Genesis chapter 43, and I'll read just a couple of verses and then we'll come back and try to get through as much of this chapter as we possibly can tonight. Genesis chapter 43, verse number one, and the famine was sore in the land. And it came to pass when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, go again by us a little food. And what's gonna happen in Genesis 43 is there's going to be this second meeting between Joseph and his brothers. You may remember from chapter 42 that they had returned home from their first journey to Egypt to buy grain. Now some time has passed, maybe a year has passed. The famine has gotten worse. It's very severe. They have ran out of food again. So after some disagreement between their father and Joseph, his brethren and Jacob, Jacob finally agrees to send them back, but he has to send Benjamin back as well. That's going to be the key to it. But they have to go back and they have to buy more grain. That's what happens in chapter 43. You have the second meeting with Joseph and his brothers. Now it's been several weeks since we have been in the life of Joseph, so I want you to suffer me to just back up and I want to do a little bit of review. And the problem with doing reviews in the Bible is every time you go back, you see something you missed, all right? You go back and say, oh, I wish I had said that. And that is the problem. You have to keep going. But you remember that Joseph has risen to the prominent position as prime minister of Egypt. He is second in command, second only to Pharaoh. And he's been placed there by the providence of God. We've seen that. So that he one day might be the savior of his own family. Pharaoh has this dream, Joseph interprets this dream, seven years of plenty, seven years of famine. Now Joseph isn't placed in charge of agriculture, it's to store up grain during the years of plenty so that there would be food to eat in the years of famine. So Joseph has these storehouses that are built in every city. He sets a percentage aside, 20% of all the grain that is stored in these storehouses. It must have been a remarkable feat because they save enough grain in order to feed Egypt and really the rest of the world during those next seven years. And that famine hits Canaan. And in particular, it hits the family of Joseph. They hear about the food available in Egypt and they have no choice but to go to Egypt to get grain or else they are going to die. So in chapter 42, Jacob sends his sons to Egypt to buy grain. And it's very significant if you back up to chapter 42 in verse number four, but Benjamin Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren. For he said, lest for adventure mischief befall him. It's significant that Jacob does not send Benjamin that first time. Benjamin is the only other son that he has from Rachel. Joseph and Benjamin both come from Rachel. And he's the youngest son. And so the favoritism that tore the family apart in the very beginning of the story, chapter 37, is still alive. It's telling you that Jacob has not changed. He had loved Joseph more than the others. Now believing Joseph is dead, he loves Benjamin more than the others. Well, they get to Egypt and they meet Joseph. They have no idea who he is. Joseph knows who they are, but he doesn't reveal himself to him, not yet as their brother. And the reason why is because he's gonna test them. Where do they stand? Have these men changed at all in the past 20 some years? There is some back and forth that goes on between them. He speaks harshly to them twice. He accuses them of being spies. And the objective we know is to get them to go back to Canaan and bring Benjamin and his father back to Egypt with them. But here is the problem. In order for them to bring their father back, they are going to have to tell him the truth. If they learn who Joseph is, and they go back and tell Jacob that news, that means they have to admit to decades of lying. They had told their father that Joseph had been killed by a wild beast, knowing that was a lie. And now their lies are gonna start to catch up with them. And Joseph knows that they are liars and he's going to test them. And so what he does is he puts them in the exact same situation that they were in 20 years earlier. He tells them that they can all go back home, but one of them has to stay. and they have to bring the missing brother back in order to prove that they are not spies. He puts them in prison for three days, and during those three days, their conscience begins to wake up. They begin to be convicted about something they had done a long time ago. And I believe that God is beginning, we talked about this, I believe that God is beginning to work in their hearts because there is no reconciliation without repentance. And the situation is that they are forced to choose one brother who gets left behind while they walk away with food. And part of the test is to see, will you do what you did 20 years earlier? Will you leave that brother to rot in prison like you left Joseph to die in a pit? Or will you have enough concern for your brother now that you'll return with Benjamin in order for that brother to get out of prison. You left one brother in a pit to die before. Will you do it again? The brothers realized that this situation is a judgment against them. If you come to chapter 42 and verse 21, This is when they get out after these three days, they said one to another, we are verily guilty concerning our brother Joseph, 