series, we've been about two years in the book of Genesis, my aim is to finish before Christmas and I think we'll probably go straight on into Exodus after that at this stage. see how the Lord continues to direct there but you pray with me about that. But we're dealing with this wonderful account of the life of Joseph and in chapter 45 this morning we reach the climax really of the reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers. We did touch on this last week having looked at chapters 43 and 44 with the build-up there But today we want to study this chapter in greater detail and I've entitled the message very simply, I am Joseph. I am Joseph. And let's read the chapter together, shall we? I'll read from verse one to the end of the chapter, you follow along as I read. The Bible reads, then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him. And he cried, cause every man to go out from me. Now we had plenty of volume. I think we've gone too far the other way. It's just slowly disappearing from me here. And there stood no man with him while Joseph made himself known under his brethren. And he wept aloud in the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph. Doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me hither. For God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land, and yet there are five years in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance so now it was not you that sent me hither but God and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh amen and a lord of all his house and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt haste ye and go up to my father and say unto him thus saith thy son Joseph God hath made me lord of all Egypt come down unto me tarry not And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast. There will I nourish thee, for yet there are five years of famine, lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast come to poverty. Behold, your eyes see in the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. That's because he'd been speaking through an interpreter up until now, but now he's emphasizing, it's him in the flesh speaking to them. you shall tell my father of all my glory in egypt and of all that you have seen you shall haste and bring down my father hither and he fell upon his brother benjamin's neck and wept and benjamin wept upon his neck moreover he kissed all his brethren and wept upon them and after that his brethren talked with him and the fame thereof was heard in pharaoh's house saying joseph's brethren are come and it pleased pharaoh well and his servants Pharaoh said unto Joseph say unto thy brethren this do ye laid your beasts and go get you under the land of Canaan and take your father and your households and come unto me and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt and you shall eat the fat of the land. Now thou art commanded this do ye, take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives and bring your father and come. Also regard not your stuff for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours. And the children of Israel did so and Joseph gave them wagons according to the commandment of Pharaoh and gave them provision for the way. To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of raiment. And to his father he sent after this manner ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt and ten she-asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way. So he sent his brethren away and they departed and he said unto them, See ye fall not out by the way. And they went up out of Egypt and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father. told him saying Joseph is yet alive and he is governor over all the land of Egypt and Jacob's heart fainted for he believed them not they told him all the words of Joseph which he had said unto them and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him the spirit of Jacob their father revived and Israel said not Jacob it's interesting how the name changes here as he expresses faith it is enough Joseph, my son, is yet alive. I will go and see him before I die. I am Joseph, let's pray. Gracious heavenly Father, we thank you again for this opportunity to be in your house. Lord, I pray now for the wisdom and the direction and the unction that is needed, Father, for this message. Lord, that every need of the heart might be met and Lord, I'm so conscious as the preacher that I don't have anything that these dear folk need but your word has all that we need and so we pray that the Spirit of God would put his special touch upon the Word of God as it is proclaimed today, give wisdom, give direction, give grace and give blessing, we pray, as we study these things, if there be any today who have not yet trusted Christ as their Saviour, may they come to terms with that revelation of yourself, I am the Lord Jesus, and may they come to you and receive of your forgiveness, just as Joseph's brothers received forgiveness from him. And so we look to you now, we pray you would comfort as well those who are going through trials and tests, may they see today some principles that will help them in their own trial, we pray in Jesus' name, Amen. What a moving chapter we have before us. In fact, we could say it probably is one of the most moving chapters in all of the Bible. In fact, we could go further and say it would have to be one of the most moving accounts in all of human literature. What a powerful and what a moving scene we have before us and the wonderful thing about it is that it's not a fairy story to make us feel good, it's the Word of the Living God to help us and to encourage us. Nothing is in the Bible by accident and we have this wonderful account of the life of Joseph to strengthen us and to help us in our own trials that we face. like what Griffith Thomas says about this chapter, he says, it is scarcely possible to comment on this passage without robbing it of its charm and power. It's hard really to describe what we have here, it is so moving. And we see this reconciliation that took place between Joseph and his estranged brothers. And I'm going to give you five words this morning as an outline to help us as we go through this chapter together. And I'd like to give you the first word. The first word is revelation, verse one to four. Revelation, verse one to four. Joseph now finally reveals himself to his estranged brothers. Verse one says, then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him and he cried, cause every man to go out from me and there stood no man with him while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. Notice the first