Okay, so regarding Genesis 44, as Michael was reading that, you probably noticed that
the second half of this chapter is a repeat of the same things we've been reading about
in the last two chapters.
So I'll be focusing most of my sermon on the first half of this chapter, okay, the first
half of this chapter.
And I've called the title for this sermon, Lessons in Humility.
Lessons in Humility.
So as you know, we're called to be humble people, okay, and what's the opposite of
humility?
Pride, okay, and it's easy to be prideful, easy, you know, your default setting in life
is pride, okay, you're always thinking the best of yourself, you're always thinking everyone
else is wrong, I'm the one that's right, everyone has done wrong to me, I've only done good
to others, but really, when you measure yourself up to the Bible, you realise, hey, I'm not
that good actually, right, I need to work on humility.
Humility is something you really need to work on.
I think we see a lot of good examples of humility in this chapter as we read through
it.
So let's start off with verse number one, Genesis 44 verse one, and he commanded the
steward of his house, now who's the steward of his house?
That's the guy that's overseeing his house, he's a household manager, you know, he's got
his hands on the developments, the finances, the services that are going on, you know,
all the other servants, this steward is looking after all of that, and so he commands the
steward saying, fill the men's sacks with food, who are the men, that's the brothers
of Joseph, right, they've come back to Egypt, if you remember on Wednesday, we're looking
at that, they've come back, they've run out of food, they've wanted to purchase some new
food, so they've gotten the food, not just the food, but it says here, as much as they
can carry, and put every man's money in his sacks mouth.
So it's a repetition of what they did last time, right, Joseph says, we don't want their
money, put their money back into their sacks, okay.
So basically, they're now getting two portions of food for the first time, they bought some,
the second portion of food, and it's all free, okay, it's all free, they're getting all their
money back for it, but look at verse number two, and put my cup, this is Joseph's cup,
the silver cup, in the sacks mouth of the youngest, and his corn money, and he did according
to the word that Joseph had spoken, all right, so Joseph said, not just the money, not just
food for the youngest, that's Benjamin, not just his money, but also take my silver cup,
I suppose this is his special cup that he eats at his dining table, so it's very expensive,
it's made of silver, it's put into the sack of Benjamin.
And at the end of verse number two, it says, and he did, that's the steward, and he did
according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
Now the reason he does this, as you've sort of seen as through the chapter, is that Benjamin
will be blamed for taking that cup, and Benjamin would be returned back to Egypt, and Joseph's
desire would be that Benjamin would stay with him, basically, obviously that's his full
blood brother, he wants to spend time with him, and this is a way, I don't know whether
this, you know, you could say this is, I guess wrong, a wrong way of doing it, but anyway,
he wants his brother to come and spend time with his brother, which is why he puts this
in motion.
But the first thing I want you to notice here is the steward, okay, what did it say about
the steward?
He did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
Now the steward could easily say, well I don't think this is right, Joseph, I don't think
what you're doing here is right, but he goes ahead and he does what Joseph had asked of
him, and the first lesson that I have in humility is for you to be obedient to the authorities
in your life, be obedient to the authorities in your life, and often when you think of
a steward, this is one title that is given to a pastor, you know, to a bishop of a church,
Titus 1.7 says, for a bishop must be blameless as the steward of God.
You know, if you're going to take on the office of a bishop or a pastor, you're called a steward
of God, and you know, just like the steward of Joseph, you need to do according to the
word that God had spoken.
If it is that God asks you as a steward of God, as the one that's looking after the house
of God, right, you need to make sure that you do things in accordance to the word of
God.
And you know, that is one way for you to judge me as your pastor, one way for you to determine
whether this pastor is doing well or not so well is to determine is this pastor, is Pastor
Kevin Sepulveda, you know, teaching this church, running this church, operating this church
in accordance to God's will, and if I'm doing that, hey, I'm a good steward, if I'm not
doing that, well, I need to work on it, right?
But this is a lesson of humility, but please go to Luke Chapter 12 now.
Please go to Luke Chapter 12, because it's not just pastors that are called to be a steward
of God.
In fact, all of you, all of you are called to be a steward for our Lord God.
Luke Chapter 12, please, Luke Chapter 12, and let's look at verse number 42.
Luke 12 42, Luke 12 42 reads, and the Lord said, who then is that faithful and wise steward
whom his Lord shall make ruler over his household to give them their portion of meat in due
season.