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. Boy, conviction, conviction is starting to set in. Now Reuben is the oldest of the brothers. And Reuben takes the role of leadership. Look if you would in verse number 22. Reuben answered him saying, spake I not unto you saying, do not sin against the child and ye would not hear. Therefore behold also his blood is required. Now there's some commentators say that Reuben is having a moment of moral clarity and a moment of righteousness. I don't believe so. I believe his words are self-righteous. Now Reuben is the one that 20 years ago kept them from killing Joseph. but he's also the one that went along with selling their brother into slavery. And what Reuben wants to do is he wants to commend himself for how he had spoken up 20 years earlier, but he is just as guilty as all the others in what they had done to their brother. I believe what Reuben is saying is I'm not staying back. I'm not going to stay here in prison. It's not all my fault. I'm not paying the price. I'm not taking the fall for something that we all did. Reuben is the oldest. He argues that he's not staying. So Joseph takes the next oldest, Simeon, and he puts Simeon in prison and waits for them to come back. We looked at how Joseph has their sacks filled with grain. He also secretly puts their money back in their sacks. The brothers leave on their way home. One of them opens up the sack and discovers his money is in the sack. That's not a good thing. If the Egyptian police come after them, it looks like that he is a thief. They have lost one brother, they could lose another one now. But they finally make it home safe. And when they get home, they tell the entire story to Jacob, especially the part about Simeon being held back as ransom in order for them to bring Benjamin back. And then they all open up their sacks and lo and behold, all of them have all of their money back in their sacks and Jacob is not pleased. Look if you would in chapter 42 verse 36. Jacob their father said unto them, me have ye bereaved of my children. Joseph is not and Simeon is not and ye will take Benjamin away. And I almost preached on just this phrase tonight. All these things are against me. I've lost one son, Joseph, now I've lost another one, Simeon. If you go back, you all will surely be arrested as thieves. If Benjamin goes, there's no guarantee that I'll ever see him again. And I think that Jacob knows in the back of his mind that somehow his sons are responsible for the death of Joseph. And the reason I say that, because in verse 36, he says, me have ye bereaved of my children. Plural. I don't know how you did it, I don't know what happened, but I think that your hand was involved in this somehow. And it's interesting to me in this story, how things keep coming in full circle. Because years ago, years ago, he had sent his sons away on business, and when they returned, one brother is missing and they had extra money from selling Joseph. And now again, he sends his sons away on business. And when they come back, one son is missing and they have extra money in their sack. And I believe in verse number 36, he's accusing them of being responsible for the loss of not just Simeon, but Joseph as well. And I want you to see Ruben's response because it's going to be contrasted with Judah. Look at verse 37. And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, now they're trying to get him to allow them to take Benjamin back. We've got to take Benjamin back, prove we're not spies, so he gets to me now. So Reuben spake unto his father, saying, slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee. Deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. He, Jacob, said, my son shall not go down with you. For his brother is dead and he is left alone. If mischief befall him by the way in which he go, then shall he bring down my great hairs with sorrow to the grave. Reuben is desperate to prove his leadership. And so Reuben speaks up and for 20 years, he has carried the guilt of knowing that he could have and he should have done something to save Joseph and he didn't. And he should have told Jacob the truth, but he's kept that lie going for 20 plus years. So Reuben speaks up and here's what he promises. I'll bring Benjamin back on the life of my two sons. Well, that's real noble. What an honorable thing to do. It really is one of the dumbest pledges in the Bible. Listen, Reuben is willing to sacrifice anything except the truth. There's only one thing that's gonna fix this mess. It is the truth. And nobody is telling the truth. And Reuben, he is not about to come clean. Reuben is trying to save himself. And though Jacob would never, he would never kill his two grandsons, Reuben is revealing that I'm willing to sacrifice somebody else in order to save my own skin. That's what's happening in chapter 42. Now, let me see if I can, let me see if I can apply this. Then I've got to go to chapter 43 and I've got, I've got, I've got a lot. There's so much that goes on behind the scenes and, and the typology in the life of Joseph is so rich that every time you read it, well, you see something else and you see something else. So let me see if I can apply this. God, the father sends his son, Jesus Christ, to become the savior of the world. And we know that there were two phases to the plan. And the first phase was for him to come and be betrayed and be crucified. And the second phase is for him to be raised from the dead and be crowned with glory and honor. And