word of the first verse is then. When was then? Well, remember that the context of what is happening here. Judah has just presented his passionate appeal before Joseph. Joseph has been putting his brothers through a number of tests. Joseph was very concerned to see his brothers come to a place of repentance before he revealed himself and before he was reconciled to them. A very important principle that we see in this Joseph account that repentance must precede genuine reconciliation and that is certainly true in human relationships for full reconciliation to take place between estranged parties there must be repentance over the wrongs that have been committed. But most importantly, we need to understand that in order for us to be reconciled to God, we must also come to this place of repentance. And so Joseph was powerfully moved by Judah's speech. And Judah was acting as the spokesman for his brothers, and Joseph could see a clear change in his brother's lives. And it had taken tremendous discipline on the part of Joseph to control his emotions. You remember, there was at least two other occasions where Joseph had to just flee the scene. find a quiet place to weep because he was so overcome by the emotion of what was happening in his life. Remember that it had been 22 years from the time he had been sold as a 17 year old to now this time when he is 39 years old and finally reconciliation is taking place between him and his estranged brothers. So we notice the encouragement of the revelation. What was it that moved Joseph to reveal himself? Well, it was that powerful appeal by Judah and the events leading up to this point. Then we consider as well the exclusiveness of the revelation. Joseph now commands the Egyptian servants to leave the room. What was about to transpire was only for Joseph and his brothers to see. And there is a time, isn't there, in life where things need to be handled in private, where things have to be dealt with in that manner. There are certain things that others maybe are not to look in on. Joseph is going to reveal himself to his brothers, but it must be alone. What a powerful revelation this was of Joseph. What a moving revelation it was. What a special and personal revelation of Joseph this was to his brothers. And you know, it's like that, isn't it? When a sinner comes to Christ, there's something so personal about it. There's something so powerful about that moment where you come to Christ and it's like you are alone with the heavenly Joseph, the heavenly Jesus. exclusiveness of the Revelation, the emotion of the Revelation. Look at Joseph here in verse 2, I mean we tried to paint that scene last week And you think of all the build-up to this point, the 22 long years. Think of all the thoughts that Joseph must have had of his family over that time period. Think of how often his heart ached as he missed his beloved father. Think of how often the thoughts of the hurts had come back up into his heart and mind and he recalled that terrible bitter moment where his brothers threw him into the pit. Perhaps he even had overheard them discussing the possibility of murdering him. And the bitter memory of being sold as a slave into Egypt and coming into a strange country with a strange language and being a servant to Potiphar and then all that he'd been through there. And we see all of the build up to this point. We are not at all surprised that Joseph should cry so passionately and so loudly. You know, you can tell a lot, can't you, about the character of a person by what makes them weep. You can tell a lot about the character of a person by what they laugh at and by what they weep at. We're not dealing here with a carnal man who's just caught up in his own selfishness. We're dealing with the tears of a genuine man of God who felt so deeply, a man who had known something of the grace of God working in his life to bring him to this point where he was willing to fully and totally forgive his undeserving brothers. Joseph wept aloud. This is no silent weeping. Joseph was not just crying silently, the Bible tells us he wept aloud. So overcome was he with emotion. These were audible sobs. You can just see the picture there as Joseph's body is wracked with sobs and as his voice loses control there and how perplexed and how shocked the brothers must have been as they heard in the midst of those sobs and in the midst of those tears, the earth shattering news, I am Joseph. I see in Joseph a picture of the Lord Jesus, who also was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. So Joseph wept over his wayward brothers, and did not the Lord Jesus Christ weep over his wayward brethren, Jerusalem, as he looked upon the city there and said, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and so on? And don't you see a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, who not only wept over lost Israel, wept for the world in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Lord Jesus wept over you that night, the Lord Jesus wept over me that night as he was faced with the bitter cup of suffering and how he went through all the suffering and all the pain and all the tears so that you and I could be reconciled to God. Hebrews 5-7 gives us a window into the kind of crying that was in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ in the garden of Gethsemane, it says, who in the days of his flesh when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared. In the words of that song it was, for me he died, for me he cried, for me he shed his blood upon the tree. emotion of the Revelation. Look at the expression of the Revelation, verse 3 to 4, Joseph reveals himself in the words, I am Joseph. And the brothers were troubled at his presence. In fact, the word troubled there means to tremble inwardly. I mean, try and put yourselves for a moment in their shoes. We've been looking at it very much through the eyes of Joseph. We know what's going on. We can see what's happening here. But put yourself into the brother's shoes for a moment. And up until this point, they had no suspicion at all that this was Joseph. As far as they knew, this was the most powerful ruler, the governor of Egypt, who was before them. They had no idea that this was their brother they sold into slavery. Just try and feel their shock for a moment, when all of a sudden, for the first time, they hear this powerful Egyptian governor speaking to them in Hebrew and saying, I am Joseph. See the lights begin to turn on in their faces as they look closer at this one who is dressed in Egyptian garb, clean-shaven, unlike the other Hebrews, a man who is no doubt dressed in all the paraphernalia