Now, this isn't in the context of the last days, this is the context of the end times
of the coming of Christ.
And Jesus is asking, who is that faithful and wise steward?
You see, all of us are called to be a steward of God, okay?
And Jesus asking the question, but which of the stewards is wise and faithful, all right?
And those that are wise and faithful to the Lord, he's going to make him ruler over his
household.
He's going to give those heavenly rewards that we often think about, that we often talk
about those heavenly rewards for those that are faithful and wise steward, okay?
And brethren, listen, you are a steward of God.
God has you on this earth, yes, you're saved, but did you realize that after you got saved,
you didn't go to heaven?
Did you notice that you're still here on this earth?
You know why?
Because you're operating now as a steward of God.
The Bible also calls us ambassadors, you know, we're here to represent God, we're here to
do his work, we're here to do his business, but let's get the context of this verse.
Let's start off in verse number 35, in what way are we to be a faithful and wise steward?
Verse number 35, Luke 12 35, let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning.
So this is what we're called to do, we're meant to put on our belts, good ourselves,
you know, we're putting our belts on, it means we're dressed, we're ready to go, right?
We're getting ready to start the work.
You get up in the morning, you put on your clothes, you get out of your pajamas, or maybe
you sleep in the clothes you work in, I don't know.
But you know, you're ready to work, right?
You're girded, and your lights are burning.
And the reason why the lights are burning here is because we're going to see the context
of nights, you know, so even though in this parable, the story that Jesus speaks, it's
about, it's about nighttime.
And so this steward has their lights burned, they got the lights on, they've got the torches
ready to go.
Hey, they're ready to work even in the night, they're ready, they're good to go.
Verse number 36, and ye yourselves like unto men that waits for their Lord, when he will
return from the wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.
So he gives an example of some servants that are looking after the house of a Lord, that
Lord's gone off to a wedding, he's coming back, right?
And the expectation when he comes back is that they'll open the door.
The expectation, no matter what time of the night he comes, the servants of that house
are going to be ready to receive him, they're going to be ready to serve him.
So they've got their lights on, you know, that they're looking forward to the coming
of their Lord.
And this is the parallel for us, that we ought to be looking for the coming of our Lord,
the second coming of the Lord, and we need to be working, we need to be ready, we need
to have our lights shut, not asleep, you know, not being lazy Christians, no, we ought to
be ready serving the Lord.
Verse number 37, blessed are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching.
that he shall, that he, the Lord that is, shall gird himself and make them to sit down
to meet and will come forth and serve them.
Man, I can't understand this, right?
God wants us waiting, he wants us working, he wants us faithful for his coming, but when
the Lord comes, he's going to serve us, right?
He's going to get himself up as a servant, he's going to honor us, he's going to get
us to sit down and enjoy the meal, right?
We're going to sit next to a cross from Abraham, a cross from David, a cross from Paul, a cross
from Peter, a cross from these great men of God, we're all going to be sitting at that
table when the Lord comes back, and Jesus Christ will come and serve us, and so he wants
us waiting, he wants us watching for his coming.
Verse number 38, and he shall come in the second watch, and if he shall come in the
second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.
Why are we blessed if we're found watching, working for him?
Because he's going to bless us, he's going to reward us, okay?
Verse number 39, you know, I want, I don't know, what's your favorite meal?
You know, when you go out and you eat takeout, you know, I know brother Jason loves Indian
food, right?
So, you know, if God finds him watching, you know, guess what you're going to get, brother?
You're going to get your butter chicken, all right?
And you're going to get, you know, what you deserve, you know, as long as you're there
faithfully serving him, he's going to honor you with a great meal, you know.
Verse number 39, for this know that if the good man of the house had known what hour
the thief would come, he would have watched, and have not suffered his house to be broken
through.
Be ye therefore ready also, for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when ye think not.
Verse 41, and Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all?
And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord shall make
ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?
Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing.
For the truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.
And of course, this would be the millennial reign, you know, being a ruler with Christ,
ruling and reigning with Christ in that millennium.
But what was it again, guys?
What is the instruction?
How is it that we watch and wait?
Do we just look up into the skies, look at the clouds and be ready in that sense?
No.
Verse 35, right?
We started with verse 35.
Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burn in.
You know, you've got to shine the light of Christ, okay?
You've got to be working, you've got to be serving the Lord, you've got to be serving
your church, and you can't hide the light that you have, brethren.
The gospel light that brings salvation into this world, you've got to let that light burn.
