And I'll read verses 15 through 21. Last Lord's Day evening, we considered how Joseph's brothers came with a confession of their transgression. Weak as it was, concocting a story that Jacob charged Joseph to forgive them, but clearly they themselves asking for forgiveness and even bowing once Joseph indicated his tender heartedness, they came to him themselves and bowed before him. This evening we look at Joseph's response to his brothers. Genesis 50 verses 15 through 21. When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him? So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, Your father charged before he died, saying, Thus you shall say to Joseph, Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong. And now please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father. And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also came and fell down before him and said, Behold, we are your servants. But Joseph said to them, Do not be afraid, for am I in God's place? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. So therefore, do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones." So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. in our text this evening, along with a similar statement that Joseph made to his brothers many years early, recorded in chapter 45, we find the classical texts concerning God's providence. God's providence. I love the Shorter Catechism, so succinct and so clear. What are God's works of providence? God's works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful, preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions. His most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing God's providence. Joseph understood God's providence, whether he could articulate it and formulated in the way the Westminster divines did in their shorter catechism remains to be seen. But clearly, if he was not able to articulate it word for word, surely the truth of it was in his heart. He understood God's most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions. even when it came to his evil circumstances, which he underwent many years earlier. Joseph is able to look over the course of his life, and this is so very, very important. He's able to, from this point back, able to look over the course of his life. Remember, faith and hope, in some sense, is able to look into the future, in some ways. And that's important for the child of God to do, for comfort, security, for guidance. But here, and it's not a bad exercise, from this present moment back, he is able to consider the course of his life, all the circumstances by which he suffered, all the circumstances in which he was blessed, and he was able to make sense of those things. Looking over the course of his life and make sense even of the evil that occurred in his life. He does not segment as sometimes we are apt to do, as he looks back, as he looks to the evil. He does not segment that part of his life and sort of abstract it and meditate upon its evil as somehow living off of its poison. Nor does he take those evil circumstances and sort of magnify them in such a way in which they become a lens through which he understands and interprets the rest of his life. This segmentation of past evil, or even using past evil circumstances in order to understand our lives as though it itself were a lens, would only bear a very bitter fruit of resentment. And brothers and sisters, quite frankly, I think sometimes we do that. But here we have the grace of God very powerfully and evidently at work. Joseph, rather, takes his understanding of who God is and God's ways and uses God and His providence, His most holy, wise, preserving and governing all His creatures, all their actions, using that truth, that understanding, that knowledge of God as a lens by which He understands the entire course of His life, whether it be the blessing or whether it be the evil. Understanding our lives in terms of God's most holy, wise, and powerful governing of all of our circumstances. Nothing happening by chance. Nothing happening by misfortune. Everything occurring by God's most wise, holy, knowledgeable, and for us, His most loving, powerful governing, ultimately for our good. We see Joseph's understanding in his response to his brothers. His brothers come. They make this confession. Like I said, rather weak. They send a messenger. They concoct a story about Jacob and the charge. But whatever the case, they're seeking forgiveness. And when they see how Joseph responds or hear of how he responds, they come and they offer themselves as his servants. Clearly an act of repentance. How is Joseph going to respond to this overture by his brothers after so many years? Well, he does forgive. And he is able to forgive. It appears without a hint of resentment. He is able to do that by God's grace. So let's consider Joseph's response. Five ways in which he responds, I believe, are indicated in the text. We see his tender heart. Look at verse 17. Thus you shall say to Joseph, please forgive. I beg you the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong. And now please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father. And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. The they, not the brothers, the they are the messengers that the brothers sent. They could not face Joseph at this point. Rather awkward. They send messengers, and as the messengers relay this message from the brothers, Joseph, as they're speaking to Joseph, Joseph begins to weep. His first response was an incredibly, incredibly tender heart. Now I imagine there was all kinds of emotion built