just like Jesus, Joseph was sold and betrayed and left for dead. As far as his brothers are concerned, he is dead to them. But then, but then God raises him up as it were from the dead and crowns him with honor. And when you come to Genesis chapter 42, there is salvation physical. There is salvation in only one person. That is Joseph. If you want to live, you have to come to Joseph and get bread. And by the way, the good news, the gospel, the good news that there is salvation in this man is really being preached to all of the world because back in chapter 41 and verse 57, and all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn. There is salvation and it's only in one person and it is Joseph. And I can even see now that the betrayal was not an accident. It was the providence of God to put Joseph in this position. But then Moses, Moses the historian, here's what he does. He zeroes in on one family, that though the bread is available for all the world, the focus is on the house of Israel. And the brothers go to buy bread from the one who is to become their savior. And they don't know the truth about him, but he knows the truth about them. And by the way, they want to buy bread from him. but it refuses their money. You can't buy it. All the money in the world is not going to atone for your sins. And by the way, that is exactly where Israel the nation sits right now. They have killed their Messiah, not knowing that God has raised that Messiah back up to become their Savior one day. Listen, one day, one day, the nation of Israel is going to come to the place where they get honest. For two millenniums, the nation of Israel has lied about what they had done. Did you know that for you to suggest that Israel, the nation that the Jews killed their Messiah, that's considered anti-Semitic? You're telling a lie about the Jews. But if God saved Israel without their confession, then they have to live with their guilt and their shame and never know that their sins have been atoned for. But Zechariah 12 verse 10 says, whom they have pierced, that confession, and that will be the day of national salvation for Israel. And if Joseph sends these brethren away without forcing them to face the truth, they live the rest of their lives in guilt and shame and never know who their savior is. That's where Israel is. Since this is the one that they have sinned against, he is the only one who has the authority to forgive and restore their sins. and he's not about to do it without them facing the truth. Until they learn to admit who they are, until they learn to confess their guilt and their shame to the one who already knows it anyway, they'll never receive the gospel of Joseph. Now here's the picture. I had to go to chapter 43, all right? In fact, let's go to 43. Here is the picture that Moses is painting. their Messiah, their Savior, is going to be betrayed and is going to be crucified by them. But God is going to raise him up and is going to crown him with glory and honor. And there will be salvation for them only in their Messiah. And that gospel is going to be preached to all of the world. But one day the house of Israel is going to hear the good news. And during a time of severe distress, They will go to their Messiah to receive salvation. They won't know who he is, but he will know who they are. And when they stand before him, they will discover that he is the Messiah, and that they rejected him, that they betrayed him, that they crucified him, and they will have to face the truth, and they will learn that there is no money that I can bring to buy my salvation, that the only sacrifice that the Messiah will accept is truth and confession and repentance. and they're gonna find salvation. What a beautiful story. By the way, I find myself in that picture. It's interesting to me. It's interesting to me that they lived in phase one waiting for phase two. We live in phase two looking back to phase one. They lived in the days of Joseph's humiliation not knowing about his exaltation. We live in the days of Jesus's exaltation looking back at the days of his Humiliation. And there came a time when you heard the good news of Jesus Christ and you came to him for salvation. And most people come with a price in their hand. And you discovered that salvation is out of your price range. But our guilt was greater than we had ever acknowledged before. And here's what happens. You begin to recognize the blessings of the gospel, not knowing that those blessings are meant to draw us to the truth. You can't possibly be saved without coming clean. Because then you'd live forever in guilt and shame. But there comes a day when you finally tell the truth. You confess your sins and you repent to Christ. And that is the day that you finally receive salvation. Now that's the picture that's being painted. Now come to chapter 43. Chapter, a long introduction. I, I, sorry for that. Chapter 43. In chapter 43, in chapter 43, the famine has gotten worse. The family has run out of food. And the way this story is going to play out is the brothers finally go back to Egypt, and this time with Benjamin, their younger brother. They have a second meeting with Joseph, and not knowing who he is, Simeon's going to be released, and they're going to be sent home back to Jacob again. And there are three main characters in chapter 43 that I want you to see. There is Jacob, there is Judah, and there is Joseph. And I really believe that chapter 43 is as much about Judah as it is about