I trust you have your Bibles there this morning and if you do please turn to the book of Genesis and chapter 47, book of Genesis and chapter 47. If you are just joining us for the first time this morning, for about two years now we have been going through the first book of the Bible on Sunday mornings and we're almost to the end and I trust you've been blessed as I have been blessed studying this book and God willing what my plan is, if the Lord enables, is to spend a full day in Genesis today and a full day in Genesis next Sunday with the hopes of rounding off and finishing the exposition of the book of Genesis and that'll leave us a bit of time hopefully between then and Christmas to deal with the other series we have going on the King James Bible as well as some other things for a few weeks and then Christmas will be upon us, believe it or not, okay, the Christmas season. But God willing today and next week we will take the Sunday night as well just to study Genesis in the hopes that we can complete our series over these two Sundays. And so we're in Genesis chapter 47 and we've been dealing for a number of weeks now with the life of Joseph as recorded in the book of Genesis. and we've reached some of those climactic portions of the life of Joseph with the reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers, Joseph finally seeing his father being reunited with his father after 22 years and all the emotion there and all the lessons we learned. But we're now into Genesis 47 which deals with the continuation of the famine and we're going to pick up our reading in verse 12 and we'll read to the end of the chapter. The Bible reads, and Joseph nourished his father and his brethren and all his father's household with bread according to their families. And there was no bread in all the land for the famine was very sore that so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Canaan Egypt, sorry, and in the land of Canaan for the corn which they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. When the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph and said, Give us bread, for why should we die in thy presence? For the money faileth. And Joseph said, Give your cattle, and I will give you for your cattle if money fail. And they brought their cattle unto Joseph. And Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses. And he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year. When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent. My lord also hath our herds of cattle. There is not aught left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies and our lands. Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land. Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, that the land be not desolate. Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. For the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them, so the land became Pharaoh's. And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt, even to the other end thereof. Only the land of the priests bought he not, for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them. Wherefore they sold not their lands. Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh. Lo, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. and it shall come to pass in the increase that you shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh and four parts shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food and for them of your households and for food for your little ones. And they said, Thou hast saved our lives. Let us find grace in the sight of my Lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants. And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh's. And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen. And they had possessions therein, and grew and multiplied exceedingly. And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years. And the time drew nigh that Israel must die. And he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and do kindly and truly with me. Bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt. But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. And he said, swear unto me. And he swear unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head. The title of the message this morning is Bread of Life from Joseph. You see the emphasis time and time again in the passage we have read on the people coming to Joseph for bread in order to save their lives and really what we want to do this morning is just look at the details of what is going on but then look at Joseph again as a picture of Jesus Christ who is the bread of life. And so there's a gospel emphasis this morning. We trust in the Lord might use that. Let's pray. Father, we ask for your help this morning and for your blessing upon this time of preaching. We thank you for this opportunity to be in your house. Thank you for the good singing, Lord, and for the spiritual songs, the hymns that we've been able to sing together, and for the truth that has already been ministered to our hearts. But now we come, Lord, as a needy people, knowing that without you we can do nothing. We pray that you would put your hand of blessing upon this time in your Word, Father, how we need you, how the preacher needs your help this morning, Lord, for strength and weakness, how each one needs your ministry in the heart, Lord, that we might be strengthened with might and power by your Spirit in the inner man, that you might speak to us, that you might take the things that are found here in your Word and apply them to our hearts. So, Lord, we pray for spiritual victories now, for the binding of the wicked one, that