Start preaching before I get in trouble. Genesis 37. That song we sang a while ago, How Great Thou Art, I like the third verse the best, I think. Much like our message will be today. And when I think that God, his son not sparing, sent him to die, I scarce can take it in. that on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, he bled and died to take away my sin. What is that? I don't know who wrote that. I don't know whoever wrote that believes. I hope they believe the truth, but that's substitution. That's absolute penal substitution. God killed his son. Folks don't like to hear that part. Some of them will go along with some substitution, but they get angry if they say God killed his son. That wasn't necessary for that anger. Well, it was. It absolutely was. Genesis 37. I'm gonna read the first four verses again. And Jacob dwelt in a land where he and his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being 17 years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren. And the lad was with the sons of Billa and the sons of Zilpha, his father's wives. And Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him. Loved Joseph more. I thought of a lot of scriptures that typed our Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 42, one says, behold my servant, my chosen one, my elect in whom my soul delights. Then I thought of Matthew 3, 17, there when he was baptized, he said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. He said the same thing in Matthew 17 at that mount. So, I didn't know where to go. We'll reference several more with the message today. The title of the message is Joseph Atop of Christ, Number 2, The Beloved Son. Verse 2 of chapter 37 says this, Joseph being 17 years old, nothing in the scripture is put there by accident. It's just to those who bring the messages to try to find it. And if they don't get it the first time, maybe they will the second or the 100th time, but there's a meaning in every word in the Bible, because it's God's Word. 17 years old. Our Lord, it says, was 12 when he told his mother, you know, he was talking to those men of the law at the temple, and he told his mother, he said, son, where have you been? And he said, don't you know that I must be about my father's business? My father's. He says this in John 6, 38, I have come to do thy will. That's what he came for. That mutual love is what I'm trying to get at. John 17, we're not gonna go there, but that whole chapter is about the mutual love between God and his beloved son. We see it in chapter 37 throughout. We'll pick it up as we go through 37. There's types of the Father and the Son, there's love, love. But the best place is John 3, 16. To me, go to John 3, 16. We quote it. from an early age, I guess everybody can, still can, I guess, for the most part. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, His beloved Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. What in the world was there in this awful, awful, terrible world that God would love it? Amazing, isn't it? He loved it. It says so much. It can't even be qualified by John. He just says so much. So much. Like, here we are talking about those texts where you put so and just all the o's, you know. God loved it so much. So much that He gave His Son. He sent Him. In our text there in Genesis 37 verse 14, he told Joseph, he said, go, he sent him, go to your brothers and check on them, see how they fare. It's what God the Father did, go, he sent him. Where did that love come from? Nothing in man, nothing outside of God. He loves because 1 John says He is love. God is love. That's His nature, His essence. Like I said, there's nothing in man, no merit in man, only fine demerit in man. Even the best man doesn't deserve that God's Son be sent to die. The best man. From all eternity, God loves because He would just love. He would love. He loves a people perishing in their own self-inflicted disease. Everything that we live with, for the most part, probably all of it, is self-inflicted. We just have a tough time owning that, don't we? This world, when was this love, that was so great, that it would give to us, self-inflicted, suicidal, sinful man, when was this opportunity afforded to display it? Well, I think when the world was at its worst, he didn't send his son right after chapter 37 and he didn't send him in Genesis 38. He didn't send him in the old Old Testament. He sent him now. And I think when the world was at its worst, was tried and condemned, Adam fell. There was no excuse. There was no pardon necessary. He could have had man run his course, and as they died, sent them all to hell, sent them all to hell, sent them all to hell. He owed them nothing. Yet, to the world, to the world, there was hope. Believe and live. That's what the scripture says. Believe and live. The disease of sin in man and on man had a remedy given. A remedy that didn't have to come. Had a medication given that didn't have to be given. The divine physician said, look and live. Look and live. In the gift of his son, God demonstrates and he proves his great love. Paul says, he demonstrates it in that while we were yet sinners, he died for us. Look at the first point is the gift. This son, God so loved, he gave, he sent his only begotten beloved son. Men who love much, give much, don't they? True giving is a sacrifice. It doesn't cost you anything. It's really not giving, is it? It's a self-denial. Look over at Luke chapter 7. Hold your finger there, John. Look at Luke chapter 7. Let me read this to you. Start with verse 36. One of the Pharisees desired our Lord to eat with him. And he went to the Pharisee's house and sat down to meet. And behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus said it meet in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment. and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that touches him, for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto him, read his thoughts, Simon, I have somewhat say unto you. And he said, Master, say on. He said, there was a certain creditor which had two debtors. The one owed 500 pence and the other 50. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answering said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave the most And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and said unto Simon, Sis, this woman, I entered into your house. You gave me no water for my feet, but she's washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came into your house, has ceased not to kiss my feet. My head withal you didn't anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins which are many are forgiven, for she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. Let's love it. Love cost. Love cost. Love cost God his son. He loved much. Our great God loved the sons of this world like Jacob told Joseph, go out and check on those boys. I love them. He loved his Joseph more, but he loved the other boys. Go check on them. But in spite of themselves, in spite of their wickedness, Jacob loved his boys. He sent this son to those sons, the son in whom he was well pleased. But more than that, He gave more than His Son. God gave Himself. God died. God was God. God the Son was equal with God the Father. Our Lord says that. He said, I and my Father are one. One of them said one day, Lord, show us the Father. He said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Go to Proverbs 8. Or I'll just read it for you. This is good here. Proverbs 8. This is that relationship. Just try to picture this as I read. The Father and the Son. The Lord. This is Christ speaking. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, wherever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth. when there was no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth. While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world, when he prepared the heavens, I was there. when he set a compass upon the face of the depth, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he gave to the sea his decree that the water should not pass his commandment, when he appointed the foundations of the earth. This is what I like, verse 30. Then I was by him, as one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. God didn't need anything in us, he had his son. But he loved us. He loved us. Go check on those other brothers, my beloved son. Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth. And my delights were like his with the sons of men. Go check on your brothers, Joseph. I think I need to. I think I need to. I was thinking the same thing. I wonder how my brothers are doing. Find my notes here. He was the lamb slain, as I said. When was he given? When was this son given? Oh, I'm sorry, let me back way up. With perfect love in mind, look at how he gave his son. His, talking about God's son, was exiled among strangers. Read the whole chapter of Genesis 37. Joseph goes out, he meets a certain man, a stranger. Then he sold to strangers. That's how our Lord was. He sent him, his perfect son, in his robe, in that perfect robe of righteousness, to live among strangers. Our Lord was born in a barn. He wandered from Israel into Egypt, back to Israel, His brethren, the Pharisees, hated him. They hated him. The people hated him at the end. As he was doing something materially for them, they turned on him. He was turned over to strangers. Joseph was, so was our Lord. Joseph sold into Egypt and our Lord sold into the Romans' hands. Our Lord was isolated, he hungered, he thirst. But here, here the tie between Jacob and Joseph and our Lord and the father fails. The father rejected and turned on his son. He forsook him, left him. Oh, what love, what love. The beloved son would die for the sons of rebellion, those wicked brothers. When was this beloved Son given? It wasn't as an afterthought, but before, the Scripture says, the foundation of the world. He was the Lamb slain, as I said a while ago. John 3, our text, look at verse 13 or 14. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Christ Jesus, our Lord, was always the Father's gift to us. Always. He was that promise to Eve. Remember when we went through that? The promise to Eve. I'll send the serpent and the seed will bruise its head. Every type, this type we're talking of today, Joseph, every type, points to Him. Every sacrifice, all counted down the day when Christ our Lord would appear. In the fullness of time, the scripture says. No change of mind, no backing out of the promise to that first Mother Eve. It was a done deal. A mutual deal between the two. He gave him and he still gives. He still gives. There's still those out there that he will give his son to, his elect. What Isaac Watts writes, dear dying lamb, thy precious blood shall never, never lose its power. To all the ransomed, the elect church of God, be brought in, be saved to sin no more. I see then what is the base of God that He gave His beloved Son from all eternity, and He never has and never will revoke it, the gift, to all who believe. It's out of pure grace and mercy. He has, He is, and will give this gift. And here brings us to the second point. There lies the gift. What of the plan? Jesus Christ is the gift of the Father. We've established that. How is salvation procured then? The way of salvation is easy. It's easy to understand. It's easy to believe. Our Lord says, as a child, as a child. That's how we present this thing of salvation, so that a child can understand it. But there's something that must precede this easy and simple understanding. What? A heart has to be made willing. It has to be. Otherwise, it's just words. And oh my, oh my, grace differs so much from works, don't it? Not to those who've worked as the sun sent. It wouldn't be a gift then, would it? Not to them, but to those that believe. Just believe. That's the simplicity of the gospel, if your heart's made willing. Just believe it. But what is it to believe? Well, to believe the truth that God sent His Son. You must believe that. You must believe that God sent His Son. Perfect, undefiled God came to this earth. He came to stand in the place of man, you and I, ruined by sin. Scripture says, by his stripes we're healed. What is that? It was nothing short than the doctrine of substitution. We had to have a substitute. Scripture says God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their transgressions unto them. This is the gospel. It's the gospel. Believe that