All right, we can go to the Book of Genesis. Chapter 43 to 15. And the men took their present, and they took double the money in their hand, and Benjamin, and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, bring these men home, and slay, and make ready, for these men shall dine with me at noon. And the man did as Joseph paid, and the man brought the man into Joseph's house. 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 the first time we are brought in, that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and harass us. And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house. He said, oh sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food, and it came to pass when we came in to the inn that we opened our sacks and behold every man's money was in the mouth of the 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 into our sacks and he said peace be unto you fear not your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sights. I have your money. I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto him. And the man brought the man into Joseph's house and gave them water and washed their feet and gave them their assets for a vendor. And they made ready the present against Joseph. Let me see here. I think there's something missing. And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon. And they heard that they should eat bread there. And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house. And they bowed themselves to him to the earth. And he asked them of their welfare and said, is your father well? The old man of whom you speak, is he yet alive? And they answered, Thy servant, our father, is in good health and yet alive. And they bowed down their heads and made obeisances." So, just a quick review of the last time that we looked at this story. You remember it took a while for Jacob to be persuaded to bring Benjamin The last time when they had brought back, they already told what happened, that Benjamin ought to be brought in exchange for the freedom of Simeon. He was quite reluctant to do so, but after some kind dealings with the son, he does give in. And we looked at how actually respectful the brothers were to their aged father, you know, knowing their brother's past. They were quite patient and respectful with him. And you remember that Jacob has said, well if I'm bereaved, I'm bereaved. You know, if he kind of had to, right, he was up against the wall, the food was running out. And yeah, so we looked at that, that not all saints have the similar amount of faith as we see in the Old Testament. There are not all Davids, and in Jacob we see a little less than some of the other saints when it comes to their their vigor and their resolve. So, and what a prime example it was that when Paul talks in Romans 9 about the doctrine of election, that he picks Jacob, right? And that's, election answers that all, right? Jacob was not, you know, how the Armenian sees it, they look, they say in the corridors of time, God sees that Jacob would have a strength and a vigor and a great faith. Well, he didn't, but it's the election that caused him to have the faith that he did have. So all of Jacob's comforts were taken away from him for a season, as the brothers are all on an uncertain mission. We can feel for Jacob at this point. Joseph was gone, Simeon was in jail, now Benjamin, his favorite, was also sent away. And God does that sometimes. he takes away earthly comforts away from us and we see that in Jacob's life so far as well and sometimes for a long season to either draw us closer to him or as we see in this story too a grander story is in place and of course we've seen that in Job as well in recent weeks how God owes no explanation or clarification about things in our life or an apology You know, sometimes you hear of funerals of some churches where they don't have a good view of the sovereignty of God. And it's almost like people need to be apologized for this accident or this thing that happened or something to be affected. Well, God didn't want this to happen. But as believers, we know that a sovereign God is in hand. And if you could quickly turn with me to 2 Peter 1, verse 3. talks about the believer and that we have many precious promises at our disposal and even more than of course than Jacob had. Although he had a very great promise as well that God would make him great and that he would be blessed and yet he seemed to have forgotten. So first Peter 1 verse 3 according as his Divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these we might be partakers in the divine nature, and having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence unto your faith, virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness godly kindness, and to godliness kindness charity. And if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren, nor are fruitful, unfruitful, in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore, there are other brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. If ye do these things, ye shall never fail. So I won't go exposit this piece, but we have been given many great and precious promises that will see us through the end. We have the end goal in mind, being with the Lord Jesus himself. And if we hold on to those promises, we can have faith to preserve, as Jacob should have had. But if we lose sight of promises, our sight becomes dull and dim, and we forget those things that are important to us. In his love, the Lord Jesus said, you will see troubles and tribulations. but that we have all these promises that we can go through these difficulties. As verse 9 indicates. So for Jacob, there will be a number of days in great suspense. Imagine you would be thinking, you know, did one of my sons stole the money after all? We knew their history. Is Simeon okay? Are they going to come back? Will I lose Benjamin? Will there be enough food for us? And so on. You can imagine that he was now left