of a powerful Egyptian ruler, and yet see the lights begin to turn on on those brothers' faces as they look closer and see, yes, this is Joseph. There is something familiar about him. There is something in that voice that I recognize. I am Joseph. The declaration of Joseph's person. He declares who he is. And then we notice the invitation into Joseph's presence. Come near to me, I pray you. Joseph notes their shock and their hesitation and he calls them to come. He invites them to come into his presence. I love that. You see the brothers there, they're standing there, they're shocked, they're ashamed, they feel unworthy to enter Joseph's presence and Joseph says, come near, I am Joseph. He declares who He is. He declares His person. Then He invites them into His presence. Don't forget the background here. These brothers have come to a place of repentance. They've come to a place of genuine sorrow over their mistreatment of Joseph and of what they have done. And now they are ready to be drawn into His presence. Don't we see a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ there? I mentioned it last week, remember we have a similar revelation of the Lord Jesus in the New Testament as Saul was travelling on the road to Damascus there and he saw a light from heaven and he heard the words, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And Saul came face to face with the revelation of who Jesus Christ was. Don't you see the picture here? Joseph's brothers at this time in their lives came face to face with the revelation of who Joseph was. And each one of us in our lives must at some point come to that place where we understand who Christ is. He is the I am, I am Jesus. coming to him in repentance, coming to him with true sorrow for our sin, we can then experience that invitation to come, to draw near, we can be made nigh by the blood of Christ. As sovereign over Egypt, Joseph had the power to pardon or to punish his brothers. Their repentance meant that they received pardon. absolute sovereign of the universe, Jesus Christ likewise has the power and authority to pardon or to punish sinners. Come to Christ today in repentance and you will receive an abundant pardon. Reject him and you will be punished eternally. Revelation. I am Joseph. Oh, they had to come to terms with that. You must come to terms today with the revelation of the heavenly Jesus. I am the Lord Jesus Christ. You know that being saved involves not just understanding what Christ did, but embracing who he is. For Jesus said, if you believe not that I am, you shall die in your sins. It does matter what you believe about the Lord Jesus Christ. If you make him anything less than God, you have a false Christ, a false savior. You must come to terms with who Jesus Christ is, that he is God manifest in the flesh and coming with that spirit of repentance, reach out the hands of faith and receive his love. reconciliation, his forgiveness. The second word is reconciliation, revelation. Number two, reconciliation. Verse five, now therefore, this is Joseph speaking, be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me hither for God did send me before you to preserve life For these two years, please underscore each time you see Joseph mention God here. For these two years hath the famine been in the land, and yet there are five years in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve your posterity in the earth and to save your lives by great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God. And he hath made me a father to Pharaoh and Lord of all his house and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Reconciliation is now taking place in a flood of tears. Look at the forgiveness of the reconciliation. The forgiveness of the reconciliation. Forgiveness is written all over this account. Can't you see Joseph's forgiveness in this passage? Joseph who was so hurt by his brothers, Joseph who was so wronged by his brothers, now is forgiving these undeserving men. I think we could say there is grace in Joseph's forgiveness. These brothers were undeserving, would you agree with me? They did not deserve Joseph's forgiveness. Really what they deserved was Joseph's wrath and Joseph's displeasure and yet we see Joseph having the grace by God's grace to forgive his wayward brothers. That's the definition of grace, isn't it? Grace is something we don't deserve. Aren't you thankful this morning that the heavenly Joseph, the heavenly Lord Jesus, has all the grace there in his heart and willingness to forgive you if you will turn from your sin? We don't deserve salvation, we don't deserve forgiveness of sin, but that's the grace of God. the grace of Joseph's forgiveness. the greatness of Joseph's forgiveness. Joseph's heart was so full and overflowing with forgiveness and we see that demonstrated by the fact that he was so concerned that his brothers not be overwhelmed with a sense of guilt. Now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves. Do you know how you know a work of grace, a deep work of grace has been done in your life? Well you're not only willing to, in a sense, let a situation go, but beyond that you're actually concerned about the person who offended you. You're actually concerned about the well-being of the person who hurts you. That's a miracle of God's grace. I think you'll agree with me. Joseph had no capacity in his human nature to forgive like this. Joseph was a man who had a close relationship with God and the grace of God was working in Joseph's life to enable him and to empower him to forgive these brothers. greatness of Joseph's forgiveness. What abundant forgiveness is shown to these brothers by Joseph and what abundant forgiveness has been shown us in the Lord Jesus. We sang it this morning, grace and love like mighty rivers poured incessant from above, and heaven's peace and perfect justice kissed a guilty world in love. On the Mount of Crucifixion, fountains opened deep and wide through the floodgates of God's mercy, flowed a vast and gracious tide. Of thy fullness thou art pouring, thy great love and power on me without measure, full and boundless, drawing out my heart to thee. Aren't you thankful this morning that God didn't just forgive us, he forgave us with abundance. He lavished on us His grace. Don't you see the picture here? The floodgates of Joseph's grace and mercy were opened to his brothers when they repented of their wrong and repented of their sin. And the same principle applies between us and God. When we come to God in repentance, when we come to God confessing our guilt and confessing our sin, how the floodgates of Christ's great heart