up because of all the things that he experienced. How many years have gone by? Seventeen years in Egypt. How many years? Fifteen years. Betrayed by his brothers. Sold into slavery. Accused falsely of rape. You know the story. We've gone through the narrative many times. Imprisoned. Forgotten. Languished in prison. until he's able to interpret the dream of Pharaoh, all in God's providence. And then the 17 years living in Egypt, all of this tension building in his brothers, surely going through Joseph's own mind. And now, for the first time really, the brothers break, break with their silence and seek forgiveness. Forgive us, Joseph. Our Father charges you. We come. We seek your forgiveness. Forgive us. And as Joseph is hearing this message from these messengers on behalf of his brothers, all of that emotion from the years just breaks out. But how does it break out? He doesn't grumble. There doesn't seem to be resentment there. What it is is a tenderheartedness. He weeps. He cries. It's like a dam that has held back a body of water for years, and that body of water continued to increase and grow, and the pressure was great, and finally the dam was released, and all of this emotion. It doesn't even appear that he thought much about it. He didn't have to work it through at this point. Surely no resentment, as I said. He doesn't gloat with a self-righteous satisfaction either. With this overture, he weeps. My friends, with all that had occurred in Joseph's life, surely only by the grace of God could an individual respond with such tenderness at such a time. We can't harden our hearts. If you understand what life is, if you understand the dynamics of all of the situations and circumstances, if you understand what your history is about, if you're able to make sense of it in the light of God's most holy, wise, and powerful governing, all of your circumstances, It's then that your heart will be tender. I can't think, I can't think of any other way of getting through evil, such evil endured, unless you know that God is in it somehow. He not only responds with a tender heart, he responds with humility. You see that in verses 18 and 19. Then his brothers also came, fell down before him and said, We are your servants. But Joseph said to them, Do not be afraid, for am I in God's place? Don't be afraid, am I in God's place? This is a different Joseph than a Joseph many, many years ago when he first communicated the dreams that he had from God in which he informed his brothers and then his father that all will bow before him. There's no arrogance here, no pride. He ultimately recognizes that he's God's servant, and it's God who's in control. And ultimately it will be God who will deal with his brothers. That's not the position that God has put him in. He knows, he knows that God, by his experience and his understanding of God, that God has put him in this place, this very place, to help and to save those, yes, even to help and to save those who betrayed him and treated him so murderously and harshly many, many years ago. That's the place that God had put him. Not to seek revenge, not to get his pound of flesh, not to administer justice at this time. He recognizes that God is sovereign, He is free, and He will do His will. And Joseph recognizes what that will is for him. Not resentment, not hatred, not self-righteous gloating, but service, even to those who betrayed him. Service unto those brothers. With all humility, he knows he cannot act in God's place. And I mentioned it last week, and I mention it again. See how his vocabulary is saturated with God talk. And that's not cheap. Whatever fills up our hearts, that is what we will ultimately hear, and especially at such critical emotional times. And what Joseph is indicating is an understanding of God in which he's the servant, and God's the master. Even though he has all authority bestowed in Pharaoh's court, he is to use that authority to deliver, to save, to help, and to serve. Am I in God's place? Don't be afraid, brothers. I don't bear a grudge, and I'm not going to seek vengeance upon you. We must know God's sovereignty in all of our circumstances. And this is the most appropriate response. Even in the midst of evil that we have suffered, there needs to be the bowing before God. Even though we have been treated harshly, unjustly, unfairly, even though we are victims, even though we have been hurt, we don't bow before our perpetrators. That's not the point. We bow before God. My friends, we must. It's not as though we are deserving of anything, anything good. We know we are not. All that we have comes to us by God's favor, good pleasure, by His grace. But grace it is. And the Lord does not want us to suffer evil needlessly, with futility, He will use, yes, even the evil circumstances, but we must recognize His hand, His sovereign hand, in it all humbly. And so even before those who so unfairly mistreat us, we must remind ourselves and those of God. Am I in God's place? rhetorical question, obviously not. No. And so we recognize that God is sovereign and we must be careful not to act rashly, even in the midst of evil, not to act rashly. Third response. Joseph's response to his brother's confession with a realistic assessment of what has taken place. There's a tender heart, he weeps. There's humility. Am I in God's place? He's not going to presume he acts for God in this situation. And then there is that realistic assessment. With all the tenderness, with all the humility, it doesn't appear as though Joseph is sweeping everything under the rug or merely overlooking the evil that has occurred. It's amazing. He