alone with his grandkids, no doubt, but that he would be very concerned. It says in verse 16, when Joseph saw them, he invited them to his house. No doubt, Joseph received a very nice palace, a great place to live for the Pharaoh. those of family themselves have been accustomed to tense and movable structures but their happiness was not in castles and in palaces of gold and marble but they longed for a better city whose builder was God Hebrews 11 verse 9 says by faith he soldiered in the land of promise as in a strange country dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city whose foundations, whose builder and maker is God." So sometimes we see that as the city of God, or the city with foundations in New Jerusalem, the heaven in Jerusalem, they refer to heaven, of which Jerusalem, the seat of the worship of God, seems to have been regarded as an emblem. so in Hebrews 12 verse 22 the apostle speaks of the heavenly Jerusalem and in 13 verse 14 as well where he says we have no continuing city here but we seek one to come no doubt Joseph rather would have been with his intense dwelling with his family like his brothers and their wives and their grandkids but God has to this point so far. So we see here that Joseph is letting them wait a little bit longer yet. He lets the steward prepare a meal for them. Sharing a meal, as it is now, was a great sign of hospitality. And meat, of course, was butchered fresh, because it's not like you could throw it in the in the fridge. You can imagine that all the servants were quite puzzled at why Joseph behaved themselves to these strangers of whom he had just a few weeks or a few months earlier accused them of being spies and he had kept one of them in prison. But like our earthly bosses, he doesn't own them an explanation for everything they do. And they showed honor and respect to their master. And for us too, let each of us respect the offices that God has appointed to us. If you work for someone else, that we work for him as unto the Lord. In verse 18, again we see the brothers had lived in much fear since their first trip into Egypt. Of course, they had collectively remembered the plot that had been on their hands, which the matter of Joseph being sold. And once again, they were afraid. Of course, it was highly unusual. of what they thought that the Egyptians invited them to his house. It was an unusual thing. And they said, well, maybe it's because of the return money that was in their sacks. Or maybe they want to keep the slaves or keep the donkeys, as Joseph, you know. Joseph didn't need any donkeys, of course, but they have been fearful ever since. In this case, the returned money, they were clear of any misdoings. And they wanted to be upfront and clear about what had happened. But you remember in Genesis 42 verse 28, when they had initially gotten the money, they had said, what is this that God had done? unto us. And why did they say that? Well, could it be that while they were innocent in this case, they remembered a case where money was received for a much more sinister deed? They knew God would not punish them for something they didn't do. But they were all very aware of something they really had been guilty of. And perhaps they knew God was leading them to suffer for that crime, for the sale of their brother, Joseph. Silver and gold are generally great security for people. And they had no shortage in their family. They're very prosperous in many ways. But now it has become a great case of source of worry and of fear. Or perhaps, There was a faint realization that Joseph maybe is still alive. Maybe he's working very close to where the governor lived. Would they see him? Would they be recognized? I imagine if you sold your brother into a certain town or country, that thought would come across your mind. So the Ishmaelites traitors whom they had sold Joseph to would likely bring him to the capital or major city where Joseph was. So let us beware that our sin will find us out as the brothers are and were about to find out. And nothing is hidden in God's sight. We may run from him, but we should run to him in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ while forgiveness is offered. We are not sure how or in what way they sought forgiveness with God since their last statements in chapter 42, when they expressed their sorrow and their guilt. But it is an unhappy situation to have guilt relying on their conscience. It kills the regular peace and enjoyments of life, as we all know too, right? If we've sinned, all things are heavy to us, even the regular pleasures of life. And as we see here, we see them falling into fear when there was no need for fear. So for us to keep short account before God and before men, so we can have peace of mind with both, as much as it lies within us, that we are free from guilt. And we have much to be thankful for in the atonement of Christ, as we have peace with God even in difficult circumstances. their circumstances are made much more difficult because of the guilt that they had. The brothers could have rejoiced, right, of being asked for supper by the ruler of Egypt. Imagine getting invited by Mike Pence or somebody that is a great ruler and you come for supper to his house. But the fear and guilt clouded all their best pleasures. So in verse 19, we see them clearing themselves from suspicion in this matter before they yet entered into the house. They wanted to set things right. In Matthew 5 verse 24 talks about leave your gift before the altar and first go your way and be reconciled. That's the principle we all need to think about when we worship God or of course come to the Lord's Supper. Let us make it right if it's in our power to do so. And don't delay what can be done right away. Whether it's asking for forgiveness or in this case maybe clearing up a misunderstanding. And only then could they enter into the house for a pleasant meal and enjoy the ruler's company without a troubled mind. And if you look at how they did it, it was honestly and to the point they explained the what had occurred to them. They didn't hid anything. Again, knowing their history, they could have said, well, we didn't see it, or they came up with it themselves. They gave a clear account of what happened. And they don't give an explanation how it did get there. All that they know is that they did not know how it got there. And that's another good principle that we see here. in the lives in 2nd Corinthians 8 21 it says providing for honest things not only in the sight of the Lord but also in the sight of men 1st Peter 2 verse 12 having your conversation or you're living your life honest among the Gentiles that whereas they speak against those evildoers that they may by your good works which they shall behold glorify God in the day of hesitation. 