are opened to us and how His love pours down upon us. I hope you're thankful this morning of the grace that we've shown you. We deserved hell, we deserved God's wrath, God's judgment, God's punishment, but aren't you thankful that when you came to Christ as a guilty sinner, admitting your sin, He forgave you? Oh, forgiveness is a wonderful thing, isn't it? What a powerful thing, don't we see in this chapter, the power of forgiveness. There's no power in bitterness. There's no power in holding a grudge against another or holding on to a hurt against someone, but there's power in forgiveness. Great power in forgiveness. But it was granted because of repentance. Now there's an interesting verse, isn't there, in Luke 17 3, Jesus said this, "...if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him, and if he repent, forgive him." I think we need to remember that in a day of shallow forgiveness and shallow reconciliation. Oh well, you know, these things happen, we ought to just, you know, sort of just sweep it under the carpet, just kind of gloss it over. Let's have fake smiles all round at the family dinner. Christmas is a bad time for that, isn't it? Fake smiles all round. everybody knows there's a great big elephant in the room and everybody knows that this brother hates this brother and this person has been slandering this person, but oh no, let's just have this sort of sappy kind of superficial forgiveness. Now I understand that we as believers should never hold on to bitterness, we should never harbor an unforgiving spirit and I understand the principle that in my heart I can have a forgiving spirit towards that person. I mean, the Lord Jesus, when he was being nailed to the cross, said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. But do you understand the principle this morning? That true forgiveness and true reconciliation cannot fully take place until the offender has repented of his wrongdoing. Don't worry about that. Just, you know, never mind. It was a bit of a mistake and it wasn't really the advisable thing to do and we're very good, aren't we, at just minimizing the sin that's gone on and let's just have hugs all round and kisses all round. No, no, no, no, no. We see in Joseph a very important principle that in order for true reconciliation to take place, repentance over the wrongdoing must take place. have to come to the place where you are willing to say, I am wrong or I was wrong and very often in human relationships that involves both parties admitting some fault but in this case, in this case, Joseph didn't really, Joseph didn't have anything to apologize for. And in that, here's again a wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus. When we talk about reconciliation with God, don't you ever think that God needs to be reconciled to us. He is perfect. He has never sinned. We need to be reconciled to Him because we've offended Him and sinned against Him. forgiveness in the reconciliation. So while you can maintain a sweet spirit to someone who has wronged you, you can't actually properly forgive them in the truest sense of the word until they repent. Jesus said, rebuke your brother if he trespasses against you and if he repents, forgive him. Interesting isn't it? Sin has to be dealt with for true reconciliation to take place. forgiveness of the reconciliation. Look at the faith of the reconciliation. Joseph's words here further reveal the depth of his faith in God and his relationship with God. We see Joseph again bearing testimony to his God. So Joseph was a man full of God. Look at what he says here, chapter 45, Verse 5, for God did send me before you to preserve life. Verse 7, and God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth. Verse 8, so now it was not you that sent me hither but God. So we see, not only did Joseph have forgiveness in his heart towards his brothers, but Joseph had faith to see his trial from a heavenly perspective. Joseph's faith and Joseph's walk with God had given him perspective on his trial. Can you see that? God's grace had enabled Joseph to see his trial with the eyes of faith. It's so important that you do that. Joseph is seeing his trial from God's perspective. The life of Joseph is a tremendous lesson in the truth of the providence of God. Oh, how we see God's hand of providence all over Joseph's life. Nothing was an accident there. Everything was working towards God's grand purpose. For God did send me before you to preserve life. And God sent me before you to preserve you. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God. I find interesting about what Joseph says here, he's not only acknowledging that God's will was best for him personally, Joseph was able to see that God's purpose went way beyond himself. Look at the little word to there, God did send me before you, why? To preserve life. God sent me before you to preserve you, a posterity in the earth, That's the eyes of faith. Joseph is saying, you know what, this whole trial was not just about me. It was actually about God accomplishing the greater purpose of preserving his chosen people, the Hebrew people. I think it would be good for us to remember that in our self-centered, self-focused, self-regeneration, that God works in our lives, not just for me personally. And He does work in my life and in your life because of His love for us as individuals. I'm not discounting that. But please remember that when God is working in your life, He is working for the good of others and for the glory of Himself. It's not only about you, whatever trial you're going through, if you'll submit to God, God has a purpose in it. Yes, He has a purpose in it for you, but more importantly, He has a purpose in it for others and ultimately for His own glory. God sent me before you to preserve life. was able to see through the eyes of faith something of God's grand purpose in it all. No doubt this had taken Joseph time to come to this, I guarantee you in those early years he was probably confused like any of us would be, perplexed at what God was doing in his life but now he comes to this place of understanding. pieces of the puzzle are falling into place and he begins to see something of God's grand purpose in it all. Isn't it wonderful to be able to look back over your life and see that as the pieces of the puzzle begin to come together and for some of us who are young there's still quite a few pieces to be put into place? Amen? He's around somewhere, the piece and the puzzle, but he'll come in due course, okay? piece of the puzzle coming together, God's purposes coming together, seeing God's grand plan at all. But especially for you who are maybe