And so when the Lord comes back, he wants to see you working for him, he wants to see
you with that light.
Not hiding, not hiding from the persecution, not hiding in the time of tribulation, afraid
to lose your head, not shining that bright lightly, being a representative, being that
good steward of God, you know, but this requires humility, all right?
It requires humility to be under the authorities that you have in your life, and we saw this
steward of Joseph, he was ready, he was ready to do whatever Joseph had asked him, had asked
of him, and we too, brethren, need to be ready to be those good stewards, ready to do anything
that the Lord Jesus Christ asked from us.
And so we see the context here about the end times, and I see this as an important
attribute to being a good steward, so some of the men already know this, but maybe Wednesday,
maybe next week, I'm not sure, I'll be starting a series on the end times, okay?
Why?
Because it's exciting, yes, it's awesome, but I want to make sure that we're good stewards
of God, all right?
That we're aware of the Lord's return, we understand what the future holds in accordance
to God's word so we can be ready to serve him no matter what, even in difficult times.
Please go back to Genesis 44, verse 3, Genesis 44, verse 3.
As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.
And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward,
Up, follow off the men, and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have
ye rewarded evil for good?
You know, wherefore have ye rewarded evil, now did they really do evil?
No, they didn't steal that silver cup, okay?
But you know, why is it, the question is to ask, you know, why did you reward evil for
good?
So we're going to take these lessons, right?
Should we, should we reward evil, sorry, should we reward good for evil?
You know, someone that does good to you, should you render them back evil things?
No.
And that would be a very wicked thing to do, right?
Someone does good to you, and you just spit in their face about it, you know, and you
just do evil in return.
Please go to Psalm 38, Psalm 38, verse 20, Psalm 38, verse 20.
Now you probably say, well, I would never do evil to someone that's done good to me,
okay?
And probably so, okay?
It'd take a pretty wicked heart to do that.
But I promise you this, I'm sure you've experienced the reverse, right?
I'm sure you've done good to people, and they've done evil to you in return.
I'm sure you've had that experience.
We've all had that experience.
It's not just you.
You thought it was just you.
No, no, all of us.
All of us have done good to certain people, and they've just returned evil to us.
Look at verse number 20, Psalm 38, verse 20.
They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries, because I follow the thing that
good is.
Look what he says, forsake me not, oh Lord.
Oh my God, be not far from me, make haste to help me, oh Lord, my salvation.
Listen, when someone's done evil to you, after you've done good to them, what are you burning
to do?
Take revenge, right?
You know, render evil for evil, especially when they've done it, after you've done good,
right?
Now it's one thing for someone to just do evil to you for no reason, and then even that's
hard to do good unto them.
So how much harder is it when you've done good first, and then they've done evil to
you, okay?
But here's the thing, and I think that Simon realizes that he's going to take revenge.
I think he realizes this is hard for him to accept, so what does he do?
What does he do when someone has done evil to him after he's done good?
He goes to the Lord, right?
Forsake me not, oh Lord, oh my God, be not far from me.
He needs the Lord, brethren, and that's what you're going to need.
You know, it's going to take a bit of humility to be able to overcome when people do evil
to you, and here's what's going to help you.
Just run into the Lord.
Just saying, Lord, you help me, verse 22, make haste to help me.
Hurry up, Lord.
Right now, I feel like taking revenge on these evil people.
I feel like destroying these evil, wicked people.
It says, make haste, oh Lord, to help me, oh Lord, my salvation.
I like that about the Psalms because, you know, a lot of the Psalms, they're just like,
it's a guy without a filter, right?
He's got an open heart to the Lord and he's, you know, David wrote many of the Psalms,
but all the other Psalms, you know, they're just expressing human nature many times and
just a need for God, and what they realize, you know, I can't, how can I put up with this
God?
You know, I need you.
I need you when people do evil to me after I've done good to them.
I'll just read another passage, 1 Thessalonians 5, 15 says, see that none render evil for
evil and to any man, but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and
to all men.
See that none render evil for evil.
Do you think this requires a bit of humility on your part?
Absolutely.
All right, you know why you feel like rendering evil for evil?
Pride.
That's why, you know, ego, they hurt your feelings, you know, you get a little bit sensitive
about it.
How dare that person say that about me or do that to me?
Just go to God.
Let him sort it out.
You know, here's your help.
He's already saved you from hell.
You think he can save you from some idiot, you know, causing you some evil?
Of course he can.
Okay, he's already saved you from the worst punishment, the worst thing you could possibly
go through.
You know, the Lord there is there for your help, you know, don't render evil for evil.
You do what's good.
And that requires humility.
So you know what, Lord, I'm just going to serve you.
I'm just going to do what you said in your word.
You know, even this enemy that's doing evil to me when I cross his paths next time, I'm
going to do him good.
In fact, I might even go out of my way and do him good.
Lord, I can only do that with your help.
First Peter 3 16 says, having a good conscience, that whereas they speak evil of you, as of
evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
And I think this is a reality that I've seen play out in my life many times and, you know,
and I hope you've seen this in your life as well.
But see, what it said there in First Peter 3 16, having a good conscience, and I've already
preached on this, but having a good or a clear conscience before God is so valuable to me.
It's just, you know, I'm not having these regrets in life, you know, I'm not constantly
having to, you know, revisit mistakes that I've made, you know, and just what could I
have done differently or better, you know, and I see sometimes people just bogged down
with their past mistakes, right, they don't have that clear conscience before God.
In order for us to have a clear conscience, just let people speak evil of you, they speak
evil of you.
All right, look, you know, it says that they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good
conversation in Christ, your good behavior in Christ.
You know, someone says evil things about you, someone falsely accuses you, you just keep
doing what's good, you just keep doing what's right, you just keep having a good conscience
before God.
The Bible says they will be ashamed, there will come a day when they will be shown for
their wickedness, you know, and here's the thing, here's what's hard about it.
Some people say evil about you and people around that, they hear that, will believe
it, but it's just temporary, they'll believe it for a while and what's going to be hard
for you is to be like, I need to fix this, I need to go and show how I've not, you know,
defend yourself.
Look, you just keep doing what's right, if it's a false accusation and you're just serving
God, you're just doing what's good, just keep doing what's good and I promise the tables
will turn at some points, it's going to turn even better than what you expected.
I've experienced that many times in my life, alright, when the person that's making accusations
about you or treating you evilly, it's like it's turned back on them and again, we see
that in the Psalms, you read the Psalms, how many times do we see the evil fully in their
own tracks, you know, the Lord just allows those tables to be turned and for you to profit
from that, but that requires humility, you know, the second point of humility there is
to render good for evil, render good for evil.
Just do it brethren, just do good, trust me, trust God, it's going to work out for you,
it's going to work out for your best when you just do good to those that have done you
evil, that's point number two, that's going to help you, you know, with your humility,
you know, measuring your, how humble are you really, you know, do you render good for evil,
that's point number two.
Back to Genesis 44 verse 5, Genesis 44 verse 5, so we have this silver cup in the sack
of Benjamin and then verse number 5, is not this it, sorry, is not this it, in which
my Lord drinketh and whereby indeed he divineth, he have done evil in so doing, all right,
so you know, the accusation here of course is that the silver cup has been stolen from
Joseph and stolen by Benjamin, but quite interesting here, just one little fact, it says that the
silver cup is by which he divineth, okay, so we know that Joseph could tell the future,
all right, he was given that gift by God, okay, that's why he could tell, interpret
dreams, you know, these people that would have these dreams, he could then tell them
what their future held for them, but it looks like even after he was given this cup, this
silver cup, so he's already in this position, second in command or in authority in all of
Egypt, he was still able, he still was able to foretell many things to come, many of the
future things to come and I think this cup just sort of is like a, what's the word I'm
looking at, like a token of his authority, of his wisdom, of his might and so, you know,
what I can gather from this is that Joseph continued being an advisor, you know, of Pharaoh,
even after he already had interpreted those dreams, so this cup is kind of valuable, all
right, it's like a token, it's a representation of Joseph's authority and his ability to foretell
dreams or foretell the future, verse number six, and he overtook them and he spake unto
them these same words and they said unto him, wherefore sayeth my Lord these words, God
forbid that thy servant should do according to this thing, behold the money which we found
in our sacks mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan, how then should
we still out of thy Lord's house silver or gold?