your Word would go forth unhindered this morning, and that you would be glorified we pray in Jesus name, Amen. Well, we know that this section gives us the details of the continuation of the famine and we know that two years of the famine have passed already because it was after two years that Joseph's brothers were finally reconciled to him and so the famine really begins to bite in at this stage and the people begin to come to Joseph for bread. And so I'm just going to give you a simple outline this morning that will hopefully guide our study. I want you to consider firstly this morning what I would call the provision of the bread. The provision of the bread. As the famine conditions worsen, the people come to Joseph to purchase bread to stay alive. And you'll notice that they purchase the bread or the grain to make the bread with three commodities. and it starts with money, then moves to livestock and finally they come and offer Joseph their lives and their lands. So let's look at what takes place here. We notice that they purchase bread firstly with their lucre, with their money. The Bible says in verse 30 and 40, and there was no bread in all the land for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine." So here we have a severe famine, a seven-year famine, they're only part way through, and we get a description there of the famine conditions, there was no bread available in all the land. No bread available in all the land. So people are faced with the very real prospect of starvation but there was one hope for them. Joseph had under his power and control the vast treasure troves of grain, the vast storehouses of grain in the land of Egypt. You remember how God had given Joseph wisdom in those seven years of plenty. to lay up grain in store for this time and God had ordained it that way and Joseph was able then to dispense this grain to the hungry people to save their lives. So the famine, the Bible says, was very sore. The word sore there means heavy or severe. And the Bible says that they fainted because of the famine. The word fainted there means literally to burn. And so we get the picture there of a hot and dry situation. the land is famished, the land is without grain. And so the people come to Joseph and they purchase the grain with their money and Joseph gathered up all the money, verse 14, that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the corn which they bought and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. So the people come to Joseph, they bring their money for a time and they're able to purchase grain to satisfy their need. But soon that runs out. And then they come to Joseph again, verse 15, the money fails in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan. And they come to Joseph with a plea again, give us bread for why should we die in thy presence for the money faileth? So here's the picture. The famine is worsening. The people have run out of money. The only source of life-giving bread is found in Joseph. And they come to Joseph, they purchase bread, but the money then runs out. And so they come to Joseph again, they cast themselves on his mercy, and they ask for what to do. And Joseph then proposes that they exchange their cattle for grain. So they have no more money, they then bring their cattle and they exchange cattle for grain to sustain them in the famine. And Joseph said, verse 16, give your cattle and I will give you for your cattle if money fail. verse 17 tells us that this situation went on for one year after this, verse 17. So another year passes in this famine. they bring their cattle in exchange for bread. But again, Joseph is the only source of bread in the land. Joseph is the only one who has the life-giving grain, the life-giving bread that the people needed. Then they purchased bread with their lands. Look at verse 18 to 22, we've read it. So they've run out of money, they've run out of cattle now to exchange for bread, but they come to Joseph and say, all we have left are our lands and our lives. so Joseph purchases all the land of Egypt in exchange for bread with the exception of the priest's land. Okay, the priests were part of the official religion, state religion of Egypt and so they retained possession of their land but Joseph purchases all the land of Egypt, pardon me, with the exception of the priest's land for Pharaoh in exchange for grain. Then, we're just getting a picture here, we're building a picture of what is taking place, then they purchase bread with their lives. So they purchase bread with their lucre, their money, they purchase bread with their livestock, they purchase bread with their lands and now they purchase bread with their lives, verse 23 to 26. Joseph proposes a plan here of reward for work, Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh. Lo, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. So Joseph is now going to give them seed. They were then to sow the land. So evidently some things could still grow in famine conditions, albeit with difficulty. And then they would bring to Joseph or bring to Pharaoh the fifth part, which I understand is about 20%. Okay, so this is an annual income tax. Tax is not new, is it? Governments have loved taxation from ancient times, okay. Now people say, well isn't this cruel of Joseph? I mean Joseph could have just given them the bread, could have just given them the grain for free. I see a very important principle here, Joseph knew that if he did that he would not only rob the people of, he would rob the people potentially of their dignity. So here we have the principle of reward for work. That's a good principle that government should