towards the end of the race, I hope you can look back and see some of God's purpose in your life and how God's hand moved you and how God's hand shaped you and how God used you. Isn't it a wonderful thing as Christians to know that our lives are not subject to random chance and to just accident. Our lives are under the shelter and under the guiding hand of a loving God who wants to use us. God was going to use Joseph to preserve not just Egypt, but to preserve his chosen people. So God is working to a greater purpose. In fact, so often I think in the Christian life we tend to see just a little slice of what God is doing. The more time goes on, the more I'm seeing that God's purposes are so multifaceted. When God is at work, he's often doing multiple things. He's doing something in me. He's doing something in someone else. He's working to this purpose and to that purpose. And oh, how multifaceted God's will is in our lives. You know what I love about the life of Joseph? We see God's divine purposes overruling man's evil purposes. Joseph would say later in Genesis chapter 50 and verse 20, Don't you see there that God's thoughts prevailed over man's intentions? The brothers meant it for evil. Don't think that the brothers said, listen, let's just be a part of God's plan. We'll throw him into the pit. He'll go to Egypt. He'll become a great man. That wasn't their intention. They wanted to destroy Joseph. They wanted to kill Joseph. As far as they were concerned, this was the end of Joseph. No more Joseph. He's out of our lives forever. They weren't trying to facilitate the will of God. And there are going to be people in your life who will come with a destructive intent. The devil certainly is going to be doing that. And he wants to destroy But isn't it amazing how God can take the evil intentions of men and somehow through his power make it work out for good? And somehow weave those dark threads sometimes of our lives into the tapestry of his picture. That doesn't mean by the way that God condones evil. It doesn't mean that God approves of evil. It doesn't mean that those things that happen to you are good. Romans 8.28 does not say all things are good, it says all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose, because many things in our lives are not good, but aren't you thankful that God can take those things that are not good and work them together for good in our lives? Genesis 50.20 is the Romans 8.28 verse of the Old Testament. Ye meant it unto evil, but God meant it unto good. The reconciliation, the forgiveness of the reconciliation, the faith of the reconciliation, Joseph was able to reconcile his brothers to himself because he had the faith and the perspective of faith to see things from God's perspective. Number three, the fervency of the reconciliation, verse 14 and 15, jump down to verse 14 and 15. These are tear-filled verses, aren't they? Can you see it there? Joseph has declared who he is. Oh, and then he sees Benjamin there. Benjamin, his full-blood brother, Benjamin, probably the last time he saw Benjamin, he was only a baby or a toddler. How they embrace and how they weep upon each other. How long they cried, we don't know. But their tears tell us more about what was going on in their hearts at that moment than any words could describe. Did you know that? That sometimes tears communicate more powerfully than words in certain situations. But he doesn't just embrace Benjamin. Think of this, 22 years, think of all the hurts. Simeon, Levi, instruments of cruelty. I suggest to you, Simeon was the one who suggested, let's kill him. You say, why do you say that? Because Simeon and Levi slaughtered the Shechemites in cold blood. And when it came time for Joseph to select one of the brothers to stay in Egypt, he said, leave Simeon locked up, thank you. P.S. I spotted the New Testament Simeon, not the Old Testament Simeon, in case you're wondering, okay? There's two Simeons in the Bible, the New Testament Simeon's a godly one. He's the one I'm named after, not this guy here, okay? How do you know? My dad said, yeah, well that's true, yeah. I better find out that later on. But don't you see the picture here? Each one of these rough men are drawn into Joseph's forgiving embrace. Reuben is drawn into Joseph's embrace. Each one, one by one, they line up as it were. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher were all embraced in love, grace, and forgiveness by Joseph. What a wonderful thing it must have been for those brothers to experience that embrace of forgiveness. To feel Joseph's arms around them. To feel his tears trickling down their necks. and to know that they had been forgiven, that they had been restored, that they had been reconciled to the one they hated and reconciled to the one they had hurt. How the guilt and the shame must have melted away from the hearts of those brothers as they were drawn into that embrace of forgiveness. What a wonderful experience that must have been. Could I say to you the most wonderful experience that can ever happen in your life? is for you to be drawn into the arms of the heavenly Jesus Christ, the heavenly Joseph. The most wonderful thing that can ever happen in your life is for you to repent of your sin, to come to God as a guilty sinner, and to feel His loving arms draw you into that place of reconciliation, to know that you have been forgiven, to know you have been saved. Have you ever experienced Christ's embrace of forgiveness? I hope if you haven't, you will today. This would have to be one of the most wonderful things that ever happened to these wicked men, to know they were forgiven, to be drawn into Joseph's loving embrace. Do you remember the day the Lord Jesus drew you with arms of love, with arms of forgiveness? Do you remember the day his nail-pierced hands, as it were, took hold of your life, he drew you in love to himself aren't you thankful today for such a Savior who wept over us as he died on that cross you know I can't help but see in this a picture of the day when Israel finally realizes that Jesus is their Messiah think of this the brothers come and that all of a sudden realize this is Joseph our brother Can you imagine the day when the children of Israel realise that the one they hurt, the one they rejected, the one they pierced, the one they crucified is actually their Messiah after all? Oh, they're going to cry. There'll be some tears in that day. Zechariah 12.10 says, and I'll pour upon the house of David, upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications. And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. There's gonna be some mourning, some wailing, some