the substitution of the beloved son is certain. That God killing his son is absolutely vital. You gotta believe this. Gotta believe it. You don't have to explain it. You don't have to completely understand it, but you got to believe it. You can't kick your feet at it, because it's God's rule. And the only way you're going to have his son is to believe his rule. But that's all you have to do is believe it. Believe it with your heart. Say, God made me willing to believe what I don't understand. But over time, Steve, you'll begin to understand, like Ralph said that time as he died, if there is no substitution, I have no hope. And you'll come to love it, won't you? You'll come to love it. God's justice must be vindicated that his love may be displayed. That's just a simple fact. And this must be believed. All right, the second thing is you've got to accept this for you, this doctrine of substitution, this belief that God sent his son. You've got to accept it for you. You've got to own the fact that I sinned in Adam by representation and in practice. I amended, in other words, I amended what Adam did. We, by our own sinful practice, owned what Adam did. We'd have been no different. That's why I'm saying we'd have been no different. Even with the whole story in front of us, we'd have been no... The only difference is we'd have probably sinned sooner. We'd have been no different. Then, Then, when you believe this, when you own it for yourself, then Christ's righteousness, not yours, Christ's righteousness must save. You understand that. Christ's righteousness must save me. His perfection is mine by faith. It's what we read in 2 Corinthians 5, isn't it? His righteousness becomes ours because He took my sin on Himself. Watts wrote this, he said, my faith doth lay her hand on that dear head of thine, while like a penitent I stand and here confess my sin. He's referencing to that goat over in Leviticus where the sinner had to lay his hand on the goat that was set aside for slaughter. My hand on his head owns the sins that this goat dies for are my sins. By faith, by faith, they looked to Christ. Is this hard for us to believe? Is it hard to say that the Christ who died is mine? It is for some. It is for a lot of this religious world because they will not own this fact of substitution being necessary. There's people, people, people up behind us here. They'll baptize every day. Every day, just as soon as somebody professes they got to get them baptized, what are they doing but denying the sufficiency of Christ's blood? That the substitution of him was all that was needed. I can't add anything by my being baptized. All right, thirdly, it's a personal trust. First, you gotta believe that it's true. Second, that you are that sinner. And the third thing is I trust that Christ, God, is my substitute, mine. Faith is complete reliance on Christ Jesus is mine. That's what faith is. That's your object. My confidence is in Him and what He did alone. Isn't that plain? Isn't that easy? No word, no merit, just believe? Third point, last point, who were the people given life? Who was this people? If you look, there is no limit of God's love. The limit is belief. That's what the verse teaches. No limit to God's love. The criteria, the limit is belief or not belief. Those who don't believe, John 3, 16, though the whole world may know it, can quote it, it don't apply to them. Like over in Isaiah 55, verse 1, hey, the man said, hey, are you thirsty? Are you thirsty? Nope. Well, then don't stop and drink. Keep on moving. Well, that's it. Do you believe? Nope. Well, then this don't apply to you. Keep moving. But all thirsty believers are included. That demonic, remember that demonic in the tombs? How wicked he was? Remember that story? Cut himself? He's living with his past is what he was doing. His past had possessed him. His sins, his wretched life had made him go crazy. He ran around naked in the tombs and our Lord spoke to him and he believed. He believed. That moral community all around him, what did they say? They said, leave us alone. Get away from here. You've killed all our pigs. They didn't believe and they perished. The story of Zacchaeus. Remember Zacchaeus? Zacchaeus was a rich, very rich man, the story says. He heard that Christ was coming. And he had to hear him. And when he heard, he believed. But that honest community around him, it says, they begin to mutter and murmur and talk. Don't he know that there's another sinner he's sinned with? Not just the Pharisees read it. The whole group. They all said, don't he know what Zacchaeus is? They perished. They didn't believe. And read it. He'll tell them. He gives a parable. Old and young, rich and poor, male and female, all who believe. Those who know much, Simeon. Simeon, it says, took up our Lord in his arms. He said, this is what he said. This is how much Simeon knew. Simeon said, sovereign God, as you have promised, Now let me die in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations, a light to the Gentiles and the glory of Israel." Simeon knew a lot. But what about that lady that just touched the hem of his garment, the diseased woman? She didn't know anything, did she? She believed. Was one belief greater than the other? Knowledge was greater. Belief was no greater. They both just believed. Somebody says, does this verse mean me? If you believe. If you believe. In believing, there's finally a promised deliverance. You will not perish. That's what it says there in John 3, 16. But have everlasting life. Promised deliverance. The believers, all believers, all those who believe, they have a life that can't die. Think about that, a life that cannot die. Whatever disease you wind up with here, whatever takes you out, whether it be a disease or a car wreck, you have a life, if you believe, that will never die. You've got an indisputable justification. Satan here disputes it. In heaven, he might dispute it, but you've got an indisputable justification. You've got an eternal acceptance. You've got a never-ending hope in Christ. You've got a trust in all that God says, if you believe. believe. If you don't believe, if you just, may God help you just to believe, just to give it all up except believing. Okay.