apply, just a little practical lesson along the way here. Joseph didn't just give handouts, he basically said if you want bread that's fine but you must work for it, you must earn it. You know a lot of the problems in our nation are because our government just gives money for doing nothing. I'm not against tax breaks, I'm not against some of the things that the government will give us in return for different claims we can make at tax time, that's not a problem, but I'm saying the whole principle should be, and it's a principle in the word of God, you work, you earn, and then you receive. So there was wisdom here in Joseph's life, he proposed this situation where they could receive the grain but then there was something expected in return, they were to work and to earn their living. So that became a law in Egypt that was still current, the Bible tells us, at the time Genesis was being written by Moses. Verse 26 says, So, 20% of the produce would go to Pharaoh, the other 80% would be for the people to live off, to pay, to replant their fields and to feed their families. So there we have the provision of the bread. I hope you get a picture of the scene there. The people are coming to Joseph time and time again. They're coming to him in humility. They're coming to Joseph because Joseph was the only source of life-giving bread in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan. Without Joseph, without the bread that Joseph gave, they would perish. That's the picture. Now I want us to think for a moment now about the application of this as we think about Jesus Christ who is the bread of life. Here we see another picture of Joseph. Joseph pictures the Lord Jesus so many times, it's too many times to be coincidental. And here, don't you see the picture? The people need a saviour, the people need someone to help them and the only one who can give them bread, the only one who can keep them alive, the only one who can save them from sure death is Joseph. And the Bible tells us in the New Testament Jesus claimed, I am the bread of life, John chapter 6. In fact, read sometime and study the great seven I am statements of the Lord Jesus in the Gospel of John. I am the resurrection. the life, I am the way, the truth and the life, I am the bread of life, I am the true door, I am the shepherd, I am the true vine, all the I am's of the Lord Jesus Christ there, speaking of his total sufficiency to be our Saviour and our sin bearer. And so we want to think now about the picture of the bread, the picture of Christ as the bread of life who provides salvation. So let's think about the story we've read and seek to apply it in that way. Think of the problem of the people. What was their problem? Well, they were living under the threat of death. without bread they would perish, true? They're living in famine conditions and the famine was going to destroy them, they were living under the threat of death, without bread from Joseph they would perish. I see a picture there of the problem that every single person has, the problem of being under the shadow of death. Bible tells us very clearly that because of sin we are under the curse of death. The Bible says in Romans 5 verse 12, wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. Do you see the picture here? They would die except for Joseph. They would die unless they came to Joseph for bread and I want to tell you this morning that without Christ, the bread of life, we will perish, we will die, we will receive the wages of our sin. That's what the Bible makes very clear. The Bible says in the book of Romans chapter 6 verse 23, for the wages of sin is death. You work a job, you receive a payment. You work a job, you receive a reward. The Bible tells us that the wages, the reward of sin, if you could call it a reward, it's a terrible reward, is death. And the Bible makes it clear that death is not ceasing to exist, but death is separation from God for all eternity in a place the Bible calls the lake of fire. You must understand this morning that there are two deaths in the Bible. The first death is when our body dies, Hebrews 9.27 says, and as it is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment. Do you realize this morning that you have an appointment with death? that's physical death, but there is another death the Bible refers to as the second death and this is described in Revelation chapter 20 verse 14 and 15 where it says, and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. That's the second death. You see the picture there, death is separation from God. so without Christ we are living under that threat of death, we are living under condemnation. Why? Because we are sinners, we've sinned against God and the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. So I don't think I'm much of a sinner. The Bible says, for all have sinned, Romans 3.23, and come short of the glory of God. For all have sinned, that word all is so small, but it's so broad, it covers every one of us, doesn't it? And all you have to do is look at the Ten Commandments, and the Ten Commandments weren't given by God, you know, God didn't say, well, here's the Ten Commandments, follow these and I'll let you into heaven. No, the Ten Commandments were given to show us how sinful we are, that then we might come to Christ who has the solution. And when you look at the Ten Commandments, you see there that you're not a good person. You see that you've broken God's law because there are things like lying that are condemned there and dishonoring our parents and committing adultery and stealing and all those things. And when you look at the Ten Commandments, it's like looking into a spiritual mirror where you see the true reality of your heart before God. all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, there is none righteous, no not one, Romans 3.10, Romans 6.23, for the wages of sin is death. So you see the problem for the people here in Egypt was they were living under the very threat of death and unless they came to Joseph they would perish. There was no bread anywhere else in all the land of Egypt. There was no other solution but to come to Joseph who had under his power and control the vast storehouses of grain to feed the people. Do you see the picture? Deliverance from death was only available through Joseph. Without bread from Joseph, they would perish. Do you know that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only bread of life? There is no bread anywhere else. I'm talking about spiritual bread now. I'm talking about salvation from sin. I'm talking about eternal life in heaven. Do you understand this morning that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven? He is the bread of life. He is not one option among many. He is not just one option amongst all the religions of the world. Unless you come to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God the Son, you will perish. John 14, 6, Jesus saith, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh under the Father, but by me. Acts chapter 4, verse 12, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. There is salvation, neither is there salvation in any other. There is no salvation in religion. There is no salvation in Buddha. There is no salvation in Hinduism. There is no salvation in Islam. There is no salvation in the prophet Muhammad. There is only salvation in Jesus Christ, God's son. And you need to come to him today. Realizing that you are a sinner, that you've broken his law and that only he can save you and he can redeem you. And so we see the problem for the people, they were under the threat of death. We see the person for the people, they needed to come to Joseph, he was the only one who could save them. Then we see the principle for the people, how did they come to Joseph? Well, they came to Joseph with this attitude. Each time we see them admitting their need, believing Joseph could help, each time. They came to Joseph and were clear of their need, admitting that they had nothing that they could do to save themselves. They came in simple faith. Do you know that's how you have to come to the Lord Jesus who's the bread of life? You've got to come admitting your need. You have to come to Christ admitting that you have nothing, admitting that you are a sinner, admitting that you need His salvation, admitting that no works can save you. What's interesting to me is as this story ends, the people essentially have nothing, all of their resources ultimately could not save them, they had to come eventually and just give themselves to Joseph. And it's the same with you in regards to salvation. You have to come with nothing. You cannot bring your works with you. You must come as an empty-handed, humble sinner before God and say, God, I need your salvation. Ephesians 2.8 and 9 says, "...for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." The Bible makes it very clear there in Ephesians 2.8 and 9 that eternal life in heaven, forgiveness of sins is not of yourselves, it's not something you can do and it is not of works, it is not something you can earn. Do you know many people today are just trying to earn their way to heaven? They think they're going to get to heaven because of their good works and their religion. They think they're going to get to heaven because of the things that they have done. But can I tell you this morning that no amount of good works will save you. It doesn't matter how many good things you have done. The only one who can save you is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why we need saving. What does the word save mean? It means to be rescued. cannot save yourself, you must come admitting your need, believing that Jesus Christ has the power to save you, confessing your sin before him. Romans 10 9 and 10 says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved for with the heart man believeth under righteousness and with the mouth confession is made under salvation verse 13 for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord not may be saved but shall be saved Boy I hope as a Christian you don't mind hearing the gospel this morning Praise God for the gospel. Praise God for salvation. Aren't you thankful for that day in your life where you found Jesus Christ the bread of life? You came to him admitting your need in the hunger and the thirst of your soul was satisfied. And so the principle for the people, they had to come admitting their need and believing that Joseph had the power and provisions to save them from the famine. Then we consider what I would call the provision for the people. The great need of the people was for bread, we've talked about that, to save them from death. Only Joseph was the one who could dispense that grain to satisfy their physical hunger. Think about the Lord Jesus for a moment, who is the bread of life, spiritually speaking. What does bread do? What does it satisfy? Hunger. You know, the only one who can satisfy the hunger of your heart is the Lord Jesus. And if you're honest this morning, there is an emptiness in your life if you don't know Christ. Absolutely there is. There has to be, why? Because we were created to have fellowship with God. We were created to know God personally. We were created to have a relationship with God and because of sin, sin brought spiritual death. You