sobs on that day. When they realize I am Jesus. He's our Messiah. Reconciliation. Oh, the power of forgiveness. Do you see how Joseph's faith had kept him from bitterness? We've talked about bitterness a lot throughout the life of Joseph, but we can't help that. I hope you can see from Joseph's life that the answer to those hurts in your life is never bitterness. Hebrews 12 warns us, doesn't it? It says, not bitter, why did you yell? Then why did you yell when you were asked, are you bitter? I'm not bitter, why did you yell? Looking diligently at lest any man fail of the grace of God. That doesn't mean losing your salvation. It means a lack of the grace of God, and the lack is not on God's end because He is willing to give us His grace in that situation. The problem is on our end when we fail to appropriate, we fail to avail ourselves of the grace that God has made available for us in those bitter experiences, and we go down to sourness and to bitterness. We see in Joseph a man who was made better by his trials, not bitter. Whatever is going on in your life, bitterness is not the answer, brethren. You say, I agree with that, I know, but there are people who heard messages like this and would have said years ago, amen, amen, who are out there today and they're bitter. And guess what was really sad? They're missing the grand purpose that God had in that trial. They're missing all that God could do if they would yield, if they would submit to God and allow God to take that bitter situation and use it for their good. They're missing out on God's purposes that he intended in that trial. Do you know you can miss that? You say, oh, isn't this wonderful? It'll just all turn out. If Joseph had not responded right, he would have missed what God was trying to do and his name would have disappeared in the sands of Egypt. Reconciliation. Third word, commission. Look at verse 9 to 13, commission. God hath made me Lord of all Egypt, come down unto me, tarry not, and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast, and there will I nourish thee, for yet there are five years of famine, lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty. behold your eyes see in the eyes of my brother Benjamin that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you and you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt and of all that you have seen and you shall haste and bring down my father hither do you see that no sooner were these brothers reconciled to Joseph but Joseph had something for them to do look at the mission they were to perform the mission they were to perform they were to return quickly to their father in Canaan proclaim the good news to him that Joseph was alive and then bring him back to Egypt without delay. We see that reconciliation led to responsibilities. You know it's the same in our lives. It's a wonderful thing to be reconciled to God, it's a wonderful thing to be forgiven but remember, reconciliation with God leads to responsibilities for God. the mission they were to perform. Look at the message they were to proclaim. What were they to go home and proclaim? They were to go and say, Joseph is alive. They were to tell Jacob of all of Joseph's glory. Don't you see the picture here? Joseph was rejected by his brother and went through suffering. He was then highly exalted as governor over the entire land of Egypt. And the brothers were to go back to their family, back to their father and proclaim, Joseph is alive. Joseph is highly exalted. Joseph is seated in glory. Joseph is seated in power. Having been reconciled to God, what is your responsibility in mine? To go out to our family, to go out to our friends, to go out to a lost and dying world and tell them that Jesus lives, that He is highly exalted, that He has all the glory of heaven, that He has all power. That is our mission. Go and say, thus saith Joseph. were to tell, Joseph was exalted. He was alive, exalted and reigning. For Jacob, that was like a resurrection. His son that was, as it were, dead to him, he thought Joseph was dead, was actually alive. Aren't you thankful today we can proclaim the message of the heavenly Joseph? heavenly Lord Jesus Christ, that he is alive, that he is exalted, that he has all power, that he is seated on the throne in majesty and in glory. That's the message we have. So the message was, Joseph is alive and Joseph will provide. Joseph gave promises to his family. He gave the promise of his presence, and thou shalt be near unto me. I love that, the promise of his presence. He would settle them there in the land of Goshen, a fertile region of about 900 square miles in northeastern Egypt there. And they would be near to him, the promise of his presence, the promise of his provision, and there will I nourish thee. Joseph would sustain them throughout that time of drought. Joseph had more than enough resources at his disposal to meet their every need. Joseph who was alive, Joseph who was seated in power, Joseph who was glorified there on the throne of Egypt as it were. He had all the wealth of Egypt at his disposal to meet every need of Joseph's brothers, of his brothers and of his family. And aren't you thankful, our heavenly Lord Jesus, who is exalted, who is alive. He has all the resources of heaven to meet and to nourish us, to nourish us, and to meet our needs as we walk through this dry world. Did you know that this morning, that the Lord Jesus has everything you need? What was the message? Dad, let's go! Joseph's exalted, he's alive, he has everything we need! Jesus has everything you need, the Lord Jesus. Fourth word, provision. Provision, verse 16 to 24, to bring back Jacob and the whole family would be no small feat in this time of drought and famine and provisions are now made to make this possible. Notice the order for the provisions, in verse 16 to 20 we have Pharaoh giving his own command to make provision for Joseph's family. Verse 16 says, And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come, and it pleased Pharaoh well and his servants. I mean, the news spread like wildfire throughout Egypt. Don't forget, Joseph was incredibly popular in Egypt. God had used Joseph to save Egypt. Remember he interpreted the dreams for Pharaoh and then he gave counsel to Pharaoh to lay up in store all that food for the seven years of famine. I mean, Joseph was like royalty in Egypt and you can imagine how the news just spread. Have you heard? Joseph's family has arrived. Joseph's family that was estranged from him, they've arrived in Egypt and how the news was discussed down every alleyway of Egypt and as it spread throughout the land there. And Pharaoh himself