2 Thessalonians 5.22 Abstain from all appearances of evil. Sin not, of course, but even avoid the appearance of it. So people, and that includes doctrinal issues, that people cannot accuse you of something wrong. Answer is kind of interesting verse 23. He said peace be unto you and fear not Your God and the God of your father have given you your treasure in the sacks I had your money and he brought simeon out to them So the the steward is a kind man and he wants to remove Needless fear from their minds and gives them a word of comfort sympathy The long time that had spent worrying about this, on this strange event, was instantly revealed or relieved by the word of this servant. Now, it's not that God had literally put the money into their sacks, of course, but that divine providence that God had. Maybe the steward had learned something from Joseph about the God that Joseph served. We know that wherever Joseph was in the story we've seen so far, he always spoke of the God he served, the God of his fathers. He did not go down and worship him together with the Egyptians when no one was looking, right? He could have, he stayed firm. And it seemed like the servant knows something about the God that Joseph served. Perhaps, too, he has spoken and conversed with Simeon, who had spoken about their family history and how God had supplied his forefathers in all those years. In Psalm 105, 21, and 22, it speaks about Joseph. It says, he made him lord of his house and ruler of all his substance, to bind his princes at his pleasure and to teach his senators wisdom. So, it's a good example, if we employ unbelievers, that those people that work for us may, by grace, at least hear about the God that we serve, and if it's seen as mercy, God will open their eyes. The steward acknowledges, or does affirm, Christian doctrine, that all things are of God. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, all the silver and gold are His, at His disposal. And the Lord gives and takes at His good pleasure in His own good time. And let us thankfully acknowledge all that the Lord supplies. And also, as these brothers were, to be ready to depart with it, either by our generosity or by providence, as God takes it from us. So Simeon was brought unto them after a union, no doubt. Jacob in a moment of unbelief has said back in verse 42 he said Joseph is not, Simeon is not and you will take Benjamin away also and these things are all against me remember how he was depressed so in a few days they will be all on their way home with both Benjamin and Simeon and yes Joseph would still give them a few scares, of course, until he would reveal himself unto them. But all things are working out for their good so far. Let us ourselves, too, keep our eyes on him whose plan is perfect, even though for a season we may go through tough times and uncertain times, where we, as Jacob had thought, there was no way out. And let us not give ourselves over to needless worries and baseless assumptions because of our small picture view, as Jacob has done. In verse 24, and the man brought the men into Joseph's house and gave them water and washed their feet. And he gave their asses for vendor. And they made ready the present against Joseph, came at noon. And they heard that they should eat bread there. And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present that was in their hand into the house and bowed. You can imagine the relief that the steward had brought to them. And now it was topped with an act of kindness, washing their feet, giving their donkeys money. And the moments before they had thought that maybe they want to keep these donkeys and here they The exact opposite happened, how God can change things. So far the departing prayer that their father had uttered in the other last two weeks ago sermon about God being near to them and that He would be merciful to them has been answered and no doubt they would have thanked the Lord for His mercy so far. They readied themselves to meet the ruler. at his great palace, his great place of residence. No doubt, like their father Jacob did when he was ready to meet Esau. Many years ago, they brought out a present, they make it look good, and they would give that to him, probably as an appeasement offering of some type. So when we as believers come before God, we're also invited into his presence, And the psalmist talks about that many times, and I'll read a few of them, about the sacrifice of thanksgiving. In Psalm 107, he says, O that men would praise God for His goodness, and for the wonderful works of the children of men. Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing. Psalm 50, verse 14. Offer unto God thanksgiving. Pay thy vows unto the Most High. Hebrews 13 verse 15. By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks unto his name. And a praise from the heart is what God looks for in us, and much better than the pleasantries that the brothers could bring. For Simeon, this was even a bigger change. This whole story is about big changes, right? From Joseph, of course, you see many fantastic changes for Simeon as well. He was brought from the prison hall to the great dining hall of the ruler of the country, something that he had not expected when he woke up that morning. Little would he have thought that the lord of the land that placed him in prison was once by the consequences of Simeon himself brought into the place where he was now. Right, what an amazing act of sovereignty. No doubt Joseph saw to it that his brother would be treated with respect and with care, much better than he was in jail, but he was a good man, Joseph, in that way. He was not out for revenge. And what a wonderful turn of events so far. You can imagine the nervous excitement of these brethren as they are ready to meet the ruler for a meal. And then Joseph comes out and of course he still puts up his facade, he's still dressed up and probably has some paint on that they don't recognize him. And he asked them of their welfare and said, is your father well? The old man of whom you speak, 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 ovations. Of course, it hadn't been that long since Joseph had seen him, but he was probably a bit concerned that it took so long that they picked up their brother Simeon. He would have thought that that would be done a little bit faster because of the delay. No doubt he was curious about his father, but he was yet alive yet. And No doubt the prospect of seeing Jacob yet again was of great value for him, and it was the first thing he asked. See how the brothers who once despised him, and that they could, you know, remember it said, they could barely speak peaceably, they could barely look at him, now speak to him, unknowingly of course, in a most reverent tone and way, calling their father his servant, And once again, as they had done the last time, they bowed themselves to the ground. Let us always be aware that God is able to make us and bring us very low and to humble us by any means that He sees fit. True humility will save, if we have true humility, it will save us from many a hardship. And let us ask to expose our pride and the grace to admit it, and to see it in our own lives. And that brings us to the last question I'd like to ask. Have you been humble? Either as a Christian, maybe you need to be humbled again, or maybe you're an unbeliever here, and we need to be humbled in the first way, by acknowledging our utter bankruptcy before God, and that we cannot bring anything before him to earn our salvation. Yes, just like Joseph, God asks us to come into his presence and to sup with him at Revelation. It talks about, behold, I stand at the door and I knock, and if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me. And have you come to that realization that your sins will find you out one day? Charles Spurgeon asked, or wrote about pride, he said, against pride, prophets have lifted up their voices, evangelists have spoken, and teachers have discoursed. Yea, more, the everlasting God is mounted to the very heights of elegance, when he would condemn the pride of men, and the full gussing of the eternal, eternal's mighty language, has been most gloriously displayed in the condemnation of the pride of the human nature. Maybe you recall in Isaiah 14, and maybe you can go there with me, Isaiah 14 verse 12, it talks about the king of Babylon. And that's probably a good verse for every earthly king or ruler or leader. Or is it 14? Sorry, it was 12. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground which sits between the nations? For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend unto heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sights of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High. thou shalt be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit." And does this not describe an unconverted person? You know, we've all talked to them and said, well, I'm a good person. I can go to heaven on my own work, self-reliant. You know, you're the captain of your own destiny type of thing. And living life as though there is no God in this world. And we see many examples of that in scripture, where the Lord breaks down the pride of these brothers in this scenario, but also of Job, as we heard last week. We see Jonah had to be brought down to the lowest parts of the earth, and he was swallowed up by the fish. Abraham, his pride needed to be broken as well, as he came down on his own planet and puts his trust in that. The apostle Paul, being solid at that time, was brought low by blindness, because his pride thought he could eradicate the church of God. And we are believers in some way or measure that has been our story. God has by grace come to see our own bankruptcy, our own sinfulness, and that there is nothing that we can do to come to Christ. And that we came to him on those principles and thoughts. Charles spurts and closes with Humility is to feel that we have no power of ourselves, but that it all comes from God. Humility is to lean upon our Beloved, to believe that He has broadened the winepress alone, to lie at His bosom and slumber sweetly there, to exalt Him and think less than nothing of ourselves, and in fact to annihilate self and to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ as all in Heavenly Father, we think of how you humble these brothers, and they're still in that process, Lord, as we look at this story. Father, we would thank you, if we've been converted, Lord, that you've humbled us as well. Lord, that we've seen our own bankruptcy, and that we've gone to that great fountain of life, the Lord Jesus. Father, even in our Christian life, would you often do that, Lord? Would you often see our own Bankruptcy Lord and that we would now not finish it off on our own accord a bit that we would finish it off Lord leaning on the Lord Jesus Christ father Would you help us in that would you give us your spirit? Would you humble us where that is needed and as brothers and sisters? Even though his great name