So the brothers are making, you know, putting their defense forward, they said look, we
didn't steal it, like we didn't steal this cup, we're really showing you that when we've
had the money returned to us, we've gone back, we tried to repay it, you know, if we've done
that, why then should we try to steal this silver cup or, you know, steal the Lord's
Joseph silver or gold, verse number nine, with whomsoever of thy servant should be found,
both let him die, and we also will be my Lord's bondmen, so they're like so confident they've
not stole this cup, I said look, if you find one of us that's, if you find that we stole
it, if you got proof of that, let that person die, and we'll be under bondage for that person
for the rest, like all of the brethren, so they're, you know, they're making quite a
quite a statement there I suppose, you know, that they believe they're innocent, and of
course they are innocent, but verse number 10, and he said, now also let it be according
unto your words, he with whom it is found shall be my servant, and you shall be blameless.
Now what I've taken out of this story here is that these brethren are willing to be punished
if they're found to have done wrong, okay, they're willing to be punished for their sins
if they had done such a thing, and I think this is the third lesson we can take from
humility is that you ought to be open to punishment or correction for your sins, all right, you
ought to be willing to say Lord if I've done wrong, I deserve the judgment, I deserve to
be found out, I deserve to be corrected, you know, I deserve to be chastised, and here's
the thing, your natural response would be I don't want to be punished for my sins, I
don't want to be accountable for the wrong that I've done, and so it requires humility
for you to be able to say yes, I'm deserving of the punishment, I'm deserving of the wrongdoing
that I've done, you know, and you know, for the children, you know, if you disobeyed your
parents, you've done what's wrong, you know, you've broken your parents instructions or
commands in the house, you ought to be, you know, you ought to be willing, this requires
humility to go to your parents and say mum, dad, I've done wrong, you told me to do X,
Y and Z, but I didn't do it, I broke your commandments, you told me not to take the
chocolate in the pantry, mum, I took a piece, all right, you ought to be willing to go and
just face the music, be willing to take the punishment, the correction for the wrong you've
done, but this requires humility to own up to your mistakes, say yes, I've done wrong,
yes, I deserve to be punished, now these guys are innocent, but they're willing to say well,
you know what, if we've done wrong, then we'll be your bondmen, you know, you can take us,
you know, we can be punished for the wrong that we've done, and this definitely requires
humility, please go to John chapter 10, John chapter 10,
because they're being accused of being thieves, right, they've been accused of
theft, and when I look at, again, the qualifications of a pastor, the kind of pastor,
you know, if that's something you want to do, want to be, you know, you have to understand,
you know, Titus 1.7, now their defense was that they were blameless, right, but Titus 1.7 says
about the pastor or the bishop, for the bishop must be blameless, right, as the shield of God,
we saw that already, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, but also
this, not given to filthy Luca, not given to filthy Luca, you know, a pastor ought not to be one
that's doing it for the money, you know, that's just trying to take what belongs to others,
and being a thief, as it were, to be greedy for money, no, he ought to be blameless, and not
greedy for filthy Luca, not greedy for the riches of this world, all right, and so what we get out
of this story is they're saying, look, we're blameless, we would never have stolen that thing,
I mean, they've got good character about that, right, they've got good character about them,
and so as I was thinking about this, I'm just reminded about the role of a pastor,
but you know there are pastors that are after your money, okay, there are pastors that will
make you feel guilty, I mean, some pastors, I don't know how, they know whether you've tied
or not, they know whether you've put money in the offering or not, and if you haven't,
they'll come and tell you, now should you give your tithe, absolutely, perhaps between you and
the Lord, it's not between you and me, all right, it's between you and the Lord, but there are some
pastors that will basically demand your money, demand your wealth, okay, they will try to make
you feel sorry for them, say look, I'm going without, you know, so give me, give me, give me,
right, or like the prosperity preachers do, put it in, and God will give you everything you want
in this life, God will give you all the desires of your flesh, God will give you the mansions,
and God will give you the big cars, and the big bank account, now look, that will happen in heaven,
you're treasured in heaven, but not, not here on this earth, but there are many pastors just
want that, they're doing it for filthy luca, and you've got to realize, brethren, you know,
I say this because I don't expect everybody here to be in New Life Baptist Church for the rest of
your life, okay, or who knows, we could have a change of pastors one day, right, it's not really
my desire, but it could happen, right, and you need to be aware of the people that are taking
advantage of you, look at John 10 7, John 10 verse 7, then said Jesus unto them again, verily,
verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep, all that ever came before me are thieves
and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them, Jesus is the door of the sheep, we know that Jesus