becomes aware of this and adds his own royal command to make provision for Joseph's family to come down to Egypt. He promises them the good of the land and the fat of the land, verse 18 and 20. And he also provided some state-of-the-art transportation, wagons. Did you know that was state-of-the-art transportation in those days? And it's interesting actually, in the account, the emphasis on the wagons. And when the brothers came to their father Jacob, Israel, he didn't believe their words until he saw the wagons. You see, at that time in history, it appears the Egyptians were the main ones who actually had wagons and he saw that as a token of the truth of what was being said and his spirit revived. God's hand is working. God's hand is providing. Think of that, I mean, that's a lot of people. Think of all the brothers, all of their wives, all of their children. I believe it was around, was it 70 that came down into Egypt in total? That's a big feat to move all of those people in drought conditions. But the assurance that God was going to provide. So we have the order. The order for the provisions, verse 16 to 20, the command of Pharaoh. Then we have the organization of the provisions, verse 21 to 24. Joseph is seen again in his exercise and his gift of organization. Pharaoh gives the command, Joseph facilitates it, makes it happen and the children of Israel did so and Joseph gave them wagons according to the commandment of Pharaoh and gave them what? Provision for the way. To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of raiment. And to his father he sent after this manner ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt and ten she-asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way. And so Joseph gave them provisions for the journey. Do you see how God was providing the resources necessary for his people? this part of his will. The same God who provided for his And the same God who provided for his people in the midst of a seven-year famine is still able to provide the needs of his people today as they seek to serve him. And so Joseph makes provision for his family, he gives gifts to his family, gives chains of raiment to his 10 brothers and then 300 pieces of silver and five chains of raiment to his full blood brother Benjamin. He sends 10 asses with good things from Egypt for his father and 10 female asses with food supplies to help sustain his father for the trip to Egypt. It says that, she-asses. So you've got 10 asses and 10 she-asses. Why? I have no idea. But at least the girls got involved, amen? The feminists would be pleased to hear that the she-asses were included. It wasn't just the men, just the boys. But I think all these actions further demonstrate the magnitude of Joseph's forgiveness of his brothers. I mean, it's amazing that Joseph would even be willing to forgive them, but to go beyond that and actually give them gifts? The ones who had wronged him and hurt him so much? It tells you something of the depth of Joseph's forgiveness and the work of grace in his heart. Do you know what really amazes me? I mean, I'm amazed that God would forgive us. It blows my mind that he would want to go beyond that and reward us. bless us. I mean if all God did was give us forgiveness from sin and a home in heaven we could be eternally grateful for that but aren't you amazed he wants to reward us and he gives gifts to us? When he ascended he gave gifts to men, he's giving you a gift for you to use for him. Look at Joseph's counsel to his family in verse 24. We see a wise little note here from Joseph in verse 24. Joseph knows his brothers. What's he talking about here? Don't have a fight fellas on the way home. That's how he said it in the Hebrew, okay. Don't have a fight, fellas. No, that's just how, okay. He said, don't fall out with each other by the way. And you can understand with all of the background, it would be very easy for those brothers on the way home to start finger pointing. It was your idea. No, it wasn't. Hey, it was your idea to sell him into Egypt and all the recriminations. And then how are we gonna explain this to, how are we gonna face dad after 22 years and tell him that the family lie was a lie? Families have such secrets, you know that? It's a great thing when the Lord exposes the family lie and gets rid of it, or helps you to deal with it. The family secret! That skeleton in the closet. Now Joseph says, avoid that at all costs. Don't go down to disunity. Forgiveness has been granted. It's time to move forward. it's important, isn't it? Once reconciliation has taken place, once forgiveness has taken place, it is important to move forward, isn't it? And not endlessly go back over things and repeat matters and go back through things and stir up strife and stir up... some Christians are really good at that. I had to say to one brother, I asked your forgiveness on this, did you forgive me? Oh well, yeah I did. Okay, well why are you bringing it up again? Why are you making such a big deal out of something when I said, would you forgive me? And you said you'd forgiven me. What was that? None of your business. It's small, but I'm just saying. It would be so easy for the brothers to descend into disunity and accusation with each other. Joseph says, don't fall out by the way. Number five, and lastly, we have the word reaction. Look at Jacob's reaction as they arrived back. And they went up out of Egypt and came into the land of Canaan, under Jacob their father, and told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive. And he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them. And when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived. And Israel said, it is enough. Joseph my son is yet alive, I will go and see him before I die.' Think of it, here's the 10 brothers, 11 brothers sorry, making their way back home. Jacob, he's an old man now, oh what he's been through and no doubt he had been worrying about his son Benjamin, he didn't want to send Benjamin down there and he sees the dust in the distance and he sees his sons making their way and he's so relieved to see Benjamin is safely amongst them and Simeon has also been restored who had been kept back as a prisoner in Egypt and all seems to be well But can you just imagine, see the old man there and see what he's been through and the absolute heartbreak he'd been through over Joseph and how he had mourned to the point where he felt he was going to die under the weight of grief when he lost Joseph. And all of a sudden his sons return and say, Dad, we've got some news for you. What is it? What is it? We've got something to tell you. We lied to you all those