a thing to show that he was right. All those years of just going down, down, down. Being diminished and diminished and diminished. And Joseph sees today what it was all about. And he understands it. And he reacts toward his brethren this way. Look at him, kissing his brethren and embracing them. One of them said, behold, this dreamer cometh. Let us take him and kill him and put him into some pit and we'll see what will come of his dreams. He kissed him. We try to be too discerning and too careful. We need to be more forgiven. We need to be more like Jesus. Joseph was a type of Christ. I think you can see that real plain from all this this morning. It is plain to me. I hope the Lord will show you what I've seen in it. That's the way the Lord works. That's the way it happens. This was thousands of years ago in a faraway land with people of a different tongue. But this morning, if we're children of God, we're the seed of Abraham also. We have the promises. God works in the same way. God don't change things up every little bit and keep everybody all confused. It's always the same. The way Joseph dealt with his brethren is the way Jesus is going to deal with you if you're lost. The way He's dealing with you. You'll find Him rough talking and hard to accept. But if you'll keep coming around, you know the second time they came around, they found Him a different person. And they left again, and when they come back that third time, boy, that's when they found out who he really was. Same man that was strange and rough talking was weeping before him and embracing him and kissing him and promising him that he would take care of him and nourish him and supply everything they needed. Isn't that what the Bible said? He shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory through Christ Jesus? Yeah, let's stand. Well, let's bow our heads and we'll have a word of prayer. Is the Lord dealing with you? Can you see yourself in any of this? If you're saved, do you see what he's done? I mean, can't you see yourself in it? Oh, Lord. Yes. Yes. I want you to know that it's a wonderful thing when it's all done. When you know who He is finally. When you feel His embrace. When you're at peace with Him. Oh, the burden that these guys had. Mercy. I mean, they were doomed. They were condemned. Their souls were damned. They thought they were done. I mean, they were just waiting for the sword to drop. And all of a sudden, the light breaks through. And all that was condemning them, all that they feared, it was all just washed away in one sweep. And that's the way it works. I'm telling you, that's the way it works. God's waiting on you, just like Joseph was waiting on his brethren. Waiting on you to just come to recognize That you're just like every other human that ever lived on the face of the earth, a sinner. Unworthy and worthy of death, really. And when you come to acknowledge that before God with an open and an honest heart, you're going to find God reaching out to you. God's yearning, His heart is yearning towards you just like Joseph's heart was yearning upon his brethren. He wants to have peace with you. He wants you for His own. He's wooing you. He's calling you. You ever hear that? The calling of God? He's calling. Boy, don't fail to answer. It doesn't have to be in church. It doesn't have to be in front of anybody. But when you do, you will. Confess with your mouth, you will. That's just part of it. With the mouth, confession is made unto salvation about what happened in your heart. I sure ain't sorry. I sure am glad I found that place one day. I'm glad that he brought me to that place. I remember when it seemed rough. I remember when it seemed like he was going to put me in prison. Sure as the world. Couldn't yield to him because I had to run. But I found out that I was in prison and he brought me out. And He'll bring you out. Lord, thank You for the time together. Thank You for the message and the Word of God. Thank You for the wonderful story of Joseph. And, oh, I didn't even scratch the surface this morning of all that's there, the riches that are there. But I pray, Lord, that it'd help us. I pray You'd use it to speak to hearts. I pray somebody'd be brought to an understanding. And, Lord, that one day we're all going to stand before You. And I want everybody that listens to this someday to not be able to stand there and say, nobody ever told me, nobody ever explained, I never could understand what it was all about. This is very clear this morning. I pray that everybody here, I pray there wouldn't be one that would perish. Please work in hearts and deal with souls. Lord, I love you and thank you again for your blessings today in Jesus' name. Amen.