realise this morning that if you haven't yet been saved, if you haven't yet received Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you are a dead man or woman walking. Oh, you're alive physically, but you're dead spiritually. Bible says in Ephesians 2 verse 1, and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. That's why there's so much emptiness in the world. Don't you see it? And people try to satisfy that gnawing hunger in their hearts through all sorts of things. That's why we have drug addicts. That's why we have alcoholics. That's why we have people who are enslaved to all kinds of lusts. That's why we have people who are slaves to religion. What are they trying to do? They're trying to satisfy the inner hunger, the inner gnawing of their hearts. But could I tell you this morning, that no amount of drugs will satisfy you, no amount of pleasures will satisfy you, no amount of sin is going to satisfy your life, nor will any religion satisfy ultimately the hunger of your heart. The only one who can satisfy the deepest longings of your heart this morning is Jesus Christ, the bread of life. There is something missing in our lives without Christ. There is an emptiness there. There is a vacuum in our lives because we were made to know God. Did you know you're different from the animals? Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference going down the street nowadays between the animals and the humans but believe it or not there is a difference. What's different between us and the animals? God created you with a spirit and God in his pure essence is a spirit. are the only ones who can have true fellowship with God, we were created special. Let's just remind ourselves of that in this anti-human age where everyone just hates humans and we're the problem. Listen, God created the world for us, we are the pinnacle of his creation, only God made us in his image, not the birds, not the beasts. And God gave us a spirit so that we could have contact with God, so that we could know God who in his pure essence is a spirit. But when sin came into the world, something died in Adam and Eve. Their spirits died. Yes, their bodies died many years later, but before their bodies died, their spirits died, and they were cut off from God. And that is how we are now born into the world. The Bible says, as by one man, Romans 5.12, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. You're spiritually dead. Is that you this morning? Physically alive, but spiritually dead inside. People run to all sorts of things, don't they? They run to the bottle every weekend, they run to the parties, they run to the drugs and they think that somewhere they're going to find true happiness, they're going to find true joy, they're going to find true fulfillment. Listen to me please, you will never ever know true life because Jesus Christ is life. You will never know true satisfaction and true fulfillment until you come to Jesus Christ who is the bread of life who can satisfy your hunger. John 6 35 and Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. Listen to these words. These are Jesus words. He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. The day you met Christ was the day your spiritual famine ended. The day you met Christ was the day your spiritual thirst came to an end. Do you understand that this morning? If you will come to Christ, you will never hunger again in that way. We're not talking about physical hunger now. We're talking about the hunger of the heart, the spiritual desire to know some sort of fulfillment and some sort of purpose. The only way you're going to know that is in Jesus Christ, who is the life. Jesus went on to say in John 6, 47 to 51, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. Listen to what Jesus says, I am the living bread. That's very special bread, isn't it? I don't think when you go home you look at your loaf and say that's alive. But Jesus Christ is living bread. When you partake of him, when you receive him into your life, he gives spiritual life. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat this bread, he shall live forever. That sounds good, doesn't it? You want to live forever in heaven? want to have everlasting life. Jesus said that if you will believe on Him, you will have everlasting life. Jesus Christ says He's the living bread and if you will eat of that bread, if you will receive Jesus Christ into your life, you will live forever. And Jesus said, and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world. that was the offering of that bread. The Lord Jesus offered his body on the cross as the bread of life for the world. He died on the cross, his blood was shed, why? So that you could be forgiven, so that you could receive eternal life. Death could not hold him, three days after he was buried he rose victorious from the dead and he is alive today and able to take your sins and to wash them away and to give you eternal life. And if you receive Christ's living bread, Jesus says you will not die, you will live forever. Oh you might die physically but you'll never die spiritually, you'll never experience that second death we talked about, the most devastating of deaths, to be separated from God for all eternity. Listen to me, if you'll receive Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth and the life, If you will receive Jesus Christ who is the resurrection and the life, if you will receive Jesus Christ who is the door into heaven, if you'll receive Jesus Christ who is the bread of life, you will never ever face the second death. You will never go to hell. Have you received the bread of life? The people had to come to