years. We actually sold Joseph as a slave into Egypt. You did what? Yes, we actually sold him as a slave. We were the ones that actually put the blood on that coat. That was all a lie, dad. We shouldn't have done that. And God has dealt with this and God has moved in our lives and we shouldn't have done that. We shouldn't have deceived you. And dad, we found out this most amazing thing that, you know, that governor we told you about there in Egypt. Yes, yes, that's Joseph. Joseph is yet alive and the Bible says that Jacob's heart fainted. It's like his heart skipped a beat. It's like he couldn't come to terms with this news. And they say, Dad, believe us. This is what Joseph said. Look, here are the asses laden with food for you. And this is what Joseph said. And then he hears the rumble of the wagons. He sees the Egyptian wagons coming and says, it must be true. I just noticed a fascinating feature in the text here, while Jacob is doubting he's called Jacob but when he expresses faith in verse 28 he's called Israel and Israel said it is enough. Verse 26, Jacob's heart fainted for he believed them not. The spirit of Jacob their father revived, verse 27, and Israel said, it is enough, Joseph my son is yet alive, I will go and see him before I die. How did Jacob react? Well firstly, with denial, verse 25 and 26, but then revival, verse 27 and 28. Jacob is called Israel again in verse 28 in connection with his spirit of faith. He's called Jacob when in unbelief, verse 26, but Israel when he is exercising faith, verse 28. Because Jacob represents the life of unbelief. Jacob represents the self-life, the flesh, the life of doubt, Israel, the new name, represents the walk of faith, the life of faith, the life of trust in God and here we see Jacob, as he had in so many other times, as he had so many other times in his life, he recovers his position of faith in God after he's doubted. I hope you can see the goodness and kindness of God to Jacob here. He was 130 years of age when he went to Egypt, chapter 47 I think it is, verse 9, and he died at 147 years of age, so that means he had 17 years in which to enjoy his family, especially Joseph. That was good of God, wasn't it? to give Jacob, to give Israel, 17 more years to see Joseph and to see God's goodness upon his family. Well, in our next message we're going to see that reunion that takes place between Joseph and his father. I am Joseph. Joseph is reconciled with his brothers. Could I ask you this morning, have you been reconciled to the Lord Jesus? Have you allowed him to draw you into his embrace of forgiveness? If you haven't, would you do that this morning? He's willing to lavish His forgiveness, His love, His grace on you, but you have to be willing to turn. You've got to be willing to repent and say, I have sinned against you, O God. You need to be willing to confess your sin and confess the Lord Jesus as Lord and Saviour. You say, I'm already saved, Pastor. How are you responding to your trial this morning? Are you allowing God? to make you better or are you allowing your heart to grow bitter? I hope by God's grace you allow God to make you better and that you won't become bitter. Let's bow for prayer please as we close. Heads bowed, eyes closed. I am Joseph. Praise God. We also have the revelation of the Son of God, I Am, the Lord Jesus. But I ask you this morning, are you saved? Have you experienced God's forgiving grace in your life? Do you have any idea how much God loves you this morning and how much He wants to save you? How much He wants to pour His grace and love and forgiveness into your heart and into your life if you will but turn to Him in repentance, turn to Him in faith? Would there be anyone this morning who would say, Pastor, if I'm honest, I'm not sure I've ever experienced that, I'm not sure I've ever truly received Christ as my personal Lord and Saviour, but I would like I'd like to do that today. I'd like to receive that forgiveness you talked about from Christ. I'd like to know that I have eternal life. If that's you, would you just raise your hand? I'd like to pray for you as I close. Pastor, please pray for me. I need Christ. I need forgiveness. I need... Yes, amen. Anyone else? I'm not going to call you out by name. I'm not going to embarrass you. I'm not asking you to join our church or to sign a piece of paper. I'm simply asking, would you receive Christ today? Would you be reconciled to Him? Would you just raise your hand? Say, Pastor, please pray for me. I need reconciliation with God. I need forgiveness. I need salvation. If I was to die today, I don't have 100% certainty that I would go to heaven. I don't know where I'd spend eternity. You can settle that today. Would you raise your hand? Pastor, please pray for me. I need to be saved, I need forgiveness, I need Christ. Anyone at all? Christian? Would there be anyone here who would say, Pastor, I'm going through a trial And I just raise my hand for prayer this morning that God will help me to become better, not bitter through my trial. Would there be anyone like that? Pastor, please pray for me. Yes. Amen. You can just raise your hand and put it back down. Pray for me. Yes. Yes. Amen. Pray for me that God will help me to become better and not become bitter through my trial. Anyone else? Yes. Amen. Would your prayer be today, God, would your purposes in my trial be accomplished? If that's your heart's desire, would you just raise your hand and say, Pastor, please pray for me that what God intends, yes. Yes, amen. God's purpose for me in my trial would be accomplished, that I would not get in the way of that, that I would not stop that. Yes, amen. Anyone else? Yes, amen. Heavenly Father we thank you for these hands that have been raised, some of the little ones raising their hands about salvation, we thank you for their softness of heart and pray for wisdom for their parents to counsel them, we pray Lord then for believers who have raised their hands this morning indicating Lord that their desire is for your hand to be upon them in their trial that they might know you working all things together for good and Lord I do pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ who have raised their hands this morning that you would Give them all the grace that they need, Lord, to respond right in their trial, and that, Lord, they would, like Joseph, know what it is to be made better through their trial and not bitter, and, Lord, to see as well, Lord, your purposes in it all, and that your purposes in their trials might be accomplished by your grace and by your power, we pray. So we commit these things to you now, in the Lord Jesus' name, Amen.