Joseph. Let me break it down three ways. First of all, I want you to see Jacob's fears. Look if you would, in verse number one. The famine was sore in the land, and it came to pass when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, go again, buy us a little food. And Judah said unto him, saying, the man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, you shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food. But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down. For the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me as to tell the man whether he had yet a brother? And they said, The man asked us straightly of our state, I mean straight up, of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? Have ye another brother? And we told him according to the tenor of these words. Could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down? Look down at verse number 11. And the father of Israel said unto them, if it must be so, now do this. Take of the best fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry down the manna present, a little balm, a little honey, spices, and marionettes, and almonds. And take double money in your hand, and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand. Peradventure, it was an oversight. Take also your brother and rise, and go again unto the man. And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am The first time Jacob had chided his sons with not going down to Egypt, this time they chide him with not letting them go to Egypt. The first time they had dragged their feet, this time he's dragging his feet. And of course the reason why he doesn't want to lose another son, the whole crux of this is Benjamin. He has rejected the proposal of Reuben. You can kill my sons if I don't bring Benjamin back. That's ridiculous. I'm not doing that. And it's interesting to me, commentators disagree, and I'm just going to touch it and I'm moving on. In Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 21, Hebrews Hall of Fame, there's only one verse given to Jacob. And here's what it says about Jacob's faith, by faith Jacob, as he was a dying. bless both of the sons of Joseph and worship leaning upon the top of his staff. That's the only example of faith that is mentioned in Hebrews 11 and it's the dying year of his life. So I don't believe that there is any faith in Jacob in chapter 43. I believe that it is just fear. And you see that between this debate between Judah and Jacob. Judah says, we can't go without Benjamin. Jacob says, that can't happen. Finally, Jacob relents. All right, we're going to let Benjamin go. And he resigns himself to it because we're gonna starve to death if we don't. And I want you to watch the tactics that Judah uses. And I'll just throw these out to you quickly. First of all, he delays the decision. Look at verse number one. The famine was sore in the land and it came to pass when they'd eaten up the corn which they'd brought out. He waits until they have reached crisis mode to make a decision. They are literally begging him to send them back. He waits until a crisis before he relents. And the second thing he does is he minimizes the trouble. Look at the last part of verse number one. He says, go again, buy us a little food. The famine is severe, but I'm gonna play it out little by little. Maybe if you go back and you get just a little food, maybe that prime minister, maybe he won't think to keep Benjamin, he's not admitting how bad the situation is. Then he shifts the blame, look at verse six. Esau said, wherefore dalt ye so with us, ask to tell the man whether ye had a brother. Why did you even tell him that you had another brother? And they respond, well, he asked us. Straight up question, we had to be honest, we told him, but he's trying to shift the blame. He tries to bribe the prime minister, that's in verse 11 and 12. And in verse 11 and 12, it's really pitiful to me that somebody that's in a very severe famine thinks that he can give a present to somebody that really is in charge of everything. It may not be a bribe, it may be an offering out of respect, but it's just pitiful to me that Jacob's frame of mind is I need to do something for the prime minister of Egypt. And then he resigns himself to the worst possible fate. Verse 13, take your brother also, go again unto the man. God Almighty give you mercy before the man that he may send away your other brother Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved. And a lot of commentators think that that's a statement of faith. because he mentions God Almighty, El Shaddai, but he's not praying. I think that it is fatalism. What's going to be is going to be. His life is driven by fear, Jacob's fear. But here's the second movement that I want you to see, and that's Judah's faith. Look at verse number eight. Judah said unto Israel his father. Send the lad with me. We will arise and go that we may live and not die, both we and thou, and also our little ones. Now watch verse number nine. I will be surety for him. Sometime get your concordance and just study the word surety in your Bible. I will be surety for him, of my hand shalt thou require him, if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever." Judah is the fourth oldest son, he is the one through whom the messianic line will flow. the lion of the tribe of Judah. Genesis 49, the scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come. And in this chapter, Judah is gonna step to the forefront. He's gonna begin to take on a leadership role. There's a great contrast between Reuben and Judah. Reuben, by the way, do you remember what Reuben did? Reuben is the one who slept with his father's concubines. And as the oldest in so doing, he has forfeited his position as the elder, the firstborn, the inheritance. Simeon and Levi, they're the next two oldest. Do you remember what they did? Simeon and Levi are the two boys that went into Shechem and massacred the entire city out of revenge. Do you remember that? Simeon and Levi have disqualified themselves. Judah's not perfect. We'll look at it in a minute. But there's a glimmer, there's a glimmer of faith in how he responds. And let me show it to you. Look back at chapter 42, verse 37. Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons. If I bring him, Benjamin, not to thee, deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. Reuben offers his two sons as surety. Chapter 43, verse nine, Judah says, I will be surety for him. Judah offers himself as surety. And I believe that verse number nine, I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I believe that verse number nine is a pivotal point in the life of Judah. By the way, what was Judah's great sin? Do you remember we looked at chapter 38? Judah and the affair that he has with Tamar, his daughter-in-law, ugly, ugly chapter. But in that chapter, when Judah was confronted with his sin by Tamar, he knew that he had been wrong, he knew he'd been found out, and the Bible says that he knew her again, no more, no more, no more. And it seems that Judah realized that he's done wrong, he's been found out, and he tries to make amends as best he can. By the way, if you're interested in the timeline, the events of Genesis 38 with Tamar probably took place about a year before Genesis 43. It's right here in this timeframe. Now Judah knew, now watch this. Judah knew that Reuben would not receive the birthright because of his sin with his father's concubine. And Judah knew that Simeon and Levi would not receive the birthright because of their massacre in Shechem. 20 years earlier, he had kept his mouth shut and he went along with them getting rid of Joseph. With Joseph out of the picture, he is the one who stands to gain the most. But Tantemar confronts him with his sin. Maybe just a year earlier, and God begins to work conviction in the heart of Judah. Judah knows he's not righteous enough to take over as head of the family. And so in verse number nine, I'll be surety for him. And think about what he has to give up. Of my hand would thou require of him, if I bring him not unto thee and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever. If I don't make this right, if I don't bring Benjamin back, then let the blame fall onto me. Do you know what he would be sacrificing? His ambition to be the head of the family, the inheritance, the birthright. Reuben offers to sacrifice his sons, Judah offers to sacrifice himself. Now, I get ahead of myself by going to chapter 44, but I wanted to go to 44, and I know it's scattered, but I'm trying to tie it together. I want to show you something about Judah real quick, all right? Joseph sends these men away, all right? And what he does is he takes the silver cup, his silver cup, and he hides it in Benjamin's sack, all right? We'll deal with this when we get to chapter 44. And after they get out of town, he sends his servant, and the servant catches up with him and says, hey, one of you guys stole my master's cup. Of course we did not. Let's open the sacks and find out. So they begin opening the sacks from the oldest to the youngest, go all the way to Benjamin, open it up, and sure enough, there it is. It's been planted. What do you think that Judah is thinking now? You got to be kidding me. Benjamin has stolen the cup. So the servant brings them back to Egypt. They stand before Joseph. Joseph says, I can't believe you did this. Benjamin, this one, he'll have to stay. He will have to stay and he will be my servant. And you think about that from perspective of Judah. He has pledged to Jacob, I will personally be surety for Benjamin, and now this happens. I wonder what he would have done 20 years earlier. Well, I know what he did do 20 years earlier. And come to chapter 44, look at verse 14. Verse 14, and Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house. Judah's clearly the spokesman. And from verse 14 all the way down to verse 43, for 20 verses, Judah speaks, and he makes a very passionate plea for the life of Benjamin. And Joseph is watching, what will Judah do? Will he leave Benjamin behind like he left me behind? Look at it, look at it, look at it, verse 30, 32. Here's Judah, he's speaking, he said, for thy servant, me, he said, I became suretyful aloud unto my father, saying, if I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father forever. Now, therefore, I pray, oh, watch this, I pray thee, let thy servant, me, Let thy servant abide instead of the lad, a bondman to my Lord, and let the lad go with his brethren. Judas says, Joseph, he says, sir, he says, I was the pledge. I made this with my father. Let me be the substitute. Let me suffer instead of him. Let me bear the wrath instead of him. By the way, it is at those words in chapter 45, the next verse, that Joseph breaks down. He begins to weep. He has to dismiss himself, regain his composure, and it is then that he comes back and says, I am Joseph. Here's what he realizes, is that Judah is not the man that he was 22 