does not sugarcoat or downplay the evil that his brothers committed. Verse 20. As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. As for you, you meant evil. And so there's no overlooking, no shadowing, no sweeping away what has occurred. He's facing his brothers, and he makes a clear declaration. He knows what has occurred, and he's not going to overlook. You meant evil. This is so very, very important. admitting evil has been done. It's not merely a power of positive thinking that is at work in Joseph's life. That's not what is getting him through. It's just not having a distorted optimism. He recognizes that God has been working in God's sovereignty He is able to use evil to bring about his good will. That's power. That's true wisdom. Taking evil and bringing good out of that evil. And so there's no deception here. And we have to be careful that we don't deceive ourselves or others as well. Evil must be admitted and confessed. It must be looked at for what it is. An offense to God and destructive in all of our relationships. It must be admitted. It must be put on the table. We have to talk about the evil things. It's only then that true healing and a true understanding can take place as to how God works within our lives. Fourth, Joseph responds, how can I put it, with a God-centered faith. Verse 20, As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. Joseph could not see, could not see during the trial itself, consider, when he was betrayed, overheard the murderous intention of his brothers, ultimately sold into slavery, Potiphar's household falsely accused by Potiphar's wife of rape, sent to prison, forgotten. In all of those years, in all of those very horrible circumstances, Joseph could not fully understand what was taking place. He felt the evil, and daily he had to put up with the consequences of that injustice, that unfairness, the adversity, daily, for years. He could not put all of this together. Even upon his release, when he was able to interpret Pharaoh's dream, And he was given much honor by Pharaoh. Perhaps it may have begun to dawn on him when his brothers appear in Egypt during those days of famine, possibly. But it's only as the years go by, when ultimately he recognizes his brothers, he begins to think through a way to reconcile thinking of a way to reconcile while addressing the difficulties and the problems, the evil that were administered. And patiently though things seem to be very, very dark, apparently a frowning providence, a God hiding his countenance for so many years. It was only, only many years later when he was able to think about his life, think about the circumstances, think about the years that he could put it together. You meant it for evil. God meant it for good. How long do you think it took for Joseph to come to that realization, that truth? You meant it for evil. And many years he experienced that evil. But God meant it for good. At what point do you think in his life it struck him that these evil circumstances would really turn out to be the deliverance of not only his family, but a preservation of many, many people. At what point in his life do you think Joseph came to the realization that God's most holy, wise, and powerful governing of all of his circumstances through all of this evil, bringing about good, How long do you think it took Joseph to come to that conclusion, to see not only the evil, but the good? Many, many years. Many years. And so, there's surely a God-centered faith that is enabled to wait upon the Lord patiently, to see what God is doing, not jumping to conclusions, not mistrusting what God is doing, not continuing to complain that God has somehow abandoned me because things are so very dark and so very, very difficult. Being patient and then on the basis of his understanding of who God is, information communicated to him, knowledge, or could we use the word doctrine, so much alive within his mind and his heart. And then, as he looks over the course of his life, the dreams, the evil circumstances, and now how God was using him to serve his family and many nations, how he is able to understand that the evil, the evil committed against him was but an instrument in God's hand to bring about good. That did not come overnight, and it's not a mere catechetical response, superficially reviewed, summarized, memorized. only in the furnace of life, only with the thorns and thistles on that pilgrim's road, only in the difficulties, the evil, the darkness, and then the light, could an individual look over his life and recognize all of the evil that has occurred has turned out for the good. My friends, A God-centered life is a life that must be patient, waiting, evaluating, assessing, discerning what God is doing. It can't come overnight. Over the years, Again, without segmenting those evil episodes, without using those evil episodes as a lens to interpret all of his life, he uses God's providence, most holy, wise, powerful governing of his life, and he's able to look over the course of his life and begin to understand, put the pieces of the puzzle together, and begin to understand how that evil worked by God's providence to bring about a good. Now for us, I don't know when that day comes when it begins to dawn on us just what God is doing through the evil that we've had to endure. It may be days, it may be months, more likely years, particularly deep, dark evil. Maybe years before we understand. It may not be until our death or perhaps in the light of eternity itself. But it will come. That realization of God-centered faith, waiting patiently upon God, will be able to put the pieces together, and even the darkness of the evil will shine in the light. And we will understand that it is God who has used even the evil intentions of others toward us to hurt us in some way. He is able to use these very things to work His goodwill. to bring about what is of ultimate benefit to us and through us to others. But that doesn't come overnight. For Joseph, many years. For us, I dare say, many years. It's important, my friends, to be patient and to meditate, not only upon God's Word, not only upon circumstances presently in the light of the truth of God's providence, but to meditate, not to become grossly obsessive, but to meditate upon our lives, from our earliest memories all the way up to the present. It's not bad to take time to meditate. and then try to understand what is it that God is doing in me and through me presently that is bringing about good. Last, Joseph responds with a benevolent expression. Actually, many benevolent expressions towards his brothers. And this is where you see clearly his understanding that the Lord has been in it the whole time. Verse 19, verse 21, encourages his brothers because they are afraid that he's bearing a grudge and he's in a position to seek revenge. He could even take their lives and there would be no consequences to Joseph over this. He assures his brothers, verses 19 and 21, do not be afraid. I'm not going to seek vengeance. Do not be afraid. I don't harbor resentment. Don't be afraid. I don't bear a grudge. Don't be afraid. Even though I have authority and I can take your life this moment, don't be afraid. I'm not going to do that. I've been sent by God to preserve your lives. And even the evil you've committed against me was a means by which I can get to that place of serving you in this way. Such blessed meditation, such blessed articulation of truth in one's life. Here's doctrine that has been realized. God's ways in our lives, His most holy, wise and powerful governing of all circumstances, now being brought to bear. Don't be afraid. Even the explanation, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, that many, many lives might be preserved. What an assurance as he speaks about God with that God-centered faith, as he speaks about the ways of God in his life and for his brothers, as well as all of Egypt. That too, surely, is an act of benevolence. It's not just a matter of The situation, the evil committed against one person and another, God is brought into that. Verse 21, I will provide for you and even your little ones. It's rather interesting throughout the narrative. When the reconciliation takes place, the little ones are mentioned. I don't know how many times, three, four, five times. The children come up again and again and again and again, and here it is once more. I will provide for you. Don't be afraid. This is all the plan of God. He's not excusing their evil, remember. It's all the plan of God. And now I will provide. I will provide for you and for your little ones. Then the text goes on to say, so he comforted them and spoke kindly to them, literal rendering, he spoke to their heart. Sincere, face to face, clearly, clearly, with all tenderness and love, with all forgiveness, really the forgiveness of the grace of God just seems to be oozing, communicated in his face. He comforts them, and he speaks kindly to them. Friends, I can't think of a clearer expression of one who understands God's providence to such an extent that it debones any resentment in his life. No revenge, no bitterness, no harshness, no vengeance. Speaking kindly, comforting them, clear understanding of how God works. Only by His grace could we ever come to a place like this. Being so tender-hearted as to weep, being so humble as to again acknowledge the place of God in our place before Him, fully grasping with a realistic assessment of all that has taken place, including the evil that has been done, and yet responding, speaking kindly, words of assurance, as he has provided for 17 years, he promises to continue that provision for them and their children. This is not merely familial love at work. This is the grace of God at work in a man's heart and life who understands the bigger picture, who understands it's not only a family issue here, But it's God's redemptive purposes among His covenant people. And for us, it must be the same. The tensions, the evil, the lack of justice, the unfairness that we've experienced, perhaps even in our family, it's just not a family matter. Once you're a Christian, once you come into the church, you're constituted the people of God. And make no mistake about it, God is working out His redemptive purposes through us, through you. and those redemptive purposes come to expression even in the reconciliation, even in the humility, the tenderness, even in the articulation and the application of God's providence, understanding all that we have gone through, all that we have faced, even the evil, the injustice has come about by God's good hand to do good. We must see that. And so, may the Lord bless you with such grace. In Christ Jesus, we know that all that occurs comes from our Heavenly Father's hand for our good. Only in Christ can we not only come to that understanding, but even to that affection of security and assurance that even through evil, God will work his purposes out, his good purposes. So shepherding powerfully, directing, organizing, restraining, moving, even difficult circumstances, to accomplish his good purposes. Wisdom and power, goodness and deed, for you his people. Even in the evil that you must suffer, God is at work. God is at work. Let's pray together.