is a door to heaven, right, he says everyone, everyone else that promised you heaven,
everyone else that came with another religion, another way to be right with God, he says all
of them are thieves and robbers, listen, if it's not Jesus, everybody else is a thief and robber,
Buddha is a thief and a robber, Muhammad was a thief and a robber, Joseph Smith
was a thief and a robber, right, what else, I don't know, you know, the Roman Catholic,
Virgin Mary, that's a thief and a robber, okay, it's not the Mary of the Bible,
okay, who's a humble woman, all right, I mean, what other false gods are there, you know,
the false gods of the Bible, the devil, he's a thief and a robber, if anyone comes to you,
saying there's another way to heaven, those that knock on your doors, the JWs, the Mormons,
they're thieves and they're robbers, they're not pointing you to Christ,
they're not saying that he's a door to heaven, let's keep going, verse number nine,
I am the door by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved, man, what an awesome thing,
how are we saved, going through the door, who's the door, I am the door, said Jesus,
it's only Jesus, brethren, not Jesus and turn from your sins, hey, the one that's
teaching that doctrine is a thief and a robber, anyone that says Jesus plus whatever
is a thief and a robber, anybody saying that is a thief and a robber, okay, it's Jesus,
and if you enter through the door of Jesus, you will be saved and shall go in and out and find
pasture, the thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy, I am come that they might
have life and that they might have it more abundantly, more abundantly, you know, brethren,
now that you're saved, are you living a life more abundant, are you living a life, you know,
do you have more joy in your life, do you have more blessings in life, can you appreciate the
life that you have more now that you're saved than you did before, I hope so, because that's
the life Jesus has come to give you, right, he did not come to put us, to put these pressures
and these burdens upon you, that's what the thief and the robber does, he says no, just walk through
the door, I am the door, you can find the green pastures there, he wants us to enjoy our lives,
verse number 11, I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep,
so what does the good shepherd do, he gives his life, Jesus Christ gave his life,
is he asking for you to give something to him, he's saying hey give me like a thief or a robber,
the thief or robber wants something for themselves, Jesus says I am the good shepherd,
I gave my life for you, you don't get saved by giving your life to Jesus,
you don't get saved by committing your life to Jesus, you don't get saved by saying I'm
going to just serve you Jesus for the rest of my life, that's not salvation, salvation is Jesus
giving his life for us, his death, burial, his resurrection, pain for your sins, what a beautiful
thing, what an amazing thing, verse number 12, but he that is an hireling and not the shepherd,
now we can take this yes to religious leaders, but I want you to think about your pastors,
right, pastors, people that you've sat under before or maybe pastors that you may have in
the future, here's how you know if he's a hireling or if he's a good shepherd, but he that is a
hireling and not the shepherd, whose own sheep, whose own the sheep are not, see if the wolf come
in and leave of the sheep and flee off and the wolf catch off them and scatter off the sheep,
the hireling flee off because he is a hireling and care if not for the sheep, brethren, pastors,
you know that are after money, pastors that are hirelings, they don't care for the sheep,
when the wolf comes, guess where they are, they're out of there, they're gone, they scatter the sheep,
they don't care about the sheep, you need to wake up and find out, hey is this pastor,
is this shepherd somebody that's following after the steps of Christ, does he care for the sheep,
is he gathering the sheep, is he doing it for the money, hope not, if he's doing it for the money,
hey if he flees when this wolf comes, that's a hireling, that's not a shepherd for you to get
yourself under, protect yourself, protect yourself from wicked men, wicked false religions,
wicked pastors that are out there trying to take advantage of you, see Jesus is totally opposite,
he wants to give himself to the sheep, he wants to lay down his life and serve the sheep that
he has, he wants to give them green pastures instead of putting unnecessary burdens upon them,
back to Genesis 44 please, Genesis 44 verse 11, Genesis 44 verse 11,
then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground and opened every man his sack and
he searched and began at the eldest and left at the youngest and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack,
then they rent their clothes and laid at every man his ass and returned to the city,
why? Because they just said look if you find it let him die, they basically said they put a death
penalty on Benjamin basically and Benjamin is the one that his father did not want him to
go into the land of Egypt, Judah had promised that he was going to return, he's going to protect
Benjamin, bring him back to his father and so their sorrow in verse number 14,
and Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house and for he was yet there and they fell before him
on the ground and Joseph said unto them what deed is this that ye have done, what ye not that such
a man as I can certainly divine and Judah said what shall we say unto my lord, what shall we speak
and how shall we clear ourselves, God have found out the iniquity of thy servants,
behold we are my lord's servants both we and he also with whom the cup is found.
So he's pleading to Joseph, I mean for them they just the evidence is there, was it falsely
planted, yes but they can't defend themselves right, they had promised that Benjamin will die
but do you notice that he's trying to save Benjamin's life now, see look let us just all
be bondmen, let us just all be your servants right, verse number 17 and he said, this is what
Joseph says to them, God forbid that I should do so but the man in whose hand the cup is found,
he shall be my servants and as for you get you up in peace unto your father. So Joseph says look
no no it's not right for all of you to be bondmen here, only the one to whom we found the cup in
that's Benjamin, he's the one that will become my servant and by that process you can now be free,
you can now go back to your father and so you know obviously we know that Benjamin is innocent,
did he steal that silver cup, no he didn't steal it but he was found in his sack right and it
wouldn't be right for him to be accountable for this but by taking accountability of taking this
cup, his brethren would be free right. Please go to Matthew 26, Matthew 26 and again this is just
a parallel that I just I can't overlook, the parallel of Christ right. I mean Benjamin is
innocent but if he takes responsibility, think about it, his brothers are free, they can go back.
Matthew 26 verse 39, Matthew 26 verse 39, and he went a little further this is Jesus and fell on
his face and prayed saying oh my father if it be possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless
not as I will but as thou wilt. You know who else was an innocent person who was found with that cup
it was Jesus.
He wasn't deserving of taking that cup you know the sacrifice for our sins, being punished for
our sins, he was innocent, he was innocent but here's what would happen if he would just drink
of that cup if he would just take that cup we would be saved, we would be free you know what
a parallel there. Look at verse number 42 same chapter and he went again the second time and
prayed saying oh my father if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it thy will be
done. What an amazing thing for Christ to take on our sins to take on our punishment but what did
he want? Was he looking for his own will? Hey you see the will of Jesus there was to not partake of
that cup, he was hoping there'd be another way but what do we learn? We're talking about humility
here right. Jesus Christ was humbling up to say well not my will Lord but thine be done,
the will of the father be done. The fourth point that I have for you when it comes to humility
is that you need to learn to set aside your will and do God's will, set aside your will
and do God's will. How hard you know I mean it's not right for Benjamin to take the blame right
it's not right is it really right that Jesus died for us what was right what was just is that
we would die in our sins that we would go to hell that we would face that punishment for all
eternity that would be right but then we have the mercy of God we have the humility of Jesus Christ
do what the father has asked for him the love of Christ the love of God to save us from our sins
and you know when we go soul winning the person at the door we're going to get saved is the one
that's willing to be humble to say yeah I've sinned yes I'm deserving of hell only then when
they understand that truth when they can bring themselves to humility there only then can they
truly understand and believe on the gift of salvation Jesus Christ what a great thing to
know that Jesus would do such a thing for us you know if Benjamin took the blame there wouldn't you
say man what a great man what a great man to take that cup even though he's innocent to take
responsibility for it so his brothers can go free or how much more did Jesus do for us how much more
okay Genesis 44 verse 18 Genesis 44 verse 18 and so this is now sort of the it's really a recap of
the last two chapters so I'm going to speed through these but I do have one other thing
that I want to take out of this verse 18 then Judah came near came near unto him and said oh
my lord let thy servant I pray thee speak a word in my lord's ears and let not thine anger burn
against thy servant for thou art even as Pharaoh my lord asked his servant saying have ye a father
or brother and we said unto my lord we have a father an old man and a child of his old age a
little one and his brother is dead and he alone is left of his mother and his father loveth him
and thou sets unto thy servants bring him down unto me that I may set mine eyes upon him and we
said unto my lord the lad cannot leave his father for if he should leave his father his father will
die as thou sets unto thy servants except your youngest brother come down come down with you
you shall see my face no more and it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father
we told him the words of my lord and our father said go again and buy us a little food and we
said we cannot go down if our youngest brother be with us then will we go down for we may not see
the man's face except our youngest brother be with us verse 27 so you can see it's just a recap he's
explaining to joseph all the events that led up to this you know that they would be willing to
bring benjamin along you know even though his father would not let him go but verse 27
and thy servant my father said unto us you know that my wife bear me two sons and the one went
out from me and i said surely he is torn to pieces and i saw him not since so who's the son
of of uh israel that was torn to pieces well no son was torn to pieces right but that's the lie
that he's believed he's well he's but he believed that joseph was uh killed by a by a let's say a
lion or something right killed by some wild animal and he believed that joseph was dead this is why