years earlier. He's not the same man that he was in chapter 37 and chapter 38. He has a chance to get rid of Benjamin, another favorite son, but he offers himself as a substitute. By the way, in Judah, I don't have time to talk about this, but in Judah, you see a picture of the one who would come from Judah, who would offer himself as the substitute for the world. Don't remember the Judah of chapter 37 and 38. No, remember the Judah of chapter 43 and 44, Judah's faith. I've got to hurry. Back in chapter 43, that's actually where we're at. You have Joseph's favor, Joseph's favor. And if you'll pick it up in verse 16, and I don't have time to read the verses, but 16 through verse 34, the brothers get to Egypt. There's this long drama played out between the brothers and Joseph. And Joseph sees them coming. He instructs his surah to prepare a meal for them in his house. And when these brothers find out they're being brought to the prime minister's house, they think that they're being arrested for that money that was missing. When you read the verses tonight, they immediately begin to explain to that steward, explaining what happened. And by the way, by the way, these brothers have been reminded of their own crimes a year earlier, and everything to a guilty conscience is judgment. Joseph is bringing them there for grace, but they seem somehow think that it is judgment. The steward assures them that the prime minister is not angry, he's not disappointed. He just wants them to be his guests. Joseph comes in, he asks about their father, he sees Benjamin. This is the first time he's seen Benjamin in 20 plus years. When he left, Benjamin was probably just a baby. And it's so emotional for him that he has to leave the room to regain composure. Look, if you would, in chapter 43 and look at verse 32. They sat on him for him by himself and for them by themselves and for the Egyptians which did eat with him by themselves. Because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians. So they sit down to eat. Joseph is at a table by himself. The Hebrews there at the table by themselves. Verse 33. They sat before him the firstborn according to his birthright. The youngest, according to his youth, and the men marveled one another. How did he know this? He sets them in the exact order of their age and they marveled. Does he know more? Does he know more? And then in verse 34, boy, here's another test. And I've got to come back and just preach this passage here. He took and sent messes unto them from before him, but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry. So he sends food over to their table, but to Benjamin he sends five times as much. Now why would he do that? I believe that he's testing them. The reason that they had betrayed him 20 years earlier was jealousy. So let's see if that's still alive. Let's see if that jealousy is still there. It's testing them. I'm bringing you back. I'm bringing you back. Constantly bringing you back to that point. We've got to see if these things have been dealt with. Let's see if you changed me. Let me just see if I can make an application here. And we'll come back to chapter 43. We'll deal with that passage. But Joseph's life pictures Jesus Christ. The one who was betrayed by his brethren. He was put to death. raised back to life, set over as the crown of creation. And Jacob's sons hear the good news of bread in Egypt, but you have to go through the one that you betrayed years earlier to get the bread. And the betrayal actually becomes the vehicle by which Joseph would eventually become their savior. And when these brothers meet Joseph, it is an uncomfortable meeting. because they're confronted with their sin. They are confronted with their guilt. They don't know. They don't know that Joseph is doing things that is designed to awaken their conscience. But somehow, when they stand before Joseph, they are reminded of something that they did 20 years earlier. And while they receive the blessings of Joseph in this state of conviction, they'll never be able to enjoy the presence of Joseph, to live with him until they come clean. You have to leave all the lies and all the deception at the door. The sorrow of the consequences of sin is designed to teach us that sin is costly. And when you sin, there is public shame and there is private shame. And we're very good, we're very good at avoiding the public shame. Whether it's through lies, whether it's through religion, through deception, through cover-ups. Sometimes at night when I'm at home, I watch YouTube videos to put me to sleep, and I love to watch depositions or cross-examinations. You can see lawyers cross-examining, and I love to watch things like that. And last night, I watched a defense attorney shred a man on the stand. twisted him in so many lines, I felt sorry for the guy to be honest with you. And the great lengths that we go to lie and to cover up, to not get caught, that's exactly what these brothers have done for 20 plus years. But there's also the private experience of shame. Even if no one else finds out, I know. And when convicted, the voice of condemnation in your heart can be louder than any other voice. And before we ever admit to someone else what we have done, we have to admit to ourselves what we have done and what we are. That's why 1 John 1 and verse number eight says that if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. We commit ourselves to the deception of others because we don't want to experience public