Joseph. It's emphasised again and again in the passage, the bread there, they had to come for bread, they needed bread to sustain their physical lives. The much higher lesson here in application is the picture of Jesus Christ, the only one who has the bread that can save our souls. Have you received Christ as your Saviour? That's the burden of the message this morning. Have you come to a point in your life where you have personally received Jesus Christ as your Saviour? I didn't ask if you had a near-death experience, I didn't ask if you had any experience, really, the most important experience is that you receive Christ. I didn't ask if you'd spoken in tongues, I didn't ask if you had ever been baptised. Baptism can't save you, church can't save you, Religion can't save you. Listen, if we're going to preach that you get saved by works in the Christian religion, then everyone else can get saved in all the other religions. What is it that sets Christianity apart? Well, as someone put it very wisely, religion is all about man's attempt to reach God, but Christianity, as presented in the Bible, was all about God's attempt to reach us. There's a world of difference between those two things, isn't there? If you try and reach God through your own works, you will never reach heaven. The Bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You fall short of heaven, you fall short of God's perfect standard. No, you have to come to Christ and Christ alone. Have you received him this morning? You say, well I have. Well, thirdly, I think there's just a few principles that we can think about from this bread dispensed by Joseph for the Christian life. There's some principles. You say, I've already received Jesus Christ as the bread of life, I've already accepted him as my saviour. Well, here's a few lessons for you as a Christian. Firstly, the principle of dependence. Through the ministry of Joseph, the lives of the people were sustained. He had all they needed to sustain physical life during the seven-year famine. They had to depend on him to meet their day-to-day needs. And how much more is Christ sufficient for every need of our Christian lives? Having received Christ, we are to go on living a life of day-by-day dependence upon Christ. Jesus said in John 6 57 as the Living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father so he that eateth me even he shall live by me So the Christian life from start to finish is a life of dependence. We come to God in dependence for salvation to begin with, we can't save ourselves, then having received salvation, having received Christ into our lives, we go on living a life of total dependence upon God, trusting Him to sustain us, trusting Him to work in us and through us. Do you know you can't live the Christian life on your own? Do you know you can't live the Christian life in your own power? Think about how you got saved. Could you save yourself? No. Could you rescue yourself? No. Only Jesus Christ could save you. You had to be saved by grace through faith. And please remember Christian, you now need to continue living by grace through faith. It needs to be the Lord Jesus working through us and the Lord Jesus lived as our perfect example when he came and humbled himself as man. He lived in dependence upon the Father. He lived in reliance upon the Father. The Father was doing the work through the Lord Jesus Christ and thereby the Lord Jesus showed us the pattern for our Christian lives that we must allow the Lord to work through us. So we have the principle of dependence. I believe we also see the principle of ownership. The people were purchased by Joseph, they were no longer their own. Look at verse 23. You see the picture here? The people had been purchased by Joseph. they no longer own themselves. I hope you see the picture there for the Christian. We have been purchased by our heavenly Joseph, the Lord Jesus Christ, at tremendous cost. Salvation is free but don't let anybody tell you it was cheap. cost the Son of God His blood on the cross, He poured out His life's blood to purchase you and I, to redeem us unto Himself and our attitude should now be that we are not our own. so I don't want to belong to someone. Well, you're either a slave to sin and Satan or you're a servant to the Lord Jesus, the good Saviour, the loving one, the perfect one. I tell you, I'd rather be a slave of Christ than a slave of the devil, wouldn't you? 1 Corinthians 6, 19-20 says, Why? Because we belong to Him. It's just my life, I'll do what I please. Excuse me if you're saved, it's not your life. It's not for you just to do whatever you want to with your body. It's not for you just to think any thought in your mind, indulge in any sinful habit. No, you've been purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ. If you're saved this morning, you're a born-again and blood-washed individual, you're no longer yours. Some principles here. we also see the principle of service and this is very clear. Look at verse 25, I love the response of the people here and they said, thou hast saved our lives. See that? Let us find grace in the sight of my Lord and we will be Pharaoh's servants. What did they say? Joseph, you've saved our lives, we will be servants. you've saved us, thou hast saved our lives, we will be servants.' I think you can see here their hearts were filled with gratitude, I tell you what, wouldn't you be glad that people were going to die, they were going to perish. Now they say, Joseph, you've saved us, we will be servants. Should that not be the attitude of the Christian life, since we have been saved by Jesus Christ, we have been purchased with the blood of Christ, should our attitude not be one of overwhelming thankfulness and gratitude to God, to where we say, Lord Jesus, thou hast saved our lives, we will serve thee. That should be the response of the Christian life. I don't understand the attitude today that seems to prevail in many Christian lives where they don't want to give any sort of service to the Lord Jesus Christ. They're very happy to be saved, very happy to be on their way to heaven, but don't seem to have any desire to serve the one that saved them. Listen to me, if you're saved this morning, your attitude should be, I want to serve. Thou hast saved us, I will serve thee. you serving the Lord? Are you a serving Christian? You were purchased by God, you were purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ so that you would glorify God and so that you would serve Him. I don't think we could do anything less in light of our great salvation. Think about what you were saved from. Think about where you were headed before Jesus Christ rescued you. Where were you going? You were going to hell. What did he save you from? He saved you from your sin. He saved you from Satan. He saved you from hellfire. Can't you see this morning what you've been rescued from? You've been purchased with such a high price. Should your attitude not be, I will serve thee. So, bread of life from Joseph. How about you this morning? Have you received Christ, the bread of life? Have you come to Him in humility, admitting your sin, admitting that you've broken His law, admitting that you are a sinner, and receiving by faith His free gift of eternal life? You see, salvation is a gift, isn't it? The wages of sin is death, Romans 6.23, that's the bad news, the good news, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Having received Christ, we need to walk in dependence on Him, trusting Him, to live through us, to work through us. And our attitude should be, Thou hast saved us, I will serve. Thou hast saved us, we will serve. Are you serving the Lord this morning? Or are you just happy to be saved but don't have any desire to serve the Lord? If you've been saved, you need to serve. need to find something to do for the Lord Jesus Christ, not to earn your salvation but because you have been saved, because you do belong to him and out of love and out of thankfulness and out of gratitude serving him. I think we need to just every now and again get a fresh glimpse of what we've been saved from and let thankfulness fill our hearts to where we'll be willing to serve our great King and our God. Let's bow for prayer, let's as we close this morning, let's have every head bowed and every eye closed. Are you saved this morning? If you were to die today, and I hope you won't, but if you were to die today, where would you spend eternity? Maybe you're here this morning, you say, Pastor, I'm that person you described, I have that gnawing hunger in my heart. I have that emptiness in my heart. I can see I'm a sinner. that I need the Lord Jesus Christ who is the bread of life, the only one who can satisfy. If that would be your desire this morning, your desire is for the Lord Jesus to come into your heart and into your life, to be your Saviour, to give you eternal life. Would you just raise your hand? I'd like to pray for you as we close the service this morning. I'm not going to call you out by name, I'm not going to embarrass you. But I would like to pray for you at the end of the service here, and I would also like to just show you from the Bible after the service, if you have the time, how you can receive the Lord Jesus as the bread of life. Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Anyone at all here this morning, Pastor, I'm not sure I'm saved. If I was to die today, I don't know for sure that I would have an everlasting life. I don't know for sure that I would go to heaven, but I'd like to receive the Lord Jesus as my Saviour today. Would that be you? Would you just raise your hand? Yes, amen. Thank you. You can put that hand back down. Anybody else? One hand has been raised. Anyone else? Pastor, there is an emptiness in my heart. I need the Lord Jesus as my Saviour. You're amongst people who love you this morning. Don't be ashamed. We want to see you, Saviour. We want to help you. There's nothing more important than receiving the Lord Jesus as your Saviour. Would you be willing to do that this morning? Say, yes, I'd like to receive the Lord Jesus as my Saviour. I'm not sure I've ever really done that. Did you raise your hand? Anybody else? Pastor, please pray for me as you close. I need to settle this. I need to receive the Lord Jesus as my Saviour. Anybody else? Father, we do thank you for the hand that has been raised and we pray, Lord, that you would help this dear individual to come to settle this matter of salvation this morning. We pray for any others who may not have yet come to that point of readiness. We pray that you would stir their hearts, that they might be willing, even in the quietness of where they sit right now, to call upon you in a simple prayer, asking you to save them, asking you to forgive their sins. and to come into their lives and to save them, Lord. We thank you that you are the bread of life, Lord Jesus, and we give you thanks and we give you praise. We thank you that you are the one who is able to sustain us and to fill us and to work through us. And we pray, Lord, that you would help us to live by your grace and with your power. Help us to have that attitude as your people. Thou has saved us, we will serve. Lord, give us that heart and that passion to yield our lives to your service, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.