he's not willing to let benjamin go right so this is a lie that the brothers have been keeping from
their father this whole time hey they did not have the humility to own up to their mistake
they weren't they didn't have the humility to say we've done wrong dad we've made a mistake
let's keep going verse number so what was i up to guys 31 29 29 and if you take this also from me
that's benjamin and mischief before him you shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave
now therefore when i come to thy servant my father and the lad be not with us seeing that
his life is bound up in the lad's life it shall come to pass when he seeth that the lad is not
with us that he will die and thy servant shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our
father with sorrow to the grave for thy servant becomes surety for the lad unto my father remember
we saw that on wednesday that judah became the shorty for benjamin saying if i bring him not
unto thee then i shall bear the blame to my father forever now therefore now therefore now let's stop
here for a minute judah actually keep your finger there go back to genesis 37 for a minute genesis
37 verse 26 this is judah saying these words all right go back to genesis 37 verse 26 genesis 37
verse 26 remember the story how joseph was sold into slavery right when his brothers actually
their first intention was to kill him to shed innocent blood but this is what judah says in
verse 26 and judah said unto his brethren what profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal
his blood come and let us sell him to the ishmaelites and let not our hand be upon him
for he is our brother and our flesh and his brethren were content now you could say well judah
you know had a soft spot a little bit with joseph he didn't want to kill him but he does something
evil anyway right he's he's the one that comes up the decision to sell him to sell him to the
ishmaelites to sell him into slavery right and this was judah's idea all right and he's going
through this story to joseph explaining how you know the father's already lost one son and he's
not willing to lose another so and what i want you to notice now is the change in judah when
you read verse number 33 back to chapter 44 genesis 44 verse 33 this is what judah now says
now therefore i pray thee let thy servant that's himself abide instead of the lad a bondman to my
lord and let the lad go up with his brethren so look instead of instead of selling off joseph
all right well he did sell off joseph but now he says no look you know what it's time for me to
take blame for this it's time for me to step in and let me be your servant let benjamin go
right verse 34 for how shall i go up to my father and the lad be not with me but he did
that before with joseph he went up to the father without joseph being there he lied to the father
now you can see there's a change in his heart he said how can i do this lest peradventure i see the
evil that shall come on my father the fifth lesson lord uh brethren in humility is that you need to
learn from your mistakes learn from your state what do we see in judah he learns okay he's done
something extremely wicked with joseph but now when it comes to benjamin he's learnt he said i'm
not doing this again now could he just leave benjamin there and they could all leave they could
now back many years ago with joseph they would have done that they would have left joseph they
in fact they did leave joseph and they went back to their father in peace he's not willing to do
that again he's learnt from his mistakes and brethren this requires humility because we've
all made mistakes in the past all of us right we've all made big mistakes in our past but you'll
know the difference between humility and pride because the one that's full of pride will defend
their actions they'll defend their mistakes christians will even say oh god understands
that god understands no
stop making yourself feel better for the mistakes you've made if you don't face the mistakes you're
going to keep making the mistakes again and again and again and again all right and it's such an
embarrassment you know it's such a shame when i've seen christians who make mistakes well god
understands my situation look god's word tells you what's right and wrong just do what's right
and when you've made the mistake just go and confess it to god we saw before that his mercies
are new every morning learn from their mistakes be willing to take the punishment learn from them
and say i've made a mistake i've made an error and i'm not willing to do that once again i'm not
willing to do that that's the only way for you to grow that's the only way for you to do what's
right is to say i've made mistakes in the past i'm not going to make them again okay and that
requires humility because you've got to face the music you've got to be there and say i've been
wrong i've made mistakes you know it's hard for people to like you if you're always saying you're
right i'm always right everyone else is wrong it's hard for people to like you people tend to like
someone that's going to say yeah you know messed up you know messed up hey don't make the same
mistake that i did you know i'm going to definitely try harder to to not make those same mistakes
that's someone that's likable hey you're you're a human being we can see that you've got humility
about yourself you're willing to you know uh take down your ego take down your pride
and be willing to say i've made mistakes in my life and to make those changes not to do them
again so that's genesis 44 brethren lessons in humility what are those lessons once again
number one obey the authorities that you have in your life number two render good for evil
number three be open to punishment for your sins number four set aside your will to do god's will
and number five learn from your mistakes let's pray