shame, but then we start believing our own lies, that I am a good person, that I'm not guilty, and we end up deceiving ourselves because I don't want to experience that private shame. The problem is you can't completely turn off conviction. But then you meet Jesus. There is something about him that shines light upon the darkness. When these brothers stand before Joseph, Joseph never directly confronts them with what they've done. He doesn't bring up their sin from 20 years ago. but that light of conviction of being in his presence begins to shine in their heart. They have spent 20 years avoiding the public shame of their sin, but they still have to wrestle with the private shame. And what happens, they begin to hear the voice of God whispering to them in the dark corners of their heart, reminding them of things that they thought was buried a long time ago, but here it is, it's coming back. And each time that they stand before Joseph, that conviction's going to get just a little bit stronger. They take the grain and they go home, but so does the guilty conscience. And here's how Reuben deals with it. He deals with it by doubling down. Let me make a declaration. I'll sacrifice my sons. But here's what he won't do. He won't confess. He wants Jacob to think that he can be trusted with Benjamin's life. He has not yet confessed that he couldn't be trusted with Joseph's life. Judah takes a different route. Judah doesn't try to preserve himself. He doesn't try to prove his worthiness. In order, he offers to give up his place in the family. The very thing that he has sold his soul for, he's willing to give up. Everything that he has worked for the last 20 years is now on the table. Reuben offers up his two sons. Judah offers up himself. By the way, The reason why Reuben offers his two sons, he's never lost two sons. Judah has lost two sons, Ur and Oni. He knows the pain of it. And Judah knows that Joseph is gone and there's nothing I can do to atone for that. The best that I can do is to offer up ill-gotten gains. I got to this place through my guilt and I'm willing to give that For 20 years, for 20 years, Jacob has grieved over the loss of Joseph, and Judah has watched him grieve knowing that he caused the grief. But for self-preservation and for ill-gotten gain, he has lived this lie, but for the first time, he's more focused on his father than on himself. Jacob has been paying for Judah's sins without even knowing it, and Judah's private shame is so great No more. He's not ready to confess yet, but can you see God beginning to break his heart in conviction? And what Judah does is he shows us the process of how God draws a sinner to Christ. You hear about the blessings of knowing Christ, but when you draw near to him, you are confronted with guilt. And when the sweetness of the gospel grows greater than the bitterness of guilt, That's when you finally come to Him. We call it convictions, what we call it. It's the missing element in the modern gospel, but it is the tool that God uses to draw us either in salvation or in fellowship. I hope that you can see the grace of God through the grace of Joseph. The brothers did not know how that Joseph was working things out for their good, and we often don't see the process in our own life. I look back on the life of Joseph, and every time I look back, I see another thread. I see something else that Joseph was doing to draw them. Every time I see another thread of grace, and I bet that if you would look back on your life, you would see another thread. you will see another thing that God did, another circumstance, another providence that God used to draw you back to him. Let me close with this tonight. I know that it's Wednesday night. And I know that on Wednesday nights, we don't give an invitation because everybody that comes to church on a Wednesday night is already saved. I understand that. But perchance, perchance there is somebody gonna come, perchance there is somebody in this room tonight that your whole life has been Ruben. Your whole life has consisted of covering up the shame and the guilt of sin, whether it's through religion, church membership, morals, whatever it might be. The objective is so that no one knows. I've played this game for all of these years. I've built this lie up and it must not be public. But then when God begins to convict your heart, you can't cover up the private shame of the guilt. And it could be that tonight, that God has brought you here tonight for this purpose, to say to you, I already know. I know who you are. I know what you are. And it could be tonight that God would shine his convicting light upon your heart tonight, even as a church member, to say, You'll never enjoy salvation. You'll never enjoy fellowship till you finally come clean. When you are willing to let all on the table, this is who I am. This is what I am. I've lived a life for all of these years. Maybe tonight God will bring you to that point. It could be tonight that you say, I know that I'm saved. I can go back to the place and the time where there's sin in my life. There's things in my heart that is not right. And I've lived this lie, I've told these lies. And I've not only deceived others, I have even deceived myself. But tonight, may the convicting power of the Holy Spirit break through. To realize that you will never enjoy living with Joseph, the presence of the Savior, until you come to a place of confession, and repentance. Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed.